The Good Life – November-December 2016

BY: BEN HANSON • MR. FULL-TIME DAD • PHOTO BY: URBAN TOAD MEDIA 

Ahh, Thanksgiving. A time when 

families gather into confined spaces 

and around overcrowded dining room 

tables to stuff their faces, give thanks 

and air their grievances about politics 

and their employers. It’s dinner and a 

show, and you don’t even have to tip. 

Two weeks after the most ridiculous 

presidential election we might ever 

see, this Thanksgiving promises 

to be particularly enjoyable. I’m 

already thankful for the prodding and 

mocking that will grow less subtle as 

the day drags on... and the punch bowl 

dries up. 

Aside from the passive-aggressive 

Midwestern political dinner theater, 

I’m also thankful for several very 

specific reasons. As a stay-athome 

dad, I’ve developed a serious 

appreciation for things that I either 

used to take for granted or otherwise 

completely overlooked. It’s a running 

total, but here’s the list (as it stands 

right now): 

The enduring legacy of stereotypical 

gender roles. 

2 / THE GOOD LIFE / urbantoadmedia.com 

I’m no sexist, but I sure am thankful 

for the slow pace of gender equality 

when three hours into a five-hour road 

trip I pull the family station wagon 

into a rest stop and find that only the 

women’s restroom is equipped with a 

baby changing station. It’s a small gift, 

but as I sit in the blissful silence of the 

men’s room (while my wife tends to 

our son), I give thanks for the poopy 

diaper pardon this unjust world has 

bestowed upon me. 

Drop-in daycare at the gym. 

You wouldn’t know it by looking at me, 

but I’m in the best shape of my adult 

life… and I owe it all to being a stayat-home 

dad with a gym membership. 

For two hours a day—almost every 

day—I get to drop Macklin off to play 

with kids his own age under the care 

of the best staff I’ve ever dealt with. 

It’s a beautiful arrangement: Mack 

cheers when I drop him off, I go 

admire myself in the mirror while I 

do some curls, and then I come back 

to a well-fed, even more cheerful kid. 

Thank you gym. Don’t ever leave me. 

Brilliant bibs. 

One of my daily goals is to keep 

Macklin in the same outfit throughout 

the entire day. It’s not as easy as it 

sounds, considering his lack of fine 

motor skills and his relentless need to 

eat. Nonetheless, I’m successful most 

days thanks to… and I can’t believe I’m 

saying this… IKEA. It may be my least 

favorite place in the world—seriously, 

it’s a human ant farm—but, damn if 

those Swedes don’t know they’re way 

around a bib. All the way around. To 

give you a visual, imagine putting on 

a rain jacket backwards. With one of 

these full-sleeve, straight-jacket-esque 

IKEA bibs, you could wear your (or 

your wife’s) wedding dress, eat a pile 

of runny spaghetti with your bare 

hands and walk away spotless. 

Liquid ibuprofen. 

Drugs are bad, kids. But drugs for 

kids are great. When Mack’s gums are 

getting shredded by two blunt molars 

and a prison shank-worthy incisor (all 

at once), I can’t leap off my “Down 

with Big Pharma” soapbox fast 

enough. And if you think that makes 

me a bad parent, come over and let 

me stab you in the mouth with a 

handful of toothpicks while you try to 

take a nap, then we’ll talk… if you can. 

The family zoo membership. 

Economically speaking, our family 

membership to the zoo has been 

the best $65 we’ve ever spent. It’s 

a built-in outing whenever we want 

(or need) it. There’s food, animals, a 

playground and sunshine. Plus, that 

single membership has gotten us into 

other zoos and aquariums around the 

country for free, and free anything is 

my favorite. 

Restaurants. All of them. 

Family dinners that require no cleanup... 

enough said.

Three-hour naps. 

Unfortunately, Mack’s epic three-hour naps are 

becoming a thing of the past, but they were great 

while they lasted. Not only would he wake up 

refreshed and singing to himself in his crib, I’d get 

a ton of work done while he snoozed… usually with 

enough time for a quick nap of my own. (Yes, you 

should be jealous.) 

Never having to set an alarm clock. 

The worst part about having a regular job is being a 

slave to the alarm clock and other people’s arbitrary 

schedules. True, Mack’s schedule can go from 

predictable to bonkers without explanation, but he’s a 

baby. It makes sense for him to act childish. It makes 

no sense, however, for an adult to throw a fit and 

demand a team meeting at 4 p.m. on a Friday. As a 

stay-at-home dad with an above-average happy child, 

I’m incredibly thankful for the ability to take each day 

as it comes without worry of deadlines or alarms… 

and I’ve got the blood pressure to prove it. 

Bathtime resets. 

Bathtime gets a bum rap for reasons I don’t 

understand. Macklin loves them, and they’ve proven to 

be a reliable reset button whenever we’ve mistakenly 

hopped onto the struggle bus and missed our stop. 

Just the sound of the tub filling up is enough to turn 

his cries into giggles. 

Buckles. 

Hear this: buckles save lives. I had no idea. Buckles 

on car seats, strollers, high chairs, booster seats and 

changing tables save lives every day in this country. 

My home is brain injury free thanks to buckles. 

