In Season 3 Episode 7 of I So Appreciate You!, co-hosts Nadege Souvenir and Melanie Hoffert discuss with Bethany Lacktorin, executive and artistic director of Little Theatre Auditorium, the opportunities and challenges of running an arts organization in rural Minnesota. Bethany Lacktorin grew up in New London, MN, and her first experience with theater was at the Little Theatre Auditorium. Her career took her in many directions; professional audio engineer, sound designer, performance artist, media producer, musician, and community organizer. She returned to New London, after living in Minneapolis for a decade, when her mother became sick with cancer. After both her parents passed, Bethany questioned why she continued to stay in New London. In the end, it was her connection to the land and to her adopted mother’s family history in New London that solidified her reasons to stay. And unlike in the saturated markets of bigger cities, Bethany found that she could carve out her own space and bolster the art scene in rural Minnesota. She had so much she wanted to express, with years of experience and skills she wanted to use; when the theater opportunity opened to her, it became obvious that she was in the right place at the right time.

But not everyone in New London has felt the same sense of kismet as Bethany. Over the last few years, Bethany has been very intentional in shifting the narrative, opening the space to people of all ethnicities, backgrounds, and the LGBTQ+ community, and adapting the programming to create opportunities for these communities. Little Theatre Auditorium serves as a place where one can get on stage and represent their whole true self without fear of ridicule, harm, or ostracization. And this shift in ethos has empowered some people to show up as their true selves…and some to voice their discomfort.

“Progress can’t be made without discomfort.”

Bethany shares with Melanie and Nadege the experiences – positive and negative - she’s had as a result of some of the programming she’s put on. But Bethany isn’t deterred. She’s interested in the bigger picture, and offering opportunities, activities, and experiences that allow people to learn something new and a chance to connect with their neighbors in a way they haven’t before. To Bethany, isolation is a mind killer and is all too common in rural settings – that’s why she views the theater and the programming they put on as an act of community building and why she’s focusing her efforts on bolstering the arts community in her beloved hometown.

Links:

Little Theatre Auditorium Website

Star Tribune article: 'The Pride of Minnesota: Communities that beat the bigots'

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Nadege Souvenir:

Welcome, everyone, to I So Appreciate You, a raw, funny, and uniquely insightful podcast about the issues and opportunities we all face as values-based leaders and humans. I'm Nadege.

Melanie Hoffert:

And I'm Melanie. We're colleagues at the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation, and we're friends. When we get together, our conversations can go anywhere, especially when bringing a friend or two along for the ride.

Nadege Souvenir:

So we're inviting you to join us and some incredible guests as we explore the challenges and triumphs of people shaking up our community for the better.

Hi, Mel.

Melanie Hoffert:

Well, Nadege, hello.

Nadege Souvenir:

I'm sorry. I'm so excited today for our episode because no one can tell yet because I haven't said it, but we're on the road.

Melanie Hoffert:

We are. We're in New London.

Nadege Souvenir:

I know. We're at the Little Theatre Auditorium in New London because we are going to get to talk to Bethany Lacktorin, who's the executive and artistic director of this theater.

Melanie Hoffert:

Yes. Do you know that I've already been lost? I've already gone three miles in the wrong direction even though we are in a smaller town with a main street.

Nadege Souvenir:

I cannot believe that you are choosing to admit that.

Melanie Hoffert:

Well, I mean, people, I'm sure, are jealous of all of my many qualities. They might as well know.

Nadege Souvenir:

I think that's hilarious, but it does add to our time here, so there you go.

Melanie Hoffert:

Yeah. Well, I think it's really cool to be sitting because we are sitting right now in a theater, stage in front of us, hardwood floors, high ceilings, it's really beautiful, to be in this sort of space not in a city. It's just a very different experience. And I've been thinking about, "Okay, where did art first come into my life?" And I'm curious too, for you, do you have early memories of the theater or were you in plays?

Nadege Souvenir:

No, no, no. So I came to art via dance.

Melanie Hoffert:

Okay. You were a dancer?

Nadege Souvenir:

Yeah. I don't remember when I started taking dance lessons, but I was a small human. I have a vague memory of a dance school production of Cinderella, and I was one of the, I don't remember what the level of my class was, but I got asked to be a mouse also because the kids who were just one notch littler than me, they needed one kid who could follow directions and I was a good rule-follower, and so I also got to be one of the mice or something.

