Mankato Magazine

FEATURES

R&R to B&B

Mankatoans Darold and Dawn Schaefer, former owners

B&B

THE

by Pat Christman.

Yourself.

GOLFERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD COME TO CHALLENGE THE JUDGE and the two other golf courses in Prattville at RTJ Capitol Hill. Bring your clubs and come take on Judge hole number 1, voted the favorite hole on the Trail. Complete your day in luxury at the Marriott and enjoy dining, firepits and guest rooms overlooking the Senator golf course. With the Marriott’s 20,000 square feet of meeting space, 96 guest rooms and luxurious Presidential Cottage combined with three world-class golf courses, business and pleasure can definitely interact in Prattville.

THE ROBERT TRENT JONES GOLF TRAIL AT CAPITOL HILL offers three magnificent 18-hole championship golf courses. The Marriott Prattville is part of the Resort Collection on Alabama’s Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail. Visit www.rtjgolf.com or call 800.949.4444 to learn more.

MAGAZINE EDITOR Robb Murray

DESIGNER Christina Sankey

PHOTOGRAPHER Pat Christman

COPY EDITOR Kathy Vos

CONTRIBUTORS James Figy Jean Lundquist Leticia Gonzalez Ann Rosenquist Fee Pete Steiner Nick Healy Dana Melius Renee Berg Jane Turpin Moore

ADVERTISING SALES Danny Creel Jennifer Flowers Jordan Greer-Friesz Josh Zimmerman Theresa Haefner Tim Keech

ADVERTISING ASSISTANT Barb Wass

ADVERTISING DESIGNER Christina Sankey

DIRECTOR Justin Niles

PUBLISHER Steve Jameson

EXECUTIVE EDITOR Joe Spear

Mankato Magazine is published by The Free Press Media monthly at 418 South Second Street, Mankato MN 56001.

To subscribe, call 1-800-657-4662 or 507-625-4451. $59.88 for 12 issues.

For all editorial inquiries, call Robb Murray 507-344-6386, or email rmurray@mankatofreepress.com.

For advertising, call 344-6364, or e-mail advertising@mankatofreepress.com.

FROM THE EDITOR

By Robb Murray

City of tiny lights

When I was a kid, I used to bug my dad to load up his brown Chevy pickup (a manual transmission, “three on the tree” gem of a truck that I learned to drive on years later) and cruise around town looking at Christmas lights.

My neighborhood on the east side of St. Paul wasn’t a destination by any means, but it had its moments, and I was there for all of it.

Any illuminated pine tree, any Santa Claus perched on a rooftop, any snowman standing stout on a front lawn was, to me, worth the drive.

(Did I have to push down the urge to eschew such non-macho pursuits to maintain street cred with my hockey homies? Sure, however I make no apologies for being a lifelong lover of yuletide illumination. But I digress.)

There’s just something about lights that makes the increasingly colder nights a little less dreary. Maybe they infuse us with a subconscious dose of warmth.

They sure warmed my 10-yearold heart back in the day, even if the displays were tiny, and even if we had to drive down street after street to find them sometimes.

You could always count on the Strobel family to construct something tasteful yet gleeful. And the Tuckners usually spent about a week’s worth of blue-collar pay to make a bold, bright statement of incandescent superiority.

Today, of course, in Mankato, you’ve got the opportunity to see more light than you could ever imagine thanks to the Kiwanis Holiday Lights event, which is quickly becoming a staple of family holiday gatherings. Ever since the lights were launched, we haven’t missed a year.

So it makes sense for us to feature the event on our cover and in the pages of our November issue.

Why November, you say? Well, why not? Here at Mankato Magazine, we love the holidays, and getting a jump on all the good

vibes that come with them can’t be a bad idea. Plus, Santa plugs those Sibley Park lights in on Nov. 25.

Also in this issue:

n If you’ve never been to the Goldsmith’s Reunion Festival, this is the perfect year to change that.

For 20 years some of the best and most creative artisans in southern Minnesota have been gathering in one place every year to make their wares available. It’s a great opportunity to purchase locally made art and feel good about yourself for supporting your neighbors.

n When Darold and Dawn Schaefer retired from the famous R&R Tire Shop, they launched a new business adventure 1,200 miles away (North Carolina, to be exact).

They purchased a bed-andbreakfast, the Colington Inn, a quaint getaway option for anyone considering a vacation. Writer Jane Moore visited the Colington and weaves a tale as charming as the inn.

n Our Familiar Faces feature this month introduces readers to a young woman quickly making a name for herself in the medical community.

Dr. Sara Robinson was recently named Family Medicine Resident of the Year by the Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians. She’s also very involved in the community and works with the city’s homeless population.

Plenty of reasons to dive into the November issue of Mankato Magazine. We hope you enjoy it.

of reasons to dive into Mankato you it.

Robb Murray is associate editor of Mankato Magazine. Contact him at 344-6386 or rmurray@mankatofreepress.com.

HISTORY

by Jean Lundquist

Waseca County man identified as ghoul

Nov. 1, 1962

A grave in Rosehill Cemetery in Wells was desecrated in early September. A 23-year-old man from Waseca County was determined to have uncovered the grave when fibers from his coat, gloves and impressions of footprints at the site were identified.

Suspicions were raised when the man began asking questions about a story in the local newspapers. The police chief was called to the Wells drug store on a report of a man who “had gone berserk, and was bothering customers.”

The man was confined to the Rochester State Mental Hospital rather than arrested and was not identified. This confinement in a mental hospital was not his first, according to authorities.

Cranberry sales suffer in Mankato

Nov. 10, 1959

Right before Thanksgiving — and before meals that almost all featured cranberry sauce — a scare went out about cranberries.

Red Owl and Super Valu stores in the Twin Cities area had all been told to remove cranberries from store shelves by noon. Apparently, several large fields had mistakenly been sprayed with weed killer, and the berries were unsafe for human consumption.

No such directive had been issued locally to any of the four grocery stores in Mankato and North Mankato, so store owners told customers to get their cranberries while supplies were still “safe.”

Vi Schulz voted top Amboy Farm Wife

Nov. 20, 1980

Vi Schulz claimed she had received the honor of Farm Wife of the Year, “’Cause I’ve got a big mouth. I’m sure not worthy.”

But 250 people at a banquet in her honor disagreed. In the early years of her marriage, Vi plowed with three horses and a single plow to help out. She also cultivated with two horses and a single row cultivator.

She detasseled corn during the depression “so the children would have school clothes.” Later, she worked at a turkey factory in Madelia. She worked the corn and bean packs at Winnebago.

She worked at the Amboy grocery store, and at Norman’s Café. There was also a stint at a poultry processing plant in Fairmont. She went on to arrange bus trips from Amboy to New England to see fall foliage. “I’m not a person to sit and knit,” she said.

Mankato Food Co-op seeks new members

Nov. 6, 2009

There was no building yet, but the legal paperwork had been done to create a new nonprofit in Minnesota.

To local organizers, it appeared the new Mankato Food Co-op was a “go.” Spokesperson Greg Lesard said there was overwhelming support for a Mankato Food Co-op.

According to the polling done by the organization, people would shop there weekly, looking for vegetarian fare and baked-from-scratch goods. Until people actually signed on as members, money would be an issue. Without money, there could be no physical store.

Lesard said the Mankato Food Co-op would be modeled after the St. Peter Food Co-p, available to members and non-members alike, and would be expected to open within a year

Night to unite

1.Scott, Emersyn, Brynna and Laurie Barnett enjoy family fun at Night to Unite.

2.Kane MacGregor poses with his balloon animal.

3.Terry Kvitek, Austin Fisher, Adam Sinn, Ruth Deutsch and Pastor Sarah Deutsch (left to right) enjoy the minnow races.

4.Phoenix Gomez checks out the police car.

5.Jonah Deutsch explores the inside of a firetruck.

Nicollet County Fair

1.Marah poses with her goat before the show at the Nicollet County Fair.

2.Emalyn Pratt and her quarter horse.

3.Morgan Wendt (left) and Charlotte Bach have fun at the petting zoo.

4.Tony Kramer (left) and Lawson Kramer explore the cow barn.

5.Ezra Brunner (left) and Katie Brunner are wowed by the robotics demonstration.

6.Luke Borowy of St. Peter Area Robotics demonstrates how the robots work.

7.The St. Peter Fire Department entertains children.

8.Nicollet County Fair 2022.

Pride Parade

1.Michael Lalor shows his support by wearing the Rainbow flag as he zooms through the Pride Parade of 2022.

2.Kiara Hann, Natalie Baker and their dogs show their support at the parade.

3.Proud supporters of the LGBTQA community.

4.Aaron Josh waves as he rides through the parade.

5.Luna Quintero-Virden enjoys the parade.

6.Gaby throws candy to the crowd.

7.Jessica Lanes waves her bubble wand as she walks through Mankato’s Pride Parade.

8.South Central students Dani Torkkola (left) and JK Ruiz are proud supporters of the parade.

9.Mankato Pride Parade 2022.

Human Foosball

1.Tara Berg (left) and Karli Lauriers host the Human Foosball tournament for the Greater Mankato United Way.

2.Friends, Alex, True, Olive and Violet (left to right) enjoy watching the games.

3.A header shot made by the U,S. Bank team at United Way’s event.

4.The Human Foosball United Way referees for 2022.

5.Darius Truesdale (left) and Jeff Lang at the tournament.

6.The community comes together to enjoy a family fun game of human foosball.

AVANT GUARDIANS

By Leticia Gonzales

Grandfatherly inspiration

Garrett Kopka discovers new ways of creating art

GarrettKopka took advantage of the extra downtime from the pandemic lockdown of 2020 by teaching himself some new art skills.

“COVID happened and everyone seemed to have a lot of time on their hands, so I pretty much started creating and messing around with it every day,” he said.

Kopka, who is 25, grew up around Mankato, Kasota and St. Peter. He credits his artistic grandfathers for providing nurturing for the arts. His paternal grandfather was an oil painter, while his maternal grandfather was a woodworker who used knives to design sculptures and trinkets.

“I started drawing and excelling in art class when was younger and that just followed through into high school.”

extra 2020 Kasota paternal maternal to when I art sold and

From there, he started to create more complicated art pieces but never pursued any professional training. It wasn’t until the pandemic that he began to take art more seriously and started exploring paint-pouring liquid art manipulations. He found a company that sold a fluorescent line that was reactive to black light, and his work began to accelerate.

“I didn’t have anyone to ask, so I did a lot of workshop stuff on YouTube to get ideas.”

He researched how to create various methods using stretched canvas ranging in size from 3 feet by 3 feet and 4 feet by 4 feet until he gained the confidence to move up to larger creations such as 8 feet by 8 feet and 8 feet by 10 feet. Kopka said he experimented by painting rocks and utilizing different color palettes.

“I didn’t have much of an idea of what I was doing really.”

One of those experimentations involved using a hairdryer to blow the paint out across the canvas. Another method features the use of toothpicks to draw through the paint in place of straws. He really focused on what colors would look good together and found ways to enhance the result through mixing and manipulating.

Kopka also utilizes glow-in-the-dark paint in his stretched canvas creations.