They’re the last line of defense against a baby case of 

CTE. I mean, I can’t be expected to watch him all the 

time, right? That reminds me… I’m also thankful for 

low expectations. Happy Thanksgiving! • 

urbantoadmedia.com / THE GOOD LIFE / 3

The 

GOODLIFE 

MEN’S MAGAZINE 

PUBLISHED BY 

Urban Toad Media LLP 

www.urbantoadmedia.com 

OWNER / GRAPHIC DESIGNER 

Dawn Siewert 

dawn@urbantoadmedia.com 

OWNER / PHOTOGRAPHER 

Darren Losee 

darren@urbantoadmedia.com 

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS 

Jessica Ballou 

Meghan Feir 

Alexandra Floersch 

Ben Hanson 

Krissy Ness 

ADVERTISING INQUIRIES 

Darren Losee / 701-261-9139 

darren@urbantoadmedia.com 

The Good Life Men’s Magazine is 

distributed six times a year by Urban 

Toad Media LLP. Material may not be 

reproduced without permission. The Good 

Life Men’s Magazine accepts no liability 

for reader dissatisfaction arising from 

content in this publication. The opinions 

expressed, or advice given, are the views of 

individual writers or advertisers and do not 

necessarily represent the views or policies 

of The Good Life Men’s Magazine. 

4 / THE GOOD LIFE / urbantoadmedia.com

Contents 

VOLUME 4 • ISSUE 3 

NOV-DEC 2016 

18 

ON THE COVER 

CHRISTOPHER ZIMMERMAN 

MOVING TO THE MUSIC 

FM Symphony 

02 

MR. FULL-TIME DAD 

10 Things This Stay-at-Home Dad 

is Thankful For 

06 

BUILDING A BRIGHTER FUTURE 

Non-Profit Helps Troops Get New Homes 

10 

HAVING A BEER WITH ... 

Dom Izzo - WDAY Sports Director 

14 

26 

CHASING STORMS 

Ryan Mauk - Storm Chaser 

HOW TO DRIVE A ZAMBONI 

In Six Easy Steps 

30 

LOCAL HEROES 

COMMUNITY TRUST OFFICERS 

LIGHT IN A DARK TIME 

COMMUNITY TRUST OFFICERS 

Go Beyond the Badge 

READ A PAST ISSUE 

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thegoodlifemensmagazine 

TWEET 

@urbantoadmedia 



BY: JESSICA BALLOU ■ PHOTOS BY: URBAN TOAD MEDIA

Homes for our Troops (HFOT) is a 

non-profit that helps build mortgage 

free, specially adapted homes 

nationwide for severely injured 

veterans post-9/11 to help them 

rebuild their lives. 

HFOT provides pre and post 

home delivery, financial planning, 

household budgeting, home 

ownership education and a fullyear 

warranty coverage to ensure 

the veteran is set up for long-term 

success as a homeowner. Since 

HFOT’s founding in 2004, nearly 

90 cents out of every dollar donated 

to HFOT has gone directly to 

the program services supporting 

veterans. 

HFOT assists the most severely 

injured service members of all 

branches of the military who were 

injured in the Iraq-Afghanistan war 

since Sept. 11, 2001. HFOT builds 

four-bedroom, two-bath, specially 

adapted energy-efficient homes of 

approximately 2,650 square feet 

with more than 40 major special 

adaptations to give the veteran full 

access, including wider halls and 

doorways, automatic door openers, 

pull-down shelving and much more. 

HFOT aims to build the highest 

quality homes using top quality 

products that endure the test of 

time from brands like Kohler, 

Whirlpool, etc. All homes are built to 

Energy Star standards to maximize 

efficiency and lower utility expense, 

and they look for builders with a 


track record of high quality workmanship to reduce 

maintenance and expense to the veterans. 

The nationwide average cost for HFOT to build one 

specially adapted home is $430,000. These homes can 

help veterans launch a new career or business, start and/ 

or grow families, maintain lifelong physical and mental 

wellness, complete education, and recover and rest in a 

safe, accessible home. 

“Myself and my family are 

so blessed and lucky.” 

– Master Sergeant 

Eric Marts 

The 18-24 month timeline for these projects involves 

about six to seven months for construction. The rest of 

that time is spent on land search and permitting. Veterans 

do not pay a fee toward the cost of the home, and there is 

no mortgage to be paid in the future. The veteran decides 

where he or she would like to live, considering proximity 

education. Since 2010, more than 90 babies have been 

born to parents in HFOT homes with more than 15 due as 

of February of this year. 

to family and medical centers, school systems, jobs and 

more. The HFOT land team locates and provides lots to 

the veteran, who makes the final selection. 

A veteran must be approved for the Specially Adapted 

Housing (SAH) benefits by the Veterans Administration. 

Benefits are awarded to veterans with severe physical 

injuries, including one or more amputations, full or partial 

paralysis or severe traumatic brain injury. 

HFOT requires the veteran to participate in a financial 

planning program with a pro bono financial planner 

for three years. They also provide the veteran with 

information on property tax exemptions for which he or 

she may qualify. 

Sixty-six percent of HFOT home recipients have at least 

one child. Seventy-two percent say living mortgage free 

has allowed them to start or expand a family, and 50 

percent say it allows them to save for their children’s 


As of May 27 of this year, HFOT has built 213 specially 

adapted homes in 41 states nationwide. There are 

currently more than 70 veterans on the active project list. 

