Iowa Life Episode 309

[Charity Nebbe] Coming up on this episode of Iowa Life -- we'll head to the Bremer County Fairgrounds for a demolition derby.

[Ron Leistikow] Anyone will tell you it's their number one crowd pleaser, money maker. Everybody likes to see stuff smashed.

(combines crashing together)

[Nebbe] We'll explore the impact of light pollution on Iowa's night skies.

[James Bruton] Light pollution has changed our ability to see the night sky.

[Nebbe] And we'll meet artists finding their voice through creativity.

[Male artist] This is cool.

[Nebbe] 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.

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

[Nebbe] Hi, I'm Charity Nebbe and this is Iowa Life. We are at Whiterock Conservancy in western Iowa where by day, visitors can explore miles and miles of trails that stretch through beautiful Iowa countryside. By night, stargazers can enjoy some of the darkest skies in the state, revealing celestial bodies that stretch lightyears into the distance. But first, something a little less tranquil. We are headed to the Bremer County Fair Combine Demolition Derby where retired harvesters are roaring back to life for the thrill of the crash.

[Derby Announcer] Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Bremer County Fair Combine Demolition Derby.

[Derrek Sommerfelt] It'll be loud. A lot of smoke. Crashing, crunching, tires popping.

(combines crashing together)

[Ron Leistikow] Parts breaking. People like to raise a little hell. I mean, it's crazy. 

(combines crashing together)

[Jacob Mundt] I don't know, it's just like awesome, just going in there and getting after it. 

[Jacob Mundt] I probably started when I was 18. Once you get your first combine, trying to basically go from an operating combine to a demo combine, it's pretty hands on, it takes a lot. 

[Jacob Mundt] That ain't gonna work, it ain't even on there. Get your welder out. Get the pickup over here.

[Derrek Sommerfelt] We're in the pits for the Combine Demolition Derby. It's basically how it sounds, I guess. It's combines that go after each other and try and take 'em out. As you can see, they're definitely not like the ones in the field today. A lot of these are from the '60s and '70s era. We have them remove the glass, make the separator inoperable, remove the unloading auger, remove the ladder, make the heads a battering ram. 

[Jacob Mundt] Genius doesn't know how to fix his combine, so we'll just let it leak diesel everywhere. And then after that, we'll fire up the welder. Why not. I mean, I don't got any better idea. How 'bout you? 

[Derrek Sommerfelt] Some of these got bought for $300 or $400 -- some of them might have cost a couple thousand.

[Jacob Mundt] No, the combines do not cost $20,000. They are $1,000. It's like, well yeah, we buy it for what we can take it to the scrap yard for. But let's let them think that, then they come and they're like oh my god, look at these dummies. 

(combines crashing together)

[Derrek Sommerfelt] We'll have two heats of large combines and then we'll have a small feature with six small combines. 

(combines crashing together)

[Derrek Sommerfelt] A medium feature with six medium combines. And then we'll do the large feature with four.

(combines crashing together)

[Jacob Mundt] Well, I can't promise it's gonna work, but I can promise it's better than it was. 

[Ron Leistikow] There's always a couple that don't make it in there. You have to make it into the ring. If you can't make it in the ring, you aren't going to get any pay because you've got to show up, even if you only drive a little ways, it's still gotta run. 

[Derrek Sommerfelt] Popped tires, the back axles get taken out so they can't steer and then they're just dragging around. Or if your engine overheats or something like that. 

[Jacob Mundt] You hardly ever get the front tires popped on these things because they're tube and they're tanked, unless you have a tire like that piece of junk. 

[Man's voice off-screen] Hey! Don't talk about my tires like that!

[Jacob Mundt] He ain't gonna last. 

[Man's voice off-screen] Hey! 

[Jacob Mundt] You've got to have a helmet on, a neck brace and then they'll give you a little dumb earpiece and it's really uncomfortable. It's safety.

