Aryn Henning Nichols

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. 

Paula the Cow thinks it’s high time the Hollywood sign moooooves on over.

The 25-foot-tall cow mural exudes charm and more than a dash of whimsy, and has been welcoming folks to downtown Waukon, Iowa, since artist Val Miller painted her in 2008. 

Paula may not be flashy, but she’s fun, and she’s handled the tests of time beautifully. The same could be said of Paula’s creator, Val, who has been painting cow art (and more) through her business, Steel Cow, for two decades.

The artist has been “obsessed” (her word) with cows since the age of 17. Though she was raised in rural Waukon, home to many cows, it was a family trip to Switzerland that instilled the deep appreciation of the creatures. She was riding on the back of a Harley motorcycle when she first heard the jingle of cow bells through the Alps. “We stopped for a picnic in a meadow, and several giant and gentle Brown Swiss cows came up to us there,” recalls Val, the trip photographer. “They were the most beautiful things I had ever seen, and from that day forward, almost all of the photos I took were of cows!”

The fascination wasn’t fleeting. When Val began her studio art major at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, she started painting cows. That was in 1998, and she hasn’t stopped since (even during her later studies at the University of Iowa to earn a bachelor’s degree in marketing). Today, her original works of cows – each, like Paula, bearing an equally original name – grace the walls of homes, shops, galleries, barns, and street corners across the United States and beyond.

“Twenty years ago, almost no one put pictures of cows on their walls – at least not mainstream, non-farm people anyway,” says Val. “It was fun to paint something that most other image makers overlooked, and I have really liked bringing attention to this amazing animal.”

Over the years, she expanded her subject palette to include an array of other animals, including pigs, chicken, sheep, goats, and various wildlife. “I pick which animal I want to paint next, make an appointment to go find that animal at a farm somewhere, go meet the animal, and take lots of mental notes and photos,” says Val. “Then I bring the photos back to look at, pick the one that speaks to me, make a pencil drawing on my canvas, and start painting.” The unique names come later. “I always give my paintings of animals new names and alter egos, even if they have their own names in real life,” she continues. “And I never name them until the painting is finished and I can see what fits.”

The process may not be quick, but it has worked well for Val, who operates out of a brick-and-mortar studio that she and her husband, Josh, a sculptor and cabinetmaker whom she met at Bradley, opened on Allamakee Street. Back then, they worked downstairs in the gorgeous gallery and studio spaces, and lived upstairs in an apartment largely designed by Josh. 

The beginning wasn’t easy – “We started Steel Cow scared, before we were ready, at a time when many people said to our faces we shouldn’t start something until we had more experience or we had money in the bank,” she admits – but the couple’s talent, tenacity, grit, and resilience have long since made them a fixture of the small Iowa town. And Val is grateful for that. “I’m so humbled by how our community has embraced us over the years,” she says. “Perhaps the biggest success is knowing that we are home, that we have always been home, that the people who live here are so wonderful, and that we didn’t have to move away to have our dream come true.”

The couple’s resilience and the community’s support clicked into overdrive in April 2021 and again in February 2022, when two successive fires at the studio building (built in the 1920s by Val’s ancestors) threatened to destroy the dream Val and Josh worked so hard to build for one another and their three active sons, Edison, Harrison, and Ellison. Luckily, the family had moved from their downtown apartment to an acreage outside of Waukon in 2018, so they still had a place to lay their heads after long hours working through the damage. The first fire broke out on the main floor of their building and took a solid eight months to “get back to normal.” The second consumed two buildings next door and left theirs with heavy water, smoke, and structural damage that took even longer to repair. “We didn’t know for over a year if our building was even going to be able to stand the test of time or would have to be torn down as the structural stability of our outside wall was in question,” she says. “…It was hard.”

And while it would have been easy (and understandable) for Val to live in a victim mentality, she refused. “Navigating the fires and multiple years in a row of their physical, financial, and momentum losses – and not letting the extra work or negativity sink into my happiness and sense of self – is what I would consider a great success on a personal level,” she says.

