- [Narrator 1] Funding for this program is provided in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.

(upbeat music) - "R-Town, the show about Rochester" meets the new education director of the History Center of Olmsted County, and we learn all about the upcoming Salt & Light Partners gala.

We also get the latest from the RCTC campus.

All that, and so much more coming up next on "R-Town, the show about Rochester."

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) Coming to you from 125 LIVE in Rochester, Minnesota... (upbeat music continues) "R-Town."

(upbeat music continues) We are joined today by Valerie Wassmer, education director and interim executive director of the History Center of Olmsted County, here to tell us what's new at the History Center.

Welcome to R-Town, Valerie.

Thank you so much for having me.

So, you have a role at the History Center, new role.

Can you tell us a little bit about it?

- I do.

Yeah.

I started my career, a short career at the History Center in June.

I had been in public education for 25 years and was looking for a change, and it sort of looked like my dream job.

So, I joined in June as the associate director and the education director under the wonderful mentorship of Wayne Gannaway, who is the executive director.

He has just taken a job as the executive director in St. Louis County, which is up in Duluth, which is where he had been previously and was really excited to get back, which means I am, for now, the interim executive director.

So, it's been kind of a whirlwind since June, but it's going really well.

I'm learning a lot.

I get to continue my love of history and teaching, just in a slightly different way.

- Yeah.

Welcome.

- [Valerie] Thank you.

- I know you have a career, specifically as a history teacher, so what role has that played in- - [Valerie] Oh boy.

- what you do now?

- Well, as I said, I taught for 25 years in public education, mostly here in town at John Marshall High School.

Go Rockets!

And, you know, it's trying to hook people a little bit into history because, more often than not, kids would come into class, "Oh, I hate history."

I said, "That's just because you haven't learned it right."

And so my role really continues, in that instead of just teaching 16-year-olds, now I'm teaching everyone, all of our visitors.

We have our, you know, visitor center with exhibits.

We do lectures and we bring in guest speakers and performances.

We do story hour with little kids so we can read books about history and talk about history.

And then, we're getting into the busy season with schools.

So, we'll be working on a lot of school trips in the spring and in the fall.

- So, there's not only a lot going on in terms of your role at the History Center.

- [Valerie] Yes.

- But a lot just going on at the History Center.

- [Valerie] Yes.

- Can you tell us about the master plan and what are some of the key sort of projects and goals of that?

- So, Wayne Gannaway did a wonderful job of sort of walking us through this massive project of a new master plan, a new interpretive plan, and then really getting our Stoppel Farmstead ready.

Most people don't know a lot about the History Center, but when I say it's where the big Red Barn is, then everybody knows what I'm talking about.

But few people know that that's an 1850s farmstead that was started in the late 1850s from George Stoppel and his brother Franz Joseph, who were German immigrants.

And we are one of the most complete farmsteads in Minnesota on the National Register of Historic Places.

And it's been needing attention for a long time.

For a long time, the History Center ran Mayowood, the beautiful historic home, and all the time and attention went there.

And, unfortunately, our farmstead sort of was left behind a bit.

So, we have a master plan that is reengaging the farmstead.

We've got a massive capital campaign going right now to try and raise money for continued restoration and preservation.

The back house or the smokehouse has been fully restored.

We're very excited about that.

We're having a huge event on June 21st to welcome the public out, to get really an inside look at the backhouse and the smokehouse and things that happened there.

We're currently in the middle of renovating the barn, 1873 barn.

So, as you drive by now, it looks like it's needing a facelift, but it's in process.

And so as soon as the weather improves in the spring, we'll repaint and the barn will be ready to go.

And then our next chore is to try and restore the stone home, which was completed in 1862 by Ralph, sorry, Franz Joseph and George Stoppel.

So, we've got big plans, really great, exciting things going on.

As with everything, it's gonna take a lot of fundraising and a lot of support from the community, but we're really excited about it.

- Yeah, I think that image of the big Red Barn definitely is a good sort of landmark for where the History Center is.

- Absolutely.

Yep.

- So, what are some of up upcoming events going on at the History Center?

Ones that you're particularly excited about and things that we can look forward to?

- Yeah, the thing that I am most excited about, on Sunday, March 9th, we are having a historic fashion show, which I'm so excited about.

There is an incredible designer, historic fashion designer named Joy Melcher, who is in, I believe, Osage, Iowa.

And she has designed for Lincoln Center, the New York Opera, Smithsonian.

There's a special on Netflix right now, where she did all the designs.

She's absolutely incredible.

And she is bringing her Queen Antoinette era to Rochester.

