Tallitha Reese

Communities aren’t measured by clocks or calendars. Some book clubs, garden circles, and service groups meet for years, decades even. You can find choirs whose elderly members now sing with their adult children. Or some project-based communities span only weeks or months. Think of a music concert. People gather, enjoy a performance for a few hours, then leave. Is that a community? Of course. Time doesn’t matter. Connection and impact do.

Nathan Davidson, a music teacher, performer, and band leader originally from Rushford, Minnesota, has been building those kinds of communities for more than 50 years. He counts them among the most meaningful – and lasting – memories of his life.

“Out of high school I was uncertain about what was next for me,” Nathan says. “A former teacher encouraged me to see the Woody Herman jazz band that was playing in La Crosse. I was underage but somehow got in. That one night changed the entire course of my life and started me on the road to performing and teaching music. I’ve never looked back.”

Nathan points to the magic that music has to move people. When that magic is shared between performer and audience, it also has a power to raise everybody to a higher level of, well, community. 

“It starts with the performer,” he explains. “A combination of talent, physical presence, the way they smile and make eye-contact. You can feel when a performer connects with an audience. I’ve seen Billy Joel in concert a number of times. Since I play the sax, I find myself watching Mark Rivera, the saxophonist in that band. He plays and moves with an energy that brings everybody together. That happens!”

Nathan played on a recent rainy spring evening in Elgin, Minnesota, a half-hour northeast of Rochester, joined by his pianist-friend, Dan (The Piano Man) Rengstorf, a long-time and greatly respected fixture in the Rochester and Twin Cities jazz community. Their gig was at Jazz Shepherd Coffee, a cozy venue located in an historic, red-brick building whose seating capacity of 30 people fits a town of barely 1,000. Lined with inviting mahogany leather couches, vintage posters, and floor-to-ceiling cases containing 14,000 vinyl records collected by owner Dan Van Eijl (pronounced “aisle”), Jazz Shepherd is a spot primed for community to happen. And it did.

Jazz standards filled the room starting with “It Don’t Mean a Thing,” to “Stardust,” “As Time Goes By,” and “Fly Me to the Moon.” Requests were mostly fulfilled (“I’d play that, but I don’t know it,” The Piano Man quips with honesty), sing-a-longs were encouraged, and at one point folks even saw a man (Dan the owner) dancing with a dog (his Siberian husky, Kera). Nathan’s mother, Eleanor, who recently turned 100, was in the audience and joined in singing her favorite songs (“You Are My Sunshine” and “In the Mood”). It all made for an evening that warmed the night and attendee’s hearts, bringing people together in community.

“In jazz there are no wrong notes; some are just more right than others,” Nathan says with a smile. “We never play the same song twice.” 

That’s a good description of community, too. People share once-in-a-lifetime experiences that are spontaneous and unpredictable, always evolving. No wrong “notes.” Never the same “song” twice. Jazz Shepherd owner Dan, a lifelong musician and DJ himself, agrees. “A jazz concert, any musical event really, can feel almost congregational, church-like,” he says. “Music expresses the human condition. It touches our heart and soul and brings people together.”

After a few more songs it’s time to end this concert, find hats and coats, and head home. For Nathan Davidson, it had been another gig in a string of dozens that will find him busy playing – and building one-night communities – for weeks and months to come. It’s a life he knows and loves, having spent decades playing in and helping lead a collection of music groups in Southeast Minnesota. 

Nathan joined the Chatfield Brass Band in 1978 and still plays with them 46 years later. He’s also in Polka Dots, a band with an incredible 70-year history. His other groups include the CBB Jazz Combo, the Rutabaga Brothers, and Lost Faculties. (“We play classic rock and roll and even got to open for Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits,” he says.) 

A full-bore Beatle fanatic, Nathan also worked with “Ringer Star,” a top-rated Ringo Starr tribute band, and played with them for 6,000 people in Rochester.

What is Nathan’s greatest music memory? “That’s easy,” he says. “My dream was to get Woody Herman to play again locally. This was the man whose one concert changed my life. He was a jazz giant, won multiple Grammys, was recognized internationally as one of the founding fathers of swing jazz/big band music, a contemporary of musical superstars like Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, and Duke Ellington. In 1987 I took a financial gamble and brought Woody and his band to Grand Meadow, Minnesota, where he played to our packed high school auditorium. He wasn’t feeling well; sadly, this turned out to be his last public performance. But what a night! Later his daughter sent me the blue formal dinner jacket Woody wore at that concert. I treasure it.”

