Beaver Creek Housing Cooperative

I’m writing this article on Thurs. Feb. 19. I’m thinking about what games should be on the docket for March. Last week we had that lovely thaw; there were birds in the air, the light was different, the air smelled so moist and fresh. Today there’s snow on the ground again, and I don’t like it. No sir, is has me feeling downright grumpy. So I have decided that what I need for the March game night, and I hope this appeals to you, is a good night of hearty belly laughs. So I’m pulling out some party games…which will be:

A member passed forward this article from CBC which refers to a study showing that 1 in 5 people are spending half of their income just to put a roof over their heads.

"While there is some debate about using 30% of a household's gross income as the threshold to measure affordability, there is little debate about affordability when tenant household spend 50% or more of their income on housing costs," the study said.

The percentage of Ontarians who spent half of their income on rental accommodation has remained constant in the past couple of years.

That is a bad sign, the groups said, when you consider that Canada has enjoyed a strong economy during the same period.

The January Games Night was great fun. We played Kingsburg (you’ll see more about it below) where Demons destroyed my Chapel and Zombies destroyed my Barracks, I would have been heart-broken had I not been eating chocolate. Jonathan and Josh were in a tight grab for the lead, Josh surprisingly beat him out by 1 point. We also played a couple of rounds of Ca$h N’ Gun$ (as advertised) where we learned that Courtney will shoot you if she has too, but she feels a little bad about it, and that our sweet, gentle-natured Patricia will giggle with glinty eyes while she shoots you in the head.

Games Night this month will be on Feb. 21, at 8pm and will feature the theme of “Kings”. The games we’ll be bringing down are as follows:

On the morning of February 3, 2009 there was a devastating fire at Riverdale Housing Co-op in Toronto has resulted in one death, several injuries, damage to several Units.

There is a history of co-ops helping co-ops in times of crisis. The Co-operative Housing Federation of Toronto has set up a fund to help the co-op and the families affected by the fire. You can help by donating to the Riverdale Co-op Fire Fund. Please make your cheques payable to the CHFT Charitable Fund.

Last year for Family Day a few families got together and spent some time in our Community Centre playing games and enjoying each other’s company. This year, Family Day is occurring on Monday February 16, and we’d like to invite your family to join us. Here the details:

My trustee Google Alert as informed me that things are progressing in Beaver Creek's attempt to recover our $93,000 frozen in asset-backed commercial paper (ABC paper). Here is a small quote from an interview The Record had with Steve Furino yesterday.

This week's court approval of a plan that paves the way for the Beaver Creek Housing Co-operative where he lives to finally get back $93,000 in what he thought was a safe investment still has him wary. "I'm thrilled and relieved," he says.

But he notes there have been 13 or 14 postponements in the past.

Although everything has been signed, it will still take about a month before funds will actually be made available, and that is assuming there isn't yet another postponement.

Cuz, now's your chance! Games night this month will be featuring a game called Ca$h n' Gun$! where you get to do just that. It's a simple, fast, funny game and we'd love for you to come out and try it.

Games night in the past few months has had some poor attendance. So we decided that you may be more interested in coming out if you have an idea of what's going to be played. We've also moved it to the 3rd Sat. of every month instead of the 1st so that we can let you know in the Dam what we're featuring every month. We'd love to see you on Jan. 17 to teach you the fun that is...

Ca$h n' Gun$!

Times are tough, and unfortunately they will get tougher before they get any better. Everyone is starting to look at their expenses and evaluating where they can save. The kind folks at ThePowerofLess.com have produced a free ebook Thriving on Less - Simplifying in a Tough Economy. This handy resource details some helpful tips on how to not only survive, but to thrive during these times.

What follows is one of the largest suggestions found in the book.

Today I have added a detailed map of Beaver Creek to the website. It uses Google Maps, and details many items of interest including:

• Unit numbers for each block
• Community Centre
• Visitor Parking
• Gazebo / Picnic Area
• Playground / Sports Pad
• Gardens / Fire Pit

You can find the new map at http://beavercreek.coop/map

Here is a great presentation by Malcolm Gladwell about how Howard Moskowitz discovered for the food industry that embracing the diversity of their customers they can make more people happy (and thus make more money).