Austin Living - Spring 2013

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EDITOR’S NOTE Austin is growing. bring a better quality of life to Austin. As the For longtime residents who remember executive director of the Paramount Theatre, the busy 1950s and ‘60s, that fact may seem Knoebel is spearheading many intriguing inilike a distant dream. But the sure, strong tiatives to help Austin blossom as an arts growth in this part of Minnesota is a certain community. What’s more, she’s an Austin reality, and it’s one we as Austinites should High School graduate and a hometown celebrate. woman who is quite grateful to give back to There’s a spirit of excitement throughout the community. Read her story on page 48. the city as more busiOf course, so nesses open, more much hard work depeople move into the serves a little vacaarea, and more opportion every now and tunities come to then. Need a few tips Austin. on the best way to That’s where travel? Susan Olson, Austin Living comes a vacation fanatic, is in. We recognize how just the expert to proud Austinites are of consult for great gettheir hometown, their away ideas. Her tips contributions to sociand travel experiety, and the jobs they ences can be found hold. We know how on page 56. Then many recreational opagain, if you’re lookportunities this city ing for something a holds, how so many little closer to home, wonderful artists, we have three gordreamers, entrepregeous bed and breakneurs and planners fasts less than 20 work to make this city miles from Austin to better. That’s why show you, starting we’re so pleased to inon page 34.

Julie Brunner is a couples counselor in troduce Austin Living Of course, we’ve Austin who talks about the benefits of being in love, such as how it helps your Magazine, a spotlight included various health and psyche. on the great things tips, secrets and adPage 26 happening in our comvice many local exmunity. perts have on a variety of subjects, from your We have community leaders like Dr. Ann hair to your garden.

Bode, who helps lead The Hormel Institute.

Whether you’re new to Austin or a longShe came to Austin after a long career in time Packer, it’s an exhilarating time to live high school and college athletics, switching right here. We’re honored careers to focus on medical research. She to share a little peek into shares her amazing journey on page 43.

Austin Living with you, in Of course, we have homegrown treasures this and many issues to like Jennie Knoebel leading the charge to come.

Trey Mewes, Editor

PUBLISHER Dave Churchill EDITORIAL Editor Trey Mewes Contributing Writers Kevin Coss Adam Harringa Matt Peterson Jason Schoonover Rocky Hulne Photographer Eric Johnson ART Art Director/Story Layout Colby Hansen Graphic Designers Susan Downey Colby Hansen Kathy Johnson Kristin Overland SALES & PROMOTION Sales Representatives Jana Gray SPRING 2013 Volume 1, Number 1 EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE: Editors, Austin Living, 310 2nd Street NE, Austin, MN 55912.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted or reproduced without written permission.

For comments, suggestions or story ideas call 507-434-2230.

To purchase advertising, call 507-434-2220 © A Minnesota Publishers Inc. publication

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AUSTIN LIVING | SPRING 2013

features

on the cover

INSIDE

Expanding the arts Jennie Knoebel is giving back to the community she grew up in by bringing more arts opportunities to Austin.

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LOVE ON TRACK A local counselor shares how couples can repair their relationships.

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LOCAL RESPITE Three bed and breakfasts have everything you need for a quick vacation.

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ACROSS THE FIELD Dr. Ann Bode took an indirect path to becoming a top Hormel Institute researcher.

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GLOBAL GETAWAY One local travel lover shares her far-off adventures and vacation secrets.

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departments

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HOME & HEARTH AUSTIN PACKERS TRIP TO STATE The Austin High School boys basketball team’s amazing state tournament run.

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PAINT THE TOWN PINK A look at the events that brought in more than $110,000 for cancer research.

10 SWEETHEART DINNER The Hormel Historic Home hosts a lovely Valentine’s Day party.

14 AUSTIN HOME & VACATION SHOW All the fun and excitement of the annual home and vacation extravaganza.

16 WEDDINGS & ENGAGEMENTS Celebrating love and Austin Living.

18 HIP HOUSE

OUT & ABOUT 26 EXERCISE FOR TWO

This Austin woman found the perfect old home made new.

20 PLANNING YOUR GARDEN PLOTS

These local couples found great ways to exercise together.

29 STYLE CHIC

Randy Berg shares four great ways to spruce up your garden this spring.

An area stylist has just what you need to look your best this season.

22 PLATE LICKIN’ GOOD Two local sisters share their gluten-free cooking secrets.

extras

SEEN

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53 WHERE TO BUY: WINE FOR ANY OCCASION

60 BOOK REVIEW: “SAFE HAVEN” BY NICHOLAS SPARKS

62 AREA HAPPENINGS: UPCOMING EVENTS

64 FINAL WORD: WHAT MAKES AUSTIN SPECIAL?

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SEEN | Austin Packers Boys Basketball The Austin High School boys basketball team found amazing success this season, going 28-0 in the regular season and securing its second Section 1AAA title in a row. The Packers were seeded No. 2 in this year’s Class AAA state tournament, beating The Blake School 59-56 and Marshall High School 68-65 in back-to-back nailbiters. Austin finished second in the tournament after losing to the De LaSalle Islanders 50-33 on March 23 in the title game.

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(1) The Austin crowd rises to its feet during overtime as Austin takes control on the way to a 68-65 win in the Class AAA semifinals at the Minnesota State Boys Basketball Tournament at the Target Center. (2) The Austin bench waits in anticipation as the Packers wrap up their overtime win in the semifinals against Marshall. (3) Austin fans get rowdy before the start of the semifinal game. (4) Austin’s Zach Wessels holds up a fist after the Packers defeat Marshall. (5) Austin and Marshall get ready for a jump ball in a semifinal game. (6) Members of the Austin basketball team pose with their Class AAA Minnesota State Boys Basketball runner-up plaque as families and friends take pictures during a welcome home. (7) Austin fans cheer after the Packers defeat Red Wing for the Section 1AAA championship at the Mayo Civic Center. (8) Austin fans get wild during the Packers’ quarterfinal game with The Blake School.(9) Austin band member William Bjorndal plays the cymbal during the championship game. (10) Austin fans cheer during the championship game against De LaSalle at the Target Center.

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SEEN | Paint The Town Pink Local residents came together during the second annual Paint the Town Pink event this February. The event, a spinoff of the Austin Bruins’ Paint the Rink Pink, raised more than $110,000 for The Hormel Institute to support breast cancer research. Organizers say this year’s Paint the Town Pink was a great success and plan to add even more events in 2014.

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(1) The Bruins’ Nolan Kirley plays the part of Hulk Hogan during the jersey auction, part of Paint the Rink Pink at Riverside Arena this year. (2) Goalies Jason Pawloski, from left, Nick Lehr and Garrett Patrick perform “Gangnam Style” by Psy. (3) Austin goalie Jason Pawloski makes a save on Brookings’ Thomas Williams during a shootout this season. (4) Paul Kuehneman of Rose Creek bids on Jay Dickman’s jersey during the auction. (5) Mackenzie Sikora, 8, punches through the ice of a fishing hole at East Side Lake during Fishing for a Cure, which also benefits The Hormel Institute. (6) Bruiser the Bear takes part in the opening lineups before the Austin Packers’ Paint the Gym Pink night. (7) A large crowd remained on hand for the jersey auction after Austin’s win. (8) Jerry Ulwelling takes a head-first plunge during the Polar Plunge for Pink, another fundraiser for The Hormel Institute. (9) A woman taking part in the plunge heads immediately to the hottub after getting out of the freezing lake. (10) Judy Enright’s face says it all as she emerges from the chilly waters. (11) Mower County Coordinator Craig Oscarson warms up in a hot tub after his dip in East Side Lake. (12) Dr. Zigang Dong, executive director of The Hormel Institute, shakes hands with Jocelyn Sheehan and other Austin girls basketball players after they present a check for $800, raised during their Shoot for a Cure night. (13) Organizers and participants in this year’s Paint the Town Pink pose with a check for $110,500.

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SEEN | Sweetheart Dinner The Hormel Historic Home hosted a Sweetheart Dinner for local couples in love this past Valentine’s Day. More than 60 people from southern Minnesota attended a wine tasting, a three-course meal and entertainment provided by Minnesota band The River Rats.

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(1) Lee and Bryant Helgeson celebrate Valentine’s Day together at the Sweetheart Dinner. (2) Amanda Fett and Cole Barber get some refreshments. (3) Nick and Shannon Henricks enjoy appetizers. (4) Mary Kay Wilson, Marijo Alexander, and Sue and Vern Grove taste some of the wine offered. (5) Peggy Drennan, Holly Johnson, Debbie Binder, Robin Akkerman, Amy Swedberg and Pearl Schieck have a laugh together. (6) Liza Harrington and Neal Underdahl take a break from their meal.

(7) Karla and John Carroll chat with Tom and Donna Maas. (8) Jim and Merlene Stiles enjoy some appetizers. (9) Holly and Mike Johnson take a break from chatting with other guests.

