Our Annual Meeting took place via Zoom this year, from 3:00-5:00pm on Sunday, July 11th. Coop Members who would like to view the recording of our meeting can email Jesse Massaro at: oldcreamerymarketing@gmail.com for a link. Please include your name and member number if possible.
Meet the Board Candidates:
Ilse Godfrey – Cummington
I moved to Cummington with my husband after we agreed that we didn’t want to be just visitors, we wanted to be part of the unique community here.
Residents and Creamery members since 2018, we relocated our small sign business to our property in 2019.
I am a member of the Town Planning Board, and the ad hoc commission working to obtain state Cultural District designation for the Town of Cummington.
With Robert, I am a volunteer Community Emergency Response Team Member (CERT), a certification provided through the Cummington Public Safety Complex.
In my private life, I am a steward of Featherweald, a conservation property in Southern Washington County, NY; and I am a walker, birder and naturalist.
With my experience and education, I believe I have skills to support the Creamery’s growth and Ends Objectives going forward.
Jesse Massaro – Worthington
Jesse Massaro is a local artist, who has lived in the area his whole life, almost entirely in Worthington. He has worked on and off at the Old Creamery for over a cumulative decade, in a variety of positions: from deli to prep cook, grill master, eventually, kitchen lead, and now Marketing & Member Services. He took a break from working at the Creamery to attend HCC in the fall of 2010 and from there went on to graduate from UMass with honors, and a BFA in Printmaking.
He returned to the Creamery in 2016. He has always had the future of the Old Creamery, and the community that surrounds it, in the forefront of his mind. Jesse is in a unique position to see the day-to-day operations in the store as well as connections with the community at large. He is very excited to bring his experience and insights to the board.
In his personal time, he enjoys nature photography, games with friends, and cooking delicious meals to delight the senses.
Steven Schiff – Cummington
Ana and I came to Cummington in 2018 to build a house for ourselves and create a transition from forty-one years of life lived in Brooklyn, New York. Soon afterwards we got our fifteen minutes of fame when our almost finished house burnt to the ground the day after Christmas of that year. The good thing is that we now live in a twice-built house and it was here finished and ready right before the lockdown.
Before coming here, I was a middle school teacher in the New York City public school system for thirty one years. Ana is an artist and also taught art. We keep our foothold back in Brooklyn where life is opposite that here in the Hilltowns. I grew up in Texas but left there to go to college in Vermont and from there I landed in New York and loved it. After some years working as an artist, and at odd jobs, I became an educator and worked most of my career at a small collaborative, democratically run public middle school mostly attended by working class families and their children. I am also a long time working member (mandatory) of the Park Slope Food Coop and treasure the food, work, and large, diverse community there.
As a board member for the Creamery, I hope to learn from the experience of the many folks who have come before me. The Creamery was instrumental to our life during lockdown and we saw it adapt, grow and thrive during hard times. I understand The Creamery to be vital to the identity and life of this community. So, I look forward to helping in whatever ways I can to ensure a stable and delicious future of our little store.