March Facets 2020

FACETS

MARCH 2020

The magazine for women.

Nevada’s Berry Patch Farm Peace of mind in the classroom

Campustown cafe offering a unique experience

FACETS 2 | FACETS | MARCH 2020

The magazine for women.

Contributors

KATIE MAUCH DAVID MULLEN KYLEE MULLEN ROBBIE SEQUEIRA KILEY WELLENDORF Design

ADVERTISERS To advertise in Facets magazine, contact Mary Beth Scott at (515) 663-6951 PHONE (515) 663-6923

CHELSEA PARKS

ADDRESS 317 Fifth St. Ames, IA, 50010

Tribune Editor

EMAIL news@amestrib.com

MICHAEL CRUMB

ONLINE www.amestrib.com/sections/ special-sections/facets Facets is a monthly publication of Gannett.

Gina Kahler holds a portrait of two cardinals she painted. She attributes this painting for getting initial interest in her art and eventually starting her business. Photo by David Mullen/Gannett see PAGE 14 & 15

ON THE COVER

Jack Hellman, 10, skis down a slope with Adaptive Adventures instructor Monica Javaay during the Adaptive Sports Iowa Winter Ski Experience at Seven Oaks Recreation in Boone on Feb. 6. Photo by Kylee Mullen/Gannett see PAGE 16 & 17

FACETS Table of Contents Features 6 Emergency Resident Project

A service to county’s homeless

8

Nevada’s Berry Patch Farm

Lifetime Achievement Award

10 Main Street business Making big changes

14 Boone resident

Love of art paying off 18 Campustown cafe

Offers a unique experience

Spotlight 4 Peace of mind in the classroom 12 Reiman Gardens celebrating 25th Year 16 Making an Impact

Savor 20 Fondue may feel retro

Melted cheese is timeless

22 The upside to Tarte Tatin

It’s not as hard as you think FACETS | MARCH 2020 | 3

Spotlight

Peace of mind in the classroom

By Kiley Wellendorf Gannett

4 | FACETS | MARCH 2020

S

tudents at Gilbert’s elementary and intermediate school now have a place to go to — in the classroom — when they’re feeling anxious: the Zen Zone. Newly added student support strategist, Natalie Reich, who also doubles as a certified yoga instructor, received $4,000 in funding from a grant after explaining the need for a “Zen Zone” in the buildings.

“There’s tons of benefits to connecting to what’s going on in your mind and body and your actions,” Reich said. “I thought that would be neat to incorporate here with our kids and kind of get them more in touch with what’s going on with themselves.”

The Zen Zones, which were rolled out in January, are placed inside classrooms but are blocked out of view by a room-divider. Inside the zone, a large salt-lamp dimly illuminates the space that’s equipped with posters focused on mindfulness, coloring pages, a weighted blanket, regular blanket, an eye mask, and an mp3 device that contains three instrumental songs.

The items for the Zen Zone came together through her

research, where Reich focused on keeping the space simple, she said.

“The salt lamp creates a nice ambience and there’s a lot of different health benefits to salt lamps; the weighted blanket helps with anxiety,” Reich said. “(And) we have two different types of blankets: the weighted blanket and we have a restore yoga separate blanket, so it’s not weighted.”

“Even though weighted blankets help with anxiety, sometimes it can induce anxiety, so that’s why we have the options.”

Although an mp3 player may seem disruptive, the device only features three instrumental songs so students aren’t “bombarded with choices,” Reich said.

The new Zen Zone space is being offered at both the Gilbert Intermediate and elementary schools, catering to students in kindergarten through fifth grade. Each grade level has one Zen Zone, according to Gilbert Intermediate Principal Amy Griffin, where the Zen Zone is located in a classroom.

“Our goal is to keep (students) in the room,” Griffin said.

The new Zen Zone space is being offered at both the Gilbert intermediate and elementary schools, catering to students in kindergarten through fifth grade. Photo by Kiley Wellendorf/Gannett

PEACE OF MIND IN CLASSROOM, continued from page 4

Spotlight

“Sometimes, if students are encouraged to take a break and they have to leave the room, it can cause even more embarrassment or more frustrated feelings; our hope is that it will help all kids.”

There are no restrictions on who can use it, Griffin said.

“If a student is feeling overwhelmed or frustrated, our hope is that they can identify that themselves and take the break on their own instead of the reverse of what you hear too often in schools,” Griffin said.

Reich, who started with the school district during the 2019-20 school year, works directly with students between both the Gilbert’s intermediate and elementary buildings. According to Griffin, Reich is working with kids directly, or their families, all day long.

Students have been excited about the space so far, Reich said.

“It’s been awesome,” Reich said. “I’m really passionate about (mindfulness), so it’s been really neat to see how receptive our students have been to it.”

“The salt lamp creates a nice ambience and there’s a lot of different health benefits to salt lamps; the weighted blanket helps with anxiety,” Reich said.

Each grade level has one Zen Zone, according to Gilbert Intermediate Principal Amy Griffin, where the Zen Zone is located in a classroom. Photo by Kiley Wellendorf/Gannett

FACETS | MARCH 2020 | 5

Feature

Included in the ERP’s multi-scale re-branding plans are preliminary talks for a new building space. The main office is located on 225 S. Kellogg Ave., and clients are allowed to stay in-house for 30 days in the various rooms and beds inside the building.

Photo by Robbie Sequeira/Gannett

Emergency Resident Project looks to service county’s homeless through rebranding and empathy

By Robbie Sequeira Gannett

6 | FACETS | MARCH 2020

S

ix months into her position as the executive director of the Emergency Residence Project, which now serves the homeless populations in Story, Boone, Hardin, Marshall and Greene counties, Jodi Stumbo hopes to continue the agency’s mission through rebranding and empathetic service.

“I saw this opportunity, and I really wanted to dispel the stigma that goes with this experience that people have,” said Stumbo, who filled the position following the resignation of former director Carrie Moser in August. “These are good people, and in a time where people are living paycheck to paycheck and … bad things happen, you can find yourself in a similar situation.”

