Though the initial ‘fired upness’ of the Fire Cider issue has subsided, we’re still simmering away and are hard at work here at home base. Thanks for your ongoing support. This will most likely be a long journey, and patience & perseverance ~ and your support ~ are requested. We keep hearing of other situations where traditional names and rights are being usurped. Let’s hold fast to Fire Cider; its as much about traditional herbalism and our right to make, use herbal products that were specifically crated for everyone’s use, as it is about this one product.

In this post, you’ll find:
Ø Organizers Update
Ø Petition Update
Ø Call to Action
Ø Regional Coordinators
Ø Legal Update
Ø Postcard Contest
Never doubt that a small group of committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has’
~ Margaret Mead
ORGANIZERS UPDATE
It has been a fun ride for us working and getting to know organizer/ herbalists from the region! There have been victories and challenges, and growing pains! Thanks for holding on for the ride. Without your support, we are nothing and have NO power!! We are working with Rosemary to build this movement, and the foundation of the efforts will last for years!
PETITION UPDATE
We are over 8,000 signatures. We can continue to get signatures and get over 10,000! Thanks for all your support on this!
CALL TO ACTION!
Please support the Tradition/Not Trademark Boycott of Shire City Herbals Fire Cider. One of the most powerful tools available in a grassroots movements ~ and that has proven effective in the past ~ is boycotting a product or company that is using questionable or unethical practices.
* Please note: we are aware of concerns regarding the potential ‘to hurt a small herbal business’ by this boycott. Shire City Herbals are not herbalists, they have stated this themselves on a public radio show (Roots and Rhizomes: https://www.wgxc.org/schedule/12).
We do not see them as  ‘small local business’ but a small national company who is working to monopolize and industry with a product. They have ignored hundreds if not thousands of people that have contacted them, expressing their concerns over the trademarking of an herbal product long used and sold in the herbal community.  Our intention is get ‘Fire Cider’ back for the herbal community’ not to hurt anyone’s business.

Our new campaign: Flood the phone lines. We will systematically ask supporters to call stores that carry fire cider each week.
PLEASE Be polite and informed! The businesses we are calling are small business owners and farmers. These folks are our community and deserve respect.

Please note; there are excellent ‘Boycott Letters” and Speaker Points available on: https://freefirecider.com/take-action/support-the-boycott/ (so that you can be informed and ready to answer questions that might come up.)

Ø Ask to speak to the manager/ owner.
Ø Refer to the Traditions Not Trademarks “Unifying Points” https://freefirecider.com/about/

This week we are asking folks to call these stores:

Berkshire Organics : (413)-442-0888
Lenox Natural Foods : (413) 637-2721
Cornucopia (413) 586-3800
Cricket Creek Farm (413) 458-5888
Dottie’s Cafe (413)-443-1792
Juice ‘N java: (413) 684-5080
Millstone Farm Market: (413)- 665-0543

IF ANY OF THESE STORES SAY THEY DO NOT CARRY SHIRE CITY FIRE CIDER, PLEASE LET US KNOW!!!!
freefirecider@gmail.com
REGIONAL COORDINATORS
We are looking to decentralize our organizing efforts. The small team that is working on legal, organizing the campaigns and the website can only do so much! We need folks to step forward and organize their regions!
You will work with folks you know in your own region!

We have Coordinators for these regions:
California: freefireciderca@googlegroups.com
Vermont: freefirecidervt@googlegroups.com

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO GET ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM YOUR REGION, EMAIL THE GROUP COORDINATOR ( Email contact above next to state name).

Regional Coordinator Description
The role of the regional coordinator is to:
* Communicate with the core organizing team
Work closely with Mary Blue, Helen Ward and Nikki Telkes on the campaigns. Bi- weekly conference calls to talk about regional campaigns/ successes
* Communicate the Anti-trademark campaign’s goals on a regional/local level with the public. Post on regional Facebook groups/ list serves, reply to concerns voiced in the area. Promote material being circulated by the Anti-TM group. As long as we are not slandering Shire City Herbals, we can say what we want. It is helpful to stick to the unifying points on our website if you are questioning whether or not to react to a situation.
* Help to facilitate group work: Using our unifying points and resources from the website, write articles for local papers and websites.
* Promote and facilitate local action around current campaigns: letter writing, petition, boycott, flood the market

LEGAL UPDATE
We are working with lawyers to find the best way to defeat this trademark. Because the legal system is so arduous and expensive, this may take years to come to fruition, but we will keep working on it. We have been given legal counsel that WE CAN beat this through a grassroots campaign! But in order to do so, we need your support. Let’s keep the pressure on with our action campaigns!
*If you have been contacted by Shire City, please let us know!!
*A letter from Rosemary regarding this is now on our website: https://freefirecider.com/what-to-do-if-shire-city-herbals-emails-you/
*Please write up your story and email it to us, so we can post it on our blog: freefirecider@gmail.com
POSTCARD CONTEST
Join us in celebration of all things Fire Cider with this exciting spring activity. The Traditional Healing Alliance is working on promotional graphics for a postcard campaign and we want YOU to be a part of it. For the next 2 weeks, submit graphics on our facebook event here, or to freefirecider@gmail.com. The winner or winners will be featured on our newsletter and if you have a business we will link to it on the postcard. Help us in Freeing Fire Cider from Trademark Restriction and protecting cottage industries, herbalists, and traditional healers worldwide.