“It really adds an added bonus to it at the end of the night if you pay attention to it, charge it up a little bit.”

Despite the progression, Kopka said he didn’t get serious about his work until he was able to secure his own place and set up his own studio workspace where he was finally “allowed to make a mess.”

“I had my own studio to create from the ground up, which allowed me to further my own growth.”

The space allowed him to spend extra time on his

creations. Last August, he held his first show at the Makerspace in Mankato. Prior to that, he mostly sold to family and friends or showed his work primarily on Instagram.

From there, he began participating in more shows such as the Day of the Dead festival in Mankato and the Makers Fair in St. Peter, until it became second nature. He also spends time selling at the HUB markets in Mankato and had the chance to showcase his art at the Festival Solstice in Mankato.

“My hope is to get into more music festivals. I feel like this sort of art would fall in line pretty well with that genre.”

By Joe Spear

Thankful

… and then some

It was Bruce Springsteen’s birthday and the couple walked their bikes downtown, he wearing a long cattleman’s-like coat with a hoodie pushing a bigger bike with a baby carrier on the back and another knapsacklike suitcase full of stuff.

A small American flag was attached to the back of the baby carrier.

Born in the USA.

She had a smaller bike, pink backpack and a purse. A photo showed a hole in the sole of her right shoe.

Thankful is a word we turn to this time of year, and that’s good. We all need to keep in mind the good things we have, the food we eat and the shelter we have from the storm.

And we need to be grateful to the people who help us be thankful.

The folks at the Connections Shelter likely know our couple. Started a few years ago, the shelter houses some 20-30 people a night in rooms at First Presbyterian Church, the oldest in Mankato proper.

Connections offers Holy Grounds at Centenary United Methodist Church a block or two from First Presbyterian, a place for anyone to get a free breakfast and coffee to start their day.

Connections works with the Salvation Army and numerous churches and volunteers to take care of Mankato’s homeless.

Thankful.

High school athletics have long been a place where heroism appears. These teens coming of age often reveal remarkable signs of who they are and who they will be. At a young age they often set an example for us all.

Last year in the Mankato EastWest Jug football game, East player Puolrah Gong saw West’s

Ryan Haley suffering leg cramps, lying on the ground late in the emotional game.

The Mankato East senior ran over to Haley, a rival he’d been battling during the game, and tried to help, eventually getting a water bottle from his own sideline to offer to the West player.

Gong told The Free Press at the time: “It’s the normal thing to do. If you see someone cramping, you get them water. It doesn’t matter who it is. I think the respect goes both ways. We play hard against each other, but we’ve all been friends for a long time. I think sportsmanship can take you far in life. Sportsmanship and respect for your opponent.”

Thankful.

And these athletes can show true character in the face of overcoming obstacles.

Mankato East senior B.J. Omot was a highly rated player recruited by Division I schools, but outstanding players often draw more contempt from opposing fans.

When Omot committed a turnover, the opposing fans started chanting “overrated, overrated.”

“Sure, I heard them,” said Omot, a 6-foot-8 wing. “I’m glad they did it. It made me turn on a different mode. I was not going to let them have the last laugh. I just turned it on.”

Omot scored 17 points after hearing the chants for a total of 29 points on the way to a one point Cougar victory.

Thankful.

And let’s not forget about dedicated coaches, who don’t gain a lot financially for going the extra miles, but often do it because they want to see young people succeed.

Mankato’s first co-ed adaptive floor hockey team didn’t have a lot of wins, and coach Dylan Boettcher didn’t expect it. He

hoped school pride and confidence for these athletes would be the first goal.

“This year is really not about winning,” he told The Free Press last year. “I’m hoping this can be something the kids enjoy and be proud of, walking the halls at school or getting together with families on holidays.

“High school sports meant a lot to me, and I want these kids to have the same experience. It’s a feeling you can only get playing high school sports.”

Thankful.

It may be hardest to be thankful in the face of tragedy, but that is when the idea of gratitude becomes most powerful in spreading far and wide to those who then carry it forward.

Mel and Todd Hoffner stand in such a place. Losing their 13-yearold daughter to suicide was as gut wrenching and traumatic an experience as any family can endure.

But Mel, a longtime educator and counselor, and Todd, the Minnesota State University football coach, shared their story in hopes of preventing any family from having to go through what they had gone through.

They supported a nationally renowned suicide prevention speaker in the schools and in a gesture of complete openness and grace told their story to The Free Press and the thousands of people who read it.

They supported the Greater Mankato Area United Way’s efforts in youth support and suicide prevention.

“It’s a parent’s worst nightmare to lose a child. But to lose a child by suicide, it’s viscerally heartbreaking and traumatic, and we would do anything to prevent this tragedy for any family,” Mel told The Free Press.

Thankful.

The simple and ordinary can often inspire if we take the time to smell the roses.

Louis Armstrong recorded “What a Wonderful World” in 1967, inspired by the people and the places of the Queens, New

York, neighborhood he lived in.

“The colors of the rainbow // So pretty in the sky // Are also on the faces //Of people going by.”

As the pink-backpack woman passes the city-sponsored flower bed on the downtown sidewalk, she stops, grabs a handful of

purple flowers for a bouquet and continues.

Thankful.

Joe Spear is editor of Mankato Magazine. Contact him at jspear@mankatofreepress.com or 344-6382. Follow on Twitter @jfspear.

Greetings from

Dog races? Santa Claus?

Excelsior is for you

By Renee Berg

If a dog race sounds fun, or cozying up to a heater on an outdoor patio is appealing, then Excelsior is the town for you to visit this fall or winter.

Just southwest of Minneapolis, Excelsior is one of several communities on Lake Minnetonka that are popular places for out-of-town visitors. Excelsior got its start in 1852 when tailor George Bertram traveled from upstate New York in search of prime western land to purchase and develop.

He arrived in what is now Excelsior and was smitten enough to stay. In 1853, Bertram and builder Robert McGrath began to construct homes and businesses in what is now the city of Excelsior. The origin of the city’s name is thought to come either from Longfellow’s popular 1841 poem “Excelsior” or New York state’s motto “Excelsior,” meaning “ever upward.”

In any case, the name suggested the optimistic, striving nature of the community the settlers hoped to build, according to the Excelsior Lake

Excelsior is beautiful anytime of year. Photo by Excelsior Lake Minnetonka Chamber of Commerce

Minnetonka Historical Society.

In planning your visit to this quaint, historic town, you’ll want to choose a place to stay first. Experts say the Excelsior Hotel is an obvious choice or, if a bed-and-breakfast is more your speed, check out The Guest House, a wonderful choice with new owners.

For dining you’ll want to check out Coalition, or Maynard’s, which is right on the water and features outdoor heaters during the colder months. Other options for dining are Bull & Ren, Red Sauce Rebellion, or Yumi Japanese Restaurant & Bar for sushi. Red Bench Bakery is one choice for dessert. Other dessert options are Lick’s Ice Cream, Tommy’s Tonka Trolley and Adele’s Frozen Custard.

If shopping is your game, scores of cute boutiques line Water Street. Shops you’ll want to duck into include Amore & Fede, Primp and Lake Effect Nautical Gifts, which features home décor as well as Lake Minnetonka-themed merchandise. Or go to Faribault Mill, where you can get a customized blanket as a keepsake.

Other options for shops are Brightwater Clothing & Gear, Minnesota Maker’s, Sweet Nautical Boutique, Abundant Kitchen and don’t overlook the kids’ toy store called Something Safari. For gift stores in Excelsior, check out Fleurish LLP and Provisions. And aloom is a compelling consignment boutique. Ooh La La Boutique is a must visit shop, with the owner recently having expanded to twice its size.

“Water Street has wonderful retail to keep you busy all day,” said Tiffany King, executive director

of the Excelsior Lake Minnetonka Chamber of Commerce.

Outdoors, you’ll absolutely want to take in the Klondike Dog Derby on Feb. 3-4, when Water Street is closed off and covered with snow for dogs to run through. Another outdoor event to consider attending is the Christkindlsmarkt, which locals say is fun with reindeer and Santa Claus, and is conveniently located just behind Excelsior Brewery.

Or if you’re coming off a hike or a bike ride, go to Excelsior Food & Drink.

When it’s time to warm up, grab a cup of joe at Dunn Bros. or at The Lobby Coffee & Leisure, which is a new, hip coffeehouse beneath The Excelsior Hotel.

For live music, you’ve got options. Check out 318 Café or Excelsior Brewing Company. At the brewery, you’ll want to order a wood-fired pizza from Olive’s Fresh Pizza Bar and enjoy that with your brewski, locals say.

Live theater buffs will find what they’re looking for here in Excelsior too, with The Old Log Theatre as one venue. Or see a movie at Excelsior Dock Cinema, a cute, old, traditional movie house.

Renee Berg is a general assignment reporter for The Free Press. A graduate of Minnesota State University, she is mom to two teenagers and two cats.

A Christmas vibe starts showing up in November in Excelsior.Excelsior is a great spot for a date night.

Photo by Pat Christman

Here’s to you, Sara Robinson!

Welike to think we Minnesotans have earned the right to the term “Minnesota Nice.” Well, we’re here to tell you “nice” exists in Michigan, too. Case in point: Dr. Sara Robinson, a Mankato-based doctor who was recently named Family Medicine Resident of the Year by the Minnesota Academy of Physicians.

She hails from East Jordan, Michigan, but we’re glad she’s settling down, at least for now, in Mankato. She’s not only as nice as can be, she’s also an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights as well as a devoted volunteer at a local homeless shelter.

Hey Michigan, keep sending more Saras our way!

MANKATO MAGAZINE: When did you know you wanted to be a doctor?

SARA ROBINSON: My parents are amazingly supportive and encouraging, and they made it possible to explore and try different things as I was growing up. I always enjoyed science, and I knew I wanted to go into something helping people. My godfather was a rural family physician who spent his career going above and beyond for his patients, and I was inspired by the combination of a broad variety of topics seen in family medicine, putting the focus on preventing disease, and community outreach. Around junior year of high school, it just clicked in my head, and thanks to 25 total years of school, lots of studying, and a village of support in my parents, godparents, brother, brother-in-law, grandmother, uncle, extended family, friends, teachers and faculty, I now get the honor of practicing medicine.

MM: Word on the street is that you were named Family Medicine Resident of the Year by the Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians.

SR: I am very humbled. Medical care is practiced through teamwork, so it is an honor I share with everyone I work with and the people who helped get me to where I am today. I am grateful to train at the Mayo Clinic Family Medicine Residency Program here in Mankato and for the support the Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians offers all residents here in this great state. Getting here has not been a straightforward journey, and during all of this, I find myself the most grateful for the challenges and setbacks and hurdles that happened along the way. That is where I learned the most and helped me grow in ways that I could not glean from my textbooks.

MM: Tell us a bit about your approach to family medicine?

SR: I believe providing medical care is a collaboration between the physician and the patient, and that alliance is built on trust and communication. My goals are to prevent disease, address current concerns and empower those I meet to be knowledgeable and in charge of their health. I strive to do this by having open conversations, listening closely, providing my expertise and coming up with a plan of care together.

MM: You helped develop an LGBTQ+ health curriculum. Tell us what prompted you to do that.

