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BY: MATT LACHOWITZER | PHOTO: URBAN TOAD MEDIA
When it comes to recognizing issues with your vehicle, using your senses is a good indicator that something could be wrong. In this article, which is the first in a series of 4, we will talk about how becoming in-tune with your senses (your sense of smell in this article) can help aid in recognizing issues with your vehicle. When there is a burning smell while preparing your food, it’s generally a good indicator something isn’t right correct? The same rule of thumb applies when it comes to your vehicle. Any abnormal smell generally is an indication something isn’t right. Some odors are only apparent when the vehicle is running, others when it’s hot, and others when its sitting, so here are a few examples of what you may be smelling and what systems of your vehicle they may be coming from. Hot Burning Oil: A scent that is somewhat thick, heavy, and sometimes accompanied by smoke coming out from under the hood or the exhaust, is usually an oil leaking or burning issue.
Gym Socks: When turning on your heater/air conditioning and you get a whiff of your high school gym locker, that is a good indication that you have good old mildew growing inside of your A/C evaporator and possibly a plugged cabin air filter.
Maple Syrup: A sweet odor that’s usually accompanied by steam from under the hood of the vehicle Rotten Eggs: Sulfur or rotten egg smell that’s continucould be a coolant or Antifreeze leak. ous could be a sign of emission failure.
Burnt Toast: A light, somewhat pungent odor, could Burnt Paper: A smell that resembles that of burning be an indicator of an electrical short. the Sunday paper could be an overheated clutch. 2
Metal: A metallic odor that is hot usually accompanied by a sweet odor of antifreeze or coolant could be a symptom of your vehicle overheating. Burnt Carpet: A smell that will typically omit from the wheel area of your vehicle after the brake pads have been overheated. A Gas Station: This is typically raw gasoline. Any fuel smells will usually indicate there is a leak in the fuel system Hell: This is the smell of sulfur (formally called brimstone) and usually indicates gear lube leaking from the manual transmission, transfer case, or differential housing; or that one of those components has overheated. Burning Rubber: This is typically a smell emitted from the engine compartment and indicates an issue with the drive belts of the vehicle. Exhaust: This can be the result of oil burning in the engine compartment or a faulty exhaust pipe that is allowing exhaust gas to enter the cab of the vehicle. ALWAYS consult with a professional at the Automotive Service Center of your choosing when it comes to any issues that you smell, especially since it could be an issue bigger than expected. Also, when talking with your automotive professional, make sure to talk about the particular scent being smelled along with any other relevant information to make the diagnostic process easier. Just remember, smells are important in detecting issues, just like when food is being prepared. If you can smell any of the odors listed above, be sure to have your vehicle looked at by a professional service center. Thank you for reading and stay tuned for Part 2 of Recognizing Vehicle Issues Using Your Senses. â–
VOLUME 3 • ISSUE 3
NOV•DEC 2015
IN EVERY ISSUE
02 CAR CARE
RECOGNIZING VEHICLE ISSUES USING YOUR SENSES - PART 1
12 FATHERS
REMEMBERING MILITARY FAMILIES DURING THE HOLIDAYS
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08
HAVING A BEER WITH ...
ROBBIE DANIELS AND DAVE JACOBS
34 LOCAL HEROES
SWAT NEGOTIATIONS UNIT: HOW UTILIZING BASIC SKILLS RESOLVES CRISIS SITUATIONS
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02 ON THE COVER
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MAKING A WINNING TRADITION AN INTERVIEW WITH FARGO FORCE HEAD COACH CARY EADES
PUBLISHED BY • Urban Toad Media LLP www.urbantoadmedia.com The Good Life Men’s Magazine is distributed six times a year by Urban Toad Media LLP. Material may not be reproduced without permission. The Good Life Men’s Magazine accepts no liability for reader dissatisfaction arising from content in this publication. The opinions expressed, or advice given, are the views of individual writers or advertisers and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of The Good Life Men’s Magazine.
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CONTENTS
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CONTRIBUTORS
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CLASSES IN THE CLOUDS
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THE TROUBLING TASTES OF TRADITION
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MUSIC TO HIS EARS
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HELP FOR THE HOLIDAYS
MEET THIS ISSUES CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
AN AFTERNOON AT THE FARGO JET CENTER
REMEMBERING HORRID HOLIDAY MEMORIES OF MEALS PAST
THE WURLITZER MAN ON FALLING IN LOVE WITH THE ORGAN
DEALING WITH LOSS DURING THE HAPPIEST TIME OF THE YEAR
OWNER | CREATIVE DIRECTOR • Dawn Siewert • dawn@urbantoadmedia.com OWNER | PHOTOGRAPHY • Darren Losee • darren@urbantoadmedia.com ADVERTISING INQUIRIES dawn@urbantoadmedia.com • 701-388-4506 darren@urbantoadmedia.com • 701-261-9139 michelle@urbantoadmedia.com • 701-361-1760 READ AN ISSUE ONLINE: issuu.com/thegoodlifemensmag
FOLLOW URBAN TOAD MEDIA ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK5
They take their work seriously! Jessica Ballou is a proofreader by day, freelance writer and blogger at www.beyoutiful-beauty.com by night. She also works part time at a beauty store where she gets paid to gush about lipstick and eye shadow. She has a very sarcastic sense of humor and frequently quotes TV shows and movies. She graduated from Concordia College in 2012 with a bachelor's in print journalism. She lives in Fargo with her boyfriend and adorable black lab/dachshund mix named Bella.
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Danielle Teigen is a word nerd. She considers it a hazard of the trade — she’s a professional communicator with a background in journalism, marketing, and public relations. Editing is one of her favorite activities, as is writing. Read her work at danielleteigen. areavoices.com. When she isn’t writing, Danielle enjoys running, watching movies, and spending time with her husband and twoyear-old son. Both provide plenty of humor in her life and her writing. Follow her on Twitter at @danielleteigen.