The Emergency Residence Project (ERP) currently serves between 600 and 700 homeless individuals per year.

Of those, a little more than 21 percent are younger than 18 years old.

Leadership, to the former executive director of

communications of Iowa State University Foundation, is rooted in empathy.

When a client, young or old, educated or not, walks into her office, she said the stories range from “heartbreaking” to “powerful.”

“I think you have to have (empathy) in this position,” Stumbo said. “If you couldn’t feel the person that come into this office, it could become very frustrating, and it you could very jaded because a lot of clients are coming in a time of crisis.”

Stumbo, herself, upon taking the position, was dealing with grief of her own. Stumbo’s husband, Kevin died unexpectedly at the age of 50 in the beginning of last year.

“With the grief and loss I was dealing with, it became a calling for me to say, ‘I want to help others,’” she said. “I became aware of the way we were viewing the homeless by asking ‘What did they do?’ instead of ‘How can we help?’”

Answering the questions of “What is the Emergency

EMERGENCY RESIDENT PROJECT, continued from page 6

Jodi Stumbo and ERP Associate Director Troy Jansen work in concert to rehouse, reintegrate and restructure the barriers that their clients are facing when it comes to homelessness.

Photo by Robbie Sequeira/Gannett Residence Project?” and “What does the Emergency Residence Project do?” has been at the root of recent efforts to re-brand the organization to tailor the needs to central Iowa’s homeless and at-risk population.

Additional challenges the organization faces include a rise in issues, such as food insecurity, which 51 percent of Story County residents are facing.

“We are the highest county in the state of Iowa, in terms of dealing with food insecurity,” Stumbo said. “There are people struggling here, and this truly is a great place to live, and we need to find way to help those residents out.”

Currently, ERP has two housing programs to assist clients, including Rapid Rehousing Program, a six-month rental assistance effort to rehouse and reintegrate clients.

The turnover for the program, Stumbo said, is an average of eight days.

The second, is transitional housing, a long-term solution that cater toward rehousing family units, and the organization abides by a “exit as when you’re ready” process.

ERP currently owns two units in Ames to accommodate transitional housing, a four-plex residential building located next to the shelter’s main office and an additional duplex and overflow location in the Ames Motor Lodge.

“Whatever the barriers they have to maintain stable housing, we have a case worker working with them to get through those things,” Stumbo said. “They can stay in these houses for up to two years, but the gap we’re seeing in regards to housing, there are barriers that are so big that they will always need a helping hand.

Recently, the organization has begun exploratory talks to add another housing assistance program called permanent supportive housing.

The solution aims to help those facing chronic homelessness and data shows that it has helped reduce homelessness by about 20 percent since 2007.

Stumbo said that her team and representatives from A Mid-Iowa Organizing Strategy (AMOS) have explored possibilities with Des Moines-based Anawim Housing on modeling a similar program in Ames.

Feature “We’ve have started talking with Anawim on what it would take to pilot that type of program here in Ames,” she said. “When I came on board, I said, ‘Let’s try and do this, if that’s what we need to do to help as many people as we can.’”

Involved with the organization’s multi-scale re-branding plans, are preliminary talks for new building space, which Stumbo said can “better accommodate growing needs of the homeless.”

The main office is located on 225 S. Kellogg Ave., and clients are allowed to stay in-house for 30 days in the various rooms and bedding inside the building.

However, male clients must leave in the day, women can stay throughout the day but access to food is limited.

“The physical structure of the shelter … no longer allows us to best serve the needs of our clients,” Stumbo said. “We have room for more case workers to sit with clients in a private setting to address their problems, we don’t have office space.”

While nothing has been proposed or detailed, Stumbo said an ideal new building should suit families and provide space for clients who may be intimidated by shelter space.

Stumbo said she hopes these preliminary talks can be formed into a concrete plan by the end of 2020.

“Hopefully by the end of this year, we can say here’s our plan and this what we’re going to do,” she said. “We need to really tell our stories and the stories of others that are coming through our office.”

This four-plex unit, owned by the ERP, is used for its transitional living program, a long-term housing system that is designed to assist homeless client for two years.

Photo by Robbie Sequeira/Gannett

“Whatever the barriers they have to maintain stable housing, we have a case worker working with them to get through those things,” Stumbo said.

FACETS | MARCH 2020 | 7

Feature

Berry Patch Farm was presented a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Iowa Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association at the at the Iowa Specialty Producers Awards Banquet on Jan. 23. Pictured are (left to right) Judy Henry, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig, Dean Henry and Iowa Specialty Producers Conference Chairperson John Barber. Contributed photo

Berry Patch Farm produces a variety of vibrant fruits and berries throughout the summer and fall, including blueberries, currants, raspberries and strawberries. Contributed photo

Nevada’s Berry Patch Farm receives lifetime achievement award

By Katie Mauch Gannett

R

ight now, Berry Patch Farm south of Nevada looks a bit cold and gray in the ice and snow of winter.

But in a few months, like it has for nearly 50 years, it will explode with a rainbow of color as thousands of berry bushes and fruit trees ripen for the summer.

The farm, run by Dean and Judy Henry and their son, Mike, produces a long list of produce throughout the summer and fall, including rhubarb, red, black and gold raspberries, apples, currants, pumpkins and gooseberries. According to Judy, the farm is also the only one in the state that grows blueberries.

Visitors to the farm are invited to pick their own produce, buy baskets of fresh fruit from the “Country Store” or choose from fresh and frozen pies, freshly baked muffins or canned goods made by Judy.

“On a good weekend people will be waiting in line for the pies to come out of the oven,” Judy said.

Decades of dedication to the land by the Henry family has not gone unnoticed. The farm was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Iowa Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association at the Iowa Specialty Producers Awards Banquet on Jan. 23.

This is the first year the association’s Board of Directors has presented the award. According to Kendra Meyer, executive secretary for the association, the board wanted to recognize individuals or farms that had been active in the association’s leadership and in supporting the organization over many years.

