Join MANNA for two upcoming events:
- Holiday Sampling on Saturday, December 16 from 11-2 pm. Come and enjoy some in-store performance of Celtic tunes from our own Tamie Jensen from 11 am to 12:30 pm while you shop. We have plenty of member specials in grocery and produce geared towards your holiday party needs, so come, shop, and chomp on free samples! Tell your friends you’re going on our Facebook page.
- Our first Annual Meeting on Wednesday, January 11 from 7-8:30 pm at Rossman Elementary (1221 Rossman Ave in multi-purpose room). Please join us to elect new officers,learn about co-op performance to date, and meet other members. Don’t worry, we’ll have some snacks. Read below about two nominees running for open seats.
Board Elections:
MANNA Co-op Board would like to acknowledge the service of Del Moen and Brenda Brooks, both of whom served us all well through their contributions in our start-up year. We have two nominees who are running to replace them.
- Lori Botzet: Lori brings a wealth of experience, recently retiring from her family’s business, Marine Innovations, where she managed all aspects of the business. After 20 years in the area (mainly on Phinney Avenue in Detroit Lakes) she now resides on Rose Lake.She writes about her motivation to serve on the board, “I am a longtime advocate for locally grown, organic, small producers of quality products and GOOD FOOD. I also believe this is a good step for me to start giving back and getting out. Plus, I’m a big juicer. With 2 grand babes now, I really appreciate being able to have MANNA in the community, and would love to become a board member. Working with like-minded people on the board; plus other co-ops to gain economy of scale; finding new delicious products; and just making MANNA the best it can be all very much interest me.”
- Deb Knutson: Deb is a retired educator who has extensive experience in teaching art and resides north of Detroit Lakes and currently serves as President of the Lakes Area Garden Club. As both a food advocate and local producer, Deb brings great experience to the board. She writes, “My husband and I enjoy the challenges and benefits of growing as much of our own food as possible. We have a large garden and an orchard with over 60 fruit trees. We also grow many varieties of vegetables and berries in our garden. One of the greatest joys that Jim and I share is the work we do with bees. We have been beekeeping for over 15 years and have a deep appreciation for the work of the humble honeybee. Twelve years ago we started a business we named Humble Honey. We feel blessed to collaborate with these amazing insects in producing local wildflower honey. We have learned that for bees to be successful they must all work together for the common good of the hive. I think this is true for us humans as well. I welcome the opportunity of working together with others in our community to ensure the success of Manna Food Coop as a member of it’s Board of Directors.”
The election will happen at our Annual meeting in January, however, ballots are also available at the store if you are unable to make the event. You can vote for up to two candidates as well as nominate others up to the time of the annual meeting.