Albert Lea father Al Mullenbach

looks at his three daughters, Jordan, 7, Jada, 9, Whitney, 8. Like many fami-

lies who have been in the Ronald McDonald

House, they save pop tabs to raise funds for the

Rochester charity.Tim Engstrom

Stacey Bahr

PEOPLE

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LEA T

RIBU

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They’re pulling for Ronald McDonald

By Tim Engstrom

Will Schafer Mullenbach was born July 8, 2003, at the

hospital in Albert Lea. He was a blue baby and doctors immediately diagnosed him as having transposition of the great arteries. He was flown by helicopter to St. Marys Hospital in Rochester.

The boy’s parents, Al Mullenbach and Michelle Schafer, spent the next 77 days living in the Med City. Fortunately, after the first few days, they were able to move into the Ronald McDonald House. To this day, their children save their aluminum pop tabs.

Walking down the hallways in schools in and around Albert Lea or at preschools such as The Children’s Center, people spot a poster about pop tabs. It’s a well-known fundraiser for the Ronald McDonald House.

People collect flip-top tabs from aluminum cans and save the proceeds for the Ronald McDonald House. They take contain-ers of tabs to the house

itself, if they reside in Ol-msted County, but where do they take them if they live in Freeborn County?

Maggie Schoepski is the community development director for the Ronald McDonald House. She said people can bring them to a McDonald’s Restaurant in Albert Lea. Or people can recycle them and have the check made payable to the Ron-ald McDonald House.

“Thousands of young people and families participate every year,” she said. “Past guest families often host large pop tab drives back home to raise awareness of our mission.”

The Ronald McDonald House in Rochester is at 850 Second St. SW. It is just two blocks from St. Marys Hospital, where infants and children in the region get medical care for serious illnesses. Parents already bear plenty of expenses when raising children, so long hotel stays can add up. And staying in a hotel for days or weeks on end can be rough for siblings of the young ones in the hospital. It is the mission

of the Ronald McDonald House to provide com-munity living at no cost to families, though most make a donation of about $15 a night.

It all started in 1979 when four Rochester families sought to pro-vide a home away from home for families with seriously ill children, and in 1980 with community support they formed Northland Children’s Services, a 12-bedroom home at 613 Second St. SW. The place was called

the Northland House.The Northland House

became a licensed Ronald McDonald House in 1990, providing a familiar face for children and better recognition in the region, plus a strong tie to Mc-Donald’s Corp. The board sought a new location, and in 1995 moved to the 850 Second St. SW loca-tion. It had 24 rooms for guests, and it had living areas, kitchens, laundry, playroom, game room and offices. In 2004, the Ronald McDonald House

expanded, adding 18 more guest rooms. Six of them are specifically for long-term stays. There is also a community dining room, and volunteer groups come one or two nights a week to make meals for the families.

Maggie Schoepski is the community develop-ment director for the Ronald McDonald House. She said the house is full nearly every night.

“We often have a wait-ing list of families hoping to get in,” she said.

In 2012, the house had 778 families stay there — but 1,170 families were unable to stay because the place was full.

“Our board and staff are exploring strategies to address this capacity situ-ation,” Schoepski said.

The Ronald McDonald House provides bed linens, towels, cleaning supplies and cooking appliances and utensils. It also offers books, DVDs, toys and video games, mainly for kids. But there is a pinball machine that grown-ups often enjoy, too.

All the rooms are slightly different, and they have a capacity 4P. 4

The Ronald McDonald House gives families with sick children a home away from home

SubmittedTristan Register might have been to the Rochester many times for medical care, but he seems like any other happy 4-year-old boy these days.

2 5 6 7

Page 2 • Albert Lea Tribune • Sunday, February 24, 2013 • PROGRESS 2013

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Tim EngstromAndy Dyrdal stands in front of the home near City Beach that he resided in for 40 years. He now lives at Vil-lage Cooperative, 2201 Stevens St.

