BY: BEN HANSON • MR. FULL-TIME DAD • PHOTO BY: URBAN TOAD MEDIA
Ahh, Thanksgiving. A time when families gather into confined spaces and around overcrowded dining room tables to stuff their faces, give thanks and air their grievances about politics and their employers. It’s dinner and a show, and you don’t even have to tip. Two weeks after the most ridiculous presidential election we might ever see, this Thanksgiving promises to be particularly enjoyable. I’m already thankful for the prodding and mocking that will grow less subtle as the day drags on... and the punch bowl dries up. Aside from the passive-aggressive Midwestern political dinner theater, I’m also thankful for several very specific reasons. As a stay-athome dad, I’ve developed a serious appreciation for things that I either used to take for granted or otherwise completely overlooked. It’s a running total, but here’s the list (as it stands right now): The enduring legacy of stereotypical gender roles. 2 / THE GOOD LIFE / urbantoadmedia.com
I’m no sexist, but I sure am thankful for the slow pace of gender equality when three hours into a five-hour road trip I pull the family station wagon into a rest stop and find that only the women’s restroom is equipped with a baby changing station. It’s a small gift, but as I sit in the blissful silence of the men’s room (while my wife tends to our son), I give thanks for the poopy diaper pardon this unjust world has bestowed upon me. Drop-in daycare at the gym. You wouldn’t know it by looking at me, but I’m in the best shape of my adult life… and I owe it all to being a stayat-home dad with a gym membership. For two hours a day—almost every day—I get to drop Macklin off to play with kids his own age under the care of the best staff I’ve ever dealt with. It’s a beautiful arrangement: Mack cheers when I drop him off, I go admire myself in the mirror while I do some curls, and then I come back to a well-fed, even more cheerful kid. Thank you gym. Don’t ever leave me. Brilliant bibs. One of my daily goals is to keep Macklin in the same outfit throughout the entire day. It’s not as easy as it sounds, considering his lack of fine motor skills and his relentless need to eat. Nonetheless, I’m successful most days thanks to… and I can’t believe I’m saying this… IKEA. It may be my least favorite place in the world—seriously,
it’s a human ant farm—but, damn if those Swedes don’t know they’re way around a bib. All the way around. To give you a visual, imagine putting on a rain jacket backwards. With one of these full-sleeve, straight-jacket-esque IKEA bibs, you could wear your (or your wife’s) wedding dress, eat a pile of runny spaghetti with your bare hands and walk away spotless. Liquid ibuprofen. Drugs are bad, kids. But drugs for kids are great. When Mack’s gums are getting shredded by two blunt molars and a prison shank-worthy incisor (all at once), I can’t leap off my “Down with Big Pharma” soapbox fast enough. And if you think that makes me a bad parent, come over and let me stab you in the mouth with a handful of toothpicks while you try to take a nap, then we’ll talk… if you can. The family zoo membership. Economically speaking, our family membership to the zoo has been the best $65 we’ve ever spent. It’s a built-in outing whenever we want (or need) it. There’s food, animals, a playground and sunshine. Plus, that single membership has gotten us into other zoos and aquariums around the country for free, and free anything is my favorite. Restaurants. All of them. Family dinners that require no cleanup... enough said.
Three-hour naps. Unfortunately, Mack’s epic three-hour naps are becoming a thing of the past, but they were great while they lasted. Not only would he wake up refreshed and singing to himself in his crib, I’d get a ton of work done while he snoozed… usually with enough time for a quick nap of my own. (Yes, you should be jealous.) Never having to set an alarm clock. The worst part about having a regular job is being a slave to the alarm clock and other people’s arbitrary schedules. True, Mack’s schedule can go from predictable to bonkers without explanation, but he’s a baby. It makes sense for him to act childish. It makes no sense, however, for an adult to throw a fit and demand a team meeting at 4 p.m. on a Friday. As a stay-at-home dad with an above-average