Minutes of Monday, June 28th, Townhouse Farm, Whitefield

(Sorry about the delay!)

Attendees: The Chatticks, Jennifer Bettancourt, Debra Reetz, Caitlin Hunter, Jane Morasco, Jean Koons, Perry Ells, Dan Viles, Eric Rector, Debbie Hahn, and Joel Tripp

Next meeting of the Guild is Monday, August 9th, 10am, 1797 Farm in Auburn. Scott Gardner will give a pasture walk and tour of his milking and cheese making facility.

Annual Cheese Festival Update
The Festival will be held Saturday October, 16th 2004 at the Portland Public Market. There are 14 tables available, 2 are for the Guild. So far nine cheesemakers have signed up. They are: Smiling Hill, Hahn's End, Seal Cove, York Hill, 1797 Farm, Appleton Creamery, Townhouse Farm, State of Maine Cheese, Sunset Acres. An additional Table has been reserved for Longfellow Bookstore, they will be selling cheese making books and other related titles. There are very few tables left, Perry agreed to call the remaining cheesemakers, Hart To Hart Farm, Nezinscot Farm, Mystique, Sleighbell, Udderview and Wanda Thomas/Harmony Farms to gather interest. Joel Tripp stated that his farm, Liberty Fields Farm, would bring some goats for the live animal display. Jennifer Bettancourt stated that Smiling Hill would supply some/one calf also. Jennifer agreed to call the author of "Raising the Family Cow" to see if she would like to attend and perhaps do a book signing and workshop. Jean once again volunteered to staff one of the Guild Tables recruiting Guild members. Caitlin stated there would be no admission to the Market/Festival. There will be a fee for the workshops. Everyone present agreed that $10 was affordable for anyone attending. The workshop subjects will be: two on how to make cheeses, one on wine and cheese combinations by Miranda's restaurant and another Pairings workshop by Kris Horton of Horton's Seafood. A workshop on regulations regarding cheese making and milking facilities will be saved for the annual Maine Agricultural trades show in January. Eric stated that the deadline for the MOFGA newsletter/quarterly and Fair issue was coming up. Caitlin and Eric agreed to both check with Cory at the Public Market to see how press on the event was going and to give him a heads up for the MOFGA deadline. Scott Gardner was volunteered to make up/up date Guild membership applications for the Festival. Jane volunteered to put together the historical display of cheese-making tools and photographs for education at the Festival. She stated she would contact the Mathews Museum, etc. for some equipment.

Cheese Guild Library
Jane Morasco mentioned that the Guild needs a donation of a bookcase for storing books. Jennifer brought all the books on cheese making that were donated by Karen Mitman of the Squire Tarbox Inn. Karen was a well-known cheese maker, but no longer. She has given it up and donated quite a few books. Jane said she would like to help organize the Guild's library, which would be house at the State of Maine Cheese office in Rockport. If anyone has any ideas or lists of good books that should be included, contact Jane by emailing her via Jennifer Pierce, wwoman@midcoast.com.

T-shirts
Perry asked how the Guild T-shirt supply was holding up. It was mentioned that there weren't many shirts left and that Cathe Morrill at State of Maine has them. Debbie Hahn agreed to check into the inventory and see about how much if would cost and schedule for getting them made up again by Liberty Graphics. The goal is to have them for sale again at events such as the Festival and Trades show.

New Market for Maine Cheeses
Jennifer Bettancourt stated that there is a new shop in Freeport, ME looking for Maine cheeses. Contact Eric or Alley Fulleger, 865-3393, efullager@suscom-maine.net. Their store, Freeport Wine and Cheese is approximately 100 feet from L.L. Bean on Bow Street. Maine Harvest Fund Grant Caitlin mentioned that Russell French photography will be putting together a portable display for the Guild for tradeshows. The cost for the display will be paid for by the Maine Harvest Fund grant that the Guild received. Thank you Cailtin for writing the grant!

Pasteurizer For Sale
Jane Morasco mentioned she and some partners/friends have a 25 gallon vat pasteurizer and cheese-making package for sale. It is a jacketed vat and includes harps, shelves, presses, molds, a smoker, and more. It was purchased a while ago from the Squire Tarbox Inn and is now available. The whole package is for sale for $10,000, but to negotiate and if interested, contact Jane, via wwoman@midcoast.com.

Next Newsletter Deadline
Next deadline for the Maine Cheese Guild newsletterParings is September 1. Submissions for the calendar, classifieds, etc should be sent to jennifer@smilinghill.com. By the way, by Perry Ells calculations there are 87 Maine Cheese Guild members as of Aug 1, 2004, the majority of which are paid and all receive the newsletter!!!!!

• To page top