CHEESE DAYS ANNOUNCES
KINQ AND QUEEN
When Cheese Days board member Diane Phillips contacted Gary
and Corie Grossen to set up a time to meet with them in person
but was quite vague about the reason why, the Grossens were
puzzled. When fellow board member Martha Bernet also showed
up for the meeting, they were even more curious. When Martha
began the conversation with a reference to 2008 being a Cheese
Days year, they were certain they were being recruited to
help as volunteers. In a way, they were right. The couple
has been selected to promote the festival in the honored roles
of 2008 Green County Cheese Days Kinq and Queen.
Both Gary and Corie have a long history of dedication
to the local cheese industry. Gary grew up in the house above
the Prairie Hill Cheese Cooperative and lived there for 51
years. His father Howard began working there as the cheesemaker
back in 1949. Gary’s mother, Delores, worked alongside
him in the factory, and the entire family was involved in
the cheesemaking business. Gary recalls helping out with various
tasks in the factory as soon as he was old enough, and at
twelve years old was driving the pickup truck to return empty
milk cans to the cooperative’s patron farmers. He and
his sister wrapped and boxed the rindless blocks of Swiss
before going to school. While classmates lifted weights to
bulk up for high school sports, he lifted and washed the giant
wheels of Swiss cheese.
When Gary married Corie Carlson in 1971, it took her a little
while to get used to the everyday noises of the factory operating
right below the house, including a rather sophisticated ‘intercom
system.’ Corie was a bit surprised the first time she
heard someone pounding on the floor from below, but soon realized
that if Howard was down in the factory and needed something,
he would grab a pipe and pound on the ceiling. In addition
to the occasional thump on the floor, the usual hum of the
boiler and the clinking of the pipes were soon joined by the
noise from the activities of their growing family, including
three children ‘“ son Chad (Genea) and grandchildren
Emma and Gabe; and son Brad (Kari) and grandchildren Mitchell
and Bryce; and daughter Kelly and her husband Harlan.One of
Corie’s first jobs other than helping in factory came
about when cheese needed to be delivered and Howard happened
to be gone for the day. She sat on a pillow to see over the
steering wheel of the 5-speed truck. When she got to Armor
Cheese Company, she went inside to find someone to back the
truck up to the dock. All was going smoothly on the trip back
home until a bystander flagged her over just as smoke began
to rise through the floorboards. The man who backed the truck
up had set the emergency break. It was the first of many trips
to follow, and she never made that mistake again.
Along the way, Gary and Corie grew to develop
an appreciation for the hard work and family spirit of cooperation
that would continue as their own children took on various
chores at the factory. Corie eventually took over all the
bookwork and payroll, plus management of the cheese accounts.
At one point the couple considered building a new house several
miles from the factory, but hesitated to make the move when
having the whole family near the workplace was so convenient.
There was no need for a babysitter, no need for daycare, but
many opportunities to raise their children and teach them
responsibility along the way.
In 1972, Gary went into partnership with his
father, and eventually bought Howard out in 1990. The factory
operated with the assistance of family and five main employees.
‘We never called them ‘hired men’ because
it was more of a family team,’? says Gary, noting that
everyone always knew what to do and they just stepped up to
do their part.
Gary’s first award for cheesemaking was in 1975, when
he received 1st place for Swiss with the Wisconsin Cheesemaker’s
Association. He has also received United States and World
Championship awards on his cheese. Perhaps even more rewarding
was receiving his certification as a Wisconsin Master Cheesemaker
in Brick and Muenster in 2002. The three-year program was
very time-consuming, but Gary views it as a very valuable
tool for experienced cheesemakers to better themselves and
strengthen the craft of cheesemaking. He is currently in the
process of obtaining further certification in Cheddar, and
with the theory that you should never stop learning, anticipates
going on to Gouda.
Although no longer operating Prairie Hill Cheese
Plant, the couple remains involved in the cheese industry.
Corie is employed at the Foreign Type Cheesemakers in Monroe,
a member-owned laboratory dedicated to quality assurance in
cheese testing. Gary is a cheesemaker at Babcock Hall Dairy,
part of the UW Madison Food Science Department. It is a job
he has loved and excelled in for the past three years. Although
profits from sales of milk, cheese, and ice cream do benefit
the food science program, the main purpose of Gary’s
work is education. He works directly with students in the
artisan program, who as part of their studies are required
to put in 240 hours with a licensed cheesemaker.
