- [Announcer] Funding for this program is provided in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.

(lively music) (upbeat music) - "R-Town: The Show About Rochester", learns about an upcoming event centering the history and legacy of Freedom House and Emergency Medical Services.

And we catch up with an author and his debut book, "Shaped by Water".

We'll also get our vinyl fix with the Rochester Record Show, and we'll get our rundown of upcoming events in our community.

All that and more coming up on the next "R-Town: The Show About Rochester".

(funky upbeat music) - [Announcer] Coming to you from 125 Live in Rochester, Minnesota: "R-Town".

(funky upbeat music continuing) - We are joined today by local author, Andrew Pruett here to talk to us about his evocative debut book, "Shaped by Water".

Welcome to "R-Town", Andrew.

- Thank you.

I'm so pleased to be here.

I'm excited beyond explanation.

- Well, I'm excited to be holding your, a copy of your book, and also to just have you here.

I haven't been able to read this cover to cover, but I was so moved from the little that I read and the bit I've heard about the work, by the metaphor of water, your connection to water, and just your life stories.

Can you just share with us a little bit about how this book even got started?

- Well, it's an interesting story.

Like many of us, I was deeply affected by Covid, and for years, my wife and my mother and my family and friends have all been telling me, "You should write your stories down," "You should write your stories down."

And as Covid rolled and I was part of that first responder group, and I saw people getting sick and I saw people dying, I got more and more depressed, as many of us did.

At some point, the Rochester Public Library put out a contest to write a book about water, and my mother and my wife said, "You need to do this."

Because when I write, I feel better.

And so I, I looked at the contest and I thought, "Okay, I live in Rochester.

There's no way I can win this contest.

And I mean, there's so many doctors and smart people here, but what I'll do is I'm gonna write this book for my son and my nephew, and it'll be the best stories of my life, something for them to remember me by and to look up to me."

And I started writing.

And I started calling people I hadn't talked to in years.

And we shared our stories, we laughed, and it built me up, and I felt better.

My life got better, just because I was in a better place, you know, emotionally.

And the book came out of that connection and that joy.

Anybody who knows me knows that I have lived my life around water, and I spend as much time as I can in the, in that element.

And it's where I go when I need peace, when I need recovery.

There's just something powerful about water.

- I love sort of this theme of legacy, of you being able to leave that legacy for your son and your nephew, and to us now, 'cause we get to share in that as well.

And then also, your connection with water.

So the back of your book here says, "The streams, lakes, rivers and oceans, in these waters I was shaped."

Can you tell us a little bit about how you were shaped by water?

- It started very early, and I have to credit my parents with being amazing parents.

They gave me the courage to do things that I might not otherwise have done.

They shared their courage with me by taking me places, showing me, you know, things I wouldn't have, experiences I wouldn't have had had they not wanted me to have them.

And we traveled to state parks, and then to national parks, and then to foreign countries, and went with my brother and I to these places.

And the water drew us.

So, you know, we did snorkeling in Belize, or we did fishing in Glacier National Park or Yellowstone.

And we, you know, saw the waterfall at Yellowstone.

Went different places, Sylvan Lake in Custer State Park, you know, places that were just beautiful.

But the most important water experience was one that I had over and over again, and oftentimes alone.

So I lived southeast Rochester.

I grew up there before it was Rochester.

Rochester grew over it.

And Bear Creek was a mile from my house.

And I would go with my brother when we would walk to our friend's house that was just next door to the creek.

And if they weren't there, we'd just go to the creek.

And often, I would do this on my own.

And I came to know this place, and I feel like the place came to know me.

And I connected with this.

I would walk down the water, down the stream.

I would walk up the stream.

Camp Kahler was nearby when it was still the Boy Scout camp.

I would go and walk the trails of Camp Kahler when the camp was closed.

And I was a Boy scout, so I would be there.

And I learned the stream in those areas, and it really spoke to me.