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March 1-May 1, 2013 Venture Crew 2189 I-TRIathlon Complete this triathlon at your own pace! Youth from 7th grade-up and adults are invited. Event ends May 31. Call Doug at 641-832-8018 to register.

June 14 & June 28 at Osage City Park, 6pm-10pm Friday Night Out in City Park FUN for the whole family! Food and drinks, kids’ activities & live music.

June 21 City of Maples Golf Outing Bring a team and hit the greens at Sunny Brae Golf Course—Osage’s 9-hole, 70-acre course nestled in the bluffs of the Cedar River.

June 22 6th Annual BRAM-Bike Ride Around Mitchell County All levels and ages of bicyclists invited! Choose from 5-mile to 70-mile routes around scenic Mitchell County.

Plan your weekend in Osage!

OsageChamber.com 641-732-3163

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SEEN | Austin Home & Vacation Show More than 120 exhibitors flooded Packer Arena for the 39th annual Austin Home & Vacation Show from March 22 to 24. Hundreds of residents got tips, ideas and packages for many home necessities, as well as more than $10,000 in prizes.

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(1) An area Girl Scout. (2) Bruiser and Brittany Arendt-Low from the Austin Bruins. (3) Josh from Dolan’s Landscaping Center. (4) Cory Squier and Andrew Comstock from Sears Hometown Store. (5) Steve Hutchinson from Hutch & Sons Builders. (6) Dr. Mark Reeve from Reeve Chiropractic. (7) Danny Ruroden and Mark Walski from the Austin Police Department. (8) Joe Huffman from Thoroughbred Carpets.

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SEEN | Area Weddings & Engagements

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(1) Mark and Hannah Ratigan, both of Austin. (2) Nikki and Zack Strand, both of Austin. (3) Evan and Nicole Sorenson, both of Austin.

(4) Kathryn Gavin, formerly of Austin, and Casey Reeder, formerly of Glenville. (5) John and Kelly Downey, both of Austin, celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary. (6) Jessa Touchton and Zach Johnson, both of Austin.

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• Scenic, wooded location along the Cedar River • 24 hour safety, temperature & alarm protection • Tender, loving care from an experienced staff • Very clean, spacious, modern facilities • 5,000 square foot doggy playground • Many activities for your K9 kids • Heated & air conditioned • Pet gift shop • Multi-pet discount • Residence on-site “Our large, individual, indoor/outdoor runs allow your pet unlimited freedom to exercise outside!”

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HOME & HEARTH

Robin Airey talks about the opportunity to purchase her home through the Housing Improvement Program.

The main floor bathroom in Airey’s home.

One Austin woman has a new lease on comfort after buying a renovated home

BY ROCKY HULNE • PHOTOS

BY

ERIC JOHNSON

Robin Airey found an older home made new last year, and she couldn’t be happier with it.

Airey bought the first house under the Austin Housing and Redevelopment Authority’s Housing Improvement Project this past fall, and she has enjoyed her new home for the past four months. The home was initially built in 1915, but it was sitting vacant before the HRA bought it in 2011 and fixed it up last year.

Airey saw the home, located at 1003 Eighth Ave. NW, during its renovation and immediately decided to pursue it.

“I was keeping my eye out for just the right place,” she said. “When I saw this house I began working on finances and was keeping my fingers crossed.”

The home still has its original wood floors and the Riverland Community College carpentry program put in all new cabinets. The home now has a furnished basement, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, a dining room and a family room.

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The living room of Airey’s home is roomy and comfortable, feeling complete with paintings by Ryan Heath from Heath Studios.

Airey’s kitchen features wooden cabinets and all kinds of kitchen fineries.

“I feel like I won the lottery. There were like 35 people interested in the house,” Airey said. “I was looking for a place that has all the important things up to date. They redid the plumbing, the wiring and the insulation. It wasn’t a fixer upper, because they had fixed it up.”

Airey has lived in Austin for 15 years, previously renting a smaller apartment. She was drawn to Austin by all of the community’s amenities, specifically its community college and its arts scene. Yet during that time, she found family visits were outgrowing her apartment. With five children and 12 grandchildren, she’s glad to have more room.

“I went from a three-room apartment to a 10-room house,” she said with a smile.

Airey has also decorated the inside of her home with a local flavor. She has a couple of paintings from Heath’s Studios based out of Albert Lea. She also hopes to get some landscaping done this summer. The home has a fenced in backyard, and she plans on possibly putting up a gazebo and doing some gardening.

“That’s my next big project. I’ll have to do it inch by inch,” she said. “It’s in a wonderful neighborhood and I look forward to bringing the outside of the house up to the standard of the inside.”

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HOME & HEARTH

BY TREY MEWES Local gardening fans and fresh food afficionados are earnestly, almost impatiently waiting for the ground to thaw this spring. The average gardener likely has big plans for his or her patch of dirt this year, but there’s still a few things any garden could use.

From various fruits and vegetables to easy-to-make portable gardens, area gardeners could take a few tips from Randy Berg, owner of Berg’s Nursery. Berg knows a thing or two about planting, and he’s willing to share five must-haves for any garden this spring.

Tomatoes and cucumbers Many people love homemade fruits and vegetables, and tomatoes and cucumbers are among the most popular locally grown foods, according to Berg. Tomatoes can be used to create a variety of yummy treats, from homemade pasta sauce to a little salsa. You can even grow your own herbs to add to the homemade flavor. And the same goes for cucumbers.

Of course, the reason tomatoes and cucumbers are so popular is because the plants are relatively easy to grow, and putting several varieties in the ground results in a good use of your soil.

Hybrid petunias If you’ve ever noticed the beautiful hanging flowers sprinkled throughout downtown Austin, you might recognize the big flower blossoms as petunias.

That’s because they are “the most popular, fast-growing, easy-to-produce plants,” according to Berg. “When we get to August, those plants are 3 feet long.”

Hybrid petunias have been cultivated to maximize its strengths. The plant always produces large blossoms in a short amount of time, and stick around all summer long.

Picking several types of petunias to go along a garden path or hung in boxes is a sure-fire way to find growing success.

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A garden container Think you need to own a big piece of soil to start your own garden? Berg would tell you to buy a container.

“Instead of having a garden, a lot of people are just planting in containers,” he said.

The benefits are simple: With the right soil, drainage, sunlight and watering, a container can hold several types of fruits, vegetables, flowers or other plants to make your own portable garden. Berg recommends a dual-wall plastic container, which will keep the soil insulated, less likely to dry up quickly.

“The bigger the container, the easier for you,” Berg said.

Succulents Sort of like a “cactus without the thorns,” succulents are colorful plants guaranteed to spice up any plant arrangement, according to Berg.

“Succulents are just so cool,” he said.

Since they’re classified in the same plant family as cacti, they’re used to arid conditions and don’t need much water.

They come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, colors, and are the perfect ornamental plant to punch up an arrangement. It usually doesn’t matter what type of soil or sunlight succulents get, either.

“About the only thing you can do wrong is water it too much,” said Berg, who recommends watering them about once a week.

Rhubarb While fruits like blueberries, raspberries, and even some varieties of grapes can flourish in the Minnesota cold, there’s nothing like a good patch of rhubarb in the garden.

Berg said the plant, which has a number of uses in food, is easy to set up. Find the correct planting depth, make sure the rhubarb patch gets a half-day of sunshine in soil that properly drains — but not heavy, clay-like soil — and you’ve got a plant that will stick around for years to come.

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HOME & HEARTH

BY CHERYL HOWARD Welcome to Plate Lickin’ Good, where we share gluten -free recipes to help you make food your family and friends will love. We’re local sisters with Austin ties who share the love of cooking, and the product of that love, with our families and friends. We will also pass along tips we have learned about gluten-free cooking and eating healthy.

Linda’s husband, Jeff, was diagnosed with Celiac disease several years ago, and we had to eliminate gluten from his diet. So we started looking at how to make our favorite homemade recipes gluten free. We experimented with a variety of products, and with the help of Cheryl’s husband, Rich, as a willing participant (although sometimes he doesn’t know what he’s tasting is gluten free) we have remade many of our favorite dishes.

There are probably many things you already know about gluten-free cooking, like shopping outside aisles, reading labels, looking for organically grown foods and foods that have not been genetically altered or contain dyes or preservatives.

While our column will feature gluten-free recipes, it will be very easy to use regular ingredients.

As a bonus, we will also have a “Make Ahead Meal” you can prepare at the same time you are making our featured meal.

This time, we will showcase parmesan chicken and lush lettuce. This would pair nicely with Robert Mondovi Private Selection Meritage wine and a dessert of gluten-free brownies with ice cream and gluten-free caramel sauce.

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LINDA MULLENBACH Enjoy your time in the kitchen and the time you spend sharing these dishes with your family and friends. Until next time, may all of your meals be Plate Lickin’ Good!

