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>> BRANDON: Coming up.

>> ASHLEY: Raise a glass to a unique Indiana distillery.

>> BRANDON: Meet an endangered species making a home in Indiana.

>> ASHLEY: And discover an ancient Ukrainian folk art that's taking on new meaning.

>> BRANDON: That's all on this episode of -- >> TOGETHER: "Journey Indiana."

♪ >> ASHLEY: Welcome to "Journey Indiana."

I'm Ashley Chilla.

>> BRANDON: And I'm Brandon Wentz.

And we're coming to you from the Mesker Park Zoo and Botanical Gardens in Evansville.

Situated on 45 lush acres, the Mesker Park Zoo and Botanic Gardens houses hundreds of animals from across the world and features a variety of exotic and regional plants throughout, creating an exciting and immersive experience for visitors year round.

>> ASHLEY: And we are going to learn all about this zoological wonderland in just a bit, but first, producer Tyler Lake takes us to Dearborn County to distill the history of the MGP Distillery.

♪ >> While the well-known distilleries in Kentucky and Tennessee loom large in the public's imagination, the sprawling Ross and Squibb Distillery in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, is one of the nation's largest and oldest distilleries that most people have never heard of.

>> The first distilling on this site was in 1809.

We're setting on a vast aquifer, the greater Miami aquifer.

And what that provided for distillers was clean, clear, limestone-filtered water.

And so that's why all of these distilleries sprang up in Lawrenceburg, so much that it became known as Whiskey City.

>> George Ross started distilling here in 1847.

The plant became Rossville Union, as it swallowed up the Squibb Distillery and other operations distilling on the site.

It continued to grow right up until prohibition.

>> The Rossville Distillery got a little jump on prohibition because Indiana enacted prohibition in 1918.

And so they had to figure out what to do.

And so they made medicinal alcohol, and they could sell that.

And it would go into pharmacies and hospitals and doctor's offices.

It certainly wasn't like making bourbon or rye whiskey, but it kept the doors open.

And then in 1933, the business sold to Seagrams.

>> Seagrams invested heavily in the distillery, erecting the iconic buildings that still bear its name, along with the year Seagrams was founded 1857.

Seagrams made many of their most famous spirits here until the year 2000.

Around a decade later, the plant was sold to its current owners, Midwestern Grain Products or MGP.

>> And then in 2011, MGP bought the distillery.

And as we bought the distillery, kept those same mash bills going.

>> A mash bill is essentially a recipe for a distilled spirit.

And this plant creates a dizzying amount of whiskey, vodka and gin for other brands, many small and medium-sized distilleries look to Lawrenceburg to distill spirits they bottle under their own name.

>> People call us the Swiss Army Knife of distilling because we do so many different things.

Many distilleries will make one bourbon and one mash bill of bourbon.

We make multiple mash bills of bourbon and rye whiskey, and we make gin and we make vodka.

>> And they do it all through a cocktail of cutting-edge technology and traditional methods.

>> The key with this distillery is certainly at its scale, you've got built-in efficiencies that then drive consistency.

>> Unlike smaller craft distilleries where tastes can vary from batch to batch, this plant operates at an industrial scale.

It offers the kind of consistency sought after by a wide array of brands that bottle Lawrenceburg spirits, brands like Angel's Envy, Redemption and High West partner with Whitmer to create distinctive blends from Lawrenceburg spirits.

>> Where I got really involved with that is as a master blender, helping people come up with something from this distillery that was still uniquely their own.

And of course, the MGP model with that is if you want to start a distillery, we will certainly help you in your beginning phases with liquid.

People that build a distillery and distill their own, let's say their own rye whiskey, they know that they will have to wait a few years.

You can't just make it today and sell it tomorrow.

>> These days, the Lawrenceburg plant is drawing on its heritage to create new spirits that are all their own.

>> There was a decision made in the company that in addition to selling alcohol to others, we could have our own brands.

And the first brand that we came out with was George Remus Bourbon.

>> Remus was an attorney turned bootlegger.

He used his legal know-how to pull aging spirits from the plant and sell it legally as medicinal alcohol.

He made windfall profits, which he used to throw lavish parties at his home across the river from Lawrenceburg in Cincinnati.

>> The lore about George Remus is that he was an acquaintance of F. Scott Fitzgerald and became the inspiration for Gatsby, in The Great Gatsby .

>> Now, they make a wide variety of spirits proudly marketed as a product of Lawrenceburg, and along with what they sell to clients, it all added up to a whopping $780 million in revenue for MGP in 2022.

>> It is known nationally.

I would even say to some extent, it's known globally that if people are going to seek a rye whiskey, it's gonna be the Indiana rye, the Lawrenceburg rye.

