4 important details! 1) Plant and Seed Swap, 2) on Sat March 20th 2:30-5pm, 3) at Westminster House (23rd and Monroe, Corvallis), 4) FREE EVENT

Not only do you get to see Corvallis' local currency in action (and participate if you wish) in the indoor market... you can also swap some garden goodies to get your year started off right.

How to participate:
- Bring your extra cuttings, bulbs, plant starts, etc. (Please label clearly - labels will also be available at the swap)
- Bring extra seeds (saved or what-not). You don't have to pre-divide into small quantities
- Invite your fellow gardeners to bring their extras and enjoy the bounty (no need to be an hours member)
- Bring extra containers/grocery sacks or seed envelopes, as items may not already be divided
- Or just come ready to learn!

Click "read more" to see more!

Members, please plan to participate in the 2010 HOURS Annual Meeting on Sat March 20th 1:00-2:15pm at Westminster House (23rd and Monroe St, Corvallis). This is prior to the Spring Quarterly Market.

Members are encouraged to attend and will have the opportunity to offer comments and opinions during a facilitated vision sharing, hear the HOUR Exchange Annual Report, and elect fellow members for the 2010-2011 Board of Trustees. Stick around and be in the commemorative photo of the members at the event, and we will celebrate our 5-year members and present them with a gift as a thank you for their continued support. For the membership meeting, bring your own table service.

Corvallis Group Builds Community through Alternative Currency
5/6/2009
By Jes Burns
Communities across Oregon are feeling the crunch of the recession. With more than 12-percent of the state’s residents out of traditional work, an organization in Corvallis thinks there’s no better time to institute a drastic change to the current way we do business. Their idea: a local alternative currency backed by the people themselves.

KLCC’s Jes Burns has the details.

goto:
http://www.klcc.org/Feature.asp?FeatureID=1096

Communities print their own currency to keep cash flowing

read online at:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2009-04-05-scrip_N.htm

By David Coates, The Detroit News, via AP

In Detroit, three downtown businesses have created a local currency, or scrip, to keep dollars earned locally in the community.

By Marisol Bello, USA TODAY
A small but growing number of cash-strapped communities are printing their own money.
Borrowing from a Depression-era idea, they are aiming to help consumers make ends meet and support struggling local businesses.

The systems generally work like this: Businesses and individuals form a network to print currency. Shoppers buy it at a discount — say, 95 cents for $1 value — and spend the full value at stores that accept the currency.

MONEY/NEWSWEEK Magazine, December 1, 2008

A Plan For Hard Times: Print Cash
By Tony Dokoupil

People nationwide may start hoarding their cash as recession fears grow. But in Riverwest—a progressive enclave of Milwaukee—residents have another answer to their money trouble: they'll print their own. The proposed River Currency would be used like cash at local businesses, keeping the area economy humming whatever the health of the country at large. "We can create our own value," explains Sura Faraj, 48, one of the plan's organizers.

..... read more at:

> http://www.newsweek.com/id

Members: You can now post offers of goods and services you are providing or looking for in exchange for HOURS.
Follow the "Offers of Goods and Services" link on the menu to the left of the screen and follow the instructions.

Buying time? No, they're spending it

Local members use local currency made by Hour Exchange ...

By Mary Ann AlbrightGazette-Times reporter

For more of this story, type the URL below:

http://www.gazettetimes.com/articles/2005/02/18/news/community/fri02.txt

Buying time? No, they're spending it

Local members use local currency made by Hour Exchange

By Mary Ann Albright
Gazette-Times reporter

Want to learn how to make sushi? Looking for homemade chutneys to give as gifts? Need fire dancing lessons?

Instead of laying down U.S. dollars, Hour Exchange encourages consumers to use its alternative currency to acquire local goods and services.