For the fifth consecutive year, HFOT has been awarded 

a 4-star rating for sound fiscal management and 

commitment to accountability and transparency by Charity 

Navigator, America’s premier charity evaluator. HFOT 

hosts many fundraisers throughout the year, including 

silent auctions, conferences, golf tournaments, sporting 

events, races and much more. 

HFOT is privately funded. Almost 70 percent of the 

operational budget is generated by private and family 

foundations, individual donors and community fundraisers 

nationwide. As a non-profit, all contributions are tax 

deductible. To make a donation or for more information, 

visit www.hfotusa.org. 

Master Sergeant Eric Marts hosts a radio show for AM 

970 WDAY called Heroes of the Heartland. When doing 

research on issues troops were facing, he saw Homes for

ERIC MARTS 

Our Troops. He started looking into the organization, 

and he filled out an application. After going through 

a background check and other vetting processes, 

he was approved to be a part of the program, and 

construction is now underway for his new Moorhead 

home. 

“Myself and my family are so blessed and lucky,” he 

said. 

Since HFOT chooses a certain number of projects to 

work on each year, Marts said he feels so blessed to 

be chosen, saying it felt like winning the lottery. 

He’s most looking forward to more space and “having 

something that is our own with no wheels underneath 

it,” he said, as well as “the independence and the 

freedom it’ll offer me and the 

space to have our kids and 

grandkids to be over.” 

“I’m so lucky to be involved 

with Homes for our Troops,” he 

added. “They really are a great 

organization with loving, caring 

people.” • 


BY: MEGHAN FEIR ■ PHOTOS BY: URBAN TOAD MEDIA 


Dom Izzo isn’t from around here, but 

we’re certainly glad he’s a Fargoan 

now. The WDAY News sports director 

is an adventurous transplant from 

Oswego in western New York State, 

another city in which the temps drop 

and the snow piles up. He was willing 

to go wherever his career dared him 

to travel, and for 10 years, he’s let 

the Fargo-Moorhead area know all 

the highlights on high school, college 

and Minnesota Vikings updates. 

The New Yorker is half Italian and 

a full-blooded sports lover, and we 

were able to enjoy a glass of water at 

Drekker Brewing Co. in downtown 

Fargo, though that’s not what they’re 

typically known for around town. 

Good Life: What’s one thing about 

yourself that you think people would 

be really surprised by? 

Dom Izzo: I drive with two feet. 

GL: Like, you steer the wheel with 

them? 

DI: I have my left foot for the break 

and my right for the gas, and I drive 

like a grandpa, which drives my fiancé 

nuts. 

GL: What does being a sports director 

require of you? 

DI: It’s not for everybody, this 

profession. It’s not like we’re curing 

cancer or sending people to the moon, 

but there are a lot of sacrifices. It’s 

weekends. It’s holidays. It’s nights. I’m 

on call almost all the time. As soon as 

I get up every day, I’m checking and 

reading stories to make sure I’m on 

top of everything. It’s not a 9-5 gig. 

There’s a lot of grind and grit that 

goes into the three or four minutes I’m 

on each night. I do my own makeup. 

I write my own scripts. I shoot and 

edit my own video. And I’m glad I do. 

It keeps me in touch with all my skills 

and sharpens them. 

GL: If you could play any sport with a 

historical figure from the past, which 

sport would you choose, and with 

whom would you want to play? 

DI: Baseball because I grew up 

playing. It was my favorite sport, even 

though I wasn’t very good at it. And 

probably Lou Gehrig. He was such 

an unbelievable baseball player, but 

he was an unbelievable guy, too. He 

was totally overshadowed by Babe 

Ruth. Babe Ruth was setting every 

kind of record, and every newspaper 

guy wanted to follow what he was 

doing. Lou Gehrig is only known for 

two things: the number of games he 

played in a row and his death. I’m not 


a go-out-and-party kind of guy, and 

neither was he. He worked hard. 

GL: What is one prank you can recall 

pulling on your younger sister? 

DI: My favorite team in the whole 

wide world is the New York Mets. I 

bleed blue and orange. They’ve been 

my favorite since I was 5 years old. I 

don’t know why I remember this, but 

we were at my grandmother’s, and 

there was a taped broadcast of a Mets 

game on television from the previous 

day, which I had already seen. So I 

told my sister, “I bet you $5 the guy 

up hits a home run,” knowing full well 

he would. So, of course, the guy hit a 

home run, and I was like, “Hey, you 

gotta pay up!” 

GL: What is your heritage? 

DI: My mom is kind of convoluted. I 

think she’s German, for the most part. 

My dad’s side is completely Italian, 

which is fabulous when I go home. 

The eats when I get to go home… 

That’s no slight to the Italian joints 

in Fargo-Moorhead, but it’s nothing 

compared to anything back in upstate 

New York. 

GL: What are some habits or traits 

you acquired from your Italian side? 

DI: I think their flare for loudness. 

We talk with our hands. That’s the 

Italian way. I definitely do that, and I 

definitely have the loudness. They’re 

very outspoken people, and I love and 

hate it about my family. There’s no 

filter, but that’s a good thing. We wear 

our emotions on our sleeves, and I’m 

certainly like that. I have no poker 

face whatsoever. Could it help me in 

certain situations? Absolutely. But I 

wouldn’t change who I am. 

GL: If you were to personify yourself 

as a type of food, which would you 

choose? 

DI: Oh, my gosh. So you’re asking my 

personality reflected in a type of food? 

GL: Yeah! Just your typical Tuesday 

question. 

