Cranberry Discovery Center

04/15/2026

PART 3
One final post as we close the doors on the Cranberry Discovery Center. We thank the following whose financial contributions allowed us to have all new signage made by Zingler Sign & Design:
• Phil Brown - $2,500
• Jack Potter - $2,500
• Anonymous Donor - $2,000
• Jacob Searls Cranberry Company - $1,000
• Jensen Cranberry Bogs - $1,000
• Castle Rock Cranberry Bogs - $500
• Betty & Stephan Gebhardt - $500
• Russell Rezin & Son Cranberry - $500
• Warrens Cold Storage LLC - $500
• Sara Moseley - $270
• Gaynor Cranberry Company - $250
• Lady Bug IPM - $250
• Potter & Son Inc. - $250
• Morrison Creek Cranberry Corp - $200
• Aleda Moseley - $200
• Potter Cranberry Company - $200
• Sonia & Alan Olson - $100

04/15/2026

PART 2
As we close the doors on the Cranberry Discovery Center, we want to thank the following who loaned items for display or provided us with photos and/or information.
• Curt Allen – Cliffstar cranberry sign
• Ed Allen – Mariani cranberry sign
• Dale & Peggy Anderson – Strawberry boxes and pickers tickets from the Warrens Fruit Growers Association.
• Daniel Barber – Copies of William Barber’s Civil War letters and other Warrens history.
• Berlin Area Historical Society – photos of Berlin’s early cranberry marshes.
• Phil Brown – Western picker, assortment of cranberry hand rakes, quarter barrel boxes, barrel labels, horse clog and more.
• Brenda Conner & Joe Darlington – Information on Darlington picker.
• Cranberry Learning Inc. – Use of their “Cranberry Harvest” video and Discover Cranberry Careers exhibit.
• Gloria Dutcher – Cranberry News newspapers
• Roberta Erdmann - Information on Berlin’s cranberry boom.
• Martha Erickson – Large sewing needle used on big burlap bags of moss.
• Sheri Erickson – Use of photos, photo editing for exhibit signs, framing and more
• Bob Fink – Rat’s tail cranberry rake and sod knife
• Amy Gebhardt – Photos of Ocean Spray commercial shoot, wildlife and various marsh activities.
• Randy Gebhardt – Observation beehive, Darlington raking machine, cranberry packaging and more.
• Steve Gebhardt – Photos of Ocean Spray commercial shoot and lumber for observation hive.
• Jason Gerke – Cranberry marsh mural and other artwork.
• Shannon Gray – Three pieces of cranberry glass.
• Ann Grygleski – Photos for Top 10 Cranberry Facts wall and other exhibit panels.
• Habelman Brothers Company – Video on fresh-fruit cranberry harvesting.
• Hale’s Cape Cod Cranberries – Information on Bailey Fanning Mill.
• Harriet O’Connell Historical Records Room – Information and photo of George Warren.
• Harwich (MA) Historical Society – Information on Bailey Fanning Mill.
• Lady Bug IPM – Crop scouting photos.
• Lord Electric & Control – Frost watch exhibit with connection to Whiskey Creek Cranberry marsh.
• Jacki Lundt – Eatmor cranberry sauce label, cranberry bumper stickers and more.
• Peter Malinger – Donated services editing videos used in exhibit hall.
• Linda Miller - Think Cranberries Cookbook & Cranfest recipe booklets.
• Millston Area Museum – Four display cases, barrel making jig, quarter barrel making jig, drying crate making jig and moss press.
• Lou Ann Mittelstaedt – Photos of elk and other wildlife used in exhibits.
• Ryan Morrison – Photo of fresh fruit cranberry boats.
• Aleda Moseley – Prince Onward poster (copied and returned).
• Sara Moseley – Ocean Spray bicentennial cardboard cranberry scoop, fresh-fruit harvest photos and Ocean Spray products for kitchen display.
• Ocean Spray Cranberry Co-operative – Photos and information on co-op’s founders.
• Olson Bros. Cranberry Company – Eatmor basketball jersey worn by Jim Olson.
• Arnie Nomann & Brian Knopeker – Builders of observation beehive.
• Paul's Machine & Tool - metal rail & stands for signage.
• Jack Potter – Albert Cook’s workshop, glass display case, Snippen sleigh model and more.
• Judy & Keith Potter – Copy of “The Modern Art of Cranberry Cultivation” and other materials.
• Seth Rice – Beehives for pollination exhibit.
• Ben Riker – Photo of daughter helping in family’s fresh fruit warehouse.
• South Wood County Historical Corporation – Gaynor sod plow, cranberry pruning rakes, photos and more.
• Bob & Arlys Steele family – Photo of Zeda logging camp.
• Debbie Strozewski – Bailey fanning mill.
• Terri Swope – Warrens Moss Company stationary, Clover Store sales receipt book and Cranfest button collection.
• Tessman Brothers Irrigation – cranberry irrigation exhibit.
• Top Dog Marketing – website design service.
• Jim & Nodji Van Wychen – 1914 Model T truck.
• Village of Warrens – Warrens Sesquicentennial Celebration newspaper, button and brochure.
• Jenny & David Walworth – Bailey Cranberry Mill and complete fresh fruit packing line, Getsinger picker and more.
• Warrens Cranberry Festival - Kay Johnson-Manglos’ festival jacket and her lucky red cowboy hat plus assorted memorabilia.
• Waukesha County Historical Society – Information and photo of George Peffer.
• Wisconsin Historical Society – Vintage cranberry harvesting photos.
• Zingler Sign & Design – Museum panels and signage.
See our 3rd post for a list of financial contributors.

