MktoMag/May2017

Changing our community for the better

KEEPING GOOD PEOPLE:

YOUNG GUNS

How hard can it be?

MOTHER’S DAY

is coming. Tell mom you love her Check out

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Sheri Sander-Silva of Feeding Our Communities Partners MAY 2017

The Free Press MEDIA

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Make getting adequate sleep a healthy habit: Stick to a regular bed and wake time, even on weekends and days off.

Shut your mind off. A couple of hours before bed, jot down what’s on your mind and set it aside for the next day.

Unplug. Avoid electronics in the hour before bedtime – especially in the bedroom.

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F EATUR ES MAY 2017 Volume 12, Issue 5

12

Young Guns

These five young professionals are making their lives count.

22

Talent retention

The art of keeping good talent in the community is a tricky one.

30

Mother’s Day

This essay will remind you to hug your mom this month.

ABOUT THE COVER Sheri Sander-Silva epitomizes the young, idealistic professionals that make Mankato great.

She was photographed at Feeding Our Communities Partners by Pat Christman.

MANKATO MAGAZINE • MAY 2017 • 3

DEPARTMENTS 6 From the Editor 8 This Day in History 9 The Gallery

Denise Friesen

10 Beyond the Margin Protests remembered

9

12 Day Trip Destinations

Lindy Fest

24 Essay Remember Mom 28 Then & Now Abe Lincoln’s first, last visitor 34 Food, Drink & Dine 35 Food

Chinese lettuce wraps

37 Wine

10

Chardonnays

38 Beer Maifest 49 Happy Hour Mezcal

41 Food Tea 43 That’s Life Understanding Candyland

24

36

45 Garden Chat For gardeners, it’s GO time 47 Your Style Buckle up. Jean confusion is about

to get worse.

49 Coming Attractions 50 Faces & Places 53 From This Valley A stroll down Madison Avenue

Coming in June

44 4 • MAY 2017 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

48

We continue our trend of focusing on model citizens.

This time, we’ll introduce you to some youngsters already changing the world.

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MANKATO MAGAZINE • MAY 2017 • 5

ƪƘƳƱ ƷƬƩ ƥƶƶƳƧƭƥƷƩ ƩƨƭƷƳƘ

By Robb Murray MAY 2017 • VOLUME 12, ISSUE 5 PUBLISHER

Steve Jameson

EDITOR Joe Spear ASSOCIATE Robb Murray EDITOR CONTRIBUTORS Nell Musolf Pete Steiner Jean Lundquist Sarah Johnson Leigh Pomeroy Bert Mattson Leticia Gonzales Ann Rosenquist Fee Bryce O. Stenzel James Figy Brian Arola PHOTOGRAPHERS Pat Christman Jackson Forderer PAGE DESIGNER

Christina Sankey

ADVERTISING Phil Seibel MANAGER ADVERTISING Jordan Greer SALES Josh Zimmerman Marianne Carlson Theresa Haefner Thomas Frank ADVERTISING Barb Wass ASSISTANT ADVERTISING Sue Hammar DESIGNERS Christina Sankey CIRCULATION Justin Niles DIRECTOR

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

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

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

For advertising, call 344-6336, or e-mail mankatomag@mankatofreepress.com.

6 • MAY 2017 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

Young and wild and free

W

hen I was a young, idealistic journalist fresh out of college, I was extremely lucky to be in the right place at the right time to land a job at The Free Press. I had a few

Ű Ĩ Ǖ

to be.

I’d already come to like the town and its people, and when you’re launching a career, you could do a lot worse than start in Mankato.

Work two years here, then move on up the ladder of the journalism world, which usually means moving to progressively larger newspapers in larger towns until eventually you end up at a major metropolitan daily newspaper.

My goal was to someday work for the Pioneer Press in St. Paul, my hometown.

Funny thing happened, though.

The more we stayed in Mankato, the more it just felt like home.

And a big part of that, I think, was the kind of energy this town engenders. Big enough for decent rock concerts but small enough to avoid any kind of traffic nightmares, it attracts people who see in this place a chance to make an impact. Real impact on real people. When you operate in meaningful ways in Mankato, there’s nothing anonymous about it.

The individuals we’re featuring this month are the kind who are spending their young professional years in Mankato not because they have to, but because they want to.

They’ve all recognized the same thing I did along the way: this community has much more to

Ű Ǖ ǔ ǔ\ 3 of your world view includes trying to make the world a better place, Mankato, it seems, is as good a place as any to do that.

This issue also explores the tricky notion of talent retention

and the factors involved in keeping good, talented young people in

Ǖ

Ǖ ǔ Ų

north to the big city.

And on the essay front, we’re bringing you one this month — the month of Mother’s Day — that will remind you to hug your mom while you can.

Elsewhere in this issue: ■ We’ ve go t a n ew re g u l a r contributor whose first Mankato Magazine piece runs this month. James Figy will be handling our Day Trip Destinations feature for a while.

This month he’s introduced us to something called Lindy Fest, so get your dancing shoes ready, you guys.

■ A n n Fe e ’ s s t y l e c o l u m n deconstructs the current state of denim. Be prepared to direct a more critical eye toward your own personal “jeanscape.”

■ Pete Steiner takes us for a stroll down memory lane — well, actually it’s a stroll down Madison Avenue — to ǔ ǔ Ű

be on Mankato’s most famous street. Jean Lundquist says it’s ű &#

Ĩ and Nell Musolf comes to terms with Candyland. All of our columnists really brought their A-game this month. MM

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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MANKATO MAGAZINE • MAY 2017 • 7

Printing more than just your everyday color!

ƷƬƭƶ ƨƥƼ ƭƲ ƬƭƶƷƳƘƼ

By Jean Lundquist Friday, May 15, 1970 Dutch Schumacher keeps Kato’s doctors smiling From garbologist to carparkologist? This could only happen in Mankato, where there lives a man with a near-constant grin on his face by the name of Ervin “Dutch” Schumacker. This garbologist has come from the garbage dump, to the Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show in New York, to the parking lot at the Immanuel St. Joseph’s Hospital on Mankato’s hilltop. Dutch works four hours a day as parking lot attendant.

Dutch is a 27-year veteran of the garbage collection business in Mankato.

He gained national exposure two years ago when he appeared on Carson’s show, billed as a “Singing Garbologist.” In his own fashion, he’s developed quite a rapport with doctors, replete with his own Schumacher witticisms. As one hospital maintenance worker said as he walked through the parking lot, “At least he’s got the doctors smiling when they go in in the morning.”

Monday, May 2, 1932 Zotalis twins kite champions for second time Eros and Clainthis Zotalis, whose family owns the Mankato Candy #Ǖ Ĩ

Ǖ Ǖ 5$(% ! . Ǖ contest. Their homemade Silver Star ascended to an altitude of 650 feet at the airport Saturday afternoon. Second place went to Harry B. French, Jr. His smaller kite Swallow attained a distance of 515 feet. L. J. Sohler judged the contest in his plane. He gave rides in his plane to the first place winners of the contest.

Wednesday, May 5, 1950 Home building permits jump to 35 in April C.A. Ingwalson, city building inspector, today reported unusual activity in new home construction in Mankato. In a report to the city council, he said his department issued 35 permits for new home construction last month, while in 1949, only 9 were issued. All told, last month permits totaling $355,400 were granted. There seems to be unusual activity in new home construction, Ingwalson reported.

Friday, May 1, 1907 News from other towns Good Thunder — Ben Alex, the eccentric traveling representative of a LaCrosse tailoring house, well known at this place for his jollity, rotundity and sleeping proclivities, met with an accident on Friday.

Perched in an engine window at the mill, he was alternately taking ǔ ǔ

Ǖ Ǖ

# Ĩ Ǖ Ĩ

snoring. Passing off into dreamland, he took a header to the railroad tracks below, and was considerably shaken up. Later in the day, his right foot commenced to swell, since which time he has been hobbling around on one foot, the other bare. To allay the pain, he occasionally gives it a cold water douche from nearby hydrant. Alex is a character, but the boys all like him and are glad to see that his injuries are only temporary.

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Going for

big beauty Artist says great scenery can be found close to home

T

here is no shortage of naturistic inspiration in Mankato or the surrounding area for local printmaker and artist, Denise Friesen.

“All around Mankato there are ravines and river valleys,” said Friesen. “I canoe a lot with my husband and we go out on the rivers. It’s just really beautiful.”

Friesen, who teaches elementary art in Lake Crystal, has been producing art with monotypes and monoprints since she was a student at Minnesota State University more than 20 years ago.

The smaller prints, said Friesen, allow her to have control over how much color she uses.

“Some of the colors have an ability to hold the lines,” she said. “The lines would hold other colors inside of it. You Êè¼ Ê ¼Êã Ê¡ «ė Ø Ãã ã¨«Ã¢Ü ô«ã¨ «ãʃ so you could have more or less detail as you want.”

Despite the ease of working with smaller prints, Friesen decided she wanted to go “really big.”

With the help of a grant from the Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council, she was able to make that happen. But

instead of dragging around a 60-inch wide canvas to capture the beauty around her, Friesen picked up a new technique.

“One of the things that I had seen that I really loved, was a triple panel painting, where that break between the canvases was a beautiful part of what happens in that painting,” she said.

The panels not only allow her to “go back and forth between the small monotypes and the large paintings,” but to feature objects from a distance: “a larger piece, a larger picture.”

“The paintings are more of the details, you know, so I can get into more tiny bits of color and it would be a tiny part of the image, but it has been enlarged, a lot,” Friesen said.

From the variance of hues in the sky, to the coloring of the foliage, Friesen pays close attention to the changing landscape as the seasons shift.

“I really am inspired by what’s out there in the natural world,” she expressed.

For the past 15 years, Friesen has been involved with a group of about 20

artists from the Twin Cities and out of state called Project Art for Nature (PAN).

“With the art, we try to draw attention to the fact that people go to faraway places for beauty,” she said. “You go to Hawaii, you go to Alaska; what is in Minnesota is incredibly beautiful, but people really don’t get that. They don’t see it, although they are starting to see it more. What we try to do is draw attention to that beauty, but also the fact that a lot of that is very threatened ú «ė Ø Ãã «ÜÜè Ü ã¨ ã Ê èÕʈʮ That attention is usually achieved by focusing on places that aren’t “overly developed,” like the scientific and natural area of the Kasota Prairie.

“Also, through our titles, and other things, we try to bring out the idea that this is beautiful, but this is something we need to pay attention to,” she explained. “It’s kind of a soft way to get people’s attention. I feel like if people see the beauty in something, they are more likely to want to protect it than if you are always coming at them.”

MANKATO MAGAZINE • MAY 2017 • 9

In May 1972, about 3,000 Mankato State College students blocked entrances to Mankato in protest of the Vietnam War.

10 • MAY 2017 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

ƌƊƟƳƲƨ ơƏƊ ĆąĆĽĆ˜ĆŤĆ­Ć˛

By Joe Spear

Today’s lesson learned 45 years ago T

he changing media landscape was on the menu when three mass media professors and former journalists, a working journalist and a communications teacher imparted their wisdom on “The Media’s Role in a Democratic Society.�

A couple hundred students took their places, while community members crowded in the back — standing room only. Students wanted to know how they could make Â Â“ÂŤÄ—Â—Ă˜Â—ĂƒÂ?— ÂŤĂƒ ĂŁÂ¨ÂŤĂœ ĂƒÂ—Ă´ Â—Ă˜Â Ă´Â¨Â—Ă˜Â— 㨗 Â˘ĂŠĂłÂ—Ă˜ĂƒĂ‚Â—ĂƒĂŁ ĂœÂ ĂşĂœ 㨗 media is the “enemy of the people.â€?

We concluded that Facebook and fake news have replaced Walter Cronkite who told us from 1962 to 1981 “That’s the way ÂŤĂŁ ÂŤĂœĘŽ Â Ăœ ¨— ĂœÂŤÂ˘ĂƒÂ—Â“ ĂŠÄ— Â Ăœ Â ĂƒÂ?Â¨ĂŠĂ˜ ĂŠÂĄ 㨗 Z ĂłÂ—ĂƒÂŤĂƒÂ˘ BÂ—Ă´ĂœĘƒ ĂŠĂƒÂ— ĂŠÂĄ ĂŠĂƒÂźĂş ĂŁÂ¨Ă˜Â—Â— ՟ Â?Â—Ăœ ô— Â?Ê蟓 ÄƒĂƒÂ“ Êèã ĘŻĂ´Â¨Â ĂŁĘ°Ăœ Â˘ĂŠÂŤĂƒĘ° ĂŠĂƒĘˆĘ° In 1972 Mankato, there was a lot goin’ on.

The divides were great. Many were not “pledging their allegianceâ€? and many did not see our country as “one nation under God indivisibleâ€? even though that was the line they Ă´Â—Ă˜Â— Ă˜Â—Ă—Ă¨ÂŤĂ˜Â—Â“ ĂŁĂŠ Ă˜Â—Â?ã— ĂœÂŤĂƒÂ?— ÄƒĂ˜ĂœĂŁ Â˘Ă˜Â Â“Â—Ęˆ In May 1972 President Richard Nixon had mined North Vietnamese ports without asking Congress. Mankato State College students took to the streets.

John Fogerty told young people, “the cannon’s pointin’ at youâ€? and they believed him. Neil Young took over the bedtime ĂœĂŁĂŠĂ˜ÂŤÂ—ĂœĘ‚ Ę­aÂŤĂƒ ĂœĂŠÂźÂ“ÂŤÂ—Ă˜Ăœ Â ĂƒÂ“ BÂŤĂšĂŠĂƒĘ°Ăœ Â?ĂŠĂ‚ÂŤĂƒĘ°Ęƒ Ă´Â—Ę°Ă˜Â— ÄƒĂƒÂ ÂźÂźĂş ĂŠĂƒ ĂŠĂ¨Ă˜ own. This summer I hear the drummin’, four dead in Ohio.â€?

The National Guard shot and killed four student protesters at Kent State University in Ohio two years earlier.

When news hit of Nixon’s escalation of the war, the students were mobilized. “That night, as soon as that happened, people converged on the student union from all over town,� Scott Hagebak told The Free Press in 2012.