Sisters Cher yl Howard, left, and Linda Mullenbach often spend time together in Cher yl’s kitchen preparing gluten-free meals.

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Gluten-Free Bread Crumbs Get a loaf of gluten-free bread from your grocery health market or a whole foods store. You will need about a half of the loaf for 1 cup of bread crumbs. Place the bread on a cookie sheet in a 350 degree oven to dry it out. You should check it every 10 minutes or so and turn it over when the tops feel dried out. Break into smaller pieces and use a blender or food processor to make the crumbs. You can also use a rolling pin and a sealed bag.

Parmesan Chicken and Lush Lettuce

Make Ahead Meal

Dressing: Make the dressing in advance but DO NOT add to salad mix until just before serving. The salad will get very limp if left to sit.

• 3 Tbsp of sugar • 1 Tsp salt • 2 Tsp accent • 1/2 cup of canola oil • 2 Tbsp of cider vinegar • Mix and chill. Shake well before mixing with salad.

Our “Make Ahead Meal” recipe this time is chicken nuggets. These are a major hit with the family and rarely do leftovers make it until lunches the next day. Served with rice and a vegetable, they make a healthy and low fat meal choice.

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3/4 cup egg whites – whisk in 1 tablespoon of water 2 tablespoons of melted butter or olive oil ½ cup grated parmesan cheese 6 – 8 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut in half 1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce (gluten free) 1 cup dried bread crumbs (gluten free) ½ tsp salt

Combine egg whites, Worcestershire sauce and salt. In a plastic bag combine bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. Dip chicken in egg white mixture, and then shake in crumb mixture.

Place in ungreased 9x13 pan. Drizzle with butter or olive oil.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until done. Serve with marinara or spaghetti sauce and noodles. You can make all eight if you would like and freeze half. Put them in a freezer bag after dipping, then thaw in fridge and bake as above.

Chicken Nuggets Double the amount of bread crumbs, but season the second half with 1 teaspoon of onion powder, ½ teaspoon of garlic powder, 1 teaspoon of Lawry’s Season salt. Make another mixture of egg whites and water, but leave out the Worcestershire Sauce. Get 2 or 3 extra chicken breast and cut them in quarter size pieces. Dip them in the egg white mixture and then roll in the bread crumbs. Bake at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes. To test doneness, pick out the biggest piece, cut in half and make sure there is no pink. Let them cool. Place on a cookie sheet in the freezer for about 15 – 20 minutes. Then bag them in a sealed bag and you can use as many as you need, reheat in the oven at 350 for about 10 – 15 minutes. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce.

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OUT & ABOUT

Julie Brunner is a professional counselor in Austin who knows the benefits of being in love, such as how it helps your health and psyche.

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BY ADAM HARRINGA PHOTO BY ERIC JOHNSON Sometimes, when things are finally getting better for couples who were struggling, Julie Brunner can notice the difference the moment they walk through her door.

The tension and the stress is gone, and you can see it in their faces, their voice, their demeanor. They are communicating, working together, and they’re happy.

“People carry that in their face,” said the licensed professional counselor.

“Those are really visible signs. And couples read that from each other.

“They’ll sit together on the couch.

Their body is relaxed.”

Brunner has practiced in Austin for about six years, and couples make up a portion of the work she does here. She earned her master’s degree in counseling from the University of Wisconsin Madison in 1998, which means she has more than 25 years of experience helping people. In that time, she has helped couples work through the stresses of everyday life, communicate better and connect. She sees herself as a guide on a journey many couples must travel. When two partners get to their destination, the payoff is enormous.

“I love helping people become more aware of who they are,” she said. “I get really excited for people when I start to see them just turn the corner. They often

still don’t feel good, and they’re not trusting it, but I know what’s coming for them. There’s opportunities to instill hope because often times they don’t know they’ve made progress.”

Often the progress can seem small, but those small steps are significant.

“People look for the big, huge visible change, but you really need to focus on the steps to get there,” she said.

Once that change occurs, it trickles over to every other area in their lives. For many, it’s easier to sleep, it’s easier to concentrate at work, and their stress level plummets.

“Just knowing it can provide some support, that’s a great de-stresser,” she said. “If you know how to resolve issues, if you know how to treat others respectfully, that’s going to carry over to work.”

And once couples with children work out their issues, Julie said, the kids notice a difference, too.

“The kids’ behavior might start to calm down,” she said. “The kids start commenting on how happy they are, or how it’s so fun to do something together.”

All that leads to a sense of belonging.

“If you look in your partner’s eyes and you see love and acceptance, it really adds to your sense of self worth,” she said. “It helps with your sense of belonging and connectedness.”

—Brunner works out of her office at 11 N. Main St. Suite No. 204. You can call her at 507-219-7959.

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OUT & ABOUT

BY MATT PETERSON PHOTO BY ERIC JOHNSON

Style Lounge stylist Amber Sikora has the scoop on great hair this spring

Amber Sikora, a stylist at the Style Lounge, has been with the salon since it opened in 2010. Like the salon, she is a big supporter of hair-care products that not only make hair look great but won’t damage it.

Amber Sikora is anything but nervous when she grabs a lock of hair and dives in with the scissors. This hairstylist has energy to spare when it comes to making her clients feel more beautiful and confident.

“I’ve been doing hair since 2003,” said Sikora, who has worked for the Style Lounge since it opened in 2010.

Sikora started working out the kinks of hairdressing as early as fifth grade, when she would “fix” little girls’ haircuts. Of course, she ended up ruining her classmates’ haircuts, so she paid to fix them.

It’s been some time since fifth grade, however, and the confident stylist isn’t afraid to take the lead and offer advice about seasonal adjustments to hair color and style.

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OUT & ABOUT

Style Lounge stylist Amber Sikora styles Linda Wendorf's hair.

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Color

Use a conditioning treatment when getting your hair colored.

“I would recommend people get these conditioner treatments with every hair coloring,” Sikora said.

Sikora and the stylists at Style Lounge create custom “conditioning cocktails” for each client that are not only good for hair but protect the life of color, as well.

“Being in the sun more, it does affect the life of your color,” Sikora said.

The Style Lounge offers seven color lines and five lighteners, Sikora added, which can be combined for looks that aren’t too streaky or contrasted. Furthermore, the hair coloring agents themselves use an oil-based delivery system, which further protects the life of the hair.

“It’s a really neat option for people who have special needs for their hair,” Sikora said.

Hairspray

Style Lounge stylists and clients don’t do much digging for the right products anymore. They stick to their guns, or aerosol cans, that is.

There are two sure-fire products Sikora raves about, however: Powder Refresh and Wax Blast No. 10.

Powder Refresh can be applied whether before or after styling, and it further extends the life of your hair. People who use it find they don’t need to shampoo as often, either.

“You are able to skip a day, two, sometimes even three between shampoos,” Sikora said.

After styling Sikora recommends Wax Blast No. 10, and she’s not the only one.

“All of us use it,” Sikora said. “Best hairspray ever,” she added, as others looked as if that were obvious. “I’m not the only one who says that.”

Don’t forget, it’s important to use the right technique when applying hairspray.

“Lift it and spray into it,” she said. “Don’t just spray on top.

It makes it heavier. Do short, little pumps instead of one long blast.”

Choices

Linda Wendorf looks at her hair in a mirror after stylist Amber Sikora f inished.

Products used and full container purchase prices

I Pureology Hydrate shampoo and conditioner:

$29 each ( A p pl i e d w e t ) I Redken Wool shake: $18 I Redken Allsoft Argon Oil: $29 I Redken Rough paste-$18 ( A p pl i e d d r y ) I Redken Rough paste: $18 I Kenra Volume Spray 25: $16.80

Linda Wendorf’s day at the Style Lounge:

I Double-shot and design: $102 (All-over color

— scalp to ends — and haircut)

I Create a buzz: $24.95 (promo for April for 10

foils, regular price is $5 per foil) I Conditioning cocktail: $15 (conditioning treatment customized for each guest’s needs) I Eyebrow wax: $12 I Chromatics Charge: $15 (premium color service oil-based delivery system) Sikora applies hair spray to Wendorf ’s hair.

If Amber is too busy, she’s not the only one who can help clients find a fresh look.

“I trust all of these girls completely with my hair,” Sikora said. “This is the strongest group of girls I’ve ever worked with.”

Regardless of hair color or style preference, Sikora and her fellow stylists strive to get clients an “effortless style.” With the right products, correct application and a few tips from people like Sikora, they can get just that — because nobody really wants to spend an hour in front of the mirror if he or she doesn’t have to.

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OUT & ABOUT

BY ROCKY HULNE Getting the motivation to work out can often be a struggle.

There’s never enough time, the weather’s too cold or you just want to take a day off.

The easiest way to stay motivated is to find a workout partner, and what better workout partner is there than a spouse?

Couples like Chad and Michelle Soukop of Austin discovered that fact as their kids started getting older, and they now regularly run and take ab exercise classes together.

