(upbeat music) - [Announcer] Funding for "Off 90" is provided in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.

(bright music) - [Barbara] Cruising your way next "Off 90."

We learn the history of Sugar Loaf bluff in Winona.

We pet some goats at a goat farm.

We meet a pole vault from Pine Island and we find a Makerspace for creative projects in Mankato.

It's all just ahead "Off 90."

(bright music) (dramatic music) Hi, I'm Barbara Keith.

Thanks for joining me on this trip "Off 90."

The history of Sugar Loaf bluff carves out a story in Winona.

What was once part of your average Mississippi river bluff is now Winona's most notable feature and the cornerstone of Winona's economy.

Come with us as we answer a query about a quarry.

(soft music) - [Cynthya] Sugar Loaf bluff is this rock pinnacle that stands about almost 600 feet above lake Winona, where we're standing next to, and it's about 85 feet tall of just sheer rock face.

It's a pinnacle that is a landmark for Winona.

I think that everyone who's ever been through Winona or lives here identifies with this as quintessentially Winona.

- [Mark] Well Sugar Loaf bluff today is much different than it was 160 years ago.

Sugar Loaf bluff is part of the driftless area, which was created by the melt waters of the Mississippi river.

And over time carved out, you know, these beautiful bluffs around here in the beautiful river valley that we're in.

- [Cynthya] So the bluff used to look a lot like the other bluffs, just a mound of dirt covered rock.

And it looked a lot like a cap that the Indian chief in Winona wore at that time.

His name was chief Wapasha, and he used to wear a cap that the settlers who came here thought looked very much like the shape of the bluff.

And so they called it Wapasha's cap.

And in the 1850s, they began to build a city on what we're standing on, which is actually an island.

This behind us, this lake used to be the main channel of the Mississippi river way back.

And they needed to come up with materials for building their structures.

And so they began to quarry a little bit of this last part of the bluffs and take some of the rock to build some sidewalks and some houses.

- [Mark] It was kind of a small operation until about 1878.

When a guy by the name of John O'Day bought the property and, John O'Day built a large lime kiln there and, and started quarring and, you know, big time there were up to 60 people working at that quarry.

They produced a lot of lime up there over the years, and he started with the east side of it.

Then he went to the south side of it and then he went to the west side of it.

And by the time he stopped quarring up there in the late 1800's, what we see today is largely what he left.

- [Cynthya] And what they left behind looked like a lump of sugar, which in those eras was called a loaf of sugar.

And so it just became nicknamed Sugar Loaf.

Well, the thing about Sugar Loaf is that you can see it from everywhere, really in Winona.

And so you can enjoy it from everywhere in Winona, just visually.

It's really scenic to look at and the sun changes it goes in front of it throughout the day.

And so it looks different all day long.

And I think it's probably one of the most photographed features of Winona.

And it's been that way for a hundred years.

Looking back in history, this was the most popular postcard that was being produced even a hundred years ago was this iconic picture of Sugar Loaf there.

- [Eric] So now there's actually a hiking trail.

The hiking trail is a work in progress.

There's still some things that need to be done.

The biggest user group are hikers, 'cause I mean, you drive into Winona and you see this rock tower above town.

Like it's just a magnet.

Like you want to go up there and look at it up close.

And then on top of it, the view are amazing.

Once you get up there, you can see for 20 or 30 miles once you're up there up and down the Mississippi river valley.

So now that there's actually an established hiking trail, that is a moderate hiking trail to get you up there, there's nothing steep and it's a fairly sustainable trail.

It's been built and maintained to try to deal with erosion issues.

Now we have larger rain events.

We have more erosion than ever.

And then on top of it, it's a rock climbing park and the sport of rock climbing is exploding.

Now that it's in the Olympics, you have rock climbing films that have won Oscars.

Now the explosion of indoor climbing facilities, these people who find climbing at a young age, the natural progression is to go outside.

And we're lucky enough to have, you know, a local government, local land manager, our city of Winona, who is partnered with the climber user group to develop it as a sustainable rock climbing area.

And it's now become probably the best beginner/ intermediate sport climbing area in the entire upper Midwest with climbs that are accessible for small children, all the way to folks who are, you know, seasoned climbers.

The fact that the way that it has been formed makes it really accessible for new climbers.

And so that's my favorite thing to see up there is when you see whole families up there climbing together and you see it often, it's a great hike.

It's not strenuous.

And then you get to do climbs and there's climbs all the way around the Sugar Loaf.

There's like 40 different sport climbs on the Sugar Loaf, but vary in difficulties.

But as far as a sport and an activity it's exploding and it's a real community sport.

It's an awesome resource for us to have here.

