I love the Midwest, and I especially love the people of the small towns of Wisconsin.There’s nothing like the warmth and friendliness that comes from attending a festival, celebration, annual event, or local corporation family-oriented gala held in one of the thousands of cities and villages that dot the Badger state. One such family-friendly annual event is held in Ripon, WI.Cookie Daze celebrated its “sweet” 16th anniversary on August 6th 2011 (10-2) on the lush Barlow Park grounds.Why a “Cookie Daze” celebration in Ripon, WI?That’s because Ripon Foods Inc. (Rippin' Good cookie maker extraordinaire) is located on Ripon’s Oshkosh Street...and why not? Here's a great example of an entire town coming together to celebrate the success of one of its very own job-providing industries.
Ripon Foods was founded in 1930 by Horace A. Bumby. It started with one second-hand oven producing plain cookies. Today, Ripon Foods can produce approximately 60 different kinds of cookies in a variety of sizes. Ripon Foods manufactures a wide variety of high quality private label and branded cookie products, including wire cut and enrobed cookies, as well as sugar wafers and employs a staff of approximately 250 to 499. Ripon Foods' products are sold to other cookie manufacturers through co-manufacturing arrangements and to various grocery and mass merchandise retailers under their store brand, as well as the "Rippin Good" and "Golden Batch" brands. On September 13, 1999 Ralcorp Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: RAH) announced it had reached a definitive agreement to purchase Ripon Foods, Inc. Ripon Foods also produces a high quality fruit filled breakfast bar, which allows Ralcorp to effectively enter the fast-growing breakfast/meal bar segment. Annual sales for Ripon Foods are approximately $64 million. Since that transaction date; Ripon Foods has been operated as an integral part of Ralcorp's Bremner cracker and cookie subsidiary. Ralcorp sales have grown to $2.8 billion in fiscal year 2008 from $1.3 billion in 2003.
Got Milk Dedra?
The festival began as a tribute to Ripon baking the World's Largest Cookie in 1992, which measured 907.9 square feet! In 1996 Governor Tommy Thompson issued a proclamation recognizing Ripon, WI as “CookieTown, USA.” Parking is on the area streets and the walk is short to Barlow Park. Cookie Daze is a (mostly free) festival for children of all ages. Kids can build their own rockets out of recyclable materials (this venue is coordinated by a local Boy Scout troop) and actually LAUNCH them into the air; testing their flight worthiness, do a variety of arts & crafts including coloring, jump in an inflatable castle and interact with colorful circus clowns. Everyone attending may take a free ride on an elegant multiple-seat, wagon pulled by “Billie” the Belgian draft horse, play Cookie BINGO with chocolate “Teddy Grahams” as place-markers, judge the themed cookie displays and sample the free delicious Bake & Taste (contest) cookies, complete with a free carton of delicious Kemp’s white milk, all at Ripon's Barlow Park.
By far, the most anticipated activity is the Cookie Drop. Hundreds of young children wait eagerly beneath the (Ripon Fire Department's) tallest ladder truck, ready to have thousands of Rippin' Good Cookies literally drop from the sky, triggered by Sesame Street’s very own blue and fuzzy “Cookie Monster.” The mad scramble is repeated for three age categories (5-6; 7-9 & 10-12). If a lucky child should find the one specially marked cookie (with a star); a brand-new bicycle is theirs to take home.
B-I-N-G-O!
Various civic groups from the area run the different venues and food tents on the grounds. The Chamber of Commerce runs a booth that features both tables covered with imprinted merchandise, and a small “outlet store” under their large tent. Packages of delicious Rippin’ Good cookies are available for ridiculously low prices. I spotted Coconut bars, Ginger Snaps, Oatmeal, Carousel, Macaroon, and Chocolate chips, as well as Striped Dainties, Mint Crèmes, and their ever-popular Rippin’ Good assorted pack. There are tee shirts, colorful shopping bags, and other souvenir items for purchase to help you remember your time in Ripon at this wonderful nostalgic festival. Be sure to put it on your family’s calendar next year.
PS: Don’t worry if you missed the fantastic deals on Rippin’ Good cookies at this year’s Cookie Daze event; there’s an outlet store at the company’s baking facility.
