PORT TOWNSEND — “Crocodile Rock.” “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone.” “Layla,” “The Godfather” and “Battle for the Planet of the Apes.” These were the hit songs and movies of 1972, all while a Port Townsend institution was being born.
A group of high school friends started the Food Co-op, which had its first home where Pane d’Amore is now: in a former paint barn Uptown.
Today, the nonprofit grocery store-deli, in an expanded former bowling alley on Kearney Street, has 6,600 active members, all of whom are invited to a giant, free outdoor party at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds, 4907 Landes St., from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday.
“The field will be where the music area is,” said Andrea Stafford, the co-op’s marketing manager, adding the Production Alliance, the tent-erecting, party-throwing nonprofit organization, is creating the event.
Along with performances from five local acts, the 50th anniversary bash will highlight local beverages and food and shower prizes on people who dress in garb from the 1970s.
More information can be found at https://www.food coop.coop/50yearsofcooperation.
“The fairgrounds will give us enough room to spread out,” Stafford said, while she admitted she’s “just praying for good weather.”
Danny Milholland, a lifetime member of the co-op and cofounder of the Production Alliance, issued an invitation with his typical enthusiasm.
“The party, I guarantee, will be absolutely legendary — amazing food, music, games, dancing, and plenty of time to connect,” he said. “Take Thursday off. Dress up. Live it up.”
While the Batch Brothers, the Friendly Nettle and Grace Love of Nadine’s Kitchen dish up “$5 eats,” Finnriver Farm & Cidery, Propolis Brewing, Mead Werks and Blue Jay Kombucha will pour drinks for guests, who will receive free drink tickets at the gate.
Free cake — with a choice of vegan chocolate or carrot — will be served, and a community portrait will be taken about halfway through the evening.
The entertainment lineup includes:
• 4 p.m.: Singer-songwriter Alexa Sunshine Rose;
• 5 p.m. Multi-genre musicians Matt Sircely and Danny Barnes;
• 6:30 p.m.: Community portrait, cake and the Unexpected Brass Band;
• 7:15 p.m.: Rock, funk and R & B with Uncle Funk and the Dope Six;
• 9 p.m. Glow club juggling with members of NANDA the Flying Karamazov Brothers.
A banner depicting “50 Years of Co-op History,” created by local artist and cartoonist Nhatt Nichols, will be unfurled at the party. It lays out the timeline from 1972, when the co-op incorporated, to 1979, when loans from members funded a move from the paint barn to the old Uptown bus garage, where the Jefferson Land Trust and Puffin Shoe Repair are now.
Nearly 20 years passed before the co-op board hired the first full-time manager in 1998. In April 2001, members helped transport goods — in a shopping-cart procession — to the new store at 414 Kearney St.
Six years later, “we become the first organic-certified produce department on the Peninsula,” Nichols notes.
The year 2014 brought “co-op centsibles, now Co-op basics, a range of products at the lowest possible price.” The following year, “we eliminate the non-member surcharge to support our goal of bringing good food to everyone in the community.”
A member-number system beban circa 1981 with $2 monthly dues. Nowadays people become members with a $100 “capital investment,” Stafford said, which “they don’t have to pay all up front. It’s a $5 application fee, then $2 a month till it’s paid off,” she noted.
The timeline marches on: 2019 saw the completion of the co-op’s 3,400-square-foot expansion, and 2020 brought COVID protocols and a volunteer shopping system to deliver groceries to people who weren’t able to go inside the store. Then the staff put “Co-op2go,” the online shopping system, in place.
“[The store] was all volunteer-run until about 1992,” Stafford said.
Today, the co-op employs about 120 full- and part-time workers.
Wednesday’s party is officially for members, Stafford said, but cards will not be checked at the entrance. Family-friendly prizes and games will go on throughout the evening; guests are encouraged to bring their own water bottles while the co-op will supply reusable mason jars.
While the revelry winds down about 9 p.m., guests are welcome to stay and help with the cleanup.
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Jefferson County Senior Reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3509 or durbanidelapaz @peninsuladailynews.com.