“They really just wanted to honor some of those people who have helped the association over the years so this year they decided to start those lifetime achievement awards to honor them,” Meyer said. “(The Henrys) were an easy nomination for the board to 8 | FACETS | MARCH 2020

select.”

Dean and Judy said they have been members of the association almost since the beginning of the farm and have been active in helping other fruit producers in the state start and develop their own operations.

When asked what she thought earned them the lifetime award, Judy laughed.

“Our age!” she said.

While it’s true the couple have lived a full life into their 80s, Dean said the consistency they maintained in their product over many years is what makes an award-winning fruit farm.

Berry Patch Farm was started in the early 1970s, when Dean and Judy moved their family to the property from Ames. According to Dean, the first apple trees were planted before their house was built.

Since then, the farm has tried to stay up to date on conservation and sustainable practices in fruit production. While Dean said they don’t claim an organic label, some of the crops are grown using organic practices.

While any farmer is often at the mercy of the weather, Dean said running the berry farm comes with increased risks because of the delicate fruits that are grown.

“In horticulture, complete failure is always possible due to weather,” he said.

Consistently producing good crops of fruit and berries is difficult. Dean said many growers in Iowa are only in the business for two to five years before deciding to quit, and some of them choose to bypass high-maintenance crops like strawberries.

Like many farmers, the challenge of growing multiple fruits

Feature in multiple varieties doesn’t deter the Henrys from continuing with their operation. For Dean and Judy, the experience of providing fresh fruit to their customers is the reward that makes up for months of hard work.

“I think it’s very fulfilling,” Judy said. “Some people say, ‘This is our tradition (to visit the farm).’”

One family from Minnesota, which Judy said has come to the farm every summer since the teenage children were very young, gifted the Henrys with a book titled “Strawberry Blessings,” full of photos from their visits and a hand-drawn story about growing strawberries.

While working the farm in the winter months mostly consists of pruning the many trees and bushes and protecting them from the cold, the farm’s first crops of the year will begin to show up in May, when the rhubarb is ready, with strawberries becoming available in the first few weeks of June.

Judy Henry keeps photo albums cataloging the decades the farm has been operating, including past visitors, planting seasons and bountiful harvests. Photo by Katie Mauch/Gannett

The 140-acre Berry Patch Farm is located six miles south of Nevada. The farm receives visitors from all around the area, as well as from neighboring states. Contributed photo

FACETS | MARCH 2020 | 9

Feature

Jade Dirks, owner of We the Dreamerz on Ames’ Main Street, is transitioning the store to sustainable, eco-friendly and fair trade brands. Photo by Kylee Mullen/Gannett

Main Street business dreaming of a better future, making big changes

By Kylee Mullen Gannett

A

n Ames Main Street boutique is making big changes, shifting its focus to support “fair trade, eco-friendly, sustainable” brands, in an effort to educate the community and spread awareness on “living life in a more sustainable way.”

We the Dreamerz, which sells shoes, clothes, accessories and more at 305 Main St., announced the change last month. However, according to owner Jade Dirks, the shift has been a long-time coming.

“Over the past couple of years, I’ve felt this disconnect in my life and my business. I felt like I wasn’t doing enough,” Dirks said. “There’s so much damage happening in different parts of the world and in our own communities, but there is so much … it can be overwhelming.”

Dirks, who opened her first We the Dreamerz store in Carroll six years ago and expanded to Ames in 2017, said she began making more sustainable changes in her personal life, from utilizing reusable containers when eating out to buying food in bulk. She later began to research how the fashion industry can be harmful when things are not sourced well, and decided she no longer wanted to be a contributing factor.

“In my life, I had been slowly implementing things.

Now, it’s time for my business to reflect that as well,” Dirks said.

As a result, We the Dreamerz is dropping “fast

10 | FACETS | MARCH 2020

fashion” brands and has adopted new guidelines, which will allow the business to focus on brands that “show awareness of their environmental and social impact,” Dirks said. The store will also carry new, hand-made collections and a curated collection of vintage pieces.

“With any new companies I bring on in the new year, I’ve really started to ask more questions, meet with them and send out emails to get the information I need, to ensure that every line I carry is eco-friendly, fair trade and sustainable. I’m finding that a lot of brands are not that way, and it’s hard to find and source those companies,” Dirks said.

That is why customers will also notice another change: the price point.

“To be paying people fair wages and to be sourcing these things sustainably, it does raise the price point. You can’t ethically get a top for $20, because it’s not ethically made and what it’s made of is not good. It’s not good for the people making it or for the environment,” Dirks said.

“Plus, with sustainable materials, it’s hard to find a lot of prints, so it’s going to be a lot more solids.”

That does not mean community members with a lower budget cannot afford to shop at We the Dreamerz, Dirks said, as the new vintage collection is being implemented to offset the rising costs. The store also plans to start a layaway program for customers who want higher end items but can only afford to pay in installments.

MAIN STREET BUSINESS, continued from page 10

“I have a friend who owns a tailor shop, and I’ve also spoken with a few women who craft their own clothes. We will be working directly with them to create mini-collections that add some variety and more patterns. In doing that, we will also be supporting women locally and in the United States who make and create their own things,” Dirks said. “I know that not everyone can afford a $170 pair of jeans, so we will have more affordable prices through the thrifted or upcycled collections.”

Dirks said, since announcing the change, she has received a lot of positive feedback from customers and community members, both in Ames and Carroll. While she thinks sustainable shopping has not “caught on” as much in the Midwest as in other areas of the country, she hopes her business can help make it easier for those making the switch.

She also plans to team up with an upcoming business, ZW Mercantile, to educate the community on why sustainability matters.

“In ensuring that everything here is fair trade and sustainable, I hope it makes it easier for a person to make that choice so you don’t even have to think about it. … If you make it easier for people to shop that way, they don’t have to think about it or check every tag, because everything will already be that way.