The college allowed the students to sleep in the union the night before. They formed a plan for the demonstration. “The demonstrations up to that point had been down to 㨗 Ă•ĂŠĂœĂŁ ĂŠÄœÂ?— Â ĂƒÂ“ Œ Â?ÂšĘƒ Â ĂƒÂ“ , ĂŁÂ¨ÂŤĂƒÂš ĂŁÂ¨Â—Ă˜Â— Ă´Â Ăœ Â Ă˜Â—Â Âź ÂĄÂ—Â—ÂźÂŤĂƒÂ˘ that nobody noticed,â€? Hagebak said. “The decision was made that night that we wanted to make the city of Mankato stop and consider. Ę­ĘˆĘˆĘˆ Ę›aÂ¨Â—Ă˜Â— Â Ă˜Â—Ęœ ÂźĂŠĂŁĂœ ĂŠÂĄ Â“ÂŤÄ—Â—Ă˜Â—ĂƒĂŁ ÂĄÂ—Â—ÂźÂŤĂƒÂ˘Ăœ ĂŠÂĄ ô¨ ã Â¨Â Ă•Ă•Â—ĂƒÂ—Â“ that day. But there came out of the group that night a discussion that we want to let Mankato know that we’re not out to just create havoc, but we’re committed to what we’re doing.â€?

In Mankato, old film footage showed 3,000 students walking down the hill, blocking entrances to the city on the Main Street and North Star bridges. Some climbed telephone Ă•ĂŠÂźÂ—Ăœ Â ĂƒÂ“ Ÿã ĂœĂ‚Â ÂźÂź ÄƒĂ˜Â—ĂœĘˆ ÂŒĂŠĂ‚ÂŒ Â—ĂœĂŁÂŤĂ‚Â ĂŁÂ—Â“  ã ȟȚ ĂœĂŁÂŤÂ?ÂšĂœ ĂŠÂĄ dynamite went off in the law enforcement center under construction, causing $300,000 in damages. Another bomb destroyed a truck at the Mankato Army Reserve center.

Protesters were maced. Some were threatened. Police stopped a “truckload of burly construction workers� with baseball bats who wanted to “kick some butt.�

And Cronkite was on the news every night with more graphic pictures from the war, in direct contradiction to the government’s story. "Â ĂœĂŁ ÂĄĂŠĂ˜Ă´Â Ă˜Â“ ȽȞ ĂşÂ—Â Ă˜Ăœ Â ĂƒÂ“ 㨗 ĂœĂŁĂ¨Â“Â—ĂƒĂŁĂœ ÄƒÂźÂź 㨗 Ă˜ĂŠĂŠĂ‚ ĂŠĂƒ campus not far from where the protesters of 1972 organized.

They’re here to learn about democracy and the media.

Some ask about the distractions of social media. Students of color ask how they can be heard. Some say they feel powerless and ask what they media can do to help. The media, we say, can show people how they can influence change, a lesson learned by their peers 45 years ago.

The press became a powerful force in 1972 when two low level reporters by the names of Woodward and Bernstein at the Washington Post eventually forced a president to resign, all after “following the money� in what seemed like a routine burglary case of the Watergate hotel.

7ĂŠĂ¨Ă˜ĂƒÂ ÂźÂŤĂœĂ‚ ĂœÂ?Â¨ĂŠĂŠÂźĂœ Ă´Â—Ă˜Â— ĄÊʓ—“ ôã¨  Õ՟Â?Â ĂƒĂŁĂœĘˆ "ĂŠĂ˜ 㨗 ÄƒĂ˜ĂœĂŁ ĂŁÂŤĂ‚Â—Ęƒ ĂşĂŠĂ¨ĂƒÂ˘ ՗Ê՟— Â?Ê蟓 ĂœÂ—Â— ÂŒÂ—ÂĄĂŠĂ˜Â— ĂŁÂ¨Â—ÂŤĂ˜ ĂłÂ—Ă˜Ăş ĂŠĂ´Ăƒ Â—ĂşÂ—Ăœ ¨Êô 㨗ú Â?Ê蟓  š— Â Â“ÂŤÄ—Â—Ă˜Â—ĂƒÂ?Â—Ęˆ rĂŠĂŠÂ“Ă´Â Ă˜Â“ Â ĂƒÂ“ Â—Ă˜ĂƒĂœĂŁÂ—ÂŤĂƒ gave faith to an entire generation of journalists. And our country was better for it.

There was a tremendous amount of country-changing journalism that was done in the 30 or more years after Woodward and Bernstein. The Vietnam War ended. The fallout of Agent Orange was revealed. The risks of nuclear energy were exposed.

News became relevant and big business. Ted Koppel counted down the Iranian hostage crisis, day by day, night be night, and when it was over, the nightly news and Koppel’s “Nightline� would last for years unveiling all the things politicians said they’d do but didn’t come true.

But this forum wasn’t about history. It was about Trumpism and discrimination and Black Lives that don’t seem to matter in the current events that are shaping the modern culture.

Students asked about the distractions of “fake news� and Trump’s Twitter theocracy, and how they can know what is real. There were no easy answers. Being informed is hard work. And we sometimes only get there when we’re pushed into the streets like 1972 or onto the information superhighway in 2017.

We could say the more things change, the more they stay the same. Young people have always looked for a way to ÂŤĂƒÄ„Ă¨Â—ĂƒÂ?— 㨗 Ă´ĂŠĂ˜ÂźÂ“ ĂŁÂ¨Â—ÂŤĂ˜ Ă•Â Ă˜Â—ĂƒĂŁĂœ Ÿ—¥ã ĂŁÂ¨Â—Ă‚Ęƒ ôã¨ ÂĄĂ˜Ă¨ĂœĂŁĂ˜Â ĂŁÂŤĂŠĂƒĂœ and anxiety.

We have another president who doesn’t like the press, and yes, Carl Bernstein is still around as a senior political analyst Joe Spear is editor of Mankato Magazine. Contact him at jspear@mankatofreepress.com or 344-6382. Follow on Twitter @jfspear.

MANKATO MAGAZINE • MAY 2017 • 11

Day Trip Destinations: Midwest Lindy Fest

By James Figy

Midwest Lindy Fest

Swings into Action ‘You’re not bad. You’re new’

O

n the riverboat, dance partners swing to the beats of big band standards.

Others watch, talk, enjoy drinks and listen to jazz as the whole party floats down the Mississippi River, the Minneapolis skyline lit 12 • MAY 2017 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

up in the background.

Though it sounds like a documentary about the Roaring ’20s, this is the start of Midwest Lindy Fest, four days of dance, instruction, competition and socialization. The mix of music,

movement and meeting others has drawn dancers to this annual Twin Cities event since it started in 2000, according to organizers Shawn Lavelle and Shane Allen.

“We dance to traditional ’30s and ’40s swing music, and it’s still

exciting,” Allen said. “There’s a lot of corny jazz music out there, but we hire people who’ve been around and have good taste.”

The musical lineup includes local jazz acts Patty & the Buttons, the Fat Babies, the Southside Aces and Twin Cities Hot Club, as well as a number of DJs. Hiring local bands is one way to show off the Twin Cities to attendees from across the region and the world.

Thursday’s riverboat kickoff costs $30 in advance and draws many non-dancers who simply enjoy the atmosphere. However, a weekend pass for dancers looking to compete and learn costs $189.

Midwest Lindy Fest charges as little as possible, according to Lavelle who took over the registered nonprofit in 2008.

“We break even,” Lavelle said.

“We do it because we love the event and we love the scene, not because we’re trying to make oodles of money.”

A $79 dance pass buys nighttime dance and competition access. It works well for out-of-town dancers who want to see Minneapolis, Lavelle said.

“During the day, they’re free to go explore,” he said. “Then they come and dance with us all night.”

“And it is all night,” Allen added.

“It’ll go from about 8 p.m. to 3 in the morning.”

A $99 crash course pass gives access to nighttime dances and morning lessons. An open instruction session takes place on Saturday morning, and after a brief audition, the nationally known Lindy Hop instructors divide dancers into courses based on skill level.

“Classes tend to work better if the folks in the class are at about the same level,” Lavelle said. “If you want to teach more advanced material, you need students to have a shared background and a shared skill set.”

Although the instruction sessions favor dancers with experience, the event is open to all levels. Allen encourages everyone to try, even though many people feel apprehensive at first.

“One of our local teachers in his first lessons always says, ‘You’re not bad — you’re new,’” Allen said.

“You have to try really hard for a year before you get to decide you’re bad.”

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Midwest Lindy Fest Four Seasons Studio & other venues in Minneapolis

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Visit midwestlindyfest.com for more details MANKATO MAGAZINE • MAY 2017 • 13

Young Guns When it comes to young talent, Mankato seems to have more than its fair share

By Robb Murray | Photos by Pat Christman

T

hey are the creators and thinkers. They are the healers, the light bringers, the music makers. They are among the brightest stars in the talent-infested galaxy that is Mankato.

One of the greatest measures of any community is how vibrant its young professional demographic is.

If the best and brightest young people leave as soon as they can and never return, that wouldn’t speak very well of the community.

But that’s not the case here.

The Mankato area has been doing a stellar job of hanging onto the young vibrant minds that serve as proof that the region has much more to offer than a great school system.

Dr. Colin Weerts graduated from Mankato West High School in 2003. After attending the University of Minnesota and medical school, Weerts returned to Mankato because, he said, he knew it’d be a great place to start a career and a family. He’s studied in Costa Rica, Spain and Australia, but now that he’s here with a wife and two kids, he’s got no plans to live anywhere else.

Dana Sikkila’s face is just about everywhere these days. The dynamic leader of the 410 Project is changing the way we think about art, about how it can fit into the lives of young people, and what it means to connect a nonprofit to the community in meaningful ways. The 410 was included in the YWCA’s Women of Distinction awards this year, with most of the credit due to Sikkila’s leadership.

She rides her bike everywhere.

Matthias Leyrer is a guy who takes civic duty to new heights. While he may not have won, the young

14 • MAY 2017 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

Bethany Lutheran College graduate ran for North Mankato City Council last year, knocking on as many doors as he could, pushing a message of civic engagement. He publishes a blog that focuses on wise urban planning, a blog that for several years has advocated for the return of a vibrant downtown, smarter parking and road design, and even predicted the demise of the Sears store in the River Hills Mall.

Colin Scharf is the epitome of a multi-tasker. The filmmaker/writer/musician/educator has been a familiar face at area music venues with his band, Good Night Gold Dust. He played the lead role in the Merely Players’ production of “The Buddy Holly Story,” published a literary journal for horror fiction, produced an original film using local actors and teaches composition classes to Minnesota State University students.

And last but not least, Sheri Sander-Silva is the reason magazines do articles like this. As the executive director for Feeding Our Communities Partners (the organization that created the Backpack Food Program), she’s leading the charge to make sure no child goes to bed hungry at night. Before taking on that challenge, she spearheaded the YWCA’s Girls on the Run program, where girls work to unleash their self confidence through running and mentoring.

You’ll learn a little more about each of them on the following pages. But know this: We could have filled a dozen magazines with the high-achieving young professionals in Mankato. This community is attracting more every day. MM

Colin Weerts

Hometown: Mankato Current employer: Mankato Clinic (Family practice, Wickersham campus)

1

What does community engagement mean to you?

Is it important?

To me it means being invested in the community through supporting local organizations whether that be which businesses you choose to go to or attending local events that support local business, charities and schools. It also means doing whatever we can to improve the local community in any way we are able.

2 3 4

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be either a doctor or an architect.

What do you do when you’re not busy making the world a better place?

I enjoy spending time outdoors either hunting, skiing or spending time on the lake.

7

Who inspires you?

Congressman Tim Walz. He was my high school geography teacher who became a congressman because of his desire to be involved in what he believes in. I also think he is one of the few people who has maintained his integrity in office and fights for what he believes in, whether or not you disagree with him.

8 9

If you could have an hour with anyone who has ever lived, who would it be and why?

Elon Musk, I think he has the drive and passion to actually change the world through technological innovation.

If you were trapped on a desert island with a somehowfunctioning turntable, what album would you want on that turntable and why?

Bob Marley, Exodus.

At least it would feel like I was on a beach vacation.

Why have you made Mankato part of your professional life?

Moving back to Mankato to practice medicine was never really an intention of mine while I was in school but it is just such a great town and a great place to raise a family.

5 6

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

I hope to still be practicing medicine in Mankato.

Favorite thing about the Mankato area?

Mankato is a little big town, meaning that it has everything I need and most things I want but when I go out somewhere I almost always see someone I know.

MANKATO MAGAZINE • MAY 2017 • 15

Dana Sikkila

Hometown: Litchfield, Minnesota Current employer: Executive Director, 410 Project;

Adjunct instructor, MSU; Volunteer Coordinator for the Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota

1

What does community engagement mean to you? Is it important?

Community Engagement is one the most important things we need to consider when being artists, and being an active community art space. My mission as a creative leader in this community is to create emphasis on the importance art has on our individuals, economy, and community sustainability. To highlight how art of all genres can provide a positive impact on everyone and help build the creative minds of our youth.

2

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

When I was younger I really had no direction in life. I never really pictured what I wanted to be when I grew up. I had a hard time in high school and barely graduated. All I knew was I learned best by using my hands. In high school I took a lot of automotive a wood-building classes just because I knew I could pass them. I didn’t know I wanted to go into the arts until I got to college.

3 4

What do you do when you’re not busy making the world a better place?

I don’t have a lot of spare time, I love to stay busy and working all the time. But when I do, I love to bike with friends, hangout with my dogs and family, and attend live music events.

Why have you made Mankato part of your professional life?

I have made Mankato part of my professional life because I’ve become completely connected to this community, the people and what art can be in the town. I’ve spent years and years of hard work to be able to have somewhat of a voice in this town when it comes to art. I still struggle with people taking me seriously but I’m here to fight for art in the community but also the whole state of Minnesota. I’ve invested myself into our youth and want to see them thrive.

I am a visual artist and here in Mankato am still able to make and exhibit my work all over the state. You don’t have to live in a big city to be a successful artist.

5

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

I truly have no idea where I see myself in 10 years. I’m someone who lives for now and is always taking new opportunities as them come. All I know is I love living in Minnesota, working in the arts, and love my dogs. What that holds for me, I have no idea.

See more Q&A about Dana on page 20.