Melanie Hoffert:

Aw.

Nadege Souvenir:

But yeah, so I came to art by way of dance and I don't remember a time where art wasn't a part of my life in some way. There were piano lessons, dance lessons, going to the theater, going to see shows, and then all the way until now, where they just can't get rid of me at the opera.

Melanie Hoffert:

Yeah, well you, it's a big part of your life. No, they can't. No, they can't. Wow.

Nadege Souvenir:

Yeah. How about you?

Melanie Hoffert:

Well, you just mentioned being a mouse.

Nadege Souvenir:

Do we have that in common?

Melanie Hoffert:

No.

Nadege Souvenir:

Oh, God.

Melanie Hoffert:

We have being an animal in common. Because I was from a little town like this, and I think it was my junior year, it was the first time we ever had theater. They introduced it. I tried out and I'm like, "Well, I'm obviously going to have the lead role." And it came back. They made me a barn animal. I was one of the barn animals. I'm like... I was so shocked. My feelings were hurt. I'm like, "I can't believe I didn't get the lead. I'm just a barn animal."

But in a neighboring small town, they were having community theater. And so the rebel in me is like, "I'm going to go try out for that." And I got one of the main roles. It was a whole production that I was in with one other high school person and then adults and teachers. And so it was really an amazing experience that I would never, ever have had in my life had I not been a barn animal.

Nadege Souvenir:

What barn animal? What was the costume? I have so many questions, Mel. So many questions.

Melanie Hoffert:

I don't even remember the play because I was just so mortified that I didn't get a part, so I went off. Yeah, but it was a great experience and that was my exposure to theater and to people that are in the community doing this, and so I'm just really happy to be here in a small town and a theater.

Nadege Souvenir:

I love that. I love that. So should we get Bethany in here and get to it?

Melanie Hoffert:

Let's do it.

Nadege Souvenir:

All right.

Melanie Hoffert:

At the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation, we partner with hundreds of nonprofits to support their endowment funds. An endowment is a great way to provide your organization with a stable income for generations to come. If you are interested in learning more about starting an endowment, contact a member of our team by visiting spmcf.org/endowment.

Nadege Souvenir:

Welcome back, everyone. We are here with Bethany Lacktorin. Hi, Bethany.

Bethany Lacktorin:

Hi!

Nadege Souvenir:

I'm so excited. I don't know if you can tell the giddiness in my voice. You probably can't, but anyway.

Melanie Hoffert:

I can.

Nadege Souvenir:

Okay. Because we're on the road.

Melanie Hoffert:

We are! Road trip-

Nadege Souvenir:

I know!

Melanie Hoffert:

... podcast.

Nadege Souvenir:

So excited. A first for our podcast. But before we dive into this conversation, I want to share a little bit about you with our listeners so they know how to just sort of join right in.

All right.

Bethany Lacktorin:

Oh my God. Are you going to read my whole resume?

Nadege Souvenir:

Yes.

Bethany Lacktorin:

Oh!

Melanie Hoffert:

I hope so.

Nadege Souvenir:

Yes, 100%, word for word. Well, Bethany, you are the Executive and Artistic Director of Little Theatre Auditorium in New London, Minnesota. And Little Theatre Auditorium is an arts-based, artist-led, nonprofit organization working to amplify the storytelling of artists and culture-bearers. I love that. That's so great.

Melanie Hoffert:

Very cool.

Nadege Souvenir:

You are also a professional audio engineer and sound designer with over 20 years in the field earning credits on feature films, documentaries, short films, television, radio. You're a bona fide superstar.

Melanie Hoffert:

I'm scared for you to listen to this now.

Bethany Lacktorin:

It's just because I didn't quit.

Nadege Souvenir:

And no surprise after all of that, you are multi-talented. You're a performance artist, a community organizer, a media producer, and a musician, and we are so glad to have you here today.

Bethany Lacktorin:

I am so glad to have you here today. What a treat.

Melanie Hoffert:

Oh, yes.

Nadege Souvenir:

I love that.

