Krissy Thiessen grew up in Spirt Lake, Iowa, and now owns and farms with her spouse at Cherry Lane Farms. They began growing microgreens in their basement and soon became a much larger local farming operation, adding more produce and distributing to restaurants and super markets in the tri-state area. Thiessen is also a board member of the Farmers Market at the Park; which had it's inaugural season summer 2019 and is gearing up for summer as this episode airs. You can find out more about Cherry Lane Farms by visiting them on Facebook or at www.cherrylanellc.com. And the Farmers Market in the Park (Arnold's Park Amusement Park) is also available on Facebook or by visiting http://farmersmarketinthepark.com. Big Spirit: Tales from the Iowa Great Lakes is produced with the help of JJ School of Music, the premier location for music instruction in the Iowa Great Lakes. Learn more by following them on Facebook or visiting www.jjschoolofmusic.weebly.com. 

Big Spirit: Tales from the Iowa Great Lakes

Krissy Thiessen

Gary Heady Jr. is a musician and sound engineer at the SAMI Center. A performing arts facility attached to the Spirit Lake Community Schools. While he grew up in the Iowa Great Lakes, he went off to the Twin Cities to follow his dream of becoming a musician; only to find his back home in the hectic world of audio engineering and facility management. Heady is a kind and hard-working person who is a joy to speak with. I think we could've spoken and laughed together for hours. Big Spirit: Tales from the Iowa Great Lakes is produced with the help of JJ School of Music, the premiere location for music instruction in the Iowa Great Lakes. Learn more by following them on Facebook or by visiting www.jjschoolofmusic.weebly.com. Summer Camp registration is now open! 

Gary Heady Jr.

In this month's episode (from Season Two), I was so honored to sit down with the very gracious Megan Fuhrman-Wheeler, owner and herbalist at Megan & Co. Fuhrman-Wheeler had a plan and a dream for a business in Spirit Lake and worked to make it into a reality. She has been serving the community with her medicinal knowledge of herbs and plants for almost two years in one of the most beautifully restored historic buildings in downtown Spirit Lake, IA. You can find out more about the services provided by Megan & Co. at their website: https://www.meganandco.com or by visiting them on Facebook or Instagram. Big Spirit: Tales from the Iowa Great Lakes is supported by JJ School of Music. The premiere location in the Iowa Great Lakes for group and individual lessons. With teachers specializing in piano, guitar, ukulele, voice, violin, viola and percussion. Find out more by visiting www.jjschoolofmusic.weebly.com. 

Megan Fuhrman-Wheeler

Adrienne Rumbaugh moved to the Iowa Great Lakes in 1959 just after getting married. She has lived over sixty years in the area, seeing countless changes in the size and shape of the Lakes. With her husband Jim and his career as an inventor, she was able to spend periods of time living overseas that helped shaped her view on the world, broadened her horizons, and gave her endless stories! Rumbaugh is the longest resident of the Iowa Great Lakes I have interviewed so far and you'll definitely enjoy her kindness, humor, and openness about her amazing life. Big Spirit Tales from the Iowa Great Lakes is supported by JJ School of Music. The premiere location for music lessons in the Iowa Great Lakes, with instructors in piano, guitar, ukulele, voice, violin, viola and percussion. Visit www.jjschoolofmusic.weebly.com for more information on starting your journey studying music. 

Adrienne Rumbaugh

Jenna Hardy Pedersen is the co-founder of JJ School of Music in Spirit Lake, IA, and the creator of this podcast. She grew up in Sioux Falls, SD, and had plans to move to a big city to get out of the midwest. After experiencing life in Boston, she discovered that she really wanted a more quiet and peaceful life and moved to Northwest Iowa. After recording a full season of interviews, she felt it was only fair to tell a little bit of her own story in hopes of encouraging others to feel comfortable doing the same. This is the finale episode of Season One. Thank you to all the wonderful guests in 2019 and the kind hearted people who listened to these interviews. Season Two is set to begin airing in January of 2020. Big Spirit: Tales from the Iowa Great Lakes is produced with JJ School of Music; the premiere location for music classes and private lessons in the Iowa Great Lakes. To learn more, visit them on Facebook or at their website: www.jjschoolofmusic.weebly.com.