DI: Oh, goodness. I would say chicken 

parm. It’s my absolute favorite food, 

and I don’t know many people who 


don’t like it. I know there are some 

people that probably don’t care 

for my persona and how I act on 

television, but for the most part, I 

think I’m a pretty likable guy who 

people can sit down with and have 

a conversation. Chicken parm is 

definitely reliable. It’s never not 

good. If someone needs something 

from me, I would be there for them. 

GL: What’s your favorite game? 

DI: Monopoly is probably my 

favorite. I play pretty strictly to the 

rules. You don’t get any money for 

landing on free parking or anything 

like that. You’re not supposed to. It 

says it in the rules. I can play that 

game ‘til the cows come home. 

It was the Simpson’s themed 

Monopoly, by the way, which is still 

one of my favorite shows. 

GL: Who do you think would 

be a better athlete, Batman or 

Superman? 

DI: Oh, Superman is a better 

athlete, no doubt, because he 

doesn’t get tired. He doesn’t even 

sweat or bleed. 

GL: Who would have more sports 

knowledge? 

DI: Probably Batman. He’s a 

smarter dude than Superman—not 

that Clark Kent wasn’t smart, but 

Bruce Wayne knows everything. 

GL: I think we all know this, 

but who would have the better 

equipment? 

DI: I mean, Superman’s cape 

is nice, but the utility belt, the 

Batmobile, the Batwing—Batman, 

by far. 

GL: What does the good life mean 

to you? 

DI: I think being comfortable in 

your own skin and being able to 

adjust to anything that life throws 

at you. Also, finding balance 

between work and home. My work 

still dominates my life, and I want 

to have a family. I think a lot of 

people are still in search of that—to 

have that mix of being really good 

at home and being really good in 

the workplace. I think that’s, to me, 

what the good life would symbolize. 

I’m working toward it. • 


BY: KRISSY NESS ■ PHOTOS BY: URBAN TOAD MEDIA 

Ryan Mauk, 36, 

has been chasing storms 

since he could drive 

Ryan Mauk, 36, has been chasing storms since he could 

drive - though not always knowing what he was doing. 

Over the years Mauk has amped up his knowledge in 

meteorology in sever weather; and for the past three 

years he has been chasing tornados semi-seriously 

locally and regionally from the tri-state area down as far 

as Kansas. He, his wife Alissa and friend/chaser Tom 

Reichel formed Northern Plains Chasers in 2015. 

When Mauk gets ready to head out for a chase he looks 

at different weather models including but not limited to: 

GFS (Global Forecast System), NAM (North American 

Model) and Euro Models. It is important to gather all the 

information you can before and during your chase so 

you have the proper tools on your chase. “Meteorology is 

the art of professional guessing,” Mauk Said, “I have an 

intermediate level of knowledge, enough to know where I 

should be in a 75-100 mile radius.” 


At the beginning of this year Mauk began working with WDAY. He emailed 

Meteorologist John Wheeler and the two of them sat down with News 

Director Jeff Nelson and they hashed out a plan. Since Mauk would be 

going out and filming the storms regardless, he suggested his gas be 

compensated while he was filming in the viewing area and both Wheeler 

and Nelson agreed. Mauk has caught some great storms on film and in 

pictures you can find his work online at their website, www.npchasers.com 

or on www.youtube.com by searching Northern Plains Chasers. You can 

also follow them on Facebook/NortherPlainsChasers and Instagram by 

searching: npchasers. 

It is important to be very careful and safe when chasing storms. The 

proper knowledge is half the battle the other half is protection. Mauk drives 

a 2008 Nissan Xterra that is sprayed head to toe with Line-X, a protective 

coating, and body armor that fits the contour of the vehicle. This provides 

protection from hail and small debris. This does not mean his vehicle is 

hail proof and he can go driving recklessly into a storm, but “It does do a 

good job of deflecting the big stuff,” stated Mauk. The windshield is made 

from Lexan a polycarbonate, which is bullet and impact resistance. There 

is also a metal frame with steel tubing with a 4X6 grate that slides out 

from the main frame, which covers the windshield. There is no special 

insurance is needed for storm chasing, just full coverage on your vehicle. 

“The thing with tornados is that hail will always be there,” affirmed Mauk. 


“Seeing a tornado 

IS ALWAYS AWESOME, 

but to see a crazy storm cell 

is also exciting.”– Ryan mauk 

Mauk is also a nurse at Essentia Health, so he is always 

prepared to be a first responder, if needed, in the case 

of an emergency while chasing. He carries a pretty 

substantial first aid kit and thankfully has never had to use 

it. 

When chasing, Mauk usually has a “co-pilot” whether it be 

a fellow chaser or his wife, but there are occasions where 

he goes out alone. There is a lot of work that goes into 

chasing storms and you have to be quick but efficient when 

heading out. There are good and bad outcomes when on 

the chase, “seeing a tornado is always awesome, but to 

see a crazy storm cell is also exciting” exclaimed Mauk. 

Then again, you could drive hundreds of miles to find 

your supercell has diminished. Nature will do whatever it 

wants, whenever is wants. “There is something that is very 

comforting about the whole, storm chasing thing,” stated 

Mauk. 


