Vanessa Cardui, fabulous Calgary based musician and shiny Browncoat, has written an ode to our favourite cunning hat. Now she’s looking for help to make her newest masterpiece complete. Please send Vanessa pics of you wearing your Jayne hat (animals & toys too!) and help make her vision come true. Pictures can be emailed to vanessacarduiartist (at) gmail (dot) com.

UPDATE: LAST PUBLIC DROP-OFF FOR PENNY DRIVE
The last public drop-off for our YESS penny drive will take place on the evening of Wednesday, January 30, 2013. Bring your pennies and pocket change to fill our bin at the Carrot (9351-118 ave) anytime between 6:30-9:00 pm.

YESS.org is in desperate need of funds. Our next big fundraiser isn’t until the end of April (Calgary Expo) we’re hoping we can gather together and do some smaller style fundraisers in the meantime. As we’re about to see the end of the penny in Canada, this seems a great time to take them off your hands while benefiting YESS. Please save up your pennies for the month of January (all existing pennies in your penny jar are also welcome to join in) and send us a wave to make arrangements for pickup/drop off on or before Jan 31.

You can also drop off pennies to our members during our bi-weekly knitting sessions at the Carrot (Jan 9th & 23rd).  The Carrot is located at 9351-118 ave and we will be there from 6:30-9pm. Can’t make it to the Carrot? We’ll also be collecting change at or weekly Karaoke & knitting sessions at the Sands Hotel lounge (12340 Fort Road) on Friday Jan 18th & 25th. At both locations, look for the group knitting in orange, red and yellow 😉

If you’re interested in helping with pickups, please let us know.

Depending on the number of donations, we may also need volunteers to help count and wrap the pennies so we can exchange them for cash to donate to YESS.

PS: nickles, dimes & quarters are also welcome additions to the pot.

Since the beginning, the Alberta Browncoats society has been a very small organization. You might be shocked to learn that from 2009-2012 our not-for-profit organization has consisted of a 5-7 member board of directors, a core group of 4-6 volunteers who helped out during specific events (CSTS, conventions, etc.) and a knitting team of 6-12 knitters depending on the year.

When we’ve said we’re small and mighty we certainly meant it!

This also explains why group gatherings are few and far between. Our small group has been stretched to the limits these past few years.

Recently, there has been significant interest regarding how to become a member of the Alberta Browncoats Society. At our 2012 Annual General Meeting (AGM) we took the time to define our membership and all it entails. One of the most important things to all of us is that we focus on remaining a service organization. In addition to membership fees we’ll require a small volunteer commitment – minimum 4 hours per year – from each of our members.

To learn more about membership, or to join, visit our Membership page.