Tennessee via Wisconsin: Cheesemaker buys Cannabis Cave
Be a Nashville Star
Television’s original grassroots talent search to find America’s next great country music star returns for its sixth season on NBC and open auditions are kicking off this Saturday, February 9 in Milwaukee.
Casting will take place at the American Serb Memorial Hall, 5101 W. Okalahoma Ave., from 12:00 – 5:00 pm. Those auditioning will perform a song from an approved list. A select few of the most talented will be asked to perform additional material for the producers. Applicants should be prepared to sing two cover songs from the approved list or one song from the list and one original song. The top contestants then proceed to one of two regional competitions to audition again for a chance to appear on the show.
The auditions are open to women and men ages 16 and over who think they have what it takes to become the next NASHVILLE STAR. Updated information on auditions including cities, locations and times, song lists, applications, as well as how to audition if you can't make it to an open call, can be found on online.
As in the past, the winner of this season’s Nashville Star will receive a major-label music recording contract and a chance to appear on the world’s stage at the 2008 Beijing Olympics!
Nationally-known Wisconsin cheese marketer buys Tennessee “Cannabis Cave”
Fermo Jaeckle is well-known in the dairy industry as a co-founder of the Monroe, Wisconsin-based Roth Käse USA, which has gained fame and many awards for its artisan cheeses. So it’s not surprising that some people were taken aback recently when Jaeckle purchased a Tennessee cave that was at the center of an infamous marijuana growing operation.
The cave, located 40 miles from Nashville, made headlines in 2005 after a Drug Enforcement Task Force shut down an illicit pot growing operation. It turns out that, concealed under a million-dollar vacation home, was the entrance to an ancient, natural cave housing a massive marijuana farm, with high-tech lighting and climate-control systems to nurture over 1,000 hydroponically grown pot plants. Besides a massive growing room, parts of which are 20 feet, high, the cave was also outfitted with offices, a kitchen, bedrooms and restrooms. The Drug Enforcement authorities say the owners of the cannabis cave had made millions of dollars selling the pot over several years. In December, the Drug Task Force auctioned off the property with the unique cave improvements intact.
Caves, with their constant temperature and absence of natural light, have long been used in food production such as aging wine and growing mushrooms. And, in the industry closest to Jaeckle’s heart, caves have traditionally been used to age cheese. The classic Gruyere cheese made by Roth Käse USA in Wisconsin is aged to perfection in temperature- and humidity-controlled curing cellars. For centuries this process was often best done in caves.
While Jaeckle and the other owners intend to form a partnership with Roth Käse to distribute products grown or processed at the Tennessee property, Roth Käse does not own the cave property and will not move any of its production to Tennessee.
The owners are exploring how they might work with local Tennessee agricultural concerns to create products for the marketplace at this property. This approach reflects how Jaeckle and others worked with a team of skilled cheese makers, managers and marketers to develop Roth Käse into a leading maker of authentic cheeses. In addition, Roth Käse’s Wisconsin plant has become a tourist destination, with a gift shop and self-guided tours through a specially constructed observation gallery in the cheese production facility.
Jaeckle and his partners see exciting possibilities for converting the notorious pot cave into an agricultural and agri-tourism facility. With the money they paid for the cave property going to support drug enforcement programs, and with the prospect of creating a productive agricultural enterprise, the owners are on their way to transforming this former enterprise for “potheads” into one for, ------ you guessed it.----- “Cheeseheads.”