The Adventures of Harvey,
The Traveling White Rabbit
Monroe, Wisconsin is located in Green County, only 12 miles from the Illinois border. It is the county seat. Population is approximately 10,200 and the main industries are dairy farming and cheesemaking (hence the high school team names: "Monroe Cheesemakers"). Monroe is known as the Swiss Cheese capitol of the U.S. and is the only place in the U.S. where Limburger cheese is made. Monroe is also home to the Swiss Colony, a large mail-order food and gift company. The Swiss Colony is Monroe's single largest employer.
This time of year, the beautiful green, rolling hills are covered with
snow!
Thanks to an early school release due to snow, we were able to get all
8 enrolled day care children together to have their picture taken with
Harvey!
One of our gifts to Harvey was a Beanie Bopper named "Limburger" (honest,
that's the name on his tag!). The children thought Harvey needed a companion
on his travels. Since limburger cheese is only made in Monroe (in the US),
we figured this mouse was an appropriate memento of Harvey's visit with
us. We also bought Limburger his very own "cheesehead" just like the ones
the "big people" wear here! Limburger is shown here sitting on a real
cheesehead!
Harvey and his "cousins!" From left to right: Peter Rabbit, Library
Bunny, and Harvey (with Limburger the Mouse).
We really enjoyed Harvey's stay with us. He helped out one day when all the daycare children were sick. The weather kept us from enjoying too many outdoor activities, but we gave him a "van tour" of the town, treated him to the video story "Peter Rabbit," and cuddled him and fed him, and just tried everything we could to make him feel welcome! Harvey also got to listen to the Green Bay Packers' game where they won the NFC Championship! What an exciting time!
We were kind of sad to pack Harvey up and say good-bye, but we know he is excited about his next stop: Nana Nutter's Family Child Care in Escondido, California!
We decided that each child should have a chance to take Harvey home and show him around. I donated a bag to the box which would house Harvey, Limburger, the pillow & blanket and a spiral book I had made for their "stories". They were to take Harvey home, play with him, then write (with mom's or dad's help) all about their activities, then illustrate their stories. The child would return Harvey in the morning so that someone else could have a turn. The stories were great (as were the illustrations), and the original collection went with Harvey, hopefully to be continued at the other daycare homes.
When Harvey left, everyone dictated a few sentences to me and we wrote our "Harvey Story" so that we could say goodbye and Harvey could have a story to take to his next visit. Each child received a copy of this story, as well as the stories they wrote during Harvey's evening with them, along with a photo of the child hugging Harvey.
As for the items from Maryland, I purchased these during the weekend, and we all looked them over before packing them with Harvey's other goodies. We read about Maryland and found out a lot of info we hadn't known.
We also read about rabbits, because we knew that Harvey's wife was pregnant & wondered when the babies would be born. What a fun unit that was!
The children still ask about Harvey, and wonder how he is doing. As notes come over the [daycare email] list, I share them with the children. It was so exciting to know that Harvey is now in Germany! We'll be looking at the map on Monday and talk about where that is & what Harvey might be doing (besides drinking beer!!!).
--Submitted by W. of "Child's Play Family Child Care Home"
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