Wisconsin Dairyland Fudge Co. of Wisconsin Dells was the winner of a ribbon award for highest quality at the recent candy merchandising and idea clinic in Chicago in conjunction with the 66th annual convention of the Retail Confectioners. Jane Heller of the Dells candy makers accepted the award from candy clinic chairman Eddy Taylor. (Reprinted from local paper - Wisconsin Dells Events)

BUSTING DIETS OF SWEET SORROW FOR CANDYMAKERS by John Weiss (Reprinted from Post-Bulletin)

Violet Kalamarz's philosophy about her work is elementary - "If you are going to ruin your diet, you may as well ruin it on good chocolate." Included in the diets that were sacrificed to good chocolate was Kalamarz's. Of course, when she's as close to chocolate temptation as she is, it's totally understandable. She is one of the candy makers at Wisconsin Dairyland Fudge, an operation in downtown Wisconsin Dells that is owned by Jane Heller.

One nice weekday afternoon, Kalamarz was busy making English Toffee, her favorite. She would take small squares of the toffee and put them on a small conveyor belt that delicately plopped them into a bath of warm milk chocolate then out again. Kalamarz would then use a special fork to lift each off the conveyor belt and put it on a bed of crushed nuts. Her efforts were not behind a wall, they were open for customers to see, even to people walking by because she sits next to the front window. And she loves it. Children come in to see candy made perhaps for the first time in their lives. She says she has visited with a lot of nice people in the eight years she's been here.

Heller, the owner, said her father began one shop in the early 1960's selling four kinds of fudge "out of a window," like a Dairy Queen. The four kinds of fudge have been expanded to salt water taffy, peanut brittle, chocolates, sugarless candies and other candy. Most of it is hand made on the premises.

Owning businesses in the Dells means having to make your living in six hectic months when the bulk of tourists are there. It really gets your adrenalin going.it's a big push in those six months. At times, working in downtown Dells is so hectic she questions her sanity. "There are those days when I ask, why am I doing this," she said.