SAY CHEESE Celebrating 65 years of cheese, love, and people

Rita Shisler recently retired after being at the helm of Shisler’s Cheese House for 65 years. Shisler’s Cheese House, U.S. 30 and Kidron Road, celebrates its 65th anniversary with an event Aug. 5 with in-store discounts and a food truck.

Dennis Shisler, president and CEO, and Enten Guster, a Shisler’s Cheese House employee.

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Rita Shisler recalls vividly as a young woman falling in love with her husband. She remembers falling in love with his family’s cheese shop. And for the decades following, she fell in love with all of her customers and the communities her business serves.

Even more than her love for the cheese shop at U.S. 30 and Kidron Road and the countless friendships she has made along the way, Shisler loves her family.

Customers of all ages come in and mention to the kind cashier helping them that they have been coming to Shisler’s for as long as they can remember, and it’s not uncommon for people to ask about Rita.

She not only stood at the helm for more than 50 years greeting and talking to all of her beloved customers, but she raised her family in the house at the back of the cheese house.

Customers can rest assured the matriarch is doing fine. She still lives locally and people throughout the area may have noticed her driving around in the company car with Shisler’s signage.

As Shisler’s Cheese House marks its 65th anniversary, Rita Shisler is officially retiring, said her son, Dennis, who is the president and CEO of Shisler’s Cheese House. Now, in her retirement, she is able to take care of a sister, spend more time with grandchildren and all her family – and maybe even travel one day.

“She carried the torch for so many years,” Dennis Shisler said. “She built the foundation.”

She may still stop in to the shop from time to time, and customers and visitors may see her during Shisler’s 65th anniversary celebration. The cheese house has a special event 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Aug. 5 with in-store discounts and Tommy’s food truck.

“I’m really really proud of it all those years, and all the changes that have come about business-wise, and all the years customers are still faithful in coming in,” Rita Shisler said. “I love more than anything someone coming in the door saying, ‘I have been shopping here for 30 years. I love this store.’ I love hearing that stuff. It makes it worthwhile.”

Read the complete story in the Aug. 2, 2023 edition.