I can remember running up the stream as fast as I could and watching my footprints close behind me in the water, you know, as the stream, you know, flowed by.

And the sand was so clean back then, and the water so pure.

And I would do that, and I would jump into these deep pools, you know.

I would cannonball or, you know, just dive in.

And when you're a kid, you can see better underwater.

I could see things, and there was minnows everywhere, and it was so joyful.

- Andrew, this is an amazing image.

And so, so much a part of the creative and the imaginative voice that you bring to the, to your stories as well, retelling these.

Thank you so much for being with us today, and thank you for sharing, and we, everyone should go get a copy from the local author.

(chuckling) Thank you for joining us.

- You're welcome.

It was my pleasure.

(funky upbeat music) (funky upbeat music continuing) - Be sure to stick around.

We have much more coming your way on "R-Town".

It's Pumpkin Spice Latte season, and we head over to a local coffee shop to learn how the owners got their start.

We also learn about a health equity summit, featuring the history of Black emergency medical professionals.

But up first, we explore all the vintage vinyl CDs and music memorabilia at Little Thistle's Rochester Record Show in this week's "R-Culture" segment.

(upbeat rock music) - We generally try to be within a couple of hours of the Twin Cities, just because the majority of our vendors actually come from the Twin Cities, so that makes it easy for them to get to the show and back in the same day, without having to stay overnight.

My name is Tim Schloe, it's S-C-H-L-O-E, and I am the co-event manager of the Rochester Record Show.

♪ You know I'm mad for you ♪ ♪ And everything you do.

♪ - We'll have, you know, usually, three to 400 people will come through throughout the day.

Now, in the last 10 or 15 years, I've seen a big shift to, you know, kids just outta high school or in college coming with mom and dad.

And mom and dad have decided to dust off their record player and the records would start collecting again.

♪ Your life is easy ♪ - We're seeing it over and over and over.

People are looking for Fleetwood Mac, they're looking for Boston records.

I mean, they're looking for Led Zeppelin records.

I mean, those are the records that people want over and over.

♪ I looked out this morning and the sun was gone ♪ - There isn't as much of it in the '90s, because they just weren't pressing much in terms of vinyl.

So we're starting to see a repress of some of those items that did come on the '90s, because they just, they made so little of it.

I mean, even an album, even a release like Bob Dylan even in Europe, they might have, in the '90s, they might have done one pressing, and that's it.

And I mean, those records will sell 300, 400, 500, $600, because they made one run and that's it.

♪ The air is getting hotter ♪ - They're still releases to this date that I can listen to and I know, as soon as I put that release on, I can remember the very first time I heard it, where I heard it, what I was doing.

I mean, records and music in general are just a timestamp.

People want records that make them feel good about a time that's passed.

♪ It doesn't haunt me like it did before ♪ ♪ I been walking through the middle of nowhere ♪ - In the 1970s, there were people from the United Kingdom that came over and documented stampers at Sun Records, and they never found a stamper for the 45.

The 78 has been available.

That's somewhere in the three to $4,000 range.

But the 45, I was the first one to ever turn up a copy of it.

And if you go to their website, they'll have information that the first copy was turned up in Minnesota.

♪ Greyhound, greyhound ♪ ♪ Why you wanna treat me mean ♪ - There used to be two twin girls that went to one of the shows in the Twin Cities that only collected David Bowie records.

(lively '70s music) ♪ I know when to go out ♪ - There used to be a woman that came to the record shows that only collected Tiny Tim records, and dressed like Tiny Tim, and wore the kinda outfits that you would expect.

♪ I'm so happy ♪ ♪ Aha!

Happy go-lucky me ♪ ♪ I just go my way, living every day ♪ - We do a show in the spring and the fall, and we do a show in the Twin Cities every other month, and we do some smaller shows in other breweries throughout the Twin Cities.

So if you don't make this one, just give us a follow on our Facebook page and find out when the next one's coming.

