9MST0308HD Decorah Iowa Main Streets Transcript

- John McGivern: I am in the city in eastern Iowa that became the western home for European immigrants.

- Announcer: Thanks to our underwriters.

- At We Energies, we believe communities are stronger when we all work together. For more than 40 years, the We Energies Foundation has supported charitable organizations across Wisconsin. Together, we're creating a brighter future.

- Heiser Automotive is honored to help John McGivern and his team arrive safely at many main streets. Heiser itself has been in the community for over a hundred years. We have worked hard to achieve the American dream, and now, it's your community's turn. We are here to help.

- How to bring generations together? Start by splashing together. Maybe go on a ride together, see stuff together, or do something different altogether. Wisconsin Dells, come together. The waterpark capital of the world, WisDells.com.
[child laughs]

- Wisconsin's picture-perfect
[camera shutter clicking]

historic downtown Greendale isn't just a great backdrop for photos. It's the perfect place to... indulge your hobby or your sweet tooth. Try something new. Shop for a treasure, and eat some really great food. Ask anyone who's made memories here. We'll all tell you the same thing. You just gotta see Greendale!
[camera shutter clicks]

- Baker: My father taught me that to make great bakery, you have to do it the right way. O&H Danish Bakery, where Kringle traditions begin.

- From the Green Circle Trail to Point Brewery, you'll find more fun in Stevens Point, Wisconsin.

- Announcer: Twenty-minute commutes, weekends on the lake, warm welcomes, and exciting career opportunities, not to mention all the local flavor. There's a lot to look forward to in Wisconsin. Learn more at InWisconsin.com.

- Thanks to the Friends of Plum Media and to the Friends of PBS Wisconsin.

§ 'Cause these are our main streets §
§ Something about a hometown speaks to me §
§ There's nowhere else I'd rather be §
§ The heart and soul of community's right here §
§ On these main streets §

- Decorah is in the Driftless region of Iowa, meaning that the glaciers did not come through here, and you can tell by the beautiful landscapes. The Upper Iowa River runs through it, and it has a population of 7,700 people. It's in the northeast corner of Iowa, close to the Minnesota border. 

And here's where I usually tell you about the nearest big city or the interstate, but none of those are near Decorah because this is a great destination place all on its own. Emmy, I'd love to know how this town got its name.

- Emmy Fink: Well, let's thank the Ho-Chunk. They had their village here, and the town was named after their leader, Waukon Decorah.

- John: See, but when I think of Decorah, I think of Norwegians.

- Well, the English, they came first. Next were the Germans and then the Norwegians.

- Hmm, but why did they stop here?

- Well, they saw the fertile farmland. They knew the rivers could power their mills, and they fell in love with the gorgeous landscape, the valleys, and the bluffs. Except there's no fjords.

- No fjords in Iowa.

- No.

- Oh, well.

- Oh, well.

- John: But the Norwegians put Decorah on the map.

- Emmy: Yes, they sure did. We can give them that credit.

- John: Let's do that.
[upbeat music]

So your name is all over this place.

- Joe Hammel: Yeah, well, that'll happen.

- It will.
[laughs]

How long has Hammel Jewelers been in Decorah?

- As of July 5th, we've been here 27 years.

- Congratulations.

- Thank you.

- John: Were you in the jewelry business before?

- Joe: My dad had a jewelry store in Waukon since 1943.

- So it's clocks and watches and jewelry. Is this the place to come if somebody's 21, and they're asking their girlfriend to marry 'em?

- God, I hope so. We actually had one guy, I don't know what he was thinking, but he was getting married at two o'clock on a Saturday afternoon, and he showed up in here about 9:30. And he never thought about buying her a wedding ring.

- John: Oh.

- I could have shown him anything at any price, and he would've bought it. I got Bulova, Seiko, Caravelle. This is my favorite. That's number two of the Frank Sinatra series. I'm wearing a Seiko.

- You are?

- Yeah.

- So you don't sell Timex here?

- Not sober.
[John laughs]

Now, this one is probably one of my favorites. It's what they call a Sangamon. Took me 4 1/2 years to get this thing to work right.

- John: And it's running, isn't it?

- Oh yeah.

- Look at that. Is that your dad?

