Farm to Chef – Tastes of Whidbey – Slow Food

May 232011
 
 May 23, 2011  Posted by Kathy McLaughlin 1 Response »

Slow Food Whidbey Island will present “Farm to Chef: Taste of Whidbey” on Sunday, June 5th at Greenbank Farms.

The concept for the Whidbey Island event is to teach what Slow Food means. The Slow Food movement began in Italy in the late 1980′s to provide an alternative influence to the encroachment of fast food in European eating habits and life style. The mission was to show people that updated pre-industrial food production methods and manufacturing are a viable, healthful and a preferable alternative to current food manufacturing and agribusiness practices.

At the Greenbank Farm you will have a chance to taste, smell and see beautiful local products cooked by our local chefs. People can learn to appreciate real food which has been handled more by hands than machines.

Some locals at last years event.

Our Whidbey growers give their crops and animals the care, time,  and energy needed to produce high quality and nutritious products.  You will learn to why our island chefs buy local product instead of the cheaper sources trucked in from far and wide.

Last year’s event was sold out. One hundred sixty guests enjoyed tastes prepared by 6 fine dining chefs with ingredients from local growers.

This year there will be 8 chefs and 8 growers participating in the event. Each chef and grower will share a table with the chef’s prepared food available for guests to taste and the grower’s raw product ingredients available to see and learn about. It is a rare opportunity to catch these chefs out of their kitchens for a chat!

The chefs include: Scott Fraser (Fraser’s Gourmet Hideaway), Joe Scott  (Oystercatcher), Andreas Wurzrainer (Christopher’s), Jeremy Ritchie (Front Street Grill), Jan Gunn (Whidbey Pies Café), Gordon Stewart (Gordon’s On Blueberry Hill), Sieb Jurriaans (Prima Bistro) and Matt Costello (The Inn at Langley).

Participating growers from Whidbey will be Wilbur Bishop, Willowood Farm, Sherman Farms, 3 Sisters Beef, Penn Cove Shellfish, Little Brown Farm, and Crescent Harbor Ranch.

There will be excellent wine & beer, too. Winemakers Gregory Osenbach of Whidbey Island Winery and Greg Martinez of Holmes harbor Cellars will be pouring wine. Premium beers from Langley’s Olde World Ales & Lager and Oak Harbor’s Flyers will be served.

Slow Food Whidbey Island is a year and a half old.  They are a small energetic group looking for more members and they hope you will all attend their event. Membership in Slow Food is $25. I attended their monthly meeting this morning and it looks as though they will be participating in the Chef Cook Off at Good Cheer’s Annual Harvest Festival, let’s give them a helping hand.

Tickets for the tasting event are $30 and include all food & beverage. Tickets are available at many locations throughout the island; however, you can call Chef Vincent Nattress at 360-969-4200 to secure your tickets. Remember, last years event was a sell out.

Slow Food supports the small farmer, local artisans and believes in preserving cultural food traditions. The top  item on the current agenda of Slow Food USA is nutritious food in school cafeterias across the country.

Good Tastes and Good Cheer!

Langley Fashion Weekend

May 192011
 
 May 19, 2011  Posted by Kathy McLaughlin No Responses »

Fun & Fashion Langley Style is coming to Whidbey Island this weekend. The stores will be highlighting their Spring lines, as well as showcasing our local designers, through a series of events. ”This is a must-see event,” said Tamar Felton, owner of The Star Store and event co-coordinator. “This is going to be outrageous and fun!”

The event will begin at 11 a.m. on Saturday and run through late Sunday afternoon. Tamar wanted to make sure that everyone was in town for a surprise on 1st Street at 12:30 p.m. The runway show at the Clyde is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m.

There will be spa and fitness events, giveaways and special promotions in many of the stores, Langley will also have its first city-wide happy hour from 4-6 p.m. Saturday.

The Cottage – Unique fun for the woman who seeks the unusual.

Star Store - An eclectic collection of fashion, fun and food featuring men’s, women’s and children’s apparel.

Big Sister – A trunk show of Asian Eye scarves, hundreds to choose from!

Roberta – Weekend long trunk show!

Sassy Siren – For the finishing touch Sassy’s Siren has everything  you need to accessorize.

Wander on Whidbey – Affordable clothing for the trail or town. Summers right around the corner and it’s a good time to wander on in and pick up some new camping gear.

She Sez… New boutique in town featuring U.S. made apparel, just opened March 12th.

Good Cheer will be participating in Fashion Weekend in Langley this Saturday and Sunday. We will be part of the runway show with Kathy McLaughlin and her grandson, Rodrick, showcasing the sportswear department of the thrift store. Rita Burns will have on a vintage suit and be accompanied by Damien Cortez in his tux and top hat.

