- I'm Brooke Butler, and this is my first time welcoming you to "Living St.

Louis" as executive producer.

If you've watched our program over the last two decades, you'll likely recognize Jim Kirchherr and Ruth Ezell.

And while they've recently retired from Nine PBS, rest assured, we'll continue bringing the stories that you love.

And, you know, our team has learned from the best.

So in a way, you'll continue to see their fingerprints on everything we do.

A lot has shifted with public media over the summer, but what hasn't changed is Nine PBS's dedication to bringing new stories that connect us to each other and our city.

So let's get into it.

On this "Living St.

Louis," we'll find out what Joy Petalers do with the roses after you stop to smell them.

See a new take on St.

Louis' past now in color.

We'll get a look at Nine PBS's digital series that puts the human in St.

Louis.

Ever tried fufu?

Well, you no longer have to chase down Adjo Honsou's food truck to try it.

That's all next on "Living St.

Louis."

(bright music) (bright music continues) - Hi, I am Anne-Marie Berger.

Our first story is about upcycling.

You know, taking something that no longer has use and giving it new life, like an old t-shirt, and turning it into a tote bag.

Or finding an old, ugly piece of furniture at the flea market and turning it into something wonderful for your home.

Now, while I've never done any of those things, we all should be upcycling, especially if it delivers joy.

(lively music) Volunteers are making a special delivery to residents at Cardinal Ritter Senior Services Mother of Perpetual Help Assisted Living Center.

For the last year, deliveries like this have been happening all over St.

Louis, delighting everyone who receives them.

- Thank you, thank you, thank you.

- What would we do without flowers?

- One, two, three.

- [Anne] After all, brightening days and creating smiles is what a Joy Petaler does.

- Our mission is about spreading joy in the community through flowers and through repurposing flowers.

(upbeat music) - [Anne] Colleen O'Neill Rohm is the executive director of Joy Petalers, and their concept is pretty simple.

After an event like a wedding, a gala, a funeral, or their natural retail lifespan, perfectly good flowers get thrown out.

But the volunteer floristas give them a second life.

- We cut them down, we peel off their dead parts, and we upcycle 'em into small arrangements that actually go out into the community, to those in senior facilities, veterans care, other non-profits, and really those who are really needing joy in our community.

- [Anne] Studies have shown that flowers have a direct positive effect on one's mental wellbeing.

Flowers activate dopamine, oxytocin, and serotonin, the chemicals in our brain that make us feel happy.

When those are low, we feel low.

And flowers don't just lift mood.

They actively help people feel seen, cared for, and connected, which directly counteracts loneliness.

So when Joy Petalers show up with carts of beautiful, colorful flowers, you can see those happy chemicals hit in real time.

Chris Baechle is the CEO of Cardinal Ritter Senior Services.

- We've been on a journey of wellness for our residents, kind of really a more holistic approach.

And so having the flowers in and be able to brighten those spirits has a lot improvement from a cognition standpoint, socialization, more tying in the environment.

- Lots of pretty colors in this, huh?

Blue carnations, I don't know if I've ever seen that.

- [Anne] Joy Petalers started marketing joy in late 2024.

They currently deliver to 41 facilities and organizations in St.

Louis, including Siteman Cancer Center and teachers and staff in St.

Louis public schools.

- I would say this year alone, we'll do eight to 10,000.

- [Anne] Wow.

- Eight to 10,000 every vase.

- What were you thinking it would be?

- I don't know.

You know, maybe like 5,000, maybe 3,000.

I wasn't thinking that much.

I mean, but this universal effect that flowers have on people and the way they reach out, it's just going gangbusters.

I mean, we have so many facilities calling us and inquiring and saying, "I want flowers."

So it's really been a very kinetic effect.

And we're growing at such a huge pace, which is exciting, but we have to monetarily keep up with that too.

- [Anne] All 10,000 flower arrangements that will be distributed this year are at no cost to the lucky recipients.

This little operation basically runs on joy and donations.