Melanie Hoffert:

Well, Bethany, the entire conversation is fun, but the way that we enter before we get to the serious questions is just three quick questions, sort of this-or-that. So I'd love your thoughts on this. You ready?

Bethany Lacktorin:

Okay.

Melanie Hoffert:

All right. If you could visit any period in history, would you rather go into the future or back into the past?

Bethany Lacktorin:

Wow, that was not on my list.

Nadege Souvenir:

You were ready for like, "Red or white?"

Melanie Hoffert:

Yeah.

Nadege Souvenir:

No, just kidding.

Bethany Lacktorin:

I would really love to visit the future.

Melanie Hoffert:

Okay, okay. Was that a hard answer? You sat with it for a second.

Bethany Lacktorin:

I was stalling.

Melanie Hoffert:

Okay, good, good. All right, next. Treehouse in the forest or houseboat on the ocean?

Bethany Lacktorin:

Treehouse in the forest.

Melanie Hoffert:

Ooh.

Nadege Souvenir:

That was definitive.

Melanie Hoffert:

Yes, yes. Okay. Would you rather have the ability to speak all languages or play all instruments?

Bethany Lacktorin:

Oh, God. That's just not fair.

Melanie Hoffert:

Yeah. I'm really curious how you'll answer this.

Bethany Lacktorin:

Wow, because if you can speak all languages, you could do so much good, but if you could speak... Languages.

Melanie Hoffert:

Languages? Okay, great.

Bethany Lacktorin:

Languages, yeah.

Nadege Souvenir:

Mel, which would you pick?

Melanie Hoffert:

Oh, play all instruments probably because I can't sing or anything.

Nadege Souvenir:

I think I'd probably go with the languages too, although I really wish I could play the piano well, and I took piano lessons.

Melanie Hoffert:

Yes, I did too.

Nadege Souvenir:

I wish I could play it well enough to play it at parties to be like that guy that there's a piano and you're like, "Hey, y'all want to sing?" And then you just start playing and everybody... Yeah, that's just a fantasy.

Melanie Hoffert:

Life goals.

Nadege Souvenir:

Yeah, life goals. All right. Well, Bethany, as you said, we are in your space today and I would love to just help bring the listeners with us, and so can you tell us about this space?

Bethany Lacktorin:

It felt so odd to hear you say, "My space," because I have... Growing up in New London where we are right now, Little Theatre Auditorium was one of the first, well, was the first theater experience I ever had and I had never thought of it as my space. It was being rented by the high school, the school system, as their drama department. So it had this overall shared community space baked into it. And I think any person you talk to who has grown up in New London either has their name written downstairs in the greenroom with some years in the name of a production they were in, or has definitely been in this space.

So we're a nonprofit, so I can't think of it as my space quite yet. I think of it as a place that folks are letting me take care of right now.

Melanie Hoffert:

That's beautiful.

So when we walked in, I have to say, being in a smaller town and coming in and seeing a tree with pride flags, as a queer person, it's very comforting. And I know that a lot of what your programming is focused on is welcoming people who may have not always felt the safest in communities like this. So given that this theater has a long history, I'm just curious, has that always been part of the culture here, that conversations and movement in this space has been part of the history, or is that since you have been involved?

Bethany Lacktorin:

I love this building so much and part of the answer is yes, but part of the answer is absolutely not. I think because, as I mentioned, it was being rented and used by the high school. They were under a lot of constraints to make sure programming was a certain way and fell under certain kinds of criteria. And in, what was it, 1997, the theater space became run by a non-profit called Crow River Players and continues to be run by that or maintained by that non-profit, Crow River Players. And it was their job to maintain that criteria, so to speak, and open the space up to community as well.

Where we are is a space, a place where 98% of the residents are of, I might be a little bit wrong, but Scandinavian descent, first, second, third generation, mostly white people. I looked at the census and there's 1% Asian, or actually it said, "One person Asian." I think it's me. So as far as race goes, there wasn't a lot of opportunity for very many years to intentionally open the space up to people of color. I was here, my brother was here.

