Mankato Magazine

FRESH SPROUTS!

A new generation of farmers is changing the way we think about agriculture

also in this issue: The history of the Mankato AIRPORT Get to know HANNAH BRETZ A VETERANS DAY essay by Colin Scharf Dan Kapernick NOVEMBER 2019

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FEATURE S NOVEMBER 2019 Volume 14, Issue 11

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Down on the Farm If your image of farmers is of graying men plowing their way to retirement, think again. We found a crop of young folks working the land to make a living.

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Air ‘Kato

The Silent One

As the Mankato Airport hits a milestone anniversary, we thought it’d be a good time to teach you everything you need to know about the second busiest airfield in the state.

Essayist Colin Scharf writes about the secret his grandfather took to his grave.

ABOUT THE COVER Dan Kapernick isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty at his Little Big Sky Farms.

This photo was harvested by Pat Christman.

MANKATO MAGAZINE • NOVEMBER 2019 • 3

DEPARTMENTS 6 From the Editor 8 Faces & Places 12 This Day in History 13 Avant Guardians Bradley Coulter

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14 Beyond the Margin Fall colors

16 Familiar Faces Hannah Bretz

32 Day Trip Destinations Gales of November

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34 Living 55 Plus 52 Wine

Chardonnay from the source

53 Beer

Winter winds

54 That’s Life

Enough with the chit chat

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40 Garden Chat Lessons learned

57 Coming Attractions 58 Community Draws Ice cream

60 From This Valley A WWII story

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FROM THE ASSOCIATE EDITOR

By Robb Murray

NOVEMBER 2019 • VOLUME 14, ISSUE 11 PUBLISHER Steve Jameson EDITOR Joe Spear ASSOCIATE Robb Murray EDITOR CONTRIBUTORS Bert Mattson James Figy Jean Lundquist Kat Baumann Leigh Pomeroy Nell Musolf Pete Steiner

PHOTOGRAPHERS Pat Christman Jackson Forderer

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

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6 • NOVEMBER 2019 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

Farm life is the good life

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grew up in the city. And it generally shows. When I first started working for The Free Press, I’d earned a few nicknames among newsroom folk. One of them, bestowed upon me by legendary photographer John Cross, was “City Boy.” I think John had me pegged from a mile away that I’d be useless on a hunt, on a dirt road or on a farm site.

But I’ve never been accused of being a worthless observer.

While my methods are at times unorthodox, I’m generally a keen spotter of great stories. And the three families we’re focusing on for this month’s cover story are, in fact, great stories.

Brooke Knisley welcomed me to her farm site with a baby wrapped around her torso. She graciously gave me a tour of the rural Madelia property she owns with her husband, John, took me inside the greenhouse when this city boy’s hands got cold and humored my desire to get a little closer to some of the happiest pigs I’ve ever seen.

Siblings Jon and Angela Guentzel are part of a six-generation legacy that continues to thrive on their family farm near the Mankato Airport. They grow corn and soybeans, and host preschoolers during on-site visits to their pumpkin patch.

And Dan Kapernick is living a dream he’s had since high school. His Little Big Sky Farms, a community supported agriculture business he runs with his wife, Jenny, is thriving and growing. He might look a little like a hipster, but he’s all business and knowledge when it comes to growing vegetables.

They’re all young, and all good reminders that the future of farming is strong and resilient as it faces many challenges.

Elsewhere in Mankato Magazine this month:

n We thought it was a good time to touch base with the Mankato Airport. At 90 years old, it’s an indispensable part of the region’s economy and happens to be the second-busiest airport in the state behind Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. (Take that, Rochester!) It’s also a hub of activity for Minnesota State University students, and that fact blows me away. It wasn’t that long ago that the university’s aviation program was vulnerable to getting cut. Today, it’s one of the strongest flight programs in the country. n Colin Scharf is back again this month, this time with an essay appropriate for the month. As you know, Nov. 11 is Veterans Day, and Scharf has a compelling story about his grandfather, who was a veteran, and a secret he took to his grave. A letter, hidden in a secret place but not a supersecret place, gave his family a different view of his time in the service. Be sure to check that out. n T h e M a n k a t o S y m p h o n y Orchestra is in a transition period. With the departure of conductor Ken Freed, they’ll be conducting a national search for his replacement. Luckily they’re in the capable hands of executive director Hannah Bretz, whose background in marketing and music made her a perfect fit to take over the executive director position last year.

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

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FACES & PLACES: Photos By SPX Sports

Pride Fest

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Pride Fest is a celebration event for the LGBTQ community

1. Alex “Contessa” Palacios waves to the crowd.

2. Large crowds walked the parade along Riverfront Drive in Mankato.

3. Though it was recommended that people leave their pets at home, many dogs enjoyed the parade, too.

4. Pride balloons hovered over crowds of people waiting for the parade to begin.

5. Minnesota State University’s Maverick Machine marching band poses for a photo.

6. Friends walked with arms linked as the parade made its way to Riverfront Park.

7. A crowd socializes and prepares for the parade to begin.

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FACES & PLACES: Photos By SPX Sports

United Way Human Foosball Tournament

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This is a fundraiser for the Greater Mankato Area United Way 1. Laurie Cottingham, team Century 21 Atwood: Relentless Realtors, jumps for joy as she scores a goal.

2. Barb Kaus, CEO of Greater Mankato Area United Way, gets interviewed by KEYC-TV. 3. Joel Eckberg, with team Morken Eckberg Steiner: We’ll MES You Up, smiles as he goes for a high-five with a teammate after scoring.

4. United Way volunteers pose for a photo.

5. The team with the Best Team Uniforms award went to Bent River Outfitter.

6. The event took place on Front Street in downtown Mankato.

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MANKATO MAGAZINE • NOVEMBER 2019 • 9

FACES & PLACES: Photos By SPX Sports

Zonta Fashion Show

This event raised funds for Life-Work Planning Center and the Good Counsel Learning Center

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1. Zonta celebrates 100 years nationally this year.

2. Rachel Flowers poses on stage with an outfit from Graif.

3. The event was held in the event center at the Country Inn & Suites.

4. Zonta Members pose for a group photo.

5. Radio personality “Stunt Monkey” sells raffle tickets.

6. A meal was provided with ticket purchase.

7. Surprise gift boxes were available for purchase.

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FACES & PLACES: Photos By SPX Sports

Bier on Belgrade 1 1. Daniel Rosen of “The Gentlemen’s Anti-Temperance League” plays on stage.

2. A group gathers around a game of “Hammerschlagen.”

3. Pretzels and other German style foods were available.

4. The reason for the season.

5. Austin Quaday gives “Keg Bowling” a try.

6. Walter (bottom) and Winston (Top) Enjoy time at the outdoor event.

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MANKATO MAGAZINE • NOVEMBER 2019 • 11

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THIS DAY IN HISTORY Compiled by Jean Lundquist

Seven false fire alarms in the city wednesday Thursday, Nov. 14, 1946 Back in the day when fire alarms were posted at street corners in the city of Mankato, an apparent Halloween-season prankster thought it a good idea to pull seven alarms in the space of three hours, then stand back and watch the excitement created. Turns out it was a 12-year-old boy they arrested, but he had to wait for his parents to return to town to proceed with punishment. The last two alarms so overloaded the alarm system, it could not be determined where they came from. Fire Chief Ben Barngerter was angry. He said the actions “harassed” the fire department, and he vowed to pursue “extreme penalty.” Police said they had obtained a confession from the boy for not only the fire alarms this year, but last year around Halloween as well.

Install new yule lights Monday, Nov. 12, 1956 “Mankato would be a gloomy looking city without Christmas Street decorations,” said Mankato Chamber of Commerce Secretary N. J. Leonard, in seeking contributions from local merchants for the new lights being installed in the city. Upgrades to the decorations had been made in previous years, and more were scheduled for the following year. Fifty new stars, at a cost of $46 each, were to be installed along both Front and Second streets. The light decorations were to be turned on the Friday after Thanksgiving, Nov. 23, in 1956.

Applications for meter maids for city of Mankato Tuesday, Nov. 8, 1966 Meter Maids were needed, and their tasks were many. They needed to enforce parking and parking meter laws, and “assist the young, old, sick or (disabled) in crossing downtown streets on the occasion needed,” and giving directions to anyone who asked. Applicants needed to be women between 19 and 50 years old, 100 to 150 pounds, of trim appearance, and not shorter than 5-feet-2-inches. Additionally, they needed to speak and write “correct English,” needed good judgment, tact, character, courage, morality and courtesy, and above average strength and agility.

Public concern about swine flu grows Wednesday, Nov. 24, 1976 Across the country, as cold weather encroached, people became more flu conscious and wanted information about the swine flu vaccine. In some parts of the country, phone systems crashed under the crush of calls after a Missouri telephone repairman tested positive for the virus. In Mankato, before the last day of vaccine clinics, 17,301 residents had rolled up their sleeves for the vaccine. Local officials said the clinics had been going well, except for a jacket mix-up in one situation. Tom Chaplain got his shot at Franklin School, and as he went to leave, he discovered his blue jacket with an orange lining was missing. He said he wanted it back, and the Mankato Free Press gave his phone number to achieve that goal.

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Coulter’s work is rooted in the past with an eye to the future

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rowing up, Bradley Coulter, associate professor of graphic design and typography at Minnesota State University, liked to draw like most kids his age, but being an artist wasn’t his first career choice.

“Honestly, what I really wanted to do as a kid, was to be a pilot,” he said. “It wasn’t too early into my high school education that I noticed I couldn’t quite make out the blackboard.”

After discovering he needed glasses, Coulter said his childhood plans of flying for the Air Force were quickly dashed.

“I kind of knew I wanted to do art in university and my goal from very early on was go to graduate school,” he said. “The professor’s life seemed like the next best thing.

If you couldn’t be a pilot, be a professor.”

After earning a degree in fine art and printmaking from Western Illinois University in Macomb, Illinois, where he grew up, Coulter soon found himself at a crossroads.

“They (my professors) were so good at printmaking, it never occurred to them that there hadn’t been a job in printmaking in over 150 years,” joked Coulter.

With the help of a professor, Coulter got a job as a graphic designer, where he learned “the difference between graphic design and fine art, where they overlapped, and where they diverged.”

“I really kind of forgot about graduate school and the fine arts,” Coulter said. “I had been doing that for 10 years when I had just realized I was really struggling. I was just really unfulfilled, bored.”

Working as a staff designer for a community college in Seattle, he discovered an opportunity to work as an adjunct professor in the design area.

“That led me to work on my fine art practice to build up a portfolio to get into a graduate program. I started working in print more, incorporating computer and refining fine art print techniques.”

He then earned his MA and an MFA in design from the

University of Iowa’s School of Art + Art History before coming to MSU in 2013.

“A lot of my work, my fine art work, rather than my commercial graphic design work, has been very interested in the psychology of reading and the way the human brain thinks about letters and language,” he said.

This past March his work, “Origin of the Species: An Exhibition of Prints,” was shown at the Carnegie Art Center in Mankato.

“Just the way we think about language as a culture, and just the way our brains work,” Coulter said, “the better we get at learning about how language is as much a physical as it is a psychological thing, is really fascinating to me. It really gets back to me, that earliest mark making. Making symbols on cave walls or in mud to talk about where the best hunting was or what plants to avoid. It’s always been bound up in these physical experiences.”

Much of Coulter’s work is influenced from the basics of printmaking.

“If you think about what we do with copper plate engraving or stone lithography, it’s about this idea that you draw a picture once and make hundreds of copies of it.” he said. “And Guttenberg just took that and said let’s do that with all of these complex ideas. He’s taking all of that visual language and all the techniques of that visual language and distilling it down with these elements that we draw by hand, and freezing them in lead, and I was just really captivated by that.”

MANKATO MAGAZINE • NOVEMBER 2019 • 13

BEYOND THE MARGIN

By Joe Spear

The golden hope and the tree that wouldn’t change A s far as I can tell, I planted an acer platanoides ‘Schwedleri” Norway maple in my front yard about 25 years ago.

