The Weblog
The local foods movement is alive and well in Champaign County! Here are some updates on other projects while we finalize our virtual market:
Local Producers Map:
Our local producers map is ready for publication and you will soon be able to find it on gochampaign.com. Copies will be distributed around the community, in the local telephone book, and other “hangouts”. The guide lists the location and contact information for nearly 50 local producers within our county. The map was a project of the Local Food Council and printed with the help of some local sponsors including the Monument Square District, Champaign Bank, the Community Improvement Corporation, the Chamber of Commerce, the Farm Bureau and others. It is a great start to finding a local source for Champaign County’s finest!
Get Together...
Love is but a song to sing
Fear’s the way we die
You can make the mountains ring
Or make the angels cry
Though the bird is on the wing
And you may not know why
Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another
Right now
Some may come and some may go
We shall surely pass
When the one that left us here
Returns for us at last
We are but a moment’s sunlight
Fading in the grass
Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another
Right now
Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another
Right now
Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another
Right now
If you hear the song I sing
You will understand (listen!)
You hold the key to love and fear
All in your trembling hand
Just one key unlocks them both
It’s there at your command
Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another
Right now
Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another
Right now
I said, come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another
Right now…
(The Youngbloods-Get Together)
So, here we are, perched in the middle of November, looking at Thanksgiving, in two weeks, and this song is always on my playlist for Thanksgiving Day. It always has been. It just seems so appropriate for the day, the season, the feeling.
It’s the sense of gathering that I love. It’s the communal spirit that makes me love this holiday, more than any other holiday.
I abhor the rush into the Christmas season because I feel the tradition of Thanksgiving gets lost, more and more, each year. Thanksgiving is about love, brotherhood, sisterhood, and a coming together.
I love traditions, and Thanksgiving is all about keeping with my grandmother’s love of the holiday. The love that she instilled in us, the inviting all family, friends, and friends of friends to the dinner table. It was a day when we knew no strangers. Everyone was welcome.
I began my own traditions as I trekked around California, North Carolina, New York, Florida, and then here, in this little local community that I started to call home, in 1999.
Much thought and love is put into my Thanksgiving menu plans, the cocktails that will be served, making sure that my door is open to all. I have had years where my house has been full of family, plus college pals, high school pals, pals with no place else to hang their hat that day.
This holiday, and all that I hold dear, reminds me of this little market of local love. Everyone is welcome, I hope to fill your spirit with love, your market baskets with the goodness of food, and that you will leave, taking with you, that communal feeling of brotherhood/sisterhood…
I am opening the market with a HUGE thank you, to all who help this market continue, on a weekly basis. A reminder that this coming week will be the last market before we close for the week of Thanksgiving, and a hope that you will order, and let us put the love into your
own holiday…
Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another…
XOXO,
Cosmic Pam