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Like counties across the country, Caldwell County has suffered in the poor economy, faring worse than many because of the thousands of manufacturing jobs it has lost.
Its unemployment rate inched up to 15 percent in January, one of the worst in the state.
With the hard times squeezing pocketbooks, a newsletter article caught the eye of Lee Carol Giduz, executive director of the Caldwell Arts Council.
The story talked about the ancient practice of gleaning, or gathering the leftovers of a field crop after reapers have harvested. In ancient times, farmers allowed the poor to glean their fields; today, humanitarian groups glean to benefit charities.
That got Giduz to thinking of another ancient practice: bartering, or trading goods and services rather than paying money for them. She was familiar with bartering, having known artists who had exchanged paintings or offered plumbing work for a sculpture they favored.
She thought, “It's time for our community to pull together and help each other.”
So, after talking it over with council and community leaders, Giduz started a bartering service through the council. The organization created a page on the council's Web site, where it posts people's offers of goods and services in exchange for something they need.
So far, just six people have posted notices on the page, though it has been operating for a month. Giduz hopes that as word gets out, more people will take advantage of it.
“It's a really good idea, and I think it's the right community because there are so many skilled people that are out of work,” she said. “It's certainly a historical economy. Doctors always used to be paid with produce and chickens and eggs. It used to be a real exchange that was the most common, more common than money.”
April Bartlett, a home health nurse from Hudson, has posted two notices on the bartering page, one offering to dress wounds or other short health-care visits, the other to restore old photographs, a hobby of hers. In exchange, she said, she'd like housecleaning or lawn care.
So far, Bartlett has gotten no calls. “Maybe some people will get on board as we come into spring, and people can help people with gardening or canning,” she said. “For the sake of giving some people some hope, because we've been in such a hopeless situation.”
Barber David Barger is willing to cut, style or give permanent waves to people in his Baton salon or in their home.
He said he doesn't necessarily expect anything in return, particularly from the elderly, though if someone offered a homemade pound cake or a dozen eggs from a hen house, he wouldn't turn them down. He normally charges $10-$18 for haircuts and $45 for permanents.
“The elderly are constantly having to decide between having stuff we take for granted and getting their medication,” Barger said. “I've seen more people tilling their ground for gardens this year than any year I've ever seen. I think people will go back to bartering and trading.”
Barger has posted a notice about the bartering page on his salon's bulletin board and said some skilled tradesmen have expressed interest in offering their services, including home inspection and auto repair.
Other postings on the page include the offer of potted trees in exchange for tree pruning, and nursing and massage therapy services in exchange for housecleaning, yard work or garden produce.
This is just the kind of thing Giduz had in mind. But she said some people have the mistaken idea that they have nothing of value to trade.
“I had someone say, ‘I don't have any skills I could offer,' and they were an art instructor. I said, ‘You know, somebody may want lessons in exchange for something you need.' They said, ‘I never thought I could barter that.'” To Giduz, there's a lot of unused talent and goods in Caldwell County that the community could put to good use, especially nowadays.
“We are more than ever needing to be a community, and if this works, that could be a really good way for our community to take care of itself.”
Hannah Mitchell: 704-621-0019