And there is -- there is still more enthusiasm for bourbon and rye whiskey than there was even a few years ago.

>> And they are ideally positioned to meet that growing demand.

>> We are reaping the benefits still today of everything that Seagrams decided to do in the 1930s here in Lawrenceburg, Indiana.

And, of course, they were building on a tradition that really went back all the way to 1809, when two guys decided to build a distillery and crank out two barrels a week.

That history here, that know-how here, I think is great, and I'm glad that MGP has been able to keep that history alive and keep this place going.

Greater than it's ever been.

Greater than anybody along the line probably ever thought it could be, and I'm just really proud to be part of that.

>> ASHLEY: When most people think about rye whiskey and bourbon, I think they think Kentucky, right, because that's where you go for the Bourbon Trail.

>> BRANDON: Yeah.

>> ASHLEY: But it's so interesting to know that there's such a rich history of that also in Indiana.

And I think maybe in a few weeks, a month or so, we'll see, I might have some at the other end of this, just try it out, you know?

>> BRANDON: All right.

>> ASHLEY: Want to learn more?

Just head to the address on your screen.

>> BRANDON: Earlier, we spoke with Erik Beck, Mesker's Executive Director, to learn more about all the phenomenal things to see and do here at the zoo.

>> Northwest of downtown Evansville, Mesker Park Zoo and Botanic Gardens features a wide variety of wildlife that will dazzle visitors of all ages.

>> The Mesker Park Zoo and Botanic Gardens' mission is to cultivate connections between people and nature, and inspire action to actually go out into the world and make changes in their life.

Not only providing a place for families to come and enjoy, but also make these connections that we are all on this planet together.

We have animals that are from different parts the world.

And in our North American section of the zoo, which is one of our smaller areas of the zoo, you can see some of the animals that you would find right here in North America.

The most endangered of which is the Mexican gray wolves.

And they are one of our primary conservation projects here at the zoo we have been involved with for quite some time.

So our South American area at Mesker Park Zoo and Botanic Garden is probably our largest area of Mesker Park Zoo.

It contains well over 50 species of animals, and over 100 different animals individual.

So we have primates.

We have our aquatics specimens.

We have our jaguar.

We have our Baird's tapir, and then we have a lot of free fly birds around this habitat.

So Mesker Park Zoo does have an African section of the zoo, and that's where we exhibit some of our larger African hoof stock, what we call our hooved animals.

What people recognize the most is the giraffe species, and you're able to feed our giraffes every day.

And we have everything from African crowned cranes to Abyssinian ground hornbills to greater kudu to ostriches.

This large open plains exhibit, it's really a special space and really nice to have inside the zoo.

Asia is -- is kind of the northern part of our zoo.

It exhibits some areas of tropical Asia, but also what we call the highlands of Asia.

So that's in the colder climates, central China, Mongolia, areas like that.

♪ You know, the thing about zoos that really, I think, capture people's imagination, is where else can you go to see these animals?

Very few people get to go to African Serengeti safari, or an Amazon River cruise that sees these animals in the wild.

But also, it is that way for families to connect to each other.

So I think that's where we really are lucky to have a zoo this size and with our amenities here in Evansville.

>> ASHLEY: I am so excited to be here, because this zoo has a sun bear.

And, you know, they've been all the rage lately of people, the controversy about whether or not they are humans in bear costumes or they're actual bears, and I am so excited to see one.

>> BRANDON: Are you sure it wasn't just me getting out of my car when we got here?

>> ASHLEY: Well, we'll find out, won't we?

>> BRANDON: Okay.

You've never seen me and the sun bear in the same room together.

That's all I'm saying.

Want to learn more?

Head to meskerparkzoo.com.

>> ASHLEY: Up next, producer Nick Deel takes us to Greene County to discover a habitat that's become an important refuge for the endangered whooping crane.

♪ The Goose Pond Fish and Wildlife Area in southern Indiana's Greene County is a 9,000-acre mix of prairies and wetlands.

This reclaimed farmland is home to a staggering array of wildlife.

And since its establishment in 2005, it's become an especially important refuge for migratory birds.

>> This property is unique in Indiana, because wetlands today encompass less than 4% of all habitats in Indiana.

These are really valuable wildlife habitats, as evidenced by the wildlife migration that we see every year on Goose Pond, which includes a variety of waterfowl, shore birds, marsh birds and sandhill cranes and even whooping cranes.

>> Whooping cranes.

At 5 feet tall and with a 7-foot wingspan, they are one of the most awe-inspiring birds in North America.

But perhaps even more inspiring is what it's taken for them to get here.

