Havarti block party

HOLMEN, Wis. — When the Holmen Area Community Center began exploring the idea of a family-friendly summertime event, the team organized something that would resonate with the people of Wisconsin and provide a unique look at the history of the community.

The city hosted its second annual Holmen Cheese Fest June 21 in the parking lot of the Holmen Square Mall and the Holmen Area Community Center. The event brought the community together for an opportunity to celebrate one of Wisconsin’s largest exports while raising money for a local nonprofit.

“There are lots of avenues to raise money for a nonprofit: grants, business support, municipal support and events,” said Robin Moses, executive director of the Holmen Area Community Center.  “Events can be profitable and can help to not only pull an organization together and bond the community but also support the organization. Cheese Fest was born out of that. We wanted to do a cheese fest because cheese is fun, and we have a history of dairy production.”

The roots of the dairy industry run deep in Holmen. A creamery that was in operation for more than 80 years, and the newly constructed Holmen Cheese plant, have entwined one of Wisconsin’s most famous products within the fabric of the community. That history was on display at the event, detailing the creamery’s past and its pivotal role on Main Street, along with Holmen Cheese partnering to provide products at concession areas.

“Having our history on display during the event really adds depth to a community to remember our history,” Moses said. “We worked closely with the Holmen Area Historical Society.”

Holmen Cheese has been a great fit, and we’re excited to have Cheese Fest built and continue to have fun with it.” 

This is not the first cheese-related event that Moses assisted with. While working with Explore La Crosse, Moses assisted with the production of the Between the Bluffs Beer, Wine and Cheese Festival.

“The beer, wine and cheese fest in La Crosse ends up being more of a drinking event,” Moses said. “So I thought, how can we take the concept of cheese and really have it a bit more wholesome and fun, so we started this last year.”

The summertime event was originally held as a bag or cornhole tournament at Features Sports Bar & Grill on the east end of Holmen Square Mall but has evolved into closing off a portion of the mall parking lot and hosting events for all ages.

The day started at 10 a.m. with the opening of the craft, art and makers’ market. During that time, there were also basket raffles, a 50/50 raffle, a silent auction, as well as a wine draw.

“Part of this event is supporting our local crafters and artists and also taking advantage of some of the things that happen here at the community center,” Moses said. “This was a nice extension to have our local crafters and artists have booths, but we get to open to the whole community. We had 24-30 booths, and some local businesses did kids’ stations.”

The event featured coloring pages sponsored by the American Legion Auxiliary and a temporary tattoo station. The Cheez Land Uke Band took the stage inside the Holmen Area Community Center, performing in front of the crowd that had gathered for the mac and cheese contest, in addition to the raffles that were held indoors.

Cheese and wine tasting were also available. Wines from Vernon Vineyards and Elmaro Vineyard were paired with cheeses from Nordic Creamery and Hidden Springs Creamery.

“They (Holmen Area Community Center) have an enthusiastic group of people that want to create community involvement,” said Sarah Bekkum of Nordic Creamery. “It was a great opportunity for us to get our cheese in front of people.”

Holmen Cheese Fest also played host to its second annual mac and cheese contest, with Holmen Rotary Club member Barry Ploessl taking home the title. Ploessl’s special recipe of brisket and barbecue sauce set it apart from the other contestants.

Live outdoor music began at noon and continued throughout the afternoon, with stylings from local musicians. Adding to the local flavor was T-Jo’s Pizza, serving cheese pizza at the concessions area, in addition to several cheese-themed items, including cheese curds.

The timing of the festival came at a key point in the dairy industry’s calendar: the middle of June Dairy Month.

“We’d like to have it around this time every year,” Moses said. “We didn’t want it too close to the 4th of July, and we thought our first year we were too close to that. June is about dairy, so absolutely we thought, what can we do to honor dairy, and Cheese Fest worked with that.”