MONROE - Two cheese cutters are now are ready for hard duty - making much in-demand cheese curds for this week's Green County Fair - after members of the Monroe Morning Optimist Club and local businesses pitched in to get them into shape.
"They were getting older," said Jason Kjerstad, a Monroe Morning Optimist board of director elect. "There (were) issues with the hydraulics."
Kjerstad said that he and the president elect of the Monroe Morning Optimist Club, Jeremy Cairy, worked to restore a cheese cuber cutter and a cheese slabber cutter. The restoration of those specialized machines, they said, was an off-and-on project for about a month and brought the equipment up to food-safety standards. The service club has owned the cutters for about a decade, using them for fundraising for various functions, including cutting cheese curds for the Green County Fair, no small undertaking in a region known for its dairy and cheese production.
"It was the first time in ten years they were updated," said Cairy.
After taking the gear apart, and assessing what needed to be restored, the verdict was not good. So Kjerstad said they "decided to rebuild them from scratch."
For many years, the cheese-cutting machines were a way that Jon Rufenacht and Bob Reffue raised money for the club.
After hitting the $1 million mark in total dollars raised three years ago, Rufenacht retired from taking care of the machines.
Cairy said that's when he inherited the job.
"The money goes back to the community," Cairy said, adding funds that raised so far by the Monroe Morning Optimist Club have reached $1.2 million.
Kjerstad and Cairy restored the cutters at Faith Engineering, Inc., of Monroe, where they work and where co-workers also helped.
Faith Engineering donated time and labor, as well as materials to the restoration. Bartles Sandblasting and Restoration donated supplies.
The owner of Faith Engineering says he didn't hesitate to contribute to the effort.
"It's a family thing," said Jim Faith, adding that his father-in-law was a member of the Optimist Club.
With their machines in tip-top shape, members of the Optimist Club say they're ready to make and sell cheese curds at the fair for $4, and look forward to interacting with fair-goers while they work.
"It means we can give more back to the community," Kjerstad said.
All proceeds go to the international Optimist Club fund, before returning to Monroe Morning Optimists for their work locally.
"They were getting older," said Jason Kjerstad, a Monroe Morning Optimist board of director elect. "There (were) issues with the hydraulics."
Kjerstad said that he and the president elect of the Monroe Morning Optimist Club, Jeremy Cairy, worked to restore a cheese cuber cutter and a cheese slabber cutter. The restoration of those specialized machines, they said, was an off-and-on project for about a month and brought the equipment up to food-safety standards. The service club has owned the cutters for about a decade, using them for fundraising for various functions, including cutting cheese curds for the Green County Fair, no small undertaking in a region known for its dairy and cheese production.
"It was the first time in ten years they were updated," said Cairy.
After taking the gear apart, and assessing what needed to be restored, the verdict was not good. So Kjerstad said they "decided to rebuild them from scratch."
For many years, the cheese-cutting machines were a way that Jon Rufenacht and Bob Reffue raised money for the club.
After hitting the $1 million mark in total dollars raised three years ago, Rufenacht retired from taking care of the machines.
Cairy said that's when he inherited the job.
"The money goes back to the community," Cairy said, adding funds that raised so far by the Monroe Morning Optimist Club have reached $1.2 million.
Kjerstad and Cairy restored the cutters at Faith Engineering, Inc., of Monroe, where they work and where co-workers also helped.
Faith Engineering donated time and labor, as well as materials to the restoration. Bartles Sandblasting and Restoration donated supplies.
The owner of Faith Engineering says he didn't hesitate to contribute to the effort.
"It's a family thing," said Jim Faith, adding that his father-in-law was a member of the Optimist Club.
With their machines in tip-top shape, members of the Optimist Club say they're ready to make and sell cheese curds at the fair for $4, and look forward to interacting with fair-goers while they work.
"It means we can give more back to the community," Kjerstad said.
All proceeds go to the international Optimist Club fund, before returning to Monroe Morning Optimists for their work locally.