Matt Lachowitzer is the Owner and Founder of Matt’s Automotive Service Center, located in Fargo at 3007 Main Avenue and in Moorhead at 1234 1st Avenue North. He is an ASE Certified Master Technician with over 20 years of proven experience. Matt was recently awarded Entrepreneur of the Year by the Fargo/Moorhead/West Fargo Chamber of Commerce and Matt’s Automotive was recently named The best place to have your vehicle serviced and repaired by the Fargo Forums “Best of the Red River Valley”. Matt and his wife, Char, along with their three children, Kalin, Ryker, and Krimsyn, reside in rural North Dakota where they enjoy being outdoors and living in the country. Visit www. mattsautoservicecenter.com.
Paul Hankel has lived in Fargo his entire life. He tried moving away, but came right back! A selfdiagnosed workaholic, Paul loves anything having to do with marketing, promoting and bringing attention to the Fargo-Moorhead area. He writes for several local and regional publications and is also a full time marketing consultant. According to Paul, the lifestyle, the people, and the opportunities that lie within our city and our region are almost overwhelming! When he’s not working, Paul loves spending time with his family, working on their new house, and going out for beers with Darren and Dawn! Meghan Feir On a stormy Wednesday morning many moons ago, Feir (pronounced “fear�) was born, so according to Mother Goose, she has issues. She prefers decaffeinated coffee and long walks on the beach (as opposed to caffeinated short ones). An old soul paired with the enthusiasm of a 5-year-old child, Feir loves Jesus, words, music, classic movies, the Oxford comma, and real flannel. According to her, she lives in the North, not the Midwest. Visit her blog at meghanfeir.wordpress.com.
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BY: PAUL HANKEL | PHOTOS: URBAN TOAD MEDIA
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A glimpse into the day to day life of a flight instructor, when your office is located at 10,000 feet! o begin this assignment, this writer sat down and made a list of any and all jobs that could possibly be more fun and interesting than being a flight instructor. I can up with the following: professional golfer, professional video game player, professional poker player, and being the food and wine, or nightlife writer for any magazine. The first three would be awesome. However, they require a lot of luck, practice and talent to achieve. There’s also a limited window in which to do the job, as skill sets deteriorate. The last one, while fun and exciting, would make you tired, disillusioned due to too much of a good thing, and would wreak havoc on your waistline. Pretty much every male walking this planet has dreamed of
being a pilot, whether it be flying fighter jets or flying gigantic Boeing airplanes across the country and world. The thrill of flying thousands of feet in the air at hyper fast speeds, seeing new parts of the country and world, and the prestigious status one has as a pilot are enough to make being a pilot attractive to anyone. What a lot of people forget about is that someone has to teach those, ‘flyboys,’ how to fly! That’s where Mike Paulson and Steve Schlangen of the Fargo Jet Center come in to play. Both former military members, with a passion for aviation, Paulson and Schlangen both flew commercially and privately, before becoming flight instructors at Fargo Jet Center. For years now, they have been teaching people how to fly, in order to get their private aviation and other types of flight licenses.
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• • • • • • • •
Mike Paulson Flight School Manager, Fargo Jet Center From Fargo, North Dakota Gained interest in flying from playing with model planes as a child Started flying in 1973, while still in high school Earned his Private Pilot License and joined Air Force ROTC Was a flight navigator in the Air Force Left the Air Force and flew freight, life flights In 1989 took over managing Valley Aviation, now Fargo Jet Center, in Fargo
Steve Schlangen Assistant Chief Flight Instructor, Fargo Jet Center From La Crosse, Wisconsin Gained interest in flying from exploring the technical challenge of flying Graduated from the University of Minnesota with an Aerospace Engineering degree in 1982 Employed by the Navy as a Civilian Contractor in 1982 Received his Private Pilot License in 1983 from a Navy flying club Worked in Naval Engineering Left the Navy and moved to Reno, Nevada to pursue advanced flight training • Moved to Fargo in 1996 and flew corporate flights • Joined the Fargo Jet Center as an instructor in 2012 • • • • • • • • •
Paulsen and Schlangen’s histories and reasons for teaching are varied, however their reasons stem from a love for flying and a passion for helping others learn the art. “I really enjoy the variety,” said Paulsen, “We train people in the areas of private aviation all the way up to commercial aviation. Every day is different. We may have up to five or six different training flights per day, of varying types.” For Schlangen, it was the love of flight that he sees in his students, “I’ve never been in a sector of work where students are so passionate about what they’re doing. People (here) are motivated, and its people that share the same passion for flying as I do.” What a lot of people don’t realize is that almost anyone can be a privately licensed pilot. While there are some physical limitations, most anyone with the time, resources, and desire to fly can become commercially licensed.
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Fargo Jet Center Flight School: What you need to know • There is no FAA minimum age limit to begin flying lessons; however you must be 16 years old to fly solo, and 17 years old to be certified as a pilot. • Fargo Jet Center has had students as young as 12 years old! • Flight school consists of classroom time, web-based and in-plane education • Flight school is flexible. Students learn and advance at their pace. • Students could graduate in as soon as 2-3 months, or take several years • Students are trained in airplanes as well as flight simulators • You don’t have to own a plane to be a pilot. Fargo Jet Center and other centers rent out planes, such as the Cessna 172, for hourly wet fees (fuel included) • While rather expensive to get, your private aviation license is life-long, as long as you keep it up to date
Cessna 172 Skyhawk 4-seater Very popular as a training aircraft because of its easiness to fly and durability Can fly up to 14,000 feet Ideal cruising altitude is 4,000 - 9,000 feet Top speed of 188 mph
Life in the clouds is always a good time, according to Paulson and Schlangen, especially when it’s what you do for a living. They’ve been instructing for years and show no signs of stopping.