I chose this tree due to my experience seeing one at my sister’s home in St. Paul. It had the most stunning gold leaves in the fall; so bright they would light up her backyard at night when the moon was out.

It was like a natural neon light.

After that point, the Schwedler maple was destined for the center of my front yard. And for 25 years, I’ve waited for it to change colors to the bright gold. It hasn’t happened.

I eventually learned I was not properly informed about the Schwedler maple until sometime a few decades later when my sister recalled having to take down her huge Schwedler at great cost. When I mentioned how I loved the gold color of it and that I had no such luck with mine, she mentioned in passing, “Oh no, it doesn’t turn color every year.”

Doh! How could I have been so ... inattentive?

The Schwedler maple was imported from Europe in the 1890s and has been described as a fine tree for urban settings as pollution does not seem to bother it, and it provides tremendous dense shade. It can grow in any soil and partial or full sun.

It does however have shallow roots that can pop out of the ground and disrupt sidewalks after years of growth.

The New York City Central Park Conservancy notes the location of several Schwedler maples directly south and east of Conservatory Water. The Conservancy calls the trees “distinctive.”

The Schwedler can be cause for disappointment if one does not know what one is looking for at the nursery. A fine 1978 article by the New York Times titled “The red maple that didn’t stay red” recounts the unfortunate mistake of one consumer who wanted to get a tree his neighbor had that stayed red all summer.

The Times correctly pointed out that the buyer must beware in purchasing maples. Seems the disappointed man purchased a Schwedler instead of a Crimson King, though the two seemed identical when he bought it. The Crimson King stays red all summer.

The Schwedler is not above raising the ire of some intense gardeners.

Carole A. Brown, writing at ecosystemgardening. com, was clearly fed up with her neighbor’s Schwedler maple. In a blog post that goes on for hours, it seems, she excoriates the Schwedler as the “most hated

14 • NOVEMBER 2019 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

plants” “You may have noticed by now that invasive plants make me a little angry as well as the people who continue to plant invasives, and especially the people who continue to sell invasive plants. Or rather, they really TICK ME OFF.” Don’t sugarcoat it CAROLE A. BROWN! She continues: “So I’m going to start a new series in which I highlight a specific invasive plant, where I’ll discuss what makes that plant such a problem and how we can eradicate them from our landscapes.”

The action taking is laudable here.

It’s worth quoting Carole extensively because it isn’t often you see a gardener with enough rage to be in an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie. “Taking down” all Schwedler maples would be just fine for “Terminator Carole.”

She continues: “Here’s why I hate Norway Maples: “This is one dirty tree, dropping trash at all seasons, including flower buds, two crops of seeds, twigs, branches, and copious amounts of leaves.

“It sheds large branches from the top, then re-sprouts along the trunk. Every time the wind blows large branches fall from the top of the tree, making me very nervous about my roof.

“It makes a LOT of seedlings.

I spend way too much time every spring and summer in an attempt to hand pull all of them.”

“Nothing grows underneath them. My flower beds along this neighbor’s fenceline are empty. Every year I try to fill in these beds, and every year I watch in sadness as everything dies.

“It is the last tree to lose its leaves in the fall, often not until after Thanksgiving, which means that having my gutters cleaned is a game of Russian roulette. Will the leaves fall before it snows? It’s been a hit and miss proposition.

“I fear for my two dogs safety when they are in the yard. One of those falling branches would hurt them badly.”

Threats to the dogs has to be the last straw.

I must say, my Schwedler does not exhibit the bad behaviors noted by Carole. Of course, I’ve not cursed it or spoke ill to it either.

The folks at Wonderopolis.com say scientists believe speaking nicely to plants may help them grow. Plants need carbon dioxide and talking to them provides material benefits. Not sure it works even if you curse them. That’s another tough question for the folks at Wonderopolis, but it seems Carole could come to terms with her neighbor’s Schwedler if she tried a little

kindness.

Forecasters predicted the fall colors would be stunning this year due to all the rain we’ve had, and it appears we’re on pace for another rainfall record.

By the time you read this, fall colors may be at or near their peak.

So all the factors were in place for my Schwedler to make its once in 25-year appearance in its beautiful gold fall suit. Signs are hopeful. I see a tinge of gold

taking over the greenish leaves.

This could be the year, and that would be worth celebrating.

Joe Spear is editor of Mankato Magazine.

Contact him at jspear@mankatofreepress.com or 344-6382. Follow on Twitter @jfspear.

MANKATO MAGAZINE • NOVEMBER 2019 • 15

Familiar Faces

Filling some big shoes

Hannah Bretz has stepped into the executive director role at the Mankato Symphony and is ushering through a transition period

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he Mankato Symphony Orchestra is one of the most visible, successful and important arts organizations in southern Minnesota. So when it needed a replacement executive director, its standards were high.

Hannah Bretz was looking for work, and was touting a resume bursting with musical experience and marketing know how.

It seems they’ve struck a perfect match.

Bretz took the reins at MSO last year and has been ushering it through a bit of a transition period; the orchestra lost both its executive director and its conductor in a relatively short span.

But Bretz says she’s up to the challenge, and is set to help guide the orchestra through the task of a national search to replace former conductor Ken Freed.

We sat down with Bretz to learn a little more about her background and about her own work as a jazz vocalist.

Photos by Pat Christman

NAME:

Hannah Bretz Occupation:

Executive Director of the Mankato Symphony Orchestra

Hometown:

West Des Moines, IA

Family:

Daughter Tressa; partner Ryan; three “jazz cats”

Favorite piece of music:

Currently it’s “Winter 3 Recomposed”

by Max Richter “Equinox,” by John Coltrane “Colors,” Black Pumas

Favorite quote:

“Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.” - Carl Sagan 16 • NOVEMBER 2019 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

MM: Tell us where you grew up and how you came about your musical talent?

Hannah Bretz: I grew up in Des Moines, IA. My grandmother was a talented singer and an organist, so I assume I got “the gene” from her. In high school I was a vocalist, and I fell in love with jazz music. After graduation I moved to Chicago and earned a degree in jazz studies.

MM: What led you to pursue the job with the Mankato Symphony Orchestra?

HB: I’ve worked as a non-profit director in higher education and health care. The Mankato Symphony Orchestra opportunity is a dream come true in that I can support and promote music and the arts every day. It’s very rewarding to work with other musicians and music appreciators.

MM: MSO is in a transition phase it seems. Outgoing conductor Ken Freed had a big personality that, in many ways, was the face of the orchestra. How hard has it been trying to replace a guy like Ken? HB: Ken has a talent for bringing out incredible performances in music ensembles. His selections of repertoire in orchestral programming have elevated the prestige of the MSO, and he will be deeply missed. We have only just begun our search for a new Artistic Director, and this is a process we do not want to hurry. The board of directors’ goal is to find a leader with a passion for exquisite classical music who understands the mission of the MSO in providing high-quality music in our community and throughout Southern Minnesota.

MM: What kind of season can fans expect from MSO? Will there be big changes this year or are you sticking with what works?

HB: Ken left us with an exciting program plan for our 2019/2020 season. We call it “Destination MSO,” and our program brings a focus on both local and international music.

The opening symphonic concert, Celebrate Mankato Past and Present, is a partnership with the Blue Earth County Historical Society. This concert was performed in honor of the late Ed McLean who left both organizations a generous gift in his estate. Resident composer Benji Inniger has composed original symphonic works inspired by the Betsy-Tacy songbook that will thrill our audience. I try to be at every rehearsal, and I’ve so enjoyed Benji’s orchestration. Dr. Ruth Lin of Gustavus has generously agreed to conduct this concert. The remaining two concerts, The Snowman and Earth Exaltation, will be just as exciting with international influences.

Readers can learn more about the season, our guest conductors, and how to purchase tickets at mankatosymphony.org MM: In the past, MSO has tried some fun and inventive ways to expose people to classical music, such as the concert where you performed the music of Led Zeppelin. Can we expect more of that kind of programming or will you be returning to more traditional fare?

HB: We are in a listening period to discover what the community wants from its symphony and incorporate those ideas into our programming.

Sometimes that will be concerts with recognizable classical pieces such as Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, and other times it may be the merging of classical music with pop tunes. My hope is that the MSO will continue to explore new ways that we can surprise and delight our audiences.

MM: Give us your best pitch as to why people who may not be classical music fans should give MSO a chance?

HB: I like to say that we perform “exquisite music for everyone.” This is a time when classical music around the world is adapting to changing audiences. As you mentioned, the MSO performed music from Queen and Led Zeppelin a few years ago.

We continue to receive praise from patrons who loved those concerts.

We strive to play music that will both

“Hannah Bretz performs regularly as a jazz singer. Photo by Jeremy Larsen engage and entertain our audiences with a focus on introducing classical music to children and underserved communities.

MM: You attended the Chicago College of Performing Arts. What was it like attending a performing arts school and living in Chicago, and how did your education prepare you for leading the MSO? HB: Studying music in a city like Chicago is intimidating and daunting.

Some of my professors played with Frank Sinatra, and my peer students were all exceptional musicians. I met and studied with incredible teachers who inspired me to hone my craft and introduced me to new styles of music, such as Brazilian Jazz. My experiences have allowed me to connect with our MSO musicians in a meaningful way and work as a liaison between administrative and artistic operations.

MM: You’ve carved out a niche as a jazz singer in the upper Midwest.

How is that going, how many gigs do you play and where can readers catch you “in action”?

HB: I am having a lot of fun performing jazz and other styles of music with local musicians. I regularly perform in a variety of settings with my small ensembles. I am also the

vocalist with Southern Minnesota’s Real Big Band which is an honor and an absolute blast. I’ve worked with musicians from all over the Midwest, and I can easily say that we are very fortunate to have such talent and class in our local music community.

Readers can learn more about me and my upcoming gigs at hannahbretz. com.

MM: Tell us something that would surprise us about you?

HB: Last year I purchased a duplex in St. Peter and had to renovate one of the apartments. Until I bought the house I could barely hang a shelf on a wall. Thanks to YouTube, I learned how to rip out floors, use a miter saw, solder copper pipe and so much more. If you believe in yourself (and YouTube), you can do anything!

Compiled by Robb Murray

MANKATO MAGAZINE • NOVEMBER 2019 • 17

Down on the farm

Dan Kapernick harvests lettuce at his rural Henderson property called Little Big Sky Farms. Photo by Pat Christman

Across the region, young farmers are making their mark on the land

O

By Robb Murray

n a crisp October morning, Dan Kapernick — clad in a Door County Brewing Co. sweatshirt and tall rubber boots that have seen their share of mud this year — pulls back a blanket of white mesh to reveal the treasures beneath.

Under the mesh are hundreds of perfect lettuce heads. Within a day or two, Kapernick will come through with a knife and pluck them from the ground.

Then he’ll wash them all and prepare them — along with French breakfast radishes, beets, peppers, kale, romanesco broccoli and carrots — for the 112 members of his community-supported agriculture business.

The operation is a small one, and Little Big Sky Farms, the CSA Kapernick runs with his wife, Jenny, is just in its second year of providing members with weekly boxes of produce. But he’s got big plans for the place. And even though the growing season was a wet one that saw many farmers struggle, Kapernick says he made it through the worst of it, and he just feels fortunate to be out here doing the work he loves.

“It’s been a challenge mentally and emotionally,” he said. “But we love it.”

While it’s still true that most farmers are older, the Kapernicks are proof that there are still young people willing to make their living off the land. And while he may not be doing it full-time just yet — Kapernick has a carpentry business he focuses on during the winter 18 • NOVEMBER 2019 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

months — he’s hoping the farm life he dreamt of since high school can one day become his sole income.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics shows farming isn’t a growing field. The number of available jobs is down.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a full third of America’s 3.4 million farmers are over the age of 65. And the number of medium-sized farms is shrinking. There is good news, though. Nearly a third of all farmers are younger, or have less than 10 years farming experience. The number of farmers aged 35 or younger, like most of the subjects in this article, comprise about 9% of all farmers. But that number appears to be growing.

