Siouxland Life - May 2015

Food business is a family affair

You don’t have to be old to mentor

Carnegie Hall looms for musician

A GUIDE FOR LIVING IN SIOUXLAND

INSPIRATIONS HO-CHUNK CEO AND OTHERS PAY TRIBUTE TO THOSE WHO INSPIRED THEM

SIOUX CITY’S HALL OF FAME

MAY 2015

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Siouxland life

CONTENTS May

2015

Who inspired you? Who helped you make a career choice? Who told you, “You can do it?” Call those people mentors, teachers or inspirations, they’re the folks who believe in us. This month, as students prepare to graduate, we look at those who inspired a number of Siouxland residents. After you read their stories, think about the people who played an important role in your life. Then, make a difference in someone else’s.

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LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON Sioux City physician adopts his father’s remarkable bedside manner.

Photo by Tim Hynds

ON THE COVER Dwight Morgan, left, gave his son Lance his first job, roofing. Even though he was headed to Harvard, Lance Morgan learned from his father and, today, is the CEO of Ho-Chunk Inc., the economic development arm of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. Read about the roofing life on page 32.

FEATURES 4 HOME room by room 12 COLLECTION hall of fame 14 INSPIRaTIONS medical family 18 INSPIRaTIONS Carnegie debut 20 INSPIRaTIONS discovering art 22 INSPIRaTIONS community service 24 INSPIRaTIONS relying on teachers 26 INSPIRaTIONS a music career

28 30 32 34 39 42 45 47

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BRUSH WITH GREATNESS Meet the artist who recalls many of the mentors who colored her career.

INSPIRaTIONS a life of leadership INSPIRaTIONS mom and dad effect INSPIRaTIONS from the ground up INSPIRaTIONS careful coaching FOOD family business 20 QUESTIONS with a mentor HEaLTH medical answers PaRTING SHOT

PUBLISHER Steve Griffith EDITOR Bruce Miller EDITORIAL Dolly a. Butz, Tim Gallagher, Earl Horlyk, Nick Hytrek, ally Karsyn, Michelle Kuester PHOTOGRAPHY Tim Hynds, Jim Lee, Justin Wan DESIGN april Burford ADVERTISING SALES Nancy Gevik ADVERTISING DESIGN Kayla Fleming

©2015 The Sioux City Journal. Siouxland Life is published monthly by The Sioux City Journal.

For advertising information, please call (712) 224-6275. For editorial information, please call (712) 293-4218.

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BROTHERLY LOVE a menu of favorites simmers for a family of foodies.

SIOUXLAND LIFE

May 2015

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HOME room

by room

SIOUXLAND

HOUSE TOUR

10 THINGS TO LOVE ABOUT LIFE ON THE EDGE

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Text by Ally Karsyn | Photographs by Justin Wan

SIOUX CITY | In the front yard of a cheery yellow house, birds sing from the fence post. Two horses roam the greening pasture. A long gravel driveway sets the custom two-story back from Cristy Road on the southeast edge of Sioux City.

Homeowners Kary and Tammy Loberg moved in last July, expanding from seven acres to 17 and enjoying a shorter commute. Both born and raised Nebraskans, they lived in a ranch-style house between Homer and Dakota City.

When they found land for sale in a convenient location closer to their jobs in Sioux City, they decided to build for the first time and established their musthaves: a big kitchen, a unique home design with curb appeal and overall farmhouse feel.

Living a stone’s throw away from city limits, shopping and other amenities are close by. So are Tammy’s parents. They built a home right across the road in an area that’s seeing a wealth of commercial and residential development.

For now, the Lobergs have the peace and privacy of country living, close to town.

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May 2015

1. GO BIG The long kitchen island does double duty as a prep station and dining space. It’s where the Lobergs have their family meals. And once the plates are cleared, it’s where homework happens.

“The houses we lived in before had small kitchens, and we like to cook. My wife likes to cook,” he said, adding that she gardens and cans, too.

2. GET CUSTOM The base cabinet of the kitchen sink rises higher than normal for the tall couple. To the left of the basin, the dishwasher is disguised with a cabinet front for a streamlined look.

3. EXTRA DINING SPACE While the Lobergs and their two children eat at the barstools in the kitchen, the dining room is nice to have when they host get-togethers with extended family. The white wainscoting and stained glass chandelier make it an inviting space.

SIOUXLAND LIFE

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May 2015

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5 4. COZY HEARTH The main floor living room, one of three entertainment spaces, features a beautiful stone, floor-to-ceiling fireplace with a hammered metal frame. The windows throughout the home have a traditional farmhouse grille pattern and wide sills.

5. FRENCH COUNTRY FEEL The master bedroom is decorated with sunny yellow and a muted blue.

Three large windows that nearly extend to the floor offer an expansive view the barn and pasture.

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6 6. SUITE RETREAT The Lobergs opted to leave out the soaking tub, focusing instead on a luxurious walk-through shower with a pondlike pebble floor. An oversized walk-in closet is also connected to the master bathroom.

7. ALL ABOUT THE BOYS The entire second floor is designed for their sons. It has two bedrooms, one bathroom and a TV room, which is offlimits to the boys during the week so they get their homework done.

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8 8. THE MAN CAVE Kary Loberg, a die-hard Huskers fan, has a special place to watch football in the basement.

porch. The all-season center houses a chinchilla, a guinea pig and two small kennels for the indoor dogs.

9. ANIMALS HAVE FUN IN THE SUN A west-facing sunroom off the kitchen lets in plenty of light in the afternoon and leads out to the back

10. THE GREAT OUTDOORS The covered, wrap-around front porch completes this home’s quaint farmhouse feel.

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COLLECTION hall

of fame

Above: The Greater Siouxland athletic association Hall of Fame in the Long Lines Family Rec Center in Sioux City. Photos of 64 Siouxland inductees grace these walls. Below: In this Oct. 5, 1977, file photo, Kansas City Royals pitcher Paul Splittorff appears in action against the New york yankees in New york. Splittorff, the winningest pitcher in the team’s history, died in 2011 from complications of melanoma. The Morningside College graduate was inducted into the Greater Siouxland athletic association Hall of Fame in 2006. associated Press

WallS COnTaIn a

hidden jewel Of SpOrTS SOrTS

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Text by Tim Gallagher | Photographs by Jim Lee

SIOUX CITY | The Morningside Mustangs and Briar Cliff Chargers race up and down the court, thrilling nearly 6,000 spectators who’ve gathered at the Tyson Events Center for the NAIA Division II Women’s National Basketball Tournament, Sioux City’s proud and loud version of March Madness.

Just a few hundred yards from the lights, the din and the activity of midcourt, there are a few Morningside and Briar Cliff legends occupying their space in a quiet corridor that connects this facility to the Long Lines Family Rec Center.

It’s the Greater Siouxland Athletic Association Hall of Fame, a collection of 64 athletes, coaches and contributors who

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May 2015

Siouxland life

made a lasting impact on a variety of chose pursuits.

Committee member Mike Cadwell, of Sioux City, notes the collection may one day make a move to a more traveled area, likely a spot within the Sioux City Public Museum.

Until then, the area represents a bit of a hidden gem, still worth the visit for a sprint – or a jog, or a medley, as it were – down memory lane.

Morningside College, for example, has representation from its most famous major leaguer in the late great Paul Splittorff, a 2006 inductee long noted for his affiliation with the Kansas City Royals, both as a 166-game winning pitcher

Sioux City native Dave “Beauty” Bancroft won World Series titles with the New york Giants in 1921 and 1922.

He was inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971, one year before he died. He is one of 64 members of the Greater Siouxland athletic association Hall of Fame, having been inducted 50 years ago.

and, later, an announcer who enjoyed 24 years behind the mic, offering insight to viewers of baseball and basketball.

The southpaw from Arlington Heights, Ill., threw the very first pitch for the Royals, an expansion organization, when he toed the rubber with a Royals minor league franchise in Corning, N.Y., some 47 years ago.

Interestingly, it was another Greater Siouxland Hall of Fame member, Don Protextor, who led “Splitt” to Sioux City.

Protextor, a highly successful coach of the Morningside College baseball team, was working as an umpire in the national American Legion tournament in 1966 when he noticed Splittorff.

Splittorff soon transferred from Quincy College and headed west to Morningside.

Cheryl (Dreckman) Carter, an inductee in 2008, joins the likes of coach Lila Frommelt (1997) and Ray Nacke (2000) as Briar Cliff Chargers who contributed mightily to their sports. The court at the Newman Flanagan Center in 2012 was named for Nacke, creator of the famed “Panama Pipeline” that forever linked Charger basketball – and 22 straight winning seasons — prowess to the Central American country.

John Harty, a two-time Super Bowl champion who starred for the Heelan Crusaders as a prep, earned his spot in these annals, as did Dave “Beauty” Bancroft, a baseball inductee a half-century ago whose likeness lives on in the name

Former Briar Cliff men’s basketball coach Ray Nacke established the “Panama Pipeline” and led the Chargers to 22 straight winning seasons. Fifteen years ago, Nacke was inducted into the Greater Siouxland athletic association Hall of Fame.

of the current Sioux City Legion baseball team, one organized by Bob Protexter, Don’s son.

