BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 METHOD:PUBLISH X-WR-CALNAME:Great Oak Cohousing News X-WR-TIMEZONE:America/Detroit CALSCALE:GREGORIAN X-WR-CALDESC:news and events about Great Oak Cohousing, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA BEGIN:VEVENT CLASS:PUBLIC DTSTART:20061023 DTEND:20061024 SUMMARY:The People’s Express (Scio Township public transportation) URL;VALUE=URI:http://gocoho.org/blog/?p=16 DESCRIPTION:Scio township, where Great Oak is located, so far, does not have good public transportation -- the closest AATA public bus stop is 1.3 miles away at Wagner and Jackson. However, the township is trying to make public transportation more available as it can. To that end, The People's Express is available for qualifying Scio Township residents to receive Transportation rides for $1.00, through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. Income limits are in effect. For details, see http://www.twp.scio.mi.us/news/transportation. LOCATION:Scio township, MI, 48103 SEQUENCE:1 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT CLASS:PUBLIC DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20061025T212400 DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20061025T212400 SUMMARY:The Art Wall URL;VALUE=URI:http://gocoho.org/blog/?p=19 DESCRIPTION:As Great Oak members moved in we often heard comments that folks had more art works than they had wall space to hang them. At the same time, members were talking about the large empty wall in the common house dining room. Putting these two threads together we created an art wall that enables members to loan some of their favorite works for display in this common area. There has been a wide range of art walls since, some with a theme but not always. One of the most popular showed paintings, photographs and other works that members had brought back from their vacations. Along with this display, we held a contest asking adults and children to identify the locations of the works. This culminated with an award ceremony at our annual anniversary celebration - everyone that entered the contest got a prize! Another featured three of the large paintings done by Heather, our artist in residence. The bold colors and dramatic strokes of these works were very appealing and appreciated by many who saw them. And, the works of children, those currently living in Great Oak, and examples of work done by our older members in their younger days, gave us a colorful and interesting wall. Each art wall is usually on display for several months and new ideas for themes are always welcome. More photo graphs will be added to our Art Wall photo gallery LOCATION:500 Little Lake Dr, 48103 SEQUENCE:1 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT CLASS:PUBLIC DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20061009T160700 DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20061009T160700 SUMMARY:Saving energy and the environment with solar hot water URL;VALUE=URI:http://gocoho.org/blog/?p=12 DESCRIPTION:The Great Oak Common House has a Solar Hot water system installed to augment our natural gas burning hot water heater. The system produces "clean" energy using the sun and reduces our dependence on our natural gas supplier DTE. Details about the installation are available on our CH Solar Hot Water webpage. The system has been operational for over a year now. Our original estimates showed that we should expect on average to produce the equivalent of about 144 ccF of natural gas and if the price of natural gas remained constant, that should be about a $144 that isn't paid to DTE. At that rate, it would take about 26 years to pay off the initial investment. From September 1, 2005 through September 30, 2006, the system has produced in excess of 200 ccF and reduced our DTE bill by over $280! so we're doing about twice as well as anticipated in terms of payback time, and that doesn't even highlight the pollution we're reducing. According to Carbonfund.org's calculator burning 200 ccF of natural gas will spew approximately 1.18 tons of carbon into the atmosphere, and offsetting that in a carbon market will yield anywhere from $6 to $16 at current rates. Our solar hot water system produces clean energy, even in sunshine-poor Michigan, and even saves the community money by being independent of ever-rising natural gas prices. LOCATION:500 Little Lake Dr, 48103 SEQUENCE:1 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT CLASS:PUBLIC DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20060806T200000 DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20060806T220000 SUMMARY:John Sinclair performs at Great Oak on August 6, 2006 URL;VALUE=URI:http://gocoho.org/blog/?p=17 DESCRIPTION:John Sinclair Performs Sunday, August 6, 8:30 PM (doors open 8 PM) Backed by Blue Stone Project, Grammy nominee, Nammy winner, Native American-based music. Limited tickets available; $15 at the door or advanced tickets $12 at Nicola's Books, Westgate Shopping Center at