There are no paid employees, all volunteers, 150 of them, including Rohm.

So why do you volunteer?

What are you doing?

- This is the most fun thing ever.

Why wouldn't I?

- [Anne] So does Joy Petalers mean to you that you're bringing joy or you're giving joy?

- It's all of the above.

- Deep thoughts, right?

- Yeah.

(group laughs) Yeah, yeah.

- I kind of thought that it was all about giving out, and what I'm realizing is the friendships that have been made here.

You know, our floristas come in, and it's not like a one and done.

We go to lunch, they are enjoying each other, you know, laughing.

There's a good comradery going on, funny jokes being said, talking about local, you know, things that are going on.

- You've created your own community in here.

- We have.

And I think, you know, there's this beautiful quote by Alice Walker, and it says, "Whenever you're creating beauty, you're restoring your own soul."

And to me, that is it.

Like, that's what we're doing.

We're creating this beauty not only for restoring other souls, but, really, restoring our own too.

(bright music) (crowd faintly speaking) - I really have to every day find something beautiful and spend some time with it.

So this, when this comes, this gives me a special beauty to have for a while to look at each day and spend time with.

- Our next story is about seeing our city's past in new light.

Literally.

Carter Reeves met up with urban historian and artist who shows us history doesn't always have to be in black and white.

(lively music) - It's really easy to view the past as foreign when it's in black and white.

I think color really brings things to life.

- [Carter] St.

Louis historian, Mark Loehrer, has a knack for seeing history through a colorful lens.

- Colorization to me is more than just taking the black and white picture and putting into Photoshop and coloring it.

It's really developing a relationship with the picture like a writer develops a relationship with their characters.

Even though the pictures are still, people in the pictures were alive at one point.

They had their own lives, they're going to work, they're going to school.

- [Carter] Colorization has been a practice since the 1860s when artists would take watercolor to fill in black and white photos by hand.

Photos developed on the metal plates known as daguerreotypes were some of the most common to have color added.

Though technology has advanced since the 19th century, modern day colorization is surprisingly similar.

Using programs like Photoshop, colors meticulously section off individual aspects of a piece and add color as they see fit.

- I put so much effort into finding these pictures.

St.

Louis institutions have done an incredible amount of work to digitize their collections.

That's primarily why I work with St.

Louis stuff, 'cause we have a lot of it.

I like the obscure ones.

I like the landmarks.

But like, that's a big part of the process, is the hunt, whether the picture can be colored and whether the picture should be colored.

- [Carter] But the process of coloring a photo isn't a quick one.

- I'm kind of a perfectionist.

So, colors, I can do a color in three hours, but then I'll just dwell over it and make sure everything's perfect.

It's real pain, but, I mean, there's no gain without the pain.

- [Carter] While Mark does sell his prints through his company Arch City Designs, he's made it clear that he's not in it for the money.

- I don't go into coloring a picture and choosing a picture because I can sell it or I want to sell it.

You just gotta color what you wanna color.

You gotta do what you wanna do.

Because if you're gonna sit there and spend five hours coloring a picture, it better be something that you're invested in.

- [Carter] The art of colorization isn't an exact science.

Throughout his journey, Mark has learned to take certain liberties when working on his pieces.

- [Carter] I'm gonna say straight off that I don't go for purity in my pictures.

I think if you want a mirror image of what St.

Louis was like in 1955, you just look for a colored picture then.

Find a colored picture.

Don't ask me.

I personally prefer a more artistic style sort of an imagined look at St.

Louis in color, as I imagine it might look using realistic, you know, red brick and signs that are kind of researched to make sure that they're the right appropriate signs for those colors and stuff like that.

But not really realistic 'cause I want it to be artistic, you know?

Something like my own take on what this would look like in color.

- [Carter] For Mark, colorization is as much art as it is history.

- It gets people to look at pictures that they would otherwise ignore.

And there's so many pictures that we have of St.

Louis.

