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

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] Coming up next "Off 90."

Explore the cosmos with us as we visit a local observatory.

Come along for a boat cruise on Albert Lea Lake.

And finally, join us as we visit New Ulm's local brewery and learn some interesting facts about its history.

It's all just ahead "Off 90."

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music) - We are at the Sola Fide Observatory in Austin, Minnesota.

We got it as a donation back in 1992.

We got it from a doctor in town who was just really into astronomy.

So he just built an entire observatory for himself.

But when he moved away, he donated it to the city.

And so since the Nature Center is under the umbrella of the Park and Rec Department of the city of Austin, it was either gonna go to the library or to us.

So it came with the name.

So Sola Fide is just something that just kind of, like, happenstanced upon, but it has a meaning of kind of like a greater, like, opening up to the heavens.

It's like a greater meaning for that.

So Sola Fide, Sola Fide, either one we'll take, but we call it Sola Fide.

When we got the observatory as a donation back in the early '90s, it was volunteer run, mainly.

So they had their own telescopes that they would sometimes bring out and that sort of thing.

But we got a new one in the early 2000s.

But when I started at the Nature Center in 2019, I saw that it was kind of untapped potential.

Like, what a cool thing for the community to have.

So as a project, we got in touch with a science teacher from Albert Lea who was just very into astronomy in general, has their own telescopes, all that sort of good stuff, and got his expertise on what we should be looking for, what kind of upgrades we need in order to utilize the space better.

So with his help, we actually found a gentleman selling a telescope from Texas.

And the only reason he was selling it is he was getting a bigger one.

So we got an 18-inch Dobsonian Starmaster telescope.

And that's just fancy terminology, nothing scary.

The 18-inch means that's the size of the mirror, and that means it can collect a lot more light than a smaller one with what would be like a five or an eight, which would be the more amateur side of things or the ones that are doing it very casually.

So with our 18-inch Dobsonian, we can look at things like galaxies and nebulas and star clusters a lot better than if we had just a tiny one.

So with that upgrade, we actually added in a deck for our observatory as well as stairs that have lights on them.

'Cause we used to just have one of those, like, rolling ladders that you see in hardware stores, and that would be how you got up and saw the telescope.

So with that, we also added some cement pads and some power outlets outside.

So other people can bring in their own telescopes, too.

It depends on who you ask of what is gonna be your favorite thing.

So if you go more towards the people who actually do this as a hobby, they want the deep space stuff.

They want, like, the galaxies and the nebulas and star clusters.

But if you get just people who have never even looked through a telescope before, a lot of times it's just, like, the moon, or it's one of the planets.

So Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, and Mars are all pretty visible in our telescopes.

And, like, you can see the rings of Saturn, you can see the stripes on Jupiter.

And that is something that is just awe inspiring for these people who have, like, never gotten to see that.

You only see it when you look up a image on Google, right?

So that's probably the favorite for more of the casual people, but the other ones... My favorite is the Orion Nebula 'cause you can see the stars being formed inside the nebula, and you can actually see a little bit of color, too.

So a little bit of green and blue.

It's really, really cool.

Oh man, the farthest that you can see.

That's a hard question.

So it depends on sky conditions.

If you were to observe in the winter, it's actually better for observing because there's not as much moisture in the air.

So the less humidity, the clearer the sky is and the less atmosphere you have to look through kind of deal.

So if it's humid and it's hot, it's better to stand outside in when you're looking through a telescope.

But we can see, oh man, a couple million light years away, which is crazy.

But those are big things.

Those are, like, big galaxies, you know.

Then they're small, little, gray smudges.

Like, that's all that it is in a telescope.

But it is definitely cool to see because it's like, your eye is actually seeing that.

It's not a picture, right?

So it's something completely different.

So the Astronomy Club, I'm so excited about it.

It happened back in 1993, just after we got the observatory.

And that's the people who ran the observatory at the time.

So it was just like-minded people who just liked astronomy and liked the starry night, all that sort of thing.

They ran the observatory for us.

But it kind of dwindled as people retired, or they moved away and that sort of thing.

So it kind of fell to the wayside, probably the early teens, 20-teens.

And so I wanted to get it back up and running.

So we have an observatory.

It should be used.

It shouldn't just be used for just, like, two nights a week.

It should be used by people who want to use it, who want to learn about it.

So our Astronomy Club is a completely free club to join, and it's for all ages and interest levels.

You don't have to be an expert.

We will have monthly meetings on the second Friday of every month, and we usually go over some sort of topic.

And then if the skies are clear, it's a members-only viewing night out here.

So you not only get to look at different things that maybe we wouldn't look at with the public, 'cause these people will probably have more patience to look for things like a little, fuzzy galaxy a very far distance away, but also, it gives them experience with running our stuff.