Episode 16-Jenna Hardy Pedersen

Kristoffer Pirie is a stylist and activist in the Iowa Great Lakes. He grew up in Milford, IA, and followed in his father's footsteps by attending beauty school. Kristoffer has spent the majority of his life in the area and speaks highly of the uniqueness of activity and community that can be found in the Iowa Great Lakes. He recently took more of a local spotlight when a local group he helped form, LGBTQS Alliance of Northwest Iowa, worked on displaying pride flags on trees in nearby towns. The group has since grown significantly to begin more outreach to the queer community and so allies can become more involved to make the area a more visibly safe and accepting place. Big Spirit: Tales from the Iowa Great Lakes is supported by JJ School of Music. The premiere location for music classes and private lessons in the Iowa Great Lakes. Find out more by searching on Facebook or by visiting www.jjschoolofmusic.weebly.com. 

Episode 15-Kristoffer Pirie

Karen Larson is a cultural anthropologist, who has ties to the Iowa Great Lakes through her family and moved here full time after retirement. She made a bold step last year when she decided to run for public office as the challenger in the minority party. Karen is well-traveled, down-to-earth and incredibly intelligent. I enjoyed hearing about her background in anthropology and how studying people and civilizations seems to have given her a very practical viewpoint on our culture and politics. She was incredibly engaging, which is evident within the first question she answers. Big Spirit: Tales from the Iowa Great Lakes is made possible due to a partnership with JJ School of Music. JJ is the premiere location for music classes and private lessons in the area. To find out more visit on Facebook or check out the website at www.jjschoolofmusic.weebly.com. 

Episode 14-Karen Larson

Manny Zempel came to the Lakes area from Minnesota to work as a newspaper man, after having studied art and marketing. He became well known in the area when he switched careers to selling cars in the 1980s, a job he retired from recently. Manny is a very spiritual man who so kindly agreed to share a lot about his journey with Celiac disease; an autoimmune disease that causes the body to attack itself when it comes into contact with gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye, barely and spelt. Big Spirit is presented through a partnership with JJ School of Music, the premiere location for private music lessons and group classes in the Iowa Great Lakes. Visit JJ on Facebook or at www.jjschoolofmusic.weebly.com to find out more. Registration for Fall 2019 opens on August 5.

Episode 13-Manny Zempel

Josh Bolluyt is a teacher and the football coach at Spirit Lake High School. He has helped to build up a program that has repeatedly gone to the state championships and turn around an athletic community in the area. Football runs in his family, as his father was also a coach and he continued his career playing during college. When he found himself back in the area, he was happy to follow the footsteps of the men in his family and life that he looked up to. Coach Bolluyt is a kind man who is very thoughtful about how he leads his team and his students. The 2019 team will begin practice in August and star the year off the week before school starts with their first game. Big Spirit is produced in partnership with JJ School of Music; the premier location for private music lessons and group classes in the Iowa Great Lakes. Visit us on Facebook or through our website at www.jjschoolofmusic.weebly.com. Fall registration opens August 5, 2019. 

Episode 12-Josh Bolluyt

Mary Dreier grew up visiting the Iowa Great Lakes often as a child and as a getaway as an adult from her home in Central Iowa. After retiring, she decided to move to the Lakes and pick a spot in the heart of Arnold's Park. Mary has a business "Soul of the Lakes" https://www.soulofthelakes.com, where she gathers and collects stories of the people, places and history of the Iowa Great Lakes. It started as a place for women to gather and has expanded with a desire to preserve the history of the area. You can also read a recent article featuring Mary's story here: https://www.nwestiowa.com/okoboji_magazine/stories-for-the-soul/article_c541b60a-6542-11e9-97a8-3b1bc03b94e3.htmlBig Spirit is made possible with JJ School of Music. To find out more about private lessons, classes, summer camps and workshops visit www.jjschoolofmusic.weebly.com.