It's sort of an age of excess and frivolity, with big dresses, big hair- - We're talking about Marie Antoinette, - Marie Antoinette.

Big, big, let them eat cake.

So, we are so excited.

We have 10 local women, who are going to be our models, no professional models, but women in town, and it's gonna be amazing.

And it's out at the Rochester Event Center, and it begins at 1:00.

The fashion show begins at 2:00, but we have our meal as decadent desserts to go with a theme.

And that's Sunday, March 9th.

So, we're really excited about that.

And then we've also got monthly, for the little ones, we've got sort of, we call it Story Time, but it's learning about history.

- What are some of your personal commitments in this new role that you have around either preserving the history of our community and expanding access to the history of our community?

- Right.

One of the things I said when I got hired, one of my goals, two of them really, was to make it more accessible by getting the word out.

People don't really know what we do here.

So one of my big goals is to get the word out.

So, thank you for inviting me here.

I'm very excited.

Our next major exhibit, which will take a lot of research, and it'll be a bit before it's ready, but is just the story of immigration and migration, and how Rochester started and where we are now.

And starting with the story of George Stoppel, who came from Germany, and bringing it all the way through to our immigrants who are here now and making up the fabric of Rochester.

So, that's a focus that I feel very strongly about.

And I'm really happy that Wayne really embraced this and kind of gave everyone the go ahead to move forward on that.

So, that's important to me.

- I think sometimes it's so easy to, you know, if you see Rochester on a map, you know, the Mayo Clinic is here, and people just sort of think, "Oh, the Mayo Clinic history and the importance of being able to say the community and the city has had a history as part of that."

- Absolutely.

- But has that can sort of stand on its own.

- Yeah.

We're very lucky to have the greatest medical facility in the world here.

And there's certainly exhibits, obviously, that we have about Mayo Clinic.

But I always like to remember that if we didn't have the immigrants here, if we didn't have those that came before, there wouldn't have been anyone here, you know, when the tornado happened that led to the establishment of this amazing medical facility.

So, I'm excited.

- Yeah.

Can people, can community members come to the History Center if they have questions?

- [Valerie] Absolutely.

- If they're curious about things?

Just anyone can... Can you share a little bit about that process?

- Sure, absolutely.

So, we have a pretty massive archives at the History Center, and we have an amazing archivist, Krista Lewis, who is a genius.

If you wanted to do some research on a family member or a business or just anything about Rochester, that's why we're there.

I mean, that's a big part of why we're there.

So, it would be great if someone could call ahead and just say, "Here's who I am, here's what I'm looking for," and give Krista a little bit of a heads up to start gathering some information.

And we were blessed to have some amazing volunteers, and they're like sleuths.

They'll help people find what they're looking for and really dig into the history of Rochester.

And a lot of people know that that's there and utilize it.

But I think we could have a much broader audience if people really understood what we have and what they could come search.

- Yeah.

If you haven't noticed already, I'm a little bit of a history buff.

- Yes.

I love that.

- And one of the things that I love about history is that it's always sort of unraveling.

- [Valerie] Yes.

- It's sort of being uncovered.

- Yes.

- This event might already be passed, or may maybe pretty soon after this airs.

But can you tell us a little bit about the event that's going on about the Underground Railroad and Rochester?

- Yeah, absolutely.

Thank you for asking.

So, I line up speakers that I think, personally, that I'm interested in, and think that it would have a broader appeal.

And so for Black history, I really, for the month, an every month, I wanted some more information about Rochester and Southern Minnesota.

And so I reached out and I actually have two different people coming in to speak.

Karen Sieber is an amazing social justice author, speaker, educator, and she's done a lot of research on a man named Moses Dickson, who is a leading civil rights person.

And the more she dug and found out the impact that the Twin Cities had on the Underground Railroad.

So, she's coming in to speak.

Another woman who's telling the story just of specifically of Southeastern Minnesota, what research has found and what role it may have played.

And a lot of people don't understand that, yes, Minnesota was north and it was free, but there were slave catchers, there were people out all the time trying to locate runaway slaves.

And so it was vitally important that there were safe spaces all the way up to Canada.

And that it's really wonderful to read the stories and learn about the ways that Minnesotans impacted that and played a role in that.

- What are other ways that the History Center is working to engage younger audiences and youth?

- Yeah, so I've got a very rich volunteer program, and I'm very happy to say that I've engaged a lot of high school students, mostly from JM, but also Mayo and Century, who come out and assist with lots of different things, Walk Around the World in the summer, some of our Story Times.