[Ron Leistikow] Anybody will tell you it's the number one crowd pleaser, money maker. Everybody likes to see stuff smashed. 

[Derby Announcer] Some of you are here for the red, some of you are here for the green, but we're all here for the red, white and blue. Please stand and sing with me our national anthem. 

[Derby Announcer]  Oh say can you see 

[Derrek Sommerfelt] It's a rush when you can put on a good show and seeing the crowd and seeing the way the fans react.

[Derby Announcer] Who's ready to crash some combines? 

[Derby Announcer] 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... go!

[Derby Announcer] Wow, a big four-way crash?! 

[Jacob Mundt] For a while you just start smashing them, you just go at it, and then after a few hits you're like, okay I've got to be strategic about this. I mean, if you hit the rear ends out of 'em, they're pretty well done for, so you gotta build them suckers strong. 

[Derby Announcer] Oh my goodness!

[Derrek Sommerfelt] Just when you think you've seen it all, something different happens. 

[Ron Leistikow] The most fun is smashing and crashing and all that stuff, tipping the combine over and people like to see crazy.

[Derby Announcer] Oh he might flip! Oh, that was close!

[Jacob Mundt] It's just, I don't know, it's just a blast. If you have little kids they just love this stuff. They just eat it up and they watch and big stuff, boom!

[Derby Announcer] Look out from behind! Oh! Big boomer! And he's out!

[Ron Leistikow] And everybody knows everybody in that combine demo. 

[Jacob Mundt] Yeah, with a bunch of my best friends. We're all farm kids and farm people around here, one way or another we're connected to a farm. 

[Derby Announcer] Down to two are moving on. What a show! How about that, ladies and gentlemen? 

[Jacob Mundt] Yeah, baby! Going to the finale! That's what I'm talking about!

[Derrek Sommerfelt] Well, if you haven't seen it before, it's kind of an experience. And if you have seen it before, it's still an experience. 

[Derby Announcer] Thank you so much for all of this equipment helping pick up these damaged combines. We couldn't do this without them for sure. And the last runs of the large combines still to come. 

[Jacob Mundt] My first year that I ever did this I actually won and I was surprised, I was just blown away. And then last year, in this I got second. 

[Derby Announcer] All right, here they come. Number 21 is Jake Mundt. Number 15 Logan Buseman.

[Derby Announcer] Man this is fun! They're beating the tar out of each other. Now, all four of these here are in the money. 

[Jacob Mundt] It's cheap, it's fun, they pay you to show up basically. You go in and make a hit, they pay you. 

[Derby Announcer] Boy, talk about some great hitting right now. Look at these guys go, putting on a show! Remember, last one standing, that's all we're looking for, last one standing. 

[Ron Leistikow] It's unbelievable, but it -- so basically it's homegrown stuff. 

[Derby Announcer] They want you to get up on your feet and cheer.

(crowd cheering)

[Derby Announcer] Oh no! Look at that! Oh! Holy cow! Oh, back up Buseman and give it a good shot. Oh, he gave, he said no mas. Logan Buseman, the large combine champion of the county!

(crowd cheering)

[Derby Announcer] Ladies and gentlemen, who had a great time at the Bremer County Fair? 

(crowd cheering)

[Derby Announcer] Who wants to come back next year?

(crowd cheering)

[Nebbe] As the sun goes down, a different side of Iowa comes into view, if we let it. In some places, that view is fading as artificial light brigtens the sky and dims the stars. In our next story, we’ll explore how light pollution is changing the night sky, how it impacts people and wildlife and how some Iowans are working hard to bring back the stars. 

[Steven Spangler] One can go out and look at the night sky and just be amazed by it in the same way that the people of the late woodlands culture who lived here in Iowa a thousand years ago certainly did and used it to keep track of the time. 

[Steven Spangler] People are really intrigued about the vastness of space. Are there other planets like the Earth out there in the universe? 

[Steven Spangler] Questions of whether life exists there. 

