After several years of being little more than an inside joke between a few friends, the Castleton Cheese Club has turned from dream to reality, and to the surprise of many, has garnered plenty of interest from the student body.

The Cheese Club, which was described by club president Owen Edgcomb as, “A club for all cheese lovers to come together and eat cheese,” was something many were eager to see succeed on campus, which was evidenced by the dedicated support the club received during the Fall 2023 Club Fair.

Even still, it was soon made clear that support is not all a club needs to get up and running, as not long after the first official Cheese Club email went out regarding updates on potential meeting locations and times, radio silence followed.

Club president Owen Edgcomb spoke on this, stating, “We ran into some funding issues with SGA. There was a misunderstanding regarding what they would and would not be willing to fund when we initially spoke about the Cheese Club with them. It was only after we sent out the first email to students that we found out how difficult funding was going to be.”

This created plenty of issues for the club’s officers, who had been hoping to have the cheese necessary for meetings paid for by SGA as they worked to establish themselves and produce fund-raising efforts.

It was decided that the first meeting would be held as planned, and at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday Sept. 21, the Cheese Club’s first official meeting began.

It started with only half of a block of smoked gouda cheese for everyone to share, and a goal of figuring out how to move forward without the initial support of Student Government.

“It was a strangely productive first meeting regardless of the comically small amount of cheese,” Grace Nelson, a Cheese Club member reported, sharing that during this first meeting, the club not only produced potential fund-raising events but also discussed how they could fund the club as a community.

“We wanted the club to succeed, and we knew that funding would be tricky, so we eventually decided to try working together to pool funds for future meetings,” Edgcomb said when asked about what this meant for the club.

As of mid-October, the Cheese Club has had three successful meetings, all of which have included cheese provided by club members, who have worked together to purchase it for everyone to enjoy.

These meetings are full of laughter, cheese-related friendly debates, brainstorming sessions regarding the club’s future, and of course, cheese, which is made available for the club members to choose from.

It seems that for now, what the Cheese Club will become and how it will be funded in the future is a bit up in the air, but one thing is certain; as long as the Cheese Club community continues working together the way it does now, it will not be going anywhere anytime soon.

Anyone who is interested in learning more about the club can attend the current weekly meetings at 7:30 PM every Thursday evening in the Audet Classroom or contact club president Owen Edgcomb at oae09140 @ vermontstate.edu.