Samples of News Releases
Written by Fred Noer
Historical Society of Walworth and Big Foot Prairie
Nokomis Organic Bakery, East Troy, Wisconsin
Release about participation in All Things Organic trade show
To gain more exposure in the organic trade industry, Nokomis Organic Bakery will have a booth at the All Things Organic Conference and Trade Show in Chicago on May 1-4.
The Nokomis exhibit will be one of more than 400 at McCormick Place at the event presented by the Organic Trade Association (OTA). The 1,200-member organization, founded in 1987, has a mission of encouraging global sustainability through promoting and protecting the growth of a diverse organic trade.
The trade show is in its fourth year. For the first time the event will be presented in conjunction with FMI Show by the Food Marketing Institute, the Fancy Food Show by the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade and the United 2004 Produce Expo & Conference by the United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association.
Nokomis, which became an OTA member in 2000, will have a booth at the show for the first time. "We are going so we can get more exposure to grocery buyers in the industry," said Trish Riley, Nokomis general manager. "We also want to have more exposure to distributors so we can sell more of our products and expand our customer base."
Besides Riley, the show will be attended by Nokomis staff members Nicole Newhouse, office manager and bookkeeper, and Sonja Berg, store manager. Riley and Newhouse primarily will be responsible for staffing the exhibit.
Berg will attend numerous conference sessions. They will look at such topics as consumer trends and outreach, product marketing and display, food safety, socially responsible business practices, new organic research, emerging organic sectors and labeling issues.
The exhibit will feature breads made by Nokomis, which is located in East Troy, Wis. Also, Nokomis is supplying 200 pounds of bread for the event's welcome dinner.
The bakery produces 19 breads in three categories - Artisan Old World, Kettle Moraine Sourdoughs and Wheat-Alternative Sourdoughs. The breads are made with organic ingredients, and the grains are stone-milled into flour. Each loaf is hand-shaped.
In addition to participating in the event for the first time, Nokomis will introduce its new bread packaging. Compared to the old package, everything about the new one is different. The new plastic package features a striking design that incorporates the name of the bread, its qualities and ingredients, nutrition facts, background about the bakery and the origin of the name Nokomis.
Most evident is the colorfulness of the package. It is decked out in reds, golds and yellows. They are a dramatic contrast from the white label with red printing that was stuck on the old package.
"The new colors are vibrant, and we wanted them to portray something that is warm and friendly and has vitality," said Trish Riley, Nokomis general manager. "They are bright, so they will grab people's attention to make them want to pick up the bread and look at it."
Upon a closer look, customers will find a package abundant with information about each loaf of bread. Qualities of the bread are emphasized with phrases referring to the use of 100-percent organic whole grains but no hydrogenated oils, artificial additives or sugar. Also on the package is an indication the bread is certified organic by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
In conjunction with the new look, plans are being made at Nokomis to boost production. The current level is 1,000 loaves per bake day, and the goal is to double that number.
Part of the increase will be attributed to three new breads that will be displayed at the trade show - Emily's Honey Wheat, Honey White Spelt and Just Wheat. The first is named after Riley's 12-year-old daughter and appeals to children because "it is not so heavy," Riley said. "It makes a great sandwich bread." It consists of whole-wheat flour, unbleached wheat flour with germ added, water, sea salt, yeast and honey.
Honey White Spelt contains similar ingredients, but spelt and Kamut flours are used in place of the conventional organic wheat. Spelt, another grain, has a nutty flavor and contains gluten, a protein substance that makes bread more easily digestible. Kamut, a durum wheat, also has gluten and a sweet, buttery flavor.
Just Wheat is just that - a sourdough wheat bread. Besides wheat flour, the bread contains only water and sea salt.
Besides selling bread at its East Troy bakery, which is complemented by a small natural foods grocery, Nokomis delivers to several stores in Chicago, Milwaukee and Madison. The major outlets are Whole Foods in Chicago, Outpost Natural Foods in Milwaukee and Willy Street Co-op in Madison. Daniels Sentry Foods in Walworth, Wis., also sells Nokomis products.
Nokomis was started in 1984 by Martina and Christopher Mann. They came to the United States from Europe. Using grain and other ingredients from East Troy-area farmers, Martina baked the bread in a wood-fired oven in a small building on her and her husband's farm.
Because of the popularity of the breads, a milk house attached to the Manns' barn was converted into an outlet store. Wholesale markets were developed in Chicago, Milwaukee and Madison, and the increased business necessitated the construction of the current Nokomis facility and the hiring of master bakers.
In addition to offering baked goods, Nokomis sells organic beans, nuts, fruits, grains, rice and gluten-free products. Supplements, health and beauty products, organic beef, free-range chicken and cheeses are available, too.
The store is open at 9 a.m.-7 p.m., Monday-Thursday; 9 a.m.-6 p.m., Friday; 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturday; and 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Sunday.
