1234.

Get my shoes in.

Out the door.

Five.

I'm lost.

Six.Seven.

Eight.

Feels great.

I'm gonna shine.

After I do what I'm gonna do.

I do it again.

Yeah.

Look at the skywith the beautiful color.

But never just for me.You gotta share it with another.

I got to show, to give.

Let I want singing show.

Take a look and say a beautiful morning that turns intoa beautiful evening.

And together make beautiful art.

And if you wanna see that,come along with me.

That's right.

Hey, it's Iris Dave and welcometo Experience Michiana.

As you can see, I'm here at the awesomeMLK Dream Center in South Bend.

They have an eventcoming up on October 25th.

I'm going to tell youall about that coming up a little bit lateron in the show.

We're also going to be heading to the History Museum of SouthBend for their mystery at the mansionthat is coming up.

But first, Courtneywent to Nappanee to find out about night at theMuseum.

What's it all about?

Well,today we're in downtown Nappanee and we'reat the Nappanee Center.

I have Martha with me,my new friend here.

Yes, who's been showing meall around the area here.

And this is a beautiful museum, and you guys havea very special event coming up.

But we have to talk abouteverything that you have.

Your.

Because I've never beenin this space.

And if you haven't, there'sso many reasons to check it out.

Yes there is.

So we're 10,000ft²of Nappanee history.

We have 11 themed roomsand a historical house that's attached on that.

There's four rooms up therethat you can walk through.

That's amazing.

So what are some ofthe different exhibits that you guyshave to explore here?

So we have our Hoosier cabinetarea, which we're home to.

The oldest Hoosier cabinet,our woodworking place and, the countrywe have, our historical house, and shakers roomwhere people can reminisce.

Our sixnationally known cartoonists, which that's the most percapita of any city our size.

And that's a new exhibit, right?

No, they've been here.

But, we also have extended itto downtown Nappanee with, Cartoon Alley that we that,the city worked with us to help, pick out cartoonsto have murals of the cartoons on the alley wall.

Oh.

That's exciting.

Yeah, that's a great wayto kind of take what's in the museumand spread it out throughout the community,too, right?

Yes.

And then we have our Air ForceOne exhibit, and then our Emma Schrock gallery.

Okay.There's so many things to see.

I know, I see this beautifulartwork behind us done by Emma.

Yeah, which is incredible.

How did you guys get thatcollection?

So we were approached by Mr.

Grant.

Who was the donor.

He asked us if we would, take the collection on.

We said, sure.

But let us, you know, remodel the spaceso that he would help us.

So we are able to remodelthe entire museum, along with, Emma's galleryand create this beautiful space.

It was important to to herartwork, in regardsto the community here itself.

So it really shows us, the Anabaptists,the Amish way of life, even though she is Old OrderMennonite, the they're very similarwith, their traditions.

And so people can see this,lovely traditional art done by somebody who live,who lived it, I love that.

Can we go look at some of that?Yeah.

Okay.

And I know there's other stufffor us to see here, too, but, I mean, the artworkitself is so wonderful.

I love that she's even donesome un wood work.

Yeah.

Like, pieces of wood.

Yeah, pieces of wood.

There's still life.

And then she's doneevery single, season as well.

So we have fall, spring,summer and winter.

How many art piecesdid she create?

We think over 2000.

Oh, my God.

Yeah.

That's incredible.

Yeah.

That's incredibleI love that.

All right.

I know there's so many otherthings to see over here too, but I want to talk about specificallywith the Nappanee community and you guys havingall of the woodworking here.

Let's talk about thatand why it's important for you guys to continueto showcase it.

Yeah.

So it's really importantto showcase it just because, you know,woodworking has changed so much.

We used to bethe kitchen capital of the world with our Hoosier cabinets,and we're still a kitchen city because we have oh my goodness,I can't even count how many, kitchen factories that we have.

But it's just great to, like,see the whole transition of how they've gone from having,like, the little huger cabinets to now, like the big,huge module, kitchens.

Tell me more about copies, because I wasn't really surehow long they've been around because they havesome pretty cool stats, too.