“We work out on our lunches together,” Chad said. “We get to be together for about an hour. It’s a nice time to do something with her.”

Chad had always exercised regularly and Michelle said he motivated her to do something she never thought possible — get into running.

“I didn’t think I could ever start running and now we’re preparing for a half marathon,” Michelle said. “It’s very motivating. When I don’t want to run he pushes me, and when he doesn’t want to run, I push him.”

The Soukops, who have three children, also stay busy by coaching their kids. They each coach youth soccer and Chad coaches youth basketball.

“We’re just looking for anything we can do together,” Chad said. “It’s fun to watch the kids and have fun with it, and it’s nice to see them do something healthy.”

YMCA Fitness Director Kristi Stasi said working out with 32 | Austin Living | Spring 2013

a spouse can be very healthy for a couple’s minds and bodies.

Kristi regularly works out with her husband, Matt.

Their activities involve cross country skiing, running, golfing and biking. Matt also attends some of Kristi’s classes over the noon hour, such as cycling, boot camp and core conditioning.

“We work out well with each other, and we push and challenge each other,” Kristi said. “For others it may not work.”

Matt, who did not have a background in running, had to get his legs under him before he was able to keep up with Kristi.

“I think my husband had a hard time when he started to run with me,” Kristi said. “Because he was never a runner and I started running in college.”

Some couples can get competitive when they’re working out together. But that isn’t necessarily a bad thing if they keep it in perspective and don’t let it affect their home life.

Kristi and Mark haven’t had any problems with getting too competitive.

“Both of us are very competitive but it helps to push each other,” Kristi said. “We have never experienced getting upset with each other. But it’s not to say that some couples may have a hard time if the competition got to be to much.

They may stop doing things together.”

So the next time you’re looking for an excuse not to work out, just grab your spouse and make them join you.

You’ll both be better off.

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Need to get away? Here are 3 bed and breakfasts less than 20 miles from Austin

BY ADAM HARRINGA • PHOTOS

BY

ERIC JOHNSON

Everyone eventually needs a break from work, the kids, chores or the everyday stresses that build up over time. Most of the time, busy Austinites may not have a week to give whenever they feel like it. That’s why it’s comforting to know a few places to get a small vacation. Here are three options within 20 miles of Austin folks can sneak away to for an extended weekend.

From a cozy log cabin for small groups or outdoor enthusiasts, to a romantic retreat and a mecca for crafters, there’s something for everyone within a gallon of gas’s drive. So jump in the car and venture outside the city limits for the perfect staycation to suit your desires.

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The Blue Belle Inn

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Bed & Breakfast Sherrie Hansen Decker, owner of the Blue Belle Inn.

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Sherrie Hansen Decker knows her bed and breakfast sticks out in the small town of St. Ansgar, Iowa. Roughly 20 miles due south of Austin, The Blue Belle Inn Bed & Breakfast features eight unique guest rooms with every amenity imaginable inside a Queen Anne Victorian home built in 1896. It’s been the belle of the town, so to speak, for the past 21 years.

“There’s no place like the Blue Belle,” Hansen Decker said. “We like to think we appeal to people who are more adventurous and like one-of-a-kind places.”

The Blue Belle even has a few Austin connections: Hansen Decker graduated from Austin High School, and she still has family in the area, so she’s wellversed in what’s going on in Spamtown. The intimate b&b features wood floors, TV, Wi Fi, air conditioning, a kitchenette with a refrigerator and microwave and a private bathroom in every room, and a Jacuzzi and fireplace in some suites. Of course, there’s a warm, homemade breakfast waiting for you each morning.

“It’s built like a fortress, and it just has a lot of modern amenities,” Hansen Decker said. “It’s really a romantic place.”

This bed and breakfast hosts many events to cater to as many tastes as possible, from big gatherings to small groups of old friends. The Blue Belle puts on events like cooking seminars or a murder mystery about once or twice a month, and Hansen Decker tries to put on several literary events as well. The Blue Belle is open for lunch every day but Sunday, except for a traditional Mother’s Day Sunday brunch, and passersby can enjoy dinner on Fridays and Saturdays.

“I get to share in those very touching and heartwarming occasions,” she said.

One such occasion involved three women who were old friends. One had terminal cancer, and they chose the Blue Belle Inn to say their goodbyes.

“I got a note three weeks later that she passed away, and they were so glad to have shared those precious memories,” she said.

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I 513 West Fourth St., St. Ansgar, Iowa I I I I

(20 miles south of Austin) Eight guest rooms, all with private bathrooms, refrigerator and microwave, some with a Jacuzzi and fireplace and extra amenities Perfect for a romantic get-away, small get-togethers or anyone looking to be pampered 877-713-3113 bluebelleinn.com

(1) The Sherwood Forest room gives visitors the feel of Robin Hood. (2) The Heaven’s to Betsy features plenty of natural light including the skylight over the bed. (3) The Blue Belle Inn’s dining area. (4) The bathroom in the Heavens to Betsy room features a Jacuzzi underneath a skylight. (5) A view of the downstairs living room with a trundle bed that can convert the area into a sleeping area. (6) A breakfast nook upstairs gives visitors a nice, quiet place to eat. (7) A full, walk-in shower awaits guests staying in the Anne’s House of Dreams behind the inn. (8) The Heavens to Betsy room in the main house of the inn featuring a comfortable chair next to the upstairs window.

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Becky Hartwig and her husband, Ken, have taken that extra step to give visitors a northwoods feel in Mower County.

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Rose Pedaler

Log Cabin & Gift Shop About two miles north of Rose Creek on Highway 56, just six or seven miles southeast of the outskirts of Austin lies a cozy log cabin inn, built from the ground up by owners Becky and Ken Hartwig, Becky has managed the Rose Pedaler Log Cabin & Gift Shop for seven years, but it took years of planning before that to bring their dream to fruition. Her husband, Ken, took cabin building classes in February of 2003, and finished the cabin two and a half years later. With so much time and effort invested, any positive feedback from guests means that much more.

“Everybody who goes there is amazed and in awe, and it makes you feel really good,” Becky said. “That’s what makes it all worthwhile. I think that’s the biggest thrill.”

The log cabin has three suites, each with a private bathroom, all the amenities and an exterior door or balcony. The Wolf room and Wildflower room each have a private balcony to watch the sunrise or sunset, and the Woodsy room on the main floor is handicap accessible.

The cabin also features a shared kitchen, and Becky’s gift shop, where she’s known for her ice cream.

Becky said the cabin usually attracts groups of six to 10 who rent the entire cabin.

The cabin is also right on the Shooting Star Trail, so guests can go for a bike ride, a walk, or just enjoy nature.

“It’s not so far from Austin,” she said.

“It’s a great way to come out and see what’s out here.”

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(1) Some simple rules for relaxing in a log cabin.

(2) The full kitchen and dining area of the Rose Pedaler’s log cabin.

(3) The Wolf Room features a balcony with a view of the setting sun as night draws near. (4) The cabin’s main sitting area makes for a cozy place to relax. (5) The Rose Pedaler’s central spiral staircase centers the quaint log cabin. (6) A shower is bathed in natural light from the nearby window.

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I 16931 Highway 56,

I I

I I

Rose Creek (about seven miles southeast of Austin) Three suites with private bathrooms, shared kitchen Perfect for groups of six to 10 people.

Families, hunters, outdoor enthusiasts.

507-434-0500 rosepedaler.com

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The Czech Inn

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Katherine Pacovsky, owner of The Czech Inn.

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Quilters, crafters, scrapbookers and sewers from all over converge on Hayward for the Calico Hutch Quilt Shop, and since June 2012, to stay at The Czech Inn. Katherine Pacovsky opened the bed and breakfast about a year ago, and it has become a hub for crafting fans.

“They go to the Calico Hutch to shop, then they come here to sew,” she said.

The relaxing, country atmosphere 16 miles west of Austin is perfect for anyone wanting to get away, too, and it’s just outside Myre Big Island State Park. It features Wi Fi, satellite TV and a 750square-foot crafting and meeting area with a full kitchen.

“We had a group here for three nights over a weekend, and I think they were in their pajamas the whole time,” Katherine said.

“It’s a nice getaway. A chance to be silly, turn the cell phone off and act like Girl Scouts again.”

But it’s more than just a place for sewers, she said. The Czech Inn gets people of all kinds just looking to relax, and let someone else fix breakfast.

“I feel I facilitate their happiness, I hope,” Katherine said.

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I 19158 800th Ave., Hayward I I I I

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(16 miles west of Austin) Five guest rooms with private bathrooms Perfect for quilters, crafters, scrapbookers and sewers 507-373-2477 czechinnandretreat.com

(1) The sink in the Blue Room is an old converted sewing machine table. The wood table-top was replaced with granite.

