Aryn Henning Nichols

Paul Reardon is hard to chase down. If he’s not traveling the world as a mechanic for various bike races, he’s back home in La Crosse, Wisconsin, busy building titanium bike frames… and building the local biking community. 

This active, “pretty alright,” bike-filled lifestyle is what Paul has been up to personally and professionally for the last 30 years. He’s only been home for a combined three weeks since February 2024 – but when he is in the Driftless, he tries his best to get out for rides. “I enjoy riding gravel, road, and mountain, but mostly gravel is my happiness,” Paul says. 

That’s part of the reason he decided to launch a brand new biking event in Hokah, Minnesota, this fall: The Old Fashioned Gravel Ride. There will be four routes to show off the picturesque terrain of Southeast Minnesota, with novice and seasoned riders welcome to register. 

“The Driftless area, in my opinion, has some of the best gravel riding in the Midwest,” says Paul. “It’s a hidden gem. The Old Fashioned Gravel ride will bring people to this gorgeous area to visit, enjoy, and ride with some awesome people.” 

The event, scheduled for Saturday, October 5, 2024, is touted as both a race and a ride. “We will have professional timing there. So everybody will get a time and, you know, a placement at the end,” Paul says, but it’s also for riders “that are just hanging out, going for a bike ride with some awesome people.” 

Paul is, for the most part, gearing the focus of Old Fashioned Gravel toward the latter group. He’s spent his career working at races and finds himself in more of a “go at your own pace, wind in your hair, smile on your face” time in his life, he says. 

For those unfamiliar with this category of riding, gravel bikes have bigger tires with a deeper tread, allowing riders to handle a more varied terrain than traditional road bikes. Gravel riding has taken off in recent years.

 “People are realizing that with road biking you have to deal with a lot more traffic, or potentially people texting and driving. There’s quite a bit of solace just riding these beautiful country roads that we have right out our back door, where hopefully the worst thing you might encounter is a farm dog,” Paul says. 

The Driftless has many of these country roads to choose from, making riding options endless. In fact, the terrain is so ideal, nearby La Crescent, Minnesota was selected as the location for the 2025 and 2026 USA Cycling Gravel National Championships for its diverse landscape and challenging climbs.

Just as nationals will draw attention to the region’s riding opportunities, Paul hopes the Old Fashioned Gravel ride will highlight the impressive local routes. The four options are tailored to riders and their objectives. For those seeking to push themselves and truly “race,” there is the challenging “99 Proof,” a 103-mile ride that climbs over 8,000 feet in elevation. There will also be 67, 40, and 18-mile routes with varying terrain for a range of interests and abilities. Registration for the event is capped at 300 riders total to keep it manageable, fun, and not too overwhelming, says Paul. It’s already attracted some attention, with both local and out-of-state riders having filled up 150 spots at the time of this article.

 A portion of the proceeds from the Ride will go to Bluff Country Family Resources, a Hokah organization that does community outreach, including support for the LGBTQ community, helping domestic violence survivors, and more.

The event will be headquartered at a farm near Hokah, owned by Annie and Gabe Barendes. Nestled between the bluffs, riders will begin and end here, and celebrate their ride with a post-race party in the farm’s fantastic old barn.

“Amy and Gabe have worked their tails off to get this barn that hasn’t really been used in over ten years ready,” says Paul. “It’s going to be such a good spot for people to hang out afterwards and have a drink and some food and just look around and enjoy the beautiful area.”

Paul has teamed up with two local Hokah businesses – Free Range Exchange and The Butcher Shoppe – to cater the food, while La Crosse Distilling Company will provide beverages, including, of course, Old Fashioneds. 

Paul has also leaned on some other important partners during planning, including his wife Liz, who helped with registration, graphics, and generally, keeping things organized, and his best friend, Mario Youakim, director of La Crosse’s Beer by Bike Brigade, who helped promote the event to the local biking community. Paul’s friend, Keachen Abing of La Crosse Adventure Films, has also shared fun ideas and shot videos to help get the word out. 

It’s these types of collaborative friendships that keep Paul involved in the local biking community. Giving back to that community is something he tries to do whenever he can. He has previously taught mechanics classes in the winter and has helped with other area events. The friendships that biking has built in the community is one of the best parts of riding, says Paul.

“You have this one common bond, you enjoy riding bikes in nature,” he says. “The fun thing with these rides is you never know who you’re going to end up next to and what kind of interesting people you’ll get to know.” 

He sees the Old Fashioned Gravel ride as a way to share the area with new folks, and also give back to the locals that have provided support and friendship through the years. “It’s really cool to try to give them something fun and exciting in our area. Something that our community can share with other people that come to visit the Driftless region,” Paul says. 

As the event nears, Paul is hoping for folks to join in on the fun and “get a little closer to nature, get out of the city, and enjoy the beautiful views where we live.” With the help of his friends, he’s put a lot of work into creating a fun experience for riders, one he hopes will go smoothly – even if the road is (literally) bumpy. 

