The Green County Visitor + Activity Guide is my biggest project of the year, so it’s always a good feeling to have the final files sent off to the printer some time in February. By the time the finished guides are shipped back and ready for distribution, the clock is ticking for the countdown to the busy upcoming tourism season. 

The main focus of the guide is to highlight attractions and things to do, events, dining, shopping and lodging. But in addition to the basics, I like to add some feature articles or “content” as they like to say in the marketing world.

For 2020, one of the features in the guide is a two-page spread sharing the story of how immigrants from Glarus, Switzerland, came here to establish New Glarus back in 1845. If you do the math, you’ll realize that this marks 175 years. And yes — there’s going to be a big party. Make sure to follow the website swisstown.com for the growing schedule of events, including an anniversary parade planned for Aug. 1. I plan to follow up with more information on this in a future column.

For the Albany section of the guide I’ve shared an article titled “Thrifty for a Cause.”  It’s the story of the Albany Thrift Store, which was founded by four area churches that each put $25 toward the cause back in 1995.

Brodhead has a photo feature on the Pearl Island Recreational Corridor, as well as an article on the community’s Tractor Drive and Ride event that raises awareness of and funds for the Alzheimer’s and Dementia Alliance of Wisconsin.  

The Monroe section includes “Get the Scoop on the Green County Fair,” and a quick salute to the 15th anniversary of Monroe as a Main Street community. I really enjoyed digging into the legacy behind one of the decorative stained glass windows at the 1858 church that is home to the Green County Historical Society Museum.  

I used the community of Monticello as a prime example of how volunteers can make big differences in small towns. For next year’s guide, I’m already planning to do a feature on Monticello’s volunteer-operated Green Cares Food Pantry.

My favorite article in the guide was written by guest author Dan Wegmueller. He and his wife Ashley have taken their fourth-generation, family-owned farm in a new direction by opening up their property as a dairy farm-stay experience. They’ve welcomed guests from as close as Chicago and as far away as Rwanda.

My favorite ad in the guide features 2020 Cheese Days Ambassador Molly Minder promoting Limburger cheese for Chalet Cheese Cooperative. Milk from her family’s farm goes to Chalet and Molly did an internship at the factory. She’s a student at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville majoring in agribusiness with an emphasis on marketing/communication.

Brenda Steurer was behind the camera on many of the engaging photos you’ll find in the guide. Look for her “Goat Race” photo on page 4. Brenda was also at the right place and time to capture a flag thrower with his red and white Swiss flag set against a brilliant blue sky right in downtown New Glarus. I also really like the image she shot outside Klondike Cheese Factory — with Adam Buholzer, Matt Erdley and Luke Buholzer showcasing the new Buholzer Brothers brand of cheese. The guide comes to a sweet finish on the back cover with Brenda’s shot of a Holstein calf’s first trip to the Green County Fair.

The 2020 Green County Visitor + Activity Guide should be available shortly — look for it at businesses throughout the area. You can also view the “flip book” version online at greencounty.org. 

— 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.