Making the Shift - Annual Meeting 2010 Program

Join Oregon Rural Action for its 9th Annual Meeting on October 9th at the Bohnenkamp Building in La Grande. This year's event will include (click for more info on a specific item):

• A keynote by John Fullerton
• A panel discussion with community leaders
• Chili feed, dessert, no host bar
  
• Silent and live auctions
• Contra dance with caller and live music by the Two by Twos
  

Oregon Rural Action is a membership organization and we invite you to join us for this exciting event. If you're not already a member, join and get in free. Admission is otherwise $10 for nonmembers.

Only 125 tickets available, so be sure to get yours early. See options for purchasing tickets or reserving if you're a member.

Help spread the word by printing out the event poster (PDF 1Mb) and putting it up in your community!

Schedule

3:30 pm - Reception
4:00 pm - Keynote and Panel Discussion: "A Conversation with John Fullerton"
5:30 pm - Eating, drinking, conversing, bidding in the auctions
7:00 pm - Silent auction closes and dancing begins

About the Keynote Speaker:

John Fullerton joined finance giant JPMorgan right out of college with a degree in economics. Focused on the role of finance to foster economic development throughout the world, he sought a career where he could bring together economics and finance in the context of international relations. Ultimately he expected he would wind up at the World Bank.

For nearly 20 years John worked his way up the ranks of JPMorgan, becoming one of the youngest managing directors in the firm's history.  He helped lead Morgan's global capital markets businesses during a period of unprecedented dynamism as globalization spread first across finance in the 1980s and 90s.  John became increasingly aware that modern finance was fueling an unsustainable economic system and felt morally obligated to take a proactive role in reversing the situation. 

In 2001 John left the firm and turned his attention to addressing this problem, culminating with the conception of the Capital Institute at the outset of the current financial crisis. John founded the Capital Institute to raise "awareness of the need to harness the power of capital and markets to advance a just, resilient, and sustainable economic system that will improve lives and preserve the planet."

As the keynote speaker at Oregon Rural Action's Annual Meeting on October 9, John will be sharing an overview of the current economic situation and moving into success stories on how communities are building vibrant local economies amidst the broken global financial system. He'll also be leading a discussion with a panel of local leaders on entrepreneurship, clean energy, and sustainable agriculture.

"We may believe that 'small is beautiful' in our hearts, but our heads are teaching us that 'big wins,' and experience has taught us to ignore our logical heads at our peril. Nevertheless, our conscience is telling us, now more than ever, that something is amiss. A new era is struggling to unfold."

- John Fullerton, "The Relevance of E. F. Schumacher in the 21st Century"

About the Community Leader Panelists:

Cory Carman:

Cory Carman was raised on a cattle ranch in Wallowa Valley, Oregon, where her family has lived since 1913. After studying at Stanford University and working in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles, she returned to rural Oregon in 2003. In response to a huge demographic shift and an influx of new owners in her community, Cory began a management company called Wallowa Land Services that encourages new property owners to learn about sustainable management and to integrate with the local community.

In addition, she and her husband, David, operate her family's 2,000-acre ranch, raise registered cattle, sell grass-fed beef and are engaged in multiple habitat and ecosystem restoration projects. Cory sits on the board of Wallowa Resources, a local nonprofit, and is working with a group of local ranchers to explore collective marketing options for grass-fed beef. Cory loves being part of a rural community, spending time on the ranch with David and their three small children, and escaping into the wilderness when even the rural life gets too hectic.

Joel Rice:

Joel Rice is a psychiatrist, philanthropist and entrepreneur in La Grande. Originally from Ohio, he grew up milking cows and shoveling manure on his family farm that still exists today. He took an interest in medicine in his twenties and attended the University of North Carolina. Later he completed a residency in psychiatry at Dartmouth Medical School, marrying his medical school sweetheart and having one child "for the sake of the planet."

In 1989 he moved to La Grande, opened a psychiatry practice, and bought a 700 acre farm and 1000 acres of timberland and rangeland. Nearly going bankrupt twice, he was able to pay it off and fulfill a childhood dream of permanently protecting 2000 acres for wildlife habitat.  In 2009, Joel bought the big white house at 1702 4th Street in La Grande to open White House Coffee with Oregon Rural Action board member Rebekah Nash in order to create a 'third space' for the community. He also purchased the Bohnenkamp Building and is pursuing the dream of starting a community workshop to preserve and enhance fine and industrial arts and crafts in the area. Land rich and cash poor, he says he's moving at turtle speed on his remaining visions but is "extremely grateful."

