Christmas in July

Last night Ag n Chat held our Christmas in July celebration. This year we decided to hold it at the historic Coolamon Up-To-Date Store while the annual Coolamon Art Show was on display. It was a great night with a lovely atmosphere and superb meal provided by the Coolamon Anglican Church ladies. There were 13 members with their husbands in tow for the night which was organised by Marilyn. Jo organised a few Minute to Win It type games for us to enjoy as well as admiring all the artworks on display.

Jan and Phil playing a Minute To Win It game

Vicki and Carol trying to transfer little Christmas trees with straws to a cup

The Coolamon Up-To-Date Store opened in 1909 and became both a retail and social focus for the people of Coolamon and the surrounding area. Everything from building materials to horse harnesses, castor oil to the finest silk stockings, “from a needle to a haystack” was sold over the counters of the Up-To-Date Store. It offered the best of quality at the lowest of prices and
presented its customers with a range of goods not often seen outside the `big stores' of the metropolitan area.

Coolamon Up-To-Date Store

The store features the only working Lamson Cash Conveyance System in the world. It was designed to solve the "problem of women being less numerate than men"!! Not only did the system provide the store personnel with the very latest advances in retail technology, but also provided the assurance of customer care to the Coolamon community, with this quick and efficient method of cash handling. Undoubtedly, the Store’s piece de resistance, this earlier form of cash carrier is gravity operated. Timber balls with money and docket safely tucked inside roll from counters to cashier’s office along little ‘railway’ tracks.

Lamson Cash Conveyance System

Kiva Microfinance Loan # 1 - Rosine

Towards the end of 2010 Marrar Ag n Chat decided that we wanted to become involved in microfinance loans for women in poverty stricken countries to help them either start or continue their own business to support their family. Today we finally made a decision on who to help and through which agency. We chose to donate through Kiva which is a well-established organisation based in the USA.

The photo above is of Rosine from Rwanda who we chose as our recipient. She is a 35-year-old entrepreneur that is married with two children, ages 3 and 6. Her husband is a technician and both of their children are in school. For three years, she has been running a business buying and selling fruit. She plans to use this loan to purchase oranges, tree tomatoes, citrus fruits, and mangoes that she will sell to meet the growing demand of her business.

Once Rosine has repaid her loan to us we will then choose another recipient to help - and the cycle will continue!