Stories you might have missed from around Wisconsin.
Ashwaubenon: U.S. Championship Cheese contest returns.
Most of the attention focused on the Green Bay area involves the upcoming NFL Draft, but for cheese lovers, there’s another reason to make plans for a visit. The U.S. Championship Cheese Contest is returning to Ashwaubenon. The every-other-year contest, held March 4-5 at the Resch Expo, will have 2,414 entries in 117 classes from 31 states. Categories include cheese, butter, cultured products and dry dairy ingredients. Preliminary judging will be free and open to the public. Even better than the judging are samples of competing and champion cheeses. It’s a chance to taste the best of familiar cheeses or try something unique. The Oshkosh Northwestern reports that the event is hosted by by the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association which has its headquarters in Madison. At least 38 dairy experts, many of them cheese championship veterans, will evaluate entries on attributes such as flavor, body, texture, salt, color, finish, packaging, and more. Twenty-two northeastern Wisconsin producers submitted entries to the contest. Full Story
Verona: Verona native’s first feature film hits theater Friday.
There’s no shortage of films depicting Wisconsin and one from a first-time director who grew up in Verona is about to be added to the list. “My Dead Friend Zoe” is a dark, autobiographical comedy drama about post-traumatic stress disorder, a complicated friendship and a divided family. The film stars Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris. It also marks the producing debut of NFL star Travis Kelce. Kyle Hausmann-Stokes, the film’s director, told the Wisconsin State Journal, “The characters happen to be veterans, but this is a universal story. It’s about grief. It’s about sacrifice, but it’s ultimately, I think, about learning to move on.” Hausmann-Stokes joined the Army immediately after graduating from Verona High School in 2001. He was inspired to join the Army by his grandfather, Orville Stokes, a lieutenant colonel who did two tours in Vietnam and retired from the Army after 22 years. “My Dead Friend Zoe” was 20 years in the making, said Hausmann-Stokes, who enlisted in the Army one month before 9/11. The film will play at AMC Fitchburg 18; Palace Cinema, Sun Prairie; and Marcus Point Cinema. Full Story
Hayward: Great snow conditions await participants in this year’s Birkebeiner.
Last year Mother nature didn’t cooperate with the organizer’s of the American Birkebeiner. This year she decided to be a team player. Great conditions greeted participants in the American Birkebeiner cross-country ski races in northwestern Wisconsin last weekend. There were about 4 to 8 inches of hard packed snow on the course early in the week and more fell before the Birkie events got underway. Temperatures were just about perfect — high 20s or low 30s — when the first part of competition started on Friday, Birkie executive director Ben Popp told the Journal Sentinel. The Birkebeiner, billed as North America’s largest cross-country ski marathon, runs between Cable and Hayward. The race was estimated to attract 13,500 skiers, 2,500 volunteers and up to 30,000 spectators. For the main race on Saturday, skate-style skiers traveled 50 kilometers (about 31 miles), while the classic racers go 55 kilometers. The course originates in Cable and ends on Main St. in downtown Hayward. Full Story
