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

Thank you!

>> BRANDON: Coming up... >> PAYTON: Bird is the word at the Indiana Dunes.

>> BRANDON: Fritter away the time with a tasty treat.

>> PAYTON: Walk in the footsteps of one of Indiana's great writers.

>> BRANDON: And raise a glass at an award-winning Hoosier distillery.

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

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

I'm Payton Whaley.

>> BRANDON: And I'm Brandon Wentz.

And we're coming to you once again from the Muscatatuck Training Facility in Jennings County.

The site is the former home of the Muscatatuck State Development Center, a live-in facility for patients with intellectual disabilities.

The long-running institution was vacated in 2005 and management was passed to the Indiana National Guard.

Today, the center is open to military, law enforcement, and civilian organizations as a platform to conduct large-scale immersive training exercises.

The 1,000-acre complex encompasses both rural and urban landscapes, including over 190 physical structures allowing for the simulation of a range of disasters, counterterrorism operations and battlefield scenarios.

The MTC also houses a cyber program which focuses on protecting vital cyber infrastructure.

It is wild driving through here.

It is almost like being on a movie set because you are going past schools.

You are going past, you know, old facilities.

You are going past housing.

You are going past motels.

It is wild!

>> PAYTON: Once student filmmakers find out about this place, we are not ready.

>> BRANDON: Want to learn more?

Just head to the address on your screen.

>> PAYTON: Now, today, we are looking back on some of our favorite stories from 2023.

Back in May, producer Nick Deel took us to Porter County, to see if birds of a feather really do flock together at the Indiana Dunes Birding Festival.

>> Ah, the Indiana Dunes.

For most, they are a summer playground, full of sand and sun, but for a short while each spring, this popular vacation destination is for the birds.

>> The Indiana Dunes Birding Festival is a celebration of the Indiana Dunes area and all of its migrating birds that are coming through this area.

We have over 700 birders that attend this festival, and we really just want to get people together to celebrate that huge flux in migration, over 200 bird species that can come through.

>> The Indiana Dunes Birding Festival, hosted by the Indiana Audubon Society is timed to coincide with the peak of the spring migration here in the Midwest.

And while the southern shores of Lake Michigan are a picturesque spot for a get-together, this location wasn't chosen simply for its scenic splendor.

>> So the dunes area is really great for birding because we have a variety of habitats.

So we have this woodland area that we're here right now in, and it's gorgeous.

We also have the dunes, of course, because we are right on Lake Michigan.

We have lots of wetlands, as well, and prairies.

So these birds migrate, and they migrate north in the spring and then come back down south in the fall.

So right now, of course, we're on spring migration for the festival.

Really what happens is they use a lot of the landscape and natural features to navigate to their northern breeding grounds.

But because of Lake Michigan, it creates a funnel effect along the flyway.

>> The Indiana Dunes State Park is perfectly situated at the southern tip of Lake Michigan to take advantage of this funnel effect, giving the birders at this festival an opportunity to see thousands of migratory birds across more than 200 species.

♪ So the Indiana Dunes State Park Longshore Tower is an awesome migratory hotspot for birds because of Lake Michigan and creating that funnel effect with migration, that observation tower sits right on the edge of Lake Michigan.

So you can actually see it from the tower.

So it almost draws them all in, and right here, right in the dunes, at that southern point of Lake Michigan, is where they sometimes congregate, you know, maybe for a day or two before they are going to travel either over the lake or around the lake.

And so we get these kind of, what we call migration fallouts where tons of birds will just be hanging out in this natural space for -- and just waiting, kind of, to migrate farther north.

So it's awesome birding, if you can come one morning on those fallouts, there are just kind of birds everywhere, and it's really great and awesome to share that with people too.

>> All right.

So this is similar to the bird we got last time.

Does anyone -- white-crowned sparrow.

We're seeing a lot of these right now.

>> Festival goers also have a chance to see some of these avian travelers up close.

Here, a conservation scientist demonstrates how birds are captured, studied, and their legs banded with identification tags for future research.

>> So Indiana Audubon and the festival bands birds because we want to be able to make the best management decisions, essentially.

We want to know where these birds are going and what habitats they are using.

What we do with banding is we, of course, catch them in what's called mist nets, and then we put them into these holding bags where they are just alone and not by anything else.

So they can kind of, like, relax and be calm.

It's almost like if you wrap yourself up in a blanket at home, just to calm down and relax.

So they can have a few seconds.

We'll measure their wings, get their weight, look for -- record the species and the sex of the bird as well, and then all the participants can watch that and really get kind of an in-depth look at what the research looks like.

And then after that, the banders will hold the bird up a lot of times for people to see up close and personal.

>> Who wants to let this bird go?

>> And then they will also a lot of times let the public or let the participants release the bird.

So they can hold them in their hand for a few seconds before it flies away, of course.

