Mankato Magazine, June 2020

WHY WE

LOVE OUR PETS Also in this issue: K9 cops: Putting BARK in the BEAT MOURNING the loss of your pet PETS IN BED: good or bad?

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MANKATO MAGAZINE • JUNE 2020 • 1

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2 • JUNE 2020 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

FEATURE S JUNE 2020 Volume 15, Issue 6

16

K9 Kops Some pets are cute. Some pets are smart.

Some pets are brave. And some are cute, smart and brave.

Southern Minnesota’s finest and furriest: the K9s.

20

43

Pets. Why do we love them so much?

Letting sleeping dogs lay … in your bed? Good or nah?

Of course we love them. They’re cute and furry and cuddly and they need us. But why — like, really, WHY — do we love them so, so much?

Some people won’t allow their pets anywhere near their bed. Others can’t imagine not turning off the light for the night without them snugged up next to them. We weigh the pros and cons.

ABOUT THE COVER For our pet issue, we called upon the staff of The Free Press Media to submit their best pet pics.

And they’re all gorgeous! Pets are the best.

MANKATO MAGAZINE • JUNE 2020 • 3

C

DEPARTMENTS 6 From the Editor 8 This Day in History 9 Avant Guardians Sharon Sudesky

9

10 Beyond the Margin

The value of perspective

12 Familiar Faces Dr. Paul Williams

14 Day Trip Destinations Ice cream!

10

44 Let’s Eat! NaKato

46 Community Draws Quarantine edition

47 Beer

Pet causes­­

48 Country Minutes

44

47

The Dogs of Oshawa Township, part 5

50 Garden Chat In the weeds

52 From This Valley

Was it something in the water?

Coming in July

50 4 • JUNE 2020 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

52

Our annual Best of Mankato issue!

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MANKATO MAGAZINE • JUNE 2020 • 5

FROM THE ASSOCIATE EDITOR

By Robb Murray JUNE 2020 • VOLUME 15, ISSUE 6 PUBLISHER Steve Jameson EDITOR Joe Spear ASSOCIATE Robb Murray EDITOR CONTRIBUTORS Bert Mattson Diana Rojo-Garcia Jean Lundquist Kat Baumann Dan Greenwood Nicole Helget Pete Steiner Renee Berg

PHOTOGRAPHERS Pat Christman

PAGE DESIGNER Christina Sankey ADVERTISING Danny Creel SALES Joan Streit Jordan Greer-Friesz Josh Zimmerman Marianne Carlson Theresa Haefner ADVERTISING Barb Wass ASSISTANT ADVERTISING Christina Sankey DESIGNERS CIRCULATION Justin Niles DIRECTOR

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

To subscribe, call 1-800-657-4662 or 507-625-4451. $35.40 for 12 issues.

For editorial inquiries, call Robb Murray at 344-6386, or e-mail rmurray@mankatofreepress.com.

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

6 • JUNE 2020 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

PetsPetsPetsPets

S

issue. And that’s saying something, o here’s the thing: We because readers love that photo probably could fill every issue. (I actually get emails issue of Mankato Magazine throughout the year from people with reader-submitted pet photos. wondering when they can submit Why? Because people are just photos for it.) really in love with their pets.

But this is different. All of And pets are sort of having these images come wrapped in a a moment now. With everyone blanket of love. For every image sheltering in place and social sent in, we know there’s a special distancing, our dogs and cats are relationship behind it that means seeing more of their owners than so much to both pet and owner. they ever have. And how are they Maybe we’ll make this an annual reacting? They’re loving it. And thing, too. Who knows. they’ll keep loving it for as long as Beyond the photos, we’ve got this insanity continues. great pet-related stories for you This is the beauty of pets. This this month. Our main is why so many story digs into the people treat them psychology of why we like children. Our love our pets so much. pets don’t get tired Here’s what we found of us. They don’t get out: Science confirms bored with us. They that pets are good for don’t resent us for the soul. not spending enough We’re also time with them, they introducing you to a just appreciate the pair of K9 units from time we give. In fact, southern Minnesota. all they really want These are the dogs is for us to be with that, when situations them. Sure, they love Henry T. Beagle get scary, get called long walks by the in to take care of business. They beach and copious amounts of sniff out drugs, track suspects table scraps. Some of them love and are one of the best and most to fetch. Some of them live for obedient public relations tools a playing tug or rolling over and law enforcement agency can have. playing dead for treats. But when You’re going to love Zeus and Jett. you get right down to the essence And on the question of whether of it all, the animal loves — more or not you should let your pet than anything — the mere fact that sleep in your bed, contributing you’re there for them. writer Renee Berg helps weigh So in this issue of Mankato the pros and cons with a few local Magazine, we’re very much here veterinarians. … for them. And for you, the pet So as you can see, we’ve got owner. We know you adore them, TONS of great pet content in this we know they mean the world to issue. you, and we know how much it And if you’re looking for some will mean to you to see your cat, unusual COVID-19 content, check dog, fish, lizard or whatever pet out our Community Draws comic you have in print.

by Kat Baumann. Her quarantineWe figured when we put the themed submission this month will word out about the pet issue that have you giggling … and thinking. we’d get a lot of submissions.

But even we were surprised how quickly and continuously the Robb Murray is associate editor of Mankato Magazine. Contact submissions came in. We actually him at 344-6386 or rmurray@ got more people to submit for this mankatofreepress.com. Follow than we do for our annual photo him on Twitter @freepressRobb.

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MANKATO MAGAZINE • JUNE 2020 • 7

Relax!

Let us do the work

THIS DAY IN HISTORY Compiled by Jean Lundquist

Fair board tries budget June 5, 1986 “This year, the fair board has a plan. It’s called a budget,” began a story about the financial woes that had been plaguing the Blue Earth County fair board for years. As the fair board presented its budget to the county commissioners, it also came with a plea for an extra $10,000 to pay bills from the previous year’s fair. It was pointed out the commissioners gave the group an extra $10,000 at the end of 1985 that was intended as a pre-payment for the current year.

Informed that the newly budgeted fair needed $51,300 to present a fair in 1986, the commissioners said they would likely accommodate the request but needed more time to consider and find information. In 1985, the fair received an allocation of $16,000, plus the extra money at the end of the year.

Skyline progress report June 27, 1958 Skyline was billed as “the accepted and proven suburban area” by a land company looking to sell lots in the city. It boasted lots ranging in price from $1,600 to $2,125. There were already 250 people living in 70 houses in the village, which lined oiled streets. There was a village government in place, a well-equipped fire department, two playgrounds, and a 50,000 gallon water tower to service the area. “Buy now! Build later!”

Local calls airline business ‘gloomy’ June 3, 1982 Mesaba Airlines, based out of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, replaced Republic Airlines serving the Mankato airport in 1981. Seven months later, it realized it was in trouble as passenger numbers were way below expectations. The airline also made stops in Worthington and Fairmont. Only Fairmont numbers were in line with passenger projections. Part of the problem, according to the Mesaba president, was the downturn in the national economy. He said the slow farm economy was particularly damaging to his business. “As agriculture goes, so goes the rest of the economy.” Another factor in the airline’s fate was the daily commuter bus running from Mankato to The Twin Cities airport. A one-way bus ride cost $13, but a one way airfare was $47.

Square dancers come on Friday June17, 1964 Two-thousand dancers were expected for the 13th annual Square Dance Federation of Minnesota state convention. The dancing was held at Mankato High School gymnasium. But the draw for the event was the caliber of dance callers attending. Many were known nationally and internationally. Square dance lessons, round dance workshops and instruction for other callers were all planned as part of the weekend convention. Attendees came from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois and Canada. Many planned to spend the weekend camping in Spring Lake Park in North Mankato.

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AVANT GUARDIANS

By Leticia Gonzales

‘Experimenting, exploring’

Sharon Sudusky staying busy and creative in retirement

C

reativity stemming from childhood can last a lifetime.

“I credit an aunt with instilling my interest in creating,” said Sharon Sudusky, a 76-year-old artist from Jackson. “When I would visit, she would always share a current project and interest of hers.

There is a picture of me painting at 6 under her tutelage.”

A l t h o u g h re t i re d , S a d u s k y continues to dedicate her free time to the arts.

Mostly self-taught, she completed c o u r s e s a t M i n n e s o t a We s t Community and Technical College’s Worthington campus and studied with artists at Pearson Lakes Art Center in Okoboji, Iowa, and in Nobles County.

Sadusky owned a ceramic business for 25 years, where she poured molds and taught classes.

“When rheumatoid arthritis made it impossible to continue pouring molds, my focus took a different path and I turned to painting and other art forms,” she said.

Sadusky showed and sold her work, along with the work of other artists, at A Piece of Work art gallery in Spirit Lake, Iowa, until it closed six years ago.

“Retirement enables me to create when the urge hits, not wait for when I have time,” Sadusky said.

“I also don’t care as much about the finished product. I am more interested in experimenting and exploring.”

Her technique and art forms have varied during her career.

“I would say I was more realistic for many years. I still find it harder to do abstract, but it’s getting easier.

I started working with encaustic, alcohol ink and acrylic pour techniques, all which are hard to control.

“I will tend to stay in a medium until I feel I have explored and experimented with it fully, and

will usually find a way to get some control. I also like these mediums to share with others. When someone says I can’t, I’ll say, ‘Let’s try, just have fun.’ I’m happy to have a surprised happy painter.”

Sadusky said she channels inspiration from nature, printed materials and photographs.

Whether it’s using watercolors to paint flowers or acrylics to re-create a landscape, Sadusky said she uses different avenues such as making cards, scrapbooking, painting or sketching.