‘Get out of my office’

Kapernick was still in high school when he got his first taste of working on a farm. He was living in St. Paul and a family friend suggested he seek work with a Lake Elmo farm family. He did that and got his first taste of how difficult — and rewarding — the work can be.

Later, while attending Northland College in Wisconsin, the life of a college student just wasn’t resonating with him. So he walked into his advisor’s office and told him that he realized he wanted to be a farmer and wanted to leave. Apparently several others had just walked into that advisor’s office to tell him the

“Angela Guentzel reads a book to a group of preschoolers that has come to visit.” RIGHT: “Jon and Angela Guentzel are the latest in a long line of Guentzels to run the family farm that runs six generations deep. Photos by Pat Christman” same thing.

“And he said, ‘Get out of my office!’” Kapernick recalled, laughing.

From there, he reconnected with that Lake Elmo farm family. They’d bought a new farm in northern Minnesota, and Kapernick joined them for a summer. He learned the ins and outs of the infrastructure needs of a farm startup, and added that knowledge to his dream of one day owning his own farm.

But after that summer, Kapernick realized he needed a job. The Lake Elmo farmer suggested going to work for a carpenter friend of his.

Kapernick followed that advice, and picked up a host of skills that would one day be invaluable (and which allowed him to start a business called Kapernick Building and Remodeling).

Today, after getting married and building his rural Henderson home with his own bare hands, Kapernick has a neat little farmstead going.

During the first year of their CSA business, Little Big Sky Farms had 20 customers. By year two — this year — they jumped to 112, many of whom were friends of the Kapernicks from the Twin Cities. In fact, most of their customers, 79, are from the Twin Cities. The rest are from the St. Peter/Mankato area.

The business model for a CSA, he said, has pressure baked into it.

Customers pay up front for a summer’s worth of weekly produce boxes. In the case of Little Big Sky Farms, customers are paying $550 for 18 weeks of boxes jam-packed with tons of produce.

“Our goal is to make it so that it’s hard to get the box closed,” Kapernick says as he stuffs a box full.

Even then, he said, it’s a crap shoot trying to figure out what people will want. In the produce world, there is a concept known as “veggie guilt”; if customers don’t use the vegetables they buy, they feel guilty about having bought it, and are wary of repeating the mistake. That guilt can lead to customers reconsidering their decision to be a member of a CSA. So Kapernick says he experiments with different veggies to see what people will like and use. One veggie is a great case study for this: the Hakurei turnip.

It’s a delightful veggie, proven by an impromptu taste test on the Little Big Sky Farms acreage. It’s sweet with an apple-like texture (a tad tougher, perfect for salads or sandwiches). But it’s a virtual unknown in the veggie world. It will take education for this little guy — which looks just like a white radish — to become common on American dinner tables.

Kapernick also uses surveys to find out what people are wanting from their weekly produce boxes.

“We’ll ask them things like, ‘Would you prefer two heads of lettuce? How many times a year do you want radicchio? Do you just throw away the radicchio?’ Stuff like that,” he says.

Family Farm

Few farms can boast the success, visibility and longevity of the Guentzel Family Farm. Six generations of Guentzels have

worked the land in southern Minnesota.

Today, the bulk of the business at the Guentzel farms is done by the youngest Guentzels. They grow corn and soybeans, which is spearheaded by Jon Guentzel, and they also have a seed company, which is spearheaded by Angela Guentzel and her husband, Andy Cramblit (Cramblit brings a chemistry degree into the equation).

Having that dual approach is important, Jon says.

It’s no secret that agriculture, like many industries, has seen its share of struggles. Just in the last few weeks, news outlets have run stories quoting farmers on the negative impact the spring rains have had on crops. Even the pumpkin crops — all vine crops, actually — have been hit hard.

“It’s very important for farms to diversify,” he said.

Added Cramblit, “You never know what’s going to happen.”

Angela Guentzel says that, when she was in college, she never planned to have a career at the family farm. In fact, she had a growing career in human services and planned to continue down what had been a successful path.

But a funny thing happened.

She’d always helped out on the farm during harvest. At 19 she started hauling semis full of grain to Janesville. And she just kept coming on weekends and during harvests. Each year she was spending a lot of time back on the farm. So eventually, she decided she’d just commit to it full time.

She came back in 2014, started a MANKATO MAGAZINE • NOVEMBER 2019 • 19

a farm, Jon said, is finding help. A nagging fact of life when it comes to farm work is that the work is hard, and many are unaccustomed to the expectations.

“People aren’t used to working the hours,” he said, “and they aren’t used to how hard the work is. The thing about it is, you have to work hard out here no matter what you’re doing.”

Another thing the Guentzel Family Farm has done to enhance community engagement is to host an event on their property called Breakfast on the Farm. Hundreds have come for breakfast and left with a better understanding of where their food comes from, Jon said.

And on this farm they had pigs, ducks, dogs …

Brooke Knisley, with son Leopold, spends her days tending to their rural Madelia farm, Alternative Roots. Brooke and her husband John operate a Community Assisted Agriculture business. Photos by Jackson Forderer” graduate program at Minnesota State University and joined the Young Professionals Program, sponsored by Greater Mankato Growth. That’s where she met that chemist, whom she married in 2016.

Today, when asked what her main job is on the farm, she says, “Wherever I’m most needed at the time.” Could be keeping the books, could be the seed company, could be administering the payroll.

Angela also takes part in some of the community engagement aspects of farm life.

On a recent September day, a bus full of children from a Mankato daycare facility rolled in to get a tour of the Guentzel Family Farm.

The farm is known for the gargantuan pumpkins it grows on

the front lawn, some of which bulk up to more than a thousand pounds. It’s quite a sight, and after Angela reads them a pumpkinrelated story from a children’s book, the kids take turns getting snapshots sitting atop the biggest one.

“I’m very happy here right now,” she says. “We have no plans to leave.”

Jon, meanwhile, shows a visitor around the grounds. He points out the tiny grain bin that has been there for decades, and the fleet of machinery that helps them harvest their corn.

He says they love the idea of having kids come to the farm. It’s a way of giving back, a way of being an ambassador for agriculture.

Among the challenges of running

20 • NOVEMBER 2019 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

With a smiling baby wrapped in a sling around her torso, Brooke Knisley takes a casual stroll through the grounds of Alternative Roots Farm in rural Madelia; down a row of mostly picked-clean apple trees, past the pen of happily squealing hogs, through the small brood of laying hens roaming freely amid the apple, plum and apricot trees.

Alternative Roots Farm is like an oasis of quaint and cute tucked inside a tic-tac-toe maze of right angled, rolling dirt roads. Like Little Big Sky, Alternative Roots is a CSA operation. In their 8th year, they sell produce out of a tiny on-site store. All organic, Alternative Roots was named the Brown County Farm Family of the Year for 2019. In addition to the wonders on site, they also manage an off-site orchard.

When they purchased the farm site in 2011, it was essentially a

blank canvas for them to paint their picture of a perfect organic farm.

“There was one apple tree here when we bought it,” says Brooke, who has just stepped inside their greenhouse and placed her son Leopold into a floor-based activity apparatus. She grabs something tiny and green from a growing tray and offers it to a visitor.

“Aren’t you going to try it?” she laughs.

It’s a pea shoot, and it tastes light and fresh and very much like peas.

With their summer season winding down, the Knisleys are transitioning to their winter produce. They grow winter salad greens, microgreens and shoots, which they’ll sell to local markets and winter CSA members.

John Knisley is New Ulm’s city planner, so his time on the farm is limited. He does manage the apple trees, though, of which there are now 450 on that off-site orchard, and several dozens more on site.

An avid outdoorsman, John volunteers as a Master Naturalist, and has partnered with local organizations to provide educational presentations.

As for why they’ve chosen to live as farmers, Brooke says it’s simple.

“We just want people to know where their food comes from,” she said. “We love the self-sufficiency of it, and we love the opportunity to work outside.

“Out here, it’s meaningful work,” she said. “You could work 24 hours a day out here if you wanted to.”

The pigs and chickens elevate the quality of life and help keep pests out of the orchard.

“They add a lot of fun, too. And of course we get bacon,” she said.

They’re never at a loss for eggs, and all around them are opportunities to show Leopold that humans exist best when they exist

in harmony with the environment, not in spite of it.

“For Leopold, we are showing him that we’re part of an ecosystem,” she said, “that he’s part of an ecosystem.”

They’ve also developed relationships with their customers.

While she was giving a tour of the grounds, a woman in a nurse’s uniform pulled up to pick up her pre-ordered box of produce.

Calling her by name, Brooke tells her to just go ahead and grab it out of the cooler.

Just another day at the CSA. MM

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A Minnesota State University aviation student and instructor taxi out for a lesson at the Mankato Regional Airport.

Flying high

the history of the Mankato airport

By Grace Brandt | Photos by Pat Christman

O

n any given day, dozens of flights arrive and depart from the Mankato Regional Airport, located five miles outside of the city on the aptly named Airport Road. More than 100 aircraft are based on the 1,000-acre field, including everything from single engine airplanes to jets to helicopters. The cityowned airport leases 88 indoor hangar spaces to different companies and corporations, as well as offering space to North Star Aviation to train the next generation of pilots. In addition, Mankato’s semiannual MN Air Spectacular has drawn thousands of guests over the years and featured such big-name flyers as the Navy Blue Angels, the Air Force 22 • NOVEMBER 2019 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

Thunderbirds and the Canadian Snowbirds. Even famous figures such as Richard Nixon and Bob Hope have flown into the airport.

The Mankato Regional Airport is the second-busiest airport in the state, only behind the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, and the city of Mankato reports that the airport has an annual economic impact of about $11.5 million. It also provides more than 160 jobs for people across the region.

There’s no question the airport is a crucial part of Blue Earth County’s landscape. But it’s also a special part of the region’s history, dating all the way back to the first airport used by local pilots in the 1920s.

Getting off the ground

When aviation enthusiasts began spreading their wings across southern Minnesota, they had to make do with what they had before any official airports came into being. In the case of the Blue Earth County region, that meant transforming cropland into runways.

According to the Mankato Free Press, the first landing strip was located in a flat field just north of Mankato near Highway 5. It wasn’t exactly an ideal location, with boulders creating bumpy landings and strong westerly winds forcing pilots to make tricky takeoff maneuvers.

Because of this, Mankato Chamber of Commerce Aviation Committee chairman Morgan Bowen began looking for another location. He found it in a 107-acre plot of land between Monks Avenue and Pohl Road about two miles southeast of the city. It had been used as a wheat field until local aviation enthusiast Robert “Bob” Rasmussen purchased it for about $7,000 and leased it to Lawrence Sohler, a 22-year-old from Eagle Lake. Sohler, who learned to fly only three years earlier in a vintage World War I “Jenny,” had helped Bowen and Rasmussen scout out locations for the new airport.

He became the airport’s first field manager and supervised the grading for a single grass runway and construction of a metal hangar before leaving Mankato in 1934 to train hundreds of military pilots before and during World War II. He also trained Harold Schlesselman, who took over managing the airport in 1934.

The airport was officially dedicated on Sept. 28, 1928, with a three-day celebration. In those days, it cost only $60 to lease a private hangar space for one year, and only four planes were stationed there. The number of planes increased substantially throughout the next 10 years, with 49 planes using the airport by 1937.

In 1932, Hanford’s Tri-state Air Lines of Sioux City launched its first daily airplane passenger service between the Twin Cities and Omaha, utilizing the Mankato airport as a go-between. Only one fourpassenger plane was available at first. Boasting a cruising speed of 120 miles per hour, the plane was able to transport passengers from Mankato to Minneapolis in less than half an hour. The first flight took off on April 8 of that year, with five Mankato men along for the ride, including Bob Rasmussen.