89-year-oldtours 5 changes

to Albert Leathrough the years

5By Tim Engstrom

Andy Dyrdal has witnessed the changes in Albert Lea through the years. He turns 90 in April. He was born south of Lerdal and moved to the city at age 14. He recalls those cherished pre-World War II days when the downtown had three hotels, three ice cream shops and a dance hall called The Casino.

There have been many changes since then, and Dyrdal took me to five places he wished to share with Tribune readers.

City BeachDyrdal lived in a house

overlooking City Beach for 40 years. The house, 715 North Shore Drive, now is owned by Tom Dyrdal, one of his two sons. Andrew Dyrdal, a widower, resides at Village Cooperate and enjoys boast-ing about how good it is there,

calling it Lazy Man’s Living.The elder Dyrdal, whose

career was as a letter carrier with the U.S. Postal Service, bought the house in 1967, he said, after living for 13 years in a house on Fourth Street. Day in and day out, he and his family saw activities at the beach.

The biggest change is the tennis courts are now a skate park. He said he and other players would stop between games and take a quick swim to cool off, then resume play. Wind off the lake made games unpredictable some days. People parked on what now is beach because houses

existed where the current parking lot exists. In the 1940s, people at City Beach would look across Fountain Lake and see what’s going on at The Casino, a dance hall built on wooden piles keep-ing it above the water. It had boat rentals, too.

People swam at Shore-

land Beach, too, which was near the Shoreland Heights residential development. Back then, only a few of the older homes existed. And people swam at College Dock, which was down the hill along Abbott Street, near where Lakeview Elementary School exists today.

Dyrdal stands at the corner of College Street and Broadway in front of the Broad-way Theater. He said lines for blockbuster movies would reach down College Street toward what is now the Aragon Bar, which in the 1940s was an auto repair garage.

College Street at BroadwayHe recalls lines of people outside

the Broadway Theater and snak-ing down the College Street side the building, on the northwest corner. People tended to call the movies “shows” back in those days. (People nowadays relate “shows” to television these days.) Shows were at 7 and 9 p.m. and Sunday nights were big. Thursday nights were bank nights, when the theater staff drew names to give away cash. The building, 340 S. Broadway, still exists.

Across the street, on the north-east corner, was the five-story Hotel Albert, torn down in the mid-1970s to make room for the new location of Freeborn Na-tional Bank. The location is now US Bank. Dyrdal was a bellhop at the Hotel Albert in the summer of 1941. He said the place touted itself as the largest hotel in the country for the size of city in which it was located. Yet in 1941 it managed to be filled three nights a week. Dyrdal left to go work for Lockheed Martin in California.

On the southwest corner was the

Albert Lea Tribune. Carriers went downstairs from the outside to get their papers. Routes were so much in demand that people had to in-herit them, and Dyrdal substituted for a friend, usually on Fridays, which took longer because it was the collection day.

One building down from the Trib was Western Union. Its work-ers would take bicycles to deliver messages. College Street also had Stieler’s Cafe and Burnsmoor Dairy, and across Washington Avenue was the Methodist Church, where an apartment building now exists.

Of course, on the southeast cor-ner then as now was the Freeborn County Courthouse, which back then had a bell tower with a clock and stood without the eastern addition, built in 2003 and 2004. The jail existed where the parking lot is now. America hadn’t entered World War II; obviously, where the Freeborn County Veterans Memo-rial is today was just courthouse lawn. A brick in the memorial has Dyrdal’s name. He served in the Air Force during World War II.

PROGRESS 2013 • Sunday, February 24, 2013 • Albert Lea Tribune • Page 3

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Dyrdal stands at the entrance to the Albert Lea Country Club, which offered a view of Edgewater Bay. He said the clubhouse was a place many locals miss.

Dyrdal stands on a hill at the end of Fourth Street with city storage buildings behind him. The land below in the 1950s was a dump, easily seen from Frank Hall Drive.

Dyrdal stands in front of Fuller’s Bay, a place often reached by going to the end of Mariner Lane off of Park Avenue.

Albert Lea Country Club

Dyrdal has played golf since he was 16 years old. Last summer, at the 18-hole Rice Lake Country Club south of Lake Mills, he scored an 89 twice. In other words, he golfed his age.