When they go back into the wild, they might be caught at a different banding station somewhere else, maybe, let's say, Canada, for example.

And so when that banding station catches our bird -- let's call it -- then that banding station will record it on the bird banding website.

And then we can see where that bird, migrated to, of course.

And then if it's using different habitats or what type.

So it just gives us a broader picture of where these birds are going and what they're -- what areas they are using so that we can, you know, better help them, better conserve these natural spaces.

>> While the Indiana Dunes Birding Festival is certainly a perfect place to build a closer bond with our feathered friends, for many, nurturing the human connections that are made here is equally important.

>> There are 700 people here that all really love birds and get enjoyment from it and love to do that.

And it's kind of like, you know, when you have a hobby, it's fun to share that hobby with other people, and connect with others.

So it's not just about finding the birds and enjoying their beauty, but it's, you know, sharing that with other people.

It's going to the socials or out on the tours and talking about, oh, hey, I saw this Virginia rail one time.

Or oh, did you see that solitary sandpiper that was over here?

And just really getting that sense of community.

And so really, it's just bringing people in to celebrate this large expanse, this large diversity of birds and habitat.

And then, of course, getting people together to share in that joy as well.

A bird just flew right in your shot.

Did you see it?

Yeah, it went poof.

>> Really?

>> Yeah, you will have to -- [ Laughter ] >> Whoa.

>> It like flew, it just about hit me.

>> Oh, my gosh.

>> PAYTON: Honestly, Brandon, to be a small bird, tucked into a little cloth bag and just kind of hung out on a clothesline, that sounds peaceful.

I'm a little bit jealous.

Want to learn more?

Just head to the address on your screen.

>> BRANDON: In March, producer Jason Pear took us to Ripley County, where, believe it or not, a small bakery does big things thanks to their Thing-a-lings.

>> 6 -- 6 a.m. or something?

Okay.

No problem.

We'll have them done for you.

>> We are a full line bakery, and we make breads and buns and doughnuts and Danish, pies, cakes.

We make a lot of cookies, dipped cookies, iced cookies.

So a lot of everything.

I mean, you can pretty much -- if we don't have it today, you can order it, and we'll make it tomorrow.

♪ >> But for one week each year, Schmidt Bakery in Batesville is home to a lot of just one thing.

The Cherry Thing-a-ling.

>> It's a cherry fritter with a cherry glaze on it, and it sells great!

I mean -- >> So my dad came across the recipe in the early '70s.

It was actually on one of our -- I believe it was on a bag of flour.

♪ He thought, I will make a few of those.

We'll do it on President's Day weekend, on that Sunday.

It will be the only Sunday out of the year we're open.

And we'll make them.

♪ So, you know, we made 50 dozen the first year.

15 years later, all of a sudden, it went boom!

>> The fritter fans had spoken, and an expansion was in order.

>> So that's what we did.

We added Monday.

And then that got too big, just Sunday, Monday.

So then it became, Saturday, Sunday, Monday.

And then we added Friday, and we added Thursday.

So it's now a five-day event, and it's incredibly crazy!

♪ >> The production numbers are equally crazy.

For decades, Schmidt's was making a few hundred dozen Thing-a-lings each year.

>> Then it started getting into, like, a thousand dozen and 3,000 dozen.

And I believe last year we did 16,000 dozen.

>> That's just shy of 200,000.

>> And I will tell you, they are tired when they get done because it's all manual work.

It's like you put the dough on the table.

You have to chop it up.

You have to weigh it.

Then you have to divide it, and then you have to put it in the steam box, and then you have to fry it, and then you have to glaze it, and then you have to put in the box and then eat it!

>> And all that hard work attracts customers from all over the region.

Some repeat.

>> I'm here every year for the last several years.

My girlfriend turned me on to it.

>> And a whole lot of rookies.

>> This is our first time doing this.

So it is a cherry doughnut as far as we know.

Cherry glazed doughnut.

>> I just heard they're good.

So we're here.

>> This is our first time here.

Hour and 35 minutes so far.

>> We've had three-hour lines.

I think the longest we had last year was a two-hour line, which we didn't think was bad.

One year we had a snowstorm, and we were, like, people aren't going to come out, and we still sold out that day.

Even though we closed at noon.

It's just insane!

>> First time.

>> Yes.

Yes.

From Wilmington, Ohio.

I like cherries.

>> She likes cherries.

We all love pastries.

So -- >> Something to do on a Saturday morning.

[ Laughter ] >> You look at the license plates in the parking lot, and it's Kentucky and Ohio.

And they want to come back and they want to support us, which is awesome!

>> Yes, some people make a vacation.

You know, some live in Wisconsin.

They said we're coming home for Cherry Thing-a-lings, visiting mom and dad and incorporate the Cherry Thing-a-lings.

