Fair Trade Festival

I just received this in my mail the other day: 

QUICK RESPONSE NEEDED!

Dear Fair Trade Fans,

The time has come to commit to the Fair Trade Festival!

The festival this year will be at WATERSIDE!!!!

Same time frame, Sat December 5, 10am to 10 pm,  and Sunday Dec 6 12:00 pm-5pm.

The good news: BEAUTIFUL venue, lots of space, built-in sound system, dedicated poetry space, indoors, but with a giant window to the outdoors!  Great publicity help! Additional table space: I am planning on 50 tables rather than 40.  Dinner tentatively planned for Friday night... 

The bad news: Slight increase in table price to $50, and... we can't leave merchandise over night.  Your tables, racks, etc can stay up over night, but they said we absolutely could not leave merchandise set up on the tables over night. Sigh.  Apologies. I will try to have additional volunteer help available for pack-up Saturday night.

If you are a previous vendor or a performer, you want to be included in the festival, and you have the first weekend in December available, please drop me a quick email right away saying "YES", and I will assume you are coming.  I need to get the press release written in the next week, and will only be able to mention people who have said they are coming!  New vendors, we'll handle applications later- right now I just need to know you'd like to come.

Immediate needs:

A FUNDRAISER

A VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR

A FESTIVAL "INTERN" who'd like to learn how to do this!

Thanks, y'all!

-Susan Posey, 

Fair Trade Festival Coordinator

cel (757) 581-5672

fairtradefun@gmail.com

Last night Susan and I talked extensively about what is still needed to get this off the ground. She *really* needs someone who is good at fundraisers. The festival needs companies that jive with the Fair Trade mission (like a donation from Wal-Mart won't work) and/or individuals who are willing to donate anywhere between $50 to $1000. Obviously the more money she is able to raise, the more she will be able to pay the performing artists as well as just make things happen. Speaking of performing artists - she is in need for musicians, poets, dancers, etc. Anyone who can perform during the festival is what she is looking for! 

Oh! Don't know why Fair Trade is important? Then check these links out to learn more: 

http://www.fairtradefederation.org/

http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/coffee/

Looking for local stores to purchase Fair Trade items? Check these places out: 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Norfolk-VA/Elliots-Fair-Grounds/135203385931#/pages/Norfolk-VA/Elliots-Fair-Grounds/135203385931?v=wall&viewas=0

http://www.greenalternativesstore.com/

http://newportnews.tenthousandvillages.com/php/stores.festivals/store.homepage.php

Laundry Etiquette

1. If you only wore it once & didn't get it dirty, PUT IT AWAY! Unless, of course, the item of clothing is your underwear or socks. These are one time wear items. I don't mean "put it away in the laundry hamper". I mean "Put it away in your drawer". 

2. Do not put any items in the washer machine unless you are starting a load of laundry. This especially applies to wet items like damp beach towels. Nothing quite like the aroma of bacteria & fungus breeding for a week and a half in the summer heat! 

3. If you are doing a load of laundry, please pay attention to the washer's settings. A new brightly colored shirt should not be washed in hot water. A load of regular cottons should not be washed on delicate. There is a reason why they give you dials to change the settings.

4. If you start a load of laundry, take it through the whole process. Do not assume that someone else will step in & take over. So, if you started the load in the washer, ensure it gets into the dryer. It also super nice if you take it out of the dryer & fold it too. 

5. Rule #3 also applies to the dryer. Do not put the "Tumble Dry Low" items on high heat! 

6. Back to rule #4.... If you see a pile of clothes sitting on top of the dryer that you started through the process yet did not complete by taking it out & putting it away, then this is your clue to do so. DO NOT put it back in the dryer. 

Phew! I feel better now. 

The Never Ending Story

Today was the BIG day. I would finally be able to put all of the nonsense behind me, right? Wrong. Sergeant A.J. Bostjanik didn't bother to show up to court today. 

My four character witnesses, my mother, and I sat in a packed waiting room, shoulder to shoulder, that had no air conditioning or air ventilation whatsoever (It is 93 degrees with a heat index of 102 today) for forty five minutes without knowing what was going on. My lawyer appeared in the waiting room to break the news about the officer's no show. He explained that the officer's representative was seeking a continuance but that he would fight it. It was another thirty minutes before we were called into the courtroom. 

As promised, my lawyer pushed for dismissal. He did so in an incredibly tactful manner. He gently pushed the judge but stopped before he crossed the line. Unfortunately, the judge was in a bad mood today. My lawyer had warned me about Judge Massey's volatility. I witnessed it first hand. Apparently, he had yet to hear a case because, one case after the other, there were no shows. He did indicate that "the only good news he had heard all day" was the fact that we were all present & ready for our case to be heard. This was when my lawyer went full-fledge into his argument for dismissal. The judge's response? A mother once left her seven month old in the car for 45 secs to drop a letter in the slot of the post office only to turn around and find her infant gone. What one has to do with the other is still beyond me. Anyway, I digress. He turned down the motion for dismissal and set a new hearing for September 16th @ 9:00am. He dismissed us and doled out his "one word of advice" to me: Netflix. 

Can we say major suckage? There are SO many different side stories I could delve into here: the waste of tax payers money, the abuse of power, the "blame the victim" mentality this judge demonstrated today, etc. I just don't have the energy. My girlfriend has my kids for the day. I have some time to myself. I am going to get off this machine & go take some alone time to regroup. 

HUGE thanks to everyone out there that has been here for me through this. I love you all.