Design work on the new Gays Mills Community Commerce Center, including the shared-use commercial kitchen we have been working for, will begin this week.

Two of us from the Kickapoo Kitchen Project, Russell Gilbert and I, have been appointed to the committee that will design the center, which will also contain a new library, village offices and a new meeting hall.

You can help us influence the kitchen design. Think of it this way . . . think about you could do in a $200,000 kitchen if it only cost you $15 an hour to use.

If you have you zeroed in on any special needs -- for acidifying, baking, bottling, catering, chopping, cooking, dehydrating, distributing, freezing, labeling, licensing, packing, prepping, registering, storing, selling, or shipping a food product since last we communicated -- let us know.

A lot of money will be spent on this project. If it's design does not meet your needs, a lot of money could be wasted.

Brad

Come join the Food and Farm Initiative in our second gleaning event. We will meet at noon at the back of the Viroqua High School Parking Lot near the kitchen loading docks and carpool out to area farms.

We will then return to the high school cafeteria to wash and pack produce from 4-6PM.

Fresh veggie food boxes will be delivered to the residents of Park View Manor in Viroqua on Saturday July 17th at 10 am. Stay tuned for a kitchen cooking demo at 11am!

Last month was a great success with 37 residents signed up and this month we have 39. Thanks to Ridgeland Harvest, Keewaydin Organics and Harmony Valley for their generous donations in June.

Contact Nicole for more details or to sign up to volunteer. 608-637-3615 vsnnicole@gmail.com

There seems to be a day on the calendar for just about everything, but the World Wide Knit in Public Day to promote fiber crafts on an international level is now upgraded to a whole week, June 12-19! Ewetopia will be celebrating this exciting event on Saturday June 19th from 10-2pm with seating outside the shop for knitters, crocheters, spinners and other fiber artists who are interested in showing off and promoting their crafts. We will also celebrate with sales on some great yarns and snacks.

More on the history of the event in the full story...

Donna Justin is the proprietor of eco-friendly Justin Trails Resort LLC in Sparta,
WI.  Donna and her husband, Don, took a small dairy farm and twenty-five years of
projects adding log cabins, whirlpool suites and numerous outdoor activities to
create an eco-friendly sustainable resort.  The resort caters to the outdoor
adventurer with access to the Elroy-Sparta Bike Trail, hiking snowshoe and ski
trails, disc golf, dog-sledding and tent camping.  

More details in the full story...

We hope to see you there!
Sue

 This should be a nice addition to the resale offerings in the area, one focussed on children's clothes, maternity needs and lightly used toys.

Finding the store is a trick, follow this map...click here

Description from the website is in the full story...or go to their website here

Wednesday,  May  1 2 th
Western Technical College,
220 South Main Street, Viroqua
Networking starts at 5:30, the program begins at 6:00 pm

The topic will be "Guerilla Marketing" with Sarah Arendt, Marketing Director for AVS
Marketing Group, La Crosse

Learn about free, unconventional, and attention getting approaches to marketing your product, business, or event through "Guerilla Marketing!" Guerilla marketing typically involves unusual approaches including intercept encounters in public places, street giveaways, or PR stunts. These forms of marketing are particularly suited to small organizations and entrepreneurs because they are generally to their customers and to the local media that large firms. The speaker, Sarah Arendt, will share tips on how to be an effective guerilla marketer, take advantage of marketing opportunities during the tourist season, and make the most of your marketing budget in the down economy.

Sarah Arendt is the Marketing Director for AVS Group, a La Crosse-based marketing agency specializing in strategic marketing and branding. Her responsibilities include conducting customer research for AVS Group's Business to Business and Business to Consumer clients. AVS group provides marketing resources online www.avsgroup.com including a library of informative articles about strategic marketing and branding, Web design and development, video production, graphic design, writing, and trade shows as well as a quarterly marketing e-Newsletter, "WAVES", that includes tips, tricks, and marketing insights based on business case studies.

Plan to attend the Inventors and Entrepreneurs Club for a dynamic evening of networking with lots of creative people and plenty of resources to help you start or grow your business. Everyone is welcome and meetings are free and open to the public. The Vernon Crawford Inventors and Entrepreneurs Club is supported by Vernon Economic Development Association and the Crawford County UW Extension Program in Economic Development. For more information about this and other I&E Club meetings, check out http://www.veda-wi.org/ or http://crawford.uwex.edu/cnred/index.html or contact us at the numbers below.

Hope to see you there!
Sue & Laura

Wednesday  May 5 th, 2010
Prairie du Chien City Hall  214 East Blackhawk Ave
Networking starts at 5:30 pm. Program begins at 6:00 pm.

This month's topic will be  
 "Being Successful on Purpose: Building Customer Service,  Leadership ,    
 and Communication in  Your Business"  
 with author and acclaimed motivational speaker Ray Saint

Meetings are held every first Wednesday of the month.

Ray Saint has been building leaders and teaching others for most of his adult life. He believes in leading by example and speaks from experience. Through his company, Positive Focus Inc., Ray has provided Personal Development and Leadership Training to organizations and individuals for the past fifteen years. He provides his clients with "real-time" solutions and practical applications that are guaranteed to affect the bottom line both personally and professionally. His unique ability to inspire individuals from the front line to the boardroom has made him a sought after inspirational leader. His keynotes, workshops, and seminars are built around the needs of clients and are nationally recognized as being thought provoking, humorous, and educational. Ray is also a Master Instructor (5th degree black belt) and has twenty-six years experience in the martial arts disciplines of Tae Kwon Do and Hap Ki Do. Over this period of time, he has taught over ten thousand individuals the positive leadership traits of self-maximization. Ray is also the author of the new book, "It's great to be you." Read more about Ray at http://www.raysaint.com/

More info below the fold...