Amazing Pesto and Really Good Bread

Every month, the North Quabbin Time Bank, Montague Farm Zendo, and Zen Peacemakers Zen House work together to host a delicious event at Bethany Lutheran Church in Orange in which you can take part!

The event is open to anyone, and as Karen Werner, a founding member of NQTB puts it, "These are really good meals!" (Click here to learn more about Karen and what else she does with the Time Bank!)

What's for Dinner?

The suppers are well attended; usually 60 to 75 people show up to eat and chat. This is not a potluck; the food is provided by volunteers. Some popular dishes from past dinners include lamb tajine, meatloaf, roasted locally grown potatoes and sweet potatoes, and apple cider from local apples.

“And the salmon," Karen interjects. "It was like a wedding, the food was so good! We have really amazing pesto and good bread," she adds.


Just the Facts, Ma'am

The next two suppers are Thursday, November 19 and Thursday, December 17. Bethany Lutheran Church is located at 62 Cheney Street, in Orange. The doors open at 4:00 for a community hangout before the meal. Those interested can participate in a meditation before the meal. The meal starts promptly at 5:30.

Earn Time Dollars as a Server, Cook, or Entertainer!

Four Time Bank members already participate as servers at the meals. Time Bank members can earn time dollars as servers, or by preparing a dish, or by providing entertainment for the meal. Musicians, jugglers, servers, cooks, etc., please email Karen Werner at kwerner@montaguema.net. Karen coordinates the event and will be happy to hook you up! OR go to the Zen Peacemaker's House easy-to-use interactive Wiki-page to sign up for various tasks (donating, preparing food, serving, etc.).

What's Karen's final word on the monthly Zen House/Bethany Lutheran suppers?

“It's a chance to feed each other with food and good community.”



NEWS FLASH: Read about October's dinner below!

Well-Loved Meatloaf & Inconceivable Cupcakes

The meal on Thursday, Oct. 22 at Bethany Lutheran Church in Orange included a visit from Orange Town Manager Rick Kwiatkowski, who helped serve up an "amazing meatloaf," according to Time Bank member and monthly meal manager, Karen Werner. Most of the meal featured locally grown foods! (Check out the gorgemous local sweet potatoes above donated by Sarah and Woody Bliss!)

Shout-outs of thanks to Amy Mays for "that well-loved meatloaf," John Genyo Sprague for roasted root veggies with rosemary, Steve Garabedian for garlic-infused kale and purple cabbage, Sensei Eve Myonen Marko for bottles of juice, Suzanne Webber and Karen Kisui Werner for homemade applesauce, and to Kuya Minogue for fab potato au gratin, Cliff Fornier for an "inconceivable amount" of donated cupcakes, pies, and cookies, and to the Leverett Food Coop for four loaves of yummy bread.

But it's not just the food that makes a community meal. Servers, eaters, and cleaner-uppers Deb Pond, Kuya Minogue, Karen Werner, and Geoff BoGai Taylor from the Zen House/ Montague Farm Zendo communities and Brian Nugent from the TimeBank also made it happen. (As did a mysterious appearance of pineapple upside down cake, to celebrate the birthday of David Chapman.)

We hope to see YOU at the next meal! Come for the good food and community! For more info or to sign up to help, see the monthly meal Wiki site.

Karen Werner: I Love the Exchanges

by Sharon Wachsler

Long-time members of the North Quabbin Time Bank no doubt know Karen Werner was a founding force behind the Time Bank and a key leader once the organization got rolling.

Some may recognize Karen's voice from the impressive video she made about the organization One Equals One. (Scroll down to the lower left corner of the blog to watch it, yourself!)

For the past three years, Karen was a Time Bank member and co-coordinator. With new coordinators at the helm, some are asking, "Where's Karen?"

Never fear! Karen's still here, but taking a different role. I had a chance to chat with Karen about her past and present role with NQTB.

Sharon: What have you most enjoyed about your participation in NQTB?

Karen: Meeting people and doing exchanges. I've been really blown away by the people I've gotten to know through exchanges and the Time Bank.

Matching up people who are seeking or offering compatible services has been very rewarding, as well.

But most of all, I've loved doing the exchanges. I love how much people get the common-sense nature of the Time Bank. There are a lot of people at the community meal who want to get signed up, and many are low income or older people, and they so get it.

Sharon: What is it that's "blown you away" when doing exchanges?

Karen: The care that people take. I just didn't quite realize [before I started doing them], that doing exchanges for the Time Bank would open up a world of friendship. Even though I understood the theoretical idea, I didn't get how the sense of caring would be so different than when I pay for a service.

Sharon: What are you doing these days?

Karen: I'm working at Zen Peacemakers and developing a Zen house, which borrows from the Catholic worker house model – a form of social ministry with social enterprise. This is a way of drawing on my interest in community economies and community relationships as a form of development. The details are still coming together.

Sharon: Does any of this connect directly with NQTB today?

Karen: Yes, I'm still a member, and the Zen House project is a member. We're sponsoring community meals in orange. (Click here to read about the monthly community meals.)

I've just chaired a panel on community currencies in the state of Massachusetts, involving facilitating a conversation with the organizers of all the Time Banks in Massachusetts. I'm really excited about the new NQTB leadership and excited that we helped inspire the Northampton Time Bank, which is just starting up.

