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

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

Join us as we visit the St. Olaf Diner at the Mower County Fair.

(lighthearted soft rock music) Come along as we learn about a local Special Olympic swim team.

And finally, visit the village of Yesteryear in Owatonna and learn about their upcoming Extravaganza.

It's all just ahead "Off 90."

(mellow soft rock music) (lighthearted music) (upbeat country music) - I'm Jim Braaten with the St. Olaf Diner here at the Mower County Fair in Austin.

St. Olaf has had a diner presence here at the fair, I'm thinking it's been since the early '50s, late '40s to early '50s.

Originally it was located under the old grandstand building on the other side of the fairgrounds, and then it moved to this location on the west end.

We're thinking it was in the mid to late '80s.

(upbeat country music continues) We rent the building.

The building itself is owned by the fair.

So, we rent the building each year for the week of the fair.

We have it actually longer than that to clean and get ready and start supplying and things like that.

Preparation starts with ordering probably six to eight weeks ago, getting food orders in.

Last week we made 90 pies at church, but they get baked at the church and then brought out on a daily basis.

But it's the supply and getting the paper goods and the things that we need here and putting them away and seeing if we have room for all of it.

Our menu has been pretty standard over the years.

We do a full-cooked to order breakfast of eggs and meat and hash browns with.

You can have pancakes.

We do breakfast sandwiches, orange juice, coffee, things like that, all the sodas and that type of thing.

Our other meals are pretty standard, the basic hamburger, cheeseburger, grilled cheese, chicken sandwiches.

And then we do sloppy joes.

We also have our steam table, which is hot beef for commercial sandwiches, and then we do a meatball dinner too.

(upbeat country music continues) (people chattering) We have a group of people who have had their interest has always been working with the fair diner.

So there's, we meet start usually in the spring sometime and kind of rehash the menu, seeing if there's anything we need to change.

We're strictly a volunteer organization.

Primarily it is our church members that make up the staff here.

We have some friends of members that do come to help out just for the joy of helping out and doing something for the community.

(mellow bluegrass music) At church, we always put out this big table of signup sheets.

So, it's the breakfast shift, and the lunch shift, and the evening shift for all the weeks, but then there's the pie page.

And there you get all the church ladies who sign up to make pies, and a lot of the guys too.

But this year I think we had about 16 people that were involved in making the pies.

So, make 'em all at church.

They get frozen, and then they're baked every day during the fair.

(mellow bluegrass music continues) We start at seven in the morning, and we go 'til 7:30 or so at night.

And you know, just 20 minutes ago we had a big rush because it was kind of the end of our breakfast period.

And at this hour of the morning, we start switching over to the luncheon menu or the dinner menu.

And so, we always get that last minute rush of 20, 30 people who run in to quickly get their pancakes or eggs before we're done.

It's a lot of fun.

I get to see an awful lot of people that I've known for years.

I started working in the church diner when it was down under the grandstand stocking the pop cooler and things like that as a teenager.

And so, it's just been such a tradition.

And I just hate to think of the end of it, but in today's world, it's getting harder and harder to get the volunteers to fill the positions.

And you know, people, wash dishes?

I don't do that at home.

Why would I come out there to do it?

But it's just a lot of fun, a lot of camaraderie amongst the members and having a good time.

Anybody we'd welcome.

Welcome anybody with open arms.

My hope for the future of the St. Olaf Diner is that it just goes on.

When a tradition's been carried on so long, I just hate to think of it not being here.

You know, there's lots of concessions foods out there on the midway, but this is still home cooking.

It gets a little warm in here sometimes, but you know, for the most part it's just a good time.

Families coming in, I know there's one of the church members, all her kids come home at some time during the fair as a rule, and she brings them all out for dinner.

And you know, it's just something they've always done.

So, it's a lot of fun.

(lighthearted music) (gentle electronica music) - [Jamie] We have been around since 2016, and we were also started at the old YMCA.

And then we came here at the new YMCA and brought our team here after COVID, and we were able to start back up with the program.

So, we have been around for nine years now.

Currently on our swim roster we have 24 athletes, along with five unified partners and six coaches that volunteer each week.