- [Cynthya] It's really impressive up close.

It's giant.

It doesn't look as big from down here, but it's absolutely massive up there, but there's nothing quite like this.

There's nothing that presents itself as just this absolute pinnacle coming up separate from everything around it with a 360 degree view that is breathtaking, absolutely breathtaking.

And so we really identified this as one of the cornerstones of Winona's identity.

One of the number one searches on our website will be for Sugar Loaf bluff.

And so people wanna know about this.

They wanna come here, they wanna climb it or they wanna see it.

They want to be part of this piece of Winona's history in some fashion.

And so we are giving that to them with all the marketing that we do, just telling them what a great piece of iconic history this is for Winona.

(soft music) (upbeat music) - This isn't a story about goat yoga, but it is a story about goats.

North of Madison Lake, Minnesota, a small family owned farm called the Goofy Goat Farm is home to dozens of goats.

Kids love to pet the goats and adults can soak in the goat tranquility.

(lively upbeat music) (indistinct chatter) - [Mark] Goofy Goat Farm is a totally free venue to get enjoyment in life and goats are so unique.

Each goat has their own personality.

One goat might not like this person and I love the next person.

And it's so unique.

So I guess that's what the Goofy Goat Farm is all about and what it is.

- [Diane] So the goofy goat farm is located north of Madison Lake.

It's easy to find.

You'll see it on the corner.

There's about 97 goats.

You can't miss it.

It started out with one goat and now there's many goats as you can see, and people come out and just enjoy it.

It's a lot of goats that love to play and eat.

So bring all your leftovers and feed 'em , play on the swing, set with your kids and have a good time.

- So the goofy goat farm is a place that number one, my kids and my family really enjoy.

It's a place that we can get access to pretty easily just being close by.

And for us, it's a good way for us to just be able to kind of get the kids outta the house and get 'em really excited and all just love to come out here here.

So it's a good little getaway and excuse to get out, get 'em out of the house.

- The goofy goat farm to me is tranquility.

I come out here to get away from everyday stress and I've always been a big animal lover.

So that's kind of where I find my peace.

I think it's great that the owners are willing to do this for the public and free of charge.

It's great that people can come out and pet farm animals, especially if they're more of a city person, they can kind of get a little taste of the country life by coming out here.

- Experiencing nature because a lot of people are from the city and they don't really understand how tranquil it is to be out in the country.

I grew up on the farm, so I know all about it.

And some things I used to take for granted I don't anymore because I see what it brings to other people at things I never even noticed because it was so natural, but it isn't natural for a lot of people.

So.

- When I was growing up, my mom had a goat and I remember that it went into the house on the table and ate a hundred dollars bill.

And she was so angry that she said, get rid of the goat.

So I said to my husband, one day we should have a goat, one goat, but I don't think he understands what one is.

And that's how it got started.

- [Mark] Well, we started raising goats in 2008.

Like my wife said it was supposed to be one or two boats and I can't do anything small.

And so... And I fall in love with all of them.

Goats are so goofy that we thought that's a perfect name, Goofy Goat Farm kind of rhymes.

And, 'cause they are goofy.

They're... Every one of 'em crazy in their own way.

- [Diane] They were all over the place and up the trees and jumping on people and everything.

So we decided that that was a good name, Goofy Goat Farm.

- [Habib] Yeah I think it's interesting because I don't think there is another place around that's like it and you come out here and you just kind of forget about everything else and you just worry about, you know, feeding the goats and doing this and that.

So it's a nice break for me too, just to take my mind off of work and everything else.

So there's something like soothing about being out here even as an adult, just to kind of enjoy the nature and the scenery and the goats.

But yeah, they offer just a lot of joy.

- My favorite part is building relationships with all the goats.

I've gotten to know each of their personalities and who likes to be pet who doesn't.

And it's just fun getting to know them.

- [Habib] There's a couple of really unique goats out here that we always like to keep an eye out for.

There's one that we call the unicorn goat.

It's got one horn coming out of it.

So that one's a good one.

And then there's another one that's like an escape artist.

So that one, if you open up that gate, even for a half of a second, it's coming out and it's difficult to get that little guy back in.

So there's a few memorable goats and definitely some really good memories we've made here.

We've met so many cool families and so many cool people that we would've probably never met.

And they're people that live in the area and that usually have kids.

So you always kind of have that common denominator with them, with the kids and can break the ice and meet people.

So I think not only is it a cool place for the family to come together and get away, but it also brings the community together because you're meeting people that you maybe wouldn't have met otherwise.

So I think that's really neat.

- [Diane] When you hear the laughter from the kids playing, that's probably my most special thing.

