Wisconsin Dairy Produces Resplendent 3,832-Foot String Cheese
Weyauwega Star Dairy broke its own record for longest string cheese, set at 2,000 feet in 2006.
What a month it's been for herculean food feats! Just yesterday, we reported that Joey Chestnut, the untouchable king among men, devoured 76 hot dogs in 10 minutes on July 4. Now, we've got another record-breaking victory straight out of beautiful Weyauwega, Wisconsin, where a local dairy broke its own record for the world's longest piece of string cheese last week.
Wisconsin news station WLUK-TV reported that Weyauwega Star Dairy unofficially broke its own record for the world's longest piece of string cheese, with the final string measuring an incredible 3,832 feet, the equivalent to 30,000 individual sticks. We say "unofficial" because Guinness hasn't yet recognized the feat. The records organization did, however, recognize the dairy's previous record—2,000 feet, recorded in 2006, surpassing a previous record set in 1995—so the dairy owners hope for the same acknowledgement this time around.
WLUK spoke with dairy owner Gerard Knaus, whose 85-year-old father, Jim, set the original record in 1995. "We're just adding onto his record," Knaus told the station. "That's all we're doing." To set the new record, cheesemakers assembled hundreds of Weyauwega's impassioned residents, who stood seven feet apart on a shut-down Main Street. Each participant carefully grabbed a piece of the cheese as it was uncoiled from a trailer pulled by a tractor. It took about 90 minutes to go nearly six blocks, with townsfolk doubling back after three blocks.
WLUK interviewed several participants, who were understandably thrilled to play a role in cheese history. "When we first started dating, [my husband and I] came up here and held the cheese then. Got in the Guinness Book of World Records," said Weyauwega local Sheryl Harris. "Now we're doing it again." Other participants were more excited about taking pieces of the cheese home. "I've never seen this before and I want my piece of string cheese," said Allen Robbert, who lives about 10 miles away. Get yours, Allen! You earned it, my good man.