Sara Walters

Sara Walters is a writer and mom living in La Crosse, Wisconsin. She has been an Inspire(d) contributor since 2018. 

A main street barbershop is so much more than a place to get a haircut.

Dave Dudek, a barber who’s been cutting hair in his hometown of Chatfield, Minnesota, since 1979, certainly thinks so, and his clients – all like family – would agree.

A barbershop is a community information center – “We don’t call it gossip,” Dave clarifies with a wink and grin – a local weather station, a low-cost university, a historical society, and an occasional forum for political and religious viewpoints – “But only if the customer initiates those topics,” he says. It’s also a small-scale commercial establishment, selling things like locally produced honey, and in Dave’s case, a unique culinary item called “Goob Spice,” made from a secret recipe and branded with his nickname, that Dave says, “is good on anything except cold cereal.”

“A barbershop is a connecting place,” he says. “People get haircuts, sure, but it’s also where they drop in to visit, shoot the bull, check-up on local news, tell stories – maybe a few tall tales during fishing and hunting season – and just enjoy being here. Chatfield used to have six barbershops. We’re down to two, mine and Roy’s, who also fixes zippers and clocks. When small towns lose these places, they are very hard to replace.”

Dave loves his career and where he’s doing it. Chatfield (population 2,297) is located 20 miles south of Rochester in scenic Root River bluff country. Dave and his wife, Terri, secretary at the local high school, raised two kids and are enjoying their four grandchildren there. “This is a small town where you can still pretty much know everybody,” he says. 

Being a barber wasn’t the life Dave dreamed about as a kid, though. “I wanted to fly jet airplanes. After graduating from Chatfield High in ‘76 I tried to enlist but failed the physical because I was color-blind. No jets for me. The next day I went for a haircut and my barber gave me some advice. ‘Learn to cut hair,’ he told me. ‘Only nine months of school, nice hours, good pay, friendly people.’ I listened to him. Within a few years I bought one of the local shops from Leonard Dietz and here I am, 45 years later. I love what I’m doing!”

Those coming to get an $18 haircut (no tipping allowed) might also get an education – but first, you must greet (and get sniffed by) Bode, Dave’s Springer Spaniel and shop mascot. “Bode’s a good watch dog,” says Dave. “He just lays around, watching everything.”

Next, there’s an obligatory local weather review. “It’s easy to complain about the weather,” Dave says, “because no one can do anything about it.” From there, you never know where the conversation will go. One summer morning, Dave welcomes Don into his barber chair, a gentleman in his late 80s who was a class of ’53 Chatfield High School grad. While Dave scissors away at his hair, they cover everything from hometown history to old-school car hood ornaments. “We had one that lit up!” Don exclaims, pretty much owning that topic.

New faces arrive – a local farmer with his two teenage sons – along with new topics: Hay farming, root systems and area soil, and current moisture levels. “We have a river on our property,” farmer-dad explains, “that in dry years actually disappears underground before re-emerging far away as a spring.” 

A pause in haircuts and conversation commences, as Dave helps an elderly customer in a wheelchair navigate to the parking lot behind his shop. You’re soon aware that this “family thing” applies to everyone here. Dave gives gift certificates to each graduating senior in town as well as weekly Twizzlers and lollipops to football players and rooting sections. On bookshelves in his shop, you’ll find all but three Chatfield High School yearbooks since 1950. And a prominent photo on a shop wall features former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura after he got a haircut from Dave a few years back. 

Dave’s Barber Shop, strategically sitting on Chatfield’s main street across from the park, is not small. Neither are other parts of Dave’s world. In high school he played football, basketball, and baseball, marched in award-winning Drum & Bugle Corps competitions, became an avid hunter and fisherman, and has been the main stats man, still working the sidelines with pencil and clipboard, at every Chatfield High football game since 1982. For 25 years he was a winter ski patroller in Minnesota; for 35 years he worked on courses for World Cup ski racing in Colorado and Canada and two Winter Olympic Games, Calgary in 1988 and Salt Lake City in 2002. He still enjoys skiing and is helping his grandchildren do the same.

Barbering remains Dave’s main gig though. Now 66, he has no retirement plans – except one. “Leonard sold me his shop but kept cutting hair until he was 93. I’m aiming for 94!” 

Watch Dave in action – cutting hair, turning customers into friends and family, definitely building community – and you have to think the people of Chatfield, Minnesota, are rooting for him to reach that goal.

Steve Harris

Steve Harris, a freelance writer and author of two books, “Lanesboro, Minnesota” and “Dads Like Us,” is also a satisfied customer of Barber Dave. (sharris1962@msn.com)

Decorah music educators Nicole and Matt Cody see firsthand how music can act like a glue, binding a community together in harmony – both figurative and literal.

The two met in 2009 at Decorah Community Schools, where they both work – Matt as associate director of bands for grades five through 12, and Nicole as the high school orchestra teacher. They were married in 2012 and now have two children, Caroline (age 8) and Sullivan (age 3), plus a Weimaraner named Greta. 