Lately, Nathan and Dan “The Piano Man” have expanded their musical menu. “We’re playing senior care homes and memory centers,” he says. “To see people who are struggling physically and mentally light up with a smile and tap their toes when they hear a song they remember is a total gift. It’s another chance we have to use music to bring people together. They love it. So do we.”

Steve Harris

Steve Harris (SteveHarrisAuthor.com) has written two books, “Lanesboro, Minnesota” and the recently released “Dads Like Us: Raising a Child with Disabilities,” and can be reached at
sharris1962@msn.com.

For information about Nathan Davidson’s musical calendar and potential bookings, visit lostfaculties.com.

The six owners of the Bridgeview Plaza, Rick and Michelle Beyer, Jim and Karen Christenson, and Todd and Deb Page, had a space to fill – a really large one. Their North La Crosse strip mall’s flagship store, Shopko, had been empty since 2019. The business partners knew they needed something to fill that 65,000-square-foot gap – what Deb calls, “the big, empty box.” Then they started to think, quite literally, outside of the box. 

“We’re all very active and believe strongly that exercise improves health outcomes,” Deb says. “And we’re all pickleball players.” 

Pickleball, a combination of table tennis, badminton, and tennis, is the fastest-growing sport in the nation. Its open-play format, easy-to-learn rules, and adaptability for all ages and abilities has contributed to its huge growth in recent years.  

The couples hoped that the increased popularity of the sport and the size and space within the building would be a winning combination. They started researching, visiting several similar pickleball facilities and even attending a pickleball conference. They brought their ideas back to their space and got to work. 

They started with the essentials, replacing all the HVAC and lighting, painting, and adding bathrooms. Then they added an office, a reception area, and a community gathering center, reworking the space to accommodate 17 regulation size pickleball courts and fencing, Deb says. The result was The Blue Zone – named for its notable blue courts – one of the largest indoor pickleball facilities in Wisconsin.

With a new plan for the “big, empty box,” the partners decided to keep the health and wellness business train rolling. They began work on a juice bar and bistro in the space next door to The Blue Zone that was previously the Shopko Pharmacy.

“The goal is for people to be able to watch pickleball while eating a healthy meal,” says Deb. “These two businesses are really all about encouraging eating healthy, connecting with friends, and exercising.”  

The new restaurant has obtained a liquor license, as well, and will be available to cater events in The Blue Zone’s community room, which is free to reserve.

Promoting healthy living is something the group feels strongly about. “Some health insurances will now cover your court fees as a way to promote health and exercise,” Deb adds, encouraging potential pickleballers to explore this option. 

The Blue Zone has embraced the idea that pickleball is truly for everyone, experienced or not. You don’t even have to have your own gear, as they offer equipment rentals on site. “You can just rent a court and come and play,” says Deb. 

The facility has only been open since the end of February 2024 – they celebrated with a grand opening late March – but it has been filling up the events calendar steadily since. They already have several leagues in place and have hosted a handful of themed tournaments, and are offering some classes, too, for those new to the sport. 

 “Pickleball is a sport for all ages and abilities,” says Deb. “We hope The Blue Zone will help get families out and about, and ultimately, make La Crosse a better place to live.” 

All of The Blue Zone partners are lifelong residents of the La Crosse area, so improving their community is a mission close to their hearts. They are working to beautify the community with a planned facelift for the entire Bridgeview Plaza. Many of the facility’s employees are coaches and teachers in area districts and at local colleges, helping to connect even more community members to the facility. And Deb has started to see other area organizations reach out to learn more about partnering with Blue Zone to tap into the ever-growing phenomenon that is pickleball. 

 “The community has been very receptive to us,” Deb says. “It’s been absolutely amazing.” 

Sara Walters

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

Since the advent of the biblical term, “Good Samaritan,” the moniker has been used to describe the unsung heroes throughout history who cared enough to stop and lend a hand to the hurting. In countless ways, each of these “Samaritans” has re-written their own unique script to make their world a better place. This story is one of them.

For years, local businessman Charlie Dee of Holmen, Wisconsin, along with First Free Church in Onalaska have been creating a community of helpers. This particular community, however, reaches worldwide. Charlie is a frequent flyer around Coulee Region medical facilities. Not because of health issues. Charlie collects used medical equipment. And with the backing of First Free Church, he ships it to Laos. To date, this partnership has sent over a hundred wheelchairs, examination tables, a variety of canes and walkers, several tons of miscellaneous equipment…and two ambulances. 