♪ My fine ♪ ♪ Living in the sunlight ♪ ♪ Loving in the moonlight ♪ ♪ Having a wonderful time ♪ - [Announcer] For more information about this story and other "R-Town" features, connect with us on Facebook, Twitter @KSMQ#RTown, or ksmq.org/rtown.

(lively music) - Hi, this is Danielle Teal with "R-Town Spotlight".

I'm so excited to be back, and we have a fabulous guest today.

Marlo Zosel, welcome.

- Thank you.

- We're gonna talk a little bit about life coaching and wellness.

That's your forte.

Share more about what that consists of.

- Well, right away, the first thing I think of with wellness is doing the small habits every day that help keep our bodies and our minds healthy.

- Micro practices.

What are some things that you recommend daily that people should do, especially as we transition from fall into winter.

People are gonna be indoors a lot.

What would you recommend?

- Well, first of all, I know this sounds maybe cliche, but hydrate.

In the winter, we actually use a lot more water than we intake, so hydrate first.

But then, as far as mindset goes, because it's getting darker, we have less daylight hours, we have to find things that bring us joy.

So practicing those things.

- I know for me, staying hydrated is a real struggle.

How do you stay motivated to remember to drink the water and all that good stuff?

- Well, the best tip I have for that is use a cup with a straw.

The bigger the cup, the better.

I know there's a lot of kids walking around with those Stanley mugs with the handles.

- That's the hot thing right now.

- Right.

Well, and they're great.

Like, you drink a lot more water when you have a straw.

- That's great.

And so you mentioned, you know, it's gonna get dark soon.

What are some things that people that may need that vitamin D can do indoors?

- Well, first of all, you got to move your body.

I mean, I know that doesn't create vitamin D, but it does help with the, just your cells moving, your brain being active.

And as far as getting actual vitamin D, taking supplements, or even getting outside when it's not sunny.

We still get a little bit outside, even though only this much of our face is showing.

- That's great.

So share a little bit more about yourself.

What made you decide to do this type of stuff?

- I love helping people become a little bit better versions of themselves in small, easy ways.

So if we try to take on everything at once to make changes in our lives, it never really goes that well.

- It's overwhelming- - It is.

- if people do that.

- Yes.

So just taking small steps to make improvements in different areas that people want to improve.

And that's what I like doing.

- What's one thing somebody can do just to get started if they're not feeling that motivation, a little lag?

- They have to decide what's most important to them, and then make one little shift in that area.

So it's not a one size fits all.

Everyone needs to decide for themselves what's really important.

- That's awesome.

Where can folks find out more information about you?

- Right away, they can email me, and that's kind of where the conversation starts.

- Awesome.

And do you have a presence on social media?

- I do.

Just my name, Marlo Zosel.

- Perfect.

Awesome.

Well, we'll send people that way.

- Thank you.

- Thanks so much for being on our show.

This is Danielle Teal with "R-Town Spotlight".

(lively music) - Hello again.

This is Michael Wojcik with your "R-Town Rundown".

It's that time of the year again, where you're gonna see a lot of peepers, the kind that look at leaves, not the other kind that end up in jail.

There's a lot of great places that you can see the foliage in Rochester.

A couple of places that I would recommend would be Indian Heights Park, that's absolutely gorgeous right now.

Quarry Hill is another fantastic place.

And if you want to see some amazing red maples, put Fox Knoll Drive into your GPS and check that out.

This weekend is probably gonna be peak, so get out there and enjoy it.

Also going on right now, we actually have things to vote for.

There are elections going on, and early voting is going on.

There are two questions that are on the ballot, and we don't necessarily tell you which way to vote, but we want to let you know to vote.

The first question has to do with a technology referendum for the schools.

Encourage you to read up on what that would go for and address some technology needs within the school district.

The second, which is a little bit more complex, is an extension of the sales tax for the city of Rochester.

We've had a half cent voter-approved sales tax for a long time.

