A History of Good Tern: 1980-2005

A handmade wooden sign hangs outside of the co-op at the 216 South Main Street location.

This overview of Good Tern’s history from 1980 - 2005 was authored in 2008.

In 1979 Ken and Sue Crane, Judy Powers, Wayne Breda and Sarah McBrian were among a group considering starting a natural foods restaurant. That idea was abandoned and they joined with other Camden pre-order buying club members to work towards creating a storefront coop. Newspaper ads brought additional members and created public notice.

Creating a co-op is a massive job, and many people volunteered time and talent. Kitty Huntley was an initial contact person and financial whiz. Rochelle Gerrat was perhaps the spearhead of the Good Tern’s formation and became the first chairperson of the board of directors. Wayne Breda was the secretary and remained so for many years. Joni Connolly was the first treasurer. An internal affairs committee drafted by-laws and formulated policy. A finance committee drafted an initial budget, applied for and received a $5000 loan from the Coop Fund of New England.The fundraising committee began trying to meet startup budget requirements, and a search committee looked for space and equipment. A number of volunteers dropped out when at last Camden and Rockport locations were ruled out due to high rents.

On May 24,1980 the Good Tern Coop opened its doors at 216 South Main St. in Rockland, with Rochelle as sole staff person. Rent was a mere $125/month in a former second hand store known as Milt’s. Previously the owner’s family (the Curtises)had run a dry goods and meat shop there, with exactly the same floor plan. There were 150 members.

A policy was made to separate staff and board members. Susy Ellis became chair. Ben Curan, one of the active founders, was the second staff person hired. On his departure in late 1980, Susy was hired as co-manager, and Yosarian became chair. Joni Connolly resigned as treasurer about this time, and was followed by Jim McBrian, Sarah McBrian and Marj Mattoon. Susy was hired as bookkeeper. (Previously, books had been done by volunteers outside the store.)

When Rochelle left in the fall of 1981, the board restructured to have one general manager and two assistants. Susy became general manager for the following six years. She masterfully juggled a very slim checkbook while experimenting with stock. During this time, gross annual sales climbed slowly to $208,000.

Terry Hilchey, Patti Luchetti, and Diane Shivera were long time employees early on. Others were Anne Lemoine, Lee Sligh, and Leanne Gifford. Paula Coyne followed Yosarian as board chair in the mid 1980’s, bringing detail oriented pragmatism. This was about the time Ken Crane began his long and illustrious tenure as treasurer. During Abi Morrison’s presidency a three way co- managership was tried, following Susy’s departure. The store teetered, dipping deep into a credit line for day- to -day operations.

Sheryl Cooper was hired as manager in August 1988, bringing ten years of experience running her own natural foods store in southern Maine. Sheryl worked with Diane Schivera and for the first few months it was common to find one or the other single handedly staffing the store. As sales increased, the staff expanded to include Rose Crandall and Chris Charbonneau. With Sheryl’s astute buying skills as manager, finances steadily improved. Annual sales reached $304,000 in 1994 and $418,000 in 1996.

Paul Chartrand headed the board in the early 1990’s, followed by Gregory Moore. Gregory, Tom May, and Steve Goodale undertook significant remodeling in 1992 (the aged storefront has always required regular repair work). Wayne Breda and Judy Powers are others who have been consistently active in these efforts.

Helen Barret was hired in the spring of 1991. Diane Schivera returned in 1994, at the same time Lizzie Dickerson was hired.

Gregory Moore persistently pushed to reorganize the by-laws, starting in the fall of 1995, in order to facilitate steps toward expansion of the store. Ken Crane assumed presidency in 1997 and carried on steps for expansion. Active family memberships have climbed from 60 – 70 in 1992 to 80 –90 in 1997.

As ideas for expansion grew, we kept in mind how far we had come from the barrels of goods in the middle isle, the dusty floors, and the decrepit fixtures we started with, all the while providing high quality, organic food at affordable prices.

In the late 1990’s Diane Schivera left the co-op for a full time position with MOFGA .She had been a valued employee to the Good Tern, having had ably taken over managing the store when Sheryl was out for an extended time with an injury.

In August of 2001 Sheryl Cooper resigned as manager. The board had been unsuccessful in finding a new manager, so within a few months time a tri-manager system was in place with Helen Barrett, Lizzie Dickerson and Kathie Brown sharing the position.

The year 2002 was a pivotal year for the coop. In January, two new board members Abi Morrison and Chris Bly were elected. In February the board engaged the services of Deb Burwell of Waldo to meet with the board and staff on an ongoing basis to facilitate understanding and improve communication. Kathie Brown resigned in February and in March Lynn Arnold was hired, soon becoming the buyer for the Health & Beauty products.

MBNA became the co-op’s land lord in April when they purchased 216 Main St. from the Curtis family. Although MBNA requested our prompt relocation, they never exerted any pressure to that end. Instead they offered the co-op a one year lease, rent and utility free, as we endeavored to find the co-op a new home. This lease was renewed in April 2003 on a monthly basis until December 2003.

