Mankato Magazine Feb. 2019 by Free Press Media

LIVING 55 PLUS The Singing Cowgirl

KATO INK!

Up close and personal with artists, apprentices and tat-covered bartenders

Thoughts on wrestling by author TERRY DAVIS Thoughts on Mankatoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s progress by HENRY MORRIS The buzz on author

JILL KALZ

Courtney Forsythe FEBRUARY 2019

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

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FEATURES FEBRUARY 2019 Volume 14, Issue 2

INK SPOTS Tattoos have become one of Americans’ top modes of personal expression. In Mankato, there’s plenty of ink-stained proof walking around, and plenty of places to allow your skin to be your canvas.

I REMEMBER MANKATO

LOUDEN’S MUSE

As February is Black History Month, we invited Minnesota State University’s Henry Morris to talk about some of the diversity changes he’s seen in his 30 years of living in Mankato.

Wrestling fans know Terry Davis as one of the sport’s great storytellers. Now he’s wants to say ‘thanks’ to the sport that made him famous.

ABOUT THE COVER Shown here at the Nakato Bar, Courtney Forsythe is proud of her many tattoos. She was photographed on the job by Pat Christman. MANKATO MAGAZINE • FEBRUARY 2019 • 3

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

14 Beyond the Margin Stories and storytellers 16 Familiar Faces Jill Kalz 30 Day Trip Destinations Detroit Lakes’ Polar Fest 32 Living 55 Plus

44 Wine On to Beaujolais 45 Beer Counter Currents 46 That’s Life The bell rang! 48 Garden Chat French beans, oui?

50 Your Style A return to RED 52 Night Moves Trivia Night 55 Coming Attractions 56 From This Valley Sleep in, Don Rivet

Coming in March

50 4 • FEBRUARY 2019 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

Say cheese! Our annual photo issue takes over.

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MANKATO MAGAZINE • FEBRUARY 2019 • 5

FROM THE ASSOCIATE EDITOR By Robb Murray FEBRUARY 2019 • VOLUME 14, ISSUE 2 PUBLISHER Steve Jameson EDITOR Joe Spear ASSOCIATE Robb Murray EDITOR CONTRIBUTORS Amanda Dyslin Bert Mattson Diana Rojo-Garcia James Figy Jean Lundquist Jessica Server Leigh Pomeroy Nell Musolf Pete Steiner

PHOTOGRAPHERS Pat Christman Jackson Forderer

PAGE DESIGNER Christina Sankey ADVERTISING Danny Creel SALES Joan Streit Jordan Greer-Friesz Josh Zimmerman Marianne Carlson Theresa Haefner 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 344-6364, or e-mail advertising@mankatofreepress.com.

6 • FEBRUARY 2019 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

Ink, grapplers and pioneers

hances are, a good chunk of you reading this have a tattoo. Twenty years ago, I wouldn’t have been able to write that. Today, though? Well, times have changed. In fact, I’d venture to guess that between 40 and 50 percent of you have tattoos. Why would I guess a number so high? Because a recent survey found that roughly 46 percent of Americans have at least one tattoo. And unlike our ranking in the number of incarcerated individuals (both rate and raw number), we’re not crushing the rest of the world in the number of tattooed individuals. Tw o c o u n t r i e s are beating us in the tattoo game. Not by much, but they’re beating us. Italy leads the world at 48 percent. Sweden comes in at No. 2 with 47 percent. And the U.S., for purposes of this discussion, picks up the bronze medal. Not very cash money of you, U.S. You’re slippin’. This month in Mankato Magazine, we explore the wonderful world of tattoos. We talk to seasoned pros, up-and-coming apprentices and people who proudly display their creative sides on their skin for the world to see, a permanent reminder of who we are — or at least who we were at a moment in time. One of the artists in our piece is Kelly Bunde, who happens to be a friend of mine. I’ve volunteered with her husband for an area nonprofit, and I can remember being both baffled by the number of tattoos on his legs, and mesmerized by them (the tattoos, not the legs.) There are still those out there who cringe at the thought of

tattoos, and feel compelled to impose their values on the creative or life choices of others regarding tattoos. Fortunately, those voices are becoming fewer and fewer as society trends toward a place where people can just be themselves. And that’s a good thing. So go forth, folks, and ink up! Also in this month’s issue: n This month’s issue also marks the return of renowned author Terry Davis. Many of you may know Davis for his novel “Vision Quest,” which was made into a film starring Matthew Modine. (Davis is actually working on a sequel to “Vision Quest” right now, so you can look for that.) O n e o f D a v i s ’ greatest loves remains wrestling. And in his essay he talks about how the discipline required for wrestling served him well for the rest of his life, including his writing life. n February is Black History Month. As we looked for a means of recognizing this important distinction, we decided to hand control of that effort over to someone who could bring authenticity to it. Henry Morris came to this community 30 years ago, back during a time w h e n , d e m o g r a p h i c a l l y, the community was almost exclusively white. While demographics haven’t changed dramatically, there have been major shifts. And progress, Morris says, has been made. 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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■ Deadline is Feb. 8 ■ Send all submissions to: rmurray@mankatofreepress.com ■ All photos must be submitted electronically as JPGS — no prints will be considered. ■ Submit up to five photos per person. MANKATO MAGAZINE • FEBRUARY 2019 • 7

FACES & PLACES: Photos By SPX Sports

Hog Roast for Heroes

1. (From left) David Clobes and Joe Steck served in the Air Force. 2. Pulled pork is dished out to hungry people by friendly volunteers. 3. Dennis Terrell poses with volunteers in the kitchen. 4. Children’s art work displayed on the walls commemorates veterans. 5. People signed a guest book as they came in. 6. The first Hog Roast for Heroes was hosted by the Eagle Lake American Legion Post 617 in Eagle Lake. 7. Volunteers posed for a photo. 3

8 • FEBRUARY 2019 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

FACES & PLACES: Photos By SPX Sports

Candy Cane Lane

1. Elena Gause and Rose McDonald help with holiday cookie decorating. 2. Caden and Adele Jellum enjoy holiday cookies. 3. Santa and Mrs. Claus make an appearance for the kids. 4. A variety of creative activities were available for the kids. 5. Nora Westberg gets her nails painted with Katie Westberg. 6. Angela Swanson gets Rudolph painted on her face by Alex Johannessen. 7. The event was held at the Lincoln Community Center in Mankato. 8. Watercolor painting and coloring pages were one of the many activities available.

