Kiger's Notebook

Cabela's sells Lake City-based Wild Wings

Here's a deal I missed completely last week.

It seems the outdoors outfitter giant Cabela's sold rustic art specialist Wild Wings at the end of October. Wild Wings is based in Lake City.

I have a call into Wild Wings' president to see if i can flesh this out a bit more.

Here's some from a brief press release that Cabela's quietly slid out about this sale:

Cabela's Incorporated announced today the sale of its wildlife-art division, Wild Wings, LLC, to RDE Acquisition Company, LLC, which is owned by a former executive officer of Wild Wings. The closing of the sale took place on Oct. 30, 2009.

Its marketing, product development, sales, administration, picture framing, warehousing and framed-art shipping divisions all are located in Lake City, Minn.

"Wild Wings and its employees have been an integral part of Cabela's success over the last 10 years, and we are proud to have had them as part of our extended family," said Tommy Millner, Chief Executive Officer of Cabela's.

Cabela's will continue to sell Wild Wings products through its retail stores, catalogs and Web site.

Is the "Honeycrisp killer" apple ripening?

This is some from one of the apple stories I have in today's paper. This is a juicy deal, so make sure you have a napkin handy. Heh.

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“The best apple I’ve ever eaten in my life.”

That’s a strong statement from Dennis Courtier, a self-described “apple geek” and the president of Pepin Heights Orchards in Lake City.

Is he talking about Honeycrisp, the wildly popular apple created by the University of Minnesota and now the official state apple?

Nope.  

“It is definitely better than Honeycrisp,” said Courtier, munching on a slice of apple while standing among rows of trees just reaching maturity.

Despite heavily marketing and growing Honeycrisp himself for many years, he is preparing what he believes is a new contender for the top spot on the apple tree, a “Honeycrisp killer,” if you will.

The name of this hardcore up-and-comer? SweeTango.

Don’t despair, Honeycrisp fans. With Honeycrisp being grown on about 6 million trees, it will be around for a long time. 

Being planted in such profusion is part of the reason Honeycrisp might be taken down a notch or two. Described as “a bit fussy” and “very site-sensitive” by the U of M’s research pomologist (apple breeder) David Bedford, it must be planted in a cold climate to produce the best-tasting fruit.

As its popularity grew, the gigantic West Coast apple growers decided they should plant the Minnesota upstart, in a big way. 

That has resulted in what Courtier and Bedford see as a steady deterioration of the overall quality of the Honeycrisp apples rolling onto the market. 

A bad apple or two can spoil more than the bunch. It can ruin a variety’s reputation, they say.

Honeycrisp trees grown in cold climates, such as the orchards in Minnesota, still produce quality fruit.

Looking for the next hot apple variety, Courtier turned to the U of M and discovered SweeTango.

With only a test number and no name, the early trees grew in Pepin Heights’ research and development plot. Soon the apple’s taste, texture and site flexibility marked the nameless apple as one to watch.

Courtier decided to plant the new variety in larger numbers as well as licensing the fruit with a name that he created himself.

This apple season, which is just starting (Pepin Heights’ retail store opened last week), will mark SweeTango’s debut.  

Don’t expect to buy bushels. Only a small number will be available. Look for production to grow 20 percent to 40 percent a year with “plenty” of SweeTango being available in 2011.

Does Bedford, who often tastes up to 500 to 600 apple a day, agree with Courtier’s assessment of SweeTango?

“It might not be a Honeycrisp killer, but it is a competitor. It is the only apple that holds its own in a blind taste test against Honeycrisp,” he said. “I’d say they are one and two of the best-tasting apples. It is just that, depending on the day, I’m just not sure which is one and which is two.”

Fruity fun starting with A for apples

I got a great education on the core of the apple industry this morning.

Last week it was a beauty salon and this week I'm among the fruit that Newton, William Tell and that vagrant Johnny Appleseed made famous.

And this won't be a simple what does the harvest look like this year story. 

Southeastern Minnesota has some real hard core innovation growing and it could be a real big change in the next few years. 

Tastes change. You can't compare apples to apples. 

Keep an eye on your fruit basket. The next big thing might be on the way.

Watch for the Apple Confidential package soon.

Roch. Lumber closed Lake City shop

Been hearing some about this off and on, but I have confirmed that Rochester Lumber closed its location in Lake City that was under the name Builders Choice.

No details yet, but it closed and I think it happened last week.

Lake City inventor lends a hand to others

Doing chores like mopping, shoveling snow, raking and washing dishes is not a treat for most people.

But Sue Seeger smiles when she gets a chance to rake or mop.

“I don’t mind it at all. For me, it is getting back to living,” she says.

She survived a stroke 16 years ago that left her right arm and right leg partially paralyzed. Those changes left her unable to do many things –- work or play.

That is until three years ago when she went to local inventor Mike Duncan of Lake City to see if he could make her something to help her play golf. He came up with a device to strap to her arm with a pocket to hold a golf club.

It wasn’t long before she was hitting a golf ball about 100 yards down the middle of the fairway and playing a few holes with her husband.

While he had done what Seeger wanted, Duncan was not finished. The creator of three other inventions -– the Buddy Caddy, the Cooler Jacket and the Easypar golf GPS system –- he started to think about other uses for his adjustable club holder.

