EthnicFest in Two Rivers!

EthnicFest last year

Tomorrow (Saturday) is the big day...EthnicFest in downtown TR, the annual city party held right in the middle of downtown. They block off a chunk of the main drag (Washington St.) and approximately 10,000 people wander around enjoying the sunshine, variety of foods, live music, and community. It's a fantastic event, a lot of fun and also the busiest day of the year at the Stump.

Brule will be back this year

Besides hammering out a truckload of lattes, cappuccinos, espressos, smoothies and sodas we'll be dishing out gelato and probably more than a few beers too. And there's something else we're pretty excited about at this year's shindig: Jerry Heimerl of the Saxon Homestead Creamery will be set up outside the shop offering samples and selling some absolutely wonderful artisan cheeses that Saxon produces. We're excited about it because we will be carrying Saxon artisan cheeses in the next week or so, and Jerry is going to be here for the day to kind of let folks know that very thing. I'll post in greater depth about this later on, but be sure to stop by the Saxon Creamery table and try a little of their Green Fields or Big Eds or whatever other awesome cheeses Jerry might have with him.

And make sure to come into Stumpjack for something deelish to carry around with you at EthnicFest, which will undoubtedly mark you as one of the cool people on the street this day. But remember, just because you're a Stumper doesn't mean you should overtly flaunt your superior coolness to any lesser mortals that might around (while understandable, that would be bad form)...as a Stumpjumper you are there to set an example for the as yet unaware folks of the world.

Then at 8:00pm, Saturday night, don't forget that Nick and Brian of Whiskey Jars & Scandals wil be here to kick out some mighty fine blues rock. Be here or be square.

Art exhibit and EthnicFest music

Sunflowers by Keith Smith

Currently on display through early November: The Landscape Photography of Keith Smith. We put these photos up last week and have received numerous compliments on them every day since then. These photos are quite nice, and have helped give the shop a very relaxing and comforting vibe. They make me want to get outside and take a walk through the woods or a boat down a stream.

Goose Family by Keith Smith

Saturday is the annual EthnicFest celebration in Two Rivers. It's a big deal around here with several thousand folks milling about and enjoying the food, music, weather and community. It's a busy day for us, so be sure to stop in for a coffee...jump in the long line that inevitably forms and you'll have a story to tell your friends (Stumpjack was busier than a beehive!).

Whiskey Jars... Nick and Brian

And then either stick around town or come back around 8:00 for the return of Whiskey Jars & Scandals, the Milwaukee blues rock duo of Nick Weiland and Brian Sanchez. These guys play raw, tough and rockin blues...their own tunes and full of with a lot of passion and energy. We're planning on recording them for a later CD release so come on down, shout and clap a lot and be a part of the recording.

Ethnic Fest 2007

This past Saturday was the day of the annual Ethnic Fest event in downtown Two Rivers. I won't go into details of the actual event other than to say that it was and is a super-fun day and is something that our community can be proud of. From both a personal and business point of view it was an absolutely awesome day for us here at Stumpjack.

We opened for business one year ago on Ethnic Fest 2006. Given our newness and inexperience, we found that day to be a very busy one and full of miscues and uncertainties. Only one year later we found ourselves in an even more charged situation, where we did almost three times the business and traffic we did a year earlier, with a more expansive menu and live music in the store to boot. From around 9:30 to 4:30 it was nonstop...hundreds of people...counter to door, and yet we were, for the most part, smooth, efficient and having a great time. It didn't seem as busy this year as it did the year before when we were newbies.

For that entire seven hours Kim, Glen and I didn't stop, take a break, or really move from our spots. It was "crazy fun," as Glen said. What a ride...

We were so busy I forgot to snap some pics, so I lifted these from the Lester Library's Flickr site...even though they don't show what was going on at Stumpjack, specifically, they do give you an idea of what was going on in town. Thanks to Glen and Kim for being the Delta Force for the day, to Becky and Bill (and later, Pat) for the excellent live music (they played for 4 1/2 hours), to Allie and Heidi for helping to keep things rolling smoothly, to Russ for the excellent (as always) coffees that people raved about, and to the dozens and dozens of people who came in to share their day with us.