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

(soft music) Coming up on the next "Off 90", we visit a local meat market in Austin, travel back to Hollandale to learn about their museum, and head to Albert Lea to learn about the Marion Ross Performing Arts Center.

It's all just ahead on the next "Off 90".

(upbeat music) (soft, cheerful music) (soft, cheerful music continues) (upbeat music) (twangy music) - The store was started in 1886 by my great-grandfather who came over from Austria.

Of course, he had a lot of experience cutting meat.

He was a sausage maker.

He liked Minnesota.

It reminded him of home, I think.

He had 12 children.

I'm the only one, only Knauer working here.

I've been called Nower, Canowser, a lot of things, you know.

The only thing I try to remind people of is it's an old German name and they never wasted anything, the old people, so you pronounce every letter.

- So you know, Mark in his younger days, but this was a magazine, actually, Sunday Magazine article, some of the employees.

He was a meat cutter here.

That was an employee, but you can see the shelves, how stocked they were, but this is going back probably to, well, 1986.

That was Mark's dad there, and then Mark, and then three employees there.

The old storefront before they redid it.

- Community is, I'd say, very important, which is probably why we have so many generations of people from Austin who traded with us, and their grandparents traded with us, and their parents, and it goes back quite a few years, and there's a real sense of community there.

Usually we start early in the morning grinding ground beef.

We wrap a lot of the cuts, and the meat as it's produced or made, and we double wrap it in freezer paper, so it will not freezer burn.

- Put your auger in, put your coarse plate on.

We do a coarse and a fine ground beef, and run it through.

And the old scales, these old Toledo scales are probably almost a hundred years old.

They're up in that picture right there, and that picture was taken probably in the 1930s.

They're in that picture.

- When I was really young, we sold a lot of beef quarters, but the newer generations have gotten so that they like to buy the cuts that they like.

We have really good ring bologna.

We have really good beef jerky.

We carry a line of fish, well, seafood in general.

- We got local honey that's from Rose Creek.

I like to support them.

- We're probably best known for our steaks, like Angus.

Angus has been very good.

Meat bundles for people so they can get a variety of meat at a special price, and then they can have meat in their freezer, and we also sell lefse year round.

The only thing we don't sell year round are oysters and lutefisk.

They're seasonal, because when we get oysters, we want 'em right out of the ocean, and so we have those right around November, December, and they are very fresh, and lutefisk is kind of a acquired taste a little bit.

(laughs) At one time, we did have a smokehouse, and it was the original smokehouse that was made in 1886, and what happened over time, it started to lean toward the building, and there became a point where we had to make a decision because we couldn't find anyone that could right it, and it was a brick building, unfortunately we had to tear it down.

One of my relatives, originally from Owatonna, he did all these paintings, and currently he's resides in California.

He likes the rock and roll.

We have a lot of football art.

It adds another dimension to the place.

We have a girl that used to work here.

She makes homemade greeting cards.

Minnesota's a great state.

I'm a proud Minnesotan (laughs).

I've looked around the world, and this is the best place in the world.

Of course, we have had bitter cold days that were, you know, phenomenal.

I mean, people came out of everywhere and said, "Well, you know, we're low on this or that," you know, but I think storms are hard on business sometimes, especially if people can't get around, but otherwise, every day's a new day.

(cheerful music) (upbeat music) (soft music) (fingers snapping) - This started, they organized in 1989, and by the fall, 1990, they had it up and running already, and there was a lot of people.

We had a senior society group that was numbered in 170 people, and sad to say, most of those since the last 35 years have passed, and so we're really, really scratching for people to step up and take an interest, and bring us their stories.

We need their stories.

We need their history.

We need their thoughts.

(soft music) What they can expect to see is we're trying to show them that this place is unique.

We all, they got a lot of little towns around here, Hayward, Hayfield, Ellendale, Geneva, and they started differently.

This whole community started as an experiment, as a planned project.

As we go through studying research here about the community and Payne and McMillan and everything.

It was so precise, so organized.

It's just mind boggling to me, and I want people to come in and appreciate, get to know that, appreciate that, that they are part of this very, very unique community, that it's exceptional.

It's not, like, there's no place like it, no place like it at all, and that they have a story.

They have a part of this, and they are making history.

- I would say that we collect and are interested in almost every single facet of the story that I described.

In other words, we're interested in the Native American side of things.

We're also very aware that there are other people besides Dutch people who were here before this actually was turned into a colony by the Payne Investment Company, so we're very interested in accumulating or hearing about that side of the history as well.

All of those layers of the story are of interest to us as we think about growing the museum, adding to the artifacts and the literature that will enrich people's knowledge of this place.

The fact, for example, that the story of drainage in Minnesota is so connected with the legal work that was done out of Albert Lea by John Moen getting bills passed through the legislature that would in fact make it possible for judicial ditches to be created and these kind of projects to go forward, so it's very much, Hollandale, and the formation of Hollandale is very much connected with Minnesota history.

