Have you picked up a copy of the 2022 Green County Visitor and Activity Guide? Although most copies go out of county to bring visitors here, the guide is also a great source for local residents.

The main focus of the guide is to highlight attractions, things to do, events, dining, shopping and lodging. But in addition to the basics, I like to include some special interest feature articles.

One of the articles I wrote is called “Nelly’s Dolls.” It tells the tale of a Swiss immigrant who made her way to America, and made her life’s work a passion for all things artistic and beautiful. It’s quite a story, and I think you’ll find it interesting to learn about Nelly’s journey and to see how her dolls made their way to Green County.

Contributing writer Kareesa Wilson did a great piece on how Main Street Monroe rose above the challenges of COVID lockdowns with their signature “LIVE” shopping nights. Along with volunteers, Main Street Director Jordan Nordby figured out a way to blend online shopping with an in-store experience, along the way generating over $100,000 in sales for local businesses. I’m impressed, and you should be too.

Among my favorite ads this year are those for Chalet of the Golden Fleece in New Glarus, Baumgartner’s Cheese Store in Monroe, and the Green County Cheese Days Festival. But I really like ads that show people who are involved with the business or organization they are promoting. Like Donna Douglas opening up the door to visitors at the National Historic Cheesemaking Center, Wally Hartwig of Chalet Cheese Cooperative in Monroe with his Wisconsin State Fair 1st place award for a wheel of Swiss cheese, owners Todd and Janet Kuehl sampling wine at Bailey’s Run Vineyard in New Glarus, and Shauna Bergemann sporting a cheesehead as new owner at Maple Leaf Cheese Store in Juda.

Brenda Steurer was behind the camera on many of the engaging photos you’ll find in the guide. Right away on the front cover is Everleigh Schwartzlow eating a “Yellow Brick Road” grilled cheese sandwich at Brodhead’s Decatur Dairy. (Fun story behind the photo: the milk from her parent’s dairy farm goes to Decatur Dairy.) Brenda’s daughter-in-law Kaitlyn was the model for the image “do good, be kind, eat cheese” on the table of contents pages, and Brenda was in the right place at the right time to capture a doe with twin fawns on page 44. You can’t help smiling along with the models on the back cover: that’s Hans and Bobbie Bernet biking the Pearl Island Recreational Corridor in Brodhead.

In addition to a new visitor guide, there’s also a new tourism website. Check it out at GreenCountyWisconsin.info. If you’d like to read the guide online, you’ll find it if you scroll down on the home page. It’s available to flip through, page by page, either on your phone or from your desktop.

— Noreen Rueckert is director for Green County Tourism and Green County Cheese Days, and helps out with Main Street Monroe’s Concerts on the Square. Her favorite cheese is rumored to be Feta. She has the best office in the county — overlooking Monroe’s Square from the tower of the Historic Green County Courthouse. She dabbles in photography and graphic design, adores cats and iced coffee, and secretly loves the Cheese Days Song.