January 2009,Vol. 38, No. 1 Manager’s Corner City’s Director of Sustainability Speaks Many Seats Open Update, Innovation, and Expansion… by Glenn Bergman, General Manager at Fall General Membership Meeting in This Spring’s As General Manager, it is my responsi- by Jay Winston PHOTO BY bility to make sure that you are informed Making a dramatic Board Elections C about the goals, activities, and potential is- move from church to ATHERINE Leadership Committee sues that we need to address. Whether from nightclub, Weavers Way Seeks Candidates Ready S me or from others at the co-op, you as an held its fall general mem- AYRE , to Serve on the Board owner, need to be informed. bership meeting at North BY PERMISSION OF THE by Northwest on Sunday, Expansion by Aron Goldschneider Since our market study was completed November 9, 2008. Judging in January, 2007, I have been working to by the remarkable level of The Weavers Way board elections may attendance, a working bar seem a little less fashionable than some oth- obtain a building in Chestnut Hill. There M T has been plenty of activity in Chestnut Hill appears to be an affective . A er elections in the news. No flyers directing draw. The meeting featured IRY during these tough economic times, with T people to vote on the wrong day. No confi- IMES businesses both new and long-established, a combination of Co-op dence-building Diebold voting machines. E business and an inspiring XPRESS No chads dangling, either. shutting their doors. We have been looking CITY OF PHILADELPHIA DIRECTOR OF SUSTAINABILITY at different opportunities and trying to read talk by guest speaker Mark And as for eligibility to serve, you don’t MARK ALAN HUGHES GAVE A FASCINATING, our tea leaves to determine the best road to Alan Hughes, Philadel- have to be a comedian or professional travel. Once we make a decision, we are phia’s Director of Sustain- ENTERTAINING AND INSPIRING TALK AT THE WEAVERS wrestler, don’t have to take botox injec- committed and need to muster up all of ability. WAY FALL GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING. tions, don’t have to be a household name in our resources. We will keep you abreast of Following remarks by members for the third year in a row. The Philadelphia, or even Mt. Airy, for that mat- any changes or decisions that need to be vice president David Woo and board mem- primary challenge, and opportunity, for the ter. made. I suggest that you sign up for the e- ber Sylvia Carter, who urged members Co-op continues to be expansion. This spring’s board election, though, mail newsletter Constant Contact on our committed to co-op principles to run for General Manager Glenn Bergman went may well be the most significant one of our web site so you can get special instant e- the board in the Spring election, board into detail concerning Co-op finances and lifetimes.1 In fact, Bob Noble tells me that mail updates. We might have to move president Nancy Weinman ran through the plans, reporting a 3.6 percent return last eight Board seats are up for grabs, with per- quickly and I would like to be able to di- Co-op’s impressive list of accomplishments year and $7.7 million in sales. In an update haps a few incumbents in the mix. That’s rectly inform you of our actions and not for the past year. Despite economic distress on expansion, Glenn also announced that eight out of eleven. Add in the fact that we have you hear about it in the newspaper. in the United States and the world, and sig- renovations are continuing at 555 Carpen- all want to see the Co-op continue to suc- Any major move will include an e-mail nificant reported losses for food industry ter Lane, which will house Weavers Way’s ceed, prosper, and perhaps even expand newsletter, a press release announcing giants, Weavers Way’s August audit shows membership and administrative offices. In into Chestnut Hill or Cheltenham in the that the Co-op’s finances continue to be (continued on page 10) (continued on page 12) (continued on page 19) safely in the black, with rebates going to Cheltenham’s CreekSide Co-op West Oak Lane Business Association Shops Moving Closer to Reality Weavers Way to Help Needy Families PHOTO BY J OHN B ARONE OVER 200 MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY GATHERED AT THE DECEMBER 18 MEET- ING OF CREEKSIDE CO-OP, WHERE THE CO-OP’S BOARD REVEALED ITS LOCATION. by Scott Laughlin, Jennifer Brandabur and Jonathan Community Development Corp. (CTCDC), McGoran, CreekSide Co-op Board of Directors the site of the former Ashbourne Market Isn’t it amazing what can happen in 12 has been secured by Weavers Way members months? Bob Kaufman and Ken Weinstein, princi- KARYN CONWAY (CENTER) OF THE WEST OAK LANE BUSINESS ASSOCIATION On December 17, 2007 Weavers Way pals of the Brinton Group development (WOLBA) STOPS BY THE WEAVERS WAY OGONTZ STORE TO BUY FOOD FOR organized a community meeting with the firm, to be developed as the location of residents of Cheltenham Township in or- CreekSide Co-op. THANKSGIVING BASKETS THAT WOLBA DISTRIBUTES TO NEEDY FAMILIES IN THE der to gauge interest in a food cooperative. CreekSide also began accepting member- AREA. HELPING HER ARE CO-OP STAFFER BERNADETTE JACKSON (L) AND Just 12 months later, the CreekSide Co-op ships at the , raising more than $26,000 in ASSISTANT STORE MANAGER ANTON GOLDSCHNEIDER (R). Board of Directors announced that, with member equity from 83 member households. the assistance of the Cheltenham Township (continued on page 21) Weavers Way Cooperative Association Presorted Standard Board Inside: 559 Carpenter Lane, Philadelphia, PA 19119 U.S. WW Recyclers Honored 2 www.weaversway.coop POSTAGE PAID Election Notice Product News 3 Philadelphia, PA We are seeking nominations for candi- Permit No. 2658 dates for the Weavers Way Board of Board Nomination Form 24 Directors. Elections will be held at the Weavers Way Co-op Spring Suggestions 24 General Membership Meeting And of course... scads more Sunday, May 17, 2009. See page 24 for more information PAGE 2 THE SHUTTLE JANUARY 2009 Editor’s Note W. Mt.Airy Neighbors’ Streetscapes Committee Tree Planting by Jonathan McGoran by Sara Allen PHOTO BY Among the big stories On Saturday, Nov. 15, over 40 hearty this month is an EPA volunteers turned out to plant 48 street S proposal to tax large live- ARA trees in 20 locations throughout West Mt A stock operations based on Airy. Organized by the Streetscapes Com- LLEN the greenhouse-effect methane emitted by mittee of WMAN, and led by Doris Kessler their livestock (kind of like a carbon and Dave Tukey, this semi-annual tree- hoof-print). planting is intended to restore tree cover Critics say this could bankrupt even along city streets. After enjoying coffee and “modest ranches,” which seems especially donuts supplied by the High Point Café, unfair, since the modest ones are probably volunteers set out in small groups to dig holding it in. Other concerns are that if holes in the “tree lawn” (the area between meat prices rise and consumption goes the street/curb and the sidewalk) and then down, people will seek protein from other plant and stake bare-root trees. Each group sources, like beans. While beans are inar- had a volunteer-trained tree planter from guably better for your heart (in fact, it is area businesses and arboretums, including said that the more you eat them, the better David Brothers Landscape, Morris Arbore- you feel), their consumption in humans has tum, Primex, and Wissahickon Tree and effects that essentially bring us back to square Landscape Services. Dirty but satisfied one. And if taxing bovine flatulence is awk- planters were rewarded for their efforts ward, imagine taxing the human version. with lunch supplied by Weavers Way Co-op. The idea of a flatulence tax, or “Flat The goal of the Streetscapes Commit- Tax,” has been around for many years. tee is to plan and implement environmental Since everyone “does it,” and would pre- improvements along the streets of West Mt sumably be taxed, it has become shorthand Airy. Three tree-planting days over the last THE STREETSCAPES COMMITTEE OF WMAN PLANTED 48 TREES ALONG STREETS for any tax proposal whereby everyone year have added over 100 trees to the IN WEST MT AIRY ON SATURDAY, NOV. 15. ONE GROUP PLANTED FOUR TREES pays the same amount. Some say this is canopy in Mt Airy. The committee is also ON THE “TREE LAWN” OUTSIDE 7020 WISSAHICKON AVENUE. PICTURED HERE, precisely the type of tax that should not be responsible for cleaning out and planting flat; why, for example, should a Gwyneth trees and perennials to make a small park at LEFT TO RIGHT, ARE VOLUNTEERS TOM SCHONMAKER, WENDY WILLARD, AND Paltrow pay the same as a Jim Belushi? the intersection of Allen’s Lane and Lin- CURT PONTZ. Others warn that anything but the simplest coln Drive. It has worked with SEPTA and Natural Resources, and administered by the 15 gallons of water per week) for the first structure would bring up all sorts of ques- people from the neighborhood to plan Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) in two years after planting, as well as tions about deductions and loopholes. It landscaping after the upcoming renovation cooperation with the Fairmount Park Com- mulching, weeding, and protecting the tree will give whole new meaning to the ques- of the Allen Lane R8 station. Long-term mission (FPC).