So many people do not know the history of this space, and I would say that includes people who currently live in Hollandale.

A lot of the descendants of the original founders, of course, don't necessarily live here and populate the place with a sense of the history of the place, so we have really made a concerted effort to surface that history among the people who live here.

For example, we've started a bus tour of the project and they've been really helpful for the people who live here to understand what they're living in and where this place has been, and we've also started a cemetery tour so that people can get reacquainted with those who preceded them in forming this particular place.

That's one of our hopes that that sense of knowledge, the sense of ownership that people will have, who actually still occupy the space, and who have in the past, and a deep appreciation for the realization that history forms has formed the present and will form the future.

In other words, it's not just the fact that we have plat maps and ownership records, but it's also the way in which the town has been created and the outlying areas have been serviced and created that present the present joys and difficulties and that will need to be thought about and planned for in the future as well, so I think that's the purpose of studying history, is to know who you are and where you live in a particular space so that good decisions can be made.

- We have some really unique people that lived here.

Well, I think we've got 89 veterans in the cemetery here.

I know one of them was in World War II.

This man has five Bronze Stars, two Silver Stars, one of the most decorated people in the state of Minnesota here.

Our oldest citizen is 103 years old.

He lives in Albert Lea yet.

He was drafted into World War II, and they sent him to Washington DC to develop radar.

We have people here that were inventors, that invented machinery to deal with the situations of the farming machinery that have influenced all of the United States, so that's one thing I wanna do too, is that some of these people here were, they just weren't digging in the soil hand farmers, that these were some brilliant, brilliant people, some brave people, some really unique, interesting people that I want others to know about.

- I have to point to that big piece of wood over there.

It's really an odd artifact unless you know the history, right?

The history is that is the remnant of a Native American bent tree that's once stood, still does stand, but it's a part of it, on the shores of Lake Geneva.

There are actually a lot of these marking trees that the Native Americans created to mark pathways, and it's said that there used to be a duplicate of that tree across the lake on the other shore of Lake Geneva.

My own personal memories and the memories of many of us go back to the fact that when we were children and we visited our playmates who lived along Lake Geneva, one of the highlights of what you did was you went to the tree and you sat on it.

I think it's a wonderful example, and it's one of the things that we have in the museum that links us back to the time when this was Native American territory, and when ricing and the use of Geneva Lake had meaning for the Ho Chunk people, and the more you learn about the history of the space, the more you realize the importance of things like that, why they need to be preserved.

- What fascinates me here is maps, literature.

I've got maps of everything, and to me that explains so much of why and what happened, why this development, why this.

When I was a kid, I was born and raised in Austin, lived there until 1959.

My grandfather lived north of town here, and he would periodically come into town and pick up my mom and brothers and sisters and we'd come out here for the day.

Well, in the early 50s, there was only three highways that were concrete or tar covered.

That was 218, 16, 65.

Other than that, 251 was a county road at the time.

It was a gravel, it was mud.

This right here in the center of town, there was a park.

The highway did not go through.

It went kind of around.

So on Saturday nights in the summertime, they had a carnival that would come into town with a Ferris wheel and everything else, and everybody would get together.

All the workers would come in off the field, and Saturday night, everybody went to the stores in town.

We had two grocery stores, three gas stations, actually two automobile dealerships, had a Made Rite and an A&W, and it was amazing, so that to me is part of that research, finding out why and how, and maybe I can get people interested in that and appreciate what they've got now and how that came to be.

- There are people in town who've been in town forever, you know, early settlers who are not necessarily Dutch, but they identify with that Dutch kind of sense.

To strengthen that is the fact that the very first church here, which is the large brick church in the corner, was a Reformed Church of America church, because of course that denomination has New York Dutch heritage, and that was the first denomination to be interested, and the first people who came, my grandfather being one of them, to found a church, went automatically to a church with Dutch roots.

Even in terms of where people looked for religious nurture, when they turned to institutions that would do that, they turned instinctively to the historic Dutch denominations that really did put a stamp on the culture here as well.

(upbeat music) (bells ring) ♪ (foreign language) ♪ ♪ Woo Woo Woo ♪ ♪ Some folks think of convents as the places where we pray ♪ ♪ But let us tell you convents are much ♪ ♪ More than that today ♪ ♪ We're dedicated people ♪ ♪ But we like to have our fun ♪ ♪ We're here tonight to share with you ♪ ♪ The humor of the nun ♪ ♪ Nunsense is habit forming ♪ - Hello, my name is Heidi Stoltenberg.

I am a member of the ACT Board of Directors.

- My name is Kristen Dye and I'm the ACT President.

- In 1965, Dr.

John and his wife, Nancy Campbell and some other interested community members, decided to develop the Albert Lea Community Theater.

Once the organization was incorporated, then they had their first show in, it's a school that's still here in town.

