I'm Charity Nebbe.

And this is Greetings from Iowa.

Iowa artist and writer Akwi Nji wrote through stories, strangers become friends and outsiders become insiders.

That's exactly what Greetings from Iowa is all about.

We want to get reacquainted with our neighbors by telling stories of the people, communities and cultures of our state.

Coming up on this episode, we'll meet musician and artist Kellie Montijo Fink.

We will join DJ Dale Eicher, who's been working in country music radio since the 1960s.

And the Gramoutis family will share their family's story while making a traditional Greek meal.

All that and more coming up next on Greetings from Iowa.

Funding for greetings from Iowa is provided by: with our Iowa roots and Midwestern values, Farmers Mutual Hail is committed to offering innovative farm insurance for America's farmers, just as we have for six generations Farmers Mutual Hail America's crop insurance company the Pella Roll Screen Foundation is a proud supporter of Iowa PBS.

Pella Windows and Doors Drives to better our communities and build a better tomorrow.

[music] In 1991, Brooklyn put up an avenue of flags to welcome RAGBRAI Riders into town.

That gave a local resident an idea.

30 years later, the community is now called the Community of Flags.

Greetings from Brooklyn, Iowa.

Brooklyn is known as the community of flags.

People come from all over to go to a class together.

The Brooklyn Service Center is 1920s.

John Wayne's father was a pharmacist and he lived here for a couple of years.

We know he went to kindergarten here and he lived up the block on East Des Moines Street, and we've got a marker there to commemorate that.

One of the first routes across Iowa goes right through Brooklyn.

It was called the river to River Road that went from Council Bluffs to Davenport, Stagecoach Road.

Eventually, Highway six followed it.

The railroad followed it.

Interstate 80 followed it.

So it must have been a pretty good way to get across to Iowa because it's still prevalent today.

This is the Brooklyn Opera House, originally built in 1911.

In the 1920s was the introduction of silent movies, and so all the windows on the outside kind of got covered over so that movies could could begin in here.

It was ran off and on throughout the years, up until the late nineties.

In 1998, the floor collapsed in the building right before one of the shows.

Its last show here.

And so at that time, it just kind of got boarded up and and nobody touched it again until we came in here in 2014, we started working with contractors, engineers, architects.

So we really actively in 2018 started construction on the building.

It took us about 14 months to complete the building.

I came here when I was young, you know, sat in the balcony when I could with a girl.

If I could, you know, they didn't always open the balcony, but most of us wanted to sit in the balcony.

In Brooklyn, Iowa, there's just a lot going on for a small town.

♪♪ My name is Kelly Montijo Fink and I am a singer/songwriter, I am an educator, wife, mother, kind of a little bit of everything.

(Native drum music) Kelly: My mother's family is from New Mexico and that is where we trace our lineage, our Apache lineage.

♪♪ ♪♪ Kelly: I think I have always had a song in my heart, if that makes sense.

I always remember singing, sitting in the back seat of the car when my parents were driving and just singing whatever was on the radio, whatever was in my mind and I remember spending summers out in Colorado actually with my grandmother and she had a very old piano and I would love spending hours just trying to plink out songs and making things up.

I didn't know what I was doing, but what sounded right to me.

So I just have all these early memories of music in my life and then trying to create my own.

And that was from an early age too.

And I don't think I got really serious about writing songs until maybe my late 30s, so kind of a late bloomer.

(laughs) Kelly: But better late than never, right?

I was thinking about this the other day when somebody asked me to describe our music.

I think I should start responding this way.

It's like the weather in Iowa -- you know what comes next, right?

If you don't like it, wait five minutes, it'll change.

Tonight you're going to hear multiple genres because to me every song has a personality and expresses itself in a different way.

Kelly: I think it's just really important generally speaking for us to hear each other's stories because then we can connect better.

I have a friend who is an Inuit elder, he used to travel a lot more now too, but every time he would go to speak somewhere they're like, and we have a special speaker tonight and this is who he is.

He says, once I was introduced as a special listener.

I said, that's really powerful.

And it made such an impact on him because you have to listen to be able to speak well, to interpret what you hear.