When asked what living the good life meant to them, they looked at each other, smiled and said, “This!” Turning a childhood interest into a lifelong career of helping people make their dreams come true…not a bad way to make a paycheck.
Need something to do for an anniversary or date night? Interested in taking flying lessons, but want to try it out first? Call Mike and Steve at the Fargo Jet Center and they’ll take you on a Discovery Flight. For $149.00, they’ll give you a tour of their flight facility, take you and one guest up on a flight, and show you what Fargo-Moorhead and the surrounding areas look like from a few thousand feet up! ■
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FATHERS
Remembering Military Families During the Holidays
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uring the holiday season, many of us turn our attention to those in need. One group that endures great hardship, but is often overlooked, is the military family. Most of us do not stop to think about the responsibilities and pain these families bear – especially around the holidays. Throughout the year, they sacrifice time spent with their spouse or parent during deployments, they sacrifice friendships and a stable home life each time they move across country, and they sacrifice peace of mind because they love someone in a dangerous occupation. These stresses are only magnified from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day. And even though military deployment is necessary to help keep peace around the world, for military families it means long separations, emotional distress and lifestyle adjustments. While ordinary working parents may say goodbye to their children for the next eight hours, parents leaving for deployment say goodbye for the next six months. Imagine missing the birth of your child; fearing your infant will forget who your are; or feeling guilt over knowing your spouse is struggling alone, while at the same time worrying that your family will do a little too well without you. The family left at home doesn’t have it much easier. Military spouses 13
FATHERS suddenly find themselves in the role of single parent – taking on the roles of mother, father, accountant, mechanic, home repair expert and full-time chauffeur of the family - often in cities where they have no family to call upon for support.
way that military families sacrifice is the emotional toll from worrying over the safety of their loved one and the stress of this lifestyle. But even with these powerful emotions present, they try to keep the holiday mood festive even though part of their family is away.
Deployment during the holidays means that the military dependents commemorate Christmas dinner and ring in the New Year as an incomplete unit, while the deployed member spends the day without family in a foreign, or even hostile country. Imagine how heartbreaking it must be for a parent consoling a child who doesn’t understand why Mommy or Daddy can’t be home with them to enjoy the Thanksgiving turkey, open presents on Christmas or watch the fireworks on New Year’s Eve.
So, as you consider helping those in need this holiday season or throughout the year, recognize the many sacrifices military families make. If you know a military family with a deployed spouse, consider making them a part of your family over the holidays. Invite them over for Thanksgiving dinner, offer to take a family holiday portrait to send to the deployed family member, or give them long distance phone cards to help them keep in touch. However you may choose to help a military family, consider it a gesture of thanks for the sacrifices they have made to help preserve our freedom. By serving their families, you are honoring those who serve our country. ■
Military families are also called upon to move often – relinquishing a stable home life, leaving behind friends, and the negative impact of this transient lifestyle can hit the hardest during the holidays. This is a season meant to be celebrated with loved ones, but what about the military family who just moved to a new town and can’t afford to travel to visit family or friends? Another 14
Copyright 2015 Family First. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted with permission.
GIFT IDEAS This holiday season Urban Toad Media LLP and The Good Life Men’s Magazine would like to thank all the members of our military and their families. Thank you for your sacrifice and your dedication. Please remember these brave men and woman who give so much every day. Don’t forget to add them to your holiday shopping list. Please consider a gift to one of the many charities that support our military members and their families. One less gift under your tree could make the world of difference to someone else.
Wounded Warrior Project www.woundedwarriorproject.org
Fisher House www.fisherhouse.org
Folds of Honor www.foldsofhonor.org
Soldier’s Angels www.soldiersangels.org
Veteran Tickets www.vettix.org
Operation Homefront www.operationhomefront.net Don't forget the service dogs! The United States War Dogs Association www.uswardogs.org
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Good Life: If Batman and Superman were in high school together, what sports would they each have been in? Robbie: Superman would obviously be in track because he’s fast. Is speech a sport? That’s what Batman would do. Good Life: In what order would these three things be in the food chain? 1. A cob of corn 2. A bison 3. A dragon Dave: A dragon’s on top of the food chain. He’s going to eat the bison, and the bison eats the corn, which in turn fertilizes the earth. Robbie: I’m with Dave. Dave: Are you from MSUM, by the way? Good Life: Moving on…
Bribed with beer, Robbie
Daniels and Dave Jacobs, two radio personalities for 107.9 The Fox, bravely stepped up to the table, had a seat and answered odd questions at Drekker Brewing Company. The coworkers have been on the air together for 20 years, resulting in a friendship that constantly plays off each other. They may be on the air every morning dishing out their two cents, but there are plenty of tidbits you don’t know about them. Read on, you curious cats.
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GL: If you could make up a law for Fargo-Moorhead, what would it be? R: We tend to not get too deep into the issues. We’re kind of in the fluff of the issues. D: We mock the issues more than try to solve them, that way we feel like we’re helping. R: I think I’d like to see the cities of Fargo and Moorhead working together a little more than they do, just ‘cause they both have so much to offer. It’s fun to see that Fargo is getting to be such a young, progressive town. D: It’s becoming more and more diverse in a positive way. GL: What are your thoughts on man buns? I’m not talking about man butts. R: I don’t mind them. D: I’m not here to judge. R: It’s a trend. It’s a style. It looks good on some guys. D: Some dudes are into wearing ‘em. If he can’t pull it off, then he won’t have any friends, and that’s sad.