- That's my dad.

- John: Francis Hammel.

- Joe: And this is my mom. She did all the books.

- John: And does your wife do all the books?

- She basically manages the store. I taught her everything she knows. She'll love that part of this. I had a guy come in the other day with 60 pocket watches, and I says, "You're not gonna bring 'em all in. You're gonna bring in like two or three at a time."

- So, how many did he bring in?

- All of them.
[John laughs]

- He had some time on his hand.
[clock chiming]

Guess what time it is? It's time for me to get a new watch 'cause Joe doesn't really like Timex’s. Thanks, you guys. Good luck, Cheryl.

- Thank you. It was fun.
[John laughs]

- John: I'm excited to be here at Seed Savers Exchange.

- Diane Ott Whealy: Fifty years ago, no one was preserving heirloom varieties of seed that came into this country when our ancestors immigrated. We started 50 years ago with a handful of seed of morning glory and a tomato seed from my grandparents.

- John: Come on.

- And now, we have over 20,000 varieties of seeds that we're permanently maintaining here. Every seed we have has a story, but I don't have time to tell you each one 'cause there's 20,000.

- Are you sure?

- Yeah, you'll have to come back.

- Right. So, when you say a bank, and you say 20,000 varieties, can I look at the bank, or can you show me something that--

- Cindy Goodner: You know, it's not open to everyone.

- Really? But maybe today?

- But I can show you.

- Cindy: Today, I can show you. This is it.

- John: This holds it all? Do you have a snowmobile suit for me?

- This isn't very big-- little packets.

- Thank you for bringing me in here. I need to go. I'm really cold.

- Cindy: The preservation of our collection depends not only on our work here, but it depends on gardeners in our community growing and regenerating these varieties in their gardens today.

- My grandmother's grocery list was flour, sugar, coffee, and salt.

- And the rest is?

- And the rest came from their land or from their hands, yeah. My grandmother was an obsessive canner.

- Are you that way?

- I am. I used to. Yeah, I had a canning obsession. Canners Anonymous, I should have gone to. No, I wanted to--

- The meetings are great.

- We have pickles.

- We have pickles.
[laughs]

So, this is open to the public, and it's full of seeds?

- Cindy: We have 600 varieties of seeds that we share.

- John: Here in the visitor center?

- Here in the visitors’ center. On the back of our seed packet, it tells us where the seed came from. The duster was donated from a Missouri farmer, Larry Pierce. It's beautiful.

- John: It really is. Have you planted your seeds deep enough so that, in fact, this is gonna last forever?

- Yes.

- You have?

- We have because we have a group of devoted members and young people now. It's like a family.

- John: Yeah, Seed Savers Exchange.
[festive music]

- There's a favorite day of the week here in Decorah. Guess what it is? It's Thursday nights because every Thursday night in the summer in Decorah, it's lawn chair night.
[audience applauds]

You grab a chair. You enjoy the live music. And tonight, it's the fabulous Nordic Dancers. Tell me what you guys like most about being a Norwegian dancer.

- Dancer: When I'm out there, I'm having a blast. And some of the dances-- we do one called the Oxen Dance, which is like a fake fight, kind of.

- Oh, and this is, like, your last year?

- Yeah.

- Now, are you sad?

- It's kind of sad 'cause we've been doing this for ten years together, and it's kind of like the end of an era.

- It's not Nordic Fest tonight, per se, but we're getting a sneak peek.

- Ariana Cervantes: Everyone can be Scandinavian this weekend. We get tons of out-of-town visitors, including some from Scandinavia as well.

- I'm not sure I should ask this, but are you Nordic? Because, you know, does she look Nordic?

- I get that question a lot. That's very fair. Yes, I am probably 1/16 Norwegian.

- Emmy: I love it.

- Ariana: So, I'm half Norwegian this weekend.

- Emmy: Cheers to Nordic Fest. Good luck.

- Thank you.

- Lefse is a traditional Norwegian flatbread that's made from potatoes and flour, and they go like hotcakes at Nordic Fest. How many rounds of lefsa were sold last year?