The building committee scoured Rockland and surrounding towns for a new store location. The most promising was the Edwards Ice Cream Building on Tillson Ave. Other possibilities included the old Andrus Florist Shop (now Atlantic Bakery), Collin’s Travel on Park St., Kaler’s Store on Rt. 17 and Old County Rd. However none of these worked out. Finally in July the co-op was officially under contract to buy the corner lot at 750 Main St. in Rockland from Peter K. Orne Jr. of Camden.

Throughout the year store sales had continued a trend of decline, and in July the board voted to return to a single general manager system and a search committee was formed to find a new manager. Ken Crane stepped down as board chair and Chris Bly was elected to succeed him.

Pam Mountain was hired as the new manager in August and Helen Barrett and Lizzie Dickerson left after many years of service to the coop. In September, Robert Davis resigned from the board and was then hired as the architect who would design the new 2900 sq. ft. store that was envisioned for the Orne property.

In December the co-op membership voted to change the store discount structure and to institute an annual equity payment.

In 2003 the monumental changes that began in 2002 continued, and on February 4th the purchase of the land at 750 Main St. was finalized. Attorney Paul Gibbons gave generously of his services and was an invaluable help to the co-op during this phase and throughout construction.

In March Michael Ogden resigned from the board. He had done a great deal of work on the building committee getting the project rolling and now needed to focus on his work.

The Personnel Committee spent many months updating and expanding an Employee Manual. The final revision of the manual was approved by the board in November and adopted for use.

The Fundraising Committee, created and chaired by Kari Harman, developed and orchestrated a capital campaign that mobilized the entire membership. This committee was comprised of the following: Gretchen Ostherr, Marcia Reisman, Peter Proeller, Anna Zuidema, Abi Morrison and Nancy Button. They succeeded in raising $50,000 in donations and $50,000 in “no and low” interest loans. Combined with $50,000 donated by MBNA, these funds were a huge boost to the new store.

Ken Crane managed all financial aspects of the project including the procurement a $25,000 micro cap loan from the city of Rockland at a 4.25% fixed rate, and a $150,000 construction loan at 5.25% fixed rate that would convert to a mortgage from Union Trust. He also negotiated a credit card clearing account with Union Trust. In October the co-op began accepting credit cards for time in its history. Ken also served as bursar for the project, dispersing all payments.

The Building Committee, consisting of Greg Johnson, Greg Dorsey, and Chris Bly, got the boost of a lifetime when Susan St. John joined and then agreed to take the chairmanship. The committee then hired Tom Albertson of Morris Construction Associates, as construction manager and Catalano Construction to build the new store. On June 8th construction began with a ceremonial groundbreaking and celebration. This committee was on site most days and when possible organized the membership to actively assist in building the store, saving the co-op an estimated $50,000 to $100.000. Robert Davis, architect, though not formally on the committee, worked ceaselessly to find ways to save money and build the best building possible.

In October, Pam Bardon, secretary and twelve year board veteran, resigned. Gretchen Osther was elected secretary. Jenna Labbe joined the board at this time.

On December 2, 2003 the Good Tern opened for business at its new location. On December 12th an official ribbon cutting ceremony took place well attended by members, builders, bankers, the media and friends. Business was off to a great start and during the month of December fifty-one new households became members. Later in the month a fond farewell was bid to the old store as members gathered to clean, reminisce, and say goodbye to 216 South Main St. What a year!

The year 2004 found staff, board and members alike adjusting to all the changes. Pam Mountain had the Herculean job of managing all these changes and in June a new staff position of assistant manager was created and Chrys Barron was hired to assist Pam. Joe Pattboarden and Marcia Turner joined then and Jenna Labbe left. The building committee continued its dedicated work of maintaining the physical plant. The landscaping design, created and donated by Sue Crane, was planted by Hands and Knees Landscapers with a great deal of the work done and donated by Gregory Moore. A beautiful brick walk was installed by Dale Arnold, the exterior trim was painted by volunteers, and the bulk and herb sections were redesigned and enlarged by Greg Johnson, and children’s play area completed. Sales for the year were up 67% to $856,7000.

The co-op celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary in 2005. In March the Good Tern received the Chamber of Commerce “ Best New Building in the Non-Profit Category” award.

Major employee turnover took place as long time employee Lisa Burke replaced Chrys Baron as assistant manager in the spring. Our intrepid manager, Pam Mountain resigned having brought the co-op to sound and happy footing in the new store. Tim Sullivan, former Blue Hill Co-op bulk food manager, was hired as our new general manager and began work in July. Other new employees were Jesse Chazin (cook), Joseph Riggie (operations), Erin Meyer (produce manager), and Liz Lazaroff, Jason Rawn and Jen Wright (cashier/stockers).

On the board Joe Patten became President and Chris Bly, who had steered the co-op through the last three tumultuous years took a regular seat on the board. Abi Morrison and Jennifer Moore were elected to swell the ranks to a whopping eight. At the end of 2005 memberships had reached 430 and sales had increased 15% to $990,600.