Taking wing

As more pilots began using the airport, it became apparent that more buildings and equipment would be necessary. Work began on a new airport hangar in 1939. Costing about $1,500, the hangar was able to house eight planes. It was financed by Schlesselman and a group of local fliers, who saw the need to give more permanent shelter to the 200-plus planes that were flying into the airport at this time.

After leasing the airport for 10 years, Schlesselman purchased it in 1943. He worked on adding a new runway and control tower. By this time, the airport already had an administration building, two hangars, and a welding and painting shop, and about 30 planes were using the space regularly.

The majority of that use came from Navy cadets, learning to fly through the Mankato Teachers College.

Schlesselman led the airport’s successful effort to become an accredited Navy V-5 program flight school in 1943, and he personally trained more than 1,200

Navy pilots during World War II, which also brought heavy civil air patrol activity to the airport. Immediately after Pearl Harbor, all flights were grounded, and the airport was briefly put under the jurisdiction of the (now deactivated) Minnesota State Guard.

Someone new at the controls

While Schlesselman tried to sell the airport to the city of Mankato several times, it wasn’t until 1948 that the city finally took him up on the offer. Even then, it took three bond issues to win approval. The city council finally agreed to purchase the airport for $385,000. By the official July 4 dedication in 1950, the airport had grown to 262 acres and two runways, which had both been extended to allow larger planes to land. A regular air mail service was also started that year, facilitated through Western Airlines.

By the 1960s, talk had begun about the possible need for a new airport. Part of the reason was because of the city of Mankato’s new scheduled air carrier, North Central Airlines, which was converting to an all-jet fleet and needed longer runways. The Mankato City Council voted in 1967 to begin work on a new airport, on land located along Airport Road outside of the city. The project took longer than expected to complete due to 54 inches of rain over the summer of 1968, which resulted in flash flooding across Mankato. When the project was finally completed in 1970, it came with a $1.96 million price tag, more than $640,000 over the original estimate.

Since 1970, the airport has continued to grow and expand into the 1,000-acre site it is now. Some of the additions included an instrument landing system to help pilots land in foggy weather, a new runway lighting system and two 12,500-gallon fuel storage tanks. More flights were added, offering trips to places such as Chicago, while private jets started flying businesspeople into the city from around the world.

Tomorrow’s pilots

Another important addition came through a partnership between MSU-Mankato and North Star Aviation, Inc. in 1991, when the business started training the university’s aviation students at the Mankato Regional Airport. As Mankato’s only fullservice, fixed based operator, North Star Aviation was the natural choice to offer training to the next generation of pilots across southern Minnesota. Since the partnership began, North Star has trained thousands of pilots while continuing to manage the airport for the city of Mankato.

(There was a brief five-year period in the early 2000s when MSU-Mankato worked with a different vendor, but the partnership with North Star resumed in 2006.)

According to Mike Ferrero, chair of the Aviation Department at MSU-Mankato, aviation students split their time between campus and the airport, with nearly all of the flight training taking place through North Star (though MSU does have one flight simulator).

“The students probably spend about half their time on campus and half their time [at the airport],” Ferrero said. “It’s a pretty tight partnership. We work together.

We’re here regularly. We’re keeping in contact with the students, with management, making sure everyone’s on the same page when it comes to how best to get the students through their training.”

North Star provides the flight instructors, with the MANKATO MAGAZINE • NOVEMBER 2019 • 23

A Minnesota State University aviation student and instructor use one of the university’s flight simulators at the Mankato Regional Airport. vast majority of them coming straight from MSU—some before they’ve even graduated.

“Most of the full-time instructors who are hired here have gone through the program,” said Rob McGregor, North Star general manager (and MSU aviation grad).

“If they get through their instructor ratings, we’ll hire them then and they can instruct while they’re finishing up their degree. [We’re trying to] keep people flowing through the program as quickly and efficiently as possible to continue being able to hire those folks.”

According to McGregor, the program has grown substantially since he was a flight student in the 1990s. When North Star reentered into its partnership with MSU in 2006, the company had four airplanes, whereas it now owns almost 30 and will add three new aircraft in December. It also has two Redbird flight simulators.

This growth mirrors the growth MSU has seen in its overall aviation program, which exploded from about 35 students in the early 2000s to around 460 in the program now.

Ferrero said the university recently hired a fifth faculty member, as well as an academic advisor who is exclusive to the aviation department.

“The university is constantly looking at the growth of the program and determining the needs of the program,” he said.

The program’s booming success is even more impressive given the fact that it was nearly cut in 2011 when the university was facing particularly tough budget struggles. This was during a time when aviation graduates across the country were struggling to find jobs, mostly because no pilots were retiring. It took the combined efforts of aviation faculty and students, North Star Aviation and even the city of Mankato to convince MSU to keep its program running.

“When we were on the fence back in 2010, there were a lot of people who stepped up to the plate and wanted to keep this program going,” McGregor said. “[Former North Star owner] Mark Smith and MSU President Richard Davenport kind of got their heads together and got some community involvement from [people]… who wanted to see the program not only survive those rougher times but grow. I’m sure glad they all put their energy together and came up with a plan, because it’s really working now.”

Nowadays, MSU’s flight program is currently the only four-year, accredited program in the state, and it has partnerships with such industry giants as Delta and Sun County Airlines. MSU’s Delta Propel program—one of only eight such university partnerships in the country—promises qualifying students a job with Delta in 42

24 • NOVEMBER 2019 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

months or less after graduation, while the university also offers Pathway Partnerships with three Delta connection airlines: Republic, Endeavor and SkyWest.

Meanwhile, the Sun Country Bridge Program (only available at MSU-Mankato and one other university in the U.S.) gives aviation students the opportunity to sign with the airline while they’re still in school, with the job offer immediately available after graduation and 1,500 flight hours.

But that growth also means more challenges, especially when it comes to finding enough students to stick around as instructors instead of immediately accepting those job offers. McGregor said North Star has about 40 instructors at any given time, but the exact number can vary by the month or even the week. “[Students] more or less have their pick of where they go now [after graduation],” he said. “The vast majority of them come and serve as flight instructors here at North Star, but the airlines want them so quickly that North Star is lucky to keep a flight instructor around for 12 months. Those instructors are of course necessary to train the students, but when they’re leaving every 12 months, it’s hard to keep up.”

Another challenge is finding enough time and space to meet students’ flight hour needs— especially when MSU’s program is committed to getting aviation students into real planes within their first year.

“Some programs out there, the larger ones, don’t have the capacity or don’t allow their students to fly within the first year,” Ferrero said.

“Ours do. They’ve come here to study aviation; they clearly want to get into an airplane. So we try to accommodate that as best we can, and we’re at 100 percent right now, in regard to getting students into airplanes within their first year on campus.”

Because of this commitment to early flight hours, most MSU aviation students are able to complete their flight training in two or three years, leaving just campus courses to finish up their degree.

“If you can come in and start flying right away, and get your instructor ratings sooner rather than later, it does allow the students to move on to their airline career that much quicker and

faster,” McGregor said.

Looking to the future, McGregor said North Star has plans to totally renovate the airport’s main terminal. The $2.2 million project will expand MSU’s space into the terminal area originally set aside as a departure lounge, as well as add a new dispatch command center, a remodeled instructor area, a new student lounge and more meeting rooms. There will also be more office space for North Star Aviation, a new student testing area and a remodeled pilot lounge.

McGregor said the hope is to finish the Minnesota State University aviation student Tyler Pickel does a preflight inspection of an airplane under the project by May 2020. watchful eye of instruction Jordan Gay. MM

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Y A S

ES

The Silent One A soldier’s secret — taken to his grave — is discovered after his death

By Colin Scharf

I

always wanted to be a soldier. My brother and I spent our childhood in surplus fatigues and combat boots attacking bad guys in the dense forest surrounding our home. We cut our hair high and tight.

We spoke, fought, and died like soldiers in movies. We were heroes.

Those make-believe battles consumed our imaginations. My thirst for WWII knowledge was insatiable. I watched movies, read books and magazines, and begged for trips to Buffalo’s Naval Park. On those dry-docked WWII warships, I became a young Navy deck gunner, blasting Japanese Zeroes; a Marine, crawling down the net cast over the ship’s hull, piling into a landing craft bound for fire-soaked islands.

I was pudgy, nervous, and nearsighted. Someday, I’d be brave.

In high school, punk rock and Beat poetry drowned out my military aspirations. Despite my newfound countercultural affiliation, though, I remained an avid WWII buff, reading histories, watching documentaries, wearing surplus clothing. One source on the war remained just out of reach; one I had consulted throughout childhood; one whose blue eyes contained the suffering only a soldier understands; whose dismissive shrugs and smiles eventually quelled my questionings, those faint gestures expressing the only story that mattered: It was horrible.

Little is known about my Grandpa Scharf’s wartime experience. He’d only say, “That was a long time ago.”

Shortly after his funeral, in July 2011, a letter discovered in his bedroom revealed a startling secret.

Instead of answering questions, though, this letter only deepened his mystery.

26 • NOVEMBER 2019 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

nnnn Against his father’s wishes, 23-year-old Donald Leo Scharf enlisted in the United States Army on Jan. 13, 1942, and served as a Combat Engineer with the 32nd Infantry Division in the South Pacific. Nominally, his duties entailed building bridges, roads, and airstrips, though it’s safe to assume he engaged in more than construction work. He returned home in October 1945, married a young woman named Earline, and started a family. My father — Donald Leo Junior — was the third child and first-born son. Somewhere along the line, I became cognizant of my grandfather’s wartime experience and would pepper him with questions: Did he storm Normandy during D-Day? No, he was in the Pacific.

Did he fight the Nazis?

Nope. The Japanese.

Did he help raise the flag at Iwo Jima?

No, the Marines did that.

What did he do?

“Built airstrips,” he’d say. “In New Guinea and the Philippines.”

He might as well have been doing construction on Mars. Those places didn’t appear in any John Wayne movies I’d ever seen. Grandpa Scharf’s only war stories were The One about the Alligator and The One about the Dud Bomb.

“We were on patrol,” he’d start, “when this alligator came thrashing out of the jungle. Scared us good!”

I wanted specifics about the soldiers’ weapons; patrol formation; snipers; landmines.

“We carried carbines. We marched. It was hot. But

that alligator!”

The dud bomb had fallen during Movie Night. A projector and screen had been set up on the beach. The GIs were enjoying a film when a distinct whistling pierced the soundtrack. The soldiers scattered. The bomb crushed the screen. Moments passed. They were safe.

“That would’ve been the end of us,” Grandpa said.

Those are the only stories I know. His children don’t know much more. “The old man never talked about it,” my dad always said. In 2004, Grandpa Scharf received the Distinguished Service Medal. He remained modest when asked about his service. “I was just a soldier doing my job.” Maybe enough time had passed that he’d forgotten. Probably, he didn’t want to talk.

He had plenty to share, though: collections of coins, postcards, books, magazines. He’d developed a profound interest in space and had dozens of UFO magazines which I poured over alongside the military histories. Allegedly, he’d “seen something” in the Pacific. When I was eight, he took me to see Fire in the Sky, a film about Travis Walton’s alien abduction. The movie terrified and fascinated us. One night, he taught me how to locate the Big Dipper, Orion’s Belt, and Polaris. Now, his collections and space obsession seem like distractions he’d developed to distance himself from certain memories.

I learned of his nightmares. “Mom said he’d wake screaming,” my father told me. About those terrors he remained silent. What was he dreaming? Did he confide in his wife when she woke beside him? Did she comfort him? Or did he remain silent?

I remember asking the big question.

Did you kill anyone?

“Don’t ask those questions,” my grandmother said.

Grandpa only smiled. “That was a long time ago.” nnnn In late 2007, my long-time friend Jon shipped off to Afghanistan. He emailed regularly about patrolling villages, the barren desert, and the hopelessness he’d started feeling toward the war. He never discharged his weapon. His only contact with combat was cleaning Humvees that had been ambushed on patrol. There had been blood, he wrote me. Lots of blood.