Rodrick – Model - 27 months old –  Favorite food: Noodles - Favorite movie/TV: Curious George - Favorite thing: MoMo ~ his stuffed pet monkey

Rodrick loves Good Cheer Fashions and has his own personal shoppers ~ Mary from the RACK recently found him a dress shirt with “CARS” all over it and a Mariner’s jacket.

The good times continue into the evening with late night entertainment. You’ll find music by Trio Nouveau at Prima Bistro from 7:30-9:30 p.m. with Swing Dancing lessons from 9:30 to 11:30 p.m. There will be music at Mo’s Pub & Eatery beginning at 8 p.m. and music at Olde World Ales throughout the evening.

Here is the Fun & Fashion calendar link.

Good Cheer!

 

 

Major Success! Clyde Magic Jar Food Drive

May 122011
 
 May 12, 2011  Posted by Mark Clawson 1 Response »

Can you believe…….$1600!

The Clyde’s Magic Jar was truly magical for the Good Cheer Food Bank and with our creative shopping program that translates into a lot of food.

Thanks to all who donated to the jar and to Lynn and Blake Willeford from the Clyde Theatre. Also Lindsay Communications and Island Athletic for their matching donations. We had another matching donor step up towards the end of the event so the results were amazing!

As many of you already know the biggest food drive of the year is this Saturday.

The 19th annual National Association of Letter Carriers Stamp Out Hunger food drive, quite a mouthful! This drive combines the resources of our postal employees with thousands of volunteers across the nation.

You can see by the above billboard that this event is getting a lot of exposure.

Their goal is to help restock community food banks, pantries and shelters for needy families throughout the summer, and to build upon the 1 billion pounds of non-perishable food collected since 1992 from millions of generous postal customers.

National and local NALC food drive coordinators hope to expand on last year’s record of 77.1 million pounds of donations collected along postal routes, and with help from key national partners, they have promoted the Stamp Out Hunger drive by filling the airwaves with radio and television public service announcements, publishing newspaper and magazine advertisements, engaging online communities via social networks, and creating hundreds of unique events both to attract public attention and to encourage postal customers to place bags of food by their mailboxes on May 14.

Thanks again for your support and be sure to get your food bags out early on Saturday morning. Those with post office boxes can bring their bags to the post office at any time through Saturday.

Good Cheer

Talent Show – Raffle and Ticket Sales Begin

Apr 192011
 
 April 19, 2011  Posted by Mark Clawson No Responses »

Good Cheer’s 2nd Annual presentation of “The Mother of All Talent Shows” is scheduled for Saturday evening, May 28th at 7:00 p.m. in the South Whidbey High School auditorium. Tickets for the talent show are available at all Good Cheer locations for $10.

The Mother of all Talent Shows was a new event on our fund raising calendar last year. The event  helped to raise over $5000 for the food bank and created many memories for all who attended. The proceeds from our fund raising events were up over 200% last year and we will continue to look to do more.

Raffle tickets will be available at all Good Cheer thrift stores, Hanson’s Building Supply and Coastal Community Bank in Freeland. Raffle tickets vary in price between $1-2 depending on how valuable the prizes are.

Admission tickets will be available for presale at all of the above locations. Sound Business Center has donated 500 printed tickets for the talent show. This is a cost that we were trying to avoid and we really appreciate their support. If you purchased a ticket and received a receipt instead of a ticket you will give this receipt to the will call window the night of the show.

Raffle ticket sales got off to a fast start a couple of weeks back with the help of volunteer R.J. and his friend Elvis at the Langley thrift store. R.J. and Elvis sold about $150 worth of raffle tickets. Great job!

This  years raffle will give you choices; you get to decide what prize might be best for you. There will be eleven baskets each with a different set of prizes and the cost of the tickets will very between $1 and $2. The baskets and their accompanying posters will alternate between the Langley and Clinton thrift stores. You can choose any raffle basket whether it is on display at the store or not.

Buying an admission or raffle ticket is just like making a cash donation and our creative shopping program really puts those funds to good use.

Good Cheer!

Spring Fever Garden Sale at the Good Cheer Garden

Mar 242011
 
 March 24, 2011  Posted by Mark Clawson No Responses »

Spring Fever Garden Sale

Saturday, March 26th

Garden tools, equipments and supplies in our Spring Garden Sale!

9 am – 2 pm

Good Cheer Garden

Do you have extra gardening equipment you aren’t using?

Donate it to the Good Cheer Garden, and we’ll sell it to other gardeners at the Spring Fever Garden Sale.