STORM PHOTOS SUBMITTED BY: RYAN MAUK 

Storm chasers prefer discreet supercell 

thunderstorms, “Supercells almost make their own 

environment, but that being said, if it starts sucking in 

cold air it will kill the thunderstorm real quick,” said 

Mauk. “Tornado weather is likely to happen on a hot 

and humid day with very little cloud cover.” 

I asked Mauk for some advice for first time storm 

chasers. “If you follow online blogs, or storm chasers 

pages, safety is above all, always have an escape 

route, always, always, always,” warned Mauk. “There 

was this one storm we were chasing in Killdeer, ND 

it has a beautiful supercell and it was really foggy and 

we saw trailers that were essentially sand blasted 

with hail. Windows were blown out and shingles 

were ripped from the roof.” Storms can take a nasty 

turn at any minute and you need to be aware of your 

surroundings and pay attention to maps and wind 

direction or you can find yourself in a very dangerous 

situation. 

Finally I asked Mauk what the good life means to 

him, “Living every moment like it’s your last, as cliché 

as it sounds, when you are totally in the moment, 

witnessing something with that much power and that 

much of its own entity it's like you’re kind of one with 

God. You are mesmerized, you can’t really explain it, 

and it’s just an air of peace.” • 


BY: MEGHAN FEIR ■ PHOTOS BY: URBAN TOAD MEDIA 

If you ask Christopher Zimmerman, the conductor of 

the F-M Symphony, if he can play any instruments, he’ll 

modestly say he “can still play the piano a little bit.” 

Fast forward a few days to a Masterworks Concert, 

where you find yourself enraptured in the beauty the F-M 

Symphony emits with every sound from the strings, hum 

from the horns, and rumble from the timpani. 

There he is on stage, taking a break from conducting 

as he plays the piano, accompanying cellist Sergey 

Antonov, the Gold Medal Winner of the 2007 Tchaikovsky 

Competition in an encore piece. By his modest, 

aforementioned comment, you may have assumed he 

could recall how to play “Heart and Soul” on command, 

not a Rachmaninoff piece. 

Zimmerman has been a grounded wanderer for the 

past 22 years of his life. He appears to be comfortable 

wherever the music leads him, even if that’s over 4,000 

miles away from his original stomping grounds. Lacking 

the quintessential dialect of the north, he stands out as he 

speaks with his pleasing English accent that occasionally 

hints at the decades he’s lived near the East Coast. 

Despite his many years spent living in America, no real 

sense of home has been felt, and the streets of London 

still attempt to beckon him back from time to time. Yet, 

somehow, Fargo holds a certain sense of belonging for 

Zimmerman. 



“I really like this downtown part of Fargo, and I feel really 

comfortable here, for some reason. Having been here for not very 

long, you can make an identity with a place, just because it’s a nice 

place,” Zimmerman said. “I have to say, my wife was not expecting 

to like it, but she loved it, she really did.” 

Currently residing in Fairfax, Va., close to the Washington D.C. 

area to lead the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra and the American 

Youth Philharmonic, the salt-and pepper-haired maestro has been 

traveling to Fargo a week before each one of the orchestra’s five 

Masterworks Series Concerts to rehearse with the musicians. 

By listening to their seamless execution, you’d assume they had 

practiced more than five times together before the performances. 

This is proof that ever since his role as conductor began here in 

2013, he has easily been able to connect with the performers on 

stage at a professionally personal level. 

Beginning in London 

Raised in a suburb just south of London, Zimmerman and his two 

brothers were used to classical music blaring in their household. 

Their mother, an American, was a singer and a pianist, and their 

father, an Englishman, played the violin. The cultural combination 

meant dual-citizenship for the three boys, which would later help 

Zimmerman acquire careers in conducting an ocean away. 


While attending Yale for his undergraduate 

degree in music, Zimmerman’s interest in 

the orchestra as a whole began to brew as he 

played in the large ensemble and studied the 

piano and violin. 

“I wasn’t interested in standing up in front of a 

bunch of people and making a complete idiot 

out of myself,” Zimmerman said, “but I was 

interested in learning the mechanics of this 

music.” 

During his senior year of college, Zimmerman 

decided to take a course in choral conducting 

and directed his classmates for his final project. 

“I was so nervous, but I got a lot of really 

positive feedback. I set up my own little choral 

group, and we did a whole program. Then I was 

kind of hooked.” 

Through more serendipitous encounters, he 

became the successor to direct the Yale Bach 

Society and eventually attended graduate 

school at the University of Michigan to study 

orchestral conducting. 

Two teaching gigs at music conservatories 

and a few orchestras later, Zimmerman 

has garnered years of experience with 

both teaching in academia and conducting 

professional orchestras, encouraging each 

musician he encounters to play with precision, 

grace and emotion. 

Reassessing the Symphony 

While Zimmerman loves and conducts classical 

pieces, he, like many others, has a penchant for 

rock, specifically English progressive. He grew 


up loving bands like Genesis (before Peter Gabriel went off 

on his own), Cream, Yes, and King Crimson, to name a few. 

He’s a regular guy who happens to equally love classical 

music and rock. 

But Zimmerman knows there is an apprehension toward 

the music made by the composers of old, especially among 

men. So he created the perfect analogy to describe the 

quick judgments many make before fully experiencing 

classical music in all its glory. 