And so I think just being willing to listen, if I would encourage people, listen to people whose stories are different than your own.

And I think part of the problem is we think it's not my story, it's not my experience, so that couldn't have happened, that couldn't be real.

But you'd be surprised.

(Native drum music) (Native drum music) (Native drum music) Kelly: I think with the general population here in Iowa many people don't have that experience or have never heard Native drum music unless they're going out maybe to the Meskwaki Powwow that they have twice a year out at the settlement.

I think the general population just is unaware.

We've been here for such a long time and to be allowed to come in and asked even to share stories and share songs that are maybe out of the ordinary for a typical Iowan, I think it's a great honor and it's a great responsibility to share because it's part of you, it's part of your person and any time you do that you're being vulnerable whether you'll be received, whether you won't be received.

But it's nonetheless your story.

(Native drum music) (applause) Kelly: The general population just thinks Native Indian, that we're all the same, we have the same traditions, we have the same languages and none of that is true.

And I know many cultures say, I'm not a monolith, which is very true with Native folks.

Native is just such a broad term.

I mean, most Native people would identify themselves by saying their tribal name, I'm Apache, I'm Chiricahua Apache, and they would self-identify that way.

And even then so many names that are known for the tribes are really misnomers or names given to them by somebody else.

So for example, Apache is not even actually from the language that our people speak, it is from the Zuni Tribe.

Maybe somebody came along, maybe the Spanish came along and said, hey who are those people?

Are those your people too?

No, they're Apachu, they're enemies.

So, so many names are derogatory or derivative of another language.

Sioux actually came from another tribe calling them Little Snakes and so it's Lakota.

And if you look at the original language and the names the people had for themselves it was simply the people or the human beings or like the Meskwaki, the people of the Red Earth.

There is a human, very human aspect to what we call ourselves, not what other people call us.

♪♪ ♪♪ Kelly: I think we're still here, if nothing else we're still here.

We may be invisible to you but we're really still here and we don't all look alike, we don't all sound alike.

And the other thing I think is a lot of times when we see this public replication of Native people it's, we know what you look like, we know what you sound like, this is it, so just agree with that and be fine with it.

♪♪ ♪♪ Kelly: Since I think 2013 now I have been serving on the Iowa Commission for Native American Affairs.

I know early on for the Commission I felt a little bit like a duck out of water because we have social activists, we have lawyers, we have people with these different experiences.

And I thought, where do I fit here?

Because I'm a creative, I'm an educator, I'm a songwriter.

And I thought, well I guess that's what is missing, right?

And so there wasn't a committee within the Commission for education and the arts.

So I said, can we add this to what we do?

And so I thought this is a good way to kind of bridge that gap with the community.

We serve our Native communities within the state of Iowa but we also serve the general public to try to educate.

♪♪ Kelly: Get to know people that are different than you and find those commonalities, find those connections.

I know I have come in with some preconceived ideas talking about culture-to-culture interactions, most of my students are Congolese or Sudanese.

The thought in my head was because of everything I had heard on the news and in the media was, are the men that are Muslim going to receive me as a teacher because I'm female?

And I was surprised.

They are probably the most respectful students I've ever had.

That is a powerful interaction, that is a powerful community builder is when you take the time, of course it's my job to take the time to do that, but I think in general there is more of a richness that happens when you integrate and you understand other people's lives and other stories.

Now, you don't necessarily have to be best buddies, but you at least get a better revelation of what their lives have been.

♪♪ True Country 540 KWMT.

I'm Dale, Dale Eichor.

I started in radio broadcasting in 1960.

Good evening ladies and gentlemen.

Dale Eichor: When I was a child I just always was fascinated by radio.

My mother was a, she always had the radio on.

She was a fan of music.

She liked music.

And so did my dad for that matter.

That's probably where I got my interest right there.

♪♪ Dale Eichor: We moved back to Iowa in 1972, came here to KWMT and have been here since.

All the news coming up at five o'clock, Fox News, we'll have KWMT news for you, check the weather, probably back with more music on the driving home show.

Here's Buck Owens' band, The Buckaroos.

♪♪ Dale Eichor: Well, I like a lot of different kinds of music really.

