Greetings, friends! After a year’s hiatus, our quarterly news update feature is getting back on track with this “special edition” on the midwinter cross-quarter day. We’ll return to regular news updates here on The Mouth on the Vernal Equinox (March 20th 2013) and simultaneously issue the same text via our e-newsletter to those subscribing to the MMOS listserv.
If you’re not currently a subscriber to our e-newsletter and wish to be, go to allsoulsprocession.org. There, you’ll find on the homepage (following the initial “splash” page) just under the website menu at the top a field where you can submit your email address for listserve inclusion and keep up to date with the All Souls Procession and activities of Many Mouths One Stomach.
• The first item of interest– as is typically the situation for MMOS at this time of year– is the outstanding debt on the previous year’s All Souls Procession. Presently it hovers around $12,500 in hard debt; we will have the Profit and Loss statement for 2012 published here on The Mouth shortly to provide the breakdown of expenses and income thus far. We have a pair of fundraisers on the horizon (discussed further in the paragraphs to follow), but they alone almost certainly will not bring us to solvency on Procession 2012.
Additionally, MMOS will need to raise $5,000 to pay for an economic/tax study we are contracting for to demonstrate the revenues provided to the City of Tucson by the All Souls Procession Weekend so that we might begin to lobby for public event monies in the future. This would be a major step toward recognition of what the event does on the more mundane yet nonetheless fiscally valued level of civic income and provide MMOS with the bona fides necessary to help secure increased civic backing for the All Souls Procession in years to come.
If you participate in the All Souls Procession, and you haven’t yet pitched in to help defray the expenses of producing it, please do if you’re at all able. Though the common assumption with donation-making and fundraising campaigns is often that a contribution doesn’t really count if it’s under a given two-figure amount, that is never the case and definitely not with a grassroots-driven effort like the All Souls Procession. What makes it in fact a grassroots-driven effort are all of the smaller, combined contributions of many individuals and local businesses that comprise our community and together make for a phenomenal outcome (and that’s contributions not only of funds but materials, energy, time, space, imagination and all the rest of our collective resources). In short, a lot of a little goes a long, long way! For instance, if all subscribers on our 5,000 friend Facebook account gave a mere $5 (less than the cost of a movie ticket, or equivalent to a coffee drink or two) that alone would meet the need!
Please help us to resolve the debt on Procession 2012 so we can begin to fundraise for the Procession 2013 event season. If you have already given, you can still help by passing the word along among your family and friends who also attend and love the Procession and encourage them to support; by social media, a group email, or good old fashioned conversation. Hold a mini-fundraiser of your own in your neighborhood on behalf of MMOS….a party, a bake sale, a yard sale. Anything that you can do to support your Procession is essential to helping it carry on each year, and very much appreciated by your friends at Many Mouths One Stomach!
Online donations can be made at the All Souls Procession website via PayPal or Network For Good: please click here to go to our donation page.
We also can receive checks made out to Many Mouths One Stomach via the regular post. You can address those to Many Mouths One Stomach, P.O. Box 15, Tucson, AZ. 85702.
That said, 2012 was the first year in which MMOS did not need to produce a fundraiser for the All Souls Procession ourselves: so many others stepped up to do so on our behalf! We are greatly appreciative to Pop Cycle Shop, the Surly Wench, Buffalo Exchange, Mr Heads Art Gallery and Bar, Jacqueline Mellars and Co.’s Spirits Unfolding, the Mercado San Agustin, and the Rialto Theater. These are all awesome examples of individuals and businesses in the community taking ownership of the All Souls Procession and jumping in to do the work involved to make it happen! This in addition to all the individuals and businesses who gave in straight donation as well of course. We are doing it, together!
And speaking of fundraisers….
• First up in February, on Saturday the 16th, St. Valentine’s Day weekend, Flam Chen Pyrotechnic Theater Company presents Love and Hate at the Chikn Sisters Ranch! Come spend an evening at the beautiful new Whistle Stop Depot –127 5th St, next to the railroad tracks– and let Flam Chen entertain you, along with the psyche-cumbia sounds of Chicha Dust. An open bar will be available for your imbibing pleasure, and under 21’s are welcome with parent or guardian. Entry is $25 for singles, $40 for couples. Come out for a fun time at a great new space and help support your Procession!
• Next, Many Mouths One Stomach and friends present the second annual Moctoberfest, a springtime Fool’s Day carnival and beer festival on Saturday March 30th from afternoon to after midnight at the Mercado San Agustin! This production is still coming together so stay tuned to our various channels for more information as it develops, particularly the Moctoberfest page on Facebook.
Last year Moctoberfest earned $2,400 which covered approximately 25% of our expenses with the Tucson Police Department for All Souls Procession 2011. Thanks to all who came out and drank the beer! Most of our profits that day came from our sponsor Cosmic Brewing & Distribution, to who we wish much luck and love as they continue their business venture of making great beer, friends and community. You beer-lovers can in turn help them by buying their product at Food Conspiracy, Cafe Passe and Agustin Brasserie, to name a few local outlets.
And on that front, we announce a call for sponsors! Thus far we again very gratefully have the support of Cosmic Brewery, Zocalo Magazine and the Mercado San Agustin. We’re hoping to garner the participation of a few more beer-producing sponsors in particular to make for a true beer-fest! Is your business interested in helping to support the All Souls Procession by becoming a Moctoberfest sponsor? Direct all inquiries to Ruben Palma at moctoberfest@gmail.com.
We also announce a call to performers, artists, musicians and vendors! Would you like to help turn Moctoberfest into a memorable day of fun and foolery? Already confirmed for this year are the fantastic Orbital Evolution Hoop Troupe as well as masters of magic and mentalism The Brothers Macabre. Join us in producing this benefit for Tucson’s own All Souls Procession, friends. Get in touch with Ruben at moctoberfest@gmail.com and let him know you’re interested!
Also, there will be a need for volunteers to help both prior to the event as well as day-of: promotions, set-up/take-down, grounds guardians, etc. If you can pitch in a bit to help with this large-scale benefit for the All Souls Procession, please do; that is also a kind of much-needed contribution! Many hands make light work. You can likewise reach Ruben at moctoberfest@gmail.com to let him know you want to help make Moctoberfest happen.
• Finally, we’d like to give you a heads-up on our plan to hold a town hall-style community meeting for the All Souls Procession as spring approaches; more details to be announced as they unfold. We want everyone who loves the Procession to have an opportunity to get involved in the intracommunity dialogue on what it is and what it can become.
This is what we mean when we talk about grassroots festal culture, public celebrations by and for the people of the community that we live in. It is a process in which the participants are the producers and the audience are the performers….there are no more mere spectators. When we all give of ourselves to co-create such festal culture together as a community, we achieve something magnificent that no company or corporation can manufacture for consumption, because it originates from within us….our hearts, our minds, our souls.
Come out and meet others who share in your love of community engagement and hope for the future. Collaborate in the effort, offer your ideas and become more involved with this integral human experience that we celebrate each year in Tucson called the All Souls Procession! Stay tuned for a date and more details to be announced.