That lead to an improved version of what he now calls Lend-A-Hand, which can be used in a variety of ways by different people with needs similar to Seeger’s. 

Made of durable ballistic nylon, it can be used on a person’s left or right side. It comes with five sizes of arm straps with tabs that allow for people to use their teeth to tighten them.

By the end of the month he hopes to have a manufacturer chosen with the goal of having the first of the patent pending product running off the assembly line by May.

It is expected to cost less than $100.

Excitement about Lend-A-Hand reaches far beyond Lake City. Duncan and Seeger recently traveled to Savannah, Ga., to present early models to D.J. and Kenny Gregory, who both have cerebral palsy. 

D.J., 31, recently became well-known for walking every golf hole played in the PGA’s 2008 tour. He accomplished that feat while being limited in his walking. He uses a cane to get around.

When Duncan saw an ESPN report about Gregory he called the family to talk about Lend-A-Hand. Don Gregory, D.J.’s father, was very interested for both D.J. and his older son, Kenny. Kenny, who is 37, does not have full use of one of his arms.

“When you see somebody put it on and enable them to do things… some of these things that we take for granted, it gets you excited as well, especially as a parent,” said Gregory about watching his sons use it. “I can see it helping a ton of people. There are so many people that this can help and change their world.”

Roch. BAH @ Affiliated tonight

I can't make it, but I though I'd remind everyone that tonight is the Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce monthly Business After Hours bash and this time it is at the Affiliated Group.

And tonight is also the Lake City Chamber Business After Hours event.

If are quick, you might be able to hit both of them. Heh.

Here are the details:

 • The Lake City Chamber of Commerce’s Business After Hours, a networking event for local businesses, is scheduled from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at The Nest, 118 W. Center St. in Lake City. Ryan Repair is a co-sponsor.

 • The Rochester Business After Hours, a networking event for local businesses is scheduled from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at The Affiliated Group, 3055 41st St. N.W. Suite 100. The Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce sponsors this event.

New artesian bakery + Lake City

A new artisan bakery and cafe is hopping into Lake City.

Hallie Abbott and Dan Patterson hope to open Rabbit’s Bakery in the next week or so at 304 S. Washington St., next door to the popular Nosh restaurant.

Expect fresh baked breads, pies, tarts and other pastries to come out of the brick oven.

Abbott and Patterson are familiar with the neighborhood. They both have cooked for Nosh Executive Chef Greg Jaworski since he opened in Wabasha and then moved to Lake City.

The plan is for Rabbit’s to serve breakfast and soups, salads and sandwiches for lunch. Nosh will focus on serving the evening meal.

It will seat about 15 and have a staff of about five.

“We both love baking. We both wanted to start a bakery and then this place became available,” said Abbott.

They snapped it up…quick as a rabbit.

Sinclair Oil + Severson Oil = sale

Gas station news kepts pumping along.
Winona-based Severson Oil is selling five convenience stores/gas stations to Sinclair Oil. That includes Rochester, Lake City and Winona.

The Rochester station is the one along North Broadway, across from the Silver Lake Shopping center.

I was lucky enough to chat with Tom Severson back when Cononco said it was pulling out of Minnesota. He grew up in the business and says he love the smell of gasoline.

I'll have more on this soon.

Love for Sontes, Sopra Sotto

I know I'm slow on the draw for this one, but here it is anyway.

On Thursday, the Star-Tribune sent one of its reporters out into wilds of Minnesota – Lanesboro, Whalen, Rochester and Lake City – to track "culinary finds."

And here's some quotes for the resulting story:

• Start with Rochester, where a young chef and an enterprising owner have turned a somnolent (Yawn. I think I'll just wear my pajamas all day while working in downtown Rochester, Heh) downtown corner, just a few blocks from the Mayo Clinic, into a bonafide hotspot.

• …in cute Whalan, a retired Minneapolis school librarian has dialed up her knack for baking pies into a second career, to her customers' continual delight.

• http://postbulletin.typepad.com/kiger/2006/12/noshs_lake_city.htmlNosh Restaurant & Bar is the best thing to happen to Lake City since the invention of water skiing in 1922. That might be a slight exaggeration. But only slight.

• Söntés, which has been lighting up downtown Rochester since November, is all about good looks, straight out of a Room & Board catalog. But what is clearly one of the state's best new dining establishments has plenty of substance, too.

• Two blocks from Sontés lies another Rochester newbie, and another gem. Sopra Sotto is more than just a browsable selection of Italian pottery, although frankly that would be just fine if owner Maureen McNally stopped right there. But luckily she didn't, squeezing in a comfortable coffee bar that features -- what else? -- Italian-roasted beans and a few substantial sandwiches, along with occasional cooking classes.

Lake City Taco Del Mar open

Here's a great update from the epicurious Tony Adler. He followed up my earlier piece about Taco Del Mar, a
new quick casual Mexican chain opening in Lake City, its first Minnesota location. Here's some from the note he sent me Thursday:

I ate there last night. Good stuff. I guess it opened yesterday, the fourth.

There you have it. Thanks, Tony.