Bancroft, who died in 1972, just one year following his induction into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame, won two World Series titles, helping the New York Giants defeat Babe Ruth and his New York Yankees in 1921 and 1922 .

Beyond the photos, the names, the years and their pursuits, there are a few programs, newspaper pages, felt letters and photographs presented on these walls. Famous quotes break up the columns of honorees, inspiring passers-by who enjoy sportsmanship with their sports.

A sentence from the late Grantland Rice, this country’s fabled sportswriter,

likely says it best: “When the great scorer comes to write against your name, he writes not whether you won or lost, but how you played the game.”

This particular game, this Hall of Fame, is played within six rules spelled out at the display runs its course. Those honored must have made their significant contributions from an area defined as the school districts from Sioux City, South Sioux City, Lawton-Bronson, Dakota Valley, Sergeant Bluff-Luton and Woodbury Central.

Nominees must have resided in those districts and must have been through with their chosen sport or profession for five years. And, in short, nominees should have achieved a measure of success that places them above and beyond the rest.

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INSPIRATIONS a

medical family

Jeffrey Michalak, a gastroenterologist, is the second generation in the family to practice medicine. His father, John Michalak, is a retired oncologist.

FATHER INSPIRED, BUT DIDN’T INFLUENCE SON’S MEDICAL CAREER CHOICE

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Text by Dolly A. Butz | Photographs by Justin Wan

SIOUX CITY | Jeffrey Michalak loves being in private practice at Midlands Clinic.

But one thing the Sioux City gastroenterologist misses is the teaching component of medicine.

When he was a fellow, Michalak, 37, had residents and interns underneath him wanting to learn and do gastrointestinal procedures.

“Here I work with family practice

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May 2015

residents, but it’s not their dream to be a GI physician,” he said. “It was great to see people who had the same passion that I did.”

Michalak shares a passion for medicine with his father John “Jack” Michalak, an oncologist who practiced for 35 years.

John Michalak, who retired in January 2013, served as medical director of the June E. Nylen Cancer Center.

As a child, Jeffrey Michalak fondly

SIOUXLAND LIFE

recalls visiting a small office his dad had on Pierce Street when his family moved to town from Denver.

“Anytime we’d go out somewhere people would always come up to him and say, ‘Thank you so much for taking care of my dad or my grandma,’” Michalak said as he sat in an exam room at Mercy Medical Center in between patients on a Monday afternoon. “That’s what I got out of it. I wanted to help people, too.”

Oncologist John Michalak, right, talks to patient Nick Kaaihue, of Walthill, Neb., who was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, at Mercy Medical Center in this 2013 file photo. Dawn J. Sagert, Sioux City Journal

When he was growing up, Michalak said his dad was known for having a great bedside manner.

“It takes a very special person to be an oncologist,” he said.

Although he was a very busy man and didn’t have a lot of time, Jeffrey Michalak said his dad would take him to indoor and outdoor volleyball tournaments. The duo also enjoyed playing a round of golf together.

Although the work John Michalak did inspired his son, Jeffrey Michalak said he never pushed him toward a medical career. He said he came to the decision on his own in high school when he really started appreciating what his father did for people.

“I didn’t see him as much as I would’ve like to as a kid, but to see all of the positives that came about,” he said.

“That’s when I started making sure I had all the criteria to go to college and to medical school.”

When Michalak broke the news that he wanted to go to medical school to his dad, he said he was encouraging, but also offered words of caution.

“He actually said, ‘Medicine’s changing a little bit, so make sure it’s something that you want to do because it’s not going to be like it was when I came out and started,” he recalled. “It’s a little bit more business-oriented.”

After high school, Jeffrey Michalak

headed to Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences. He thought he wanted to become a family practice physician, then realized he liked working with patients whose illnesses were more critical.

“I thought I wanted to do pulmonary critical care, but then I realized that managing ventilators was not something I necessarily enjoyed,” he said. “But I did like sick folks – liver failure, GI bleeding.

Those folks in the ICU that I saw, I found myself honing in on.”

John Michalak offered more valuable advice.

“Always make sure to tell the truth no matter what happens,” Jeffrey Michalak recalled. “If you didn’t do something, if you did do something, if you got asked to do something and you didn’t because you’re tired, you never lie. You just say, ‘I didn’t get to it. I didn’t look at that chest X-ray yet. I’m so sorry.’ Always be honest with everybody you work with.”

Like his dad, Michalak finds his career rewarding. The father of two girls and two boys ages 2 to 12 finds balancing work and family time challenging at times.

“I always say, ‘work hard to play hard,’” he said. “Would it be nice to get more sleep? Sure. It would be great! But I want to make sure that I’m there for my kids.”

Michalak loves to play sports with his kids. He has coached volleyball and

“Anytime we’d go out somewhere people would always come up to him [Jeffrey’s father] and say, ‘Thank you so much for taking care of my dad or my grandma.’ That’s what I got out of it. I wanted to help people, too.” helped with softball, but soon realized he didn’t have the time. None-the-less, Michalak learned the basics of fastpitch softball, so he could practice with 12-year-old Kyla, who pitches.

“Anytime you commit to something, you give 100 percent. I didn’t think that it was right to the kids if I was going to miss out on a few practices. I said, ‘I can’t do this anymore,’” he said.

Will there be a third generation of doctors in the Michalak family?

Jeffrey Michalak thinks Kyla has potential, but, like his dad, he’s not going to influence her either way.

“My oldest daughter is very caring and loves people. She’s made some references to me about possibly being a doctor or a veterinarian or something like that. She loves to help people as well,” he said. “I try to put them down the right path and let them make the right decisions.”

SIOUXLAND LIFE

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INSPIRATIONS Carnegie

debut

PIANIST SAYS FRANCISCAN NUNS PUT HIM ON

RIGHT PATH AT AN EARLY AGE Text by Dolly A. Butz Photographs by Justin Wan

Richard Steinbach, music professor at Briar Cliff University, will make his Carnegie Hall debut in New York City on June 12. The solo concert will feature music from his new CD “FUSION – New Music For A New Age.”

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MAY 2015

SIOUXLAND LIFE

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Sioux CiTY | Richard Steinbach’s cousins taught him to play popular songs of the day on their pianos.

When the 5-year-old was spending more time than he should have been tickling the ivories at the Catholic school he attended in Sterling, Colo., his kindergarten teacher suggested his parents buy a piano and enroll Steinbach in lessons. His older sisters also played.

Years later, as Steinbach, 61, prepares to give his first concert at Carnegie Hall, that bulky upright piano proves to have been a wise investment.

“I always loved it,” he says. “I think I probably annoyed my family by practicing too much.”

Around seventh grade, Steinbach says he knew he wanted to make performing and teaching music his career. He says a group of Franciscan nuns shaped his ability during the first 10 years of his studies. Sister Mary Senglaub stands out in his mind as a mentor who greatly inspired him to become a professional pianist.

“She was a vivacious, inspiring teacher for me to work with,” he says. “She introduced me to French music and a lot of new repertoire in junior high and early high school.”

Steinbach went on to earn degrees in piano performance from the University of Colorado/Boulder and the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y. He obtained his doctor of musical arts degree from the University of Iowa, while teaching at Briar Cliff University where he has instructed students since 1980.

“I had great teachers not only early on, but also through my college training,” he says. “I think I looked up to them and decided that’s what I wanted to do is teach at the university level.”

When it comes to his students, Steinbach says he tries to impress upon them how much time and commitment music demands. There are no short cuts in music or the arts, he says.

“I try to instill in them an inner driver and a deep love of music so that they will feel compelled to put in the amount of hours upon hours that it takes to really master a performance,” he says.

Steinbach sits at a Steinway in Briar Cliff University’s recital hall on a Tuesday afternoon. His fingers quickly move up and down the length of the grand piano’s keyboard. His head and neck move in tandem with the notes of the Brazilian piece.

After his debut concert in Paris in 1996, a French pianist came up to Steinbach and said to him, “You not only played with your fingers, you played

Richard Steinbach, music professor at Briar Cliff University, talks about his upcoming solo concert performance at Carnegie Hall, a life-long dream that was sparked when be started piano lessons at age 5.

“I always loved it. I think I probably annoyed my family by practicing too much.”

RichaRd Steinbach with your heart.” That comment stuck with Steinbach, who says it’s easy to get caught up in work and forget about communicating with the audience.

Steinbach is practicing four hours a day to prepare for the June 12 solo concert that he says is a life-long dream of his.

“It’s probably safe to say that every musician dreams of playing in a place like Carnegie Hall,” he says.

The dream began becoming a reality after a South American solo concert tour in 2013. Steinbach traveled to Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Brazil, where he performed his own music while collecting new music from South American composers. He also worked with students at schools and music conservatories.