SR: Everyone deserves health care. One of the many aspects I appreciate about my residency program is that they support us in pursuing our interests and incorporating it in a way that all residents can learn. There continues to be ongoing stigmatization and discrimination of the LGBT+ community, a fact that I have seen affect my loved ones personally. I have a responsibility to learn and provide all-encompassing care because I am in a position of privilege to do so. There is not enough room here to fully dive into the full history and studies, so to keep it brief — providing health care for the LGBT+ community, including genderaffirming care, is lifesaving care. Making lasting change requires ongoing effort, and I am grateful for the faculty at my program and community partners as we work together to provide health care for all.

MM: Tell us about your work with Connections Shelter.

SR: This process stemmed from a conversation between Dr. Nick DeVetter and Connections Shelter, centering around the need to bring health care to those with limited access. Studies show how the lack of stable housing puts people at increased risk of disease burden and poorer outcomes. A partnership then formed between Connections Shelter, Open Door, and the residency to provide a now weekly free clinic at the shelter. This process showed me the power in collaboration among groups here in Mankato, and it is inspiring to get to work with so many great people.

This experience as a whole taught me that all the medicine and medical advice in the world cannot make up for lack of shelter or access to food. No one deserves to be without these basic necessities, so addressing these factors has to be an essential part of my practice.

To take things a step further, I believe I have a duty to advocate at the local, state, and national levels to help eliminate the barriers of access to these basic essentials.

MM: You’re trapped on a desert island and can have one DVD, one album and one book. What are they and why?

SR: This is HARD! For the DVD, I would have to bring the original “Star Wars.” My dad introduced me to it when I was little, and I still hold onto the vain hope of being a Jedi Master someday. In the meantime, I’ll just rewatch my favorite movie. For the album, I would bring the original Broadway cast recording of “Wicked.” I am a musical theater nerd, and this was one of my original favorites. I still get chills every time I hear “Defying Gravity,” and I would frequently blast it in my car before a big test or tough day or other challenge to get ready. For the book, I would have to bring “House in the Cerulean Sea,” by T.J. Klune. It is a wholesome fantasy book centering around inclusivity, acceptance and celebrating the things that make us both different and the same.

Compiled by Robb Murray

By Robb Murray | Photos by Free Press archives

When Scott Wojcik visited Marshfield, Wisconsin, that day a dozen years ago, he had money on his mind.

Not the personal enrichment, fatwallet kind of money. No, we’re talking about the nonprofit world, a place where charities try to come up with ideas to raise funds so they can do good deeds, spread goodwill, make the community a better place.

A few days prior to that fateful trip to Marshfield, Wojcik had been sitting around a table of Mankato Kiwanis Club members, each scratching their heads trying to figure out a better way to get cash flowing into their do-gooder coffers. And as he and his family idled their way through the holiday dazzlings in Marshfield,

he stared at the lights long and hard until … his mind lit up like a Sibley Park cottonwood tree after dark in December.

“Could Mankato do this?” he thought to himself. “Could the Mankato Kiwanis Club pull together the necessary volunteers, financial commitments and community buy-in to manufacture a holiday lights-based illuminated extravaganza?” (Or something like that — the exact verbiage of a 12-year-old thought can be difficult to pin down, but you get the idea.)

Wojcik came back to Mankato with that thought and, like the flap of a butterfly’s wings that ultimately becomes the hurricane, the delightful and luminous monstrosity that would become Kiwanis Holiday Lights was born.

The event is celebrating its 10th year of holiday glow. Beginning at the end of November each year and running through New Year’s Eve, Kiwanis Holiday Lights has become a regional attraction that just about everyone in the area has seen at least once. Many families make an annual pilgrimage to Sibley Park when the lights turn on for the season. And some make several trips each year to see literally a bazillion lights, a giant Santa Claus, flashing lights synced with music, live reindeer, a wrapped present big enough to fit a small apartment, Christmas trees decorated by nonprofit groups, towering oaks and cottonwoods specked with LEDs of all the colors of the rainbow, and so much more.

Wojcik, Kyle Mrozek and Joe Meidl were there from the beginning.

“Here’s the deal: We were on the fundraising committee trying to think outside the box to raise money. And then you,” Meidl recalled, gesturing to Wojcik, “said ‘I’ve seen these displays where people donate money and there’s volunteers and it works pretty good.”

“I saw all these donations coming in,” Wojcik said.

“My wife and I pulled over and I said ‘I’m gonna talk to somebody in charge.’ I came back and started talking to you guys and getting ideas.”

The fundraising committee then approached

Kiwanis leadership, which immediately gave the group the green light to explore the feasibility of doing it in Mankato.

They then visited La Crosse, another community with a dynamite lights display, and got more ideas. Then they visited a few more and decided that, if they got a few big sponsors, they could make this work.

But where? The only place big enough for an impressive display and configured in such a way to allow cars to drive through — was Sibley Park. And for that, they needed city approval.

“We needed to pick a park and we needed to get full backing from both (Mankato and North Mankato). And so we had a lot of meetings with them. At the time. It was (city of Mankato leaders) Pat Hentges and Tanya Ange. And they were both fully behind us,” Wojcik said. “They loved the idea because everything had gone dark. At the time there was no Mary Circle. There was no Broad Street. Everything just ended. So they were looking for something like this.”

Mary Circle in North Mankato and Broad Street in Mankato for years had been regional draws for their impressive, organically grown lights displays. It was just homeowners filled with Christmas spirit — and perhaps a little goodnatured peer pressure to play along that produced the kind of displays that literally attracted tour buses from the Twin Cities. Eventually, though, the steam ran out of those projects and they died out. Which is why city officials, Wojcik said, were eager to fill the void with something spectacular that raised money for charity at the same time.

Sibley Park turned out to be ideal. With roads sufficient enough to handle long waiting lines — some lines have been so long as to snake back to the downtown area, it’s been said — they settled on what was essentially an ideal location … unless you live on the route where the cars line up.

They’ve gotten complaints, they say, from people who live in homes or apartments on the road leading

Over 16,724 volunteers fromover 100 nonprofit organizationshave participated with setup,tear-down and running the event,logging over 115,000volunteer hours

of food has been collected for area food shelves

up to Sibley Park. But the complaints have been few enough, and they say organizers try to exercise good diplomacy with those residents to minimize any ill will. With an event of this size and with this many cars descending on a park, there will be snarls.

“We’ve worked with the city and we’ve worked with public safety to try to help with that,” Wojcik said. “Even MnDOT. We have signs out on Highway 169. We’re trying to let people know the traffic issues ahead. And we’ve set out temporary stop signs at intersections to help with that. We have police at the railroad tracks because they’re backed up. Yep. And we have the Police Explorers volunteering to do traffic control at some of those intersections.” City backing secured, Kiwanis needed a sponsor. And one of its first stops was the Mankato Area Foundation. MAF, apparently, was an easy sell. They were immediately on board with an idea to bring the community together, celebrate the holidays, give money to charities, and give everyone a reason to smile even when the temperature gauge reads -10. MAF’s investment allowed them to start purchasing lights and building displays. Mrozek recalls those early days fondly.

“That summer fall (prior to the first Kiwanis Holiday Lights) there’d be outlines, chalk outlines, artists would come and draw it all out, and then

Lynn Austin checks lights on a lighted tunnel.

27,000 children have visited Santa in his workshop

we’d take pieces of rebar that you see on these displays and you’d bend them or cut them and get it all laid out,” he said. “And a welder would come down and weld it all together. It would get sandblasted and painted and then we’d attach all the lights to it. And it was a labor of love.”

Hundreds of thousands of lights, hundreds of yards of rebar, donated decorations, fabricated displays — all had to be acquired and assembled before anyone knew if the event would even be successful. They needed volunteers. With a club of around 100 members, where would they get the 1,500 people they’d need to pull this off?

Christmas trees.

“That was a model that we followed from La Crosse,” Wojcik said. “When you look at the amount of volunteers we’d need — you’re talking 1,500 to 2,000 volunteers — well, that’s not the

Kiwanis Club. We’re 110 members. So they said here’s how we get our event done. If we contact all these other nonprofits, we give them a tree to decorate and that’s the only advertising in the park, and then they help, then the proceeds after we pay our bills will go back to nonprofits.”

Each year the display has grown. They add lights, but they also add displays. And some displays you’ve seen in years past may not be out there this year. But they might be out there next year. They’re goal is to keep things fresh.

They’ve got a few new surprises on tap for this year but, because of supply chain and shipping issues, they might not arrive in time for this year’s display. So mum’s the word on those details. Suffice it to say that, if it gets here in time, and you’re a regular to the Kiwanis Holiday Lights, you’ll notice.

Even if the new stuff doesn’t arrive, you’ll still have what made all this Kiwanis effort worthwhile.

The light.

You can still sit in your car, inching your way to the park, tuning your stereo to 88.5 to hear the broadcast of Christmas music. There will still be a giant Christmas tree of lights, an illuminated tunnel with pulsating music timed to a rocked-up holiday tune, and strings of multi-colored lights strung impossibly high in Sibley Park’s tallest trees. There will still be a warming house pouring hot cider and cocoa and distributing bags of freshly sugared mini doughnuts. You can still hand over donations to food shelves or drop dollar bills into collection buckets. The live reindeer will be there, and so will Santa. Ice sculptures, snowmen, candy canes … just like you remember. MM

been involved

sponsors, volunteers

in-kind

By Jane Turpin Moore

Ayoung

artist’s quest to find a market for her work — and a seasoned mentor’s willingness to assist — kicked off a collaboration that blossomed into an enduring tradition.

Two decades after that humble beginning, the GSR Fine Art Festival will mark its 20th anniversary event Nov. 26-27 at the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center in downtown Mankato. Nearly 50 artisans are scheduled to participate in the juried show, with at least seven authors and 14 musical acts along for the seasonal ride.

“We offer something that makes your soul move,” said Patty Conlin, proprietress of A Stone’s Throw Gallery in St. Peter and one of the goldsmiths who originated the GSR Fine Art Festival in 2003. ““But artists also need to eat and make a living, so this original, beautiful art is available for purchase. You won’t find anything mass-produced, factory-made or cookie-cutter here; everything is of excellent quality and makes wonderful, unique gifts.”

With no admission fee, the doors to the GSR Fine Art Festival are flung wide open to the general public on the post-Thanksgiving weekend, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.

“We want it to be accessible for everyone, and we don’t want an admission fee to be a barrier,” said Sacha Bliese, Conlin’s former apprentice. Sacha now co-chairs GSR with her father, Tom Bliese.

“If you want to bring the kids, they’re welcome,” Sacha said. “There’s free parking available, and you can buy a drink or some food — but unless you make a purchase and take something home with you, there are no other costs to attendees.”

Promised Conlin, “It’s a beautiful show, a true visual feast, and it’s a wonderful place to be that just feels good.”

Mining the market

Sacha Bliese is a 1996 Mankato West High School graduate who gobbled up art classes during her years as a Scarlet.

But when she discovered that a friend’s mom had a polishing wheel, hammers and a torch, the Conlin house became Sacha’s favorite after-school hang-out.