I said, well, that's wonderful.

>> These days Schmidt's even offers shipping for those who would prefer to skip the line entirely.

>> It started off kind of small.

Like, it was usually like Kentucky and Illinois and Ohio maybe.

But now it's really branched out.

I think there's only a couple of states we haven't hit.

>> Clearly, these things are as popular as ever!

So is a further expansion in the works?

>> No.

[ Laughter ] We could make a limited supply.

You know, on special occasions, but it would be not quite the same.

There's something special with it falling this weekend and just the way it -- I don't know, I think all the energy that is in town and the way people talk about it, it's just a lot of fun.

>> We did it!

Look at this!

All this from there.

>> BRANDON: You know, since joining us, our new producer Nick has brought a lot to the show, but the Cherry Thing-a-ling is probably the best thing that he's brought.

>> PAYTON: Oh, were you -- were you going to bring enough to share?

>> BRANDON: He did, with the people who were here at the time.

>> PAYTON: Okay.

>> BRANDON: Want to learn more?

Just head to the address on the screen.

>> PAYTON: In September, producer Todd Gould took us to Northeast Indiana, to uncover the roots of writer Gene Stratton-Porter.

♪ >> I write as the birds sing because I must, and usually from the same source of inspiration.

Gene Stratton-Porter.

>> What's important to me about this property is Gene's legacy.

We can see with our own eyes and with our own hands and with the stories that we tell about her time here, how important this space is.

Not only to Indiana's cultural history, but our natural history.

♪ >> To one Hoosier writer, this land in northeastern Indiana was, quote, touched by the almighty.

A place to discover the power of God's own creations.

This is Wildflower Woods, home to Hoosier novelist and naturalist, Gene Stratton-Porter.

Near the turn of the 20th century, this location in tiny Rome City, Indiana, was Stratton-Porter's 120-acre temple to nature.

>> The breeze that gently fans the cheek is laden with subtle perfume, and the crisp, fresh odor of unfolding leaves.

>> You can come here during the week, and it's just -- it's quiet.

It's nature.

You hear the birds sing.

You can hear the trees sway in the wind, and you can hear why she loved it.

♪ >> When Gene Stratton-Porter built this home just after the turn of the century, she was already an independent woman, who had amassed her own wealth through the publication of articles, magazine features, novels and published nature studies.

Works like Laddie , The Harvester , and The Girl of the Limberlost , were not only best sellers, they also reflected and magnified an unending reverence for her natural surroundings.

♪ >> This was a place she could go to kind of refresh and get away from the hustle and bustle of her life.

At the time, she had -- when she purchased the land, she had six of her novels and three of her nature studies done.

So she was very popular, and couldn't really find a quiet place to retreat and be one with nature.

♪ >> These are the people who write books, make exquisite music, carve statues, paint pictures and work for others.

>> Gene purchased the land here in October of 1912 and began construction shortly thereafter.

By February of 1914, the home was completed, and it was all Gene's vision.

She wanted a place where she could come and have what she called a summer workshop, a place where she could come and retreat into nature.

♪ >> When Stratton-Porter purchased this land on Sylvan Lake, she hired a tree surgeon and a landscaping crew to help rescue various natural plants and wild critters from the Hoosier countryside.

To this day, many of the native species of flora and fauna found around these marshlands were rescued due to Stratton-Porter's drive to save the native land that was so sacred to her.

>> And she wanted to bring them here because she was creating this oasis, this space where she could protect them.

Because she had 120 acres, she could plant until her heart's content.

♪ >> Gene also lit out into the woods with a full-sized box camera to capture rare images of native flowers, moths, birds and butterflies.

Stratton-Porters publications, both as a novelist and scientific journalist, have been published in more than 20 languages, and are still in print today.

She's the only Hoosier to have two state historic sites dedicated to her.

She later moved to Hollywood, and formed one of the only female-run studios, turning her written works into films.

>> Nature can be trusted to work her own miracle in the heart of any man.

Nature always levies her tribute.

>> Gene was a woman that didn't really care what the norms were at the time.

She didn't care that women weren't supposed to be out stomping around in the swamp.

She was one who loved nature.

She was one who wanted to share it with the world, and she didn't care that it was not normal.

She didn't care that it's not what a woman should do, and to be able to tell her story and preserve her legacy of conservation and doing what you are passionate about, and not letting the world stop you, just because it's not normal.

It doesn't matter what life throws at you.

You can still do what you want to do and find the space that fits you best, and Gene did that when she found the space here in Rome City.

She was able to find the space that brought her back to home, brought her back to her center, and to surround herself with nature and to be able to continue to write and tell stories about the world around her.

♪ >> PAYTON: Want to learn more?

Just head to the address on your screen.

>> BRANDON: And finally, in September, producer Tyler Lake took us to Clark County to learn why the hard stuff goes down so easy at the Starlight Distillery.