16 • MAY 2017 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

Colin Scharf

Hometown: Ellicottville, New York Current employer: English instructor at MSU;

social media PR for Scheitel’s Music; freelance writer, sound recording engineer and filmmaker.

1

What does community engagement mean to you?

Is it important?

Community engagement, to me, means offering opportunities for creative expression. I’ve been most successful at this by making movies. My most recent film, “The Marmal Chronicles,” featured over 50 actors, many of whom have little to no experience. The most rewarding part was screening the film at the Arts Center of Saint Peter: Everyone saw how great they were, and maybe saw themselves in a new light. Maybe, more accurately, community engagement means inspiring people to surprise themselves.

2

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I really wanted to be a Ghostbuster, then an astronaut, then a writer, an actor, a musician … I guess (astronaut aside) I’ve grown into my childhood dreams. I’ve always wanted to be able to do as many creative things as possible.

3

What do you do when you’re not busy making the world a better place?

I have this obsession with time and a somewhat crippling awareness when I’m wasting it, and so have difficulty “relaxing.” But I’ve found yoga to be incredibly rewarding for its physical and mental benefits. Running helps, too, and keeps me in shape for playing with Good Night Gold Dust. I also love hockey and will occasionally rabbit-hole on players’ stats. Wayne Gretzky’s numbers are outrageous.

4

Why have you made Mankato part of your professional life?

There’s an edgy DIY spirit to this city that aligns with my artistic upbringing. I grew up in the woods, with limited access to the Internet and artist networks.

Nothing was easy, and this made me a stronger artist.

Things are a little easier in Mankato, and I’ve established great relationships within the artist community that have helped me pursue my art (music, filmmaking, writing) and exceed my own expectations.

5

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

My partner Laura and I have our sights set on the Twin Cities. Good Night Gold Dust has been really well-received there, and a move to the Cities would likely afford us some next-level opportunities. Either way, we’ll be in Minnesota.

It’s an incredible state for artists—there are so many grant opportunities and so much appreciation for the arts.

See more Q&A about Colin on page 20 MANKATO MAGAZINE • MAY 2017 • 17

Matthias Leyrer

Hometown: New Ulm Current employer: Carlson Craft

1

What does community engagement mean to you?

Is it important?

Community engagement literally just means showing up even if it’s just one or two meetings. There’s so many people out there that complain about the state of the (nation, state, city) and never show up to voice their opinions! It’s critical to democracy that you show up and say something. Don’t be scared if your opinion is unpopular or what the ramifications may be, just show up! If you don’t want to go the politics routes, there’s a bunch of citizen committees that you can be a part of or, heck, just start a blog.

2

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

No clue. I would be on and off things all the time and guess what? I still don’t really know. I think there’s a million things I could do and that’s the blessing and the curse. Two things I know I want: financial independence and working for myself. Right now I’m hoping to focus on real estate development. I want to be the guy who rebuilds downtown Mankato. But again, who knows what the future holds. My only dread is being paralyzed by indecision and not moving ahead.

3

What do you do when you’re not busy making the world a better place?

I work on my house a lot (fixer upper.) But I try and stay pretty busy. Idle hands are the devil’s workshop, dontchyaknow. I like my occasional night in or night out, but other than that I spend time at home just being a regular joe, figuring out life and contemplating what my next endeavors will be.

4

Why have you made Mankato part of your professional life?

Depends on how you’re defining “professional.” I don’t really care for the handshaking, suit wearing, platituding scene. I like organic, unkempt action. Stuff like Key City Bike, Fuzztalk Radio, 410 project, RJKT Magazine. Ideas that get bootstrapped into existence without catered meals and silent auctions. People just doing stuff and we’ve got a pretty good amount of that around here. A lot of motivated individuals looking to change their community, all of them easily just as “rockstar” as me, if not more.

5

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Oh man, 10 years, I have no idea. I’ve entertained a million different scenarios in my head.

It’s really hard to say where I’ll be. I don’t think I’ll care too much as long as I’m still doing something that fixes a problem.

Maybe I’ll own The Free Press and subject everyone to my antiparking lot agenda.

18 • MAY 2017 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

See more Q&A about Matthias on page 21.

Sheri Sander-Silva

Hometown: Brainerd Current employer: Executive Director, Feeding Our Communities Partners

1

4

2

5

What does community engagement mean to you?

Is it important?

Community engagement is incredibly important to the work and success of nonprofits. FOCP would not have the reach and immense impact that it does without the involvement of many volunteers, businesses and other agencies. My gratitude for this involvement, is what compels me to engage in other initiatives and causes as well. We are always stronger when working together.

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

There was no question. I had always wanted to be a teacher. A passion for positive youth development is something ingrained in me. There is no greater work, in my mind. I will always be involved in youth work in one way, shape or form and have found volunteer opportunities that fill my heart in this way. This community has several amazing programs for youth and a plethora of opportunities for mentors.

3

What do you do when you’re not busy making the world a better place?

While coaching the pilot season of Girls on the Run (in 2009), I unexpectedly fell in love with running. Now, hitting the pavement with my running buddies is a weekly requirement.

Embarking on one of our running adventures is easily one of my favorite things to do. It’s also not a secret that I’m a bit obsessed with our two Catahoula Leopard dogs. I spend a lot of time with them, outdoors. I also enjoy cooking, baking, reading, crafting and absolutely anything that requires creativity.

Why have you made Mankato part of your professional life?

I began working for the YWCA Mankato in my early 20’s and it was through that organization that I learned the true merit and awesomeness of nonprofits. The more that I got involved in this community, the more I wanted to be involved.

For a while, my husband and I had talked about moving to Chicago.

Through countless conversations, we continued to circle back to the same realization. This is home. There is something very special about Mankato and it cannot be summed up in my allotted word count.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Ultimately, I hope to have worked myself out of my current position knowing that through collaborations with other local agencies, the issues of hunger and food-insecurity within our community will have been diminished. Now, I understand that issues such as these do not just vanish overnight … or in 10 years. But, it is most definitely something to work toward.

See more Q&A about Sheri on page 21.

MANKATO MAGAZINE • MAY 2017 • 19

Dana Sikkila

6 7

8 9

Continued from page 16

Favorite thing about the Mankato area?

I love the community support, but it also always gives me a challenge. Things are accessible and there is always something to do.

I also love that it’s bike friendly but still has that rural feel.

Colin Scharf

6

Continued from page 17

Favorite thing about the Mankato area?

This is biggest city I’ve ever called home, so it’s pretty cool to have just about everything I could ever need within reach. It’s also small enough that I’ve gotten to know a lot of people. I like being able to introduce visiting friends and family to so many interesting members of the community.

Who inspires you?

I have a lot but here are a few.

Keith Luebke, my mentor within all my arts administration education. Even when I wasn’t in school Keith would take the time to meet with me and taught me how to write grants, and be a leader at the 410.

Gina Wenger, Gina teaches art education at MNSU. She has become a great friend and mentor but being a woman working in the arts and education.

Many of the young artists I work with everyday inspire me. They teach me the simple joys of making art and being creative, and the importance of making and exploring our ideas.

Joan Vorderbruggen: Joan is the Director of Public Art and Place Making for the Hennepin Theatre Trust. Even with her working in a big city of Minneapolis Joan recognized my passion for arts and community. She’s allowed me to do some job shadowing under her to help grow my understanding for community growth through the arts. I look up to her passion and hard work ethic.

If you could have an hour with anyone who has ever lived, who would it be and why?

Susan B. Anthony, because she was a badass woman who truly stood up for herself and others. Women today still look up to who she was and all the work she accomplished. People described her as aggressive and compassionate by nature. She had a keen mind and a great ability to inspire. I hope to one day be just like that.

If you were trapped on a desert island with a somehow-functioning turntable, what album would you want on that turntable and why?

Beyoncé’s Lemonade Album.

Why? Awesome, powerful music.

Never gets old.

20 • MAY 2017 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

7

Who inspires you?

Joe Strummer is maybe my biggest idol.

Before big shows, I’ll watch live Clash videos for inspiration. I love their energy, their passion—they’re “The Only Band That Matters” for a reason!

My grandfather fought in WWII and lived to be 92. I think about what he probably endured fighting in the South Pacific, and that really helps me push through my own challenges.

8

If you could have an hour with anyone who has ever lived, who would it be and why?

Maybe because I spent three months singing his songs and doing my best to bring him back to life, I’d say Buddy Holly. Portraying him in Merely Players’ production last spring was incredibly emotional for me. Toward the end of last year, driving home from playing Des Moines, GNGD visited the memorial in the middle of that Clear Lake cornfield. I still get choked up thinking about it. It’d be cool to listen to music with him.

9

If you were trapped on a desert island with a somehow-functioning turntable, what album would you want on that turntable and why?

The Clash’s London Calling. It’s the most inspiring, uplifting, passionate, and fun record I’ve ever heard. Or maybe something by, like, Ted Nugent. It would push me to get the hell off that island!

Matthias Leyrer

6

Continued from page 18

Favorite thing about the Mankato area?

Good people. I think it’s a really nice blend of kindness, professionalism and old-school Minnesota pragmatism. I’ve met very few unenthusiastic people here. Usually no one is crapping on anyone else and people are receptive to your point of view (despite what Facebook comments say.)

7

Who inspires you?

8

I try not to idolize any one person because I think it can lead to bit of Stockholm syndrome. It’s always good to learn about everyone and the events that shaped their lives (even the bad guys.) That being said, I’ve always had a fondness for Stephen Mather. He was the first director of the National Park Service along with a business tycoon. He often used his personal wealth to save parcels of land and really made the NPS what it is today. Something I could only dream of, working toward immense wealth and using it to better the world.

If you could have an hour with anyone who has ever lived, who would it be and why?

I guess a hypothetical like this changes given the current circumstances of the world or even your own life. There’s like a million people I’d want to talk to, but I think I’d like to go back (assuming time travel here) and talk to Bill Basset, former Mankato city administrator and in charge of the staff that largely destroyed Mankato’s downtown (city council isn’t innocent either). I’m not assigning him personally with the blame, but I think that if I could have had a conversation with him back then, showed him the math on how much more productive those old buildings were, how much character they added to the city and how valuable they would be today, maybe they wouldn’t have torn them down.

9

If you were trapped on a desert island with a somehow-functioning turntable, what album would you want on that turntable and why?

Probably Sinatra. I’ve been a fan of him for a long time, know a lot of his songs by heart.

Regardless, in this scenario, you’re going to get sick of any one album pretty dang quick.

Sheri Sander-Silva

6

Continued from page 19

Favorite thing about the Mankato area?

There are so many things that I appreciate about the Mankato area. The trails, parks, rivers and lakes are easily accessible and wellmaintained. We have an incredible school system, healthy business and nonprofit sectors and support for entrepreneurship, which is really exciting to see.

But my favorite thing about the Mankato area is, what I hope to be, the shared sense of commitment to making this a healthy and safe place for to all to live and grow.

7

Who inspires you?

My mother was one of the most selfless, caring and compassionate people I have ever known. She also exuded unwavering strength in the most difficult of situations. We lost her to cancer when I was 13 years old. My father is an incredibly hard-working, driven and loving person. The inspiration gained from each has created a balance in who I have become. I strive to be even a fraction of what I admire in them each day.

8

If you could have an hour with anyone who has ever lived, who would it be and why?

There are so many that I admire. My answer to this question could change on any given day at any given hour. Today, I would say Malala Yousafzai. Need I explain? Conviction matched with persistence and poise, she is a force. She is a shining example of what passion and courage can achieve.

9

If you were trapped on a desert island with a somehow-functioning turntable, what album would you want on that turntable and why?

How I Got Over, The Roots.

The song “The Fire” (Featuring John Legend) is my anthem. I cue it up when I need a boost or just want to relish in a moment. It’s on every marathon mix that I make and has gotten me through several challenges, large and small.

Oh shoot. Wait … Scratch that. The album I absolutely could not live without would be DJ Shoba’s new instrumental beat tape. It is 48 minutes of classic 90s-style hip hop beats (to be released next month). Lol. Really, though.

My husband’s pretty amazing.

MANKATO MAGAZINE • MAY 2017 • 21

Jamison Lindquist listens to the discussion during the monthly meeting of the Young Professionals group at the Loose Moose Saloon in March.

Keeping it

local Mankato area working on making itself attractive to young professionals

By Brian Arola | Photos by Jackson Forderer

A

lawyer, a banker and a construction worker walk into a bar.

No, this isn’t the setup for a joke.

It’s an actual scene from a recent gathering of young professionals in Mankato.

22 • MAY 2017 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

The young professionals group held its monthly gathering at the Loose Moose Saloon in March. The group will pick a different venue for its meet up every month.

As part of the Greater Mankato retention. It becomes even more development planner for the Young Professionals group — an crucial when you know of an Region Nine Development offshoot of Greater Mankato upcoming deficit between Commission, said the narrative Growth — workers from a wide available jobs and eligible goes that students come to cross section of area industries workers.

Mankato for school then ship out meet at least twice monthly for In Mankato, three factors are to the Twin Cities to put their social or professional contributing to this projected degree to good use. The narrative development events. The outings deficit, including a greater isn’t quite the reality, however, as have included tours of area number of retirees than what’s a recent analysis produced by businesses, happy hours, kayak happened in the past, more jobs Pearson shows. excursions down the Minnesota being created and a smaller “People aren’t just fleeing jobs River or any other activity workforce coming in to replace for higher wages, because many suggested by members. the people leaving. of them can get the wages here,” For the young professionals Call it whatever you want — a he said. themselves, it’s a chance to Millennial maelstrom? — but it’s Pearson’s report on the topic network, take on leadership clear areas like Mankato and found 52 of the 582 unique positions and socialize with likeelsewhere will need to attract and classifications of occupations in minded people. In the bigger retain young talent to address the Mankato area would be paid picture, these outings may also these issues. more than the same jobs in the be serving an important role in The young professionals group Minneapolis-St. Paul area. These helping retain young talent in the is one organization focused on jobs include highly-skilled region, said Alec Pfeffer, interim retention. But what about occupations like family and chair of the young professionals attracting the young talent here general practitioners. If you group and credit analyst at US in the first place? adjust for cost-of-living Bank.