Episode 11-Mary Dreier

John Senn is a musician, audio engineer and marketer. He grew up in the Iowa Great Lakes, starting out on a farm and then taking a somewhat non-traditional path. He picked up a guitar, taught himself to play and sing and formed a rock band that garnered the national spotlight. There were record labels, recording studio executives and others in the industry seeking to hire John in the music business; but he made a different move. He decided to stay in the Lakes. John is not only a talented musician, he is an incredible human being. I've been blessed to know John for over fifteen years and am so grateful he was able to be a part of this podcast. I was a little emotional editing and recording for this podcast, so my voice is slightly wavering during the intro. I decided to leave it as is to keep it real. If you'd like to see the big television production of John with DJ and the Runaways performing their hit song "Peter Rabbit" in 1966 here is a link to a video from the show, Where the Action Is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB0oxXN8cFk. John is on the far right of the frame. You can also see what is going on with John's passion project, the Iowa Rock 'n Roll Music Association here: https://www.iowarocknroll.com.Big Spirit is made possible with a partnership through JJ School of Music. Find out about group classes, summer camps and lessons at jjschoolofmusic.weebly.com. 

Episode 10-John Senn

In the second half of my interview with Kerry Belgrave (who produces under the name Casey Cardero), we explore the things Kerry has liked about living in the Iowa Great Lakes, take a deep dive into how feeling different can make you find more of your identity, and a very back and forth conversation about music genres and finding your place in music (in which I speak entirely too much). The podcast is going on spring break during May. The next episode will be out Friday, June 7, 2019. Learn more about JJ School of Music at www.jjschoolofmusic.weebly.com or by visiting our Facebook page. There are a couple of spots left in a few of the summer camps if you are looking for a great opportunity for the little one in your life. 

Episode 9-Kerry Belgrave Part II

Kerry Belgrave is a musician, producer and all around fantastic person who lives in Spencer, IA. He moved to the area from Barbados and, as a consummate traveler, has a unique perspective on life in the greater Great Lakes. I sat down with Kerry last winter, and we were having such a great conversation, I lost track of my interviewing skills and we ran way over time. But because we had such a fantastic conversation, I broke the interview into two episodes, so you don't miss a word of Kerry's story or perspective. This podcast is supported, in part, by JJ School of Music. The premiere location for music lessons and classes in the Iowa Great Lakes. Now enrolling for the Summer Semester, including summer camps! Find out more at jjschoolfomusic.weebly.com. 

Episode 8-Kerry Belgrave Part I

Maddie Walsh was born and raised in Spirit Lake and grew up in a musical and artistic household. She started dancing when she was a very young kid and it quickly became her passion that turned into a career. The youngest interviewee on the podcast, Maddie and I spoke about how she came to be so dedicated to dance, growing up in a tourist area, what it's like to have a definite plan while in college and a job waiting once you are done and her plans with her fiancé who is from Brazil. Maddie is an instructor at Dawn's Dance Connection http://www.dawnsdanceconnection.net. She teaches year round and they have studio locations in Spirit Lake and Jackson, MN. This episode is brought to you by JJ School of Music. Summer Camps and speciality Intro Sessions are open for enrollment now. Stop by www.jjschoolofmusic.weebly.com to enroll your student today. 

Episode 7-Maddie Walsh

After studying French and traveling abroad, Allison found herself in the Iowa Great Lakes, working one summer with her husband at a church camp. And soon, they ended up making their home here in the Lakes. Allison is a kind-hearted, very passionate and hard-working business woman who owns Kindermusik at the Lakes, which operates out of the Pearson Lakes Art Center. I met with Allison last fall to hear her story about becoming an entrepreneur in the Lakes area and the growing number of women who are opening small businesses here. For more information about Kindermusik, you can visit http://kindermusikatthelakes.kindermusik.com or her Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/kindermusikatthelakes/. Rhythms of the Land Camp is July 22-25 from 9am-Noon at the Dickinson County Nature Center for 4 and 5 years olds. Registration is open now. This episode is supported by JJ School of Music in the heart of downtown Spirit Lake. Summer Camp Registration is open now at jjschoolofmusic.weebly.com. 

Episode 6-Allison Antoine

Everybody has a story. Sometimes the stories we hear are those of people that seem so far removed from our lives. The politicians, the actors, the journalists, the musicians in the spotlight. if you only hear the stories of those with some touch of fame attached to their name or that are in the national or international spotlight, you miss out on all the incredibles stories and people…all around you. Walking down your street, stopping in your business, teaching your kids…So I created a place to share those stories…I want everyone to get to know the incredible people that are right there…Tune in the first and third Friday of the month to get to know OUR stories, on Big Spirit: Tales from the Iowa Great Lakes

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Big Spirit: Tales from the Iowa Great Lakes

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