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ATM Coming to the Old Creamery!
A trip to the bank can be a lengthy journey for Hilltown residents, but that will change for many with the completion of ongoing renovations to the Old Creamery. Thanks to the Old Creamery Co-op's relationship with Florence Savings Bank, the Creamery will feature a full-service ATM on its remodeled east side. This will be a walk-up automated teller with 24-hour access, seven days a week--right in the heart of the Hilltowns!
 The ATM is just one aspect of the Co-op's fortunate partnership with Florence Savings Bank. Indeed, the bank has provided loans and lines of credit totaling $661,500, with a portion of the debt enhanced by a $107,000 MassDevelopment guaranty. The bank financing, along with the tremendous financial support from member-owners and many, many others in our community, ensures that our Co-op has the resources we need to complete the planned renovation to the building, expand the parking, improve the grounds, and create a much better work space for staff and more space for customers.
Florence Savings bank--a mutual savings bank--was founded by local citizens in 1873, just thirteen years before the Creamery began its life as a dairy farmer co-op. Despite the major changes in the banking industry, it is still depositor owned, and its trustees and corporators are all members of the local community.
In a press release earlier this month, John Heaps, president of Florence Savings Bank, said, "We are excited to be providing the financing support for the Old Creamery Cooperative project in Cummington. We are also looking forward to serving our Hilltown customers with ATM service at the Creamery when the renovations are completed. The Creamery has been part of the Hilltown Community for more than one hundred years, and we are happy to play a role in building the financial foundation for the next hundred."
Marty Jones, president and CEO of MassDevelopment, the state's finance and development agency, said, "This effort shows the close-knit and community-driven nature of the Commonwealth's Hilltowns. We're pleased to enhance this financing to Old Creamery Cooperative, helping this historic network continue its support for local farmers, producers, and artists for generations to come."
The Co-op Board of Directors' president, Kimberly Longey, credited the Co-op's creation to the "support of hundreds of people, each giving of their time, their talent, and their financial resources." She also lauded the financial institutions' roles: "Thanks to the commercial financing provided by Florence Savings Bank and MassDevelopment, we are off and running on the next phase of our work. Together we'll be guiding this business through a physical renovation and many other changes. But some things won't change. We will still strive to meet the needs of our community, respect our planet, and earn a profit. Our business is grounded in the notion of true democratic control. One person, one share, one vote. While the store will now be member-owned, we will continue to remain open to all."
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Renovations Begin!
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East-side footings being installed, Dec. 19, 2012
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The great support of our Co-op community coupled with the additional and substantial support from Florence Savings Bank has us off and running! We broke ground this week! The east-side porch and ramp are gone (necessitating patrons' temporary use of the west-side entrance). The concrete footing for the new outside wall is poured. Additional footings are installed in the southwest corner of the building for the foundation needed to support new inside stairs to be built later. Our great crews were pushing to beat the weather as concrete is ideally cured and in place before it gets too cold. The removal of brush and trees on the east-side hill is also under way so we can be ready to remove earth in the spring for our expanded parking.
We expect to reopen the east entrance early next week with a temporary ramp and set of stairs. The trench on the east side will be filled as soon as possible. Some additional demolition work will take place next, followed by preparation work upstairs for the relocation of refrigeration compressors. We do not anticipate further disruptions to your shopping over the remaining holiday season. As always we will keep you informed about this exciting transformation.
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Holiday Hours at the Creamery
The Old Creamery will close early, at 4 p.m., on Monday, December 24. The store will be closed on Christmas, Tuesday, December 25, and on New Year's Day, Tuesday, January 1. Happy holidays!
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Holiday Basket Giveaway!
To celebrate the Old Creamery Co-op's purchase of the iconic Cummington store and deli, Hilltown Families and the Co-op have partnered up to offer a gift basket (valued at $150), abundant with a collection representative of what you will find at our Hilltown gem! Details on how you can enter for a chance to win can be found at Hilltown Families' website (click here). The deadline for entries is noon on December 24. And don't forget to sign up for Hilltown Families' splendid weekly newsletter when you visit the website (or click here).
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Cheese of the Week! 