As she was coping with those unexpected setbacks, Val dove deeper into a passion she and her family had discovered quite unexpectedly in 2020: flowers, both growing and painting them. That summer, as businesses were forced to adapt to the Covid-19 pandemic, she decided to take a break from painting to plant flowers and open a self-serve flower cart. Val soon felt far less lonely and far less frustrated, feelings that had been building before the pandemic even started. “While the world was falling apart with Covid and most everyone around me was…getting mad at everyone and everything, I was getting better, loads better, every day,” she says. “I largely ignored what was going on in the outside world around me and listened to podcasts and trainings on mindset while I was out in the garden.”

Flowers became a new obsession – especially pink peonies, which she calls “the perfect flower.”

“When I look at them, I see so much beauty that I never feel sad,” Val explains. “They are fluffy and comfortable. They are exciting and unpredictable. They start off so small and then get so gigantic. The petals look like they are dancing.”

How could she not be inspired by these flowers? She took and studied photos of peonies and other flowers and delved into various resources on how to grow and cut them. And, eventually, she began to paint them in 2024. “I took photos of flowers daily for about three summers, but I resisted painting them because I thought they would take up so much time,” she says. “Ultimately, though, I realized I’m a painter and I should actually paint them.”

The happiness she finds from flowers, along with the mindset work she did in recent years, inspired Val to start an online painting club, “Garden Art Therapy,” in which she helps beginners create garden-themed paintings. “I realized that I have a lot to share and to teach and that I wanted to guide others to use painting as a way of stress relief,” Val says. “Painting is how I make sense of the world.” 

And as if growing (and painting!) flowers, painting farm animals, running a business, and raising three boys weren’t enough, Val and Josh have launched yet another endeavor: a lavender farm. Why lavender? “I love it and all the products you can make from it,” Val says. 

The couple has more than 1,000 lavender plants (in addition to cut flowers and wildflowers) growing on their 11 acres outside Waukon and are working on a building to house a future lavender farm shop. They’re not ready to open the farm up to visitors just yet, but folks can watch steelcowlavenderfarm.com for updates.

In the meantime, Val continues to find happiness and fulfillment in her life’s work by following what she loves. 

“Being an artist is really the only thing I have ever wanted to do,” she says. “And I am thankful to be living my dream – I have more dreams now, dreams I’m working on side by side with that first one, and I am finding fulfillment in working towards something new.”

Sara Friedl-Putnam

Sara Friedl-Putnam remembers first viewing Val Miller’s artwork decades ago at a joint show held in Waukon, Iowa, with the late photographer Larsh Bristol, one of Val’s earliest supporters. She has since bought several of Val’s pieces for herself and for her family, including a “Maddie” cow portrait that hangs in her home. 

Learn More

Val Miller’s artwork can be purchased online at steelcow.com and at Agora Arts in Decorah, Iowa. While the “Garden Art Therapy” club is currently closed to new members, it will open up again at different times throughout the year. Information can be found on Steel Cow’s social media (Facebook & Instagram) and at steelcowlavenderfarm.com. 

See Val’s studio in person during the 27th Annual Northeast Iowa Artists’ Studio Tour, October 11, 12, and 13, 2024. Find details at www.iowaarttour.com. 

8 THINGS ABOUT HOW WE ROLL & WHAT WE BELIEVE IN

By Val Miller (edited for length – see the full text here)

1. Family is at the Top
We choose family as our top priority and continue to do so.
2. We are Playful
We don’t take life too seriously – it’s TOO SHORT. We are finding out what makes us happy and doing more of that.
3. Memories are Powerful
Memories have the ability to transport us to places we have been and to people we have been with. Which is a lovely thing.
4. Local Blooms are Amazing
They have completely knocked our socks off – be careful – they may knock yours off too!
5. Flowers are a Powerful Way to Connect Us All
We connect with the sun, rain, soil and nature when we grow flowers. When we share them, we connect with people.
6. Art Should be Part of Everyday Living and It’s for Everyone 
We NEED to feel inspired and awed – and art does this.
7. We are Good at What We Do
Basically – WE CARE. We have a combined 40 years of art experience and two art degrees between the two of us and have shipped tens of thousands of prints all over the country and world.
8. You’re Never too Old (or Young) to Learn Something New or Remember Something you Once Knew
Time is a funny thing and most of us have preconceived notions about what we should or shouldn’t be doing at various stages of our lives. I have awakened so many things just by trying something NEW.