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Volume 6 Issue 48
NOVEMBER 24, 2016
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McHenry County News
Chicago
Your Very Own Grocery By Anne Eickstadt CORRESPONDENT
Employee owned grocery stores are wonderful. Service is excellent, new items are stocked by request, and prices are pretty reasonable. If you take that idea one step further, you get a community owned grocery store. You get the Food Shed Co-Op. That means that you, your friends, neighbors and co-workers own the store. “We have over 500 members now,” says Kate Heroux, Co-Op owner and volunteer. “We will need 1200 members to sustain the business.” “We are into this because of the nature of the co-op: fresh, organic, healthy, locally sourced produce, honey, all sorts of things. Whatever would be in a grocery store.” “We don’t have our store yet but we are building the community support necessary to open our doors soon. We are hoping to have a location for the store by next year,” Heroux tells me. “The first people have already been hired to take care of publicity and public relations.” This idea originated in a conversation between two friends. They were discussing the resilience of the community and how to improve it. By March, 2013, a dozen people had decided to do everything they could to make a McHenry County community owned grocery store a reality. So far, the McHenry County Food Cooperative has participated in more than 150 events, been awarded a USDA LFPP [Local Food Promotion Program] Grant, and completed a market study to ensure the Food Shed Co-Op will be a success. Owners and volunteers continue to spread the word about a community owned grocery store and the benefits it will offer. By joining the Food Shed, you will take back our food system by voting with your dollars, provide healthier food choices for the area, support local farms and the local
ANNE EICKSTADT PHOTO McHenry County News
Chef Tony Gomez and Kate Heroux are a couple of the many Food Shed Co-op owners who volunteer to tell people about the opportunities and advantages that the store will bring to the community.
food movement. The results of food co-ops like this have proven results according to the Food Shed website: “Build community and strengthen the local economy Support local farmers and other local food artisans Pay our workers a living wage
Stock items that are sustainably produced Promote food justice and accessibility to healthy food Provide clear labeling and full product disclosure Educate the community about healthy eating Add your goals as you will have a voice
and vote” “A lot of events are going on,” says volunteer and owner Chef Tony Gomez. So, if you want to help control the foods that you and your family has access to and keep more money in your local community, check out the Food Shed’s website at www. foodshed.coop or visit their Facebook page at Food Shed Co-Op.
Teddy bears for every age By Anne Eickstadt CORRESPONDENT
ANNE EICKSTADT PHOTO McHenry County News
Karen Evans of Kare ‘n Bears holds her favorite teddy bear.
Teddy bears have been welcomed into many households since their invention by the founder of the Ideal Toy Company. They were inspired and named after President Theodore Roosevelt. Invited to a black bear hunt by Mississippi Governor Andrew H. Longino, Roosevelt ended up as the only member of the group who had not found a bear. His assistants located a bear and tied it to a tree. They brought Roosevelt to the bear and suggested that he shoot it. Roosevelt felt that this would be extremely unsportsmanlike and refused. The newspapers quickly spread the story about big game hunter Theodore Roosevelt refusing to shoot big game. Political cartoonist Clifford Berryman lampooned the president in the Washington Post on November 16, 1902. A stuffed toy entrepreneur saw the cartoon and requested permission to name a stuffed toy bear after the president who would not shoot a bear. Receiving Roosevelt’s permission, he named the toys ‘Teddy’s
bears’. They became instantly popular and the bears went into mass production. Still popular to this day, teddy bears come in all shapes and sizes and come from many sources. Karen Evans of Kare’n Bears says, “I’ve been doing this for ten years. I experiment with different patterns.” She began making her own teddy bears when, “I went to a teddy bear show in Schaumburg. I could not afford even one teddy bear because they were so expensive. I came home and said ‘I think I can make my own’.” “When my mom was real sick,” she says, “I would sit up and make bears. The grandkids came along and I make bears. My bears are fully jointed. I make my own designs and use different fabrics. I get inspiration from my dreams. Or I’ll see a bear in a store window whose nose is different and I will go home to try it.” Therapists have discovered that teddy bears can help to alleviate anxiety, depression, insomnia and even eating disorders. They can ease separation anxiety in a child or
ease trust issues in adults who were abused as children. Therapy bears can be hugged and held. They listen attentively to our deepest and darkest secrets, pain, and unreleased feelings and never, ever tell anyone. They absorb tears without complaint and provide a bridge between the wounded adult and the innocent child who viewed stuffed animals as best friends. Stuffed bears have a way of easing loneliness, disappointment, and rejection and help to heal bruised and broken hearts. They work as well for adults as for children. Bears seem to work better than any other form of stuffed animal. One explanation is that bears are strong and protective. They are also warm and soft and cuddly. Even if you are not in need of Bear Therapy, it is still okay for adults as well as children to have teddy bears. As Karen Evans says, “They’re just fun.” Kare ‘n Bears with Karen Evans can be found at local craft shows. Or you can reach out to her on email at ckevans1963@yahoo.com.