“In doing that, I can educate people on why it’s important to shop this way and how we can. If you’re buying higher quality items and

less of them, that can be more sustainable in the long run.”

To top it all off, Dirks said she is also introducing a new styling service, where she will visit a customer’s closet and help them achieve their goals — whether that’s finding their personal style, deciding what pieces to donate, choosing new pieces or learning how to better accessorize.

“If you are buying higher-quality pieces, and you learn how to make it work in your closer with different accessories and styling them to look different, then you can buy less and reduce your carbon footprint,” Dirks said.

According to Dirks, the new brands are already beginning to trickle in. She plans to hold an event later in the year, once she has finished transitioning her inventory, to introduce the store’s new shift with the community.

“Doing one little thing like that, bringing your own jars to the grocery store or buying a sweater where you know it’s fair trade, it may seem insignificant. But if every single person did one or two more things like that, that’s when it really explodes and becomes a movement,” Dirks said. “I’ve accepted that, no matter how this goes, I have to do it. I don’t feel right about it if I don’t.”

We the Dreamerz is located at 301 Main St. in Ames. Photo by Kylee Mullen/Gannett

FACETS | MARCH 2020 | 11

Spotlight

Reiman Gardens celebrating 25th year with ‘Wild and Whimsical’ displays

By Kylee Mullen Gannett

“Magical Fairy Woodland” is on display in the Hughes Conservatory as part of Reiman Gardens’ 2020 “Wild and Whimsical” theme.

Photo by Kylee Mullen/Gannett

R

eiman Gardens has a lot to celebrate this year and is kicking it off strong with back-to-back exhibits, a new garden space and a “Wild and Whimsical” theme.

Maria Teply, communications coordinator for Reiman Gardens, said the theme was chosen because “there’s going to be lots of celebrations and fun had” due to the garden’s 25th anniversary this year.

“We’re going to have a 25th birthday party in August, and that will be a lot of fun. There will also be some great displays out in the gardens and some indoor displays as well,” Teply said.

The first display of the year, “Magical Fairy Woodland,” opened in Hughes Conservatory in January, with a “delightful realm of tiny plants, imagination and wonder to discover fairy secrets, including how fairies rely on small animals, adapt like plants, inspire innovation in humans and even travel the world,” a media release said.

With white, pink, purple and yellow flowers, including orchids and tulips, the display is “sure to delight wee folk of all kinds.”

Starting May 16 until July 5, sculptures constructed entirely of LEGO bricks will fill the gardens during the latest and last series of “Nature Connects: Art with LEGO Bricks.”

Ed Lyon, director of Reiman Gardens, said the sculptures will feature threatened, endangered and extinct creatures such as polar bears, a dodo bird, a chameleon and a rhino. Though the Nature Connect series has been at the gardens before, this year’s display will be all-new and never before seen in the Ames community.

“This exhibit was actually created for zoos, and it will be entirely different from what the public has seen in the 12 | FACETS | MARCH 2020

past,” Lyon said. “We think it will be a great draw for families because everybody loves LEGO bricks, and this connects LEGO bricks with nature. It is also teaching people about the animals they represent.”

Teply said one sculpture in particular is of a “disappearing rhinoceros,” where you see a fully intact rhino from one angle but a disappearing one from another.

“It conveys the message that these animals are precious to us, and we need to keep them here as long as possible,” Teply said. “We are very focused on sustainability here at Reiman Gardens, so that is a great tie to it.”

Then, from July 8 until Oct. 4, human-scale frog sculptures, crafted from copper by artist J.A. Cobb, will take over with “Ribbit the Exhibit.”

“It’s a really cute exhibit, the frogs, and it’s done really well in other public gardens,” Lyon said. “That’s where the whimsy and the wild comes in. It’s about providing our public, our community, with world-class exhibits. These are exhibits that travel all over the country, so they are providing that opportunity to our public.”

According to Teply, this will be the first time Reiman Gardens will have two exhibits in one year, and she

“Magical Fairy Woodland” is on display in the Hughes Conservatory as part of Reiman Gardens’ 2020 “Wild and Whimsical” theme.

Photo by Kylee Mullen/Gannett encourages community members to come out more than once to see all the gardens have to offer throughout the year.

Plus, Lyon said, the public will also be able to view its all-new, long-awaited garden space, Sycamore Falls, soon.

Sycamore Falls, a key component of Reiman Garden’s 20-year master plan which has been under construction for

REIMAN GARDENS, continued from page 12

Spotlight

nearly three years, will feature a few new paths, thousands of flowers and an original, custom-built tower. Despite numerous setbacks due to the weather, the garden space is expected to open sometime between July and October this year.

“We can’t really put an exact date on when it’s going to open because there is still a lot of work they have to do in the spring, and construction is very weather-oriented,” Lyon said. “When it does open, it will add to our recognition as a public garden. … This garden will have features that will rival even some of the best gardens in the country.”

Lyon said Sycamore Falls, which takes up about three acres, will be filled with new plants and new learning opportunities. Its 42-foot tower will be easily seen from the intersection of Mortensen Avenue and University Avenue and will “become an iconic structure for the entrance to the university.”

“It’s going to be an exciting year with lots of changes. I think if people haven’t been here recently, they’re going to want to check us out because we’ve made major changes,” Lyon said. “We are continually changing, and we have lots to offer.”

FACETS | MARCH 2020 | 13

Feature

Gina Kahler holds a portrait of two cardinals she painted. She attributes this painting for getting initial interest in her art and eventually starting her business. Photo by David Mullen/Gannett

A portrait of a dog that Gina Kahler painted.

Contributed by Gina Kahler

Boone woman’s love of art is paying off

By David Mullen Gannett

F

or as long as Boone resident Gina Kahler can remember, art has been a positive influence in her life.

As a child, for Christmas and birthdays, she would frequently ask for markers and other various art supplies, while other children only wanted toys and bikes, Kahler said. Her interest in art began as a young child and blossomed into a love of hers, and then into a career as Kahler began Made by Gina nearly four years ago.

