Make whey for a monument to Swiss cheesemakers

SUGARCREEK — Ohio is filled with statues honoring the state’s elite.

Presidents Rutherford B. Hayes and William McKinley, astronauts John Glenn and Buzz Aldrin, the Wright Brothers, Thomas Edison. And now — Swiss cheese. With Ohio noted for being the leading Swiss cheesemaking state in the country, and Sugarcreek laying claim to the title of Little Switzerland, it seems fitting that a bronze statue celebrating the Swiss cheese industry’s local roots is being planned.

The commemorative statue that would serve as a monument to the Swiss immigrants who started and grew the industry in Tuscarawas and Holmes counties, is to be created by Alan Cottrill of Zanesville.

President of Guggisberg Cheese Richard Guggisberg, Pearl Valley Cheese President Chuck Ellis and Sugarcreek Mayor Jeff Stutzman are teaming with Cottrill on the project.

Details of the monument are still being finalized, but the statue is expected to include the names of the early cheese-house operators as a permanent reminder of their work.

More than 500 of Cottrill’s bronze statues have been cast since 1996, including the aforementioned Hayes, Edison and Glenn.

The statue is expected to be erected by October of next year, according to Stutzman, who said potential sites are being discussed.

“I think this is a great idea,” Stutzman said. “The proposed idea of the statue is of a cheesemaker making cheese. It will be set on a table and it will show the history of how the cheese industry came to our area and the immigration process of the people from Switzerland.”

Ellis noted the region of Ohio was a popular landing spot for many immigrants after World War I.

“The Swiss immigrants that came here brought with them a truly unique knowledge and deep tradition of quality that remains here to this day,” he said in a news release. “... The Ohio Swiss Cheese Association (OSCA) brought all of these immigrants together and played a major role in making Ohio Swiss cheese what it is today.”