happy child, I’m incredibly thankful for the ability to take each day as it comes without worry of deadlines or alarms… and I’ve got the blood pressure to prove it. Bathtime resets. Bathtime gets a bum rap for reasons I don’t understand. Macklin loves them, and they’ve proven to be a reliable reset button whenever we’ve mistakenly hopped onto the struggle bus and missed our stop. Just the sound of the tub filling up is enough to turn his cries into giggles. Buckles. Hear this: buckles save lives. I had no idea. Buckles on car seats, strollers, high chairs, booster seats and changing tables save lives every day in this country. My home is brain injury free thanks to buckles. They’re the last line of defense against a baby case of CTE. I mean, I can’t be expected to watch him all the time, right? That reminds me… I’m also thankful for low expectations. Happy Thanksgiving! • urbantoadmedia.com / THE GOOD LIFE / 3
The
GOOD LIFE MEN’S MAGAZINE
PUBLISHED BY Urban Toad Media LLP www.urbantoadmedia.com
OWNER / GRAPHIC DESIGNER Dawn Siewert dawn@urbantoadmedia.com OWNER / PHOTOGRAPHER Darren Losee darren@urbantoadmedia.com
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Jessica Ballou Meghan Feir Alexandra Floersch Ben Hanson Krissy Ness
ADVERTISING INQUIRIES Darren Losee / 701-261-9139 darren@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. 4 / THE GOOD LIFE / urbantoadmedia.com
Contents 18
02 06 10
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26 30
VOLUME 4 • ISSUE 3 NOV-DEC 2016
ON THE COVER CHRISTOPHER ZIMMERMAN MOVING TO THE MUSIC FM Symphony
MR. FULL-TIME DAD 10 Things This Stay-at-Home Dad is Thankful For BUILDING A BRIGHTER FUTURE Non-Profit Helps Troops Get New Homes HAVING A BEER WITH ... Dom Izzo - WDAY Sports Director CHASING STORMS Ryan Mauk - Storm Chaser HOW TO DRIVE A ZAMBONI In Six Easy Steps LOCAL HEROES COMMUNITY TRUST OFFICERS LIGHT IN A DARK TIME COMMUNITY TRUST OFFICERS Go Beyond the Badge
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6 / THE GOOD LIFE / urbantoadmedia.com BY: JESSICA BALLOU â– PHOTOS BY: URBAN TOAD MEDIA
Homes for our Troops (HFOT) is a non-profit that helps build mortgage free, specially adapted homes nationwide for severely injured veterans post-9/11 to help them rebuild their lives. HFOT provides pre and post home delivery, financial planning, household budgeting, home ownership education and a fullyear warranty coverage to ensure the veteran is set up for long-term success as a homeowner. Since
HFOT’s founding in 2004, nearly 90 cents out of every dollar donated to HFOT has gone directly to the program services supporting veterans.
with more than 40 major special adaptations to give the veteran full access, including wider halls and doorways, automatic door openers, pull-down shelving and much more.
HFOT assists the most severely injured service members of all branches of the military who were injured in the Iraq-Afghanistan war since Sept. 11, 2001. HFOT builds four-bedroom, two-bath, specially adapted energy-efficient homes of approximately 2,650 square feet
HFOT aims to build the highest quality homes using top quality products that endure the test of time from brands like Kohler, Whirlpool, etc. All homes are built to Energy Star standards to maximize efficiency and lower utility expense, and they look for builders with a
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track record of high quality workmanship to reduce maintenance and expense to the veterans. The nationwide average cost for HFOT to build one specially adapted home is $430,000. These homes can help veterans launch a new career or business, start and/ or grow families, maintain lifelong physical and mental wellness, complete education, and recover and rest in a safe, accessible home.
“Myself and my family are so blessed and lucky.” – Master Sergeant Eric Marts
The 18-24 month timeline for these projects involves about six to seven months for construction. The rest of that time is spent on land search and permitting. Veterans do not pay a fee toward the cost of the home, and there is no mortgage to be paid in the future. The veteran decides where he or she would like to live, considering proximity
education. Since 2010, more than 90 babies have been born to parents in HFOT homes with more than 15 due as of February of this year.
