Cookie Dayz
25 Years
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by Alyssa Paulsen There was a day the delicious aroma of fresh-baked cookies wafted on a light breeze through the City of Ripon. While it may seem like just a memory for many living in or visiting Ripon, the community of 7,700 still holds the claim to fame of being Cookie Town USA, and recognizes this heritage annually with its Cookie Daze festival. Cookie Daze will take place Saturday, August 1, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in Barlow Park. While
cookies are obviously the reason for this festival, the event has another reason to celebrate this year—it’s turning 25 years old! Ripon began hosting the festival several years after the community baked the biggest cookie the world had ever seen on July 11, 1992. The monster of a cookie was 34 feet in diameter and was filled with 3.8 million chocolate chips! “This free family event has hosted generations of kids who have the chance
to enjoy fun and games, build rockets, make crafts, and participate in Cookie Drops,” says Ripon Chamber Executive Director Jason Mansmith. The Cookie Drops are a main part of the event and feature thousands of individually wrapped cookies being hoisted high in the air by the Ripon Area Fire District’s ladder truck and then dropped as kids scramble to collect as many as possible to win prizes. Another tradition is the Bake & Taste competition, where area bakers can showcase their culinary talents by baking the best cookies. The 2020 event theme is Salute to First Responders, recognizing those who are always willing to help. For more information, contact the Ripon Chamber of Commerce at (920) 748-6764 or info@ripon-wi.com. Alyssa Paulsen is a freelance writer. Photographs by Barbara Wilson.
32 | Green Lake magazine 2020
