Pete Seeger and Pot Luck Suppers
Although we have a great group of people working together as the Grassroots of Tarboro and causing good things to happen, we are not great at gathering for meetings. With emails and through phone calls everyone is kept up to date on what is going on, so the meetings are not absolutely necessary but they do help to energize and synchronize the members.
I subscribe to the magazine YES! , and April's issue had an article about Pete Seeger. He is a well-known folk singer and activist who for decades has been working for positive change.
In the article he talks of his own problem with low attendance at meetings and how he solved the problem.
"Oh, I haven’t even told you about our local group! It’s called the Beacon Sloop Club. When the Clearwater first stopped here, we had a little party. A thousand people, mostly young people, came. . . And then, when the festival was over, everybody said, “Now I’ve got to get back to my family, my church, my business, my veterans’ organization,” whatever it was.
And the next year when Clearwater started again, we had to start from scratch organizing the festival. At which point a teenager said, “Why don’t we have a sloop club here, so we have people who know how to put on a festival.”
I groaned. Another organization, minutes, elections. I called a meeting but only three people showed up.
Toshi (Pete Seeger's wife) said, “Don’t call it a meeting. Call it a potluck supper.” Then 30 people came. We have had a meeting the first Friday of the month for 36 years. "
So ... how about a pot luck supper? How about the 2nd Sunday of the month?
We can relax together, talk over the events from the day before and start putting together the plans for the next month's 2nd Saturday. Most importantly, we can form a tighter community bond as we share our Stone Soup and break bread together.
Feedback, please.
Grassroots of Tarboro
in Tarboro, NC, Grassroots Organizing
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4 Comments
Reader Comments (4)
I wonder if Sunday night is the best night for a potluck, or the worst night? We're going to need input on this -- is Sunday good because people will have time to cook, or is it terrible because they would prefer to spend the afternoon with their families? Ideally, people would bring their families to the potluck, as it's not so much about having a meeting as it is about building a community -- and it's that community that is the "spoonful of sugar" we all need to get the work done.
Next question being, "Where on Earth do we host this potluck?"
You've got my vote for the Sunday potluck!
Here's an idea!
Our old Marrow-Pitt building is not set up for a comfortable pot luck, but how'bout we bring our pot luck dishes there, set them out on a table, fill our plates and then sit in the Court House Square to eat and chat? On Sunday evenings we certainly wouldn't be bothering anybody, it is a pretty location, and following an event to promote Tarboro, using this space seems just about perfect.
We would be happy to host the potlucks at the Underground pub. The entertainment side has seating for 80 people (hey, we can dream big!) and we have tables to place the dishes. We also have a 7 foot bigscreen projection system which would allow for presentations on powerpoint if someone is so motivated. Just a thought if you are looking for a regular place to host the event. We are not open on Sunday - Thursday at present so any of those days/evenings would not conflict with operating hours.