By Ryan Zemek, Director

One of the highlights of the year from my perspective was the Fall Festival we held in October. Thanks to some very generous donations from our producers, and member-owners, we were able to share a meal with the community. What I’ve enjoyed most was the energy I got from watching our member-owners share food, ideas, and laughter. I look forward to similar events in the future. I wanted to take the opportunity to share two of the recipes we used for the meal.

Beet Gratin

The first recipe is for Beet Gratin. Beets are a vegetable I found later in life, their earthiness and my unfamiliarity in their preparation led me to avoiding them for a long time. I was introduced to them through this recipe.

• 2 bunches (6 to beets
• Salt and pepper
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• Butter for greasing
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 2 ounces cheese, grated (1/2 cup)

1. Roast the beets. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Then cut the ends off and slip off the skins. Slice into thin discs about ¼”.

2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter a large baking dish. Beat together eggs, salt (about 1/2 teaspoon), garlic, pepper, milk, chives and the cheese. Alternate layers of beets, with the milk, egg, and cheese mixture into the dish. Bake 35 to 40 minutes until set and lightly browned on the top.

Venison Stew

The second recipe I wanted to share was for Venison Stew, in mind nothing is better for warming up on a cold day than a bowl of stew. Not only is it delicious, but inexpensive and easy to make.

• 3 lbs venison roast (or beef), cut into 2-inch pieces
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 2 onions diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 cups beef broth
• 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 4 carrots, peeled, cut into 1-inch slices
• 2 stalks celery, cut into 1-inch slices
• 3 large potatoes, peeled and cut in eighths

1. On medium-high heat, add the oil to a large heavy pot .

2. Season the meat with salt and pepper and brown in the pan. Make sure the meat is browning, not steaming. Do in batches if necessary. Once browned, remove the beef with a slotted spoon set aside.

3. Add the onions, and sauté until softened. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.

4. Add the broth, bay leaves, thyme, rosemary, and the meat.

5. Bring back to a gentle simmer, cover and cook on very low for about 1 hour.

6. Add potatoes, carrots, and celery, and simmer covered for another 30 minutes or until the meat and vegetables are tender. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Officers are elected each year at the first Board of Directors meeting following the General Membership Meeting and serve one year terms.

Chair: Mary Overlie

Treasurer: Doug Scott

Secretary: Judy Boorman

Director: Ryan Zemek

Director: Michael Headlee

Director: Pat Rogers

You know Harmony as a place where your values as a food consumer are put in to action.  Did you also know that beyond providing local whole foods to the region, Harmony is an engine of the local economy?  Harmony generates $160 of local economic activity for every $100 that is invested or spent in the store. 

As a cornerstone of both the local foods economy and the locally-owned economy, we are now working as cooperative owners of this store to Build a Solid Base for Harmony. 

Growth never comes without growing pains.  We knew things would get tight, financially speaking, during our first post-expansion year. However, our expansion plan involved either leasing or selling the old store.  Harmony can’t continue to muster the prevailing financial winds like we could in the old store when our assets were high and our debt was low.  Several blown cooler compressors, a construction bill from out of the blue, and expansion related overruns add up quickly when our cash is both servicing large quantities of debt and fueling store operations. 

We are also launching a fall Capital and Ownership drive to help resolve the situation.  Our goal is to raise $250,000 in additional equity, through a combination of loans, C stock shares, and new ownerships.  You’ll see on the Building a Solid Base fact sheet on our website, www.harmonycoop.com,  how we aim to bring Harmony’s debt-to-equity ratio into balance and where the new capital reserves will be dedicated to solidifying Harmony’s base.

As dedicated share-holder, there are other ways you can help build a stronger base for Harmony.  You could join the lead of your Board of Directors and initiate a new member-owner loan or buy shares of C stock.  We’ve already raised several thousand dollars from a dedicated circle of Harmony investors.