to family and medical centers, school systems, jobs and more. The HFOT land team locates and provides lots to the veteran, who makes the final selection. A veteran must be approved for the Specially Adapted Housing (SAH) benefits by the Veterans Administration. Benefits are awarded to veterans with severe physical injuries, including one or more amputations, full or partial paralysis or severe traumatic brain injury. HFOT requires the veteran to participate in a financial planning program with a pro bono financial planner for three years. They also provide the veteran with information on property tax exemptions for which he or she may qualify. Sixty-six percent of HFOT home recipients have at least one child. Seventy-two percent say living mortgage free has allowed them to start or expand a family, and 50 percent say it allows them to save for their children’s 8 / THE GOOD LIFE / urbantoadmedia.com
As of May 27 of this year, HFOT has built 213 specially adapted homes in 41 states nationwide. There are currently more than 70 veterans on the active project list. For the fifth consecutive year, HFOT has been awarded a 4-star rating for sound fiscal management and commitment to accountability and transparency by Charity Navigator, America’s premier charity evaluator. HFOT hosts many fundraisers throughout the year, including silent auctions, conferences, golf tournaments, sporting events, races and much more. HFOT is privately funded. Almost 70 percent of the operational budget is generated by private and family foundations, individual donors and community fundraisers nationwide. As a non-profit, all contributions are tax deductible. To make a donation or for more information, visit www.hfotusa.org. Master Sergeant Eric Marts hosts a radio show for AM 970 WDAY called Heroes of the Heartland. When doing research on issues troops were facing, he saw Homes for
ERIC MARTS
Our Troops. He started looking into the organization, and he filled out an application. After going through a background check and other vetting processes, he was approved to be a part of the program, and construction is now underway for his new Moorhead home. “Myself and my family are so blessed and lucky,” he said. Since HFOT chooses a certain number of projects to work on each year, Marts said he feels so blessed to be chosen, saying it felt like winning the lottery. He’s most looking forward to more space and “having something that is our own with no wheels underneath it,” he said, as well as “the independence and the freedom it’ll offer me and the space to have our kids and grandkids to be over.” “I’m so lucky to be involved with Homes for our Troops,” he added. “They really are a great organization with loving, caring people.” • urbantoadmedia.com / THE GOOD LIFE / 9
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BY: MEGHAN FEIR â– PHOTOS BY: URBAN TOAD MEDIA
Dom Izzo isn’t from around here, but we’re certainly glad he’s a Fargoan now. The WDAY News sports director is an adventurous transplant from Oswego in western New York State, another city in which the temps drop and the snow piles up. He was willing to go wherever his career dared him to travel, and for 10 years, he’s let the Fargo-Moorhead area know all the highlights on high school, college and Minnesota Vikings updates. The New Yorker is half Italian and a full-blooded sports lover, and we were able to enjoy a glass of water at Drekker Brewing Co. in downtown Fargo, though that’s not what they’re typically known for around town. Good Life: What’s one thing about yourself that you think people would be really surprised by? Dom Izzo: I drive with two feet. GL: Like, you steer the wheel with them? DI: I have my left foot for the break and my right for the gas, and I drive like a grandpa, which drives my fiancé nuts. GL: What does being a sports director require of you? DI: It’s not for everybody, this
profession. It’s not like we’re curing cancer or sending people to the moon, but there are a lot of sacrifices. It’s weekends. It’s holidays. It’s nights. I’m on call almost all the time. As soon as I get up every day, I’m checking and reading stories to make sure I’m on top of everything. It’s not a 9-5 gig. There’s a lot of grind and grit that goes into the three or four minutes I’m on each night. I do my own makeup. I write my own scripts. I shoot and edit my own video. And I’m glad I do. It keeps me in touch with all my skills and sharpens them. GL: If you could play any sport with a historical figure from the past, which sport would you choose, and with whom would you want to play? DI: Baseball because I grew up playing. It was my favorite sport, even though I wasn’t very good at it. And probably Lou Gehrig. He was such an unbelievable baseball player, but he was an unbelievable guy, too. He was totally overshadowed by Babe Ruth. Babe Ruth was setting every kind of record, and every newspaper guy wanted to follow what he was doing. Lou Gehrig is only known for two things: the number of games he played in a row and his death. I’m not
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a go-out-and-party kind of guy, and neither was he. He worked hard.
compared to anything back in upstate New York.
GL: What is one prank you can recall pulling on your younger sister? DI: My favorite team in the whole wide world is the New York Mets. I bleed blue and orange. They’ve been my favorite since I was 5 years old. I don’t know why I remember this, but we were at my grandmother’s, and there was a taped broadcast of a Mets game on television from the previous day, which I had already seen. So I told my sister, “I bet you $5 the guy up hits a home run,” knowing full well he would. So, of course, the guy hit a home run, and I was like, “Hey, you gotta pay up!”
GL: What are some habits or traits you acquired from your Italian side? DI: I think their flare for loudness. We talk with our hands. That’s the Italian way. I definitely do that, and I definitely have the loudness. They’re very outspoken people, and I love and hate it about my family. There’s no filter, but that’s a good thing. We wear our emotions on our sleeves, and I’m certainly like that. I have no poker face whatsoever. Could it help me in certain situations? Absolutely. But I wouldn’t change who I am.
