events

The Great River Co-op will be hosting this year's Thanksgiving Farmers' Market on the Common in Walpole to ensure safe social distancing. Join us on November 21st from 10am to 2pm. 

We hope you'll come out and peruse the seasonal goodies available from your favorite local farms and producers while catching up with good friends and getting ready for the Thanksgiving Feast!

We will be taking extra safety precautions as we did with this past summer's farmers market. We ask that vendors wear masks, especially while in close proximity to customers. We will also encourage customers to wear masks and will have disposable ones available for those who need them. We will also provide hand sanitizer and make sure that booths will be socially distanced as well.

For information about becoming a vendor, contact Karen West at karenwest916@gmail.com. The cost for a space will be $20 - please reserve by October 31st! 

Please share, and invite friends and neighbors to attend!

We hope to see you there! 

The Great River Co-op will be hosting the Thanksgiving Farmers' Market in the Walpole Town Hall on Saturday, November 23rd from 9am to 1pm. The Market will be held inside this year, so the weather can't ruin our fun!

We hope you'll come out and peruse the seasonal goodies available from your favorite local farms and producers while catching up with good friends and getting ready for the Thanksgiving Feast!

For information about becoming a vendor, contact Karen West at karenwest916@gmail.com. The cost for a space will be $20.

Please share, and invite friends and neighbors to attend!

We hope to see you there! 

This October, the Great River Co-op is joining over 40,000 co-operatives and credit unions across the United States in celebrating Co-op Month, observed nationally since 1964. To celebrate, the Great River Co-op board of directors will be holding an informal listening series of events at locations within the region.

This year’s theme, “Co-ops: By the Community, For the Community,” was chosen by the National Cooperative Business Association to promote how co-operative enterprises enable people to work together to meet their needs and build stronger communities.

Informal Listening Session one  will be at the Walpole Town Hall, Saturday, October 19th  from 10:00am to noon.

Informal Listening Session two will be at Wunderbar on Sunday, October 27th from 3-5pm.

The Great River Co-op held its Annual Meeting on Tuesday, April 30th at the Congregational Church in Walpole. 

Amanda Littleton, District Manager of the Cheshire County Conservation District, spoke to attendees about the challenges and opportunities for a robust regional food system. Citing local examples of initiatives and programs already in place, her talk left attendees educated and enthused to do their part to contribute. 

Stop by the Walpole Thanksgiving Farmer's Market this Saturday, November 17th from 9am to 1pm on The Walpole Common to sample some of the best local foods and wares around! 

We'll have fresh baked goods, local cheese, wreaths and swags, soaps, candles, salves and bath and body items - plus more!

There are still tables available as well. Shoot an email to Sean Fortier at Sean@meetingwatersymca.org to reserve your space!

The Great River Co-op, a startup cooperative grocery store coming to Walpole, will screen Food For Change on April 18th at 6:00 pm during its 2018 Annual Meeting.

The event will take place at the Bellows Falls Opera House with regular concessions. Tickets will be by donation.  

Food for Change tells the story of the cooperative movement in the United States in a way that is both entertaining and informative.  It includes interviews with co-op workers, rare archival footage, and narration by the film’s director, Steve Alves. Alves will be available at the meeting for a question and area period around the film.

Stop by the Walpole Thanksgiving Farmers' Market this Saturday, November 18th from 9am to 1pm on the common to sample some of the best local foods and wares around! 

We'll have fresh baked goods, local cheese, wreaths and swags, soaps, candles, salves and bath and body items - plus more!

There are still tables available as well. Shoot an email to brucebickford65@aol.com to reserve your space!

It's official!  Our new sign is up in our future location, next to the Hungry Diner on Route 12 in Walpole! 

Those in attendance for the photo are from Left to Right: Steve Fortier, Board President Kim Mastrianni, Tedd Benson, Christine Benson, Co-op Volunteer Gretchen Markiewicz, Board Member Bruce Bickford, Board Member Ali Trow, Volunteer Judy Trow, and Sean Fortier.

Have you seen the new sign yet?

Our 2^nd Annual Great River Co-op Harvest Dinner is coming up on Sunday, October 15^th.   

The evening will begin with a cocktail hour sponsored by Huber Engineered Woods. Guests will enjoy the evening's signature cocktail, and take this time to peruse a collection of silent auction items donated by local businesses. 

The dinner will be a multi-course meal featuring as many local ingredients as possible-menu to be revealed on Facebook very soon!  Seating will be family style, and the meals will be plated and served in the Bellows Walpole Inn Dining room.  

(Continue reading to see our silent auction items!)

October is National Co-op month and we’re celebrating by holding a Harvest Dinner fundraiser!  Hosted at the Bellows Walpole Inn in Walpole Village, the dinner will feature local producers from NH and VT in a spectacular 5 course meal.  From the pumpkin soup to the bread to the cream for your coffee and everything in between, it's all here, grown right in our own backyard!

That's what the Great River Co-op is about; keeping it local and supporting our community.  By creating a community owned cooperative market whose focus is promoting our local producers and connecting them to the community.  Together, we can build awareness for local healthy foods that nourish and strengthen our community.  We will provide jobs, we will provide education, we will keep our investments local.  But it can't happen without you.  This is a co-op.  It's not a private enterprise.  It's owned and run by the member-owners.  It requires you to get involved at some level in order to become a reality. 

Now is the time to step up.  If you aren't a member, please join over 500 of your friends and neighbors and become a member now.  If you are already a member, please like us on Facebook and share the posts.  It's amazing how that helps get the word out.  Also consider purchasing more shares to become a voting member, getting your friends to join, and/or joining a committee or our the board.  We want and need member-owner input in order to bring this community store to life.      

And by all means, come to the Harvest dinner-and bring your friends!  It's going to be delicious!

Thanks,

Your Board

Join us in National Celebration of Co-op Month in October

This October, The Great River Food Co-op is joining over 30,000 co-ops and credit unions across the United States in celebrating Co-op Month, recognizing the many ways co-operatives help to build stronger communities and more resilient local economies. For 2016, the National Cooperative Business Association CLUSA International has identified “Co-operatives Build” as the theme for the month, spotlighting the advantages co-ops offer to their members and the communities in which they live and work.

Locally, we’ll be celebrating Co-op Month with a Harvest Dinner on October 16th.  Held at the Bellows Walpole Inn, the dinner will feature as many local ingredients as possible.  Like our Facebook page for updates as we finalize details, and please consider helping out with the event.  We would love your support!

By Marilou Blaine

Cookbook lovers, a new Walpolean and at least one person who confesses to not liking to cook took part in the first Cookbook Challenge at the Bridge Memorial Library on June 28. Nine participants tasted dishes made with artichokes, arugula, avocados, Brussel sprouts, leeks, radishes, Yukon gold potatoes and lots of the traditional summer vegetables.

Join us August 12-14 in Amherst, MA!

www.nofasummerconference.org