Bill Lueders
The bus pulled out of Warner Park a few minutes before 7 a.m., the scheduled departure time. Our destination was two hours away, and, with so much to do there, to tarry would be tragic.
We were off to the annual Warrens Cranberry Festival, 110 miles northwest of Madison. It was the first of five fall day trips offered by Madison School & Community Recreation. (Yet to come are jaunts to historical neighborhoods in Milwaukee, bluffs in La Crosse, casinos in Iowa and stores in Chicago.)
Founded in 1972, this three-day celebration of the tiny, red, tart fruit annually draws 100,000 people to a village of less than 400. Wisconsin leads the nation in cranberry production, accounting for about two-thirds of those consumed in the U.S.
About 250 cranberry farms in 20 Wisconsin counties produce some 5 million barrels of cranberries a year, to meet the demand for cranberry juice and craisins. But some farmers allege that Ocean Spray, a cooperative that controls much of the market, keeps prices depressed by deliberate overproduction.
Our visit began with a tour of cranberry bogs. Our excellent volunteer guide, Warrens resident Jeff Butzer, passed around cranberries cut in half, so we could see that they have four air pockets, “which is why they float.” Contrary to popular belief, cranberries don’t grow underwater, but the bogs are flooded to make them easier to harvest. Cranberry juice, Butzer notes, is not artificially colored, so makers get color samples to ensure consistency.
We stopped to inspect one of the bogs. A farmer explained how sand is applied every few years to promote new growth. This same sand is now in demand for frac sand mining, for which Wisconsin also leads the nation.
Then it was off to the festival, where we had about four hours to wander. My first stop was a tent filled with such cranberry-related merchandise as bike lights, scouring pads, choke collars for dogs, tennis balls, bungee cords and socks. There were acres of such tents, including one called “Spatula City,” block after block of arts and crafts, and at least a mile of food vendors, selling everything from cranberry maple syrup to “gourmet flax” to deep-fried Oreos.
One food vendor with long lines had banners proclaiming “Sex olives.” These, it turned out, were ordinary olives with the word “sex” attached. “Oh, sex olives,” one passersby announced, knowingly, as she joined the lines.
In one tent, former Green Bay Packers great Jerry Kramer was signing autographs. Another advertised its services with a sign revealing the “most likely cause” of health problems ranging from asthma to cancer: “Your home electrical wiring.” Now I know.
Ducking for relief onto a vendor-less street, I heard a woman explaining her plans to leave later that day, the festival’s first. “One day’s enough,” she told her companion, adding, “It takes three days to see it all.”
I made my way to the Cranberry Discovery Center, where I discovered...more things to buy: a whole floor of them. But there was also a basement museum full of old cranberry crates, packaging and harvesting equipment. A video said cranberries create 7,200 jobs and contribute $350 million a year to the state economy. I’m not sure if this includes the sex olives.
Of course I bought stuff, including bungee cords and socks. My fellow travelers bought things too. (About halfway back to Madison, I realized that the people I thought were sitting on the seat behind me, who weren’t there during the ride in, were giant bags.)
After seeing everything I cared to see, I looked at my watch. It was noon. There were three hours left. I set out to get a photo for this story. I snapped the Bible church with a huge ATM banner. I climbed a two-story inflatable kids’ slide for a crowd shot. But what did these have to do with tiny, red, tart fruit?
And then I saw it: an orange balloon above the vendor information booth, set against the sky.
Something about it said cranberry, at least to me.
Number of cranberries it takes to make a gallon of juice: 4,500
How the fruit got its name: Sandhill cranes love ’em, So they were called craneberries
Year the cranberry was named Wisconsin’s official fruit: 2004
Dental tip: Cranberries help retard dental plaque, a leading cause of gum disease
How do you tell a good cranberry: It bounces