Once spread across the continent, loss of habitat and unregulated hunting nearly drove the cranes to extinction.

In the 1940s, there were only 20 of the birds left.

Down from a population of more than 10,000.

However, conservation efforts have brought the birds back from the brink.

While the species remains endangered, these whooping cranes are among the more than 650 in the wild today.

Though they may have ended up in Goose Pond, the cranes began their journey in southern Wisconsin, at the International Crane Foundation.

>> So the status of whooping cranes in North America is -- I think it's optimistic.

>> Kim Boardman oversees the species survival plan for the North American whooping crane.

She and her staff at the foundation manage a captive breeding program, which releases whooping cranes into wild populations across North America.

On top of traditional breeding methods, the Crane Foundation utilizes a novel costume-rearing technique, which enables staff members to care for cranes around the clock without the need for captive crane parents.

>> There's a lot of things that can go wrong, even in captivity with a pair of birds raising a chick.

And so costume rearing continues to provide those higher numbers of chicks available annually for our re-introduction goals.

>> The cranes that arrive at Goose Pond each year are part of an experimental flock.

A group of 75 cranes established by the Crane Foundation in 2001.

Back then, Indiana wasn't part of the plan.

>> So the eastern migratory population, when it first was established, the idea was that the breeding ground would be in Wisconsin, and the wintering ground would be sort of down in southeast Florida area.

But as we had more and more birds, adult birds on the landscape that were migrating on their own, they started choosing their own stopover sites, and Goose Pond in Indiana is one of those sites that a lot of our birds like to stop at.

But we've also had some that have actually chosen to over winter there.

That's as far south as they go on their migration.

And so it's been a really important area for us.

>> A good signal.

>> Once the Crane Foundation releases the birds into the wild, keeping track of them is crucial.

That's where Jim Brown and Dan Kaiser come in.

They are the foundation's eyes on the ground here at Goose Pond.

>> Do you hear that?

>> These volunteers drive through the wetlands weekly, tracking the cranes through GPS locators and radio collars fitted on to the birds' legs.

>> Well, during the day, a lot of them move off of the property and go out into various ag fields in the area, which there, obviously, are thousands and thousands of acres of corn stubble fields in the area.

So they are kind of difficult to find, needle-in-a-haystack search out there.

>> Oh, there's four.

>> They are pretty close to the road, Dan.

So you might want to be careful going past them.

>> Yes, we will slow down up here.

Look out there, on the other side of the road, up north.

>> We're trying to ID by the color bands on their legs.

The birds are moving around.

It can be quite confusing and difficult, especially if there's a large group together, we can spend an hour trying to identify ten birds.

>> Jim and Dan note not only the crane's location, but also any issues or injuries or even the loss of a bird.

>> After the birds are released, you know, they are still pretty naive to the wild landscape.

And so learning to navigate different predator risks, whether they are ground predators or aerial predators, as well as the human risk.

We've had some of that on county roads where birds are kind of not paying attention as they are crossing between cornfields.

We also have power line collisions as one of the big risks.

>> Despite the hurdles, the whooping crane continues to make strides in its recovery.

And for now, their continued presence at Goose Pond is a welcomed sign of things to come.

>> It's always awe-inspiring.

When I reflect back on what it took to get them here to have recovered them, it's such an investment.

And then just the idea that here in Greene County, Indiana, I can see, you know, 20% of all of them in the eastern flyway.

It's a -- it's a thrill.

>> BRANDON: There's something about this that I just love the idea that, okay, we're going to set this place up.

We're going to set this place up, and the cranes went, no, no, no, we're going to go here.

>> ASHLEY: I mean, that's mother nature, right?

>> BRANDON: Right?

>> ASHLEY: They just sort of decide, nope, this is where I wanna go.

>> BRANDON: I like it here.

This is where we're going to stay.

>> ASHLEY: Want to learn more?

Head to the address on your screen.

>> BRANDON: Up next, producer Todd Gould takes us to Monroe County to learn about the Ukrainian folk art of pysanka writing.

♪ >> The designs are all symbols.

The symbols go back in time immemorial.

>> Most arts prefer working on canvas or stone or even heavy wrought iron.

For Bloomington artist, Natalie Kravchuk, the canvas is much, much smaller and much, much more delicate.

>> There were symbols for plant life, for animal life, a symbolism to the colors that were used.

>> Natalie specializes in creating a type of Ukrainian folk art known as pysanka writing.

Neatly crafted and deeply symbolic images written on a fragile, everyday egg.

It's an art that has been practiced for thousands of years in Ukraine and other Eastern European countries.

An art Natalie first learned at the age of 4, sitting next to her Grandpa Nick.

