Ryan’s Place

This past Saturday’s afternoon entertainment was Monroe’s Cheesefest. Yep, Cheesefest. It’s an annual even that takes place on Monroe’s town square. Thousands of people from all over attend, with the central themes being cheese and all things Swiss.

One of the first things we saw was a decently long line extending out of an establishment on the outer ring of the square. As we got closer we realized it was Baumgartner’s, which neither of us had heard of, but apparently everyone else had. They serve beer (Berghoff mostly – as it’s from Monroe) and cheese. Could it be any more stereotypical Wisconsin?

We waited in line for a couple minutes and then went inside. Polka music filled the air and a line had formed at the cheese counter. Past the cheese counter was a bar and a stage for the polka band. We ended up getting a beer each and a couple cheese sandwiches. Yep, cheese sandwiches. Sounds like something you’d eat for lunch if your income was below the poverty level. They were actually pretty good, possibly because I was starving. The sandwiches were simple thick slices of cheese (swiss and cheddar in this case) squeezed between some rye bread. The sweetish bread and salty cheese went well together, although I don’t think I’d make a habit of eating that.
In true Wisconsin form, an old gal was there with poufy hair, smoker’s cracks on her face and a lot of makeup. I didn’t catch her with a cigarette in her hand, but I’m sure one wasn’t far away. When I think of barflies, she’s what comes to mind.

The main draw of the event is obviously the cheese, which Monroe is well known for. A single tent had been setup to exhibit the cheese. A couple dozen cheese producers were there sampling their wares. A large sign outside the tent explained that the cheese was inside and to “Form No Lines.” Which I took as an indication that you weren’t supposed to start at one end of the tent and end up at the other, stopping at each table along the way. I think that was their intent.

It definitely didn’t happen that way. It was quite the opposite, in fact. People formed an ad-hoc line and stopped at every table along the way, but, even worse, lingered at each table as long as possible. When they finally stopped lingering and were ready to move on, the people in line in front of them hadn’t stopped lingering and everyone else was held up behind them. It was a fiasco.

Despite all that, I did get to sample a dozen or so cheeses. They were all very good, but nothing stood out enough for me to purchase it. I’ll let Brennan’s do that for me.

On the opposite side of the square, a cow milking contest was held. A couple hundred people gathered around the post office area and watched the proceedings. 4 cows were lined up, along with handlers and one girl assigned to shovel duty, and teams huddled around each cow. A classy gal with a microphone marched around talking to the milkers and entertaining the audience while the contestants tugged away. It was another uniquely Wisconsin experience.
While my comments above could largely be described as cynical, the festival was actually quite charming. The locals seem to love it and non-locals come from all around to see it. It’s free to attend, the food is great (cream puffs, cheese sandwiches, homemade ice cream bars, chocolate covered cheesecake), and the weather happened to be perfect. As we were getting ready to leave, we passed the old couple pictured on the left. Yes, that’s an inverted ice cream cone on her head, but they embodied the festival’s atmosphere. Good natured people, proud of their heritage, having fun like they do every year at this time.