Matt and Nicole’s partnership in life and in music has also brought an extraordinary gift to the larger Decorah community: the Oneota Valley Community Orchestra (OVCO). Matt founded the orchestra in 2014 and is its music director; Nicole, who is the orchestra’s principal second violin, has been a key resource enabling her husband to realize his original vision and much more, creating a vibrant and inclusive community of music lovers and learners.

Creating the Magic of Orchestra

Made up entirely of volunteers, the 60-member OVCO offers three to four concerts each season. Over the past 10 years, Matt has led the group in performing symphonies, concertos, even a full opera (Amahl and the Night Visitors) and the Mozart Requiem (with community singing group the Decorah Chorale).  

Matt hatched the idea of starting a Decorah-based community orchestra while he was working on his master’s in conducting at Colorado State University. He really wanted to conduct an orchestra, and a professor suggested that a community orchestra could be an option for gaining experience. 

Nicole remembers when he floated the idea to her. It happened on the long drive back to Decorah from his final summer residency in Fort Collins. A couple comfortable with some good-natured ribbing, she laughed in disbelief. Nicole plays violin in the symphony orchestras of Waterloo-Cedar Falls and La Crosse, but it sounded a little ridiculous to her that a town as small as Decorah could have enough musicians to fill an orchestra. 

Still, Matt forged ahead. He posted on social media that he was interested in starting an orchestra, and collected contact information from those who were interested. Within three weeks he had enough people signed up. Matt was amazed, he says, and even more amazed when they started rehearsing and he heard what everyone could do. 

From the beginning until now, the orchestra’s members have ranged from seasoned professionals, to college music majors who went on to other careers, to adult beginners, to college and high school students. 

“The longevity of the orchestra is impressive – the contributions of everybody, from beginners to professionals to students,” Nicole says. “I think that’s so cool.” 

She tells the story of Sue Drilling, a now-retired Luther College administrator who played piano, organ, and guitar, and picked up the violin in 2010. One of her teachers, a former student of Nicole’s, told her about the orchestra. 

“I thought there’s no way I could play orchestral music, but Matt invited me to try it out,” says Sue. “I loved it! The first concert was a mountaintop experience for me.” 

Benjamin Kratchmer, the orchestra’s principal violist and a once-upon-a-time music major, expressed the thrill of orchestral music-making on an episode of Inspire(d)’s podcast, Rhymes with Decorah, that featured OVCO. “Getting to play symphonic literature that I never thought I’d get to do again, and collaborating with dozens of different people across the time and space of a stage, that is a magic that nothing else in my life has ever quite captured. And I get to do that season after season,” he says.

Craig Hultgren retired to Decorah after 33 years of playing with the Alabama Symphony. He joined the OVCO in 2015. Currently the principal cello and president of the orchestra’s board of directors, Craig sees the great value of what Matt and Nicole bring to the community. “They are community leaders,” he says. “To have OVCO in a town of 8,000 people is a remarkable feat. They’ve brought together the best crop of musicians in an area where music is greatly appreciated. And Matt makes it a fun place to come and play and get better. I’m so proud of the work he’s brought the orchestra through.” 

Integrating All Ages Around Music

Nicole and Matt see a virtuous cycle in the high school and community music programs they lead. 

“Having a strong high school music program is an incredibly important part of having a strong school district, because the continuity of students learning together throughout their school years is unique to music programs,” says Nicole. “Orchestra, band, and choir is home away from home for many of these kids. It’s a place that’s welcoming to all students.” 

At the same time, the Codys see that today’s high school students experience so many pressures in their lives that they often think of quitting music, even though they love it. 

“That’s why community support is important,” Nicole says. Not only the fantastic Decorah Music Boosters, to whom the Codys give a huge amount of credit for their support; but also the adults of the community who continue to play their instruments and sing with passion and gusto as they pursue other careers. 

Nicole says that the high school students who attend or play in OVCO concerts are amazed when they see their soccer coach, their doctor, and other community members playing. “When students see non-music professionals in music groups, it encourages them to know they can be in another career and still play music,” Matt says. 

Matt and Nicole have fostered young musicians of all kinds going out into the world to build vibrant communities. Some play with their parents in the OVCO, like violinist Erik Sessions and violist Sara Peterson and their daughter, violinist Meg Sessions, a 2024 Luther graduate. Others return to take center stage, like Decorah High School and OVCO alumna, Carina Yee. In February, she played the Tschaikovsky violin concerto with her hometown orchestra, OVCO, after studying at some of the best music conservatories of the US – the Eastman School of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Music. 

“Matt and Nicole are pillars of the musical community in Decorah,” affirms Craig Hultgren. “And OVCO is a gem for our community.” 

Laura Barlament

Laura Barlament is one of the non-musical professionals who love to play their instruments. She’s the executive director of strategic marketing and communications for Luther College, and plays flute and piccolo in many OVCO concerts.