GL: Did either of you fall asleep while watching any of the three installments of “The Hobbit” adaptations in the theater? D: Yes, but I still enjoyed them. R: The first one, I couldn’t get past the dinner scene because it seemed too – D: Stupid? R: Too game-like, and I love “The Hobbit.” D: I do too, but I’m so familiar with “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings,” so I can fall asleep and know what’s going on, anyway. GL: Did you ever have an imaginary friend or animal? R: I did not. D: I did. In fact, it’s a weird story. I remember living in southern Alabama and we had swamps behind our house. My imaginary friend was a pirate and he brought me back out into the swamp. They always talk about “when they lost Davey,” and there were gators out there. To this day, I remember following him out, so I don’t know if he was some sort of ghost pirate or – I don’t know. We didn’t even find any treasure or anything.
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GL: What’s the weirdest quirk about the other person? R: You first. D: She has chip clips in her hair in the morning. R: They’re not chip clips. D: Yes, they are. It says Frito-Lay on one of them. R: No, it does not. I have a poof problem, so I need to use clippies to have it go where I want it to go… We’ve been together for a long time. He’s approaching 50 and I’m over 50, so we notice those quirky things. Like, Dave, how many times did I have to tell you where Drekker’s was, and I finally said, “C’mere, gimme your hand. I’ll lead you there.” I think the beauty of working together as long as we have is we know our strengths and weaknesses, you know, like, I can’t pronounce words, so Dave’ll do it for me.
GL: What is something you wish everyone knew? D: How to be polite. Manners. People have forgotten their manners. Now I’m going to add my new law. You’re going to get a ticket if you forget your manners. R: People are so rude. You don’t know what people are going through. D: Everybody’s got their fights. There’s nothing wrong with being polite. R: Be nice.
GL: What does “the good life” mean to you? D: To me, the good life is to keep things simple. You make more money, you spend more money. How much do you really need? All you need is a pint a day, and that’s of whatever gets you through the GL: What’s the strangest thing that’s ever happened day. I’m not saying to be an alcoholic. What I mean is, keep your life simple. on your radio show? R: Well, we had a stalker once, way back in the day. He R: You know, the good life for me is simple, too. I’m was just an oddball who would call us and tell us the blessed with family, I’m blessed with children, and I’m blessed with great co-workers. I really am. I have radio was in his head. D: I told him, “Don’t worry, we’re switching to digital, the good life. ■ so that won’t happen anymore.” He believed it. R: We haven’t seen him for years.
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“It all starts with effort and work ethic. We want our players focused, and to bring their lunch buckets and work boots to work every day.” — Cary Eades, Head Coach, Fargo Force
Coach Cary Eades brings a tradition of excellence and winning with him, as he takes over as head coach of the Fargo Force. 20
MAKING A WINNING TRADITION
An Interview With Fargo Force Head Coach Cary Eades BY: PAUL HANKEL | PHOTOS: URBAN TOAD MEDIA
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n an off the ice, Fargo Force head coach Cary Eades has had a remarkable career. Following his successes on the ice, he began coaching some thirty years ago. Following a successful tenure as head coach of the Sioux Falls Stampede, Eades was named head coach of the Fargo Force. He takes over a squad that, despite two down season, is hungry to return to the top of their league. The Good Life met up with Eades at the arena to chat about his hockey career, his life and his plans for the Force this season. THE GOOD LIFE: You were born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia. Canada is often seen as one of hockey’s Mecca’s. What made you want to leave one of the most dominant hockey countries to play and coach in the United States. CARY EADES: I grew up in the Vancouver, British Columbia area. I played my youth and junior hockey there. Then, I got a college scholarship and that brought me to this country and area of the country for the first time, and I really loved it here. I love
the upper Midwest, and the people and the values that are here. It’s nice to be back in an area that I’ve spent 19 years of my adult life in!
High School, where his teams won three Class 1A championships. He also coached the Dubuque Fighting Saints, out of South Dakota, and led them to a championship in 1991.
GL: Before you began coaching, you played college and professionally, correct? CE: Yes, I played my junior hockey in British Columbia and got a scholarship to play at the University of North Dakota. Eades was a standout Forward at The University of North Dakota. His teams won the 1980 and 1982 WCHA Championships. Following a stellar college career, Eades earned the opportunity to play professionally. However, an injury forced Eades to retire early and shift his attention from being a player to coaching. He returned to the University of North Dakota, where he spent a total of 15 years as an assistant coach, from 1984 to 1991, and again from 2004 to 2012. While there, Eades has the honor of coaching under such UND head coaching greats as Gino Gasparini, Dean Blais, and Dave Hakstol. In between his two stints at UND, Eades was the head coach at Warroad 21
Eades left the University of North Dakota and took over as head coach of the Sioux Falls Stampede. While there, Eades team made the USHL Playoffs all three years, winning the USHL Cup in his last season. CE: I came back to UND after playing professionally for a few years. I learned a lot from those guys, I’ve been really lucky. I’m now in my 32nd or 33rd year of coaching, and it’s been a great profession, with not too many stops along the way. I coached in Dubuque, Iowa, Warroad, Minnesota, back to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and now here. GL: You’re coming from Sioux Falls, where you had a lot of success. What are some of the challenges the Force will face this year? CE: There are always challenges in coaching, especially when you’re transitioning into a new situation. There are a lot of unknowns. Players have to get to know me and get used to my coaching style, my nuances, my pet peeves, and what makes me happy. Early on in his coaching career, Eades was referred to as the, ‘Latin American dictator,’ by some of his colleagues. While he says his style of coaching has softened since then, Eades still demands certain things from his players: a winning attitude, hard and work and focus every day. He’s also a stickler for punctuality, meaning that if a team meeting starts at 11:00am, you’re there at 10:59:59. CE: It all starts with effort and work ethic. We want our players focused, and to bring their lunch buckets and work boots to work every day. The USHL is a tough league, and the season is more of a marathon than a sprint, and that takes adjusting to. Nowadays, I’m a little bit less of a dictator and take a more democratic approach. Player input, especially with today’s generation is crucial. They ask why, and I think, if you take 22
“I don’t think there’s anyone out there who puts more pressure on themselves to win than I do.” — Cary Eades
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the time to explain why, they’ll respond better. GL: As with most sports teams in Fargo, the Fargo Force has quite the fan base, and all the games are well attended. How will you handle the pressure to win and a fan base that is hungry for a championship? CE: Well, there’s pressure with every job. I don’t think there’s anyone out there who puts more pressure on themselves to win than I do. I’m not a good loser, and people will come to learn that about me! I have high expectations for being successful and a real inner drive and a hunger for that. All you can do is control the things that
you can control. It all comes back to work ethic and being ready to give it your best. Eades says it all starts with a winning attitude among his players and coaching staff, and building a foundation of success. He also said that the first few weeks are very important, in order to set the tone with his team. Winning is contagious, and Eades hopes that his plans to build a winning culture with his Force team come to fruition as soon as possible. GL: How do you feel about playing against your old team, the Sioux Falls Stampede? Will there be a renewed rivalry?