So if they are really interested into this sort of thing, and they get experience running our telescopes, then we can offer more opportunities to the public that way, too.

It's not a requirement to be in the club that you're gonna run the observatory, but it is something that we are looking for.

If you wanna be a telescope driver, we will welcome you with open arms.

In order to get involved with the Astronomy Club, you can contact us, you can email us, or you can show up to one of the public viewing nights and be like, "Hey, I'm interested.

When's your next meeting?"

Or just show up to one of our meetings.

Our meetings always happen at the Nature Center first, and then if it's clear, we come out here.

'Cause it's way easier to meet in an actual meeting room at the Nature Center than it is to try and shove everyone in the small building.

Some things that people like to learn about or aren't expecting to learn when they come out here.

So we have neighboring galaxies and the vastness of it all of, oh, like, why can't we just zoom in on that galaxy more?

Well, it's so far away, if we put as much zoom as we could, we're still not zooming in, we're just gathering more light.

So we're just gathering more information about it.

And, like, our neighboring galaxy, the Andromeda Galaxy, is however 30 million light years away.

But that's a fair distance.

It's huge.

So the fact that there are so many galaxies out there and the closest one is that much, with not a whole lot in between, is really kind of mind boggling to some people.

And the size of stuff.

Our telescope is pretty state of the art of the fact that it is an 18-inch, which is pretty big for even a facility like this.

A lot of times you'll go in and you'll see, like, maybe a 10 or an 8.

So it's an 18-inch Dobsonian with a Starmaster on it.

So the mirror has actually been coated.

Like, a special coating.

So it's an even fancier mirror than just, like, the regular one.

So you're looking at, you know, $10,000 worth of equipment.

And so that sort of thing to use for free here, for anybody who comes out, is something that's super special.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) (inspiring music) (inspiring music continues) (inspiring music continues) - We cruise every Friday night at six o'clock, Sunday afternoons at 1:30 for our public cruises.

They're an hour and a half long.

You're welcome to bring aboard anything you'd like to eat or drink.

We're gonna let somebody else do the driving.

The cruises are Memorial Day through Labor Day.

We do do specialty cruises, and we do have private cruises.

(inspiring music) This is a, I like to refer to it as a lovely ranch style.

It's all on one floor.

They don't call it a paddle boat.

We just call it a boat.

It's a tour boat, is what it is, actually.

(inspiring music) Cruising speed is usually four to six miles an hour.

It goes very slow.

Oh, yes, 'cause you get to see everything, and you don't, you know, zoom by.

You don't get to see anything.

So we've had it up to 16 miles an hour, but... That was haulin'.

But (laughs) that was fast.

I wasn't on it, but yeah.

(inspiring music) It was replaced.

It started in 1997.

They replaced it in 2001, I believe.

We used to have a double-decker, the Pelican Breeze 1, and then we decided we needed a bigger boat.

So we purchased this one.

It's 55 feet long.

It holds 55 people.

It was just a group of people that got together and thought they'd like to do something for Albert Lea and Albert Lea Lake to get it on the map.

It's such a beautiful place.

So we got together, captains and their wives, and we're first mates, and that's how we started.

(inspiring music) Why the name, it was just, they had a contest of what the name should be, and a lady came up with the Pelican Breeze.

We have a lot of pelicans on the lake.

They start in April, May, and then they leave about August, September, head back south again.

(inspiring music) See lots of pelicans today, and other birds.

We have several species of birds and animals on the lake.

(inspiring music) (inspiring music continues) (inspiring music continues) (inspiring music continues) (inspiring music continues) There's not a lot of people on this lake.

It's shallow, but we have had speedboats out here.

We've had motorboats out here.

We've had jet skis.

And most people have pontoons.

(inspiring music) I've been doing this for 15 years.

One time we were going out, captain and I went out, we had a boat full.

It was a lovely day.

We went out, turned around, went underneath the bridge, turned around and came back, and the tornado sirens went off.

Lightning started to strike, thunder happened, and it rained so much.

That's probably one of my most memorable.

I had people underneath the table crying, you know, "Get the life preservers!"

I'm like, "Okay!"

(laughs) They come from all over.

We've had people from Germany, we've had people from Norway, we've had people from China, all of the states.

They come from all over.

A lot of locals like to come and just enjoy it, you know.

Just to enjoy the quietness and to be able to watch nature.

(inspiring music) (inspiring music continues) We have 10 employees and volunteers that help on the boat.

Right now we have, like, three active captains and three active first mates.

(inspiring music) When you're out there, you see the I-35 bridge.

That's a big draw.

The pelicans, the houses along the lake.

There's some fabulous houses out there.

And where the pelicans hang out.

(inspiring music) (inspiring music continues) (inspiring music continues) (inspiring music continues) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) - I'm Ted Marti.