[Steven Spangler] What you need for ground-based astronomy is a dark sky. Galaxies that we're seeing as they were billions of years ago. Worldwide two-thirds of research observatories are now in environments where the light pollution exceeds what is recommended. 

[James Bruton] Light pollution has changed our ability to see the night sky. Over the past 20 years, light pollution in Iowa has increased substantially. The cities have grown, technology has improved, the nights have just become brighter and brighter and brighter. Back in 2020, we had a derecho here in Iowa and power was cut off. We were finally able to see those night skies. And then as soon as the lights came back on, those stars were gone. I started the Dark Sky Initiative because I wanted to help bring the night sky back to Iowa. I'm on the Board of Iowa Wildlife Federation and they have taken the Dark Sky Initiative under their wing because dark skies help to protect the habitats of wildlife. Light pollution has had a profound impact on wildlife. It has affected their ability to find food, their ability to understand even when it is night. The impact on migratory birds is really significant. There are cities around the country and around the world that during times of bird migration will actually turn their lights down. 

[David Rayer] Several years ago, the Dark Skies Alliance actually introduced a model lighting ordinance. Ames was one of the first ones in Iowa. They started adding shields to a lot of the street lights. The old style of street lights throw a lot of light up into the sky and above the horizontal plane, which was essentially wasted light. So, my job as a lighting designer, people pay me to light things at night. So, my job is to create those lit environments, but to really minimize the amount of light that is present. Des Moines University first came to RDG Planning and Design because we were a design firm that could really take the challenge of creating a brand new 88-acre college campus, introducing something that is fairly new in the Des Moines community especially was a 3,000 Kelvin, which is a very warm light, light source. And that really helps in the nighttime environment where we have seen so much with the bluish-white LEDs, that is very bad for our human circadian rhythms at night. 

[David Rayer] One of the principles of Dark Skies is putting light where it needs to be and actually reducing lighting levels. As you can see in the plaza behind me, with the use of uniform lighting levels your eye can adjust to the lack of contrast and it gives you the perception that there is a lot more light there than there really is, allowing us to dial in lower lighting levels. Another principle of Dark Skies is using light only when it is needed. So, at DMU we actually use occupancy sensors to dim the lights down when there is no one present in the parking lot. Once a student exits a building or a car drives by, the lights will dim back up for 20 minutes. This also saves a lot of energy for DMU.

[David Rayer] One of the things that was important to us when we came to this basically virgin site was really being respectful of nature, so understanding we needed to have the safety of a college campus, but mitigate any of the light pollution that we would have. All of our lighting systems basically maintain a narrow lighting distribution just on the trail system with very minimal spill out into the natural habitats.

[James Bruton] There is a growing trend around the world towards astro-tourism that means that people are traveling to dark sky areas to be able to see the night sky. Iowa has the exact same stars above us. There's no reason that astro-tourism couldn't be a part of our economy. Right here in Central Iowa we have Whiterock Conservancy. They have a star field already established that attracts amateur astronomers from all around the state and beyond. 

[Kate Compton] Whiterock Conservancy partnered with Iowa State University for a Dark Skies study and it was determined that Whiterock was one of the darkest sky locations in the state because of our location away from the metro hubs. Every year we partner with the Ames Area Amateur Astronomers to bring the Iowa Star Party to Whiterock Conservancy in the fall based on the moon phases and they set up multiple scopes and focus them on different aspects of our dark sky. And we have really amazing interpreters from the Ames Area Amateur Astronomers that will walk you through what their scopes are focused on. 

[Kate Compton] Whiterock continues to improve upon our Dark Sky Initiatives and last summer in 2025 we were able to upgrade a lot of our older facilities with dark sky friendly lighting. Whiterock has done a lot of work to be designated as a Dark Sky location and they are very simple things that you can even do at home. Turning down or off unnecessary lighting or changing your lighting to shielded or downward facing lights. 

