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USA Today
20-04-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
A few picks for souvenirs for NFL draft visitors looking to take a piece of Green Bay along home
A few picks for souvenirs for NFL draft visitors looking to take a piece of Green Bay along home Show Caption Hide Caption Milwaukee wood artist creates team logos for 2025 NFL draft in Green Bay Artist Ike Wynter created logos of all 32 NFL teams from salvaged wood furniture for the 2025 NFL draft in Green Bay. It's OK, we get it. A Cheesehead, the Wisconsin icon that it is, isn't everybody's fashion statement of choice. So to help visitors coming to the 2025 NFL Draft April 24-26 at Lambeau Field find something a little less conspicuous to take along back home from Green Bay, we offer a few picks for souvenirs. Snack sticks and sausage from Maplewood Meats The family meat market in Howard is such a destination that actress Olivia Munn once gave it a shout-out on 'Conan' when she was dating Aaron Rodgers. The meat cases are endless, but if you're looking for something that travels well without a cooler, Maplewood's German-style summer sausage or its signature snack sticks are an easy grab. Go for the vacuum-sealed packages rather than fresh from the case, and they should last just fine within a carry-in until you get home. Snack sticks come in all kinds of flavors, but original, honey barbecue, cheddar cheese and jalapeno are the top sellers, said plant manager Brad Van Hemelryk. For those looking to leave with a bigger haul of meat, plan ahead. Maplewood can prep your order and freeze it so you can get it home. It's something out-of-town visitors often do when they fly in for Packers games, sometimes bringing an extra empty suitcase they can fill up. 'We actually do have people who take entire checked bags of meat,' Van Hemelryk said. In addition to Maplewood's meat market hours, its new Grab and Go addition is open 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Chocolates from Seroogy's and Beerntsen's Candies Nobody back home is going to complain if you walk in the door with a box of handmade chocolates. The Green Bay area has two cherished family chocolate shops that have been around forever. Seroogy's, which turned 125 last year, has locations in De Pere and Ashwaubenon. Beerntsen's Candies will celebrate its 100th anniversary later this year at its store in downtown's Broadway District. More: 12 of Green Bay's best claims to pop culture fame, from Buddy Holly and Red Hot Chili Peppers to Charlie Sheen and Elvis Presley More: From cheese curds and Spotted Cow to Old-Fashioneds and butter burgers, a cheat sheet of famous Wisconsin foods for Green Bay visitors Chocolate meltaways are Seroogy's top seller, said Marjorie Hitchcock, director of marketing. If you're looking for easy transport, the meltaway candy bars are $2 each and come in a variety of flavors. Chocolate, mint and peanut butter crisp are customer favorites, but kids like Shock Rock, which has carbonated crystals in it. Seroogy's is also known for its snappers, its version of turtles with nuts, caramel and chocolate in two sizes and available individually wrapped or in a box. Beerntsen's Candies has won awards for its turtles, and everybody loves the meltaways, said owner Mark Beerensten. But so long as its not too hot, most any of its chocolates travel well. 'We have people from all over the world when there's a Packers game and they stop in, and they take just about anything in the store that's wrapped with them,' he said. and Wisconsin-made gifts from LoCo WisCo If you're looking for a true souvenir shop, you'll want to pay a visit to LoCo WisCo in downtown Green Bay. The store opened in 2022 and specializes in items made in Wisconsin, so you'll find traditional tourist fare, like shot glasses, postcards and magnets, but all with a more homespun twist. Among some of its most popular items are kitchen tea towels that say things like "Call Me Old Fashioned" (as in the cocktail) and "Cheese Crackers Beer Packers." Leather-stamped drink coasters are also a best-seller. The Sconnie Candle Co. has a "Supper Club"-scented soy candle with notes of amber, cedar citrus. There's "Cutest Little Cheese Curd" and "Future Draft Pick" baby clothes, dozens of Green Bay and Wisconsin stickers, handmade jewelry and, for those who want to fully commit, an assortment of those crocheted hats made out of beer cans. Should there be any doubt that it's an authentic Wisconsin shop, the store plays only polka music. Note