Pictured is Bob Fink with a rat's tail cranberry rake and sod knife. Bob was the first to offer items for us to display.

04/15/2026

We have some sad news to share. The Cranberry Discovery Center is now permanently closed. The building housing the museum has been sold and the owner has plans to use the entire building for his new venture.

But before we shut down this page, we wanted to thank everyone who supported the museum, especially over the past three years as we created virtually all new exhibits.

The museum traces its beginnings to the Cranberry Expo, a museum and gift shop, opened in 1989 by the Clinton and Ellen Potter family on their cranberry marsh east of Warrens. The museum was managed by daughter Peggy Anderson.

After hosting visitors on their marsh for 12 years, the Potter family donated the contents of the museum to the Wisconsin State Cranberry Growers Association hoping that the organization could grow the museum to the next level. The museum’s board of directors began searching for a new location.

In 2004 the museum moved into the former George Warren Company wood planing mill in downtown Warrens and opened its doors as the Wisconsin Cranberry Discovery Center.

The Wisconsin Cranberry Discovery Center welcomed visitors from across the U.S. and several foreign countries for 18 years. But the museum struggled to recover from the impacts of COVID 19 and overall economic conditions. In 2022 the museum board voted to close the museum.

The bulk of the museum’s collection was donated to the Wisconsin Historical Society. A few items also went to the Monroe County Local History Room, Tomah Area Historical Society and the Millston Area Museum.

But Kevin & Traci Peterson, former owners of the Cranberry Country Cafe, felt Warrens – as the Cranberry Capital of Wisconsin – still needed to have a cranberry museum.

A steering committee comprised of Jenny Walworth, co-director of the Millston Area Museum; Phil Brown, past president of the South Wood County Historical Corporation, and Lorry Erickson, former director of the Wisconsin Cranberry Discovery Center, led the effort to create new displays in 2023.

In our 2nd post we’ll list the individuals, businesses and museums who provided items for display or helped us with information.

{Pictured left to right are Phil Brown, Lorry Erickson, Jenny Walworth and Peggy Anderson.)

03/31/2026

We join Wisconsin Cranberries in their salute to .

03/21/2026

For more information on Eatmor Cranberries, see this post by our friends at Double Trouble State Park:

Today is World Poetry Day, celebrating one of humanity's most treasured forms of cultural and linguistic expression and identity. In early 1957, Mrs. Lillian H. Hough sent a letter of appreciation and this poem to Eatmor Cranberries:

Unfortunately on June 10, 1957, Eatmor Cranberries, Inc (formerly American Cranberry Exchange), the oldest cranberry cooperative at the time, dissolved after 50 years. The American Cranberry Exchange had been a major influence in the marketing of cranberries over the years, chiefly in fresh fruit. With growing interest in processed fruits, the ACE could no longer compete. The American Cranberry Exchange was distributor of Double Trouble’s cranberries. [ ]

03/21/2026

🏀 In honor of March Madness, we're sharing a photo of the 1933-1934 Eatmor Cranberries Basketball Team. The Eatmor team won 24 of their 36 games that season.

The members front row left to right were: Claude Strozewski, Russell Potter, Richard Jensen, Bennett Potter and Robert Strozewski. Back row: Coach Alva Lattimore, Robert Sloan, Cleo Cook, James Olson and Assistant Coach Ted Olson.

The members were sons of Warrens area cranberry growers or employed on local marshes. The team was sponsored by growers and the Wisconsin Cranberry Sales Company.

The Eatmor Cranberries name came about when officials with the Wisconsin Cranberry Sales Company met with a New York ad agency. The advertising executives asked the officials what they wanted them to do for the company. The reply was that they wanted people to eat more cranberries. And thus Eatmor Cranberries was born. 😉

03/19/2026

The Cranberry Innovation Center outside Millston allows ag scientists to study plant growth, soil health, plant diseases and many other topics to help cranberry growers.

03/16/2026

Have you seen ~ or heard ~ any sandhill cranes yet this season? We saw a few on area cranberry marshes before this weekend's snowstorm.

Did you know cranberries were originally called "crane berries" as early European immigrants thought the cranberry blossom resembled the head of a sandhill crane?

03/14/2026

Celebrate with a slice of your favorite Cranberry Pie. We're sharing June Potter's Cranberry Walnut Pie recipe which appeared in the Taste of Home magazine.