Lee Pulaski, lpulaski@shawanoleader.com
Leader Photo by Lee Pulaski Kendra Verhasselt, left, and Cassy Bonnin stir the hash browns in the food tent Sunday. More than 1,000 pounds of potatoes were used to prepare hash browns for more than 5,000 people who attended Brunch on the Farm.
Leader Photo by Lee Pulaski Ayden Wege, 10, of Bonduel, scoops some hash browns onto his plate Sunday during Brunch on the Farm.
Thousand of eggs, thousands of potatoes and endless cartons of milk were required Sunday to feed more than 5,000 people who attended the Shawano County Brunch on the Farm.
The Kurowski Dairy was abuzz with activity as visitors enjoyed breakfast inside a barn and outside. All of the food provided was raised on a farm in order to show nonfarmers just where their food comes from.
Dave Henselin, a Shawano County Farm Bureau board member known during the brunches as the “egg man,” kept constant vigil over the eggs Sunday. After manning the egg station for 22 years, the Marion resident tried to bow out this year, but brunch coordinators wouldn’t hear of it.
“Somebody’s got to do it,” Henselin said.
Henselin estimated there would be more than 12,000 eggs prepared before the meal was over, with almost 500 prepared at one time. The eggs were mixed in with 5 pounds of ham, 5 pounds of cheddar cheese and a pound of butter to bring a batch to perfection, he said.
“It takes us about a half an hour to get it done,” Henselin said.
More people are wanting to know where their food comes from, which is what makes Brunch on the Farm so popular, according to Deb Mielke, Shawano County Farm Bureau president. June is National Dairy Month, and counties and municipalities across Wisconsin are hosting breakfasts and brunches to give people a glimpse into how farms operate.
“This gives folks a chance to come out and interact with the animals and see how well they’re cared for,” Mielke said. “We are very fortunate in Shawano County to have as many nice looking farms as we do.”
The brunch brings visitors from all over Northeast Wisconsin. Todd Collar, of Denmark, tries to make it to at least one brunch in the region, and this year his family opted to visit Kurowski Dairy.
“A girl who works with me, this is her family’s farm,” Collar said. “It’s nice to bring the boys out to show them where food comes from.”
For many visitors, attending the brunch has become an intergenerational tradition. Elizabeth Thome, of Shawano, remembers visiting farms in June as a child, and now she wants her son to experience seeing animals and farm equipment up close and personal.
“I just remember going in the big barn and eating food and getting to see all the animals,” Thome said. “The ice cream — I always remember the ice cream.”