This fall’s Vancouver Island Council meeting on Wednesday Oct. 17th opened in a unique fashion. Co-op member Art Farquharson (Seawalk Co-op), wielding his guitar and sporting a Hawaiian shirt started the meeting with a song.The meeting was lively and informative with reports from retiring CHF BC board member Larry LeSage and from CHF BC executive director, Thom Armstrong, member services director, Kerry Panter, co-op viability advisor, Michael Rodgers and commercial services director, Arnold Sang. Miriam Trotscha, CHF Canada’s program manager, member relations, introduced everyone to “speed networking” which had the room buzzing as members got a chance to interact with each other in this novel, fast-paced exercise. There were prizes followed by the announcement of the newly acclaimed council chair, Allan Ford and newly acclaimed Vancouver Island director, Phil Brown. The food supplied by generous sponsors, RONA and Trail Appliances was enjoyed by all. With a special announcement from CHF BC Commercial Services, members were introduced to Alpine, our new waste and recycling group buying partner on the Island.The night was rounded off with reports from CHF Canada’s president, Anne Davidson and CHF BC’s president, Catherine Porter.Overall, the evening was another great opportunity for Vancouver Island members to meet, reconnect and reaffirm their co-operative spirit.