Jackson and Maple, Ann Arbor. See also the John Sinclair radio show website (Radio Free Amsterdam). LOCATION:500 Little Lake Dr, 48103 SEQUENCE:1 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT CLASS:PUBLIC DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20061009T145500 DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20061009T145500 SUMMARY:entrepreneurship at Great Oak URL;VALUE=URI:http://gocoho.org/blog/?p=11 DESCRIPTION:Cohousing is an ideal setting for experimental and small-scale entrepreneurial ventures. At Great Oak we've had kids selling lemonade, rocks and things of a similar ilk. Andrew and Catherine delivered maple-glazed scones on a couple of Sunday mornings, and I think the success was overwhelming! This might have inspired Megan to try selling muffins, which were extremely popular and well-received. After all, who can resist freshly baked goods delivered to your door! Tammy has offered her handmade truffles in a variety of flavours (mint, coffee, ginger, chilli pepper and others) for Mother's, Father's day and soon for Halloween. It not only allows her to do something she loves, but also at an intimate, financially solvent and satisfyingly convenient and appreciative setting. To help us work off the extra calories from all these delicious treats, Megan has been teaching Nia fitness classes in the Common House on Saturday mornings! LOCATION:500 Little Lake Dr, 48103 SEQUENCE:1 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT CLASS:PUBLIC DTSTART:20060926 DTEND:20060927 SUMMARY:3 bedroom unit for sale overlooking the wetlands URL;VALUE=URI:http://gocoho.org/blog/?p=4 DESCRIPTION:3 bedroom unit with spectacular view of the wetlands situated in the heart of the community next to the piazza. Includes highly efficient woodstove, 2 custom decks, solid maple flooring on the main floor, skylight in living room and upstairs bathroom. Unfinished walkout basement (finished square footage is 2000). $329,000 with garage, $314,000 without garage. Includes all deluxe appliances (including washer and dryer). Tabby cat, 16 (Andrea Rose Butler) negotiable. Contact Dave at (313)570-2100. Click on the pictures below for more pictures of the unit for sale (move your mouse over the picture to navigate). LOCATION:517 Little Lake Dr, 48103 SEQUENCE:1 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT CLASS:PUBLIC DTSTART:20061101 DTEND:20061102 SUMMARY:AED for the heart of the community URL;VALUE=URI:http://gocoho.org/blog/?p=14 DESCRIPTION:The community recently got an AED which is: An automated external defibrillator (AED) is a portable electronic device that diagnoses and treats cardiac arrest by re-establishing an effective heart rhythm. This treatment is called defibrillation, which applies an electric shock to the entire heart muscle, uniformly clearing the electrical activity of the heart, hopefully allowing it to resynchronize. according to the Wikipedia entry.More information about implementing an AED program may be found on the American Heart Association Website. The one Great Oak has is a Welch-Allyn AED 10 with a second battery and maintenance plan (they call to check that it's in good shape) that an anonymous donor purchased along with a Welch Allyn Compact Wall Cabinet with Visual Alert and Audible Alarm (Model 002156-E). We then had our own Dr. Sickels give us a brief tutorial during a community meeting (he also gives free monthly presentations about health topics of current interest). We hope to never have to use it! LOCATION:Great Oak Cohousing, Ann Arbor, MI SEQUENCE:1 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT CLASS:PUBLIC DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20061102T132500 DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20061102T132500 SUMMARY:Movies at GO URL;VALUE=URI:http://gocoho.org/blog/?p=22 DESCRIPTION:The game room in the Great Oak Common House has a large wall used as a projection screen; it is painted with screen-goo which is a specially formatted, highly reflective acrylic paint, designed specifically for the video projection industry. Screen Goo acrylic paint allows one to transform any smooth paintable surface into a high performance projection screen. Combined with a LCD projector, DVD player and some speakers, we have a very enjoyable, community, movie experience periodically. The movies have ranged from a "Portrait of Andy Goldsworthy, an artist whose specialty is ephemeral sculptures made from elements of nature." in Rivers and Tides to The Adventures of Robin Hood with Erol Flynn and Apollo 13 and to a Bollywood favorite, Dil Chahta hai, that was accompanied with popcorn flavored with chat masala and samosas as a snack during intermission as part of a member's birthday celebration! Most recently, it was Groundhog Day, albeit a bit early for Spring, but hope springs eternal! LOCATION:Great Oak Cohousing, Ann Arbor, MI SEQUENCE:1 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT CLASS:PUBLIC DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20061110T140900 DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20061110T140900 SUMMARY:Peace Pole URL;VALUE=URI:http://gocoho.org/blog/?p=24 DESCRIPTION:For Jim's birthday, he and Gail planted a peace pole at Great Oak. The pole has inscriptions in eight languages, English, Spanish, Hindi (India), Hebrew, Arabic, Wolof (Senegal), Ojibway (A Native American language) and Dog (animal paw prints), all which say, approximately, "May peace prevail on earth". Peace poles are found around the world in places where the spirit of peace is embraced by people of good will. The Great Oak peace pole has been placed in a community garden where it can be seen not only by its neighbors but also by visitors who make their way into the community via the pedestrian path that runs through the middle of our buildings. The Peace Pole was dedicated in a short and simple ceremony on Sunday, Nov. 26. After an invocation using a Buddhist meditation, members of the community read the languages on the pole: English, Spanish, Hebrew, Hindi, Wolof, Ojibway, and Arabic, and gave the English meaning of the phrase. Sam, one of our younger members, identified the animal paw prints in the 8th panel. click on the picture for an albums worth more! Following the dedication ceremony, community members gathered in the common house for punch and cookies and sang peace songs directed by Tom. LOCATION:Great Oak Cohousing, Ann Arbor, MI SEQUENCE:1 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT CLASS:PUBLIC DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20061106T141500 DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20061106T141500 SUMMARY:Workshop under construction URL;VALUE=URI:http://gocoho.org/blog/?p=25 DESCRIPTION:The Great Oak workshop (shared with Touchstone) is taking shape. Great Oak donated the land and some portion of the construction costs with Touchstone paying for the rest. Great Oak and Touchstone will be partly funding the operating costs and the rest will be borne directly by those who use the workshop. Here is a video of the roof going up over the last weekend work day! [googlevideo]-2552431590673781472[/googlevideo] more pictures are in the workshop album. LOCATION:Great Oak Cohousing, Ann Arbor, MI SEQUENCE:1 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT CLASS:PUBLIC DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20060709T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20060709T130000 SUMMARY:Inter-cohousing water balloon fight! URL;VALUE=URI:http://gocoho.org/blog/?p=27 DESCRIPTION:Sunward Cohousing, our neighbor to the North, wanted to "liberate" some ex-members who had defected (opted to move to) to Great Oak. They decided to launch a water balloon assault...(the refrigerator boxes in the truck were not what they appeared -- click on the image for more photos): Sneakily, some Sunwardians snuck into Great Oak in the early morning and added flow-restrictors to all the hoses, which limited the retaliatory options! Sunward's General, George, was captured late in the battle, but unfortunately at the cost of Jillian, an ex-Sunwardian being kidnapped. An amicable swap, followed by a BBQ well-attend by both communities served to patch up differences...till next year! Here's a video of the mayhem: [googlevideo]814265874119303870[/googlevideo] LOCATION:Great Oak Cohousing, Ann Arbor, MI SEQUENCE:1 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT CLASS:PUBLIC DTSTART:20061031 DTEND:20061101 SUMMARY:Halloween 2006 URL;VALUE=URI:http://gocoho.org/blog/?p=28 DESCRIPTION:Halloween is a holiday celebrated seriously at Great Oak, and 2006 was no exception. Click on the picture for our album of pictures from this groovy holiday: This year, the resident Great Oak band played, after trick-or-treating, scary favorites like "Monster Boogie" in front of the Common House -- the crowd kept warm by dancing or huddling around the brazier! 37 households provide a lot of treats, but if that isn't enough, Sunward Cohousing, Touchstone Cohousing and Eagle Point apartments are all nearby with a large host of welcoming haunted houses. LOCATION:Great Oak Cohousing, Ann Arbor, MI SEQUENCE:1 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT CLASS:PUBLIC DTSTART:20061021 DTEND:20061022 SUMMARY:Fall 2006 work days URL;VALUE=URI:http://gocoho.org/blog/?p=29 DESCRIPTION:Work days, typically on two adjacent Saturdays, twice a year -- in the Fall and in the Spring -- are an occasion for the community to tackle and complete larger tasks that benefit from coordinated mass labor. Tasks this Fall ranged from weeding garden beds, putting the hoses away for the winter, various maintenance tasks in the Common house including touch-up painting, improving the stairs on the kids' room loft, deep cleaning the kitchen, polishing the Marmoleum floor to more ambitious projects like installing a staircase up a hill (click the picture for the full album): to Laura and Keith's fantastic handiwork of staining the concrete in the