People think I only like country.

But I like -- the old joke was I like both kinds of music, country and western.

But I like a lot of different kinds of music and I played different kinds of music in my early radio jobs, Denison and Shenandoah.

And so later on it became exclusively country.

They say your favorite music is the music you grew up with and I think that's probably so.

So that's what we play here at KWMT, classic country.

The True Country station KWMT, let's go back for one from Kenny Rogers.

One of Kenny's big hits, here's Lucille.

♪♪ Dale Eichor: I like to do more than just say here's George Jones, and there was George Jones.

I like to talk about the artist some.

I like to talk about the history of the music.

I use my Billboard chart book.

I like to go back and see what the big hits were of years ago on this particular date and maybe dig one out and play it and say, well here's the number one song from 1975 this time of the year.

And I like to do, I dig up all of my Nashville notes, I like to give country news about the artists and birthdays and things like that.

I want to add my condolences and extend my sympathy to Ronnie Milsap, Ronnie's family and friends and his fans.

Ronnie is mourning the passing of his wife Joyce.

Many of Ronnie's songs were inspired by his wife.

So extending our sympathy to Ronnie Milsap and family on the passing of his wife Joyce Milsap this past week.

Dale Eichor: I'm still startled when somebody, I'll be in a checkout line or something and somebody will recognize me either by they hear my voice or maybe they've seen me somewhere.

But I'm really taken aback by that when that happens.

True Country 540 KWMT is proud to be the home of Country Music DJ Hall of Fame member Dale Eichor.

Dale Eichor: The biggest hall a country boy could aspire to is the Country DJ Hall of Fame Award.

I was inducted in the year 2001.

It's in Nashville.

It's the epitome of being a country DJ.

That's where you would like to end up.

Way back when, 1974, CMA has, the Country Music Association, CMA has a Country DJ of the Year Award in three categories, small markets, medium markets and big markets.

And I won the small market award in 1974.

♪♪ Dale Eichor: I never thought I would make a living of it, make a living out of it, and for all these years, 60 years.

Yeah, I never really thought of that happening.

I just thought it would be something I'd try for and see what happened.

This guy is having a birthday today, Freddy Weller.

Remember Freddy Weller?

Dale Eichor: We've been a country station for 50 years and we'll let the FM's have the hot new country and we'll play the oldies but goodies, play it like it was.

(laughs) Freddy was born on this date September 9th in 1947 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Here's Freddy Weller.

In 2017 immigrants made up 13.5% of the U.S. population.

But it's estimated that 37% of small restaurant owners are foreign born.

Toni Groumutis was born in Greece.

He immigrated to Iowa in the early 1970s, where he would eventually open up a beloved family restaurant and now I'm here with Tony and Alexi thank you both so much for being here.

You're welcome and I want to go way back in time to the early 1970s.

You came to the United States through Canada.

Yes from Greece How did you wind up in Creston, Iowa?

My brother opened a restaurant, Centerville, Iowa.

He was here before me.

So when you bought the restaurant in Creston, did you have a vision for what it would be?

We did exactly what the restaurant was in Centerville.

It was a pizza and steak house, pasta, few fish sandwiches, a little bit of everything for the family.

And it was very popular because of that.

It became a family business.

But even as a little girl, you were there taking your naps under the counter.

Yeah.

When I was done with the day and I'd go to the restaurant underneath where the pizza trays were stored, my mom would make me a little nest where I could take my nap and I was always excited to help out.

It was fun.

You know, when you're young, young, you're excited to be a part of the restaurant.

So I would do little things like, you know, pour coffee for people or put on matching pants like my dad was wearing.

He had hand pants and I would wear the same pants.

And I worked there my entire life until we sold it.

After 43 years So what are we going to make today when I make a grilled chicken with and potatoes nice and I have some chicken here already cut up, and then I'll show you how we got it.

All right.

And of course, this is the little Cornish game hen.

So we're perfectly we could use a bigger chicken, too.

Yeah, you can do any any size in the middle like that.

But around so we've got in four pieces by this time doing the same here.

If was a bigger chicken I use, I got two more pieces, you know, I got them writing and everything, but this is just perfect, you know?