[Kate Compton] Whiterock Conservancy has recently submitted an application to Dark Sky International to be the first recognized Dark Sky location in the state. I am optimistic about our future. We can make the changes that we need to bring back our dark sky opportunities. 

[James Bruton] It's about smarter lighting that saves money, protects wildlife, improves safety and helps boost our local economy. Each of us can be a part of the solution to create a positive change. 

(nature sounds)

[Nebbe] Art has the power to connect us. We can use it to tell stories and reveal perspectives we may otherwise miss. In our next story, a group of 13 artists is using creativity to share who they are and how they see the world. 

[Charity Nebbe] The reasons for making art are plentiful. For starters, it's a great creative outlet and a way to convey your thoughts, feelings and emotions. It's a vehicle for connection and storytelling. It can spark conversations. Perhaps most importantly, art is a universal language that transcends limitations and abilities. 

[Deb Arguello] Sometimes when I try to express myself, I feel I can't get it out through words. Art is a good thing to express myself. 

[Leo Bird] With my art I hope to make the world a better place and enlighten people to how I feel about things. 

[Zoe Niswander] I'm all about fantasy. Art doesn't have to be about real things, it can be about whatever you want. 

[Lucas Martin] It just feels good doing it. I don't care if it sells or anything. I just like doing it just for the heck of it. 

[Nebbe] These Iowans are all part of the Freedom of Expression Project, a biennial initiative that brings together artists of all abilities to create works that will eventually be part of a collective public display. They begin the year by gathering as a group every week to experiment with new mediums and techniques and build friendships.

[Katie Flippen] So, going to the studio and being at the Art Center, working with Jill, they had the opportunity to take the work that they were doing and to make it bigger and to try things that they maybe had never tried before. 

[Male voice off-screen] Here we go, Jill!

[Male artist] This is cool.

[Nebbe] Each artist has different abilities and backgrounds. Some have vision impairments. Some can't use their arms or hands independently, while others are non-verbal. But all of the participants use their strengths and talents to create works of art that reflect their lived experiences. 

[Jill Wells] Many of our artists, that is their primary language. They are using the materials as an extension of their voice. Deb and Gretchen have this beautiful synergy of sound and body language and material. 

[Deb Arguello] Collaborating with Gretchen makes it possible for my vision to come alive because I can't physically do a lot of the art work by myself. 

[Gretchen Luloff] I might place something and say, how does that look? And she'll either say no or yes. And if she doesn't like that piece, I'll try something else there. And we'll keep going like that. 

[Katie Flippen] One of the individuals we serve really doesn't use words to communicate. 

[Marta Argueta] This is Miss Vera Webster. She loves creating this type of collage by dipping water and paint together. It helps her to stay calm, to stay busy. She gets very anxious if we're not busy with our hands. 

[Katie Flippen] Several artists that before they found art, they were really struggling with their own like, what am I offering to this world? 

[Female voice off-screen] Brian is going to share with you guys a piece he has been working on. 

[Brian] I used a black Sharpie for the lines. 

[Katie Flippen] People look at you differently. You are seen differently when you are able to share something that you have created. When your voice comes through in your piece and people see it and you see people see it, it's beautiful and it's what the power of expression is. 

[Nebbe] After the artists discover what they enjoy doing most, they spend time working one-on-one with Jill or another professional artist to create pieces for their end of the year exhibition. This year, artists also had the opportunity to create designs for an adaptive fashion show. 

[Jill Wells] It's very much like the Derby. 

[Female voice off-screen] This is awesome!

[Nebbe] Artist Kevin Nelson's runway look combines his history of making Halloween costumes with his mom and his passion for learning about his Nordic heritage. 

[Angie Johnson] It's very cool. He has made a kilt. And he's made some cuffs as well. A head piece that he gets to wear. 

[Heidi Nelson] He's just so excited to showcase who he is and where he comes from. 

[Female voice off-screen] Are you going to slide it out? 

[Male voice off-screen] Yes. 