Although Kahler has made a career out of painting portraits, business cards and pillows, the love of art as a hobby runs in her bloodline.

While growing up in Lincoln, Neb., her grandmother and great-grandmother, both named Mary, began sharing their love and talent of various types of artwork like oil paintings with her. Since then, something about her greatgrandmother’s work has always stuck with her. “(She) had an album … like a scrapbook. She was very poor and unable to afford an actual book to sketch in, so she would use her old schoolbooks and would paste pictures in them,” Kahler said. “I remember always looking at those when I would visit her, and after she passed my grandmother gave me the album.”

Since receiving that album, a lot has changed in Kahler’s life. She moved to Iowa, got married in 2016 and had her first child, Sterling, a year later.

But in 2016, she decided to start sharing her love of art with the world on social media through Made by Gina.

And those who saw her work were drawn to it.

14 | FACETS | MARCH 2020

Gina Kahler and her husband, Jeremy and son, Sterling.

Contributed by Gina Kah “Someone posted a piece of art that she did on Facebook, and I checked out her page and found that the way she does paintings and drawings was something I truly liked,” said Sue Wakerley, a customer from Vacaville, Calif. “When I

Feature

BOONE ARTIST, continued from page 14

looked at it, it made me smile, and that’s something we need in the world now.”

Wakerley has bought five portraits for her home from Made by Gina and has bought multiple gifts for her friends of portraits of their dogs and even a pillow.

What started as a way to share her hobby with the world has turned into a following that touches every corner of the United States. In November after the number of orders for pet portraits and butterfly and bird drawings continued to grow, with the support of her husband, Jeremy, Kahler decided to quit her job at Lowe’s as an administrative clerk and turned her hobby into a full-time job.

Since leaving Lowes’, Kahler has been finishing three to five portraits a week in her studio room in her house.

A fellow resident of Boone, Megan Hicks, after spending time contemplating getting a tattoo of her dog, Eddie, heard about Kahler and the rest was history.

“When I saw Gina’s work, I thought it was a great way to capture the spirit of my boy in a way that will still last forever,” Hicks said.

Although those who have purchased her work have witnessed the “beauty” and “softness” that is displayed in each finished product, Kahler gets to witness the reactions of each customer, which is as rewarding as making a living by doing the thing she loves most.

“It’s so much more rewarding to me because I’m doing something I love, but also seeing how much happiness and joy my art brings to other people, especially with pet portraits is very moving,” Kahler said.

Originally Kahler created portraits using acrylics but has since shifted to watercolors, which is harder to use because you have “one shot,” Kahler said.

Even though a lot has changed for Kahler over the last several years, she says without her husband or grandmother, a career as an artist would not have been possible.

“Just growing up around (my grandmother) and seeing her love for art that was a big inspiration for me, and of course my family has always been very supportive of me. My husband has been pushing me for years to really pursue (this dream), but I didn’t feel like I had the confidence to do it, ” Kahler said. “He gave me that drive.”

For more information on Kahler and her products, she encouraged people to browse through her Facebook page: Made by Gina.

A pasted image of a horse in Gina Kahler’s great-grandmother’s old schoolbooks. Contributed by Gina Kahler

“It’s so much more rewarding to me because I’m doing something I love, but also seeing how much happiness and joy my art brings to other people, especially with pet portraits is very moving,” Kahler said.

FACETS | MARCH 2020 | 15

Spotlight

Making an impact

By Kylee Mullen Gannett

T

he sun was shining on the morning of Feb. 6 as 10-year-old Jack Hellman went downhill skiing for the first time in his life at Seven Oaks Recreation in Boone.

His mom, Sheryl Hellman, said the opportunity was “wonderful.”

“We have other kids who can ski, but Jack has always had to go on the tubes. He’s never been able to ski before,” said Hellman, who was able to ski down the slope alongside her son and an Adaptive Adventures ski instructor. “He’s played Wii games, like Wii Ski, and he loves it. I think he has always wanted to do the real thing.”

Jack was one of 36 athletes who participated in the eighth-annual Winter Ski Experience in February, held

by Ames-based nonprofit Adaptive Sports Iowa in collaboration with Adaptive Adventures at Seven Oaks Recreation. The three-day event allows people of all ages with a physical or vision disability to learn how to ski using adaptive equipment.

Hannah Lundeen, Adaptive Sports Iowa coordinator, said providing that opportunities for individuals like Jack is “incredibly rewarding.” The oldest athlete who participated during the event, she said, was a 97-year-old veteran, and the youngest participant was 10.

“It’s really cool to see some of our participants being able to ski with their families. So many people take that for granted because they can come out and ski with their family any time they want to,” Lundeen said. “Being able to come and bring that in so parents can ski down a hill with their kid, when they never thought that it was possible — I just

Athletes and instructors ride the ski lift to the top of the slope during the Adaptive Sports Iowa Winter Ski Experience Feb. 6 at Seven Oaks Recreation in Boone.

Photo by Kylee Mullen/Gannett love being able to help break down those barriers so that can happen.”

That is why, according to Seven Oaks Recreation owner Joel Byran, the event is “by far our favorite event.”

“It means the world to us, to be able to offer an opportunity for all these kids and adults — it’s the experience of a lifetime for a lot of them,” Bryan said. “It’s a chance for us to really make an impact. What it means to the kids, their parents, and the adults who participate, it’s

“It means the world to us, to be able to offer an opportunity for all these kids and adults — it’s the experience of a lifetime for a lot of them,” Bryan said.

Jack Hellman, 10, skis down a slope with Adaptive Adventures instructor Monica Javaay during the Adaptive Sports Iowa Winter Ski Experience at Seven Oaks Recreation in Boone on Feb. 6. Photo by Kylee Mullen/Gannett 16 | FACETS | MARCH 2020

Spolight everything to them.”

Registration for next year’s Adaptive Sports Iowa Winter Ski Experience is expected to open in November, Lundeen said.