To come full circle, Charlie and the church added medical training to the outreach. Three La Crosse nurses, all Viterbo grads and all Gundersen employees, accompanied him on an early 2024 trip to Xieng Khouang province to train 20 Laotian volunteers.

According to State Department statistics, Laos is the most heavily bombed country per capita in the world. During the Viet Nam war, the U.S. dropped close to two and a half million tons of bombs on Laos, the equivalent of about 270 million bomblets. A third of them still remain, undetonated. And in a largely agrarian country, that translates into casualties of epic proportion.

Early on in the trip, Charlie spoke with a government official who knew some English. “The next day our interpreter told me that the official’s mother had been killed when her hoe struck a bomb in a rice paddy,” he says. Bomb squads have cleared over 1500 unexploded ordinance from the province but that still accounts for only a small percentage of the estimated total.

“They all know somebody or had family impacted by the problem,” adds Shyler Harmsen, one of the nurses. “We heard so many stories.” Even now, many people each year are injured, some even die from the bombs, she says. 

Not far from the training facility stands a museum with exhibits and memorabilia from the war days. It also showcases the grim reality that Laotians face every day. “There was a story of some girls who found a bomb outside their school,” recalls Shyler. “I left the museum in tears.”

Shyler first became acquainted with medical missions through her undergraduate studies at UWL when she experienced firsthand the needs in Guatemala. So, when her pastor described the situation in Laos, she knew what she had to do. “He said we’re not going there to help and then leave. We’re going to help them help themselves.” 

Although Laos has made significant strides in reducing poverty, economic parity is still a long way off. According to Charlie, poverty and inflation have actually increased over the last three or four years, especially in rural areas. Many Laotians simply cannot afford doctors or hospitals, so paramedics fill the gap.

Shyler recalls that when the team stopped at a restaurant, she told the waitress to keep the change. “Her eyes got huge,” she says. Converted to American currency, the change amounted to 24 cents. 

Matt Post, a 10-year Army weapons-sergeant-turned-nurse had a similar experience with soccer balls he brought along to give away. Matt served two deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. After experiencing the dark side of humanity, he came away with the desire to help people.  “Two little girls were playing and when I handed them a soccer ball,” he says, “they looked at each other like they had won the lottery.”

School Days

Work began the first night when, after a grueling 23-hour flight, the nursing team sat bleary-eyed until 11 pm designing curriculum for the week ahead. Since Laos lacks a trauma center, the Laotian volunteers got a crash course in both basic and advanced emergency care. “We did trauma training – burns and infection control, how to apply a tourniquet, things like that,” Matt says.

Students at the training came from all walks of life – from a doctor to an unemployed 20-year-old. “They were really engaged in what we were teaching and eager to soak up as much information as possible,” Matt recalls. On multiple occasions he saw some of the volunteers go out on a call and then hurry back to class. 

For Alex May, the ink was barely dry on his diploma when he joined the team. Newly minted as a nurse, he was impressed by how quickly doors opened through medicine. And, according to Alex, matriculating from the same university kept the trio on the same page.  Their nursing school curriculum centered on a wholistic care approach which became their model for training throughout the week in Laos.

A Cultural Connection

Not everything was academic though. As much as Laotians desire information, they also crave friendships. “It was an eye-opening experience given our history during the Viet Nam war,” says Alex. “The way they welcomed us was super cool.” With his background as an angler, Alex connected with the locals through fishing. Fishing is big over there, he says. “I was able to learn what they do, and I told them what I do.” 

The arts were another connection. The first day of training, the locals wanted to hear an American song.  And they reciprocated, sharing traditional Lao dances. “We were able to live life with them – not just as spectators,” says Shyler. And that included the Sunday gathering at a little one room church. A standing-room only crowd sang American praise songs translated into Lao. “Halfway through the service I had to pinch myself,” Alex says.

Yet, despite their poverty, the Laotian penchant for hospitality was evident throughout the trip. “Every day they brought us something, like food baskets,” says Shyler. “On the last day they pooled their money and threw us a Bar-B-Que. It blew me away.”

The team is already planning a return visit in February of 2025, and all indications are that their group might expand. Matt says that after sharing their experience with colleagues, some want to sign on for the next trip. As for Alex, the outreach had been a perfect way to kick off his career.  “I couldn’t have asked for anything better,” he says.

Greg Kirscher

Greg Kirscher is a La Crosse based writer focusing mostly on faith issues and church events. He is also a photographer focusing mostly on his 14 grandchildren.