Today’s post is 1300 words, 22 photos, a 5 minute read. Enjoy!

Greetings and salutations,

Welcome to Part 2 of a series of posts from the busy (but not lazy) days of summer in Wisconsin. This week I’ll take you to a small town July 4th Independence Day parade; to a Wisconsin institution, Breakfast on the Farm; to a Root Beer festival; and a Door County Fish Boil. If you missed Part 1, click here to check it out.

Fourth of July, Independence Day

While every calendar in the world has a July 4th, in the U.S. this is (dare I say it!) the biggest and most important holiday of the year. It commemorates the ratification of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 when the thirteen British colonies on the Atlantic Coast of North America declared they were no longer subject to the King and were now known as the United States of America. Click here for a short history of Independence Day.

This national holiday is typically celebrated with parades, baseball games, cookouts, family reunions, patriotic concerts, and after dark with displays of fireworks. This year we celebrated Independence Day by attending the parade in Baileys Harbor, Wisconsin, the village closest to where we lodged in Door County for the month of July. Baileys Harbor, population about 1200, is located on the Lake Michigan side of the Door County Peninsula. They are home to The Ridges Sanctuary, a 1600 acre nature preserve with very nice hiking trails; the Bailey Harbor Range Lights; and the nearby Cana Island Light House. The population of Baileys Harbor explodes on the 4th of July for its well-known parade and evening fireworks.

We parked in a large field on the edge of the village and caught a wagon ride to the town center where we found a place to stand alongside Highway 57 parade route. We didn’t have to wait long, the parade lead was one of the village firetrucks with its siren announcing the arrival of the parade. In addition to firetrucks and police vehicles from surrounding villages and townships, there were floats by groups and businesses, old cars, old tractors, politicians, bands, and everything else you’d expect to see in a small town parade. The mobs of kids scrambled for candy tossed from floats and vehicles. This old feller even scored a few leftovers that the nimble kids missed!

After about two hours, the parade ended with a village police car taking up the tail end. We had a fun time at the parade and returned to our lodging for a meal of brats and all the trimmings. Later that evening, we returned to Baileys Harbor to watch the fireworks with thousands of others. It was a spectacular display and a fitting end to our national holiday of holidays.

The Door County Dairy Breakfast on the Farm

The 42nd Annual Door County Dairy Breakfast was held on Saturday July 6, 2024. This event is organized by the 150-200 volunteers of the Sevastopol FFA Alumni Association. The Sevastopol School District educates nearly 600 students in grades K-12. Their vocational agriculture program and FFA chapter are one of two high school agriculture programs in Door County, the other is in Southern Door County. The Sevastopol FFA Alumni put on this breakfast to raise funds to support the local chapter. In recent times, they’ve provided over $100,000 for scholarships and an addition to the school greenhouse. You see, thousands attend this breakfast every year. That’s a lot of scrambled eggs, sausage, pancakes, cheese, and ice cream. Much is donated by area business and dairy farmers.

We parked in a big, recently mown field and hitched a ride on a wagon pulled by a shiny Allis-Chalmers tractor. 

Tickets to the breakfast were $12 each. We arrived just before the late risers arrived. We walked right up to the food line and found a place to chow down.

After the delicious breakfast, we walked around the farm. The photo below shows the milking parlor. 

Almost all the cows were of the Holstein breed but there were a couple of Jerseys in the herd. Cow 5573 was very friendly much like the Guernseys we raised and milked on the farm where I grew up.

The little calves were skittish of the people passing by, this one watched from the hutch.

The many little kids that came with their families enjoyed petting the farm animals. There were goats, sheep, calves, a pony, and rabbits.

One of the highlights of the dairy breakfast is a serving of ice cream. 

The Modern Day Drifters were playing in the entertainment tent. We learned most of the band members live in the neighborhood and donate their time and talent every year for this community event. It’s not only for the locals, many of the cars in the huge parking lot had out-of-state plates. This event is held the first weekend in July to draw some of the many tourists that arrive in Door County in droves for the 4th of July holiday. For many, it’s their few exposures to a farm and rural life.

In addition to the breakfast, ice cream, and cows, I enjoyed looking at the fleet of farm machinery that it takes to run a large operation like the Staats Family Farm. I should mention that nearly every county in Wisconsin has some version of a breakfast on the farm during June or early July.

Root Beer Festival

The Door County Historical Society held a Root Beer Festival at their Heritage Village at Big Creek near Sturgeon Bay. After slurping down a root beer float and chowing down a sandwich from one of the food trucks, we toured the grounds. We attended a short presentation at the Vignes Schoolhouse that once served first through eighth graders. We even had our group photo taken sitting in the old desks. This school was much larger than the country school I attended for five years back in the late 1950s.

The other building we spent a lot of time in was the Madden Tool Museum. The huge display of tools covered the walls of an old log barn that was reconstructed on site. We talked with one of the fellas that helped with the barn and collected many of the tools now on display. My dad was an old tool collector and would have enjoyed seeing some of the tools used in the logging industry that was prevalent at one time in Door County.

While we were looking at the tools, some of our group were dancing waltzes and polkas to an old time band. Another fun Door County summertime event.

Door County Fish Boil

Fish boils are a part of the culture in Door County. The many workers and settlers that came to Door County of Scandinavian descent brought this tradition from their homelands. In order to feed large groups of workers, there was a need for a fast and economical way to prepare meals for them. The typical fish boil consists of fresh caught whitefish, potatoes, onions, and sometimes corn on the cob.

We made our reservations at the Old Post Office Restaurant in Ephraim. We were instructed when to arrive and directed to back of the restaurant where the fish boil exposition takes place. The boil master (Jeremy “Torch” Klaubauf) had a huge cauldron of salted water brought to a boil over a wood fire. The potatoes go into the pot first followed the onions and corn (if used). The whitefish is added last. When the fish is nearly done, usually in a few minutes, the boil master throws a small container of kerosene into the fire under the kettle. The result is a ball of fire and a “boil over” that expels the impurities like oils and scales.

After the demonstration, we headed to the dining room where the waitstaff served our meal. A few non-fish eaters in our group opted for chicken or ribs. I enjoyed the nearly boneless, mild fish with butter and lemon. The meal ended with a piece of Door County cherry pie.

That does it for this week. Join me next week for Part 3 of Meanwhile Back in the United States.

Until then, happy travels!

Tom

PS: Click here for a link to the post about my book “Farm Boy.” Contact me if you are interested in purchasing a copy. Thanks to all have plunked down your hard earned dollars and read the book. TM