(upbeat rock music) ♪ Are you ready ♪ ♪ Are you ready ♪ ♪ Are you ready ♪ ♪ Are you ready ♪ ♪ Ah, late night hour ♪ ♪ Whiskey sour ♪ ♪ Perfect love that came along ♪ ♪ Late night hour ♪ - I believe this is a great program because it fully supports inclusion, healthy athletes, and bringing forward a great program within our community to support all of our friends with different abilities.

And it's a program that starts at the age of eight and goes.

There's no cap for our athletes here in our community.

- [Interviewer] Lexi, how long have you been swimming with Special Olympics?

- [Lexi] Three years.

- What do you like to swim?

- [Lexi] Freestyle.

- [Interviewer] And what do you have with you today?

- The medals.

- [Interviewer] And where did you get the medals from?

- These three from state and these three from Rochester.

- Our son Christian's been interested in swimming, and we've had 'im in swim lessons every summer, but you know, it has taken him a while to get a handle on it.

More exposure to a swimming is what we, one of the things we were looking for.

And then also, you know, you want 'em to get that sense of accomplishment and connect with something that they enjoy, and he enjoys comin' to swimming.

He's ready to go every day.

When we tell him it's ready to go, he's got his shoes on and a smile on his face, and he's ready to come and swim.

- [Interviewer] All right, Joey, what is your favorite event to compete at swim meets?

- The 50 freestyle.

- [Interviewer] All right.

And what is the best part of your weekly swim practices?

- Hanging out with friends and practicing my guides.

- [Interviewer] Great job, Joey.

Thank you.

- Yep.

- My daughter is 16.

She was born with Down Syndrome, and at the age of three we started physical therapy in Rochester in a water, like a physical therapy program.

And then, once she got into kindergarten, she met a wonderful person there who was also a swim instructor at the municipal pool here in town.

And when she started that program and learned how to walk and further develop that meant that way with swimming, it became something of her passion.

And I knew at the age of eight when she was able to be eligible for Special Olympics, that Special Olympics was gonna be somethin' that was part of our lives forever.

And her love for swimming lives on.

She's part of the Austin High School swim team and then also been part of Special Olympics since she was eight years old, specifically in the swim program.

So, continuing to support her, not only in that passion and love, but able to also bring it forward for all of our friends with all abilities here in the Austin community is definitely what lights me up.

My name is Jamie Riley.

I am the head of delegation for the Austin Unified Swim team with Special Olympics.

- [Interviewer] All right, can you tell us your name?

- Ella.

- [Interviewer] And, Ella, how old are you?

- 16.

- [Interviewer] And what grade are you in?

- 10th grade.

- [Interviewer] How many years have you been doing Special Olympics?

- Eight years.

- [Interviewer] And is it your favorite?

- Yes.

- Okay.

Ella, what is your favorite stroke and event?

I like.

- I like 50 backstroke, my 50 freestyle.

- [Interviewer] That's awesome.

Ella, what is your favorite memory from swimming with your team?

- With my friends.

- [Interviewer] Ella, you have something around your neck tonight.

Can you show us what you have?

- My medals, I got two of those, and I have lots of medals.

♪ I'm the smile ♪ ♪ In their eyes now ♪ ♪ The little hint ♪ ♪ Of fleeting glint to see ♪ ♪ When you watch ♪ ♪ The grandkids grow ♪ ♪ You look at them ♪ ♪ And you'll see me ♪ ♪ I'm the tree ♪ ♪ That we planted on that day ♪ ♪ That cast a cool shade ♪ ♪ Upon your face now ♪ ♪ The pictures we hung ♪ ♪ In the home we made ♪ ♪ Each time you step ♪ ♪ To that lovely place ♪ (kids chattering) - This is a very inclusive community, parents and children alike.

Everybody pretty much accepts and loves everybody so there should never be any fears, especially within this community, and I think a lot of us as parents have learned that.

- Our son's traveled to the regional meets last year and this year in Rochester, and last year he went to the state competition up in the city.

So, but yes, Special Olympics swimming will be in the state of Minnesota next year.

It's exciting to see that come to the state of Minnesota.

I think the state of Minnesota has a good base to deal, to support people who who have special needs.

- Funding comes from volunteers, and then also Special Olympics of Minnesota also does a raffle every year, and 100% of that raffle comes back to our team.

