WRCP Weekly | A Tribute to the Word, Part I: Sharing Our Commons

[just elLA]

Dear West River Friends,

How do we weave the community web week after week? We may not know every face these words reach—yet, we connect and share through word. The same words, carried wide and layered week over week, links us together in ways both seen and unseen. In this entanglement of words, we exist as one connected community. 

This week begins a multi-part tribute to the word.

And this week, the word goes public! On Wednesday, October 8 at 2PM, we will share the story of our story at the Radically Rural Sharing Bonanza in Keene, New Hampshire. (You can connect from wherever you are—the full presentation is attached for your viewing pleasure.)

At its heart, the story reads—the commons lives in our West Townshend Country Store. Operated and run as a nonprofit through the West River Community Project, we are more than a store—we are a shared love story. History alive in the living web of “all our relations,” spanning 177 years in time, the commons lives through you—each a share of the one whole.

As Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrom reminds us: “The commons is not simply resources shared, but a social system that sustains life and community.”

When the commons is lost, the living web of “all our relations” (from the Lakota phrase Mitákuye Oyás’iŋ) frays too. Because the commons is not “out there.” It lives within and between us—each exchange, each gesture, each act of care.

Founded in 1848, the Country Store has long been a space of exchange. On rainy days, farmers once gathered to smoke, argue, and settle the world’s affairs. It was, and remains, a social and economic commons—long before the word “nonprofit” existed.

Today, we are more than a store. We are a shared love story, alive in the living web of all our relations—a modern commons. And that story begins with you—each a share of the one whole.

To the next word, 

The WRCProject

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EVENT SPECIALS | WEEK of OCTOBER 6, 2025

FAMILY TUESDAY | 5-7PM

: Teriyaki burger with Swiss cheese, bacon and teriyaki sauce

: Local beef burgers, cheese and/or bacon optional

: Veggie burger with sautéed mushrooms and baby spinach

🎶 Live music with Bob Ray & Friends

WOOD FIRED FRIDAY PIZZA | 5-7PM

: Meat lovers with sausage, ham and pepperoni. 

🎶 Live music with The Buzzards