'Cause when they're laughing, then I'm laughing.

- I would ask them to come out and visit for the experience either you're gonna love it or you're not, but at least experience at once and experience goats and how they can be to you and their personality.

And I think it's worth the trip.

We have people from other states that visit family in the area.

This is the first place they come.

Until you experience it, you don't know what it is.

(lively upbeat music) (dramatic music) - 16 Feet, two inches might not seem like much, but for a pole vault it's a lot.

Jarod White of Pine Island showed a special gift back in junior high when he competed with the varsity team, he now holds the Minnesota record in the pole vault.

(soft music) - [Jarod] There's really no other feeling than pole vaulting and getting so high over the bar.

And then just taking like two or three seconds to come back down to the land on the mat.

And you just feel like you're up in the air and you can kind of fly.

- Hi, my name's Matt Northrop.

I teach physical education and I am the varsity boys track coach in Pine Island High School.

I met Jarod probably when he was in seventh grade as a middle schooler coming into our program.

And we knew right away that there was something special about Jarod.

When we put him into our workouts, he was competing with the best of our varsity guys and he had that drive.

That's something that it factor about him.

- Hello, I'm Jarod White.

I am a pole vaulter.

I pole vaulted at Pine Island High School.

And I hold the all time Minnesota state record.

(bright upbeat music) I have a background in gymnastics from kindergarten to middle of fifth grade.

So I have pretty good body awareness and athletic ability from that.

I got to do track and feel of my first time seventh grade.

I tried it out and I had pretty natural success in it and it just kept improving and I kept getting better and better.

- [Matt] He hones his craft.

He does everything he can to get the most out of every drill he does.

- I vaulted like 11 feet as a seventh grader at true team state, which was super exciting, 'cause pretty much the whole team was there.

- [Instructor] Jared second attempt at 11 feet.

(indistinct chatter) (lively upbeat music) - Beginning to do that and like double PR at its state meet and help my team out was really exciting.

- Every competition he has, he leaves it all out there during workouts and leads by example.

(upbeat music) He is everything that a coach could ask for.

- I think the hardest thing is repeatedly trying to get consistency 'cause you have to have the same amount of run, the same jump, the same swing, all different parts of pole vault has to be pretty much the same for it to be a consistent jump.

- He's been able to be the kind of role model that you want him to be, to be approachable by other athletes.

It's a community track and field as a whole, as a community, we support one another and that's something we take pride in Pine Island as a program.

- [Jarod] The biggest moment for me in pole vault has been the 16 two jump at sections.

It was very exciting and I only had two meets left to finally clear the goal that I've been chasing all season.

- And we knew that if he gave everything he had, he would have a chance to do something special.

And when he cleared it, it was pretty amazing.

- [Host] Charles, please report to the award standing.

- [Crowd] Yes.

(crowd cheering) - [Matt] I got to have the honor of just being there and having him jump into my arms and it was a pure emotion running around watching Jarod jump off the pit and going flex in front of his friends and go give coach (indistinct) a big hug and find his parents.

And because it was something so special that he had been working for, he'd put his mind to doing, you know, it was great to see him accomplish that goal.

- To be able to do that and have basically my whole team watching and coaches and it was very exciting, super thrilling.

- [Matt] He is an amazing, amazing individual.

And that is something as a coach you don't ever plan on seeing, and may never see again, Jarod White is the GOAT in Minnesota pole vault history.

The greatest of all time, he has set the highest mark in the state history in pole vault.

And he has also set the highest mark in the state meet in history, all class.

I mean every time he vaulted, we got to witness history and our community got too be part of that amazing.

It was great.

- I'm going to attend NDSU on a pole vaulting scholarship next year.

And I'm very excited to experience my next few years there and really show them what I can do.

(lively upbeat music) (dramatic music) - Whether you're a professional, a hobbyist or just learning the Mankato Makerspace has the tools and space you need for a variety of crafts from wood and metal shops to glass blowing, to jewelry and leather.

Let's see if we can hammer out the details.

(energetic music) - [Dustin] The Mankato Makerspace is a nonprofit organization, community shop studio for artists, craftsman makers of all kind to come and learn a new hobby, increase their skill or understanding or just have space to work.

- [Cindy] This is 6,000 square foot space that offers the tools, the expertise and the space to create anything you want.

We welcome novices.

We have people who are skilled, but don't have their own tools.

We have people creating their own projects right out of Makerspace.

We have at the space, several different departments that people can come into.

We have complete wood shops, metal shops, glass flowing, ceramics.

- [Dustin] Stained, glass, screen printing, textiles, leather working.

- [Cindy] We have jewelry making, lapidary.