Common House foyer: A majority of the adults in the community participated over the two work days and the sense of accomplishment is palpable and tangible! LOCATION:Great Oak Cohousing, Ann Arbor, MI SEQUENCE:1 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT CLASS:PUBLIC DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20061026T103000 DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20061026T120000 SUMMARY:Repairing our communications infrastructure URL;VALUE=URI:http://gocoho.org/blog/?p=20 DESCRIPTION:When Great Oak was initally built, direct-bury Category 5 copper cable was run between the Common House and each building, with two 4-pair cables running into each unit. Unfortunately, as we've started using up the pairs, we've found that some of the cables have been compromised (possibly cut into during or after construction). The worst affected building is down to 4-8 working pairs out of the initial 24 pairs that was originally installed! Since this is the basic communications infrastructure of the community that has been compromised, we had to fix it, and we decided to run new cables to the worst-affected building but this time in conduit. So we found a contracter, USA Utilities, who came out with a directional boring machine that bored from the Common House west entrance (closest to the network closet) to the affected building, under the Common House South lawn and only had to disturb one flower bed where the CH foundation didn't allow for any deeper burial of the conduit. In about 2 hours they had covered the 280-foot span at a depth of 2.5 feet on average, and pulled the conduit through with a pull rope so we can pull more Cat-5 cable through (direct bury and with a ground wire). This of course doesn't come cheap - $1980 for the run. We have to budget in future for other buildings which aren't as badly off but are in peril in any case! Pictures as a documentation of our effort may be found by clicking the picture below: We will run the cable through this conduit at a future date...more details when that happens! LOCATION:Great Oak Cohousing, Ann Arbor, MI SEQUENCE:1 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT CLASS:PUBLIC DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20061123T214000 DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20061123T214000 SUMMARY:Mechanics of our meal program URL;VALUE=URI:http://gocoho.org/blog/?p=13 DESCRIPTION:The Great Oak meal program is the "glue" that holds our community together, providing optional, shared meals, five nights a week in our Common House dining room. The meals are served with shared labor and costs for the households at Great Oak and periodically to our neighboring communities of Sunward and Touchstone. We've logged over 600 meals and although we're still working on our technique, it is good enough to be instructional to other communities! One of the most important and not-often duplicated features of our meal program is that the labor is integrated into the Great Oak work system so those who don't want to do kitchen jobs can still eat and those who do have snow cleared from their paths or the grass mowed. To reduce the amount of labor involved in tracking the signups and billing for so many meals and jobs, we've invested in a fair amount of automation, including online, web-based meal signup that feeds directly into our billing program. Click on the thumbnail image for more detail on how to signup: The nitty-gritty about how it all works meals scheduler person works out a schedule for 2 months in advance (can be less or more, up to you) and enters in the meal shifts for that period online, including information about meal date, cook, asst cooks, cleaners once (1) happens, cooks can edit their meal online and add their meal name, menu, how many diners they will accept and when the online meal signup is closed (optional) diners can signup (anyone in their household) for meals anytime after (1) but typically will do so after (2) so they know what they can expect to eat ooks will get nag emails if they don't update the menu 2 weeks before the meal date and then 1 week before and every day till they do or the meal is past anyone with a meal shift will get email reminders about their shift in advance (2 days for cooks and 1 day in advance for everyone else) diners can opt to have email reminders sent to them about when they are eating when the meal is closed, the cook has the responsibility of printing out the signup sheet, and attached to it is the reimbursement form, and no more online signups are allowed the cook takes the numbers from the signup sheet and shops accordingly, and brings the sheet to the dinner if there are spaces for late signups, they are recorded on the sheet (there is spot), or if there are any drop-outs or other changes, they get recorded on the sheet at or right the meal the cook attaches their receipts to the reimbursement form and signup sheet and puts it into a meal biller person's cubby the meal biller person goes