We drank when he came home. He laughed about the screwball moments. We discussed religion, God, destiny. He never mentioned the Humvees.

In 2011, he re-enlisted and shipped off to Kuwait for a second tour. The recession was in full swing, and the Army paid better than Target or the charter schools where he subbed. While he was overseas, we emailed regularly. He felt close, so close that I almost called him. The Internet was an alternate reality in which my friend never left. I wonder about my grandfather, sweating in malaria-infested jungles, choking down SPAM, waiting weeks for word from home. Did he relish his letters? Memorize each word? Did he ache during mail call when he didn’t hear his name? Or did limited contact with home make it easier to focus on his burdens in the jungle; easier to forget he’d come from a safe place; easier to believe that those hellish islands were his only reality?

I have no idea. None of us do. nnnn

New Guinea, the world’s second-largest island, is 100 miles north of Australia’s Cape York Peninsula. The Philippines are 800 miles northwest of New Guinea, 1,000 miles south of the Japanese mainland. The Army fought for three long years to capture these islands and regain control of the Pacific. The first soldiers to hit those beaches had been training for the European Theater and were unprepared for those hellish, equatorial conditions. My grandfather, who’d enlisted five weeks after Pearl Harbor, deployed amongst those ranks.

Temperatures remained above 100 degrees. Violent downpours dissolved trails into gluey mud pits. Disease claimed American lives nearly as often as Japanese bullets. Between nightly Japanese shelling, infantry surprise attacks, and wondering when the enemy would emerge from the jungle for you, the demons of my grandfather’s nightmares begin to materialize. The Combat Engineers battled all those conditions — heat, snipers, artillery — to aid the American advance through those islands.

When soldiers weren’t in the jungle, they furloughed in Australia. Like many GIs, my grandfather developed a relationship with an Australian woman. This was no secret; after all, he’d shipped off unmarried. My grandmother often joked about Grandpa’s “Australian girlfriend.” I wonder if she knew about the letter he’d kept secret since 1945.

After the funeral, my dad and his siblings began cleaning their father’s house. A notorious packrat, Grandpa’s magazines, books, coin collections, and postcards littered his bedroom. Containers of postcards filled an entire living room closet. There must’ve been thousands. He and my grandmother would travel the country, buying and selling postcards at trade shows.

Some cards contained strangers’ hand-scrawled messages; most were blank. I wonder where Grandpa’s interest began, and if he ever imagined mailing one of those cards.

Soon enough, they discovered the letter beneath the big locked safe in Grandpa’s bedroom closet. Four crisply-folded, yellowed sheets of lined paper comprised this correspondence, dated May 28, 1945 and addressed “Dearest Don.” When my father told me about this letter, I knew I’d write about it someday. In the last hour that I spent in my grandparents’ home, I transcribed the pained words of a 67-year-old secret, just one of countless others my grandfather had taken to the grave. nnnn It’s unsettling to write about a person after they’ve passed. I render death regulary in fiction — many of my grief-stricken characters have just tossed the final dirt upon a casket, or scattered ashes, and are now coping with the fallout; others have committed murder or stumbled upon a corpse. In crafting those pieces, my only fear is an inadequate handling of the subject of death: The heaviest material must be handled with the most delicacy. In those pieces, I worry about upsetting readers — living, breathing readers. I don’t worry about upsetting the dead.

In July 2011, I transcribed the words of a decades-old letter mailed to my Grandpa Scharf from Australia in May 1945. World War II had devastated most of the globe. By the letter’s date — May 28, 1945 — Hitler had been dead a month; Germany had surrendered 20 days MANKATO MAGAZINE • NOVEMBER 2019 • 27

earlier; Allied forces continued fighting in the Pacific; scientists working in top-secret American laboratories were drawing closer to developing a viable atomic bomb, and Grandpa Scharf would soon receive that letter containing life-altering news from an Australian woman named Doris.

Since first reading the letter, I knew its contents would enter my writing. I would occasionally take it out of my desk and concoct ways in which to tell this story.

Should I fictionalize it in a short piece? Novel?

Screenplay? Non-fiction?

Or — like my grandfather — should I simply remain silent? nnnn I listen for him. He’s there, in the small garden he tended in my parents’ front yard; in the smell of woodsmoke; in the grain of knotty wood; in the gunpowder smudging the brass of the spent shell casing I picked from the wet grass following the 21-gun salute at his funeral; in root beer barrel candy; in every postcard I send and receive; in the scuffed gold watch he wore until the day he died and which I now wear.

He emanates from all of these because that’s how the dead do it: they reach us through portals, poke us with their ghostly fingers, whisper Don’t forget me. We tattoo our skin; surround ourselves with photographs; cherish letters, rings, bracelets, earrings; wear perfumes and burn candles whose scents transport us places that exist only in memories.

An old cast iron stove heated my grandparents’ house. You’d open the door, guide in a block of wood, watch sparks snap and jump as the log settled upon the orange coals. Their entire house smelled of woodsmoke. One whiff of that sweet, earthy fragrance and I’m seven years old again, playing with G.I. Joes in their living room, sucking a root beer barrel. My grandmother knits. My grandfather examines postcards with a magnifying glass. The television is cranked. Neither one hears me when I get up the guts to ask him about The War. And when they turn down the TV, boost their hearing aids, tell me to speak louder and slower, the answers are still not what I’m looking for. But I’ve realized that I’m not nearly as interested in the events that occurred as I am in how he felt through it all. Maybe if I’d phrased the questions that way — How did you feel? What were you thinking? Were you afraid? — he might’ve had something more to say.

He visits me in dreams. In one, he’s standing at the foot of my bed. He doesn’t utter a word; just smiles and waves. In another, I’m a soldier stationed on a sunny Pacific beach. Bombs explode in the distant jungle.

Other soldiers prepare for battle. Soon we are charging into the jungle and I know that soon I will be dead. The dream-feeling could only be compared to that sinking sensation you get from learning that someone you love has died. I woke feeling as though my insides had been vacuumed. This dream answered every question I’d ever asked about the war.

Except the one about the letter. nnnn At his funeral, a number of sepia-toned war-era photographs filled the viewing room. They featured my grandfather in sweat-stained fatigues surrounded by palm trees. He was a tall, slender man, with a thin face, 28 • NOVEMBER 2019 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

the long-bladed Scharf nose, and big ears. In one photo, he’s holding a small dog. Close-ups show a man whom I clearly resemble. I imagine this man who looks like me walking down a street in New South Wales — the return address of Doris’s letter — in his neatlypressed Class A uniform. His pace is brisk, rhythmic; a soldier’s clip. He pivots onto the path leading up to a small, Spanish-tiled bungalow in a bright neighborhood. He knocks on the door and waits, hands clasped behind his back, listening through the small house for her.

The letter begins with news that Doris has finally received a letter from my grandfather, dated March 1945. She writes of seeing mutual friends, and of how her mother is still waiting for a letter from my grandfather. Later, she mentions corresponding with my grandfather’s mother. Her letter features enough talk about each other’s families that I have to assume that she and Grandpa had been close.

On page two, Doris explains that she’s cancelled some travel plans. She half-heartedly imagines another trip after the war, but this hope is slashed when she reveals her reasons for not traveling: I may not hear from you anymore after this, but I won’t blame you, as long as you will keep in touch with Mum & Dad. Here goes — I have a baby son aged 11 weeks old. No Don I am not married … he is an American baby, so I guess I will have to bring him up to respect the “Stars and Stripes” as well as the “Union Jack.” I bet you are quite ashamed of me, aren’t you.

She has named the boy Sidney and worries that he might not ever have a daddy. “[B]oys don’t like marrying girls who already have started a family.” But she tells my grandfather don’t worry; her family loves and spoils the baby. “He is a sweet little kid, you would love him ...”

This letter had been hidden beneath a large, locked safe in my grandfather’s bedroom closet for decades.

The yellowed paper was in such pristine condition when my relatives discovered it that he might’ve only read the letter once, hidden it, and moved on with his life. Did he think about Doris when he looked into that closet? When he looked at his wife? Did he wonder about that boy when he held his children? Did he amass his postcard collection in search of the perfect one? And did he ever lay a card face down, stare into its blank white field, and then walk away, saying Tomorrow. I’ll write her tomorrow? nnnn I could send a postcard. I have an address. I have questions. It wouldn’t be too difficult to track down Sidney, who today would be 74 years old. I could fly to Australia, buy him a drink and talk about the past. I wonder if he’s ever learned the truth. I can’t imagine him reading that letter today and learning his parents’ secret. It’s heartbreaking to read the sentences that concern his infant self. In one passage, Doris promises my grandfather that she’ll write his mother soon, but that she won’t “tell her about the baby … she may not like me after she reads [my letter] ...” Elsewhere, she offers to send my grandfather a photo of little Sidney: “If you write & tell me that you do not mind I will send a photo of him, will it matter if I am in it too[?]”

The shame surrounding this child is devastating. Doris writes as though she’s ruined my grandfather’s life. She’s basically accepted the fact that she’ll never see him again: “If you ever get out this way again you won’t forget to come out home will you.” And my grandfather? Who knows if he ever wrote back, let alone visited. He had a knack for silence.

Some of my relatives were hesitant about this story. They point out the fact that Doris never actually calls Grandpa the father of her child — ostensibly, another GI could’ve been responsible. They didn’t want me tarnishing his reputation by unearthing this secret. But I have a feeling he wanted us to know. If he’d been truly ashamed, he would not have preserved that letter beneath a safe. He would’ve burned it. In a war that killed over 60 million human beings — the deadliest military conflict in history — one should not be ashamed of actually creating life. I’m telling him this now. MM

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Visit the History Center for FREE Museum Admission, Door Prizes, Refreshments and Holiday Gift Shop Specials.

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Saturday, November 2, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Genealogy Workshop, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

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REFLECTIONS

By Pat Christman

30 • NOVEMBER 2019 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

I

t doesn’t take long. Green leaves turn bright colors but are soon stripped away by the wind, leaving only bare branches. Water turns to ice. A brightly colored landscape turns drab.

It’s a seasonal change that seems to happen too soon and too fast. In a blink of an eye the leaves are gone and replaced with snowflakes. MM MANKATO MAGAZINE • NOVEMBER 2019 • 31

DAY TRIP DESTINATIONS: Gales of November Festival

By James Figy

There’s plenty of lore and history to get lost in at this Lake Superior museum, and November is the perfect time to do it.

Photos courtesy Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center

Sail into the Gales of November Visitors can channel their inner ‘boatnerd’ at Lake Superior museum and annual program

E

ach year in Duluth, countless visitors pause to watch ships big and small pass beneath the famous Aerial Lift Bridge. Many gaze until the boat passes, then peruse the Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center before heading to the PortLand Malt Shoppe or another area fixture.

For others, however, the affinity for the vessels and know-how used to navigate the Great Lakes goes far beyond casual glances. These enthusiasts, said Konnie LeMay, vice president of the Lake Superior Marine Museum Association and editor of Lake Superior Magazine, are called “boatnerds.” It’s surprisingly easy to become one, she said, and she should know — she took the plunge several years ago and never looked back 32 • NOVEMBER 2019 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

The annual Gales of November program hosted by LSMMA caters to both the nerdiest boatnerd and those with simply a small interest. The event offers two days of speakers, discussions and time to connect with others who share in interest in Lake Superior and its shipping history.

“Gales of November, as a program, was officially started in 1987 by Duluth dive-shop owner Elmer Engman, who still teaches SCUBA diving,” LeMay said. “The title, of course, was inspired by Lake Superior itself, well famous — or infamous — for kicking up some spectacular gales, which it sometimes does during the event.”

The event originally focused solely on diving, but it continued to grow and bring in people interested in boat

watching and maritime in general.

Eventually Engman handed over the event to LSMMA. This year’s program will take place Nov. 1- 2 at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center. Along with maritime-related exhibitors and a silent auction, multiple speakers will present on various topics that cover history, current maritime trends and diving activity.

There will be three main speakers.