GL: What is your heritage? DI: My mom is kind of convoluted. I think she’s German, for the most part. My dad’s side is completely Italian, which is fabulous when I go home. The eats when I get to go home… That’s no slight to the Italian joints in Fargo-Moorhead, but it’s nothing 12 / THE GOOD LIFE / urbantoadmedia.com
GL: If you were to personify yourself as a type of food, which would you choose? DI: Oh, my gosh. So you’re asking my personality reflected in a type of food? GL: Yeah! Just your typical Tuesday question. DI: Oh, goodness. I would say chicken parm. It’s my absolute favorite food, and I don’t know many people who
don’t like it. I know there are some people that probably don’t care for my persona and how I act on television, but for the most part, I think I’m a pretty likable guy who people can sit down with and have a conversation. Chicken parm is definitely reliable. It’s never not good. If someone needs something from me, I would be there for them. GL: What’s your favorite game? DI: Monopoly is probably my favorite. I play pretty strictly to the rules. You don’t get any money for landing on free parking or anything like that. You’re not supposed to. It says it in the rules. I can play that game ‘til the cows come home. It was the Simpson’s themed Monopoly, by the way, which is still one of my favorite shows. GL: Who do you think would be a better athlete, Batman or Superman? DI: Oh, Superman is a better athlete, no doubt, because he doesn’t get tired. He doesn’t even sweat or bleed. GL: Who would have more sports knowledge? DI: Probably Batman. He’s a smarter dude than Superman—not that Clark Kent wasn’t smart, but Bruce Wayne knows everything. GL: I think we all know this, but who would have the better equipment? DI: I mean, Superman’s cape is nice, but the utility belt, the Batmobile, the Batwing—Batman, by far. GL: What does the good life mean to you? DI: I think being comfortable in your own skin and being able to adjust to anything that life throws at you. Also, finding balance between work and home. My work still dominates my life, and I want to have a family. I think a lot of people are still in search of that—to have that mix of being really good at home and being really good in the workplace. I think that’s, to me, what the good life would symbolize. I’m working toward it. • urbantoadmedia.com / THE GOOD LIFE / 13
BY: KRISSY NESS ■ PHOTOS BY: URBAN TOAD MEDIA
Ryan Mauk, 36, has been chasing storms since he could drive Ryan Mauk, 36, has been chasing storms since he could drive - though not always knowing what he was doing. Over the years Mauk has amped up his knowledge in meteorology in sever weather; and for the past three years he has been chasing tornados semi-seriously locally and regionally from the tri-state area down as far as Kansas. He, his wife Alissa and friend/chaser Tom Reichel formed Northern Plains Chasers in 2015.
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When Mauk gets ready to head out for a chase he looks at different weather models including but not limited to: GFS (Global Forecast System), NAM (North American Model) and Euro Models. It is important to gather all the information you can before and during your chase so you have the proper tools on your chase. “Meteorology is the art of professional guessing,” Mauk Said, “I have an intermediate level of knowledge, enough to know where I should be in a 75-100 mile radius.”
At the beginning of this year Mauk began working with WDAY. He emailed Meteorologist John Wheeler and the two of them sat down with News Director Jeff Nelson and they hashed out a plan. Since Mauk would be going out and filming the storms regardless, he suggested his gas be compensated while he was filming in the viewing area and both Wheeler and Nelson agreed. Mauk has caught some great storms on film and in pictures you can find his work online at their website, www.npchasers.com or on www.youtube.com by searching Northern Plains Chasers. You can also follow them on Facebook/NortherPlainsChasers and Instagram by searching: npchasers. It is important to be very careful and safe when chasing storms. The proper knowledge is half the battle the other half is protection. Mauk drives a 2008 Nissan Xterra that is sprayed head to toe with Line-X, a protective coating, and body armor that fits the contour of the vehicle. This provides protection from hail and small debris. This does not mean his vehicle is hail proof and he can go driving recklessly into a storm, but “It does do a good job of deflecting the big stuff,” stated Mauk. The windshield is made from Lexan a polycarbonate, which is bullet and impact resistance. There is also a metal frame with steel tubing with a 4X6 grate that slides out from the main frame, which covers the windshield. There is no special insurance is needed for storm chasing, just full coverage on your vehicle. “The thing with tornados is that hail will always be there,” affirmed Mauk.