We also invite you to host a Harmony House Party.  In the old store, about 60% of our shoppers were owners.  Now, it is only about 50%.  We want to help people see the tangible and intangible benefit of owning their own whole-foods business by learning about the benefits of ownership from their families and friends.  We have literature and tips available to share with your house party guests.  If you’re interested in hosting one yourself, email me for details: mary@maryo.org

Also this fall we’ve decided that the General Membership Meeting (GMM) is so nice, we‘re changing things around doing it twice.  We know that some of you come to the GMM for the festivities, food and families.  Some of you come for the more business end of things.  Either way, we are splitting the GMM into two events this year— a gathering and a business meeting.  You can read Colleen’s article to find out the details about how we are celebrating with a GMM Gathering at the store on September 30 from 3-6 p.m.

At the beginning of the regularly scheduled October board meeting, we will host a brief GMM business meeting.  If you like receiving the annual report, seeing which new directors won their respective elections, disposing of the minutes from last year’s GMM, then join us for that brief GMM business meeting at 6:00 on October 24^th in the Community Kitchen. 

Fall tends to bring a renewed sense of scurry, new routines and opportunities.  We encourage you, as co-store owners to reinvest in Harmony’s base with us and help sink her financial roots deep into the community.  On behalf of your board of directors, we look forward to seeing you at the GMM gathering, the GMM business meeting or both.

<<solid base lit>>

The Board of Directors July 2012 meeting will be held on August 1 at 6:00 PM in the Harmony Kitchen. The August meeting will be held as scheduled on August 25.

Mary Overlie, Chair

June 2012

Membership Dues vs. Equity

On June 10, we celebrate our first year in the new store. We’ve had a year to delight in a wide selection of fresh, organic produce— a year to sample new regional cheeses— a year to shop freely without ‘doing the bump’ with our fellow shoppers.

We’ve also had a year to upgrade our equity investment from $60 to $120 as Harmony member-owners. To keep your benefits as Coop owners, you’ll want to ensure that you upgrade your own equity investment by June 10. If you choose not to upgrade, all your membership benefits will end as of June 10. You can pay the $60 all at once or sign up for the gentle payment plan with any cashier.

Some member-owners hold a mistaken belief that a membership in Harmony is like a membership dues at a place like Sam’s Club, whereby you pay the fee and get the discounts in return. However, when you join up with Harmony, you are buying stock in the business. You become a voting shareholder with all the rights, privileges, and economic benefits that come with your role. The $60 share that you originally bought as a member-owner has exponentially risen in value with the birth of the new store. To both help finance the expansion and recognize the actual value of member-owner shares, the member-owners voted 2½ years ago to increase the initial share investment to $120.

If you have already upgraded your member-owner investment, your Coop’s future thanks you. If you haven’t, you have until June 10 to do so.

On October 28th the membership gathered at the United Methodist Church meeting room. Harmony’s staff prepared a fantastic tex mex dinner for our owners and it was a wonderful chance to see familiar faces and a few new faces as well. Board treasurer Mary Overlie led a great discussion on ways Harmony could strengthen the community’s connection to local and organic foods prior to the start of the official meeting. The question is also posted to Harmony’s Facebook page so if you have some ideas head over to FB and post on our wall.

During the official meeting board, general manager, and treasurer’s reports were given, as well as a demonstration of our new web site. Owners were encouraged to sign up for Harmony’s newsletter (which you can do at the bottom of this web page). Director’s election results were tabulated and announced. Elected to three year terms were Judy Boorman, Bridget Stomberg and Ryan Zemek. Judy and Bridget were appointed to fulfill vacancies on the board earlier this year and Ryan is a new member. Congratulations to our newly elected directors!!

Thanks to everyone who came out to do the important work necessary for our organization. Hope to see you all next year!!

Harmony’s Board of Directors would like to welcome you to our new space that we will be using to keep you, our owners, up to date on our organization and board activities. On this site you will find information on our monthly board meetings (see our Calendar), a log of our meeting minutes, and a monthly post by a board member about an issue the board is working or a topic of particular interest to the organization. You can also contact the board directly by using our contact form. Our board administrator will receive the email, and will forward it to board members. We look forward to this opportunity to serve you, and to represent you more effectively!