You’ll support the garden, while helping other gardeners!

Call 360-221-6046, or email garden@goodcheer.org if you have items to donate.


Together we can help each other with the tools we need to grow our food!

Here’s a list of some of what’s available. More coming!

Doors

Drip irrigation t-tape and fittings  tools

Electric fencing stakes

Fencing

Fertilizer

Hoses

Panes of glass for making cold frames

Pond liner

Pots of many different sizes

Rabbit protection cages

Recycling containers

Seed starting supplies & cell trays

Soil sifters

Soaker hoses

Hand spreaders

Storage containers

Tomato cages

Watering wands

Weed block fabric

Windows for making cold frames

Please join in for the Spring Fever Garden Sale!

Good Cheer!

Langley’s Mystery Weekend 2011

Feb 232011
 
 February 23, 2011  Posted by Kathy McLaughlin No Responses »

Langley’s Mystery Weekend is upon us again this time celebrating its 27th anniversary. The mystery weekend begins at 10 a.m. on Saturday, February 26th and wraps up at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, February 27th with the murderer revealed and incarcerated.

For the last 23 years, the residents, and many of Whidbey Island visitors, are presented with a chance to solve the crime, and share in the “reward”. If you are a mystery sleuth, be it amateur, or professional, a great time is virtually guaranteed.

Playing in this annual whodunit is very simple, straightforward, and inexpensive. For the sum of $10 you may throw your super sleuth hat into the ring, and take a crack at solving the murder that has gripped the town of Langley. Better yet get a group of  four together and the cost is only $25.

You cannot start before 10:00 am, so there may be a line to wait in. But everyone is there for the same reason as you, the Langley Mystery Weekend, so you are sure to hear gossip about the victim, possible suspects, and more. It is important to keep your wits about you, as you never know where a clue may come from.

Once you have paid the cashier at the visitors center you will receive a copy of the Langley Gazette, which is only printed once a year specifically for the Langley Mystery Weekend; it has all sorts of mystery weekend info inside, and sheds some light on the suspects, their connection to one another, and so forth.

You’ll also receive the official entry form, where you write down “whodunit” and a brief explanation of why you think, or know, they did it, after you’ve finished your sleuthing. You can also purchase a beautifully design sweatshirt or t-shirt for the occasion, you can place an order by clicking here. Sherry Jennings, the  Executive Director of the Langley Chamber of Commerce, designed the logo for the shirts and also the posters that you will see throughout the town.

The suspects?

Yes, the suspects. This cast of shady characters is roaming the streets of Langley, where you have chances to ask them questions, maybe even listen in to other people asking them questions. The suspects can be found in the shops, coffee shops, restaurants, and stores. Good Cheer will have it’s share of participants to add to the mix.

Good Cheer volunteer Jesse Brooks. Jesse’s Langley Mystery character is Lon Beastly. Lon is the son of a Langley Veterinarian that attended the school of Sorcery & Alchemy. Obviously his father has taught him well. Perhaps he has the answers that you need?

Steve Sloan is Good Cheer’s I.T. Contractor and his Mystery Weekend character name is Al Bets Are Off. Some have said that he is a devious real estate agent. This will his sixth year as a character and you must ask yourself whether he can be trusted. His contact number is: 1-900-FeeMax.

John Ball, part of the staff at Good Cheer, will be playing the part of Valdimir Pushcon. Vlad is a vampirous phlebotomist; also know as a collector of blood. His many years of experience make him perfect for the job. You probably don’t want to meet him in a dark room.

Beware… the mystery weekend suspects are not required to tell the truth. One or more of those suspects is attempting to get away with it so of course if you happen to be talking to that suspect then you’re not going to get the truth. But since you don’t know who committed the crime, you don’t know who is telling the truth and who isn’t.

Since all the printed clues you must gather are inside the Langley businesses, you get a chance to see their goods, engage in conversation, and in the case of the coffee shops, restaurants, bakeries, and chocolate merchants, you can sample the goodies, and take some home, or back to the hotel, for snacks while you pour over the mystery weekend clues.

A good detective must keep his or her energy level up, since murder solving is demanding work.

Here is a video of  Langley’s Mystery Weekend 2009.

Be sure to do some shopping in the Good Cheer Thrift Store and support the community food bank!

Good Cheer and Good Sleuthing!

Go Red for Women

Feb 012011
 
 February 1, 2011  Posted by Kathy McLaughlin No Responses »

This coming Friday, February 4th, is Go Red for Women Day and Good Cheer wants to get the word out. The hope is that everyone will get involved in raising the awareness of heart disease in women. The Go Red for Women website has a kit that helps you spread the word by sending emails to 5 Friends.