online to note any changes to the signups for the meal, enters in cost of the meal (we separate out meal purchase and any staples purchase, but that is again optional) and the program figures out the cost per diner based on the signups -- then the meal biller person marks the meal as "complete" meaning that it is ready for billing if the cook has requested a check, then the meals biller writes them a reimbrusement check, otherwise records the reimbursement as a credit against the cook's household account at the end of the billing period, the meal biller person simply hits the "bill now" button and lineitems are generated for all the meals in the last billing period and attributed to the diners' household accounts at preset times (currently the 6th and 19th of the month), statements are generated and emailed to all dining households. The meals biller in some cases prints out the statements for those who require them the meals biller collects checks and then records payments and any other adjustments online. Once all received payments are entered, we require payments to be made by the 20th, the meals biller hits the "charge admin fee" button and the program figures out who is in arrears and charges them an admin fee (5% currently) The meals billers record money activity in and out of the bank account in a check register separately -- my program does meal signup and billing, NOT accounting -- so if you are happy with Quickbooks to manage the accounting, you can continue to use that, but we've found that a check register works fine for the few bank transactions we do. This is the workflow we've now used for over 600 meals at Great Oak and I think it has worked pretty well. LOCATION:Great Oak Cohousing, Ann Arbor, MI SEQUENCE:1 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT CLASS:PUBLIC DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20061130T125700 DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20061130T125800 SUMMARY:Is cohousing right for you? URL;VALUE=URI:http://gocoho.org/blog/?p=23 DESCRIPTION:Although considering and choosing a community and then living the reality of Cohousing in one is likely an enriching, complex and difficult process, it might help you to know some of the resources that can help. Living in Cohousing is a learning process and so constant re-evaluation is the norm! To get an overview of the range of intentional communities around the world, ic.org is invaluable, and in particular, if Cohousing interests you, make sure you know about cohousing.org and the Cohousing-L email list. Of particular interest might be the article, Is cohousing right for you? on the cohousing.org website and the similar list of questions in a Cohousing-L posting entitled People who are considering cohousing may want to ask themselves some questions. A diverse range of people live in cohousing, some are just starting out, some are old-hands, but everyone is learning how to live in community -- even some brave introverts! No, we're not all gregarious and extroverted, and there is a huge variety of personalities that live in Cohousing, and that is the richness and challenge. LOCATION:Great Oak Cohousing, Ann Arbor, MI, USA SEQUENCE:1 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT CLASS:PUBLIC DTSTART:20061203 DTEND:20000101 SUMMARY:winter 2007 work season URL;VALUE=URI:http://gocoho.org/blog/?p=30 DESCRIPTION:To do the work required to run the community, Great Oak depends on its members and their labor. Tasks range from maintaing the buildings and infrastructure of 37 units, to facilitating meetings to mowing grass and plowing snow. Unlike many cohousing communities, the tasks required to run the Great Oak meal program is a major part of the general work program. Meal jobs represent around 50% of the work hours. This being Michigan, the seasonal extremes mean that we have different jobs at different times of year. This winter (2006-7), we have a list of 88 different jobs representing 468 hours. Some jobs have multiple positions, and some people opt to perform multiple shifts of certain jobs. Since the list of tasks vary by season and workers like variety and change, we rotate jobs a few times a year. We also have community work days a few times a year to do those tasks that require many people at once and can be done en masse. A general description of the Great Oak Work system that was posted to the Cohousing-L mailing list has details about our periodic work surveys and how we allocate work based on the preferences expressed on the survey. As listed in this other recent Cohousing-L message the most desired jobs for this upcoming work season were (the number represents the weighted "average" preference): 42 - meal cleaner once a month 27 - weekday meal assistant cook 26 - light duty snow shoveller 24 - sunday meal assistant cook 23 - meal cleaner two times a month 23 - Common House sitting and guest room cleaner 18 - Common House laundry room cleaner 17 - meals billing person 16 - weekday meal head cook ... 