BY TINA L. SCOTT
EDITOR

What better way to celebrate June Dairy Month than with a traditional June Dairy Breakfast?
On Sunday, June 11, 2023, more than 50 volunteers worked together to serve 950 people a bountiful June Dairy Breakfast in the Smith Center at the Merrill Area Recreation Center (MARC) in Merrill.
The menu included plain and potato pancakes served with butter and maple syrup from local producers, applesauce. cheesy scrambled eggs, maple pork sausage links from Geiss’s Meat Market, Mullins cheese curds, white and chocolate milk, cranberry juice sponsored by Copper River Cranberry Marsh, orange juice, and coffee.
Members of the Merrill FFA Alumni, the Merrill FFA Chapter, the Lincoln County Farm Bureau, and local dairy producers worked together to do the cooking.
They used 150 pounds of potatoes, 5 pounds of onions, and 12 dozen eggs in the potato pancakes, 40 pounds of butter for the pancakes and on the tables, 190 pounds of Geiss’s pork sausage links, and 320 pounds of liquid eggs and 20 pounds of shredded cheese that went into the eggs to prepare the meal. They also served 10 gallons of locally produced pure maple syrup that was donated and served 150 pounds of Mullins cheese curds. 18 gallons of applesauce, 25 gallons of whole chocolate milk, and 20 gallons of white milk.
Tables were decorated with geraniums donated by Grass Creek Greenhouses.
Other groups that volunteered included the Rodeo Queen candidates and employees from Crossbridge Community Bank, Nicolet Bank, and Park City Credit Union.
“We couldn’t have a successful breakfast without the volunteers who help with setup, to prepare food, serve food, and clean up the Smith Center,” said Mary Sosnovske, Co-Chair of the June Dairy Breakfast. “Thank you to everyone who braved the cold weather to come celebrate the Dairy Industry in Lincoln County!”
“In my 30 plus years of helping with the dairy breakfast, this was the first time we giggled that we were going to see snowflakes,” she said with a laugh.
The June Dairy Breakfast went beyond just serving up a delicious meal that celebrated and featured Wisconsin dairy products. During the breakfast, guests were entertained by live music performed by Carl Jackson and his sister, Jeni, and guests could play games and taste Sartori cheese at the Merrill Busy Bees 4-H Club tables. They could also get information from the Marshfield Clinic All of Us Research Program and the Wisconsin Farm Bureau booths on-site.
And guests could purchase tickets to win prizes in the basket raffles. This was the second year for the basket raffles. Co-Chair Stephanie Zoellner coordinated many of the donations for the raffles, with prizes donated by Tranquil Times Wellness, the Merrill Enrichment Center, Create A-Way Paint Parties & Therapeutic Arts, Nelson’s Power House, Gail Behm, the Williams family, Jeanne Schmidt, Northwoods Maple, and other local businesses.
Outside, guests could enjoy horse-drawn wagon rides pulled by John Uttech’s horses and explore farm equipment provided by Breitenmoser Farm and Heinz and Eric Roth.
And adults and children alike enjoyed petting bunnies, goats, lambs, ducks, chicks, and a pony at Grampa’s Farm petting zoo, and visiting with Matilda the cow, owned by Abby Breitenmoser, and some calves from their farm.
The June Dairy Breakfast is sponsored by Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin, the Lincoln County Farm Bureau, and the Lincoln County Dairy Promotion. Proceeds from the June Dairy Breakfast go to support Merrill FFA Alumni and Lincoln County Farm Bureau scholarships for Merrill area graduates, as well as educational programs in area schools.