Yeah, they have some pretty coolstats as well.

So they started in 1876as a sawmill, went to being a box factory,and then in 1902 went to exclusivelybeing a furniture company slash kitchencabinet making, company.

So they've, they've lasted 100,almost 150 years.

They've gonethrough multiple recessions, the Great Depression, multiple world wars, andthey've never missed a payroll.

They love that.

That's amazing.

And just a testament foryou guys to be able to come in and see that.

But there is a whole new way for you guys to experiencethe museum.

We're going to talk about that.

Let's go check out somemore spaces okay.

All right.

Now I don't know how many other places are like thiswhere you're in a building, but you can walk into anotherbuilding.

Yeah.

I mean, there is only one otherin Nappanee and that is in Akron.

The public library there,gorgeous 1936 library is encasedin, the newer library.

Yeah.

Okay,so tell us more about this home.

So this is the, historicJohn Harmon House.

It was built in 1888 for John and Rebecca Hartmanis probably one of the oldest, historic Nappanee homesthat's, still standing.

And it's never leftits foundation.

And it is also,designed by the architect, Henry Frazier, who designedthe majority of downtown.

Oh, wow.

Oh.

That's cool.Can we go take a peek inside?

Yeah.

Okay.

This is all part of the museum,and I love to like, throughout the museum.

You guys have spacesfor families here, too?

Yes we do.

We have, we have probably aboutsix different spaces for kids.

Okay.

You know, this is cool.

They can come up into thehouse and have a tea party.

They can look a little.

Yeah.

Party over here.

So they can be in the formal dining roomhere in the Hartman house and, have a tea party,or they can go, into our kitchen cabinet,making room, play, play with a kitchen.

There.

They can shoot basketballsthat we have our space area.

I love that,and I'm sure families love to come in hereand just just be.

Yeah, yeah.

Then it's really, really cool.

We have a family who comes inalmost every single Friday just to come in and play.All right, but we need to talkabout your event coming up.

Yes.

Okay.

The night at the museumis a totally different way to experience the museum.

And if you love that movie,are you guys going to incorporatesome of the elements into it?

I've been trying for yearsto figure out how to put in the T-Rexand the monkey.

But I, I can't, you know,I can't get, I can't get a zooto let me in, monkey.

And I can't get a museum till wegot to talk with friends over.

Yeah.

But you know what?

We turn offall the lights in the museum, and we let history come to life.That is cool.

Yeah.

Okay, so those are guided tours.

I'm assuming.

Then?

Yes.So they're guided tours.

You actually, the toursactually start in the house.

So we incorporate the houseinto the event as well.

So this yearyou'll actually be meeting, Mr.

John Keller.

Okay.He was a photographer.

He was an inventorand an entrepreneur.

And that's what thetheme is for this year, right?

It's all about inventors.

Yeah.

And innovations.

Yes.Okay.

Yeah.

Innovations and inventionsis our theme this year.

Probably since about 2016,we've.

Well, no, we skipped 2016.

So 2017 we have been doing differentthemes of Nappanee history.

That's cool.

And nowhow do you guys get that?

I mean, you guys haveall of the collection.

Yeah.

So like, how do you gather thatinformation and decide what you want to dofor that night at the museum?

So usually we figure out a themeand then we research, we read, the county historybooks, we read newspapers.

Sometimes if we're doingresearch for another, thing in Nappanee history,we will stumble across something that we can usefor a night at the museum.

Okay.

When is it happening?

It's happeningOctober 11th, from 6 to 8.

Okay.

People need to get ticketsfor that.

They can.

Walk ups are welcome, but you can also call in to the Nappanee Public Librarystarting on October 7th.

And you can, reserve yourtour time so you don't have to cost for that.

No,it's completely free.

Oh, my gosh, you should.

We should start with that.

I'm getting I love every nightat the museum.

Yes.

That's exciting.

And it is family friendlythen too.

Yes, it is family friendly.There's no spooks.

There'snobody going to talk about it.

Yeah, okay.

