River
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River - 35 free porn video
Chapter 35 ? Grand Openings
So far: Word about the gold rush is on, and big companies wanting a
piece of the action were surprised and upset when they couldn't
convince the band to give up a share, in return for ruining the
environment and rerouting the river. And Mark was taught an
interesting lesson.
----- ------- -----
The months of September and October brought changes to St. Mary's. In
the last week of September, the Ojibwe Co-operative had its grand
opening. The store had been open for weeks ? they had even made the
odd sale from the store while it was still being stocked, and online
sales had started as soon as the web pages were up, and still
comprised 70 percent of the store sales.
The biggest day for the retail store was in early September, when
Connie was surprised to find one woman buying over $15,000 worth of
goods. She was setting up a new home in the town, and needed to
decorate it, and fell in love with the idea of using a First Nations
theme. She bought several of the paintings by Carl Bluelake as well as
five prints of April Audette's photography. She said that she was
getting in two First Nations boarders, and bought dreamcatchers for
each of their rooms, as well as for her and her daughter.
She bought a large number of native blankets, both for the beds in the
house, and as decorations in the living room. A large painted
ceremonial drum was going to be the focal point of that room. It was
only later that Connie learned that the woman was Dawn Winter, who
River had cured of cancer and invited to move into the community. The
one thing that Connie noted was that she didn't haggle over money like
most purchasers did. They all wanted 25 percent off on a $50
dreamcatcher, but Dawn was happy to pay full list price on everything.
Connie had to convince her that the 10 percent discount she was given
on her huge purchase was appropriate.
This set Connie's goals for the grand opening. She wanted to reach
that $15,000 level on each of the three days of the sale, which was
going to run for three days, from Friday to Sunday.
She planned on some of the traditional retail gimmicks for the sale.
There would be balloons all over the place, both in the store and to
give out to kids. Most goods were sale priced with a 20 to 30 percent
discount, depending on what the craftspeople felt like offering.
Advertising opportunities were limited in the north, but ads ran on
Thunder Bay radio, as well as a full-page ad in the little weekly
newspaper in Terrace Bay. There was a single page flyer printed out in
the Terrace Bay print shop, and mailed to every home in St. Mary's. At
River's insistence, it was bilingual, with English on one side, and
Ojibwe on the other.
River also came up with ideas of her own. The sweet corn season was
still on in northern Ontario, so she arranged to buy several pickup
truckloads of corn from farmers in the area. A massive pot of boiling
water was prepared, and another smaller pot of melted butter was used
for dipping the corn in. Every visitor to the sale got free corn, with
a bonus. River had gotten many of the reserve teens making souvenir
corn holders out of leather with traditional Ojibwe designs branded
into one side, and the store website on the other. These were small
tabs of leather that had a small wire (surplus from Kyle and George's
collection) poked into it. A pair of these would be poked into either
end of a corn cob, making eating the sweet sensations easier than
without.
The high school spirit squad was in charge of the corn roast, with the
store paying them a large donation in return for the work they did.
The 10 girls each brought in one friend, and between the 20 they were
able to cover all 30 hours of the sale. Carla was the main contact
between the spirit squad and the store, and as a result her status
within the group shot up. No grade nine member had ever brought in
such a large donation, nor run such a large project. Even the girl who
questioned "letting an Indian join" was won over, and over the rest of
the year she became a close friend of Carla and Liesl. Of course, Luv
was part of the attraction for the girl, who loved being able to see
the baby.
River also came up with the idea of having a full pow-wow during the
grand opening. On Saturday there was a local pow-wow, with singers and
dancers from the reserve, including the other reserves that had sent
students to the high school. On Sunday there was a huge regional pow-
wow, with cash prizes enticing performers from three or four hours
away. It was the largest pow-wow in northern Ontario that year, since
there was a lot of buzz about the things happening with the river,
causing many First Nations peoples to want to see what was going on.
There were so many in the area on the Sunday that River's ceremony
that morning had to be held twice, and the early one, which most of
the locals attended, was so large that for the first time people had
to take the bridge to the other side, and stand on both sides of the
river to be able to participate. As well, after the pow-wow ended,
River had another ceremony in the river where the people were able to
learn the language and history of the people.
There was a twist this time. Many of the visitors were Cree, Odawa,
Potawatomi or other peoples, and when River sang the songs, these
people heard their local history, and learned their own language.