Steinbach’s project entered phase two when he started recording the music for a CD titled “FUSION – New Music For A New Age.” The music on the CD, which is being produced by Juliet Everist, a

supporter of the arts, will premiere during Steinbach’s Carnegie Hall concert.

“She is putting together this Carnegie Hall concert and a whole weekend of acJuliet Everist tivities,” Steinbach said.

Some 150 people from Sioux City and other parts of the country will travel to New York City for the concert, which Steinbach said will mostly feature music written in the last 10 years that incorporates either jazz, folk or pop music.

“That’s where the name ‘fusion’ comes from,” Steinbach explained. “It’s an exciting program. Most of this music will be unknown to audiences.”

Siouxlanders who can’t travel to New York City will have a chance to hear Steinbach play next fall when he plans to perform a CD release concert at the Orpheum Theatre.

For more information visit Richard SteinbachPiano.com.

Siouxland life

May 2015

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INSPIRATIONS discovering

art

FORMER PE TEACHER, STAY-AT-HOME MOM FINDS ARTISTIC TALENT, THANKS TO MANY MENTORS

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Text by Ally Karsyn Photographs by Tim Hynds

SIOUX CITY | With some reserve, Karen Chesterman entered her home studio to find her paintings exactly where she left them a few months ago – leaning up against a gallery white wall, basking under the skylights.

Spring in Sioux City entices the artist away from Florida, where she’s gathered new inspirations on Pinterest including

color combinations, oriental symbols and asemic writing, a form of meaningless calligraphy or nonsensical scribbles.

Her creative process involves less planning and more concentration on the present moment, experiencing an active meditation. There’s energy and editing, a mix of spontaneity and thoughtfulness that goes into each painting, some of which fetch $5,000.

“It’s hard to get back into the discipline,” she said, looking at the colored canvases in various stages of completion.

“An artist’s middle name is self-doubt.”

Chesterman, 68, didn’t discover her artistic talent until later in life.

As a child, she was sporty and shy.

She played racquetball and tennis and ran. She went on to study physical education at Morningside College and married her high school sweetheart Cy W. Chesterman, whose great-grandfather founded the local bottling company.

For a year, she led physical education classes at South Sioux City High School.

Pregnancy ended her short-lived teaching career. “I got to stay home,” she said.

“I was very fortunate to be able to stay home with my boys.”

In the ’80s, with her two sons in high school and college, she had a lot of free time and turned to volunteering as a docent at the Sioux City Art Center, then located at 513 Nebraska St. There, she discovered art history, taught by education coordinator Marilyn Laufer.

“She was an inspiration,” Chesterman said. “The artists I fell in love with were the abstract expressionists. I started learning about it and couldn’t get enough.”

Her creativity was cultivated by multiple mentors, quality education and her mother, who instilled a productive work ethic.

She went back to school at the age of

35 and found guidance from Bill Welu and Mary Lonergan at Briar Cliff University.

Welu taught abstract expressionism and mentored her, allowing her to follow her muse.

“He let me work big,” she said. “He could see that’s what I wanted to do.”

As a nontraditional student, Chesterman knew what she liked. She had developed an interest in making large, energetic paintings reminiscent of works

by Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko. To that end, going from sports to art wasn’t such a stretch.

“If you think about the process, how I paint and the size I paint, it’s very physical,” she said. “The energy and the focus, it’s much like a sport, really. And you have to

continually practice.”

She had the privilege of pursuing a master of fine arts degree from the University of South Dakota. That’s where she encountered professors that insisted students work in a certain way. The approach sometimes stifled her creative freedom but ultimately taught her to be resourceful and tenacious.

And that experience pushed her to define herself as an artist.

She developed a painterly aesthetic and expressionist style, creating textural pieces that elicit emotion.

Though her mother’s only

creative outlet seemed to be house painting – to such a degree that she was lightheartedly teased about adding so many layers that the walls were closing in – the other women in the family turned out to be artistically inclined. One of her sisters, Cathy Palmer, paints with a similar style and technique as Chesterman while the other, Debbie Feiges, makes sterling silver jewelry.

Chesterman said her parents had to work hard in blue-collar jobs. She patterns their industrious example to make art.

“You don’t get inspired,” she said. “You just come in and work three-four hours a day.”

When the snowbird returns to her studio, she sees a pile of paintbrushes propped up in a glass Coca-Cola pitcher and tubes of oil-based pigments scattered across a table.

Possibilities mingle with hard work, discipline and self-doubt.

SIOUXLAND LIFE

May 2015

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s FLORA LEE INSPIRATIONS community

service

COMMUNITY ACTIVIST

STANDS ON THE SHOULDERS OF FORERUNNERS, FAMILY Text by Ally Karsyn | Photographs by Tim Hynds

Flora Lee’s passion for civil rights was shaped by her upbringing, family and late community activist Beulah Webb. She works as a special education strategist for the Northwest Area Education Agency and serves as the president of the local NAACP chapter in addition to volunteering and various other activities.

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MAY 2015

SIOUXLAND LIFE

SIOUX CITY | In elementary school, all eyes turned to the only black child in the classroom when the teacher talked about slavery. Why did they have to look at her? It was humiliating.

It was the ’60s, and the Civil Rights Movement was gaining ground. But not fast enough. When the same little girl wanted to go down to Foley, Ala., and meet her grandparents, she couldn’t.

Civil unrest and violence kept her away, supposedly, safe in Sioux City. But not sheltered from the sorrow.

In her formative years, Flora Lee felt the pangs of injustice and that shaped who she would become in this community: an activist for equality.

“Just the pain and the hatred, I didn’t want to see that,” she said, her voice cracking and eyes welling with tears. “I didn’t want to live like that. And I didn’t want my children to have to live like that. So, that’s what pushed me here, and I continue to fight for it today.”

Lee, 61, was recently recognized for her efforts to improve civil rights in Sioux City. The Human Rights Commission honored her and two other community leaders with its annual award.

Among her accolades, she was the first woman of color to be elected to office, sitting on the Sioux City Community School Board for 12 years. She volunteers, serves on committees and remains an active member of Mt. Zion Baptist Church.

The wife and mother of three also works as a special education strategist with the Northwest Area Education Agency, going into schools to offer equity training, conduct poverty simulations, develop anti-bullying initiatives, monitor individualized education programs and carry out other responsibilities.

In the halls of East High School, staff members light up when they see her infectious smile. Students eagerly greet her and chatter about countdown to graduation. Lee asks what’s next for them – just like a mentor once did for her.

Perhaps, most notably in recent years, she has risen up as a voice for disenfranchised members of the community.

Shortly after stepping down from the school board in 2003, she became president of the local NAACP and a driving force behind a visible project, started in partnership with sculptor Mark Avery.

His bronze bust of Martin Luther King Jr., installed outside the bus station, inspired the Celebrating Community Project. The sculpture park in progress pays tribute to 13 outstanding Siouxland citizens, who have selflessly helped

marginalized populations.

One of the honorees happens to be a woman who was an influential figure in Lee’s life.

Beulah Webb, an activist for the aging, founded the senior citizen’s center. She also helped start the Booker T. Washington Club, which later became the Sanford Center.

She left a lasting impact on the community despite feeling alienated at first. When she arrived in Sioux City in 1924, she recalled, “I was a stranger within the gates here. No one put out their hands to welcome me. I think I cried for a whole year.”

She faced discrimination and unkind words directed at her because of the color of her skin.

Eventually, she would be recognized time and again for the content of her character.

Webb, who lived to be 102, credited her love of service to her family, her mother in particular, according to Journal arBeulah Webb, who started the chives from Siouxland Center for active Gen1979. The erations and Sanford Center, was importance an inspiration to Flora Lee. of education was instilled in her, and she passed that on to countless young people, Lee being one of them.

Lee shared her successes with Webb, who was her neighbor. When she earned her bachelor’s degree in sociology as a nontraditional student, Webb urged her to get a master’s degree. Lee did, and Webb encouraged her to go for a doctorate.

“She was always pushing people to do their best,” Lee said. “I think she saw something in me that maybe I wasn’t seeing in myself.”

Because of Webb, she’s able to recognize what she has to offer: ambition, empathy, kindness.

Her influence, along with that of her family who gave her a sense of working hard, love much and giving more, made her the woman she is today.

A fighter for justice, friend to all. Now, that’s something to see.

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23

INSPIRATIONS relying

on teachers

Woodbury County Sheriff Dave Drew turned to his mother, his coaches and several others 42 years ago after the tragic death of his father.

FOR WOODBURY COUNTY SHERIFF,

IT TOOK A VILLAGE Text by Tim Gallagher | Photographs by Tim Hynds

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MAY 2015

SIOUXLAND LIFE

s

SIOUX CITY | Despite your political persuasion, Woodbury County Sheriff Dave Drew says there is something to the title of a book by former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

“It really might take a village to raise a child,” Drew says, recalling the title of Clinton’s 1996 best-seller.

At least that may be the case for Drew, who turned to his mother, his coaches and several others 42 years ago in the wake of the tragic death of his father, Neil Drew.