Being a college town certainly differences between Mankato and “What we’re trying to do is get helps. Year after year thousands the Twin Cities, even more job this group of individuals in of college graduates enter the categories, 154, produce more net Mankato connected,” he said. “If workforce. They won’t all stay in earnings here. Jobs in this we get more people here and Mankato, but the ones who came category include welders, loan they feel part of something, it’ll here for school and grew to love officers and social workers. help them stay in this it here need to know they can The report also analyzed where community longer.” start their career locally if they Mankato college students work Any region with ambitions to choose. once they graduate. While South grow needs to prioritize talent Brent Pearson, resource Central College graduates were MANKATO MAGAZINE • MAY 2017 • 23

David Teig (right) takes Jake Sherlock’s order at the Loose Moose during the monthly Young Professionals meeting. most likely to work in southwestern Minnesota after graduation, Minnesota State University graduates were most likely to end up working in the Twin Cities.

To retain more of the region’s college students, Pearson said employers will have to continue to promote the high-paying jobs they offer while emphasizing the area’s lower cost of living to prospective employees.

Luke Howk, internship and external partnerships coordinator at Minnesota State University, is among the university staff who helps connects students to employers who might eventually hire them in the region. He said colleges are trying to focus more on these partnerships as they recognize how important it’ll be to supply talented workers to the labor force.

“I think our education institutions realize now more than ever the importance of partnering closer with business and industry,” he said.

Along with Howk’s role with business students, the college preps students for their career ahead at the campus’ Career 24 • MAY 2017 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

Development Center, or the Office of Strategic Partnerships.

From the conversations he hears with organizations, Howk said the job market for future graduates is strong.

“They’re all saying the same thing,” he said. “They have needs for entry-level talent and are having a tough time filling those jobs.”

Greater Mankato Growth has taken on a role as a facilitator in these retention conversations between industry leaders, school officials and the future workforce. Jonathan Zierdt, Greater Mankato Growth’s president and CEO, said the sides have taken a more proactive approach to the issue in recent years.

“What we’ve been working on is helping to instill that this is a key issue and all of us need to come together to work on it,” he said.

From a business standpoint, he said creative discussions on how to attract young talent are taking place. One idea involves a business helping pay a new hire’s student loan debt if they agree to work for a certain amount of

time. The idea is very much just an idea at this point, but Zierdt referenced it as something that could do wonders to attract college grads.

Availability of jobs and competitive wages are about as important as it gets in regards to job attraction and retention, but they aren’t everything. People move to metro areas for lifestyle reasons as well, which means regional communities like Mankato have to keep up in that regard.

Some in the young professionals group came to Mankato because the job was too good to pass up. Others have family connections to the area. A good chunk of them grew up here and returned, while others moved down from the Twin Cities or elsewhere.

While crediting the young professionals group with helping them acclimate, the group named the area’s bike trails, college or amateur sports teams, short commutes, outdoor activities and cheap cost of living as attributes they love about Mankato. Many have started families here, which puts them at

the time of their life they can start thinking about Mankato’s competitive school systems.

Plus, Pfeffer said, we’re a short drive away from the nearest major metro if people can’t find what they need here.

There also seems to be a willingness on the community’s part to push for the kinds of projects the future workforce will want, Zierdt said. He named the sales tax extension passed in November 2016, which would fund sports facilities of the future, as an example.

“A major half of that conversation was about critical important community infrastructure,” he said of November’s vote.

“Whether we like it or not, we’re competing with other communities that do have those recreation facilities.”

All those interviewed agreed talent retention is more of a focus now than ever in the community. They also agreed it’ll continue to be a topic going forward.

Zierdt said yet another positive about Mankato is that young talent could eventually step in and shape how the issue is addressed going forward.

Mankato is growing, yes, but it’s still of the size where an ambitious young professional can readily take on a role in shaping the region’s future.

“Here in Greater Mankato, you can get involved in your community in very critical ways to shape your neighborhood, your community, to make a difference,” MM he said.

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Reflections

By Pat Christman

26 • MAY 2017 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

I

t doesn’t take long for everything to turn green after the first few soaking rains of spring. It seems as if green blades of grass and green buds on bushes and trees spring up from nowhere and change the landscape in a matter of hours.

Not long after that, the flowers come, adding to the emergence of color. The greens are joined by yellows, blues and purples. Reds and oranges soon follow. The next thing you know, everything around us has a splash of color, a bit of new life and a start to summer. MM

MANKATO MAGAZINE • MAY 2017 • 27

Then & Now: Maud Hart Lovelace By: BRYCE O. STENZEL

Abraham Lincoln’s First and Last Visitor on his Final Day

A

pril 14, 2017 will mark the seventh time Good Friday has been observed on that date since President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865. It will not happen again until 2028. In recognition of this fact, it seems “altogether fitting and proper” to examine not only the events of Lincoln’s last day, but also who his last visitor was, before the president left for Ford’s Theatre that fateful evening. Lincoln’s last caller was Schuyler Colfax; he too met with an untimely death at a train station in Mankato, Minnesota, almost 20 years later.

Lincoln rose late this particular morning. The night watchman on duty later recalled that on many occasions, Lincoln was already working at his desk at 6 a.m. By 8 a.m., the president was downstairs having breakfast — a boiled egg and a cup of coffee, as was his usual custom. It was at the breakfast table that the President’s wife, Mary Todd Lincoln announced she had tickets to see “Aladdin” at Grover’s Theatre, but that she would prefer to see actress Laura Keene perform in “Our American Cousin” at Ford’s.

Considering the religious solemnity of the day, it may have seemed odd for the First Lady to suggest going to the theater at all that night. However; Mary Lincoln knew that attending a play was one of the few things that actually brought joy to her husband.

In the course of the conversation, it was decided that youngest son Tad would see “Aladdin” while his parents would witness Ms. Keene’s final performance of the British comedy. It was also at this happy gathering that eldest son Robert brought his father an eyewitness account of General Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, only five days before on April 9.

Lincoln’s first official visitor of the morning was Speaker of the House, Schuyler Colfax, a native of Indiana, who arrived at 9 a.m. His mission was to ask

28 • MAY 2017 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

the President not to undertake reconstruction of the Southern states that had seceded from the Union without first consulting the legislative branch of the government.

Like many others in Congress at the time, Colfax favored a harsh peace for the South, following the fall of the Confederacy, which Lincoln did not. In particular, Colfax tried to get Lincoln to promise to call a special session of Congress before undertaking any postwar policies of his own. All he could get from Lincoln was ‘I have no intention, at the moment,’ of calling a special session. However; Lincoln promised, ‘if I change my mind, I will give the due 60 days notice.’ Colfax had one important advantage. Even the members of Lincoln’s own party who supported the president’s leniency toward reconstructing the South had to admit that Congress was “entitled” to a voice in the matter.

Even more important to Colfax than protecting legitimate Congressional authority from Executive overreach was his own personal ambition to join Lincoln’s administration as a Cabinet member. He knew that on at least one occasion, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton had tried to quit the Cabinet, only to be persuaded by Lincoln himself to stay on.

However; it was only a matter of time before a vacancy arose on the U.S. Supreme Court, and Stanton wanted to be appointed to the high court as a Justice. In this desire, he had Lincoln’s strong support. That would mean a replacement was needed for the Secretary of War position, and Colfax hoped he would be chosen for the job. When he left that morning, Colfax was in good spirits. Even though he could not get Lincoln to commit to a specific course of action, Colfax believed he stood a good chance of winning the promotion he sought.

It is important to note that, in the aftermath of

Lincoln’s tragic assassination, Stanton stayed on as secretary of war to provide leadership and stability during this turbulent period. It was actually he who ran the government on the night of Lincoln’s murder.

Later, Stanton was fired by Lincoln’s presidential successor, Andrew Johnson. Some conspiracy theorists have suggested Stanton was in on the plot to kill Lincoln.

There is no credible evidence to support this notion; in fact, just the opposite is true. With Lincoln’s death, Stanton lost any significant opportunity he had of being appointed to the Supreme Court — the position he really wanted.

Although President U.S. Grant ultimately did appoint him to the nation’s highest court, Stanton died just four days after taking office, so he was never able to make a lasting contribution.

Lincoln’s day continued with a meeting of his cabinet, followed by a carriage ride he had with Mrs. Lincoln in the afternoon.

April 14 was a beautiful spring day, and the Lincoln’s seemed to thoroughly enjoy each other’s company. The stresses of the presidency, compounded by the ferocity of the Civil War — not to mention the tragic loss of their son Willie to typhoid in 1862 — left them both exhausted.

They talked of old times in Springfield, Illinois, and of future plans once Lincoln left office, after his second term. They returned to the White House just in time for an evening meal before it was time for the theater outing.

The play was scheduled to start at 8 p.m., but sometime during the seven o’clock hour, Schuyler Colfax returned and spoke to Lincoln in his office. This time the topic concerned a trip Colfax was embarking on the next day to visit the mining districts of California and Nevada.

Lincoln was adamant that Colfax speak to the miners on his behalf, thanking them for their loyal support during the war.

Colfax promised he would deliver the message. Colfax also wanted to know if Lincoln had decided to call for the special session of Congress. If so, he would cancel his trip to the West. Lincoln said, he hadn’t, and he wasn’t expecting to call one.

Colfax then remarked how

Schuyler Colfax many people had been worried about Lincoln exposing himself to violence when he was in Richmond, the Confederate capital. Lincoln replied, “Why, if anyone else had been President and gone to Richmond, I would have been alarmed too; but I was not scared about myself a bit.”

Finally, both men began talking about the theater party that night.

Lincoln remarked that General Grant announced at the Cabinet meeting that he [Grant] would not be coming, even though he had been invited. Grant and his wife, Julia wanted to spend Easter weekend with their children in Burlington, New Jersey. Lincoln then asked Colfax, if he would like to attend the theater. Colfax politely declined, reminding the President that he needed to get an early start on his trip the next morning to California.

By now, it was 8:05 p.m., and Mrs. Lincoln was impatiently waiting for the President to conclude his business with Colfax so she and her husband could be on their way to Ford’s Theatre.

This was the last time Colfax ever saw Lincoln alive.

After hearing rumors of the assassination, Colfax rushed to Lincoln’s bedside; he was one of a throng of visitors who entered the Petersen Boarding House across the street from Ford’s Theatre where the President had been taken after the shooting.

Colfax never forgave himself for not accepting Lincoln’s theater invitation. He did make the trip to California and Nevada and delivered Lincoln’s message.

Colfax went on to serve as Grant’s Vice President in his first term (1869-1873).

However, Colfax’s personal ambition got the better of him. He was part of the Credit Mobilier railroad scandal and left office in disgrace. He redeemed himself somewhat through the lecture circuit, where he capitalized on his association with Lincoln.

Colfax died on Jan. 13, 1885, in Mankato. His remains were returned to South Bend, Indiana, where he was interred.

MANKATO MAGAZINE • MAY 2017 • 29

Y A S

ES

The author is shown here as a baby in the arms of his older brother, Roger. Looking on are mom, Colleen Keen, and grandmother, Joyce Keen.

The Loss Of My

Mom

Sometimes painful experiences teach us things we didn’t think we needed to know

By Jeff Keen 30 • MAY 2017 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

A

fter 24 days of Colleen Keen is shown holding out hope here at Margate, Fla. that some troubling symptoms were curable, followed by 22 days of watching the realities of an awful, incurable brain disease take shape, my mom died Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2016. My dad, my brother, and I were close by when she passed.

The 46 days leading up to this event have been heart-wrenching. Watching someone you love suffer and wither away before your eyes is an experience I hope none of you has to face. And if you’ve done that already? My deepest condolences from a place of unfortunate understanding.

I’ve been fearing the death of my parents since I was 10 or so. I was probably more tuned into it than most thanks to my mom’s sense of morbid reality — like when she reminded us during the Christmas of 1988 that we should talk with our grandmother in Australia because she “doesn’t have much time left.” And then reminding us again in 1989, 1990, 1991, and the next 14 Christmases until she died in 2006. You’d think after a lifetime of thinking about death, I’d be more ready for it. But who is ever ready for this?

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease is terrifying and unstoppable, and I’m confident that had it been anything else she may have survived. Her side of the family was a tough bunch — my grandmother survived diabetes, Alzheimer’s and a tennis-ball sized brain tumor. She lived to be 95. My mom survived diphtheria and typhoid fever in Zambia as a child, and in the last few years breezed through two hip replacements and two lens replacements like it was nothing. And then, of course, there’s what I consider her greatest medical feat: birthing me — an 11-pound baby — and then putting up with me through my adolescence.

But it took a rare one-in-a-million disease of mystery origin to defeat her at the age of 71.

Nobody saw this coming, and I can’t say I was ready for it. But again, who is ready for this?

Well, my mom was more ready than any of us.

For years I rolled my eyes when she’d tell me she was sorting through and throwing out old stuff.

A few years ago, after my parents retired and moved to Austin, Texas, they signed up for the Neptune Society. It’s a prepaid service that handles everything after someone dies — from removing the body, to cremation, to the scattering of ashes. I remember mom excitedly telling me that all we’d need to do whenever that time comes is to get some documents out of the freezer, call the number on the card, and everything will be taken care of.

At the time I thought this was ridiculous and

quipped “Wow! What a timesaver! We’ll barely have to grieve!”

In the past few weeks while digging through documents, her preparations continue to amaze me.

Lists of passwords and instructions of what to do “if she dies first or loses her marbles,” with a paragraph reminding my brother and I that “going through a parent’s things after a death is not easy, but remember that it’s just stuff.”

Only now do I appreciate all the time and effort she spent preparing us for this unexpected time, and that her wishes were made crystal clear.

Here is what I want: to be placed, unadorned, in the cheapest container possible (preferably a cardboard box that will burn easily and thus return to the earth), and to be cremated.

As for my ashes, you may throw me over the fence if you so desire. I really have no particular wishes at this point and do not need to return to anywhere on this earth.

I definitely do not want to be buried or have any kind of funeral. Rather I would love you to have a celebration instead. I am down as an organ donor. If my body can help medical students learn more about the human condition and the human body, then by all means get my mortal shell to such a place.

A lifelong educator, she was adamant that after her death everything be done to help others. And even on the 28th of November when we all received that heartbreaking terminal diagnosis, with her ability to communicate already crippled she determinedly told the neurologist that she wanted her experience to help people. To help in the study of prion diseases, as well as help him (a fairly new Neurologist) get his first publication out of the deal.

