On Barter'd Time is a monthly publication of the Las Vegas Barter Hours program. This newsletter promotes the use and advancement of the barter system within the city of Las Vegas and surrounding areas. Content is limited to pieces dealing with local currency issues.
Circulation Manager: Cordia Sammeth
Webpage Composition: Jack Rowe
Advertising and Classifieds: Surabhi Atman
Articles and ads should be submitted by e-mailing Cordia, or dropping her a note at 846 Sperry Drive, Las Vegas, NM 87701 on or before the end of the month for publication in the next month's newsletter.
Please submit Bric-a-Brac ads by e-mailing Surabhi Atman, or call her at 425-3789. Please clearly describe the item in your ad and include price, terms and contact info.
The Barter Fest on June 7th was fun for the few members who attended. I had a delicious barbequed chicken dinner and Key Lime pie, both purchased from members with Barter Hours. Besides dinner I bought bread, carrot juice, an apple pie, plants (indoor and garden) and made an appointment to test drive a mountain bike for sale for 10 Barter Hours. Kevin's yard was a spacious and relaxing location for the gathering.
I was surprised by the low turn-out, so I am wondering if it was just a busy, windy weekend, or not a popular event. Please let me know what kind of events you would like to attend—any suggestions are welcome.
The Farmers Market opened on Saturday June 21st and Barter Hours will have an ongoing space for any of our members who want to sell their produce (this proposal passed at the June 7th meeting). Barter Hours will pay the annual fee of $60 To the Farmers Market Association. Barter Hour members will be able to have one space to share and will make a small donation to Barter Hours ($2-3, which will reimburse the treasury). Members who sell at the Barter Hour space may take turns selling, or sell their own produce. They can work it out with whoever shows up. I would like to see one person head this up—anyone interested?
The next meeting will be at Sherrill and Trini Martinez’ home at 6 pm on Monday, July 7th. It will be a potluck, and we will discuss grants (that is, our giving out grants of Barter Hours). We will have a clothing exchange, and you are welcome to bring other things to barter, also. It will be fun! See you on the 7th of July.
(click on a member's name to see their complete Directory listings)
First, a confession... after being in Barter Hours for almost two years now, I (finally!) used my first Barter Hours just the other day (I had Joe Whiteman help me dig some garden beds). I'm embarrassed, but there it is... and at the same time, I'm proud of myself for finally gritting the old teeth and diving in. Ok, I tiptoed into the shallow end, but it's a start—I actually used some of my Barter Hours! I'm a little slow.
The thing is, circles are what Barter Hours (and sustainable systems of any kind) are all about. When BH's travel in a straight line (as they were doing toward me for those two-ish years), stagnation occurs and they are of no use to anyone. When BH's travel in a circle—as several of them finally did when I hired Joe for his excellent work and conversation—then we are forming an actual, local, alternative economy that we can begin to depend upon as a real resource in our lives.
It is these 'circles' that so many of us are working to reestablish in our lives and society on many levels... in Barter Hours we are trying to create more cycles of flow between individuals in our community; in Local Food Matters some are trying to establish cyclical flows of labor and other resources between producers, while others are working on making sure these cyclical flows include the farmers and local consumers in yet more mutually-beneficial cycles of growing and trading.
The same cycles are central to other local efforts such as the
Cycles are what is missing from our agricultural systems, our water and wastewater systems—even from our personal family lives where we find that young people and old people (natural allies in the extended family) have lost their all-important connections with each other. Wisdom is spread from grandparents to grandchildren—by isolating children with their biological parents, we have broken the cycle of transmitting wisdom from elder to youth... with visible consequences.
All these groups and efforts are trying to wrest linear flows back from the power elite—flows which were originally stolen from healthy cycles (from rich to poor, powerful to weak) and forced into their current, non-sustainable linear states (from poor to rich, weak to powerful). These healthy, cyclical flows are precisely the type of connections and cycles that must be re-established if humans are to survive the present era. Good for us!
DESCRIP
The Bric-a-Brac Bartering Post is a venue for real-time trading among Barter Hours members. Use it to offer or request timely trades using Barter Hours for all or part of the exchange.
To submit a new Bric-a-Brac entry (or correct/remove an old one), Click Here. Happy Bartering!
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