And I love it because they're seeing, like they're helping, but they're also kind of seeing how history works in a different way.

It's different than sitting in a classroom, but it's helping to engage people in fun.

And I think the key to that is always experiential.

If kids can get their hands on things and get involved in things, it's not like reading it in a book.

It's having fun.

And then, "Oh, I guess I learned something along the way."

And so having a lot of volunteers come in and do that is really, really important to me.

We're also working with the summer school programs, the high school programs out throughout the summer to have them come in, get their hands dirty.

The teachers all say, "We want something to do."

And so involving them in different projects around the site gives them that hands-on experience, and that's really important to me.

- You are currently the interim executive director.

Can you share a little bit about just the next steps around the executive director search?

- Yeah, of course.

So, the president of our board has reached out to the Minnesota Historical Society, which is one of the best in the nation, and they have provided a couple of names that might be of interest, some tips for interviewing.

So, we have a search committee.

It's gonna be a process to find the right person.

But I think Minnesota is lucky with the Historical Society in St. Paul, that we have a lot of great historians in Minnesota, or surrounding area.

So, I'm certain that, we'll, we'll find the right one.

And I don't know how long that will take, but until it happens, I think we've got a great team at the History Center, a really great team who's all sort of pulling together and things are running as normal.

And so it'll be great to have a new executive director, but until that happens, we're doing great.

- Are there current exhibitions at the History Center that we should know about?

- So, our most recent exhibit is on the history of Gold Cross Ambulance, which started here in Rochester.

And then we have an updated agricultural exhibit with the Stoppel Farm.

We've got a beautiful restored McCormick reaper inside.

And then there's a small display about Daisy Plummer.

- How can people learn more about the History Center, stay connected with what you all are doing in the community?

- Yes.

We have a website, olmstedhistory.com.

We are open Tuesday through Saturday from 9:00 to 5:00.

We've got beautiful grounds outside, a little chilly to get into now, but we've got exhibits inside.

And I would just encourage people to stop out, see what we have available.

If you are a member, it's free for any programs and to come out and visit.

Memberships are very reasonable.

But follow us on our website or on Facebook, Instagram.

Take a chance, come out, and I think people would be pleasantly surprised at the programming and the opportunities we have.

- Wonderful.

Thank you so much for joining us, Valerie.

- Thank you for having me.

I appreciate it.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) - Be sure to stick around.

We have much more coming your way on "R-Town."

We learn all about the upcoming Salt & Light Partners gala.

And we also catch up with what's new on the RCTC campus in this week's R-Future segment.

(gentle music) - Yeah, we provide emotional and spiritual support to our first responders in our community and so that they can be healthy and well to be able to serve the rest of the members of our community.

It was probably about 2018 when I first met Rochester Police Chief Jim Franklin, and he introduced the idea to me to say, "I think our cops need emotional, spiritual support in the form of chaplaincy.

Would you be willing to do that?"

And and I thought about it and I researched it.

And it took me a little while to get back to him.

But after some time, I said, "This was gonna be the right move, I think for me personally, but also for our community."

And not serving law enforcement, serving our first responders, but also their families and community members who have interactions with law enforcement or first responders usually on the worst day of their life.

- There's so many things that we see, whether it's in probation or law enforcement, that you're just supposed to say that's part of your job and deal with it and move on.

But when you slow down and really think, like, "This isn't what normal people see on a day-to-day basis."

I mean, we search phones and we hear people's criminal histories and read their offense stories.

Those are things that most people don't have in their brains.

And so I think when I met with George, it was like, "Give yourself some time.

You're gonna need to kind of unpack some things."

- There are a variety of different ways that we have contact with our first responders.

Individually or one-on-one, we might have the opportunity to talk with them personally.

And so you can go deep in a conversation with somebody, with a single person.

And we talk about really personal things.

And so those are individual conversations, that could be in a squad car, it could be over a cup of coffee, it could be at their station where they work.

(gentle music) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) - I learned that TV and movies' portrayal of law enforcement is not accurate.

Some of the stresses, just even in their normal interactions with the public, and yet some of the rewards with their normal interaction with the public was really eye-opening to me.

Some of the impact that they had, even in arrests, even in transporting somebody to the hospital, just the things you don't see, the things you don't know, the things that are often overlooked.

The impact that they have in our community is astounding.

- It's nice because co-workers, they're in that with you in that space.

But having George or anyone from Salt & Light, they're more impartial, but yet they're still trained and they know the work we do, and it just brought a lot of peace to me.

- So, whatever we can do to help keep them at their best and navigate some of the stresses of the job, we're gonna do that.

