CULTURE, CURDS AND CHEESY CHATTER [November Newsletter]
Volume 13, Issue 11 – Download PDF
REMINDER DATES:
The Center is CLOSED! Our doors will open on Saturday, May 1, 2021 to welcome you. Please visit our website for further announcements.
NHCC general meeting Nov. 11 at 5 p.m. at the Center. No meeting of members in December!
Sketches drawn by Robert von Neuman
Past president, Dave Buholzer, (right) shown presenting NHCC Archives chairman, Fritz Kopp, with a folio of sketches drawn by Robert von Neuman, for Ken Royer, one-time owner of Purity Cheese Co. The unique sketches were given to the Buholzer Family and their friends in Green County, from Jayne Carter, daughter of the late Ken Royer. Babcock Hall and Center for Dairy Research (CDR) are recipients of two other copies.
Stirring the kettle, With President Jim
This has been an “interesting” year so far. Even with the COVID virus causing a rampage, we were able to open for business in June and with all the recommended safeguards. All went well until mid-October when the pandemic began a real frightening increase. To be on the safe side our Board decided to end the season early for the safety of all involved. And so we are on our winter hiatus. Our hope is for better times in 2021!
In this issue readers will find our annual membership form. Please respond, choose a membership category, and send it back to us promptly. It is with heavy heart that we note the passing of one of our valued members: Art Bartsch. Art conducted several seminars on making your own cheese spreads at our annual June cheesemaking day, which was a popular workshop for attendees. Art was a retired Colony Brands vice president and intimately involved with NHCC in the past few years.
And for all you lovers of aged cheese and its many flavors and nuances (your editor included), I could not let this cartoon fly by without sharing. Happy munching
– Until next issue, Jim
Passing Gas! All is well!
Volunteer Irene: “I smell gas.”
Assistant Director Deb: “I do too! right here by the cold air return!”
Director Donna: “Grab your purses and your lunches, evacuate the building, go eat your lunch in your car! I am calling 911.”
Dispatcher: “Is everyone out of the building?”
Assistant Director Deb: “No! Director Donna went back in to get her Tuna Salad!”
Within seconds two police officers arrive, followed by six fire men in several “sirens creaming” red fire trucks. With “gas wand detectors” in hand, they checked every area of the first floor and proceeded to the basement. Finding no gas odors or leaks by the firemen was a relief. But our NHCC Building and Grounds chairman, Fritz Kopp, was concerned and the WE Energies serviceman was summoned to double check the situation. Indeed, there was a minute leak in a valve in one of the two furnaces in the basement.
MAIN GAS LINE WAS SHUT OFF! The valve was replaced.
Director Donna reports: “All is well! The furnace was just “passing gas!”
Thank you Emergency Responders, for your quick arrival and service!
Eating in Style “Cheese Therapy”
Take a drive to a cheese factory that provides “dining and maintaining social distance.” Phone ahead if you choose to order your favorite “Mousekateer” 3-cheese sandwiches w/secret sauce, grilled to perfection!
Enter the pretty, heated dining tent, erected outside the Decatur Dairy Cheese Store, complete with windows and picnic tables to enjoy your “cheese therapy!” Thank you for giving us a “safe and comfortable” dining shelter from the wind, warm sun, and cool weather during these challenging times!
The Decatur Dairy is located at W1668 County Hwy F, Brodhead, WI 53520
2020 NHCC Visitors
Among our visitors at NHCC this 2020 season were two married sisters from Denver, Colorado, and their six children. It was delightful for Director Donna to conduct the tour of the museum and Imobersteg Farmstead Factory.
The six children, all under 10 years of age, were most attentive and excited to learn about early cheesemaking. They were visiting grandparents that live in the Lena, Illinois area, where the married sisters grew up.
NHCC President Jim Glessner, conducted a tour of the museum for Faun Marie Phillipson, candidate for Circuit Judge in Green County. She was accompanied by Green County Board of Supervisor Joannie Rufenacht, along with NHCC Director Donna Douglas, who also serves on the Monroe City Council.
Faun Marie Phillipson, candidate for Circuit Judge in Green County is 2nd from right.
Director Donna’s Monthly November Report
Our 2021 season at the National Historic Cheesemaking Center Museum was successful and short! Being open Thursday through Sunday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. allowed us to staff with only one shift for those days.
We are so appreciative of our volunteers and docents that filled the hours, greeting guests from 28 states, during a year like no other, since opening the doors in 1995! The Covid-19 has slowed NHCC down and stopped some events, but it has not stopped the impact that we continue to have in the community and our visitors from near and far!
Plans for celebrating our 25th Anniversary has been put on hold until we are able to gather safely. If you have any creative ideas, please submit them to us for consideration in future planning in the coming year.
Your Director, Donna
