Iowa Life Episode 307

[Charity Nebbe] Coming up on this episode of Iowa Life, we'll savor the sights and sounds of Eagles and Ivories along the Mississippi River.

[Man 1] I want to be a joy spreader. The best way I know how to do that is through music.

[Charity] We'll feel the rush of indoor racing.

[Woman 1] I've made a lot of friends here. It's kind of like a family thing. So, I get to spend some time with my dad.

[Charity] And we'll meet a dance troupe keeping Mexican traditions alive.

[Woman 2] I want every student who comes through to feel beautiful and proud to be who they are.

[Charity] It's all coming up next on Iowa Life.

[Announcer] Funding for Iowa Life is provided by the Lainie Grimm Fund for Inclusive Programming at the Iowa PBS Foundation. And by Friends, the Iowa PBS Foundation.

♪♪ 

Hi, I'm Charity Nebbe, and this is Iowa Life. I am standing on the banks of the Mississippi River in Muscatine, where it is very, very cold. But people are gathering. And they are gathering because every year large flocks of bald eagles gather here during the coldest part of winter. That makes this the perfect time to bundle up and get up close and personal with these majestic birds. 

Now, while some Iowans are embracing the natural beauty of the season, others are heating it up indoors. At the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, the Jacobson Exhibition Center is transformed into a racetrack for Battle at the Barn. It is a fast paced, family friendly competition that draws racers of all ages together in the heart of winter.

♪♪ 

[Toby Kruse, Battle at the Barn Organizer] Today we're at the famed Iowa State Fairgrounds at the Jacobson Building. And it's our 18th annual event of our version of the Hicklin Power Sports Battle at the Barn. And it's an indoor circle track racing where we put Coke syrup down on the concrete floor.

♪♪ 

We physically take like a roundup sprayer, we go out and we put down Coke syrup. Just like if you go to a restaurant, you have a fountain soda, the actual Coke syrup gets sprayed right on the concrete floor. It makes a very sticky surface for the racers. And so, when they go out there, combination of the tire prep, the Coke syrup, it makes an incredibly fast surface where they're, it's like a tether car. They're pretty much just glued to that racetrack.

This event draws thousands of spectators. So, it's literally the third Daytona 500 of indoor Coke syrup racing.

Our pre-entries are up this year, so I anticipate probably about 275 entries from 12 different states from around the Midwest that all converge here to this Iowa tradition in the winter months.

We have a little bit of everything from Go Karts, four wheelers, three wheelers, lawnmowers. We have a great relationship — the people here at the Iowa State Fair are second to none to work with. We've all grown in this, with this event together.

The physical track itself, people ask about it — it's 160-foot end to end. It's 100 foot wide. We put some concrete jersey barriers on the outside. Then right inside of that, we have some plastic barriers just to cushion the racers in case they crash into that. It's almost a perfect circle. They hardly turn the steering wheel. The speeds are pretty intense. There's some G forces involved.

(cars racing around track) 

The lap time on there, probably about 35 to 40 mile an hour. And you're thinking, yeah, that's pretty quick. But if you actually get in one of those go karts or motorcycles or any of these machines that they're racing out here, you'd be shocked at the amount of G force. It's not forgiving. They hurt for a couple weeks afterwards.

[Kadence Davenport, Polk City] I think it's different for a lot of different drivers, but for me, I get very dialed in. I don't really hear anything else. I'm just, like, very focused.

Sometimes, depending on the track, you feel like you're in a rocket ship, which is kind of cool. Like this track, specifically, because it's so fast. You're really sitting there.

(race announcer) 

[Kadence Davenport] It's a lot of hurry and wait. But then also when we get into the features, it's wild. You'll hear a lot of noise from the stands, a lot of noise from the track, a lot of noise in the pits. There's just — there's so much going on, but it's not like a stressful going on. It's like a fun, like, "Oh, my gosh, this is so cool."

♪♪ 

[Toby] It's a family environment. That's what warms my heart. I watch the families coming here, spending the whole weekend together. The dads, moms, the grandparents, cheering on the kids.

I love the atmosphere. We have everything from children as young as four years old to adults. One gentleman just over 70, racing a motorcycle.

[Kadence] The people -- I've made a lot of friends here. It's kind of like a family thing. So, I get to spend some time with my dad, and it's very energetic, so it's a very positive place to be. It's kind of hectic sometimes, but honestly, at the end of the day, that's the fun part when you're running around and you get out on the track and you're like, okay, like, let's go.

[Michael Moore, Des Moines] We're just racers. We love to race and anytime we get to race and especially this close to home, we're gonna be there. My dad races and my uncle used to race. I've got twin 16-year-old boys. They've been racing since they were four years old. Their other grandpa raced. We just kinda grew up doing this. 