Dyrdal recalls playing a nine-hole course with sandy greens and tees north the Wedge prop-erty. It was named the Recreation Golf Course and was built in 1932. With many young men gone during World War II, it was plowed under to become farmland, he said.

After the war, many

people played golf at the nine-hole private course called the Albert Lea Country Club. It had hills and over-looked Edgewater Bay. Dyrdal, who exited the Air Force in 1945, was a member of the club in 1946, ’47, ’48 and ’49. He enjoyed the course and recalled the hook down by the lake that Hole 7 had.

Gambling was popu-lar in the spacious club-house. It even had slot machines. That came to an end in 1947 when Gov. Luther Youngdahl — “the Sunday school governor” — convinced the Legislature to out-law slot machines and

eventually many other forms of gambling.

The Recreation Golf Course was easier and flatter than the Albert Lea Country Club, Dyrdal said. The coun-try club’s back nine was added years later. He said many people miss the course and have many memories of events and ceremo-nies at the clubhouse. He dislikes seeing the old course left to grow over. It closed in 2006 when a developer bought it and sought to turn it into a residen-tial development, but his plan failed when legal battles with con-tractors arose.

Fuller’s BayFor years the Albert

Lea Parks and Rec-reation Department would flood the surface of the ice on Fuller’s Bay with water to create smooth skating ice and erect sideboards to cre-ate a rink. Kids would come from all over the city to figure skate or play pond hockey.

On the farm his fam-ily had south of Lerdal, he wore clamp skates

and learned to skate on a pond. He even went to the Hoidal School in Riceland Township. When they moved to town, he made new friends. He got shoe skates and learned of Fuller’s Bay, which today is best spotted in front of Mayo Clinic Health System and up along the Park Avenue Peninsula.

He said the hospital didn’t front the lake in

those days. Houses did. Kids who weren’t skat-ing would sled or ski down the hills in front of the homes and out onto the ice.

The city would stake lights around the skat-ing rink and provide a warming house on the ice with a pot-belly stove inside.

The place was pro-tected fairly well from the winter winds, he said.

The DumpBack in the 1950s

and early 1960s, trucks would take people’s garbage to a dump right at the end of the road that now runs through Frank Hall Park, where the former wastewater treatment plant and an animal shelter now exists. People would could look down at the dump from Academy

Park. Motorists would see the dump when they reached the end of Fourth or Third streets.

Dyrdal lived on Fourth Street from 1952 to 1965. He said the neighborhood near the dump is much better these days, with a nice view of Albert Lea Lake, playground equipment at Frank Hall Park and fishermen along the

water in cold and warm months.

He said Albert Lea has done a lot to beautify itself over the years, especially along waterfronts, whether it is the Brookside School area or Gasoline Alley or Fountain Lake Park, the city continues to be a wonderful place with cherished open spaces, such as lakes, ponds and grasslands.

Page 4 • Albert Lea Tribune • Sunday, February 24, 2013 • PROGRESS 2013

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of five. Each room has a queen bed with a twin and a trundle or bunk beds. They each have a bathroom, air condition-ing, private phone and a computer that functions as a TV and DVD player.

Albert Leans likely recall seeing billboards in 2010 with the face of a smiling toddler who was promoting chocolate chip cookies that benefited the Ronald McDonald House. It was Tristan Register, son of Chris and Danielle Register.

Tristan was part of the “Cookies for Kids” campaign. Tristan’s photo was on a billboard in Albert Lea and on three more in Rochester, as well as three digital billboards in Rochester, where his picture rotates with other messages. He was also on table tents and tray liners.

Tristan was born three months prema-turely in July 2008. It was then that the family got to know first-hand about the Ronald McDon-ald House in Rochester, which provides a “home away from home” and offers support to families seeking medical care for their children. There are bedrooms, laundry and kitchen facilities to use. Community volunteers prepare meals a couple nights a week.

At birth, Tristan weighed 2 pounds, 6 ounces, and was 14 inches long. After he was born, he was flown from Albert Lea’s maternity ward to the neonatal intensive care unit at St. Marys Hospital in Roch-ester. He stayed there for 80 days, growing into a 7-pound boy when he was ready for discharge.