(We’ve arranged that her brain will be donated to the Case Western center for prion disease study, which will hopefully help the world get one step closer to finding a cure for prion diseases.)

MANKATO MAGAZINE • MAY 2017 • 31

My Dad has requested to our family friends that “instead of sending flowers, cards, or sentimental writings, what would mean so much more to us/her would be to get a copy of a nice, meaningful and soul-uplifting book that has had some special meaning for you, and for you to give it to someone in memory of Colleen. Let her quest as a lifelong teacher be passed along.”

I’d like to add upon that theme and request that you take something away from my experience.

In the last six weeks, my family’s dynamic has completely changed. This thing broke down walls between us and made us all realize what’s important, and now we all can’t help but think “what took us so long to get here?”

My dad has been opening up and sharing stories of his life, his parents, and his experiences while my brother and I stare at him with our jaws on the floor.

I always knew that my parents had lived incredibly rich and interesting lives, but I never really took the time absorb or appreciate the details. For too many years I considered myself an anomaly in my family and thought to myself “I am who I am in spite of them,” only now realizing the obvious: I am who I am because of them. Shame on me.

I think about how my parents have lived a mere 10 miles away from me for the past five years, and yet most of the time I found it a monumental effort to make time to join them for tea. I’d often receive calls from my Mom: “Hey it’s mom, tea is going to be served at three o’clock, consisting of fresh scones, sausage rolls and some quiche. If you’re interested in joining us, please do. Otherwise, see ya later. Love you, bye.”

And I’d listen to it and think, “yeah yeah Mom, I’m busy. Some other time.”

I don’t think I need to tell you how much time I’d set aside, or how many miles I’d drive for another cup of tea with everyone.

So I make this request to you: Think about mortality and contemplate losing the people close to you until it makes you feel really uncomfortable, and then let that uncomfortable sense of reality diminish the feelings of frustration you have with them. Permanently cut them all more slack than you think they deserve. Ask them the 32 • MAY 2017 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

The author (the little guy) is shown here with mom, Colleen and older brother Roger. questions you’ve been meaning to ask. Tell them the things you’ve been meaning to tell. And most importantly, choose to find the genuine love and appreciation you have for them before a tragic event forces you to.

“Death is an inevitable part of life and it must come to us all,” my Mom said in one of her notes, written years ago. It’s a pretty shitty part of life, if you ask me, but what else can be done with life’s shit than turn it into fertilizer?

For my entire life I watched my mom always put herself last in order to benefit the people she loved.

And now, at her own expense, she’s pulled us all closer together. I wish she were here to see it.

Jeff Keen grew up in Mankato, but left after graduating from MSU, landing in two places he once claimed he would never live—NYC and Texas. He’s been in Austin for long enough to regularly wear a jacket in 60º weather (but still knows how to drive on ice). He’s now a self-employed software developer/designer who works from anywhere while writing music and essays about life, love, and technology.

Did you guys follow the news a few weeks ago in the Star Tribune regarding Minnesota breweries? Seems the folks loyal to Schell’s remain very, very loyal to Schell’s.

The newspaper held an online survey-based event that threw a bunch of Minnesota breweries into a March Madness bracket. Online votes determined which breweries would advance to the next level and, in the end, Schell’s emerged the overall winner, beating out the powerhouse Surly Brewing Company along the way.

(I’ll point out here that Mankato Brewery wasn’t in the mix, and I believe it should have been; the local brewery has amassed quite a few awards and a healthy following in its short life so far. Would they have bested Schell’s in the Star Tribune’s online poll? Probably not, but they deserved a shot.)

The victory by Schell’s shows that people in southern Minnesota are not only loyal to their local brands, but that they appreciate quality. And speaking of Schell’s, it’s Maifest time. Make sure you get yourself a few this spring, and make sure you check out Bert Mattson’s beer column. He explains why you should crack one open.

— Robb Murray, Associate Editor, Mankato Magazine

southern mn style

Enjoy!

food, drink & dine

VICTORY!

MANKATO MAGAZINE • MAY 2017 • 33

Food SOUTHERN MN STYLE

Quick to make, fun to eat: Why Chinese lettuce wraps will never go out of style

Bonnie S. Benwick | The Washington Post

H

ere’s a meal that works for a household full of folks on different schedules. Stir Ǖ ŕ ŕ Ǖ ŕŲ

mushrooms and ground pork whenever you’ve got a quorum for dinner. It has a minimal amount of heat from small red chiles and a bit of piquancy from the combination of Chinese rice cooking wine and soy sauce.

(Portions for young or timid eaters can be done without the chiles, of 34 • MAY 2017 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

Pork and Mushroom San Choy Bau 4 servings

course.) The mixture goes into crisp leaves of small-head lettuce and gets a last-minute helping of crunchy scallions; spoon in what the appetite demands.

Similar dishes at Chinese-style restaurants often goop up the mixture or make it too sweet; this one’s got a nice savory balance.

The rest can be reheated in minutes, either on the stove top or in the microwave, for subsequent dinners or lunch the next day.

Pork is the ground meat of choice here, because we like its fat

Ų ř Ǖ ňņ

25 percent). We tested this with ground dark-meat turkey and the mixture was a bit drier.

This is the kind of dish that comes together quickly, so that’s why we’re doing all the prep upfront.

Serve with steamed rice.

Adapted from “Harvest: 180

Recipes Through the Seasons,�

by Emilie Guelpa (Hardie Grant, 2017).

Ingredients 1 1/2-inch piece ginger root 2 cloves garlic 1 or 2 small re ŀŹ Ŀ Ǖ

bird’s-eye chiles 3 1/2 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms 3 1/2 ounces fresh oyster mushrooms 4 scallions 2 table

Ĺ´

Ǖ 1 pound lean ground pork (see headnote) 2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine Low-sodium soy sauce or dark soy sauce 2 heads gem lettuce, “artisan� small-head lettuce or 1 small head iceberg lettuce Steps Peel the ginger, then mince it. Crush the garlic cloves. Stem and seed the chiles (to taste), then mince them.

Stem the shiitakes; coarsely chop all the mushrooms or cut them into very thin slices. Cut the white and light-green parts of the scallions on the diagonal into thin slices.

Heat half the oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat.

Once the oil shimmers, stir in the ginger, garlic and chiles. Stirfry for 20 to 30 seconds. Add the remaining oil and the mushrooms.

Stir-fry for about 3 minutes, or until they have released their moisture, then discard the garlic.

Add the ground pork; stir-fry for 3 to 5 minutes, breaking up any large clumps, until it loses its raw look.

Add the Chinese rice wine and season with the soy sauce (to taste); reduce the heat to low and cook for 5 minutes. The meat should be cooked through.

Meanwhile, separate the lettuce leaves, rinse, pat dry and place on a platter.

Transfer the pork mixture to a serving bowl. Sprinkle the scallions on top and serve right away, with the lettuce leaves.

Nutrition | Per serving (using 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce): 250 calories, 27 g protein, 12 g carbohydrates, 12 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 65 mg cholesterol, 7=5 Ç– Ç— Ç–@ 8 Ç— ǘ ĂŞ @ : ǘ

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Wine & Beer

ƺƭƲƊƜ

By Leigh Pomeroy

SOUTHERN MN STYLE

Chardonnay: From obscurity to popularity T

Ç• Ĺą Ç•

Ĩ ŀ%+(Ŀ ǔ ŀ Ǖ but Chardonnay.� There are many adherents to this meme, and for good reason. Perhaps the preeminent argument is that ABCers feel (

Ç• ÇŽ

Ĩ

ǎĨ

Ǖ Ĩ too woody and certainly too ubiquitous — all good

Ç•

Ç•

Ĺ°

store shelves and restaurant wine lists.

Less than 50 years ago — a short time in Ǖ Ǖ ŗ

Ĺą Ç” “Chardonnayâ€? on wine labels. Sure, there were many wines made from the chardonnay grape, but they came under names noting their place of origin, such as Montrachet, Meursault, Pouilly FuissĂŠ and Chablis.

California and Australia winemakers loved and admired these wines, and strove to produce similar ones from the chardonnay grape, which they argued was the preeminent grape for white wines.

Some of the early experimenters in California included Hanzell in Sonoma County, Wente in Livermore Valley, and Chalone further south.

Chardonnay had been produced in Napa Valley and mistakenly labeled under the name “Pinot Chardonnay� until as late as the mid-1970s. That’s when the ampelographers (those who study grapes and vines) at the University of California at Davis convinced winery owners that while chardonnay was related to the classic pinots — noir, gris and blanc — it was only a cousin of the true pinot family.

Thus the “Pinot� part was jettisoned from “Chardonnay,� and about the same time California winemakers discovered that the French versions

ÇŽ Ç”

Ç•

in French oak barrels. This, they thought, was the key to making great Chardonnays. So they went on a buying spree of French oak barrels believing that their use would assure them of making great Frenchstyle Chardonnays.

And they were somewhat successful, with Chateau Montelena’s 1973 Napa Valley Chardonnay snagging Ź

Ç•

! Ç• Burgundies, all made from chardonnay, in the nowfamous 1976 Judgment of Paris. Chalone and Spring $ Ç• Ĺą Ç• Ç• Ĺą Ç• Ĺą

Ňņ\ The prestige and demand for California Chardonnay suddenly skyrocketed, and California’s

ŕ ŕ ǔ ŕ Ǖ Ǖ Ű to the races ‌ though not quite to the popularity it enjoys today. For these California Chardonnays had to compete with another relative newcomer on the scene: White Zinfandel.

White Zinfandel had all the traits the U.S. winedrinking public (mostly women) loved: a pretty pink

36 • MAY 2017 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

Ĩ Ǖ Ǖ Ǖ Ź Ǖ \

was dry, white Chardonnay to compete with that?

A clever young winemaker and a new winery

Ĺą Ç• \ 1 Ç• (

Ĺą Ç•

Ǖ Ǖ ğ Ǖ magazines’ ratings, and realized the three elements they had in common: (1) a relatively high degree

Ç• Ç• Ç• Ĩ Ĺ™ĹˆĹš Ĺą Ç• oak character, and (3) a lot of fruit and a touch of Ç• Ĺą Ç• \ 1 Ĩ ÇŽ

Ç• Ç• # Ĺ• " (

ǔ Ǖ Ź Ĩ ǎ adding just a bit of fruity muscat juice to the blend.

The wine became an instant success. The cachet of the Chardonnay name, the vanillin character of

Ĩ Ǖ

Ź Ĩ which appealed to the now more educated wine public, pushed the once formidable White Zinfandel aside.

Today, most commercial California, Washington and Australia Chardonnays match the original # Ĺ•"

Ź Ĩ Ǖ ǕŰ Ĩ

\ Most notable is the attention paid to new growing areas, particularly in California. More and more Chardonnays are coming from the newer planted areas of Monterey, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties. These wines are fruitier and more “tropical� (think pineapple, papaya and mango) than the Chardonnays of Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino Counties.

Washington State has come up big on Chardonnay as well, with huge plantings in the warm summer/ cold winter AVAs (American Viticultural Areas) of the Columbia Valley and elsewhere east of the Cascade range. % Ç• Ĺ° Ç•

Ĩ Ǖ %ǔ Ǖ wines, that style varies from cool to warm growing areas, and from small artisan producers to large commercial ones.

That said, what do I prefer? I go back to the originals — that is, the whites from small producers and coops of Chablis and Burgundy, particularly $ | Ĩ Ǖ Ű

\ 3 Ĺ“ 1 Ç• Ç• purity, their crisp acidity, their age-worthiness, and their ability to match with foods, particularly seafood, which I love.

The Chardonnays of the New World — i.e., the 2\0\Ĩ % Ǖ Ĩ ( Ǖ ŗ Ź Ĩ

Ç• Äź

Ǖ Ǖ ǔǔ Ǖ Ű\ + there’s nothing like the originals, and this is where I rest my case for Chardonnay.

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

ĆŚĆŠĆŠĆ˜

By Bert Mattson

Bring May flowers T Ĺą

Lily of the Valley signal spring to me.

They’re enough to reignite my enthusiasm for the outdoors.

Then will come random impulses to amble around the neighborhood, odd urges to cruise far corners of the yard, instantaneous inspirations to uproot and reposition perfectly Ĺą \ 1 Ç• Ç•

into plans for sharing outdoor places with other people. Patios, park pavilions ‌ sprawling brewery parking lots.

Maifest. As with the little shoots pushing through, May Festivals mark the resurrection of a free-and-easy outdoor existence gone dormant under the gloomy expanse of winter. At these festivals, where tradition sees villages adorned with freshly

Ų Ĩ ǔ Ų Ǖ

Ç• back into the light.

Starkbierzeit, or strong beer season, starts with deep amber brews of somewhat restrained alcohol content. Over several months it graduates to successively stronger and darker bock beers. Then, something like the lily, Maibock (hellesbock or hellerbock) arrives, though remaining reliably malty, to foreshadow the ensuing emergence of piney summer session beers.

Toasted chocolate malt character yields to Bavarian Pils malt ‌ perhaps Vienna, Munich, or pale caramel malt for medium to medium-full-bodied mouthfeel. Though subdued to around 6 percent alcohol, the style still warms the belly between those warm May bursts of cloud-covered sunbeam.

Noble Bavarian hop varieties in these beers bridge the winter brews to the hoppy bitterness of the ones just around the seasonal bend.

It doesn’t take long for those lily shoots to stretch into long

leaves and splay to reveal the Ǖ ŕ Ǖ Ų Ǖ inside. This is the peak. The thing about spring is there’s a window to absorb its vibrations before they explode into

ǔ Ǖ ǕŰ \ Maibock can be a bit deceiving to the uninitiated. Seemingly light, malty but balanced with a burst of hops, one easily becomes two and two readily begets three. I learned this unseemly lesson back when my wife brought me on a date to Summit Brewing Company’s May festival early in our Ǖ Ǖ \ 0 ǔ Ǖǔ ǎ Lily of the Valley peak, patches of them become essentially invasive. To draw an analogy, we’ll just say that I let three become four and before I knew it the garden outgrew the gate.

Fortunately, for me, my lady has a good sense of humor and a generous nature.

Ç• ÇŽ pretzels, cheese, and perhaps a few bites of smoked beef stick about my neck before entering such a festival. A creamy, nutty cheese is nice.