“At this stage, I’m more apt to use whatever brush I have at hand and whatever pallet is at hand. If I get an idea, what-if, I don’t hesitate.”

Her work was exhibited at Red Rock Center for the Arts in Fairmont last summer. She also had solo shows at Minnesota West Community and Technical College, Nobles County Art Center, Pearson Lakes Art Center, A Piece of Work and Luverne Art Center. She occasionally teaches at Jackson Center for the Arts, where she was a former board member.

“I enjoy doing a body of work from pictures taken on trips,” she said. One of her favorite pieces is “Yosemite,” a 24-by-36 landscape image.

“One of the best things for me as an artist is if someone voices my feelings as they view one of my works,” she said. “That happened with this work making it special.

Another landscape “Summertime” was a work of childhood memories.

I was shocked when a young man voiced what I had had in my head while I painted it. I was very personally invested in both these works. To have someone feel it is the highest compliment.”

MANKATO MAGAZINE • JUNE 2020 • 9

BEYOND THE MARGIN

By Joe Spear

N

Art, wheat and the value of perspective

ew sculptures will once again watch over Mankato this year.

The CityWalk Art Walking Sculpture Tour makes a return for its 10th year in June even when other cities canceled or postponed their tours bowing to the schedule of COVID-19.

The CityWalk committee decided to forge ahead this year despite the coronavirus pandemic. “In these difficult times, the CityArt committee wants to ensure that our City Center continues to be a beautiful and vibrant place for community members to enjoy,” said committee chairperson Tami Paulsen in a statement.

And Greater Mankato will be better for it. A community needs art.

The sculptures give us a chance to think about art and the idea of perspective. They allow us to pause to consider an artist’s message through the medium, the subject and the light.

French impressionist painter Claude Monet was a student of light.

His famous series of paintings “Haystacks” have often been recognized for simply showing how sunlight at different times affects the appearance of a haystack through the day and through the seasons in different kinds of weather.

The 10- to 20-foot haystacks were agrarian structures designed to preserve and protect the sheaves of wheat underneath that awaited threshing machines traveling village to village near Giverny, France.

The 1890 series of 25 paintings were created through fall and spring and became commercially successful with 15 selling for 1,000 francs each in 1891. One of the “Haystacks” called Meules sold at

10 • JUNE 2020 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

a Sotheby’s auction in May 2019 for $110 million. Not bad for a guy who was interested in light.

Some 17 museums around the world now hold parts of the collection, including the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

Monet would be working on sometimes a dozen canvases for these early time-lapse type paintings to catch each change in the light, which sometimes would last for only a few minutes.

His paintings remind us of the importance of perspective. Paying attention to physical objects in different light is taken for granted, but it can be rewarding.

Mankato downtown takes on a different hue in winter and summer, in the morning and in the evening. It can be most noticeable on all the Kasota stone buildings like the post office and the First Presbyterian Church. Low angle sunsets in the fall and winter make the sandy colored stone almost red.

The appreciation of Monet’s work with light may pale in comparison to things of popular import today, like sports, politics and “Game of Thrones.”

But perspective in a pandemic world may be one of the salves to our troubled news cycle. We can appreciate the occupied mind of artists who are presumably able to put aside the craziness and create a message of peace and beauty.

How a community considers and nurtures and supports art says a lot about its people. The rising of the arts — visual or other — has created a kind of cultural boomtown in Mankato. Art is noticeable in Mankato now in a way it wasn’t maybe just a few years ago.

More and more local people are employed in something artrelated every day. What a fantastic

economic trend.

A 2017 study called Creative Minnesota showed that for every person in Prairie Regional Arts Council’s nine-county region, the arts generated $150 of economic activity.

That ranked fourth in the state out of 11 different regions while the region was seventh in size. The area ranked sixth in the total number of artists, fourth in creative job density and fourth in total audience served.

All of this makes the Mankato art scene an overachiever in economic development and art infrastructure.

Mankato has not always so embraced the arts.

Consider the controversy surrounding the iconic “Mankato Piece” during the 1980s and 1990s.

The famous steel girders arranged in angular designs came to Mankato in the late 1970s during urban renewal by renowned artist Dale Eldred, a Minnesota native who had a studio in Kansas City.

City leaders often argued about the Mankato Piece’s value, as did its divided citizenry of college hippies and local cowboys.

And yet, the Mankato Piece, like all good art, survived. It moved twice downtown before resting with dignity at a space it deserves at Riverfront Park.

One can appreciate the snarkiness of the Mankato Piece supporter who managed to adorn one of the city’s electrical box art pieces with a picture of the Mankato Piece at the same corner it used to occupy at South Second and Hickory streets.

Like Monet’s “Haystacks,” another signature piece of art is engaging locals, visitors and travelers, and likely will do so for years to come. Motorists on Highway 169 and the Vets Bridge

Photo by Pat Christman are watching daily progress of the yet-unnamed mural depicting the area’s Native American heritage as the painting slowly rises up the

sides of the Ardent Mills silos that store wheat.

Perspective is important.

Everywhere. MM

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

MANKATO MAGAZINE • JUNE 2020 • 11

Familiar Faces

From the front lines …

Dr. Paul Williams recounts real life in the ER in the age of COVID-19

N Photo by Pat Christman

NAME:

Dr. Paul Williams Occupation:

Emergency medicine physician, Mayo Clinic Health System in Mankato

Hometown: Mankato, MN

Cats or dogs?

Dogs

Favorite ice cream: Cookies and Cream

Pet peeve: Wet socks

12 • JUNE 2020 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

o one imagined the drastic changes the pandemic could have brought to the world at large. It ultimately gave everyone — and everything — pause.

The malls, once full with bustling shoppers, now remain mostly empty. Restaurants, where tables held birthday and graduation parties or special evenings out, are now topped with chairs.

People have had to adapt to a new lifestyle of social distancing while trying to maintain some sort of normalcy. During this unstable time in history, most have tried to hold on to a shred of the routines they’ve practiced for years, whether it’s that morning coffee with your spouse before work to ordering from your favorite restaurant for curbside pickup.

Most have done their best to combat the virus by staying home and being safe, even among all the changes.

One thing that has not and will not change, for the most part, is the confidence people have in medical professionals. Before the pandemic, they were there for us when we broke a bone as a kid, helped families-to-be, cared for our grandparents and parents, or maybe even checked up on that stomach ache.

Now, more than ever, we need these medical professionals who’ve been working the front lines of this pandemic.

Dr. Paul Williams, emergency medicine physician at Mayo Clinic Health System in Mankato, gives us an insight of what it’s like.

Mankato Magazine: First and foremost, how are you personally feeling with the COVID-19 pandemic?

Dr. Paul Williams: Optimistic, but guarded. I feel our regional health systems are well prepared for this and luckily have not yet had the same case numbers that are affecting other American cities and certain countries throughout the world. I am also hopeful that the medical and scientific community will develop a vaccine and

complete trials looking at treatment options for the acutely ill. A more depressing tone takes over when you think of the direct impact this is having on so many people and the number of lives lost.

those in which I know I made a difference to the patients or their families. Every day I meet people whom I likely would never have met and walk them through one of the hardest days of their life.

MM: Medical professionals are at the front line of the pandemic.

Can you tell us a little bit about what that looks like and what that means for you?

Dr. PW: I don’t want to speak for every medical professional, but I see my role as one of necessity and responsibility. Going to work and caring for patients with COVID19 does increase the likelihood of contracting the virus, but this is an inherent risk with the profession.

Within the hospital and the region, there are countless people working to make sure we work in the safest environment possible and make sure we are healthy for our patients who do not have COVID-19. Given so many people are looking out for us as front-line staff, we are essentially doing what we have always been doing: caring for patients, but with an increased focus on personal protective equipment.

MM: What is something that you do to relax?

Dr. PW: When time allows, my wife and I enjoy walking our dog around the neighborhood and spending time outdoors. We have modified these activities to practice good social distancing, but there is no reason to completely avoid the outdoors. For those of us who are spending more time at home, it is a good way to break up the monotony. I have some new golf clubs, and I am hoping to use them, if only to go to the driving range and work on my terrible swing.

MM: What does the day of an emergency physician look like?

Dr. PW: Every day is different, even during a pandemic. People are still having heart attacks, strokes and accidents. Adding in a pandemic is manageable due to the cognitive shifting that occurs in such a fastpaced environment. The Emergency Department is a place where you can console a grieving family and, in the same hour, fix someone’s dislocated shoulder and they walk out happy.

MM: What initially interested you in a medical career? Was it your first choice?

Dr. PW: I have always enjoyed helping others, and I excelled at biology. I have always enjoyed both equally, and that made medicine an easy choice. I probably didn’t seriously consider medicine until taking an anatomy class at Mankato West High School. After that, I focused my college life on the goal of becoming a physician.

MM: Can you tell us one of your favorite moments on the job?

Dr. PW: My favorite moments are

MM: How will COVID-19 change the medical field? How about yourself?

Dr. PW: I think this pandemic will be a catalyst for telehealth, such as video visits, to be a popular option going forward for primary care visits and specialist appointments.

I also think preparedness and disaster planning will get more funding and considerations in every facet of life. As for myself, with panic buying having affected us all at some point, I am looking forward to having the option of buying toilet paper again.

MM: What is something people would find surprising about your field?

Dr. PW: We spend a lot of time on the computer reading old charts, writing charts, placing orders, looking at results and communicating with other providers. Technology has allowed us to achieve some wonderful things as it pertains to medicine, and sometimes the patients are unaware of the time it takes to compile all of this information and formulate a treatment plan.

