On the road

In this land of 10,000 lakes, Ron Schara is the reigning king of sport fishing.

Ron is the host of the long-running television program “Minnesota Bound” and the author of Ron Schara’s Minnesota Fishing Guide. He is equal parts fisherman and storyteller – with some hunting and other outdoor recreational pursuits thrown in for good measure.

Ron got his start at Iowa State as a fisheries and wildlife biology major. He shifted his career goals slightly when he took a basic writing course and found a new passion.

“The light bulb went off. I discovered that I could write about these things I was learning,” he said. He graduated in 1966 with a degree in journalism and a minor in fisheries.

For 29 years, Ron wrote an outdoor column for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Today he is famous in these parts and beyond, with 17 years worth of “Minnesota Bound” episodes airing in the Twin Cities, Duluth, Rochester, and Fargo. Ron Schara Productions, headquartered in Minneapolis, also creates outdoor-recreation programming for the Outdoor Channel, The Versus Network, ESPN, and Fox Sports. His company even publishes popular Midwest wall calendars, filled with outdoor information on every date.

“The beauty of what I get to do is that I love to fish,” Ron says. “I fish a lot, and I get to do it for a living. And then I get to tell stories about fishing.”

Ron has been filmed on location not only in the state of Minnesota but also in Africa, on the Amazon River, in the Bahamas, and beyond. But one of his signature shots is right in his own backyard in Ramsey, Minn., sitting on a hay bale next to his costar Raven, an energetic black Labrador retriever.

“She’s the star of the show,” Ron says, “and she knows it.”

Meeting with Ann Lindemeyer Burckhardt (’55 home economics journalism) at her Edina, Minn., apartment was – dare I say it? – well, it was like meeting with Betty Crocker herself.

OK, I know Betty Crocker isn’t a real person. But if she was real, I imagine that she would be just like Ann Burckhardt.

But before you think I’ve gone and stereotyped Ann as an apron-wearing (which she is), cookie-baking (which she is), grandmotherly type who spends all her time in the kitchen, let’s get something straight: She is one tough cookie (no pun intended). She’s smart, she’s independent, she’s an entrepreneur, and she is still making things happen at the age of 79.

Ann greeted Jim and me in the hallway of her high-rise cooperative with a huge smile and a big “There you are!” before ushering us into her two-bedroom apartment – one of which, she points out, is her office.

On her table is a tray of cookies with three glasses for “mock champagne” (equal parts apple juice and ginger ale – delicious!). “Oh, you baked us cookies,” I say.

“Oh, no,” she says. “They’re store-bought.”

And then she pauses. “Imagine that. The editor of the Betty Crocker Cooky Book serving store-bought cookies. It’s just because I’m too busy!”

And that is Ann in a nutshell.

She was, indeed, editor of the famous red 1963 Betty Crocker’s Cooky Book – as well as editing the even-more-famous Betty Crocker’s New Picture Cook Book and many other general and specialty cookbooks produced by the Betty Crocker Kitchens between 1956 and 1963.

“I really cut my teeth in those kitchens,” she says.

All told, she worked on 11 books for Betty Crocker. Books that sold millions. Books that taught generations of young newlyweds how to cook.

She had every one of the cookbooks she authored or edited spread out on her dining room table for us to look at, except for one: the original Betty Crocker’s Dinner for Two booklet, which sold for one dollar. Sadly, she does not have a copy of that one.

Ann grew up in Strawberry Point, Iowa. Her father ran the newspaper there. Ann wanted to be a librarian but ultimately followed in her father’s footsteps. For 24 years (from 1971 to 1995) she was a reporter, columnist, and food editor for the “Taste” section of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

For seven years (1990-1997) she also ran the Park Row Bed and Breakfast in St. Peter, Minn., serving “lovely” breakfasts, including her famous hash brown quiche.