It's Southwest Middle School.

At the time was just Southwest School, in the auditorium there called The Little Theater, and their first performance was - "The Man Who Came to Dinner".

- The Albert Lea Community Theater continued to do their productions at the Southwest Little Theater for about 14 years, and then as the city was changing, and the utilization of The Little Theater was increasing, and as the theater was outgrowing the space, which is wonderful, they began to look for a more permanent and larger facility.

To the community, this building was known as the Mason Building.

The Masonic Lodge owned it.

The Albert Lea Community Theater reached out to the city and, through a partnership with the city, and some grant funds, they were able to purchase this building and then demolished the different floors to build this theater and construct what you see now.

- [Kristan] In 2008, the building was named the Marion Ross Performing Arts Center to honor Marion Ross, who at one point in time lived in Albert Lea.

- She's continued to be a strong advocate and supporter for the community, including the cultural aspects of the community.

- She helped us secure the rights for "Happy Days", and she was here when we performed it, but she and her late partner did "Love Letters" here.

- Every year we try to do a drama, a comedy, and then one or two musicals, kind of depending on the season.

This season has been "On Golden Pond", "Nunsense", which just closed and you guys were able to film some of, and then they're in rehearsals now for "Father of the Bride", and then this summer will be "My Fair Lady".

But, oh, I mean, one that I think of often that makes me giggle is, what was it?

Nana's?

- "Nana's Naughty Knickers".

- Naughty Knickers.

That's hilarious.

We did Cinderella a couple summers ago.

- [Kristan] "Wizard of Oz".

- We did "Willy Wonka", which as someone who was working down in the makeup area, was a unique challenge for me getting all the Oompa-Loompas painted.

We had two casts of kids, which was fun.

- I can honestly say probably one of the best shows that we did was a couple years ago, and I'm sure- - Yeah, the actors were fantastic and the director was amazing.

- Absolutely fantastic.

- That was a "Steel Magnolias", - [Kristan] Which if you haven't been able to figure out, Heidi and I were both in there.

- We were.

It was a fantastic performance.

- It's the best one.

- It really was, it really was.

- Tony Award-winning performances.

- It was, it was.

The women were amazing.

- I know, I mean, Heidi's Truvy, ugh.

- I mean, it just, oh, and I love you more than my luggage.

- I know.

- So they've always done a really nice job.

I mean, if you look through the history of shows, which is available on the website, there's some really nice diversity and not as much duplication as you might expect.

- No, this year we did, because it is our 60th year.

We're halfway through our 60th year.

There is, we brought back shows that ACT has done throughout the 60 years, so you're gonna have to stay tuned for next season.

We just voted, but we can't announce it yet.

- [Heidi] We have to secure the rights.

- But there's some pretty good shows coming up.

- We put audition dates on our website, but also on our social media, so people can check like Facebook or Instagram.

- Instagram.

Snapchat.

- Oh, that's right.

We're so cool.

- We are.

We're pretty with it.

- We are.

We're happening group, but the website also will list those things for each show.

As we announce dates for the shows, then we put the audition dates too.

- [Kristan] We're always looking for volunteers, whether it be backstage, on stage, up in the booth where you guys were down doing makeup.

- [Heidi] Doing makeup, ushering, costumes.

- Yes, and sometimes (indistinct).

When you come in just to find out about volunteering, (Heidi laughs) you find yourself given a tour of the whole theater on stage auditioning and being cast in the next production.

- I've heard that that can happen.

- It can happen.

- Our son was fortunate enough to be cast in "Beauty and the Beast" and our family is come one come all, and so when he was participating then we had asked if there was anything we could do to help and got involved backstage.

A couple years ago for the first time in 30 years, they got me on the front of the stage, so.

- The second summer we lived down here, I just came to an open audition for the summer musical, and I have been involved ever since.

This is my second family, my second home.

- Our son has grown up on that stage.

The people that are involved in this theater are like brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles to him and to us.

It's been an important part of our life here.

- [Kristan] It is a fun organization.

We put on fantastic shows.

- I've heard from others, and it's something personally that I've noticed, it's really a little hidden gem, and this is quite a beautiful theater.

It's a lot of fun to see shows here, but also to be in shows here, it's intimate and yet you don't feel like your audience is on top of you, and I don't think people realize the quality of performances that can happen in community theaters across the state.

I'm a little biased, but I'm especially proud of this one.

- Yeah, I could say I'm probably a little more biased, but I personally think we're probably one of the best ones in the state.

What do you think?

- I would agree.

I would agree.

I think we do a nice job.

- So we encourage all your viewers to check us out.

- Absolutely.

- You will not be disappointed.

- And don't be afraid if you get the itch to be a part of it too, 'cause we love it when people come and help.

- I will say, once you're on the stage, you never wanna leave it.

- (laughs) You don't.

It really is frustrating.

(both laugh) And a time crunch.

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