MANKATO MAGAZINE • FEBRUARY 2019 • 9

FACES & PLACES: Photos By SPX Sports

Winter Wonderland Party

1. Christmas decorations were scattered across the library. 2. Families stuff plush mooses and decorate cookies. 3. A full event saw a long line of families patiently waiting to receive goody bags. 4. he North Mankato Taylor Library hosting the Winter Wonderland Party. 5. Mobile Teddy Bear Workshops were handed out to all. 6. Hand stuffing a plush moose was one of 2 the activities. 7. Santa handed out bags to families.

10 • FEBRUARY 2019 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

FACES & PLACES: Photos By SPX Sports

Kiwanis Holiday Lights Ice Sculpting 1. Joe and Chrissy Christenson begin sculpting Santa’s sleigh. 2. Tom Schiller sculpts his reindeer. 3. A group of spectators watches the artists. 4. The artwork was lit up for display after the competition. 5. Adam Scholljegerdes sculpts with a chainsaw. 6. Artists pose for a group photo. 7. The winners of the People’s Choice Award, Adam and Ashley Scholljegerdes, with their abominable snowman.

MANKATO MAGAZINE • FEBRUARY 2019 • 11

THIS DAY IN HISTORY Compiled by Jean Lundquist

$4,000 stolen from safe at piggly wiggly store Friday, Feb. 26, 1960 A veteran police captain said it was the “cleverest job I’ve ever seen,” after safe crackers stole nearly $4,000 from the locked safe in the Piggly Wiggly store, 602 S. Front Street (where Walgreen’s Pharmacy is now). Authorities believe there were two men, based on footprints in the snow. A baker at the store was working in another part of the store, but had no idea what was happening. Large paper bills were taken from the safe, along with all the quarters. Pennies, dimes and nickels were left behind. The thieves gained entrance to the building by climbing a ladder to the roof, pulling the ladder up behind them, then entering through a vent. Walking over refrigeration units and above the ceiling, they made their way to the office, where they expertly cracked the safe.

Corporate Graphics

Burke appearance here tonight may be her last in Mankato Thursday, Feb. 12, 1942 Mildred Burke was quite a draw in the area as she vowed to keep her unbroken win record intact during her last wrestling match before leaving for Florida at the North Mankato Municipal Building. Burke “made quite a hit with the local grunt and groan addicts,” according the to the newspaper. The reporter said she had a “clever and colorful style of grappling.” She intended to leave North Mankato with her wrestling crown “still resting on her auburn locks.” Her opponent, “the buxom Mae Weston from Kansas,” was her challenger. There were some men’s bouts on the card for the evening, as well. Marshals to seize hair-infested cheese Marshals to seize hair-infested cheese Federal marshals were dispatched to pick up 830 cases of cheese in New Ulm after Food and Drug Administration inspectors found animal hair in the batch. Each case contained 12 one-pound packages of Kraft Deluxe American Slices. None of the cheese was believed to have made it to the marketplace. No one was sure how the hair got into the cheese, nor was it revealed what kind of animal the hair came from. Councilman wants Indian monument removed Perhaps to the County Museum Tuesday, Feb. 16, 1971 In 1862, 38 Dakota men were hanged in Mankato near what is now Reconciliation Park. In 1912, marking the 50th year after the executions, a marker was placed at the site. In 1971, Mankato Council member Dave Cummisky asked the city council to remove it. Financed by a group of citizens in 1912 led by Judge Loren Cray, the question of who exactly owned the monument — and who owned the land upon which it had been erected — needed to be determined before it could be removed. Cummisky said he was not opposed to some other historical marker being in place, but, “Every Indian I’ve ever talked to is offended by the monument.” The monument was removed, and put into storage in a city garage. Twenty years later, Stan Christ, a former city mayor, claims to have driven the marker out of town on a truck, and vowed to never reveal its whereabouts.

AVANT GUARDIANS By Leticia Gonzales

Born to sing M

Lisa Gross found her groove on stage

usic was a family affair that developed before 32-yearold singer Lisa Gross could even speak. “My mom says that I actually sang my first sentence, ‘Pizza Hut, pizza to go,’ so I guess I started really young,” said Gross. While both of her parents claim they were the source of her musical genes, Lisa said her talents came from her mom. “She has always been musically inclined and would write songs on the piano and guitar when she was in high school,” said Gross of her mom. “My older brothers and I would sing in church for special occasions and around the house for holidays for our relatives. We all knew how to put the 8-track on or how to put the tape in the cassette player so us siblings could all dance and sing in our playroom.” Her love of music translated into dance lessons at the age of three. “I’ve always loved performing and anyone who knows me knows

I love the stage, and entertaining an audience,” shared Gross. She picked up the flute when she was in sixth grade, despite little interest. She admittingly never practiced, which she said wasn’t a surprise to her flute instructor, Mr. Jacobson, who also happened to be the choir director. “But when he was running the scales on the piano to see what my vocal range was, you could see on his face that he was pleasantly surprised at the fact that I could sing exceptionally better than I could play the flute,” she added. From there, it didn’t take long for Gross’ singing abilities to take off. “I was selected to go to L.A. to a conference for acting and singing,” she said. “There was a girl there who couldn’t think of a song, so I sang her a country song and the instructor said, ‘Lisa, you need to sing that song; your voice is country!’” Since then, Gross said she has really developed her “country twang.”

“You can hear my quick vibrato and my voice really shines when I sing country,” she said, likening it to the mix and blends of Jennifer Nettles and Stevie Nicks. She joined her first band, Dotty Peterson and Mustang Heart, as a backup singer while attending Bemidji State University, before founding her own group, Calamity Jane. Ten years ago, while living in St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands with her brother Brian, a self-taught guitarist, The Midnight Mix was formed between the two and their sister Stacy. “It’s really fun to be like the Partridge Family of the 2000s, and you can’t beat family harmonies,” said Gross, who is also in a fivepiece cover band called Scarlet Sky, where she wears a wig and takes on a different persona. “ We ’ v e b e e n a ro u n d a b o u t three years, and just added a new member,” she shared. “We play bars, county fairs, street dances, that kind of thing. I really get the best of both worlds being in two completely different groups, which makes this music journey an absolute blast.” Gross’ voice has evolved since her early days of singing country music. “Now I sing songs from Rihanna, Bon Jovi, Run DMC, Twisted Sister, Lady Gaga, but there are always country songs in the set,” she said. You can also find her with a tambourine and shaker in hand, depending on what genre she is playing. “I just really want everyone to forget about their worries and have a great time, because that’s what music is for me,” shared Gross. “I love looking out into a crowd seeing people having a blast and getting lost in the music. It makes my heart happy.”

