Club Report--Club House Opens Dec. 1st

Great news!!! Personal circumstances, and much Providence, have presented the opportunity for which the Club has been looking since June. By that I mean no less than what the Club IS has been preparing: “BETA Club.” Beta Club is the opening, running and growth of a store front office Clubhouse. Checking out the ads Fri. night on-line, I wrote down some options. I vaguely thought I recognized the second number I dialed and to my surprise it was my old landlord from Oz when I had an apartment for 4 years. So, Sat. afternoon we made arrangements to meet. Now, a word about the landlord. He is a very decent, straight-up, honest and likeable good guy. I would rent any place anywhere in the world from him. If people are responsible, considerate, straight-up, decent and honest, like we in the Club try to be, my experience is they receive a fair deal, EXCELLENT service, and quality accommodations from him. So, when I looked at the place, the landlord pretty much said he was willing to work with me on anything we needed.

I forgot to bring my camera, but here is layout. It is about 700 square feet in all–the right size and arrangement at the right price to begin. The landlord had just remodeled (with 2 and ½ feet insulation around and above the space), repainted, put in modern and efficient zone-controlled base-board heating in all the rooms, installed a full kitchen with new cabinets in the corner (with space and hook-ups for a range and refrigerator), new water heater, new air-conditioning unit, one bathroom, one work room with water hookups for water. This place is totally efficient. It is painted warm, light, and neutral beige.

The large store/conference/recreation area with the kitchen will be used for on the “right side” looking toward the door as our “free-market space” for sale items. We have already secured Club Friend Abe’s line of Holy Creations food and other products as a feature item. Abe and I will work out the details this week. Other Club things will follow. Next to the kitchenette, on the “left side,” we will have our “free-minds over free-coffee” space, where we will set up a round-table and some comfy chairs, and “sit, learn, and share” policy magazines and national newspapers, and television and radio news center. Right in front of the door, on a table against the wall, we shall have our own free publications and our “preferred” free literature for Club friends. We will be able to rent this space to outside or Associated groups during scheduled times, including any extra cost use of the kitchen with the group held responsible for cleaning up (to get deposit back).

We will not sell food or beverages for consumption at this store. On special occasions, like the party my friends and I were planning this evening for after the holidays, we shall be able to cook our own meals. On extra special occasions, we will bring in a chef. At all times when open, we will have a coffee pot or even two going and an espresso machine available. For this space, our advertising will have in bold letters, “Free-minds, free-markets and FREE COFFEE.” This very concept was in the original Club outline in 1994. In warm months, we will have chairs and tables out front (if permitted). And every day we are open, we shall honorably and properly display my great uncles United States of America flag in ceremony upon opening the door. Anyone present will be invited to join the pledge of allegiance as it is lawfully constituted at this time. At the proper time of dusk, or when the weather and flag etiquette requires or permits, the flag will be taken down in ceremony. (Which reminds me, I don’t know where I put my flag etiquette book. Will anyone donate one?)

The place has a lot of small storage crannies for our supplies, archives, etc. The workroom is having the new bathroom sink cabinet replaced with a laundry tub. We’re going to try and get work benches, etc. in there and use it as a dark room for T-shirt making. So generate ideas for our T-shirts. Details on the T-shirt making group (rentals, supplies, storage, etc.) will be worked out as soon as we are ready to go. We’re still hoping that the “free to use” T-shirt equipment is available for the Club. The use will be restricted, however, to a few people, but we get to use it for free. Somewhere in the nook and cranny advantages, we will do live web-radio broadcasting. On the presently named “Club Radio Free World,” we will play our own audio materials AND any local, grassroots, or just garage bands who will allow or contract with us to play their songs. Until we get a good enough group of people to manage 24-hour news and free form dj materials, the live portion will start slowly at preset times.. To support the radio “station,” we will either sell or trade and barter our own-produced or other-produced radio commercials.

Down the hall, we shall keep an orderly bulletin board for ourselves on one side and for the public on the other. At the end of the hall is the main bathroom. To the right, with front windows, sits our office. When I saw this room, I knew for sure it was a Providence thing. It was already painted Cepia “Joint” lavender, the exact same tone as our first banner made 10 years ago. In this workroom, we will have the Club “preferred” library and our computer and office equipment. In this room, which we will equip with cable-modem, and later an internet video conferencing and phone, we shall work on our business matters and toward a peaceful people’s revolution for positive change and a better world.

The price for rent is very, very affordable for us, especially now with my personal opportunities. The electric bill will be pricier for the hardware we will be running during open hours, but the efficiency of Club office’s construction and heating is not a concern. The site itself is rather perfect in the “big vision.” It is on main street Centuria, WI. “Centuria?” you ask? What is in Centuria? Regardless of what is there now, the real question with the town itself is, “What can we bring to it?” The second is, “Who will follow us to make it better?” The possibilities are, well, boundless. The REAL advantage lies in its location. For three years, during the Club proto-type, we have successfully established a “base” area in Polk County, and our concept and our Club 21 business plan works. Centuria is astride a main WI highway, 3 miles north of this area’s main federal highway, about 6 or 7 miles from the county seat, and within 20-25 minutes from all of the village and cities of Polk County.

The most important aspect of The Cepia Club’s success will be maintaining our Principle of a “community ending public ignorance and apathy.” Our sole purpose for existence is to support humanity in finding reason, reality, dialogue, acceptance, tolerance, and open-mindedness toward THE common ground between everyone for a better world today and into many, many tomorrows. By finding this common ground, it is all up to individuals, once aware, to work in their own way to make it a reality. And when people cooperate for mutual benefit (within the Club it is about holding ourselves responsible and accountable to the Four Commitments), things happen. There will be one little sign on the door to protect the integrity of the building (for me most of all). There will be one big sign for which I have been developing the words since June (but are not quite finished). Those words will say, “Friendly, open-minded, informative dialogue always welcome. Inspiration, creativity, and honesty needed. Civil behavior, acceptance, tolerance and peace toward others required.” That is the gist of it. We will have no place at our Club for argumentative, violent, or hostile attitudes.

It will take time for this to work and work well. What we do in this Clubhouse will largely determine our success or failure. How big it grows, if at all, no one can foresee. Whatever happens as a result of the effort will have some sort of impact on at least a couple of people. All we have done so far was set forth in Oct. 2006 in our Club 21 plan. (Email me at tim@cepiaclub.com for a copy of that “epic” volume and for the two 2007 A and B annexes, if anyone is interested). The Club advisors meeting is set for Tue., Nov. 27th at 1:30 PM. The place was tentatively set, but with this new development, we should really do it in the office. Those wanting to attend not already signed up as “definite maybes” can email me for details or call the Club’s temporary phone number at 715-268-2963. At this meeting, we shall determine the future of the Club from this point. We will settle things like how it is structured, how is it managed, what policies or other things we need to have in place, etc. Now that we have an office, per our 2007 Annex B “Beta Club” goal set in July of this year, we are ready to revolutionize for liberty, freedom, peace, and community in 2008!

This is an exciting time for the Club. I hope to see everyone at some point at our Clubhouse.

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