“My dad was an orphan who lied about his age in order to get into the military,” says Drew, 54, during an interview at his office in the Woodbury County Law Enforcement Center. “He fought in Korea and came back, but had a lot of problems as an adult. He was an alcoholic and he struggled with drinking. It was horrible for him, the perils of war.”

Drew reflects on limited memories of his father, who didn’t have a family background, and fought in war while just a teen.

“He was too young,” he says.

Drew’s parents divorced when Dave and his older brother, Kevin, now 57, were very young. Gladys, their mother, worked as a church secretary and did the best she could for her sons. Often lacking a surplus of funds, the family moved several times, once relocating four times during a 12-month span.

“I remember the Shriners bringing toys to my brother and me one Christmas,” Dave Drew says. “They saw the needs of our family and families like ours.”

When Dave was 12, his father, who was intoxicated, had a car accident and was killed. Dave was a seventh-grader residing in Leeds and just beginning his athletic career. He remembers fondly the coaches who worked with him in junior high football and basketball: Harlan Woolworth, Dick Ragan and Don Van Roekel.

“All three men were there at the right time in my life,” Drew says. “I was looking for a role model other than my mom.

These guys cared. They were really positive.”

Drew remembers some of the specifics even though it has been 42 years since his time of peril.

“I could NOT jump off the correct foot during layup drills in basketball,” he recalls. “And I remember Don Van Roekel, who laid carpet his entire life, taking me to the other end of the gym and working with me. He worked and worked and worked with me. He never laughed. He was so patient and just said to me, ‘We are going to get this to work.’”

It is funny the teachable moments a

NO QUIT IN SHERIFF Woodbury County Sheriff Dave Drew ran for county sheriff in 1992. He lost in the primary election. He ran again in 2008, but lost in the general election. Three years ago, he ran for a third time and won. Drew plans to run for re-election in 2016.

Dave Drew, Woodbury County Sheriff, talks during an annual Law Enforcement Memorial ceremony at Sioux City’s City Hall.

child remembers. The Woodbury County sheriff sits back at his desk and can still see a scene in a crowded gym more than four decades ago. Clear as yesterday.

The volunteer coaches mirrored mother Gladys’ approach. Despite being on the move and often short of money, she told her sons their glass was halffull, never half-empty.

“I didn’t have a lot of clothes growing up,” Drew says, “but mine were always washed and ironed.”

When a membership at the YMCA in Sioux City proved to be a bit too costly, Gladys Mount, who remarried and died a decade ago, made sure son Dave had $2 for a participation fee that opened doors at the Boys Club.

The 1978 Heelan High School graduate also recalls his football coaches from his sophomore year at North High. “Pat Murphy and Stan Wisnieski coached us at North,” Drew says. “I would have run SCHOLARSHIP SPONSORS Woodbury County Sheriff Dave Drew and his wife, Jana Drew, both members of the Siouxland Officials association (he officiates football and basketball, she officiates volleyball), sponsored an extra scholarship for the association to award in 2013.

The Drews did the same thing in 2014. at the time, Dave Drew said, “We do this because our son Josh, who is 28 now, was 16 when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. Back then, the Siouxland Officials association helped us with some of the costs we faced relating to Josh’s treatment.

“I always thought that if there ever came a time when we could help repay them, we would. That opportunity arose through the scholarship last year and we plan to continue to do that,” he added.

through a wall for those guys.”

The same goes for Brendan Burchard, who got Drew into weight-training at Heelan. Drew still remembers the positive energy Burchard brought to working out.

As a young adult, Drew remembered the breaks he received during his childhood. After he and wife Jana were married and started their family, Dave became involved in coaching, first at Hoover School in Sioux City, where seventh- and eighth-graders played football.

“I remembered what the coaches had done for me when I was that age,” Drew says. “So I volunteered to coach with Jeff Chatham. I coached the defense for three years. I found out it was so much fun.”

That volunteer assignment led Drew to coach oldest son, Josh, in flag football and basketball. He soon realized he didn’t have the temperament to coach his son.

“I was goofy,” Drew says with a laugh.

“I’d get frustrated. I didn’t have the talent for it. I was too hard on Josh.”

Enter Sioux Cityan Kris Jacobson, who suggested Drew join him in officiating high school basketball. That was 18 years and hundreds of games ago.

“I have developed so many great relationships with the players, the coaches, the athletic directors and even lots of fans,” says Drew, who expanded his role into football officiating. “I especially love the interaction with the kids and the coaches.”

When Sheldon High School Principal Matt Meendering, a longtime football coach for the Orabs, recently accepted a principal’s position at Dowling Catholic in West Des Moines, Drew penned a congratulatory note, something he often does when a coach or a player makes the news in a positive way.

“When someone gets a handwritten note, it means a lot,” Drew says.

It means someone has taken the time to notice.

“I remember getting a note clipped out of the newspaper when I was in high school,” Drew says. “And the gentlemen who clipped the story wrote a little note to me. It said, ‘I bet your dad would be proud of you.’”

To Dave Drew, it was another positive – and memorable – voice from the “village” that raised him.

SIOUXLAND LIFE

May 2015

25

INSPIRATIONS a

music career

FAMILY FRIEND INSPIRES LOCAL MUSICIAN

TO HIT THE HIGH NOTES

m

Text by Michelle Kuester

she said.

This sacrifice is worth it to KlingenMOVILLE, IOWA | Kelsey Klingensmith who considers music to be a smith has opened for big name acts quintessential part of her life. such as Lady Antebellum, Billy Cur“I’ve always loved music. It’s rington, Hunter Hayes and Toby who I am,” said Klingensmith, Keith, to name a few. But she who started writing songs doesn’t cite any of them as her when she was 9, made her first greatest inspiration.

EP, or extended play record, Instead, the 16-year-old singer when she was 11, and regives family friend Jeannie Nichleased an entire album when ols the honor. she was 13.

“When I was 9, I bought my When asked her favorite first guitar with my birthday part of the music indusmoney. I was playing for try, she couldn’t narrow it Jeannie one day and down.

Kelsey Klingenshe saw something “I just love performing and smith, 16, recently there,” Klingensmith what I’m doing right now,” Klinmoved to Nashville, said. “She was the gensmith said. “I loved the state Tenn., to further her singfirst to see my talent ing career. She still keeps in fairs and the people I’ve opened contact with mentor Jeanand help me develop for. Every artist I’ve opened nie Nichols. Submitted that.” for has been extremely photos Under Nichols’ nice and professional. guidance, she was able Recording in the to mature as a performer “When I’d studio is fun, too. I and develop her voice. perform for Jeanjust love it all.”

“When I was younger and first startnie, she’d say she She finds ing out, she was a huge mentor, giving saw something in inspiration in me tips on the guitar and singing,” Klinme,” she said. “She several country gensmith said. “She’s really helped me inspired me and singers, but also get my feet wet.” encouraged me to wants to keep Klingensmith readily took all the adkeep doing what I’m her own identity vice that Nichols had to offer, including doing.” intact. opportunities to perform.

Even though she “I look up to a lot “She would take me around to fairs recently moved to Nashof artists,” she said, Jeannie and nursing homes and places to play ville to focus more on her citing Taylor Swift, Keith Nichols surprised with her band,” said Klingensmith. “I just singing career, Klingensmith Urban and Shania Twain Kelsey Klingensmith, said yes to anything that she suggested.” said that Nichols’ is still a big as examples. “Obviously, then 13, with a Taylor Performing on stage isn’t exactly a presence in her life. though, I want to do K24ce Koa guitar anonyfamily affair for Klingensmith, who is “She’s been a big cheerleadwhat I do and be differmously given before her show at the Gathering grateful for music-savvy Nichols’ mener,” said Klingensmith. “I still ent.”

Place in Cherokee, toring over the years. talk to her quite a bit.”

She’s hoping her difIowa, Nov. 23, “My family is really into sports so I’m The former Woodbury Central ferences will eventually 2012. kind of an oddball,” she joked. “They are student now takes classes online lead to mainstream success. an amazing support system, though.” through Connections Academy in or“The main goal is to reach Nichols’ experience and expertise ender to keep up with schoolwork. as many people as I can with my music couraged and helped mold Klingensmith “It gives me freedom to pursue my and headline my own tour and sell out into the performer she is today. dreams while also getting an education,” stadiums.”

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MAY 2015

SIOUXLAND LIFE

Siouxland life

May 2015

27

INSPIRATIONS a

life of leadership

NEWLY ELECTED BOARD OF REGENTS MEMBER

CREDITS COLLEGE PEERS FOR APPOINTMENT

s

Text by Michelle Kuester

SIOUX CITY | What is the greatest accomplishment of the average 19-yearold? Graduating high school? Getting accepted into college?

What about being selected to represent 78,000 college students on the Iowa Board of Regents?

That’s the case of Sioux City North graduate and University of Northern Iowa freshman Rachael Johnson.

Johnson, a double major in elementary Rachael Johnson considers and middle representing 78,000 Iowa level education, students the greatest perk of acquired her her recent appointment to the position thanks Iowa Board of Regents. to a nomination by her recently met mentors.

