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Dovetailing with Wisconsin’s annual observation of June Dairy Month, the Fontana Public Library will be presenting “Cheese, Please,” a free dairy-themed adult education class on cheese and cheese-making in Wisconsin.
“Cheese, Please!” will be held on Tuesday, June 6 at 1 p.m. in the meeting room at Fontana Village Hall, 175 Valley View Dr. (State Hwy. 67), Fontana.
“I chose the topic because June is Dairy Month,” said Fontana Public Library Adult Program Coordinator Sally Lee. “Denise and Terry Woods, of Highfield Farm Creamery, will talk about their cheese and the cheese-making process. They are passionate about cheese and they love their cows. Denise and Terry were here probably four years ago or so and they did a really nice program. They’re very knowledgeable about cheese and the cheese-making process. It seems fitting to ask them again, especially in June.”
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Highfield Farm Creamery is located at W4848 State Line Rd. in the Town of Linn.
Terry Woods, who became a licensed Wisconsin cheesemaker in 2015, works alongside his wife Denise running the state’s smallest milking parlor and crafting and selling handcrafted artisinal farmstead cheese curds and cave-aged cheeses, which are available at The Green Grocer & Deli, 24 W. Geneva St. (State Hwy. 67) in downtown Williams Bay; Pearce’s Farm Stand, W5740 N. Walworth Rd. in Walworth; Royal Oak Farm Orchard, 15908 Hebron Rd. in Harvard, Ill.; online through Alden Hills Organic Farms (aldenhillsorganicfarms.com); and on the menu at farm-to-table restaurant Fire 2 Fork, 2484 County Hwy. O South in Delavan.
After closures in 2020, 2021 and 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Highfield Farm Creamery’s popular small farmshop retail store is slated to reopen sometime in June, the date still to be announced.
As part of the June 6 program at the Fontana Public Library, samples of Highfield Farm Creamery’s artisinal cheese products will be offered to attendees.
“There will be cheese tasting, which will be special,” Lee said.
Denise Woods said she and her husband plan to bring three different Highfield Farm Creamery cheeses, produced in 10-pound wheels, for sampling — aged cheddar, a Colby-style cheese called “Stir Crazy,” and a semi-soft cheese called “Snowflake.”
An informative and educational program is planned.
“We’re the only cheese-makers in southeast Wisconsin,” Woods said. “We milk our own cows and make our own cheese. We’re a very small farmstead operation. We’ll be talking about being cheesemakers, a little bit about the history of the farm, why we chose the kind of cows we have, how Terry started his training in Scotland to become a cheesemaker and all the hoops we had to go through with the state to become cheesemakers, how our year goes and what kind of cheeses we make … and answer a lot of questions. There’ll be some recipes available and information on how to store cheese, how to buy cheese, how much to buy to for an event or gathering, and how to pair it and serve it.”
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Upcoming events
Other upcoming free events at the Fontana Public Library, announced by Lee, include the following:
Memory Screening — Memory screenings, a wellness tool that helps identify possible changes in memory and cognitio,n will be offered on Friday, June 16 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the library’s board room, courtesy of the Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC) of Walworth County. To make an appointment, contact Jake Sawyers at 262-741-3273.
Harmonica 101— The program “Harmonica 101” will be presented by Dale Boschke, of Milwaukee and Tucson, on Wednesday, June 28 from 1-3 p.m. in the upstairs meeting room at Fontana Village Hall, 175 Valley View Dr. (State Hwy. 67). If participants want to fully participate, they should bring a 10-hole diatonic harmonica in the key of C. Otherwise, it’s acceptable to just come and listen. If there is enough interest, Boschke will come back and teach another class. Boschke has been playing harmonica for more than 30 years. He has taught harmonica classes and has played in Milwaukee’s South End Blues Band for 13 years. Badger Talks: “What Does Lake Ice Seasonality Tell Us About Climate Change” — Scheduled for Tuesday, July 11 at 1 p.m. in the Fontana Village Hall meeting room, University of Wisconsin-Madison Professor Emeritus Dr. John J. Magnuson, an aquatic ecologist and limnologist with a special interest in fish and fisheries ecology, will discuss what lake ice records reveal about how Wisconsin’s climate has changed.
