Cranberry Blossom Day

On June 27 ^th, we attended the 3 ^rd annual Cranberry Blossom Day in Warrens, Wisconsin. The Wetherby Cranberry Marsh gave free tours from 9 a.m. to noon. Then we stopped by the Cranberry Discovery Center for a delicious cranberry brat lunch from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m served by the Warrens Lions Club . At the Center, there was also cranberry wine tasting, children's activities and an appearance by the Wisconsin Honey Queen, Amy Roden.

So when did cranberries start getting called cranberries? It took a while actually. Cranberries were called "sassamanesh" by Eastern Indians. While the Cape Cod Pequots and the South Jersey Leni-Lenape tribes named them "ibimi," or bitter berry. A very apropos name. And the Algonquins of Wisconsin called the fruit "atoqua." But it was the early German and Dutch settlers who started calling it the "crane berry" because the flower looked a lot like the head and bill of a crane. Today we know them as CRANBERRIES!