(2) The Calico Room, one of three rooms downstairs at the Czech Inn. (3) The upstairs reading room. (4) The guest dining room is set up so that guests on both sides of the table have a scenic view while they dine. (5) A sitting room on the main floor offers guests a pleasant place to sit and relax and visit. (6) The Czech Room is themed with items and books surrounding Czechoslovakia. (7) The bathroom in the Library Room features a skylight that doesn’t require much artificial light during the day. (8) Dining placements are set out, ready for guests. (9) A large kitchen area awaits guests downstairs.

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BY JASON SCHOONOVER • PHOTOS

A

s Dr. Ann Bode reflected on her career, she never expected to become a researcher.

When she graduated from Flora Township High School in Illinois in 1965, a career as a researcher and administrator at a leading cancer research facility wasn’t remotely on her mind. She was an athlete in college, and she loved physical education. Yet the associate director of The Hormel Institute has accomplished much throughout her life, and she’s not done exploring.

“You never end up where you think you’re going to end up,” she said of her career path.

Bode is a professor and she works with Executive Director Zigang Dong to lead The Institute. Yet her first focus was athletics.

Her journey is a testament to workplace progression.

Growing up in the 1960s, Bode admits science wasn’t a common field for women, and her most likely career paths were centered around teaching, secretarial work and nursing. Today, Bode can’t completely explain how she transitioned from sports to science.

“It wasn’t a direct route,” she said. “I never thought about being in science until I went back for my PhD.” Bode received an academic scholarship to go to college, which was vital because her family couldn’t have otherwise paid for her education. College was a milestone for Bode in

BY

ERIC JOHNSON

multiple ways, as it was the first time she was able to play sports. She took advantage of the opportunity, playing field hockey, gymnastics, volleyball, archery, badminton and fencing. She was even the Midwest fencing champion in 1968.

“That was the first opportunity where I was exposed to sports,” she said. “I really liked it, so I played basketball and volleyball and many other things in college. It was just kind of a natural fit, I guess.”

After earning a degree in physical education, Bode started a career as a high school coach, one of the first girls basketball, volleyball, gymnastics and track coaches in Minnesota. Along with coaching and teaching in Braham, Minn., Bode later earned her master’s degree, as she continued teaching and coaching multiple sports at colleges in Minnesota, North Dakota and Oregon. She also worked as the women’s athletic director at Valley City State College in Valley City, N.D., and at Moorhead State University.

Athletics was a different animal than it is today before and during the early years of Title IX. “The young women at all those schools just wanted to play the game,” she said.

Yet she yearned for something more. Bode coached from 1969 into the 1980s, but she grew tired of it, and she was ready to pursue something new.

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“A lot of it had to do with the constant struggle for equality in girls’ and women’s sports,” Bode said.

Bode also wanted to learn new things, but science wasn’t an instant choice. Along with applying to graduate school, Bode also applied to the law school at the University of Oregon, but was put on a waiting list. She was accepted to the University of Oregon graduate program, studying physiology, biochemistry, and anatomy.

“I’ve always had an interest in science, but probably was never really encouraged as a girl in high school,” she said. “I had to encourage myself.”

Bode entered the science field at an exciting time, when studies around cloning and DNA genes were just starting to happen.

“I just thought that was so interesting,” she said.

Going back to school wasn’t an easy road, especially since she didn’t have an extensive background in science.

“That was probably the most difficult — getting the Ph.D.,” Bode said. “It was a lot of work, a tremendous amount of work.”

Bode did her post-doctoral studies at the University of North Dakota as a medical school professor. She earned her Ph.D. in 1987 and was a faculty member at UND and the University of Oregon before she decided to focus more on research.

“I really wanted to learn to be a better researcher,” Bode said.

That’s when Bode contacted Dong, and he invited her to work at The Hormel Institute.

WRITING

THE NEXT CHAPTER Bode is a driven person, and she had few doubts about being successful in a new career.

“I have always believed that I can do whatever I set my mind out to do,” she said.

At the same time, Bode is someone who loves to have fun, kid around and play games. She never fully left athletics, as she still enjoys playing golf and tennis. She even ran Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, completing it in 4 hours, 34 minutes. While she fondly remembers training for the run, she admits she’ll probably stick to walking now.

Today, Bode and Dong co-lead the largest lab at The Institute, which focuses on cellular and molecular biology, mainly skin cancer prevention. Bode also leads her own lab on cancer biomarkers and drug resistance, which focuses on identifying how anticancer agents work. Between the two labs, the duo oversees about 40 employees. On top of that, she’s also the chief administrative officer of The Institute.

“Our goal is to publish scientific research in the best journals,” she said.

Dong describes Bode as an integral leader at The Institute, someone who plays a key role in helping the facility reach its goals.

“She is involved in all of these decisions and her role is critical,” Dong wrote. “Dr. Bode is a valuable partner in the leading of The Hormel Institute and our success is a reflection of her many contributions.”

Though out of the field since the 1980s, Bode admits Dr. Ann Bode looks over cancer cells with lab technician Alyssa Langfold. Dr. Bode’s lab is studying how cancer cells divide.

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she uses her coaching experience everyday at The Institute, especially when helping post-doctoral students with the manuscripts and data. Along with her other duties, Bode oversees and edits all the papers Institute workers write and publish. The labs publish 25 to 50 papers a year, and Bode is responsible for making sure those are in order.

“A lot of my time is spent with the post-doctoral associates, helping them write their results and interpret them so they make sense,” she said.

Bode also writes about 20 to 30 grants a year, and she pools data from Institute research into many of those grants.

Grants are, after all, a vital lifeline to sustaining research, as Bode learned while earning her Ph.D. “You have to be able to support yourself,” she said.

The research papers published by The Institute play a key role in securing the grant dollars that keep the facility running.

Grant funding at The Institute grew rapidly up until recently, but the ongoing budget struggles of the federal government caused the grant funds to plateau. The Institute is entirely funded through grant dollars, including almost all of the employees. That’s strong incentive for many Institute researchers to secure as many grants as possible.

“It’s critical,” she said of the grant process. “If they’re going to keep they’re job, they have to get the grants.”

Bode does much of her own writing, too. She and Dong typically aim to write at least one cutting-edge review articles each year, which describe some of the recent breakthroughs in a scientific field. The idea is to have it

published in a prominent journal like “Nature.”

“If can publish in those top tier journals, you gain a reputation of doing the best science in the world,” Bode said.

E XPANDING The Institute has undergone many changes since Bode started, expanding with a new building and more people.

Since she started, The Institute has doubled its employee roster and tripled its size. The Institute grew from five to 12 research sections, and three more will be added this summer in a construction project ahead of a $27-million expansion set to start early next year.

With the expansion, The Institute has a new goal on the horizon: Clinical application. The Institute will to take its research on cancer preventatives, like a compound in mango, to bring that research into clinics and see how it reacts in people.

“I think that’s one of the major goals of our expansion, is try to translate, as they say, those results into people,” Bode said.

That’s already happening to some degree with The Institute’s partnership with the University of Arizona, where some of The Institute’s compounds are being used for skin cancer prevention. Bode said she hopes they’re making progress and have more happening within five years.

Ahead of the upcoming expansion, Bode will be near the forefront of setting up interviews and plans to hire new people.

Continued on page 46

“You never end up where you think you’re going to end up.”

- Dr. Ann Bode

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“We plan this summer to hire anywhere from 12 to 16 people,” Bode said.

With the upcoming expansion, it’s an exciting time at The Institute, but Bode said that’s nothing new.

“It’s always exciting,” she said. “There’s always something going on. We have some of the most wonderful people in the world — both from foreign countries but also from Austin — that work here and surrounding communities. A lot of really, really talented people who are fun to be around and fun to work with.”

Bode expects that growth to continue and predicts The Institute will have more than 200 employees in about five years or more. More researchers will mean more employees.

“When we hire research staff, we also have to hire support staff,” she said.

Bode is now eagerly looking ahead to the future and what it holds. Five years ago, when Bode and The Institute moved to the current building, she couldn’t have predicted how far The Institute would come.

“I would have never imagined how things have grown,” she said, noting The Hormel Foundation has a lot to do with that growth and success.

Bode said the staff at The Institute is accomplishing great research in the old building, and she touted Dong as a visionary.

“He’s always looking way big,” Bode said.

When she looks back over her time in Austin, Bode believes she played a part to get The Institute back on the right track.

“I think I helped do that,” she said.

‘BELIEVE

IN YOURSELF ’ After two entirely different careers, Bode is nowhere close to settling down on a single focus. She’s working to become proficient in design programs like Maya, Illustrator, Photoshop and Mudbox on her own, as well as using iTunes U. “My next career is going to be a graphic artist,” she said.

“I want to be a computer animator.

“I just think that’s so cool.”

Bode also admits she hasn’t completely given up on the idea of pursuing law school someday.

Bode admitted there are times she wishes she’d started in science sooner, but she credits sports with helping her become a better person and understand the concept of a team while also striving for individual excellence.