MANKATO MAGAZINE • FEBRUARY 2019 • 13

BEYOND THE MARGIN By Joe Spear

Stories and storytellers A February respite

he New York Times often does a summer feature on “73 Books to read while the sun is out and the days are long.” Consider this column “900 words to read while the sun is gone and the days are short.” In winter we try to find activities, however aimless, to kill the pain of another dark day where sunrises advance only a minute starting about two weeks after the Winter Solstice. So you go to the mall before it’s crowded and you peruse stores you haven’t seen or heard of before but most involve candles, body butter or kitschy paintings of dogs. Every once in a while, the Great Spirit takes pity on us in the upper Northern Hemisphere and rewards us with a find to bide the time. My time had come at the entrance to a store simply titled “Antiques & More.” It had a treasure trove of cool old stuff from classic beer cans, motor oil signs and Ford nameplates likely taken from an F-150. That name plate might have been worth a little more during the 2008 financial crisis when the automaker actually put its Ford nameplate up as collateral for a loan. They’ve since paid off the loan and retained rights to the nameplate. The proprietor of the “Antiques” store said it’s only open November through January because he didn’t want to work too hard. You’ve got to appreciate that approach. But I discovered a narrative of the Mankato working class wandering through aisles of Elvis memorabilia and old Pabst Blue Ribbon beer mugs. The spring 1975 issue of the “Medicine Jug,” a magazine published by Mankato State College students, was on sale for $9.95. The cover story profiling the workers at Dotson Foundry sold me. Editor Harvey T. Rockwood wrote a narrative about the workers and bosses at one of Mankato’s oldest businesses. The article was titled simply: “Dotson Foundry: Workers, Bosses and the Company.” The student journalists took a nod from the new reportage and narrative journalism that had taken hold a few short years after Watergate. Taking a page from the great Studs Terkel’s 1971 book “Working,” the student journalists were on a mission. It was a fascinating piece with long interviews of workers about the foundry environment, “slinging sand” and their survivalist strategies in an earlier industrial age. They were making America great from the foundry floor up and not the Wall Street boardroom down. From worker Hal Drenttel: “Right now I’m just working from day to day. I’ll never last until I’m 65. 55 years is about the end for a foundry worker.” 14 • FEBRUARY 2019 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

From Wayne Simmons: “Needed a job. It was the only thing in town that was open, and it was a good paying job. I made $3.85 an hour. Now I’m up to $5.31 an hour. I wanted any job that paid … I don’t like to spend money foolishly. I bring it home for the kids, the food and the house. I’ve got something on the table.” Others said they appreciated working at the foundry and took pride in products only they could produce. The story was surprisingly fair and balanced given the evolving “advocacy journalism” of the time. Gerald A. Dotson, who ran the company, and his son, Dennis, who we know today as Denny, also were interviewed. As a balance to workers who complained, Denny Dotson noted to the reporter that many workers took their breaks early. “If you’ll look in there, you’ll notice they aren’t exactly breaking their butts,” he told Rockwood. He summarized his goal for the company’s workers. “In terms of a place to work, I’d like to make this a place where a guy can come in and say “Hey. this is a fantastic place to work.’” I covered Dotson Foundry as a reporter about 20 years after the Medicine Jug piece was published. Part of the story involved a narrative about how the workers and the company were a model of a labor union and industry working together to make the business innovative, competitive and future looking. And interestingly enough, the narrative played out again last fall when the company experienced a fire. The foundry had to shut down to rebuild, but it paid its workers anyway and they did community service projects on their time off. “It’s a good feeling to know your employer cares about you like that,” said Travis Kakeyere, who was to start at Dotson Foundry the day of the fire. These stories don’t happen without someone to tell them. Editor Harvey Rockwood died a few years ago. He did not work at The New York Times or The Washington Post. He worked for suburban weekly papers in and around Minneapolis. He died in March of 2016 at the age of 63 of Parkinson’s disease and Lewy Body Dementia. His obit said, in part: “Rockwood had a knack for feature articles that illustrated the human experience through well-crafted stories such as notable pieces about the aftermath of September 11, 2001, a family’s struggle awaiting a heart transplant for their young daughter and poverty in suburbs.” Rockwood also won two national awards for investigative reporting and community service for a series on suburban poverty. He was editor of the Bloomington Sun Current, which was ranked the runner up best non-daily newspaper in

the country by the Inland Press Association during his tenure. Rockwood left Mankato State student journalism about the time I was getting there, so we never met, but we’ve got Dotson Foundry in common. Stories are the currency of journalists over time.

Reading your brethren’s writing is a way to get to know him. Good to meet you Harvey. I’ll say hello to Denny for you. Joe Spear is editor of Mankato Magazine. Contact him at jspear@mankatofreepress.com or 344-6382. Follow on Twitter @jfspear.

MANKATO MAGAZINE • FEBRUARY 2019 • 15

Familiar Faces

The latest BUZZZZ Jill Kalz’s book “The Winter Bees” has become a local favorite

I Photos by Pat Christman

Name:

Jill Kalz Age: 50 City of residence: New Ulm, MN Job title: Senior Editor, Capstone Brief work history: 17 years editing children’s books for two Mankato-based publishers—The Creative Company (3) and Capstone (14); before that, selling books at Barnes & Noble, working as a publications specialist at CWC/Firepond, and testing powdered resins at 3M

Education: MFA – Creative Writing, BA – English, both from Minnesota State University, Mankato