MM: What would you like readers to know about the coronavirus?

Dr. PW: We are still learning so much about SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

New information comes out daily.

It is important to use reputable sources (Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention, Minnesota Department of Health, etc.) and be careful of less stringent sources.

Given so many unknowns and recommendations changing with new information, it is so important for people to keep listening to reputable updates and not be so entrenched in a belief or opinion.

MM: Tell us why people shouldn’t browse on WebMD. Dr. PW: It is not that people shouldn’t browse WebMD or maybe other more reputable medical websites. But I would caution anyone who is attempting to selfdiagnose a condition or get medical advice from these websites. People should not substitute medical care by a licensed provider for their ability to use a search engine. Even doctors get care from other doctors.

MM: Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Dr. PW: I would like to thank everyone in the community for working together during these trying times. Everyone has a role in this pandemic, and everyone is doing a good job keeping the community going. I don’t know how long this will last, but I know we will get through this.

Finally, it’s important for people to know it is safe to come to all Mayo Clinic locations if directed by your health care provider or if you have an urgent or emergent need. Do not delay seeking care for an emergency. Mayo Clinic and Mayo Clinic Health System are fully prepared to care for any and all patients who need to seek care during the pandemic. We have protocols in place to keep those with possible COVID-19 symptoms out of the general population and to protect all staff who come into contact with those patients.

Compiled by Diana Rojo-Garcia MANKATO MAGAZINE • JUNE 2020 • 13

DAY TRIP DESTINATIONS: Ice Cream Parlors

By Diana Rojo-Garcia

J

Ice Cream Parlors

une … what a wonderful month.

We’re blessed with long summer days, almost as if Mother Nature is trying to apologize for the excruciatingly long winter months.

People are out and about camping or walking their dogs. There are cookouts and outdoor games to play. If it gets too hot, we always have the option to jump into one of the many lakes of Minnesota.

And despite the humidity, or the mosquitoes, or the gnats, we take these days and savor each moment.

If you’re one of those people who can’t handle the heat or humidity, there’s always ice cream to sweeten the deal.

Sure, you can eat ice cream at any point in the year. But there’s only three months when it feels right. There’s just something about the sweetness and cold against your tongue on a blistering hot summer’s day.

Take a ride around the state and visit Minnesota’s favorite ice cream parlors. (Don’t forget to visit Mom’s and Pop’s in Mankato’s Old Town, too!).

In 2019, America’s favorite ice cream flavor was vanilla The largest scoop of ice cream was 9 feet tall in Italy

Selma’s Ice Cream Parlor Selma’s is the oldest ice cream shop in Minnesota dating back to the early 1900s. According to its website, the building in use for the parlor housed ammunition during the Civil War. Selma’s carries more than 30 ice cream flavors, which are from Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream from Madison, Wisconsin.

Some flavors include Fat Elvis, This S&#! Just Got Serious, Espresso, Ultimate Oreo and good Old Fashioned Vanilla. “ Pro tip: one of the favorites is a double scoop of Zanzibar chocolate in a house made waffle cone,” Rebbeca Nickerson, owner of Selma’s, said.

For non-ice cream eaters, the shop also offers coffee specialites, a variety of candy and desserts.

Or just enjoy the ride.

“You can enjoy a scenic drive through the St Croix Valley, hike Afton State Park or browse the small shops in Afton and then top your day off with one of our 32 ice cream flavors,” Nickerson said.

Even during the pandemic, the ice cream parlor remained opened, delivering scoops through window services.

Selma’s is at 3419 Saint Croix Trail S. in Afton and can be reached at 651-436-5131.

14 • JUNE 2020 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

Tip Top Dairy Bar

Head off to Osakis, about a three-hour drive from Mankato, to Tip Top Dairy Bar. Though the town is on the smaller side, the ice cream shop offers big tastes.

The shop was opened in 1955 by Norman Hansen.

That makes it old enough to retire, but the shop keeps on delivering the goods.

Tip Top is highly regarded in Minnesota, as it earned the title of being WCCO-TV’s best ice cream shop in the state. Its menu includes classic cones and sundaes, shakes and malts.

There’s also “cyclones,” ice cream with mixed toppings. Some cyclones include Butterfinger, Crazy Monkey (banana mixed with Hydrox cookies), Grasshopper (Creme De Mint and Hydrox cookies) and a German Chocolate (chocolate ice cream with coconut and pecans).

They also serve up burger baskets, fried chicken, hot dogs and other classic American food.

Tip Top Dairy Bar is at 22 W. Nokomis St. in Osakis and can be reached at 320-8859-2217.

Dairy Queen

Cone Brothers

Ice cream dates back as early as 37-68 C.E.

America’s first ice cream parlor opened in New York City in 1776

This parlor will have you feeling like you stepped into a time machine. The 1950s inspired parlor in Richfield not only offers ice cream but other treats as well. Get a Chicago-Style hot dog, 100% fruit smoothies or vintage sodas.

The shop features 20 flavors, including Raspberry Rhapsody (black raspberry flavor, raspberry ripple and dark and white chocolate-covered raspberry cups), Heaps of Love (add anything including Oreos, brownies, edible cookie dough, carmel and chocolate ripples and pecans mixed in vanilla ice cream) and blueberry cheesecake (cheesecake ice cream with a blueberry ripple and cheesecake pieces).

Cone Brothers is at 6633 Penn Ave. S. in Richfield and can be reached at 612-455-0452.

It takes about 50 licks to OK. Hear me out on this one. finish one scoop Moorhead’s Dairy Queen is actually In Hawaii, there’s a fruit, the oldest Dairy inga feuillei, that tastes Queen in Minnesota. like ice cream Opened by Bob and Phyllis Litherland in 1949, this Dairy Queen remains a Moorhead staple.

The Litherlands ran the business for more than 40 years before turning over the keys to new owners, Troy DeLeon and Diane Hanson, in 1995.

Moorhead’s Dairy Queen still has the original contract with the franchise. This means you can find speciality treats that can’t be found at any other Dairy Queen, including Mr. Malties, Monkey Tail and Chipper Sandwich. This location was also the first to serve up Dilly Bars.

It celebrated its 70th anniversary last year and has opened its doors to ice cream lovers every March 1 since (even at -11 degrees outside).

This Dairy Queen grabbed the attention of The Associated Press in 2015, which called it the “Rogue Dairy Queen” because of its flexibility in menu options.

The menu includes other staples such as Blizzards, malts and sundaes. Ice cream cakes are also available, but unlike other franchise locations, Troy DeLeon makes them by hand.

If you make the drive up north to the oldest Dairy Queen in Minnesota, make sure to also take a photo with the “World’s Largest Dilly Bar” on site.

MANKATO MAGAZINE • JUNE 2020 • 15

Brittney Gehrking of the Faribault County Sheriff’s Department is shown here with her trusty partner, Zeus. Photo by Pat Christman

K9 Kops

The bravest, bestest good boys are putting their lives on the line

By Robb Murray

B

rittney Gehrking barely has the door open and Zeus’ head is already poking through. But once he’s through, he bursts into a jolly gallup — head shaking, collar jangling.

At the Faribault County Sheriff’s Department offices, Zeus feels just as at home as any other deputy or staff member.

And because he’s not sniffing out narcotics or chasing down a suspect, Zeus just gets to be a dog right now. Like any good boy, he loves to dart around the room greeting people and making sure everything smells like it should. And as if he were Norm walking into his favorite tavern, everybody here knows his

16 • JUNE 2020 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

name.

But the second Gehrking needs him to obey, it’s like a switch turns on inside him. Where one second he’s sniffing around and whining because he wants to leave the room, the next — at Gehrking’s command — he turns into a focused, ready, intense working dog.

Zeus, obviously, is the canine half of the department’s K9 unit. He and Gehrking, like many K9 units, have become a tightly-knit team.

K9 units are among the unsung heroes of law enforcement. They rescue people, chase down criminals, sniff out narcotics and, perhaps most importantly, prevent bad things from happening in the

Zeus is trained to track suspects and sniff out narcotics. Photo by Pat Christman first place; a loud bark and sharp teeth can be a powerful deterrent.

In an issue devoted to pets, it would have been egregious to ignore some of the bravest pets of all. So we’re introducing you to K9 units from Faribault and Le Sueur counties.

Like a king

Gehrking, a Willmar native, attended Minnesota State University where she worked for campus security.

After graduating, she got hired in 2011 as a part-time officer in Winnebago, and quickly moved into a fulltime position. She moved to the Faribault County Sheriff’s Department in 2014 and has been there ever since.

Getting to be a K9 officer was a dream come true.

“It’s the reason I became a cop,” she said. “I’d always wanted to be a canine handler. And he was actually my personal dog. I bought him as a pet.”

She picked up Zeus from a Mankato breeder in 2015.

She’d been on a waiting list. And while she waited, she was also keeping her fingers crossed that her sheriff and chief deputy would be on board with adding a K9 unit.

Gehrking had Zeus evaluated by a professional

canine trainer, and the results came back exactly as she’d hoped: Zeus would be perfect, the trainer said.

But she was still uncertain about formally asking her boss for permission to do it.

Turns out she didn’t have to.

A burglary-in-progress situation unfolded in such a way that having a trained dog available would have been a much safer alternative for the deputies involved.

After it was resolved, the chief deputy — who knew Gehrking was very interested in pursuing K9 unit certification — told her to research it and get back to him with a plan of action.

In 2016 Zeus was sent for a three-week intensive training session for drug detection. When he returned, Gehrking had her own training. Both dog and handler must go through intensive and continual training.