“There are tons and tons of incredible people who’ve inspired me, but the ones who have made the biggest impact on my appointment to the Board of Regents are Kevin Gartman, Paul Andersen and Blake Findley,” Johnson said.

The daughter of Darrin and Suzanne Johnson is a senator for the College of Education for UNI’s student government, of which Gartman is president, Andersen is vice president, and Findley is a former vice president. The three nominated her for the six-year position on the Board of Regents.

From there, she interviewed with the president of the college and then went on to interview with Gov. Terry Branstad, after which she was selected out of a field of nine finalists. She was unanimously approved for the position on April 8.

“They’re so awesome and driven in everything they do,” Johnson said of Gartman, Andersen and Findley. “They see the potential in me that I don’t see in myself which is incredible since I haven’t

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From left, Kevin Gartman, Blake Findley, Rachael Johnson and Paul andersen. Johnson, a recent appointee to the Iowa Board of Regents, credits the three men with nominating and mentoring her for her new role. Submitted photos

even known them a year.”

“I’m just honored to have them think this highly of me,” Johnson said.

As a member of the Board of Regents, Johnson will attend board meetings and take part in sub-committees that govern the state’s public colleges and universities.

“I’m so excited to make a difference at UNI and across the entire state,” she said.

“I think being on the Board of Regents will give me that voice and allow me to make a difference.”

She also will get perks like sitting on stage at UNI’s graduation ceremony in May. “My sister will be graduating from UNI this May,” she said. “That’ll be cool for my family.”

The best part of the job, though, is the leadership role she will have to take.

“Getting to represent 78,000 students is the greatest perk as I see it,” Johnson said. “That’s amazing.”

Johnson described herself as a natural-born leader, having held several leadership positions while attending North High School.

SIOUXLAND LIFE

“Being the leader has always been one of my favorite things,” she said.

Having been appointed as a freshman is unusual, noted Johnson, who said that the past several appointments have been juniors and seniors.

“I’d like to think they saw something special in me,” she said. “Another reason is I think they wanted someone to finish out their full term.”

Often, the six-year term isn’t completed due to the member graduating from college and moving away to a new job, making being on the Board impossible, explained Johnson.

Her mentors are no strangers to leadership roles, having served in several leadership capacities themselves. Being a few years older, Johnson said they had some advice for her.

“They told me to stay true to who I am and don’t let politics get in the way of what’s best for Iowa students,” she said.

And more concrete advice?

“They also told me to utilize my Google calendar. That thing is like my Bible every morning,” she joked.

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SIOUXLAND LIFE

May 2015

29

INSPIRATIONS the

mom and dad effect Dubbed the “Wizard of Why” and the “Sherlock Holmes of Eating,” Cornell University’s Brian Wansink has made a living figuring out why we eat the things we eat. The Sioux City native said he was inspired to go on this food quest by his parents, John and Naomi Wansink.

PARENTS PLAY KEY ROLE

w

IN FOOD EXPERT’S CHOICES Text by Earl Horlyk | Photographs by Robyn Wishna

WHEN BRIAN WANSINK WAS growing up in Sioux City, he earned extra money selling fresh produce grown at his uncle’s farm.

“I sold a lot of vegetables door-todoor,” he remembered. “Some people would say, ‘Wow, 10 tomatoes for a dollar! That’s a bargain!’

“Yet, the people next door would react as if I was trying to unload kryptonite instead of farm produce,” he said.

That helped to disprove a popular myth.

“They used to say that only the rich can afford to eat well,” Wansink said.

“This wasn’t the case when I was selling

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May 2015

produce from a little red wagon and it isn’t the case now.”

The John Dyson professor of marketing and director of the Cornell University Food and Brand Lab, Wansink is one of the country’s foremost authorities on eating behaviors.

The author of such best-selling books as “Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think” said people’s tastes aren’t formed by accident. Instead, they’re formed by those around us.

Wansink calls those people “nutritional gatekeepers.”

In his childhood home, it was his parents, John (a bakery production worker)

SIOUXLAND LIFE

and Naomi (a legal secretary), who taught him about eating.

“Both of my parents were raised on farms and believed in good food,” he said.

“They made sure we ate dinner as a family every night.”

However, Naomi Wansink was the principal cook and food buyer.

“Mom would make traditional Midwestern foods like a Jell-O salad,” Wansink recalled. “Dad knew the recipe for toast and that was about it.”

It wasn’t until Wansink left home for college that he began cooking for himself. And it wasn’t until he married his wife Jennifer a Cordon Bleu-trained chef,

“My food tastes weren’t formed by accident. Growing up in Sioux City, they were were influenced by my folks.”

according to Cornell University’s Brian Wansink, people’s food tastes aren’t formed by accident.

Instead, we are influenced by family, peers, society and marketing that are designed to excite our tastes.

BRIAN WANSINK that he experienced gourmet cuisine on a regular basis.

Although he admitted to be a bit of a “foodie,” Wansink prefers to examine why we eat the way we eat.

Described as “the Sherlock Holmes of eating,” he helped develop 2010’s Dietary Guidelines for the USDA’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion and worked with the Blue Zones Project to develop a strategy in which restaurants offered options for diners who wanted healthier choices and meals with fewer calories.

The father of three, Wansink’s research often revolves around kids.

“When a child is given the choice between french fries and apple slices, the child will immediately go for the fries,” he said. “However, if we ask kids what choice their teacher, parent and Batman would make, they’ll say apple slices.

“If we can make every child eat like Batman, we’d be a much healthier country,” Wansink said with a laugh.

That’s also true for adults when confronted with the choice between pork chops versus “Iowa” pork chops.

“People will respond to the Iowa pork chops strictly due to their perception of the state,” Wansink said. “Perceptions matter a lot in the things that we eat.”

So does the introduction of smaller plates in restaurants or the popularity of smaller 100-calorie packages of food.

“People have no idea how much food they’re actually eating,” Wansink said.

“We want to change mindless eating to ‘mindful’ eating.”

Despite that, he readily admits to having a few guilty pleasure foods of his own.

“Burgers, pizza and steaks are my big three guilty pleasures,” Wansink said.

“If I go a two-week period without any of those, I begin to feel like one of those people stranded on a deserted island, yearning for the foods they love the most.”

Even though his research has taken him all over the world, Wansink still enjoys coming back to visit his parents in his hometown of Sioux City.

“My food tastes weren’t formed by accident,” he said. “Growing up in Sioux City, they were were influenced by my folks.”

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SIOUXLAND LIFE

May 2015

31

INSPIRATIONS from

the ground up

Dwight Morgan and his son, Lance Morgan enjoy time together at the headquarters of Ho-Chunk Inc., the economic development arm of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska.

Lance Morgan is the CEO of the international corporation, which is based in Winnebago, Neb. Dwight Morgan is a retired roofer who resides in Winnebago.

LESSONS FROM THE ROOFTOP SHAPED INTERNATIONAL CEO

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Text by Tim Gallagher | Photographs by Tim Hynds

WINNEBAGO, NEB. | Dwight Morgan delayed the travel plans of son Lance Morgan on the day Lance was to depart for Harvard Law School.

“We had a house to roof,” Lance Morgan says.

So, the younger Morgan joined his father’s roofing crew and completed the project. Harvard Law, after all, could wait a few hours. The lessons of hard work could not.

Dwight Morgan, now 70, began his working career in farming. He ended his working career by owning and operating

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MAY 2015

BID Home Improvement, based in Winnebago. The name was short for “Better Investment Deal.”

A roof, the son learned time and again, was a better investment for a homeowner.

“My dad believed in child labor,” Lance Morgan says with a laugh. “He was a strong believer in child labor. I think I was 7 or 8 years old when I started joining him on roof projects. At first, I’d just sit up there and keep him company.

When I got a little older, I began getting shingles for him and running things up

SIOUXLAND LIFE

and down the ladder.”

By his early teens, Lance Morgan was commanding one of Dwight’s crews, supervising the labor force assembled on a rooftop, often when the summer heat seared his soles.

The lessons and the shingles stuck.

Lance Morgan has gone from the rooftops to the board room, a Harvard Law School grad who serves as CEO of HoChunk Inc., a global enterprise with hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue.

“When your (company) phone bill is

Ho-Chunk, Inc. Chief Executive Officer Lance Morgan speaks during a luncheon at Ho-Chunk Village in Winnebago, Neb. Morgan went from working as a child for his father, Dwight Morgan, to leading a global enterprise that earns hundreds of millions of dollars annually.

“I pretty much hated roofing, but it wasn’t presented to me as an option. But I spent a lot of time talking to my dad about small business. I learned as much about small business from listening to him as I did in business school.”

LANCE MORGAN

$400,000, that’s weird,” the younger Morgan says. “It’s all about scale, I guess.”

There wasn’t much guesswork when it came to business study, Lance Morgan says. The lessons were pounded home like so many nails on those hot summer days in and around Winnebago a few decades ago.

