Autumn in the Rapids

On cranberries, papermaking and one great golf resort

morning, I was given a crash course in all things cranberry and offered a handson experience so I could say that I once helped in the production of this Wisconsin crop that is supplied to the world.

What happens to all of these cranberries? I asked that question at Mariani Packing Company, in business for the last 109 years, and found out about cranberry processing and cranberry products. The processing plant we visited makes sweet and dried cranberries and cranberry concentrate. They process 80 million pounds of raw fruit each season, making Mariani the world’s second largest handler of cranberries. If you love Kellogg’s Raisin Bran with cranberries, those cranberries were grown, harvested and processed in and around Wisconsin Rapids. We left Mariani and stopped at Rubi Reds, a retail store that sells cranberries in any way imaginable. Would you like cranberry jam, chocolate-covered cranberries, cranberry salsa, cranberry tea or a 10-pound bag of sweetened, dried cranberries? Trust me. Any way you want it, they have it – and sell it – at Rubi Reds. I couldn’t have been more surprised and completely grateful to get this one-day cranberry education. Thanks to all in the cranberry industry. I felt very honored to have been able to tell your stories – stories that are so important to the economy of Wisconsin.

In addition to loving cranberries, I love John Gurda. He spends three minutes at the top of every episode sharing the history of the community we are highlighting. He does his research and makes it easy and interesting to everyone. Over the course of the last seven seasons, there are a few things I can predict that John will say when it comes to how a town got started. It almost always has to do with access to