11 - sunday meal head cook and the least desired jobs were: -88 - community meeting childcare -87 - Buildings committee steering rep -87 - Buildings committee convener -87 - Weekday head cook three times per month -87 - Lilacc (Little Lake cohousing committee) committee rep This system has been in place for almost 3 years, over 600 meals, 2 community meetings per month, many committee meetings and thousands of hours of constructive labor. So far, we haven't found a better way, but the work committee is always fine tuning and balancing the needs of the community with those of the busy and varied individuals who comprise it. The number of workers has been pretty consistent at around 60 adults, though the load per adult varies, with the goal always to maximize the happiness of all! Below is the complete list of jobs, sorted by committee. Listed is also the hours per month on average someone doing the job can expect to spend and the number of positions available. committee Job hours per month positions buildings Buildings Committee convener 2.00 1 buildings Buildings Maintenance Worker 2.00 3 buildings Buldings maintenance coordinator 2.00 1 buildings Counted member (buildings) 2.00 2 buildings Steering Rep (buildings) 1.00 1 common house Bike Shed Maintenance 1.00 1 common house CH Committee convener 3.00 1 common house CH Decorator 1.00 1 common house CH Hottub and Hobart (dish-sanitizer) maintainer 1.00 1 common house CH Night Lockup 2.00 2 common house CH bathrooms cleaner 2.00 2 common house CH bathrooms spot cleaner 1.00 1 common house CH clean-up coordinator 1.00 1 common house CH dining room cleaner 2.00 2 common house CH game and media rooms cleaner 1.00 1 common house CH halls and common areas cleaner 2.00 2 common house CH inventory/shopper 4.00 1 common house CH kids room cleaner 2.00 1 common house CH kitchen cleaner 2.00 2 common house CH laundry room cleaner 2.00 1 common house CH maintenance coordinator 3.00 1 common house CH sitting and guest room cleaner 1.00 1 common house Counted member (common house) 2.00 2 common house Kids room coordinator 2.00 1 common house Steering Rep (common house) 1.00 1 finance and legal Bookkeeper assistant - Check Writer 3.00 1 finance and legal Counted member (finance and legal) 2.00 2 finance and legal Finance and legal committee convener 2.00 1 finance and legal Insurance point person 1.00 1 finance and legal Steering Rep (finance and legal) 1.00 1 finance and legal bookeeper assistant - Member Bookkeeper 4.00 1 finance and legal bookkeeper assistant - Check Depositor 2.00 1 finance and legal bookkeeper assistant - Check Logger 2.00 1 finance and legal general bookkeeper 6.00 1 grounds Counted member (grounds) 2.00 2 grounds Heavy-duty shoveller 3.00 3 grounds Light-duty shoveller 2.00 6 grounds Snow and Ice Removal Coordinator 3.00 1 grounds Snow plowers 4.00 4 grounds Steering Rep (grounds) 1.00 1 grounds Tractor (Snow plower) 3.00 1 grounds grounds committee convener 3.00 1 grounds point person for garbage and recycling 2.00 1 meals Counted member (meals) 2.00 2 meals Meal cleaner 1.50 52 meals Meal cleaner 2 times per month 1.50   meals Meal cleaner 3 times per month 1.50   meals Meal committee convener 2.00 1 meals Meals Scheduling Person 4.00 1 meals Meals billing person 2.50 2 meals Meals billing tech 1.00 1 meals Meeting Night cleaner 2.00 2 meals Meeting Night takeout orderer 1.00 2 meals Steering Rep (meals) 1.00 1 meals Sunday Meal assistant cook 2.00 8 meals Sunday Meal assistant cook 2 times per month 2.00   meals Sunday Meal assistant cook 3 times per month 2.00   meals Sunday Meal head cook 4.00 4 meals Sunday Meal head cook 2 times per month 4.00   meals Weekday Meal assistant cook 2.00 27 meals Weekday Meal assistant cook 2 times per month 2.00   meals Weekday Meal assistant cook 3 times per month 2.00   meals Weekday Meal head cook 4.00 14 meals Weekday Meal head cook 2 times per month 4.00   meals Weekday Meal head cook 3 times per month 4.00   membership Counted member (membership) 2.00 2 membership Fun coordinator 1.00 1 membership New member handbook 2.00 1 membership Steering Rep (membership) 1.00 1 membership child care coordinator for community meetings 2.00 1 membership community meeting childcare 1.00 6 membership member database maintenance 1.00 1 membership membership commitee convener 3.00 1 membership outreach/contact 2.00 1 membership outreach/marketing 2.00 1 membership website hosting and backend maintenance 2.00 1 membership website maintenance 2.00 1 process Book of agreements content entry 1.00 1 process Community Reporter 2.00 1 process Conflict Resolution committee Co-Convener 1.00 3 process Counted member (process) 2.00 2 process Info committee convener 2.00 1 process LiLaCC Convener 1.00 1 process Steering Rep (process) 1.00 1 process agenda planning for community mtgs 2.00 1 process archivist and bulletin boards 1.00 1 process facilitate community meeting 2 times per season 2.00 8 process minute taker for community meeting 2 times