WTIU members.

Thank you!

>> BRANDON: Coming up.

>> ASHLEY: Strap in for a bumpy ride at the Madison Regatta.

>> BRANDON: Learn how a sweet winter treat is made.

>> ASHLEY: Hear the story of a unique musical family business.

>> BRANDON: And explore a one-of-a-kind-collection of southern Indiana memorabilia.

That's all on this episode of -- >> TOGETHER: "Journey Indiana"!

♪ >> ASHLEY: Welcome to "Journey Indiana."

I'm Ashley Chilla.

>> BRANDON: And I'm Brandon Wentz.

And we're coming to you from the Lanier Mansion in Madison.

A national historic landmark, the Lanier Mansion is considered the crown jewel of the Madison Historic District.

The nearly 10,000 square foot mansion was built in 1844 by Madison pioneer and investment banker James F.D.

Lanier for $25,000 or about $1 million today.

Using local materials, including Indiana limestone, Madison architect Francis Costigan designed the house in the Greek Revival style.

Sitting on 10 acres overlooking the Ohio River, the three-story brick mansion sits on a blue limestone foundation and features large, highly embellished porticos on both the front and rear facades.

The interior of the mansion features twin parlors, a dining room, a library and a kitchen.

A corkscrew staircase leads to the home's four bedrooms, a study, and a dressing room.

In 1925, the building was gifted to the state of Indiana and has been run as a historic house museum since then.

In the 1990s, it was restored to its original grandeur, down to the eye-catching yellow ocher of the exterior.

Today, the Lanier Mansion is maintained by the Indiana State Museum and welcomes visitors year-round.

You can go to Indianamuseum.org to plan your visit.

>> ASHLEY: And what a beautiful 10 acres this is.

I mean, this gorgeous house sits on an amazing piece of land.

>> BRANDON: And even just right here, you can look right out these windows and see this beautiful river going by.

>> ASHLEY: Yeah, and speaking of the river, our next story is going to keep us right here in Madison, where producer Nick Deel takes us out on the water at the Annual Madison Regatta.

>> The city of Madison in Southern Indiana, is a charming river town full of quaint shops and broad boulevards.

♪ But every 4th of July weekend, it transforms into this.

♪ >> There's several port towns all over the nation, but Madison is very unique in its historic tradition that it's kept over the years.

>> You know, this is a river town, and what do you do on a river?

Well, we race boats, and that's how we look at it.

♪ >> Since 1951, the Madison Regatta has been drawing thousands of spectators to the banks of the Ohio River.

It's one of the five stops on the H1 Unlimited Hydroplane Racing Series.

These hydroplanes are the fastest racing boats in the world, reaching speeds in excess of 200 miles an hour.

>> They're monsters!

I mean, they're 30 feet long.

They're 12 feet wide, and then when you throw in the fact that they're going 180 miles an hour, it's really breathtaking to watch one of them up close go by you and to realize a machine is that fast, that close on a substance that we don't think about.

It's one thing to be in the air like an airplane, or even on asphalt, but on water, it's just a unique experience.

>> In order to reach those dizzying speeds, the boats are equipped with turbine engines from Chinook helicopters.

>> The engines turn about 16, 17,000 rpm, and they're right at about 3,000-horsepower.

So I've got 3,000-horsepower turning really fast about 8 feet behind my seat in the boat.

We're feeling about 5 Gs, going from 200 miles an hour, and then turning as hard left as we can.

And so it's a very unique experience.

These boats run so fast because you are literally flying on a cushion of air, a bubble of air, and the higher that you fly the boat up off the water, the faster you go because there's less drag in the water.

>> Jimmy Shane has been the lead driver for Miss Madison, the hometown team, since 2014.

The town is deeply invested in his success, literally.

The team is owned by the city of Madison, all 11,783 residents.

It's a tradition going back to 1961, when industrialist Sam DuPont donated his racing boat Nitrogen to the people of Madison.

>> So if anybody lives in the city limits, like I do, I'm literally an owner of the boat.

