From the Editor

AUGUST 2022 • VOLUME 17, ISSUE 8

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 Tim Krohn

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

ADVERTISING ASSISTANT Barb Wass

ADVERTISING DESIGNER Christina Sankey

CIRCULATION 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.

By Robb Murray

Stories of grill guys and river rats

For me, few things are as quintessentially summer, and altogether soothing, as firing up the charcoal grill on the deck and pouring a cold beer.

Maybe it’s a guy thing. Maybe it’s something instilled in me by my father. Maybe it’s become the tiniest of escapes for me for a world that is becoming, with each passing day and Trump rally, harder and harder to fathom.

The smell of burning coals, the taste of a Mad Butcher IPA, the knowledge that, in a few moments, steaks will be cooking over those coals and all the cares, stresses and worries in the world won’t matter. Throw a little Springsteen on the outdoor speaker and, well, I’ve got myself a nice little moment there.

My grilling chops are exceedingly amateur. It’s taken me several years, but I’ve finally figured out how to do steaks right, how to not burn chicken breasts on the outside while leaving them raw on the inside, how to cook potatoes, artisan mushrooms, marinated tofu, corn on the cob — anything really.

But I’ve always been intrigued by the guys who take it one step further, the guys who sink a few grand into having an arsenal of machinery that can cook anything.

In this month’s Mankato Magazine, we visit with a couple of guys who take their outdoor barbecue game very seriously — a concept that may seem slightly incongruous for one of them.

Jeff Lange, aka Stunt Monkey, is well known in the region as a happy-go-lucky radio personality who loves to make people smile and laugh. He also loves, we’ve learned, to share the fruits of his barbecue labor with anyone who wants to stop by.

With two electric smokers, a Green Mountain smoker and a Blackstone flat-top grill, Lang is routinely in his man-cave-like garage smoking briskets, baby back ribs, or his latest specialty item: Stunt-flavored Chex Mix.

It’s enough to make a guy consider investing in a Traeger or a Big Green Egg. Then again, I’m not sure I have the patience to spend six hours perfecting a piece of meat. Maybe I’ll just mosey on back to Lang’s place when the smell of his latest rib rack wafts through the neighborhood …

Also in this issue, we’re spending some time celebrating the Minnesota River. And who better to help us do that when the uniquely (and curmudgeonly) talented Free Press writer Tim Krohn.

In 1998, just a few years after I started working for The Free Press, Tim and photographer John Cross embarked on what remains one of the most baller pieces of Gonzo journalism ever attempted here.

They canoed the length of the Minnesota, employing fellow newsroom staffers to ferry film rolls to and from wherever they were on their trip. It was riveting. Readers loved it. To this day I don’t think a special project from Free Press Media has ever come close to matching its heft, interest and importance.

And then, 10 years later, they did it again, this time with better equipment, more context and (slightly) creakier bones.

Tim’s essay this month looking back on those two trips should be required reading for anyone interested in learning more about the river, the issues it faces and what it’s like to canoe down it.

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