FROM THE CORNER Booth and Beyond

Posted 1/24/23

Certainly one of the larger cheese curd producers in Wisconsin is La Granders at rural Stanley and they sell a large percentage of their production to the Culver’s Restaurant chain. Another major …

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FROM THE CORNER Booth and Beyond

Posted

Certainly one of the larger cheese curd producers in Wisconsin is La Granders at rural Stanley and they sell a large percentage of their production to the Culver’s Restaurant chain. Another major producer, and likely among the largest in the United States, is the Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery, Ellsworth, WI. They sell a good amount of their production to Kwik Trip. Several times each year Kwik Trip sells Ellsworth Cheese Curds as one of their specials. Ellsworth identifies itself as the “Cheese Curd Capital of Wisconsin.” The title was officially bestowed on Ellsworth in 1984 by then Gov. Tony Earl. Some of the more interesting facts that highlight this successful Cooperative are: The Ellsworth Creamy has 225 farms in Wisconsin and Minnesota who supply them with all the milk they need. 180,000 pounds of cheese curds are manufactured daily. The Cooperative employs about 330 people at all its plants. The Ellsworth Cheese Festival draws 30,000 people to the community during the last weekend of June. In 2011, the Comstock Creamy was added to the Cooperative and that added about 80 varieties of specialty cheese’s to the company’s selections. Growth resulted in the company building, a new modern manufacturing plant in Menomonie, that opened in 2022 and the Comstock Creamy production was transferred to this facility. The growth of the Ellsworh Cooperative reminds one of the similar successful growth of the Marieke Gouda production in Thorp. *** Did you know? According to Hardware Retailing, the U. S. spent $538 billion on home improvements in 2021 and it is being projected that in 2025, spending is expected to reach $625 billion. +++ According to DATABANK USA in 2021 more than 38 percent of U. S. adults over 50 were single. The martial status of adults over 50 in 2021 were: Married 61.9%; Divorced 16.4%; Widowed 11.9 %; Never Married 9.8%. Marriage, when it does occur, is also occurring later. In 1900, the average age a man married at was 25 and in 2021 it was 30.4. In 1900, the average age a woman married was a little over age 20 and in 2021 the age of first marriage for a woman was 28.6. *** Gifts are always nice to receive and especially when you don’t have to reciprocate! If your a Wisconsin homeowner you get such a gift each year. This year homeowners received, on average, a $213 Wisconsin Lottery tax credit. That was slightly lower than last year’s average credit of $230. Overall, the Lottery Credit available for distribution was over $319.8 million. This is rather astounding! Since 1988, Wisconsin has provided over $5.1 billion in property tax relief for eligible Wisconsin homeowners. The amount of credit is related to the tax rate of the school district where your home is located. *** The Clark County half percent sales tax total for 2022 was $2,815,275.15. This was an increase of $130,585.13 over the $2,684,690.80 half percent sales tax collected in 2021. The county sales tax in Clark County goes for property tax relief or was passed on that rational. *** Last week I had a chance to talk with Dawn Koppen, the new owner of the former Brethren Church, located at 302 S. Franklin. Dawn had a connection with the church as it was her mother’s home church and one that Dawn attended for family milestones. When asked her plans for the building, she simply indicated that plans would be evolving. Dawn has the energy of six energized bunnies and her ideas abound. Whatever evolves you can bet it will be worth checking out.

*** Here is one of those reports that fall into the category of “hard to believe.” According to Consumer Reports and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, if all automakers were to install Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, which slows a vehicle down when it senses a collision is imminent, 42,000 crashes and 20,000 injuries could be prevented by 2025. Other safety devices available on vehicles include: Rear emergency braking to prevent a crash when your backing up; a device that keeps your vehicle in the center of your lane, thus preventing drifting into other lanes; and adaptive cruise control that slows your vehicle down to match the speed of the vehicle in front of you. *** In the category of “What’s Next?” According to the American Automobile Association (AAA) electrification is coming. “A new national survey by AAA shows that a quarter of consumers plan to go electric for their next vehicle purchase.” According to Experian, with improving range, electric vehicle registrations increased 60% in the first quarter of 2022. *** I have concluded that the folks who manage the operations of Marine Credit Union in Stanley, from headquarters in La Crosse, are either geniuses or know little about the communities in which they operate. Their drive through banking hours in Stanley are the worst in a town which has two other banks to do business with. Those two other choices have a much better idea what hours working people and the elderly need to meet their needs. I have often wondered how many customers have left Marine because of their limited drive through or walk in hours. *** I have often heard complaints that Hansen’s IGA doesn’t have a flier like the Thorp Super Valu has in the West Central Shopper. In other words, a flier that contains all their weekly items on sale. Hansen’s does have a page of select items on sale in the Shopper weekly and likewise a column of specials in the Stanley Republican. However, to gain a full weekly ad you have to receive Hansen’s flier via your computer or phone. Well, that has to be the way of the future because KJ’s Fresh Market, that has as its closest store a Cornell location, announced last week that, “Due to distribution cuts at the Big Buck (the Chippewa Shopper that Stanley mail patrons get by mail every Friday) this will be the last week our ad will run in Gilman, Holcombe, Cornell, New Auburn, Sheldon and Stanley.” That means KJ’s Fresh Market flier will only be available in the store or via computer or phone. It also hopefully means your mailbox will have one less item in it on Friday as the Big Buck Shopper will not be coming our way anymore? *** Smile time. Wisdom doesn’t necessarily come with age. Sometimes, age just shows up by itself. +++ To get back to my youth I would do anything in the world, except exercise, get up early, or be respectable. +++ I don’t plan to grow old gracefully. I plan to have face-lifts until my ears meet. +++ Behind every husband who thinks he wears the pants is a wife who told him which pants to wear. +++ A police officer came to my house and asked where I was between 5 and 6. He seemed irritated when I answered, “Kindergarten.” +++ Things that use to hurt my back: Jumping off a garage, crashing my bike, falling out of a tree, diving in the shallow end, contact sports. Things that hurt my back now: Sneezing, washing the dishes, brushing my teeth, tying my shoes, rolling over in bed.

BY DAVID JANKOSKI