Learn more
For more information on Highfield Farm Creamery, call 262-275-3027 or visit facebook.com/HighfieldFarmCreamery.
For more information about the Fontana Public Library and its programs, call 262-275-5107 or visit fontana.lib.wi.us.
IN 16 PHOTOS: Fontana Elementary School presents “The Wizard of Oz: Junior Edition” – April 14.15, 2023
“Somewhere, over the rainbow…”
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Tired of the dreary life on her guardian aunt and uncle’s farm on the “Tornado Alley” 1931 Kansas prairie, heroic and sweet-tempered orphan girl Dorothy Gale dreams for a brighter and livelier world “somewhere, over the rainbow” in the opening scene of Fontana Elementary School’s April 14-15 production of “The Wizard of Oz: Junior Edition.” Eventually, young Dorothy discovers “there’s no place like home.”
Eric Johnson
Uncle Henry and Aunt Em on their Kansas farm
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Working hard on their hardscrabble “Tornado Alley” Kansas farm during the Great Depression and drought-stricken Dust Bowl era in 1931, farmers Uncle Henry (Roman Vilona) and Aunt Em (Kinley Robbins) also serve as guardians for their orphan niece Dorothy Gale (not pictured) in the April 14-15 Fontana Elementary School production of “The Wizard of Oz: Junior Edition.”
Eric Johnson
Miss Almira Gulch comes to take away canine Toto and have him destroyed
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Strict, antagonizing neighbor Miss Almira Gulch (Ellie Clausius) arrives by bike at the Kansas farm of Uncle Henry and Aunt Em to take away orphan niece Dorothy Gale’s dog, Toto, and have him destroyed. Gulch, who had hit Toto with a rake, arrives at the farm and lies that Toto bit her, announcing that she got the sheriff to give her an order to have Toto put down. Taking Toto away in a basket on her bike, Toto escapes from Gulch and runs back to Dorothy. Realizing Gulch will return for him, Dorothy and Toto run away from the farm and get swept up in a tornado, which whisks them away to the strange and magical Land of Oz, where they encounter Gulch’s doppelganger, the nefarious Wicked Witch of the West, also played by Clausius.
Eric Johnson
Dorothy Gale consults with psychic reader Professor Marvel
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Looking to both rescue her beloved dog Toto and also escape her dreamy life on her aunt and uncle’s Kansas farm, young heroine Dorothy Gale (right, Gianna Kud) consults with psychic reader Professor Marvel (left, Alex Kudnik) in the April 14-15 Fontana Elementary School production of “The Wizard of Oz: Junior Edition.”
Eric Johnson
The Mayor of Oz
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The Mayor of Oz (Millie Ferretti) provides a welcome to new visitor Dorothy Gale (not pictured, Gianna Kud) upon her arrival in the Land of Oz in the April 14-15 Fontana Elementary School production of “Wizard of Oz: Junior Edition.”
Eric Johnson
“Tot Munchkins” sing and dance in Fontana Elementary School’s April 14-15 production of “The Wizard of Oz: Junior Edition”
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Among the denizens of the magical Land of Oz are the singing and dancing Tot Munchkins — from left, Lily Grant, Natalie Petersen and Eve Hachmeister.
Eric Johnson
Scarecrow, Tin Man and Dorothy in the April 14-15 Fontana Elementary School production of “The Wizard of Oz: Junior Edition”
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As lost Kansan Dorothy Gale (right, Gianna Kud) travels the yellow brick road through the Land of Oz, she meets and makes several traveling companion friends along the way, including Scarecrow (left, Jacki Rambatt) and Tin Man (center, Cameron Cripe).