* * *

True to her word, Karen continues as an active member and inspiration. She's the first person I've done a time trade with, and she's right, I do feel like we've made a personal connection!

Nov 19 Thanksgiving Meal A Huge Success!

Timebank members make it happen! Be part of the next one, on December 17!

Here is a write-up by Karen Werner, Time Bank member.

The Montague Farm Zendo/Zen House and North Quabbin Timebank Thanksgiving meal at Bethany Lutheran Church in Orange, Mass., was an ambitious one, and an extraordinary number of hands held this effort.

STEP 1: GATHERING OUR INGREDIENTS

Local farmers donated produce and poultry:
Brooks Bend Farm (onions from Montague soil)
Diemand Farms (huge turkeys)
Enterprise Farms (boxes of kale and cabbage)
Smiarowski Farm in Hadley (50 pounds of potatoes)

Plus, Laurie Smith gave us a 20 pound bag of local carrots.

Businesses made donations:
2nd Street Bakery in Turners (two huge sheets of amazing, amazing dessert);
Atkins Market in Amherst (lots of apple cider);
Big Y ($20 gift certificate);
Green Fields Co-op Market ($40 gift certificate);
Leverett Co-op (bread for stuffing);
Whole Foods Market ($50 gift certificate);

Thanks also to Tracey Levy at the Amherst Survival Center (baguettes donated for the stuffing)!

Special thank you to Ginni Stern for contacting many of these farmers and businesses and organizing the donations.

Individuals donated money:
Thank you, once again, Duncan Sings-Alone for your monthly contribution to this meal. It keeps our spirits high. And, thank you also to the two people who quietly slipped $20 bills into our Orange meals envelop in the Zen Peacemakers main hall foyer.

STEP 2: WHIPPING THESE INGREDIENTS INTO A MEAL

Amy Mays and John Genyo Sprague cooked one of the huge turkeys, and Amy made truly inspired stuffing and LOTS of it! Amy also made kale chips.
Steve Ryusan Garabedian whipped up the mashed potatoes -very yum.
Petriana Dantika Monize and Ginni Stern prepared the carrots with herbs grown by Nancy Inzan and Ike Chosui Eichenlaub -the herbs are newly transplanted into our Montague Farm greenhouse.
Laurie Smith, mentoring Karen Kisui Werner, prepared two turkeys in the farmhouse kitchen -plus Laurie made gravy and four pies that were devoured at the meal.
Ginni Stern prepped another batch of stuffing -which Laurie Smith also had an able hand in. And then Laurie proceeded to make a vegetarian stuffing option, too.
Sarah and Woody Bliss grew purple cabbages and transformed them into sweet and sour cabbage, adding to the color of this extraordinary meal.
Sensei Eve Myonen Marko made fresh cranberry sauce -so tart and snappy!
Wendy and David, newcomers to the Montague Farm Zendo sangha (don't yet know their last names), prepared another of the turkeys. Excited to have them on board.

STEP 3: TRANSPORTING IT ALL

Special thanks to Bluey and his driver Geoff BoGai Taylor for transporting much of the food from the Montague Farmhouse to Bethany Lutheran.

STEP 4: SINGING OUR PRAISES

Court Dorsey, singing and playing banjo, led us all in a rousing musical blessing of the meal, with Geoff BoGai accompanying on melodica.

STEP 5: SERVING DA MEAL & CLEANIN' UP

Big thanks to those who served the meal (and helped prepare leftover care-packages!) for the 60+ attendees, schmoozed, and tidied:

Judith Myoki Breier
Beki Smith
Sensei Eve Myonen
John Genyo
Amy Mays
Dianne Engel-Dragon
Brian Nugent (NQ TimeBank)
Karen Kisui
Geoff Bogai

STEP 6: CYCLE BEGINS AGAIN

Want to join in? Please be in touch with me (karen@zenpeacemakers.com)or John Sprague (sunyata@valinet.com) if you'd like to be part of our Dec. 17th meal, whether by donating, cooking, serving, playing music, etc. We'd love to keep expanding the many hands that create and hold this offering.

Warmly, Karen

Fabulous Wendell Potluck!

Here is a slide show of the splendid potluck we had in Wendell on July 7th. Members can login to the Time Bank website to see the new offerings and requests of our new Wendell members:

Gabby's First Japanese Lesson with Miya

June 15 Time Bank Sewing Class at YES

James helps out with babysitting.

Karen W. enjoys Karen P.'s sewing instruction.

June 22, 2009 News

Welcome to new members Amy B., Amy S., Ashley S., Charlie K., Eric W., James F., Joanie C-M, Mary H., Mellissa A., Nancy K., and Walker K. We also have a new organizational membership, The Trustees of Reservations.

Some brand new offers include: massage by a certified massage therapist; garden help; resume making; drainage and digging; teaching how to make a rainwater catchment system; face painting for parties; math tutoring; military counseling; sewing; canoe rides; dog sitting.

You can now spend NQ Time Bank credit on weeknight canoe and kayak rentals at Tully Lake!

And new requests include: piano lessons; housecleaning; farm work; tree and shrub work; garden bench construction; child care; rides; and IT help.