I think most recently in the last four and a half years since I've been here, we've been very intentional now about opening this space to people of all races, backgrounds, colors, to the LGBTQ community that is thriving in New London, Spicer, Willmar, but didn't actually have a place that was doing that intentionally saying, "Hey, here is a place where you can come and feel comfortable and be yourself and get on stage and represent your true whole self without fear of ridicule, fear of ostracization, fear of harm."

For better or worse, sometimes it's great, and sometimes the community is a little bit uncomfortable with that. And I do think because of the long history of this space not being that specifically, I have a sense that there are a lot of folks who might feel the space is being taken from them.

Melanie Hoffert:

Oh.

Nadege Souvenir:

I mean, that's a really powerful thing that you've just named because it sounds like the space has evolved, as all things do, but maybe very intentionally in the recent past.

What is it... You talked about creating a space that folks can feel at home, but then others might be feeling like it was taken from them. How does that manifest itself? How do you receive that here?

Bethany Lacktorin:

Where to begin? It's been a bit of a journey for me personally, for the theater as well.

A few years back, we started a artist-in-residency program where we invited artists all over Minnesota to apply to stay here for a month and make a show or make a performance. Our second year, we selected Dominic Facio from Fergus Falls to come here and have a drag show and to open up that process of how do you make this kind of production to the general public?

And we specifically said, "Hey, you know what? I personally know people in the school system who are questioning, who don't quite understand what those pronouns are about, who just want to know but don't know who to ask or are afraid to ask. Dom, you've had this..." We said, "Dom, you've had this experience growing up. Would you be willing to do a Q&A? Would you be willing to talk about that with people who are willing and wanting to ask questions?" And they opened it up for that kind of Q&A, kind of an ask-me-anything forum. And we devised a separate show specifically geared for kids who were in high school on up. And that was just a little bit much for some people.

Melanie Hoffert:

Oh.

Bethany Lacktorin:

It raised some eyebrows to say the least. And for a good year and a half, we went through some stuff.

Melanie Hoffert:

Really?

Bethany Lacktorin:

We did. We had a protest, which was fun and interesting, really weird. Not the kind of protest I'm used to seeing.

Nadege Souvenir:

Oh, okay.

Bethany Lacktorin:

It was very peaceful. There was no sense of any kind of violence. And I might be skipping ahead a little bit in that progression, but it was a prayer group.

But what's funny is in a small town, by and large, the majority of people here go to a church, belong to a church, and they know the people. Everyone knows each other. And there were instances where there were also counter-protesters, and it was just right outside of the doors, and people brought their dogs and the dogs know each other.

Melanie Hoffert:

Oh, goodness.

Bethany Lacktorin:

So dogs are entering the prayer circle and counter-protester dogs and protester dogs are saying hi, so inevitably they're going to have to say hi. And it turned into a little bit of small talk in the middle of a protest, and it was the cutest thing.

Melanie Hoffert:

Wow. This is a play.

Nadege Souvenir:

Right. There's a whole story here.

Melanie Hoffert:

I mean, have you... Yes, this is...

Bethany Lacktorin:

But it was also, in a lot of ways, a little bit heartbreaking because there were a number of young people who approached the theater but turned away and that sucks. That is not okay.

We did a lot of other outreach. Dominic was invited to Dream Academy, he was invited to Ridgewater, so there were other opportunities that came from that. A local production company, 1017 Media, came and live-streamed it for us for free, which was amazing.

Nadege Souvenir:

Oh, lovely.

Bethany Lacktorin:

Really, really wonderful of them to do that.

Melanie Hoffert:

Thank you for sharing the discomfort because I think that progress can't be made in particular places without that. You mentioned Fergus. I grew up going to Otter Tail, Battle Lake, still have family, still have roots there. And so a lot of what I'm hearing from you is familiar, and I want to pick at maybe the conversations, people leaning into the discomfort, at least what I've noticed sitting in the small-town bars, there are people who are curious and they will, if you talk, you might be on opposing sides, you start having those conversations and you see some growth. And I'm sure that people coming into this space are willing to have those conversations, even being at the protest and their dogs run into each other and they have to confront each other or sitting here watching a performance, there's change happening or consideration.

I'm wondering if you could talk about any growth you've seen in terms of people considering things that might be uncomfortable, but they're willing to sort of lean into it and explore change, or is that not happening?