But he would be back, and his family would return to the Ronald McDonald House.

One Sunday in October of 2008, he was lethar-gic. Danielle and her mother, Lee Ellen Sund-holm, took him to the Al-bert Lea Medical Center emergency room, where he stopped breathing. Medical personnel got him breathing again, and he was once again flown to Rochester.

Tristan was diagnosed with late-onset step B and spent another 11 days in the hospital. A bronchoscopy to check his airway on Dec. 19, 2008, revealed a cyst in his airway. Chris and Danielle were given a choice. He could have a tracheotomy or an open airway reconstruc-tion. They chose the reconstruction.

Danielle didn’t come home once to Albert Lea between Dec. 19 and Feb. 5, 2009. Chris continued to work at his job in Fairmont, joining Danielle in Rochester whenever possible.

Santa came to the Ron-ald McDonald House for Christmas, and doctors prepared a Christmas dinner for the families. Tristan ate no food by mouth until June 2009.

As of January 2013, Tristan has been to operating rooms 37 times, but shows no problem with what has become a normal part of his life. The Registers say his health has been a roller coaster, but today Tristian is a “healthy, energetic and loving 4-year-old boy.”

“We will never be able to give back enough to The Ronald McDonald House. They made us feel welcomed and cared for during such a difficult time in our lives. They will forever be in our hearts and our family,” Danielle Register said.

On the Saturday before Christmas, Al Mul-lenbach

and Jenine Kozolek took Whitney, 8, Jordan, 7, and Jada, 9 to the Ronald McDonald House to see a room named for their brother Will.

You see, Will didn’t make it. He died Sept. 23, 2003, from compli-cations during surgery. The child had gone through several surger-ies for his heart troubles and each week they thought they would be leaving the next. But af-ter this one, the parents had little choice but to take him off life support.

Meanwhile, the Ronald McDonald House was going through its expan-sion. The Mullenbach family began a drive to name a room for Will. With the help of small and large donations, in-cluding a big check from Minnesota Corrugated Box, the family raised $15,000 for the naming.

The Al and Michelle had spent so much time at the hospital, with the

baby, but the Ronald McDonald House urged them to get away from the medical atmosphere and get some rest. Even so, they spent time briefly mornings and evenings, but that was it.

“It still functioned as a home away from home,” Al Mullenbach said.

The staff, Al said, always were nice and friendly, and since then they have met many other locals who have been there.

“It’s amazing. You talk to so many people in the county who have stayed there,” he said.

Mi-chelle said

the Ronald

McDonald support was

“immeasurable.”“I could not imagine

my life at that time with-out their support,” she said, noting family and friends still donate in Will’s memory. “It is so important to continue to donate and help families have that same feeling while they are staying there.”

During the December visit, the three girls sat on a bench next to a painted statue of Ronald McDon-ald the clown. They liked the game room and un-derstood what happened to Will and how they can help others.

They had saved money they had found in the laundry and other places and placed it in a little bank the shape of a star. They gave their money, about $40, to the Ron-ald McDonald House.

Whitney said the do-nation made her happy.

“I liked it because it was helping other people, and that’s really nice,” she said.

It’s tough for families when a child is in the hospital. I know. I’ve been there.

It’s tough to describe those days. Each and every day was differ-ent. Not only was my newborn son, Jasper, in the neonatal intensive care unit at St. Marys Hospital in Rochester, my wife was in the hospital in Albert Lea. And when she was discharged, she came to Rochester, experienced a spinal headache and was admitted to Rochester Methodist Hospital.

Jasper was in the NICU for having under-developed lungs and

having too much magnesium sulfate

from his moth-er’s medica-

tion in his system.

He was

born prema-turely last August and didn’t breathe very well at birth. Medically speaking, breathing is rather important.

For a while there, I had a wife in one hospital and a son in another and our other son, 5-year-old Forrest, with me nearly at all times. He and I were milkmen. We shuttled breast milk from Mommy’s hospital to Jasper’s hospital.

Since the second day in Rochester, I had been staying at the Fiksdal Motel across the street from St.