Eric Johnson
Jitterbugs swarm in
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The “Jitterbug,” a musical number that was cut from MGM’s 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz,” is sometimes used in stage productions such “The Wizard of Oz: Junior Edition,” seen staged here at Fontana Elementary School on April 14-15. The Jitterbugs — (from left) Kinley Robbins, Millie Ferretti, Lily Grant and Natalie Petersen — are used by the Wicked Witch of the West to attack Dorothy Gale and her companions at they approach her castle, just before the winged monkeys swoop in to capture Dorothy. The bites of the mosquito-like Jitterbugs cause their victims to break into a frenetic dance.
Eric Johnson
Nikko, leader of the Winged Monkeys
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Nikko (Millie Ferretti) is the leader of the Wicked Witch of the West’s winged monkey army in Fontana Elementary School’s April 14-15 production of “The Wizard of Oz: Junior Edition.”
Eric Johnson
“I’ll get you my pretty — and your little dog, too!”
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“I’ll get you my pretty, and your little dog, too!” — In the dark and spooky haunted forest near her castle, the Wicked Witch of the West (Millie Ferretti) threatens Scarecrow (Jacki Rambatt) and Dorothy (Gianna Kud) as they make their way along the yellow brick road through the Land of Oz to see The Wizard at Emerald City.
Eric Johnson
Things look bleak for Dorothy Gale in the dungeon of the Wicked Witch’s castle as time runs out
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As sand in the hourglass runs out. things look bleaks for imprisoned young heroine Dorothy Gale (Gianna Kud) as she awaits an ignominious end in the castle dungeon of the Wicked Witch of the West during the April 14-15 Fontana Elementary School production of “The Wizard of Oz: Junior Edition.”
Eric Johnson
Arrival at Emerald City
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Nearing the end of their long and perilous journey along the yellow brick road, having vanquished the broom-riding Wicked Witch of the West, lost Kansan Dorothy (second from left, Gianna Kud), Cowardly Lion (left, Sophia Jackson), Scarecrow (second from right, Jacki Rambatt) and Tin Man (right, Cameron Cripe) arrive at Emerald City to see the wonderful Wizard of Oz in the hopes of making their respective dreams come true.
Eric Johnson
The Wizard of Oz (Alex Cudnik) in the April 14-15, 2023 production of “The Wizard of Oz: Junior Edition”
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“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain” — Seated in the Emerald City, the highly venerated “Wizard of Oz“ (Alex Cudnik), ruler of the Land of Oz, turns out to be a rather ordinary man, a conman and circus magician from Omaha, Neb. who has been using elaborate magic tricks, props and special effects to remake himself as the “Great of Powerful Oz.”
Eric Johnson
Glinda, the Good Witch of the North
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Beautiful and graceful Glinda (Kinley Robbins), the Good Witch of the North, helps guide Dorothy Gale once she arrives in the Land of Oz. Said Glinda of Dorothy’s desire to return to Kansas from Oz, “You’ve always had the power my dear, you just had to learn it for yourself.”
Eric Johnson
“There’s no place like home…”
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After her many and sometimes harrowing adventures in the magical Land of Oz, young heroine Dorothy Gale (Gianna Kud) discovers that home back in Kansas is where the heart is as she clicks the heels of her ruby shoes three times and prepares to leave Oz’s shining Emerald City: “There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home!”
Eric Johnson
Dorothy awakens back in Kansas, surrounded by concerned family and friends
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Following the trauma of a tornado that struck her family’s Kansas farmstead, Dorothy (seated on bed at right, Gianna Kud) awakens, surrounded by concerned family and friends in the closing scene from Fontana Elementary School’s April 14-15 run of “The Wizard of Oz: Junior Edition.” Dorothy puzzles whether her visit to the magical Land of Oz was a just a fevered dream, or was it indeed a surreal real life adventure? Pictured, from left, are Uncle Henry (standing, Roman Vilona), Aunt Em (seated at left on bed, Kinley Robbins), Hunk (Jacki Rambatt), Zeke (Sophia Jackson), Professor Marvel (Alex Cudnik) and Hickory (Cameron Cripe).
Eric Johnson