I tend to gravitate towards the pictures that show scenes that aren't recognizable.

Scenes that might not be readily important.

They don't jump at you as like, "Well, this is the arch under construction," or "This is the old courthouse."

This might just be a street widening project on this small block.

But now you get to see this small block in color, and suddenly you care about it.

- [Carter] Piece by piece, building by building, Mark adds a bit more vibrancy to St.

Louis' past.

- We are here at Webster Arts, where Humans of St.

Louis is on display, sharing stories, photos, and now video.

Nine PBS has been partnering with Humans of St.

Louis to bring those stories to the screen.

And here today is co-founder Lindy Drew and Nine PBS series producer Aaron Landgraf.

So, Lindy, tell us about the exhibit here.

- Yeah, so the exhibit is actually a retrospective of work over the past 10 years that my team and I have done to tell stories for companies and organizations that have called for us to do storytelling for them.

So we have nine different organizations represented, including Nine PBS.

- And you've had, I mean, you've shared Humans of St.

Louis stories on multiple platforms and exhibits before, but this is the first time that we're seeing the video stories come to life.

So, Aaron, you're used to being behind the camera, but now you're gonna tell us about what was the process like bringing those humans stories to a screen?

- I'll tell you, the most fun times that I've actually had out in the field has been the times where we don't take a camera out, actually, and getting to know these people one-on-one.

Being able to get to know these people and have fun with them and get to learn about them in their spaces.

So when we bring a camera in, it's like you're already part of the family and you're bringing the sight and the sounds and sort of a slice of life to the audience.

- Yeah, I think that's what people don't realize, is how much relationship-building is happening before the cameras are even rolling.

And with the cameras rolling, I mean, you're rolling on hours of interviews to really get their story right.

- A hundred percent.

I even asked Aaron to come to Club Viva on a random Thursday to take a practice course, so he could experiment on what it was like to dance salsa, bachata, cumbia.

And, you know, he was there for a few hours, - And now you're gonna show us your moves.

- I might have learned a step or two but... (group laughing) - So Club Viva's been open for over 20 years.

It's in the Central West End.

And people from all over the world come here to dance Latin music.

- Even someone who has two left feet like myself, you might even learn a step or two, just saying.

- By the time you're seeing this now, the Humans of St.

Louis exhibit will be closed to Webster Arts.

But you can see all of the amazing stories and videos from Nine PBS on Nine PBS's YouTube channel and humansofstlouis.org.

Is that right?

- Yeah, that's our main website, but you can also see the stories on our Facebook or Instagram page.

- Perfect.

All right, and now we're gonna see Club Viva.

- I never thought that I'm gonna own a nightclub.

It never crossed my mind.

See, you come to the states and you really don't know anything.

You hear a lot of stories, that you find a job, you find things, but you really don't know anything about this country until you get here and you, something with the language.

I didn't speak English at all.

And I say, "Well, man."

This is what I do.

I put it on the screens to play through the night.

You know?

What I gonna do, I gonna get a flash drive and we can put it in here.

(indistinct) forever, you know?

I love this place.

So what else do you want me to tell you?

♪ Do we run do we leave ♪ Do we stay do we go ♪ In a place that we call home?

♪ ♪ Is it selfish to me if I sell it and leave ♪ ♪ 'Cause it's telling me (indistinct) grown ♪ ♪ This is my home ♪ Northside Southside Eastside ♪ This is my home ♪ Northside Southside Eastside worldwide ♪ - Before I came here, my mother took me to these (indistinct) Colombia, little old man that, to check my energy.

- [Brooke] She took you to a where?

- To like a little wise guy, old man that he- - [Brooke] Oh, like a wise old man.

- So I remember going there and he look at me and say, "Young man, you're ready to go.

You're gonna be so successful in the States.

Don't be afraid of anything.

You gonna make it there, man."

I can see your energy," he told me.

So he patch his hands through me and say, "One thing, be careful with law.

That part is gonna be..." (group laughing) Everything started in 1986.