Quinton Munson, 15, skis down a slope with Adaptive Adventures instructor Nancy Wilder during the Adaptive Sports Iowa Winter Ski Experience at Seven Oaks Recreation in Boone. Munson said his favorite thing about skiing is, “the speed, getting to go really fast.”

Photo by Kylee Mullen/Gannett

FACETS | MARCH 2020 | 17

Feature

Clouds owner Yann Queckenstedt, back right, sits with employees at the European-style cafe, which is located at 119 Stanton Ave. on the seventh floor of Legacy Tower in Campustown. Contributed photo

Campustown cafe offers unique experience above the Clouds

By Kylee Mullen Gannett

A

recently-opened, European-style cafe in Campustown is proving that even the sky is not a limitation.

Clouds, which quietly opened its doors on the seventh floor of Legacy Tower at 119 Stanton Ave. in October, sits “100 feet above,” offering incredible views of Iowa State University’s campus, unique food and drink items, and an atmosphere that “makes you feel like you’ve traveled, like you’re not in Ames anymore.”

And, if you ask Clouds owner Yann Queckenstedt, that is just the beginning of what the cafe has to offer.

Yann, a native of France, pursuing a PhD in hospitality management at ISU, first came to Ames about three years ago. He had been working within the hospitality industry — from hotels to restaurants within France, Switzerland, Germany, England and Spain — for roughly 15 years, and decided it was time to further pursue his studies.

He was accepted into an online and distance learning program at ISU’s Apparel, Events and Hospitality Management Department, where he spent three weeks during the summer on campus. After his first summer

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term, “I really liked it, and actually wished I could stay,” but he later returned to Davos, Switzerland, where he managed about 15 hotels. Following his third summer term at the university, he decided it was time to make a more permanent move.

“I made the decision to quit my job there, leave my apartment and move to Ames,” he said. “I made the move here a year and a half ago. … I was doing a lot of studying and research, but I missed the working part. I thought, ‘Maybe I can check around, and maybe I will see something that would be great to open.’ I didn’t know what, whether it would be a hotel, a cafe or a restaurant, but I wanted to check it out.”

Yann started touring different properties within the community and, in December 2018, was shown the space atop Legacy Tower, which had been vacant since Legends American Grill left Ames in 2012. When he saw it, he couldn’t understand why it has been closed for as long as it has, and he wanted to open it for the public to enjoy once again.

“It has such a beautiful view, and I was very inspired. I

Feature

Clouds quietly opened its doors in October. The European-style cafe is open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday through Friday, and from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

Contributed photo basically created the concept based on the space,” Yann said. “Due to my experience — all of the places I’ve been working, living and traveling, mostly in Europe — I had a vision of what could be in this space. I thought, ‘I am going to do what I do best and bring a little bit of my story, a little bit of my travels and a little bit of my culinary art to Ames, and to this space specifically.’”

The idea, he said, was fairly simple: to create a place capable of welcoming anyone and everyone; to provide the community with healthy and unique dishes, made with highest quality, which would transport them to another place. It is more than just a cafe, more than a coffee shop, he said, but a place where people can gather, drink coffee, eat food and “escape the stress of every day.”

“I wanted it to be very unique, because if people are going to come to the seventh floor, it has to be for a reason,” Yann said.

“That’s the roots of the project. I visited this place, I was inspired and I designed something that would be open to everyone.”

When Yann opened the cafe in October, it was with a limited menu where new items were slowly introduced. In January, Clouds began to offer an enhanced lunch menu with European appetizers, salads, soups, main dishes and desserts, which are available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Everything — including the salad dressings, coffee syrups and bread dough — is made from scratch, without preservatives, using traditional recipes.

Plus, Yann said, every menu item, including the honey goat cheese salad, flammkuchen and quiche Lorraine, has a history behind it. Even the coffee has a story.

Clouds partners with Cafe El Zapote, a nonprofit in Ames which supports impoverished communities in Honduras, to provide its coffee. The nonprofit practices direct trade to maximize sustainability and profit, providing fair wage to farmers, and donates additional proceeds to the Dulce Nombre Foundation that aids in the surrounding communities.

When customers walk into Clouds, they can choose to experience a traditional sit-down meal on the first floor, or they can

find a cozy place on the second level to wind down. Yann said he hopes the cafe’s atmosphere can help visitors “travel to a destination where they can find peace in themselves with no rush.”

And — if the food options, drinks, atmosphere and view are not enough — Clouds still has more to offer the Ames community, Yann said. It also offers private events and in-house event catering, and other new offerings are on the way.

“Clouds will always bring little surprises. I’m a very creative person, and I’ve been inspired now for years. I have a lot of things I want to do, but it is very important to know that these things take time to be well done. Everyone has to be patient, me too, because I have ideas that I already want to put into place, but I have to give myself time if I want them to be successful,” Yann said.

One new offering, is exclusive Saturday night dinners, where themed menus will be placed online weeks in advance and reservations will be required “to guarantee the high level of service.” Yann said he traveled to France, Spain and Switzerland over the winter break to meet with chefs, and “together, designed great menu items” for the dinners.

Another addition will be the sale of packaged chocolates, macaroons and pastries. Small bottles of Clouds’ hand-crafted coffee syrups and other goods will also be available, and Yann makes pastries such as birthday and graduation cakes to order.

“The name Clouds is not just because we are 100 feet above, but also because clouds keep changing. They have different shapes, different forms, and they always have the freedom of interpretation.

That’s what I want it to be like here,” Yann said. “I give them a ticket to Europe, and they pick the city, they pick who they want to bring with them, and they pick the memory.

“That’s Clouds. It’s always slowly changing, there are always new things, and I can bring a taste to customers on the plate where they get the freedom to decide how they want to feel.”

Clouds is open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday through Friday, and from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The cafe is closed on Monday.

