SOUTH WAYNE - There's no doubt that cheese packs a punch here, but on Saturday it played the role of royalty at the annual Easter-weekend auction along Wisconsin 11.
The auction, which takes place at Powers Auction Services, includes a portion that has benefited for 40 years the local Future Farmers of America (FFA) organization for students in grades eight through 12 in the Black Hawk School District.
Last year, FFA alumnus and organizer Scott Nelson decided to contact cheesemakers who took home first-place status at the United States Championship Cheese Contest for donations. It was no surprise the all-time highest level of donation of $10,000 was reached, with one wheel of Swiss cheese going for $300.
"Hats off to the cheesemakers in the area," said Nelson, who had two kids go through the FFA program and a sixth-grader who plans to as well. "As soon as the letters FFA came out of my mouth, the answer was usually immediately a yes."
That included an Ohio company named Guggisberg which took the national grand-champion honor two weeks ago in Green Bay with its Swiss cheese. A 5-pound brick of it Saturday went for $140, purchased by Arthur Anderson of Monroe.
How will he plan to make use of it?
"I'll probably give it away to family," Anderson said. "My brother-in-law works at Klondike (Cheese Company) and he's Swiss, so he'll like it.
"I read about this cheese, that this was the best of the best. But really what matters to me is the donation."
The donations are far from unneeded - out of the 129 students in grades eight through 12, 82 of them are in FFA, according to Nelson.
"That's a pretty good percentage for an itty-bitty school," said Nelson, who noted the money will be used for classroom supplies, fieldtrips and the purchase of animals by students at the county fair.
Despite having only two weeks to work with after the championships, Nelson was able to get nearly 20 first-place cheeses into the auction this year.
"I had 200 pounds of cheese in the fridge in my barn," he said.
Among the winners available at the auction: Maple Leaf Cheese (Gouda), Monte Chevre (goat cheese), Zimmerman (Muenster), Klondike (feta), Arena (Colby), Edelweiss (dill) and Meister (Monterey Jack).
Mostly consumables were part of the FFA auction, but the event earlier featured the usual outdoor items including the practical, such as farming equipment, and of course the quirky, such as metal lawn ornaments in the forms of a toadstool, a rooster and a flying pig.
A metal sign that read "farm" was purchased by Kurt Cable of East Dubuque, Ill. for $25. Does he own a farm?
"No, I buy this stuff to resell it - that's my business," he said.
He next bought a "rodeo" sign and immediately made it clear he doesn't run a rodeo, either.
The bidding on a metal Chicago Bears logo had little participation and raised a few eyebrows, with Argyle's Eric Fey, a Packers fan, scoring it for $45.
"My wife's a Bears fan, so I had no choice," said Fey, who planned to present it as an Easter gift.
When asked where it would go up in the house, he said: "That's a very good question. I have no idea."
Moments later he purchased a metal Packers logo, for the same price, to make himself feel better.
"I just hate the fact I had to pay as much for the Bears sign," he said.
All the while, microphone-wielding auctioneers went from display to display by a mobile sales office. They were giving the full-court press to a chorus of laughs on everything, including something as basic as a rabbit cage. When the price wasn't to their liking, they let people know.
"Come on, you know you can't build one for that," was the response to a $10 offer. "This is a nice rabbit cage. Aren't you people paying attention?"
By day's end, everything was gone, including a pig smoker in the shape of a pig and a rusty muffler.
The auction, which takes place at Powers Auction Services, includes a portion that has benefited for 40 years the local Future Farmers of America (FFA) organization for students in grades eight through 12 in the Black Hawk School District.
Last year, FFA alumnus and organizer Scott Nelson decided to contact cheesemakers who took home first-place status at the United States Championship Cheese Contest for donations. It was no surprise the all-time highest level of donation of $10,000 was reached, with one wheel of Swiss cheese going for $300.
"Hats off to the cheesemakers in the area," said Nelson, who had two kids go through the FFA program and a sixth-grader who plans to as well. "As soon as the letters FFA came out of my mouth, the answer was usually immediately a yes."
That included an Ohio company named Guggisberg which took the national grand-champion honor two weeks ago in Green Bay with its Swiss cheese. A 5-pound brick of it Saturday went for $140, purchased by Arthur Anderson of Monroe.
How will he plan to make use of it?
"I'll probably give it away to family," Anderson said. "My brother-in-law works at Klondike (Cheese Company) and he's Swiss, so he'll like it.
"I read about this cheese, that this was the best of the best. But really what matters to me is the donation."
The donations are far from unneeded - out of the 129 students in grades eight through 12, 82 of them are in FFA, according to Nelson.
"That's a pretty good percentage for an itty-bitty school," said Nelson, who noted the money will be used for classroom supplies, fieldtrips and the purchase of animals by students at the county fair.
Despite having only two weeks to work with after the championships, Nelson was able to get nearly 20 first-place cheeses into the auction this year.
"I had 200 pounds of cheese in the fridge in my barn," he said.
Among the winners available at the auction: Maple Leaf Cheese (Gouda), Monte Chevre (goat cheese), Zimmerman (Muenster), Klondike (feta), Arena (Colby), Edelweiss (dill) and Meister (Monterey Jack).
Mostly consumables were part of the FFA auction, but the event earlier featured the usual outdoor items including the practical, such as farming equipment, and of course the quirky, such as metal lawn ornaments in the forms of a toadstool, a rooster and a flying pig.
A metal sign that read "farm" was purchased by Kurt Cable of East Dubuque, Ill. for $25. Does he own a farm?
"No, I buy this stuff to resell it - that's my business," he said.
He next bought a "rodeo" sign and immediately made it clear he doesn't run a rodeo, either.
The bidding on a metal Chicago Bears logo had little participation and raised a few eyebrows, with Argyle's Eric Fey, a Packers fan, scoring it for $45.
"My wife's a Bears fan, so I had no choice," said Fey, who planned to present it as an Easter gift.
When asked where it would go up in the house, he said: "That's a very good question. I have no idea."
Moments later he purchased a metal Packers logo, for the same price, to make himself feel better.
"I just hate the fact I had to pay as much for the Bears sign," he said.
All the while, microphone-wielding auctioneers went from display to display by a mobile sales office. They were giving the full-court press to a chorus of laughs on everything, including something as basic as a rabbit cage. When the price wasn't to their liking, they let people know.
"Come on, you know you can't build one for that," was the response to a $10 offer. "This is a nice rabbit cage. Aren't you people paying attention?"
By day's end, everything was gone, including a pig smoker in the shape of a pig and a rusty muffler.