Young gouda, maybe. The two have complementary caramelly qualities, while the hops and carbonation cut the creaminess.

0 ÇŽ

Ǖ bready characteristics in the beer. I just enjoy beef sticks, but some smokiness could theoretically enhance the experience. They’re a bonus to have around for making buddies.

Oh yeah, beer: you can’t fail with Summit Maibock or Schell’s Maifest, especially straight from the source. If you must have something more esoteric try Dead Guy Ale from Rogue Ales.

Blooming good beers, all.

Cinco de Mayo Friday, May 5th Mother’s Day Sunday, May 14th

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

Open: Monday-Thursday11-10; Friday & Saturday11-10:30; Sunday11-9 MANKATO MAGAZINE • MAY 2017 • 37

Drinks

ĆŹĆĽÇŤÇŤĆź ĆŹĆłĆ¸Ć˜

$[ / %CTTKG #NNGP | Special to the Free Press

SOUTHERN MN STYLE

T

There’s a lot more to mezcal than meets the label

he wall behind the bar at Espita Mezcaleria, where Josh Phillips serves as general manager, is lined with mezcal. Every bottle is a source

Ç•

. Ç• Ç• Ĺ— Ç•Ĺą

master mescalier — and beverage director Megan Barnes, who, he says, spends “an ocean of time� researching the producers. . Ǖ Ǖ ǔ

ǔ Ų

notes in tepeztate mezcals (“almost all of them have some note of pepper�) to the cultivation of tobala, an agave that grows largely in the wild. At one point, he smiles sheepishly and tells me to open the list of WiFi networks

ǔ Ĩ Ź Ǖ one belongs to his cantina in the District of Columbia.

I scan networks of nearby places before I spot it: MezcalDOisStupid, a reference to the “Denominacion de Origen�

Ĺą Ç” \ Sign of an agave nerd, I think.

H a p p i ly, t h o s e n e rd s a re 38 • MAY 2017 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

increasing in number. Consumers have become more informed about agave spirits, says David Suro-PiĂąera, president of Siembra Spirits and owner of Tequilas restaurant in Philadelphia. “When I opened the restaurant 30 years ago, people were looking for the worm in the bottle,â€? he says. “People thought there was a cactus in the desert of Sonora and someone was extracting the tequila ready-made out of that plant.â€?

Now, he says, more people are engaged “not just in spirits, but

Ǖ ǎ beer is made, where the lettuce and the chickens are coming from, how the textiles in their clothes were made.�

These origin questions are at the heart of the agave spirits category. But do consumers know what to ask? Where can they get good information about the

Ç•

Ű Ų

Ǖ Ǖ Ĩ Ǖ

agave crop workers, the pressures on particular agave varietals?

Sustainability is a big part of the discussion right now. Unlike grapes or grain, agave plants take years to mature. The agave tequilana, or blue agave plant, required for tequila matures fastest, but even that can take five years; espadin, the most common in mezcal, takes up to eight years. Other species can take decades, and some of those — rare, wild, hard-to-get — are Ǖ ǎ Ǖ Ǖ mezcal market. Once an agave is harvested, that’s it.

Mezcal is an old spirit being Ĺ°

Ç” Ç” forces. Young entrepreneurs from Mexico and elsewhere and big multinationals are dipping toes into the category. The new players are sure to spur changes, and not everyone is excited about the possibilities of change.

To ensure mezcal doesn’t become a victim of its own success,

advocates want to see producers become more transparent and consumers become more demanding. If the spirit and its makers are to flourish, and if agave species are to do the same, more consumers need to become agave nerds. Or, barring fullblown nerddom, at least develop a deeper understanding of how to choose from among the latest enticing bottles from Mexico. •••• The D.O. that Phillips’s WiFi network references is a set of rules that define mezcal, much Ǖ

Ĺą ( Ç” as unique to a region of France.

The rules specify that mezcal can be made only in Mexico, in nine Mexican states. The D.O. for tequila, mezcal’s best-known offspring, is even narrower, allowing production in fewer states and using only tequilana Weber; mezcal allows use of multiple agave species.

Most agave nerds wouldn’t Ǖ Ǖ *\&\ğ Ź Ǖ Ǖ

of mezcal as uniquely Mexican.

Some, including Phillips, would disagree with its state restrictions; after all, agave distillates have been made for centuries across Mexico. But the rules protecting mezcal omit many states that share that heritage.

Agave spirits lovers spend a lot of time keeping an eye on the regulations that govern the category. To understand why, you have to understand the history of the most famous one, tequila.

Technically a kind of mezcal, tequila has changed over the decades because of market forces.

Its popularity and the capital that poured into the category drove most distillers making the spirit to do so faster, using more industrial processes to meet demand, altering the very nature of the spirit.

While some tequilas are still made in traditional ways, many are now made using industrialized processes that, critics argue, minimize the unique characteristics of agave spirits.

Such bottlings are sometimes d i s m i s s e d a s “a g a -vo d k a sâ€?: smoother, softer, their agave nature muted, some adulterated Ç• Ų Ç• \ The majority of mezcals are

made much as they have always been: by small, family producers, the agave hearts roasted in underground pits, crushed by mallet or a tahona (a stone wheel) and distilled in clay or copper stills.

As interest in mezcal grows, Äź

Ç•

Ź what it is and to shape what it might become. Many mezcal lovers want to make sure that it doesn’t go the way of tequila.

Agave spirits should be understood “as what they are: a cultural element, not a merchandise,� says Pedro Jimenez, director of Mezonte, an organization in Guadalajara devoted to the preservation of agave spirits, via email. He fears that entrepreneurs eager to capitalize on the trend see mezcal “as if it was a Coke or pizza. A commodity. And mezcals are nothing near to that. . . . The essence of them is the contrary.

It’s diversity, it’s tradition, time, culture, local identity.�

Others would argue that tequila is a massive success story — worth more than $1 billion to Mexico — and have fought to ensure that any regulation of the category protects the distillers making more industrialized versions of mezcal and producers who may want to expand and modernize. •••• At bars specializing in agave spirits, customers can ask the Ű

\ Phillips will vouch for everything Espita carries; he has an extensive list of conditions a bottle has to meet to make it onto the bar’s wall.

Suro-PiĂąera is pushing the agave spirits industry toward greater traceability and transparency, and he wants consumers to push as well. A Siembra Spirits label lists not only the distillery and the kind of agaves used, but also the mezcalero, the strain of yeast used in fermentation, where the agave was grown and how it was cooked, down to the name of the lead jimador and the type of cut he made preparing the piĂąa, or heart. “The juice inside this bottle should taste like this technical data,â€? he says.

In fact, much can be gleaned from many mezcal labels. To

make use of this data, though, consumers need to understand it, or at least do some on-the-spot googling. The average consumer, ÇŽ Ĩ Äź Ç• agaves have more sustainability issues, or that a certain producer doesn’t pay its agave suppliers fairly. This transparency — without — comprehension factor has caused some to criticize the approach as over — labeling; one tequila maker sniped in a Facebook discussion that it’s “gobbledygook.â€?

S e ve r a l s o u r c e s , t h o u g h , argued that more data on a label is inherently better, telling consumers that the producers are not trying to hide anything.

Steve Olson is a wine and spirits educator and cooperating partner in the Del Maguey line of mezcals, one of the earliest brands to make a splash in the U.S. cocktail scene, and one that is focused on sustainability and conditions in the producers’ communities. He says that in the past there has been discussion of ratings that might simplify the issue. “Imagine a 12 — to 15 — point system where everything a producer does right is a point�: responsible waste disposal, humane use of working animals, use of organic and sustainable agaves, and so forth, he says.

Each bottle would get a numerical score, so a consumer who cares about these issues could do better than guess without having to do hours of research.

A system like this could be implemented by mezcal’s regulatory council, the Consejo Regulador del Mezcal, Olson says, or voluntarily by producers who want to steer the industry in the right direction.

In the meantime, savvy consumers can help by asking questions of producers and bartenders and demanding transparency — before the growing demand for mezcal pushes the spirit into a shape that may not be authentic or sustainable. “If we don’t take a look at it now,� Olson says, “it may already be too late.�

MANKATO MAGAZINE • MAY 2017 • 39

Food

ƪƳƳƨ

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SOUTHERN MN STYLE

Tea lovers steeped in tradition and options N

icole Schwartz has 18 tea plants growing at her apartment. “A year ago, I probably had 50 or 60,� she says. “I lose a few more every few months.�

Growing Camellia sinensis, or tea, plants is purely a hobby for the Blacksburg, Virginia, resident, so she’s not upset when they occasionally succumb to pests or disease. But she is quite serious about tea.

0 Ǖ Ĩ Ź

became the owner of the Devotea USA, an online tea blending company. She refers to it as “mostly a very expensive hobby, but one that has allowed me another perspective that I did not have as a blogger.�

Earl Grey drinkers, beware: Tea enthusiasts are deeply committed to their preferred drink and some have little patience for anyone who doesn’t

Ĺą Ç• Ĺ• Ĺ™ Ç” Ĩ aged green tea), Darjeeling (“the Champagne of Äż Ç” 3 + Ĩ Ç• Ĺš Ç” Ĺ™ Ĺą ground, shade-grown green tea).

Lesson No. 1: All tea is descended from the same ancient Chinese plant, Camellia sinensis. (This does not include herbal teas, which are not teas at all but tisanes.)

Lesson No. 2: Don’t ever forget Lesson No. 1. ••••

At a recent master class in vintage and rare teas at the Tea Cellar at the Park Hyatt hotel in Washington, there was an audible groan from a few of the 20 highly knowledgeable attendees upon hearing a retelling of the legend of Monkey-Picked Golden Oolong tea, fabled to be gathered by acrobatic trained monkeys who clamber up wild tea trees to secure the tender leaves.

But for the Park Hyatt’s tea specialist Christian Eck, such stories are part of the magic of tea. “I’m a history guy,� Eck says. “Every tea has a backstory. You can spend your entire life reading tea lore and still understand nothing.�

Although tea is enjoyed by billions of people worldwide each day, its nuances are perhaps only starting to be recognized in the United States, where more people are drinking green tea for its antioxidants, and 85 percent of all tea consumed is iced - which is considered an abomination in many countries. Our slow journey toward tea appreciation Ǖ Ǖ ^ Ǖ Ǖ Ĩ ǎ Ĩ

that traces its revolutionary history back to colonists’ rejection of a British tax on tea in 1773, rendering tea-drinking unpatriotic and leading to a rise in

Ű ǔ Ǖ \ 40 • MAY 2017 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

“This was once a tea-drinking nation,� thirdgeneration professional tea taster Bill Hall says. “Now I’m seeing much more interest in high-end and unusual teas. People want to know where their tea comes from.�

Hall holds a particular distinction in America’s tea industry as the founder of what is the largest commercial tea plantation in the United States, the Charleston Tea Plantation on Wadmalaw Island in 0 ( Ǖ \ %ǎ Ǖ

Ç• Ç• Ç•

as a tea taster - which involved sampling some Ĺ?ņņ

Ĩ Ź Ĩ

years - Hall worked in the tea industry before becoming intrigued by the idea of growing tea. He began farming tea just outside Charleston in the 1980s, eventually partnering with David and Eunice Bigelow, of the family behind Bigelow Tea, in 2003 to expand to a 150-acre operation. “We’re a tiny fraction of the tea grown in world,�

Hall says. “But in America, we’re huge.�

There are small-scale tea plantations scattered across the country, particularly in the coastal 0

ǕǕĨ Ǖ Ű

Ç• growing conditions, including sandy soil, high humidity and lots of rain. Most other tea-centric businesses are focused on procuring ingredients for proprietary blends, such as those made by Schwartz of Devotea USA and by Beth Johnston, owner of Teas Etc., a wholesale tea manufacturer in Jacksonville, Florida.

For Johnston, it was a cup of loose-leaf mango Ceylon tea that she had while on her honeymoon ski trip in 1998 that inspired her to start her own company four months later. “I was hooked from Ĺą Ç• ĨĿ \ Ĺ€

entire trip.�

3Ç• Ç•

Ĺ° Ç• Ĩ Ç• Ç• Canadian Maple Green Tea, Dulce Blanco White Tea and Fig Formosa Oolong, Johnston says, “We start with raw ingredients and develop our blends

Ų

Ç” \ & Ä˝ Äź Ç•

approach.�

Ĩ Ų Ǖ Ǖ Ǖ ŕ ranging when you consider that all tea is derived from one mother plant. Factors that set one tea apart from others can include terroir and growing conditions, or undeniably human elements: when it’s harvested; if the leaves are dried, steamed, smoked or roasted; and what other ingredients are

Ű Ų

Ĺą \ As an example, the Park Hyatt’s Eck points to a blood orange sencha, a Chinese green tea with dried blood orange peel added to the blend. “You’ll taste

minerality and citrus notes,” Eck says. “The tea and the blood orange heighten each other’s Ų \Ŀ To take it one step further, he makes a reduction of the same tea and pours it into a glass of sparkling wine. “It’s a little Ǖ Ǖ Ĩ Ų

combination.”

••••

Tea tips

If you’re ready to venture beyond the generic English Breakfast tea you’ve been buying in bulk, here’s what you need to know. Tea experts advise visiting Ǖ ǔ ǕŰ teas in person, or, if buying online, get one-ounce samples.

1 Ű Ǖ Ǖ Ǖ Ĩ

ǔ Ǖ Ǖų

ǔ Ű Ǖ \ + even black tea, which has the Ǖ Ű Ǖ Ĩ Ǖ

ǔ Ű \ Ĩ Ű Ǖ from 30 milligrams in an eightounce cup of white tea to 90 milligrams in some types of \ ( Ű Ňŋņ ňņņ

ǔǕ Ǖ ǔ Ű Ǖ \ As a rule, plan on 1 teaspoon of tea leaves per four ounces of water.

Types of tea

Black: The leaves are withered, then fully oxidized and dried, with dark colors and robust Ų \ 0 Ǖ Ǖ Ǖ water (212 degrees) for three to ű ǔǕ \ Green: With a more herbaceous Ų Ĩ

Ĩ roasted or steamed, but not oxidized, thereby preserving the green color. Oversteeping can make it bitter, so steep in water that’s 160 to 180 degrees for up to two minutes, tasting every 30

Ų \ White: Young and/or minimally processed tea leaves, with delicate

ǔ Ų Ų \ 0 Ǖ water that’s 175 to 185 degrees, for no more than three minutes.