It's amazing. I love being here with my family and enjoying everybody. Actually, everybody here is our family it seems like because we're all friends and we all get along and we get to go race each other and have a good time.

[Kaden Rice, Mitchellville] You just gotta stay calm and focused to make sure you don't mess anything up. Everybody's pretty excited to come watch.

[Toby] Just seeing those kids out there, a group photo where they're all winners, that warms my heart. That is my favorite part of this event. Just seeing the families here together for a weekend. Our world's got too much of the social media in it and there's not enough family time and downtime away from phones and iPads. But you don't see much of that this weekend. It's a lot of interaction and things like that. So, I love to see that.

[Michael] If you ever have a chance to go to a Coke syrup event or come down here to the Battle at the Barn, it's really exciting, it's close, it's intense, it's really fast. We just enjoy it. That's what we've done all our life and we love to do it.

[Charity] There are many good reasons to visit Muscatine and the Eagles and Ivories Ragtime Fest brings several of them together in one weekend.

With performances by renowned musicians and opportunities to see bald eagles in their natural habitat, it's a unique combination that draws music lovers, bird watchers and people who just want to have a good time. Here's a look at what makes it so special.

♪♪ 

[David Ales] I've always enjoyed ragtime music.

We call it Eagles and Ivories Ragtime because we started that way.

But no, it includes jazz, spirituals, popular music.

These performers can play anything that you mention.

Over the course of the four-day event now there'll be close to 2,000 people.

First year, pretty well received, except we had a terrible snowstorm.

Second year we had an ice storm.

But we've survived for 33 years now.

♪♪ (applause) [Pianist] Thank you.

[David Ales] I took piano lessons all the way through grade school, high school.

My father came from Lost Nation, Iowa.

There were two brothers in Lost Nation, the Rudbecks.

But one of them was also a member of John Philip Sousa's band.

And when they would come to Muscatine to visit, we had an upright piano.

And it was usually right time that they played.

Not always, but usually.

It was then the basis for jazz, blues and even pop music.

(applause) [Jeff Barnhart] How many of you have seen us before?

How many of you are seeing us for the first time?

How many of you are seeing us from the last time?

(laughter) ♪♪ [Jeff Barnhart] I want to be a joy spreader.

The best way I know how to do that is through music.

So, I love your 2-year-olds, your 92-year-olds, everything in between.

[Jeff Barnhart] And we say here, yeah, we start with ragtime.

That's our core.

Because that's the core of American music.

And anything kids are listening to today that they think is hip was already being done 126 years ago, just with a slightly different language.

And done by kids, teens.

It's always kids who develop the new thing.

So, ragtime was it, but then it would morph into other things.

And there's a common misconception, if you're someone in one of these assisted facilities this is not music that you grew up with.

If you're an 80-year-old, you grew up with Jerry Lee Lewis.

It's more okay, here's something that I have them coming up and saying, my mom used to play that song on the piano when I was a kid.

But if you can get kids hooked on something they're not going to get, they say, wait a minute, that's very cool.

We should check into that.

Everything needs to be presented in a way that is fresh and new.

And if you can do that, you can get people to go anywhere you want them to.

(applause) [Angela Woodhouse] It's really evolved, the festival.

People are always saying, you know, there's nothing to do in Muscatine or in Iowa.

But yet I think music is kind of the universal language and it speaks to everybody.

You know, when we first started out, it was one person.

And it's grown to basically a whole week now.

We start with an artist in residence.

And we've been doing that for, I believe, four years.

It's extremely well received by the community.

And you can see it in the joy in young and old.

[Jeff Barnhart] Hello, Jefferson School!

The best school in the world!

(applause) [Angela Woodhouse] Well, I love going out to the schools.

You know, this is a different genre of music these kids are not familiar with.

[Pianist] 1, 2, a 1, 2 - ♪ you shake my nerves and you rattle my brain ♪ [Angela Woodhouse] And it's not just ragtime.

[Angela Woodhouse] We do all kinds of different -- we do jazz and spirituals and rock and roll.

[Pianist] ♪ Goodness gracious, great balls of fire ♪ You know, the boogie woogie music really, really speaks to everybody I think.

♪♪ [David Ales] Musical director of Jeff Barnhart, one of the best performers you'll find anywhere in the country.

We also had Dave Bennett, who's out of Michigan, tremendous clarinetist but he's also boogie woogie, early rock and roll pianist, too.

Feature performer this year was from England, Neville Dickie.

He's 89 years old and performed for a number of years on BBC Radio in England.

And this year he performed for seven schools and seven or eight retirement homes.

(applause) [Pianist] Okay, this is a ragtime festival.

So, from 1908.

The Whitewash Man.

