Buy Local, Hire Local, Build Local!

Now that the renovations to our Co-op's building and grounds are under way, we'd like to introduce you to the talent that has contributed to and will be completing this important work.

In the planning stages we retained Doug MacLeay and Tony Wonseski of SVE Associates in Greenfield to perform all of the site engineering work, including securing permits from Massachusetts Department of Transportation. Dino D'Angelo of Lindgren & Sharples in Springfield provided all of the mechanical and electrical engineering work. Rich Roberge of Hilltown Land Surveys of Cummington did our property survey work. All three of these technical services firms and their principals donated a good portion of their own time and/or deeply discounted their services in support of our cooperative mission.

Our general contractor for building renovations is Shippee Builders from Worthington. Owner Gabe Shippee has crew members assigned to this job who live in Chesterfield and Cummington, and Gabe will personally be on site to contribute to the effort and oversee his subcontractors. Gabe's electrical subcontractor is Marney Electric from Florence, and the lead electrician on our job is Bob Jenson, who is also a Cummington resident. Our plumbing subcontractor is John Thomas Plumbing out of Goshen. The work on our grounds is being headed up by Pete Marcoux Excavation of Cummington with Pete and his brother Tom doing the work. Pete has also subcontracted with Glade Wolf of Cummington, who has been removing the trees and brush for our east-side parking expansion that will happen in the spring. Materials are being reused or recycled where possible and most new material is being purchased through Cummington Supply.

From concept through design and planning and now through implementation, we have enjoyed the 100% donated time and talent of our architect, Peter Lapointe of Archimetrics Design Studio in Florence. Peter is a Plainfield resident and began work on this project in June 2010 with an initial inspection and assessment report on the Creamery building condition. In 2011 and early 2012 he led a series of design and planning meetings with Creamery staff and member-owners to make sure the renovation plan commissioned by the Co-op board would address all of the goals identified while also falling within the construction budget. During 2012 Peter finalized the renovation plans, helped with the bid solicitation process, and helped assemble the team we hired to implement our vision. Peter will continue to oversee the building project to ensure the work is done in accordance with plans and specs and to help solve problems encountered along the way.

We are most grateful to all of these talented people from right here in our midst. We will continue to update you on our progress as it unfolds.

What's Up and What's Next: February 10 

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.  

Thank you, and see you on February 10!

Cheese of the Week!

This week's sampling cheese is Dorset from Consider Bardwell Farm in West Pawlet, Vermont. Consider Stebbins Bardwell was a farmer who started Vermont's first cheese-making co-op in 1864. Like many dairies, the facility was ultimately abandoned until more than a century later when Russell Glover, Angela Miller, and Chris Gray revived the farm. But this time it was with a herd of Oberhasli goats grazing on 300 pesticide- and fertilizer-free acres that straddle the rolling hills between the Champlain Valley and easternmost New York. This past year well-known Vermont cheesemaker Peter Dixon joined the enterprise and Consider Bardwell partnered with Lisa Kaimen's Jersey Girl Farm in Chester as a source for raw Jersey cow milk.

Dorset is made from raw Jersey milk and has a washed rind. This cheese is formed in baskets and has a yellow velvety interior thanks to the milk of those exclusively grass-fed cows at the Jersey Girl Farm. Dorset is aged three to six months and has a complex, natural flavor with deep rich hints of what the cheese world likes to call "meatiness." This is a wonderful cheese.

Alice's Recipe: Potatoes Bonda

Amy and I were in local food heaven! We were visiting her folks on the Gulf coast of Florida. It is incredulous to everyone that I chose to go to every farmer's market within two hours, rather than go for another walk on the gorgeous, tropical-blue-water-white-sand-almost-empty-of-people beach. We did all spend a lot of time together in the woods and salt marshes, watching birds and enjoying the tropical beauty, but if it was a farmer's market day, the family knew they'd lost me. We ate just-harvested strawberries, oranges, grapefruit, satsumas, eggfruit, red limes, lettuce, mesclun, collards, kale, chard, tatsoi, broccoli, green beans, carrots, red and yellow peppers, chilies, tomatoes, potatoes, garlic, onions, and every kind of fresh herb. Mary graciously shared her kitchen with me, and I joyfully prepared meals from fresh foods grown by farmers that I enjoyed meeting. Simple pleasures. I was in bliss.

Now we're back in snowy Cummington, and I have to say I'm happy as a lark. My local food choices are limited, but I love our seasons, our land, our foods here. We're using up our supply of stored foods, so tonight's dinner choices are potatoes, onions, sweet potatoes, winter squash, turnips, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, leeks, carrots, and beets. That's enough variety for this Hilltowns girl! We'll have a multi-ethnic menu with sweet potato gnocchi (recipe coming in the future!), roasted Brussels sprouts, snow-covered kale, and today's recipe, Potatoes Bonda, an Indian potato fritter.

We look forward to seeing you all at the Creamery, on the customer side of the counter! Feel free to ask for recipe ideas or food advice any time you see me!

(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. 

The Nields in Concert This Saturday

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 this Saturday evening's concert at the West Cummington Church featuring the Nields.

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 

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445 Berkshire Trail

Cummington, Massachusetts 01026

413.634.5560