“It’s kind of like this. You say to someone, ‘Let’s go get 

some sushi,’ and they say, ‘Raw fish? Horrible.’ And then 

you ask, ‘Have you ever had any?’ ‘Oh, no, but I know I 

don’t like raw fish because it’s squiggly and squishy.’ If you 

have sushi, it’s not usually squiggly and squishy, and most 

people who have at least somewhat of an open mind can 

really get into it. I think it’s the same with classical music. 

It’s not going to sound like rock ‘n’ roll. Sushi is not going 

to taste like a burger and fries. Given. But it tastes good.” 

“For decades, people have said, symphony orchestras are 

on the way out; they’re an anachronism; the audiences are 

older and dying off. But today, our audiences are bigger, 

we have more young people in the audiences than at any 

point in our history,” Boyd said. “No matter how much 

technology or society changes, people still are drawn to 

human excellence. That’s why people watch the Olympics. 

That’s why people go to football games. That’s why 

people go to rock concerts. When you see human beings 

performing at such high levels right in front of your eyes, 

there is nothing like that. That’s what symphony concerts 

are still all about.” 

In the symphony’s 85-year history, it has come alongside 

the community as not only a source of entertainment, but 

of hope and solidarity, whether that was after the fighting 

of the 2009 flood as they put on celebration concerts or 

other ways to help the community express and celebrate 

itself. It’s a part of the DNA of the area, promoting the 

Men need not be dragged to the footsteps of the concert 

hall before being seat-belted in by the expectations of the 

women who brought them. Linda Boyd, the executive 

director of the F-M Symphony since 2007, wants to assure 

men that it’s a welcome environment for everyone. There’s 

even a stand in the lobby providing beer, wine and nonalcoholic 

beverages to nervous newcomers and relaxed 

patrons. 

Boyd has been involved with the orchestra since 1993 and 

has seen a dramatic shift take place in recent years. 


surging energy of music throughout the veins of 

its residents. They even host Urban Overture, a 

sophisticated and fun night out for people in their 

20s and 30s as a preview for upcoming concerts. 

“This is a fun night out, and people are still looking 

for interesting and meaningful experiences,” Boyd 

said. 

“We’re trying to not make it snotty in any way and 

make it a fun time,” Zimmerman went on to say. “I’m 

convinced that many of the people who think they 

don’t like classical music, whatever that is, would 

like it if they tried. If you just open your ears to the 

sounds themselves and not have a preconceived 

notion, it will speak to you more than you would 

think it would.” 


The Masterworks 

Concert Series is 

held at NDSU’s Festival 

Concert Hall with the next 

concert taking place Nov. 12 

and 13. Pieces featured are the 

“William Tell Overture” by Gioacchino 

Rossini, “Concierto de Aranjuez” by 

Joaquin Rodrigo, featuring Paraguayan 

classical guitar soloist Berta Rojas, and 

“Symphony No. 1” by Johannes Brahms. 

The pre-concert “Informance” talks begin 

45 minutes before each concert in the 

adjoining Beckwith Recital Hall. Learn 

more at www.fmsymphony.org. • 

Christopher Zimmerman 

Favorite composers: 

“As I get older, the real classical guys like 

Bach and Mozart I like more and more. I 

used to not like them so much. This is why 

I think some people think they don’t like 

classical music; it’s so far removed from 

today’s world in a way. But I like their music 

more because there’s a reason they are so 

great.” 

Favorite time period: 

“Every era, whether you liked the dress 

code or not, people are dressed in a certain 

way. Then it would change to another 

way. Now, someone could come in with 

a three-piece suit and we wouldn’t think 

he was weird. Everybody can do their 

own thing. With the 20th century, that’s 

what happened. Some of these geniuses 

composed the most amazing music. In the 

last 100 years or so, the variety of music 

is so great. So that, in a way, is my favorite 

time.” 

What does “the good life” mean to you? 

“Well, like most people, I like lazing around 

and eating and drinking; but I think “the 

good life” is when life is full of vibrancy and 

stimulation, where we are able openly and 

unthreateningly to really engage with the 

myriad of amazing things that the world 

has to offer. Drinking seriously good beer, 

seeing the Taj Mahal or trying to get your 

head around Bach’s ‘Goldberg Variations’— 

it doesn’t really matter.” 


SERGEY ANTONOV, LINDA BOYD, CHRISTOPHER ZIMMERMAN

Holiday 

Giving 

This holiday season Urban Toad 

Media LLP and The Good Life Men’s 

Magazine would like to thank all the 

members of our military and their 

families. Thank you for your sacrifice 

and your dedication. 

Please remember these brave men 

and woman who give so much every 

day. Don’t forget to add them to your 

holiday shopping list. 

Please consider a gift to one of the 

many charities that support our military 

members and their families. One less 

gift under your tree could make the 

world of difference to someone else. 

Fisher House 

www.fisherhouse.org 

National Military Family 

Association 

www.militaryfamily.org 

Our Military Kids 

ourmilitarykids.org 

Soldier’s Angels 

www.soldiersangels.org Veteran 

Operation Homefront 

www.operationhomefront.net 

Semper Fi Fund 

semperfifund.org 


BY: KRISSY NESS ■ PHOTOS BY: URBAN TOAD MEDIA 

Have you ever wondered how to drive a Zamboni? The 

technical name for this machine is the ice-resurfacing 

machine. The machine was named after the inventor 

Frank Zamboni; his surname was the registered 

trademark for the resurfacer. The Zamboni began as a 

propane fueled machine but has been modified in the 

recent years to be electric, which is more environmentally 

friendly. 

I had the opportunity to do a ride along with Lars Hegland 

at the Scheels Arena. Hegland has been working at the 

arena since 2009, and has worked his way downstairs, 

from working in the parking lot to operating and 

maintaining the Zamboni(s). This is Hegland’s part time 

job - which is a pretty awesome one at that. His full 

time job is playing in his band Tripwire. Hegland is very 

knowledgeable when it comes to Zambonis and the stepby-step 

process was made easier because of that. Lets 

kick this off by letting you in on the secrets of driving a 

Zamboni. 

In six steps I will explain how to run a Zamboni. For this 

specific step-by-step we will be talking about electric 

Zambonis. 

STEP ONE 

To begin you must unplug the battery pack, turn on the 

machine and fill it with water, which will be laid onto the 

ice. 

STEP TWO 

Lower the hopper - which is where all the snow is 

collected. It is raised when you are finished to empty the 

snow and dry it out. 


STEP THREE 

Release the break, back up and get onto the ice. From 

there you will turn on the brush. The brush is used to 

pick up excess snow from along the boards; you will only 

use the brush for the outside lap. 


STEP FOUR 

Make sure the Zamboni is moving forward and lower the 

conditioner, the conditioner shaves the ice, collects snow, 

rinses the ice and allows new water to be laid onto the ice. 

STEP SIX 

Turn on the hot water that goes on the ice. Then turn on 

the cold water, which is the wash water, it gets snow out of 

the cracks in the ice. Finally turn on the wash water pump. 


STEP FIVE 

Turn on the vertical and horizontal 

augers. The horizontal auger gathers 

the snow and the vertical one propels 

it into the hopper. 

Once you have finished all these 

steps you can begin to condition 

and smooth the ice. You will take 

two outside laps and then go in an 

oval shape and come up the middle 

until you have covered the entire 

rink. 

After you have finished conditioning 

and smoothing out the ice you will 

do all of these steps in reverse and 

finish by parking and turning off 

your machine. 

This article will not make you an 

expert at driving a Zamboni but it 

will give you enough knowledge to 

brag to your friends. So the next 

time you find yourself at a hockey 

game you can educate all your 

friends on what it takes to drive and 

operate a Zamboni. • 



They are the guys students ask for by 

name at recess. They’re the friendly 

faces that represent authority figures. 

They are the two men tasked with 

creating rules and plans for something 

that’s never been done before in 

their community. They are the Fargo 

Police Department’s Community 

Trust Officers, and their mission is 

to establish a legacy of trust between 

the police and the community they're 

sworn to protect. 

LOCAL HEROES 

BY: ALEXANDRA FLOERSCH ■ PHOTOS BY: URBAN TOAD MEDIA 

Officers Michael Bloom and Matthew 

Niemeyer willingly left the downtown 

beat to take their positions in October 

of 2015. Thanks to a federal grant 

to support the National Initiative for 

Building Community Trust and Justice 

across the U.S., both officers were able 

to fill a crucial role in the community: 

to reach out and educate citizens. 

“To boil our position down, it is to build 

trust and transparency,” Niemeyer 

said. “The trust part is significantly 

more complicated. We are trying to 

do something significant within our 

community. We are looking for different 

holes that need to be filled, where the 

police department can play a role in 

really making this community better.” 

One of the biggest opportunities the 

two trust officers first identified was 

working with area youth, specifically 

from low-income, minority and new 

American populations. “We’re working 

to help them develop some interests 

and hobbies within the community,” 

Bloom said. Nationwide studies show 

that doing so helps students behave 

better in school, perform better 

academically and keep them out of 

trouble. 

“There are a lot of things that go into 

that programming, not only to reduce 

crime, but also to have the police 

department play a big role in helping 

a lot of these kids pursue a better 

life,” Niemeyer added. The goal is to 

focus kids’ attention, kids who “would 

otherwise just end up playing around 

in the park and—out of sheer boredom 

and availability—end up getting into 

trouble,” he said. 

Our job gives us freedom to connect 

with people on deeper levels 

than most cops ever get to. — Bloom 


LOCAL HEROES 

By partnering with organizations 

like Charism, the Boys and Girls 

Club of the Red River Valley, Legacy 

Children’s Foundation, First Assembly 

Church and Life Church, to name 

a few, the officers are able to hold 

events such as Cocoa with a Cop, 

Cool Off with a Cop, Fargo United and 

C-4 (Character, Community, Charism, 

Cops) Summer Camp. 

The two officers also work handin-hand 

with five area schools to 

be a presence in the hallways, 

classrooms and playgrounds where 

signs of trouble often first show 

up. But no matter how much effort 

they make, they say it rarely feels 

like enough. Originally, the Fargo 

Police Department requested four 

Community Trust Officers through the 

grant, but were only rewarded two. 

“It’s such an interesting thing 

because—being just two people in 

a city of 120,000 people—it’s like 

what do we do and how do we do it 

effectively,” Bloom wondered aloud. 


“You can have 10,000 ideas, but how 

do you accomplish them?” 

The answer is slowly. They’ve found 

day by day, little by little their progress 

becomes more evident. 

“When you go to a school and kids 

are name-dropping and asking where 

(Matt) is when I’m the only one there, 

it just shows that the seed he’s planted 

is taking root,” Bloom said. “It’s 

meaning something.” 

The Best Part 

Considering the officers are often 

flying by the seat of their pants, 

Niemeyer said one of his favorite 

parts of the job is seeing things come 

together, people open up and the 

community jumping at the opportunity 

to fill a role or contribute in some way. 

“There are some parents that just flatout 

hate cops—for whatever reason. 

They will fight us tooth and nail to 

work with their kids,” Niemeyer said. 

But when they least expect it, they 

receive parental consent from parents 

they never dreamed would. 

For Bloom, relationships mean 

everything. “I care about people in 

general a lot, which is why I wanted 

this spot,” he said. “Our job gives us 

freedom to connect with people on 

deeper levels than most cops ever get 

to.” 

In a role like this, it’s easy to become 

attached. Bloom admits it's one of 

his favorite parts of the job. Unlike a 

typical cop who may be tied to a single 

beat, Bloom and Niemeyer have the 

leeway to not only make those special 

connections with the kids they serve, 

but also to carve out time to foster 

those relationships whenever and 

wherever needed. 

“It sounds simple but, to me, that’s 

the world,” Bloom said. “That’s what 

gets my heart stirring—the freedom to 

really connect with people and show 

them how much an officer really cares 

about them.”

The Double Edge 

The most fulfilling aspect of the job also doubles as the 

hardest. While the officers treasure the relationships 

they build, they’re also conscious of the boundaries 

they must abide. 

“As an officer, you can’t get too close, because it’s my 

responsibility—and Matt’s as well—to protect our 

families,” Bloom said. “There’s this one boy I want to 

take to church every Sunday with me, I want to take 

him to the gym with me, I want to be the man in his 

life that he doesn’t have.” 

A father himself, Bloom admits that he’d adopt a 

couple of the boys he works with in a heartbeat… if 

he could. “If you don’t see a dad, you want to be a 


LOCAL HEROES 

dad,” he said. “But you can’t be a dad 

necessarily, because you’re crossing 

the line, especially if you have to bust 

them one day.” 

For Niemeyer, the job exposes life's 

harshest realities—people’s stories 

that often go untold. He gets to 

know people in the community on a 

different level; they start to open up. 

“There are some people that live 

really difficult lives and they struggle 

with almost everything—food, 

clothing, where they live, neighbors, 

etc.” he said. “You walk away from 

some conversations feeling awful for 

what some people are having to deal 

with but, at the same time, admiring 

them for how they are approaching 

their situations.” 


Fighting the Stigma 

In the last few years, police 

departments across the country have 

been forced to deal with the social 

and political fallout from the string 

of highly publicized police shootings 

and subsequent charges of racial 

discrimination and profiling. 

“Just knowing how only two of us are 

taking on that misportrayal over our 

entire city is intimidating,” Niemeyer 

said. “There’s a lot to do, there’s a 

lot of ground to cover, and it’s not 

something that’s going to happen 

quickly.” 

In a very real sense, the role of the 

Community Trust Officer is to break 

that stigma. “It’s an exciting time to 

show people that a lot of the media 

has it twisted,” 

Bloom said. “It’s 

hard when the 

story’s always 

against your 

people. We’re 

trying to be light in a dark time.” 

The more officers that focus on 

building rapport in the community, 

the more easily the feeling of trust 

will spread. “Once is goes from 

two officers to maybe three officers 

to five, six, seven and so on… now 

you’re getting to that point where 

the concept of the department as a 

whole being there for the community 

becomes a little more fathomable,” 

Niemeyer said. 

A Balancing Act 

Little by little, Officers Bloom and 

Niemeyer aim to not just tell people, 

but actually show people they 

care. “For Matt and I—our whole 

department—the whole focus is 

to show no matter your race, your

eligion, we’re police and we care about our city,” 

Bloom said. 

Achieving that level of trust requires a delicate 

balancing act of getting close to those who need your 

help, but not too close to jeopardize your sworn duty. 

“The nature of police work has the hard contacts 

already in it,” Niemeyer said. “You’re making arrests, 

you’re writing citations, you’re taking reports. You’re 

doing all those things that policing will always involve 

and arguably has to involve.” But the soft, social 

contacts are also crucial in building relationships and 

trust within the community. 

Niemeyer said it's the same challenge any authoritative 

figure faces—whether a parent, teacher, boss, etc. If 

the only time they interact with you is to scold or come 

down on you, the relationship will falter. “You’re not 

going to have a positive relationship with that authority 

figure unless that person is also coming around and 

uplifting you, and is encouraging you, letting you know 

that they care,” he said. 

A balance between the two is crucial. “If you are out 

of balance, that relationship is going to be strained,” 

Niemeyer said. “If it’s in balance, I think those bad 

times or those hard times, you can absorb them and 

you can get through them easier.” 

For now, the focus is creating good times, creating 

strong relationships in the community. Being in a 

position where he can make that possible is part of 

the good life for Niemeyer. The good life “is being able 

to love what you do,” he said. “Getting that sense of 

reward of what you are able to be a part of, knowing it 

matters.” That’s true fulfillment. 

For Bloom, life’s about starting strong and finishing 

strong. Period. The good life means being bold, 

courageous and fearless for his community—“leaving a 

legacy that people were impacted by,” he said. 

“Speaking of the good life,” Bloom said, beaming and 

referring to the photo of his one-year-old his wife had 

just texted. “That’s my daughter. She’s so cute.” •

The Good Life – November-December 2016

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