“I was Patty’s (Conlin’s) apprentice during my senior year of high school, and as soon as I found metal, I thought, ‘This is it!’” Sacha said.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in art with a metals focus at the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse and thereafter worked as a bench jeweler for two years.

“I wanted to really use my art degree so in 2003 I got a small business loan, wrote a business plan and went out on my own,” Sacha said.

“Part of my plan was to go to art shows and find new clients — and I wanted to return to Minnesota to share my work, but there wasn’t an art show in the area to apply to.”

Conlin remembers the moment Sacha called to ask about using her name in a press release, and it didn’t take long for their conversation to turn to opportunities.

“We discussed having a show at Harpies’ Bazaar, where I worked as an artist-in-residence for 10 years,” Conlin said of the former Mankato Old Town boutique.

Conlin had two new apprentices at the time (“Patty always has an apprentice,” praised Sacha) so the four of them hosted an evening for interested patrons at Harpies’ Bazaar prior to Christmas 2003.

“That’s how it started,” Sacha said simply.

“It was a Thursday night, we offered a wine tasting and we invited people to have a nice time and see some jewelry.”

Buoyed by an enthusiastic response, the group (plus another of Conlin’s goldsmith apprentices — thus, a “goldsmiths’ reunion”) repeated the event in 2004.

The third year, with Harpies’ Bazaar closing and interest in their output growing, they rented the YWCA Cray Mansion and included seven other artists, including a potter and Mankato glass artisan Bob Doring.

“That was when we felt like we had something going on,” Sacha said. “We filled that place. Everyone who came wanted to return, and other artists were asking about joining.”

By 2006, they moved to the Ellerbe Room at the Mankato civic center.

“It was a little sparse in there the first year … then it was comfortable … then it was a little crowded,” laughed Sacha. “And then we moved into half the ballroom. We filled that, and then we moved into the whole ballroom.”

The 2022 GSR Fine Art Festival will command the entire ballroom plus the Ellerbe Room, which will house The Book Nook, featuring several area authors and their works.

A deserved reputation for mounting a classy event that provides patrons with an enjoyable experience while simultaneously treating artists with care and respect is certainly behind GSR’s ongoing success.

“Up until the pandemic, we had over 2,000 patrons attending in two days,” said Tom Bliese, mentioning a loyal local audience and also numerous attendees from within a roughly 60-mile radius. “We expect to grow back this year.”

Evolution

Participating artists pay a small jury fee, submit images of their work and deliver an artist’s statement as part of the application process. If admitted, artists pay an additional booth fee.

“The jury process guarantees the quality of the show and creates more prestige and visibility for the artists,” said Tom Bliese.

“It’s a win for everybody.”

Other than wholeheartedly supporting his daughter, Tom’s involvement was minimal during GSR’s first two years.

But when GSR moved on from Harpies’ Bazaar, he stepped in to a greater extent.

“Both Patty and Sacha are artists,” he said, explaining they needed more time to focus on their work and respond to clients. He noted the co-founders each continue to maintain and pay for booths at GSR.

Having been a potter himself, Tom’s years of formal education and artistic experimentation ultimately led him to theater, which he calls a full “community of artists: visual artists, singers, actors, (lighting and set) technicians—and it all starts with a literary artist who puts words to paper.”

After retiring in 2007 from a 30-year career as a theatrical designer at Minnesota State University, Tom had more time and energy to pump into GSR.

As co-director of GSR, he employs a diverse skill set as he assists with the jurying process, helps secure corporate sponsors, negotiates group rates for attending artists with local hotels, plans the festival’s

layout and look, coordinates a troupe of volunteers (he estimates 30 to 40 are involved annually) and tends to numerous other details.

Since Sacha now lives in Bellingham, Washington, from April through December (the selfproclaimed “reverse snowbird” returns for GSR and spends January through March in Minnesota), she handles the GSR budget and website, among other duties, while Tom is GSR’s veritable “boots on the ground” guy.

And though the pandemic forced GSR to establish an online presence, that has proven useful in providing year-round access to GSR artists’ work (via shopartmidwest.com). The nonprofit GSR’s fiscal sponsor, Twin Rivers Council for the Arts, supported the transition.

“We’re now linked with shopART Midwest, so artists who are juried into our show can be accessible online at no cost to themselves,” Tom said.

Mankato’s own PresenceMaker Inc. is an in-kind corporate sponsor assisting GSR with graphics and advertising, and Tom credits several other individuals and organizations for their roles in ensuring GSR’s ongoing success.

Taking care

And due to their collective decades of personal experiences as participants in other shows and artistic events — Tom, for example, was the strolling comedian/street magician “Nostra Thomas” at the Renaissance Festival for nearly 40 years — the GSR crew strives to treat participants as they prefer to be treated.

That means volunteers are on hand to help artists with the loading, set up and unloading of their goods; bathroom and meal breaks are offered; and discount coupons are provided to help reduce out-of-pocket expenses for the weekend.

“We try to take care of them as we would like to be taken care of,” said Sacha, reflecting on the challenges artists face at days-long events.

“We took what’s working great at other shows and brought it here.”

Added Tom, “We try to create a community for these artists and give them a place to have a little breather.

“When we first started, we had bagels and coffee in the morning

them.”

As numbers increased, such personal touches became more challenging but morphed into the GSR Bistro, at which not only the artists but also attendees can purchase food and drink from local producers like Mankato Brewery, Schell’s and Chankaska Creek Ranch and Winery.

“And on Sunday morning, we take a ‘class picture’ of the artists before opening the doors,” Tom said. “We send that to our corporate sponsors as a thankyou.”

Such practices foster a spirit of collaboration and mutual support, Conlin said. She recalls “the blizzard year” of 2010 when the Metrodome memorably collapsed under the weight of snow a couple of weeks following GSR.

“The art world can be perceived as a dog-eat-dog environment, but it’s not like that here,” Conlin said.

“It’s more, ‘I support you, you support me,’ and that blizzard year (with fewer attendees due to the weather), we still did OK; we bought art from each other because we highly value it, and that’s the way art should be.”

Art in practice

GSR’s organizers definitely don’t want people assuming they need to be art critics in order to appreciate what they’re offering.

“This is art that’s available to people; it’s not snooty and it’s not about status,” Conlin said.

A lot of it is also unmistakably practical.

For instance, Bob Doring — a skilled craftsman with 54 years of glass blowing under his tool belt — creates lovely but functional items. A short list of options: goblets (clear, colored, multi-colored, etc.), paper weights, plates, vases, bowls and footed candy bowls.

“It’s functional as well as decorative,” said Doring, who has an extensive fan base acquired not only from his 18 years at GSR but

also from a 12-year presence at the Renaissance Festival.

“I’ve had people tell me, ‘I bought all my Christmas gifts here last year but I didn’t give any of them away,’” he said with a chuckle.

Complements to Doring’s glass products are his unique humor and personality.

“I like fire and I find hot stuff is real exciting,” he said.

Sacha and Conlin both create rings (for weddings, noses, toes or ears), pins, bracelets and more. Both artisans accept custom orders and are accomplished at jewelry redesign.

Sacha sees great value in patrons speaking face-to-face with artists at shows such as GSR.

“It’s always nice to know someone likes and is interested in your work,” Sacha said. “And to have a conversation with an artist and learn what went into their products, where they found their inspiration and how they developed their style is something you can’t get when you buy a painting at Target for $20.

“When someone reaches into their pocket and says, ‘I must have this,’ that’s super exciting for an artist.”

At GSR, art also floats through the air courtesy of the ambient music performed by area musicians.

For the past few years, Michelle Parsneau has volunteered to schedule 14 50-minute slots with solo musicians or small ensembles, adding to GSR’s overall vibe.

Parsneau programs everything from jazz to folk to ukulele strummers to harpists to flamenco guitar players — and “some amazing pianists,” she said.

“We strive for a fine balance of sound,” Parsneau said.

GSR, she believes, is all about giving people the space to share their talents.

“I’m the biggest cheerleader of artists in the world,” she said. “Art is a cool thing to support.” MM

What: GSR Fine Art Festival

When: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 26; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 27.

Where: Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center, 1 Civic Center Plaza, Mankato gsrfineartfestival.com

Festival includes the wares of about 50 artists and 10 authors. Live music throughout; food and beverages available for purchase. No admission fee.

All ages are welcome. Free parking in the vicinity.

By Pat Christman

Fall’s

beauty is always so short lived. The greens of summer change to the vibrant reds, oranges and yellows of fall and are gone in just a couple of short weeks. Perhaps they seem so special because they are so fleeting. Maybe the colors are that much brighter this fall because they won’t last. They are gone in the blink of an eye. MM

From R&R to B&B

Schaefers fulfill dream at North Carolina’s Colington Creek Inn

By Jane Turpin Moore

Witha tagline of “Simply relaxing,” Colington Creek Inn on North Carolina’s Outer Banks prides itself on being a restorative place.

But rest assured CCI’s owners, former longtime Mankatoans Darold and Dawn Schaefer, are hustling 24/7 to ensure your vacation will be as leisurely or adventurous as you desire.

“I always wanted to be in the hospitality business,” Dawn said. “And this place is life-changing for

a lot of people. Guests might arrive feeling distressed or burned out, but they leave feeling relaxed and like they made new friends. Over and over we hear, ‘We found our second home.’”

Certainly the Schaefers, who owned and operated Mankato’s iconic R&R Tire from 2005-19, have found their own second home and genuine happy place at CCI, which happens to be situated fewer than five minutes from the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill

The Colington Creek Inn is owned by Darold and Dawn Schaefer, former owners of R&R Tire in Mankato.

Devil Hills.

“I love waking up and seeing the beauty of nature right out my window,” said Darold, a 1983 Mankato West High School graduate whose parents are Rosie and the late Rex Macbeth.

“Some mornings there are two deer standing under our pear tree, and I can spot river otters, dolphins, herons, osprey, egrets, jellyfish or skates. It’s so relaxing, and it’s a huge place for birders.”

How did a “Minnesota nice” couple find their way to a peaceful, green slice of heaven along the Carolina coast? The Schaefers’ story is one of perseverance, hard work, vision, water and God… or Zillow.

Finding the right place

Dawn, 57, grew up in the Minneapolis area and met Darold in 1998 shortly after they had separately moved into a St. Louis Park apartment building.

“She spent the first six months trying to hook me up with every girl she knew,” said Darold, 58.

“I was never going to get married again,” smiled Dawn, who has two children from a previous marriage. Nevertheless, she married Darold within a year.

“Dawn is my first and last wife,” Darold is quick to say, though he was a confirmed bachelor before Dawn entered his life.

They wed on a paddleboat in Stillwater on Dec. 31, 1999.

“Everyone thought the world was going to end on Jan. 1, 2000, so I thought I could hold it together (as a husband) for at least a day,” Darold said.

Nearly 23 years later, the couple offers insight into why their relationship works.

“Where I’m weak, he’s strong,” Dawn said. “And vice versa,” Darold added.

After marrying, the Schaefers moved to Madison Lake. A jack-of-all-trades kind of guy, Darold said has done just about everything imaginable at one time or another; a partial list of his past gigs includes cab driver, photography instructor, chef, ice cream truck driver, pizza deliverer, framing specialist and even, for a brief stint, pilot.