♪ >> The pysanka writing tradition goes back probably 2500 years, when they imbued the eggshell with different symbols and designs, they would empower the egg even more.

The women would gather and write them, you know, in the wee hours of the morning, late at night.

They believed that the more of them they could write, the more they -- the more powerful those eggs would become.

♪ >> Instead of simply painting on to an eggshell canvas, Ukrainian pysanka artists like Natalie are actually writing, using a wax resistance method to apply rich colors and cultural symbols to each egg.

She uses heat from a small candle flame and a pen-like object known as a Kistka stick, which is loaded with melted beeswax.

When melted and applied, the wax flows like ink.

>> With the advent of Christianity, the symbols then evolved to have Christian meanings, and that is how they become associated with the Easter season.

♪ >> Natalie carefully crafts each design element with wax outlines, then dips the egg into a specific colored dye.

The color does not appear on the areas where she applies the wax.

After soaking the egg in one colored dye, she pulls the egg back out, dabs it off and writes more wax symbols and designs.

She then dips it into another colored dye.

Natalie continue this process until all of the colors and wax designs have been written.

Finally, she melts away all the wax, revealing a treasure of colorful designs underneath.

>> You write with -- with intention.

You may not know who that pysanka will end up going to, but you want to be in a peaceful frame of mind.

You want to pass to the pysanka a spirit of calm and hope, and good intentions.

[ Explosions and sirens ] >> There's a legend that the more people that wrote pysanka, the more -- the more we would keep evil from permeating the planet.

There's also a legend that there's a monster or kind of a creature chained to a cliff, and the more pysanka are brought out among the people in that region, the tighter the chains stay -- contract and hold back that monster from taking over their world.

Young people need to understand that -- that there -- you know, that there are nations here who are constantly struggling to keep their identity.

People need to understand that identity is tied to folk arts; folk arts are tied to identity.

And the reason I -- the reason I keep explaining this and teaching it is to bring attention to the fact that Ukraine is an independent nation.

It's an independent culture that will not be obliterated.

♪ It does give me a sense of pride.

I mean, I -- I enjoy the pysanka art, and I continue to do it because I do enjoy it.

But I also continue to do it because it -- it must be continued.

This really is the only way that this art form, this folk art, is to be preserved, is to pass it on from generation to generation.

And I'm really happy to share it with others also.

♪ >> BRANDON: All right, Ashley.

You've got the tools.

You've got the time.

What do you put on your piece of art?

Like a -- a message?

It is writing.

>> ASHLEY: Yeah, I think maybe something like -- you know, that represents my family.

You know, something that's like a little message in a bottle, but it's a message on an egg, you know.

And stays there forever, and hopefully somebody one day finds some significance in it.

Want to learn more?

Just head to the address on your screen.

>> BRANDON: And as always, we'd like to encourage you to stay connected with us.

>> ASHLEY: Just head to JourneyIndiana.org.

There you can see full episodes, connect with us on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, and suggest stories from your neck of the woods.

>> BRANDON: We also have a map feature that allows you to see where we've been and to plan your own Indiana adventures.

Well, I don't know about you, but I know myself and some of the animals around the zoo, it's getting lunchtime.

So we will see you next time on -- >> TOGETHER: "Journey Indiana."

>> ASHLEY: All right, Brandon, do you have any thoughts, penguins or giraffes?

>> BRANDON: I'm going to go penguin, if that's okay with you, because penguins are literally my favorite animal.

>> ASHLEY: All right.

Let's do this.

>> BRANDON: Okay.

I will see you on the other side.

[ Kissing sounds ] >> ASHLEY: Come here, girl.

[ Kissing sounds ] I've got something better here for you, I think.

It will be better than grass.

I'll eat this!

Here we go.

[Kissing sound] Oh, yes.

There we go.

Was that good?

That's a resounding yes.

Oh, my goodness, hi.

♪ >> BRANDON: Hi.

Are you looking for fish?

Nice catch.

Very good job!

Can you remind me, what's their names again?

>> So this one right here, that -- I'm trying to see.

That's Marco.

The one with the yellow tag right here, that is Ramon.

This one, the one that looks a little bit crazy, that's Harper.

And then the other one is Marcona.

>> BRANDON: Oh, okay.

The one having second thoughts?

>> Oh, yeah.

>> BRANDON: Yeah.

You coming back?

Are you going to get the last of these?

Everyone else left.

What are you going to do?

Uh-oh, there's only two left.

>> Hi, baby.

>> BRANDON: Good job!

Yes!

All right, well, I think I have found my new home.

So theoretically, I'll see you next time on "Journey Indiana."

>> Production support for "Journey Indiana" is provided by WTIU members.

Thank you!