Bethany Lacktorin:

I think that yes, it is happening. I don't identify as a queer person, so I don't have that story.

Melanie Hoffert:

Or around race or all of the things that small towns maybe don't talk enough about.

Bethany Lacktorin:

Yeah. I think in general, everybody became more vocal.

Melanie Hoffert:

Oh!

Nadege Souvenir:

Oh, interesting.

Bethany Lacktorin:

I think if we were to run the numbers at City Hall, when a group of people aggressively attempted to shut down the show by changing ordinance, we had a record number of turnout, and people were very vocal and their sentiments made their way to the local newspaper. It made its way to posters and signs on my door, to social media, to kids being teased or taunted at school.

So I mean, yes, there are both sides. People who felt empowered to come out as their true selves, and people who felt more empowered to say, "Oh, no you don't."

Melanie Hoffert:

Yeah.

Nadege Souvenir:

I think when people think, "Oh, I'm an artist,” there is a very urban connotation that, "I've got to go to the big city to be an artist," to do their... You know, the dream of New York and LA and all of that. And you came back here. Can you talk about being an artist here in New London and why it's important to you to be here as an artist as opposed to anywhere else you could be?

Bethany Lacktorin:

I had a million thoughts all at once. When I came back, it wasn't because I was ready to come back. My mother had cancer, so I had to take care of her and make sure that she exited this world in a more comfortable way than without me here. And I came this close to selling the house and leaving, but I couldn't do it, just could not do it.

So I am so thankful and so lucky to have the artist brain that I do because I don't know if I would've been able to make that transition without it. As a person who did audio engineering, it was a very technical job. It was sometimes I would be able to be a little creative about it, but you make TV commercials and that's it. This is what you do. But in general, out here, I could use those tools to make other things. And I spent a lot of time out in the prairie where I grew up exercising those skills, field recordings of the wind, for instance, things I've wanted to do for years but just didn't have the chance to, recording myself telling the stories that my mom told me.

And those made their way into a performance piece that we called, "My Ocean." It was the story of growing up in the prairie. A lot of the things, stories my mom would tell me, like Norwegian folktales, and some of the legends and prayers brought to us by Thomas LeBlanc, a Dakota elder who visited the prairie. For him, the first time ever coming out to the countryside. So it was this experience that led me to believe, as an adopted Korean, once, and I'm going a little bit off the track here, but once both my adopted parents passed, I really struggled with, "Well, what holds me here? How am I connected to this place?" Even though in my heart of hearts, I knew I was connected. I couldn't fathom being anywhere else, but what was that?

And in the end, it became the land. It had to be because my adopted mother's mother lived there, her aunt lived there, and her grandmother lived there and ran this store since 1868 and the land had never changed. And here I am sitting in the same place. We shared that memory of that place. So light bulbs went off and they said, "Well, of course I'm here because this is home, no matter what anyone says. And I have all of these things I want to express and skills that I can use." So when the theater opened up and they needed someone to do something, it was pretty obvious that I would try. It became obvious to me anyway. "I'm going to give it a shot."

Nadege Souvenir:

I love that.

Melanie Hoffert:

Oh, I just have to say I saw a clip of "My Ocean" this morning as I was... Just beautiful and seeing the audio... Or seeing the audio. Strike that.

Nadege Souvenir:

Nope, we're leaving that in. We're leaving it in.

Melanie Hoffert:

Listening as I'm watching, having grown up in the prairie and thinking about Lake Aggasiz, I've connected a lot in my writing, so I really appreciated that.

I wanted to just pick a little bit with or keep going with what Nadege was asking because people do assume you're in a city, you of all these resources, but what you're talking about is, and I think it's growing up in a small town, you kind of do everything. You're like, "Even though I sucked, I was in choir." I can't sing. So I'm curious, what do you think that you can do here that you might not be able to do in a city, just in terms of the resources that are available to you or the different resources?

Bethany Lacktorin:

I lived in Minneapolis for 10 years. I love Minneapolis. It gave me the skills that I have today, but it is insanely saturated. There is no way I would ever be able to run a theater in Minneapolis. There's no way that I would be able to exercise the things I'm able to exercise and the practice I'm able to practice in Minneapolis because I have access right here in this room and I have an audience.