At the end of the three days, Connie totaled the sales figures, and
came up with $15,500 on Friday, $21,500 on Saturday, and $15,800 on
Sunday, which had shorter hours than Saturday, but higher sales per
hour with all the pow-wow visitors. The store didn't make much money
on the event, but it broke even and got the store known. Dozens of new
craftspeople wanted to participate, and Connie had to promise that
Colin would post a form on the website to let people know how to do
it. She just didn't have the time to sign up people on the spot.
----- ------- ------
Two weeks later there was another grand opening. On October 6 the
second deer hunting season started, and Dale's men finished the first
house before taking their six days off. There was some stonework still
to be done on the fireplace, but Chip and his crew agreed to work
through the hunting season and finished it on the Wednesday at noon.
On Thursday there was a party in the house. Not a planned one. But
almost every family on the reserve came to an impromptu housewarming.
Each brought a dish for a potluck supper for the family, and almost
all had a gift for River, Alison, or Mark (usually camping or hunting
gear for him). People wanted to see the beautiful new house that they
had watched under construction, and used the idea of a party as a way
in. Most stayed for a half hour or so, giving their gift, eating a
bit, and then heading off to make room for others. A few stayed
throughout, but generally these people were ones who looked after the
food or cleaning up, or providing music.
River was thrilled that the event stayed alcohol-free. She was happy
that people were learning that they could have a good time without
drinking. A traditional punch that the river had provided (well, it
provided the icy water, as well as the recipe for flavoring with other
local ingredients) was served, and most loved it. Promises to spread
the recipe had to be made to many.
River had many of her friends from school there, and they all marveled
at the house. The living room was impressive. It had a cathedral
ceiling with massive pine timbers holding up the sharply pitched roof.
One entire wall was a beautiful fireplace, comprised of the finest
Canadian Shield stonework, soaring up to a seven-foot wide chimney at
the top.
Behind were the modern, stainless steel kitchen and a formal dining
room that could easily sit 12. A den was at the back, and a huge deck
that looked out over the woods behind, and the river, visible through
breaks in the trees. River and her friends stood on the deck, and
Carla pointed: "Look, even the animals have come to your party." It
was true. There were five or six deer at the edge of the woods,
looking at the girls looking at them.
"Smart deer," River said. "The hunt is on, and they have found a safe
place to hide from the hunters. No one would be foolish enough to fire
a rifle so close to people."
The upstairs to the house had four bedrooms. There was an en-suite in
the master bedroom, which had a balcony that overlooked the great
room. River's and the guest bedrooms also overlooked the great room.
River had a walk-in closet, not as large as her mother's, but plenty
large for someone who had lived in a tent for two months.
Mark also had a bedroom on the second floor, and in the back, next to
the second bathroom, but he had staked claim to the basement, and
convinced his father to build him a bedroom and three-piece bath down
there. The recreation room that would be built later was also in the
basement. Even so there was a ping-pong table in the unfinished room
already.
"You totally need to get a Rube Goldberg machine down here," Liesl
gushed, seeing the great open space. "That would be so cool."
"Yeah, and then I'd have every kid on the reserve wanting to come in
to play it," River laughed.
"Totally," Liesl said, not seeing any problems with that idea.
----- ------- -----
The next opening was another two weeks later when the ATM arrived for
the credit union. It was installed in its corner of the store, along
with the two teller stations. Only one teller had been hired for the
place, and she had started two weeks earlier, with Alison teaching
her. The second station would allow Alison to help out if the branch
got busy. Most of the activity at the branch would occur at the ATM,
taking deposits and dispensing cash. But during the opening week the
two women had a steady line of people wanting to make deposits and
open accounts.
The safe had been delivered and installed a week earlier. It was in
the enclosed area behind the ATM and provided security for the cash
held at the branch. There were also 50 storage boxes, and people
wanting to keep their valuables secure, but closer to home, quickly
snapped these up.
It took almost five minutes to open a new account, and Alison and
Gayle averaged 20 per hour. The credit union hours would be 9 to 4,
with the staff working an hour later to balance accounts, but during
opening week they were open from 9 to 9. The idea was that each woman
would get an hour break during the day, but that didn't happen. Five
or 10 minutes to wolf down a sandwich was all either took.
There were lines all five days, and Alison even tried to limit it, by
announcing that children's accounts would not be accepted until the
next week. But teens and adults opened over 1000 accounts, with almost
everyone in town spending their $25 to become a member. Most people
deposited several hundred dollars, and Alison had forms printed out to
allow welfare checks to be direct-deposited.