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“Seeing a tornado
IS ALWAYS AWESOME, but to see a crazy storm cell is also exciting. ”– Ryan mauk
Mauk is also a nurse at Essentia Health, so he is always prepared to be a first responder, if needed, in the case of an emergency while chasing. He carries a pretty substantial first aid kit and thankfully has never had to use it. When chasing, Mauk usually has a “co-pilot” whether it be a fellow chaser or his wife, but there are occasions where he goes out alone. There is a lot of work that goes into chasing storms and you have to be quick but efficient when heading out. There are good and bad outcomes when on the chase, “seeing a tornado is always awesome, but to see a crazy storm cell is also exciting” exclaimed Mauk. Then again, you could drive hundreds of miles to find your supercell has diminished. Nature will do whatever it wants, whenever is wants. “There is something that is very comforting about the whole, storm chasing thing,” stated Mauk. 16 / THE GOOD LIFE / urbantoadmedia.com
STORM PHOTOS SUBMITTED BY: RYAN MAUK
Storm chasers prefer discreet supercell thunderstorms, “Supercells almost make their own environment, but that being said, if it starts sucking in cold air it will kill the thunderstorm real quick,” said Mauk. “Tornado weather is likely to happen on a hot and humid day with very little cloud cover.” I asked Mauk for some advice for first time storm chasers. “If you follow online blogs, or storm chasers pages, safety is above all, always have an escape route, always, always, always,” warned Mauk. “There was this one storm we were chasing in Killdeer, ND it has a beautiful supercell and it was really foggy and we saw trailers that were essentially sand blasted with hail. Windows were blown out and shingles were ripped from the roof.” Storms can take a nasty turn at any minute and you need to be aware of your surroundings and pay attention to maps and wind direction or you can find yourself in a very dangerous situation. Finally I asked Mauk what the good life means to him, “Living every moment like it’s your last, as cliché as it sounds, when you are totally in the moment, witnessing something with that much power and that much of its own entity it's like you’re kind of one with God. You are mesmerized, you can’t really explain it, and it’s just an air of peace.” • urbantoadmedia.com / THE GOOD LIFE / 17
BY: MEGHAN FEIR ■ PHOTOS BY: URBAN TOAD MEDIA
If you ask Christopher Zimmerman, the conductor of the F-M Symphony, if he can play any instruments, he’ll modestly say he “can still play the piano a little bit.” Fast forward a few days to a Masterworks Concert, where you find yourself enraptured in the beauty the F-M Symphony emits with every sound from the strings, hum from the horns, and rumble from the timpani. There he is on stage, taking a break from conducting as he plays the piano, accompanying cellist Sergey Antonov, the Gold Medal Winner of the 2007 Tchaikovsky Competition in an encore piece. By his modest, aforementioned comment, you may have assumed he could recall how to play “Heart and Soul” on command, not a Rachmaninoff piece. Zimmerman has been a grounded wanderer for the past 22 years of his life. He appears to be comfortable wherever the music leads him, even if that’s over 4,000 miles away from his original stomping grounds. Lacking the quintessential dialect of the north, he stands out as he speaks with his pleasing English accent that occasionally hints at the decades he’s lived near the East Coast. Despite his many years spent living in America, no real sense of home has been felt, and the streets of London still attempt to beckon him back from time to time. Yet, somehow, Fargo holds a certain sense of belonging for Zimmerman.
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“I really like this downtown part of Fargo, and I feel really comfortable here, for some reason. Having been here for not very long, you can make an identity with a place, just because it’s a nice place,” Zimmerman said. “I have to say, my wife was not expecting to like it, but she loved it, she really did.” Currently residing in Fairfax, Va., close to the Washington D.C. area to lead the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra and the American Youth Philharmonic, the salt-and pepper-haired maestro has been traveling to Fargo a week before each one of the orchestra’s five Masterworks Series Concerts to rehearse with the musicians. By listening to their seamless execution, you’d assume they had practiced more than five times together before the performances. This is proof that ever since his role as conductor began here in 2013, he has easily been able to connect with the performers on stage at a professionally personal level. Beginning in London Raised in a suburb just south of London, Zimmerman and his two brothers were used to classical music blaring in their household. Their mother, an American, was a singer and a pianist, and their father, an Englishman, played the violin. The cultural combination meant dual-citizenship for the three boys, which would later help Zimmerman acquire careers in conducting an ocean away. 20 / THE GOOD LIFE / urbantoadmedia.com
While attending Yale for his undergraduate degree in music, Zimmerman’s interest in the orchestra as a whole began to brew as he played in the large ensemble and studied the piano and violin. “I wasn’t interested in standing up in front of a bunch of people and making a complete idiot out of myself,” Zimmerman said, “but I was interested in learning the mechanics of this music.” During his senior year of college, Zimmerman decided to take a course in choral conducting and directed his classmates for his final project. “I was so nervous, but I got a lot of really positive feedback. I set up my own little choral group, and we did a whole program. Then I was kind of hooked.” Through more serendipitous encounters, he became the successor to direct the Yale Bach Society and eventually attended graduate school at the University of Michigan to study orchestral conducting. Two teaching gigs at music conservatories and a few orchestras later, Zimmerman has garnered years of experience with both teaching in academia and conducting professional orchestras, encouraging each musician he encounters to play with precision, grace and emotion. Reassessing the Symphony While Zimmerman loves and conducts classical pieces, he, like many others, has a penchant for rock, specifically English progressive. He grew urbantoadmedia.com / THE GOOD LIFE / 21