Halloween of 2016 was their first shift together. In their first week he was deployed several times. But it was a December call that put any doubt about his value to rest. At a traffic stop near Wells, Zeus detected not only illegal drugs inside the vehicle, but he also found a backpack under the hood containing $50,000 in cash.

After the cases were adjudicated, $35,000 went back to the Faribault County Sheriff’s Department, which more than covered the cost of Zeus’ training and MANKATO MAGAZINE • JUNE 2020 • 17

certification.

In another case, Zeus tracked a hit-and-run suspect to a corn field.

The suspect surrendered quickly when he heard Zeus barking. And in another case, he tracked a fleeing suspect for 45 minutes and located him in a shed.

Zeus is actually owned by the county. And he’s covered by the county’s insurance. But the deal Gehrking struck with the county is such that when Zeus’ time as a K9 unit is over, she’ll be able to buy him back for $1.

Zeus is primarily a narcotic and evidence detection dog, but he is trained to defend Gehrking should she need help. She’s got a device on her person at all times that can unlock the door and summon Zeus.

And Zeus, if he sees Gehrking under duress, will most assuredly and forcefully come to her aid.

In addition to being the fluffiest member of the department, he’s also Gehrking’s pet. Because of that, she worries about him. He wears a Kevlar vest when he’s working, but Gehrking says she knows there’s potential for him to sustain serious injuries or worse.

“I have to put that in the back of my mind,” she said. “Otherwise I’d never be able to deploy him on a track, or deploy in a manner to protect us. I have to put that in the back of my mind because if something were to happen to him I’d be devastated. But, you know …

I don’t want to think about it, but you’d rather lose a dog than a human partner. But I would be a wreck.”

Zeus isn’t above making his feelings known. Gehrking says he can be a real drama queen.

“Sometimes he gives me lip in the back of the car,” she said. “He barks at me. Or if the music is too 507.345.8487

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18 • JUNE 2020 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

Jett once helped find an elderly man who wandered off in the middle winter wearing just his underwear. Photo by Robb Murray loud he’ll dramatically sigh. Or if we’re parked next to one of my partners for too long, he’ll sigh or dramatically lay down.”

Being a K9 cop is fun, she said.

But it isn’t easy.

Every time she trains with him or uses him in the line of duty, she must keep meticulous records.

That’s because a law enforcement officer’s work is often scrutinized in a courtroom, where clever lawyers are paid to make sure everything was done by the book. K9 units — both dog and handler — must be certified. If certification is allowed to lapse, all they’ve got is a highly trained pet that can’t legally be used on a call.

“There’s a lot of time you have to put into it,” she said. “I’m on call 24-7. I average five off-duty calls a month.”

Gehrking uses two cell phones, one for work and one for personal use. Each has a different ring tone.

When Gehrking is at home, and the work phone ringtone goes off, Zeus gets excited. He thinks he’s going to work.

Meet Jett

Deputy Joe Kern of the Le Sueur County Sheriff’s Department, a Mankato native, also attended Minnesota State University. Played baseball there, too.

He picked up his new German Shepherd puppy in 2017 when the pup was just 8 weeks old. And for the last year and a half, in addition to being the Kern family pet, he’s a fully certified K9 officer.

In a park in Mankato last month, Kern ran Jett through his paces, and Jett’s work was impressive. He tracked down several hidden objects within seconds, each time laying down and looking back at Kern for praise and approval.

He also showed impressive obedience, sticking as close as he

could to Kern’s left side, obeying commands, chasing balls, barking loudly and looking very much like the kind of dog that could, with one command, end a dangerous police situation.

Like Zeus, Jett has seen his share of work. In fact, he was called in for that shooting case just a few weeks near the Mankato dog park.

While he didn’t need to spring into action, Jett was on hand to assist with containment and potential tracking.

Jett has never had to bite anyone.

But there’s been a few cases where he was close.

“I can recall two different subjects, one on a domestic where we tracked him a couple hundred yards into the woods. And it’s just awesome to see them work in odor, just like a hunting dog trying to find its prey, and all of a sudden he starts alerting and barking. None of the officers saw the guy, but he was hiding out in some downed bushes and trees and then he’s like, ‘Don’t let your dog bite!’” he said.

“Sometimes people in the real world, maybe they’re not always intimidated by law enforcement.

But for some reason a hundredpound dog that’s barking and has got some teeth? People are usually pretty compliant. It’s not that you want to use it as a threat but in certain situations it’s a tool to prevent officers from having to go in and go hands on. If I can get Jett to bark and intimidate a criminal or a suspect and he gives up, it’s better for all of us.”

Jett was a key player one winter day when an elderly gentleman wandered away from his Montgomery residence in his underwear. It was cold, and finding the man quickly was crucial. Kern and Jett were off duty, but came in

Deputy Joe Kern with his best friend Jett. Photo by Robb Murray quickly after they were called. Jett grabbed the scent right away and led Kern to a broken down vehicle in the backyard of a nearby residence. The man was sitting in the front seat shivering.

“I was like, ‘Oh! Sarge, got him here!’” Kern said. “It was just awesome to be on scene for literally four or five minutes and be able to locate the guy when it might have taken hours or the next day.”

Like Gehrking, Kern recognizes the balance that must be struck between K9 and pet.

At home, Kern’s 6-year-old daughter gives Jett a hug before he leaves for work. It’d be a difficult loss, Kern said, but he understands why departments rely on working dogs like Jett.

“They’re a tool for the department, but yet they’re also

your partner,” he said. “It’s something where you talk to some guys out there — I don’t want to say they don’t have the same bond by any means, because every K9 officer I know has a tight bond (with their dog) — but just like anything I think some people, myself included, are maybe a little more emotionally attached to their dogs than others.”

At the same time, Kern instantly adds that Jett, while he’s a pet and a close friend, exists at the sheriff’s department for a reason: to keep deputies and the public safe. And if it means putting him in danger to keep people safe, that’s what he’ll do. It won’t be easy, but that’s what he’ll do.

MM

MANKATO MAGAZINE • JUNE 2020 • 19

Why the heck do we love them so much?

By Diana Rojo-Garcia

M

id-April, we asked the community to share information about their pets with us. And boy, did you guys deliver. More than 100 submissions were sent in for this pet issue. We had puppies and older dogs, some cats and kittens, some fish and even a plant.

There was no doubt we’d have many submissions because, after all, our pets are everything to us.

Nothing is better than sharing your good boys and

20 • JUNE 2020 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

girls to the rest of the world. And there was nothing better than receiving all of these pet submissions in our email — almost daily — for two weeks.

Pets always have our back. They lick our tears away, they make us giggle at their best attempt to jump onto the bed, and they cuddle us on our worst days (and the good ones, too).

Now, more than ever, our pets are important in our lives. When this story publishes, Minnesota will have

been under the shelter-in-place order for a month and a half. That’s if it doesn’t get extended into this month.

Regardless of the situation at home or work, one thing’s for sure: Everyone has been home a lot more. Much more than our pets are used to. In addition to everything else they do for us, they’re at our Zoom meetings. They nonjudgmentally stare at us while we eat all the snacks and are ready for a walk at all times of the day.

And did you know the pets — dogs in particular — actually help decrease blood pressure? In 2019, Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Innovations, Quality and Outcomes research on dogs as pets stated they help improve mental, physical and emotional health.

“It’s fascinating,” said Lisa Hardesty, clinical health psychologist.

When someone pets a dog, she said, oxytocin is released.

“It’s called the love hormone or cuddle hormone. That’s what makes people think they’re in love.”

It’s the warm and fuzzy feeling someone gets. Other hormones, such as serotonin and dopamine, are released as we cuddle or pet dogs.

“Mental health wise, dogs and cats, especially dogs, teach us mindfulness and being in the present moment,” Hardesty said.

That involves taking care of the pet — taking them for walks, bathing or grooming, feeding and overall responsibility for their well-being.

Even just petting a dog or cat allows humans to savor the moment a little bit and increase mindfulness, she said.

And with the pandemic, with such an increase in social isolation, pets also give us a sense of purpose and comfort.

“We’re struggling with uncertainty,” Hardesty said. But having a pet? “They center us, they bring us value and meaning and most certainly decreases loneliness and isolation.”

She said that during the COVID-19 pandemic, pets have especially put us in the moment to help us calm down and also enjoy the little nuggets of joy they bring.

“Because there is so much uncertainty, they center us. It’s controllable and reminds us of our purpose and our meaning,” Hardesty said. “If your house was burning, you’d save your pet, not your hand mixer.”

That applies whether you’re stuck at home with no one else but your pet or taking them out for walks, which does have a social aspect to it.

There has been an upsurge in pet ownership, perhaps for these reasons.

“Dogs help, and I think it’s good for us in so many ways,” Hardesty said. “They’re somebody that needs you, but you need them too, to snuggle with or walk. In this height of uncertainty, they capture your meaning and purpose and what we hold of value. They’re a good reminder.”

Practice manager at River Hills Pet Care Hospital, Paige Durenberger, said she has seen more people coming by with puppies. Of course, the nicer weather in Minnesota is typically “puppy season,” but the pandemic has had people itching for companionship.

Durenberger, who has four dogs, a cat, a bunny and an Amazon parrot, can feel the positive effects of her pets at home. She and her daughter have had the time to spend with their dog playing catch for hours. Seeing her dog happy to be playing and outside was enough to also make Durenberger happy.

“I can’t imagine going through this and not having my pets with me,” Durenberger said.

This time with pets is not only beneficial for them but for us as well, said Dr. Holly Lillegaard, veterinarian at River Hills Pet Care Hospital.