Yeah.

So we put it here and when to start off marinated Okay.

Put enough salt.

This is black pepper I think that's enough.

And we have oregano.

We don't put too much of this is kind of strong oregano came from Greece.

Right?

Yes.

And now we got a lemon here Olive oil.

that's why the food is so good.

A lot of olive like that is you know, it's important not to put too much of this in that and then we roll the potatoes here.

All right.

We've already peeled it.

Yeah.

You know, I might even put them here because they're going to go in the bottom so we put the spices again.

We do the same with potatoes.

All right.

Black pepper Oregano More olive oil.

sensory journey.

We have the oregano that hits you hard and then the lemon.

Yeah, I love that.

Now we put the chicken on the top but the rest of it and we're going to bake it for about an hour.

Right.

I go 45 minutes and see how it is.

And that might run another 30 minutes.

So once you open the restaurant, how did things go?

You had to really throw yourself into to making that work.

Well, it just opened and people started coming in and that was it.

In the beginning, every restaurant is going to be busy, and it's up to you if they come back or not, you know.

And we had good personality.

Why do you think they came back to see me?

Tony, this chicken looks beautiful.

It smells amazing.

Any tips on how to know when it's done?

Yes.

You tell by the color and then a thermometer in 165.

But my experience, you know, we don't have a thermometer You know, look how beautiful it is, nice and crispy.

All right.

And it's going to be even more beautiful, Lexi when you make us a Greek salad to go with it, right?

Yes.

This is a Greek village salad, so it's really simple.

We'll start with the dressing.

We've got some olive oil here.

And next, we have red wine vinegar.

You could also use lemon juice or half and half lemon juice and red wine vinegar.

And we've got some salts oregano from Greece.

I'm going to save some of it.

I'm going to save some of it back for the topping Tony, I can see that it's hard for you not to get involved.

I can't resist.

So you just give it a good whisk and then we will add our ingredients.

It's very simple.

Wonderful.

We've got our tomatoes so it's really a tomato based salad.

Yes, it is.

And you could even turn it into a pansanala and salad if you want it to add some bread to it.

Some crusty bread.

Nice.

So we've got the tomatoes, the cucumbers, and then the sliced red onions.

And, of course, kalamata olives.

It wouldn't be a Greek salad without kalamata olives.

And then give it a nice mix, and then we're going to put the cheese on top.

Nice.

And that's so bright and pretty.

And it's so fresh.

It's a perfect summer salad or spring salad and oregano.

Mint?

Yes.

And then we finished it with the right now and then.

That's lovely.

Well, why don't we put some chicken and potatoes and some salad on that plate plate it all up for us.

So what do you think your restaurant, when you were running it meant to Creston, meant to the community.

It means a lot You know, it's a new place.

And like, if you last that many years, you know, that means you need something right, you know?

And that's the way I look at it.

And I think a lot of people felt like it was their second home.

People from out of town or people who already lived in Creston, they were always excited to come to the A&G and they always felt like family.

And we always welcome them.

My dad was really good about, you know, giving out drinks and just celebrating and sitting and talking to people.

And a lot of people, you know, celebrated birthdays, their anniversary is there.

So over the years, it's meant a lot to everybody.

And, you know, we were happy to be a part of the community in that way.

And what was the best thing on the menu?

Offered, you know, say steaks were good, pizza was good and everything was good.

We were known for our pizzas.

All right.

But I'm sure it was all fabulous.

Yeah.

Yeah, cheers.

That is wonderful.

Tony and Alexi, thank you both so much for sharing your stories and for making this beautiful meal.

Thank you very much.

Thanks for joining us as we explore the people, communities and culture of our state.

We'll see you next time for another greetings from Iowa.

Funding for greetings from Iowa is provided by: With our Iowa roots and Midwestern values.

Farmers.

Mutual Hail is committed to offering innovative farm insurance for America's farmers, just as we have for six generations.

Farmers Mutual Hail America's crop insurance company the Pella Roll Screen Foundation is a proud supporter of Iowa PBS Pella Windows and Doors strives to better our communities and build a better tomorrow.