So I think the rooting interest that you get from here with that team is a lot different than you get in literally any other sport.

>> It makes it a very meaningful weekend.

This weekend, for sure, Madison Regatta.

We get the entire town.

We get all the surrounding cities.

People come in from Louisville, Detroit, Cincinnati, and you'll see that the park is packed with people.

It really is an honor to be a driver of this team and of this boat, and be a representative of the city.

>> The checkered flag is out.

The crowd is on its feet, and here's the finish of the Gold Cup Race and Miss Madison has won it!

>> In 1971, Miss Madison driver Jim McCormick put the team and the regatta on the map when he won the sport's top prize, the Gold Cup in front of a hometown crowd in Madison.

Back then, boats were powered by World War II aircraft engines, and the drivers were exposed to the open air.

Injuries and even deaths were not uncommon.

Today, drivers are enclosed in covered cockpits.

There's an oxygen supply on board, and boats are equipped with an escape hatch if they roll over.

>> You know, we're doing something on the water that really it's not against physics, but it -- I mean, it's not really natural.

You are not supposed to hover above the water and do 200 mile an hour.

I don't think that was part of God's plan.

>> Obviously, we know that this sport is -- has a lot of high hazards and a lot of risk.

We're doing 200 miles an hour on the water, but at some point, you know, you want to go faster, and so you try to get the boat higher off the water.

The higher you go, the faster you go.

But then you'll hit a limit where they call it the point of no return, and the boat will just get too much air under it, and you cannot recover it.

And the boat will do a complete 360-degree in the air, and you're flying upside down in the air.

>> That's exactly what happened at this year's regatta.

As he jockeyed for position, driver Corey Peabody flipped his boat on the last lap of the race.

>> Peabody has blown over.

He's done a complete 360!

>> Fortunately, he escaped unharmed.

>> Regardless of the risks, or perhaps because of them, H1 Unlimited Hydroplane Racing remains one of the most thrilling and unique sports anywhere in the world.

>> It's something that everyone should really try to experience.

I mean, we all get boxed in to staying in our norms, not trying new foods or going new places.

Get out there and try boat racing.

Like, give it a look.

Because I guarantee if you are into competitive sports, if you are into fast hotrods, you're gonna love boat racing.

>> ASHLEY: So Brandon, here's an idea.

Next regatta, we come -- we bring some chairs.

>> BRANDON: Yeah.

>> ASHLEY: We bring, you know, a cooler.

We sit out here and we watch the regatta from the Lanier Mansion.

>> BRANDON: I thought you were going to say we enter the regatta as Team Journey Indiana.

>> ASHLEY: I don't know if that's a good idea.

>> BRANDON: Yeah, I don't think any of us have the driving skills for that.

>> ASHLEY: Want to learn more?

Head to Madisonregatta.com.

>> BRANDON: Up next, we're headed to Washington County, where producer Reuben Browning explores a sweet winter treat at the LM Sugarbush Farm.

♪ >> The Salem area, it's very scenic.

We have a lot of farmland and rolling hills.

LM Sugarbush is one of Indiana's largest producers and distributors of pure maple syrup.

We have our farm here in Salem, Indiana, and then we also help distribute for our local Amish communities.

So all in all, we distribute about 3,000 gallons of pure maple syrup a year.

♪ The farm was started in the '70s.

So my dad moved here, and he noticed that there were a lot of maple trees in this area.

And so they tapped a few trees and made a couple of gallons of really dark syrup one year.

It's been a producing farm for maple syrup ever since then.

And my sister and I and our husbands bought it from them in 2013.

We changed the name from Leane and Michael Sugarbush to LM Sugarbush, and we've continued on pretty much the same as they did.

It's in our blood now.

It's very addictive.

It's a challenge.

And there's so much that you can't control.

So it's almost like every year is just so unique.

♪ The main thing that's unique here is that our maple trees are condensed on about 40 acres of property.

And that allows us to use our tubing system.

There's some technology that changes with maple syrup making, but most of the equipment that we use here on the farm is from around the time period that the farm was started.