- Last year, at the lefsa booth, they served up 7,632 rounds of lefsa. They went through 144 pounds of brown sugar and 83 pounds of butter. It sounds like I would love me some lefsa.
[gentle, upbeat music]

- John: So your job is to?

- Stacey Gossling: Clean gravestones.

- Clean gravestones?

- Yep.

- Is this a city job?

- How does this work?

- No, no. Families hire me. I've had cemetery boards that hire me. When I originally started, I had permission from Phelps Cemetery to clean veteran stones here. And whenever I was up here cleaning, somebody would always stop me and say, "Hey, can you come and do my great-grandparents over here?" And so my husband was like, "Why don't you just start a business?"

- If you're hired to clean a stone, do you dig into the history of what that's about?

- I do.

- Do you? You don't have to, but you do, right?

- Well, there's a poem. It's called "The Dash," and it says, you know, everybody on your headstone, you have a birth date and a death date. I wanna know what you did with your dash.

- This is Edwin...

- Stacey: Beers.

- John: Beers.

- Stacey: He was killed World War I, was buried in France in 1918. And his father, it took him three years to bring him back.

- Do you want me to do that part?

- Just spray the heck out of it.

- John: Okay, is that just water?

- Yep. Then....

-
[gasps]

Oh, it just comes right off.

- See, I told you. It's very odd but very satisfying.

- I get it.
[Stacey laughs]

- Stacey: Okay, now you can just spray it down with water.

- What? Hi, Edwin. Good to see you again. Now what?

- Stacey: Then this is the "D/2." It's what they use at Arlington National Cemetery.

- John: Do you have to rub it in?

- Stacey: Nope, as we can wet it down again and then scrub it.
[John laughs]

- John: Can we spray that down now?

- Spray it down. You're gonna love it.
[Stacey and John laughing]

This young man actually gave his life for the country, so why would we let his stone get like that?

- John: You really do quite a service, yeah.

- Stacey: It's fun work. It really is.

- Well, it's a good thing I brought my tennies because nothing makes me happier than being active outside. And if that's you, too, I'm telling you, Decorah is your place. You can get all of your gear locally at Big Driftless. And the owner there, Cody, well, he recommends three great places to visit: Dunning Springs, the Upper Iowa River-- a great place to go kayaking-- and Trout Run Trail. So, it looks like I'm definitely extending my stay in Decorah.

- It looks pretty peaceful here, doesn't it? Not 465 million years ago when a meteor the size of a city block smashed into Earth and left a crater 3 1/2 miles wide. Now, scientists are studying the impact crater, and they discovered a creature they never saw before. 

Take a look, Pentecopterus decorahensis. 

Decorahensis, get it? Decorah, named after Decorah. 

Look, it's a six-foot-long scorpion. I'm a six-foot-tall Scorpio. I'm glad that thing is gone and that I'm still around.
[gentle, upbeat music]

I'm on the campus of Luther College. Have you gone here since freshman year?

- Ellie Shuros: I've actually; I transferred here last year. Kind of wanted smaller classes, more opportunities with professors.

- John: Yeah, and you're finding that?

- Yeah, for sure.

- And how did you decide to come to this college?

- "Poppy" Thuy Duong Truong: Actually, because my brother came here.

- Oh, he did?

- Yeah.

- It is a religious school?

- It is Lutheran, but we're inclusive of all faiths, and so we make sure that there's a place for everyone here.

- Yeah, student population number-wise, what do we have?

- 1,600 undergraduate students.

- John: All undergrad, no graduate programs?

- Yep.

- John: And one of the most important programs, this is what I heard, is music.

- Ellie: Yes, definitely. I love going to all of the concerts and, like, theater productions, so.

- John: Let's talk about this program that you're doing in the DNA lab.

- Ellie: My study is looking at turkey eggs. So we're kind of looking at different factors for the wild turkey population decline in Iowa.

- So you have a bag of the contents of a fox's stomach there.

- Poppy: Yeah.

- John: And are you ever surprised at the content of a stomach?

- Yeah.

- Like, what's been surprising? What's in there that you're like, "You've gotta be kidding me"?

- We found like a sticker, like, banana stickers.

- John: It's a sticker from a banana.

- Yeah.

- I don't know if I could do this for the summer, but good for you. This is your course of study.

- Yeah.