Family: a dog, Tuckerbean 16 • FEBRUARY 2019 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

n southern Minnesota, we’ve been blessed with a surplus of great writers. You can’t step into a coffee shop (or tavern) these days without bumping into a Davis, a Helget or a Healy. Let’s not forget the titans who have left us; Rezmerski, Lewis, Lovelace. Not to put any pressure on her, but Jill Kalz may be the area’s next great writer. Author of “The Winter Bees,” Kalz’ loosely connected collection of short stories is rich with detail and uncanny in its ability to paint a picture of the southern Minnesota experience. The book is picking up lots of nice kudos and plaudits, all rightfully earned. Here’s a little more from Jill about her book, her writing process and her life. MANKATO MAGAZINE: Your first book came out in November and now you’re famous! Tell us a little bit about what it’s been like to have people read your work and what the feedback has been. JILL KALZ: I’ve wanted to see this collection published since I wrote the first story 20 years ago, so holding “The Winter Bees” in my hands and sharing it with readers is a dream come true. A little scary at first, pushing the “kids” out into the world, but I’m proud of the way the book turned out, humbled by its positive reception, eager to see where it’ll take me next. A number of people, regardless of whether they’re from southern Minnesota or not, have told me they “know” the characters, recognize their family and friends in them, and find those characters and their struggles lingering long after the stories end, which, for me, is one of the best things to hear. Means I’ve done my job. One of my favorite reader responses so far: “I know, I should have savored it, like a great meal . . . taken small bites, been mindful, stopped periodically and contemplated each story, but I was a glutton and just devoured the whole thing.” Big smile. MM: Where did you grow up? JK: I was born and raised in New Ulm, near the top of a small, sloped cul-de-sac sandwiched between some woods and my elementary school—perfect spot for a kid who enjoyed spending hours amongst the trees and the feathered and furry creatures that lived there, and loved school so much she skipped to it every day (NERD!).

MM: When did you realize you wanted to be a writer? JK: I’ve always been a writer. Poetry, short stories, journal entries, essays, children’s books . . . Writing has always been a comfort, my best way of expressing myself, a means of gaining acceptance, a rock to hold onto when times are tough. I really liked performing/acting as a kid, and took a short detour as a theatre major in college, but writing is definitely “my thing.” I’m lucky I get to weave it into my full-time editing job. MM: What authors are you reading right now and why? JK: Elizabeth Strout—Just started “Abide With Me,” with “Everything Is Possible” waiting in the wings. Strout’s award-winning “Olive Kitteridge,” with its interconnectedshort-stories format, character focus, and masterful use of description/ language, heavily inspired my recent book. I adore Strout’s work. Not only do I love losing myself in her stories, I also learn so much about how to make my own writing better. She challenges and entertains me as a reader, motivates me as a writer. “Becoming” by Michelle Obama was under my Christmas tree this year, too, as was “Calypso” by David Sedaris. Looking forward to Obama’s candor and Sedaris’ sharp wit. MM: Tell us about your writing process. Up at 5 a.m. like Keillor or feverish, alcohol-induced 3 a.m. screeds like Hunter S. Thompson? JK: I don’t have a regular writing process, although I am constantly taking notes (physically and mentally) for future work. My writing goes in streaks, sometimes with months in between, relying on free weekends, holidays, or vacation time, when I can escape to my favorite writing retreat, the Anderson Center (Red Wing, MN). MM: Do you have any unique or quirky writing habits? JK: No special pen, paper, beverage, food, place, time, temperature, music, etc. required for me to write. I don’t write more than a couple drafts of something — I edit A LOT in my head, which beginning writers are always told is a big no-no; you’re supposed to just get it all out on paper and then go back and revise, revise, revise — but that’s not particularly unique or quirky, is it?

MM: “The Winter Bees” is largely set in southern Minnesota. A lot of great writing has been either written here or about here (the Betsy and Tacy books come to mind, and the fact that Sinclair Lewis wrote much of “Main Street” in a house downtown). What is it about the southern Minnesota ethos that makes for good fiction? JK: I think the innate humility and reserved nature many of us around here have, our renowned passiveaggressiveness, and our physical and mental hardiness (see “Minnesota winters”) all contribute to the making of good fiction. When so much is tucked away, left unsaid, or cloaked in metaphor, you open the door to misunderstanding, suspicion, fear, disappointment, anger . . . in other words, CONFLICT, which a story needs in some form or another.

Our hardiness means characters can be put through the wringer and still (though not always) come out OK — bent, but not broken. They endure, and readers appreciate a good struggle. Also, in rural areas like ours, we’re often expected to do with less, and I think that allows characters to appreciate the details, to find the small, quiet joys that touch us most deeply as human beings. MM: What was the hardest scene to write in “The Winter Bees”? JK: There were a handful, but probably the hardest was toward the end of the story “The Flight of Herman Engelmann,” the final scene between Herman and Lila. There is so much love in that kitchen, yet the moral codes of the two characters

won’t allow them to act upon it. Herman and Lila can see a life together dancing right in front of them, and the restraint they show, not reaching for it, is crippling, heartbreaking. I really wanted things to turn out differently for them. But to stay true to the characters and the story, I couldn’t give them their happy ending. And that hurt. MM: What are you working on right now (in terms of writing, of course)? JK: Since I’m a multi-genre writer, I’ve got a number of irons in the fire: finishing up a poetry collection, diving into new short stories, polishing a couple picture book manuscripts . . . MM: You chose to work with a new publishing company. Tell us about Minneopa Valley Press and how they brought “The Winter Bees” to life? JK: I’m so grateful that Brian Fors, Deborah Fors, and Nicole Helget created MVP when they did and said yes to my manuscript. The press, with its strong focus on the people and places of rural America, is the perfect home for “The Winter Bees,” a collection of 10 interconnected short stories based in rural southern Minnesota. From day one, the folks at MVP have handled the book with such care, love, and respect. They understand and appreciate rural stories and the people who write, read, and live them. (And then they got local contemporary artist Brian Frink for the cover art! Awesome!) MM: What’s something people would be surprised to learn about you? JK: In my eighth-grade “World of Work” class, we were all required to take a career aptitude test, a beast of a test that would steer us toward a career for which we’d be well suited based on our interests, skills, beliefs, etc. I expected to get “teacher” or “actor” or “journalist.” Perhaps even “TV news anchor.” Instead, I got “sanitation worker.” Yep. I suspect it had something to do with my saying that I preferred to work independently. And that I liked things organized and neat. Or maybe I just filled in the ovals on the test sheet wrong. Compiled by Robb Murray

MANKATO MAGAZINE • FEBRUARY 2019 • 17

Y A S

I Remember Mankato By Henry Morris

Henry Morris came to Mankato nearly 30 years ago. As an African-American man, he has a unique take on the changes that have occurred in Mankato during that time. In honor of Black History Month, we proudly bring you his essay.