“I pretty much hated roofing, but it wasn’t presented to me as an option,” Morgan says. “But I spent a lot of time talking to my dad about small business.

I learned as much about small business from listening to him as I did in business school.”

Lance Morgan figures he was 11 or 12 years old when a book in a grocery store caught his eye. He was standing in the check-out line at the time, killing a minute or two.

“There was a book on taxes and I bought it,” he says. “I went through the book and came up with deductions. I

spent time thinking about revenues and expenses.”

The book helped him piece together the conversations he and his father were having. BID Home Improvement, he soon realized, wasn’t merely a job for Dwight Morgan, it represented the way he fed his family and helped other family stretch their dollars to feed their families.

After finishing a roof project one latesummer day, the son departed for Harvard Law School.

“I threw my hammer in the dumpster, ceremonially,” Morgan says. “And my dad had the hammer sitting there when I came home for Christmas.”

Dwight Morgan had one question for his son: “How are your grades?”

Lance had the answer at the ready.

“My grades aren’t perfect, but they’re good enough I don’t need the hammer.”

Dwight Morgan, a state champion football player for Winnebago High and

a veteran of the Vietnam War, has since retired from the rooftops. He still swims a few times each week to keep his sore hips loose. He resides 200 yards from his son’s office.

“Dad wanted to be a graphic designer, but he quit school to make more money,” Lance says. “He is your typical, hardworking, blue-collar guy.”

And, the son? He followed Harvard Law by becoming CEO of a firm that now soars beyond the rooftops with projects like the $23-million federal contract secured not long ago by Ho-Chunk, Inc.’s All Native Group. The work was performed at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., and at all NASA Goddard Space Flight Center facilities throughout the United States.

“It’s about scale now,” Lance says, responding to a question that attempts to link his work with that of his father.

“I now run an international corporation.

The numbers might throw him off, but the principles are still the same. It’s all about revenues, expenses, opportunity and hard work.”

The principles father passed to son as they climbed the ladder in Winnebago not that long ago.

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33

INSPIRATIONS careful

coaching

‘MR. BASKETBALL’

LOOKS TO HIS DAD FOR INSPIRATION, INSTRUCTION

s

Text by Tim Gallagher | Photographs by Jim Lee

SIOUX CITY | When asked to name a mentor, an idol, or an inspiration, Daniel Tillo, Iowa’s reigning “Mr. Basketball,” offers a name that’s as quick as his left-handed shooting stroke.

“My dad, Vince Tillo,” he says.

Vince Tillo graduated from North High in 1982.

The Stars of that memorable boys basketball season finished second in the state tournament, bowing out to Davenport Assumption, 58-45, in the Class 3A title contest.

Daniel Tillo, who graduates this month from North High, made the state tournament in March, capping another memorable winter campaign for the Stars. Despite a first-round setback to top-ranked Iowa City West, the three-time Class 4A defending champion at the time, the younger Tillo earned all-tournament laurels for a 30-point effort that pushed his career scoring mark to a Sioux City best 2,016 points.

Tillo capped the season with the “Mr. Basketball” award, presented annually by the Iowa Newspaper Association to Iowa’s top prep basketball player.

Daniel Tillo credits his father with helping him reach this basketball summit.

“My dad has been a really good role model,” Daniel says, just days before a visit to Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs, Iowa. “Dad’s a

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Daniel, left, and Vince Tillo have both been Stars on the court and in the field at North High. Daniel, Iowa’s “Mr. Basketball” for the 2014-15 high school season, credits his father for helping to shape his skill on the basketball court. Provided

hardworking guy.”

The elder Tillo works for the Internal Revenue Service. He and wife, Susan Tillo, a 1984 North High grad, are the parents of sons Mike, Nick, Daniel and Alex.

“My dad coached me since I played my first basketball games, probably when I was in first grade,” Daniel Tillo says. “When I was in third grade, I played up on a fourth-grade team he coached.

He coached that team until I was in seventh grade.”

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What was it like playing for his dad?

“I remember my dad being really calm,” Daniel says. “He wouldn’t get overly mad and he wouldn’t go over the top. He taught me the right way to play. He could have been meaner when I was younger and forced me to play, but he allowed me to choose. He always let us play and taught us without taking it too far.”

Daniel Tillo averaged 24.5 points as a senior and 21 points throughout a four-year career marked by three berths in the state tournament. In his final game, Tillo became just the second Class 4A player to top the 2,000-point plateau.

“My dad probably worked on my shooting more than anything,” Daniel says. “He’d make me start by shooting from the inside and then gradually moving away from the basket. The name of the game is putting the ball in the basket.”

The Tillos, who worked to hone Daniel’s shooting touch, often set up shop on their off-days at Four Seasons Health Club in Sioux City. Father and son played

East’s alex Stueve guards North’s Daniel Tillo during basketball action at East High in Sioux City, Iowa.

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May 2015

35

North’s Daniel Tillo drives toward the basket as East’s Alex Stueve defends during basketball action at North High School in Sioux City, Iowa.

one-on-one through the years, finally reaching a point where the boy could beat his dad at least half the time.

“I honestly have no idea how many shots my dad chased down while rebounding for me,” Tillo says.

Behind most prolific scorers and great shooters, there is often a somewhat silent partner, the person who gives selflessly to pass made shots back to a shooter while also corralling the misses.

“He also drove me all over the place to play basketball,” the current North Star TILLO TRIPLE-THREAT It’s been a remarkable triple-threat the past 10 months or so for Daniel Tillo, a senior at North High. Consider these stats: Tillo went 6-0 on the mound last summer for the North Stars, compiling a miniscule .98 earned run average to complement his .495 batting average with 36 RBIs. As a senior quarterback, the lefty gunner passed for 2,644 yards and 25 TDs. Sioux City’s all-time leading scorer on the basketball court, Tillo averages 24.5 points for a state tournament team while leading the squad in assists with 98.

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Care on Your Terms.

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Left: North’s Daniel Tillo pitches against East during baseball action at East High in June 2013. Right: North High’s Daniel Tillo looks to pass under pressure from Ames defenders during football action at Olsen Stadium in October 2014.

says. “A couple of years ago he drove me to Louisville, Ky., for a camp.”

“Mr. Basketball” says his work on the court is a family affair, going beyond father and son to include the whole Tillo tribe. Daniel remembers his parents setting up games among the boys.

“Mike and Nick are older than me, while Alex, is 16 and a sophomore at North,” Daniel says. “When I was at the gym, my older brothers toughened me up. They were quick and physical and got me ready to play high school basketball when I was a freshman.”

It wasn’t just basketball, either. Daniel Tillo has been a force on the football field and the baseball diamond at North High.

Again, he remembers his father as being his best influence, no matter what ball he had in his hands.

Vince Tillo’s best instruction? According to Daniel, it was this: “Dad taught me leadership.”

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ask a professional Q: Doctor Joel, as I’m planting my garden for the summer, what can I plant to get to optimum amount of vitamins and minerals?

A: Step one is to decide how much space you have, and see how many plants you can possibly plant. Keep in mind you later will have to harvest those delicious tomatoes and carrots, and if the plants are too close together, you won’t have optimal harvesting (or growing) opportunities.

Dr. Joel Pistello, DC

The next is – what do you like to eat? Keep in mind that a specific vegetable will have high amounts of not just one, but many vitamins and minerals. I’m going to focus mainly on ones that are high in antioxidants, as they are perfect for those who are exercising regularly, and regardless of diet, are extremely beneficial!

For Vitamin C, broccoli, cauliflower, and my favorite – red peppers, are among the best.

For Vitamin E, anything with leafy greens (ex. romaine hearts), or asparagus. For bonus vitamin E, lightly sauté in olive oil before eating.

For Beta-carotene, carrots, tomatoes, red peppers (again), broccoli (again), and leafy greens (again), among others.

Finally don’t neglect Selenium, which is found in lean red meat, eggs, chicken, garlic, and tomatoes (again).

To help get you started, get to a local nursery to get your seedlings.

Ask them questions about what to plant, when, and for even more ideas, what to plant. Don’t have room for a garden? You just got a shopping list! Stay safe, and healthy, out there Siouxland!

Call 276-4325 today for an appointment 3930 Stadium Drive. (Between Wal-Mart & Explorer Stadium)

38

May 2015

Siouxland life

FOOD the

family business Clint Kass is general manager of 4 Brothers Bar & Grill in Le Mars, Iowa.

Kass credits his parents Myles and Roberta Kass (longtime owners of Bob’s Drive-In) for a passion in food.

THIRD GENERATION RESTAURATEUR

REFLECTS ON FOOD AND FAMILY

l

Text by Earl Horlyk | Photographs by Tim Hynds

LE MARS, IOWA | 4 Brothers Bar & Grill general manager Clint Kass began working in restaurants more than 33 years ago.

That’s amazing considering the Le Mars native is only 39.

“I started in the business when I was 6 years old, sweeping up cigarette butts from the gravel parking lot at Bob’s,” he said.

