Member Spotlight: Henry Edsill

Henry Edsill and his wife Norma have been Iowa residents all of their lives.  Henry was born and raised in Waterloo; Norma was born in Cedar Rapids and grew up in Bettendorf.  In addition, they’ve lived and worked in Des Moines, Aplington, Mason City and Iowa City/Coralville.  They moved back to Cedar Falls in 2005-06 where they’ve settled into their present home.  Norma, who has a Masters in Library Science, recently retired while Henry is currently working as a lawyer, concentrating on wills, trusts, estate planning, administration and taxes.  They have two children, Heidi and Sam, both of whom are in their 30’s and live out-of-state. 

Henry and Norma particularly enjoy the vibrant arts community here in the Cedar Valley, especially the theatre where they have been volunteers (and performers) with the Waterloo Community Playhouse/Black Hawk Children’s Theatre and Cedar Falls Community Theatre for more than 25 years.  They also enjoy the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra as well as the Cedar Valley Music Festival.  They loved Roots Market and were sad when it closed, but are happy to see Natural Foods open and do shop there.  They also continue to shop at New Pioneer at their stores in Coralville, Iowa City and Cedar Rapids where they are members.  Henry and Norma were actually early customers of New Pioneer in the 1970’s when it first opened-up in an old warehouse-type building on South Gilbert Street. They are also looking forward to Trader Joe’s opening this fall in Coralville, and occasionally shop at the Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods stores in Des Moines and Omaha.  In addition, Henry and Norma enjoy Indian, Chinese, Thai, Mexican, Italian and Middle Eastern foods, and make a lot of these dishes at home.  Henry adds that they live in Iowa because they love all four seasons, but says “it’s hard to beat grilling with a cool beverage in hand on a nice summer evening”.

With the Cedar Falls Food Co-op, Henry looks forward to having more access to bulk foods, especially grains, nuts, spices, herbs and honey.  He would love to see a sharing arrangement with New Pioneer through which CFFC could offer breads from New Pioneer’s bakery (possibly with the Co-op in Decorah).  He would also like to see a cheese/yogurt/tofu cooler, too.  He believes that siting the store within walking/cycling distance of UNI will be beneficial to both CFFC and the students of UNI.  He would definitely like the CFFC to open sooner than later!  Overall, Henry believes that the CFFC will give members the opportunity to have input on the specific food products that they would like to see available.

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