Three different businesses, three different Pierce County locations, but they all share a love for the area and its people. Discover Wisconsin recently featured Pierce County’s Vino in the Valley, Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery and Prescott’s Megan Langer over the course of three Uniquely Wisconsin video series episodes.

All three episodes have tens of thousands of views, sharing a similar sentiment of appreciation for the area.

“Being so close to that Great River Road is a huge deal,” Vino in the Valley owner Larry Brenner said. “We take it for granted… Pierce County, we have so much going for us.”

Brenner said when tourists come to Pierce County to experience one thing, they often will make further stops in the county, meaning the tourism benefits many. With the Great River Road being named America’s most scenic drive by the Huffington Post, Brenner hopes the episodes showcase that to outsiders.

“It was an honor to be chosen,” Brenner said. “We didn’t know what this thing was going to be when I built it. Right now, we get 33-34,000 people a year that come in 85 nights. The lion’s share, if you go through our parking lot, is Minnesota plates.”

During the Vino in the Valley episode, Brenner’s traditions including the hot air balloons, live music and the classic “That’s Amore” song being sung by the guests were featured.

“That was a big surprise. I didn’t see it coming,” Brenner said of Discover Wisconsin featuring the business. “What it means to us is to be able to share what we created with the people of Wisconsin. I’m proud of it. It’s a big time deal for us.”

The Creamery’s episode features a trip out to a farm that sends their milk to the cooperative, showing the collaboration it takes to get dairy from farm to table.

Ellsworth has become synonymous with fresh, squeaky cheese curds. As the Cheese Curd Capital of the World, there is a lot that goes into upholding the lofty reputation.

“This was a huge honor to be a part of this creation,” Retail Store Manager Olivia Girdeen, an Ellsworth native, said. “Just to see how much of an impact we have on the community, and it goes all the way to the farmers too.”

Girdeen said people from Ellsworth know that if you’re trying to explain Ellsworth to an outsider, you usually start with the cheese curds.

“[Pierce County is special] because of our community. Because of the close-knit families, communities, neighbors, farmers, everything,” Girdeen said. “It’s such a cool place to live because we only have a little over 3,000 people in our town, but we’re in every state.”

The episode also focused on supporting local farmers to keep generational farms around.

Last, but certainly not least, the “Western Wisconsin Wanderer” Megan Langer.

“I find value where people find failure,” Langer said in the video. “I look for distressed properties, and businesses and buildings, and I buy them and I reinvent them.”

Langer’s video revolves around Prescott, discussing its underrated character and charm. The documentary showcases Langer’s process of bringing buildings back to life that would otherwise be vacant.

Langer called The Port Hotel her “flagship” property, the one that sparked further investment in Prescott. There were outside doubts surrounding the vision, but after it was successful, Langer created The Cove and The Harbor.

With a bunch of small towns all within arm’s distance of a major metropolitan area, Pierce County is truly Uniquely Wisconsin.

All three of the videos are available on the Discover Wisconsin YouTube channel.