“Getting dogs out walking is a healthy habit for both pet and owner,” Lillegaard said. “This is also a good time to focus on your dog’s basic training and obedience. It’s never too late to teach an old dog new tricks!”

If you are getting more active outside, make sure your dog has an appropriate flea and tick prevention, she said.

For cats, Lillegaard recommends interacting with them by setting a designated playtime or daily brushing/grooming routine.

“The trick to playing with a cat is to stop one minute before they are bored or tired, and put the toy you are using away between playtimes,” Lillegaard said. “By keeping the game fun, and on a situational basis, it helps keep their engagement and physical activity up.”

She adds that cat owners can build their cats a tree or put up floating shelves as perches.

“That will help get them off your computer workstation and less interactive during your Zoom meetings,” she said.

And even though most of us have been happy to be with our pets at home, it’s been an adjustment for humans. Pets are adjusting to the change, too.

“A small change in routine for a human may not seem like a big deal, but for pets, their home and routines are their kingdom and lives,” Lillegaard said. “For some pets, the additional time their owners have been home could be seen as an invasion of their personal time.”

Some signs that a pet is feeling stressed out is excessive shedding, overgrooming, a reluctance to go on walks for dogs, inappropriate or increased urination for cats, changing their sleeping habits or sleeping locations.

“For example, think of a family member that has overstayed their welcome. You love them, but you might appreciate the time away from them,” she said. “It’s not that your pet may not enjoy your company. It could be your extra time at home (which) is causing them lack of sleep or now that you are home, you have found their relaxing spot.”

There could also be underlying conditions causing this behavior, in which pet owners are encouraged to visit their local vet clinic to determine underlying causes.

“While we are not performing routine surgeries such as spays, neuters or dental prophylaxis procedures (during stay-at-home orders), we are still performing surgeries that have a direct correlation to the patient’s comfort and quality of life,” Lillegaard said.

Some examples include tumor or bladder stone removal, extractions of painful or infected teeth, broken toes and nails.

“If you feel that your pet has an issue, please do reach out to your local veterinarian to determine if it is an issue that should be seen.”

Although pets are known to have a positive influence on our well-being, Lillegaard said, pet ownership is not very everyone.

“Pet ownership is a big responsibility, both emotionally and financially, therefore the decision to get a pet should be taken with careful consideration,” she said. “For example, one may like the idea of a dog getting them outside and walking every day, but if potty training, teaching basic obedience or financially affording a pet’s food or medical care isn’t something they are willing to do, then in that situation that person may benefit more as a volunteer at the humane society walking dogs.”

Regardless, the science backs it up: Pets and animals are good for the soul.

“I like to think that pet ownership is beneficial for many — young and old. I know the joy I receive from working with both clients’ pets and my own makes every day much brighter!” Lillegaard said. MM MANKATO MAGAZINE • JUNE 2020 • 21

Chris Kunst, Mankato — Steve (Black golden doodle) and Stella (senior rescue boxer)

Courtney and Ben Pankonin, Mankato — Ernie

Jeffrey Eaton, Mankato — Winston & Corky

Justin Fasnacht, Mankato — Raekwon, Ghostface

Jen Fuller, North Mankato — Shayla

Peggy Fleming, North Mankato — Bono; Rudy and Zoe 22 • JUNE 2020 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

Aisha Abdo, North Mankato — Hazel

Cindy Gawrych, North Mankato — Boomer

Lily Follansbee, Mankato — Randall

Amy and Max Magnus, Lake Crystal — Ferb and Poppy

Melissa A. Ketchum, Mankato — Ensō (left) Sadie (right)

Allie Bigbie, Mankato — Emma MANKATO MAGAZINE • JUNE 2020 • 23

Deanna Janovsky, Mankato — Max

Betty Thompson, St. Peter — Bella

Joe Kunkel and Mary Beth Nygaard, North Mankato — Miss Alice

Jim and Dinah Skalicky, New Ulm — Smokey; Sage

Eric Bunde, Mankato — Zildjian 24 • JUNE 2020 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

April Larson, North Mankato — Mya

Katie Pace, Mankato — Oliver Jen Buck, North Mankato — Moose

Dick and Lucy Lowry, North Mankato — Pippi

Amanda Burg, Mankato — James

Jeremy Poland, Mankato — Cooper

Karen and Mike Young, Mankato — Cookie and Bandit

Melissa Neeb, Mankato — Jax

Samantha Scheurer, Nicollet — Castiel

Jackie Sillman, St. Clair — Shiloh MANKATO MAGAZINE • JUNE 2020 • 25

REFLECTIONS

By Pat Christman

T

hey say a dog is man’s best friend. While I like dogs, I never fully bought into that statement, until I met Willow.

I’ve always had cats around the house as furry companions and I’ve loved them all. But while looking for my next one I met this sweet lab with the beagle coat and fell for her in an instant. I was a little nervous as a firsttime dog owner, but it was impossible to deny the bond that had already started to form in one brief meeting.

Willow has her quirks, of course (what dog doesn’t?). But overall she is a sweet, loving pup that enjoys laying on the couch, going for walks and making the neighborhood squirrels nervous. A perfect “best friend.” MM

26 • JUNE 2020 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

MANKATO MAGAZINE • JUNE 2020 • 27

Ashley Sobota, Eagle Lake — Hank C. Goodman

Carol Whitney, Mankato — Bindi

Patrick Erdner, originally from Albert Lea — Gabrielle (Gabby)

Heather Rossow, Mankato — Waffles

Kara Hanson (Hanson family), New Ulm — Tigger and Skye 28 • JUNE 2020 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

Holly Thom, North Mankato— Rico

Selena Mosqueda, St. Peter — Scrappy

Raylene Johnson, St. Cloud — Champ (bulldog) and JJ

Jolene Lueck, Elysian — Chester Roo and Jersey Girl

Mike and Karen Lloyd, Winnebago — Lilee and Baylee

Brian Belcourt, St. Clair — Chewie

Kristy Olson, North Mankato — Ricky; Czar and Randy MANKATO MAGAZINE • JUNE 2020 • 29

Allison Baumann, Mankato — Bubbles and Brodie

Kathy Depuydt, Mankato — Jaci and Theresa

Deb Anderson, Blue Earth — Mr. Mac

Jenn Valimont, Mankato — Scarlet Creed and Oliver Baxter Valimont

Kristen and Sammi Olinger, North Mankato — Oliver Hardy Olinger

Kristine Seery, North Mankato — Starlight Monkey Girl Seery

Don and Joni Myers, St. Peter — Minnie (cat) and Leon 30 • JUNE 2020 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

Pat Bieber, Ely — Molly

Elaine Jensen, Mankato — Conan

Chad and Lori Christenson — Bella and Bailey

Tammi Zupfer, Cleveland — Sheldon

Deb Anderson, Blue Earth — Arrow

Anita Mascarenhas, St. Peter — Binky

Reva Strunk, Mankato — Ava (border collie) and Ace

Kelly Zimmerman, Mankato — Daisy and Harley

Lisa Furan, Mankato — Frank and Betty

Dave Urness, North Mankato — Fishies MANKATO MAGAZINE • JUNE 2020 • 31

Carol Vogel, Mankato — Tucker

Jean Braam and Christal Hays, Burnsville — Maui and Jazz

James and Kelly Hanel, Madison Lake — Mick

Allison Baseman, St. Peter — Esther

Erin, McGraw family, Mankato — Lola

Caroline McGowan, Mankato — Little Al

Jake Sparrow, Mankato — Brooklyn (aka Snickers) 32 • JUNE 2020 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

Mike and Becky Carlberg, Mankato — Brandi Calberg

Storm Hultgren-Ouren, Kasota — Zöe and Henry.

Patricia Robinson and Tom Cray, North Mankato — Billy and Coco

Lorna Hager, Mankato — Mavis Louise

Steve Hlavac, North Mankato — Nugget

L VE

Diane Rauchman, Mankato — Windsor

Brandon Stolt, St. Peter — Emma

Ann Judkins, North Mankato — Herbie

Cheryl Lantz, Lake Crystal — Princess Lucy

Claudia Cooper, Mankato — Tweedy MANKATO MAGAZINE • JUNE 2020 • 33

Marv & Mardelle Menk, Mankato — Denali

Cheri Hanson, North Mankato — Dexter

Julie Wilkins, LeSueur — Stella

Pat Nelson, Madelia — Artemis, Kaliope, Athena and Aurora

Ron and Cathy Schroder, Mapleton — Buck and Benny

Judie and John Wendt, Mankato — Izzie and Tigger

Evie Scanus, Mankato — Prince

34 • JUNE 2020 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

Mary Natwick, St. Peter — Russell

Bob Maes, Mankato — Mocha

Irene LePage, Mankato — Bella

Stacy and Lisa Ohme, North Mankato — Jaden and Ann

Jenny Groebner, Le Center — Lucky and D.O.G

Diane Hanson, North Mankato — Reco

Mark Gustafson, Mankato — Bear

Carol Bertrand, St. Peter — Mocha

Bailey Wolff, Janesville — Samson and Rufus MANKATO MAGAZINE • JUNE 2020 • 35

Arely Anaya, Butterfield — Max and Azul

Adam and Amber Pahl, Vernon Center — Dixie

JoAnn & Terry Alfson — Stella

Doug and Sue Erickson, Mankato township — Leah and Red

Gary and Kriste Saffert, North Mankato — Sammy

LaDoa and Paul Lange, Mankato — Abbie 36 • JUNE 2020 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