Oolong: Falling between green and black teas, oolong is partially oxidized and features a wide

Ų Ĩ ǔ Ǖ

smoky, depending on how long it was oxidized. Steep in water that’s Ňŏņ Ňōņ

ű

minutes.

Pu-erh: Like wine, pu-erh is fermented. The aged green tea Ǖ Ĩ Ų \ 0

30 seconds in boiling water, then discard that and add more boiling water, this time steeping for 45 to 50 seconds. The leaves can be reused, but add 15 to 20 seconds for each subsequent steeping.

Tisane: Not a true tea, a tisane is made from herbs, Ų Ĩ Ǖ Ǖ chamomile, rooibos, honeybush or peppermint. Steep in boiling

ű ǔǕ \

MANKATO MAGAZINE • MAY 2017 • 41

ơƏƼơŊƜ ưƭƪƊ

By Nell Musolf

The tao of

S

ince electronic games weren’t in existence when I was growing up, my friends and I played a lot of board Â˘Â Ă‚Â—ĂœĘˆ ZÊ— , ŸÊó—“ Ę›;¥— Â ĂƒÂ“ ÂźĂ¨Â—Ęœ and some I didn’t. (Monopoly took too long and whoever was chosen to be the banker usually had a wide streak ĂŠÂĄ ÂźÂ Ă˜Â?Â—ĂƒĂş ÂŤĂƒ Â Â“Â“ÂŤĂŁÂŤĂŠĂƒ ĂŁĂŠ ĂœĂŁÂŤÂ?šú ÄƒĂƒÂ˘Â—Ă˜ĂœĘˆ Plus I always seemed to get stuck with 㨗 ĂŁÂ¨ÂŤĂ‚ÂŒÂźÂ—ĘˆĘœ One game I never really understood was Candyland. It seemed too simple — just pick a card and move your plastic gingerbread man to the square that was the same color? What was the trap? Where were the pitfalls?

Why wasn’t there a dentist lurking somewhere on the board waiting aiting to scold players on the hazards of tooth “—Â? ú Â ĂƒÂ“ ÂŤĂ‚Ă•Ă˜ĂŠĂ•Â—Ă˜ Ä„ĂŠĂœĂœÂŤĂƒÂ˘ĘŠ , Â ÂźĂ´Â ĂşĂœ , Â ÂźĂ´Â ĂşĂœ thought there had to be more e to the game, some hidden, unshared ed rules everyone else somehow knew through either osmosis or superior listening istening skills. Plus, being the kind of kid who far preferred potato chips to o candy, even the lure of Gumdrop Mountain ountain never did much for me.

It turned out I was completely ly wrong about Candyland harboring anyy ulterior motives, as I recently discovered covered thanks to Wikipedia. Drawing ng cards and moving to the appropriate te color 42 • MAY 2017 • MANKATO MAGAZINE NE

was the essence of Candyland, nothing more and nothing less, no hidden agenda, no dental shaming, not a ĂŁÂ¨ÂŤĂƒÂ˘ 㨗 ÂźÂ—Â ĂœĂŁ ÂŒÂŤĂŁ ĂœÂŤĂƒÂŤĂœĂŁÂ—Ă˜Ęˆ )Â—Ă˜Â— ÂŤĂœ ô¨ ã Wikipedia has to say about the game that’s been around approximately forever: Candy Land (also CandylandĘœ ÂŤĂœ  simple racing board game currently Ă•Ă¨ÂŒÂźÂŤĂœÂ¨Â—Â“ ÂŒĂş )Â ĂœÂŒĂ˜ĂŠĘˆ a¨— ¢ Â— requires no reading and minimal counting skills, making it suitable for young children. Due to the design of the game, there is no strategy involved: players are never required to make choices, just follow directions.

Wow, no reading, minimal counting skills and no strategy involved. No wonder it sells so many copies every year. What I want to know is why can’t life be like that with no strategy and lots of directions? Making choices about anything pretty much boils down to eating out in a restaurant with your best friend: no matter what you order, her lunch always looks better.

Wikipedia goes on to explain that the winner of Candyland is predetermined

ÂŒĂş 㨗 ĂœÂ¨Ă¨Ä Â— ĂŠÂĄ 㨗 Â?Â Ă˜Â“ ÂŒĂş 㨗 ĂœÂ¨Ă¨Ä Â— ĂŠÂĄ 㨗 Â?Â Ă˜Â“ĂœĘˆ ÂŒĂş 㨗 ĂœÂ¨Ă¨Ä Â— ĂŠÂĄ 㨗 Â?Â Ă˜Â“ Â“Ăœ Well, holy candy canes, can Batman! )ĂŠĂ´ ĂŁĂ˜Ă¨Â— ÂŤĂœ 㨠ã ÂŤÂĄ úÊè  Õ՟ú ÂŤĂŁ ĂŁĂŠ  description of life? The w winners of this world all too often seem to have been born into the role while the t losers are ĂƒÂ—ĂłÂ—Ă˜ Â˘ĂŠÂŤĂƒÂ˘ ĂŁĂŠ Œ— ÄƒĂ˜ĂœĂŁ ĂŁĂŠ Â—ĂƒĂŁÂ—Ă˜ Â ĂƒÂ“Ăş ĂƒÂ—ĂłÂ—Ă˜ Â˘ĂŠÂŤĂƒÂ˘ ĂŁĂŠ Œ— ÄƒĂ˜ĂœĂŁ ĂŁĂŠ Castle no matter how much m they try.

Oh, they’ll get there, but they won’t win Œ—Â?Â Ă¨ĂœÂ— 㨗ú Â Ă˜Â—ĂƒĘ°ĂŁ ÄƒĂ˜ĂœĂŁĘˆ I’m taking the lessons learned from Candyland to heart. No more strategies for me. No more lying awake at night rehashing past mistakes while Â ĂŁĂŁÂ—Ă‚Ă•ĂŁÂŤĂƒÂ˘ ĂŁĂŠ ÄƒÂ˘Ă¨Ă˜Â— Êèã Ă´Â ĂşĂœ ĂŁĂŠ  óʍ“ future ones like I was forced to in the ¢ Â— ĂŠÂĄ ;ÂŤÂĄÂ—Ęˆ BĂŠ Ă‚ĂŠĂ˜Â— ÂĄĂ˜Â—ĂŁĂŁÂŤĂƒÂ˘ Â ÂŒĂŠĂ¨ĂŁ Â˘Â—ĂŁĂŁÂŤĂƒÂ˘ ÂŤĂƒĂŁĂŠ Â ĂƒÂ“Ăş Â ĂœĂŁÂźÂ— ÄƒĂ˜ĂœĂŁ ÂĄĂŠĂ˜ ĂŁÂ¨ÂŤĂœ girl. From now on I’m relying on the shuffle of the cards as my destiny.

True, you have to play the ones you’re dealt but I can live with that.

As long as there there’ss always the possibility for a rematch and the opportunity to change my order when I eat out with my best friend.

Nell Musolf is a mom and freelance writer from Mankato.

She blogs at: nellmusolf.com

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MANKATO MAGAZINE • MAY 2017 • 43

ĆŤĆĽĆ˜Ć¨ĆŠĆ˛ ƧƏƼơ

By Jean Lundquist

May: For gardeners, it’s

GO time

While you’re planting that garden, consider helping the bees

A

t last! May is here, and by the middle of it, we can get back to gardening outside. The shackles of long nights and cold, dark days are thrown off. Winter gloves are exchanged for gardening gloves.

Except for harvest season, this is the best month of the year for gardeners.

The usual last date of frost comes in the middle May. I know people who, during a crazy warm spell in April a few years ago, planted their seeds and set out their plants and were rewarded for their bravery with tomatoes weeks earlier than I was eating my own. I also know people who did the same thing, and lost everything when it froze.

Since I’m a little fussy about the ĂłÂ Ă˜ÂŤÂ—ĂŁÂŤÂ—Ăœ , Ă•ÂźÂ ĂƒĂŁ Ę H9Ęƒ  ;Ha ÂĄĂ¨ĂœĂœĂş Ę Â ĂƒÂ“ , Â?Â ĂƒĘ°ĂŁ ÄƒĂƒÂ“ Ă‚Â ĂƒĂş ĂŠÂĄ 㨗 ĂłÂ Ă˜ÂŤÂ—ĂŁÂŤÂ—Ăœ , like locally, I always wait. I always plant at the middle to the end of the month.

Always.

I u s e d t o l i ke “c o m p e t i t i ve gardening,â€? as I called it. Who produces 㨗 ÄƒĂ˜ĂœĂŁ Ă˜Â Â“ÂŤĂœÂ¨ĘŠ r¨Ê Â¨Â Ăœ 㨗 ÄƒĂ˜ĂœĂŁ Ă˜ÂŤĂ•Â— tomato?

Maybe it’s age that is making me more mellow, but now, I don’t care. I’m also not secretive about the varieties of vegetables I plant. If someone asks me what variety of kohlrabi I grow that gets large without getting woody, I tell 㨗 ʛrÂŤĂƒĂƒÂ—Ă˜ĘœĘˆ ,ʰó— ĂƒÂ—ĂłÂ—Ă˜ ¨ “ 㨗 ÄƒĂ˜ĂœĂŁ Ă˜ÂŤĂ•Â— ĂłÂ—Â˘Â—ĂŁÂ ÂŒÂźÂ— of any kind, anyway. I used to spend the fishing opener with my parents ÂŤĂƒ ÂźÂ—ĂšÂ ĂƒÂ“Ă˜ÂŤÂ Â—ĂłÂ—Ă˜Ăş ĂşÂ—Â Ă˜Ęˆ a¨— ÄƒĂœÂ¨ÂŤĂƒÂ˘ opener is the middle of May, so I always planted later, happily giving up vegetable bragging rights for having a ripe tomato before my competitors (er, 44 • MAY 2017 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

, Ă‚Â—Â Ăƒ ÂĄĂ˜ÂŤÂ—ĂƒÂ“ĂœĘˆĘœ I’m not completely against a bit of competition, however. It was very satisfying when we won the grand champion ribbon for hot peppers at the Blue Earth County Fair several years ago in open class. It was especially satisfying because the morning I was headed to the fair for entry day, I went to the garden and picked the three most perfect, symmetrical, Cherry Bomb Peppers. I washed them, and put them on the counter to dry on a paper towel.

I left the kitchen for a few minutes, then went back to the kitchen to collect the peppers to enter in the fair, only to discover they were missing. Seems our German Shepherd, Greta, had gone Ę­Â?ĂŠĂ¨ĂƒĂŁÂ—Ă˜ ĂœĂ¨Ă˜ÄƒĂƒÂ˘ĘƒĘŽ Â ĂƒÂ“ ¨ “ ÂĄĂŠĂ¨ĂƒÂ“ 㨗 tasty.

Bad Greta!

What could I do but laugh, and head back to the garden to collect the three Cherry Bomb understudies required for entry at open class at the fair. These seconds are the peppers that brought home the grand champion ribbon.

Greta was forgiven. She just had a hankering for a good tasting hot pepper, that’s all. ••• Ăœ ô— ¨— “ ÂŤĂƒĂŁĂŠ 㨗 Ę­A ú Ä„ĂŠĂ´Â—Ă˜ĂœĘŽ part of the “April showers bring may Ä„ĂŠĂ´Â—Ă˜ĂœĘŽ Â ĂšÂŤĂŠĂ‚Ęƒ ,ʰ“ Ÿš— ĂŁĂŠ Â—ĂƒÂ?ĂŠĂ¨Ă˜Â Â˘Â— you to grow some pollinator plants for bees.

You’ve probably read news stories Â ÂŒĂŠĂ¨ĂŁ ¨Êô Â¨ĂŠĂƒÂ—Ăş ÂŒÂ—Â—Ăœ Â Ă˜Â— Â“ĂşÂŤĂƒÂ˘ ĂŠÄ—Ęˆ It’s called “Colony Collapse Disorder.â€?

No one knows exactly why the bees are

dying, but the use of pesticides and habitat loss are suspected, according to a study by the Center for Biological Diversity published in February.

If bees are not available to pollinate crops, food sources will greatly diminish. If this concerns you, I have a few ideas for you to try. ĚŽ SÂźÂ ĂƒĂŁ  Õ Â?š—ã ĂŠĂ˜ ĂŁĂ´ĂŠ ĂŠÂĄ Ă•ĂŠÂźÂźÂŤĂƒÂ ĂŁĂŠĂ˜ ĂœÂ—Â—Â“ĂœĘˆ HÂĄĂŁÂ—Ăƒ ĂŁÂ¨Â—ĂœÂ— Â Ă˜Â— 􍟓 Ä„ĂŠĂ´Â—Ă˜ĂœĘˆ èã Â˘Â—ĂƒÂ—Ă˜Â ÂźÂźĂş  ŸŸ Ä„ĂŠĂ´Â—Ă˜Ăœ Â Ă˜Â— ¢Êʓ ÂĄĂŠĂ˜ Ă•ĂŠÂźÂźÂŤĂƒÂ ĂŁĂŠĂ˜ĂœĘƒ ÂŤĂƒÂ?ÂźĂ¨Â“ÂŤĂƒÂ˘ ÂŒĂ¨ĂŁĂŁÂ—Ă˜Ä„ÂŤÂ—ĂœĘˆ This includes dandelions.

Dandelions are among the first flowers of the year, and may be vital to pollinator survival. Don’t hate dandelions, even if the Crayola crayon company eliminated the color “Dandelionâ€? from its palette earlier this year. ĚŽ Â¨ĂŠĂŠĂœÂ— Â?Â Ă¨ĂŁÂŤĂŠĂ¨ĂœÂźĂş Ă´Â¨Â—Ăƒ “—Â?ÂŤÂ“ÂŤĂƒÂ˘ whether or not you need to use pesticides anywhere in your yard or garden. But do do this: eliminate the use of neonicotinoid insecticides.

These are thought to be among the worst of killers of bees. The neonicotinoid family includes the chemicals 0acetamiprid, clothianidin, imidacloprid, nitenpyram, nithiazine, thiacloprid and thiamethoxam.

On that happy note, get out there and grow something! And don’t forget the sunscreen.