[Heidi Nelson] He was made fun of a lot when he was little and I always would remind him, be proud of who you are. It's okay to be different, it's okay to be called something, but you're still a Viking, you know, you're still Norwegian. 

[Kevin Nelson] My art reminds me of my family, where I came from. 

[Jill Wells] We've got Nelson for your family. We have this helmet. These are things that you are choosing to say this is your family crest, and that's really cool. Yeah. 

[Angie Johnson] Sometimes words can fail us, but Kevin is able to connect with others through his art. 

[Nebbe] The culmination of the Freedom of Expression Project gives artists an opportunity to display their works and meet fellow community members. 

[Jill Wells] What we're asking in this project is for folks to kind of spend a little bit longer time with the work and the artists. And then that way you I think get a really clear understanding of what art truly is. 

[Katie Flippen] It is community building. It is conversation. It is sound. It is material. It is something that is very unique to the individual or the individuals that are making it. 

[Event emcee] Good evening and welcome to The World We Build.

(applause)

[Event emcee] Opening our show tonight we have Deb Arguello with Felicia. 

[Jill Wells] Art shouldn't be so serious all the time. And so, I really appreciate that the artists let that side of their personalities come out as they express their fashion and their art work. 

[Event emcee] Here comes Jack Maron, an Iowa artist whose practice explores bold graphic painting and wearable design. 

[Katie Flippen] There’s a lot of misunderstanding around what people are capable of. A lot of times people with disabilities don't have the opportunity to have their voices heard. 

[Event emcee] Closing out our lineup is Kevin Nelson. 

[Katie Flippen] It is an opportunity for them to be seen as a productive, contributing, talented individual with such purpose and such belonging. They're giving back. This is an opportunity to give back. 

[Thomas Dambo] The little humans called the giant trolls the Ferryman. It carried them across the ocean to the prairieland. At home, they had their differences, but now they cherished them because they were in the boat together to the very end.

(nature sounds)

[Thomas Dambo] The troll I am making here is called a Fjord Ferryman. That is actually a word that origins from the Vikings and from Nordic culture. 

[Charity Nebbe] Since 2014, from forest to desert, mountain to prairie, artist Thomas Dambo has traveled the globe building nearly 200 giant troll sculptures. Now, one of his creations calls Elk Horn home. 

[Amelia Juhl] The Danish Villages of Iowa, Elk Horn and Kimballton, are home to the largest rural population of Danes in the United States. The Danish culture just thrived here. We're just continuing to grow and build on our Danish culture and our heritage.

[Thomas Dambo] I just thought that it would be nice to tie it into the Danish settler history here because Elk Horn is a city that comes from Danish settlement. 

[Amelia Juhl] It has been such a wonderful experience to witness these people coming together to volunteer and spend their time working on this installation. We've had over 80 volunteers. People just stop by and they'll come in and say, may I place a screw in this troll? May I nail this clap board on? And it's just this wonderful way to engage and re-engage with our audience and invite them to help continue telling this story of immigration and of our heritage. 

[Thomas Dambo] The local community has been great of helping us. They have helped us collect all different types of leftover and recycled materials and fallen trees and everything we have used for the material to build the actual sculpture. I make recycled art because our world is drowning in trash, while it is running out of resources, so we need to see the solution is that our trash is a resource. 

[Thomas Dambo] It just came natural to me that I should build big wooden trolls and hide them in nature and then write stories about them protecting the world. 

[Amelia Juhl] Thomas Dambo's trolls are playful and whimsical. They represent guardians of nature. 

[Thomas Dambo] Fjord Ferryman is ferrying the Danish settlers that sailed across the big sea and came over here. 

[Amelia Juhl] I see this as the next Danish immigrant in our town. The opportunity to express one's heritage and to tell one's stories of immigration is so important. We all come from these different places and have these different experiences and backgrounds and that is what makes America beautiful. 

[Nebbe] That's all for this week. Thank you for joining me as we discover stories of creativity, connection and the places where Iowa comes to life, day and night. 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.