There were a few bigger deposits, put into investment funds managed by
the credit union. The band deposited $5 million in a term account, and
Nick and Dale both deposited the proceeds of their million-dollar
house transactions from Toronto. The one that surprised Alison most
was the $25 million that Dawn Winter deposited. What was surprising
was that she said she would consider moving the rest of her money at a
later date. Apparently her book series was quite lucrative.
--- -------- ------
A few weeks later there was another housewarming. This time it was
Nick and Marilyn's house. This was as big as the Waters' house, but
different in many respects. It also had the great room with the beamed
ceiling, but in their case the fireplace was smaller, although still
impressive. Marilyn had chosen black appliances for her kitchen, and
there was also a playroom for Luv on the ground floor. Upstairs had a
master suite similar to the other house, but five smaller bedrooms.
Marilyn was determined to have as large a family as possible.
This time the housewarming was smaller. Many people had already seen
one of the new houses, and didn't feel the need to see another. It was
mainly friends and families of the homeowners who came, which were
still over 100 people. River was happy that another event went alcohol
free. Nelson Churchill might complain, but he didn't. In fact, Connie
said Nelson had his best month ever during the grand opening of the
co-op. Not selling beer, but selling fine cigars to the many visitors.
---- ------- -----
Earlier in October River had been in the store, where some of the
other girls from the high school were in looking over the clothes.
They bemoaned the lack of selection to Darrin Hooper, the friendly
shop owner.
"Sorry girls," he said. "But there is a limited market in a small town
like this and I just can't afford to get in trendy clothes like the
shops in the city malls do. My dealers carry them, but I'd have to get
in a variety of sizes, and then it is possible that the girl who likes
one style won't be the right size."
"Do your suppliers have catalogs?" River asked.
"Oh I get them constantly," Darrin said. "I have a pile of them right
over here." He tossed a pile of catalogs on the counter, and the other
girls jumped at them, aahing and oohing over the clothes shown. River
didn't join in. She was happy with her traditional native clothes, but
she was starting to get an idea.
"Mr. Hooper, do you need these catalogs?"
"Not really, why?"
"I was just thinking. What if we took those to school, and showed them
around to all the girls in the school. There are almost 100 girls.
Each girl will pick out three outfits, and then we will bring back the
catalogs and you can get prices for what each outfit would cost. Each
girl will pick one of their three, and put down a 10 percent deposit
on it. We could have a fashion show at school, with everyone showing
off their outfit. If the girl likes it, she buys it. The girls
boarding all get a clothing allowance of $150 for the year, and most
don't get a chance to go to the city to spend it."
"It sounds interesting," Mr. Hooper said. "What if the student doesn't
like it?"
"Well, I guess you would have some stock for your racks here then, but
I suspect most would buy. I mean, they picked the style, it is in
their size, and most kids have a budget for buying clothes, and no
place to get them around here. The store in Terrace Bay is no better
than here."
"Oh, River, that is a great idea," one of the girls squealed. "I would
love to be in a fashion show. Plus getting some cool outfits." The
other girls all agreed.
"Well, I think we have a plan," Mr. Hooper said. "Here are some more
catalogs, including a couple of shoe ones I never order from. All the
prices in the catalog are suggested retail prices, and for this event
I can offer 40% off, which lowers them to a sale price level. Take the
books to school and let me know in a week or two what you want. I will
have to order soon to get them in for, say, mid-November."
"Great. Let's plan the fashion show for November 17. We can charge $5
each for people to come and watch, with the money going to the Student
Council."
"We have to pay $5 to be in the show?" one of the girls asked.
"No," River answered. "You get in free if you are in the show. But if
you aren't wearing an outfit, then you have to pay."
The excitement at the school was just as high when the girls explained
the plan the next day. By the end of the week girls were coming in to
the store to put down their deposits. Most ordered one full outfit,
with a few deciding to buy all three of their choices, and decide
later which to wear in the show. In the end the store ordered 107
outfits at an average cost of $120. As well 22 pairs of shoes were
ordered, at about $75 each. Mr. Hooper grossed almost $15,000 during
the month, the most he had ever done in fashion by a 10:1 ratio.
The carpentry class in the high school built a runway for the models
to walk down, and over 500 people attended the show, bringing in
another $2500 for the student council. The spirit squad had a bake
sale and sold lemonade during the event, and they also raised an
additional $1000 for their group, although it took some coordination,
since the girls on the squad were also in the show.
Cheryl
- 26.12.2022
- 17
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