The Old Creamery Celebrates Ten Years

Alice Cozzolino and Amy Pulley celebrated their 10th year of ownership of the Old Creamery, a landmark in the hilltowns! (Photo credit: Sienna Wildfield)

On September 19th, 2010 the Old Creamery in Cummington was alive with activity.  Alice Cozzolino and Amy Pulley celebrated their 10th year of ownership of the store with deep appreciation and gratitude for the support of area businesses and residents.

More than a hundred people turned out for this special celebration. Friends and neighbors enjoyed Creamery made pizza, cake, and tastings of other Creamery favorites, tasty samplings from other local food producers including Bart’s Ice Cream, Dean’s Beans Coffee, Sidehill Farm Yogurt, Ooma Tesoro’s Marinara Sauce, and home made mozzeralla from Fiore di Nonno.

An exciting line up of events kept the crowds coming throughout the day including: several local musicians, cider making, juggling lessons, book signings with local authors, a magician, and a visit by Moo the Magical Milking Cow.

The celebration was also an opportunity for the community to learn about the exciting plans to transition The Old Creamery to a community owned co-op. The Creamery started as a cooperative in 1886, and now more than 114 years later is coming full circle. Co-op Board members were available all day to answer questions, listen to ideas and concerns, sign up new Member-Owners, and share their enthusiasm.

Each time a new member-owner joins the co-op a cow bell is rung. On Sunday, the bell was rung to the cheers of the crowd 58 times bringing the current roster to more than 250 founding member owners!  The conversion to cooperative ownership will ensure that the Creamery will continue to retain and create local jobs, feature food grown and produced locally, help its members participate in broader efforts to build a sustainable economy, and provide opportunities to work as part of a larger network of cooperative businesses. The Old Creamery will be the first conversion of a privately owned store to a cooperatively owned store in the region, and quite possibly one of the first in the nation.

Even though the Co-op has not yet purchased the store, Sunday was marked the first  Member-Owner appreciation day.  As a special thank you, Alice and Amy offered an additional 10% Member-Owner discount off regular and special sale priced products.

For more information, about the Old Creamery Cooperative, including answers to frequently asked questions,  please visit the website at oldcreamery.coop or contact the Outreach Coordinator Cherylann Richards at Email Cherylann@oldcreamery.coop or leave a message at 413-634-5560.