Dawn, meanwhile, has an energetic, entrepreneurial mindset that led her to start U.S. Engravers and Creative Ad Solutions, two North Mankato-based businesses with which she remains fully (though most often virtually) engaged on a daily basis from her North Carolina office.

“I’m spinning plates every day,” she said, a calm demeanor belying her whirlwind work pace.

For years, Dawn had envisioned herself running a resort or bed-and-breakfast, with northern Minnesota seeming like the natural locale.

“I wanted to have a place where I could welcome guests, help them feel at home and make their experiences special,” she said. “And I wanted it to be small enough that we could get to know people.”

But just when she pinpointed a possible resort on Woman Lake, Darold came home one day and declared they should buy the tire shop, since Rex Macbeth’s health was failing.

Dawn shelved her B&B dream as they raised their son Devan, a 2018 Mankato West alumnus, and concentrated on R&R Tire and their other businesses. When Devan began considering colleges on the West coast, Dawn researched potential properties in California and coastal Oregon, but nothing seemed quite right.

After Devan chose South Dakota State University, the Schaefers felt free to consider other areas; the Dakotas lacked the warmth and water they prioritized.

Dawn pivoted her Zillow research to the Outer Banks, initially reluctantly scrolling past CCI because it wasn’t on the market and seemed too aspirational for their pocketbooks. Instead, in early 2019 she earmarked three different properties in the general vicinity, booked flights and told Darold they were going to look at North Carolina.

“I have to see it, stand on it and touch it to know if something’s right,” he said.

God — or Zillow?

But while the real estate agent showed them the three Outer Banks places Dawn had identified, he also drove them to CCI — without knowing they had previously pegged it.

“He thought it would be perfect for us,” Darold recalled.

“God intended for us to see this property,” insisted Dawn, who often tells guests who ask how they found CCI, “If you’re a faith-based person, it was God; if not, then Zillow.”

And when they first laid eyes on CCI — its focal point the stately two-story inn on a generous slab of green grass jutting into a channel of the Albermarle Sound — both Schaefers immediately felt the magic.

Their next call was to Mark Mitzel, vice president of business banking at Profinium in Mankato. Mitzel had worked with the Schaefers since 2015 and was familiar with their financial profile.

“We’d had earlier conversations about their dream of owning a bed-and-breakfast somewhere warm,

Coziness is everywhere at Colington Creek Inn.

preferably next to an ocean, and had already talked about what that might look like,” Mitzel said.

“It evolved from ‘This is a dream of ours’ to a call saying, ‘We’ve found a property; here are the details and what do you think?’”

A community bank with four locations — Mankato, Owatonna, Fairmont and Truman — Profinium more commonly finances projects in southern Minnesota and northern Iowa.

“But our motto is ‘Achieving dreams together,’ and because of our pre-existing relationship with them, our knowledge of their work ethic and their detailed financial plans, we were on board to help make their dream come true,” Mitzel said.

“It’s such a unique location and beautiful property, and I had total confidence they’d do what they said they’d do,” he continued.

“Of course, we didn’t know in 2019 what was coming in 2020, but the fact they managed to increase revenue and occupancy during a pandemic speaks to their ability to handle challenges and roll with changes; they’re doing awesome.”

In short order, the Schaefers sold R&R Tire, arranged to keep operating their other Mankatobased businesses from afar, and in late March 2019 packed a trailer for the arduous drive to Kill Devil Hills.

Their arrival was less than auspicious.

“We had a 27-hour drive because the trailer broke, and we arrived in the middle of the night during a Nor’easter,” Dawn said.

“The power was out, the house

was swaying — we didn’t yet know houses here are supposed to sway in storms like that — and we had to drive to a Walmart nine miles away at 3 a.m. for some critical supplies.”

Usually the picture of positivity, Dawn admits to screaming, “This is not Southern hospitality!” in the middle of that dark night.

They also weathered Hurricane Dorian in early September 2019, a Category 5 monster that struck their area as a Category 2 and resulted in a state of emergency declaration for North Carolina.

“We had some trees down and it took the roof off the (smaller guest) cottage, but the next morning we were filling planters with dirt, mowing the lawn and planting flowers,” said Dawn.

“Later, we learned that neighbors were talking about how industrious we were, and when they heard we were from Minnesota, they all said, ‘Oh.’”

Simply relaxing

CCI comfortably accommodates up to 13 guests at a time, with five spacious suites in the main inn and a free-standing guest cottage that sleeps up to four people.

Appealingly decorated in soothing sand-and-water colors, nautical themes and polished white woodwork dominate the indoor spaces.

Darold and Dawn, both enthusiastic cooks and bakers, concoct and serve daily threecourse from-scratch breakfasts (“Everything we make is glutenfree, and everything is fresh,” Dawn said) and invariably leave sweet baked goods outside each guest room as dusk falls. They also greet arriving guests with big smiles and the offer of an adult beverage to enjoy while they show them around.

Comfortable chairs and couches beckon visitors to lounge on one of four sun porches, each with scenic water views. On the green lawn, several Adirondack chairs and swings await.

An outdoor saltwater pool is available for anytime dips, and the closest Atlantic beach is a scant 10 minutes away.

For on-site water pursuits, the Schaefers stock fishing poles and kayaks. Darold readily instructs all interested parties in the fine art of hoisting crab pots from their watery resting places. They hope to

The food matches the feel and charm of the surroundings.

add a pontoon and bicycles for guests’ use in the coming year.

One Mankato-area resident who is completely sold on CCI is Tina Willson, of Cleveland, who graduated from Mankato West with Darold and learned of his new enterprise via a class Facebook page.

Recently retired from a successful career as a global IT business manager, Willson has visited the Outer Banks (one of the country’s most popular tourist areas) for weeklong stays at CCI with a group of girlfriends for two consecutive years.

Willson knows a thing or two about what keeps travelers happy, having toured over the past 30 years throughout Europe, the Caribbean, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan.

“When I see a great place, I know it’s a great place — and Colington Creek Inn is second to none,” Willson said.

“Their service and attention to detail are among the best I’ve experienced anywhere — and if you have a crazy idea, they’ll say, ‘Yeah, we’ll make that happen.’ They go above and beyond.”

Willson sings the praises of CCI and the myriad cultural, historical, physical, culinary and nautical activity options within five to 45 minutes of the property.

Her group has enjoyed sunset sailboat cruises, horseback rides, shrimp boat expeditions, beach time and gourmet meals there. The Schaefers even arranged a murder mystery dinner — complete with fresh-caught shrimp and a “dead body” in the elevator — for Willson’s assemblage.

“Darold and Dawn complement each other and work so well together,” Willson said. “We loved every minute of it, and we’ll be going again.”

Accommodating guests gives the Schaefers a high like none other. Whether it’s family reunions, girls’ weeks like Willson’s, engagement parties, babymoons, anniversary get-aways or small weddings (and yes, Dawn is a licensed officiant in both Minnesota and North Carolina), they stand ready to offer guests a lovely, relaxing experience.

They particularly delight in welcoming fellow Minnesotans and emphasize that Outer Banks golf courses are open year-round.

“I’m still waiting for a (private plane) pilot from Minnesota to touch down at the Wright Brothers’ Memorial; we’ll pick ‘em up,” promised Darold. “How exciting would that be?”

About as exciting as fulfilling your life’s dream with your best friend.

“You’ve got to believe in each other,” Dawn said. “If you reach for the stars, you might just land at the beach.”

colingtoncreekinn.com MM

Experiential gifts for seniors

shoppers know that, seemingly every year, there’s one person on their shopping list who’s hard to shop for. Seniors may fit that bill, as many have already accumulated a lifetime’s worth of goods and gadgets. That’s why experiential gifts can be such a good fit for seniors come the holiday season.

Holiday

Experiential gifts are wildly popular. In its 2021 Winter Holiday Shopping Report, the market research firm Mintel revealed that nearly half of individuals surveyed for the report

felt that experiential gifts are superior to tangible items. Seniors who already have everything they need might be even more enthusiastic about experiential gifts, which may encourage them to get out of the house or pursue passions they’ve long had a passing interest in. This holiday season, shoppers can consider these experiences as they look for something new and unique for the seniors on their shopping lists.

n Biplane flight: Few experiences are as exhilarating as a

Fall in Love with Our Historic Charm

When choosing a senior living community and searching for an adventure, our team is here for you. Enjoy the memorable charm and character that Old Main Village has to o er, including a pool and spa, life enriching activities, and an award-winning dining venue.

507-388-4200 to schedule a tour and learn more about Old Main Village!

INDEPENDENT

South

Mankato,

in an open cockpit biplane. Biplane flights are unique to each company that offers them, but some planes can accommodate two passengers (in addition to the pilot), making this an ideal gift for senior couples who aren’t afraid of a bird’s eye view. The length of a flight depends on shoppers’ budgets, but no matter how long seniors are in the air, they’re sure to return to the ground having enjoyed a truly unique experience.

n Hot air balloon ride: If riding shotgun with a pilot in a tiny plane is more adventure than your favorite senior may be seeking, a hot air balloon ride may be more suitable. Hot air balloon rides provide a truly stunning way to experience idyllic settings and a calm way to take to the skies on a beautiful day. Rides tend to last around an hour, but companies typically offer various packages and may even let shoppers customize rides for their loved ones.

n Theatre tickets: The COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t been easy for anyone, but seniors were among the groups most vulnerable to serious infection if they caught the virus. As a result, many seniors strictly adhered to social distancing guidelines prior to getting vaccinated. Now that seniors are eligible to be fully vaccinated and even receive two rounds of booster shots, a trip to the theatre can reignite their passion for live entertainment and make for a memorable night out.

n Cycling tour: Modern seniors are among the most physically active demographics. A 2020 study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research found that, within months of the pandemic being declared, adults age 65 and older averaged 100 more minutes of physical activity than the next closest cohort. A cycling tour can make for a perfect gift to active seniors. Tours may be designed to visit local places of historical significance, idyllic natural settings or local eateries. Wherever the tours ultimately end up, they’re sure to put a smile on active seniors’ faces.

Experiences can make for the perfect holiday gifts for seniors who have it all.

That’s not unusual,

the

Clinic notes it’s a phenomenon

as “empty nest syndrome.”

it’s not a clinical diagnosis, empty nest syndrome can be a difficult hurdle to overcome, especially for parents who find themselves suddenly bored after years of being so busy.

nesters looking to banish boredom can consider these strategies.

n Give your home a new look. Parents go to great lengths to make their homes welcoming safe havens for their children. Moms and dads often joke that, between play rooms and study areas, kids get the bulk of the real estate under their roofs. Now that the children have moved out, parents can take back that space and refresh their homes. A home that’s adapted for empty nesters will look quite different from one designed for families with young children. So a renovation or redesign can provide plenty of work that can fill idle time and instill a sense of excitement about the future.

n Become a weekend road warrior. Newly minted empty nesters are likely still working full-time. But now that there’s no soccer practices or band recitals taking up valuable real estate on your weekend schedule, Saturdays and Sundays can provide perfect opportunities to travel. Plan routine weekend getaways, choosing different locales for each trip. Visit a city one weekend and devote a subsequent trip to the great outdoors.

n Reconnect with old friends. Some individuals experiencing empty nest syndrome may be hesitant to admit they’re experiencing feelings of sadness and loneliness. But a recent Sky Mobile study of parents of teenagers in England found that 47 percent were fretting about having an empty nest. So it’s likely that old friends and fellow parents are experiencing feelings associated with empty nest syndrome. Reaching out to old friends is a great way to reconnect and can provide an outlet to discuss feelings parents might be hesitant to share with others. But empty nesters who experience

significant feelings of sadness and loneliness are urged to speak with a health care professional as well.

n Replace kids’ activities with your own. After years of toting kids from one extracurricular activity to another, empty nesters can now do the same for themselves. Visit local community centers and libraries and ask about classes for adults. Many offer classes on everything from crafts to sports. Adults also can research continuing education programs at local colleges and

universities if they’re interested in a career change or pursuing an advanced degree for personal enrichment.

