With the conclusion of this year’s board elections, we now have three new people stepping up to help the Co-op’s efforts to establish a community-owned, and community-grown, grocery store. It’s exciting to see our passionate members step up to serve in this very important role.
I want to take a moment, though, to acknowledge the three outgoing board members. Over the years, I’ve taken advantage of this platform to share my appreciation for many of the Co-op volunteers who I’ve been lucky to work with. Those include steering committee and the initial board members (Melanie Drake, Erica Graen, Julie Halevan, Steve Hoodjer, and Jaime Wilson), and many, many other volunteers. However, our three outgoing board members have been engaged since the very beginning and deserve some recognition.
Tom Wickersham, Kristel McClenahan, Amber Mann, Jaime Wilson at the Up and Coming Co-op Conference
AMBER MANN
Amber has been a constant force in the Co-op’s communications efforts. Amber attended the very first informational meeting back in September 2012 and has been involved ever since then. Over time she’s served on the Steering Committee, which later became the board, and she’s served as chair or co-chair of the Communications Committee since it began. More importantly, though, she’s stepped up to take on various tasks as needed, from being Rooty, to helping conduct photo shoots, to hosting a mail stuffing party at her home. Amber’s role has been mostly behind the scenes, helping with social media needs, and has taken on the enormous task of publishing the Garlic Press each month. That’s three years of corralling volunteer writers every month, no small feat! Thank you Amber for all your insight, and attention to details over the years!
Tom Wickersham and Dan Heit at the first co-op brew debut
DAN HEIT
Like Amber, Dan has been involved in the efforts of the Co-op since the beginning. Dan has been on the steering committee and then later on the board, and he’s also served as chair or co-chair for the Operations Committee since it began. Dan also served for 2 years as the board’s vice president. Dan has been instrumental in so many Co-op projects, most notably with the Fall Food Fest and the online voting. Dan has contributed many personal hours to this effort, but has also contributed financially as well, often covering for needed purchases like buying the original folding table that has been used, and now retired!, for so many co-op booths. It’s worth noting that Dan has done all of that on top of his busy personal life — during the five years since he began volunteering for the Co-op, he’s gotten married, welcomed with his wife 2 boys into the world, and is nearly done with a whole house remodel project. Dan, thank you for all you’ve done to help strengthen the backbone of the Co-op!
KRISTEL MCCLENAHAN
Like Amber and Dan, Kristel has been involved in the Co-op planning since the very beginning. She served on the steering committee, which later became the board of directors. She served as the group’s first treasurer, and served as the chair or co-chair for the Finance Committee. It’s worth noting that Kristel took on the role of treasurer not because that was something that she was excited about or had a background in. No, Kristel’s willingness to take on this was because she saw a gap where others weren’t stepping up, so she did. That has been Kristel’s legacy for the Co-op, taking on the projects or tasks that were the least popular. As a result, and as part of her steadfast commitment to the Co-op, Kristel has been the glue that holds all the volunteers together. In fact, in the 5 years and countless volunteer involvement in this effort, no one person has been as crucial to the Co-op’s day-to-day operations as Kristel. Thank you Kristel for all you’ve done for the Co-op. The Cedar Falls community owes you a big round of applause for your constant work.
I know Amber, Dan, and Kristel’s involvement isn’t over yet, as they’ll continue to assist with committee work. But I just wanted to share with all of you how special they have been to the Co-op and to me.
Thank you.
In cooperation,
Tom Wickersham