CE: Well my first year coaching in Sioux Falls, we met Fargo (Force) in the first round of the playoffs and they beat us, but it was a fantastic series. Since we’re the two most northern teams, there’s a natural rivalry there. But in all reality, it’s really no more important that any of the other teams we will be playing. GL: What do you remember about the Miracle on Ice? CE: I was in college at the time. Those players were from my era. That win over Russia, and the momentum that it created, really carried through as far as opportunities for players. Then, of course, the growth of the sport spiked. It was a great story. The Russians, at
“The good life is enjoying each day and enjoying where you’re at. We try to teach our players to enjoy the journey. You can’t get too caught up in looking down the road. It is important to plan for your future, but a lot of great things happen right here and right now.” — Cary Eades 24
that time, were seen as, ‘the evil empire,’ and for anyone to beat them at hockey, was a story. But the long-lasting impact was felt for a long time, and still is today. It’s still one of the greatest sporting events to ever take place. GL: What’s your favorite thing about this area? CE: It’s a sports hungry area, and also a great place to raise a family. There are also lots of recreational activities. I like fishing, golf and the lakes areas. When he’s not coaching hockey, Eades enjoys golfing and fishing and enjoys all types of music. CE: I like to golf and fish, and really enjoy the lakes area. I’m also a huge fan of music. I love concerts and would consider myself a We Fest devotee! I really have a lot of respect for people in the music business and how talented they are. GL: If you hadn’t become a hockey coach, what profession would you be in? CE: I would’ve become a teacher. I have a Master’s degree in that. But coaching has been my mission and I enjoying the heck out of it. I’m really looking forward to this new challenge in Fargo. GL: What’s your definition of living the good life? CE: The good life is enjoying each day and enjoying where you’re at. We try to teach our players to enjoy the journey. You can’t get too caught up in looking down the road. It is important to plan for your future, but a lot of great things happen right here and right now. From the looks and sounds of it, Fargo Force fans have a lot to look forward to. With a beautiful arena, filled with fans and a coach with three decades of experience and several championships under his belt, winning is, no doubt, on the horizon. Eades takes over a team that has won in the past, but is in a league where all 8 teams in their conference have made the playoffs within the last three years. Competition will, no doubt, be tough, but Coach Eades and his players will be there, ready to win, when the puck drops. ■ 25
REMEMBERING HORRID HOLIDAY MEMORIES OF MEALS PAST BY: MEGHAN FEIR | PHOTO: URBAN TOAD MEDIA
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ood is a universal bond that brings families, friends and frenemies together, especially surrounding the holidays. We all know this. Unfortunately, not every traditional taste is appetizing.
This can spark wonderment as to how bad food ever became a tradition when these concoctions should never have been given a second chance in your great-great-grandmother’s kitchen. For every “Ho, ho, ho,” you’re just saying “No, no, nooo” whenever a serving is about to be plopped on your plate. Much of my heritage consists of what used to be the stereotypical Minnesota mix – Swedish, Norwegian, German… English, Scottish, Russian, Jewish, French, the rest of Europe, etc. Yes, I am a mutt, but a proud mutt, even if the following foods only taint the public image of my many motherlands.
Fruitcake To be entirely honest, I’m a fruitcake advocate. I like it. Yes, ‘tis true. Granted, we don’t buy the Americanized 1950s version that’s powered by 90 percent citron. Ours is more of what Tiny Tim would’ve savored during those jolly reformedScrooge days. The bad fruitcakes are now usually sold as gag gifts and used for doorstops and oversized paperweights. Store-bought, ageless fruitcakes are to homemade fruitcakes as dollar store, primary colored silk flowers are to real poinsettias kissed with Christmas sparkles. One could be classified as a plastic, while the other is laced in traditions of tastiness and beauty.
Mincemeat Pie Britain is known for a lot of exceptional things, like their accents. Luckily for them, their voices make up for their horrible food. Mincemeat pie is a great example of why firstclass cuisine doesn’t come to mind when you think of the United Kingdom. 26
Now, mincemeat pie has never touched my lips, but the fact that suet is one of the main ingredients tells me enough. Suet, by the way, consists of raw beef or mutton fat, particularly the nastiness surrounding the kidneys and loins. How the land of Shakespeare and Mr. Darcy, decorum and crooked teeth couldn’t produce a better effort in the kitchen, I’ll never be sure.