I am the current president of August Schell Brewing Company.

We are the second oldest family-owned brewery in the country.

August Schell came in 1856, and then in 1860, built the brewery here.

Typical German breweries.

The house was attached to the brewery.

And so if you see the early pictures of the brewery, you'll see a little section that was the house and then the brewery.

And then in 1885, he built the mansion at the end of the garden.

And it was important for him to have the garden because he used it as a promotional, even way back then, to bring people to the brewery, sample the beer, and, you know, help build the brand.

And so I think he died in his early '60s, and his son, Otto Schell, took over.

He was a very, very smart brewer.

Innovative.

And built up probably one of the nicest breweries in the state at that time.

Otto actually died fairly young, too, in 1911.

And then the brewery passed to Otto's brother-in-law, who had married August Schell's daughter.

So that was George Marti.

And then it stayed in the Martis every generation.

Hopefully, my son Kyle will take over.

So he'll be sixth generation.

So the Dakota Uprising happened in the early 1860s.

We had a good relationship with the Native Americans.

So as they were moving up and down, if they needed something, Mrs. Schell gave them food, clothing, whatever.

And things changed when the war broke out.

Obviously, it focused on the city of New Ulm, and they attacked several times and burned a fair amount of the city.

And, of course, left us alone, which is, I mean, pretty amazing.

But nothing was touched.

It was pretty tough to brew beer in the beginning.

You know, they mixed the mash by hand.

No refrigeration.

You were at the mercy of your ice supply.

So we'd cut ice all winter long, store it in ice houses that we had.

And then you ran out of ice.

You had to quit brewing because you couldn't brew in July, August, in the heat.

So once refrigeration was invented, the ammonia refrigeration, and Otto Schell put that in, then the brewers had, you know, they had control over pretty much all the processes.

Then it was pretty much stable like that until the 1950s, and they built a new bottle house.

And then once we started growing with our contracts, we needed more space.

And so we added what we called our Grain Belt cellar, where we expanded, put in tanks and a new keg line.

It was about 2005, I think, we finished this facility here with the gift shop and the tap rooms and the tour center.

And then the old house, it was our little gift shop.

And then my brother had a music studio in there.

He is the one that started the beer garden area.

So we kind of expanded that over the years, and we added the brick patio down there and the stage.

It's really a great campus here because it's, I mean, we're right up against the river, and they got trees and flowers and everything you need.

But in 1912, we came out with Schell's Deer Brand beer.

George Marti introduced it.

So this was a fine, lighter pilsner beer.

And the whole country was sort of swinging to lighter beers.

You know, before that, you had pretty heavy, stout dark beers.

And now the consumer kind of liked seeing it in a glass, and it's kind of crystal clear, and the nice white foam on the top.

And so that was the American lager, and the consumer liked it.

And so that was our Deer Brand.

And that's really been our flagship.

It wasn't until probably the late '70s, early '80s when the craft beer movement was starting to go that we've really expanded our styles of beers.

And historically, we've always kind of stuck with German-style beers.

And this was Minnesota Brewing at the time.

And they were a big contract brewer.

You know, they had Grain Belt, was their largest beer brand, and they needed to get rid of their returnable bottle line.

And then they came down to us and said, "We'll ship the beer down if you can put it in the bottles for us."

And so we did that for, I think it was less than a year.

They made some bad investments in some contracts, and they went broke, basically.

Basically, they auctioned off the label, the brand.

But anyway, we won the bid, bought the brand in June, and by September, I think, we had our first beers coming out.

We've been able to survive through all of this stuff, I think, primarily because of the family.

There's always been somebody that's taken over that's in the family and has wanted to ride it out, not throw in the towel.

I would never sell.

You know, this whole long line of family members running the brewery.

And I'll be damned if I drop the ball, you know.

So second thing is we've always been loyal to the town of New Ulm.

I don't want to compete with the bars downtown.

We distribute to those bars downtown.

I don't want to take their business away.

I want to bring people to town.

We don't run our events very long, and, you know, usually they're done by 5:00, 5:30, because I want them to go experience the rest of the town.

(upbeat music) My brother, actually, George, was working at the brewery at the time, and he was the creator of Bockfest.

And we wanted to do something fun in the winter.

And so that was 1987.

Sort of evolved into almost 7,000 people now.

So we never did do our own Oktoberfest until 2012.

We try to keep it as authentic as we can to a German Oktoberfest.

It's been fun events.

You know, people have been great.

It's really been an enjoyable event.

I think the future of the brewery is really good.

Business is always a challenge, but pendulum has kind of swung back a little bit to more easy drinking beers, lagers and things like that.

So it's just, you know, you gotta live with it and work through it.

You innovate, but that's, you know, (laughs) part of our life.

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

(bird calling)