Green County 2020 Guide

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MARCH 17 St. Patrick's Day Parade featured events 2020 n featured events 2020 For more events and latest updates follow "Monroe Chamber" and "Main Street Monroe, Inc." on Facebook. MAY-JULY Best Burger Contest JUNE 5 Cars on the Square MAY 29 First Concert on the Square MAY 4 Taste of Spring Dinner - Monroe Arts Center APRIL 4-5 Home & Business Expo JUNE 6-7 Pickers Flea and Antique Market JUNE 6 Main Street Monroe Summer Kick Off JULY 4 4th of July at Twining Park MAY 6 First Outdoor Farmers Market of season

Monroe’s cheesy story began once upon a time when farmers made their own cheese from the milk of their own dairy herds. Learn more by taking a guided tour at the National Historic Cheesemaking Center. Your visit includes the Imobersteg Farmstead Cheese Factory – an original one-kettle factory where giant wheels of Swiss were made with the equipment you will see. Back in the day, cheese varieties produced in the area were Limburger, Brick, Block Swiss, and Wheel Swiss. Today, cheese factories in the area churn out more than 100 different kinds, including those of Hispanic, Greek, Dutch, and Danish origin, as well as Swiss, of course! In addition to wheels, you’ll find wedges, blocks, and curds. Monroe’s Chalet Cheese Cooperative stands as the only Limburger producing factory in the entire United States. Buy it factory direct, or enjoy it in a sandwich with onion and mustard at Baumgartner Cheese Store and Tavern, or Suisse Haus – both in downtown Monroe. If you’d like to see cheese being made, go to Alp and Dell Cheese Store – the showcase for artisan cheese from the adjacent Emmi Roth factory. Operated by yodeler Tony Zgraggen, the store stocks local cheeses as well as Swiss imports. Nothing goes better with cheese than beer! Take a tour at Minhas Craft Brewery, and while you’re there check out the collection of brewery-related memorabilia as well as their distillery just across the street. Also in Monroe – Bullquarian Brewhouse, a two-barrel nano brewery often featuring live music in the taproom. The bell in the clock tower of the Historic Green County Courthouse has been striking the hour since 1891. Visit on weekdays for a self-guided tour and a peek into the past in the History Room. In the former Courtroom you can wear the judge's robe, bang the gavel, and declare that everyone is guilty. For outdoor enthusiasts: the Badger State Trail (bathrooms and picnic tables available at the trail shelter immediately east of Twining Park), plus disc golf, swimming pool, skater’s ramps, tennis courts, handicap accessible playgrounds – on 110 acres of parkland. Sniff the air! It smells delicious when chocolate is melting at the Swiss Colony Bakery at Colony Brands. No visit to Monroe is complete without a stop at the Outlet Center, where you’ll find an assortment of tasty treats like their famous petits fours. A designated route takes you from the ATV trailhead to motels, camping at the Green County Fairgrounds, and downtown for dining and shopping. Stay awhile: lodging includes motels, B&B, campground, and a unique farm-stay option complete with a herd of Brown Swiss cows. For the best of the area’s visual and performing arts – it’s Monroe Arts Center. Stop in and check out the latest exhibit in the galleries. Visit MAC online to get your tickets for the next show. Follow Monroe Arts Center on Facebook for the latest arts news. fun facts + things to see and do

JUNE 13 Old Time Cheesemaking Day AUGUST 8 Toru de Cheese Bike Ride

JUNE 19-20 Monroe Balloon & Blues Festival

JULY 15-19 Green County Fair

DECEMBER 4 Candle Tree Lighting at Turner Hall

AUGUST 20 Beef Producer's Steak Out Dinner

SEPT. 18-20 Green County Cheese Days

NOVEMBER 1 Swissfest

NOV. 27-28 Christkindlmarkt at Turner Hall

DECEMBER 4 Lighted Christmas Parade

SEPT. 26 Fall National Tractor Pull