He is referring to Bob’s Drive-In, the legendary Le Mars restaurant established by his late grandfather Bob Kass in 1949.

The Highway 75 South drivethru – lauded for its loosemeats by “Road Food” writers Jane and Michael Stern – was managed

by Kass’ dad, Myles, for decades before ownership shifted to Kass’ brother Nathan.

“With Nathan taking care of Bob’s in Le Mars, my dad opened a new location in Lake Okoboji,” Kass said.

In the meantime, Kass wanted

SIOUXLAND LIFE

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39

For Clint Kass, restaurant work is literally a family business. a portrait of Kass , a third generation restaurateur, and his three brothers hang in the dining room of 4 Brothers Bar & Grill.

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SIOUXLAND LIFE

the experience of running a full-service restaurant that had a menu which extended beyond the Bob’s signature burgers and chili dogs.

Yet, he still wanted to utilize his family’s expertise.

Opening 4 Brothers – named after himself and his brothers Nathan, Dusty and Kevin – in 2007, Kass said he relied on his relatives during the restaurant’s formative years.

“My mom (Roberta Kass) would come in every day and my dad came in as often as he could,” he said. “My parents knew the restaurant business and they wanted to share their knowledge with me.”

As the restaurant picked up business, Kass began to rely on his own staff.

“At Bob’s, the same crew is making taverns day after day,” he said. “Here, I have to lean on a kitchen full of cooks and a dining area with plenty of bartenders and servers.”

“The success of 4 Brothers is strictly a team effort,” he said inside the restaurant, at 1430 Two Rivers Blvd. “I couldn’t do this without my team.”

However, Kass admitted it took a while to figure out what kind of restaurant he wanted to have.

“After a little tinkering, we came up with a place that had great food and a great atmosphere that you couldn’t get at home,” he said. “It wouldn’t be stuffy or pretentious at all.”

Indeed, Kass wanted to create “a place that would be comfortable for both the couple celebrating an anniversary as well as the guy who wanted a burger after mowing his lawn.”

For that, Kass knew he needed a menu full of fan favorites like the Pretzel Burger (one-half pound, charbroiled burger, topped with American and Swiss cheese, honey-cracked pepper bacon, bourbon-sauteed onions and a Worcestershire-chive aioli on a butter-toasted bun) and Prime Rib (rubbed with a special seasoning, slowroasted for eight hours and served with a homemade au jus).

Still, he wanted to try out unusual and unexpected items like a Lahvosh (a sweet, thin cracker bread baked with Havarti cheese along with a choice of tomatoes, peppers, onions,

DETAILS WHAT: 4 Brothers Bar & Grill WHERE: 1430 Two Rivers Blvd.

Le Mars, Iowa WHEN: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Friday and Saturday PHONE: 712-548-4444 bacon, chicken, turkey, ham, artichoke hearts or mushrooms).

“You can’t get Lahvosh at too many places around here,” Kass said. “That’s why we wanted to serve it at 4 Brothers.”

Following a busy lunch rush, Kass reflected on the lessons his dad taught him.

“My dad expected us to work at Bob’s when we were kids,” he said. “But Dad also wanted us to go to college and experience other things.”

“Dad said Bob’s – and the restaurant business – will still be around for us,” Kass said. “We just needed us to make that decision to continue on our own.”

As for Kass, he said the adrenaline rush of hungry diners remains intoxicating.

“I love the fact that every day will be entirely new and different. That’s

Fan favorite foods like a Pretzel Burger and fries is on the menu at 4 Brothers Bar & Grill.

exciting for me.”

So is creating delicious and creative menu items.

“You have to be passionate about

whatever you do,” Kass said. “That’s the lesson my grandfather passed on to my dad. And that’s the lesson my dad has passed on to me.”

Add Green to Your Home — And Your Pocketbook — bY remodelinG The rapid growth of green building means that new home owners can take advantage of the lower operating and maintenance costs that come with these energy- and resource-efficient homes.

But for the 120 million existing homes in the United States, remodeling is the only way for home owners to incorporate green practices. NAHB Remodelers offers the following suggestions to home owners who want to increase their home’s efficiency, decrease costs and take advantage of the other benefits that green offers.

1. Install maximum insulation in the area to be remodeled.

Forty percent of the energy consumed in a typical house goes to heating and cooling. Adding insulation is an easy way to increase efficiency.

Insulation is rated by its ability to resist heat flow, commonly known as “R-value.” The higher the R-value, the better its ability to resist heat flow.

Adding insulation will help save energy costs, increase comfort by better controlling temperature and improve indoor air quality by eliminating many gaps through which dirt, dust, and other impurities can enter.

2. Install high-efficiency windows instead of those that just meet the energy code.

Ordinary window glass transmits ultraviolet heat rays from the sun, which can increase your air conditioning bill dramatically. ENERGY STAR windows can help control this effect. These windows may have two or more panes of glass, warm-edge spacers between the panes, improved framing materials and microscopically thin metal or metallic oxide layers deposited on windows to reduce radiative heat flow.

3. Seal all exterior penetrations in the area being remodeled.

You can reduce cold air drafts and heat loss by inspecting your home from the inside and outside and plugging cracks or openings. Be sure to check the areas where window frames meet the structure or siding of the house. Use caulking to seal all small cracks on non-moving surfaces and weatherstripping on windows, doors and other movable parts of the home.

4. Purchase only ENERGY STAR-rated appliances.

ENERGY STAR-rated appliances, ranging from dishwashers and refrigerators to computers and televisions, meet strict energy efficiency guidelines set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy.

Qualified refrigerators, dishwashers and vent fans incorporate advanced technologies that use 1050 percent less energy and water than standard models, more than making up for the slightly higher costs of these products.

5. Install low-flow water plumbing fixtures.

model can reduce costs by up to 80 percent a year.

Over its 20-year lifespan a solar heater will prevent more than 50 tons of carbon dioxide emissions. A low-cost option is to wrap insulation around your heater, which can reduce standby heat losses by 25 to 45 percent.

7. Purchase the highest efficiency HVAC system you can afford.

Over a 10-year period, the average home owner spends more than $10,000 for heating and cooling.

Installing high efficiency ENERGY STAR HVAC equipment can reduce utility costs on average by 10 to 30 percent over minimum efficiency equipment.

It also can improve home comfort with more heating and cooling and a quieter operation, and often features higher quality components that result in longer equipment life.

For more information on green remodeling, visit www.nahb.org/remodel. To find a remodeler in the Sioux City area, visit www.siouxlandhba.com/ members.

In the average home, flushing toilets accounts for some 30 percent of water usage. By using low-flow plumbing fixtures such as toilets, faucet aerators and showerheads, you can save up to 25 percent of that water compared to conventional fixtures while providing the same utility.

6. Upgrade to an ENERGY STAR-rated or tankless water heater.

Tankless water heaters provide hot water on demand at a preset temperature rather than storing it. Replacing an electric water heater with a solar

Rich Callahan President Heritage Homes of Siouxland

SIOUXLAND LIFE

712-255-3852

www.siouxlandhba.com May 2015

41

PROFILE Q&A

“I put myself in situations where kids would naturally think that they wouldn’t be in. I just try to be a role model for my freshmen.”

20 QUESTIONS with a West High School mentor

Luis Escobedo Text by Dolly Butz | Photographs by Tim Hynds

Luis Escobedo, a West High School junior, mentors freshmen through the school’s Mentors in Violence Prevention, or MVP, curriculum, which is designed to establish a stronger community among students and help them make better decisions. Escobedo answered 20 questions about being a mentor.

1. Why did you decide to become a mentor?

My freshman year when I came in, I honestly knew no one. When we first started the MVP classes, it was like meeting these role models that I was able to become friends with. I just kind of wanted to set the same example.

2. What do you do as a mentor?

As a mentor I pretty much show what it’s like to be a bystander. I put myself in situations where kids would naturally think that they wouldn’t be in. I just try to be a role model for my freshmen.

3. Are you paired up with a student? How does the curriculum work?

All the freshmen in general. They get divided up into classrooms.

4. When you were a freshman was there something a mentor said that impacted you?

One thing that stood out to me ...

Nate (Mohrhauser) over there, he was my freshman mentor. He once told me I should be a mentor because I was very loud and vocal in giving my opinion.

5. How is West High School’s mentoring program unique from other programs?

I think it’s unique because we kind of started everything. We’ve been around longer and we know what to do.

6. What training did you receive to become a mentor?

We go to these summits that we have at (Western Iowa Tech Community College). We have mentors from North, East and South Sioux. We all gather there and get classes on each of these scenarios.

What we’re talking about is what we talked about at each of these summits.

It’s really helpful.

7. What do you hope students take away from the mentoring session that you had today?

comfortable as if we’re their friends, family. That’s the hardest part.

What I think they really need to understand about this is that we’re trying to do this so they can understand the situation that they’re in right now so they don’t have to think later.

8. What are some problems freshmen come to you with?

14. What’s the most rewarding thing about mentoring?

There’s too many. One of the top things is you get to be friends with excellent grown kids.