Okay.

Yeah.

The only time that maybesomebody might jump out of you is like,if we are trying to get, like, people in or two or guys are trying to get backto the beginning, like, so there's, there's aspects why isn't justan interesting way to explore the museum versus, you know, the day to daybusiness?

I think because like, historyjust comes to life and you can learn so much moreabout your community that way.

We find we tryand find all the quirky things.

Okay.

I love that.

Yeah, we've doneprobably over a hundred over the 14 yearsthat we've done this event.

We've done over 100different scenes.

Nappanee history.

We try not to repeatour characters.

If we do repeat characters,we bring in a whole completely different story, for them.

And I love that.

I mean, there'sso much history and opinion.

I didn't even know,you know, all of this, too.

But yeah, it's a great way forpeople to find that out, too.

And you guys have volunteerswho help with this, too?

Yes, we do have volunteers.

All of our actorsare actually volunteers.

Our tour guides are volunteers.

The only time that, we,the only, people who are helping that are paid are actuallyour staff members and the people who have helpedplan the event.

And what a great wayto bring the community together for a very unique way,a way to explore the museum.

So you guys got to make surethat you get signed up and come on out hereOctober 11th, right?

Yes, October night at themuseum.

We'll see you then.

I'm hereon the west side of South Bend in the MLK Dream Center.This is the second time that ExperienceMichiana has been here.

We've been here for the farmers market that took place on Lindenjust a while ago as well.

But I'm herefor a totally different reason, and I'm here with Bella.

Bella, tell me a little bit about the South BendFinancial Empowerment Center and what exactly is itthat you're doing?

Yeah, the South BendFinancial Empowerment Center is a collaborationbetween the city of South Bend and the Near Northwestneighborhood nonprofit organization.

And what we do is free,one on one financial counseling with those over the age of 18.

There reside in South Bend.

So we help with banking, savings all the thingswe should be taught in school.

Absolutely, exactly.

We'll get into that, right?

Right.

No, but I feel this a lot,though, because it's you know, I grew up, I did grow up in Irelandin a different country, but at the same time,it's like I grew up where we weren't taughthow to do finances properly.

My family didn't knowwe were lower income, we were working class, you know,it was all paycheck to paycheck.

And then it's only later in lifethat I'm learning to, like finally kind ofhave some financial sense.

And it's just crazy to methat I'm 42.

And it was only reallywhen I was about like 37 or 38 that I finally startedto even have savings.

Like if something happened, likeif it if a car broke down or, you know, and I workwith a lot of nonprofits actually,that people are so close to being food insecureor on the poverty line if like a car breaks down even just $500 or somethingand it's like, right.

And so but people grow upwhat they know and they're just not taught to,to save and all these things.

And so I'm sure you see thatin abundance that it's just people have never been shownhow to do it properly.

Right.

Or in a way that's healthy.

Yeah.

No, absolutely.

We definitely see a lot wherepeople don't know the importance of having an emergencyfund credit building.

Having a budgetto really understand what your income to, ratiois compared to your expenses.

Yeah.

And actually I learned thatbecause, someone that was close to me gifted me, like,one of the Dave Ramsey, you know, the Financial PeaceUniversity things.

Talking about an emergency fund.

I never thought about ituntil then, which seems now I'm like,why didn't I think of that?

But, so again,you're doing all these things.

You're seeing people one on one.

And where does the funding fromthis come from?

Is it from the cityor is it from the nonprofit organization,or how does it work?

So the funding actually come from CFE, which is the centers forFinancial Empowerment Center.

So it is a Bloomberg philanthropy programthat comes from New York.

And we are actually one of 30 over 34 of this of financial empowerment centersall over the United States.

And it's cool then that, like, this is the first onein Indiana, right?

Like this one here before.Yes, absolutely.

This is the veryfirst one in Indiana.

And we actually have beenoperating for about a year, and we've been at the MLK centersince June 4th when they opened their doors up.

Yeah.

And it's a perfect buildingto be, and it's absolutely beautiful.

And I know, later in October,you have an event coming up that's open to the public.

