MONROE — Just as the sun was coming up over the gentle Green County hills last Saturday, and the Canadian wildfire smoke starting to show its colors, Marlys and David Reeson were already on the farm south of town.
There, a crowd would soon descend for this year’s Breakfast on the Farm event, hosted by Josh and Liz Steiner, N303 County Road HK.
This year, the Reeson’s of Blanchardville were among the scores of volunteers at the event, one of the year’s most celebrated for the local dairy industry and larger agricultural community. On the menu: scrambled eggs, sausage, cheese, homemade coffee cake, milk, coffee and orange juice, along with strawberry ice cream sundaes.
“We got here at 5:20 a.m. just in time for our 5:30 a.m. shift,” said Marlys, who added the crowds came fast after that.
Her husband said the volunteers worked together, opened a third breakfast line, and handled it well.
“Yes, it got busiest probably around 7 or 7:30 a.m. but it wasn’t all that bad,” he said.
By the numbers
● more than 2,400 eggs
● 300 pounds of sausage
● 5,000 half-pints of milk
● 126 gallons of ice cream mix
● 3,500 cartons of orange juice
● 200 Homemade Dairy Breakfast Coffee Cakes
● 13 gallons of fresh strawberries
● 110 pounds of butter
● 480 pounds of cheese
● 26 pounds of coffee
Since its establishment in 1961 at the Juda Church, the Dairy Breakfast has been a beloved tradition in Green County. From 1961 to 1979, various schools and churches across the county held this event each spring to mark the beginning of June Dairy Month.
In 1979, the Dairy Breakfast transformed into the Breakfast on the Farm, thanks to a collaboration between the Green County Ag Chest and local farming families. Each year, a different farm family in Green County generously welcomes over 5,000 guests to their property for the family event.
It’s too early for an official count, but thousands of children and families strolled the grounds under a sunny sky, and breezy, cool weather.
There were animals to enjoy and touch — pigs, calves, and a horse or two. Couples jumped up to dance as the thump-thump of the Stateline Playboys provided a polka-tinged soundtrack to the entire affair.
Across the two-lane blacktop, volunteers and sheriff’s deputies helped coordinate the dance of cars parking in an unplowed cornfield; and the yellow buses coming and going to shuttle revelers to Monroe Walmart with school-day precision.
Royalty was evident and all over the place, including some in the army of volunteers dispensing ice cream. They were: Jenna Kurschner, Blanchardville Dairy Queen, Rebekah Liphart, Juda Dairy Queen candidate, and Kate Almedo, Brodhead Dairy Queen candidate.
“It is pretty fun to hang out, and see the people” said one of the girls, as they returned to whatever was making them all giggle.
Meanwhile, as the music played and as the already full multitudes enjoyed their ice cream desert, the girls were happily dishing it to them with smiles that shown bright in the muted sun. Dressed up like Sunday morning, they were clearly having fun, too.
Back by the bandstand, it was finally time for the Reesons to enjoy some of that soft-serve and strawberries.
“Yes, it’s very good,” said Marlys.
