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Saturday, This Mother's Day Weekend, Is Creamery GARDEN DAY!
Green thumb volunteers are needed at 10 a.m. Saturday. Our first task (which will be short work with many hands) will be a general cleanup of the winter droppings around the property. Please bring gloves, garden forks, garden rakes, your sunscreen, and your muscles. The forecast calls for another delightful day.
Landscapers with heavy equipment will start early and remove the poor soil along the Route 9 side of the east parking lot. They will also remove the sod along the full length of the east walk entering the store. Fresh topsoil will be dumped in these locations, and we will then NEED YOU to spread it out, top dress with compost, cover with bark mulch, and plant the plants.
This first phase will bring us 100 feet of gardens with perennial flowers, grasses, shrubs, and some trees. All of this (topsoil, bark mulch, plants, and trees) is being delivered Saturday morning. As everything comes into bloom, the Creamery, with its new paint job, will look quite spectacular.
Please RSVP at THIS LINK or sign up at the register. It should be a fun day, and we will all enjoy the fruits of this labor for some time to come. (And wait till you see phase 2!)
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Your first ice cream of the year as partial payment for your labors
We are now scooping four flavors of Bart's ice cream in the store. We will be adding a few more flavors in the next couple weeks, and we will open the Ice Cream Window for Memorial Day weekend. Flavors will be selected based on popularity, so vote for your favorite soon. Remember, you can purchase a booklet of TEN ice creams in the size you normally get for the price of NINE.
Gardeners get a freebie on Saturday!
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The Co-op Annual Meeting
Fifty member-owners turned out on Sunday, April 26, for the Old Creamery Co-op's annual meeting. Almost four times that many cast their votes prior to the meeting. We were thrilled to elect and welcome Phil Allessio, Peg Cowen, Christine Doktor, and Roberta Wooldridge to the board of directors. They will bring new ideas and extra energy to the board's work as we find ways to grow and enhance our cooperative! The proposed bylaw changes were also approved by the member-owners.
Reports were presented by Peter Feitner, president, Michael Kalagher, general manager, Kimberly Longey, assistant treasurer, and Wil Hastings, treasurer. The reports shared details and perspectives about our successful 2014. Store operations were refined and improved throughout the year, staff members rose to new challenges, and as a result we enjoyed a dramatic increase in sales. These operational successes, coupled with the incredible member-owner support we received in our 2014 capital campaign, have our cooperative on a solid financial footing. Renovations are being completed, cash reserves were restored, and significant bank debt has been retired. From beginning to end, the meeting was a celebration of cooperative success and an expression of thanks for the amazing support we enjoyed from member-owners and the broader community. Member-owners who would like written copies of our annual reports can ask the general manager when they are in the store or send a request to GM@oldcreamery.coop.
Former board member Josh Wachtel was acknowledged for his great service on the board. Special thanks and recognition went out to General Manager Michael Kalagher for his outstanding work and devotion to the store and the cooperative!
The formal presentations were followed by a lively Q & A session and the sharing of many Creamery-made goodies. Member-owners were encouraged to share the good news about our successes, to bring more friends and neighbors to the store, to recruit new member-owners, and to avoid using credit/debit cards when possible (see more on this last point below).
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The Creamery is proud of its history as the first retail store in the region to go bag-free. This was accomplished several years back with the able assistance of the Bagshare Project.
With the Creamery's busy season starting to ramp up, we need to be sure we have an ample supply of Bagshare bags for the influx of summer shoppers, and to gently teach our visitors on ways we can help our planet.
Mark your calendars for Saturday, May 30, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Bagshare Sewing Center in the basement of the Cummington Community House (33 Main Street).
This "Sew" (no experience required) will be focused exclusively on sewing bags for the Creamery's initial use.
RSVP at peg@oldcreamery.coop to let us know you can help out.
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Keeping OUR money circulating in OUR local economy
At the Co-op we put a lot of energy into supporting the local economy. Creamery wages and benefits are well over $500,000, and another $100,000-plus per year is paid to local repair, maintenance, and support contractors. Many of the products we sell are produced from scratch right at the Creamery.
The products we source outside come from more than 100 local suppliers, and we are constantly looking to add more. Fresh products obviously vary by season, but when we place orders every day our decisions are to buy from producers and suppliers that are as close to the store as possible. The Hilltowns, then Western Mass., then the New England region, then New England-based distributors is our decision-making sequence. We are committed to keeping as much of our money as possible circulating, and recirculating, in our local economies.
But then there is plastic. We have eliminated plastic bags, but we see an ever-increasing use of plastic cards. Two years ago 37% of purchases were made using credit/debit cards. In recent months that rate has crossed over the 50%-of-sales mark. In 2014 our Co-op paid $18,431 in credit card fees. The equation is very simple. That money went to big banks and is gone forever from our local economy.
Will you help us buck this trend and enjoy a faster checkout at the same time?
Open a declining balance account at the Co-op. Make your initial payment with cash or with a check from your local savings bank or credit union. Then when you check out, simply give the cashier your number. Your purchase is deducted from your balance and you are on your way. Replenish your balance as needed (if you need to replenish with plastic, we at least get a somewhat reduced fee for larger payments on cards).
Open your account now and let's all see how much of that $18,431 we can keep in OUR community.
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A Tip of the Hat
To our friend Nan Parati, owner of Elmer's Store in Ashfield, for being named 2015 Entrepreneur of the Year by the Franklin County Community Development Corporation.
Congratulations, Nan!
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On a Roll
Nine towns have so far approved WiredWest town bond authorization votes at their annual town meetings by overwhelming majorities. Those towns are Shutesbury, Cummington, Plainfield, West Stockbridge, Blanford, Windsor, Egremont, Colrain, and Washington. Additional town meetings will be taking place over the next few weeks.
Plainfield voters, remember to cast your affirming ballot on Saturday.
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Stay in touch, continue to tell us what you think, and help where you can.
For questions about Co-op membership, product requests, suggestions, or other feedback, please send a note to info@oldcreamery.coop.
If you'd like to contact the general manager, send an email to GM@oldcreamery.coop.
If you'd like to contact the Co-op's board of directors, send an email to Board@oldcreamery.coop.
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Help us spread the word! Encourage your friends to sign on to receive this newsletter. You can forward this email to your friends and relatives (for best results, use the "Forward email" link in the white space at the bottom of this page). We will not disclose your or their email addresses to anyone else. You can unsubscribe at any time. Thank you for all your support.
Check out past issues at THIS LINK
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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. We value every contribution to the Co-op.
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