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Town of Cassel centennial
(1891-1991)
Cheese factories, pp. 54-56
Page 54
CHEESE FACTORIES CASSEL GARDEN FARMERS CO-OP CHEESE CO. The original cheese factory was built in 1910, by John Seubert, an investor in real estate. He installed Anton Schuster, a Swiss immigrant, trained in the making of Cheddar, Brick, and Swiss cheese. He operated the factory for several years until he suffered a fatal attach of appen- dicitis. He was replaced by Wendall Kobbs for a short time, and then was succeded by Albert Pagel. In 1919, Ray Wadzinski became the cheesemaker here, while two brothers, Ed and John Lensmire came from Manitowoc and operated the neigh- boring plant on Hwy "N", known later as the Pine Valley Co-op. For reasons unknown, the two cheesemakers, Ray and John, switched factories, and so John and Ed became the operators of this plant. Ed stayed a short time, then returned to his home in Manitowoc. John and Lillian Lensmire Cassel Garden Farmers CO-OP Cheese Co. Wilichowski, Vice President; Earl Brandt, Secretary; Peter Bergs, Treasurer; Roger Altenhofen, Director; Kenneth Lepak. In the early years, each farmer deliv- ered his own milk in cans to the factory, first with horse drawn wagons, then later with pick-up trucks. In 1940, the Co-op purchased its first truck for can milk pick- up. With progress, bulk milk tanks were introduced on the farms and consequently bulk trucks were put into operation in 1967. Today, 4 bulk trucks are in daily use. As the Co-op grew and increased in production, so did the need for expansion. A new plant was built and put into opera- tion in 1952, and yet another addition in 1969, when the plant was switched to semi-automatic cheese making. Disposing of the whey in the early years was no problem, as the farmers would take the whey themselves and feed it to their pigs. then it was sold to differ- ent whey companies until 1972, when the Co-op bought into the Midwhey Powder Company in Edgar Another facet of operation was needed, and that was the marketing of cheese. Therefore, in 1974 the co-op together with four other cheese manufacturers, formed the West Marker Co-op, located in Mosinee to market their product. John Lensmire was the manager and On April 15, 1921, the Cassel Garden Cooperative Cheese Co., was formed. It was so named by John's wife, Lillian, because of the beautiful field of wild flow- ers that grew around the plant. Twenty- seven farmers bought shares to start the Co-op, and they also had to each deliver a cord of wood a year to keep the boiler fired. The officers of the first year were: President; Charles Leiterman, Vice President; Ben Krahn, Secretary; Llewelyn Morgan, Treasurer; Richard Matthiae, Director; Robert Berens. Other long standing officers through the years were, Carl Wilichowski, Paul and Carl Lemke, Marvin Ringle, Max Winkert, Henry Michlig, Dan Schenoha, Merlin Paul and Norbert Bergs, who still serves in the capacity as a hired bookkeeper. Present officers are: President; Charles Calvin Lensmire, Kenneth Lepak, Charles Wilichowsk, Peter Bergs, Earl BrandA Roger Altenhofen, Norbert Bergs
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