BY ADAM ATKINSONNorth Country This Week

POTSDAM — The shareholders of the Potsdam Food Co-op will have the opportunity to vote for the new co-op board of directors on Tuesday, March 26 at 7 p.m. during the organization’s annual meeting at Trinity Church on Fall Island.

A potluck dinner will be held at 6 p.m. and the annual meeting will follow with a presentation of the annual report.

The Potsdam Food Co-op currently numbers 1,129 member owner (shareholder) households. The Co-op needs at least 100 members or 10 percent of current memberships to have a quorum to vote the board in so attendance is being encouraged both in person and through proxy.

Those who cannot attend can vote by proxy by filling out a form on the co-op website by March 26 at 6 p.m., or in person at the co-op by March 26 at noon.

For more information and to learn more information about online voting and voting by proxy, visit https://potsdamcoop.com/2024_annual_meeting/ .

A virtual meeting link will be posted on the co-op website prior to the 2024 annual meeting.

There are six board seats up for grabs, with six candidates running. Write-in candidates can also be voted for.

Candidates include:

• Jesse Diamond-Brown (3-year term), a chef with Big Spoon Kitchen and food co-op member for 5 years;
• Arthur Freeheart (3-year term), former board member who first joined the co-op in 1973, who also worked at several food co-ops in the Minneapolis area;
• Steve Greco (3-year term), kitchen manager at Big Spoon Kitchen who first joined the co-op in 2017 after relocating to the area;
• Kim Jukic (3-year term), former board member from 2005-2008 and president in 2008;
• Celena Haase (2-year term), a database developer who has been a co-op member on and off since before 2020;
• Andre Comandon (1-year term), a co-op member since 2022 after moving to the region with his family from California where they were previously members of the Santa Monica Co-op.

More information about the candidates can be found online at the website above.