We have 3D printing.

We have glow forages that you can laser and engrave things, but literally you can learn to do anything here.

In 2015, two gentlemen, Rick Esther and Kendrick Dom wanted a bigger workspace.

They were working outta their garage and they just needed more room.

So they thought let's make a space that's bigger.

And other people can come work with us as well.

- But this idea of a multidiscipline interdisciplinary space became more possible with a lot of different types of minds and backgrounds.

All different perspectives contributed to creating what it is now today.

Anyone and everyone is welcome here at the Makerspace, whether you are a experienced professional, self-employed, entrepreneur or you are just starting out and little to no experience wanting to start a new craft or hobby.

- [Cindy] The Makerspace while we are a nonprofit, we are supported solely by membership fees and donations and small class fees.

We take a very small percentage.

For $50 a month you have full use of the shop.

We also have people who just need to come in and have a use of some equipment one time.

So there's a $15 day pass.

So truly we want people to be comfortable using the space and make it as affordable as possible.

- So a lot of what makes the Makerspace go round is from our members that would donate physical tools and objects.

When we started off, most of our equipment was donated.

- It's really just the space for me.

When I came down here, we wanted a different table set like a sliding table set.

So when I brought that up, I was like, hey, I'll buy it.

You know, I don't mind doing that, but if you guys want to go have something that's cool.

And they did, it was awesome.

My thing is like I could easily buy these things and keep 'em in my garage, right.

And then they would just sit there for hours at a time days at a time, maybe even weeks, maybe months, you know, and I wouldn't use it.

So what's the point of having em, and so for me, it's like, I don't mind buying a brand new band saw giving them this band saw or whatever the case may be.

'Cause to me it's like when I'm not using somebody else is.

And I think that just provides for a better community when you're able to share and things that you're not gonna be using it at certain time.

You know?

- So having a community here at the Makerspace not only helps each other, but definitely helps grow as an artist, grow as an individual, you really never stop learning.

There are lots of different times that I will utilize the resources of our members and the different experts and our shop leads.

I'm always learning things.

And then that shared experience with our members.

We're always like learning together.

- [Cindy] So many people do not have the time or the space to be able to create at home and to buy the equipment especially these days is very, very expensive.

So if they have a place where they can come and they can actually get hands on experience with the tools, they learn how to do a trade, a craft, just an art it is invaluable for that because where else are they going to get that?

And being able to actually get people in, get hands on, it gives you a passion in your life and it also gives you confidence.

'Cause you never knew you could do that before.

- [Dustin] Classes at the Makerspace are easy enough to find on our website, Mankatomakerspace.org, under the tab of classes, you could surf any available listed classes.

- [Cindy] So there are introductions to ceramics.

There are date night classes.

There are wood shop classes with lead and bowl turning.

We have silk screening.

So if you, you have a project for a family reunion, you can come print all the shirts here yourself.

If you have projects like metal working where you need to learn to do some welding, you can come on in, take a class and there'll be someone here that can also oversee you and help you through that.

And if we don't have the instructors on staff that know how to do it, we know people in the community that we bring in to teach classes as well.

My suggestion to the community, if they're interested, come take a tour, come talk to the people that work here.

Talk to the people that are using this space.

And the vibe is great.

The energy's great.

We have people that come here just to work on their own projects because they like this atmosphere and we are wanting to expand.

We wanna expand another 6,000 square feet and offer private studio space.

We wanna have a gallery.

We want to have a small shop to be able to sell our members works.

That's just gonna come with more support and more membership.

And it's gonna be a big boom to the community I think.

There's not many places like that here.

All we are are here for is the community literally, we're volunteers.

We don't get paid.

We love being here.

(upbeat music) - Finally, we have a short history of the old Mankato High School from the Blue Earth County Historical Society.

- [Host] Mankato High School has gone through many changes throughout the years.

The first students to start high school classes were in 1867 with the completion of the union school building.

The first class to graduate from high school was an 1876.

As more students began going to high school, a need for a separate building grew, built on the corner of Hickory and Fifth street the Mankato High School opened in 1890.

Additions were made over the years before a fire struck on July 14th, 1941.

There were very few people in the building on this date and no one was hurt as this was right before the US entered World War II.

The building was halted from being rebuilt.

The new high school now Mankato West was completed in 1951 just before the '51 flood, but cleaned out enough for students to walk across the stage for graduation.

Mankato East opened in 1973.

For more information about historical topics, visit our website at blueearthcountyhistory.com.

- We've reached the end of this tour.

Thanks for riding along.

See you next time, "Off 90."

(dramatic music) - [Announcer] Funding for "Off 90" is provided in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.

(upbeat music)