One giant cheese for mankind; Cheese sculptor works on astronaut tribute

ST. MARYS — Forty years ago, Neil Armstrong put the first human footprint in the lunar dust. On Friday, Sarah Kaufmann began her three-day quest to put an astronaut’s footprint in Wisconsin mild cheddar.

Kaufmann’s goal isn’t just to sculpt a footprint out of cheese. She’s working to create a life-sized astronaut made entirely out of cheese — more than 1,800 pounds of it.

Nationally known as the “Cheese Lady,” Kaufmann’s project is one in a series of tributes to the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

“The end thing is really cool. Watching all these goofy steps that you took to dig, dig, dig in the cheese that’s the fun,” Kaufmann said. “People can come and taste the cheese. They can take home a chunk.”

Kaufmann is using three, 640-pound blocks of Wisconsin mild cheddar for the project. Through early Sunday she’ll be working on the tribute at Kroger, 475 Fortman Road, St. Marys. Then, it’s off for display at the Neil Armstrong Air & Space Museum in Wapakoneta through Monday.

The display caught the attention of Botkins resident, Janet Metz, who stood watching and videotaping Kaufmann at work.

“I can’t imagine that much cheese in one place,” Janet Metz said. “It’s pretty neat.”

Her 8-year-old grandson, Bryce Metz, was also impressed.

“I think it’s a great piece of art,” he said. “I hope I can see it sometime when it’s done.”

Kaufmann has done large tributes before. She’s done a six-foot-long aircraft carrier in honor of the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan. She’s also crafted a 120-pound Mickey Mouse.

The trimmings from the large blocks of cheese are being carefully bagged and stored. Those will be sent to area food pantries and soup kitchens.

“There are lots of scrapings that are excellent for cooking,” Kaufmann said. “Hungry people will get all this trim.”

Kaufmann said she was excited to be asked to participate in commemorating the lunar landing anniversary.

“This is a very neat subject because not only is it the cuteness of, ‘Yes, the moon is made out of cheese,’ but everybody loved the story of the astronauts walking on the moon. It’s still amazing today,” Kaufmann said. “I can’t believe they walked on the moon. We’re commemorating that. We’re commemorating all of the work, the years ahead of it, the people who gave their lives. This is a celebration of that, too.”

CHEESE WHIZ:

Here are some quick facts about the life-sized astronaut sculpture by artist Sarah Kaufmann made entirely of Wisconsin mild cheddar cheese:

— 72-inches tall by 28-inches wide

— 19,800 pounds of milk needed to make the cheese

— 282 cows, each producing 70 pounds of milk, would need an entire day to produce enough milk for the astronaut.

 Source: Sarah Kaufmann, the “Cheese Lady”