Lights, Camera, Action: Two Days in the Lives of NCTV17 Producers: DAY TWO

After a restful night at the hotel, we ate at the Grove Cafe in downtown Ames. There we found out that they did indeed have pancakes the size of a dinner plate and we also found out that Larry, the husband of the boss, snores thanks to a chalkboard hung on the wall.

After breakfast, we headed to the Ames Historical Society where Dennis C. Wendell, the Collections Curator at the society, (and also probably one of the nicest human beings we have ever met) gave us a short tour of downtown Ames helping us search for a location with the best ambiance in which to interview Maureen. A funeral parlor was briefly considered, but the Ames Public Library ended up being the best and most quiet place for our interview. Dennis was helpful to the umpteenth degree and raided his house for what we call beer steins (but the Germans actually call them bierkrugs which means beer mug in German) and his friend, Don Faas’, house as well for empty beer bottles.

The picture on the left is our set before the props Dennis gave us. The picture on the right is the set after Liz did her lighting magic and we rolled in a table from the library staff room.

At this point we were ready to interview Maureen Ogle. Maureen is incredibly well spoken and intelligent with a strong voice and when she gets excited she gets a twinkle in her eye. Maureen, in her own words, loves teaching people about history.

During the interview, Maureen postulated that the American depression in 1893 (which was just as severe as the Great Depression in the 1930s) could have been a contributing factor in John Stenger selling his brewery. (Which he did in 1893.)

Maureen talked about how Germans civilized drinking. In the early 1800s most Americans were drinking whiskey in dark dingy saloons. Near the 1850s when German speaking immigrants started coming to America in large numbers they brought with them their culture of leisure time and pleasurable beer drinking. They also brought along beer gardens.

After the interview, we talked with Maureen about her newest project while she signed our books. She will again tackle the American identity while telling the history of another item that Americans consume and have consumed in large quantities throughout history. Look for that in the next year.

At this point, we knew that we wanted to treat Dennis to lunch (he was helping us move tables for goodness sake!) So at his suggestion we went to Olde Main and had an excellent lunch complimented by their Red Monkey Root Beer which was brewed in their on-site brewery. We had a wonderful time chatting with Dennis while we ate, and promised to visit him if we were ever to return to Ames in the future.

We had one more stop to make before we left Ames, and that was at Stam, an amazing chocolatier just a few doors down from Olde Main. We had seen it earlier on our tour with Dennis that morning. They are the only franchise that carries Stam chocolate which is produced in Des Moines, and they also carry various other chocolates and licorice which evidently is well loved by the Dutch. Something Liz had not known but found intensely interesting because she had spent her undergrad at Hope College in Holland, MI, a school that proudly displayed its Dutch heritage. (Liz even wore wooden shoes and learned Clompen, a Dutch dance, while at Hope.)

Terry, the owner of Stam saw our NCTV17 jackets and started to inquire about why we were in town. While Liz told him about the Stenger Documentary and our interview with Maureen Ogle, the woman in line behind us overheard her and told Laura that she was a home brewer from Oregon. Liz and Laura promptly told both of them to go buy Maureen Ogle’s book, Ambitious Brew.

With our chocolates (Laura bought 5 or 6 of them and ate them all on the car ride home) and coffee in tow, we got back in the car for our return ride.

Here is a picture of Grinnell, Iowa which we passed on our way and we took a picture in homage to Debbie Grinnell from the Naper Settlement.