Arts and Entertainment Local Author Introduces Time-Bank Concept at "Rucksack Extravaganza

On Saturday, the legendary Bay Shore House, 4201 Bay Shore Road in Sarasota, will serve as an introduction to the Common Wealth Time Bank and feature performances by Truman Adams, Alix Sun, Will Sime & Emmett Lalor, SNAPM, Tosspot, and producer Steve McAllister. A step up from his one man show, The Rucksack Cabaret, the Rucksack Extavaganza still holds to the themes of his book, The Rucksack Letters, inspired in large by a passage from The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac.

Steve McAllister by DaleAnn Clancey

"The Rucksack Revolution," McAllister says, "was this vision of letting go of antiquated models that no longer serve us and reinventing the way society works. We're at a crossroads as a society, and there are many individual and collective habits that we need to change, and many more that we need to cultivate. In the end, we've just got to learn how to be a community again."

An alternative to the economy of consumerism has been a passion of McAllister's for over eleven years, when he left Sarasota to hitchhike across the country and visit alternative communities as inspiration for writing his second book. Working with Transition Sarasota, an organization devoted to local resilience and environmental sustainability, the Common Wealth Time Bank is a great leap toward his goal.

Developed in the eighties by Edgar Cahn, time banking is based on service, reciprocity, and realizing each member of the community as an equal asset. When the Common Wealth Time Bank launches on Labor Day, Sarasota and Manatee residents will be able to list the services they offer as well as the services they need. For each hour of service offered to the community, a member will receive a time dollar, which can then be spent on other services throughout the community.

"Time banking is based," says McAllister, "on the abundance that the monetary economy doesn't find value in. With money, the rarer or more scarce something is, the more valuable it becomes. Using that as our primary economic system, we've been ignoring the most truly valuable things we have, one another."

Having not used Federal Reserve Notes in eight months, with plans to make it a full year, McAllister has used the last year of his life to experiment with alternative forms of commerce in Sarasota. From bartering labor for housing to gleaning produce for food, he says he feels like the wealthiest man in town.

"The greatest assets and inspiration I have are the people I meet in Sarasota," McAllister says. "We've got a lot of really creative people who are open to innovations in creating a more sustainable and vibrant community. That's what the Extravaganza is all about."

Starting at 7pm sharp, the performances will also include a segment on time banking from the film Fixing the Future, introduced by Don Hall of Transition Sarasota. The time bank seeks to recruit 21 "testers" to use the technology for the month preceding the launch to work out the bugs and showcase the possibilities. A $10 donation will be collected at the door and will go toward each attendant«s $20 annual membership fee.