remember how Mankato used to be: I could walk down the street and rarely see another person of color; landlords wouldn’t rent to me. Security guards followed me around Brett’s Department Store. That was back in 1990, the year I arrived in Mankato. Today, though, things are much better. We’ve come a long way in nearly 30 years. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s go back to the spring of 1990. I was job hunting and I saw a job posting for the Director of Student Activities at a university called Mankato State University (MSU). I researched MSU and discovered it was a regional, comprehensive state university 70 miles south of Minneapolis. I also learned MSU was a lot like my current place of employment, William Paterson College of New Jersey (WPC). Both MSU and WPC were former teachers’ colleges transforming into regional comprehensive institutions. While the MSU and WPC were similar, their locations were vastly different. WPC was located in northern New Jersey, but very close to New York City. WPC was about 30 miles from downtown Manhattan and about 60 miles from where I grew up in the Bronx. Both Manhattan and the Bronx are two very diverse areas. The Bronx high school I graduated from was more 18 • FEBRUARY 2019 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

than 80 percent students of color and WPC had more than 30 percent students of color. Further research showed Mankato was the summer home of the Minnesota Vikings and the “big city” from the TV show “Little House on the Prairie.” Minnesota seemed like a “real” state because it had professional sport teams. A few colorful facts and a handful of sports teams, however, couldn’t hide a few critical facts: Neither Minnesota nor the city of Mankato were large in population or had very many people of color. In 1990, Minnesota’s population was 4.3 million. Mankato’s was around 31,000. As for diversity, the diverse population in the state was about 155,000 and Mankato’s was less than 1,500. Now, Minnesota has a population of more than 5.6 million and more than 500,000 people of color. Mankato’s current diverse population is around 15 percent. What a change. After my research into MSU, I

was interested enough to apply. I submitted my application and was invited for an on-campus interview. Long story short, I accepted the job. So, in September of 1990, I packed up my U-Haul, hitched my car to the back of the truck and drove from New York to Mankato. The first person who met me when I arrive in Mankato was Dr. Michael Fagin. He shared with me that I was part of the largest hiring cohort of people of color in MSU’s history. That cohort included 11 employees of color and today, I am the only person from that group left at MSU. In 1990, MSU had a student population of about 4 percent students of color and, in spite of hiring 11 new employees of color, there were very few of us on campus. This reality would change over the next 25-plus years. Domestic students of color now represent 16 percent of the population and diverse employees comprise 10 percent of the employee base at MSU. At the same time the number of domestic students of color grew, so did the international student population. Combined, international and domestic diverse students make up more than 25 percent of MSU’s student population. While MSU did not have many diverse students, it did have an LGBT Center, a Women’s Center, and a MultiCultural Center that helped make MSU an inviting place for everyone. Later under the leadership of President Davenport, presidential commissions for diversity and women’s concerns were added. When I first moved to Mankato, I did not find the city very welcoming. I remember walking

the streets and not seeing another person color. I remember apartment hunting and when I went to see the property, suddenly no apartments were available. This was not my the first time having an apartment suddenly go off the market after a manager discovered I was a person of color. While not my first time, I was still very frustrated and angry. I remember not being able to find an ethnic restaurant and not being able to find a barber properly trained in cutting a black man’s hair. I had to go to the Twin Cities for my favorite foods and to get haircuts and hair products. I was traveling to and from the Twin Cities every weekend. A black barber is truly a positive cultural experience! I remember shopping at Brett’s and not feeling welcomed. It was not welcoming having security follow you around the store. I confronted the guard and manger but was not satisfied after those interactions. I never again shopped at Brett’s. By the way, you may have noticed Brett’s is no longer open. I remember the only mall in town was the Madison East Center and there were just a couple of car dealerships out past it — the hilltop area at that time was not the current bustling retail area you see today. I was happy when the River Hills Mall and the Mall of America opened because I now had many east coast shops to visit. Down from the Mall and past the car dealerships was farmland. I saw my first live cows in Mankato. My new reality was a big difference from the reality in New York/New Jersey. My first couple of months, I remember asking myself, “What I have gotten myself into by coming to MSU?” Nearly 30 years later, I am still here and very happy because of the many people who welcomed me: Malcolm O’Sullivan, Althea De Graft Johnson, Mary Dowd, Kelly Meier, Scott Hagebak, Ron Peck, Frank Brandt, Elmo and Janel Dowd, Mike Fagin, and Andy Johnson, among others. I remember the Thanksgiving dinners at Frank’s and at Kelly’s. The YMCA helped connect me to many people in the Greater Mankato area. I met many friends on racquetball and tennis courts. Two replaced hips later, I am still meeting new people at the Y. I’m meeting old friends and making new ones in the fitness Center. In my poker group, some of the

members have changed but the friendships are still very real. I am still getting together with them 25 years later. I also made many friends when I was doing volunteer work in the area. I’ve been involved with the United Way, the YMCA, the Boy Scouts and the Girl Scouts. Yes, I had a Girl Scout Card! I have seen many changes in my 29 years at MSU and in the Mankato area — all for the better. The state and region are more diverse, and I believe both the state and region are trying to understand what it means to be more diverse. As we continue to diversify as a nation, a state and a city, it’s important to ask: “What can we all do to make our city a more welcoming and inclusive place?”

I was lucky to work in an educated environment and to forge relationships with people who went out of their way to befriend me and give me opportunities. If we can all work toward cultural competence and serve as a partner in creating an inclusive community, Mankato will set the standard as an inviting living and learning environment for all. P.S. I met my wife on BlackPeople.Com! MM

Dr. Henry Morris is dean of instutional diversity at Minnesota State University. MANKATO MAGAZINE • FEBRUARY 2019 • 19

Courtney Forsythe is a bartender at Nakato Bar in North Mankato. She says she proudly displays the artwork on her body, even in the face of occasional criticism from those who disapprove. 20 • FEBRUARY 2019 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

INK SPOTS Body art is ubiquitous, these days. So if you’re thinking about taking the plunge and getting a tattoo, just know you’re in good hands, and in good company

By Diana Rojo-Garcia | Photos by Pat Christman

he art of body modification has been around for … well, for a really long time. Tattoos have been found on mummified bodies. Other cultures use the form of not only tattoos, but other body modifications — such as stretching ears. It dates back as far as 3,000 B.C., as evidenced in different cultures all around the globe. So, no, tattoos and piercings aren’t new, and the art form isn’t going anywhere. In the past decade, it seems more people gained the confidence to get ink’d. Maybe it has been the reality TV shows revolving around tattoo artists, maybe it’s Pinterest — who knows? What we do know, however, is that tattoos and other forms of body modification has taken to the mainstream.