So it's stayed pretty rustic and unique.

♪ The big thing for us is a wood-burning evaporator.

So we still have one of the older style wood-burning evaporators.

We have not switched over to the gas or the diesel, like so many other outfits use now.

So to make maple syrup, the first thing you need is a grove of maple trees.

You want the hard sugar maples, because they produce the highest sugar content.

After you have your maple trees sorted, you pray for weather.

You think you have it figured out, what's going to make the trees run, and then the opposite happens.

You start generally getting the right weather conditions down here around Super Bowl.

And then you want a prolonged period of time where spring is trying to come, but not quite making it.

And once it gets over 55 degrees, the trees start to shut down because it's too hot.

So they're very finicky.

♪ After we've collected the sap, we'll haul it back into the sugar house, where we process it.

We use a reverse osmosis machine to take out about two-thirds of the water.

It does take 45 to 60 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup.

So if you see the sap coming out of a tree, a lot of people are shocked because it looks and tastes like very mildly sweet water.

So we're just having to boil a ton of water out of the sap in order to make the finished product.

So on a day when we collect 5,000 gallons of sap, we think we are doing it great.

And then we bring it back and process it, and we only end up with a few gallons of syrup at the end.

♪ It's a fun time.

It's one of my favorite parts of it, is boiling.

It smells great.

You are warm.

And it's kind of like the reward for all the work to actually see the finished product.

So syrup actually has the widest spectrum of flavors, but it is graded on color and not taste.

So the lighter the syrup is the amber rich.

What we call the middle of the road is a little bit darker, a little bit more flavorful, is dark robust.

And then the very darkest is very dark strong taste.

♪ In 2019, we made our first bourbon barrel maple syrup.

This past year, Angel's Envy was able to give us four port barrels that they had had bourbon in less than 24 hours before we picked it up.

We filled them with our maple syrup very quickly, and we're just now opening them up to bottle them for the festivals.

The Maple Syrup Festival is one of the more unique festivals you will go to.

This is our 30th year of doing it.

On good years with good weather, we will have between 10 and 15,000 people show up.

We have food.

We have music.

We have vendors.

We have maple syrup.

We have educational opportunities.

I always say it's like planning four weddings on the same location on the same weekend in the middle of the winter.

We also have a cowboy shoot-out.

They set up in our front yard and do two shows a day with a lot of gunfire.

So it's just -- it's an interesting combination of things.

We've tried to make it super open and welcoming to everybody.

♪ And for us, it's not about money.

You know, we work our day jobs.

We try to be successful in those careers, and we like to make a little bit out here, but it's more the process and the -- having the whole family together and having the community come out to see it at the festival and being proud of the product we produce.

I can't ever see us doing anything else.

>> ASHLEY: So here on "Journey Indiana," we have done multiple stories about maple syrup and how amazing it is.

And I, myself, have told, you know, lots of people how I would love to swim in maple syrup.

Brandon, how do you feel about maple syrup?

>> BRANDON: I'm a big fan.

French toast, though, as opposed to pancakes.

>> ASHLEY: Okay.

>> BRANDON: Want to learn more?

You can head to lmsugarbush.com.

>> ASHLEY: Up next, producer John Timm takes us to Dearborn County and brings us the sounds of Cincinnati Accordion.

♪ >> Hi, I'm London Scholle, and I am the accordionist with Cincinnati Accordion.

♪ I work on the accordions here.

I give lessons here, and I do all -- everything here.

[ Chuckles ] ♪ >> My name is Matt, and with my son, we started Cincinnati Accordion.

I work on accordions.

I appraise accordions, evaluate accordions, and what could be wrong.

And overall, we're just trying to keep the accordion alive.

♪ It all started when my son -- he's a pianist -- wanted to play accordion.

♪ >> Like many kids, I played piano when I was younger, and I was made to take piano lessons.

Very soon, it didn't become a chore.

I really enjoyed it, and I kind of moved around with the different teachers, and eventually got into little ensembles and bands, and just kind of -- just kind of grew to love music.