Jean Lundquist is a master gardener who lives near Good Thunder.

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Your style

By Ann Rosenquist Fee

Jean confusion?

S

Egyptian sun goddess Sekhmet feels you.

tyle-conscious shoppers across generations are reporting jean confusion right now, and I have to tell you, it’s going to get worse before it gets better.

“Jean confusion,” a term coined

by Mankato-based poet, editor, and jean-wearer Erin Dorney, refers to the variety of jean styles available in the retail universe all at once.

“No one knows what’s going on with jeans right now,” she says. “Are we still doing skinny jeans? Did wide-legged come back yet? How do we feel about bootleg? Cropped? Don’t even get me started on different wash colors, distressed look, or jeggings.” She said this wearing well-chosen skinny jeans 46 • MAY 2017 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

and adorably roundish spectacles and impossibly glossy naturally greatas-is hair. Chick has her act together, fashion-wise and otherwise. This was not some pansy complaint, “jean confusion.” It was the kind of nuanced critique we need and expect from our literati, our artists, especially right now.

The fact that all of these options exist in the same “right now,” the same retail moment, suggests that they’re all on-trend, which can’t quite truly be the case because some of the choices are flagrantly contrary.

And I don’t mean a contradiction as simple as skinny legs vs. flare legs.

That would not be a problem. Those

two cuts could certainly coexist and we would get it. No confusion at all.

We’d be like, fine, width-of-leg is the thing right now, we’re playing with leg width, and it has range and we all get to make personal choices about which way we’d like to go. If that were the style scene right now, with jeans, that would be fine.

But no. The present cacophony is about every detail of the pant as a potential emphasis. Waist: Excessively high, kind-of-high, actual-waistheight, low. Cut: Baggy, slim, athletic, full, skinny. Stitching: Ample, nondescript, metallic, studded.

Pockets: Excessive, decorative, pockets-inside-pockets, fake pockets

painted on the rear of faux-denim leggings which honestly are fooling no one.

Why is this a problem, for Erin and for maybe possibly also you?

It’s not like you’re some mindless subscriber to trends, buying whatever retail forces tell you to buy. You are ÊÃă Ããʃ èãÊÃÊÂÊèÜ Ã Ü ¼¡ʢ examined clothes-wearer. Which is exactly why the diversity of our present jeanscape is frustrating. If personal style is a form of creative expression, in which articles of clothing in various combinations create content, then it’s nice to know what the articles represent.

The fact is, this dizzying jumble of references is itself the trend. And it’s no accident, nor would it come as a surprise if prior to shopping we all took a moment to brush up on the Z ¹¨Â ã )úÕÊã¨ Ü«Ü ʠ 㨠ÃÊã«Êà 㨠ã youth culture swings back and forth from full hippie to full punk every 11 years, the same cycle on which the Üèà Ą«ÕÜ «ãÜ Õʼ Üʈ V«¢¨ã ÃÊô «Ã ؼú 2017 we’re pretty much smack between 㨠¡è¼¼ ĄÊ ãú ¨«ÕÕ«  ù«Âè ʡ 2010 (bohemian fringey-fringe loose peasant messy updos, you remember 㨠ã ô¨Ê¼ ¼ʜʃ à ¡ÊØ㨠Ê«â ¡è¼¼ ă Ø Õèù  ù«Âè ʡ ȻȹȻȺ ʛ¼Êʹ ¡ÊØô Ø ãÊ ¼ 㨠¼¼ú ã«¢¨ã Üã«ė ܼ« ¹ ʢ ¹ ó Øú㨫âʜʈ For complete context, you’ll want to dive into Robert Anton Wilson’s 1983 book Prometheus Rising, or ÜÊ ¼ ÜÜ« a«ÂÊã¨ú ; Øú ÊØ #Ø Ãã Morrison’s New X-Men Series (2001ȻȹȹȽʜʈ HØ ó Ø« ãú Ê¡ Êã¨ Ø ÕÊÕ è¼ãèØ and social science texts. Meaning, basically, it’s everywhere, and as a public servant of style I’m just really sorry I didn’t brush up sooner and prepare us all. But thanks to Erin and basically her clarion call, we’re here now, and we can face the tail-end of this cycle together with a freshyet-classic, new-yet-been-aroundforever view of the jeans area of our favored retail or consignment or thrift store. Meaning, basically, yeah there’s a lot going on right now. Yeah, it’s overwhelming. Yeah, it’s noisy, dissonant, comically contradictory.

Sekhmet says, now is not the time to try to make sense. Sekhmet says ignore the noise, stay focused, stay ãØè ãÊ ô¨ ã ăãÜ Ã Ą ãã ØÜ Ã ¡ ¼Ü good. Sekhmet says, honestly honey, there is nothing new under the sun.

Ann Rosenquist Fee is executive director of the Arts Center of Saint Peter and a vocalist with The Frye.

She blogs at annrosenquistfee.com.

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www.paape.com MANKATO MAGAZINE • MAY 2017 • 47

Coming Attractions: May 5

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GAC Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Lab Band Spring Concert 7:30 — Bjorling Recital Hall — Gustavus Adolphus College — St. Peter — free — www.gustavus.edu

2017 Final Concert with Gustavus Symphony Orchestra 7 p.m. — Bjorling Recital Hall — Gustavus Adolphus College — St. Peter — free — www.gustavus.edu

6 Gustavus Choir Spring Concert

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George Clinton 7 p.m. — Vetter Stone Amphitheater — Mankato — $75, $55 and $35 — www.verizonwirelesscentermn.com

3:30 p.m. — Christ Chapel — Gustavus Adolphus College — St. Peter — free — www.gustavus.edu

6-7, 12-14 GAC Theatre presents

‘King Lear’ 7:30 p.m. 6, 12 and 13; 2 p.m. 7 and 14 — Anderson Theatre — Gustavus Adolphus College — St. Peter — $9 adults, $6 students and seniors — www.gustavus.ed

6 Gustavus Choir Spring Concert

3:30 p.m. — Christ Chapel — Gustavus Adolphus College — St. Peter — free — www.gustavus.edu

7 Mankato Symphony Orchestra Symphonic

Series: Journey Home 3 p.m. — Mankato Performing Arts Center — 1 Civic Center Plaza — $35 adults, $5 students, free 12 and under — www.mankatosymphony. com

8 Raw Fusion

8 p.m. — Verizon Wireless Center — 1 Civic Center Plaza — Mankato — $110 VIP, $72 reserved, $45 standing — www.verizonwirelesscentermn.com

12-14 Merely Players present

‘Dixie Swim Club’ 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Satrudays; 2 p.m.

Sundays 19-21 — Lincoln Community Center — 110 Fulton St. — Mankato — $15 adults, $13 seniors and $10 youth 16 and under — www.merelyplayers.com

Dr. AngelA Schuck Dr. keith FlAck

48 • MAY 2017 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

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Josh Turner 8 p.m. — Mankato Performing Arts Center — 1 Civic Center Plaza — Mankato — $79, $58, $39 and $30 — www. verizonwirelesscentermn.com

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Gustavus Wind Symphony 1:30 p.m. — Bjorling Recital Hall — Gustavus Adolphus College — St. Peter — free — www.gustavus.edu

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Brassworks!

1:30 p.m. — Bjorling Recital Hall — Gustavus Adolphus College — St. Peter — free — www.gustavus.edu

21 Mankato Symphony Orchestra: Music

on the Hill ‘Reflections’ 2 p.m. — Chapel at Good Counsel — 170 Good Counsel Drive — Mankato — $17 premium, $12 general admission in advance, $20 and $15 day of show — www.mankatosymphony.com

Faces & Places: Photos By SPX Sports

UNITED WAY MEN’S HEALTH EVENT 1. Derrick Cattrysse lines up his shot for the pool contest.

2. Russ Blaschko shoots a few hoops to try and get the best score for a prize.

3. Rick Lund and Jay Nessler try their swing for a hole-in-one on the putting green.

4. Guest speaker Adam Thielen answers crowd questions on what it’s like to be in the NFL. 5. Event MC “Stunt Monkey” Jeff Lang anounces the highest bidders for the silent auction.

6. Tim Classon aims for the bullseye in the darts activities.

7. Robert Kamm Jr. and Robert Kamm Sr. place bids on a silent auction item.

8. Jake Huebsch, Alex Jermeland, Jim Tatge and Larry Wasmund converse after seeing Adam Thielen’s talk.

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MANKATO MAGAZINE • MAY 2017 • 49

Faces & Places: Photos By SPX Sports

SPRING INTO SPRING CRAFT SHOW

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1. You can find most anything at the Spring Into Spring craft show.

2. Cassandra Branscom and Freyje wait for customers at their booth.

3. Doug Easterday displays his crafts at the Spring Into Spring Craft Show.

4. Phil Bunkowske and Trevor Flemmer have a company named “Top That Tables” in which they used beer bottle caps and other things to make decorative tables.

5. Abbie Anderson with her Balanced Blankets at the Spring Into Spring Craft Show.

6. Jill Hass imports leather handbags for her company Olita Leather.

7. Some of the merchandise on display at the Spring Into Spring Craft Show.

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50 • MAY 2017 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

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Faces & Places: Photos By SPX Sports

DRUMMER’S SPRING PLANTING PARTY

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1. The options are endless with this selection.

2. Carrie Larson was the expert guest from McHutchinson Horticultural Distributors.

3. Kim Frey desinged two planters from Drummer’s Garden Center and Floral.

4. Gardener Cheryl Daschner follows advice from the speaker on how to arrange her planter.

5. Bryden Jones, the grower at Drummer’s Garden Center and Floral, helps explain each plant.

6. Kim Frey chooses wisely on her thrillers, fillers, and spillers for her planter.

7. Sofiya Ghale an 2 international student from Nepal, enjoys this event with her host family.

8. Laura and Jill having fun planting pots with thriller, filler and spiller plants.

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MANKATO MAGAZINE • MAY 2017 • 51

From this Valley

By Pete Steiner

Old Madison Avenue I

’ve done plenty of reminiscing here about the lost glories of Mankato’s old downtown. But a while back, some of us got to talking about old Madison Avenue, back when cornfields were more plentiful on the hilltop than strip malls. Of course, that was half a century ago, and there’s been lots of what urbanologists call “creative destruction” in the intervening years.

Fortunately, the wrecking ball we call “progress” hasn’t destroyed the memories. So, oo-ee, Baby, come on let me take you on an avenue cruise!

•••• Begin at Stoney’s, the wonderful restaurant in the old stone building, actually on Riverfront, where Madison Avenue “Ts”. If you go back to the ’60’s, you remember it as a Country Kitchen, a Friday night meeting place for young lovers and starting point for those wanting to cruise the main drag. Eventually, the Fredericks made it Stoney’s and brought in Ray Schwegman. We lost Ray not too long ago, but who can ever forget his graciousness and warmth? Never forgot your name, greeted you, wanted you to have the best dining experience possible! Graif Clothing has done a nice job of re-imagining the space.

On a late May evening, you could head east, and if you were walking, you’d be enchanted by the aroma of lilacs! On an avenue never known for aesthetics, here was a half-block long bank of mature lilacs on the north side. Maybe the recent burying of the phone and electrical wires was a trade-off for their removal. You’d wend your way past Rhapsody Music, once a thriving Amoco station, and you’d want a car to keep going up the hill past Schmidt Siding and a few blocks of mixed development — even a few (amazingly) undeveloped parcels. And there, on the north side, where the Boy Scouts’ headquarters is now, wasn’t that the Viking Motel? Maybe your company held its Christmas party in their meeting 52 • MAY 2017 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

room. It’s also where lots of traveling musicians stayed. Plenty of stuff happened there that was not exactly trustworthy, clean and reverend.

Hilltop Florist, recently downsized, has forever anchored the crest of the hill, while the adjacent brick building to the east has hosted a variety of businesses — anyone remember Eck’s Living Center, a modern, concept furniture store? (Even further back, in the ’60’s, one of the first retail stores east of Victory Drive, was another “modern” furniture store, Ethan Allan, more recently the site of some local bank branches.)

•••• The building that housed the legendary Hilltop Tavern, where celebrities visited, where you could hunker down in a wooden booth for a juicy burger and a beverage and the best potato salad ever, is no more.

I had to do a double take recently — and recall other restaurants, like Denny Henderson’s Kit Kat Inn, with it’s legendary “butter browns,” that have also disappeared. I decided to slip into Zanz to write more of this down. Just as it has for more than forty years, Zanz still serves up its famous chilitos.

Rick’s daughter, Molly, has taken over running it, but it’s still friendly and funky, a place where college kids and longtime patrons who claim their favorite booths, can get a reasonably priced meal. Other fast food stalwarts — Taco John’s, Long John Silver’s, KFC — are still across the street.

artist who needed some scratch and didn’t mind pumping gas when it was still a “service” station. And where Walgreen’s now stands, Happy Chef forever hosted business types in the morning and late night bar-goers in the wee hours.

In the strip mall now anchored by Buster’s, was Mankato’s first mall, of sorts — Lewis Eastgate, home to a large drugstore and Mueller’s Superway Grocery. But across the street was the structure that really changed things — Madison East.

When it opened in the late 70’s, with anchor stores Sears, Woolworth’s and Musicland, it forever changed retailing in Mankato. Of course, now it’s mostly a medical mall, its retail allure in turn surpassed by an even bigger mall, River Hills in 1991. Hard to believe that just a quarter century ago, there was so little east of Victory Drive — Johnson Reel (now Johnson Outdoors), Bill Montag’s Freeway Ford (now Mankato Ford), and yes, a drive-in, outdoor movie theater.

•••• I like to call it Sandbox Earth.

Change is the only constant, and it does little good to mourn the passing of a favorite place. But is there a “tear-down gene”? From the moment we get our first sandbox or Lego set, we are compelled to assemble and then disassemble, to remodel and replace. And to lay the ground for reminiscing over the next 50 years.

•••• Is it acknowledgment of an aging population that has two giant drug store chain outlets now kittykorner from each other at Madison and Long? Bob Owens’ Standard station (now CVS) long was a haven for respectable businessmen and alternative types.

Bob would hold court in his tiny smoke-filled office, and would give a chance to a struggling skinny hippie

Peter Steiner is host of “Talk of the Town” weekdays at 1:05 p.m. on KTOE.

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