How
did it start?
- compiled by Kym Dow, our intrepid reporter and worker.
Recently
I met with Tara Lilburne who, along with her family,
housed the co-op in their garage for six years from 1980 to 1986!
In 1980, Tara had just moved up from
A management team involving some of the members (including
Originally there were 15 to 20 households on the roster covering the one half
day opening on Saturday mornings. After about one and a half years the group
amalgamated with another buying group from
In May of 1986 Tara and her family moved, and so did the Co-op, into the first
independently rented premises. John Cale, the owner
of the building in Megalong St, was very supportive
of the move, asking small rent and accepting modifications. At this time Tara
became the full-time tenant advisor at the Katoomba Neighbourhood Centre, and
Tracey Morgan became one of the first ever paid workers at the Food Co-op.
The following year Tara and Chris Marks applied for grants to mobilise the co-op, which didn't eventuate - it's such an
innovative concept!
While talking to
Thanks very much for a wonderfully long cup of tea,
Where
we came from
At
the Co-op planning day in November 1999 there was keen interest in finding out
about the origins of the co-op, and the original visions and directions
motivating its formation. With an average of 8 new members a week now (January
2000), there are new pressures and opportunities to do what we already do,
better. We want to reflect back and acknowledge the strong community spirit
(often intense spirit) on which the co-op is built, to the new members who may
think we're just a shop, and to the many generous people who have contributed.
If you're reading this and have a story or any contribution at all to make, it
would be fantastic to hear from you!
Key
Events
Excerpt
from CO-OP NEWS APRIL 1986
We're expanding! On a trial basis the hours of the co-op
are being extended to include Tuesdays. Our new times are:
Tuesdays 12 - 4.30pm
Thursdays 12 - 4.30pm
Saturdays 10am - 2.30pm
Ruth Walker is doing the first month voluntarily, and if the sales on Tuesday
warrant it, we will stay open these extended hours permanently. At the moment
there are not enough profits from sales to pay the Tuesday worker, so please,
tell your friends about the benefits of being a member of the co-op.
We are also having to increase our general mark-up on
goods from 30% to 35%. This 5% increase is due to a number of factors - an
increase in workers wages from $5 to $7 an hour, two extra hours per week for
the co-ordinator, the increase in freight and
insurance costs, and rental increase.
A market
day will be held on the first Saturday of the month (weather permitting). Bring
anything you'd like to sell and something to put it on. Perhaps you can share a
stall with a friend. There is no charge for this. Also at 12 noon on the first
Saturday is a cooking demonstration - this month Jo Redd
is making Nori Rolls - come along and learn something
new.
Hopefully
you're not feeling too hassled about being asked for your membership card when
you visit the co-op. Legally we can only sell to
members. That's why our prices are so reasonable compared to shops, and also
why we ask for your help voluntarily if you can. This also keeps costs down.
Membership fees pay for things like the flashy new sign that we now put out on
The last working bee on the 15th of March saw the garden much improved. Thanks
so much to the three wonderful volunteers who did this. The next working bee
will be on the 17th of May (Saturday) at 2pm. Please come if you can and help
with shelving, painting and cleaning. Ring
Recollections
and Reflections
- by Ian McLeod (October 2000)
I
wasn't living in the mountains at the time that the co-op was being run from a
members garage, but the period between when the co-op was in Megalong St was a good time - a time of growth and
consolidation in the early years. I joined in 1983 and have been a member ever
since. I was living in Woodford back then and used to make the trek every
fortnight (sometimes weekly) for my supplies. I remember well the local incense
blown from Tunks next door - the sweet smell of blood
and bone wafted on westerly breezes. Ah yes, those were the days, the days of
customer parking and free mud baths in the entrance driveway for the kiddies
and the big kiddies; the regular digging out of funnel web spiders amongst the
toys left outside; the management committee meetings with a quorum of two
(usually 2 people turned up for the meeting) and the regular mowing of the
little oasis of lawn and watering of trees and bushes that made the co-op a
sparkling diamond, a little Garden of Eden amidst the industrial wasteland of
upper Megalong St. The high winds of August through
to November brought occasional threats of the mighty She Oaks that line the
surrounds of Tunks collapsing due to their positions
on the banks. You could never be sure walking down if you were going to be
clobbered by a falling branch as well. Risky business this food co-op shopping
I can tell you.
Thursdays were days of high anxiety for the workers as the co-op stayed open
till 7pm(?) back then, and there was always the threat
of masked bandits with sawn-off shotguns making raids on the co-op at this late
hour when no one was around. There was also the occasional game of "find
which bin the float was hidden in or under the night before" to keep
workers cheery and contented.
The move to
The move to the Plaza was the best thing that could have happened to the co-op
even though I had my doubts at first.
Now here in