The Veteran

“I remember when I was 13 driving in the car with my parents, and we were driving down Broadway in Rochester, and we drove by the tattoo shop, and I said, ‘In five years, I’m going in there!’ and my dad said, ‘You most certainly are not!’” In fact, that’s where Rob Foster, artist at Cactus Tattoo, received his first tattoo. “Oddly enough, when I first got my tattoo when I was 18, something in me getting it, I went ‘Holy s—. I need to do this,” Foster said. “It was just as simple as that.” Shortly after, he began to ask a couple of local artists in Rochester how to get into the industry. No one would give him a straight answer, and no one even mentioned the word “apprenticeship.” He said that in MANKATO MAGAZINE • FEBRUARY 2019 • 21

Chris Dorn got a degree in art from MSU, then worked as a cook for several years before starting an apprenticeship at Cactus Tattoo in Mankato. the mid-90s, tattooing was more a guarded craft. It wasn’t until after he moved out of his parents’ house, shortly after graduating high school, that Foster stepped into a tattoo shop he’d never seen before and got his septum pierced. “I ended up being his first customer though,” he said. “Mike (the owner) and I got to know each other pretty well over the next few months and I went in. It was November of ‘96. I went in there and said, ‘How do you get into this business?’ and he kind of giggled and he said, ‘I was wondering when you were going to get the balls to ask me that.’” Jan. 1, 1997, he signed a non-compete agreement with Mike, and for the next two years he worked at the shop up to five hours a day, and eight hours at a factory. “Sixty-hour weeks. Just busting my ass.” With now 22 years in the industry (17 at Cactus) Foster has done a lot of tattoos. Including one of the weirdest tattoos in his career. “About 10 years ago, I did a (tattoo of a) redneck 22 • FEBRUARY 2019 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

making sweet love to a sheep. Oh sweet, passionate love,” he said. To spare the details, it was … weird. The tattoo was located on the client’s lower leg. “And when we got done, he said, ‘Well, I guess I can’t wear shorts in front of my mom.’” A few years later, while waiting in line at Walgreens, Foster looked down at the calf of the person ahead of him. “I saw this guy wearing shorts, and I looked down, and it was that tattoo,” Foster laughed. “I looked up, and he’s just grinning at me and he says, ‘Yep, still wearing shorts.’” He’s had other odd requests, like a Hello Kitty tattoo featuring the beloved cat with hair curlers and pregnant while smoking in front of her trailer with a twister off to the side. A few other favorites that Foster recalls is a sleeve of a Bob Ross painting, a Jack Daniel’s bottle, a chest piece of the Vikings and a portrait of a client’s dog who passed away.

Rob Foster has been serving customers at Cactus Tattoo in Mankato for years. He began learning his craft in the 1990s, and says he’s inked his share of odd tattoos. Moral of the story? Get whatever tattoo you want, Foster said, because a tattoo is art. It doesn’t necessarily have to have a meaning. “It can mean whatever it wants to the person,” he said. “Sometimes things can just be fun and silly. I love silly tattoos, like the decapitated Santa I did. It was f— awesome.” And if you don’t know what you want to get, but you have an idea, talk to your tattoo artist. People like Foster spend years training in the industry to come up with the best tattoo for a person. “Having someone come to you with an idea, and then being able to take that idea and make it better than they even envisioned? It’s almost like a high,” he said. “It’s more of an art form. You can come in with an idea and someone can go off of that and create something unique for you. I think that’s huge.”

The Apprentice

“I remember as a kid, my soccer team used to go and get pizza next to a tattoo shop. I remember always

looking in there thinking, ‘That’s really cool,’” Chris Dorn, apprentice at Cactus Tattoo said. Dorn began his apprenticeship at Cactus Tattoo almost two years ago. Every aspiring artist who wants to become a licensed tattoo artist must first go through 200 hours of supervised tattooing. Dorn only has 50 hours left (at the time of interview.) Before he began his apprenticeship, Dorn received a degree in painting at Minnesota State University. “I couldn’t really find a job doing any artistic work after that,” he said. “So I worked as a cook, worked in kitchens for 10-12 years.” He spent some time in Texas, until he moved back to Mankato. Karl Schneider, another artist at Cactus, had mentioned that they were looking for an apprentice. “It’s something that I wanted to do for a long time. I kind of made a few minor steps to do it a few years MANKATO MAGAZINE • FEBRUARY 2019 • 23

ago, but I wasn’t really prepared to do the hard work,” he laughed. “I just wasn’t in a place where I was ready to really do it.” Even though Dorn has a degree in painting, he had to basically re-learn how to draw. The process for drawing up a tattoo is completely different. “Before the owner was even going to trust me to touch anyone, it was just tons and tons of tracing,” he said. “She basically had me relearn how to draw completely, because you can be a great artist when it comes to drawing straight up, but some of those aspects don’t really translate to tattooing.” Tattoo artists need to learn how to redraw images to make them tattooable. “It was really retraining myself and getting into that kind of thought process.” Lines can be different, and questions like “How is the tattoo going to look?” And reimagining what the image is going to look like for it to be appropriate for a tattoo. After all, the canvas is going to be a human body. But before anything is tattooed onto a person, an apprentice must start by acquainting themselves with the gun. Dorn was given the task of taking apart and rebuilding some of the machines. After that, he began to tattooing grapefruits. “That was fun,” he laughed. “Just to kind of feel what the machines feel like in your hand.” After that, he began to tattoo on clients. Simple things such as all-black tattoos (no shading.) Now, Dorn has moved onto color tattoos. So far, his favorite part about the job is the interaction between his co-workers. Just like when he was in school, he had the ability to interact with other students. “You’re not in a bubble, you actually get to talk to other people,” Dorn said. “Here in the shop, if you’re kind of stuck on something, you got people there that you can kind of brainstorm with, or troubleshoot, to figure out what to do rather than sit there spinning your wheels in your studio.”

