| For release May 16,
2008
Contact: Noreen Rueckert, cheesedays@tds.net
, 558.1092
MARSHALS ANNOUNCED FOR THE SWISS COLONY CHEESE
DAYS PARADE
 Long-time
Green County residents Dick Rote and Gerald Swiggum fondly
recall their involvement with Cheese Days in the past. Enough
time has passed that both are now able to laugh about the
times when the parade was rained out. And both are hoping
for sunny weather on Sunday, September 21 when they will be
honored as the marshals leading off The Swiss Colony Cheese
Days Parade.
Gerald Swiggum has been in the parade before, riding at the
“tail end” along with fellow Cheese Days Festival
Co-Chair Alan Holtsapple back in 1978. Swiggum is honored
to have been chosen as a marshal, and speaks of the festival
as “a great event, a lively event.”
Locals may recall Swiggum as the sales manager at Alphorn
Ford. He and his wife Frieda currently live at Twining Valley
but Browntown was their home for many years. They have three
children, including Jim who lives in Texas, Janet in North
Carolina, and Joan who resides in the Milwaukee area.
Dick Rote has been involved in various aspects of the festival.
He chaired the cheese factory and farm tours committee, served
as treasurer for many years, organized the drum and bugle
core competition, and once was about to pull a parade float
with queens on it until the parade got rained out. For many
years, he never even saw the Cheese Days Parade because he
was usually volunteering at the Green County Historical Society
Museum. Rote’s favorite Cheese Days activity was working
in the Optimist booth running the fryers for those famous
deep-fried cheese curds.
Back in 1965, Rote was a member of the Jaycees and co-chaired
the lunch stand on the festival grounds. “We were told
to be prepared with 10,000 sandwiches,” he said, so
the committee spent Friday evening at Dorman Cheese and got
about 5,000 made up ahead of time. Unfortunately a rainstorm
ruined their projections, and hundreds of box lunches were
donated to the county farm.
Rote started at First National Bank (now Amcore) right out
of high school and retired from there after 48 years. He is
acquainted with fellow parade marshal Gerald Swiggum, as a
number of years ago he bought a new car from him at the local
Ford dealership.
Both men will have plenty of time to catch up on Cheese Days
memories as they make their way along the parade route on
what will hopefully be a sunny fall day.
Back to Media Page
|
