We Need You!

The ongoing operations of our store are and will continue to be handled by our capable and dedicated staff, but we do have occasional need for volunteers. This is especially true in our early years of being a co-op while we operate without an extensive budget for community outreach, education, and marketing, and while we are in the midst of the building renovation.

So, we need help! And we'd welcome yours. Here are some examples of tasks that volunteers will do:

Building Renovation (now through May):

• Help move inventory and store supplies from one place to another (ongoing opportunities, short-term two- to three-hour time commitments, often with short notice).
• Help with our store "re-set" (larger group "work parties," after the store is closed, to move shelving and inventory, clean shelving, and restock inventory; this will happen a few times in the coming few months; four-hour, or longer, time commitments).
• Help with parking area improvement and related landscaping (we will likely have time-sensitive projects to help install slope-stabilizing fabric and plantings and other landscaping-related work; this will be in early spring).

Community Building (ongoing throughout the year):

• Represent the Co-op at community events (ongoing opportunities to set up a table/tent and provide info about our Co-op).
• Distribute flyers, posters, brochures, and other materials to promote the Co-op and its related services and events (especially in Cummington, Chesterfield, Goshen, Plainfield, Windsor, Worthington, and surrounding towns).
• Member mailings; help with stuffing, addressing, and stamping for large mailings.

Marketing (time-sensitive special projects and ongoing activities during the year).

• We have a clear marketing plan for our Co-op and a small budget. We need help implementing and expanding upon this plan. Please contact us if you want to join a small group that will refine existing and develop new ways to promote the Co-op's offerings, including creating the infrastructure and procedures for solid print, digital, and social media presence.

Interested? Willing to help? Please send an email to our volunteer coordinator, Shirley Todd, at volunteer@oldcreamery.coop. Please provide your full name, your home and/or cell phone number, and the best time to reach you in the body of the email. Let Shirley know if you have specific skills or experience or if you have ideas for volunteer projects you think will help meet our needs.

Shirley has recently heard from a number of current member-owners confirming that they want to remain or be added to our volunteer list. If you were previously on this list, but we haven't been in contact recently, we might not have your current information. Please provide her with your most recent email address (or phone number).

Thanks for your help in updating the volunteer list.

Save the Date for What's Up and What's Next

It's been just about three years since more than 300 people turned out on a chilly late-January afternoon to learn about the possibility of our Creamery becoming a cooperative. How time does fly. Now, 36 months later, we'd like to gather together to say, "We did it!" And to provide information about "what's up and what's next." Your Board of Directors and our new general manager will be there. Will you?

Please join us on Sunday, February 10, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Cummington Community House. Light refreshments will be served. There's no need to let us know in advance that you are coming, but do come, and please bring a friend. This meeting is open to all.

Please send a note to yes@oldcreamery.coop if you would like us to arrange for onsite childcare during this meeting (at our last big gathering our prearranged and paid-for childcare was not used, but we want to do this for this meeting, if it is needed).

See you on February 10!

Cheese of the Week!

This week's sampling cheese is a classic, Pasamontes Manchego from Spain. Your first bite into this true farmhouse, artisan Manchego will be a revelation that will take you back 150 years. Mr. and Mrs. Pasamontes, both 80 years old, are still making this traditional Manchego according to the traditional methods passed down since their family farm was started in the 1850s. They only use raw sheep's milk from their 200 sheep to make this cheese, so supplies are very limited. These cheese-makers are fighting an uphill battle against standardized dairy, EU regulations, and modern cost pressures that mitigate against quality.

Made at the same location in the plains of Castilla La Mancha south of Madrid since 1876, this cheese long been known as Spain's best Manchego and has more recently been a consistent medal winner. The vast majority of Manchego comes from industrial plants that use pasteurized milk. The high heat necessary for pasteurization yields bland-tasting cheese. However, the Pasamontes use raw milk to preserve the subtle and delicate flavors. The texture on the rind resembles the esparto grass band that was traditionally used to form the cheese. The interior texture is firm, and the color ranges from nearly white for young cheeses, to ivory yellow for cheeses of four to six months of age and brownish yellow after ten to twelve months.

Come down this Saturday and have a taste. You won't be disappointed! Remember, we'll take 10% off the regular price all day! Hope to see you this weekend!

Closing Early Sunday, January 13

So that all Creamery staff members can attend the Co-op's first all-staff meeting, the Creamery will close early this coming Sunday, at 4 p.m. Thank you for your understanding, and please accept our apologies for any inconvenience.

From the Sea to You

Yes, you can live in the winter wonderland of the western Massachusetts hills and eat your fresh seafood too! That's because the Creamery Co-op obtains the choicest, freshest, most sustainably harvested seafood available and offers it to you, right here at the store in the Hilltowns. Peter diligently works with Black River Produce to offer featured seafood selections twice a week. And if you need something special, he can do his best to procure whatever fish or shellfish you might desire.

To see the latest featured offerings, and to learn more about the fresh seafood program, visit the Creamery's website (click here). The listing is updated twice a week, so be sure to bookmark the page.

Save the Date: Community Resilience Summit on March 23

All are cordially invited to a Community Resilience Summit at the Cummington Community House on Saturday, March 23, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. This event will give people and organizations a chance to share their work in the local community; exchange ideas, methods, and needs; and develop common cause on visions for the future. The hope is that people will make new connections and find new ways to participate and provide mutual support for creating and sustaining a resilient community in these changing times.

A welcome and keynote address will take place from 10:00 to 10:30 a.m. Session 1: Food, Farm, and Local Economy is next from 10:30 to 11:45 a.m. After an hour for lunch, provided by the Village Church in Cummington, Session 2: Strengthening Local Institutions and Planning for Emergencies will run from 12:45 to 2 p.m.

Recipe: Limpa Rye Bread

This week's recipe comes from Co-op member-owner Kathryn Jensen of Cummington.

This recipe uses the Tassajara Bread Book method to make a traditional Swedish bread. Its use of anise rather than caraway, along with the orange peel and cardamom, gives the bread a heavenly aroma. (To read a 2003 New York Times article about the classic Tassajara Bread Book of 1970, click here.)

(Click here for a link to the recipe.)     

What's your favorite 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. 

Pasta Carbonara Redux

Benefit Concert Saturday 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 a benefit concert in Cummington this Saturday evening to aid Hurricane Sandy victims.

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.

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

445 Berkshire Trail

Cummington, Massachusetts 01026

413.634.5560