MONROE - The motto "cheese is our culture" will come to life Saturday with a demonstration of how cheese was made more than a century ago at the National Historic Cheesemaking Center.
The event centers on the 100-year-old Imobersteg Farmstead Cheese Factory, which was re-located to the center's campus and restored several years ago.
Current Master Cheesemakers, joined by numerous retired cheesemakers, will make a 90-pound wheel of Swiss cheese. The day begins at 9:30 a.m. and the public is invited to lend a hand, stirring the kettle of milk as it is heated. The cheesemaking process continues throughout the morning until a completed 90-pound wheel of Swiss cheese is on the press table. The old-fashioned cheesemaking event also features a restored horse-drawn milk wagon from the early 1900s. Tours of a rib-side caboose, also located on the center's grounds, will be offered.
Other attractions include free admission to view the National Historic Cheesemaking Center's museum, which includes numerous artifacts and explains the cheese factory's history. Tours will be conducted from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.
The concession stand will feature cream puffs, master grilled cheese sandwiches and beverages. There will be live accordion music, yodeling and alphorn selections at the event.
There is also a Milk House Gift Shop and the Green County Welcome Center, which provides information about local businesses and attractions throughout Green County and surrounding communities, in both Illinois and Wisconsin.
The National Historic Cheesemaking Center is located at the corner of Wisconsin 69 and 21st St., Monroe. The public is invited to wander throughout the grounds and museum at no charge.
The event centers on the 100-year-old Imobersteg Farmstead Cheese Factory, which was re-located to the center's campus and restored several years ago.
Current Master Cheesemakers, joined by numerous retired cheesemakers, will make a 90-pound wheel of Swiss cheese. The day begins at 9:30 a.m. and the public is invited to lend a hand, stirring the kettle of milk as it is heated. The cheesemaking process continues throughout the morning until a completed 90-pound wheel of Swiss cheese is on the press table. The old-fashioned cheesemaking event also features a restored horse-drawn milk wagon from the early 1900s. Tours of a rib-side caboose, also located on the center's grounds, will be offered.
Other attractions include free admission to view the National Historic Cheesemaking Center's museum, which includes numerous artifacts and explains the cheese factory's history. Tours will be conducted from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.
The concession stand will feature cream puffs, master grilled cheese sandwiches and beverages. There will be live accordion music, yodeling and alphorn selections at the event.
There is also a Milk House Gift Shop and the Green County Welcome Center, which provides information about local businesses and attractions throughout Green County and surrounding communities, in both Illinois and Wisconsin.
The National Historic Cheesemaking Center is located at the corner of Wisconsin 69 and 21st St., Monroe. The public is invited to wander throughout the grounds and museum at no charge.