Hello, everyone! Well it looks as if winter has finally arrived. It was nice to actually experience an autumn in Calgary this year; what a rarity! We’ve had an extremely busy few months, and expect this trend to continue until the Christmas break. Here’s what’s happening in Missing Link land:

MOVEMBER AT THE CALGARY FARMERS’ MARKET

During the month of “Movember”, many of our male vendors are sporting moustaches in support of prostate cancer research. Mick and I are sponsoring Aaron at Silver Sage Beef who thus far has grown a very pathetic representation of an upper-lip adornment. He needs your help to motivate those follicles! Contributions may be made directly at Silver Sage.

Starting this weekend, we’ll match every Movember donation made at our booth until the end of the month. As you know, prostate cancer hit much too close to home for us two years ago, so we are very pleased to be able to help out this worthy cause.

MISSING LINK “AMBASSADOR PROGRAM” A HUGE HIT!

A few months ago we introduced our new Ambassador Program for residents of towns outside of (but within reasonable driving distance of) Calgary. The idea of the program is simple: introduce a bunch of friends/family/co-workers/neighbours to Missing Link sausage. Collect orders for 10-packs, and forward the orders to us. Your friends will receive one pack of sausage for free, you’ll receive your entire 10-pack FOR FREE, and we’ll deliver the whole order to your town. Last month we made a massive Canmore drop, and we’re hoping to do another one in Cochrane in December (see details below).

We’re still looking for Ambassadors in Olds, Strathmore, and Turner Valley, so if you like free sausage, give us a call and we’ll get you started.

THE FIRST SIX MONTHS AT THE NEW CALGARY FARMERS’ MARKET

To say that our new location has been better than our most optimistic expectations, would be an understatement. In answer to the question we hear dozens of times every weekend, WE LOVE OUR NEW HOME!

Sure, we had some traffic issues to contend with in the beginning; yes parking was a challenge at first; sure the leaky roof caused some problems for a while, but … these troubles have now all been sorted out, and we couldn’t be happier with our new location. Residents and employees of Deerfoot Meadows and surrounding areas have welcomed us with open arms, and we’ve been busy, busy, busy!

If you haven’t yet checked out our new digs, now’s the time to come on down! We have a lot of terrific new vendors and a wonderful common area (complete with sunroom, fireplace and kids’ play area!) in which to hang out, enjoy some great food, and relax.

NEW HOURS AT THE MARKET

As you know, when our new location opened last April, a decision was made to open four days per week, including Thursday evenings. After five months of seeing more vendors than customers in the Market on Thursday evenings, however, our hours were revised. We expect that this will be a permanent change. With the possible exception of major holidays, the new hours for the Calgary Farmers’ Market are:

THURSDAY – SUNDAY 9:00 am – 5:00 pm, ALL YEAR LONG

If you want to beat the crowds, plan to shop on Thursday or Friday. Although the volume of customers increases each week, these are still the best days to wander the aisles relatively freely.

CFM CHRISTMAS SCHEDULE

This would be a good time to point out one of those exceptions mentioned above! In order to accommodate as many customers as possible, and to allow the vendors to enjoy a little down time as well, the Christmas/New Year holiday hours at CFM will be:

Thursday, December 15th to Sunday, December 18th – 9:00 am – 5:00 pm

Monday, December 19th to Tuesday, December 20th – CLOSED

Wednesday, December 21st to Friday, December 23rd – 9:00 am – 5:00 pm

Saturday, December 24th to Wednesday, January 4th – CLOSED

Thursday, January 5th – REGULAR HOURS RESUME

RED DEER CHRISTMAS MARKET

Although we had previously made a decision not to attend any Christmas markets this year, popular demand has forced us to change our schedule a little. Accordingly, we WILL be attending the Red Deer Christmas Bazaar at the Westerner, on Saturday December 3rd, and Sunday December 4th. There is also a possibility that we may get a last-minute spot at the Sylvan Lake Market on Sunday the 4th, but that is up in the air at the moment.

Last year we sold out at Red Deer, and had to turn away a lot of disappointed customers. While we’ll try our best to accommodate everyone this year, we strongly suggest that you pre-order to avoid disappointment. Don’t forget, if you buy 10 packages, we’ll give you one more for free! And as part of our Ambassador Program, if you can find 10 people to order 10 packs each, YOU’LL GET YOUR ENTIRE TEN-PACK FOR NUTHIN! Please e-mail any pre-orders as soon as possible.

COCHRANE PRE-CHRISTMAS DELIVERY

It’s time for another Cochrane delivery! To all you Cochrane customers who’ve been asking if we’re coming back out before Christmas, the answer is .. Yes, if we receive enough orders. We’re hoping to be out there the week of December 12th. So … if you’d like to place an order, please do so as soon as possible, so we can fit your requests into our schedule.

CHRISTMAS GIFT IDEAS

Once again it’s that time of year to try and find a unique gift idea for the person on your list “who has everything!” Why not make it easy on yourself and give them a Missing Link gift certificate, or create a gift bag with a couple of packages of sausage and a bottle of Fieldstone Fruit Wine, or a jar of McFarlane’s delicious dipping sauce? You’ll find tons of other creative gift ideas throughout the Market.

A GREAT BIG THANK YOU FROM US TO YOU!

And it’s also that time for Mick and I to thank you once again for another incredible year. Our customers rock! Here are some of our most memorable moments of 2011:

• Winning FFWD’s “Best of Calgary” competition in the Best Kept Secret category
• Being added to the menus at Dairy Lane Cafe and Blue Star Diner, and to the shelves at Nutters in Airdrie
• Receiving an email from former Calgary customers who now live in Toronto, to tell us about the birth of the newest Missing Link fan in the family
• Being told by a new customer that our product has “blessed her family”
• Being able to help out two severely-ill children who are unable to eat many foods, but who have enjoyed the specialty sausages Mick has created for them
• Hearing from customers in B.C. that “we often manufacture a reason to drive to Calgary just to pick up an order of your sausages”
• And our favourite .. the former Calgary customer who’s moved to Mexico and tells anyone who asks that she only misses three things in Calgary – her two children and … you guessed it … our sausage!

Thanks to everyone who has indeed, “blessed us” this year. We wish you all a happy and healthy holiday season and the very best in 2012.

Seasons greetings,

Mick & Deneise Sherlock