“Ultimately, we strive to be the change we seek. That might sound trite, but it is honest.”
— Desta Maree (Proprietor)
Over the years we have evaluated our resources and made efforts to make them matter; to us and to our community.
Below are some highlighted projects:
Lifecycle Concerns
We created Oysterfest back in 2011, ultimately an event to bring the beautiful bi-valve and all of its sustainable glory to the Midwest market place. Now, over 10 years strong and having commissioned two works of fine art from the exceedingly talented and local, Gary Korlin - Oysterfest is an annual affair that adapts and answers with every changing season, every changing year.
From snow to 80 degrees and nothing but sun, this #lastbestfest on the 2nd Sunday of October, has supported Pitbull Rescues, Helping Paws, as well as a variety of musical artists who deliver some serious power from the stage on Hamm Plaza, the center of the street fest in front of Meritage. The size of this celebration for oysters, including the shuck-off, is definitely something to experience. People travel in from all over.
Be-A-Pearl.com was born out of Oysterfest, and the observation that there were better ways to dispose of such a valuable resource as oystershells, besides the trash (aka: landfill).
Crushed oystershell is great for garden soil (the calcium is helps with root development). It is also great for backyard chickens, a community now greater than 23,000 homes in the Twin Cities. All of whom need to feed their “girls“ calcium and grit, both of which are provided by crushed oystershell! Finally, some of the shells are simply beautiful, and make excellent materials for our decoupaged art produced by women living on fixed-income, so offer a supplemental income and dignified work. Artists are paid by the oyster, which are sold as trays or ornaments. And, we give them to guests in Meritage for anniversaries and special occasions. We call this “3rd Life” resourcing. First, it was an oyster, and filtered our waters. Second, it was food, for me, you, a seagull. Third, it becomes art, or compost, or chicken feed. All of this from something that we unfortunately had been throwing away for years!
We are digging into the ways we can offer experiential education, investing in those who invest in us. We have long offered, actually required, our staff to go through an 8-week wine program.
At it’s core, Maison Meritage is about how we can create an educational system that is hands-on, realistic, respectful, yet truly challenging. How we can use the resources we have available and re-envision how we can use them to produce opportunity, rather than waste. It’s a do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, sort of vibe.
The house of Meritage, or Maison Meritage, is concerned with how we can make a difference, for and in the community we serve.