Wynne Auld:

Wynne works as a Project Manager at Renewable Energy Solutions (RES), a private company based in Enterprise, Oregon that creates and supports natural-resource based businesses and jobs with economic benefits to rural communities. She works with municipalities, private businesses, and individual farms and ranches to develop renewable energy and business projects with budgets ranging into the several million dollars. Her primary project areas are developing micro-hydroelectric projects on existing irrigation systems, solar thermal and electric systems, and biomass energy infrastructure, including boilers, co-generation systems, and thermal products.

Wynne received her B.A. from Whitman College in Environmental-Economics. Prior to joining RES, she assisted the Commission for the Natural Environment of Queretaro, Mexico in their process of implementing an ecosystem service marketplace. Wynne comes from a rural community in the Yakima Valley in Washington, where she grew up on a cherry and apple orchard.

About the Location:

Located on the corner of Adams and Elm, the Bohnenkamp Building in La Grande is a landmark in the city's downtown. Built by William Henry Bohnenkamp, one of La Grande's notable early residents, to house a five-story furniture store, it has variously been home to a local department store and a sweets shop. However, since 2008 the building has largely been vacant. Community members are now eagerly considering the possibilities for its next incarnation.

One strong proposal is the creation of a community workshop, which would provide a space and tools to workshop members for such arts and skills as food preparation, woodworking, metalworking, electronics, pottery, weaving, sewing, jewelry making, soap making, bow building, and candle making. Organizers behind the effort also foresee community classes to impart these arts and skills as well as a retail outlet onsite to feature goods made in the workshop.

The building needs extensive renovations before a workshop can open and the proposal's coordinators are actively seeking community backing to make it happen. Oregon Rural Action seeks to honor this 'can-do' community spirit by holding our Annual Meeting on the first floor of this historic building. The building and the proposal for creating a community workshop are symbolic of making the shift to a vibrant local economy.

About the Food:

Locally Grown Beef Chili, Vegetarian Pumpkin Black Been Soup, Cornbread, Cole Slaw, Fruit Salad, and Apple Cake made by Sandy Sorrels of Ten Depot Street in La Grande. There will also be an auction of homemade pies. Wine will be available for purchase from Gilstrap Brothers of Cove and beer from Mt Emily Ale House of La Grande.

About the Auctions:

This year's Annual Meeting will feature both a silent auction and a live auction, both of which will be held during the dinner portion of the evening. Auction items include locally grown beef, a birding tour, canoe trip, vacation getaways, pottery, artwork, and more.

Be sure to bring your checkbook to help support Oregon Rural Action and go home with some great auction items! 

Take a peak at the items (and place an early bid)!

About the Music and Dancing:

Following the dinner portion of the evening and some sing-along entertainment by WORC's Campaign Director John Smillie, we'll clear the tables away to welcome the local band, the Two by Twos, who play acoustic-based folk music, specializing in Irish tunes.

Attendees will kick up their heels in a contra dance that's easy to learn and fun for everyone. (Watch this contra dance video for an idea.)

Options to purchase tickets:

Admission to the Annual Meeting is $10. Better yet, if you're a member - or if you become a member - you get in free. Everyone will need to request a ticket and there are only 125 available, so be sure to get yours early. We'll send tickets after we receive your request or payment.

Here are the options to purchase (nonmembers) or request your tickets (members):

• Call the office at 541-975-2411
• Email your contact info and the number of tickets you'd like to info [at] oregonrural.org
  
• Mail a check or money order for the number of tickets you'd like, along with contact information: Oregon Rural Action, PO Box 1231, La Grande, OR 97850
  
• Drop by the office on the 2nd floor of White House Coffee in La Grande (4th and Spring)
• Or use the donation form at www.oregonrural.org/join to pay online (Choose 'other' under amount and enter the price for the number of tickets you want; select 'one time donation'; and put "Annual Meeting 2010" and the number of tickets in the 'On behalf of' box. Please provide contact info so that we can send you your tickets.) Remember, if you become a member, you get in free!