Compost to Ashes, Ashes to Dust… and then, A Good Time!
First of all, thank you to everyone who liked, listened to, downloaded and everything else you can do to a podcast! Aren’t those two guys interesting, talking about recycling, composting and sustainability like they do? I loved the number of people who told me that they thought, “Okay, I’m kind of tired of hearing about sustainability, but I’ll listen to it just to see . . . “ and then stayed to listen to it all the way through because Ben and Ryan tell their sustainability story and give the information in such a positive and lively way! I am very excited for them, for their future and for the positive outlook for a future they bring to all of us!
This week’s guest is Laura Cottingham and it’s an interview that will literally (which is a word that is used FAR too often, but I just looked up synonyms and couldn’t find one that worked as well, so you’re stuck with “literally” as if I were sixteen and without enough words. At least I didn’t use the word, “Like” in this sentence) change your life and your death. (Wait – what?) I said that this week’s podcast will change your life and your death, and the way you see both of them.
Laura is a Death Doula, and spends much of her time with people who are going to die - which actually (and literally!) includes all of us. Laura was my last guest (appropriately enough) when I was on the radio – the live show that preceded the podcast, but in this episode we go deeply into the spiritual and magical and actually comforting aspects of the end of life. This is one that’ll make you say, “Wow . . . . “ and will make you start talking to all of your loved ones who have already gone on to the Great Beyond, and I ain’t kidding when I say that your life will change. (In a good way.) We finished the podcast and then, Tracy and I agreed that we want to have her come back again soon, as there was so much more to talk about!
I’m going to switch hats right now, and talk about another thing that was life changing to me, and it could be to you, if you live in Western Massachusetts or plan to go visit there one day. (You could you know – a lot of people do!)
For y’all people who have known me a while in my Massachusetts world, y’all remember I used to own a restaurant called Elmer’s in Ashfield, MA. It wasn’t something I’d planned to do; Hurricane Katrina struck my house and killt it and everything in it while I was up in Massachusetts working on a festival back in 2005, and that was how I ended up living in Ashfield and then . . . being out of my mind and all, bought the old general store in that tiny little town and turned it into a restaurant. (My reasoning then was that, while I didn’t know anything in the WORLD about owning a restaurant, I had lived in New Orleans for most of my life preceding that day, and knew how to show people a good time! So that’s what we did and we just had a real good time.
13 years later I sold Elmer’s to some people, and the people who bought it from me recently decided they wanted to move back to Germany, where they were from. A a committee of people who recognized that having a good time and a place to hang out and eat good food was a good thing to keep in a town got together to see if we could buy the place back and turn it into a community-owned co-op – a restaurant/bar/entertainment place, not a grocery-type co-op, though we could have those, too!
So we started raising money and the short version of the story is that it worked!! We raised enough money to put a downpayment on the building! We were able to work out a deal with the bank, put down a deposit on the building, and we got it! Almost! We still have to pay the rest of the money for the building in order to actually take possession of it, by about the 21st of April, and we need some money to renovate that 188 year-old place – it’s got some issues.
We need $272,000 more to finish buying the building and to do the work it needs in the world of refurbishments. (Have you seen the porch? Yeah – the whole building needs a lot of work. I did a LOT of work on it when I bought it in 2005, but Lord, that was almost twenty years ago now and everything I didn’t fix then now needs fixing.)
Watch this short video about it that the talented Dave Russo made. (Remember when we used to do the annual Winklepicker Festival at Elmer’s, and we had Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys play at Town Hall, and then afterwards we had a big party at Elmer’s with the band, The Primate Fiasco? Dave was the lead Primate, one of my favorite bands ever, and now he’s on our steering committee, helping us rebuild Elmer’s!) And he made this very entertaining video that explains it all:
(99) ELMERS UPDATE 3/16/23 - YouTube
People are showing up with gifts of all sizes, but we're not going to make it without some bigger donations. We currently need 7 more gifts of about $25,000. And 13 more gifts of about $7,500. Can you help us in one of these categories?
Yeah – I know that sounds like a lot – and it is!
This would also help us:
21 people donating $1000 each and 177 people donating $100 each. (I didn’t make up those numbers – I got them from our chief strategist and she knows math and everything!)
Anything in the world you can give we will be happy about, and I mean that. We just need to get this place back up and running so we can all get back together again! (And alla y’all who think this has nothing to do with you, know that it does! You know how coincidences work – one day you’ll be driving up through Massachusetts and you’ll say, “Hey! There’s that place called Elmer’s! And we’re starving! Isn’t that the place Nan told us about?” TWICE in the last week in New Orleans I have run into random strangers, New Orleanians who had been to Western Mass and knew my little tiny restaurant there. That’s how this works. Very magical. So you can donate too so that that cool little place will be there when YOU get ready to go!
Please send checks to us at
The Elmer’s Revitalization Project
PO Box 334
Ashfield, MA 01330
Or you can visit us at our GoFundMe page: Fundraiser for Ariel Brooks by Elizabeth Gray : Elmer's Revitalization (gofundme.com)
(It says it’s raising money for Ariel Brooks. Ariel is the chairperson of our Elmer’s Revitalization steering committee. She’s the chief strategist I was telling you about who knows about math and the miracles it can work.)
Aiight! I’m in New Orleans right now working on Jazz Fest and it is keeping me biz-ZEEE! So I am going to bed. And when I wake up, Laura Cottingham will be on my podcast! (In fact, I think she’s already there!) You can hear it at www.Nanlandia.com!
Thank you and good night.
And thank you again.
You make me happy.
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