Marys Hospital. The first night, I actually stayed in a room right there at the hospital. And since the second day, we were on a wait-ing list to check into the Ronald McDonald House. A social worker with Mayo Clinic let me know we qualified.

It took four days for a room to open up at the Ronald McDonald House. Fortunately, Lisa was discharged by that day, and the three of us stayed at the home. We were facing mounting medical bills — you won’t believe the cost of the helicop-ter and the insurance hassles that entails —

so it was a relief we

wouldn’t have any-

more lodging expenses.

Thank you, Ronald McDonald House.

We ended up staying five more nights. Let me tell why it was much bet-ter than a hotel.

Hotels don’t offer

much in the way of the com-

forts of home. When you stay a hotel, it’s hard to keep grocer-ies in the little fridge. The only kitchen convenience you have is a microwave oven. The bathrooms are cramped. But you are living in this space long term, and someone comes into your space every day to clean the room, which starts to seem annoying, rather than convenient, be-cause they move your stuff.

The Ronald McDon-ald House provides spacious communal

kitchens with all the necessary appliances and utensils. We could actually fix a meal and dine as a family, or at least part of a family.

The bathrooms are big. Our room had two beds, like a hotel room, but there was room to move, like a room at home. There was a comfy chair and a desk. A computer doubled as a TV set. Down the hall, there was a laundry room.

The rooms are on the second and third floors. The first floor has offices, a meet-ing room, a gift shop, a lobby and a dining room, where on some nights local church groups would make meals for the families staying at the Ronald McDonald House. I recall a yummy spa-ghetti dinner one night. The first floor also has a game room, which Forrest enjoyed. He and I found a little time to play “Mario Kart” on the Nintendo Wii with another boy, who soon discovered how good we were at the game and didn’t want to play anymore.

Little conveniences like these help normal-ize the hard time for Forrest, who behaved wonderfully throughout the experience. What a kid.

Basically, Jasper and I lived in Rochester for 11 days, and Lisa and For-rest lived there for eight days. We absolutely didn’t want to stay any longer. We were sick and tired of the cold and inconvenient hospital life, but the Ronald McDonald House was the next best thing to actually being at home. That’s because it had the feeling and warmth of a home.

It sure must be something even more of an oasis for those families who end up staying weeks or months there. There were many stories of other families much more fretful and dire than ours. The families grow close and give each other support during hard times, even though they may be total strangers. And then they might not ever see each other again.

By the way, Jasper is doing fine these days, like any normal baby.

Tribune Managing Editor Tim Engstrom’s column, Pothole Prai-rie, can be read on Tuesdays.

Tim Engstrom

Pothole Prairie

House is like an oasis for families

Continued from Page 1

‘So many people in the county have stayed there’

The chil-dren in the Al Mullen-bach family place mon-ey they find in this star-shaped bank. Near Christmas, they select a charity to donate the money to. It is part of a lesson about giving.Tim Engstrom, Stacey Bahr

Eligibility:• Families must live outside Olmsted County.• They must have a child age 18 or younger seeking medical care in Rochester.• A Mayo Clinic social worker will let families know they are eligible.• One room is provided per family.• Rooms have a capacity of five.• Rooms are available on a first-come, first-served basis.• Reservations cannot be made in advance.• Several hotels offer reduced rates for families on the RMD House waiting list.• There is no fee for staying, but many guests give a donation of $15 a night or more.• Families can stay as long as the sick child has an active appointment schedule.

PROGRESS 2013 • Sunday, February 24, 2013 • Albert Lea Tribune • Page 5

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Detective Frank Kohl is the lead child abuse and sex crimes investigator

with the Albert Lea Police Department.

Sarah Stultz, Kathy Johnson

By Sarah Stultz

For more than 30 years, Albert Lea Police Department detective Frank Kohl has investi-gated cases that would make most people shudder.

As a detective of homicides, sex crimes, child abuse and other major offenses, Kohl has learned to deal with the trauma he sees so that he can help other people.

“That’s my goal, to help people,” he said. “I help them through tragedy, I help prevent tragedy and I hold people accountable for tragedy.”