Vegetable Jell-O Wreath Molds are cool, I suppose, especially if you’re trapped in a ‘70s time warp of culinary failures. I come from a family of stupendous cooks, and this is honestly (besides lutefisk) the only dish I can think of that has made me question their good judgment. Listen to me: Never ever put vegetables in Jell-O, this includes cabbage. I don’t care how neat dark, leafy greens may look suspended in gelatin. If you must put items in your lime Jell-O, throw a Polly Pocket or Legos in there – anything besides cruciferous vegetables. Jell-O shouldn’t resemble the contents of a broken garbage disposal.
Lutefisk Pudding As if lutefisk itself isn’t enough of a wild-caught travesty, there is a pudding version. I can only imagine that this concoction’s inception was a desperate one. Perhaps a gang of hangry raccoons that hadn’t stocked up for winter raided the cook’s pantry, leaving only lutefisk, rice, milk, butter and eggs. Okay, yes, I know. They like eggs, so that makes no sense. I’m just trying to understand. Lutefisk lesson 101: Don’t make an entire side dish glorifying it. Just mask the slime in mashed potatoes, plug your nose and get the obligatory glob down the hatch. It may be a necessary evil in the homes of Scandinavians, but don’t torture yourself more than need be.
Head Cheese Head cheese – even the name sends shivers up my spine. There is something more dire than dairy about this dish, and it's so disturbing, it may permanently place a dark blot on the word "cheese."
Never ever put vegetables in Jell-O, this includes cabbage. I don’t care how neat dark, leafy greens may look suspended in gelatin.
Also known as brawn, head cheese is European in nature and horrendous by trade. Made with flesh from the head of a calf or pig, it's a cold cut that can taint even the brightest of sandwich breads. Head cheese is considered a meat jelly. Just let that sink in a little. Meat. Jelly. Jam that jelly on your toast tomorrow morning. The tongue, feet and heart may also be used, according to the Interwebz. My mother was swift in reminding me that I come from Scandinavian great-grandparents who adored this gelatinous waste. They smacked their lips in anticipation of what they deemed as a delicacy. Nearly all of Europe has historical ties with this dish, so stop judging my great-grandparents, lest I judge yours.
Blood Sausage I'm saving the vilest for last because that's how countdown lists work. Blood sausage is one of the most revolting holiday dishes passed down to us from desperate generations. This is another worldwide, e r r , favorite. It goes by o t h e r names, too, such as blood pudding, black pudding, and, in Deutschland, Blutwurst. My mom stumbled on a recipe for blood sausage and discovered it called for a mere 6 cups of blood. Mmmyeah. I'm going to pass and probably pass out. It's enough to make you go vegan for a week. No matter what your family forces you to eat around the holidays for the sake of tradition, at least it’s torturously endearing. Imagine your great-greatgrandparents looking down on you with a wink, a smile, and a gag. ■ 27
The Wurlitzer Man
on falling in love with the organ BY: JESSICA BALLOU | PHOTOS: URBAN TOAD MEDIA
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“
The organ has such a wonderful sound that when it plays, you can’t help but be inspired. — Lance Johnson
Lance E. Johnson has had a somewhat unique career. As the founder of a family business who also boasts the title of “The WurliTzer Man,” he’s a well-known institution in the FargoMoorhead area. Even though he first set out to be an electrical engineer back in his college days, he found his true calling as an organ builder and organist. Johnson, owner of Johnson Organ Company, and his son, who is the owner of Johnson Organ Services, have now installed and serviced pipe organs in six states and band organs in 20 states.
‘I fell in love with it’ When Johnson was about four years old, he asked his parents if he could sit behind the organist at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Fergus Falls, Minn., so he could better hear her play, and after that they always sat in the front pew. His parents gave him a reed organ for Christmas when he was 15 years old, and later he also gained an interest in pipe organs. In 1954 when he was 16, he founded Johnson Organ Company. In 1958 he bought an old pipe organ from WDAY studios, which had been in storage. In 1963 he sold it to a roller rink in
Moorhead, which is now the location of a Hardee’s, and he played there for 10 years. He graduated from Concordia College in Moorhead as an organ major in 1964. But before he decided on the organ, he studied electric engineering for a few years at North Dakota State University (NDSU). At first he didn’t see a future in being a pipe organ builder or organist, but when the main organ builder and servicer near Fargo died in 1958, Johnson stepped up and worked to make it into a career. 29
“I was thrown into it overnight, and I fell in love with it,” he said. ‘Can’t help but be inspired’ Johnson said he knew about the organ at the Fargo Theatre back when he was in college, but the manager at that time wasn’t a fan of organ music. In 1972 a new person took over. In 1973 Johnson and his organist friends asked if they could play the organ there, which hadn’t been started up since 1948, and the manager said yes. Lance and his organist friends were and are members of the Red 30
River chapter of the American Theatre Organ Society, which was established in 1955. The Red River chapter became chartered in 1965. The mission of the society is to save organs so they don’t get destroyed and the public gets the chance to hear them.
“The organ has such a wonderful sound that when it plays, you can’t help but be inspired,” Johnson added. “It’s a motivating factor and a great way to relax.”
The organ was finally played again in December 1973, and it was used to play a prologue to Walt Disney’s fulllength feature story “Robin Hood.”
The organists now play every Friday, Saturday and Sunday night for about 20 minutes, along with various bigger events throughout the year.
“We were quite surprised by how well the organ was received,” he said. “We just kept this thing going, and now we have four organists.”
Johnson said all the playing done during a movie is improvised and based on the movie’s time period.
