Happy Holidays! From Adam

I cannot believe that this year is already coming to a

close. Time flies when you’re having fun making

hand-crafted cheddar and winning awards. We have

won 9 awards this year with our two year old

“Classic” and “Duet” leading the way. The recognition

of “Duet” over the past 12 months has already

made it a staple seasonal offering in cheese shops

around the nation. We also had a wonderful time

teaching customers and guests how to make cheddar

through our Vat Sale and Team Building Programs.

My oldest son even had the opportunity to flip cheddar

this year.

Now that my family and I have been in Vermont

for nearly two years, we feel like Vermonters– I even

got my first deer! The children also had many firsts

this year; Alec (12) won a 5K race, is now taller than

his mom, and learned how cold Vermont can be

when you forget to pack your jacket on a skiing trip.

Ethan (8) learned how to build and maintain our

wood burner, and that the pile of wood in the yard is

also his responsibility to stack! Orrin (6) has grown

into a fine young man this year, and now eats some

foods without asking for ketchup...there is hope for

him yet. Cleo (4) is the first to tell us when someone

else is doing something wrong, and even tells the

other children to call her MOM. Xander (3) pouts so

often he will get his bottom lip stuck to his chin and

we remind him to put his lip back, or else it stays

there throughout dinner. Jessica (mom) has finished

her English degree after 12 years of part time schooling

while raising the children.

Grafton Village Cheese, as a Windham Foundation

Company, continues to be visible promoting Vermont’s

rural communities with programs like our

own GVC Milk Premiums, Annual Ice Fishing Tournament,

Food Bank contributions, support of the

Strolling of the Heifers, the Farm Bureau, school

lunch programs, and many other projects. We also

look forward to our first year of the GVC/4 H Dairy

Awareness Program which kicks off this spring in

Windham County.

Special recognition goes out to our packaging team

in Grafton who were able to meet the unprecedented

number of orders this year without delaying a single

shipment. Quite an achievement especially as the

company’s volume has outgrown the limited space in

Grafton. We look forward to moving that team into

our new packaging space in Brattleboro later this

winter. I should also mention the Consumer Mail

Order staff who gracefully handled the 45% increase

in volume this year.

I would also like to thank all of the longtime Grafton

fans, big and small, for eating our fabulous

cheese which in turn helps to support the mission of

the Windham Foundation. Without all of you, none

of this would be possible! Adam Mueller