Amidst all the poverty in Africa Chrissie Meeuwsen opens a bank to take advantage of the natives generosity in hard economic times.
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n an open letter to the press dated March 20, 2009, Christine Meeuwsen announced her successful forming of a Savings and Loan in her tiny village in Benin, Africa. Meeusen a volunteer in the Peace Corps since last August has finally made her college career pay off by loaning money from a bank kept by Meeuwsen where most of the villages women have deposited money for safe keeping. Essentially Meeuwsen pays villagers ten seeds and two coconuts for every 100 Francs deposited in her bank. But borrowers must pay 25 seeds and 5 coconuts for every 100 Francs borrowed from her bank for a month.
Keeping the natives treasures safe is another challenge Meeuwsen must cope with what with all the cut throat bandits roving the countryside in Benin. Meeuwsen has cleverly constructed a vault using stones and home made mortar made from sand, limestone and bird feces joining the stones to make walls.
To top off the secure structure she used a door she was lucky enough to find from an ancient crash site of a plane, the name of the pilot Amelia Earhart still visible on the fuselage where it was painted years before.
Meeuwsen also did a lot of complaining about the heat but also mentioned that she attended a film festival at a nearby country of which hosts the famous city of Burkina Faso. While there she took in many films and dined on cuisine from all parts of the world and was treated to several trips to the super market which was air conditioned. Upon returning from the film festival to her village she immediately went about collecting her seeds and coconuts owed her by villagers.
Chrissie Meeuwsen, banker
CHICKEN NIGHT MOVES BACK TO RESTAURANT
Once again another eating establishment will be tried in an attempt to restore Chicken Night to its original glory during the Cliff and Ceils period. With the Tremls out of town the group has decided to try the Redwood Inn which had been on the schedule once before but was nixed in favor of "The Rite Place" on Bellevue St. The discussion at the time suggested that the establishment would be too crowded and the wait is too long. While this might ultimately prove to be true I suggested that we try it anyway as our group is no stranger to waiting and bar time is desirable to our group anyway.
Tim Lade had warned previously that the wait would be a minimum of three hours but the food was good and prices reasonable. There is a new twist to the formula however that may play in our favor. The original location of the Redwood Inn is no longer in service and the establishment has moved their business to the former
Bellaire Club located on the corner of Hwy. 29 and County R. The new location is larger and more accommodating with a larger bar. It is also logical to surmise that some clientele may not make the move and follow to the new location thus leaving room for our party. Anyway the time is the same but this week at "The New" Redwood Inn.
HALLOWEEN TO GET A BOOST IN ATTENDANCE
A small group at Chicken Night had a short brainstorming session on how to boost attendance at the Halloween party to previous enjoyable levels. Suggestions were made and talks are to follow on how to bring the event back to it's original glory from it's decline in 2004. Since that time attendance has dropped to levels where food and prizes are too plentiful for the number of guests that attend.
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