"This is so not the end," Wisconsin School Teacher:
Protests have rocked the Capitol almost every day since Gov. Scott Walker proposed taking nearly all collective bargaining rights away from public workers, but the largest came a day after the governor signed the measure into law. Madison Police estimated the crowd at 85,000 to 100,000 people – along with 50 tractors and one donkey – by late afternoon. No one was arrested.HuffPo ( click my post title)
I was there. I was in Wiconsin. I was on the streets . . .and in the diners, the bakeries, The Glarner Stube in New Glarus (Geschnetzelets "Stube Style" - Tender veal slices sauteed with white wine, cream and mushrooms), Baumgartner's in Monroe ( Klaberwurst and sauerkraut with a slice of Limburger and draft root beer), Chalet Landhaus ( Roesti and eggs), 10:30 AM Mass at St. Pat's in Hollandale, the BP in Argyle, and coffee and at the MM diner in Monticello (This Dude can Activist!) - the mood was . . .palpable, tasty, friendly, and Walker favorable.
On Saturday, a reported 85,000 to 100,000 protesters convened in Madison for the MSNBC rallies in solidarity with the public salaried union members, Michael Moore, Martin Sheen, Big Ed Schultz, Rev. Pops Jackson and the many, many talented drum and bongo players of the youth generations of all ages.
About thirty minutes south on Rt. 39, the rolling hills of Wisconsin were less congested and quiet.
I arrived in New Glarus on Friday night. In the Chalet Landhaus, packed with the Guernsey Breeders Convention, there was some atmosphere. There was concern. There was anticipation. What would happen were numbers of Holstein Breeders to enter the Landhaus bar room and bump bellies with the Guernsey crowd? " Brown and White - You Gotta fight! Black and White -I know I'm Right!" Bloodshed? I asked that very question of the Swiss Miss attending the counter. " Oh, they get along just fine," she assured me. I asked about the controversy in Madison. " Oh, that should be settled soon. Are you goin there?"
No Ma'am.
Instead, I infused stimulus money into the troubled Wisconsin economy. I wandered the home of Swiss settlers and took in the frosty but inviting air of Wilkommen.
The only Fighting Bob La Follette rhetoric that I heard in Wisconsin between Friday and Sunday afternoon came from a bald priest from Notre Dame University in civies, who wasaddressed as 'Father So-abd So' by his lay person table makes in the Glarner Stube, as Father tore into a giant sized cut of prime rib of beef with a skillet side of Roesti ( a Swiss potato/Swiss Cheese version of has browns that is artery clogging goodness itself - I opted for the creamy roasted mashed potatoes - silked by cream and Swiss Cheese). The shiny headed Curé of Ars opined to one and all - "This is Class War! Koch brothers and the same George Bush nonsense all over. Walker's a dead man. Try the klaberwurst it is made next door."
Yes, it is. Sign me up 24/7.
Welcome to the Village of New Glarus ~ America's "Little Switzerland"!
New Glarus was established as a Swiss Colony in 1845 and incorporated as a Village in 1901. The Village has retained its Swiss charm with Alpine-style architecture, ethnic festivals and Swiss delicacies. The Village is located in beautiful Green County in southwestern Wisconsin. We are just 28 miles south of Madison and 17 miles north of Monroe on State Highway 69.
Monroe is a community of 10,000 people located in Green County's rich cheese producing area of southern Wisconsin. It can be reached within an hour's drive from I-90 by exiting at either Beloit or Janesville; a 30-minute drive from Freeport, IL, by traveling Highway 26 and 69 North; less than an hour from Madison by taking Highway 69 South; and a pleasant 60-minute drive from Dubuque, IA, on Highway 11. Once you are here, the Swiss-style front on the downtown square marks your destination.
Baumgartners
1023 16th Avenue
Monroe, WI 53566-1764
(608) 325-6157