up loving bands like Genesis (before Peter Gabriel went off on his own), Cream, Yes, and King Crimson, to name a few. He’s a regular guy who happens to equally love classical music and rock. But Zimmerman knows there is an apprehension toward the music made by the composers of old, especially among men. So he created the perfect analogy to describe the quick judgments many make before fully experiencing classical music in all its glory. “It’s kind of like this. You say to someone, ‘Let’s go get some sushi,’ and they say, ‘Raw fish? Horrible.’ And then you ask, ‘Have you ever had any?’ ‘Oh, no, but I know I don’t like raw fish because it’s squiggly and squishy.’ If you have sushi, it’s not usually squiggly and squishy, and most people who have at least somewhat of an open mind can really get into it. I think it’s the same with classical music. It’s not going to sound like rock ‘n’ roll. Sushi is not going to taste like a burger and fries. Given. But it tastes good.” Men need not be dragged to the footsteps of the concert hall before being seat-belted in by the expectations of the women who brought them. Linda Boyd, the executive director of the F-M Symphony since 2007, wants to assure men that it’s a welcome environment for everyone. There’s even a stand in the lobby providing beer, wine and nonalcoholic beverages to nervous newcomers and relaxed patrons. Boyd has been involved with the orchestra since 1993 and has seen a dramatic shift take place in recent years. 22 / THE GOOD LIFE / urbantoadmedia.com
“For decades, people have said, symphony orchestras are on the way out; they’re an anachronism; the audiences are older and dying off. But today, our audiences are bigger, we have more young people in the audiences than at any point in our history,” Boyd said. “No matter how much technology or society changes, people still are drawn to human excellence. That’s why people watch the Olympics. That’s why people go to football games. That’s why people go to rock concerts. When you see human beings performing at such high levels right in front of your eyes, there is nothing like that. That’s what symphony concerts are still all about.” In the symphony’s 85-year history, it has come alongside the community as not only a source of entertainment, but of hope and solidarity, whether that was after the fighting of the 2009 flood as they put on celebration concerts or other ways to help the community express and celebrate itself. It’s a part of the DNA of the area, promoting the
surging energy of music throughout the veins of its residents. They even host Urban Overture, a sophisticated and fun night out for people in their 20s and 30s as a preview for upcoming concerts. “This is a fun night out, and people are still looking for interesting and meaningful experiences,” Boyd said. “We’re trying to not make it snotty in any way and make it a fun time,” Zimmerman went on to say. “I’m convinced that many of the people who think they don’t like classical music, whatever that is, would like it if they tried. If you just open your ears to the sounds themselves and not have a preconceived notion, it will speak to you more than you would think it would.”
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The Masterworks Concert Series is held at NDSU’s Festival Concert Hall with the next concert taking place Nov. 12 and 13. Pieces featured are the “William Tell Overture” by Gioacchino Rossini, “Concierto de Aranjuez” by Joaquin Rodrigo, featuring Paraguayan classical guitar soloist Berta Rojas, and “Symphony No. 1” by Johannes Brahms. The pre-concert “Informance” talks begin 45 minutes before each concert in the adjoining Beckwith Recital Hall. Learn more at www.fmsymphony.org. •
Christopher Zimmerman Favorite composers: “As I get older, the real classical guys like Bach and Mozart I like more and more. I used to not like them so much. This is why I think some people think they don’t like classical music; it’s so far removed from today’s world in a way. But I like their music more because there’s a reason they are so great.” Favorite time period: “Every era, whether you liked the dress code or not, people are dressed in a certain way. Then it would change to another way. Now, someone could come in with a three-piece suit and we wouldn’t think he was weird. Everybody can do their own thing. With the 20th century, that’s what happened. Some of these geniuses composed the most amazing music. In the last 100 years or so, the variety of music is so great. So that, in a way, is my favorite time.” What does “the good life” mean to you? “Well, like most people, I like lazing around and eating and drinking; but I think “the good life” is when life is full of vibrancy and stimulation, where we are able openly and unthreateningly to really engage with the myriad of amazing things that the world has to offer. Drinking seriously good beer, seeing the Taj Mahal or trying to get your head around Bach’s ‘Goldberg Variations’— it doesn’t really matter.” 24 / THE GOOD LIFE / urbantoadmedia.com
SERGEY ANTONOV, LINDA BOYD, CHRISTOPHER ZIMMERMAN
BY: KRISSY NESS â– PHOTOS BY: URBAN TOAD MEDIA
Have you ever wondered how to drive a Zamboni? The technical name for this machine is the ice-resurfacing machine. The machine was named after the inventor Frank Zamboni; his surname was the registered trademark for the resurfacer. The Zamboni began as a propane fueled machine but has been modified in the recent years to be electric, which is more environmentally friendly.
from working in the parking lot to operating and maintaining the Zamboni(s). This is Hegland’s part time job - which is a pretty awesome one at that. His full time job is playing in his band Tripwire. Hegland is very knowledgeable when it comes to Zambonis and the stepby-step process was made easier because of that. Lets kick this off by letting you in on the secrets of driving a Zamboni.