- Yeah. What's campus life like at Luther?

- Thuy: I would say it's kind of vibrant, actually.

- It's vibrant?

- Yeah.

- John: There always is something to do.

- Ellie: Yeah, there's a lot of options to choose from.

- So I hear that there is a story about this bell.

- As a freshman, the tradition is to ring it when you first get here, and then, as a senior, when you graduate, you ring it again.

- John: Thank you, ladies.

- Ellie: Thank you.
[all laughing]

- Fishing is very popular on the Upper Iowa River, and what they usually catch is trout, and that's not by mistake. 

We are at the Decorah Fish Hatchery. They raise and they release trout from April through October. And through the course of an entire season, 114,000 trout are released. 

And you can see them before they're released. Wanna see how? Here, this is what you need. You need a quarter.
[water splashing]

I bet they're tired now and full.
[joyful folksy music]

- This is the Vesterheim Museum and Folk Art School, and "Vesterheim" means?

- A western home.

- Emmy: You know everything.

- John: Yeah.

- But you know, nearby Luther College, they started collecting all these different artifacts from these different Norwegian families. The collection got so big that it turned into the Vesterheim Museum, which it is the largest museum in America dedicated to just one immigrant group. Now, this is actually an outline of a ship, the ship called the... I know, feel it out.

- Yeah, yeah, I see it.

- The ship called "The Restoration," and it's the size of the actual ship that brought over the first organized group of Norwegian immigrants to America in 1825. The journey was three months long, and I mean, kind of scooch in here.

- Okay.

- Squeeze in. 52 people--

- No.

- In this area.

- There were 52 people on this?

- Actually there was 53 because on the way over, a baby girl was born.

- No!

- Oh yeah.

- "Okay, make room." Is that what they yelled?

- Oh, somebody was yelling, all right. Ah, I'm having a baby on a boat!

- This is called a mangle board. What they used to do is they used to take rolled-up cloth, and they would use this to, I guess, press the cloth. But my favorite thing about this... this was an engagement gift. A man would leave a mangle board on the porch of the woman he wanted to marry. And if the woman brought it in, it meant that they were engaged. If a woman left it on the porch, the man would bring it back and put it on his shelf.

- Are you kidding me?

- No, it's true.

- Here's an iron. Will you marry me? I would say, "Try again, you--"

- There's an old saying, too, a Norwegian saying that said, "Beware of the man with many mangle boards."

- Oh, uff da! Run, run from that man with many mangle boards. So here's a great story of making the best of what you got. The Norway farmers were really good at that because you know what they had a lot of? They had a lot of trees. So, one of the things they made out of those trees were these beautiful log stools called kubbestols. Some were kind of left simple. Some were carved. Try 'em out.

- I'm going to.

- How do they feel?

- Comfortable, very.

- Really nice.

- Are they comfortable?

- Yeah.

- Well, in the 1800s, they really took on a whole new meaning because Norway was trying so hard to gain its independence from Sweden, this really became a symbol of the Norwegian heritage. 

And it's almost like Norway just needed their thing, to say, "Hey, we're our own people." 

Well, guess what? That led to a vote of independence, and 99% of the people voted in favor. Well, Norway was like, "Hey, Sweden, we're taking our stools, and we're out of here."

- Grab your kubbestol.

- I'll grab the light one.

- Okay, here we go. Yeah, okay, let's go. This isn't the only Decorah. There are two other Decorahs named after the Ho-Chunk leader Waukon Decorah. Where are the other two Decorahs?
[quizzical music]

- Those other Decorahs aren't that far away. Hey, I wonder if John's cool map thing would work for me, too? Yes, so we have Dekorra, Wisconsin, which is just a small town north of Madison, and then Decoria Township in southern Minnesota.
[tool buzzing, light music]

- You know me, I love getting inside a factory. We're inside Iowa Rotocast Plastics, and let's talk about what's made in this factory.

- Kevin Hanson: So, in this factory is… Grizzly Coolers is one of the main brands, and then our Rototough brand, which is… ice-down merchandisers use in stadiums. If you go to a Brewers' game, you're gonna see our product in the stadium there, so.

- He knows we're from Milwaukee. That's so good. And Grizzly Coolers, everybody knows Grizzly Coolers.

- Everybody should know Grizzly Coolers, yeah.

- John: Size-wise, what do you make here?

- Kevin: Coolers from a 15- up to a 400-quart.

- Who uses a 400?

- Elk hunters, you know, you wanna put your meat in.

- So, how long have you been here?

- Rusty Hagensick: Been here 37 years.

- 37 years?

- Yeah.

- How long has the company been going? 37 years.

- 37.
[laughs]

- My first job was actually helping build the very first oven that we made in the owner's garage.

- Have you seen so much growth?

- We're right at about 200 employees right now.

- What makes a really good cooler?

- Rusty: Well, a thick wall of plastic and a really good insulation inside of it.

- Oh, good insulation?

- Yeah.

- So, this is some of the powdered material.

- Wait, wait, wait! What is this?

- Linear, low-density polyethylene? Powdered plastic.

- So, that powder is poured into that vessel?

- Cavity.

- Into that cavity. Then, it goes into that oven behind, right?

- Correct.

- Right. Oh, that's a big cooler.

- Yep. So, this room here is where we do all the foaming of the Grizzly Coolers.

- John: Foaming. And how do they know how much to put in there?

- Rusty: It's predetermined on the computer over there.

- John: Okay.

- Rusty: They'll fill it in four locations. Then they'll plug it, and it's got vents in there, and it'll actually shoot out of the vents. So, that's the bleed-off. We gotta have so much bleed-off to get rid of all the air inside.

- But it had some time to harden. Oh, he's done that before?

- Yep. Then, from here, they go down the line where the handles are put in down through the inside.

- John: I need more room here.

- Rusty: You're hired.

- Is it break time, you guys?
[chuckling]

Is this ready?

- Yep.

- It goes on the skin right here?

- Yes, it does.

- Okay, you go back to work now.

- Okay.

- Okay.
[laughing]

- I mean, it's been a little while, but I don't exactly remember school lunches looking like this. 

Welcome to the Decorah High School Garden, where fresh vegetables from here end up in lunches in there. 

Those students are so lucky. They get to actually be part of the entire process. Last year, they harvested over 1,000 pounds of butternut squash, plus tomatoes, peppers, kale, basil, watermelon. I mean, they even grow lettuce in their greenhouse over the winter. 

So here's my plan. I'm gonna tell 'em I'm the new substitute teacher, and I'm here for lunch.
[gentle, upbeat music]

- I'm standing outside the Porter House Museum. I'm sure you're thinking, "Oh, he's gonna tell us about what's inside the museum." No, I'm gonna talk about what's outside the museum. 

Take a look at this fence. Bert Porter collected all of this over a course of 23 years. It took six years to build, finished in 1946. It's made of a stone and quartz and polished stone and fossils. Quite the fence, certainly, the only one I've ever seen.
[upbeat music]

Let's talk about how this started.

- Roumel Reynon: Well, it was August of 2020, and it was during the pandemic, and I get a call from my father-in-Law. And he's like, "There's a restaurant for sale in Decorah." 

And my wife is from this area, and he's like, "Come on up and see it."

So I'm like, "Dude, there's a pandemic going on. Don't buy a restaurant." 

On the way back to Chicago, the realtor calls me back and says, "Wait, stop. Pull over. There's another restaurant that you need to look at."

As soon as I came up the drive, I thought, "This could make it happen."

- John: You're the chef, as well?

- Yes, I cut every steak in this restaurant every day myself. I still have all my fingers, most of 'em, yeah.

- Let's talk about your menu.

- Roumel Reynon: It's an iconic supper club menu. So, we have hand-cut steaks, fresh seafood.

- John: Okay, so it's a supper club. I'm from Wisconsin, you know?

- Yes. No relish tray.

- No relish?

- Roumel: No pickled herring.

- No.

- No cheese balls.

- He doesn't seem to appreciate a good cheese ball, does he?

- No, well...

- Come on.

- Roumel: You gotta have a good drink, too.

- So, brandy old fashioneds are really popular here, as well?

- Oh, absolutely.

- They are?

- Yeah. So, we're making lumpia. This is a traditional party starter in our Filipino culture right here. Filipino soy sauce, imported. Mash it all up in here. Get your frustrations out.

- All the way across the bottom.

- Coast to coast, baby. So you're gonna take it, tuck it, and then, you're gonna roll. Look at that. You're on your way to becoming part Filipino right there.

- Thank you so much.

- Roumel: These are delicious.

- It's a good appetizer.

- Yeah, it is. I've had people order two of them, and that'll make it their meal for 'em. The bananas foster.

- Oh, do that again for me.

- Oh, you like it? Whoo.

- Look at that.

- Yeah, that's seven years of college right there. My goal is to create the biggest flame that you'll ever see.

- John: Good.

- Ready?

- Yep.

- Boom. Wait till the next one. This is where the magic really... This is the Facebook moment, man. Flambé, here we go. And then you do the sparks.

- John: Whoa.

- Roumel: Whoo.

- What's the sparks?

- The sparks are cinnamon.

- It's cinnamon? Oh, Lord, this is just a bowl of good. Your wife's father, what does he have to say about any of it?

- Oh, he loves it. His daughter's back.
[John laughs]

I mean, he's our guardian angel, and he was here last night, and he's been trying to get me to buy a restaurant here for 20 years.

- And here you are.

- And here we are.

- Congratulations.
[upbeat jazz music]

This place brings me back to my youth. It's a classic ice cream stand called The Whippy Dip. Look, my favorite. I got my favorite when I was a kid. It's called a crunch coat vanilla cone, mm-hmm.

- You know, this isn't about my childhood. This is about my right now because I get to eat Sugar Bowl. Never have I ever seen so many different colored cones in different varieties, so many different flavors.

- This is the best ice cream in town.

- This is the best ice cream in town.
[upbeat rock music]

- We came to Decorah to explore Norwegian heritage, but we found so much more.

- Oh, we did. This little town is a big deal. I really love it.

- Me, too. 

§ There's nowhere else I'd rather be §
§ The heart and soul of community's right here §

- Run away fast and leave the board.
[John imitates banging]

[crew laughing]

- I mean, this is where I need my partner here to say, "How so?"

- How so?

- Pentecopterus?

- Yeah.

- Okay.

- It's called the penta... I can't say it. Pentecopterus.

- Right.

- I'm not gonna say it. Just keep going.
[crew member laughs]

- Next were the Germans, and then, the Norwegians.

- Then, the post office guy came, didn't he?

- I'm too nice on the first day, and he's too salty on the third day.

- Announcer: Thanks to our underwriters.

- At We Energies, we believe communities are stronger when we all work together. For more than 40 years, the We Energies Foundation has supported charitable organizations across Wisconsin. Together, we're creating a brighter future.

- Heiser Automotive is honored to help John McGivern and his team arrive safely at many main streets. Heiser itself has been in the community for over a hundred years. We have worked hard to achieve the American dream, and now, it's your community's turn. We are here to help.

- How to bring generations together? Start by splashing together. Maybe go on a ride together, see stuff together, or do something different altogether. Wisconsin Dells, come together. The waterpark capital of the world, WisDells.com.
[child laughs]

- Wisconsin's picture-perfect
[camera shutter clicks]

historic downtown Greendale isn't just a great backdrop for photos. It's the perfect place to... indulge your hobby or your sweet tooth. Try something new. Shop for a treasure and eat some really great food. Ask anyone who's made memories here. We'll all tell you the same thing. You just gotta see Greendale!
[camera shutter clicks]

- Baker: My father taught me that to make great bakery, you have to do it the right way. O&H Danish Bakery, where Kringle traditions begin.

- From the Green Circle Trail to Point Brewery, you'll find more fun in Stevens Point, Wisconsin.

- Twenty-minute commutes, weekends on the lake, warm welcomes, and exciting career opportunities, not to mention all the local flavor. There's a lot to look forward to in Wisconsin. Learn more at InWisconsin.com.

- Thanks to the Friends of Plum Media and to the Friends of PBS Wisconsin.

- So--

- I'd like to get the mold and the spores off my cameraman right now.
[laughs]

- Crew Member: Do you feel bad?

- I feel terrible. Sorry, I didn't mean that, damn.

- Yes, he did!