The Aficionado

Tattoo artists are just normal people. They have a family and kids, they’ve got bad days at work, they have all the same normal stuff. Well… except one thing. “We just have a really cool job,” Kelly Bunde, artist at Mecca Tattoo, said. Bunde has been tattooing at Mecca for nine years. Megan Hoogland, owner of Mecca, had asked Bunde if she would like to do an apprenticeship with her. But even before that, Bunde had started up an apprenticeship with Meg at Cactus Tattoo in the late ‘90s. “I had to give it up at the time because I was going to school full time and I was working 30-40 hours a week plus trying to fit in an apprenticeship,” she said. “It was a little stressful.” In hindsight, Bunde said she regrets having quit the apprenticeship at the time. But the second opportunity couldn’t have come at a better time for Bunde. What kept Bunde coming back? “I think my first tattoo that I got,” she said. “And I was always in art classes throughout high school. They didn’t 24 • FEBRUARY 2019 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

have enough for me, so by my senior year, they had made some classes for me.” Tattooing, she said, is a way to do art every day. And she does. Every day. “I can create something new every day. It’s awesome,” she said. “And to see people’s reactions when you’re done? It’s super cool.” Even a simple tattoo that she had done recently for a customer, his reaction was “Oh my God, you read my mind.” “Just little things like that, it’s really cool. The fact that you can make people so happy about it is awesome. And you want to make people happy,” she laughed. “It’s on them for the rest of their life.” Bunde’s work focuses on geometric shapes, mandalas and flowers with delicate lines to give the feel of shading. “So that’s what I’m known for, I guess,” she laughed. “It’s my lines.” For those wanting a tattoo, too, you don’t need to know exactly what you want, Bunde said. “Bring us your stuff that you like, like reference photos, and we’ll put it together. That’s partly what you’re paying for, is that service.”

The Collector

Courtney Forsythe, 25, is a bartender at the NaKato Bar. She owns a house, has a dog, she’s lived in Australia, and she’s proudly ink’d. It all started when she turned 18 on a road trip to Colorado with a few of her friends. “I just thought, ‘Why not?’” Her first tattoo was the flower of life located on her ribs. Since then, she has collected more than a couple of dozen tattoos (and counting). Some are visible, like her sleeve, and she’s had a few questions about them. However, sometimes there are more judgmental comments toward her tattoos. “It’s definitely a conversation starter, especially being a bartender,” she said. “I get quite a few people that will make some pretty rude comments — random people — at the bar or the gas station, or the grocery store. Random things like ‘What would your kids think of that’ or ‘I wonder what your parents think of that.’” Though Forsythe welcomes questions about her tattoos, the insensitive comments can be left out. Tattoos are personal, she says. “I think it’s kind of insensitive to the fact that maybe people can’t have kids. Or maybe they don’t want to have kids or maybe their parents have passed away, which I’m in both those situations,” she said. Like the one located on her leg, in tribute to her father and grandpa.

Kelly Bunde of Mecca Tattoo has been putting art on skin for nine years. Says Bunde, “I can create something new every day ... It’s awesome.” “It’s a skeleton dancing in the desert. And my dad always used to sing to us girls growing up, ‘It ain’t no sin to take off your skin and dance around in your bones.’” Even with those types of comments, however, she said the best way to combat the confrontations is to “kill them with kindness.” And more often than not, most people are accepting of the art form because in reality, a tattoo is an art. “The artist has to draw it out. I

don’t think that’s really too different from a painting,” she said. But what if, personally, you don’t like tattoos? Well … don’t get one. “I find it odd when other people like look down on people with tattoos or think of it as like a negative thing because I don’t think that it has to,” Forsythe said. “You know, it’s cool if you don’t agree with it.” What about the old age question of “What happens when you get old?”

“I’ll let it happen. Let the skin sag! I mean, my body is going to be beaten to hell by the end of this journey. I would rather live it to the fullest,” she said. “And, you know, life is going to take its toll on me either way, so I don’t see that as any different than just having art on me. You know, I think if anything, it’ll be super badass to be an 85-year-old woman that has many tattoos and I can tell stories to people about the journey.” MM

MANKATO MAGAZINE • FEBRUARY 2019 • 25

Y A S

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It’s not what I did for wrestling It’s what wrestling did for me

ay back in 1979 my little first novel Vision Quest: A Wrestling Story, about a high school wrestler, was published by the Viking Press and Bantam Books. In 1985 Warner Bros. released a movie based on the story. It starred Matthew Modine and Linda Fiorentino, both of whom have risen to the highest ranks of actors; speaking of the highest ranks of actors, the peerless Forest Whitaker was a minor player in VQ all those years ago. The movie introduced people to the book. Over the years, quite a few people – mostly wrestlers – have gotten hold of me about the story, or asked me to sign a book, which I’m always honored to do. In the past few months, for some reason, the men – some of them coaches now, and all of them former wrestlers – have thanked me for “what you have done for wrestling.” What I think they mean is that because of the movie Vision Quest – and especially because the movie treats wrestling as a respectable sport and wrestlers as decent guys and committed athletes as opposed to the moron bullies so many movies make wrestlers out to be – wrestling is more widely known now and to a degree better understood. It would make me enormously proud to think I’d ever done anything for wrestling. The truth – and the subject of this little essay – is that wrestling did close to everything for me. My bipolar disorder raged when I was a grade schooler, an early and then a later teen. Mania – the manic phase of the disorder – was what got me into trouble. Let me say this one thing about bipolarity: some people think depression, the down phase of the disorder, is sadness; it is not sadness. Sadness doesn’t come close to covering it; depression is miles deeper down into the dark than sadness; depression is not a landscape without beauty; depression is the burnt-over landscape beyond the third bank of the river. Depression is desolation. I was also out of control in terms of behavior; I could not, for example, wait to raise my hand to be called on. Other kids – and especially the teacher – got sick of me; I didn’t blame the kids then, and I don’t blame them now. Toward the adult, though, a first-year teacher named Dick Kegley, I do still bear a grievance . Kegley took it upon himself to break me of this behavior. He instructed the class to shout out when I spoke without being called on, and he would say, “Young Mister Davis thinks he’s smarter than the rest of us” when I’d lose control and shout out an answer. He’d spring from his position in front of the class, grab the sides of my deskchair and push me across the floor to a back corner of the room; then he’d blaze back to his desk, and from a top corner hoist the classroom’s gigantic dictionary, blaze back again and drop it with a resonate thud on