the sign on the front doors: "Ope, We're Closed" and "Ope-N" — a clever nod to the Midwest's version of "oops." A block of cheese or a bag of curds — or both Good luck not bumping into locally made cheese and cheese curds just about everywhere you go during your draft visit. From grocery stores to convenience stores to even Green Bay Austin Straubel International Airport, your options are many. If you want the authentic rural Wisconsin cheese shop/factory experience, head for Scray's Cheese in Rockland, just south of De Pere. Where else are you going to be able to travel a gravel road and get your curds — yellow or white — handed to you through a drive-thru window? Scray's makes curds Mondays through Thursdays and Saturdays. In addition to plain curds, their flavors include French onion, dill and garlic, Cajun and ranch. The beauty of fresh curds is they are best enjoyed at room temperature to get that signature squeak, so they make no-fuss travel companions. Something from the Packers Pro Shop We saved the biggest for last. Lambeau Field first-timers, no matter what their favorite NFL team, are likely to be in awe of the sprawling space that is a showcase of everything green and gold. From 7-foot inflatable Packers mascot lawn ornaments and "Will Do Tricks for Cheese" dog bandanas to Packers Christmas stockings and "I Drool Green and Gold" bibs, it's all there at the Packers Pro Shop. Aside from oodles of Packers apparel, there's a whole line of merchandise commemorating the first-ever NFL draft in Green Bay, including sweatshirts, T-shirts, polos, hats in nearly every color, bags and a high-end letterman jacket. For those who want to remember their trip to the stadium without necessarily proclaiming their allegiance to the Packers, there's also Lambeau Field merchandise. Merchandise will also be available from the Packers Pro Shop trailer at the Booyah Battle and Kringle Combine from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 25 and the Saturday Farmers Market — Draft Edition from 8 to 11 a.m. April 25, both on South Washington Street in downtown Green Bay. Kendra Meinert is an entertainment and feature writer at the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at 920-431-8347 or kmeinert@ Follow her on X @KendraMeinert.
Chicago Tribune
28-01-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Editorial: Hurrah for a cold Yuengling in Illinois
Just off the interstate in Kenosha, Wisconsin, sits the Mars Cheese Castle. But if you spend quality time in the store's huge parking lot, you discover that the big seller is not the Dairy State's questionable curds but a fine Wisconsin beer called Spotted Cow. It's the product of the New Glarus Brewing Co. and it's not distributed in Illinois. That's why a huge mound of 12-packs sits in the front of the store, most of which is destined for cars with plates issued by the Land of Lincoln. Yet, as the Tribune's Robert Channick recently reported, crossing the Illinois state line with more than a gallon of beer is, alas, illegal. And, yes, a 12-pack of 12-ounce beers exceeds that threshold. Luckily for many beer lovers, that rule typically is not enforced on the casual drinker. We can't do much about the difficulty of drinking a Spotted Cow in Illinois, at least without breaking the law, but we can cheer the long-awaited Illinois arrival of Yuengling, an amber lager that is a good match for Chicago, given its superior taste to most mass-market beers, its 195-year history and its blue-collar bonafides as an historic beer brewed in Pennsylvania. Its taste lingers pleasantly in the mouth like a microbrew or an import, but its fans don't (usually) have to pay the typical premium for a more pretentious Euro choice like Stella Artois. Finally, Yuengling (and some brand extensions thereof) is now available in your better class of local Chicago tavern in draft form. Please drink only in moderation and leave your car at home. But enjoy. Occasionally. The beer distribution situation in Illinois is byzantine and seems to us better designed to protect entrenched players than those who might enjoy a quality beer on occasion. Illinois hardly is the only state with these issues, but we don't see the sense in people having to cart their favorite malt beverages across state lines and break the law while doing so. At least free the 12-pack. So, for supporters of freedom of consumer choice in interstate beer commerce, the legal Illinois arrival of the splendid Yuengling is a small but tasty victory. Originally Published: January 28, 2025 at 4:00 PM CST
