Meeting November 1 — Annual Meeting

IMG_20101101_135403Our Annual Meeting took place at the State of Maine Cheese Co. in Rockport where we re-elected Anne Bossi, Deb Hahn, Beth Whitman, and Mary Belding to the board. We also set our meeting schedule for 2011 (see the updated list on the Guild page). In non-official business we discussed Open Creamery Day successes (publicity was good this year; over 500 people visited Pineland Farms in Gray this year!), various fund raising ideas, the response to our Letter to the Governor from the Commissioner of Agriculture, future workshops, an expanded presence at the 2011 Common Ground Country Fair, and the fact that the 2011 American Cheese Society conference will take place in Montreal next year, the closest it’s been to Maine since Burlington, VT in 2007. Best of all we got to see the cheese harp that Cathe’s husband Frank made for Appleton Creamery.

Newsletter Deadline: Oct 15th

Please send Mary at Little Falls Farm any material you might have for the next Guild Newsletter before October 15th. This could be links to interesting stories about Maine cheese, or just cheese in general; or it could be experiences you’ve had that others might learn from; or it could be an article about an interesting topic that you’ve meant to explore.

Cheese HAACP Training Offered in VT

The Vermont Cheese Council will hold a two day Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) training for cheesemakers and cheesemaking operations.

Dates: Wednesdays, October 6 and 13, 2010
Time: 9:30am-4pm
Location: Provisions International, 42 North Main Street in White River Junction
Cost: $100 ($50/day)
To register: email Rachel Fritz Schaal or call 866.261.8595

Participants will:
Develop a HACCP plan from milk though packaged cheese
Conduct a hazard analysis
Identify Critical Control Points (CCPs) and set critical limits
Monitor CCPs and establish appropriate corrective actions
Validate your CCPs and verify your HACCP plan
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