Warrens Community Christmas Event is Saturday, Dec. 1
 Warrens area residents are invited to attend the Warrens Community Christmas Dinner on Saturday, Dec. 10, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Warrens Lions Log Building. The event is free and open to all Warrens area residents.
The event is hosted by the Warrens Area Youth Association. This year's menu is ham, potatoes, vegetable, rolls, salad, desserts and beverages.
The meal is being donated by: Three Bears Lodge, The Ground Round, Becky’s Tax Service, The Bog, The County Line, Wisconsin Cranberry Discovery Center, L&S Rezin Cranberry Company, Circle Hill Cranberry, the Warrens Cranberry Festival, Warrens Lions and Cranberry Country Lioness. Area church groups are making cookies and Country Line Supper Club is providing their popcorn machine.
Santa Claus will be making an appearance and children can have their picture taken with Santa for free. There will be activities for the children, including making Christmas ornaments and Christmas cards, and decorating Christmas cookies.
Each child attending the event will receive a Christmas goodie bag filled with donations from sponsors. The bags will be put together by the staff at the F&M Bank, who chose the Warrens Area Youth Association's Hope for the Holidays and Community Christmas Event as their November charity.
Area entertainers scheduled to perform include St. Matthew's Hand Bell Choir and The Gospel Word Singers.
Posted 11/23/2011
Hand-Raking Demonstration Planned for Oct. 1 Harvest Day
 A demonstration of old-time cranberry hand-raking is a new feature of this year's Cranberry Harvest Day on Saturday, Oct. 1. Held annually on the first Saturday of October, the event is sponsored by the Wetherby Cranberry Company, the Wisconsin Cranberry Discovery Center and the Warrens Area Business Association.
"Be sure to bring your camera as we'll have several pairs of hip boots available so you can wade out into a pool of floating cranberries to have your picture taken," said Nodji Van Wychen, co-owner of Wetherby Cranberry Company.
Free tours of the Wetherby marsh will be offered from 9 a.m. to noon, allowing visitors an up-close look at cranberries being harvested by both old-time and modern-day methods. Fresh cranberries and cranberry wine will also be available.
After touring the marsh, visitors can learn more about Wisconsin’s No.1 fruit crop at the Wisconsin Cranberry Discovery Center. Housed in a historic cranberry warehouse in downtown Warrens, the nonprofit center is dedicated to educating the public about the state’s cranberry growing heritage.
As part of the festivities, the Cranberry Discovery Center will offer free cranberry wine tasting and gourmet cranberry food sampling, children's activities and reduced admission to the center's exhibit hall, which features video and audio recordings, storyboards and interactive displays. The center is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Wetherby marsh is 4.5 miles east of Warrens on county Highway EW. The Cranberry Discovery Center is located at 204 Main Street. For more information, call (608) 378-4878.
Posted 9/26/2011
Warrens Cranberry Festival Stars in New TV Episode
 The Warrens Cranberry Festival takes center stage in an upcoming Discover Wisconsin television show. The show, titled "Warrens - The Cranberry's Big Gig," is set to air in eight Midwestern states Aug. 13-14.
Now headed into its 39th year, the Wisconsin Cranberry Festival draws over 100,000 visitors annually to the area the last full weekend of September. The dates of the 2011 festival are Sept. 23-25.
The episode goes behind the scenes of setting up for the festival, as well as checking out the food stands and booths. It also takes you on a cranberry marsh tour during the festival and on Cranberry Blossom Day, held annually on the last Saturday of June.
"This television show really captures the fun, excitement and spirit of our festival," said Vicki Nemitz, Warrens Cranberry Festival president, pictured above right with Wisconsin Secretary of Tourism Stephanie Klett.
Several local businesses are also highlighted, including the Wisconsin Cranberry Discovery Center, Three Bears Lodge and Jellystone Camp Resort.
Funding for the program was provided by the Warrens Cranberry Festival and the Warrens Convention & Visitors Bureau.
"Warrens - The Cranberry's Big Gig" will air Saturday, Aug. 13, at 10 a.m. on Fox Sports North and Fox Sports Wisconsin. It also airs Sunday, Aug. 14, at 5 p.m. on WXOW TV in La Crosse and WQOW TV in Eau Claire. For a listing of other stations carrying the program, visit the Discover Wisconsin website.
The episode is hosted by Emmy Award winning Stephanie Klett, who had been with Discover Wisconsin for 18 years. It was Klett's last episode before she was appointed Wisconsin's Secretary of Tourism in January.
Posted 8/10/2011
Cranberry Blossom Day is June 25
 To early European immigrants, the delicate pink blossoms of cranberry vines resembled the heads of cranes, so they called the tart, red fruits “crane berries.” Over time the name was shortened to “cranberry.”
“During our annual Cranberry Blossom Day, you can see for yourself if cranberry blossoms really look like a crane’s head,” said Barbara Hendricks, director of the Wisconsin Cranberry Discovery Center in Warrens.
This year's event – on Saturday, June 25 – is sponsored by the Wisconsin Cranberry Discovery Center, Wetherby Cranberry Company and the Warrens Area Business Association.
The Wetherby marsh is offering free tours from 9 a.m. to noon, allowing visitors an up-close look at cranberry vines in bloom. Third-generation cranberry grower Nodji Van Wychen (pictured above) will be on hand to answer questions about her family’s cranberry operation.
After touring the marsh, visitors can learn more about Wisconsin’s No.1 fruit crop at the Wisconsin Cranberry Discovery Center. Housed in a historic cranberry warehouse in downtown Warrens, the nonprofit center is dedicated to educating the public about the state’s cranberry growing heritage.
