The annual Wisconsin picnic in Sonoma County, California, has been a tradition since 1939. COVID-19 canceled the in-person gathering, but organizers are determined to bring it back next year.
At the annual Wisconsin picnic in Santa Rosa, California, a bulletin board displays photos from past picnics.
A tattered notebook lists participants who attended the first annual Wisconsin picnic in Sonoma County, California in 1939.
Karen Rocklewitz (left) and Mary Wolski prepare for the “battle of the cheeses” at the annual Wisconsin picnic in Santa Rosa, California in 2018.
Every year in late September, a little slice of Sonoma County, California transforms into a haven of Wisconsin nostalgia.
There’s beer and brats, of course. A band plays live polka music and people line up for scoops of Babcock ice cream shipped from 2,000 miles away. A “battle of the cheeses” pits Wisconsin dairy against a comparable Californian contender, and the contest kicks off with a parade led by costumed cows and the “cheese meister,” who sports a foam cheesehead and a yellow cape.
This Wisconsin-themed picnic, organized by an eclectic group of transplants from the Badger State, happens annually in the heart of California’s wine country. It’s been a tradition for the past 80 years.
Except for a few years around World War II, organizers haven’t skipped an event since it first began in 1939. Then the coronavirus hit. As with many 2020 events, this year’s picnic is canceled.
“That tells you just how bad this pandemic is,” said Wayne Wolski, who leads the picnic’s organizing committee with his wife, Mary. “If Wisconsin people can’t come out and party together, it must be serious business.”
Becky Ennis (center right) serves Babcock Dairy Store ice cream at the annual Wisconsin picnic in Santa Rosa, California in 2019.
The Wolskis, both 74, are from Milwaukee. They’ve lived in California for decades and attended their first picnic in the late 1980s.
The event has been held at various locations, most recently been at Galvin Community Park in Santa Rosa, California. It consistently draws at least 150 people who have varying ties to Wisconsin and feels like a giant family reunion.
“You run into people from your hometown that you didn’t even know,” said Richard Rocklewitz, 77, originally from Two Rivers. He now lives in Santa Rosa. “It’s amazing how many people show up and how many are from Wisconsin. Maybe it’s a good place to be from.”
A decades-long tradition
The first recorded picnic dates back to 1939, according to a tattered sign-in book from the original event that the Wolskis still have. There are entries from 1940 and 1941 but the next picnic on record wasn’t until 1947. Since then, the event has happened annually.
Turnout has waxed and waned over the years, ranging from about 30 people to more than 300. Many older picnickers are originally from Wisconsin, while younger attendees are often Californians with Wisconsin-born parents or grandparents.
At the annual Wisconsin picnic in Sonoma County, California, participants stick colored tacks into a map to pinpoint their Wisconsin roots.
At the event, picnickers wear name tags indicating their Wisconsin hometowns and stick thumbtacks into a large state map on display. The southern edge of the map, near the Illinois border, is labeled “Baja Wisconsin.”
Some participants don’t have family ties to Wisconsin or haven’t even been there — Wayne Wolski calls them “Wisconsin wannabees.” These folks may be avid Green Bay Packer fans or people with Midwestern roots looking for a taste of home. Everyone is welcome as long as they can handle some friendly banter.
“We had a Bears fan one time come to the picnic,” Wayne said. “We contemplated tar and feathering him, but in the end, we couldn't find any tar.
“He made a couple of sarcastic comments and I said, ‘When is the Illinois picnic?’”
Wisconsin state pride runs high among this crowd. Picnic organizers started the annual Wisconsin vs. California cheese contest in 2002, around the time when the California Milk Advisory Board was running advertising campaigns claiming, “Great cheese comes from happy cows. Happy cows come from California.”
“We can’t let that pass unchallenged,” Wolski said.
For the contest, picnickers blindly sample each cheese and cast votes to pick a favorite. Each state’s variety has won about 50 percent of the time, Wolski said.
Jim Wargula (left) accepts a “bootlegger of the year” award from Wayne Wolski at the annual Wisconsin picnic in Santa Rosa, California in 2019.
Beer and brats
Naturally, food is a focus at the annual Wisconsin picnic. Picnickers bring potluck-style side dishes, and the organizers serve corn on the cob and beer-boiled bratwursts — they use Johnsonville brand because “that’s the only brat we get out here,” Wolski said.
For dessert, there’s ice cream from the Babcock Dairy Store in Madison. Becky Ennis, a 1997 University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate and Santa Rosa native, coordinates to ship in two five-gallon tubs of blue moon, orange custard chocolate chip or another available flavor.
“I like being the ice cream lady,” said Ennis, who represents the local contingent of the Wisconsin Alumni Association. “Half the people don’t even know my name, but they know I’m the ice cream lady.”
Ice cream isn’t the only Wisconsin delicacy that travels thousands of miles to the picnic. Last year, Jim Wargula of Columbus loaded a half-barrel keg of New Glarus Spotted Cow into his car and drove it cross-country to the picnic.
Wargula, in his early 70s, was visiting his son Matt, who grew up in the Madison area and now lives in Santa Rosa. For Wargula’s efforts, the picnic’s organizers presented him with a “bootlegger of the year” trophy.
At 40, Matt Wargula is one of the younger organizers, unofficially tasked with carrying on the picnic as others age.
“Hopefully, we can come back with vengeance in 2021,” Matt said. “It’s definitely going to continue on — I’ll make sure of it.”
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August 29, 2020 at 06:30PM
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