So, if we sell $5 raffle tickets, that $5 also comes back to our team.

So, we continue to support our team through volunteers and contributions from donations that way and then also the raffle ticket fundraiser.

We're always seeking further support as well.

- So, my daughter Amelia and I moved to town a year ago.

So, this is actually our first year with the program.

I didn't even know anything like this existed, so we're excited that we had the opportunity to be able to do it this year.

So, it has taught her to be more defined with her skillset.

So, if she is expected to do one sort of swim, then you know she can't change it up.

Like when she swims on her own, she can just kind of change up how she does things, and it's gonna be the same when she applies herself into the workforce and future in life.

You know, you can't always do what you wanna do when you wanna do it.

So, it helps teach her discipline that sometimes you have to do what you don't wanna do to be able to do what you wanna do.

- The program for our family has, it's been really good first and foremost because it's given Christian a place to explore and to grow his skills and get that confidence more than anything else.

It's been really wonderful, but it's also been really good for the sense of community it creates for our son and and for our family.

- It has affected her confidence a lot.

I would say by the fact that she's able to compete with teammates that are on her level, as opposed to people who might not be on the same level she is.

So, there's the actual nature of competition for her where.

They had a competition in Rochester a couple weeks ago, and she was able to compete with kids from around neighboring cities.

And it is an actual competition where otherwise some of our kids might not have this opportunity to compete.

- Absolutely, watching 24 youth bring forward that smile every day when they walk into this pool, to know that that energy is coming out together, being with friends, participating, being active, and doing somethin' that they are truly passionate about.

It's not about the awards or the medals at the end of the day.

It's about being with friends and being included in a wonderful program.

♪ I ♪ ♪ I will wait for you here ♪ (upbeat bluegrass music) ♪ I will wait for you here ♪ ♪ I am the flower, you are the flame ♪ ♪ Burn to the ground, and you are the grain ♪ ♪ Is it really worth it if you're beauty without pain ♪ ♪ Oh, it once ran in fire ♪ ♪ I'll be the same ♪ (people chattering) - Yes, you can support us by reaching out to the YMCA and asking them here 'cause they offer our facility to us to continue to work with this program.

And then, you can also reach out to myself or any of our current coaches that volunteer to continue to branch out and support us.

And then, we also work with at the high school, the unified physical education teachers that also work with the Special Olympics and continuing to bring the unified portion to our school district and our community.

- I would say that it has always been worth it to see your child at the end of the night to say that they did something that they've struggled to do or something that has been a little harder for them to accomplish and for them to see them meet that goal.

I mean, it's a celebration for everyone, not just them.

(gentle music) ♪ Think about you always ♪ ♪ You've been through ♪ ♪ I wish there was somethin' ♪ ♪ That I could do ♪ ♪ It's so hard ♪ ♪ To see you fall ♪ ♪ You just smile when you should be sick of it all ♪ (lighthearted music) (gentle piano music) (bell dinging) - I'm Jennifer Thiele.

I'm the executive director of the Steele County Historical Society.

We oversee the village of Yesteryear, the History Center, and the Orphanage Museum.

And I fell in love with this kind of work because my family took me to museums throughout the country, and it's great to interact.

It's an opportunity to step back in time to experience that simpler life, and I love the storytelling.

I love being able to continuously share that history with people who come to our historical society.

And the events and programs that we offer are a fun way to get the entire family involved where it's not just us kind of sharing those facts and figures.

It's getting that complete immersion into history.

So, we are standing in the Saco Church.

This building was built for the community of Moravia.

It was a prominent Czech community, as Steele County has quite a few Czech settlers.

The church was the St. Wenceslas of Moravia Roman Catholic Church, and it served the community until 1952.

The church was moved to the village of Yesteryear, and it was actually the start of the village in 1962.

The church came with all of its original fixtures, including the pews that are on rails to make cleaning easier, the altar, as well as a working organ, which the volunteers of the Steele County Historical Society play during our events such as Extravaganza and the Steele County Free Fair.

The building is still fully operational, and we actually host and allow rentals for weddings throughout the year.

(pleasant symphony music) So, the Extravaganza started in 1986, and it is a way for the Steele County Historical Society to highlight our village of Yesteryear.

