Vibrant Celebration of Cooperation at 2009 Co-op Expo and Annual Meeting
added 05/11/09
On Saturday, April 4, over 400 Co-op members and residents from 28 Upper Valley communities came to the Co-op Expo and Annual Meeting to learn about cooperative solutions to today’s economic challenges. Thirty-five exhibitors filled Hanover’s Francis C. Richmond Middle School gymnasium, providing information on cooperative insurance, funeral services, agriculture, and housing, as well as credit unions, fair trade, solar power, and sustainability. Vendors and Co-op chefs kept attendees well-fed while they visited exhibits, met with Board candidates, and talked about the state of the Co-op with Board members and staff.
“Cooperation is a vibrant phenomenon in the Upper Valley” and “the state of the Hanover Co-op is good,” asserted President Donald Kreis during his opening remarks to the 65 members who gathered in the cafeteria for the business meeting. The new Co-op Community Market and the outstanding efforts of the staff to alert members about the recent peanut products recall also received enthusiastic reviews.
Co-op members took advantage of this opportunity to link with the Board in lively dialogue. The topic of Board term limits was discussed, with a motion made and approved by voice of the majority for the Board to consider an amendment to the bylaws establishing term limits. In response to concern about Co-op employees who smoke in public view, members were reminded of the tobacco policy passed by the Board last August, which includes smoking cessation services for staff and members in preparation for Co-op facilities becoming smoke-free on January 1, 2010.
The Board honored Dr. William Boyle, a pediatrician at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, with the Allen and Nan King Award for Community Service in recognition of his collaborative approach to the delivery of health care, his outstanding qualities as a teacher and role model for new physicians, and his service to the Town of Hanover as Health Officer.
The event closed with the raffle of a Troy-Bilt rototiller and a Neuton electric lawn mower donated by area merchants and a general sense of celebration among those in attendance.
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