(piano music) [Neville Dickie] My mother used to make me practice by putting an alarm clock on the piano.

I had to practice for half an hour.

When the alarm clock went off, I was free.

Because sheet music was very difficult to get hold of, sheet music from 1920s and 30s.

And I always remember when I was about 20 years old.

I saw this book advertised.

It was a hundred ragtime pieces.

I sent away to America and got this album.

And so, I started to practice those.

(piano music) (applause) [David Ales] The reason we call it Eagles and Ivories is because Mississippi River freezes over Muscatine, usually.

And so, some years we'd have as many as 300, 400 eagles here.

Not that many this year because the river was open earlier.

[Charity Nebbe] We are here for eagles and ivories.

These are two things that don't necessarily seem like they go together.

How does that work for you?

[Michelle Berns] For us, it's the eagles.

We do the natural part of it.

And they're the music part of it.

We are just down from Lock and Dam number 16.

So, the water generally stays open a little bit more at the locks along the river.

So, they congregate along those locks.

[Charity Nebbe] Well, what do you hope people take away from this experience?

[Michelle Berns] I really want people to get excited about how cool all these animals are, even if it's barred owl, if it's an eagle, because when they get excited about those animals they're going to want to protect the habitats that those animals live in and we need that.

[Charity Nebbe] Do eagles like ragtime?

[Michelle Berns] I think they do.

(laughter) ♪♪ [Angela Woodhouse] What I like about it, the variety.

We try to mix it up with not only the performers themselves.

But with the style of music that they bring.

[Jeff Barnhart] What I'd like to think is that our festival features what Johnny Mercer called the Golden Age of Melody meaning from about 1890 to 1950.

What I love is the people, first of all, welcome you so warmly because they know you're here to spread the joy.

You're here to create something that's going to take them away, transport them to someplace really fun and exciting.

And I do love this town.

I've always said this is a small town with a big heart.

[Angela Woodhouse] It makes me happy to have a festival like this.

The music talent that we bring in, I would encourage people, if they've never been to come, because I can guarantee you they would have a good time.

(piano music) (applause) [Charity Nebbe] In Cedar Rapids, a local Ballet Folklorico troupe is using dance to help young people stay connected to their culture and heritage.

They're creating a space where culture is preserved, community is built, and the next generation has an opportunity to find its voice.

In the process, students gain confidence, discipline, and a deeper sense of pride in who they are.

♪♪ [Samantha Hernandez] Me growing up in Cedar Rapids, I had no idea that this is a thing.

It really builds a sense of community for us.

This makes me feel more attached to and more in tune with my culture and heritage.

It's very creative art form.

♪♪ So, I stomp, heel, toe.

Stomp, heel, toe.

[Samantha Hernandez] So, we are a nonprofit dance group.

We teach traditional Mexican dancing, which is Ballet Folklorico.

♪♪ [Samantha Hernandez] I would describe this type of dance as very colorful, very festive.

♪♪ [Samantha Hernandez] So, it's a lot of different footwork.

There's a lot of different skirt work that's involved too.

Kick, kick, kick, kick, kick, kick, kick.

Toe, toe, toe, toe.

[Samantha Hernandez] In Mexico, it's like a very big thing for them to do just like in school, so, like as an after-school activity or even just like part of a class, all the way in, all the way in.

[Jocelin Lagunas] Every state has its own dance, and just seeing, like, different states, how they express their own dancing is, like, honestly, really intriguing to me.

♪♪ [Samantha Hernandez] One that we do is, you know, La Costa.

So, it's like the coastal region of Sinaloa.

So, a lot of the skirt movements, they like, sway over, like, almost like waves, kind of.

♪♪ [Jocelin Lagunas] All of our students put in a lot of work.

When you have our girls that combine it with the skirt movements, that takes a lot of work as well.

♪♪ [Jocelin Lagunas] The music is like a very big part.

You can kind of hear the rhythm in it, so you know if it'll be fast or slow.

And you just have to, like, know how to guide yourself through that.

[Stephany Orellana Cruz] This is my second year in this group.

When I was little, I did ballet, and when I moved here, I kind of lost interest in dance for a little bit.

At the start, I was really shy.

I wouldn't smile a lot.

But as I continued on my journey, I started to be more expressive with the way I dance.

I started smiling a lot more.

[Instructor] Cinco, seis, siete, ocho.

[Jasmine Hernandez] It really builds a sense of community for us.

[Jasmine Hernandez] Sometimes we feel scattered throughout Cedar Rapids and to be able to come here and form a community.

Every season, we grow together more and more.

[Emcee] Hello.

Hello.

Hello, everybody.

[Emcee] Thank you for joining us to celebrate Día de los Muertos.

[Emcee] It's gonna be a special night here tonight.