‘One of the proudest accomplishments’
“I may draw on themes from the 1920s since most of the movies were from 1920s and earlier, so I’m not playing modern music, like from the ‘30s and ‘40s, so I’m historically accurate,” he said. Johnson said all the playing done during a prologue is from just about everything under the sun from the early 1920s to the 1960s. He said they often play top 40’s songs from those periods, Broadway tunes and songs that have won awards. The organ is about three times the size it was originally, and it sits on a lift that was built for moving equipment
up and down so it can rise to play the prologues for movies and then go back down so people can watch the movies.
anyone can come in for a free show while they enjoy their food. These concerts started in the early 1980s, and they’ve become a very big event for the Fargo Theatre.
It’s the most expensive organ in Fargo-Moorhead, and it would cost between $1 million and $1.5 million to replace. Johnson calls playing the organ at the Fargo Theatre one of the proudest accomplishments of his career.
Every fall the Fargo Theatre presents a Silent Movie Night, and this is the 41st year. Proceeds for each year’s event go towards maintaining and servicing the organ.
One of the biggest uses for the organ involves the Christmas concerts every year. Starting 10 days before Christmas, the organists play for 45 minutes during the lunch hour, and
A couple thousand school-aged children come to the Fargo Theatre each year to learn about both the theatre and the organ, and Johnson said that’s always a big highlight for him. ■ 31
Help for the Holidays
DEALING WITH LOSS DURING THE HAPPIEST TIME OF THE YEAR BY: MEGHAN FEIR
H
olidays, despite the twinkling lights and the aroma of freshly baked pies, can also bring a painful heaviness to the air. Like a looming shadow, memories can seem to haunt you, dampening any joy you once felt during this festive time of year. After losing someone dear to your heart, whether through a breakup, complicated situation, or death, dread and anger can often replace the anticipation once felt for the traditions and memories you shared. Perhaps that someone was a wife. Maybe it was a friend, parent, or even a child. To an extent, I can relate. After losing someone I loved with all my being, 32
thinking about caroling and watching Christmas movies isn't extremely appealing. You want things to go back to happier times, when everything seemed right with the world because they were by your side. No matter what other life circumstances were causing difficulties, lightheartedness could be found in their presence. Unfortunately, we live in a society where it’s typically frowned upon for guys to express their true emotions, and there’s a stigmatization of mental health. It’s not effeminate to feel pain and grieve, thank you very much. It’s a normal human response. Men are also born with emotions, so why shouldn’t you address them in a healthy way?
I won’t pretend there’s a cookie-cutter answer to combat everyone’s grief because there isn’t, but here are some ways to support the healing process. • It can be all too easy to beat yourself up about the pace of your grieving process. Don’t. Everyone heals at different speeds. Show yourself a little grace, and stop penalizing yourself for loving someone so deeply. Yes, there comes a time when you have to make a moment-by-moment effort to promote healing, but give yourself time to feel (something men aren’t always encouraged to do). • There are many facets of strength, and being honest is one of them. Be honest with yourself and others. Be
strong enough to feel what you’re going through. Burying emotions will only hurt more in the long run. It actually takes courage to face what you’re feeling, and reaching out for help is a sign of strength. • If you’re proposing to forgo participating in familial holiday traditions, consider this: When you stop doing something just to avoid heartache, you will often create an unhealthy habit of repression. • Balance your time. Isolation often makes things worse because you dwell on your loss, and constantly being surrounded by people won’t give you a chance to completely unwind. • Don't take your other loved ones for granted. Show them you appreciate their support, and thank them in words and actions. • If you catch yourself laughing and experiencing a genuinely good time, even if for a few moments, guilt may follow the endorphin rush. Refuse to feel guilty for letting a little joy back in your life. In fact, seek after it. • Take care of yourself. Make an effort to eat healthy, whole foods and be physically active. It will help ward off feelings of lethargy, produce endorphins, and support your body’s ability to cope with stress. It’s not so much about physical appearance as it is self-confidence and taking care of your body. • Do the things you love, even if you don’t feel like it. • If your friend was grieving, you would (hopefully) encourage and affirm how loved and valued they are. Show yourself a little love and be your own friend, not your enemy. • Focusing on others is an effective way to clear the foggy lenses of our own experience. Find ways to brighten someone’s day. Give to those in need. Showing others you care and that they’re appreciated not only benefits the recipients but also yourself. It’s really a gift to the giver. • If none of these suggestions help and you still feel stuck, seek help. Talking to a counselor can give you more perspective than talking for a few minutes with friends, especially if your friends just write off your pain with comments like “Just move on” and “Find a new person to make you happy.” Counselors can help you process your sorrow. ■ The advice in this article was approved by a professional mental health practitioner.
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LOCAL HEROES
SWAT Negotiations Unit: How Utilizing Basic Skills Resolves Crisis Situations
P
icture this: Success involves active listening, respectful explanations, and being honest.
Sounds a little like kindergarten, right? Except in the case of the Red River Valley SWAT Negotiations Unit, the classroom is a tense situation involving someone with a potentially deadly weapon and a tactical team prepared to use force if those three skills don’t provide a successful resolution. Fortunately, the SWAT Negotiations Unit has been successful, explained Team Leader Deric Swenson. Much of that success is attributed to the team Swenson works with, a collaborative group of officers and investigators from agencies across the area – Cass and Clay counties, Fargo, Moorhead, 34
and West Fargo police departments. The number of team members from each agency is determined by a formula based on population and financial contributions to the unit, Swenson explained. Swenson joined the negotiations unit 10 years ago, and he said the current team is one of the best he has had the privilege of working with. (Working is a bit of a misnomer because the individuals comprising the unit actually volunteer to be members and thus receive no additional compensation for their efforts.) Each person is tasked with a role that effectively utilizes his or her particular skills, whether those skills involve negotiating, coaching or gathering information. “It’s very rewarding to work with officers from other agencies,” he said.