“They help you learn to get along with each other and work together and to be a team player,” she said. “Everybody says that, but I think it’s true.”

She’s also quick to talk shop about sports and argues a volleyball team needs to be more balanced than a basketball team. Today, Bode is an outspoken advocate for women’s sports, as it helps build character.

Whether it’s sports or work, Bode urges anyone with lofty goals should build a strong work ethic and not let anyone say they can’t accomplish their goal.

“You have to believe in yourself,” she said. “You have to believe you can do anything you want to do. You can know that, but you have to work at it.”

Dr. Ann Bode works from her off ice at The Hormel Institute. Dr. Bode spends much of her time throughout the year writing grant applications for The Institute.

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MONDAY Wing it Mondays - 40¢ Each Choose traditional or boneless in one of our six great signature sauces.

TUESDAY Steak Dinner - $7.99 8oz. hand-cut sirloin cooked to choice; served with baked potato and lettuce salad.

WEDNESDAY Gyro & Fries - $7.50 Not at the county fair, but just as good!

THURSDAY Philly & Fries - $7.50 Everyone’s favorite served on a toasted hoagie bun with pipin’ hot fries.

FRIDAY 1/2 Priced Appetizers 4pm-6pm SATURDAY Prime Rib Dinner - $22.95 Slow roasted hand-carved 10oz. prime rib with choice of salad, potato & dessert.

Served from 5pm until it’s gone!

SUNDAY Slider Basket - $6.99 Two quarter pound sliders served with fries.

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BY TREY MEWES PHOTOS BY ERIC JOHNSON

The Paramount Theatre’s executive director Jennie Knoebel has helped lead the theater to a larger presence in the Austin art scene.

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The lifeblood of the Historic Paramount Theatre, just inside its grand walls, is not on its built-up stage but inside a small alcove near the theater entrance. Just a short walk inside a narrow corridor reveals a hollowed-out cubby, too small to properly be called a room.

The magic of the Paramount happens here, as volunteers and paid employees sit elbow-to-elbow with the magician who brings art together not just inside a former movie hall but throughout the community. It’s here that Jennie Knoebel, Paramount executive director, coordinates Paramount shows, books artists and musicians, organizes technical production staff, plans an expansion, ferrets out grant money, and brings fine arts to Austinites and people throughout the region.

Knoebel is a longtime Austin resident, the sort of hometown girl most would have expected to leave a smaller community like Austin behind for a bigger city. A theater administration prodigy, she’s a woman possessed by a vision to help bring arts to residents who might otherwise not have access. She’s blazed her own path and helped universities develop necessary curriculum to run a fine arts organization; Her life is a lesson in the independent leadership she is bringing to Austin.

Knoebel was born in 1980 in Omaha, Neb., living in Fremont for a year before moving with her parents back to Austin, as her father, Scott, works for Hormel Foods Corp.

A 1998 Austin High School graduate, Jennie was active in the Austin arts community growing up here. She danced with several area studios, including Just 4 Kix and Jane Taylor’s Academy of Dance, and was active in Matchbox Children’s Theatre and play productions at Riverland Community College. She continued as a part of Riverland productions, including the Summerset Theatre program, when she attended the community college as part of a post-secondary enrollment opportunity in high school. That PSEO studying would prove to be the first taste of self-directed study for Jennie, and it wouldn’t be the last time she took charge of her education by creating her own study program.

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She studied at the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse, taking a semester off to go back to Riverland to finish her associate’s degree here.

By the time she graduated in 2002 with a bachelor’s degree in communications (with a public relations emphasis) and theatre arts, Jennie had helped build a theater administration program at La Crosse.

“My emphasis was actually general, but at that time, they were developing their theater management program,” she said. “So I was kind of their guinea pig, and I started taking some classes to help them create the program.”

It wouldn’t be the last time Jennie would act as guinea pig for a large university.

It also wasn’t the last time Jennie would work at a university, either. Jennie went back to Austin for a year, managing the local Perkins restaurant where she had worked in high school, while waiting for a theatre position to open up in the region.

“During that time was actually right when Larry Eisenberg [the longtime Perkins manager] left. So we went through a couple different managers, and he came back right when I was done. So I held it together for him!” she said with a laugh.

She bounced around southern Minnesota for a few years, working in various jobs. As an optician, she learned The Paramount Theatre’s Jennie Knoebel in a meeting with staff. Knoebel has been busy moving the Paramount for ward, leading efforts to expand as well as offer modern entertainment.

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how to make and repair glasses, and at one point she briefly considered leaving theater behind to work as an optometrist.

“I tried to explore that field, but I decided that wasn’t what I wanted,” she said.

Jennie couldn’t leave theater for long, however. She worked as a part-time house manager for Viterbo University in La Crosse, which prompted her to consider going back to school. Little did she know, Jennie would once again blaze academic trails and build upon the valuable experience she had already obtained at Viterbo, managing more than 100 volunteers, or at La Cross, marketing brand-new productions.

Jennie decided to attend a theater conference in Chicago, looking for a master’s program that would give her the experience she needed to secure an administrative position. She found it at the University of Minnesota, where she would go on to help U faculty develop the Arts and Cultural Leadership program.

“At that time, it was another instance where they were trying to develop an arts administration master’s degree,” she said. “... My degree is actually a master’s of liberal studies through the College of Continuing Education, and that sort of degree, you basically create your own degree.”

Choosing the right degree is difficult. A master’s of fine arts exposes you to the arts side of management, while a master’s of business administration focuses on the organizational side. Often, there’s no happy medium.

Yet Jennie found her own path after her mentor, Sherri Wagner-Henry, coaxed her into coming to the U. “She had said to me during my interview that you should go to whatever grad school where you want to work and live,” Jennie said. “Really the purpose of grad school is to make connections and network, so ultimately that’s how I ended up making the decision to go to Minnesota. All my friends and family are here, and I like Minnesota. I think it’s a great state.”

Jennie was integral in creating an arts administration program, as she suggested several ways the U of M could maximize its connections with area arts organizations. She secured internships, about one a semester, with several organizations including the Southern Theatre and Bloomington Arts Center, which plays a heavy part in the Arts and Cultural Leadership program now.

“One thing that I was lacking in my undergraduate experience is I never did do an internship there,” she said. “[The U of M] ended up using that as a model, and I don’t know if they require one every semester, but they actually require you to do several.”

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Knoebel talks about the role the theater has played in the growing Austin art scene. She is also heavily involved in the Austin ArtWorks Festival.

She graduated in 2008, securing a job at the U of M’s theater department. Yet she was looking for a job in a smaller town.

Arts in a rural setting was always important to Jennie.

Her first paper in grad school revolved around the impact arts can have in a smaller community, and it was definitely something she had thought about before.

“When I started grad school, my goal was to be an executive director at an arts organization in a small- to midsizecommunity,” Jennie said. “It’s definitely one of my passions. I grew up in a smaller town, and the arts were really important to me growing up. Being able to have that opportunity to participate in the arts, I felt, was really important.”

That’s why she jumped at the chance to apply at the Paramount. The Austin Area Commission for the Arts posted the position in March of 2011, hoping to find someone to spearhead a Paramount expansion that many hoped for over the years.

She started in July, coming back to a community she knew well.

“To be honest, I was a little nervous,” Jennie said.

“There’s always this expectation that you have to go out to succeed, and I was a little worried about that.

“Plus, I also had to live with my parents at first,” she said with a laugh, “But I could tell right away the impact I could have.”

Jennie’s impact on Austin arts is undeniable, however.

She has refocused the Paramount to bring in more

Minnesota-based bands and musical groups, finding ways to get well-known groups into the area and maximizing how long those groups stay in town.

“Arts are becoming far more interactive,” she said. “So we want groups that will stay for a day and do workshops with people.”

Of course, she has organized efforts to hire architects Miller Dunwiddie, the firm which is in charge of the Paramount expansion. Hired in 2012, the group has taken suggestions from the community to work on a plan concerning the expansion. While there was some talk the Paramount would expand west, the AACA recently decided to expand east, using some of the land it owns and buying the rest to create more space for the Paramount.

There’s also the Austin Artworks Festival. Area volunteers came together to put on a large arts festival in the Austin Utilities downtown plant in August 2012, the culmination of less than a year’s worth of planning and organizing. The group brought area artists of all sorts together to share their talents with the community, to much success. Though Jennie said all volunteers worked together, without one person taking the lead, many artworks festival organizers say Jennie was the key person to put everything together.

“We really needed a professional person in a spot who could really direct the festival and know how something like that goes,” said Bonnie Rietz, co-chairperson of the Austin Artworks Director committee. “It has been a real joy and privilege to work with Jennie. She’s so fun, she has great ideas, she follows through on everything. I very much enjoy working with her. She was key in getting everything done.”