I had the opportunity to do a ride along with Lars Hegland at the Scheels Arena. Hegland has been working at the arena since 2009, and has worked his way downstairs,
In six steps I will explain how to run a Zamboni. For this specific step-by-step we will be talking about electric Zambonis.
STEP ONE
To begin you must unplug the battery pack, turn on the machine and fill it with water, which will be laid onto the ice.
STEP TWO
Lower the hopper - which is where all the snow is collected. It is raised when you are finished to empty the snow and dry it out.
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STEP THREE
Release the break, back up and get onto the ice. From there you will turn on the brush. The brush is used to pick up excess snow from along the boards; you will only use the brush for the outside lap.
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STEP FOUR
Make sure the Zamboni is moving forward and lower the conditioner, the conditioner shaves the ice, collects snow, rinses the ice and allows new water to be laid onto the ice.
STEP SIX
Turn on the hot water that goes on the ice. Then turn on the cold water, which is the wash water, it gets snow out of the cracks in the ice. Finally turn on the wash water pump.
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STEP FIVE
Turn on the vertical and horizontal augers. The horizontal auger gathers the snow and the vertical one propels it into the hopper.
Once you have finished all these steps you can begin to condition and smooth the ice. You will take two outside laps and then go in an oval shape and come up the middle until you have covered the entire rink. After you have finished conditioning and smoothing out the ice you will do all of these steps in reverse and finish by parking and turning off your machine. This article will not make you an expert at driving a Zamboni but it will give you enough knowledge to brag to your friends. So the next time you find yourself at a hockey game you can educate all your friends on what it takes to drive and operate a Zamboni. •
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LOCAL HEROES BY: ALEXANDRA FLOERSCH ■ PHOTOS BY: URBAN TOAD MEDIA
They are the guys students ask for by name at recess. They’re the friendly faces that represent authority figures. They are the two men tasked with creating rules and plans for something that’s never been done before in their community. They are the Fargo Police Department’s Community Trust Officers, and their mission is to establish a legacy of trust between the police and the community they're sworn to protect. Officers Michael Bloom and Matthew Niemeyer willingly left the downtown beat to take their positions in October of 2015. Thanks to a federal grant to support the National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice across the U.S., both officers were able to fill a crucial role in the community: to reach out and educate citizens. “To boil our position down, it is to build trust and transparency,” Niemeyer said. “The trust part is significantly more complicated. We are trying to do something significant within our community. We are looking for different holes that need to be filled, where the police department can play a role in really making this community better.” One of the biggest opportunities the two trust officers first identified was working with area youth, specifically from low-income, minority and new American populations. “We’re working to help them develop some interests and hobbies within the community,” Bloom said. Nationwide studies show that doing so helps students behave better in school, perform better academically and keep them out of trouble. “There are a lot of things that go into that programming, not only to reduce crime, but also to have the police department play a big role in helping a lot of these kids pursue a better life,” Niemeyer added. The goal is to focus kids’ attention, kids who “would otherwise just end up playing around in the park and—out of sheer boredom and availability—end up getting into trouble,” he said.
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By partnering with organizations like Charism, the Boys and Girls Club of the Red River Valley, Legacy Children’s Foundation, First Assembly Church and Life Church, to name a few, the officers are able to hold events such as Cocoa with a Cop, Cool Off with a Cop, Fargo United and C-4 (Character, Community, Charism, Cops) Summer Camp. The two officers also work handin-hand with five area schools to be a presence in the hallways, classrooms and playgrounds where signs of trouble often first show up. But no matter how much effort they make, they say it rarely feels like enough. Originally, the Fargo Police Department requested four Community Trust Officers through the grant, but were only rewarded two. “It’s such an interesting thing because—being just two people in a city of 120,000 people—it’s like what do we do and how do we do it effectively,” Bloom wondered aloud. 32 / THE GOOD LIFE / urbantoadmedia.com
“You can have 10,000 ideas, but how do you accomplish them?”
receive parental consent from parents they never dreamed would.
The answer is slowly. They’ve found day by day, little by little their progress becomes more evident.
For Bloom, relationships mean everything. “I care about people in general a lot, which is why I wanted this spot,” he said. “Our job gives us freedom to connect with people on deeper levels than most cops ever get to.”