Tell me a little bit more aboutthat event that's coming up.

Yeah, absolutely.

So the event is a collaborationbetween the MLK Dream Center and the South Bend Financial Empowerment Center,and the event is designed to bring the communitytogether for resources.

They're doing a shoe drive, giveaway for people of all ages.

And our aim is to introduce the Financial EmpowermentCenter to the community and let them know thatwe're here at the Dream Center.

And what is it that we doand how we can help.

So we'll have differentorganizations come and provide resources to the communitythat we can also be kind of like a helping hand to connect themto on a later day basis.

So it's not just, what dateis the Sun's in October 25th, October 25th, and what timesit is from 12 to 4.

And it is the empowering DreamsTogether October giveaway.

Okay.

And so as you mentioned, there'sgoing to be a bunch of resources here, not justfor financial empowerment, but other community resources as wellfor people to come along to.

And and I think the big thingwhen it comes to it's so hard to get help for thingsthat you're insecure about, right?

Like nobody wants to admitthat they're bad at something or that they, you know, sometimeswhen you feel like you're so far in the whole, like the ideaof getting out of it just seems it's just easier to just keepburying yourself in it.

And I totally get it.

And so what would you sayto people who might be watchingwho need this help but feel a little bit nervousor insecure about even or just, you know, it's hard for them toadmit that they have a problem.

Like, what would you say to themin terms of like, what's the experiencelike coming to you?

Yeah, absolutely.

So sometimes we don't knowwhere the issue lies until we kind ofreally tackle it.

So it's okayto not understand it.

That's what we're herefor, to help you understand and providethat hand to hand guidance to help you succeednot only in that everyday basis.

If you're living paycheckto paycheck, creating that budgetin that savings emergency fund cushion,but also to elevate your goals.

If you have a dreamof owning a house, we help you get there,and we're working together well.

And that's great.And so it's on October 25th.

But how do people come along?

Like, who qualifies?

Doyou have to live in South Bend?

You have to RSVP in advanceor how does that work?

Yeah, no.

So the event isopen to the public.

So anyone is yes,anyone is welcome.

And we will be creating fliersand putting it out to the public here shortly.

I know that they aretaking donations here at the MLKevery single day for shoes.

From Mondayto Friday from 9 to 9 and any other operating hoursthroughout the weekend.

But anyone is welcome to comeand be a part of this resource event.

And so you talk about therebeing a shoe giveaway.

What's the importance of that?

Is that something you're puttingon or the center's putting on?

Is that a great need in the communitythat people need shoes for their kidsor for themselves, or is that is that part of the drawto get people here?

Yeah.

So the shoe drive is part of theMLK center, and their mission is to kind of encourage kidsto have that confidence, and build confidencewith others for, you know,the of their apparel themselves.

I get it, you know,if your clothes, your shoesdon't look good, right?

I swear, you know, when you do all the spiraleffect, it's the same with kids who are hungryand they don't have enough food at home or whatever.

It's like they can't, you know,they can't, study properly.

They can't get along in school.

They end up getting into fightsbecause they're just they're not good.

Like,they're not in a good place because they don't feel good.

So obviouslywhen you have an event that's onfor four hours on one day, not everyone can make it.

There might be in workor whatever, but you're here all the time, so how could peoplejust make an appointment even if they can't cometo the event?

Yeah.

So the best way to makean appointment will go will be to gothrough our website w w w.SouthBendFEC.org.

And on thereyou will create a profile.

It will ask you some informationqualifying information like are you over the age of 18and do you reside in South Bend.

If those go through then you can go ahead and picka time and date.

And if either be in person hereat the MLK over the phone or virtually,and you'll pick your counselor and your appointmentwill be all set.

And thenif people do have a barrier, I know the barrier to Wi-Fiand computers is getting less and less, but it's still therefor a lot of people.

Can they just stop in as welland just see you or call you or.

Yeah, so they can absolutelycall the, any of us.

Right.

So we have a manageras well as three of us.