BY: DANIELLE TEIGEN | PHOTOS: URBAN TOAD MEDIA
DID YOU MISS THE ARTICLE ABOUT THE SWAT TEAM IN THE JANUARY/FEBRUARY ISSUE OF THE GOOD LIFE? YOU CAN READ PREVIOUS ISSUES OF THE MAGAZINE ONLINE AT: HTTP://ISSUU.COM/THEGOODLIFEMENSMAG
When Swenson first joined the unit, he said the team was engaged more than 20 times each year; however, in the past few years, the unit has been deployed on fewer occasions-maybe six times a year. And that’s a good thing, Swenson explained. Officers are receiving better and additional training for how to deal with people in crisis, and the result is not bringing in a team specialized to do just that. Plus, the negotiations unit can always be called and canceled if the situation is resolved, Swenson said.
Joining the Negotiations Unit A wanted ad written for a negotiations unit team member might read: Wanted: A great listener who can effectively control emotions as well as words. A team
player who understands and appreciates the integral role each member plays. The ability to empathize with many different people and connect with them on various levels. Problemsolver extraordinaire with an uncanny ability to provide another person with the tools necessary to extract him or herself from any situation. Ads aren’t necessary, but becoming a member of the unit is difficult, to say the least. Team members are required to have one full year of patrol experience and self-identify as a potential candidate. Next, the person is interviewed by a panel of current negotiators and presented a series of impromptu situations and scenarios to work through.
“Our job is to eliminate the need for the tactical team to be put in a dangerous situation.” – SWAT Negotiations Unit Team Leader, Deric Swenson
West Fargo Patrol Officer and Field Training Officer Trent Stanton joined the unit in May 2007, and he said the process for earning a 35
spot on the team has changed quite a bit in that time. But the rigors of the new process identify which individuals will succeed as negotiators based on their reactions to the situations they are presented with, he said.
Learning How to Negotiate When a team member joins the unit, training becomes critical for success. Stanton explained that one of the biggest challenges as a new member is learning the structure of the team. “It’s easy
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“We do the best we can and give the person the tools needed to get out of a situation ... We’re not dealing with bad people – they are just overwhelmed.” – SWAT Negotiations Unit Team Leader, Deric Swenson
to be intimidated by the tactical guys, but over time you gain good relationships with them,” he described. “The first year is stressful.” Part of the structure to learn involves the three different types of teams involved with the SWAT team: tactical, bomb squad, and negotiations. Together, these teams help people in crisis situations. “Our job is to eliminate the need for the tactical team to be put in a dangerous situation,” Swenson explained.
Negotiations typically occur over the phone, although they sometimes require robotic equipment, intercoms or a PA system, or even texting. The unit is also prepared to negotiate through Skype, FaceTime or even Facebook messaging. Rarely, face-to-face negotiations are required. “The system works,” Swenson asserted. “The treatment of people is the way (the system) needs to work. We do the best we can and give the person the tools needed to get out of a situation…We’re not
dealing with bad people – they are just overwhelmed.” During a negotiation, the unit is all about slowing things down, but they are ever aware of the other teams involved. “We’re sitting in a truck, typically,” Swenson explained. “But the tactical team may be out in the cold or heat or crouched in an uncomfortable situation, so we want to get them to safety by we don’t want to rush things along.” The unit engages in monthly training exercises as well as an annual event.
The annual training event involves one day of presentations with the other days devoted to simulated negotiation situations. Sometimes, the negotiations training can last seven hours or more. “Training keeps Swenson said.
us
polished,”
Debrief sessions and support teams keep team members mentally fit and emotionally prepared to handle the rigors of handling crisis situations.
Applying Skills in Real Life
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The training exercises as well as other officers supply a steady stream of educational opportunities. In fact, one of the biggest benefits of being a member of the negotiations unit is the opportunity to apply the skills in other situations. “You really learn to say the right things and how to be respectful,” Stanton said. “You have to learn to understand what a person is actually saying.” Successfully dealing with crisis situations provides team members with the ability to deal with stressful situations outside of work. Stanton said learning how to gain 38
other people’s trust as well as how to effectively communicate are fringe other benefits.
when called to a situation. Here’s a primer of the different roles that need to be filled:
As a Patrol Lieutenant and Supervisor in the Moorhead Police Department, Swenson uses his negotiation skills when dealing with employees or citizens. “We don’t handle situations with violence,” he explained. “It’s not always the role people expect law enforcement to be in…our team is about not using force.”
Primary: The person talking with the individual in crisis. Being the primary means listening carefully to what the individual is saying and interpreting various pieces of information that could derail or improve the conversation.
Negotiations Unit 101 Every member of the negotiations unit has a specific job to complete
Coach: The team member tasked with listening to the conversation and providing insight to the primary alone. Only communicates with the primary through passed notes or whispered comments.
Scribe: The individual who writes down pertinent information on a white board that can be used during the course of the conversation or for intelligence gathering.
Vocabulary In addition to the roles, the team uses various terms during a situation, such as: Intelligence gathering: Various methods of collecting information that can be used by the primary to bring the situation to a successful resolution. Could involve searching for information online or interviewing neighbors, family or friends who are available. Hooks: Information that helps the primary build report with the individual and gain trust. Barbs: Information that can elevate emotions and potentially derail the conversation. SWAT: Stands for Special Weapons and Tactics. TEMS: Stands for Tactical Emergency Medical Service. The most important rule of being a successful negotiator is never lie, Swenson said. You may have to deal with that lie later, so it’s been to set up the situation for success by being honest and forthright, and never making false promises. Stanton explained that keeping a consistent, soothing tone offers confidence. No matter how high tensions run, controlling emotions is vital. “In the end, we want a successful conclusion no matter what the person did,” Stanton said. “We don’t play games…it’s amazing how the process works.” For the SWAT Negotiations Unit, the good life involves bringing everyone involved in a dangerous situation to complete safety. ■ 39
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