She continues to write, edit, and produce cookbooks. Her A Cook’s Tour of Minnesota, for which she traveled throughout the state, was produced in 2003 and contains 40 topics, including “memorable places,” “celebrations and festivals,” and recipes from many of the ethnic groups that have settled in the state. And in 2006, her Hot Dish Heaven, which hit the New York Times Notable Books list (the reviewer called her “a pretty sophisticated cook”) featured comforting casseroles from the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s. That book is now in its fourth printing and “continues to sell very well,” Ann says. Midwest Living magazine has dubbed her the “Hot Dish Queen.”

Somehow, between the writing and the editing and the running of a B&B, Ann raised a daughter, Barbara, now 43. And she found time to travel: She’s been to Europe 10 times for a month each time, learning to love Greek and Italian and other multi-ethnic foods.

“I call it ‘traveling on your stomach,’” she says.

Just this year, Ann has written articles for the Edible Twin Cities magazine, appeared on a local television program showing how to prepare a simple hot dish, demonstrated her cooking skills at the Minneapolis State Fair, and judged a hot dish contest for Andrew Zimmern’s “Bizarre Foods” on the Travel Channel. (“That’s entertainment, not journalism,” she explains.)

These days, Ann cooks mostly for herself: soups, salads, quick breads, and the like.

“With each passing year, I relax a little more,” she says.

Jim and I could literally have spent days talking to Ann.

“I love what I do,” she told us. “It was so much fun to pull everything together for this get-together!”

We loved it, too.

HIV – the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS – was first recognized more than 30 years ago. But today there is still no cure and no vaccine for the virus.

Louis Mansky (MS ’86 microbiology, PhD ’90) has spent much of his career trying to understand how and why HIV evolves and mutates.

“My lab is primarily focused on looking at HIV evolution and how it relates to developing drug resistance,” he explained. “We’re trying to develop therapeutic strategies” to conquer the disease.

Louis got his start in plant virus research at Iowa State. He switched his focus to human virology, working first at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and then at The Ohio State University. He’s been the director of the Institute for Molecular Virology at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis since 2003.

“What’s rare about [HIV] is that we can’t cure it,” Louis says. “We can now treat it as a chronic long-term infection, but you’re infected for life. No vaccines are available.

“We have a population of HIV-infected people who could live long lives. With that, we’ve come to see accelerated aging and high risks of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and neurological diseases. They are at a higher risk of pretty much everything.”

On top of that, Louis says people in this country are starting to take greater risks and increasing the rate of infection because suddenly “HIV is not a death sentence.”

In addition to HIV/AIDS, Institute for Molecular Virology researchers study the herpes virus, Avian and pandemic flu, SARS, West Nile Virus, and other areas of research.

Louis and his wife, Kim, a professor at the University of Minnesota, have three children: Rachel, Sarah, and Joshua. Smiling photos of the kids are posted throughout his office — even on bookshelves filled with books on virology.

Louis laughs. “I’m the connection between happy kids and scary viruses.”

Party trends. Real estate. Health care. Education. Yogurt bars.

Natalie Boike (’05 journalism & mass comm) has written about them all. As an editor for Mpls. St.Paul Magazine, she’s kept her finger on the pulse of the Twin Cities.

Natalie grew up in Clarion, Iowa, and attended Iowa State as a Hixson Scholar. Following graduation she worked in the newspaper industry for three years.

“I got into journalism for the hard-nosed news,” she said, “but I found that I really liked the human element more. I like finding good stories to tell.”

She went to work for IBM Magazine’s “Mainframe” edition before landing her job at Mpls. St. Paul. Her next challenge will be working as associate managing editor for Pillsbury.com, editing, curating, and “creating a voice” for the company’s daily e-newsletter.

Natalie lives with her husband, software architect David Boike (’04 electrical engineering), and their 9-month-old daughter, Elisabeth Ames (we love this name!), in the Twin Cities.

“I like living here,” she says. “You can have ‘downtown moments’ but still run into people you know. It’s a big city with a small-town feel.”

Driving into Rochester, Minn., you see four exits to the Mayo Clinic.

Four exits.

