Nueske’s Meats celebrating 90 years of business on Saturday in Wittenberg

WITTENBERG, Wis. (WSAW) - A meat staple in the town of Wittenberg is celebrating 90 years of business on Saturday, but it wasn’t always the big business it is now.

Nueske’s was started by R.C. Nueske in 1933 during the great depression. Tanya Nueske is now the CEO. She says the family had been well-known for smoking meat. They even brought family recipes over from Europe. When his grandfather passed away, R.C. moved off the family farm to take care of his widowed mother and unmarried sister. That is when he turned it into a business venture, buying his first refrigerated box and truck to deliver meat to people vacationing in the Northwoods.

“Culture of caring is very important to us, what we do every day and how we do it. It really, it’s so intricate, just like in a family. And that is I think why we have to be the way we are we’re very close-knit,” said Nueske.

Tanya says the family name pronunciation has been a discussion for many years. The business name did change to the way it is pronounced now after the 1990s. She says it’s OK to say it either way, as long as you love the business. The celebration starts Saturday at 7:30 a.m. with a farm-fresh pancake breakfast right here at the store.

Nueske’s has been hard at work preparing for the event. They are working to make this a celebration of the community that has walked through these doors for those 90 years supporting them. Event coordinator Nicole Hartjes has been hard at work with Nueske’s since January planning the event. She says working with Nueske’s has been like a big family and that’s what she says is their mission, to treat everyone like family and to give back to the community. She believes that is why they have been successful for 90 years. That extended family includes 65 vendors, and over 135 volunteers and staff who have been busy setting up.

“The village of Wittenberg is a very tight-knit community. One of the goals we had going into this event is to contract with as many local vendors as possible. They have all been more than willing to help out in any way, which has been really wonderful,” said Hartjes.

Some of the events on Saturday include a pancake breakfast, a vintage car display, wood carving demonstrations, fireworks, and many others. She says there will be 3500 chances to win a prize. Feeding America will also be accepting perishable food items and cash donations that will stay in the Wittenberg community. The fun all starts with that pancake breakfast tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. Nicole says the pinnacle of the event is a ping pong helicopter ball drop at 1:30 p.m.

The event is happening at the company store located at 1390 E. Grand Ave. Wittenberg, WI 54499.

For more info on the event, click here.

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