On Friday, Roger LeLievre, publisher of the “Know Your Ships” annual guide, will present on his freighter voyages and methods of gathering information for the guide, as well as showcase decades of maritime photography to celebrate the guide’s 60th anniversary. Deb DeLuca, executive director of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority, will deliver the Saturday morning keynote that overviews port activity and addresses related issues. Joel Stone, senior curator for the Detroit Historical Society, will discuss the history of commercial shipping on the Great Lakes, offering what LeMay describes as “a boatnerd-ish compilation of changes in vessels and cargos over the decades.”

However, there will be dozens of presentations throughout the two days. A panel of “ancient mariners,” which comprises one current and three retired ship pilots, will give a talk called “Inland Sea Shanties & Other Rollicking Tales.” LeMay looks forward to a talk from shipwreck hunter Jerry Eliason, who will discuss three wrecks located off Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula on Lake Superior. Eliason will show off his digital underwater photography that helps identify wrecks throughout the Great Lakes.

“The nice thing about the presentations is that they appeal to people well-versed in all things maritime, but also for people with a simple curiosity about how international water transportation molded and developed our cities in the center of the United States, hundreds of miles from other saltwater coast,” Lemay said.

For aspiring boatnerds looking to take that curiosity further, a good place to begin is Duluth’s Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center at 600 Canal Park Drive. The museum is open daily from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. It continues to operate as a partnership between LSMMA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which opened the visitor center in 1973 and still maintains a local headquarters there.

“It has always been free to the public. This year it logged its 20 millionth visitor – quite the milestone!” LeMay said. “The exhibits are constantly changing at the center, but one of the most beloved services continue to be the same – the listing of estimated arrivals of the commercial freighters through the Duluth Ship Canal. There is also a re-created pilot house, with oldfashioned ship’s wheel, set up inside the center on the second floor, from which you can watch the live maritime traffic outside.”

For those who can’t make the trip to Duluth, they can still enjoy boat watching from several live cameras on the LSMMA website. This not only allows them to channel their inner boatnerd, but to peer back in history to see how important travel across Lake Superior has been for the area since before the state was formed, LeMay said.

“The land that is Minnesota has a long maritime heritage, longer even than the creation of our major cities,” she said. “More importantly, it continues to have vibrant, thriving connection to the other Great Lakes and to the world through the commerce of maritime shipping — fondly called ‘Highway H20’ — and through the waters of Lake Superior.”

IF YOU GO:

GALES OF NOVEMBER FESTIVAL When: Nov. 1-2 Where: Duluth Entertainment Convention Center, 350 Harbor Drive, Duluth Admission: $40 for Saturday sessions with additional charges for lunches Visit lsmma.com for more information.

MANKATO MAGAZINE • NOVEMBER 2019 • 33

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Senior Living Green House Project Changing The Way We Care For Our Elders

By Marianne Carlson

36 • LIVING 55 PLUS • NOVEMBER 2019 • Special Advertising Section

L

ike most couples, when Brad and Heather Bass met, they didn’t realize where their relationship and professional ambitions would intertwine.

“Heather got her college degree in Senior Therapeutic Recreation,” Brad said. “I graduated from the Urban and Regional Studies Institute at MSU in the 90s with an emphasis on senior housing development. We thought it was an interesting coincidence that we both studied the same kind of concepts, except she was on the operations side of things and I was on the development side.”

In 1998, with the same knowledge and passion driving them, Brad and Heather opened an adult daycare in their Mankato home. The following year, they opened a corporate adult foster care business. Adult foster care is essentially any care that’s provided in a home-based environment to an adult.

Usually these services include help with daily living such as meal preparation, cleaning and other activities such as laundry.

The couple continued to pursue their mission of providing quality care for elders so they can experience a comfortable, fulfilling life.

Autumn Grace opened in 2004 and a few years later Heather and Brad opened Water’s Edge. Both elder care facilities have since sold.

“Meridian, the group that purchased Autumn Grace and Water’s Edge are doing a great job,” Brad said. “They were passionate about what we were doing and they were interested in getting into the Mankato market.

They are keeping our vision alive by providing wonderful service.”

Brad said the sale gave he and his wife some breathing room and time to focus on their next vision …

BridgeWater.

After they built Water’s Edge, Brad and Heather started studying different facets of elder care and they stumbled on a group out of West Virginia – the greenhouseproject.org.

“We reached out to them and after talking with us they were just as excited as we were to get this model out to areas in the Midwest,” Brad said.

What is Green House Home?

“They are providers like Heather and I who are ambitious about creating smaller settings for elder care,” Brad said. “It is a national movement, a deep culture change initiative. So we decided

to develop BridgeWater Group.”

This national model of care returns control, dignity, and a sense of well being to elders, their families and direct care staff. Elders live in real homes where they can age in a place where their individuality and choice are honored, where quality care is a priority, and people have more satisfying and meaningful lives, Brad explained.

BridgeWater group teamed up with Brennan Companies and built a 24-unit Green House in Hanover, Minnesota and another 24-unit Green House in Janesville, Minnesota.

“We worked with architects to help us model the best use of space for elders to live in,” Brad said. “They are beautiful suites in a family home like environment. Each floor is it’s own separate house with 12 elders on each floor. Each home has its own kitchen and everyone eats at the same table.”

The Green House model is a shift to a more senior-based platform versus a facility-based platform, Brad explained.

“This model is centered around the elder’s schedule,” Brad said. “If you have an elder who likes to stay up late at night and sleep late in the morning, we have staff that makes them breakfast when they are ready for breakfast.

Activities are created around the needs of the elder.”

One of the best things about a Green House setting is that staff can make adjustments to a care plan as seniors needs change. They offer skilled nursing care, assisted living care, memory care and even 24-hour care. They can serve people who need ventilators. They have cared for people who are paralyzed, quadriplegic or have severe physical disabilities, Brad said.

“There is an elimination of the hierarchy,” Brad said. “It allows managers to perform their job with less micromanagement.”

How Do You Find Quality Care Givers?

A smaller facility meant that BridgeWater Group needed to find staff that could perform activities of daily living, culinary services, therapeutic recreation, medication management, housekeeping, socialization and the ability to work with families and social services.

“We needed trained employees that could handle all of that,” Brad said.

“We worked specifically with South Central Technical College to develop a course of study for individuals seeking skills to become a universal healthcare

Special Advertising Section • NOVEMBER 2019 • LIVING 55 PLUS • 37

A walk-in tub at Green House Homes.

employee. Our staff at Autumn Grace was the first graduating class of the Universal Healthcare – Health Support Specialist. It is a certificate program and it is great for people who are already in that field. It can help them get higher pay.”

Homes like those in Janesville and Hanover mean that elders can stay close to their family, their church and the foundation where they were raised, Brad explained.

Brad said he and his wife work hand in hand with social services to make sure that all of the elders in the area are taken care of regardless of their financial situation.

“If we can serve them, we welcome them,” he said. “These two homes have been very successful.

We are at capacity at both facilities. People want

to put their loved ones there and they really appreciate the individualized care their loved ones receive.”

Brad said it is challenging to find a large labor pool in rural areas.

“We train them in the universal healthcare component if they are willing to commute,” he said.

“Replication is where we find efficiencies and it shows our brand,” Brad explained.

Good Partnerships Are Priceless

BridgeWater Group worked with Brennan Companies on their Green House Homes and Brad said he couldn’t be more pleased.

“Mike (Brennan) has always been a trusted person that I could confide in and he is always willing to take the time to listen to me,” Brad said with a laugh.

“He has helped me navigate a lot of different processes so we can focus on providing the care rather than building the building.”

According to Brad, the talent pool in Mankato is vast and he feels lucky to have access to it.

“There is real opportunity and professionalism in this town,” Brad said.

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Choices for vibrant senior living

Green House Homes features shared spaces to relax and dine.

superior engineering firms and superior contractors. We have a lot of resources all right here in Mankato. Brian Paulson from Paulson Architects has been a huge asset to this team as well. Mike brings as many local people as possible to these jobs. We like to keep everyone busy if we can.”

Mike Brennan said he wasn’t familiar with the Green House Project model when Brad approached him with the idea, but now Brennan Companies and BridgeWater Group have built two of

these homes together.

“It was very easy to walk in and start a second phase” Brad said. “It is great having someone like Mike who has an incredible group of people that he works with and we can all get together and bring our ideas to the table and make things happen in a short period of time.”

Now having seen the Green House Homes, Mike said, “I can tell you first hand that this is a really good choice if you are looking for independent,

assisted living for a loved one. It is a unique building with a community environment.”

The residents eat together, play games together and watch TV together, Mike explained. The layout and concept of these buildings are both very different than other projects Brennan Companies have worked on, he said.

“There is a common kitchen and large dining room at the center of each home,” Mike said. “They focus on getting people out of their rooms and

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encourage them to spend time together.

I feel like in other facilities, people spend more time in their rooms alone.

People need people. It increases quality of life.”

Mike and his wife Kathy have been helping this town grow, literally, for over 25 years. In recent years, Mike said it has been great to see a new wave of talent join his company. They now have an office in the twin cities and about half their work comes from the metro area.

One of the things that Brennan Companies prides themselves on is having good systems in place.

“We do the organizing and we focus on safety, communication and quality,” Mike said. “Everyone in the company buys into those ideas through out the company and they carry over into our job sites as well. I’m a believer of letting people do what they like to do and what they are good at. I oversee projects and I welcome it when project managers share problems and we work on finding solutions together but I have a great team that I trust.”

Brennan Companies has two sides to their business, Mike explained.

They have Brennan Construction and Brennan Properties.

“Sometimes we are the builders on a project and sometimes we are the owner of the building as well,” Mike explained. “I think being developers helps us be better general contractors.

We get all the things that are part of putting a project together. We understand the trials someone like Brad has to overcome as the developer and the owner. We work hard to make sure projects get done on time and on budget. We work with people upfront to make sure their vision becomes reality. Being developers ourselves, we are familiar with every dimension of that.”

Mike said his favorite part of a finished project is simply watch people.

To see people enjoy being in the buildings he and his team have built.

Bricks and mortar are means to an end,” Mike said. “Ultimately it comes down to people being inside these buildings and enjoying them together.”

Elders can eat as a group or on their schedule in the dining room.

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or Dawn Finch, showing dogs isn’t just a hobby.

It’s more than that. It’s a passion. It’s a competition. It’s a way of life.

She grew up in Stillwater Minnesota showing dogs as part of 4H. Back then, she raised Brittanys, Dawn said.

Now she shows Old English Sheep Dogs.

She has three. Bond is eight years old. Lexi, Bond’s daughter is four years old and Maxine, Lexi’s daughter is 19 months.

Dawn recently returned from Ventura California where Bond and Lexi brought home 25 ribbons from the Old English Sheep Dog Club Of America (OESCA) National Specialty.

For people unfamiliar with dog showing, it is also called exhibiting.

Dog showing is a competitive activity where dogs compete against each other for prizes or awards. It is a competition where a dog’s attributes are compared against a breed standard for its breed.

Judges who are familiar with a specific dog breed evaluate individual purebred dogs for how well the dogs conform to the established breed type

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for their breed, as described in a breed’s individual breed standard.

“Every fall the National Specialty moves across America according to regions,” Dawn explained. “Last year it was in Colorado. I usually go to it, but I wasn’t sure if I was going to go this year because Ventura is a long drive.”

She usually brings two or three dogs to the National Specialty each year, Dawn said. This year she took Bond and Lexi. She carpooled with a friend from Fargo and spent three days driving out to Ventura.

The competition is a week-long event complete with a welcome party and a special Top Twenty event where human competitors and judges wear formal attire. Bond received an invitation to compete, Dawn said.

“He was the only verteran that qualified,” Dawn said excitedly. “That is why I decided to make the trek out to Ventura. It’s a huge honor. I wanted to show what a really good veteran dog can be. Dogs are like people. You know the old high school football player who is now out of shape and has a pot belly. That happens to the dog equivalent. I am super proud that my veteran dog is still competing at that level and it was something I wanted to show.”