We do live demonstrations.

We have reenactors.

We have building interpreters telling the history of each of these buildings.

And it's a fun free family event where each July people are able to come and just step back in time and experience a simpler life.

We are standing in District 14 schoolhouse.

This district served one corner of the Owatonna Township, just south of the community of Owatonna.

The land for the school was donated by William Thompson, and the school was also known as the Luther White School in honor of his grandson.

And at one time, Steele County had 99 rural schools before consolidation in 1960s.

And as you go through the old schoolhouse, you can see just some of the features that were common for the children that attended one-room schools, including rules of conduct for teachers in 1915, as well as the chalkboards that we still allow school tours to kind of write on and play with today.

If you walk through the school, you'll notice that the desks are on slides or rails.

This allowed for teachers to move the desks to the center or the walls so that the teachers could clean the schools every day.

The children at the rural schools learned music, math, English, grammar, and basic arts as well as geography.

Each of the schools had a stove in it, and this allowed for warm water as well as for heating of the children's meals each day.

And then our school house also has a Victrola, so that way the kids could listen to old records during their lessons.

One of our most popular buildings is the Dunnell House.

It is our own historic mansion, and that is from Owatonna.

It was moved here in 1969.

The home is from 1868 to 1869, and it served as the residence for U.S. House Representative Mark Hill Dunnell, and his family lived in the home.

He had served in the Civil War.

He came from the east and settled here.

He also was the state school superintendent, and he had a long and very successful career in Minnesota.

And the home is not decorated with authentic Dunnell collection items just because when the family left the home, they took it all to California, but we have recreated the home's fixtures.

And so, there's period pieces in there.

And we do a lot of events and programs featuring the Dunnell house, including Victorian teas.

This is where we have kind of those step back in time experiences where we have a reenactor act as Mark Hill Dunnell or Matilda for our educational programs.

And the home also talks about the history of Pillsbury Academy, which was our local, it started out as an educational college for men and women before transitioning to being a boys military school.

(mellow big band music) So, we are standing in the gentleman's parlor of the Dunnell House.

This is where Mark Hill Dunnell had his office space.

Included in the artifacts that are on display here is a cane given to Mark Hill Dunnell for his service.

The cane is made from wood from Christopher Columbus's home.

So, this is an early 1900 Edison Amberola, and it plays reels of music.

And this is one of the still operational musical instruments that we have with the Dunnell House.

(instrument cranking) (lighthearted music) (man singing indistinctly) During the summer months, we offer guided village tours, and this is where one of our skilled interpreters will lead you through the village buildings telling the unique history of each location.

And it's $5 for children, $7 for adults.

And when we are not fully open with our events or programs, you are free to come and just roam around the grounds and tour it yourself through self-guided tours.

So, new this year with Extravaganza, we are tying it into our main exhibit at the History Center, which is "Vaudeville to the Silver Screen: "A Look at the Entertainment History of Steele County."

And so, we are going to be doing a vintage medicine show during this production.

And so, a couple of the staff will be acting as traveling doctors and talking about the history of Mineral Springs and the healing waters.

And then, we might be selling some of those healing waters during the production.

In our exhibit right now, we actually have a medicine wagon, and it talks about Chief Wabina and the healing waters 'cause there is that Owatonna folk legend that Princess Owatonna was healed by drinking the waters.

And it is just a legend.

There's no record that she actually ever existed, but we wanna kind of play up to that because that is part of that tradition of medicine shows, where they were connecting it to different folk traditions or histories that were not always true or accurate, but it played into that local legend.

And the community could connect with that story.

And then it just added to the credibility of the traveling salesmen and their shtick.

It is a family-friendly village.

We see children from the young with attending the Extravaganza, participating in the children's activities to the young families who are having kids run around.

We also do vintage games.

So, it's a great way for the kids to kind of burn off some energy on the village green.

And then, we do have our mature audience, and it's great to have them come because they will sit and reminisce.

They remember when their grandparents did just the vintage or traditional washing.

They remember going to a one-room schoolhouse.

And so it's great to have that multi-generational audience being able to interact with each other and share how it once was.

(pleasant piano music) (lighthearted soft rock music) (gentle music) - [Announcer] Funding for this program is provided in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.

(bird calling)