Clouds is located at 119 Stanton Ave. on the seventh floor of Legacy Tower in Campustown. Contributed photo

FACETS | MARCH 2020 | 19

Savor

Fondue may feel retro, but sharing a pot of hot, melted cheese is timeless. Photo by Tom McCorkle for The Washington Post

Fondue may feel retro, but sharing a pot of hot, melted cheese is timeless

By Becky Krystal The Washington Post

D

id fondue ever really go away?

Did cheese go away? Did wine go away?

Did Switzerland go away? Did people’s love of melted cheese go away?

The answer is an emphatic “no” to all of the above, and yet fondue does have a trapped in amber — er, congealed cheese — reputation.

“Fondue is a conjurer of the past, a food trend that exists primarily in memory, often decades removed from the last time you ate it,” writes David Sax in “The Tastemakers: Why We’re Crazy for Cupcakes but Fed Up With Fondue,” his 2014 book about food trends. “You hear its name and picture ski lodges, a fog of stinky cheese, crackling fireplaces, shag carpets, and Burt Reynolds lying there, shirtless and with a long-stemmed fork in his hand.”

Well, friends for better (or worse?), I’m leaving Burt out of the picture, but I am going to show you how to make

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good fondue, regardless of whatever decade you want to channel.

The reason is simple, as executive chef David Fritsche of Washington’s Swiss-themed restaurant Stable succinctly explains. “It’s good. It’s cozy. … It is very accessible.” It’s also very fun.

Fondue is so accessible in part because of its probable origins as a 19th-century peasant food, created as a way to use up stale bread and scraps of cheese. “It comes from a poor man’s history,” Fritsche says.

After that, we can trace its spread to the Swiss Cheese Union, a powerful cheesemaker cartel that wanted to not only control the country’s supply of cheese (specifically Emmentaler, Gruyere and Sbrinz) but push its consumption.

So, ta-da, fondue suddenly became what all the cool cats did in their stylish clothes — après-ski, of course. This is the kind of image, probably with ‘70s-era clothes, that you

Savor may picture when you think of fondue. New York restaurants such as Chalet Suisse and Swiss Pavilion also helped cement its popularity, especially in the 1950s and 1960s. (Anne’s Reader Exchange, a regular feature in The Washington Post way back in the day, featured a fondue recipe from Swiss Pavilion in 1959.)

In the intervening decades, people have declared fondue over.

And then back. And gone again. And so on. I’m not going to make such grand proclamations, although I have to say I was pleasantly surprised when a call-out for props on my neighborhood mom’s group resulted in a chorus of people who said they regularly use their sets.

Thankfully, you don’t need a set — or bouffant — to make and enjoy a pot of delicious, warm cheese.

CLASSIC SWISS FONDUE

4 to 6 servings Here is a simple, no-frills fondue that is cozy and comforting.

This recipe, cribbed from a recipe in The Washington Post archives from 1979, is very much like what you might find served in Switzerland. It uses two typical Swiss cheeses, Emmentaler and Gruyere, but you can experiment with your favorite types. Just try to stay away from anything too hard (Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheddar), and if you prefer softer or bolder varieties (brie, blue), use them as accents at the end.

To be the most accessible, we’ve written this recipe for a Dutch oven. If you have a fondue pot, use it instead.

We found potato starch made for an especially effective thickener that gave the smoothest fondue; you can substitute all-purpose flour.

Cubes of bread are the classic accompaniment, but you can try whatever dippers you like, including boiled potatoes and roasted Brussels sprouts.

INGREDIENTS

8 ounces Emmentaler cheese, shredded or cut into 1/4-inch dice 8 ounces Gruyere cheese, shredded or cut into 1/4-inch dice 1 tablespoon potato starch 2 cloves garlic, one cut in half and one minced 2 cups dry white wine, such as pinot grigio, riesling or sauvignon blanc, plus more as needed 3 to 4 tablespoons kirsch 1/2 teaspoon paprika Pinch freshly grated nutmeg Freshly ground black pepper Steps In a medium bowl, toss the cheeses with the potato starch until the cheese is evenly coated.

Rub the halved garlic all around the inside of an enameled Dutch oven (or fondue pot). Add the wine and bring it to almost a boil over medium heat. You should see some bubbles breaking the surface.

Gradually add the cheese to the pot, stirring constantly with a spatula or wooden spoon. Continue stirring until the cheese is thoroughly melted and the mixture is smooth.

Stir in 3 tablespoon kirsch, the minced garlic, paprika, nutmeg and freshly ground black pepper (to taste). Continue stirring the mixture until it just starts to simmer and thickens. If you dip a piece of bread into the fondue, the cheese should coat it. If you find the mixture is too thick at this point, stir in the additional tablespoon of kirsch and/or additional wine.

Reduce the heat to low and serve, encouraging people to stir and scrape the bottom as they dip into the fondue. (Alternately, if you have a fondue set, place the fondue pot over its heat source.) As time goes on, the fondue will thicken, so you may need to fiddle with the heat, occasionally increasing it and/or adding more wine to maintain a fluid consistency, as desired.

Nutrition (based on 6 servings) | Calories: 380; Total Fat: 23 g; Saturated Fat: 13 g; Sodium: 350 mg; Carbohydrates: 5 g; Dietary Fiber: 0 g; Sugars: 0 g; Protein: 22 g.

FACETS | MARCH 2020 | 21

Savor

Tarte Tatin. Photo by Tom McCorkle for The Washington Post

The upside to tarte tatin: It’s not as hard to make as you think

By Daniela Galarza The Washington Post

S

everal formulas for an apple tart appear in the great canon of French pastry, but only one provokes fear: the tarte tatin, a caramelized apple upside-down pastry. “People think you have to start with a caramel, and that seems to scare them off,” says Renée Senne, a private chef. I used to work for Senne, at the eponymous restaurant she ran for 16 years in Ithaca, New York, and that’s where I learned how to make her tatin — a recipe so marvelously dependable I quickly memorized it. But like almost every other recipe ever invented, there’s more than one way to make a tatin.

