Old Creamery Co-op

Co-op Hires General Manager (and More News
)

Your Board of Directors takes great pleasure in announcing that Karen Doherty will soon begin work as the Old Creamery's general manager. Karen was selected through a comprehensive local, regional, and national search and recruitment effort, a process that included board members, representatives of the current Creamery staff, and trusted Co-op advisers. Karen comes to us with an abundance of life and business experience that will help our Creamery community successfully navigate the many changes ahead. I hope you take a moment to learn more about Karen (see Karen's bio below).

 

While the Co-op has not yet purchased the Creamery business, we're close enough to feel confident in bringing Karen aboard now. She will begin work in just a few weeks and will have the luxury of several weeks of in-depth orientation and training from Alice and Amy. She will also be working with the board to put all of the remaining pieces in place to ensure we're as ready as we can be for our first day of operating the beloved Creamery as a cooperatively owned business.

 

Here's an update on what's happening:

  • As previously reported, we've secured the financing needed to purchase the business and fund the planned renovations: 60% of our funding is from our own community, that is, Co-op member-owners and longstanding supporters of the Creamery; and 40% is coming from Florence Savings Bank, a mutual bank founded in 1873, just thirteen years before the Creamery began its life as a dairy farmer co-op.
  • Our application for approval of the transfer of the liquor license from the Creamery to the Co-op was approved by the Town of Cummington in mid-July and is in (hopefully) final-stage review at the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission in Boston. We are navigating this byzantine process with steadfast resolve and the support of our state legislators and with the wisdom and learning from the sister co-ops who have gone before us. The license is part of our financing collateral, and we can't proceed without this approval.  
  • We've retained two highly respected local contractors to carry out the planned renovations to the building and expansion of the parking and related improvements to the grounds. We are finalizing the contracts and scheduling details now, and are working out details on how to minimize disruption to staff and customers during construction.
  • We have received most of the myriad local, regional, and national approvals for our planned renovations. We're still working with MassHighway on necessary permits.
  • A joint board/staff committee has been working together for two months, and will continue work over the coming year, to ensure the success of our new general manager and to help support the continued development of and investment in the staff. We recognize that the people who work at the Creamery are critical to our Co-op's future.
  • The board is excited to continue to work with Alice and Amy to define their future roles within our Co-op, and remain supportive of them as they take the break they want and deserve.

So what's next? We'll refrain from predicting the actual date for when the transition will take place, but I feel confident and hopeful that the time is very near. Rest assured, we are doing everything humanly possible to make it so.

  

On behalf of the Co-op board, thanks for all you do and will do to support us, the Creamery staff, and our new general manager in the work we have ahead of us.

 

Yours in cooperation,

Kimberly Longey,

Board of Directors president 

___________________________________________________________

From Amy and Alice:

We wholeheartedly welcome Karen Doherty as the first general manager of the Old Creamery Co-op! We feel so fortunate to have the opportunity to work with, learn from, and pass the reins to someone with such experience, wisdom, and leadership. We very much look forward to future collaborations with Karen. With a terrific general manager, and with our beyond-compare dedicated, talented, and wise Board of Directors, our new Old Creamery is in great hands. We hope all of you in our community will join us in supporting Karen in this exciting time of transition. She knows she has a big job, but she is stepping up with enthusiasm. We couldn't hope for more!

___________________________________________________________

Meet the New General Manager

Originally from central New York State, Karen Doherty has been living in Maine for the past 32 years, where she has raised two children, climbed Maine's tallest mountain many times, and for ten years has been the general manager of the Blue Hill Co-op in the small coastal town of Blue Hill. Karen says she is excited about moving to the Hilltowns area and honored to be a part of the Old Creamery's transition to a cooperative. 

New GM
Karen Doherty

 

"Co-ops are the heart of any community," says Karen, "and a fabulous way to keep money recirculating locally. Although not a nonprofit, a co-op's raison d'�tre is not to make a profit, but to meet the needs of the community. I can't think of a better business model or a better way to ensure a healthy sustainable future."

 

As a volunteer programmer at community radio station WERU, Karen has hosted a three-hour weekly radio show for over twelve years, where she plays an eclectic mix of indie, folk, jazz, and rock. Along with music Karen has many other interests. "I love animals, and spending as much time as I can being in the natural world, hiking, biking, swimming, kayaking, and gardening, as much as I enjoy staying in and cooking with friends, reading and listening to music." She has traveled to Ireland and Cuba, and hopes to someday visit and hike in all of America's national parks. Her most recently found passion is her 1989 VW Westfalia camper, in which she can occasionally be found napping even when it's parked in her driveway.
___________________________________________________________

Cheese of the Week!

Our featured cheese this week is Gubbeen, a raw cow's milk cheese made by Giana and Tom Ferguson and their family in County Cork in the south of Ireland. They run a 250-acre coastal farm in West Cork. The cows enjoy their pastures earlier in the spring and later in the fall than Gubbean most, due to the tempering effect of the Gulf Stream. In winter the cows are fed silage produced on the farm, supplemented by the farm's nuts.

 

Gubbeen is a washed rind cheese. The rind is pinkish-orange with a white bloom and the wash is brine with white wine. The flavor, which is very indicative of the cheese's terroir, is always full and rich. It has a buttery, nutty flavor with smoky accents, sometimes mild and other times quite pungent. The aroma is almost always stronger than the flavor.                                                                                                                                              Come in this Saturday and taste a sample of this incredible cheese. Remember, we'll take 10% off the price all day Saturday. Hope to see you!

