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Community Meals Orientation

10/23/08



We have common meals every Tuesday and Wednesday, potlucks every Friday, Sunday brunches and ice cream socials on occasion.  The dinners start at 6:30 and the brunches start at 11:00.  The ice cream socials happen whenever someone schedules one.



Common Meals

Common meals are prepared by two cooks.  They post a menu several days in advance on the bulletin board.  There’s a sign-up sheet by the bulletin board where you sign up for common meals.  There’s a column for adults and one for kids.  There’s no exact cut-off for when a kids becomes an adult.  It’s basically when they begin to eat like an adult.  A day or two before the meal, the cooks tally the sign-ups for their meal, highlight through the sign-up date column on the sheet, and calculate the amount of groceries to buy.  If you want to sign up for a meal, but there’s a yellow line on that date, you must get the cooks’ permission to add on before signing up.  You’ll get billed for the meals on your monthly HOA invoice.


There’s a list of people’s various food allergies and preferences posted on the refrigerator (vegetarian, no dairy, no nuts, etc.).  The cooks generally try to accommodate the needs of the people coming to dinner.  If you have any food allergies and preferences, add that info to the list on the refrigerator.  As a general rule, cooks also try to buy organic, locally raised food.  Sometimes this happens and sometimes it doesn’t based on availability and budget.  Ultimately, its up to the cooks’ discretion.


On the night of the meal, the first bell rings about 6:20, which means come on over to the common house for dinner.  The second bell rings about 6:30 and means it’s time to circle up.  In the circle, the cooks, the food, and any guests are introduced.  There may be announcements and a short blessing.  The food is usually served buffet style.  Kids go through the line with their parents so the parents can help them and also make sure the kids take reasonable portions and also to prevent the kids from rushing the front of the line (which used to happen).  There are only a few napkins available for guests so if members like to use napkins, they keep cloth napkins in their cubby.


We try to maintain a quiet and peaceful atmosphere during meals, which means lots of engaging conversation, but no yelling or rowdy play.  This pertains mostly to the kids, of course, so when they get too rambunctious, their parents or a nearby adult reminds them and gives them the choice of staying in the dining room and behaving accordingly or going outside or downstairs to the rec room if they’re ready to play.  Please tell your kids about these expectations for dining room behaviors.


After dinner, you bus your own dishes.  There’s a clean up station where you scrape compost into the bucket, scrub your dishes, and put them in the dishwasher racks.  There’s two clean-up people for each common meal who wash the dishes and clean the dining room and kitchen.  They always appreciate a little extra help.  So do the cooks before the meal, for that matter!



Potlucks

Bring any kind of dish to share.  Some people bring organic goodies fresh from the garden.  Others  bring a take ‘n’ bake pizza.  It all gets joyfully eaten.  Someone will surely like anything you bring.


There are no assigned clean-up people for potlucks so everyone just pitches in.



Sunday Brunches and Ice Cream Socials

They just happen whenever someone feels motivated and schedules one.  So if you’re feeling motivated, schedule one and announce it on the chat.  Everyone will love you.