- Another opportunity is to meet them in more of a group environment.

So, at award ceremonies or Safe City Nights here in Rochester.

And then we put together some programs for building up the family, 'cause we know that if a family is really strong, that they tend to be better employees wherever they go.

And if things are good at work, then they tend to be good at home.

And when they're good at home, they tend to be good at work.

(gentle music) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) And then the last way that we get together with our first responders is on those critical incidents.

Those times where we're called out for an emergency response.

Usually, that has to do with the death of someone in our community.

And we go to there to support our first responders, but then also to the citizens who have been impacted.

And we tend to spend most of that time with those citizens.

And that's why we think that Salt & Light Partners is not just about first responders, but also a community builder, that we support members of our community during perhaps their darkest hour.

(gentle music) - [Narrator 2] For more information about this story and other "R-Town" features, connect with us on Facebook, Twitter @ksmq #RTown, or ksmq.org/rtown.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music) - Hi, I am Macy Lee from R-Future.

The RCTC Senate had vacant seats that they just filled to finish out the year.

Let's meet two of the new senators and hear why they wanted to join the student Senate, and also meet the president of the Senate.

- I wanted to see if I can bring a change to the school, if need be.

I just wanted to see what other students liked, didn't like, and just see if I could improve the overall experience here at RCTC.

- I thought it'd be a good experience to learn about how student government works and maybe to implement some changes that would be a positive aspect for the college.

- So, one thing that we did that I learned in our first meeting, which was last week, was that we approved the budget for certain clubs.

So, last week, we approved the budget for the Bible Study Club, and it was just really nice being able to actively help out specific groups of people that wanted to.

I wanted to bring a change, but then I also wanted experience in leadership as well, because hopefully when I do graduate, I would want to join a business or something on the corporate field and then work my way up to being a manager or somewhere in a leadership position.

And so I kinda wanted to gain experience in that.

And I had some experience in high school, but it just feels more real having it in college and more responsibilities.

- Maybe working on team-building skills, how to work well with others.

It's nice seeing different ideas through different generations, and working in student government with people that will be a lot younger than me.

Hopefully, I'll be able to rub off on them.

Maybe some of my traits or things that I've learned.

- I think I kind of just wanted to be somebody that other students can go to for their concerns and just be somebody that people can rely on.

- Well, this is... Oh yeah, I read a lot on that.

- I think some students think that we just sit, like, and do nothing, but we do try and push to communicate more changes that we think need to be brought on campus.

So, I thought getting involved first as a senator would be a good way to make an impact on the campus.

And then I slowly realized that a more executive position had a higher impact and more say in certain policies.

So, I got involved and became president.

I come to school here, my friends are gonna be coming to school here, my little brothers are coming to school here, and I wanna just make sure it's a good environment and place for them to be a part of, but when I leave.

But if you do wanna have an impact, get involved in student Senate.

Just so you know.

- Now let's take a look at MOCSI.

MOCSI is a support group for men of color, who traditionally are reluctant to ask for help.

Let's find out more about this group and what they're all about.

- So, MOCSI stands for Male of Color Scholars Initiative.

This is an initiative that I started.

I moved here to Rochester a couple of years ago as their dean of Student Success.

And we found that males of color have the hardest time in college.

We found that out by looking at the retention rate and average GPAs.

And sadly, but it's not uncommon, that males of color had the lowest rates.

And so from my experience working with males of color, we found that the number one cause of this is a lack of a support system.

Many times, males don't like to ask for help.

They gravitate toward people who look like them.

And so I surveyed some of my colleagues here and told 'em about what I was thinking about bringing this male of color initiative here.

And we decided to give it a try.

- It's a great mentoring program.

I feel it is definitely empowering a lot of men of color to come together as a community and bond over simple pledges like food and going to watch games, as we've done previously.

And, yeah, I think it's also a great way to socialize for people that, you know, aren't really seen in groups.

- We talk about student success, we talk about our support system.

If they're having any difficulties, to see one of us and let us know what's going on.

- MOCSI has helped me to find myself in terms of connecting with others.

And knowing that I have people that are looking out for me, mentors I can go to, to talk to about anything.

And also friends that are also experiencing life with me and some situations that I'm going through too.

- Thank you for joining us today.

I hope you learned as much as I did about all that's going on in our city and the wonderful people making it happen.

For more content produced right here in Rochester, please be sure to check us out on Facebook and Twitter at #RTown.

I'm Nicole Nfonoyim-Hara, host of "R-Town, the show about Rochester."

We'll see you next time.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music) - [Narrator 1] Funding for this program is provided in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.