♪ In the midst of all of that, for fun, I picked up the accordion, which was a great instrument and was nice enough because I didn't have to relearn the piano side.

I already knew that.

>> We found an accordion.

It was free, and it was broken, and we brought it home.

Started trying to fix it up, and we got it working partially.

And it sounded like a witch boiling in oil.

♪ We went to Dayton, and we met a guy in Dayton that basically fixed it.

And I showed him what I had done, and he basically became my mentor from there.

♪ I don't know how, but somehow my name got out in the accordion world, and I started meeting other accordionists.

And eventually, I started fixing their accordions, and I guess one thing led to another, and now we fix a lot of accordions all the time.

♪ >> The name is Cincinnati Accordion, but we are located in southeastern Indiana.

>> When we first started this, we were a little hesitant.

We were, like, Cincinnati?

Okay.

We don't live in Cincinnati.

>> I worked in Cincinnati.

I was in Cincinnati all the time.

♪ >> When customers called us, they generally didn't come out to the house.

We generally went to them or we would meet them somewhere.

>> We don't have a Cincinnati location.

We only have one location.

It's in Indiana.

>> Dearborn County, which is where we are, is really the Greater Cincinnati Area.

We were Cincinnati, and Cincinnati Accordion seemed to make sense.

That's why it's called that, but we're Hoosiers through and through.

[ Laughter ] ♪ >> Cincinnati Accordion is really run by myself, my son, and my wife.

♪ It's all about us doing it together.

>> I don't have to worry about working with people I don't like.

I love my mom and dad.

We all get along very well.

♪ >> Julia, she takes calls.

She -- she's attentive to the customers.

♪ I repair things, and I -- I deal with a lot of customer questions and all that, but really I'm the one kind of digging into the accordion, trying to figure out if it can be fixed and what needs to be fixed.

♪ And then London, he's amazing.

Like, he plays it.

He does -- any time when someone wants to buy an accordion, he really works with the customer to help them find what's right for them and fit it.

♪ He does lessons.

>> I love giving lessons.

So I love teaching, because I love passing on my knowledge to other people.

♪ >> He's the one that always goes on gigs to -- you know, if a customer needs -- needs him to play somewhere.

>> One of my favorite gigs of all time was I was asked to play music for someone's anniversary.

We went to a beautiful park in downtown Cincinnati.

A beautiful gazebo there.

It's all lit up, and I sat up my accordion, and I had learned their song.

You know, "their" song, their romantic song.

As they walked up, he kind of gave me a nod, and I played their song, and she just loved it and I think -- I think she started crying.

♪ It's not this 9-to-5 work schedule where we're going to be yelling at each other if we don't get work done.

>> But it's really all of us together.

It's a very fluid thing.

♪ >> When customers bring us their accordions, it's really an emotional experience for them.

>> We'll have people say, hey, it's my great grandma's accordion.

She's gone now.

This is what have to remember her by.

Can you fix it?

There can be a lot of pressure there, but it's also really, really rewarding when they get it back, they play it, and they go, this sounds just like how grandma played it.

There's been a lot of people that have cried in this room and in this house when they get their accordions back because it's emotional.

♪ >> We're just about trying to make sure that this kind of forgotten instrument is staying around, and that we can promote it, and that we can make sure that people are -- we're trying to help people understand it.

♪ >> ASHLEY: You know, Brandon, every time I watch this story, you know the thing that really sticks out to me?

>> BRANDON: What?

>> ASHLEY: How much this family loves working with each other.

I mean, the instrument is complicated and the way that they got to it, you know, to work with it is really interesting.

But mostly, I'm just enchanted by how much they like working together and being together.

>> BRANDON: Yeah.

>> ASHLEY: Want to learn more?

Just head to Cincinnatiaccordion.com.

>> BRANDON: Next, producer Adam Carroll takes us to Clark County to explores the wonders of Nick's Museum of Treasures.