So resources, we have different access, but we have, in a lot of ways, more access to try things, and less constraints in other ways. I think the only thing that holds us back here is fear.

Nadege Souvenir:

I mean, I would say fear holds folks back everywhere. It just manifests different. Right?

Bethany Lacktorin:

Yeah, you're right.

Nadege Souvenir:

I'm just thinking maybe along the lines of fear because I'm thinking about our world now and I'm one of those people who thinks art is an intrinsic and important and critical life value, and I'd love to hear you talk about with your experience in art generally, and even here in this place, why is art so important right now in this world where it's easy to talk past each other, it's easy to look the other way, and not hear or see what's right in front of you?

Bethany Lacktorin:

I think when I moved back to town or moving into a new place in general, as a newcomer or a home-comer, there's not a lot of opportunity to meet other people. Or if you've been here all your life, people only know you in one way, or you have a certain role that people are used to seeing you in as a co-worker or a teacher or whatever that role is that you play on an everyday basis. What we try to offer at the theater are art opportunities, art activities, art experiences that allow you to interact and make something with your neighbors, people from town.

So you're experiencing this new thing, you're seeing another side of your neighbor that you wouldn't be able to see otherwise, you are having a chance to talk to people you would never otherwise even see on a day-to-day in a place and a setting where the playing field is leveled. You're both learning something. Like our puppet parade we had last fall, there were people here from Minneapolis, people here from New London, Spicer, Willmar, all the surrounding townships. So many people who I had never seen before. Most people didn't really know what we were doing, which was wonderful and perfect. And then you had all of this cardboard and some really fun ideas and some skilled puppet artists saying, "We're going to make a bunch of Brussels sprouts out of cardboard. None of us have ever done this, but we're going to."

And so there's a lot of humor mixed in with that experience. So the floor is open, the room is open. We can try all this together and witness each other learning something new and then succeeding at it and then showing everybody else this kind of experience, this shared memory is, I think, the reason to have art be part of every single day of your life.

Melanie Hoffert:

I really want to build a Brussels sprout now. I'm not kidding.

But what you're talking about is community building. I mean, you're watching people come together in a particular way over art and interact with each other. And I'm curious, what do you think is the difference with communities that do embrace the art versus those who don't? Because this is a very unique and exciting place in a town that might not otherwise have it. There wasn't an investment from you and other community members. In other words, does it make a difference? Of course it does.

Bethany Lacktorin:

Yeah. I think it makes a really big difference. Isolation is the mind-killer.

Melanie Hoffert:

Yes. That's a great... I'm glad you named that.

Bethany Lacktorin:

And in a rural area where we're all in our own islands, sometimes it can be so intense and so easy to fall into, "I'm all alone and there is no breaking out of it." And now I've forgotten the question.

Melanie Hoffert:

That's okay.

Bethany Lacktorin:

But oh, oh-

Melanie Hoffert:

Well, let me ask you another one, if you don't mind me jumping in. Because we're talking, what you talked about earlier, and I think I would say maybe most of our listeners are maybe city-based or metro-based, and there's a lot of stereotypes about everyone in places, but rural areas come with connotations. And for me, you've sort of affirmed some, like the fact that they're protesting someone coming to talk about LGBTQ+ issues.

So I'm curious, what do you think are misunderstood notions about people from rural areas that people may not know?

Bethany Lacktorin:

I think a lot of folks have an idea that people from rural areas aren't as smart, haven't gotten the education that you might get if you are living in an urban area, that you're not as exposed to a lot of different cultures.

Melanie Hoffert:

And it's changing rapidly right now too. Rural areas are becoming much more diverse and people don't realize that. I appreciate that too.

Bethany Lacktorin:

Right. I definitely believe that when I told friends I was moving out here, they said, "How are you going to be able to live like that? You're not going to have your Trader Joe's."

Melanie Hoffert:

Right, yeah.

Bethany Lacktorin:

And to an extent, some things, like products, are harder to get without extreme measures or exorbitant shipping fees. But what I've found is we are extremely well-educated. People in rural areas, extremely well-educated and educated in the things that we need to be educated in to be out here. Folks out here know about the land. They know so much about how it works and what the soil can and cannot do, and what the chemicals are that are being put in the ground are going to end up resulting in. So very, very tangibly aware. We're closer to how we make our food.

And so when I go into an urban area, that's the disconnect I see is we're not feeling that closeness to the land. And when I talk to friends that I made in Minneapolis and I bring them out here, within 10 minutes of walking on the prairie, they're talking about God, and it hits them so hard and they have this major existential experience seeing the stars. And when you have that closeness, I think a lot of things fall into place. Intellectually, the systems make sense. This is how things actually work because you can see it every season. There's no book learning in that.

Melanie Hoffert:

Yeah. I love that. Thank you. Beautiful.

Nadege Souvenir:

I mean, I feel like we could sit here-

Melanie Hoffert:

Forever.

Nadege Souvenir:

... forever, especially because we could get some coffee and we could just definitely sit here forever. But I'd love to wrap with the concept of joy. This space, as narrow as the theater that we're sitting in or bigger as New London, share with our listeners something that brings you joy in this place.

Bethany Lacktorin:

We see a lot of urban... Sorry. We see a lot of rural towns as we drive by that look a little bit empty, not as much activity. But what you don't see is behind those doors are people like myself who have come home, who are in those spaces rebuilding and having really great new ideas about how to use these spaces, how to open them back up.

In New London, we have an apothecary opening up. We have a food co-op right down the street that's just coming now in March. We have a new real estate office or a company right across the street opening up. Things are growing and you wouldn't expect to be able to say that, but things are happening. That brings me a lot of joy and a lot of hope. It also brings a little bit of the, "We got to get it right this time" feeling, but also knowing that the people who are doing this are also feeling that. So that brings me hope and joy.

Nadege Souvenir:

Bethany, this has been so, so lovely.

Melanie Hoffert:

Yes. Thank you for, no, welcoming us in your space.

Bethany Lacktorin:

I'm so glad you could come out. It's such a perfect day.

Melanie Hoffert:

It's great.

Nadege Souvenir:

Thank you.

Melanie Hoffert:

Nadege, our first road trip.

Nadege Souvenir:

I know!

Melanie Hoffert:

And we really got into it, like deep conversation, which-

Nadege Souvenir:

I honestly think it's a little bit of the place. I don't know that we would have the same conversation in our offices or in a studio.

Melanie Hoffert:

No, no. Sitting here and being... I mean, we're just having lunch in the cafe, we walked down the main street. And so hearing these stories, we're surrounded by the people that are experiencing some beauty, some conflict, and I think it's really important to be here and name that this is going on everywhere.

Nadege Souvenir:

Yeah, absolutely. And really understanding the narrative of a place, the story of a place tells you so very much about the people, about what's happening, and about what you might be able to imagine could happen in the future.

Melanie Hoffert:

That's true too, yes. And I love how she talked about the land. You can imagine that that was really important to me.

Nadege Souvenir:

Yes, that you were super connected there.

Melanie Hoffert:

Yes, because the land was such a big part of my growing up, and I think it shaped me and shaped the people and to just hear from her that she's here and the people here are truly tuned into the land and paying attention to what's going on with it, that's really cool to hear.

Nadege Souvenir:

Yeah.

Melanie Hoffert:

Can we come back for a play?

Nadege Souvenir:

Sure!

Melanie Hoffert:

Or some experience?

Nadege Souvenir:

I mean, I was going to tell listeners they should come too. Right?

Melanie Hoffert:

Oh, yes. We will have to put what's coming up on our website.

Nadege Souvenir:

Little Theatre Auditorium in New London, if you haven't been, I could sit here all afternoon. I love this space.

Melanie Hoffert:

Aren't we? Aren't we going to? All right. Well.

Nadege Souvenir:

This was a great episode.

Melanie Hoffert:

It was a good time.

Nadege Souvenir:

Thank you for listening to I So Appreciate You. You can find us on Facebook at I So Appreciate You Podcast and on Instagram @SoAppreciateYou.

Melanie Hoffert:

We'd also appreciate you taking a moment to write us a review. And if you like our show, be sure to follow I So Appreciate You on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you're listening to us right now.

Nadege Souvenir:

Have a question or topic suggestion? Email us podcast@spmcf.org. Thank you for listening to I So Appreciate You.