So our manager Stephanie Wall, the other counselors,Ryan Adams and myself, they could call either one of usto create an appointment.

All right.

So October 25th from noon tofour here at MLK Dream Center.

So make sure in the name of the event again, empowering Dreams TogetherOctober giveaway.

All right.

Thank you somuch.

Bell.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Well, it's a classic case of whodunit.

And we're here at the miss, thehistory museum in South Bend.

I have Goren with me.

This is an exciting thingthat you guys are doing because you do thisjust one time of year.

Is that right?

Yeah, that's right, we do.

We're doing the mysteryat the mansion.

Yes, yes.

So there's two performances,but only once a year.

And October is the time.

For the first time,I see the spooky stuff starting to come out here.

Yeah.

We have the, mansiondecorated for the season, as we do for, Christmas as well.

But October is especially a fun time to getsome spooky decorations out.

Definitelysome fall vibes as well.

So definitely it's readyfor mystery at the mansion.

Happening later this month.

All right.

Mysteryat the mansion.

You guys have gotto get your tickets.

And this is like, a classic.

I heard so many peopletalk about this over the years.

You guys have a, would you say a followingof people who come to this?

Yeah, I would say so.

We we have some regularswho come each year.

We have a lot of, friend groupswho like to come together.

Sometimes they even like todress up in theme for the event.

I love that, we have familieswho come with their kids.

So is it all ages?

It is all ages.

So.

Okay.

No, I will sayit's a little harder for really young kidsbecause it's kind of long.

It's about an hour long.

And you have to walk upstairs.

But we would say probably ageseight and above.

It's, suitable for, but technically all agescould come just it might be a little more difficultwith younger kids.

Okay,so for anybody who hasn't been to a murder mystery kindof thing, tell us how it works.

Because you are part of theof the performance.

Yes, yes.

So you'll be,walking around, scene to scene, listening to individualcharacters talk about, their side of the storyand what they saw happen at the, during the mystery.

And they'll be talking, at you,the audience.

And at the end of the event,you'll be asked to fill out a game card, to saywho you think did the crime.

And then you can submit it,and then you'll if you got it right,you'll be entered into a raffle to win a prize.

Oh, fantastic.

So this is a challenge now, for those of youwho like a good challenge.

And what I love about this, you guys have been doing thisfor a number of years.

How long has it been now?

Well, I don't know the exactfirst year, but it's been over 20 years.

It's been a whileor maybe not quite 20.

I think it startedin the early 2000s actually.

It's been a while,but it's been a while.

Yes.

And why do people loveto come and participate in this?

I think for several reasons.

And I think it differsby the person.

But one of the big reasons,obviously, being able to see and experiencethis wonderful mansion, you know,we have guided tours every day.

But this is seeing itin kind of a new context.

And a new space.

But also it's justlike a fun thing to do that, you there's not really a lot ofopportunities like it, around.

Obviously we have playsput on by the wonderful South Bend Civicand at, DeBartolo at Notre Dame.

But this type of moreinteractive, experience isn't as common.

And I think it's just a really fun thing to doif your family, it's a new story each year, anew story is written each year.

I love, so it's justa really great experience.

Let's go check outsome of the areas that people are going to explore.

Can we do that?Yes.

All right, let's go.

All right.

Corn, where are we at now?

We are in the libraryof the mansion.

Okay.

Which was essentiallythe family's living room.

Back then, obviously there wasno TV or anything like that.

This is their entertainment.

This was their entertainment.Okay.

Yes, I love that.

So when people get to explorethe areas, obviouslythings are still blocked off because we want to keepthe integrity of everything that iswithin the home, correct?

Yes, correct.

So, we're actually in the spacethat normally we couldn't walk in and guestswon't be allowed to back here, but we do things like handsare we do, place, mats down during the night of the performance so the actorscan be in the actual rooms.

And then the, audience will bebehind, the rope section.

So they'll be lookinginto the rooms at the actors.

Okay.

Okay, now let's talkabout the theme for this year.

Yes.

So the themethis year is shipwrecks.

Specifically Great Lakesshipwrecks.

