MONROE - Martha Bernet and Lois Kaster have been selected to serve as marshals for this year's The Swiss Colony Cheese Days Parade. Both women have been long-time Cheese Days volunteers - serving on the board of directors, as chairwomen of various committees, and as overall festival chairwomen.
Cheese Days will be Friday, Sept. 14 to Sunday, Sept. 16.
Kaster's involvement with the festival dates back to the late 1960s, when she was recruited by Wally Ekum. Later, she was the first female to lead the festival as an overall co-chair. Most recently, she served as head of the Ambassador Selection Committee. Martha and Werner Bernet were honored as the first Cheese Days King and Queen in 1980; Lois and Ben Kaster served in the same role in 1988.
Bernet's affiliation with Cheese Days was a natural fit. By the late 1950s, she and her husband Werner began operating a cheese shop in downtown Monroe (located in the back of what is now Suisse Haus.) She was also a singer, yodeler, and accordion player who not only entertained on stage, but also later chaired the Entertainment Committee.
Bernet and Kaster have been friends for many years; the two actually met due to their involvement with the cheese industry. Prior to running the cheese shop, Werner Bernet was a cheesemaker at the Stauffacher Factory on Dutch Hollow Road. Kaster worked at Commercial Savings Bank, and it was among her responsibilities to use the hand-operated adding machine to total up what both Werner Bernet and the factory patrons should be paid on behalf of the cooperative. They also share a common link in their appreciation of their Swiss heritage: Bernet is a Swiss native who immigrated here in 1947, and Kaster's father was born in Switzerland.
Both ladies credit the leadership of Bob Bussen and Archie Myers, who stepped in to co-chair in 1965, with reviving the festival from near extinction. Kaster and Bernet were part of a "fact-finding" group from Monroe, led by Bussen, who traveled to the Minneapolis Winter Carnival that year to learn more about operating a successful festival.
"We never went to bed," Bernet said, in reference to the whirlwind of fun and activity, the spirit of which would carry on through their various public relations activities in the coming years.
The ladies agree that being involved with Cheese Days was lots of work, but lots of fun.
"Together we solved many problems," Bernet said.
"And made so many friends," Kaster said.
More information is available online at www.cheesedays.com. Festival updates are also available on Facebook: www.facebook/cheesedays.com.
Cheese Days will be Friday, Sept. 14 to Sunday, Sept. 16.
Kaster's involvement with the festival dates back to the late 1960s, when she was recruited by Wally Ekum. Later, she was the first female to lead the festival as an overall co-chair. Most recently, she served as head of the Ambassador Selection Committee. Martha and Werner Bernet were honored as the first Cheese Days King and Queen in 1980; Lois and Ben Kaster served in the same role in 1988.
Bernet's affiliation with Cheese Days was a natural fit. By the late 1950s, she and her husband Werner began operating a cheese shop in downtown Monroe (located in the back of what is now Suisse Haus.) She was also a singer, yodeler, and accordion player who not only entertained on stage, but also later chaired the Entertainment Committee.
Bernet and Kaster have been friends for many years; the two actually met due to their involvement with the cheese industry. Prior to running the cheese shop, Werner Bernet was a cheesemaker at the Stauffacher Factory on Dutch Hollow Road. Kaster worked at Commercial Savings Bank, and it was among her responsibilities to use the hand-operated adding machine to total up what both Werner Bernet and the factory patrons should be paid on behalf of the cooperative. They also share a common link in their appreciation of their Swiss heritage: Bernet is a Swiss native who immigrated here in 1947, and Kaster's father was born in Switzerland.
Both ladies credit the leadership of Bob Bussen and Archie Myers, who stepped in to co-chair in 1965, with reviving the festival from near extinction. Kaster and Bernet were part of a "fact-finding" group from Monroe, led by Bussen, who traveled to the Minneapolis Winter Carnival that year to learn more about operating a successful festival.
"We never went to bed," Bernet said, in reference to the whirlwind of fun and activity, the spirit of which would carry on through their various public relations activities in the coming years.
The ladies agree that being involved with Cheese Days was lots of work, but lots of fun.
"Together we solved many problems," Bernet said.
"And made so many friends," Kaster said.
More information is available online at www.cheesedays.com. Festival updates are also available on Facebook: www.facebook/cheesedays.com.