♪ Devil's in the house of the rising sun ♪ >> There's a great little live performance venue here in Clark County.

Of course, if you are hungry, you can always grab something from the restaurant or food truck.

Maybe you'd rather take a scenic tractor ride or go on a guided tour of the grounds.

There's something for everyone here at Huber Orchard and Starlight Distillery, but don't think that distracts the family that owns it all from doing what they do best.

>> When we wake up every morning, we're farmers first, before we open the door to the distillery.

When you come visit Starlight, you'll see everything happening right in front of you.

You can walk over and watch the grain being milled.

You can walk out through the fields and touch the corn and touch the rye in the springtime.

You can go in the stillhouse and smell the cooking and the mashing.

And come out here to the rickhouses, and you can walk through the different rickhouses and see the barrels and smell the smell that's in here.

>> Huber wines are well-known across the state.

But what you may not know about is the world-class brandy and whiskey they make right here from ingredients they can be certain are of the highest quality.

>> 100% of our corn actually comes from our own property in proper rotation of fruits and vegetables and other crops that we actually grow here.

>> For Huber wines, folks could come to the farm and see it all for themselves, but for spirits, it was a different story.

>> The one thing that we wanted was to be able to bring folks here to the farm and show them how it's made.

But we couldn't bring people into a stillhouse like this, show 'em around, let them taste whiskey from the barrel, let them have cocktails, take them on tours, let them be able to buy bottles and have that whole experience like we did in the winery.

>> That's because Indiana law didn't treat distilleries the same as wineries, something Huber wanted to change.

>> We're artists.

We want to craft and make something, and we're proud of it.

So we want to be able to show it off to our friends and family and customers and show 'em, hey, we made this great whiskey.

You've got to come here and taste it.

And oh, by the way, this is where we grew the corn.

This is the still it came out of.

These are the barrels it was aged in.

Isn't it really a great product?

We just didn't want to open a distillery like a factory, produce a product, and sell it on the shelf somewhere else.

That was never the goal of Starlight, never the goal of the Huber family.

>> So they started lobbying Indiana lawmakers to create an artisanal distillery designation so folks could see and sample what they were making up close.

It was something that Huber's grandmother had wanted to see happen.

And in 2001, he helped make it a reality.

>> My grandmother always pushed me and said, hey, you need to really think about getting the brandy back.

You know, we had as much history, if not more history in making brandy than we did wine here on this farm.

>> And, of course, his grandmother was right.

>> We were winning not just awards, but international awards for being the best brandy in the world.

>> They built on that reputation to tackle the next objective, whiskey.

>> You know, we kept knocking on the door for about, you know, 10 plus years with legislators saying, hey, you know, what's the difference between brandy and whiskey?

Why is it -- why is it one and not the other?

>> For all practical purposes, we just -- you know, the brandy is distilled wine.

And, you know, whiskey is distilled beer.

>> Did you catch that?

Brandy is basically distilled wine.

And whiskey is more or less distilled beer.

Remember that the next time you take a sip.

By 2013, they worked with other would-be distillers in the state to get the artisanal distiller law passed, and they haven't looked back.

>> We run both stills.

Both stills run almost every day, 365 days a year.

We're producing somewhere a little shy of 2,000 barrels of whiskey a year, and then with our vodka production, rum production and brandy production, tying everything into there.

>> And now there are several dozen artisanal distillers operating in the state.

>> If you look through the different Indiana distillers, and we're one of them, and the amount of awards hanging on our walls and hanging on our bottles, and you start watching some of the stuff, you will start seeing Indiana there everywhere, as far as what we're doing, making world-class spirits.

The awards are there.

>> And even though he's an ambassador for all Hoosier spirits, Ted says it's the experience that makes Starlight special.

>> I think the one thing that sets Starlight apart, not only here in Indiana, but around the world, is our dedication to be a true farmer all the way to the bottler.

So when you come here on property, you will see vineyards.

You will see fruits.

You will see things that we are distilling into brandy.

You will see rye fields in the springtime.

You will see cornfields in the fall time.

Go out and enjoy a cocktail on the patio.

And it's just a take in for everything that we do here.

>> And all it took was 20-some odd years of convincing Indiana lawmakers of the value of homegrown spirits.

All it should take you is one glass.

>> PAYTON: A place like that looks so cool.

I would love to go and learn how to actually taste whiskey and bourbon in a way that I can have some and not just say, mm, that's smooth.

>> BRANDON: Want to learn more?

Head to starlightdistillery.com.

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

>> BRANDON: Just head over 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.

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

Now, Brandon, I just want to say how much fun I've had filling in for Ashley on this season of "Journey Indiana" except for the time our producer tried to kill me with physical activity, but otherwise, it's been really good.

>> BRANDON: All right.

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

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

Thank you!