Newly minted empty nesters can look at their empty nest as an opportunity to engage in activities that pique their interests after years of catering to the needs and wants of their children.

How benefitsmentoring mentors

tend to be unsung heroes. If asked to explain their success, many who have reached the pinnacle of their professions would cite the influence of a valuable mentor among the many factors that helped them achieve their goals.

Mentors

Mentoring is often discussed in terms that note its value to those being mentored, but mentors also gain much from the experience of helping the people they advise. That’s worth noting for successful individuals over 50 who are looking to make the most of their professional experience by giving back to others. Professionals thinking of becoming a mentor can consider the many ways the experience could be as beneficial for them as it is for the people they will help.

n Mentoring provides a sense of satisfaction. An analysis by the human resources department at Sun Microsystems found that mentees are promoted five times more often than colleagues who do not have mentors. Many mentors gain significant satisfaction from watching someone they helped advance through the professional ranks.

n Mentoring is effective. Professionals over 50 who are hesitant to become a mentor because they suspect it might not be effective can rest easy knowing that it has a profound and positive impact on mentees. According to a recent CNBC/SurveyMonkey Workplace Happiness Survey, nine in 10 workers who have a mentor reported being satisfied with their jobs. In fact, 57 percent of such individuals reported being “very satisfied.” The percentage of individuals without a mentor who report being satisfied or very satisfied is significantly lower. The implication of that disparity is significant, suggesting that mentoring has a very real and positive effect on mentees. Professionals on the fence about mentoring due to doubts about its efficacy can rest easy knowing that it is highly beneficial to young workers.

n Mentoring helps a diverse group of professionals. Professionals hoping for more diversity and inclusion in the workforce should know that workers in groups that have historically been adversely affected by a lack of diversity are more likely to have mentors. For example, data from the

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Afiftiethbirthday is often characterized as a milestone moment. Despite that reputation, upon crossing the halfcentury threshold, individuals typically don’t feel that much different than they did when they were still a fun-loving 49-year-old.

Though there might not be much to distinguish a 49-year-old from a 50-year-old, a fiftieth birthday is a good time reassess certain parts of life, including finances.

What to do with your portfolio after 50

Conventional financial wisdom has long suggested reducing risk as retirement age draws closer. But a 2021 survey from American Advisors Group found that 18 percent of respondents indicated their intention to work past the age of 70, while another 12 percent indicated they have no plans to ever stop working full-time. Conventional financial wisdom rooted in retiring around the age of 65 may not apply to individuals who intend to work well past that age. That means recently minted fiftysomethings could benefit from adopting a new perspective on managing their money after they reach 50.

Work with a fiduciary.

differ from other financial

in a significant way. According to Investopedia, fiduciaries are legally bound to put their client’s best interests ahead of their own. Working with a fiduciary can provide peace of mind for individuals who want to know the person they’re trusting to guide their financial decisions is working on their behalf. That peace of mind can be especially valuable for individuals over 50 who don’t have as much time to make up for financial losses as younger people. Investopedia notes that some brokerage firms do not want or allow their brokers to be fiduciaries, so investors should make sure they’re aware of the legal responsibilities of anyone they trust to manage their money.

n Monitor the progress of your retirement accounts. Tracking the performance of retirement accounts like a 401(k) and IRA takes on more significance after 50, even for individuals who don’t see themselves retiring anytime soon. Monitor how particular investments are performing and reallocate funds if certain ones have not performed well in some time. Most investments will go up and down, but people over 50 can monitor performance more closely than they used to so they get an idea of which ones are working for them and which could be compromising their ability to enjoy financial flexibility in the decades to come.

n Resist the temptation to avoid stocks entirely. A recent study published in the medical journal The Lancet found that life expectancy, which has increased dramatically across the globe since 1900, is expected to continue increasing in developed countries in the decades to come. That means people won’t only be working longer, but living longer as well. Investors 50 and over can prepare for that longer life expectancy by utilizing the growth potential of stocks even after they hit the half century mark. Limiting exposure to risk after 50 is still important, but avoiding investment risks entirely could lead to a financial shortfall down the road.

Managing a portfolio after 50 requires careful consideration of various factors. Deft management of an investment portfolio after 50 can ensure investors don’t outlive their money.

EAT!

By Dana Melius

The Nicollet Cafe Family atmosphere drives St. Peter breakfast spot

Nestle

Sengul tried to talk her husband, Al, out of buying a Minnesota restaurant.

“Nebraska, that’s where I thought we should go,” she laughed. “I thought Minnesota would be too cold.”

Instead, the Senguls zeroed in on a small 85-seat restaurant in St. Peter. And now after nearly six years at the Nicollet Cafe, Nestle has truly warmed up to the community she calls home.

“I love it here,” Nestle said of the cafe which has become a favorite breakfast spot for many. “I’m so happy. My kids, they love it in Minnesota.”

But it’s much more than being a thriving, smalltown business, according to the Senguls and their loyal customers. Nestle tells of the time their son needed open heart surgery in Rochester and the Senguls were surprised by food brought to them at the hospital by cafe regulars.

“It still gives me goosebumps,” she said. “It’s like

they’re part of our family business..”

One of those regulars, retired St. Peter banker Paul Dumdei, couldn’t agree more. He and wife Christa, frequent the Nicollet Cafe nearly every day. They’ve seen the cafe grow its base and see first hand the family-type atmosphere the Senguls have created with customers and staff.

Cafe server Jamie Hawbaker has been on staff for 5 ½ years and enjoys that family atmosphere as she waits on the Dumdei booth, while Christa Dumdei says “it’s the people” that make it special. And Paul’s more than happy to note how close they’ve become with the Senguls and staff.

“If I don’t know what it is I want to eat, Jamie or Nestle tells me,” Paul joked.

Hawkbaker is one of just 11 full and part-time staff members at the Nicollet Cafe. Nestle says staffing is almost always a difficult issue for the restaurant industry but notes she’s currently

Nestle and Al Sengul have owned and operated the Nicollet Cafe in St. Peter since late 2016.

got a dedicated crew. Still, the Senguls have at times needed to limit cafe hours.

Currently, the Nicollet Cafe is open Monday through Thursday 6 a.m. to 3 p.m., Friday and Saturday 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Supply side issues also can continue to be a problem from time to time, Nestle added, ranging from “creamer to oatmeal and sometimes even ketchup.”

The Nicollet Cafe’s menu is dotted with traditional breakfast and American food choices even though the Senguls immigrated from Turkey, where the couple was married. Al has been in the U.S. restaurant industry since 1994, bouncing from the East Coast to Houston and Chicago, as well as brief stops in Iowa and, finally, Minnesota.

“I was looking for a restaurant in a small town,” Al said.

That’s when he came across this venue, located at 402 South Third Street in St. Peter. With a daughter attending Iowa State University, it would bring the couple closer to her.

The cafe building had been closed for about a year and now was in need of attention, having served as the former location of El Agave. The popular St. Peterbased Mexican restaurant had outgrown its space and moved to its current location at Hwy. 169 on the city’s north side.

“It seemed perfect,” Al said, both the cafe size and St. Peter community.

But he still had to convince Nestle, who was nervous that a nearby building space, the former Lone Star BBQ, had also been purchased and scheduled to reopen as the 3rd Street Tavern. She was worried about the competition.

Instead, the 3rd Street management and staff and Nicollet Cafe have carved a strong, neighborly relationship, according to Nestle.

“We don’t really compete,” she said. “And their staff come over here a lot to eat.”

While the Senguls are Turkish, they’ve stuck with an American, homestyle menu. A try just one time at lentil soup, according to Nestle, convinced them they’re

customers weren’t looking for change.

“I have one customer who orders the same thing every day,” Nestle said. “I’m like that. I kinda like to eat waffles every day.”

Asked what might be the Senguls’ secret for the Nicollet Cafe’s success as such a popular breakfast and lunch stop, Nestle said, “Maybe family.”

“We’re not a franchise,” she added. “This is like they’re doing a meal with family.”

Cafe server Jamie Hawbaker waits on Paul Dumdei, a Nicollet Cafe regular.

The Nicollet Cafe has become a popular local breakfast stop.

TAP

By James Figy

Dude, where’s my beer?

Listen,

I’m not a narc.

Weed-infused drinks have been lighting up the market since the Minnesota Legislature legalized some forms of THC (aka tetrahydrocannabinol, or the stuff that gets you high) earlier this year. Tons of people have raved about them. Many craft beverage makers have jumped on the trend.

I gave them a good college try. But I’m not a fan. Before throwing stones, let me explain my two reasons.

1. What the Minnesota weed law doesn’t do

At its core, Minnesota Statute 151.72 allows companies to make and sell products with up to 5 milligrams of THC to anyone 21+ years old (as well as animals, for any stoner dogs reading this). For reference, 5 milligrams is typically the lowest dosage found at marijuana dispensaries, with 10- or 20-milligram edibles being more common.

The law stipulates packaging requirements (no marketing to kids); enforcement protocols (testing and so forth); and a maximum concentration of 0.3% THC to be called industrial hemp. Anything above that is still considered a controlled substance.

Ben Jordan, CEO of ABV Technology in St. Paul, sees the legalization of THC in beverages as a new revenue stream for Minnesota brewers and his company, which removes alcohol from traditionally brewed beer.

But whether you’re more of a Willie Nelson or a Nancy Reagan, most everyone agrees it’s not a great law.

“They wrote a Wild West bill, and that's what they created,” said Ryan Pitman, owner and brewer at Eastlake Craft Brewery in Minneapolis.

That’s coming from the guy who made a THC beer

as soon as the law took effect on July 1. The result was Eastlake’s nonalcoholic pineapple mango sour, High & Dry. The initial three barrels (93 gallons) sold out in three days.

But like most, Pitman recognizes the issues in banking, insurance, retail and much more that the law doesn’t address.

So does Jordan. He brought together a group of leaders from those industries, as well as brewers and the state’s largest hemp producer, to draft legislative fixes. Here are two problem areas.

First, breweries may see a bump in revenue, but Minnesota won’t. Other states that have legalized cannabis typically levy new taxes, but our new law didn’t. This is a major missed opportunity, according to a study from the University of Minnesota-Duluth.

“Minnesota is likely not taking advantage of $5 million, at minimum, and possibly closer to $46 million in tax revenues in 2023, plus even more in coming years,” the study states.