According to common lore, the tart is the result of a happy accident at the Hotel Tatin in Lamotte-Beuvron, two hours south of Paris by train. The two sisters who owned the hotel in the 1850s, Stéphanie and Caroline Tatin, were busy one Sunday preparing for a glut of guests. In the kitchen, Stéphanie, in a rush, fitted apples into a pan for an apple tart, forgetting to put the crust in first. She decided to go with it, allegedly caramelizing the apples with butter and sugar on the stove, topping them with the forgotten pastry,

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baking it to set the crust, and then inverting the newly created tarte tatin onto a plate to the delight of all.

Tourists still travel to the Hotel Tatin for its famous tart, which is now made around the world — and at pastry shops up and down the street from the hotel. But almost no one believes this origin story, noting that French recipes for upside-down apple tarts date to the late 1700s, and that cooks in the area surrounding Lamotte-Beuvron, Sologne, have long made an almost identical dish, the tarte solognote.

Two separate regional associations exist solely to promote and protect the tarte tatin, but the Tatin sisters never wrote their recipe down, and probably never gave it its name: That honor goes to the famous French food writer, Curnonsky, who discovered the tart in the 1920s and wrote about le Tarte des Demoiselles Tatin in “Larousse Gastronomique,” first published in 1938.

Nevertheless, the tart’s unique preparation and flavor have turned it into a lasting sensation. If you’ve never had a good one, prepare to be impressed. This is not hyperbole. I served the tart last Thanksgiving, and a guest dropped his

Savor fork after one bite, put his hands up to stop the conversation, and said, “What is this amazing thing, and how did you make it?”

First impressions, in France or at home, are of a dessert that is more than meets the eye: It’s a brown lump — though pastry chefs try to dress it up by cutting the apples decoratively or glazing it so it glistens. But a taste of a good tatin makes the mouth water and puzzles the brain momentarily. You’ve had apples and sugar and butter before, you think, but you’ve never had this. Made from just a handful of ingredients, it gives nothing away because it’s all in the technique — and one that’s easily mastered at home. ^ Galarza is a writer, reporter and former pastry chef. She is based in New York City. ^

TARTE TATIN

Active: 2 hours | Total: 3 hours 8 to 10 servings After testing this recipe, food writer Daniela Galarza says Golden Delicious apples turned out the best tarte tatin, although Red Delicious, Honeycrisp and Gala also work.

If any apples stick to the pan after it is inverted, use a spatula or spoon to gently retrieve them and add them to any spare areas on the tart.

Make Ahead: The apples can be cooked on the stove top and then cooled, covered and refrigerated in the pan for up to 2 days.

Rewarm over low heat before proceeding with the recipe.

Ingredients 1 recipe pie dough, homemade or store-bought 8 large Golden Delicious apples (about 1800 grams or 4 pounds) 7 tablespoons (100 grams) unsalted butter, cut into pieces 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar Vanilla ice cream, creme fraiche, creme anglaise or caramel sauce for serving (optional)

STEPS

Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out the pie dough on a lightly floured surface to about 1/8- to 1/4-inch thick. Take the skillet you will cook the apples in and place it upside down on the pastry, then use a sharp knife to cut around the perimeter of the skillet. Refrigerate the dough circle until ready to use.

Use a vegetable peeler to peel the apples. Cut the apples in half from top to bottom through their core. Using a melon baller, scoop out the seeds from each half. Using a small sharp knife, trim away any core or stem.

In an ovenproof 10-inch, stainless steel — nonstick or not — high-sided skillet, over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Turn off the heat and sprinkle the sugar over the melted butter, letting it completely absorb, until it looks like wet sand.

Arrange 13 apple halves, stem side down, atop the sugar and butter in a circle at the perimeter of the pan. Apples should be nestled very tightly together. Fit the remaining three apple halves into the center. (If you can’t fit all the apple pieces in, continue with the recipe; you’ll be able to add additional halves as the fruit cooks and starts to shrink.)

Over medium-low heat, bring the mixture to a rapid simmer for about 5 minutes. Turn the heat to very low, and cook, rotating the pan occasionally, for 60 to 70 minutes. (Within the first 10 minutes of cooking, the apples will begin to shrink. This is when

you can wiggle any additional pieces into the pan.) Keep an eye on the apples as they cook. They will release their juices as the sugar begins to caramelize. Lower the heat further if the juices start to bubble up over the side of the pan. As the apples shrink, with a spoon or spatula, coax them to lean on one another, as this will produce a prettier tart once inverted.

After about 1 hour, the apples will have shrunk significantly.

Using a fork or tongs, gently pluck one out to check the color. The parts of the apples that were in contact with the pan should be between toasted hazelnut and deep chestnut in color. Turn off the heat, and cool slightly, at least 30 minutes. (At this point, the apples may be cooled, covered and refrigerated in the pan for up to 2 days.

Rewarm over low heat before proceeding with the recipe.)

Place the rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees.

Retrieve the dough from the refrigerator and gently lay it over the apples.

Place the skillet on a large, rimmed baking sheet and put it in the oven. Bake the tart 35 to 40 minutes, until the pastry is the color of almond skin.

Let the tart cool in the pan for 1 to 2 minutes. Place a plate that’s slightly larger than the skillet on top, ensuring that the rim clears the edge of the skillet on all sides. Using oven mitts, grip the pan in one hand and plate in the other and, over a sink, quickly and carefully flip the hot skillet — away from you — so the tart inverts onto the plate.

The tart may have shifted in its descent; use a spoon to nudge the apples back into formation. Let cool for at least 20 minutes, then serve as is, or with vanilla ice cream, creme fraiche, creme anglaise or caramel sauce.

Nutrition (based on 10 servings) | Calories: 420; Total Fat: 21 g; Saturated Fat: 14 g; Cholesterol: 55 mg; Sodium: 140 mg; Carbohydrates: 56 g; Dietary Fiber: 4 g; Sugars: 38 g; Protein: 3 g.

(Adapted by Daniela Galarza from recipes created by Jacques Torres, Fernand Chambrette and Renée Senne.)

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