A side of Kraut

by

Casey K rautkramer Reporter

Fall is full of harvest fests and meals

On Saturday, I took my girlfriend and daughters to see the Stratford Area Historical Society’s traveling exhibit titled, “Neighbors Past and Present: The Wisconsin German Experience” at the museum next to Klemme Park in Stratford.

My makeup is 99 percent German and only 1 percent Irish. That’s why a few of my uncles, cousins and I on the Krautkramer side of the family share the same trait of having a cold sweat on our foreheads. It was only 50 degrees last weekend, yet I was still wearing shorts because my body is always warm.

I then drove my family to Withee so we could eat lunch at the A & W Restaurant. We then attended the 27th annual Thorp Pumpkin Fest for the first time in our lives. I decided to attend the Thorp Pumpkin Fest, instead of the 25th annual Nekoosa Giant Pumpkin Fest because there was no admission fee. I also chose the pumpkin fest at Thorp after discovering the bungee jump and bounce houses were free for children. If I’d went to the Nekoosa Giant Pumpkin Fest, I would’ve needed to purchase $25 wristbands for each of my daughters to go on unlimited carnival rides.

The hot chocolate that a Thorp church was handing out warmed us up before we left. I then drove my family to the newspaper office in Abbotsford so I could check my emails and download my photos from Friday night’s Edgar football game. From here, I drove to Cherokee Park in rural Colby so we could see the fall colors and let my children work off some energy on the new playground at the park.

We finished our Saturday afternoon trip with one of our family’s favorite fall meals each year. We picked up Harvest Supper meals at St. John “High Steeple” Lutheran Church in rural Edgar, on our drive home to Stratford. We then ate the meals at home before traveling to Marshfield on Saturday night to attend my youngest daughter’s school friend’s birthday party at Melody Gardens Skateland in Marshfield. It was neat seeing a plaque on a wall that stated this roller skating rink was built in 1974. Stratford Plumbing was one of the subcontractors for the roller skating rink.

On Sunday, we cleaned the garage in preparation for winter. We’ll need to attend the Nekoosa Giant Pumpkin Fest for the first time next year.