For more information about Nokomis, call Trish Riley at 800-367-0358 or 262-642-9665. The bakery is located at W2463 County Road ES, East Troy, WI 53120. The Web site is www.nokomisbakery.com, and e-mail may be sent to info@nokomisbakery.com.
Delavan-Darien Friends of the Visual and Performing Arts
Holiday Craft Fair
From the unusual to the familiar, a wide assortment of crafts will be displayed Sunday, Nov. 9 at the Holiday Craft Fair in Delavan.
The event, which will feature more than 115 booths, is from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Delavan-Darien High School. It is at 150 Cummings St., a block south of Hwy. 11, on the west side of the city.
This year the fair is being presented for the first time by the Delavan-Darien Friends of the Visual and Performing Arts. The nonprofit organization consists of people in the Delavan-Darien School District interested in promoting the arts and raising money to award scholarships and support programs, activities and events of the music, drama and visual art departments at district schools.
For the past 25 years the fair was presented by the Delavan Junior Woman's Club. However, after the 2002 event the club disbanded due to a lack of members, and the Friends group decided to take over the fair.
When the club produced the fair, it was known as the biggest and one of the best in Walworth County. That size and quality will be maintained this year by the Friends.
As in other years, crafters primarily will come from numerous Wisconsin communities. However, several booths have been reserved by crafters from other states, such as Illinois, Iowa and even South Carolina.
On display will be crafts, many with Thanksgiving and Christmas themes, suitable for gifts and home decor. Visitors to the show, which costs $2 admission per person, will see blankets, shirts, stained glass, soaps, floral wreaths, jewelry, beadwork, wooden toys, dolls, rugs, baskets and stitched pieces.
One of the crafters is Darien resident Diane Olson, who does Norwegian rosemaling. It involves painting scroll and flower designs in yellows, reds, blues and greens on wooden items. Rosemaling dates back centuries in Norway, and Olson uses the rogaland style, meaning all her patterns are symmetrical.
Olson, whose heritage is Norwegian, began doing rosemaling in the 1980s when she took enrichment classes through Gateway Technical College taught by Karen Palmer. Olson later was instructed by the late Thelma and Elma Olsen of Elkhorn.
"I like the painting part of rosemaling, and I've also made a lot of good friends painting," Olson said. "I also like figuring out beforehand the color and pattern on a piece and how I might be able to change it from another one."
She paints on traditional Norwegian items such as plates and bowls in addition to baskets, sleds, trays, birdhouses, Christmas ornaments, boxes and chests. She anticipates having 130 pieces at the fair, one of three at which she exhibits annually.
"I'm looking forward to the Delavan show," said Olson, who's displayed there 15 years. "It's always a good one, and everybody there will be glad it was continued. It should be a success for everybody."
Door prizes will be awarded throughout the fair only to people at the event. The prizes will be items donated by the crafters.
The food court, another fair tradition, is being continued. Students from Wileman Elementary School in Delavan will be selling bowls of caramel-covered apple chunks to raise money for a trip to Washington, D.C. Walking tacos will be sold by a group raising money for new high school band uniforms.
Delavan-Darien Optimist Club will sell hot dogs and ice cream, and Delavan Lioness Club will have barbecues available. Pies, cheesecake and beverages such as coffee, tea, soda and water will be sold at the Friends booth.
Musical entertainment will be provided during the fair. Performances will be given by student vocal and instrumental groups from the high school and Phoenix Middle School.
The Friends fair committee consists of Barb Jonuska and Pat Kozlowski-Nielsen, Delavan Township; Jane Stiles, Darien; Rhonda Bliss, rural Darien; and Sonia Lee and Fred Noer, Delavan.
Delavan-Darien Friends of the Visual and Performing Arts
Jazz in the Park
Assorted jazz tunes will be played by student groups from Delavan schools and guest musicians during the second annual Jazz in the Park outdoor concert Monday, June 7 in Delavan.
The concert, which is free, begins at 6:30 p.m. at Rudy Lange Sledding Hill Park at the corner of Washington and Terrace Streets.
Performances will be given by the Phoenix Middle School jazz ensemble and the Delavan-Darien High School (DDHS) jazz lab band and jazz ensemble. The Phoenix group is led by school band director Mark Butzow, and the two DDHS groups are conducted by Scott Julius, DDHS director of bands.
Joining the student musicians on stage will be three guest professional musicians. They are Jay Craggs on guitar, Craig Hurst on trumpet and Chris Mell on drums.
The 21-member DDHS jazz ensemble, consisting of juniors and seniors, will open the concert with three tunes. The Phoenix band of 25 members will take the stage second and give a 25-minute performance. The high school lab band, consisting of 15 students, will be next on the program.
Closing the concert will be the DDHS ensemble. It will play "Get in Line," a song written specifically for the ensemble by Gordon Goodwin of Los Angeles, Calif. The three-time Emmy Award recipient does composing and arranging for orchestras and bands in addition to writing music for TV, movies, videos and albums. He is a woodwind and keyboard player who leads the Big Phat Band, an LA jazz group.