I was in Columbia and I was going to college, to architecture school.

And a friend of mine used to live in Los Angeles, she went back to Columbia and she wanted to come back to the States.

And she asked me, "Would you like to come with me?"

And I always wanted to come and see the United States, and I say, "Yes."

(lively music) And then now we had to, my friends, chinos people, we had this called (foreign language), or the people who gonna take you to the other side.

And it wasn't easy.

(lively music) When I left Colombia, I have $1,500 with me.

When I got to Los Angeles, I had $100 on my pocket.

When I came to LA, so I start going out to the dancing scene in Los Angeles, to the nightclubs.

I was very proud of my dancing and I thought that I knew how to dance well.

So I went out there, but I realized that I couldn't dance with anybody because I have my own style.

So I talk to a friend and say, "Listen, why these people... They don't dance well here.

They don't know how to dance, you know?"

He told me, "Oh, you are wrong, man.

You have to look at yourself.

You're the one who cannot dance with them."

- My name is Carlos.

I'm in charge of the salsa class.

We do have salsa and we do have bachata.

We have a instructor for bachata.

So I'll be in charge of the salsa class.

- (indistinct), when I came to St.

Louis, I started looking for places to go dancing, the Latin scene.

So I met Mateo through Isabel to the Columbia sociality because Mateo will bring the music for the Colombian sociality, little DJ.

So Mateo, I become good friend with them.

So I hung out with them a lot.

So one day, Mateo say, "I wanna open a nightclub, mate."

I remember we open, we played some music, and nobody come out.

And that we, three or four people, we do some moves, and everybody's just watching like, "Oh, what's going on?"

So I told Mateo, "We need to start teaching people how to dance."

- When I first started dancing at Club Viva, I was a beginner.

I didn't know anything.

I didn't know how to spin.

I didn't know any of that.

I didn't know the structure.

But everyone was so welcoming.

(lively music) Everyone asked you to dance.

(upbeat Spanish music) - When I first came to the door, I was like, "What in the world is this place?"

And then I went downstairs because we are in the basement, and then it's like another world there.

(upbeat Spanish music continues) - It's completely different vibe.

The music, the atmosphere, the bartenders, everybody's just so friendly.

Yeah, the people make it like feel safe.

And that's what I really like about it.

(upbeat Spanish music continues) - I started Latin dancing in Malaysia and I practiced over there for four years.

And then I came here, and this is so much fun.

This is so much fun.

I love the dancing scene here.

- It's like a melting pot.

Like we are in the states, you know?

We are melting pot.

Same in this place.

You come here, you find all the races enjoying, you know, one specific style of music, which is the Latin music.

(upbeat Spanish music continues) - So many different people from different walks of life, you know?

We all come together here, you know, and we just have a good time.

You know, there's no problems, there's no beef with everybody.

You know, it's the time that we can get together and just enjoy one commonality, and that's dancing and enjoying the music.

- It's really nice walking in there.

And as I'm walking in there and as I'm leaving, I hug everyone because I've been going there for so long.

I know if someone has a kid, I'm like, "Oh, how's your family?

How's your kid doing?"

That's a really good feeling.

It's like a little community.

(upbeat Spanish music continues) - Dancing is the heart of this place.

People come here to dance.

That this is a Latin dancing club.

(upbeat Spanish music continues) (serene guitar music) I'm grateful that I was able to have this place.

And it is not for me.

This place is for this community, for St.

Louis.

I try to show people like, this is for everybody.

It doesn't matter, race, age, education.

You know, like, you wanna come here and have fun and learn how to dance?

That's what we offer you.

Probably in three or more year, maybe I'm gonna find me a person like they found me and say, "I wanna sell it to you, and I want somebody who wanna keep it going."

(serene guitar music continues) You know, I feel sometimes like you have an angel, you know, that's looking after you.

(lively music) - If learning about Club Viva made you wanna dance, this next story will make you wanna eat.

