Creamery Purchase and Loan-Signing Set for Election Day!  

The Co-op will always accept new member-owners, but if you'd like to be on the roll of founding member-owners, you've still got a couple of weeks to sign up. Click here for all the information needed to do that.    

Turn on Your Radio, Tune In, and Drop What You're Doing!

The Old Creamery Co-op's Kimberly Longey, president of the Board of Directors, will be a panelist this Friday morning in a discussion on "Co-ops: The Next Generation." Broadcast live and streaming online beginning at 9 a.m. from River Valley Market in Northampton, the discussion marks Co-op Month.

Kimberly and the other panelists will talk about exciting new developments in our region. Sabine Rhyne of the Brattleboro Food Coop will speak about their brand-new store and downtown redevelopment project. Dan Rosenberg will discuss Real Pickles' journey down the path to worker-ownership. Kimberly will talk about the Creamery's transition from private ownership to community ownership. Adam Trott, of the Valley Alliance of Worker Cooperatives, will provide a big-picture perspective on the growing economic impact of cooperatives here and throughout the world.

The show will be available live on the air on WHMP (1240 AM in Franklin County, 1400 AM and 96.9 FM in Hampshire County, and 1600 AM in Springfield) and streaming live on the Internet at WHMP.com. A podcast of the panel discussion will be available after the show.

Come Welcome the Co-op's General Manager

You're invited to stop by the Creamery this Sunday, October 28, to welcome our new general manager, Karen Doherty. This reception, hosted by the Co-op's Board of Directors, is an informal "open house" from 1 to 4 p.m. Karen is new to our area, so we hope to give her a hearty Hilltowns welcome. Please stop by, say hello, and enjoy some tasty treats!

Cheese of the Week!

This week we feature Spain's Manchego el Trigal. It's a DOP cheese that can only be made from the milk of the Manchega sheep that graze in the provinces of Albacete, Cuidad Real, Cuenca, and Toledo, all of which make up the region of La Mancha! Manchego has a firm and compact consistency with white to yellow ivory paste. This delicious cheese has a well-developed flavor that's mild and creamy but with a slight piquancy. I find it to be nutty, buttery, and savory. Using same-day milk produces a more buttery Manchego. The pattern on the dark brown rind honors a time when this cheese was wrapped in woven sheets of esparto grass. This cheese is fantastic paired with some figs and a glass of tempranillo and is perfect for your cheese board!

Come down this Saturday and have a taste. Remember, we'll take 10% off the price all day! Thanks and hope to see you soon!

--Peter

The Means of Pickling in the Workers' Hands

Real Pickles in Greenfield, one of the Creamery's fine local suppliers, is becoming a worker cooperative! Current owners Dan and Addie write, "Along with Real Pickles staff, we have been laying the groundwork for a co-op transition for a number of months now, and earlier this summer--during the UN's International Year of Cooperatives--we officially decided to make the switch! Everyone here is excited about the plan to convert Real Pickles to a worker co-op, and we will be working to make it happen over the next few months. While the two of us will no longer be the sole owners of the business, we will continue to be part of Real Pickles as worker-owners and managers. We think a worker co-op structure will be an outstanding way to help ensure that Real Pickles will succeed far into the future, producing delicious and healthy food for people and making a lasting contribution to building a new and better food system!" (To continue reading, please click here.)

Alice's Recipe: Roasted Green Beans

My food desires are strongly leaning toward the richer, heartier foods that my body craves in the colder months. We're still eating lots of greens fresh from the garden, but we find ourselves preparing foods that cook longer on the stove top or that roast at high heat in the oven (the extra heat is great this time of year!).

We fed the Old Creamery Co-op Board members these little taste treats, Roasted Green Beans, at their meeting this week and had a couple of requests for the recipe. We tend to steam or stir-fry our fresh-from-the-garden beans and use this recipe for the less tender off-season beans. They're delicious any time of the year with any beans on hand! They go well with most any dinner menu, make a delicious appetizer offering, and are great for snacking.

(Click here for a link to the recipe.)

Hilltown Communities to Review Goals and Projects

Hilltown residents can review their towns' "to-do" lists at upcoming Community Development Strategy meetings to be held in each town during October and November. Residents are invited to participate in this process to review last year's goals and recommend new community improvement projects for the coming year. These important planning sessions are facilitated by the Hilltown Community Development Corporation.

The strategy sessions will be held in the selectboard meeting rooms in each town at the following times: Chesterfield Town Offices, Monday, October 29, at 5 p.m.; Cummington Community House, Thursday, November 1, at 7:30 p.m.; Plainfield Town Hall, Tuesday, November 13, at 7:15 p.m.; Williamsburg Town Hall, Thursday, November 15, at 7:15 p.m.; and Westhampton Town Hall, Monday, November 19, at 7:30 p.m.

To participate in the Community Development Block Grant Program, each town must complete an annual Community Development Strategy document, which includes an outline of the town's goals and a priority list of community projects. After each public meeting, selectpersons in the town will review public input and edit the Community Development Strategies to reflect the town's goals and projects that may be eligible for federal block grant funding.

For information about the review process or to request a copy of your town's CDS document, contact Christopolis at the Hilltown CDC: davec@hilltowncdc.org or (413) 296-4536.

Community input and participation is a part of life in the Hilltowns. Come share your ideas.

Note: The CDC has been instrumental in the Creamery's successful conversion to a co-op. Seth Isman, CDC's economic development director, has participated in all of our business and financial planning, among other contributions.  

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

Groundbreaking Studies

Movie Time: Genetic Roulette

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 listing for the film Genetic Roulette, which explores the issue of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Plainfield's own Ed Stockman, an expert on GMOs in our foods, will conduct a question and answer session following the October 25 screening at downtown Pittsfield's Beacon Cinema.

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 info@oldcreamery.coop. 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.  

Your continued patronage supports the ongoing success of our 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 

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445 Berkshire Trail

Cummington, Massachusetts 01026

413.634.5560