Sadly, Bond didn’t win, Dawn said.

“But he showed amazingly,” she said with a smile.

Dawn explained that Bond competes in a different class than Lexi because he is eight years old which is 44 • LIVING 55 PLUS • NOVEMBER 2019 • Special Advertising Section

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considered a veteran.

“The Top Twenty is a special event,” Dawn said. “The judges wear tuxedos. I wore a fancy pink gown and fancy shoes but the funny thing about it is that you have to find a fancy dress and fancy shoes you can still run in. It was a super fun evening and I was honored to be a part of it.”

The other events at OESCA are Agility, Sheep Herding, Obedience/ Rally and Conformation.

Lexi could only do performance sports, Dawn said. She could not compete in conformation because one of Dawn’s co-breeders was one of the judges.

“It is a conflict of interest,” she explained.

The agility course in Ventura was an outdoor competition and the weather was beautiful according to Dawn.

“I just retired Bond from agility, but Lexi competed and she was the only one that got a Qualifying score,” Dawn said proudly. “All events have minimum standards to qualify. In agility she needed to get a certain number of points to Qualify. She got first place in class and earned her title in that class – Open FAST class. Lexi is reaching her prime in agility.”

Both Bond and Lexi competed in Sheep Herding, as well as Obedience and Rally and did very well.

Bond competed in the Western Regional Specialty and won, Dawn said with a smile.

“He won Best Veteran and First Award of Merit,” she said. “He got

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third ranked male dog out of all the dogs there. That is a huge win for him. It was a great way to finish the week.

Within the competition for performance sports they do something extra where they add up all the scores and award one dog Most Versatile Performance.

“It is a separate thing that you enter,” Dawn said. “It involves agility, obedience rally and herding.”

The dogs are awarded less points if they compete at novice level versus if they qualify at a higher level. Bond competed at a high level in Herding but did not qualify. He did qualify in Rally and he earned lots of points but still ended up in the middle of the group, Dawn said. However, Lexi competed at a more medium level and qualified in all four areas. So she ended up winning the Most Versatile Performance.

“All in all, it was pretty successful trip,” Dawn said. “We work hard and train in all of these areas. It is a culmination of a good working relationship. It is not just about the dog or the person. It is about you as a team, working together. We train and go to classes for all of these events.”

Dawn is a registered nurse by profession and an obedience instructor

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Wine & Beer

wines

By Leigh Pomeroy

southern mn style

I

A Chardonnay tale

recall snaking our rented Ford Taurus up a narrow, winding road to the top of a vineyard above the tiny village of PernandVergelesses in the Côte de Beaune of Burgundy, France. It was a slightly overcast day in September 1985. I knew where I was heading — to one of the Holy Grails of Chardonnay: an estate called Bonneau du Martray, the bestknown producer of wine from the famous Grand Cru vineyard CortonCharlemagne.

I didn’t know what to expect.

We had not called ahead. We had not made an appointment. We had just driven there, hoping to get a glance and maybe a few photos.

I pulled into the small whitegraveled area in front of the modest winery. The winery doors were open, and it was obvious activity was happening inside. It was the middle of the crush.

A wiry, silverhaired and elegant gentleman in his mid-60s came out to greet us.

He was wearing a plain

workshirt, plain slacks and boots. I addressed him in my best French, saying we just wanted to take a look at a winery I had heard so much about, whose wine I had sold a few bottles of at a large liquor store in Boulder, CO. He replied in impeccable, French-accented English, “Come in. We’re making wine!”

We did. I noticed the facility looked much like the wineries I had worked at in California, although on a smaller scale — rows of stainless steel tanks on a cement floor with pumps and hoses in between.

I introduced myself and my wife, Gretta, and our friends from Boulder, Rob and Mary.

“I am Jean,” he said, and we shook hands. I realized right away that this was not just any “Jean” but Count Jean Le Bault de la Morinière, co-owner with his wife of the winery and estate.

“Come,” he said. “Would you like to taste?”

He took us to a trough where the fermenting wine was aerating.

In some cases, fermenting juice needs to be oxygenated to keep the wine from developing a stink. It was flowing out of a valve into the trough, where it was then pumped back into the tank.

He dipped a wine glass into the juice and said, “Taste!” We did, passing the glass around. “My God!” I thought. “I am drinking the juice from Corton-Charlemagne, one of the greatest chardonnay vineyards in the world.”

We didn’t stay long, as it was apparent he had lots to do and we didn’t want to interrupt him from his work. I think we got a photo of him, which hopefully is in an album in my house somewhere, and I’m pretty sure Rob, who is a cartoonist and an artist, got a few quick sketches.

Today, according to recent reviews, the 1985 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne is still an incredible taste experience (so long as the bottle has been stored well). Some more recent

52 • NOVEMBER 2019 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

vintages can be had for a mere $160, though the best vintages sell for twice that.

I indicated in the beginning of this piece that these were the events that I recall. But they occurred 34 years — and many bottles of Chardonnay — ago. So, via Google, I checked on the exact location of the winery. As it turns out, it’s actually situated on the eastern edge of Pernand-Vergelesses, albeit with a vineyard to its back, and not on the Corton-Charlemagne hill.

And I asked Gretta what she recalled of the visit. Yes, we tasted the fermenting juice, she said, adding, “He kept bringing up how much the Americans had helped him.” Apparently, our armed forces and government during and after World War II were key to the Count’s, his village’s and his winery’s survival.

While you or I may not be able to enjoy Corton-Charlemagne as our chosen house Chardonnay, there are still many French white Burgundies that we can afford to sample. The best values come from Mâcon, an area about 60 miles to the south. My favorites are PouillyFuissé and Viré-Clessé, but those retail somewhere in the $20-$30 range. Less expensive wines include St. Véran (an area that surrounds Pouilly-Fuissé on three sides), Mâcon with the name of the village appended (e.g., Mâcon-Lugny) and Mâcon-Villages, which come from anywhere in the appellation.

While made differently — some with oak, some without oak — all these Chardonnays exhibit the classic acidity and minerality indicative of the region. They are excellent with seafood and lighter poultry dishes, and are great at any time of year. À vôtre santé!

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

BEER

By Bert Mattson

B

Snowstorms and double blacks

ring it on. After an alternately rainy and steamy summer season, and an almost equally indecisive fall, I welcome winter — the first couple of months of it anyway. Something about early winter makes me nostalgic. Maybe the static of slipping into warm attire zaps some cozy subliminal memory across the synapses.

Neighborhoods seem timeless at night in November, especially under a crush of chunky snowflakes. As opposed to the paralyzing frost of January, November winds are a welcome foil for warm blankets, soft pillows and starchy ticking. Chimney smoke comes on the air. A flurry of snow sports is entering the radar, frosty breaths to prime the palate for a little alcoholic heat and richer flavors.

Once upon a time, hot buttered rum and spiked eggnog dominated my imagination, clomping in après ski. Now — I know I’m ahead of the calendar here, we’re not even past Thanksgiving — but I’ve got a season pass and I’m aggressively crossing my fingers for copious accumulation. Beer has come so far for these occasions, and craft release calendars are chock full of styles that easily cellar a month or so.

Schell’s limited edition Snowstorm is a bit of an annual mystery basket that arrives around November. This year it’s a Red Ale, reputed to be malt up front and hoppy in the home stretch. Not the most intriguing style, red does have a reputation of being food friendly. The salads composed of bitter greens, fruit, nuts and tangy cheeses, so ubiquitous these days, are an easy match. Toasty malts mate up to a roast joint of game meat as well as a slowsmoked choice cut. Generally the caramel character of a malt-forward selection such as red, lends itself, at least a little, to not overly sweet dessert selections. Snowstorm should be handy in a pinch.

I’ve been mining Mankato Brewery’s sample packs for Nu-teleporter, a hazelnut inspired porter, to put in my go-bag with marshmallows and roasting rods. Were I somehow detoured into a pinky-lifting affair, I’d like a slab

Eat....Drink...Be Thankful!

of veiny blue cheese with this one. Light and toasty, with hazelnut flavor following the nose, this might also be my pick in the breakfast beer category. You know, with the marshmallows …

Now for the big boy: November means bombers of Bent Paddle Double Shot Double Black ale. This double strength version of Bent Paddle’s Cold Press Black Ale doubles up on vanilla, doubles up on coffee, and nearly doubles up on alcohol by volume. At 10% it’s one to warm the palate while the cheeks thaw. I could go barbeque pork here. Spare ribs are rich enough to handle a little alcoholic heat, and it’s not unheard of for a bit of black coffee to make into barbecue sauce — even a sweeter sauce could click here.

Oh, did I mention Double Shot ages in Bourbon barrels for five months? For dessert, vanilla bean ice cream (atop warm bread pudding should one aspire) with it would be aces. But a nip in the chalet, boots loose and bibs unzipped, elegant in itself.

Bert Mattson is a chef and writer based in St. Paul.

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MANKATO MAGAZINE • NOVEMBER 2019 • 53

THAT’S LIFE

By Nell Musolf

I

Enough with the chit chat, Chatty Chuck!

had a retail job once. It wasn’t a terrible job, but it wasn’t a wonderful job either and ever since then I’ve managed to steer clear of retail because working retail is not for the faint of heart nor for your basically shy types. Plus, the hours are unpredictable, the pay isn’t great and the nature of the job revolves around talking to people all day long. Some people love working retail.

I wasn’t one of them.

But if I had to work in a department store, and everyone probably should at one point or another over the course of his or her lifetime if for no other reason than to learn not to be a jerk to salespeople, I’m happy I had the experience when I did. The department store where I worked didn’t play music over loudspeakers, a common practice now. The only noise in the store was the chatter of customers as they searched for the perfect tie or moved hangers along the sales rack. We didn’t even have musak playing in the background.

How the world has changed and, yes, in yet another way that’s not for the better. Now it’s impossible to gas up your car, shop for shoes or buy milk without someone 54 • NOVEMBER 2019 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

singing, loudly, in your ear. My mind tends to be confused enough, so I certainly don’t need any more distractions when I’m trying to decide which type of Oreos to choose or if it’s cheaper to buy the smaller tube of Crest on sale or get the large tube that will last longer, especially distractions in the form of a singer I’ve never heard of telling me we’re going to get funky tonight.

And then there’s the chit chat. The only things I had to say when I worked retail were, “May I help you?” and “Thank you for shopping with us.” If a customer wanted to strike up a conversation, fine. And if I chose to comment on what a pretty scarf they were buying, great.

Otherwise we transacted our business in polite silence.

Again, how the world has changed.

I don’t know what business model decided it was a good idea to have every bank clerk and cashier ask what you’re doing this weekend or what your plans are for the rest of the day or how many dogs you have, but I wish they’d never come up with that particular customer service plan. It’s not that I dislike talking to people, it’s that their questions always come as something of a shock

to me since my own children don’t even ask me what my plans are for the weekend and my first automatic thought is “Why do you want to know?” followed by a paranoid notion that the bank clerk, having noted my name, wants to know what I’m doing this weekend so he or she can break into our house and steal my collection of Bunnykins dishware.

Salespeople also tend to ask me what I’m doing for fun this evening, a question I have no good answer to since my idea of fun is so radically dull I’m embarrassed to share. (“Well, after I walk the dog around the block I’m going to eat an entire bag of potato chips and then maybe clean out my sock drawer.”) Why inflict that kind of non-information on someone who undoubtedly only asked what my plans are because they were forced to and who more than likely isn’t even listening to my pathetic little response?

When I’m in an especially playful mood, something that happens approximately once every seven years, I toy with other responses that, while lies, are infinitely more interesting.

“What are my plans for the weekend? Let’s see. Well, I suppose after I finish up my online class in nuclear physics I’ll most likely have time to work in a little triathalon training before getting ready for my date with my husband. We’re flying to the Bahamas,” a lie that would undoubtedly get only a bewildered look in response since another key component of customer service is never making remarks like, “You look like the only thing you’ve trained for is a doughnut eating contest, ma’am.”