As part of the festivities, the center will offer free cranberry wine tasting and gourmet cranberry food sampling, children's activities and reduced admission to the center's exhibit hall, which features video and audio recordings, storyboards and interactive displays.
Wisconsin Honey Queen Danielle Dale and the Warrens Cranberry Festival Royalty are among the special guests who will be attending Cranberry Blossom Day.
Also at the Cranberry Discovery Center, the Open Door Baptist Church Youth Group will serve a cranberry brat lunch from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
New this year, the Warrens Area Business Association is offering Cranberry Blossom Day visitors a chance to win prizes, including a two-night stay at Three Bears Lodge. Three gift baskets featuring items donated by WABA members will also be awarded.
Entry forms will be available at the Wisconsin Cranberry Discovery Center, Wetherby Cranberry Company, Three Bears Lodge, Jellystone Resort, Warrens Lodging, The Bog, The Berry Vine, Berry Amish, Quilting Plus, Oakwood House & Yarn Shop and the Warrens Mall. The more stops visitors make, the more chances they'll have to win a prize.
Winners will be announced during the 5 to 7 p.m. social hour at Three Bears Lodge's Cran-Beary Pub. The pub's cranberry signature drinks, Wisconsin cheese and buffalo summer sausage from S Lazy D Ranch, Warrens, will be featured.
Also during the social hour, members of the Tomah Arts Guild will have artwork on display featuring cranberry marshes, sandhill cranes and other related subjects.
The Wetherby marsh is 4.5 miles east of Warrens on county Highway EW. The Cranberry Discovery Center is located at 204 Main Street. For more information, visit the Discovery Center’s Web site at www.discovercranberries.com or call (608) 378-4878.
Posted 6/10/2011
WABA Launches Visit Warrens Website
.jpg) Just in time for Memorial Day weekend travelers, the Warrens Area Business Association has launched a website featuring information about upcoming events and activities in the Warrens area.
"The Visit Warrens Web site is geared toward visitors, but we hope area residents find it useful, too," said Lorry Erickson, WABA website coordinator.
"The community calendar, for example, includes information on a fund raiser being hosted May 27-29 by the Jellystone Camp Resort for the Warrens and Tomah volunteer fire departments, the Warrens Lions Memorial Day chicken barbecue dinner and the Memorial Day services at the Warren Mills Cemetery," Erickson said.
The Visit Warrens website has listings for attractions, hotels, restaurants, gift shops and other businesses and services in the Warrens area. WABA currently has more than 70 members.
Along with the Web site, WABA also has launched a Visit Warrens Facebook page. A link can be found on the Visit Warrens website at www.visitwarrens.com.
WABA assumed maintenance of the Visit Warrens website from the Warrens Convention and Visitors Bureau, which ceased operations at the end of December. The Warrens CVB provided $10,000 in funding to help with the cost of redesigning and maintaining the site.
Posted 5/18/2011
1,000th iBuyMoCo Pledger Receives Basket from WABA
 Dave Callaway of Warrens is the 1,000th person to take the "I Buy Monroe County" campaign pledge. Launched by the Monroe County Economic Development and Tourism Committee, the campaign encourages county residents to shift 10 percent of their out-of-county spending to Monroe County businesses.
The campaign was initiated in June of 2009 in response to a University of Wisconsin-Extension survey that showed local businesses lost $41 million in potential taxable sales to out-of-county businesses in 2007.
"The goal of the campaign is encourage county residents to shift 10 percent – or $4.1 million worth – of the retail purchases made outside of Monroe County back to local businesses. We're not asking anyone to spend more money. We're just asking county residents to make more of their purchases here in Monroe County," said Lorry Erickson, iBuyMoCo coordinator.
According to the authors of the study, shifting just 10 percent of purchases back to Monroe County would increase personal incomes by $3.5 million, increase employment by 100 employees and increase municipal tax revenues more than $700,000, Erickson said.
Callaway and his wife, Barb, took the iBuyMoCo pledge at J&R Variety in Tomah. "We get better customer service when we shop locally, where we know most of the people. When we were in the variety store, we saw the pledge forms and we both signed up," Barb Callaway said.
As the 1,000th person to take the iBuyMoCo pledge, Callaway received a gift basket featuring items donated by Warrens Area Business Association members enrolled in the iBuyMoCo campaign.
The gift basket contained a gift certificate for one dozen cranberry scones from Amil's Inn Bed-and-Breakfast, one pound of Amish cashew crunch from Berry Amish, a stadium blanket and baseball cap from F&M Bank, a $10.00 gift certificate from Quilting Plus, an indoor water park pass from Three Bears Lodge, a backpack and toy doctor's kit from Tomah Memorial Hospital and Warrens Walk-in Clinic, stadium blanket and Frisbee from the Warrens Cranberry Festival, a bottle of cranberry wine from Wetherby Cranberry Company and a $10.00 family admission pass from the Wisconsin Cranberry Discovery Center.
Callaway also received an iBuyMoCo saver's card. All “pledgers” receive a saver's card which entitles them to specials – or “Hot Buys” – at participating businesses. Nearly 200 Monroe County businesses are supporters of the campaign.
It costs nothing for individuals or businesses to join the iBuyMoCo Campaign. For more information or to take the campaign pledge on-line, visit www.ibuymoco.com or write to iBuyMoCo, P.O. Box 704, Tomah, WI 54660.
Posted 4/27/2011
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