Second, the group designated to oversee THC products, the Board of Pharmacy, has no “authority to regulate the growth or processing of hemp and the extraction of substances from hemp,” according to an FAQ it released June 30. The document also states, “The Board cannot give advice on the manufacturing of such products, nor can it offer legal advice.”

Powerless and unhelpful — now that’s a double threat.

Ryan Pitman of Eastlake Craft Brewery was among the first to make a THC-infused beverage. (James Figy)

2. Drinkable THC isn’t for everyone

In addition to Eastlake, Indeed Brewing Co., Bent Paddle Brewing Co. and Minneapolis Cider Co. are just a few of the craft beverage makers that began selling THC seltzers right away.

The cidery offers its Trail Magic line in-house and as a subscription, which ships statewide. Many others joined them. The THC is tasteless, so the fruity flavors of these drinks shine through.

All THC drinks are NA. The federal government regulates the creation of alcoholic beverages, so adding THC to a standard beer, cider or hard seltzer could imperil one’s brewing license.

Since that initial NA beer, Eastlake’s High & Dry series switched to seltzers, too. Partly because there are still legal concerns, but it also allows them to produce more, faster.

“It's going to be a part of our regular lineup as long as the state lets us,” Pitman said, adding that he was surprised at the reception. “... People really liked it. We got great feedback on the flavor and great feedback on the effects.”

While the law makes it clear that this is industrial hemp, the drinks do offer a high. But THC affects everyone differently, so it’s hard to know what to expect. Trail Magic’s website says, “Effects can typically be felt in 15 minutes and last for about an hour per serving.” But that’s not always the case.

I sampled Trail Magic’s twist on Arnold Palmer at Minneapolis Cider Co. I drank 16 ounces in 40 minutes, and didn’t feel anything until an hour later.

I’d written it off as a dud, but then everything felt slow, my mouth became dry, and warmth

emanated from my head and chest. So I spent another hour sitting around the patio, sipping water and chatting in a stilted manner with a friend.

Several weeks later, while writing this article, I cracked open the High & Dry sour beer, which Pitman offered me for research. I thought the comfort of my home would facilitate a more relaxed trip. The beer was delicious and tart. But I felt nothing except for writer’s block — for four hours — before going to bed.

Who knows? Maybe I did it wrong. When relaxing, I typically reach for a beer. I enjoy comparing Minnesota breweries’ offerings and understand how they’ll affect me based on ABV.

That’s probably the dividing line. People who regularly enjoyed weed before the law will probably

who didn’t will ignore them. I don’t judge anyone in the first group at all, but I’ll probably remain in the second.

I’ve talked to in Greater Minnesota haven’t even considered making THC drinks. But Pitman being among the first to make one seemed almost inevitable.

“It feels like it fits right into what we do,” Pitman said. “We're making liquids. We're making things that people want to drink and hang out.”

James Figy is a writer and beer enthusiast based in St. Paul. In Mankato, he earned an MFA in creative writing from Minnesota State University and a World Beer Cruise captain’s jacket from Pub 500. Twitter and Instagram: @JamesBeered

By Leigh Pomeroy

The glory of Grenache

AsI write this in mid-September, I'm sipping a 2021 Fossil Point Grenache Rosé from San Luis Obispo County, which hugs the Pacific Ocean along California's Central Coast.

The wine is pale pink, perfumed with hints of mandarin orange and grapefruit. Technically dry, it still has plenty of juicy, citrusy fruit to make it seem just a tad sweet.

This is a characteristic of Grenache rosé, undoubtedly the most popular rosé on the planet, made in great quantities along the Rhône River and in southern France, in California and to a lesser extent in Washington. In fact, about a half-century ago, Almadén Grenache Rosé from California was one of the best-selling wines in the U.S., prominently available in gallon jugs.

Flash forward to 2022 when the red grenache grape, once one of the most widely planted in California — having given up its popularity to cabernet sauvignon, merlot and pinot noir since — is making a comeback.

The reasons are obvious: First, it's well-matched to California's and eastern Washington's hotter climates. Second, it yields well yet also thrives in poor, even rocky soils; and when yield is limited, it can create intensely flavored, concentrated wines that last for decades.

Grenache's historical home is France's Rhône Valley and its Mediterranean coast. It also grows in Spain, where it is known as garnacha and bottled as a varietal, but often blended into powerhouse wines like Priorat from northeastern Spain near the Mediterranean.

Grenache is best known for its commanding presence in Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines, the oldest and largest of France's Appellation d'Origine Protégées or AOPs, which until recently were known as Appellation d'Origine Contrôlées or AOCs. (Go figure! It's the French, OK?)

A few of the best Châteauneuf-du-Papes, like the incredible Chateau Rayas, are 100% grenache, but most are blends of grenache in the dominant role, followed by syrah, mourvèdre and up to 10 more varietals, some white, according to the appellation's legal definition.

While Châteauneuf-du-Pape can be quite pricey, similar less expensive grenache-dominant blends are found in Rhône wines demarked as Gigondas (a personal favorite), Vacqueyras, Lirac, Cairanne, Rasteau, Vinsobres and Côtes du Rhône.

The grenache grape can itself breed some confusion because it comes in three colors: red, gris (gray or slightly colored) and blanc (white).

Grenache blanc is sometimes added to red Châteauneuf-du-Pape, but most likely it's found in Châteauneuf-du-Pape blanc (terrific, rare and pricey), some Côtes du Rhône blancs and in southern French white blends.

Grenache gris is mostly a contributor to southern French rosés, although more commonly those rosés are made from red Grenache with only a modicum of skin contact. Arguably the most pre-eminent of these rosés is Tavel, an appellation that produces only rosé.

Next door to Tavel is Lirac, an appellation that produces red, rosé and white, with the red and rosé based on grenache rouge and gris, and the white often on grenache blanc. All are good values but not easy to find.

Further south lies the great swath of French vineyards that literally span from Spain in the west to Italy in the east. A large proportion of the grapes here are grenache, primarily red, which are a key component of Provençal wines, both red and rosé, the latter being shipped worldwide for summer and fall consumption, most within the year in which they're made.

Until recently, I was a drink-rosé-within-the-yearafter-it's-made fanatic, but I've learned that, more and more, some rosés improve with time in the bottle. How do you tell which to hold and which to drink now?

First, the color gives a clue. Darker rosés have had greater skin contact with the red grapes from which they're made; thus, they probably have a bit more tannins from the skins, providing natural antioxidants. Second, after tasting the wine after you first buy it, does it have a nice crisp taste, indicating good acidity? Wines with good natural acidity last longer than flabby ones. Third, does it possess plenty of fruit (not to be confused with sweetness)?

If the rosé has two or all three of these characteristics, it could very well be a better wine in two or three years after the vintage.

In California, Washington and Australia, grenache is often blended with syrah and mourvèdre to create wines labeled as "GSM" to mimic the blend of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. While these are sometimes excellent wines, from my taste experience they rarely match the real thing.

À vôtre santé!

Leigh Pomeroy is a Mankato-based writer and wine lover.

LIT DU NORD: MINNESOTA BOOKS AND AUTHORS

By Nick Healy

The storyteller of Minnesota sports

Ifyou’re going to be a sports fan in Minnesota, you’ll have to lean on your sense of humor, and you’ll want a writer like Patrick Reusse around. In more than four decades as a sports columnist in the pages of Twin Cities newspapers, Reusse has been making readers laugh even as their favorite teams disappoint them again and again.

In his new book “Tales from the Minnesota Sports Beat,” written with his Minneapolis Star Tribune colleague Chip Scoggins, Reusse begins at the very beginning, sharing stories from his youth in the southwestern Minnesota town of Fulda, where his father owned a funeral home and was an energetic organizer of the local townball team.

“A typical year would be 40 funerals,” Reusse explains. “For each funeral, he’d pick up the body and embalm it — that’s one day. The next day is the wake, and the burial is the day after. That’s three days per funeral. Multiply by 40, and that’s 120 days of working, which means my dad had 245 days to hunt, fish, worry about baseball, and think up other schemes.”

Reusse lost his mother to breast cancer when he was in high school. His father sold the funeral home and moved to Prior Lake, where Patrick attended his senior year. At age 17, he was hired as a copyboy at the Minneapolis Morning Tribune. That was in 1963, and it started the sort of newspaper career that became impossible soon thereafter, as the newspaper industry evolved and professionalized (and, eventually, declined).

A college student who married young and became a father, Reusse couldn’t stick around to get a degree at the University of Minnesota

before going to work full time.

He took a job covering sports at the Duluth paper late in 1965, and less than a year later accepted an offer to be a sportswriter for the St. Cloud Times. He landed at the St. Paul paper in 1968, covering prep sports at first but eventually taking over as the Twins beat.

Reusse calls baseball his first love, and he had great times covering teams that featured some A-list players — Rod Carew, Larry Hisle and Lyman Bostock, to name a few but also had the lowest payroll andlowestattendanceinthe American League.

“The Twins were a screwed up operation, but the characters made covering it fun,” Reusse says.

The book, subtitled “A Lifetime on Deadline,” is built of short chapters that are devoted to memorable teams, players and times in Reusse’s long career. A quick read, it’s full of laughs, and it demonstrates what helped Reusse stand out — his affection for good yarns and oddball characters.

Hehascrossedpathswith towering figures in sports and the media over the years, yet in his recollections, Reusse never seems to take himself too seriously. Perhaps he never has. In the book, he shares a story from the Vikings’ third Super Bowl, the one they lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“I had a seat in the press box between Jim Murray and Red Smith two legends in the business. I was 29 years old, hungover to the teeth, and wearing an ugly sports coat,” Reusse recalls.

“Red Smith was to my right. Jim Murray was on my left. I sat down and said, ‘Here we are, boys. Three of the greatest sportswriters that

ever lived.’”

Having become a columnist for the St. Paul Dispatch in 1979, he jumped to the west side of the river in 1988, and he continues to write columns for the Star Tribune. In his career, he also became a fixture in Twin Cities talk radio and television.

Writinghis way through memories of decade after decade, Reusse hits the high points (the 1960 Gophers football team, the Twins in 1987 and 1991, the Gophers women’s basketball Final Four run in 2004, etc.) and he recalls the personalities who blew life into the local sports scene (Torii Hunter, Bobby Jackson, Lindsay Whalen, the wonderful Glen Sonmor, etc.).

For all the disappointment and agony the state’s big-time sports teamshavecaused,Reusse’s perspective is shaped by amusement and appreciation for the athletes, coaches, and others he has covered and gotten to know.

He even shares fond recollections of Mike Lynn, the Vikings executive who built winning teams and somehow got the NFL to hold a Super Bowl at the Metrodome but who is remembered for engineering a disastrous trade for Herschel Walker.

ReusseenjoyedLynn, often referring to him as Remarkable Mike, but that didn’t stop him from naming Lynn the Turkey of the Year in 1989, part of a long-running gag in Reusse’s column.

“I got along with Mike for some reason,” Reusse explains. “He’s the only guy to win Turkey of the Year and call me on Thanksgiving morning and say, ‘It’s about time.’”

Nick Healy is an author and freelance writer in Mankato.