Between the sets the audience will listen to songs performed by Macyn Taylor of rural Waterford. Nine years old, she plays guitar and banjo and sings a variety of songs, from blues to gospel to bluegrass to folk by such artists as Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, The Beatles and Hank Williams.
Macyn, who has performed at Taste of Europe Coffeehouse in Delavan, has a repertoire of approximately 70 songs. She also has performed at coffee shops, festival beer tents and bars and on a sidewalk in downtown Lake Geneva.
Craggs, a Whitewater resident who also does composing, has performed across the United States. He has shared the stage and/or recorded with many jazz notables, including Wynton Marsalis, Bobby Shew, Frank Mantooth and Dennis DiBlasio, who performed at Jazz in the Park last year. Craggs's credits include albums by the groups Dyad, Retrobeast and Living Colour. His solo album is titled "Land Ho."
He also has production and engineering credits on many regional and local artist CD projects. His technical background is also in demand in facility installation work, recording studios, and by national recording artists. He has worked as a technical consultant with national acts such as Prince, David Bowie, Rush, The Tom Tom Club, Night Ranger, Living Colour and Al DiMeola.
As an educator, Craggs has developed curriculum and taught music technology courses for Columbia College in Chicago, Madison (Wis.) Media Institute, and UW-Whitewater. He also has presented clinics, lectures and performances at universities and music industry trade shows.
Hurst, Waukesha resident, has been director of bands at UW-Waukesha since January 1993. In addition to his experience and expertise as a music educator, adjudicator and clinician, he has distinguished himself as a performer.
In the Milwaukee area Hurst has performed as principal trumpet or trumpet soloist with the Waukesha Area Symphonic Band, Waukesha Park and Rec Band, Concord Chamber Orchestra, the Milwaukee Stadpfeifer, Jazz Express Big Band, Wisconsin Wind Orchestra and Milwaukee Police Band. He also has performed at International Trumpet Guild Conferences and was a soloist with the Lakeshore Wind Ensemble (Manitowoc, Wisconsin) in a cultural exchange tour of Japan.
Hurst's interest in the local arts community is evident in his service on the boards of directors for the Waukesha Area Symphonic Band, Waukesha Area Arts Alliance, and the Concord Chamber Orchestra.
Mell, a resident of Mazomanie (west of Madison), has played percussion the past 18 years. He is a percussion instructor at Drums & More in Monona, Wis. He also performs with several local groups, including Lisa G & Montage and Spin Spin Coupling.
While a UW-Whitewater student, Mell was a founding member of the Jazz Symposium, a jazz group emphasizing arrangement, composition and performance of traditional acoustic jazz. He performed with the group during its two summer tours through Europe prior to his graduation.
Mell, Hurst and Craggs will hold clinics at the high school and middle school during the morning and afternoon before the evening concert. The men will provide instruction to large and small groups.
No seating will be provided at the park, so concertgoers are encouraged to bring blankets and/or lawn chairs. Food and beverages will be sold by Delavan civic groups. Parking will be available on streets near the park and at the high school a few blocks west of the park.
In case of inclement weather, the concert will be in the high school gymnasium. A decision will be made by 3 p.m. the day of the concert whether it will be at the park or in the gym.
The concert is being presented by the DDHS jazz ensemble and the Delavan-Darien Friends of the Visual and Performing Arts. Although the concert is free, the organization will solicit donations to support the arts programs in the school district.
For more information, call Scott Julius at 262-728-2642 extension 4472.
Historical Society of Walworth and Big Foot Prairie
Preview of society meeting
Details about the long history of the Church family in the Walworth area will be presented at the next meeting of the Historical Society of Walworth and Big Foot Prairie on Wednesday, July 26.
The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the Village Commons Room in the lower level of Golden Years Retirement Village along Ridge Road on the east side of Walworth. This is a location change from all prior society meetings at Walworth Memorial Library.
Leonard Church of Sharon and Mary Church of Walworth, both society members, are descendants of Cyrus Church, an early Walworth settler. They will talk about him, other Church family members and their business and community activities in the village.
In a related part of the program, the story of A.J. Fish Oven Co. will be told - how it started, how it prospered and why it was closed. The business, once located along North Main Street in Walworth, was purchased around 1914 by Grant Curless and Wells Church, who is related to the aforementioned Churches. The talk will be led by George Blakely of Beloit or a relative of his.
Prior to the program, society business will be discussed. Mention will be made of the society's booth at the annual Corn & Brat Festival in downtown Walworth on Saturday, Aug. 5. Books about Cyrus Church and Wisconsin history will be sold, and free historical literature about the Walworth area and Wisconsin will be available.
Interested persons are welcome to attend the society meeting. Membership is not required.
The society, formed in 2003, is committed to preserving the history of the Walworth area and Big Foot Prairie. The organization is affiliated with the State Historical Society of Wisconsin.
For more information, call society president Nancy Lehman at 262-275-2426.
262-728-4392 | fred@frednoer.com
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