This would be a continuation of that tax.

Some of the funding would go to support housing, our streets maintenance, our flood control, and there's also a recreational facilities amount that's in there as well.

Now, the City Council initially had tried to break this into different pieces, but that ended up being overruled.

And as a result of that, the one question will be for all of it.

If you wanna get more information on that, the Chamber of Commerce is putting on an info session on Tuesday, October 24th, in the evening.

You can register on their website.

Also going on, on Sunday night is going to be the Rochester Pops Halloween Concert.

You can attend that event in person.

Also, two other concerts that happen to be going on on Saturday night, Rochester Chamber Music has a event going on at Christ United Methodist Church, and also going on at Thesis, cover recommended but not required, three local bands are going to be performing.

Go in and enjoy that music as well.

This has been Michael Wojcik, and that's just a little of what's going on in Rochester.

(lively accordion music) - This is Danielle Teal with "R-Town Walkabout".

We're at Roasted Bliss, off of Civic Center Drive.

Ali Johnson, good to see you, - Good to see you too.

- One of the owners.

And the baked goods are delicious.

So let's talk about, oh, is it a controversy or not?

Pumpkin spice.

- Oh, man.

(laughing) - Is that a popular product here?

- It is, yep.

- Okay.

- Yeah.

And I personally am not someone who likes pumpkin spice.

♪ Dun-Dun-Dun ♪ - at all, unless- - But I do.

I do.

But there are other things you mentioned that were super popular.

What are those?

- Well, chai tea.

- Okay.

- That's one.

And actually, a new drink that we just started is apple cider and chai mixed together.

- [Danielle] Ooh, that sounds really good.

- You still get the autumn feel, and if you're someone that doesn't like pumpkin pie or pumpkin spice, you know, you can go that route.

- I love it.

Tell us a little bit about the journey getting here.

- Oh, my goodness.

So Steph and I have been planning for almost, it seems like two years now, what a new location would look like.

And we wanted to make it more of a destination, as opposed to just coffee and bakery, and a place where you can come and sit down and it feels like home.

- [Danielle] Which I noticed, as soon as somebody walked in, you gave them a hug.

You know their names.

Why was this so important to you to start this business?

- It's really important.

Both Steph and I are are obviously women, and to have a female-owned business and, takes a lot of sweat and hard work and effort.

But it's so worth it to be able to get those hugs from customers.

And you know, we did a donation to the Jam Rockets, and they sent a thank you note, and it's just so heartfelt.

Unlike other chain coffee shops, it's got the family feel.

So, you know, we, we like to engage with our employees, and, you know, if they've had a bad day, sit down and take that time with them.

The customer's going through something, and just be that ear for them.

And at the end of the day, throw in all the frills and just make it feel extra special when you walk in the door.

- [Danielle] A little love in a cup, right?

- Yes.

- Roasted Bliss.

Thank you so much, Ali.

- Yeah.

Thank you.

- This is Danielle Teal, with "R-Town Walkabout".

(lively music) - The University of Minnesota Rochester's Health CORE is hosting a fall retreat this weekend.

Here to tell us more about this event and its featured theme is Health CORE coach and coordinator, Dr. Ali.

Welcome back to "R-Town", Dr. Ali.

- Thank you for having me.

It's my pleasure to be here.

- Can you remind us, before we jump into the retreat and it's importance, a little bit about what the Health CORE is?

- Health CORE is a scholarship program, and the students who are involved in the scholarship program as part of a living learning community are mostly low-income students, underrepresented students, first-generation students.

So the scholarship provides them with, of course, financial support to help with that tuition, as well as social and community support.

- The retreat theme this year is entitled "Uncovering the Legacy of Freedom House and Emergency Medical Services".

UMR, of course, has a healthcare and health focus.

Can you tell us a little bit about Freedom House, and why this theme is so important this year?

- Freedom House Ambulance Service is actually the first in emergency services program in the United States.