Jennie has plans to bring even more to Austin. The Paramount’s expansion is closer than ever, bands like Minnesota favorite Cloud Cult are coming to Austin to play the upcoming Austin Artworks Festival, and Jennie has a few more surprises up her sleave. Though she has yet to publicly reveal anything, Jennie is hinting at big plans for the Paramount and especially the AACA, which could bring even more attention to the local arts scene and bring a lot of opportunities for residents to get involved.

Yet all of this work is just the beginning for Jennie, as she hopes to help make the Paramount a regional arts hub welcome to everyone.

“I really want it to be a place where people who are in their 20s and 30s are still interested in coming to, as well as families, as well as kids,” she said. “I think a lot of people my age, for example, leave Austin when they think of going to see something. They go to Rochester, they go to Mankato.

I’m hoping to help them realize that we can bring that sort of thing here as well.”

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Behind the scenes at the HIP House

When we stepped inside Robin Airey’s home, it looked completely transformed from what it was a year ago. The Riverland Community College carpentry program had worked on the first Housing Improvement Program home since September of 2011, and many residents have wondered what renovations were taking place whenever they drove past it on Eighth Avenue Northwest.

Though much changed inside the home, Airey proudly notes the house still has its original floor from 1915 (though Airey said some of the city’s records conflict, so the home could have been built in 1920).

Airey moved to Austin 15 years ago, drawn to the area by its community college and local arts scene among other things. Of course, she can find the beauty in much of the home’s new furnishings. Here she shows off her pantry to Eric Johnson.

The home looks fantastic, and Airey clearly knows it. She said she feels incredibly lucky to find such a quaint home in town, and she’s already working on further improving this impressive home.

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Looking for something special to brighten a dinner party?

Here’s a list of area stores to find wine and spirits.

• Apollo Liquors & Superette 903 W. Oakland Ave. 507-433-1300

• Bell Liquor Store 200 S. Main St. 507-437-4343

• Austin Liquor Store Drive Inn 713 Fourth Ave. NE 507-437-4343

• Star Liquor 209 11th St. NE 507-433-8295

• Cheers Liquor 502 12th Ave. NW 507-437-3521

• Hy-Vee Liquor 1001 18th Ave. NW 507-437-7625

• Walmart Liquor 1000 18th Ave. NW 507-434-8159

• Mileage Liquor 3401 W. Oakland Ave. 507-434.0001

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Melrose is one of four border abbeys between Scotland and England.

Olson took more than 300 photos from this location in an hour.

PHOTO

BY

ERIC

BY MATT PETERSON JOHNSON, SUBMITTED

BY

SUSAN OLSON

A lookout view shows the ship Adventure of the Seas at the dock in St. Thomas.

A grand adventure often begins with a single step.

While some can be too timid to move their feet on a big vacation, Susan Olson has learned to run headlong into another land, ready to experience something new and wondrous.

Olson vacations hard, as people tell her. A seasoned trip planner, she’s likely to take a party along on her next adventure.

“I’m usually grabbing someone to go with,” said the full-time Hormel Foods Corp. attorney.

Far-off places like Curacao and Scotland pose no threat, as this adventure addict has been to so many exciting locales she’s practically a volunteer vacation recruiter.

Olson’s addiction to vacationing happened by accident, or by good fortune depending on how you look at it. She and her former boyfriend booked a trip to Germany in 1983, but they got into an argument on the plane.

“The day after we got to Germany, I left and went to the Netherlands,” she said.

That chapter may have ended, but a much longer one in her life began: A love for travel.

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Olson and her travel mates drove around the island of Aruba. The city is off in the distance.

Olson and others snorkeled just off the beach.

Aruba was the first stop on Olson's cruise in 2007.

The candy-pink monstrosity is a shopping mall (view from the ship).

A self-portrait of Olson snorkeling in Grand Cayman, Januar y 2013.

This wall surrounds San Juan and was built in 1749 to protect the city.

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A former exchange student and friend welcomed Olson, which soon proved the start of her travel bug. It seems a dangerously fun infection, as the only cure for Olson is more vacationing.

“I just fell in love with the fact that I could not read the street signs,” Olson said about the Netherlands. She loved it so much, she returned in 1985 for her friend’s wedding and has visited a total of three times.

In 1995, she went to Mazatlan, Mexico, and saw the ocean for the first time up close, rather than through an airplane window. She took another hiatus from vacationing and resumed in 2007. Since then, Olson has been on a vacationing tear, including four cruises to destinations like St. Maarten, St. Thomas, Cozumel, Costa Maya, Grand Cayman, Aruba, Curacao, San Juan and Nassau. In May, Olson will embark on her fifth cruise.

“Every day you wake up somewhere else,” Olson said.

“It’s like a time machine.”

In 2011, she flew to her favorite destination yet — Scotland. Olson loves the beach, but Scotland — with its

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Scotland, June 2011. This is Duone Castle, and it was featured in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. This is the castle where the Frenchmen were hurling insults down from the peaks, and a cow was hurled across the wall.

The Glasgow Train Station.

ruined castles, cemeteries and centuries-old scenery — may be No. 1 on her list of return-to destinations.

“You’re climbing all over these things and sticking your head out of windows that don’t have bars,” Olson said. “It’s just so cool. I’d rather go see a ruined castle or cemetery than a museum.”

Like a kid waiting for Christmas, Olson knows months in advance what the exact day count is until her departure, like when she said it was 64 days until she left this May. “Not like I’m counting,” she joked.

Olson even has a vacation booked for 2014 to see Haiti, Jamaica, and visit Cozumel for the third time, though she also hopes to go to Pompeii one day.

Want to travel like Olson but don’t know how to start?

Go with someone who has the experience, Olson said.

Traveling with a group of people can be more fun, and is safer.

Still can’t commit to a vacation? Recruit some friends, pick a location and date, and make it happen.

“Sometimes you’ve just got to put your deposit down and go,” she said.

Olson at the Edinburgh Castle in June 2011.

Olson saw iguanas ever ywhere while in St. Thomas in 2007.

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BOOK REVIEW

A safe haven indeed

BY ANGIE BARKER Spring is around the corner and love is in the air.

Romance is an intriguing and complicated idea because the definition is objective to the individual. For some, it is a soft-focus candle-lit vision of long-stemmed roses, bubble baths and walks on the beach. If you’re like me then a walk on the beach equates to sprained ankles and a bubble bath is where you pretend you can’t hear your offspring banging outside the door.

For those of us on the other side, romance is anything but soft focus. It’s more like the harsh overhead lighting of a truck stop bathroom that makes me look like I am unfamiliar with the concept of sleeping. I call this the “Walking Dead” version of romance. All my faults are as visible as my attributes because in a post-apocalyptic world there is no polite society and definitely no soft blurred edges. My bed is a place where children escape nightmares, pets puke to voice their protest of everything and husbands think their gas really does warm up the cold sheets faster. It does not. But that doesn’t mean we are anti-romantics. We just find it in the cracks rather than in grand gestures.

Romance in literature is as eclectic as real life. From bare-chested Fabio covers of Harlequin to gray-tie wearing millionaires to the starry-eyed poetry of Keats and the gothic tragedy of the Brontes, romance has always been defined by the reader. The current king of romance in popular culture is Nicholas Sparks, author of “The Notebook,” “A Walk to Remember,” and the most current adaptation to hit theaters, “Safe Haven.”

Even if you have not read one of his 17 romantic fictions or seen one of his eight adapted films (two more coming, “Best of Me” in 2014 and “The Longest Ride” in 2015), it seems that everyone is familiar with the man and his message: Love comes at a cost. Sparks’ style focuses on the suffering involved with loving someone that usually involves death or disease. “Safe Haven” veers slightly from this formula by casting the threat to the couple in the form of an ex, and it is better for it.

The mysterious protagonist, Katie, arrives in a small town in North Carolina looking for a “safe haven.” She just left her abusive 60 | Austin Living | Spring 2013

police detective husband, Kevin, in a well-organized “Sleeping with the Enemy”-style escape. I mean Katie didn’t take secret swim lessons and pretend to drown, but I think Julia Roberts would be impressed none the less. Katie just wants some quiet and some space to breathe.

What she gets is a nosy well-meaning neighbor, Jo, and Alex, the widow and father of two. Widows and single-parents also appear frequently in Spark’s novels as a means of building a layered and vulnerable character in only three nouns. Alex and Katie fall into this Sparks trap as two wounded individuals dealing with the fallout from their pasts. They got baggage that would require a storage locker, and yet, they fall in love because they are both emotionally scarred.

I should also mention that these two are beachwalkers, not deadwalkers, so when Alex finds a poster that labels Katie a murderer, he totally believes it. In the world of soft focus, faults need not apply. I get that murder is kind of a biggie but I want a partner who brings a shovel, not the police.

Once Katie tells him she is innocent Alex is relieved and ready to party despite a few problems: 1. She is still married 2. to a psycho 3. who is coming for her 4. with a legally permitted gun 5. that he is trained to use 6. and Alex is now standing between them.