Here is Betty White talking to her friends.

Make it your mission to wear Red on February 4th! The Good Cheer Thrift Stores and The Rack will be highlighting red outfits this week. If you buy Red today through Friday, February 4th, you will get 25% off your purchase of red.

Last years event was made pretty spectacular by the splashes of red that turned up in the most unexpected places!

The Pike Place Market

Graceland will be going Red this year!

Good Cheer and happy shopping!

Gingerbread Saturday Sale in Langley

Dec 172010
 
 December 17, 2010  Posted by Kathy McLaughlin No Responses »

Saturday  is the last day of Langley Holiday Late Nights and the Good Cheer thrift store will will be open until 8 p.m. to help make your Christmas shopping a little more fun.

We have decided to make it an event with lots of savings and holiday cheer! Gingerbread cookies will be served from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m.


You can save up to 25% off on everything in the store!

If you just stop by the thrift store between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. you’ll receive a $5 store coupon.

At the cash register, when you purchase items from the thrift store, you will receive a candy Santa and this will tell you how much of a discount you will receive. The discounts are between 10% and 25%. On top of that, if your purchase is $5 or more, you will be entered into a drawing for a $50 Good Cheer gift certificate, the drawing will be held at 7:30 p.m.

Trinity Lutheran Quilters just donated 6 just homemade quilts. We had a meeting with the volunteers here at Bayview and they thought it best to sell them in our Thrift Stores at a very reasonable price. They would make a GREAT holiday gift and remember it is because of our Thrift Stores that we are able to operate a state of the art food bank.

Here is a link to the Good Cheer Facebook article with more photos.

Good Cheer!

Child’s Chance to Give

Dec 082010
 
 December 8, 2010  Posted by Kathy McLaughlin No Responses »

The peace and feeling of comfort that comes from having a good family and circle of friends is often taken for granted, however,  it is where most happiness begins.

There is comfort in family and friends and a love that we share on a daily basis. The Holiday Season is a time of peace and happiness and sharing gifts has become a way of expressing our love with family and friends. We all know the importance of giving and the feeling that comes from the experience. 

There is a wonderful program that we have at Good Cheer, it’s about a child’s chance to give. The program is for children of parents or caretakers who are clients of the food bank. Children between the ages of 4-15 will be presented with a $10 gift certificate for each parent or caretaker in their home.

There is a signup sheet at the Good Cheer Food Bank in Bayview.

The kids can go shopping at the Langley or Clinton Thrift Stores and The Rack in Clinton.

Langley Thrift Store Thursday, December 9th 5:30 p.m.until 7:30 p.m.

Clinton Thrift Store Two and The Rack Friday, December 10th 5:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m.

Parents can drop their children off at the store where the kids will be met by volunteers who will help them  find the just right present! Parents need to stay away for awhile.

Volunteers will even help to wrap the gifts.

This is a program that doesn’t get much public attention since it is something that is done in-house for our clients. I wanted to remind you of the many ways that, we together, are bringing light into the lives of others!

I guess you could call this “Spreading Good Cheer.”

Langley Holiday Late Nights

Nov 302010
 
 November 30, 2010  Posted by Kathy McLaughlin No Responses »

December weather in Langley 2008. Everyone enjoys a white Christmas as long as it doesn’t stay around too long.

Christmas is just around the corner and life will get a little hectic over the next few weeks. To make shopping more convenient Langley will have late night shopping for the weekends!

The Good Cheer Thrift Store in Langley will be a part of Langley Holiday Late Nights from November 26th thru December 18th. On Fridays and Saturdays the thrift store will will be open until 8 p.m.

Shop our new Christmas Shoppe!

We are starting to see a splash of Holiday decorations in our town of Langley.

The Arts………..

Clothing Stores………….

Books of course……………What a great little town perfect for organic shopping:)

On Saturday the 19th of December there will be a special showing of the Wizard of Oz at the Clyde. A nice way to complete a Saturday afternoon in Langley.

Get out your W.I.N. aprons, your ruby slippers { or make some if you don’t have any on hand } and come early to secure a seat to this special FREE showing of The Wizard of Oz  at the Clyde Theatre on Saturday, December 11th. Seating is limited and there will only be one showing. Hope to see you with glitter on your toes – there is no place like home and boy are we ever in a beautiful place to call home!

The South Whidbey Commons coffeehouse is the original place where Whidbey Island Nourishes began distributing lunches to the kids on South Whidbey and continues to be a great location for W.I.N.’s outreach.

Good Cheer!

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