It's, looselytied to our current exhibit, Great Lakes shipwrecks,which you can view, before or after the performance.

Oh, good.

Okay.

That'll be open for people to,And it's basically a, wealthy.

This is a fiction, of course,but, a wealthy Chicago, factoryowner in 1910 is holding, a party on his,luxury boat on Lake Michigan.

But it's a little controversial because his factories arecurrently in protest and strike.

Oh, interest,which is loosely based off the real life 1910 garmentworkers strike in, Chicago.

Okay, but basically, during his party,this wealthy factory owner ship sinksand he passes away, but almost everyone else escapes the ship,and it's ruled sabotage.

Oh.

Done it.

Yes.

So now you have to, essentially interrogatethe guests and the workers on the ship and see which one of themmight have done the crime.

And I love the to correlate it kind of back to the exhibitthat you guys are doing to and bringing itall together in that way.

And we do have we haveconnected it to another exhibit.

We currently haveour biggest exhibit right now.

Knute Rockne life and legacy,or I should say, Ka-Newt Rockne, which is the right wayto pronounce it?

Really?

Really.

Okay.

Fun fact today, and hedoes make a brief appearance in the play to kind of connectedto that exhibit as well.

And I have to say,for those of you who don't know, I just found outbefore we got started that you actually wrote this book.

I did write this.

I wrote last year's script, and this year's scriptI took over for our long time writer, Roger Chrastil,who had written there for many, many yearsbefore that.

He is also a local writer, butthis is a locally written play which is even more phenomenal.Yeah.

Thank you.

Yeah, I mean, you.

Yeah, you.

And so how did you come upwith that story idea, can I ask?

So we do, try to come upwith the story ideas as a group.

So we havea little committee of people, where we suggest ideas down.

We try to connect it to eithera current exhibit or one of our permanentexhibits.

We do try to connect itto something that's on display at the museum I love it.

Let'sgo check out another space.

All right, all right.

All right.

Now we are in the kitchen.

Which people will get to explorein here too.

Yes, yes.

So this is actuallyone of the later scenes.

So you start on the first floor, you go to the second floorand third floor and then come back downand finish your, the play on the first floor.

Okay.

So the kitchen ison the first floor.

It's one of the lastthree scenes in the performance.

Oh my gosh.

And you'rejust moving people through because I know everybodyneeds to get their tickets.

How do they get their tickets?

So, they can purchase ourtickets, online on our website.

Or they can go to the ticket portal through our Facebookevent page, as well.

Tickets are $25each for the general public, but our members get a discountfor a $20 another.

Okay.

So if you're a member,you got to make sure you get your ticket for this.

And I knowthere's lots of volunteers who are putting thison.

Right?

Yes.

So we're very thankfulto our volunteer actors.

We have a lot of volunteer actorswho have done this, performance, almost every yearfor like 20 years.

Or actors who, you know,maybe can't do it every year, but come back pretty sure,we have a lot of people who also act at the SouthBend Civic will help us out.

Just.

Or people who just actingis their passion, and they just haven't been ableto do as much as they'd like.

So we get a lot ofvolunteer actors.

But we also have, a bunch ofvolunteer docents the night of.

So between each scene, docentwill lead you from one room to the other.

Okay.

And they'll actually tell youa little historical fact about the Olivermansion in the room.

So this event is really,you know, the staff is here, but this event would not happenwithout but volunteer actorsand volunteer docent.

So we're very thankfulto all of them.

And if anybody wants toget involved in the future, they can get in touchwith you guys too.

Yes.

Yes, they can get in touchwith, myself.

Or you can find our, volunteercoordinators information on our website.

Well, this is a great event.

You can't miss that.There's only two nights.

And is it the same performanceboth nights?

It's the same performanceboth nights.

Okay.

All right, well, we will see you here for mysteryat the mansion.

Well, it has beengreat to come here to the MLK Dream Center for the first timethat I've ever been here.

Second time on ExperienceMichiana.

This placeis absolutely fantastic.

Until nextweek.

We'll talk to you then.

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