I know it’s not the clerks fault they’re forced to engage in inane chit chat with customers. I also suspect the majority of them would prefer to conduct all business under a mutual umbrella of respect punctuated with nods and the exchange of money/ plastic for goods. And it’s not that I don’t want to talk to people I don’t know, it’s more about the silliness of the entire venture. It reminds me of when everyone said, “Have a nice day.” Come to think of it, that might be a customer service practice worth revisiting.

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Nell Musolf is a mom and freelance writer from Mankato. She blogs at: nellmusolf.com MANKATO MAGAZINE • NOVEMBER 2019 • 55

GARDEN CHAT

By Jean Lundquist

Lessons were learned this summer Next year should be better

O

ur endless summer faded into the darkness of winter quickly this fall. We went from 80 degrees to frost almost overnight.

So it’s time to celebrate the end of the growing season in style.

There are always new things I need, even if it’s only new potting soil. This is the perfect time of year to purchase these items as it’s all on clearance. I stocked up on cord for my weed whipper already.

My grape vines are tall enough now to need a trellis, so I got that on clearance, too.

Since I have been growing most of my garden in bags, I’ve really been going through the potting soil, especially because I had blight in them this summer. I buy it online, and this time of year I wait for the 10% off and free shipping deals. I can’t imagine what shipping would cost for bags of potting soil.

I learned this summer I did not do a good enough job of watering my plants in bags. I think they were weakened from lack of water and more susceptible to the blight when it came along. I don’t know anything about the immune system of plants; that is just what I think. Also, because I grow mostly heirloom tomatoes, there is not a lot of disease resistance bred into them.

I think I also need to feed them more than I did last summer. By feeding I mean fertilizing. Their universe is only as big as the bag, so they need different care than they would in the ground.

If you are thinking of raised-bed gardening, pay attention to what I’m writing here. I have a friend who said that if she had let a soaker hose run non-stop in her raised beds, it probably would not have been wet enough.

Even if it was financially possible to run a hose from the well all the time, the pump would burn out, and all that 56 • NOVEMBER 2019 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

water would leach out nutrients from the soil.

Rain barrels are still legal in Minnesota, so I capture rainwater from the roofs that are steel, not asphalt, and water all my plants. Rainwater is better for plants than ground water, too.

I’m still a great proponent of my growing bags for my veggies. After this summer, though, I have great respect for what needs doing to make it successful.

I haven’t decided what to do with my garden next year.

I was so busy not watering my bags this past summer that I almost completely ignored it, and the weeds went wild.

Even with my fence, a varmint of some sort got in and ate down most of my beans. That put the kibosh on the agreement I have with a former co-worker who trades me morel mushrooms in the spring for green beans in the summer.

The green beans I got were interesting, though. All the seeds came from the same packet, but some were nice and round and looked like the beans I thought I bought and planted, but some were the flat Italian bean. I don’t recall thinking the seeds looked different from each other last spring, but the beans were definitely different from each other. All told, I thought it was something of a bonus, and I was just happy to have any green beans at all.

I just wish I had grown enough green beans to share, because I sure do hope for mushrooms next spring that I don’t have to forage and fight off wood ticks for.

I’ll gladly fight mosquitoes and gnats next summer as I pick green beans. I’d better write that down, so I don’t forget I said this!

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

COMING ATTRACTIONS: NOVEMBER 1-2, 7-10

‘Shakespeare in Love’ Thursday-Saturday shows are at 7:30 p.m., Sunday shows are at 2 p.m.; all are in the Ted Paul Theatre in Minnesota State University’s Earley Center for the Performing Arts — Shakespeare has writer’s block until he finds his new muse, Viola.

2

Holiday Fare 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Treaty Site History Center in St. Peter — Juried art, jewelry and craft sale, bake sale too — Free admission, proceeds to go the Arts Center.

8-10, 15-17

‘Annie’ 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m.

Sundays at the Lincoln Community Center — The story follows Annie’s adventures in an orphanage, her escape and finding a new home with Daddy Warbucks.

9

Gustie Gala 5 p.m., J.W. Marriott Hotel, Mall of America, Bloomington — Food, drinks, music, dancing; Grammy Award-winning jazz vocalist Kurt Elling (class of ’89) will perform throughout the night with Hollywood actor Peter Breitmayer (class of ’87) serving as emcee — $175 per person, visit gustavus.edu for tickets.

13-16

‘Nocturne’ 7:30 p.m. in Minnesota State University’s Andreas Theatre in the Earley Center for the Performing Arts — Tickets are $10 — This play tells the story of a piano prodigy who flees to find himself in New York following the death of his sister; while there he tries to cope with her tragic death.

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15

‘Whose Line Is It Mankato’ Doors open at 6:30 p.m., show starts at 7:30 p.m. in the Mankato Civic Center Grand Hall — Tickets are $50, all seats reserved — Professional improv actors will team with local community leaders in this fundraising event for MRCI.

16

Trampled By Turtles Doors open at 7 p.m., show starts at 8 p.m. at the Mankato Civic Center Arena; Opening act is Frankie Lee — Tickets are $39 for general admission on the floor, and $29 for reserved seating in the risers — Visit the civic center box office or ticketmaster.com.

8-10, 15-16

‘Dr. Faustus’ 7:30 p.m. Nov. 8, 9, 15, 16, 2 p.m. Nov. 10 at the Sigurd K. Lee Theater at Bethany Lutheran College — Brilliant and successful scientist John Faustus conjures a demon named Mephistopheles and offers his soul in exchange for absolute knowledge and power.

21

Songshare, featuring Nate LeBoutillier Doors open at 6:30 p.m., music starts at 7 p.m. at the Arts Center St. Peter — Songshare is a storytelling venue for musicians and songwriters — $10 at the door.

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Owatonna - 1170 E. Frontage Road - 507-455-1000 Rochester - 3110 Wellner Dr. NE - 507-536-7700 or visit us at mainstreetdentalclinics.com

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MANKATO MAGAZINE • NOVEMBER 2019 • 57

COMMUNITY DRAWS

By Kat Baumann

» C OME JU DGE

for 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.

MANKATO MAGAZINE • NOVEMBER 2019 • 59

FROM THIS VALLEY

By Pete Steiner

A WAR STORY “My darling Mickee, just a few lines to let you know, I am still in good health. It is not necessary for me to tell you that this has been a tough operation …”

(War Department V-mail from off Iwo Jima, 19 March 1945)

H

erewith a family story, related in honor of the upcoming Veterans’ Day. It is about my father, Bill, who as a member of the Fourth Marine Division survived Iwo Jima, and about my mother, Mickee, who waited for several harrowing years of World War II to become my father’s wife. The most harrowing year for both: 1945. And your math is correct: coming up on 2020, we will mark the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II and many of its most legendary events. nnnn Like so many of the Greatest Generation, my dad seldom talked about the war. As it says in the foreword to his hardcover copy of “The Fourth Marine Division in World War II,” “Nobody ever quite understands a battle unless he was in it.” As boys, my brother and I were fascinated by that large book. We paged through it, looking at grisly wartime photos from operations in the South Pacific: a tank is firing a long burst of liquid flame at a fortified position. We ask: “What are they burning, Dad?” He paused and said, “Japanese soldiers.” nnnn Iwo Jima is a tiny island more than 6,500 miles from Mankato. A more important statistic, however, is this: It is just 700 miles from Tokyo. As World War II buffs know, it was a key strategic target needed for our bombers and a potential final assault on the Japanese mainland. The Japanese fighters defending the island were sworn to kill 10 Marines before giving up their own lives, sworn to the ancient Japanese warrior code of Bushido: death before dishonor. Thus would Iwo become the bloodiest battle of the Pacific, with more than 6,800 Marines killed in action over its five-week duration, and 20,000 Japanese dead (five of every six defenders,) numbers that place Iwo Jima in the same sentence with Verdun, Normandy, Stalingrad and Gettysburg. nnnn Bill got his Marine Corps certification as a second lieutenant in artillery operations at Quantico, VA, in May of 1944. Nine months later, he would land on Iwo with the 10th wave — the only artillery battalion to make it ashore on Feb. 19, 1945, the first day of the battle. His good buddy, Patrucco, would take an artillery shell to the neck.

Bill moved ahead with the frontline infantry as a forward observer for his unit’s 75-mm pack howitzers, useful on Iwo because of their maneuverability. Despite having 60 • NOVEMBER 2019 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

been subjected to months of the heaviest bombardment of any Pacific target, the elite Japanese soldiers on Iwo were dug in to fortified, honeycombed emplacements that allowed them to survive, and focus intense fire on the incoming Marines. As combat correspondent, Sgt David Dempsey wrote, “Every defended position had to be taken by total annihilation of the defenders.” Through the ankle-deep volcanic ash on the nearly treeless island — which some said looked like the surface of the moon — the Marines advanced sometimes just 100 yards a day. nnnn Back in Minnesota, Mickee could only read news reports of the intense battle, not knowing Bill’s fate.

Finally she got a letter, dated March 21, 1945: “Your prayers have all been answered … all of us who are safe could just as easily have been one of the boys … buried on Iwo Jima. ... [As his landing craft came ashore, the Japanese had] … just gotten the range of the beach with their artillery … we stepped into a barrage. ... I lost a lot of my pals here, Mickee … Most of what I would say, you would find hard to believe. The things we have seen here, no one wants to ever see again.” nnnn That we are here on this Earth at all, able to experience beauty and joy, and yes, even pain, is a miracle. Despite every bifurcation in countless roads over centuries, somehow the journey led to you and to me. I’ve written before about how much more unlikely my existence is, given that my dad had to first survive Iwo Jima.

Bill would soon return to Hawaii, where the Fourth would have to rebuild, not knowing if it would be needed for a final assault on the Japanese mainland. Iwo Jima had offered a preview of what that might have been like. Of course, following the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Pacific war would end within five months, and the invasion never came.

On Jan. 10, 1946, Mickee received a telegram from Honolulu. It was Bill saying he’d be arriving in Mankato the afternoon of Jan. 13.

“Better come down and meet me — sure is cold [there]!”

Weary of so much death, he was ready for life: he would propose that night. They married two weeks later. In August of 1947, their first-born arrived. The Baby Boom was in full swing.

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

SAY GOODBYE TO NERVE PAIN.

Live more comfortably with expert carpal tunnel and nerve care from Mayo Clinic Health System. You’ll say goodbye to frustrating nerve pain, tingling and numbness that keep you from living your best life. From your first appointment, our team of experts evaluate you as a whole person, not just your injury. That allows us to personalize care to your exact needs and focus on your total recovery. Don’t wait to return to an active, healthy, happy life filled with your favorite activities.

Call 507-246-1963 for an appointment. mayoclinichealthsystem.org/peripheralnerve

MANKATO MAGAZINE • NOVEMBER 2019 • 61

ARE YOU SUFFERING FROM

KNEE PAIN? A PROVEN ALTERNATIVE

TO KNEE SURGERY 50,000+ Procedures Performed Average Cost Below $3K Financing Available Non-Invasive Stem Cell Therapy using your own stem cells I’ve had a full knee replacement in one knee and the other treated with stem cell therapy. My knee that received stem cell therapy is now in almost perfect condition. After my full knee replacement surgery, I couldn’t kneel without pain. Dr. Oliver placed injections under the patella in the replacement knee and I can now kneel pain-free. After I received the stem cell therapy in both knees I felt relief in under a month. Now a year later I feel almost pain-free.

– Dale Tauer, 68, Morgan, MN Located in Mankato Clinic’s New Office in North Mankato on Lookout Drive

Kristin Oliver, MD

Regenerative Orthopedics Specialist & Sports Medicine

Doctor-to-Doctor Consultations Welcome

507-385-4014

1575 Lookout Drive, North Mankato • bluetailmedicalgroup.com

62 • NOVEMBER 2019 • MANKATO MAGAZINE