SUMMER 2023 contents

WHAT WE’RE LOVING RIGHT NOW

MENTAL HEALTH: EXPERIMENTING IN LIFE & FUN

PAPER PROJECT: GNOME PHOTO PROPS

COULEE REGION STEEL BAND

WOLD FARM: PRAIRIE DREAMING SUM OF YOUR BIZ:

SUMMER 2023. #73

Hooray for thesehumans!amazing

AN EXPERIMENT IN POSITIVE NEWS

Founders

Aryn Henning Nichols / Editor-in-Chief + Designer

Benji Nichols / Head of Logistics + Advertising Sales (& husband, distributor, writer)

we couldn’t do it without

est 2007 CONTRIBUTORS

DRIFTLESS WE’RE ON A MISSION TO CHANGE THE WORLD THROUGH POSITIVE NEWS, ONE COMMUNITY AT A TIME.

What’s the name mean?

Sara Friedl-Putnam / writer

Sara Walters / writer

Tallitha Reese / writer

Steve Harris / writer

Renee Brincks / writer

Christy Ebert Vrtis / writer

Lynsey D. Moritz / writer

Kelli Boylen / writer

Olivia

Lynn Schnur / mental health writer

Scott Boylen / photography

Charlie Langton / photography

Sarah Hedlund / cover art

Community Partners

Interested in becoming a contributor? Email work samples to Aryn at aryn@iloveinspired.com, and we’ll chat!

Inspire(d) Driftless Magazine is headquartered & created in Decorah, Iowa. Big thanks to our HQ Community Partner, Visit Decorah. Say hi to these awesome folks in Downtown Decorah or online at visitdecorah.com

Learn more about Community Partnership opportunities by emailing aryn@iloveinspired.com

Join The Positive News Movement

1. Buy local - We couldn’t make this magazine without our amazing advertisers and partners. Visit or shop with one (or many) of our advertisers, and let them know you saw them in Inspire(d)!

2. Become an Inspire(d) Member at iloveinspired.com/membership

3. Visit us online – website and social – and share with your friends and family!

find the gnome...

G-Gnome is hiding somewhere in this magazine! The first five people (no previous winners please) to send us his page location through our contact form at iloveinspired.com/contact-inspired gets a free Inspire(d) 7-Year Pen in the mail!

iloveinspired.com facebook.com/iloveinspired

@iloveinspired

Inspire(d) – pronounced in-spy-erd... you know: inspired – stands for inspire and be inspired. The idea is that person one inspires person two. That person is now inspired. Then that person inspires person three (or person one again), who is now inspired. Then the cycle continues! That’s what those arrows around the (d) are about! We’re here to remind folks that people are good! Our mission is, ultimately, to change the world… starting with our own community. We like to call it an experiment in positive news.

Inspire(d) Magazine is published quarterly by Inspire(d) Media, LLC, 412 Oak Street, Decorah, Iowa, 52101. This issue is dated Summer 2023, issue 73, volume 16, Copyright 2023 by Inspire(d) Magazine.

Support Inspire(d)

We want Inspire(d) to be accessible for all, which is why it is free on stands across the Driftless! But you can support Inspire(d) through Membership! We’ll send the magazine in the mail, to you or a loved one, for $35/year. Visit the Membership page at iloveinspired.com for details, or send a check for $35 to Inspire(d) Magazine, 412 Oak St., Decorah, Iowa 52101. Thank you for your support, and for joining the positive news movement!

Want to make a comment about something you read in the magazine?

Email aryn@iloveinspired.com.

Interested in advertising?

Contact Benji at benji@iloveinspired.com or call 563-379-6315.

Heck yes, it’s a gnome riding a bald eagle! This mag’s epic cover has made me smile more than any cover in our nearly-16year-history of making Inspire(d). My constant out-loud refrain (and I’m usually the only one in the room): OH MY GOSH, it is SO FUN!

So I guess that means my achievement is already unlocked: I made my life more fun…or, more accurately, artist Sarah Hedlund made my life more fun (THANK YOU, SARAH!!!!) by making the art on this cover. Learn more about this incredible Decorah-based artist on page 20, and be sure to check out her tips on experimenting with your own creativity this summer.

Our community builders in this issue – Colleen Foehrenbacher of Eagle Bluff Learning Center in Lanesboro, Minnesota, and Jeff Abbas of Dorchester, Iowa – might be considered “serial community builders.” They are builders of communities within communities. And some really unique ones, too: Did you know there’s an agate hunting community? And an agate photography community? I love that people are out there, creating niche communities and places of belonging.

I think community building naturally happens once you start doing things you love. Decorah’s Unofficial Community Photographer, Charlie Langton (although perhaps since I’m giving him the title, it’s official?!), loves photography, and the community loves him. We chose Charlie’s gorgeous prairie photo for our summer center spread (pg 42), and it gives me all the summer vibes. I got to ask Charlie five questions in anticipation of his upcoming photography show at Impact Coffee, opening August 1. Check out his fun – and incredibly poignant – answers on page 44!

Yes, it’s that word again: Fun! You’re going to see it and think it as you read through this issue – our theme is You are Fun: Experimenting in Life! My infographic kicks this section off, and mental health writer Olivia Lynn Schnur dives into the psychology of fun and ways we can work more of it into our lives this summer and beyond.

My first suggestion? Read this whole mag: There are lots of fun stories throughout! Learn about how an Onalaska, Wisconsin, music teacher became the leader of the Coulee Region Steel Band, how Jillian Webb Herrman and her husband and family built out Wold Farm in rural St Olaf, Iowa, with a Grain Bin Retreat, and a spontaneous Elopement Giveaway (happening THIS summer), and remember to “Wonder as You Wander” through Yellow River State Forest this summer.

Decorah’s Mabe’s Pizza celebrates 70 years of business and party-cut pizza, and we were stoked to have Inspire(d)’s Benji Nichols interview father-and-son duo Steve and Collin White for our summer Sum of Your Business on page 66 (you can also listen to the interview on Benji’s podcast at decorah.fun).

Finally, I loved reading Inspire(d) newcomer Lynsey D. Moritz’s story about Lesya Ryzhenkova, her family, and the mission – and dreams – behind their weekly Ukrainian Village Pop-Up Restaurant in Lansing, Iowa. The support of this small river town and the determination of this family are incredibly inspiring.

And that, of course, is the goal. We hope you finish this magazine with a feeling of inspiration and a desire to get out there and experiment with your summer, seeking community, wonder, joy, and fun. This is your one life. Let’s do this thing.

Looking forward,

What is the driftless?

It’s a region in the Midwest – Northeast Iowa, Southeast Minnesota, Southwest Wisconsin, and a wee bit of Northwest Illinois – that was skipped by the glaciers in the last ice age, leaving the area “lacking glacial drift” – i.e. Driftless. The gist of that is we get to enjoy bluffs, valleys, coulees, and other fun geographical features that don’t typically occur in other parts of our states (the Mississippi River contributes greatly to the geography as well). It’s a lovely place to live and visit, and we’re happy you’re here!

rad cover art by...

SARAH HEDLUND •

Decorah-based artist Sarah Hedlund created this freaking rad summer cover art for Inspire(d)! Read more about Sarah & her work on page 20.