For years, the only place you could get Adjo Honsou's tasty West African food was at her food truck, FUFU n' Sauce.

But now you can get "The Great American Recipe" winner's oxtail and palm nut stew, jollof rice, fried plantains, and more at her new brick and mortar location.

(upbeat music) - Today we are in the flagship of FUFU n' Sauce, our first location that's a brick and mortar location for carryout, pickup, and just servicing the community.

- [Veronica] On June 25th, Adjo Honsou, the winner of Season 3 of "The Great American Recipe" on PBS, opened her first restaurant.

- The idea of owning a restaurant was not something of inception, but I feel like I've lived the story to tell this story best.

From migrating from Togo to here, living in the St.

Louis community, not having access to my food and just being the person that I believe in, being the change you want to see.

There is no African restaurant here if you want to change that.

- [Veronica] The FUFU n' Sauce brand started over three years ago as pop-ups.

- St.

Louis has shown us that they really want this food.

And so from the popups, we went into the food truck in 2023.

And so the food truck is about two years old.

And so it's just time.

It's time to, to have roots, you know, because I am frankly tired of getting 12:00 AM calls.

"Where's the food truck?"

So now the location is here.

You don't have to hunt me down in the city anymore.

- [Veronica] The restaurant is located on the corner of Paige and Midland in Vinita Park.

Honsou says everything from the art, to the music, to the walls are meant to transport customers to her native country of Togo.

- So when I got this space, the walls were not like this.

It was just plain white wall and smooth white wall.

And my biggest challenge was texturing it.

I lost so many weeks because I had to find somebody that can texture the walls.

And so, because back home, this things are built out of brick or clay.

So that is literally what the wall looks like.

So that was the biggest challenge.

But once we got that texture, then the vision came to life.

It became, "What do I wanna feel in the space?

What from home bringing into the space will make other people feel like they're of my culture and in my culture?"

- [Veronica] But the food is the star of the show.

- Throughout the journey of the food truck, we've learned all the things that people like, you know?

Of course, our oxtail being our winning one and what everybody's always looking to get.

And egusi being our vegan option.

We're keeping our beefs to the jollof rice.

And of course the star of the show, the fufu, is always here.

- [Veronica] Honsou also plans to introduce a new African dish each month.

- I want to highlight all the different countries, all the food that I've learned growing up that may not be Togolese food per se, but our West African cuisine and our West African food or even Eastern African food as we grow and as we just expand the culture and learn from one another because we're not a monolith.

As much as people think Africa is a country, it's a continent full of different countries and different flavors and different connections.

I think that being on "The Great American Recipe," what it has done was kind of pick people's curiosity.

A customer that came here on Wednesday and said, "I want the cocktail today because I'm gonna eat everything in the order you made it on the show."

And I was like, "I've done my job."

Like, I have done my job, you know?

Somebody that knows nothing about African culture, had no prior experience with African culture, just because they saw "The Great American Recipe," are like, "Okay, this person is making this food, they're here in my community, I'm gonna come and I'm gonna eat every single thing she made on the show."

And it's so healing for me as well.

And that's why the passion really seems, it comes through because I'm like, "Oh wow, I would've loved somebody to have done this for me."

And so I'm glad that I'm doing it for the next generation.

- [Veronica] And don't worry.

You can still find the FUFU n' Sauce food truck all around St.

Louis.

But Honsou says the new brick and mortar space is a dream come true.

- It's a real and authentic manifestation of how hard work, vision, and truly caring about your people can really materialize into something beautiful.

And I just wanna say, I hope I made my people proud.

- And that's "Living St.

Louis."

You can find all these stories and more on Nine PBS's YouTube channel or on the PBS app.

And we'd love to hear from you.

If you have thoughts and suggestions, you can send them to us at ninepbs.org/lsl.

I'm Brooke Butler, thanks for joining us.

(lively music) (lively music continues) - [Announcer] "Living St.

Louis" is funded in part by the Betsy & Thomas Patterson Foundation and the members of Nine PBS.