15. What are your plans?

I want to study law and help others.

There’s been quite a few from personal problems to public problems to their inner self problems like feelings and emotions. There are different things that kids come to me for.

16. If you could be a high school freshman again, what would you do differently?

9. What are some things that you struggled with as a freshman?

I wouldn’t do anything differently. Everything I did has brought me to where I am now.

I struggled with trying to actually show my emotions – how to describe them. As a freshman I was very incoherent with my words. I would think something, but I didn’t know what to say.

10. What’s the best advice anybody has ever given you, whether it be another student or an adult?

Always keep being vocal no matter what. That was said to me several times.

17. What could current freshmen do differently?

They’re not doing anything wrong necessarily. They’re just entering a big transition where they’re scared. It’s easy to understand because I was once a freshman and was really scared like them. They won’t open up. They won’t talk. That’s what they could do differently, but it’s kind of hard to tell them, ‘You have to talk.’

18. What skills make a good mentor?

11. Would you encourage other students to become a mentor?

If you’re very friendly and get to know them personally – what they do outside of school.

I would.

12. Why? It’s something that’s very great. You get to meet people. You get to do things that make you feel better.

13. What’s the most challenging aspect of mentoring?

It would be at the very beginning, trying to get freshmen to open up to you. The challenge is establishing that relationship between friends and teacher. As freshmen they come in scared because they’re making this big transfer. You want to have them feel

19. How do you prepare for mentoring sessions?

All the mentors get together every Tuesday because we have MVP on every Wednesday with our freshmen.

20. What’s the most important thing you’ve learned about mentoring?

Basically that being a bystander is what matters.

Siouxland life

May 2015

43

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May 2015

Siouxland life

HeaLtH medical

answers

‘Doc, i’ve got a question …’ answers to your medical questions

What is Botox used for? I thought it was just for wrinkles.

But a friend told me she got it for migraines. What else is there and why is it such a cure-all?

Interestingly, Botox is actually a toxin produced by the bacteria that causes botulism, but it seems to have multiple medical applications because of how the toxin works. Botox causes localized muscle relaxation by blocking the nerve conduction to a group of muscles.

By decreasing nerve conduction and causing muscle relaxation, Botox can decrease the appearance of wrinkles and cause some headache relief in those with chronic headaches. In all, the FDA has approved the use of Botox for certain muscle spasm disorders, temporary improvement in the appearance of wrinkles, excessive sweating under the arms known as hyperhidrosis, prevention treatment for chronic migraine headaches and treatment of urinary incontinence in some with overactive bladder.

At what age should a parent be concerned if their child still wets the bed?

My daughter is in elementary school.

What should I do?

Nighttime bed wetting in children 5 years of age or older, which is termed enuresis, is relatively common and decreases with increasing age. In children without other urinary symptoms and no previous history of a known bladder dysfunction, enuresis occurs in about 16 percent of 5 year olds, 13 percent of 6 year olds, 10 percent of 7 year olds, 7 percent of 8 year olds, 5 percent of 9 year olds, and 2-3 percent of 12-14 year olds. Your child should see the doctor if there are other lower urinary tract symptoms such as daytime wetting, dribbling, straining to urinate, a weak stream, feelings of incomplete emptying or pain. At the appointment, the doctor will go through a complete history with you and ask further questions that will help explain what might be causing

the problem. Here are a few pointers to know since enuresis in children is relatively common.

(1) Do not punish the child because it is neither the child’s nor the parents’ fault.

(2) Keep a record of when the child urinates both during the day and overnight. The child should attempt to urinate regularly during the day and just before bed (a total of 4 to 7 times). If the child wakes at night, the caregiver should take the child to the bathroom to attempt to urinate.

(3) Sugary and caffeinated drinks should be avoided, especially before bedtime. Daily fluid intake should be concentrated in the morning and early afternoon hours and should be minimized during the evening hours.

(4) The routine use of diapers and pull-ups can interfere with motivation for getting up at night and is generally discouraged.

(5) Upon visiting with your doctor, he/she may suggest other strategies including motivational therapy, enuresis alarms, and/or medication.

Angelina Jolie got a lot of attention for pro-actively dealing with cancer.

But is that an option for the rest of us?

How would I go about finding out? And would insurance even cover something like that?

Angelia Jolie received a lot of attention for her double mastectomy (removal of both breasts) and oophorectomy (removal of the ovaries) due to her fame, but she had a legitimate reason for being this proactive about her cancer risk. Jolie has a mutation known as BRCA-1, which increases her risk of developing breast and ovarian cancers.

Jolie also has a strong family history of breast and ovarian cancers. Her mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, aunt

meet the doc Jesse Nieuwenhuis is a first-year family medicine resident physician at the Siouxland Medical Education Foundation in Sioux City, Iowa. He grew up on a farm near Primghar, Iowa, and chose to attend the University of Iowa and Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa, for his undergraduate college education, graduating from Northwestern with a degree in biology and a minor in chemistry in 2009.

He then chose to work at the Iowa Neonatal Newborn Screening Program in ankeny, Iowa, as a microbiologist for a short time after graduating from college. He then attended medical school at the Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science in North Chicago, Ill., graduating with an M.D. in 2014. Upon graduating from medical school, he chose to pursue his graduate medical education in Family Medicine at the Siouxland Medical Education Foundation in Sioux City. and cousin all had BRCA-1 associated cancers. In the general population, a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer in a lifetime is about 12 percent, and this can increase to almost 60 percent in those with a BRCA-1 mutation. When doing the math and calculating the risk for Jolie based on her family history, she had an 87 percent chance of developing breast cancer and a 50 percent chance of developing ovarian cancer during her lifetime. Based on Jolie’s high risk, her interventions to prevent breast and ovarian cancers seem reasonable, but these decisions should be based entirely on individual preferences after understanding both sides of the coin, including the risks of developing cancer weighed against the immediate and long-term risks of certain medical procedures. Jolie did not undergo mastectomies and oophorectomies simply because of her fame and fortune.

What kidS of health queStionS do you have?

Submit your questions and they may be used in this monthly feature. Write to Siouxland Life at 515 Pavonia St., Sioux City, Iowa 51102.

Siouxland life

May 2015

45

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Siouxland life

PARTING SHOT By

i

Bruce Miller

IF YOU’RE GRADUATING THIS YEAR, SOME ADVICE

IF YOU’RE GRADUATING THIS year, take heart. You’ll never have another spring break, summer break, holiday break or “early out.”

In the real world, days, weeks and years collide. You don’t pull all-nighters, either, and no one offers extra credit, even when you’re working overtime.

The cocoon you enjoyed during those school years pops and, suddenly, you’re forced to deal with life as your own “butterfly.”

That means cleaning up after yourself, fighting your own battles and, alltoo-frequently, changing a flat tire.

In the working world, bosses don’t offer study halls or recesses. They don’t accept late assignments and they’re rarely expected to re-teach a lesson. In the real world, there are no hall passes, senior skip days or proms.

Oh, sure, you’ll still find dances and reasons to dress up. But rarely does someone have after-prom parties that promise door prizes and more food than you could imagine eating.

There aren’t yearbooks, either, that chronicle your achievements. The closest you come to that? The annual Christmas letter that sometimes brags more than Mom and Dad ever did.

If you’re lucky enough to have

children, you’ll discover you’re not the center of the universe anymore. Somehow, the child who surprises you every day takes that position. And you’re left to figure out how to make everything work.

In the real world, you can still play sports and be part of a team. But don’t say we didn’t warn you when you ache for three days.

You can stay up as late as you want, buy things you don’t need and eat junk food for every meal. But those habits will catch up with you, too.

Miss a rent or house payment and you could find yourself back on your parents’ couch – if they let you back home.

You can avoid washing clothes but, sooner or later, that stance will cost you.

(Try wearing the same thing three days in a row. You’ll see what we mean.)

A fun sports car could be in your future as well. But first check how much the insurance will be. That could be a harsher lesson than anything Dad tried to deliver.

Vacations are godsends. But when you discover you don’t have enough money to go somewhere fun you may understand why your parents didn’t take you to Disney World every year.

(Take a kid to Disney World, by the way, and see how you react when he throws

a fit. At those prices.)

Life after school can be harsh. But it also has its rewards.

Depending on the career you choose, you may never need to use that algebra you toiled over. You won’t have to remember historic dates (just birthdays of relatives), chemical equations or gerunds.

You will, however, rack your brain to remember how many car lengths you’re supposed to stay behind another vehicle, how to jimmy a recipe when you don’t have the right ingredients and why you should “measure twice, cut once” when doing that big basement remodeling project.

The stuff that sticks isn’t the stuff that’s memorized. It’s the stuff that’s learned – problem-solving, interpersonal communications, losing gracefully.

The next time you’re in a car, waiting for a train to pass, you may be tempted to calculate how long it takes to meet another one going the opposite direction.

Let it go.

That’s the joy of graduation. Now that you’re out of school, you don’t have to do anything.

You just may want to.

Congratulations. The world is yours to conquer.

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