We're gonna, of course, see the talented dancing of Fuerzas Culturales.

And we're also gonna be celebrating Day of the Dead.

[Emcee] So, let's get started.

So, the first state that you'll be seeing is the state of Veracruz.

This is performed by two of our talented teenagers.

♪♪ [Jasmine Hernandez] So, I'm in charge of the costumes, and that can be a big task because I can't just go to Target or Walmart to pick up a new dress.

♪♪ [Jasmine Hernandez] Some of our costumes actually come from Mexico.

♪♪ [Jasmine Hernandez] When I became the costume director, I decided to pick up a sewing machine.

So, a few of them are also made by myself.

♪♪ [Jasmine Hernandez] I want every student who comes through to feel beautiful and proud to be who they are.

And so, I work really hard to acquire the costumes, make sure that they fit them appropriately, because I want them to be on stage and feel like the best version of themselves.

♪♪ [Jasmine Hernandez] I think performances also, again, bolster that idea, that sense of cultural pride.

♪♪ [Jasmine Hernandez] You're out there and you're dancing.

You're giving it your all, and the audience is applauding for you, and you're able to share your culture with them and to feel that positive feedback.

I think it's great.

♪♪ (applause) [Samantha Hernandez] It's exciting to see them get prepared, get ready, and then they're just waiting by the stage until it's their turn, and then they go.

♪♪ [Jocelin Lagunas] You find a lot of pride as a student.

You put all that work in, and then you perform it, and it's like you feel accomplished.

And then, like, as a teacher, I like to see, like, the hard work that we all put in together.

You have everyone in place, and it just puts on a good show.

♪♪ [Jasmine Hernandez] We're just really happy to be able to share our culture with the eastern Iowa community.

♪♪ [Charity Nebbe] We are ending today's show with a visit to a small town that is famous for an enormous landmark.

Strawberry Point is home to the world's largest strawberry, and it's a sweet point of pride for the entire community.

♪♪ [Charity Nebbe] Nestled in the rolling hills of northeast Iowa, the town of Strawberry Point is a gateway to the driftless area.

[Deno Andrews] Not being from here originally, I would describe it as quaint, charming.

You know, the people here are incredibly friendly, very nice.

It's a very traditional community.

[Charity Nebbe] The town's history goes back to the mid-1800s, when the US government forced the Winnebago tribe to relocate from their territory in Wisconsin.

Along the way, the military came across an abundant patch of wild strawberries.

They placed a stake at their campsite and labeled it Strawberry Point.

Years later, more settlers began moving into the area but disagreed on what it should be called.

[Laura Harreld] Some traders and some prominent people wanted to name this settlement Franklin because they came from an area, from a town that was called Franklin, but everybody called it Strawberry Point.

[Charity Nebbe] Residents of the town embraced their identity and eventually came together to create the world's largest strawberry.

[Deno Andrews] In the 60s, the citizens of Strawberry Point decided that they wanted a sort of a central piece to draw people to town.

And so, they hired an advertising company that made signs to make the giant strawberry.

It was actually built in California, shipped to Dubuque, and then brought here and assembled.

[Charity Nebbe] The strawberry is made out of fiberglass and weighs about 1,400 pounds.

It's 15 feet tall and 12 feet wide.

It was hoisted onto its home on Commercial Street on June 20, 1967.

Five months after it was installed, a windstorm snapped the pole the strawberry was on, smashing the giant fruit.

It was re-erected in the spring of 1968 and has since towered over city hall, delighting tourists and passersby for more than 50 years.

[Laura Harreld] If you see somebody standing there doing a selfie or a family trying to take a picture with the strawberry, anybody will stop and take their picture for them.

Everybody's so happy to see everybody appreciating the strawberry.

[Charity Nebbe] In early 2025, the strawberry was temporarily removed for refurbishing.

Years of harsh Iowa weather left the fiberglass battered and bruised, and it was no longer structurally sound.

It underwent a 49-day makeover and is back to looking as bright red and juicy as it did in 1967.

♪♪ [Deno Andrews] There's definitely a lot of community ownership with the strawberry.

It's something just wildly different than what you would see.

You know, you go through town after town after town and you see statues and plaques and memorials and this and that.

And in our city, we have a giant strawberry, and it's just such a cool thing.

♪♪ [Charity Nebbe] That's all for this week.

Thank you for joining me as we celebrate Iowans chasing speed, music, nature, culture, and even giant strawberries.

I'm Charity Nebbe.

See you next time for more Iowa Life.

♪♪ [Announcer] Funding for Iowa Life is provided by the Lainie Grimm Fund for Inclusive Programming at the Iowa PBS Foundation.

[Announcer] And by Friends, the Iowa PBS Foundation.