my writing surface and instruct me to start copying. I’ll never forget the scraping, splintering sound the legs of my desk-chair made while he pushed me across the uneven boards of our wood floor. I developed a stutter in my sixth-grade year. In my sophomore year of high school; some of my old pals from early in school were wrestling, and I was sitting with them at lunch listening to them talk about it and envying them. I had a ton of pent aggression, and it dawned on me that wrestling just might be the way to jettison it. I walked into the little, narrow wrestling room on the second floor of the gym and introduced myself to assistant coach Bill Via and asked if I could try out. He said, “You bet,” and I jumped in with the neck drill. I was proud of being a wrestler. And catch this: even now, after all these years, when the marathons, triathlons and the hundred-mile bike rides are behind me forever, I’m still proud of having been a wrestler. Among the things wrestling was to me, it was a way to earn self-esteem. Practice was tough, and I worked hard at it; I also trained on my own. I took pride in that; the harder I worked the better I felt about myself. Every single day wrestling gave me a reason to respect myself. I’ve wished I’d had the chance to wrestle my old teacher Dick Kegley; I’d have put a serious hurt on the man. It might be possible to look at my experience with Kegley as positive; it is possible to look at it as motivational, which is positive; he did a number on me when I was at an intellectual and emotional disadvantage, and he created an atmosphere where I felt like nothing. But if I hadn’t felt like nothing in those years headed up to adulthood, I might not have tried so hard thereafter to do things that moved me to feel like something. Even now, even now everyday as I sit down to work on Son of Swain, the sequel to that little book I published forty years ago, I bring with me the simple but profound lessons I learned as a wrestler: never give up, keep stroking and the far shore will appear, never miss practice. MM

Terry Davis is a writer living in North Mankato. A retired professor of English at Minnesota State University, he is the author of the wrestlingbased novel MANKATO MAGAZINE • FEBRUARY 2019 • 27

REFLECTIONS By Pat Christman

e humans sometimes take for granted where our next meal is coming from. For most of the animal kingdom finding the next meal can be a challenge in the winter. Kind folks with bird feeders help, but it doesn’t hurt to have a mild winter once in a while to make the pickings a little easier. MM

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MANKATO MAGAZINE • FEBRUARY 2019 • 29

DAY TRIP DESTINATIONS: Polar Fest By James Figy

Jumping into freezing water is just one of the many delights to be found at Polar Fest in Detroit Lakes.

Plunge into the bold north at Polar Fest in Detroit Lakes

inter in Minnesota might not seem like the best time or place for a festival with outdoor activities to some. But if anyone puts the question to Carrie Johnston and Becky Mitchell, who serve on the committee for Polar Fest in Detroit Lakes, they have a simple response: Why not? “Detroit Lakes is a year-round destination. Winter brings us snowmobiling, ice fishing, skiing, etc., and Polar Fest allows us to get creative, gather friends and enjoy the bolder north,” Mitchell said. Polar Fest offers a number of indoor and outdoor activities Feb. 7-18 at locations around Detroit Lakes. The festival has been around since the mid-1990s with a growing number of attendees and sponsors, and many events raise money for area nonprofit organizations. The 2019 festivities begin with the lighting of King 30 • FEBRUARY 2019 • MANKATO MAGAZINE

Isbit’s Throne and Royal Courtyard on Feb. 7 at the Detroit Lakes city beach. Professional ice sculptures will be on display in the nearby city park starting the following day as a part of the MN Sn’Ice competitions. The second part, a snow sculpture competition for area high school students, will be held Feb. 13. Other outdoor events include the ice fishing derby and Great Polar Race scavenger hunt on Feb. 9, as well as the SnoWay But Up race for runners, cross-country skiers and snowshoers and the SnoWay But Round fat-tire bike race on the morning of Feb. 10. The final Saturday of the festival, Feb. 16, is full of fun outdoor events for the entire family. These include the ULTRA Vintage Snowmobile Rally, Swap Meet & Ride, helicopter rides, the Freeze Your Buns Run 5K, Polar Pile-up demolition derby and finally fireworks on the lake

from 7-7:30 p.m. “There are many free and family-friendly events that you can both participate in or be a spectator. The Frozen Fireworks over Detroit Lake is a family favorite,” Johnston said. Attendees embrace the cold during the activities, but there’s one event that is so extremely frigid that even Polar Pete, the festival’s ursine mascot, would have to stop to consider. At the 23rd annual Polar Fest Plunge, around 200 people in costumes will leap through a hole cut in the ice into the freezing waters of Detroit Lake. The event takes place from 1-3 p.m. Feb. 16, and although only a select few would be willing to take the plunge, everyone can jump on board with the cause it supports. “This event is full of chills and thrills as participants jump into icy Little Detroit Lake to raise funds to support afterschool and summer programming for the 600+ youth who attend Boys & Girls Club of Detroit Lakes,” the Polar Fest website states. When it’s time to warm up, there are plenty of indoor events throughout the week. Paul Schurke, a polar explorer and dog sledder, will give a presentation about his adventures to the North Pole on Feb. 11 at the Holmes Theatre. The last scheduled event of the week is a performance by the Deuces Wild! Dueling Pianos. According to the Polar Fest website, David Eichholz and Ted Manderfeld, both self-taught pianists from Minnesota, will give “a Las Vegas-style show of comedy and extensive audience participation featuring an unlikely and surprising mix of music and parodies that range from classic rock and country to rap and show tunes.” In addition to Polar Fest, Detroit Lakes has many indoor and outdoor activities year-round, according to Mitchell.

Whether people like to embrace the cold or not, it offers a great option for a day trip or longer getaway. “With a historic downtown, great restaurants, a performing arts theatre, a museum and so much more, we provide a small town feel with big city amenities,” she said. “If the outdoors is your passion, we have over 250 miles of groomed snowmobile trails, downhill skiing and tubing, endless cross country ski trails, over 400 lakes for ice fishing and ice skating.”

IF YOU GO: POLAR FEST

Where: Multiple locations in Detroit Lakes, MN When: February 7-18, 2019 Admission: Varies, with many free events

Visit PolarFestDL.com for more information MANKATO MAGAZINE • FEBRUARY 2019 • 31

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