Deen Hunt, Mankato — Mick and Bert

Carolyn Kanyusik, Mankato — Gilligan (cat) and Zoe Diane Berge, Mankato — Claire and Rascal Cathy Smesrud, Eagle Lake — Bingo

Sharyl Van’t Hul — Boydd

Jodi Erickson, Mankato — Laker and Zeek

Brad and Sharon Sykora, St. Peter — Dawson Sykora

Brad and Nekea Groskopf, North Mankato — Kodiak (dog) and Maile

Peter and Danielle Backes, North Mankato — Penny (Wisconsin); Sammy (Wisconsin); Bandit (Farmington); Sparky (passed away 6/08/16) MANKATO MAGAZINE • JUNE 2020 • 37

Eleanor Coons-Ruskey, Mankato — Noodle (dachshund); Ruby (Cavalier King Charles Spaniel); Neyha (tabby cat)

Julie Frederick, Mankato — Tommy (white) and Leonard

Ron and Deb Meissner, North Mankato — Dooley

J.C. — Piper

Emma Murray, Madison, WI — Penny

Pam Guss, Mankato — Kona (big dog) and Fitger

Alexandra Foster, Mankato — Dottie (left) Ensio (right); fish Todd (dark fish), Peter (turtle), Stella (white fish) 38 • JUNE 2020 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

Lynn Gostomczick — Elsie Frank Duenes, Mankato — Melvin

Eva and Joe Douma, Mankato — Eva

Lainey Bertrand, Sleepy Eye — Tiffany Hoffman

Dana Sikkila, Mankato — Pops and MJ

Mary and Larry Bobholz, North Mankato — Anna and Elsa (cats) Lucy and Brooklyn (dogs)

The Steinberg’s, Eagle Lake — Mavie

The Corley Family (Chris, Jolly, Ronan and Renn, Mankato — Mookie MANKATO MAGAZINE • JUNE 2020 • 39

Diana Jennings, Mankato — Bandit

Shelley Bartlett, Mankato — Hailey (dog) and Bentley (cat)

Craig and Cynthia Shirk, Mankato — Finn, Conan

Joe and Gretchen Spear , Mankato — Boomie

Virjean Griensewic, Mankato — Riley

Pat Christman, North Mankato — Willow

Levos family, St. Clair — Odin 40 • JUNE 2020 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

Charles Whitney, Winnebago — Cocco

De Malterer, Janesville — Tatum Many Toes

C Sankey, Winnebago — Meesha

Jeremy Spidahl, Winnebago — Smokey

Steve Jameson, Mankato — Baelyn; Porthos, Tiger

Deb Petterson, North Mankato — Blaze, Belle, Punkin

Carlson family, North Mankato — Goblin

Heather Spidahl, Winnebago — Sir

Ed & Linda Thoma, Mankato — Feller

Cheryl Lance, Mankato — Ali; Lemmie; Tori

Murray family, North Mankato — Mongo; Edna; Sister MANKATO MAGAZINE • JUNE 2020 • 41

Mourning a pet loss Grieve as you would if you had lost a person, experts say

By Renee Berg | Photo by Pat Christman

R

achael and David Hanel, of Madison Lake, made a rule not long after the death of their first dog. From then on, they would always have two pups in the house. So that if one died, the house wouldn’t be as barren and silent as it was after their beloved Kahlil, a 14-year-old whippet, died in 2013.

“He was such a good dog,” Rachael Hanel recalls. “Just so sensitive and sweet, kind of passive.

He loved running and he loved walking. We would take him out on 4- or 5- or 6-mile runs and he would do just fine. Every day we’d get out in the yard, throw a Frisbee and have him catch it. He was really athletic.”

The Hanels now enjoy two whippets, Nina, 6, and Trophy, 4 ½ years old. “Boy, it was super hard when we lost Kahlil. It was my first dog, so I’d never had a dog before and there’s always something special about your first dog. It’s just me and my husband; we don’t have kids. At the time we lost Kahlil, he was our only pet, so when he died, the house was so quiet and empty.

When Kahlil was alive, it was a home but when he died it became a house. I didn’t even want to be there. We took a lot of day trips.”

Wendy June, owner and founder of Mankato Pet Cremation, advises pet lovers to cremate their pet’s remains so you have something to hold onto forever. She also recommends pet owners hold a closure ritual such as the spreading of their pet’s remains, release a biodegradable balloon, keep talking about your feelings and join a pet loss/grief support group. When the time is right, adopt again.

Ken Ambrose, veterinarian at Minnesota Valley Pet Hospital, said there is no right time frame for when to adopt a new pet. “It will be different for everybody but you will know when you are ready,” Ambrose said. “You must also realize that a new pet will not be a

42 • JUNE 2020 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

Dr. Maryann Nelson and the office cat Nala. replacement. And even if it’s the same breed and same lineage, it will not be a carbon copy of your lost companion.”

June and Ambrose agree that losing a pet is very similar to losing a person. Maryann Nelson, veterinarian at North Mankato Animal Hospital, said for most of us, some time needs to pass to lessen the pain and for our hearts to open to a new pet. “Mourning the loss of a pet is similar to a person in that they were our companion. They gave and received love and they all have

their own personalities. That is what we miss when they are gone, just like a person.”

Nelson is accustomed to comforting people about a lost pet.

“I tell them it is normal to miss their pet and feel sad and lonely. I encourage them to tell me stories about their pet. I tell them my favorite memories of their pets, too. I also tell them about the joy a pet brings us. When they leave, they feel better because now they are focusing on the happy times.”

MM

Kitty Olympics, yes or no?

The pros and cons of sleeping with your pets

By Renee Berg

W

hen 15-year-old John Calsbeek, of Mankato, tucks in every night, his loyal companion Oscar is tucked right in with him. Oscar, a 12-year-old purebred Shih Tzu, atop the covers, and Calsbeek below, the pals both drift off for the night.

John’s mom, Theresa, said it’s a nightly routine that the dog knows well.

Years ago Mayo Clinic did a study about the pros and cons of sleeping with your pet. Mayo recommended not letting your pet into bed with you, but plenty of people are like Calsbeek and would have it no other way. “Oscar is warm and a comfort,” Calsbeek says.

Some people are avid opponents of letting pets sleep with them, especially when it comes to kittens, which tend to get very frisky and enact Kitty Olympics after hours.

“Cats will set their own rules,” says Ken Ambrose, veterinarian at Minnesota Valley Pet Hospital. “As kittens, you may want to close them out of the room for your own peace. Being slightly nocturnal, they will start getting playful as you are ready to turn in. As they outgrow that kitten energy, they become slightly better nighttime companions except for the fact that many like to sleep up by your face, and tails under your nose can be annoying.”

Ambrose said Mayo’s study revealed people can still get a good night’s sleep if their pets join them in the bedroom but not in the bed. “Sleep quality was not the same with the pet in the bed,” Ambrose said. “I think you know your pet best as to whether they will sleep

well in the bed with you. If you are a light sleeper, it is probably best to not start with your pet sleeping in the bed with you.”

Maryann Nelson, veterinarian and owner at North Mankato Animal Hospital, said animals keep you warm and can be comforting when you’re scared or sad. On the con side of the ledger, she said the pet’s comfort becomes more important than your own. They are bed hogs, they’re hot, and they want to play in the middle of the night. And she echoes Ambrose in saying they often sleep by your head, which is a nuisance to most people.

“I do not sleep with my pets because my cats purr in my ear, lick my hair, tip my water over and lay on me. I get no sleep,” Nelson said. “The dogs push me off the bed and are hot.”

Calsbeek notes that his dog, Oscar, gets scared during storms and then wants to sleep at the top of the bed by his head. But on an average night, the two are sweet buddies.

They were a match from the get-go. A close friend introduced the Calsbeek family to Oscar in 2007. They were visiting for a weekend and brought their female Shih Tzu and Oscar with them. “They were thinking of adopting him but found that the two dogs were not suited for each other,” Theresa Calsbeek said. “They did not have time for a younger dog at that time. We kept Oscar for a week to see how compatible he was to our family. He never left!” MM MANKATO MAGAZINE • JUNE 2020 • 43

Food & Beer

LET'S EAT!

By Dan Greenwood

southern mn style NaKato’s Courtney Forsythe takes a phone order at NaKato. Photos by Pat Christman

The good neighbor: NaKato Bar and Grill N

Tasty burgers, cold craft brews make NaKato a community favorite

aKato Bar and Grill — a North Mankato hotspot known for its burgers and wings, live music and unique craft beer selection — may be less than a decade old, but its name has a history dating back 70 years.

The building, which has since undergone several renovations and expansions since it was constructed, began as a liquor store in the early 1940s before becoming a bar in 1945. Its owners named the establishment NaKato Bar around 1950.

“It was in the same family from 1950 until we bought it in 2012,” 44 • JUNE 2020 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

said Jim Downs, who runs the family business with his wife and two sons. “The door was originally on Belgrade Ave. It was 20 feet across and 100 feet deep.”

The previous owners renamed it Bobby Joe’s Pub after adding a kitchen and the back room in 1987.

When the Downs family purchased the building in 2012, they decided to bring the original name back.

“It was always the local place,” Downs said. “We really felt there was a lot of history there and it was part of the community — we wanted to continue with that, so we brought the name back to NaKato.”

The menu offers a wide array of sandwiches, salads and appetizers, with the primary focus on burgers, ribs, wings and a dozen tap domestic and craft beers in regular rotation. Downs says they’ve continued to offer weekend specials since they opened.

“We’ve got a couple versions of walleye and prime rib weekends,” Downs said. “We usually do a Friday or Saturday night special that’s a one off, but we have the same weekend specials.”