It was developed between 1967 and 1975 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

What has made it unique is that the persons who were trained to be the paramedics, the first paramedics in the United States, happened to be African-American males and females.

And the wonderful aspect of this whole program is that we have one of the original members of Freedom House who is our guest speaker, one of our guest speakers, John Moon, who retired as the Assistant for Emergency Services for the City of Pittsburgh.

- So he was trained when Freedom House was still training- - Yes.

- even paramedics.

So he'll be part of the program.

- Yes.

- Can you tell us a little bit about the other types of events and programming that are going to be part of this retreat?

- This retreat will also involve information about the field of emergency services, in addition to the background on Freedom House Ambulance Service.

And for the fun stuff, we have hands-on mannequins that participants will be able to spend time with, and they will be involved, what is called Stop the Bleed, and then open the airways for pediatric or adult patients.

And we have lunch, as well as some small group discussions, talking about the different characteristics of people that are needed to become emergency services workers, whether or not it's paramedics, flight nurses, or emergency services physicians.

So, because we're UMR, we're also focused on career options.

And, yeah, so it's a range of activities.

- That's wonderful.

I was remiss in following up about the Freedom House question, the unique part aspect of it being that it was Black men and women who were part of that.

But can you tell us a little bit about why Freedom House started?

- Freedom House started, my understanding is, because there was little or no emergency services that was appropriate for people who lived in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, which was a very low-income, predominantly African American neighborhood in Pittsburgh.

At that time, emergency services were provided either by the police, or by a hearse, you know, when you're deceased.

So, and the police did not have any special training at that time in terms of how to be a first responder.

And because of a major incident that had occurred with one of the former mayors, I believe, of Pittsburgh, who died.

He was within a mile or two of the hospital, but because there was no adequate procedure process or services, the person died.

That was the catalyst for Dr. Peter Safar to start talking to different people about the need for ambulance services.

So in the whole process of dealing with the history of Freedom House, there are some very important people that need to be recognized.

One of them, of course, is Dr. Peter Safar, who anybody can look up on Wikipedia.

He was nominated for three Nobel Prizes.

He is the father of CPR.

Because of a tragic incident in his own family, he learned how to develop CPR.

The things that we use every day now, that we get trained through with Red Cross, somebody had to develop, and Dr. Safar was that person.

One of the other important people from Freedom House was Dr. Nancy Caroline.

And because of Dr. Nancy Caroline's work in, you call it Operations Management, and because she actually rode along with the paramedics and the workers after they were trained, she developed a book dealing with "Emergency Services in the Street".

I may be off on the title, but that book, in terms of how paramedics should be trained what to do on the job with different types of conditions of patients, is the standard that is still used today.

I think the book is in it's like ninth printing.

But of course all references to Freedom House have been pretty much obliterated, or very tiny print.

- So it's such a wonderful opportunity this weekend to be highlighting Freedom House, to be highlighting that legacy.

It seems like emergency medical services, as we understand them, is indebted to that history and to that legacy.

As we close up here, can you tell us if the retreat is open to the public and who can participate, and when it is?

- The retreat is open to the public.

We felt that this was information that needed to be shared.

The event is happening on Saturday morning, the 21st, October 21st, starting at 9:00 AM.

It'll run from 9:00 AM to 1:15 PM.

And we have invited guests from the Community Engage Response team, who are bringing middle school and high school students.

- Wonderful.

Well, thank you so much for sharing, Dr. Ali.

We hope to see you again soon.

And thank you all for joining us today.

I hope you learned as much as I did about all that's going on in our city and the wonderful people making it happen.

For more great content produced right here in Rochester, please be sure to check us out on Facebook and Twitter at #RTown.

I'm Nicole Nfonoyim-Hara, host of "R-Town: The Show About Rochester", and I'll see you next time.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continuing) (upbeat music continuing) - [Announcer] Funding for this program is provided in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.