At any given time, Kohl, who is one of two detectives in the depart-ment, is investigating 10 to 12 cases.

When he first started as a police officer in 1980 after serving six years in the U.S. Air Force, Kohl said he did so because he wanted an adventurous job — one that wasn’t routine.

Since then, he has changed his mindset and realized how he can help others.

He worked in law enforcement in Iowa for 13 years with the North-wood Police Depart-ment, the Worth County Sheriff’s Office and the drug task force for north central Iowa.

He accepted a job in Albert Lea in 1992 and was promoted to detec-tive in 2002, at which time he began investi-gating child abuse and sex crimes cases.

He has since un-dergone training for forensic interviewing of children and has become successful at putting cases together.

He serves as a mem-

ber of the Minnesota Sex Crimes Investigators As-sociation and has twice been nominated for Investigator of the Year.

Kohl said since he first started as a detective in 2002, his caseload has gotten heavier.

“When I started it was really heavy with child abuse and child neglect,” he said. Now, he focuses his time mainly on sex crimes.

He said starting in 2003, the Police Depart-ment began encouraging people to report cases of sexual abuse, and he thinks the encourage-ment is working.

“People are more inclined now to report,” he said. “It’s not that it’s happening more than it was 20 years ago, it’s just that it’s getting reported more.”

In January 2012, Kohl took a part-time posi-tion as a medicolegal death investigator with the Minnesota Regional Medical Examiner’s Office, which contracted with Freeborn County. The job gives him more experience with investi-gating death scenes.

“It’s better for the department. It was good for the medical exam-iner’s office,” Kohl said. “It was a good fit all the way around.”

With all of his respon-sibilities, Kohl said he takes time to decom-press during his free time by playing the gui-tar or volunteering with the local Moose Club or the American Legion Leo Carey Post 56.

“I learn to live with it,” Kohl said. “Some-times people may think that I don’t show a lot of emotion. I don’t wear my heart on my sleeve, but things that I see do affect me.”

The protective detectiveFrank Kohl deals with some of the worst crimes in Albert Lea

456Cases Kohl has investigated since 2006.

1992Year Kohl started working

with the Albert Lea Police Department.

10-12Cases Kohl is investigating at any given time.

33Years Kohl has spent in law enforcement.

Page 6 • Albert Lea Tribune • Sunday, February 24, 2013 • PROGRESS 2013

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We asked readers on Fa-cebook to select one word to describe what they liked about Albert Lea. Here are their responses:

What do you like about Albert Lea?

What do you like about Albert Lea High School?

We asked readers on Facebook to select one word to describe what they liked about Albert Lea High School. Here are their responses:

A blast from the pastCarrie Miller Grove shared this photo

of the Rivoli movie theater in 1965 on the Facebook page “You Know You Are From Albert Lea If …,” a place to discuss the past that was created by the Albert Lea Tribune.

On the marquis, it says, “Gregory Peck ‘Mirage.’”

Here is what some people said:Mary Lynn Johnson: “The front

part of the second floor was occupied by the YMCA offices and meeting room …remember giving my ‘I Speak For Democ-racy’ speech there, to a group of Christian temperance women, absolutely terrified that I would forget part of it … my first experience in public speaking to a group.

David Ferrie: “Wow, that brings back a flashback, I used to sneak in the back door. Remember they turned that into the Fly?”

Noel Philbrook: “When did they take down the marquis? I lived there from 1974 to 1989 and don’t remember ever seeing it.”

Graphics by Stacey Bahr

PROGRESS 2013 • Sunday, February 24, 2013 • Albert Lea Tribune • Page 7

Oak Park® Place features assisted living apartment homes

with licensed nursing staff on call 24-hours. Planned activi-

ties and amenities are customized to individual needs. A

wide range of floor plans are available, from cozy studios

to deluxe two-bedroom apartment homes.

To learn more about our Assisted Living options and to

schedule a personal tour, Call (507) 373-5600.

Albert leA: 1615 Bridge Avenue, Albert Lea, MN 56007

Assisted Living • Memory Care www.OakParkPlace.comIndependence when you want it,

assistance when you need it.