per season 1.00 4 process process committee convener 2.00 1 steering Steering convener 2.00 1 tech GO-Net Administrator 2.00 2 tech GO-Net biller 1.00 1 work Counted member (work) 2.00 2 work Steering Rep (work) 1.00 1 work community work coordinator 3.00 1 work work allocation tech 1.00 1 work work survey tech 1.00 1 LOCATION:Great Oak Cohousing, Ann Arbor, MI SEQUENCE:1 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT CLASS:PUBLIC DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20061205T214600 DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20061205T214600 SUMMARY:Diverse traditions and holiday cheer URL;VALUE=URI:http://gocoho.org/blog/?p=31 DESCRIPTION:Maybe this post doesn't address all that, but it does showcase the talent that drives the Great Oak band. Once upon a time, several years ago, my friend John & I wrote a little songy. We subsequently made a video which laid dormant, more or less, until the technology of video sharing caught up. Now it's on YouTube. Check it out! Share with your friends! Watch it often! [youtube]yTXxHkuUQRw[/youtube] LOCATION:Great Oak Cohousing, Ann Arbor, MI SEQUENCE:1 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT CLASS:PUBLIC DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20070101T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20070101T160000 SUMMARY:New Year’s Day Euchre Tournament URL;VALUE=URI:http://gocoho.org/blog/?p=35 DESCRIPTION:Mary & Carl's 4th New Year's Day Euchre Tournament - and the 2nd held at Great Oak. Twenty-four people including Great Oak family and friends, Touchstoners, (mostly the entire Rolka family, minus Chet who was sleeping) enjoyed four rounds of friendly competition. Potluck snacks included the generous and delicious left overs from the Epicuria new Year's Eve party. The youngest participant was Mary's 12 year old nephew Jordan, and the oldest was Sarah's mom, Gail, (who is noticeably older than Jordan). Almost half the participants were first time players! Carl Hanna dominated the score board with a perfect 40! Lisa placed a respectable second with 38. Jim Sweeton brought up the rear with a total of 16 points. Prizes, (and we use the term loosely, here), were distributed in a White Elephant exchange. The low scorer, (that would be Jim Sweeton) was the first to open his mystery gift. Subsequent rounds of gift opening included the option to snatch a gift from anyone with a lower score, (that would be Jim Sweeton). Thanks to all who participated, especially Sarah and others who helped with set-up and clean up. To see more photos click here. LOCATION:Great Oak Cohousing common house, Ann Arbor, MI SEQUENCE:1 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT CLASS:PUBLIC DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20070124T141500 DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20070124T141500 SUMMARY:Room for rent URL;VALUE=URI:http://gocoho.org/blog/?p=39 DESCRIPTION:Interested in community living?  Share 3 bedroom, two story condominium in Great Oak Cohousing Community with mom, 10 year old son, and two small dogs.  Common House with many amenities available for your use including, free laundry media room with satellite TV, exercise room, and guest room just steps away.  Optional community dinners five nights a week for less than $5/meal on average (veggie and meat).  Negotiable rent at $500 includes wireless access, parking, storage, and utilities.  Friendly, multi-generational community near bus line, Saginaw Forest and several ponds and creek, and many walking paths. (Available NOW!) Call Patti at 734/395-5311 or Patti@gocoho.org LOCATION:Great Oak Cohousing, Ann Arbor, MI SEQUENCE:1 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT CLASS:PUBLIC DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20070203T183000 DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20070203T220000 SUMMARY:Anniversary 2007! URL;VALUE=URI:http://gocoho.org/blog/?p=40 DESCRIPTION:Great Oak just celebrated its 5th anniversary with a fabulous talent show and party! We  had music, dancing, snakes, dragons, grape-hoarding, band-name unveiling, storytelling, stage-shyness, anti-art and much, much more! LOCATION:Great Oak Cohousing, Ann Arbor, MI SEQUENCE:1 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT CLASS:PUBLIC DTSTART:20071111 DTEND:20000101 SUMMARY:Diwali celebration URL;VALUE=URI:http://gocoho.org/blog/?p=51 DESCRIPTION:Any occasion to have a celebration/party/special meal and associated festivities is welcomed at Great Oak. For the first time, we celebrated Diwali with a catered Indian meal, sparklers for the kids followed by Bhangra dancing (lessons provided). The Common House dining room was decorated for the occasion with silk saris and rangoli. Click on the image below for more pictures of the occasion. Although the proceedings were much more modest than our annual Passover Seder we have grander ambitions for 2008! LOCATION:Diwali SEQUENCE:1 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR