Ice, Ice Hawkey

Happy holidays, Rochester!  How you been? Things are good on this end.  The start date for the newest unpaid interns (read: forthcoming twins) is only a few weeks away!  And while the current unpaid intern (read: wife) may disagree with this assessment, the time has really flown by!  Plus, as a favor to all of you, I’ve asked the RCVB to have a make-up person accompany me on future outings to address the giant bags that will soon be under my eyes. 

With winter in full swing, it was time to turn our attention back to every Minnesotan’s favorite ice sport.  Unfortunately, Rochester doesn’t have a bobsled track, so I instead chose to focus on hockey.

As a youth hockey player growing up in Rochester, I always loved going to Mustangs games, so I was sad when the team folded in 2002.  Thankfully, the IceHawks were able to step in and seamlessly fill that niche.

The Ice Hawks organization is part of the Minnesota Junior Hockey League (MnJHL) and “is dedicated to providing players with the skills, attitudes, and experiences to succeed at the collegiate level and to reach full academic, social, and athletic potential.”  The MnJHL currently has sixteen teams located throughout the Midwest.

The matchup on this particular night was the Ice Hawks vs. the Dells Ducks, who unbeknownst to them, were about to get blown out.  Go Hawks!

 

In addition to being an excellent opportunity to take in some hockey, Ice Hawks games are heavily focused on providing the best fan and family experience possible.  They have numerous in-game giveaways, their mascot roams the stands to interact with all the kids, and during intermissions they hold fan contests.

 

Don’t be alarmed, however.  The fan-friendliness isn’t at the expense of the hockey in any way.  The game is fast-paced and exciting, plus, it’s still old school enough that the refs let the teams settle scores on the ice.

 

In another intermission contest, I tried my hand at throwing a puck and landing it in a bucket located at center ice.  Two of my throws were off target from the get-go.  However, one was on a great line, but I shorted it and it bounced over.  My failure was quickly forgotten, though, because the Ice Hawks have all the little kids in attendance come down and help them pick up the pucks. Watching little kids try to stay upright while running around on the ice will put a smile on anyone’s face.

One of the coolest things about the Ice Hawks games is that after the game, families are allowed to go skating on the ice, and the players come back out to join them. It’s a great opportunity for fan/player interaction and really encapsulates the team’s goal of not only playing exciting hockey, but making sure the fans have a great time as well. 

 

The Ice Hawks’ season goes through the end of February, so be sure to get out and enjoy a game before then!

 

Coming Up in My Next Post:
Look out below, because I’m heading out to Ironwood Springs Christian Ranch for some snow tubing.  Ironwood provides your tubes, and even has a tow rope to eliminate those pesky walks back up the hill once you’ve reached the bottom.  A younger Brent would already be estimating how big of a jump he could make, but the older, wiser blogger that types before you today now realizes that he can get hurt and will try to keep the tube on the ground at all times.  Until then!

‘Cause It’s a Pretty Sweet Symphony

Ah-lo, Rochester! I realized that I completely forgot to tell you in my last post that the newest unpaid interns (read: forthcoming twins) are a boy and a girl! Everything is progressing wonderfully with them, however making space in our house for these two is really putting the hurt on all the random collectibles (do not read: junk) I’ve been stockpiling since childhood. I mentioned in my Gold Rush post that I thought the unpaid intern could come around these items, however, that’s looking pretty unlikely at this point.

The Rochester Symphony Orchestra and Chorale recently kicked off their 2012-2013 season with a show titled “Beginnings”.  The current unpaid intern (read: wife) and forthcoming unpaid interns were out of town, so I wrangled up a temporary unpaid music intern (read: my mom) to come with me.

“Beginnings” is a show designed to feature: “the first hints of a new musical genre; the first success of a budding young composer; and the long awaited debut that was decades in the making.”

And just what are those works, you ask?  In the same order as above, they are:

·         Ludwig von Beethoven’s “Overtureto Goethe’s Tragedy Egmont”  

·         Max Bruch’s “ConcertoNo. 1 in G Minor for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 26”

·         Johannes Brahms’ “SymphonyNo 1. In C Minor, Op. 68”

The show also featured, “especially close to Rochester hearts, the first flowering of a young, gifted artist at the dawn of her career.” This quote is in reference to Jennifer Kim, a senior at Century High School, who made her debut with the Rochester Symphony.  Jennifer has performed at Orchestra Hall and the Kennedy Center with various orchestras, and most recently appeared as a soloist with the Austin Symphony and the Minneapolis Pops Orchestra.

The unpaid music intern and I found our seats, and soon Jere Lantz, the Music Director and Conductor, began leading the symphony in “Overture to Goethe’s Tragedy Egmont”.  I haven’t been to a symphony concert in years, and you forget just how full the sound can be when 50+ people are contributing to it.  You don’t just hear the music, you feel it, and not in a “we just turned everything up to 11” kind of way.

After that performance had finished, the aforementioned Jennifer Kim joined the symphony for the “Concerto No. 1 in G Minor for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 26”.  From the get-go, she had the entire audience captivated.  The grace with which she performed made the amazing things she was doing seem effortless.  The audience couldn’t spring to their feet fast enough when she was finished!  Undoubtedly, this young woman has a very bright future ahead of her.

The next RSOC show is being held Saturday, November 17 and is titled “Heroes and Veterans”.  For more information, and to purchase tickets, visit their website. They are also seeking photographs for a photochoreography tribute to regional heroes lost in war or armed conflict. These photos will be used in a video choreographed to a RSOC performance of John William's "Hymn to the Fallen" from the film Saving Private Ryan.  For more information, or to send photos, please email info@rochestersymphony.org.

Coming Up in My Next Post:
I’ll be touring Assisi Heights, a convent which is home to the Sisters of Saint Francis and sits atop a gorgeous hilltop location that overlooks Rochester. I used to attend their Christmas Eve services when I was a kid, but I’m looking forward to seeing the whole grounds for the first time. Until then!

We're Jamming

I’m pretty stoked that this post covers roller derby!  I remember watching it as a kid and being completely transfixed by it.  Sure, I may not have grasped all the rules of the game, but it didn’t matter.  I just sat there hoping that there would be either a whip or someone knocked over the rail.

Roller derby’s popularity has made quite a resurgence over the past few years and has now come to Rochester in the form of the MedCity Mafia, a 13 member team that will be mixing it up on the track with other teams from around the region.

For those unfamiliar with the rules of roller derby, I will offer this concise explanation that comes straight from the team’s Facebook page: “Roller derby is a contact sport played by two teams of five members roller skating in the same direction around a track. Game play consists of a series of short matchups ("jams") in which both teams designate a scoring player (the "jammer") who scores points by lapping members of the opposing team. The teams attempt to assist their own jammer while hindering the opposing jammer —in effect playing both offense and defense simultaneously.”  Got it?  Good!

A scheduling conflict led to the unpaid interns (read: wife and forthcoming twins) sitting this one out, but thankfully I was able to dig into the rolodex and find a new crew to roll with. We pulled up to the Graham Arena in style (read: our new minivan) and strutted in to watch some full-contact battle. 

Once we were inside the arena, I snapped a few pictures and quickly realized that these girls were skating way too fast for my point-and-shoot Canon to handle.  Luckily, there were some pros on-hand that I could reach out to! Erin Dunn of Fine Exposures Portrait and Design Studio was also at the bout, and she shot the beautiful pictures used in this post.  So a big “thank you” to Erin!   

Another thing that I noticed right away was that adult beverages were only $4.00! Now, I’m not saying you can judge an event entirely by the price of its libations, but serving $4.00 drinks would seem to be quite an olive branch between attendees and concessions! They had me at “four doll-”.

With our beverages in tow, we found some seats and got ready for game time.  After a MedCity Mafioso sang the national anthem, it was time to get underway! 

If you haven’t attended a roller derby bout before, I’d highly recommend finding seats in the nose-bleed section.  I know they’re further away, but getting a bird’s eye view of the action can really help familiarize you with the scoring and the strategy behind the game.  Personally, I found it quite helpful.

You also realize very quickly just how rough roller derby can be.  Not only are you getting knocked down on concrete, but a lot of the nastiest falls appear to be the result of hitting someone else’s skates on the way down.  There were EMT’s on hand, but I think there were only two or three injury timeouts throughout the entire bout… These girls are tough! 

 

Though the Mafia found themselves on the low end of the scoreboard, the mood after the bout was quite jovial.  Roller derby appears to be much like rugby in the fact that, after you get done knocking each other around, the participants leave any bad blood on the field/track, and everyone heads to an after-gathering somewhere to celebrate (in this case, Mickey’s Irish Saloon).

 

MedCity Mafia’s next bout is November 3^rd, 2012, at the Mayo Civic Center.  For ticket information, be sure to check their Facebook page.

Coming Up in My Next Post:
I’m off to the Rochester Symphony Orchestra and Chorale’s show “Beginnings”.  The season-opening program features artists at their beginning.  “Max Bruch began his career with Violin Concerto No.1 in G Minor, Op. 68, which was his first successful composition. Brahms, for decades, wrote and rewrote his famous "First Symphony."  Though he had written overtures earlier, Beethoven's "Egmont" was the first to truly tell a story. And Rochester's own teenage virtuoso, Jennifer Kim, at the start of a bright career, performs a beginning that will make us all proud. “  See you then!

Orchard You Glad I Didn’t Say Banana?

How’s it going Rochester?  Getting all your homework done now that school is back in session?  You’d better be!

Things are going well on this side of the monitor!  In a few days we’ll know the genders of our newest unpaid interns (read: forthcoming twins), so things are all atwitter in the Westra household.  Plus, perennial football powerhouses Minnesota and Northwestern sit atop the Big 10 Legend’s division, so things are status quo in college football.

As I mentioned in the teaser of my last post, a trip to an apple orchard officially makes it fall, even if it technically doesn’t arrive until this weekend.  So if you’re unhappy about some of the leaves turning already, you can go ahead and blame the RCVB for dispatching me on this adventure to Sekapp Orchard.

Sekapp Orchard is a family run business that’s been open for over 50 years!  It sits on the eastern edge of Rochester, on more than 170 acres, and grows over 100 varieties of fruits and vegetables!  

It’s primary specialty, however, is apples.  They have over 7,000 trees growing more than 25 different kinds apples! Visitors can walk through the salesroom and check out all the different types, or if it’s a weekend, you can pick your own!

 

By the time the unpaid interns (read: wife and forthcoming twins) and I arrived at Sekapp Orchard, they were hungry.  This is an understandable, and frequent occurrence these days, so we walked into the showroom and grabbed a caramel apple to tide us over.  Two bites in, we knew it was the right decision.

While the apples in the showroom looked delicious, we were really excited to pick our own, so we jumped aboard the wagon and headed out.   After a relaxing tractor/wagon ride (another harbinger of fall!), we got our game faces on.

The rows of trees are clearly labeled by apple type, so you can taste your way down each one (encouraged by the staff!) while looking for gems to add to your bag.  In retrospect, I should have brought stilts, because looking at all those beautiful apples that are just out of reach really makes you wish you were a little bit taller. Though, I must say, the Greek gods really knew what they were doing with that whole Tantalus thing!

Since our household is big on baking applecrisp, we went heavy on Haralsons.  We also made sure to get plenty of Honeycrisps (Go Gophers!), because I’m pretty sure a sheriff comes and revokes your Minnesota residency status if you don’t.

After we had each picked a peck, we hopped back in the wagon, paid for the literal fruits of our labor, and headed home.  The resulting apple crisp was amazing!

In addition to apples and produce, Sekapp Orchard also has a pumpkin patch, hay-bale maze, and corn stalk maze, so there are plenty of things for the kids to do once they’ve gotten their fill of picking. 

 

Coming Up in My Next Post
Break out the jams!  The Med-City Mafia Roller Derby Team has an upcoming bout against St. Cloud’s S.C.A.R. Dolls and I can’t wait to go!  It’ll be my first time attending a bout, though I participated in many make-shift ones with my brother when we were younger.  We had an unfinished basement and our rollerblades (not proper equipment, but all we had) just glided along the concrete… until you were upended into the sheetrock.  For more information on the bout, visit Med-City Mafia’s Facebook page.

Get Him to the Greek Fest!

The fact that I have to retire all of my seersucker clothes until May often makes Labor Day weekend a little sad for me.  However, this year I was able to bounce back in a big way because Greek Fest was going on!

The unpaid interns (read: wife and forthcoming twins) were a little sleepy, so they decided to tag out and let the unpaid culinary intern (read: mother-in-law) join me once again!  When we last saw the unpaid culinary intern, she and I were throwing back plates of food at the Rochester World Festival, so this seemed like an excellent time to get her back punching the unpaid clock.

As we walked up to the festival grounds, we were treated to a dance from the Greek Dancers of Minnesota, who adorned gorgeous Greek garbs and performed throughout the festival (for a collection of videos featuring the Greek Dancers of Minnesota at Rochester’s Greek Fest, be sure to visit their YouTube Channel.

 

After a few minutes of spectating, we heeded the call of our noses and floated towards the food vendors.  In order to keep our bases covered, the unpaid culinary intern and I decided to each get different items and then share them.  She elected to go with a chicken gyro and spanakopita, and I decided on a traditional gyro and some souvlaki. We did, however, decide that it would be best to overlap on our beer selection of Mythos.

In addition to having a variety of items to choose from, Rochester’s Greek Fest also had a big vinyl banner to let attendees know they catered to the needs of vegetarians a la "My Big Fat Greek Wedding". Unfortunately, I was too distracted by the food in front of me to get a picture of it. 
 

We finished off our feast and decided that letting our stomachs settle for a little while before dessert would be a good idea, so we walked through the silent auction items and explored the vendor tables. 

 

However, the dessert timetable was accelerated when we realized there was a bake sale going on! We couldn’t really decide what sounded best, so we just purchased a couple of almost everything. 

The awesomey goodness you see above includes the following:

- Melomakarona (meh loh mah kah' roh nah): Spice cookie, dipped in honey and topped with nuts

- Kataifa (kah tah ee' fee): Ouzo flavored walnut filling between layers of shredded fillo, baked and drenched in syrup
- Diples (thee' plehs): thins trips of egg dough fried and dipped in honey and topped with cinnamon
- Baklava (bah klah vah): Coarsely ground walnuts layered with buttered fillo, baked and drenched with syrup.

I’d enjoyed baklava before, but the other three were new to me. And because I’m such a committed blogger, I made sure to try each of them thoroughly (I can’t disappoint my readers).  While they were all delicious, melomakaronas were definitely my favorite.

In order to avoid a night on the couch, I made sure we saved a couple items for the unpaid interns (read: wife and forthcoming twins) waiting at home.  Once our “to go” goods were secured, the culinary intern and I headed back home to share our Greek Fest bounty.

Coming Up in My Next Post
It’s officially going to be fall on the VisitRochesterMN blog!  Not because of my annual Gophers to the Rose Bowl prediction (totally true this year, by the way), but because I’m off to Sekapp Orchard.  Sekapp Orchard has been in business for more than 50 years and has over 7,000 apple trees of more than 25 varieties!  You can even go for a wagon ride and pick your own!  Until then…

After the Gold Rush

Wie geht’s, Rochester?  Unfortunately, before we jump into the awesomeness that is Gold Rush Days, I have some sad, Jetta-related news to announce.  Because the unpaid intern (read: wife) and I are expecting twins, the gently used (read: beat to hell) ‘99 Jetta with one hubcap has been replaced by a minivan.  Yep, you read that right.  A minivan.  We went for it.

Now, on to official business!  As I mentioned in my previous post, I’m an enthusiastic collector of random things.  If I go to a garage sale, you’d better believe I’m leaving with something!  I tend to drift toward the nostalgic side of things, but I’m willing to make exceptions if some item is totally awesome. 

I’m also going to take a moment to go on record and say that the unpaid intern (read: wife) is not really on board with all of these awesome things I collect.  As a result, most of them are relegated to our basement where they yearn to be called up into the spotlight.  I’m not worried, though. She’ll come around one of these days.

For a garage sale enthusiast, Gold Rush Days is like going to Disneyland, but a little more Matterhoard than Matterhorn.  It features over 400 vendors and 1,200 booths selling antiques and collectibles.

The unpaid intern and I parked and began walking towards the action.  As soon as we reached the edge of the grounds, we could see that vendors and booths were sprawled out as far as the eye could see.  I swear I heard angels singing. 
Now, because you and I are friends, I’m about to give you a nickel’s worth of free advice when it comes to Gold Rush Days (or any flea market for that matter).

Tip #1: Be prepared to dig!
Shopping at Gold Rush Days is a lot like going to a used record store.  If you want to find hidden gems, be prepared to dig deep for them (and don’t forget to Purell your hands afterwards).  If you see a stack of books, you need to physically go through it verify that a first edition of your favorite book from childhood isn’t hiding in there.

Tip #2: You MUST haggle!
When it comes to purchasing things like starting lineup figures from the 1989 Minnesota Twins team, there isn’t exactly a list price.  So go ahead and start shaving numbers off that sticker (if there is one).  Plus, when it comes to collectibles, it’s important to remember that they’re worth only what someone is willing to pay for them!  Sure, the guide might say they’re worth $XYZ, but if no one is willing to pay that for them, $XYZ is just a number.

 

Tip #3: Bring cash of all denominations!
Having a variety of bills will ensure that every dollar you work to shave off that price won’t be immediately given back with the “I don’t have that many singles” comeback.  This strategy is deployed more often than you’d think, and somehow, it always works in the seller’s favor. Don’t let them off the hook!

 

Tip #4: Never forget the size of the car that brought you!
Now that you’ve made out like a bandit, you don’t want to be forced to leave your goods behind while you make multiple trips back to your house.  If there’s a chance you’re going home with a stuffed ostrich, make sure you’ve got room for it! It’s like OregonTrail. Sure, it’s fun to shoot 3 buffalo, 2 deer and some rabbits in a single hunt, but some of the carcass-sparkle fades when you can only carry 200 pounds back to your wagon.  The same rule applies in this situation.

After a few productive hours, I sensed that the unpaid intern was beginning to fade. So it was time to purchase any last items on my radar and hit the road.  We got back to the wagon, caulked it and floated home.

Coming up in my next post:
Greece is the time, is the place, is the motion! I’m off to Greek Fest!  As their website states, “Being Greek is as much a state of mind as it is a nationality. It’s relishing the world around us and enjoying life to its fullest. Any joyous Greek Function is only complete with music, singing, dancing and fabulous food.”  Who wouldn’t want to go after reading that?  Exactly.

Take Me to the River!

How’s it going, Rochester?  Been able to shake your Olympic hangover?  Well, in order aid your recovery I adopted the NBC model for this post and delayed its release until prime time! 

In other exciting news, the unpaid intern (read: wife) and I recently found out that we’re expecting two more unpaid interns (read: twins) in mid- to late- January!  While the shock of everything hasn’t quite worn off, we’re ecstatic and expecting them to start helping with the blog in February!

You’ll be thrilled to hear Mother Nature quit being a prima donna and allowed Bill Plantan, the owner of River Ridge Custom Canoes, to take me out for a guided day-trip of canoeing and fishing along the Zumbro River.

Like many companies, River Ridge Custom Canoes was founded to fulfill an unmet need.  Always an avid fisherman, Bill had been making modifications to his canoes to make them more fisherman friendly.  However, making modifications to other manufacturer’s canoes became tiring, so Bill decided to create a canoe “for anglers, by anglers” from scratch. 

His finished product has become “the ultimate craft for your small waters”! They’ve been shipped all over the world (192 to Japan alone), been featured in numerous TV shows and publications, and their popularity has seen Bill guide canoe trips for numerous celebrities… most recently Vikings quarterback (and Super Bowl XLVII MVP) Christian Ponder.  In fact, his outing with Christian will be featured on “Minnesota Bound” and will air on KARE 11 on Sunday, September 9^th at 10:30 PM, as well as on KTTC on Saturday, September 15^th at 6:30 AM.

In addition to making and selling the canoes, Bill also offers guided trips on eleven different rivers throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin. He can accommodate up to three people at a time, and clients can choose between a full-day outing or a two-day camping trip.

I arrived at Bill’s house bright and early… for me.  I add the “for me” into that sentence because within minutes of meeting him, you can tell Bill is one of those guys that shoots out of bed before dawn, always eager to see what the day has in-store for him.  My suspicions were confirmed shortly thereafter when Bill mentioned, “I set my alarm for 3:21 every morning… 3,2,1, Blast-off!”  This type of passion and energy is always infectious, so I was immediately excited to get on the river!

Bill chose a stretch of the Zumbro River between the towns of Zumbro Falls and Hammond for our outing, so we headed north, dropped off my chariot (read: 1999 VW Jetta with only one hubcap) off in Hammond, and continued on to our launch site.

Once we were on the river, you could just tell it was going to be a perfect day.  The river was serene, the trees along the riverbanks were Bob Ross-esque, and any semblance of heat was kept at bay by a cool breeze.  Bill gave me some tutorials and pointers on my casting form (it needs a lot of work!) and we floated downstream looking to reel in some aquatic friends.

Another great thing about having Bill as a guide is hearing about his life experiences.   From a previous day job that saw him sell the Rochester School District its first computer, to his time playing in rock bands, to pointing out spots on the river and telling hilarious stories about things that happened in those very spots, each story was a joy to hear.  We even found time to talk a little Frank Zappa.

The conversation, fishing, and scenic beauty continued as we journeyed downstream, and after what seemed like only a split second (but was actually about six hours), Bill and I arrived in Hammond.  We unloaded the canoe, and since Bill’s car was still in Zumbro Falls, we threw the canoe on the roof of the Jetta and headed back to our launch site.  Another successful adventure in the books!

Coming up in my next post:
I’m heading to Oronoco for Gold Rush Days, which features 400 vendors and 1,200 antique and collectable booths!  And believe me, nothing thrills the unpaid intern (read: wife) like me inevitably buying some awesome old collectables to proudly display in our house.  Unfortunately, she and I sometimes disagree on matters of home décor, so there’s a good chance that whatever wonderful treasures I find will be relegated to the basement next to my light-up Heileman’s Old Style sign, giant plastic Nintendo logo, and old school T-wolves mini basketball hoop.  Until next time!