Assisted Living... with helping hands built-in

RAIN BARRELS AVAILABLE

Shell Rock River Watershed has a limited number of rain barrels still available

on a first come, first served basis

WHY USE RAIN BARRELS?

Barrels typically hold 55 to 80 gallons of water. Use the water

for flowers, vegetable gardens and houseplants. Or, attach an irriga-

tion hose to the barrel for watering lawns. Barrels also have overflow

valves that can direct water to additional barrels or to rain gardens

For more information you can phone: 507-377-5785

www.shellrock.org

NEW LOCATION214 W. Main St.

$6443

Enjoy The Wedgewood Restaurant & The Cove

Bar & Grill.

Banquet facility seats up to 450 people for weddings, meetings

and parties

Discover a hidden gem when you visit one of southern Minnesota’s finest 18-hole

Championship Golf Course

OPEN TO THE PUBLICCall for tee time or dining reservation

2200 W. 9th StAlbert Lea, MN 56007

507-373-2007

Heather RuleJonathan Breuer, salesman at Motor Inn Company, stands with his favorite car on the lot: A Honda Civic. Breuer really likes the gas mileage with the Civic.

George Gonzalez, Nissan/VW new car manager at Dave Syverson Auto Center, poses next to his favorite car: a 2013 Nissan Altima. Gonzalez said he likes the new look of the car.

Mark Kness, sales associate at Vern Eide Chevrolet, takes a look under the hood of his favorite car at the dealership: A Chevy Camaro ZL1. He likes that it has the old ’60s muscle car look.

Mark Knesssales associateVern Eide Chevrolet

“This would have to be my favorite. It’s a Camaro. It’s a ZL1 which is the high-est performance Camaro that they make. Super-charged with 575 horsepower. So it’s not something you buy to save gas.”

Why does this one stand out for you?“Mostly the performance. But it’s got the muscle-car look. The Corvettes are

really nice too, but this has kind of got the old ’60s muscle-car look. Kind of reminds me of the Transformers. Looks like it could come to life.

“So it’s got the same performance or even more than a Corvette, but it does have a backseat. So you can put four in there instead of just two.

“I normally like chrome myself a little more in the wheels, but these black wheels with the black stripes gives it a uniue look.

“I see a lot of cars come through here, but this is this one stands out. Nothing like I’ve ever seen. Got a 6-speed manual transmission. But the way the technol-ogy is, it’s so much smoother and easier shifting than it used to be back in the ’60s.”

Car salesman:What is your favorite new car on the lot?

By Heather Rule

Jonathan BreuersalesmanMotor Inn Company

What is your favorite car?“Honda Civic. Because of the great gas mileage. Thirty-nine on the highway.

And the great resale value.”

George GonzalezNissan/VW new car managerDave Syverson Auto Center

What is your favorite car?“My favorite car would be a 2013 Nissan Altima.“I love the new look. It’s a new body style car, so I love the new look of the car.

And the fuel mileage on the car is a 38-mile-per-gallon car. So with gas prices the way they are, it’s a hot seller here.

“Yeah, love the look of it, and I love the fuel mileage on it.”

Page 8 • Albert Lea Tribune • Sunday, February 24, 2013 • PROGRESS 2013

Kade Vershey

Craig Loehr

Greg Hanson

Travis Stortroen

Doug Conn

George Gonzalez

Josh Diaz

Christopher Balfe

Kevin Lee

Todd Edwardson

Kerby Lodin

Chad Cahill

Kathy Henderson

Brent Skarsten

Mark Christopherson

1-800-423-6663 • 507-373-1438 • www.davesyverson.com2310/2320 E. Main, Albert Lea, MN

DO IT SMART... DO IT SIMPLE... DO IT DAVE SYVERSON’S

VALUE PRICE... PLAIN & SIMPLEAND

Stop in and Experience the Difference with our non-commissioned Sales Team!

Voted #1 Place to Buy an Automobile

in the 2012 Reader’s Choice Awards

TRUCKYEAROF

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Home of the

$12.95 oil

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