This weekend's sampling cheese is Casatica di Bufala, made by the Gritti Brothers near Bergamo in Lombardy, Italy. It's a luscious and creamy, bloomy rind cheese made with rich water-buffalo milk, which has twice the fat of cow's milk and more than sheep's milk. This Casatica is soft and delicate with a sweet milky flavor. The texture is almost custardy with a pale interior that has small eyes and a thin edible rind. For your holiday table this cheese is perfetto!! So come in this Saturday and have a taste! Remember, we'll take 10% off all day! Thanks and hope to see you soon!
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Recipe: Spicy Oven-Baked Chicken
This recipe is a real oldie. It's from nineteenth-century New England and comes via A Taste of Freedom's Way, by Jane Trask Rosen and Daniel Rosen, a 2006 publication of Freedom's Way Heritage Association. The organization is the planning agency behind the federally recognized Freedom's Way Heritage Area, a group of forty-five towns and cities in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. To get the cookbook (which includes Colonial recipes for codfish balls and tasty eel) and to learn more about Freedom's Way, click here.
Most New England farms did not keep chickens prior to the mid-1800s. They were troublesome to raise, being prey to foxes and wolves. And they were not able to survive the cold winters: barns were too chilly, as early families used their precious wood to heat their own houses, not to keep their livestock warm. But by the time of the Civil War, many of the predatory animals had been eliminated from the woods, and a family farm might have chickens running around the yard. With game still plentiful, and other farm-raised animals, such as pigs, providing meat, chickens were valued mostly for their eggs. By the time one found its way onto the Sunday dinner table, it was often an older bird, so that a common method of cooking was the slow simmer in a pot filled with liquid. This recipe combines chicken with Massachusetts's own bright fruit, the cranberry, and produces a zesty gravy similar to a barbecue sauce. In today's kitchen this would be cooked in the oven.
(Click here for a link to the recipe.)
What's your favorite "go to" recipe? Submit a recipe and a little story and we may share it right here in the Recipes section. Just send it to info@oldcreamery.coop.
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2013 Slow Living Summit Seeks Proposals
The third annual Slow Living Summit--a conference focused on the development of nurturing and mutually supportive communities, bioregions, and economic systems--will be held June 5-7 in Brattleboro, Vermont. Summit organizers are inviting leaders, entrepreneurs, educators, community leaders, artists, faith leaders, wellness practitioners, and engaged citizens to propose conference programs in topic areas such as spirit, economics, arts and education, communities, and bioregions. The deadline to submit proposals is January 22. To learn more about submitting a proposal and the summit in general, click here.
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Who Will Be a Local Hero of the Year?
Do you know someone doing great work for local food and farms? CISA (Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture) wants to give them an award! Since 2003, CISA has recognized farmers, institutions, businesses, and community members whose work helps sustain local agriculture (click here to see previous awardees). This year's honorees will be profiled in the Farm Products Guide and will be honored at CISA's annual meeting in 2014. Nominations are due January 15. You may email your nomination(s), with a brief description of why you think the nominee is qualified, along with your contact information to communications@buylocalfood.org, or mail them to CISA, One Sugarloaf Street, South Deerfield, MA 01373.
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Following is one of a series of weekly articles in recognition of the United Nations' International Year of Cooperatives.
What Motivates People to Form a Co-op?
In private or stockholder-owned businesses, individuals invest to earn a financial return. In a co-op, individuals are motivated by a shared need for certain products or services. By joining together, members gain access to products, services, or markets not otherwise available to them. In other words, when forming a co-op members are motivated to become co-owners of the business primarily so that their mutual needs can be met. And co-ops return financial gains to their members, whether through discounts, lower costs, or patronage refunds. People join existing co-ops for a variety of reasons. Whether it is the commitment to community, the democratic approach to business, the desire to be part of a business that is locally owned, or something else "uniquely co-op" that appeals, anyone can join a cooperative! To read more, click here.
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Photos by Area Youth on Exhibit in Cummington
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 an exhibit opening and reception December 30 at the Cummington Community House featuring photographs by western Massachusetts young people.
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!
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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.
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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. We work hard to find bargains on many different items, including staple groceries, treats like chocolate, juices, refrigerated items, personal care products, and supplements. The shelf tags indicate when the sale price expires. Some sale items are one-time opportunities that remain on sale until sold out. Many are purchasing opportunities that can be replenished over several weeks at great prices. Enjoy the savings!
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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.
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