That’s a big hospital. In fact, the Mayo Clinic, St Marys Hospital, and Rochester Methodist Hospital form the largest integrated medical center in the world. More than 350,000 patients annually visit the Mayo Clinic, which, as you probably already know, is famous for its diagnosis and treatment in virtually every known medical and surgical specialty.

What you may not know is that the Mayo Clinic has its own College of Medicine and accepts a small number of ambitious, talented students each year into an eight-year medical scientist training program.

Lucas Carlstrom (’08 animal science/microbiology) is one of those students.

Luke is currently beginning his fifth year of the eight-year program this fall. When completed, he will have both M.D. and Ph.D. degrees, allowing him to practice medicine, to teach, and to continue to conduct specialized medical research.

It’s the ultimate trifecta for a student who has extraordinary drive, ambition, ability, and intelligence, according to one of his ISU mentors Matthew Ellinwood, associate professor of animal science.

“He’s a rock star, no question,” Ellinwood says. The Mayo Clinic has “a very attractive program. They only want the best and the brightest students.”

Luke started out in the pre-veterinary program at Iowa State before shifting his focus to human medicine. As an undergrad, he volunteered his time at the Mary Greeley Medical Center emergency room in Ames. He also worked with Prof. Ellinwood in his animal genetics lab on campus.

During the summer between his junior and senior years of college, Luke received an internship at the Mayo Clinic and, as he completed his bachelor’s degree at Iowa State, his top goal was to pursue a graduate degree at Mayo (though he flirted with the idea of going to Harvard or Johns Hopkins).

His current research emphasis is on molecular neuroscience, focusing on developing approaches to restoring nerves that have been damaged during spinal cord or traumatic brain injuries and by diseases such as ALS.

Luke says he regularly works 12- to 14-hour days, plus weekends. When he’s not working, he somehow makes time to volunteer at local free clinics and to mentor area high school students. He also participates in children’s cancer fundraisers and a local food shelter fun run.

Did I mention that he is also in training for an Ironman Triathlon?

I asked Luke how he could possibly find enough hours in the day to do all of these outside activities on top of an already grueling schedule.

“I’ve found that making time for volunteer activities energizes what I do,” he answered earnestly. “I’ve learned to become efficient.”

And, it goes without saying, “I’ve never been a big sleeper.”

I walked away from our meeting with this extraordinary young alum with huge expectations for his future. I absolutely cannot wait to see what he does next.

When I learned that Richard Prestegard (’02 agriculture business) had returned to farm with his family in southern Minnesota as the FIFTH generation of family farmers, I knew this story was something special.

Meeting Richard and his father, Al, who attended Iowa State in the early 1970s in the farm operations course, it was easy to see what drew their ancestors to the land near Blue Earth and what drew Richard back. (Richard and Al are pictured above.)

Both sides of Richard’s family have deep farming roots. His great-great-grandfather on his father’s side, Peter Prestegard, came to the Owatonna, Minn., from Norway. His great-grandfather, Carl; his grandfather, Omar; and his father, Allen, all farmed land in Minnesota.

The land Richard and Al currently farm is from Richard’s mother’s side of the family: the Fensky side. Richard and his wife, Brooke (’03 history and political science) live on the farm that was his grandparents’ home on his father’s side. You sort of need a genealogy chart to keep track of it all.

Richard says he always knew he’d come back to the family farm. He attended Iowa State to learn about agricultural management and agronomy as well as the “technical side of things”: cash flow, balance sheets, good business management practices. He and his dad raise corn and beans, and in addition they run a truck resale business and a trucking company.

“It’s all about diversification,” Richard says. “Farming is a peak-and-valley business. We want to maintain full-time people.”

Richard and Brooke hope their two boys, Hayden (almost 3) and Hudson (9 months) will continue the family’s farming tradition, but Richard says they’ll have to want to become farmers.

“I’m a firm believer that farmers are raised, not born,” he says.

The couple also hopes the boys will become Iowa Staters. I asked Richard and Al if Hayden liked the Cyclones, and they answered in unison: “”He doesn’t have a choice.”

Hayden proved them right, cheering for the Cyclones during an otherwise dull (for a preschooler) family photo shoot.