>> Once you throw something away, or once you find something, you know, if you don't keep it, you know, it's gone forever.

You know, there's no memory.

♪ >> Clark Nickles was born and raised in southern Indiana, only a few miles from the Indiana Army ammunition plant.

The third largest plant of its kind in the United States, it connected a small community to the war effort.

When World War II ended, the plant shut down and stood idly by.

>> So I grew up in the shadow of the ammunition plant.

My dad worked there, and that's how I started collecting all the memorabilia.

Well, I'm in the demolition business.

And so, you know, many, many buildings or different things come up for bid, we bid on it, but there's a lot of items left behind.

As being a collector of everything, I could see that there was nobody collecting or preserving any of the history or any of the smaller or larger items of the ammunition plant, and lots of the things in the Clark County and Jeffersonville area.

So I started putting together and started collecting and, of course, after a while, you run out of a place to store the stuff.

So you've got to do something.

>> And he took his demolition and construction know-how and built Nick's Museum of Treasures.

Built by Clark and his friends, this handmade museum was geared towards history, taking found materials and using them to tell their own story.

>> I started and I designed this building.

And everything in the building is from recycled materials.

So I started saving and collecting and building.

And so, you know, there we go.

We gather it up and we display it.

Some I pay for, of course.

Some I have to buy.

And some, you know, we get paid to tear a building down, and then I'm able to recapture some of the salvageable materials.

So it's a combination of we buy some.

We get paid to tear down some.

And we pay for some.

70% of what's here came from the ammunition plant.

Now, that doesn't count all the construction materials, but 70% of the items probably came from the ammunition plant.

>> Items from the ammunition plant feature prominently.

From photographs and advertisements, to the plant's original production materials, safety guidelines, pictures and equipment, tell the story of the plant and its place in history.

Other found items include a bus featured on "The Andy Griffith Show," and a stockcar featured on a local magazine.

If Clark can use it, he does!

But there's some pieces that are his favorites, and he can't help but talk about them.

>> There's a young lady, her picture is on the front of a Roto Magazine that was produced by the Courier-Journal.

Her name was Alice McNew, and she worked at the plant.

But I was able to find the powder weighing device that she used and worked with, and that's one the better items that I found.

I love the little rocket.

There's a rocket out there that's on display, and they take this little rocket, and they would shoot it up in the air.

So then it would make light and they could see the enemy.

And then if possible, they would parachute the little rocket back to the ground and reuse it.

♪ >> Clark has been collecting and saving these treasures for decades, and will likely continue for as long as he can.

All driven by a desire to share his love of history and preservation with others.

>> If you put things in a box, or you put them in a closet, they are there and, you know, you lose it or you don't get to enjoy the memory of it.

So I said to my wife, you know, I said, I'm gonna go down there, and I'm gonna take some of the stuff and I'm gonna build a building, and we're going to start displaying this stuff, just so that everyone else can see it.

It's not about making money.

It's about me preserving the past.

When people walk in here, you know, and they can look back and see how it was then, as compared to how it is now.

♪ >> ASHLEY: You know, if we had a dime for every time someone in one of our stories said, well, I had no place else to put my collection of -- insert whatever here -- so I had to start a museum, we could be millionaires.

>> BRANDON: We'd have so many dimes, we could start a dime museum.

[ Laughter ] Want to learn more or even book Nick's Museum?

Head to lakesidereflections.com.

>> ASHLEY: And as always, we'd like to encourage you to stay connected with us.

>> BRANDON: Just head over to JourneyIndiana.org.

There you can see full episodes, connect with us on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, and suggest stories from your neck of the woods.

>> ASHLEY: We also have a map feature that allows you to see where we've been and to plan your own Indiana adventures.

>> BRANDON: All right.

I realize it might be a little bit early, but it's so popular, maybe we should go out now and stake out our spot for the regatta.

>> ASHLEY: We'll do that, and we'll see you next time on -- >> TOGETHER: "Journey Indiana."

♪ >> Production support for "Journey Indiana" is provided by WTIU members.

Thank you!