Burgers are king here, with 20 unique offerings. Downs’ personal favorites are Nakato’s Best, topped

What:

NaKato Bar and Grill

Where:

253 Belgrade Ave, North Mankato, MN 56001

What they’re known for:

20 different burgers, weekend specials, wings, a wide variety of appetizers, craft beer and whiskey, and live music. with American cheese, pecan wood-smoked bacon and fried onions, and the Epic Burger, with Canadian and pecan wood-smoked bacon, cheddar cheese and blue cheese dressing on Texas toast.

One of co-owner Jake Downs’ favorites is the Pancho & Lefty, named after the song written by late outlaw country artist Townes Van Zandt.

“That’s one of the best burgers that I’ve ever had,” Jake Downs said. “It’s got a half-pound patty on it with beer-battered jalapenos, crispy fried onion tangles, bacon, barbecue sauce, guacamole, and cheddar cheese on it.”

Jake Downs began booking bands at Nakato shortly after they opened in 2012. National indierock and folk acts are becoming increasingly attracted to the venue and Mankato as a worthwhile stop while on tour.

A few memorable shows include performances by Columbia, Missouri’s Hooten Hallers, Carrie Nation and the Speakeasy from Wichita, Kansas and Florida-based Possessed by Paul James.

“Word of mouth spreads among these touring bands that this is a good spot to play,” Jake Downs said. “The majority of them are from out-out of state.

While Nakato may be attracting more touring bands, there are plenty of local bands who play there as well. Jim Downs said the goal has always been to continue the legacy of Nakato as a local, community-centered space to gather for a good meal and a beer.

“We buy the best ingredients and we’ve got a great group of cooks and chefs in the kitchen,” Jim Downs said. “We want it to be a place where you can come in, relax, and everyone knows everybody.”

Top: NaKato chef Anthony Hauck prepares a meal. Middle: Tony Dell runs out a to-go order for a NaKato customer. Bottom: NaKato’s Courtney Forsythe waves to a customer as she runs out a to-go order.

MANKATO MAGAZINE • JUNE 2020 • 45

COMMUNITY DRAWS

By Kat Baumann

46 • JUNE 2020 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

BEER

By Bert Mattson

Pet Causes and Reactions

a

ck in January, Bradenton, FL’s Motorworks Brewing made news by slapping the mugs of four Manatee County shelter dogs on its cans, with hopes of getting them adopted. A Minnesota woman stumbled across the story on social media and recognized one of the pups as her little terrier, Hazel, who’d disappeared in 2017. It is mystifying how the dog made her passage to Florida. The important part is that the two were reunited.

This is the sort of upbeat story that’s nearly become a hallmark of craft beer news. A few months earlier, a North Dakota Brewery had put pooches on its cans for the same purpose. It seems the spheres of charity and craft brewing overlap on a cosmic Venn diagram to shape the core of modern community. This has the ring of hyperbole perhaps, but take for example Minnesota’s own Finnegan’s Brew Co.’s billing as “one hundred percent charitable brewing” — with a mission of lining

food-shelves with fresh produce.

Then there’s Brew for Good, a beer sampling/fundraising event slated to occur in August. Last year around this time, nonprofits we’re gearing up to gain awareness for their causes and mingle with home brewers presenting smallbatch brews at this unique event.

Again, with 100% of the proceeds benefiting local nonprofits. Closer to home, Mankato Brewery teamed up with Carlson-Tillisch Eye Clinic this year to bring vision care to those in need under their program Canned for the Helping Hand. You’ve got to love the communitarian scale of endeavors such as these. Each sip is surely sweeter with the knowledge that you’re contributing to a decent culture.

It’s troubling to read articles that speculate between 40 and 60% of craft breweries may shutter in the wake of this pandemic. One national outlet chronicled Minneapolis’ Bauhaus Brew Labs dumping nine hundred gallons of good hefeweizen down the grate. Unmapped Brewing in Minnetonka is pressed to expand into canning. Risky moment, but growler glass could fall short while the taproom is shut.

Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild’s website outlines the impacts of the Covid-19 quarantine: three

DIY....Enjoy in Moderation!

quarters of Minnesota brewers have slowed production, and a quarter have ceased. Only 3% stands pat.

Meanwhile, the brands of beer experiencing the greatest growth are those known for economical, lighter brews, according to the marketing platform, InMarket. Up until now, trends had been moving steadily in the other direction.

Of course there is no monolithic “American consumer.” Perhaps certain segments are simply consuming more of the same, as opposed to a general “switch” in appetites. Still, revenue streams may shape aftermath.

Community breweries all over the state are adapting with online pre-ordering and curbside service.

There are often benefits to breweries when you buy at the source.

Mankato Brewery reveals a steady stream of delicious seasonals on social media. Their Kato scratches the lager itch, but I’m anticipating the Cream Ale. Now is a great time to consider community businesses that have been considerate of the community.

Bert Mattson is a chef and writer based in St. Paul. He is the manager of the iconic Mickey’s Diner. bertsbackburner.com

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MANKATO MAGAZINE • JUNE 2020 • 47

COUNTRY MINUTES

By Nicole Helget

The Dogs of Oshawa Township Part 5

T

he next morning, I stood out on the porch and called for Pony. Her food bowl was untouched. I looked north and south and east and west. No Pony. “For God’s sake,” I thought. Later that day, while in the television room changing the channel to “Hoarders,” I spotted her running around under the cedar trees, sniffing around in the way she does when she’s either looking for her ball or seeking a place to poop. I dropped the remote and ran outside. She stared at me while she finished her business.

Somebody on the internet said that this is a trust-building exercise between us, as in she thinks I’m watching her back while she’s vulnerable. When she finished, she galloped over. Her full teets bobbed hither and yon. This time, I didn’t leash her. I simply followed her wherever she went for an hour.

A map of our route would look like a child’s first drawing with a permanent marker. Loop-de-looped in some areas and concentrated stars, circles, and jagged peaks and valleys in others. Finally, she started down the driveway, toward the mailbox, and stopped half way.

She turned back at me to see if I was following. I was. Then, she turned left and disappeared into the jewelweed.

Disappeared, just like Youngest had said. nn n n Jewelweed, or Touch-Me-Not as some call it, is a magnificent plant.

Our variety has a tall, 3- to 4-foottall hollow stalk, topped with pale green oval leaves and tiny orange flowers that burst open and spit seeds if you touch them. Both the 48 • JUNE 2020 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

leaves and stalk, when crushed, excrete a salve that is akin to aloe.

We pull the leaves and break the stalk and crush them in our palms until there’s a sticky, greasy balm.

That balm is good to treat the itchiness of bug bites or the sting of sunburn. The jewelweed grows in a natural crevice, obviously the remnant of a gully made by water draining from the higher ground into Seven Mile Creek before the man-made drainage systems mazed the watershed dry for farmland.

However, when it rains hard, as it had the past few nights, water pours down this cranny.

Hidden in our lush patch of jewelweed is a fallen tree, nothing more than a rotting stump now.

I waded into the jewelweed and descended toward this log. Pony stood there, waiting for me.

Gnats lazily goosed me. At Pony’s backside, was a lump of freshly dug dirt. At her forepaws, which I now noticed were nearly depleted of nails, was a small hole, the size of a dinner plate, right at the base of the log. I listened. I heard the squeaky cries of a tiny animal. “Holy cow,” I said to Pony. “You dug a den.”

I dropped to my knees in the mud and put my head on the ground with my ear open to the hole. I heard squirming. I sat back. One gnat bit me, then another. Pony sat down, too. I leaned over and reached down into the blackness of the hole, only slightly worried that I was maybe reaching into a coyote lair and might get my arm gnawed off. With the end of my longest fingertip, I touched the body of an animal wet and warm. I recoiled. But then stretched and reached again.

Definitely a puppy. I sat back up, took a breath, and thought while the

gnats had at me. “You dug a den,” I said again to Pony. She was silent.

Pony rarely barks. It is common for her to go five or six days without purposely making one sound.

“You are a weirdo.” I talked to her like I would a sentient being with the critical thinking capacity of a human of more than 3 years. “Why would you do that? It’s soaking wet out here. You had a nice place in the kitchen or on the porch to have these babies.”

She tilted her head and swept her tail in the jewelweed, which aroused more of the gnats. “You’re an idiot.”

I stroked her nose and between her ears. “OK. Let’s get them out.” I climbed out of the jewelweed patch, ascended the gully, and instantly felt the oppressive heat and humidity.

I went into the house, which was sweltering. We don’t have air conditioning. I gathered a clothes basket, a towel, a flashlight, and a trowel. I sprayed myself with Off even though I’ve never known it to work on gnats.

Back in the jewelweed, I got down and dug, first opening up the hole wider so I could slither my upper body in. How in the world had she squeezed in here, I wondered. Once I removed several pounds of mud, I got on my belly. The wet, cool earth instantly soaked my shirt. I shined the flashlight into the depths. The den went down and back narrowly 3 or 4 feet and opened up into a wider nest at its end. Urine and blood mixed with smells of rotten wood and soil. There were no gnats that deep. A bundle of bodies writhed. I couldn’t tell how many. I shimmied into the hole under the log. I held the flashlight in my mouth and reached toward the puppies, scooped up the first. The puppy squealed to be

pulled away from the warmth of its siblings. Because there wasn’t even enough room to reach my arm alongside my body and simply place the pup at the top of the hole, I inched my body back up and out of the hole holding the puppy in my hand. Once out, I put the pup on my lap and took a look at it. Black, wet, muddy, about the size of pop can. Eyes and ears closed. Yowling like the devil. Healthy. I put it on the towel in the clothes basket. Pony didn’t smell her puppy or otherwise regard it. She just sat there, flicking gnats off her ears, watching me.