“When you go to a school and kids are name-dropping and asking where (Matt) is when I’m the only one there, it just shows that the seed he’s planted is taking root,” Bloom said. “It’s meaning something.” The Best Part Considering the officers are often flying by the seat of their pants, Niemeyer said one of his favorite parts of the job is seeing things come together, people open up and the community jumping at the opportunity to fill a role or contribute in some way. “There are some parents that just flatout hate cops—for whatever reason. They will fight us tooth and nail to work with their kids,” Niemeyer said. But when they least expect it, they
In a role like this, it’s easy to become attached. Bloom admits it's one of his favorite parts of the job. Unlike a typical cop who may be tied to a single beat, Bloom and Niemeyer have the leeway to not only make those special connections with the kids they serve, but also to carve out time to foster those relationships whenever and wherever needed. “It sounds simple but, to me, that’s the world,” Bloom said. “That’s what gets my heart stirring—the freedom to really connect with people and show them how much an officer really cares about them.”
The Double Edge The most fulfilling aspect of the job also doubles as the hardest. While the officers treasure the relationships they build, they’re also conscious of the boundaries they must abide. “As an officer, you can’t get too close, because it’s my responsibility—and Matt’s as well—to protect our families,” Bloom said. “There’s this one boy I want to take to church every Sunday with me, I want to take him to the gym with me, I want to be the man in his life that he doesn’t have.” A father himself, Bloom admits that he’d adopt a couple of the boys he works with in a heartbeat… if he could. “If you don’t see a dad, you want to be a urbantoadmedia.com / THE GOOD LIFE / 33
LOCAL HEROES
dad,” he said. “But you can’t be a dad necessarily, because you’re crossing the line, especially if you have to bust them one day.” For Niemeyer, the job exposes life's harshest realities—people’s stories that often go untold. He gets to know people in the community on a different level; they start to open up. “There are some people that live really difficult lives and they struggle with almost everything—food, clothing, where they live, neighbors, etc.” he said. “You walk away from some conversations feeling awful for what some people are having to deal with but, at the same time, admiring them for how they are approaching their situations.”
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Fighting the Stigma In the last few years, police departments across the country have been forced to deal with the social and political fallout from the string of highly publicized police shootings and subsequent charges of racial discrimination and profiling. “Just knowing how only two of us are taking on that misportrayal over our entire city is intimidating,” Niemeyer said. “There’s a lot to do, there’s a lot of ground to cover, and it’s not something that’s going to happen quickly.” In a very real sense, the role of the Community Trust Officer is to break that stigma. “It’s an exciting time to show people that a lot of the media
has it twisted,” Bloom said. “It’s hard when the story’s always against your people. We’re trying to be light in a dark time.” The more officers that focus on building rapport in the community, the more easily the feeling of trust will spread. “Once is goes from two officers to maybe three officers to five, six, seven and so on… now you’re getting to that point where the concept of the department as a whole being there for the community becomes a little more fathomable,” Niemeyer said. A Balancing Act Little by little, Officers Bloom and Niemeyer aim to not just tell people, but actually show people they care. “For Matt and I—our whole department—the whole focus is to show no matter your race, your
religion, we’re police and we care about our city,” Bloom said. Achieving that level of trust requires a delicate balancing act of getting close to those who need your help, but not too close to jeopardize your sworn duty. “The nature of police work has the hard contacts already in it,” Niemeyer said. “You’re making arrests, you’re writing citations, you’re taking reports. You’re doing all those things that policing will always involve and arguably has to involve.” But the soft, social contacts are also crucial in building relationships and trust within the community. Niemeyer said it's the same challenge any authoritative figure faces—whether a parent, teacher, boss, etc. If the only time they interact with you is to scold or come down on you, the relationship will falter. “You’re not going to have a positive relationship with that authority figure unless that person is also coming around and uplifting you, and is encouraging you, letting you know that they care,” he said. A balance between the two is crucial. “If you are out of balance, that relationship is going to be strained,” Niemeyer said. “If it’s in balance, I think those bad times or those hard times, you can absorb them and you can get through them easier.” For now, the focus is creating good times, creating strong relationships in the community. Being in a position where he can make that possible is part of the good life for Niemeyer. The good life “is being able to love what you do,” he said. “Getting that sense of reward of what you are able to be a part of, knowing it matters.” That’s true fulfillment. For Bloom, life’s about starting strong and finishing strong. Period. The good life means being bold, courageous and fearless for his community—“leaving a legacy that people were impacted by,” he said. “Speaking of the good life,” Bloom said, beaming and referring to the photo of his one-year-old his wife had just texted. “That’s my daughter. She’s so cute.” •
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