“Tales from the Minnesota Sports Beat” by Patrick Reusse with Chip Scoggins

By Ann Rosenquist Fee

Transcending rollers, pants, parenthood

DEAR ANN: I just discovered Kitsch Satin Heatless Curling Set, which is essentially one long bendy roller you twist around your hair and wear to bed and then wake up with really great curls. I found it because I was searching for alternatives to hot rollers to create an early 1980s look for a show I was in this past summer. The show is over but I loved those curls. My question is, can I use the Kitsch Satin Heatless Curling Set non-ironically?

DEAR READER: Listen, there’s nothing ironic about embracing the latest version of things-worn-to-bedto-create-hair-shapes-different-thanyour-natural-look.

It’s a timeless practice that dates back to the birth of vanity itself. Go ahead and look up any version of the Narcissus myth and you’ll see he’s got

something like finger waves, probably achieved with some overnight combo of twigs and sap and salt water, which, fast forward to now, it’s pretty much the same thing as that Kitsch set plus keratin serum plus sea salt spray.

Go ahead and get excitedly habitual with your Kitsch, and enjoy your head’s new silhouette, no irony about it.

DEAR ANN: This fall I decided against losing the 10 pounds I’ve spent my whole adult life losing and regaining. It’s not that I can’t or that I don’t know how. It’s that I’m bored with the cycle. I may have been influenced by how Victoria’s Secret recently went wild with body-positive size inclusivity and genderlessness, because if that bastion of hourglass silhouettes with zero body fat can do it, can’t I? Shouldn’t I? The

question on my mind is what to do with the clothes I’ve traditionally reserved for my leaner times. Please help.

DEAR READER: The only answer is to violently destroy those clothes, and turn the pieces into something new and sizeless.

If you sew, and you’re feeling ambitious, you can make tote bags. Or you could make some simpler no-handle bags, in which to slip gifts when it’s gift-giving time, kind of like pillowcases but in random sizes, and you’ll probably like the bags so much that you’ll go out and find gifts that fit instead of the other way around.

If you don’t sew, you could shred the pants into strips and tie them onto key rings, and give them away to friends who appreciate all that’s involved in busting out of vicious cycles. Or you could go superbasic and make rags.

Whatever you do, it’s important to do by hand so that you fully appreciate the joy of engaging in creative destruction. Happy shredding.

DEAR ANN: Someone recently told me I dress like a 14-year-old trying to avoid attention. They were right. Whenever I put on an oversized T-shirt of my husband’s plus leggings plus running shoes, which is often, I lie to myself and say, “This is a carefree casual look I’m doing.” Then, once I’m out in public, I feel chaotic and bland, and I think, my God, I am a confident woman, why do I insist on dressing like the worst version of my high school freshman self? Even more mysteriously, why does that feel so right when I’m getting dressed at home, yet so instantly and drastically wrong once I’m out in the world?

DEAR READER: You’ve got a good start on an answer, in pointing out the abrupt shift between how that getup feels at home versus how it feels in public. You didn’t mention kids, but I’ll venture a guess that you’ve got some, and I’ll just go ahead and say this so you don’t have to — this is their fault.

Motherhoodisanexercisein

Anja Scheidel, of Mankato, is in the early stages of a relationship with the Kitsch Satin Heatless Curling Set. It’s going well.

perpetually de-centering yourself, and when you’re waking up in the morning with that as your prime directive, you get dressed as hastily and thoughtlessly as possible.

Of course that feels wrong once you’re out and about with adult humans who are your peers, not your dependents.

Figure out a way to feel connected to the outside grownup world while you’re getting dressed. An occasional glance in the mirror might help, or perhaps set up a buddy system so you can reach out by phone or video to a friend.

It doesn’t need to be a particularly stylishfriend,becausehonestly you’re in no shape to handle that kind of pressure. Just find a buddy whose voice reminds you that you have connections and purposes that transcend parenthood, and that you’re worthy and deserving of actual pants.

Got a question?

Submit it at annrosenquistfee.com (click on Ann’s Fashion Fortunes).

Ann Rosenquist Fee is executive director of the Arts Center of Saint Peter and host of Live from the Arts Center, a music and interview show Thursdays 1-2 p.m. on KMSU 89.7FM.

GARDEN CHAT

By Jean Lundquist

You say potato…

What did you learn about gardening and such this year?

You may recall that I decided to plant whole potatoes rather than cut them up into eyes. I may try doing that again next year, but if I do, it will be beside a control bag of potatoes so I can see the difference.

My potato harvest was very small this year, and so were my potatoes. In all fairness, I had potato bugs something fierce last summer. I swear every day I would brush off the potato beetles, then sprinkle the foliage with Dipel dust.

Dipel is Bacillus thuringiensis, which is a species of bacteria that lives in soil. It makes proteins that are toxic to some insects when eaten, but not others. The proteins are not toxic to humans because, like all mammals, we cannot activate them.

The wind would blow, or it would rain or there would be a heavy dew in the morning, and the bugs were back. I guess it’s my fault for brushing them off rather than killing them, but I thought it would work.

When the leaves were all eaten, I dug out the potatoes, figuring if I left them in the bags, unable to grow, they would rot, even though it was very early for them.

I did discover one potato that had rotted and turned to mush, and it was a large potato. It probably had 10 eyes on it, so that’s 10 potatoes that didn’t grow.

For the number of potatoes I plant, it’s not a chore to cut them apart to plant. I was just curious as to what I’d get. I had intended to plant everything in the garden this year and do away with my grow bags, except for potatoes. But my garden is just too small to accommodate everything.

I had cut down to 10 tomato plants and 10 peppers. By the time I got them in the ground, along with beans, broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, eggplants and onions, there was no room for carrots, radishes or kohlrabi, so they all went into bags or pots.

I was disappointed that I got no Aleppo peppers this year, the first year I had tried to grow them. Maybe it was my neglect or maybe external pressures on the plant, but I’ll have to try again next year.

This is precisely why I tend to grow at least two or three plants of everything, in case one falters. With my postage stamp-sized garden, that is just not an option anymore.

I say small, mushy yield

Fortunately, because of my chainlink fence that keeps my garden safe from most critters, it also means I can’t make it “just a little bit bigger” each year. That mentality of” just a little bit bigger” is how my garden grew to nearly seven times the footprint of my house years ago.

The deer found my hostas this year for the first time. When they finished them, they moved on to my bag of carrots.

I assume that when carrots are in the ground, deer will paw at them to dig them up and not be content to just eat the greens, but in a bag, they couldn’t do the pawing thing.

I’m sure the carrots were stunted when they lost their tops, but I also lost out on using the greens. If you ever make vegetable stock, you don’t have to use actual carrots in the mix. You can roast and use the greens instead, and it’s tasty.

I wasn’t hurt too bad by the drought last summer. A couple of times, when we got 2 or 3 inches of rain in a day, I was worried about flooding, however.

I save most of the seeds from the plants I grow, but I like to try new varieties of things, and I enjoy a couple of hybrid varieties from which seeds aren’t viable. If you need or want to buy seeds, you might want to get at it soon.

of droughts and flooding at various regions in the country, some seeds will not be available to purchase in the quantities we have become used to.

I’d advise you to beat the rush and order or buy soon.

Jean Lundquist is a Master Gardener who lives near Good Thunder. gardenchatkato@gmail.com

FROM THIS VALLEY

By Pete Steiner

The Q-man gets the call-up to the BIGS

Normally,this piecewould bepartof my annual January column, about those we’ve lost. With the Q-man, however, that would be a problem.

Having known and associated closely with the scribe since we were in second grade, he’d take up the entire space. Longtime, loyal readers here (I thank you!) may remember how I once described some road trips I had taken with “the Q-man” and others a number of years back, how we’d share stories of old Mankato (e.g., ice houses).

I am now at liberty to reveal his full identity: Bob Qualset. Bob left us Sept. 11.

As I am wont to do, I reminisce about simpler days that may seem happier because we survived them. Bob grew up about five blocks from me in West Mankato. Our Norman Rockwell childhoods let us cruise our bikes along the smooth, quiet streets of the then relatively new subdivision (in an era when River Hills mall and Walmart were still cornfields “out in the country”).

My dad had put up a basketball court in our back yard after he tired of trying to grow grass there in the summer. Our gang of boys irreparably trampled it with our wiffle ball and football games.

Bob would come over, we’d shoot around, maybe play h-o-rs-e (he usually won). Even if it was February, we’d just shovel the court and play in winter jackets.

Bob was always thrifty. From paper route money, he had a couple checking accounts by the time he was 12.

Always with an eye for a great investment, he locked in Marsha Plocher as his lifelong date already in ninth grade (she would become our class homecoming queen). When home rooms were assigned alphabetically, Bob, a “Q” and Marsha, a “P,” proved that the alphabet can sometimes work in your favor.

The sport Bob loved most was baseball. He was a catcher, astutely aware of game situations and strategy; true to his generous spirit, he was more concerned about what pitch might help the team win than about his personal stats.

He had a great analytical mind, which probably applied well to baseball, as well as to the field of accounting and auditing, which is where he eventually settled. But he never lost that love of baseball; he always believed he was the first person to buy an individual season ticket for the MoonDogs.

And unless Marsha has given them away, there are probably still four dozen of those “T-shirt night” shirts in the dresser drawer.

Bob was always a math whiz, as befits a CPA. But his journey there illustrates the indirect paths many of us of that generation took.

Hewasreadytogoto Vanderbilt University to study nuclear physics when the draft for the Vietnam War got in the way. His scientific aptitude qualified him for an officer’s post with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

He didn’t like watching “The Perfect Storm,” because the ships he skippered off the East coast had gone through raging seas like those.

When he traded his accountant’s ties for permanent T-shirt fashion, retired Bob took what he called the greatest “job” of his life: tutoring physics and engineering

students at Minnesota State University.

Anyone who is not Stephen Hawking knows that physics is one of the most challenging subjects. Many students would come to the tutoring room to find this 70-year-old guy who had gotten up at 4 a.m. to do his homework and worked through the calculus and the quadratic equations and the solutions to their problems.

Whenever I would see him, he would proudly brag about how one of his former students was now in a doctoral program at Purdue, or was a newly hired researcher at Mayo, or was working in design at GM.

He was an environmentalist before that term became part of our daily discourse.

I still recall the time he was teaching in Gaylord (before he got his CPA). Bob and Marsha invited me over for a November dinner (I was still single in 1976). I walked in the door, he handed me a wool shirt. “You’ll need this,” he smiled. The temp was set at 58 to conserve energy.

He flew infrequently because, he said, he wanted to minimize his carbon footprint.

We don’t know what happens after death. I’ve imagined Bob catching in that great field of dreams beyond the sky. Or maybe he’s now able to work more closely on unveiling secrets of the universe.

It occurs to me that we tend to think most “great” people live in New York or D.C. or L.A. But Bob lived right here. He never sought the spotlight, preferred to avoid it, but his honesty and helpfulness to others really did change lives.

That, too, is greatness.

Longtime radio guy Pete Steiner is now a free lance writer in Mankato.

Hotel. Come experience

eight

play

world-class

from the Tennessee River

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yourself in luxury spas. Tee off with family

Robert Trent Jones

Trail.