Puppies two, three, four, five, and six went about the same way.

Nothing remarkable. So far, I had pulled out four black babies and two yellow. All soaked and muddy.

On the seventh try, I put my hand around the puppy, which felt the same as the rest except noticeably bigger. When we emerged out of the dark, I could see how bright his fur was. I set him into the basket with the rest. “There you go, little Polar Bear.” One more time, I went down. This time, deep in the back and trying to climb up the den wall, I discovered the last puppy. Tiny.

Itty-bitty. Half the size of Polar Bear.

The runt. I went back down a last time to see if there were any more.

The only thing left in the den was Pony’s tennis ball.

The extent of her nesting had been to dig a den. The extent of her gathering comfort items was her tennis ball. I grabbed it.

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Nicole Helget is a multi-genre author. Her most recent book, THE END OF THE WILD, is a New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice, a Parents' Choice Award Winner, a Charlotte Huck Award Honor Book, a New York Public Library Best Books for Kids, a Kirkus Best Middle-Grade Book, an Outstanding Science Trade Book for Students, a Best STEM Trade Books for Students K-12, a Georgia Children's Book Award Nominee, and the Minnesota Book Awards Middle Grade Winner. She works as a teacher, manuscript guide, editor, and ghostwriter. She lives in rural St. Peter with her family and dogs. You can follow the Dogs of Oshawa Township at @TheOshawa on Twitter.

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MANKATO MAGAZINE • JUNE 2020 • 49

GARDEN CHAT

By Jean Lundquist

Rethinking weeds A

lthough I usually have a short attention span, I’m finding staying at home with internet access is a satisfying thing to do. Yes, I watched “Tiger King” on Netflix, but that was a long time ago, when isolation was new.

Now I’m trying to find ways to appreciate the small joys I can find in my yard. One activity I enjoy is cutting and painting buckthorn stumps. It’s good for the environment, and I have lots to work with — and more time than ever to devote to this undertaking.

Another thing I’m learning about is finding edibles in my yard. I found a morel mushroom once but none recently. So I’ve been looking to the more common weeds plants in the yard.

The most recent inductee into my hall of formerly hated weeds is stinging nettle (Urtica dioica).

Like everyone else (almost), I hated this stuff. I’d brush 50 • JUNE 2020 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

against it with an arm or leg and be welted up and on fire immediately. Fels Naptha soap has always been my go-to cure for plant owies and an absolute necessity for the nettles.

But now, I eat it. According to the internet, it’s good for you nutritionally. And it definitely tastes OK. Not great but OK. I found several websites instructing me how to harvest it and cook it. And trust me, it’s important that it’s cooked!

Are you up for an adventure? Eat stinging nettles.

Here’s how…..

Know what you’re looking at. Stinging nettles grow on an upright stalk, with leaves opposite each other. The leaves are heart-shaped, and have those telltale serrated edges that contain formic acid, which is the bad stuff.

NEVER put anything in your mouth unless you are 100% sure of what it is and its safety, then try a little

to make sure you don’t react to it in a negative way. Some websites I found warn that stinging nettles may contribute to bladder stones and/or kidney disease. Still with me?

If you aren’t sure if a plant is indeed stinging nettle, brush against it. If you get welts with soreness and itching, you can be pretty sure it’s stinging nettle. Personally, I suggest looking in a book or online to be sure instead of touching it.

Harvest the young leaves with gloves, long sleeves and long pants.

Wash it using tongs, and leave plenty of time for the moth and butterfly larvae to leave the premises.

Then, cook it! This step is really important. You don’t want that formic acid sticking in your mouth, throat or stomach.

There are several ways to cook these little beasts. The first time out, I recommend sautéing them in butter until crisp. You can still see the little hairs on the leaves, but they will be safe to eat. It just feels better to know they are crisp and benign.

This is one of those things to do once and break up the monotony of self-isolation.

Several years ago, even without self-isolation, I made flour from acorns, then made muffins with the flour. Again, something to do once.

It takes a lot of acorns to make flour, and it’s hard to find acorns without a worm in residence. Acorns contain a lot of tannin, and they must be boiled in fresh water until the water ceases to turn dark brown.

If you’d like, take it from me that it wasn’t worth the effort. Then again, it’s something to cross off my bucket list. The members of the Mankato Bird Club were kind enough to at least taste the muffins. No one asked for the recipe, though.

At any rate, as more Americans are growing their own food this summer, I applaud you. It’s work but the tasks are not hard.

If this is your first time out in the garden, and you need help, contact me, or call the University of MN Extension office for help from a Master Gardener. No question is too silly, no problem too small. We can help.

Let’s all eat healthy!

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

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FROM THIS VALLEY

By Pete Steiner

Was it something in the Water?

W

hen legendary artist Jasper Johns, now 90, decided not to make an appearance at the February opening of his highly anticipated exhibition of six decades of print making at Minneapolis’ Walker Art Center, it was left to John Lund, Mankato High School Class of 1968, to be the guest of honor. Lund, a master printer, has worked with Johns since 1973, and since 1983 has been his chief printmaker. In 1996, Lund even moved his family onto Johns’ property in Connecticut to collaborate there in a private studio.

Lund is quite the figure in modern art, having also worked with giants Robert Rauschenberg and Larry Rivers. In 2014, Lund had the honor of co-headlining an exhibit with Johns at museums in Connecticut and New York that detailed their special collaboration. Lund is just one of four 1968 MHS grads who have gone on to have significant impact in the world of big time art.

Dave Kelley went to the Big Apple in the early ‘70’s to pursue a career in photography. He ended up spending nearly two decades as photo studio manager and senior photographer at iconic jeweler, Tiffany’s. My wife and I visited him about a decade back in his studio just off Fifth Avenue. We had to go through security first to be allowed inside, where David was about to use his state of the art digital equipment to photograph a 30-thousand dollar ring that he’d staged against a perfect backdrop.

Every day, Kelley’s photos were seen by millions who opened to the upper right-hand corner of page 3 of either the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal, where Tiffany display ads would appear.

was quite affordable. Google him now and you’ll find his latest work: exquisite paintings and prints of floral compositions that remind an art novice like me of Monet. Those paintings actually came about after “Loke,” as his best friends call him, took a thirty-year sojourn. After all, it’s hard to make a living as a fine arts creator. During that three-decade stretch, Michael made a living using his skills as a background painter, model maker, and prop maker in the film industry, including working on several Super Bowl commercials, as well as collaborating with Walter Wick Studio, creating fantasy settings for the children’s books of the internationally renowned author.

For a visual treat, check out Michael’s work at lokensgaard-dot-com (TWO “a’s”) or at walterwick-dot-com While it’s unusual enough to have even one of one’s classmates reach the top in the highly competitive art world, the class of ’68 had not just three, but FOUR, achieve that.

While John Lund and Dave Kelley and Lokensgaard all headed first to the Big Apple, Bob Shellhorn went west. [full disclosure: I lived for a while with Kelley and Shellhorn in south Minneapolis in the ‘70’s when we were struggling graduates.] Shellhorn eventually headed for L.A., where he would use his prodigious talents working for both Disney and the legendary Chuck Jones as an animator. If you have watched cartoons over the last forty years, you’ve no doubt seen Shellhorn’s work, as he has been a drawer, producer and director for shows and characters such as Dennis the Menace, Muppet Babies, Transformers, Hercules, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

nn n n nnnn In our front hall entryway, my wife and I have a small watercolor done 45 years ago by Michael Lokensgaard. I bought it back when he was a nobody and his artwork 52 • JUNE 2020 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

I take note of these four illustrious artists from the class of 1968 as we approach graduation time in a most unusual year. This year’s 2020

Dave Kelley grads will not get the excitement of walking across that stage to claim their diploma in front of large crowds. They won’t get to listen to an inspiring speaker – although I note, graduation speakers are not always memorable; I could not for the life of me tell you who spoke at our ceremony. My point is, there’s a whole lot more to life after high school graduation. While Lund was also a fine athlete, neither he nor Kelley nor Lokensgaard nor Shellhorn was voted most likely to succeed. Lots of us bloom after high school. n n nn Random Note: My friend, Arnie W indicates it was a good year for Maple Syruping. He and a colleague spent 29 straight days in that shed out in the woods at winter’s end, eventually boiling down 137 gallons of superb syrup. We tried it, it was worth the price!

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

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To Our Patients:

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed so much of what we once knew as normal. One thing that has not changed is the superior level of care you will receive with OrthoEdge. The Orthopaedic & Fracture Clinic, Mankato and River’s Edge Hospital, St. Peter are committed to continuing to provide a safe environment for you to receive care. When you choose OrthoEdge you can expect: • • •

Both of our locations are screening all employees, patients, and visitors for symptoms of COVID-19 and require everyone inside the building to wear a mask.

All surgical patients will be screened and/or tested for COVID-19 prior to surgery.

At River’s Edge Hospital surgical patients will stay in a wing separate from medical patients and therapy will take place in the room.

We care about you and your safety. Thank you for trusting OrthoEdge to feel your best. Learn more at OrthoEdgeMN.com

54 • JUNE 2020 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

Andrew Meyers, CEO The Orthopaedic & Fracture Clinic

Recognized for Being the Best!

River’s Edge Hospital has been recognized as a DNV GL Healthcare certified Orthopaedic Center of Excellence for: • Hip & Knee Replacement • Shoulder Surgery • Spine Surgery

Plus, River’s Edge Hospital is top rated for patient experience!