Kiger's Notebook

Olive Juice profiles 2nd Street Waver

This caught my attention Thursday when Rochester's Olive Juice Studios  emailed out their newsletter.

Olive Juice co-owner Scott Schoeberl and Jessica, who manages the photo studio, stopped on a whim to chat with Rochester's famous "2nd Street Waver."

Here's a little of what Kelly Schoeberl, who owns Olive Juice with her husband Scott, wrote about that visit plus, of course, some photos of the colorful Waver himself.

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Scott and I have lived in Rochester for nearly 10 years.  Rochester is best known as the home and birthplace of Mayo Clinic and, to the dismay of some, the corn cob water tower.

The Rochester Convention and Visitors Bureau publishes a magazine, Experience Rochester, to promote the many amenities that make Rochester a "Best Place to Live" (Money Magazine).  And, if you ask someone on the street, they are more than happy to tell you where the nearest park, bike trail or golf course is.  What no one knows, however, is the story behind the guy on 2nd Street.

He stands on the sidewalk, wears the most outrageous outfits and happily waves at cars as they pass by.  We drive down 2nd Street every day.  It takes us to our gallery and it's the same road patients use when they visit Mayo Clinic.  Sometimes we see the "2nd Street Waver" in the morning and sometimes we see him in the afternoon.  No matte r when, he always makes us happy.  So happy, we feel compelled to honk and wave back.

A few weeks ago, curiosity got the best of Scott and Jessica.  They had just finished a photo shoot and were driving back to the gallery when they saw him, the 2nd Street Waver.  Camera in hand, they stopped and introduced themselves (first name then last and middle, per his request).

Turns out, his name is Joey and he's 44 years old.

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Joey has battled diabetes, high cholesterol and a depression that kept him locked in his apartment for years.  It wasn't until he "got a calling from God" that he went outside to wave. 

Joey wears a different outfit every day and gets limitless energy from the can of Pepsi he holds as he waves.  He taught Jessica to hold the can with 2 fingers outstretched to signify 2nd Street.  He also put his hats on her head and let her wave his flags.  He said she was the first person he ever let do so.

Joey hopes to start a movement.  Waving makes him feel better and he thinks people all over the country would feel better if they did it too.  It would be easy to dismiss Joey as "crazy" but we think he's pretty darn smart and can't help but wonder if the rest of us are the challenged ones.

Many Herff Jones/Lifetouch jobs to leave Lewiston

A while back, I chatted with Lifetouch, Inc., the company that has purchased the photo division of Herff Jones, the school photo firm.

That purchased includes a large facility in Lewiston that had once employed more than 300 people. Herff Jones cut 200 of those jobs in 2009.

Lifetouch did not have many details to offer yet, but it seemed upbeat about the more than 100 remaining jobs in Lewiston.

Then I started getting anonymous calls for Lewiston workers saying the picture is not that bright.

I checked back in with Lifetouch and found that there are definitely less jobs in Lewiston's future.

Here's some from an article I wrote about all of this plus some perspective from the longtime businessman who runs Lewiston Auto:

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The city of Lewiston will have fewer jobs by the end of the year after the acquisition of one of its larger employers.

Lifetouch Inc., which recently acquired the former Herff Jones photo facility in Lewiston, plans to transfer or eliminate many of the more than 100 jobs based there, although the total number that will leave isn't clear. The new owner, however, does plan to maintain a sales office with an undefined number of workers.

Lewiston's supporters say the community will weather this as it has much larger job losses in the past.

"No town can afford to keep losing things, but I think we'll be able to get some of that stuff back, maybe even stronger than Herff Jones was at the end," said Lyle Nienow, president of Lewiston Auto. " I don't feel like the future is so dim that Lewiston is going to dry up and blow away."

In fact, he points out even though Herff Jones slashed more than 200 jobs in 2009, Lewiston's population increased by 9 percent over the past 10 years, to 1,620, according to the 2010 U.S. Census.

"Many of those people stayed here. I think that says something," Nienow said.

Of course, it was a tough economic hit for the city.

The current concern is Lifetouch's intentions toward the more than 100 workers remaining in the former Herff Jones buildings.

The administrative departments based there are considered redundant, because those services already are handled at the new owner's headquarters in Eden Prairie.

"Over time those administration functions will transfer to Eden Prairie," said Kelvin Miller of Lifetouch."We have no specific timetable, but we would like to have most that accomplished by the end of the calendar year."

In fact, a handful of Lewiston people are already driving to work in Eden Prairie, he said.

More on new downtown Roch. photo studio

Here's more on Olive Juice Studios spawning a second, budget photography studio called Apple Juice:

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The creative juices are really flowing in downtown Rochester.

Scott and Kelly Schoeberl, who own and operate Olive Juice Studios, are stirring things up by opening a second photograph studio – Apple Juice.

The concept is to offer Olive Juice-style portraits at a lower cost by streamlining the process and shooting only in-studio photo sessions.

"We run into people all of the time who say they love what we do, but say it costs more than they want to spend," Kelly Schoeberl says. "We just stopped and asked ourselves how do we do that."

They decided a second studio was the answer.

On June 10, the new Juice is slated to open with its own team of three photographers and a studio manager just up the stairs from its parent studio in the City Market building at 212 First Ave. S.W.
Olive Juice's photo team does its work out and about at weddings, in baby nurseries or taking pet portraits in backyards.

To prepare for a session, Scott and his team meet with the clients to plan out a future shoot and then meet again after the shoot to choose photos.

Those photos might be used in custom-designed cards, coffee table books or purchased along with a frame that the Olive staff might actually hang on a client's wall.

In contrast, a session at Apple Juice is done in one visit in the studio with people choosing their photos at the end. No specialty cards or frames will be offered — just simple, quality prints.

"Apple Juice is not meant to replace Olive Juice. We think it will complement it," Scott says.

That also means providing Olive Juice-style energetic, personality-packed portraits.

The three A.J. photogs have been training with Scott for the past two months to create the same vibe in the studio that he does at a wedding or outdoor shoot.

"Ultimately, if you are going to name something juice, it will reflect on us," Kelly says.

Photos adding more Juice to downtown

So the folks at Olive Juice are stirring things up a bit by creating a spin-off of their downtown Rochester photo studio - Apple Juice.

This is a separate studio with its own team of three photographers and a studio manager. It offers lower cost portraits by streamlining the packages and eliminating the "extras," according to the website.

 It is located upstairs from Olive Juice in the City Market building at 212 First Ave. S.W.

Does this remind anyone else of the 80s sitcom, "Too Close For Comfort"? I think I may have watched too much TV in the 80s.

Anyway, I'll have more on this soon…after my morning orange juice.