Alex should really take a beat here and do some soul searching but lucky for us he doesn’t. It is the tension between the two storylines that makes this novel one of Spark’s best. The dramatic thriller plot of crazy Kevin balances the sugary sweet romance of Katie and Alex and makes their eventual collision a pleasurable payoff.

At least until the unnecessary, convoluted and frustrating twist at the end. A twist so ridiculous that it threatens to undermine the entire novel just to emphasize the point that our past haunts us and those we love. Mr. Sparks, you are better than this and we readers deserve to be left with a satisfying ending to an entertaining novel.

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Spring has sprung, and there are plenty of places in Mower County to get the flowers, plants and seeds to enliven lawns and gardens with vegetation and color. Here are some of the spots to purchase spring flowers and plants: • Berg’s Nursery 904 First Ave. SW 507-433-2823 • Dolan’s Landscape Center 3108 Fourth St. NW 507-433-3239 • Super Fresh Produce and Bakery 2101 Fourth St. SW 507-437-6554 • Stivers Nursery & Landscaping 1701 12th St. SW 507-433-3503 • Walmart Supercenter 1000 18th Ave. NW 507-434-8159 • Weis Landscaping & Design 63118 200th St., Rose Creek 507-437-4751

• Shopko 1209 18th Ave. NW 507-437-7785 • Hy-Vee 1001 18th Ave. NW 507-437-7625 • Sterling/Main Street 1305 First Ave. SW 507-433-4586 • Johnson’s Floral 400 31st St. SW 507-433-2316 • Hardy Germanium 100 Fourth St. S. 507-434-2409 • Jim’s Marketplace 311 11th St. NE 507-433-1028

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April 25-27 and May 2-5

“Little Women,” a vibrant, all-ages musical about timeless values written

by Louisa May Alcott and performed

by Riverland Theatre at the Frank W. Bridges Theatre. Most performances will be at 7:30 p.m., with the exception of May 5, at 2 p.m. Contact 507-433-0595 or boxoffice@riverland.edu for tickets. Season information available at www.riverland.edu/theatre.

April 26

Zonta Club of Austin’s annual Wine Tasting and Vendors’ Sale 5 p.m. at the Lansing Corners Event Center.

Zonta raises money for Habitat for Humanity, the Mower County Red Cross and the Seibel Visitation Center.

Celebrating 20 years of rockin’ country, Little Texas brings hits like “God Bless Texas” and “My Love” to the historic Paramount Theatre stage. Order tickets in advance at paramounttheatre.org. Show is at 7:30 p.m., $35 in advance and $40 at the door.

April 27

Pacelli Catholic Schools Benefit Auction, 4:30-11:30 p.m., St. Edward’s Corcoran Center in Austin, $60 per person.

13th annual YMCA 5K Run/Walk, sponsored by the Austin YMCA, race starts at 9 a.m., runners, walkers and strollers are all welcome. Call the Y at 507-433-1804.

May 3-4

Friends of the Austin Public Library and AAUW annual Spring Book Sale, held at the library; 10 a.m.-5 pm.

May 4

11th annual Austin City-Wide Rummage Sale Day, held during National Tourism Week. Call the Austin CVB at 507-437-4563 or Sherri Thissen at the Austin Daily Herald at 507-434-2222 for more information.

May 4-12

The first full week of May is annually recognized as National Travel and Tourism Week, a tradition first celebrated in 1984 to champion the power of travel. The Austin CVB hosts local tourism recognitions, including the “Austin Tourism Toplist Award.” Winner to be named during the week.

May 10

Riverland Choir Spring Concert by Riverland’s music department; 7:30 p.m., location to be determined. Visit www.riverland.edu/music for more information.

May 11

Meet Danielle Hooper, Miss Minnesota USA 2013 at Medford Outlet Center; 9:45 a.m. to noon. The event is free, but tickets for a private brunch with Hooper at 8:45 a.m. are $35 for two. A portion of the proceeds go to the Owatonna Women's Scholarship Fund.

May 14

Hormel Foods Retirees Breakfast, 9 a.m., Senior Center, advanced tickets available. Call 507-433-2370.

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Austin always has entertaining events to attend, and there are plenty of things happening in southern Minnesota.

All dates, times and other event details are subject to change.

May 16 - October 31

I Austin Area Farmers Market, held from 4 to 7 p.m.

Mondays and Thursdays and 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays at the corner of Oakland Ave. East and Fourth St.

May 31 - June 2

I 10th annual Flea Market at the Mower County Fairgrounds, 507-433-1868.

June 3

I Riverland Community College Athletic Booster Club Golf fundraiser, 12:30 p.m. shotgun start, Austin Country Club. Includes golf, games on the course, prizes, dinner, raffle, silent auction. All are welcome. Call 507-437-7631.

June 4 - August 27

I Tuesdays on Main events, 5-8 p.m., different themes and events every Tuesday on Main Street. www.austindowntownalliance.com.

June 6 - September 26

I Junior Master Gardeners every Thursday, cooking and gardening classes for youth of third grade and older. Event is free and held at the 4-H building at the Mower County Fairgrounds, 10 a.m. to noon. Call 507-437-9552.

June 8-9

I 17th annual Kaycees/Austin All Stars age 13 and younger tourney, Todd Park North, diamonds 7 and 10.

Call 507-433-1881.

June 9-13

I First production of the Summerset Theatre season, “I Do! I Do!� at Frank W. Bridges Theatre on Rirverland Community College campus. 507-433-0595 or boxoffice@riverland.edu for tickets. Season information at www.summersetaustin.org.

June 10-13

I Fifth annual Gifted and Talented Symposium at Riverland Community College, sponsored by The Hormel Foundation. Call the CVB at 507-437-4563.

June 15-16

I 31st annual Fraternal Order of Eagles/Austin All Stars age 14 and older Austin Youth Baseball tourney, Riverland Community College baseball complex. Call 507-433-0600.

June 22

I Summer Solstice Ecoblitz, fun family day of nature-related outdoor activities held at the Jay C. Hormel Nature Center. Call 507-437-7519 to register.

I Second annual Reichel Foods/Austin All Stars tourneys for ages 11 and younger. Austin Youth Baseball, both tourneys at Todd Park North. Call 507-433-1881.

June 27

I The Hormel Institute hosts the first of three public open houses of the world-renowned medical/cancer research center from 4 to 6 p.m. Call 507-433-8804.

June 28-30

I 35th annual Austin All Star/Local 9/Reichel Foods Youth International Baseball tourney. 12 and younger.

North diamond Todd Park. This is a wood bat tourney.

Call 507-433-1881.

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FINAL WORD

What makes Austin special?

As part of a project to create a new visual On April 18, 2012, Vision 2020 revealed identity package for Austin, I’ve been the 10 Vision Statements to the community. thinking about Austin’s distinguishing Since then, hundreds of volunteers have characteristics recently. invested their time to bring those visions to What is the special ingredient that reality. makes the flavor of Austin distinct from That is Austin’s difference: We have the Mankato, Mason City or Lanesboro? strength and heart to take charge and create One obvious answer is the Vision 2020 the community we want to live in. movement, and our goals to improve the Courageous leaders were inspired by other quality of life for Austin residents and visitors. communities and dared to say, “Why not Certainly, completing the Vision 2020 Austin?” goals will give Austin a lot to brag about.

There are legitimate answers to that We’ve set our sights on creating a strong question: It will be hard, expensive, and

BY LAURA HELLE economy, including a thriving downtown take a long time. We risk failure. We will DIRECTOR OF CREATIVE VISION V ISION 2020 FOR with a revitalized power plant, bustling have to work together. Knowing all that, 18th Avenue Northwest corridor and Austin has responded to the Vision 2020 growing tourism sector; enhanced water, bikewalk trail challenge. It’s the same response that came to the challenges and sports recreation opportunities. We’re also planning of expanding The Hormel Institute and addressing Cedar for a better education system, cutting-edge infrastructure River flooding, and countless other problems and and a renewed sense of pride. opportunities over the years.

But I don’t think Vision 2020 is what makes Austin So what separates Austin from the pack? The answer is, special. I think Austin’s point of difference goes beyond the “Let’s go!” That drive is what makes Austin so special. projects and programs that will spring from Vision 2020.

I think what makes Austin special is that we have —To find out more about Vision 2020, look at the challenged ourselves as a community to create our own future.

Vision 2020 Annual Report at www.vision2020austin.com.

Photo by Eric Johnson 64 | Austin Living | Spring 2013

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North Iowa Area Community College is a great place to start your future, no matter what your age. We have a beautiful campus atmosphere, on-campus housing, recreation center, music and athletic programs, performing arts series and more. Consider these important points: • We offer a high quality education with small class sizes so students know their instructors.

• Students who come to NIACC right after high school can save their families more than $7,000 by starting at NIACC — and their credits easily transfer to four-year schools.

• 95% of NIACC career and technical graduates get jobs!

Contact our Admissions Office today and schedule a campus visit!