Growing up at Prairie Hill meant seeing wheels
of Swiss on the shelves in the cellar. These days, Gary can
stand back and admire a huge variety of cheeses made at Babcock
Hall, including Gouda, Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Marble Jack,
Havarti, Colby, Swiss, Muenster, and Brick. Varieties he never
imagined he would make are Cottage cheese, Romano, and Juustoliepa,
a cheese of Finnish origin often served as a dessert, accompanied
by jam.
‘It is very special at the end of the day when everything
is all cleaned up, and you just stand there and see what you
crafted,’ said Gary, with a great deal of pride.
Gary has seen changes in the cheese industry
throughout the years. Early on, cheese was sold locally. Everyone
had their own truck and hauled their own cheese. “We
didn’t go to school to learn marketing,” said
Gary, “you sent samples and developed a niche.”
Cheesemakers in Green County had a theory.
In one word, it was “work. Many of our fathers were
cheesemakers, and they weren’t so eager to get out and
share ideas,” said Gary, but through his involvement
as a member of the Foreign Type Cheesemakers board, he realizes
the importance of getting out, meeting people, and sharing
ideas with fellow cheesemakers. He also gives the lion’s
share of credit for his abilities and the abilities of other
cheesemakers to those who have gone before them. “Our
dads got us to where we are,” he said, reflecting on
the fact that the craft of cheesemaking tends to be a legacy
handed down from generation to generation.
One aspect that has definitely not changed and
never will, is the importance of the raw product the cheesemakers
rely on quality milk. Gary credits the local dairy farmers,
and through the years developed close relationships with the
patrons at Prairie Hill.
In addition to serving as president of Foreign
Type Cheesemakers for many years, and on the board of directors
of the Wisconsin Cheesemakers Association and the Southwest
Cheesemakers Association, Gary has also served as a volunteer
firefighter and first responder in Juda since 1972, and as
assistant chief since 1982. He is currently a member of the
Jefferson Township planning committee, a member of the local
Moose Lodge, and a lifetime member of the FFA Alumni. Throughout
the years, Corie has also been involved in the community,
including 35 years as a HCE member of the Jefferson Homemakers
club, and member of the local Moose lodge and VFW. In 1992,
she was awarded an honorary degree from the Juda FFA Chapter,
and was recognized by the Green County Ag Chest as the Outstanding
Senior Woman in Agriculture in 2001.
The couple also has a history with the Cheese
Days festival itself. Corie recalls riding on a float for
a local cheese company in the 1955 parade. Gary and Howard
were in charge of the cheese tent back in the 1980’s.
Gary has assisted with the popular old time cheesemaking demonstration
hosted by John Bussman since the 1970’s. But apparently
royalty runs in the family, as their favorite moment was when
son Brad was chosen as Cheese Days Prince in 1984. “I
remember standing there with my fingers crossed in Turner
Hall,” said Gary. Corie helped him learn the Cheese
Days song, and Grandpa Howard taught him how to yodel. He
had a whole routine, and on occasion was called upon to entertain.
In addition to promoting the cheese industry,
the couple also has an interest in fostering an appreciation
for Swiss heritage. The Grossen family hailed from Canton
Berne in Switzerland, and Gary recalls that Howard never missed
the Swiss wrestling competitions at Turner Hall. Corie herself
was involved in the local Turn and Schwing club under the
direction of Elsa Rattein.
After the initial shock of being asked to accept
the honor, and some “tears of joy”? on Corie’s
part, the couple eagerly voiced their enthusiasm for stepping
into the roles of kinq and queen. They both agreed that all
those years of dedication to the cheese industry paid off.
“I don’t make cheese in Green County anymore,
but that’s where my heart is,” said Gary.
Both Gary and Corie’s hearts will be in
downtown Monroe this next September as they reign over the
largest food fest in the Midwest - a favorite since 1914 with
the thousands of guests who stop by for the weekend to polka,
yodel, and eat cheese by the truckload.
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