___________________________________________________________

Alice's Recipe: Roasted Mashed Squash with Maple Rum Glaze

(Editor's note: The recipe this week is from the archives, but timely still. The calendar page turns to October on Monday, bringing us the thick part of autumn and Halloween, and, not that far ahead, Thanksgiving. But you can try this recipe today with the great variety of winter squashes from several area farms now available at the Creamery. Enjoy!) 

 

Our Thanksgiving celebration usually includes fifteen to twenty family members and friends of all ages, several dogs, walks in the fields, wood stacking, music and singing, laughter-filled game playing, and nonstop cooking from dawn to dusk. We include traditions from our many families, honoring not only what we are creating together, but also the richness of what has created each of us. I am filled with gratitude for the countless meals that my mom prepared, meals that nourished and nurtured our family. I am filled with gratitude and awe for the feasts that Amy's mom continues to prepare that nourish and nurture so many of us; everywhere she goes, hungry friends and family follow, and we are all filled with her love and with her delicious food.

 

This time of year, Halloween, when the veil between the world of the living and the world of the deceased is thin, I feel the presence and love of my mom and dad as strong and steady as the gentle drum of my heartbeat. And during this season of thanks, I feel the presence and love of my other mom and dad, of my extended family and friends, of this Hilltown community, and I feel the abundance of the blessings in my life.

 

One of our favorite Thanksgiving dishes to share with all is Roasted Mashed Squash with Maple Rum Glaze. So I again share the recipe with you! 

 (Click here for a link to the recipe.) 

___________________________________________________________

Somebody Smell a Rat?

The following comes to you from Food Democracy Now!

 

Last week a disturbing new study was released by a team of scientists that linked a common variety of Monsanto's genetically engineered (GMO) corn and the most widely used chemical weed killer, Roundup, to an increase in cancerous tumors and severe kidney and liver damage in lab rats.

 

Just Label It The new study found that rats fed for two years with Monsanto's GMO corn variety NK603 or dosed with Roundup at levels permitted in drinking water, food, and feed died earlier than rats fed a diet of no GMOs.

 

The study has caused a media firestorm, and already the pro-biotech crowd has launched an instant smear campaign against these scientists to divert attention from the shocking results. However, it has not gone unnoticed by other countries. This week the Russian government announced that it has suspended all imports of Monsanto's genetically engineered corn due to the study's findings.

 

While the scientific debate over GMO crops could go on for years, the truth is that for most Americans, seven out of every ten bites of processed foods most likely contain ingredients grown with GMO crops and additionally sprayed with Roundup. This recent scientific study only confirms that Americans deserve the right to know what's in their food. Click here to add your voice in the battle for this right.

___________________________________________________________

Following is one of a series of weekly articles in recognition of the United Nations' International Year of Cooperatives

  IYOC logo

Next Stop for Co-ops: The Moon?

No, you can't buy a panini or some fresh, local produce at the top of the world's tallest mountain, but in a symbolic act underscoring the worldwide cooperative movement, a small expedition reached the summit of Mount Everest on May 26 and unfurled two special flags: one bearing the rainbow of the International Cooperative Alliance, the other the 2012 International Year of Cooperatives logo. To read more about this feat, click here.

 

___________________________________________________________

Time to Check the Calendar 

The Old Creamery's Community Calendar is your place to post, and check for, happenings in the Hilltowns. The Community Calendar can be found on the Old Creamery's website under "News & Events." You can click on any event in the calendar to pop up an expanded information box. For instance, click here to see the expanded listing for this week's Fourth Friday Jam in Cummington, and here for the details on a "Edible Education" series beginning October 3 in Great Barrington.       

    

We'd also love to hear from you with any suggestions, compliments, gripes, or other comments about the Old Creamery Co-op's weekly email and website. You can email them to [email protected]. Thank you for your help!

___________________________________________________________

Help us spread the word! Consider encouraging your friends to sign on to receive the Creamery's weekly email newsletter. Better yet, encourage them to become member owners of the co-op. You can forward this email to your friends and relatives, and rest assured, we won't clog their inboxes and we will respect their privacy. We will not disclose your or their email addresses to anyone else. You can unsubscribe at any time. Thank you for your interest, commitment, and support.  

___________________________________________________________
Many items are on sale every week at the Creamery. Look for the brightly colored shelf tags. These items are 15%-45% off regular prices. Click here for a list of all the items that have recently gone on sale. In addition to the items on the list, there are always dozens of additional items on sale. Enjoy the savings!
___________________________________________________________

Your continued patronage supports the Creamery's transition to a community-owned, values-based cooperative. Thank you for supporting the Old Creamery Co-op as a member-owner, as a shopper, as a friend. We value every contribution to the success of the Old Creamery Co-op.

 


Kimberly, Hattie, Michael, Susi, Sylvia, Patty, & Deborah,     

your Old Creamery Co-op Board of Directors;

and

Alice & Amy, proprietors   

 

Please pass this message on to your friends  

and encourage them to join our mailing list

 

Click here if you would like to become a Member-Owner 

    Quick Links

Creamery Specials and Sales                    Bulk Purchase Program  

445 Berkshire Trail

Cummington, Massachusetts 01026

413.634.5560