Stillwater Main Street throws dance party inspired by 1901 photograph
This vintage photo shows a 1901 street dance in Stillwater, Minn. It's the inspiration for this weekend's event.
Frederick Holcombe | Stillwater Public Library St. Croix Collection
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Call this a “making lemonade out of lemons” story: In Stillwater, Minn,. on the St. Croix River, a two-and-a-half block section of Main Street is closed for the next two months for construction.
Normally, you would expect a fair bit of grumbling from business owners and townspeople about the inconvenience. Instead, the local businesses are coming together to throw a dance party.
Cory Buettner is the owner of Leo’s Malt Shop, which is right in the midst of the closed intersection, and organizer of the Old Fashioned Street Dance happening Saturday.
He joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about the event.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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Audio transcript
INTERVIEWER: Well, I think you should call this making lemonade out of lemons. In Stillwater, which is on the Saint Croix River, 2 and 1/2 block section of main street is closed right now for the next two months for construction. Now normally, you would expect a fair bit of grumbling from business owners and townspeople about the inconvenience. Instead, the local businesses are coming together to throw a dance party.
Cory Buettner is the owner of Leo's Malt Shop that's right in the midst of the closed intersection in downtown Stillwater. He's the organizer of the old-fashioned street dance, which is happening this Saturday. Hey, Cory. Are you with me?
CORY BUETTNER: I am. Thank you for having me.
INTERVIEWER: Oh, I'm glad you're with me. Thank you. I understand that the street dance was inspired by an old photo.
CORY BUETTNER: That's right. I was just flicking through Facebook about a month ago, actually less than a month ago. And I came across an image of a 1901 street dance.
And the next day, I was in a meeting. And they were talking about the detour. And the construction person was describing what the detour was going to look like.
And I raised my hand, and I said, is there going to be any construction in this area? And it happened to be the exact area where this picture was taken. And I started getting-- the wheels started turning right then. And I connected with the Greater Stillwater Chamber of Commerce. Robin Anthony is the Director there.
And then, she connected me with other businesses and the mayor, and the city staff joined in. And I think it was two weeks after that, we got permission from Mindat to host a party. So we're going to do it. We're going to-- like you said. We're going to make lemonade out of lemons.
INTERVIEWER: I love that. So all this came together really fast. Good for you.
CORY BUETTNER: Yes. It's been tremendous. We've had-- a lot of the local businesses have stepped up. Local restaurant owners.
We've got a big team working on it in the city, like I said, has been super cooperative and really being very positive, and saying, yes, let's highlight the fact that-- the impetus for this event was to basically celebrate that Stillwater is open, even though the road is closed. And that was really the impetus to get the word out that we're open. And part of the reason why we turned it around so fast is because the road is going to be closed for two months. So let's let people know right now that even though there's a detour, all the restaurants, all the shops, all the activities that people know and love in Stillwater are open for business. And we're so open that we're going to celebrate by having a street dance, just like they did in 1901.
INTERVIEWER: How's it been in Stillwater with the road detour?
CORY BUETTNER: I've talked to quite a few businesses, and there's some days like today. My front door is not accessible. So we-- the-- our restaurant is closed in the dining room. But our back patio is open. So we've just come to adjust and pivot, and do the best we can.
And I would say that's very similar to the other restaurants, and shops in town, is that it's an inconvenience. But there's also some bright spots to it. Usually, main street is-- it's Highway 95. And it's full of commuter traffic or dump trucks, or just a lot of traffic coming through town.
And now, with the detour, a lot of that traffic is pushed out onto other major roads. And Stillwater is a little more slow. A little more slow-paced, I should say. And it's a little bit more pleasant to be downtown.
INTERVIEWER: I'm betting that my friend Brent Peterson, who's the Head of the Washington County Historical Society, is happy, happy, happy that you found a historic photo to use for this. Are you going to-- I'm hoping you're going to recreate the original photo because that would be cool.
CORY BUETTNER: Yes. So we're going to-- we have an actual-- I was up on the rooftop yesterday and getting the exact angle set. So our official photographer can go up onto the roof and take the picture.
We're having the dance starts at noon, and it goes until 10:00 PM. And I think we're going to be taking pictures throughout the day. But specifically at noon, two, four, six, eight, and then, 10:00 PM, and just follow the day as it goes from the same angle of that picture. And if your listeners haven't seen that photograph, they should go to greaterstillwaterchambers.com. And there's a picture there.
And it's also on some other news outlets. The high-resolution picture is just really fun to zoom in on the outfits that people are wearing. Everyone-- if someone can look at that photo and find someone not wearing a hat, or a head cover, I'll give them a free malt at my malt shop, because I've been looking and looking and looking. And there is-- everyone's wearing a hat. Even the little baby's wearing a bonnet.
INTERVIEWER: So I think we've got that photo on our website mprnews.org. Hey, Cory. I wish you all well. Have a great time on Saturday.
CORY BUETTNER: Thank you so much. Come out and see us. And thank you for having me on. It's been a pleasure.
INTERVIEWER: Absolutely Corey Buettner is the owner of Leo's Malt Shop. He's the organizer of the old-fashioned street dance in Stillwater this coming Saturday.
Cory Buettner is the owner of Leo's Malt Shop that's right in the midst of the closed intersection in downtown Stillwater. He's the organizer of the old-fashioned street dance, which is happening this Saturday. Hey, Cory. Are you with me?
CORY BUETTNER: I am. Thank you for having me.
INTERVIEWER: Oh, I'm glad you're with me. Thank you. I understand that the street dance was inspired by an old photo.
CORY BUETTNER: That's right. I was just flicking through Facebook about a month ago, actually less than a month ago. And I came across an image of a 1901 street dance.
And the next day, I was in a meeting. And they were talking about the detour. And the construction person was describing what the detour was going to look like.
And I raised my hand, and I said, is there going to be any construction in this area? And it happened to be the exact area where this picture was taken. And I started getting-- the wheels started turning right then. And I connected with the Greater Stillwater Chamber of Commerce. Robin Anthony is the Director there.
And then, she connected me with other businesses and the mayor, and the city staff joined in. And I think it was two weeks after that, we got permission from Mindat to host a party. So we're going to do it. We're going to-- like you said. We're going to make lemonade out of lemons.
INTERVIEWER: I love that. So all this came together really fast. Good for you.
CORY BUETTNER: Yes. It's been tremendous. We've had-- a lot of the local businesses have stepped up. Local restaurant owners.
We've got a big team working on it in the city, like I said, has been super cooperative and really being very positive, and saying, yes, let's highlight the fact that-- the impetus for this event was to basically celebrate that Stillwater is open, even though the road is closed. And that was really the impetus to get the word out that we're open. And part of the reason why we turned it around so fast is because the road is going to be closed for two months. So let's let people know right now that even though there's a detour, all the restaurants, all the shops, all the activities that people know and love in Stillwater are open for business. And we're so open that we're going to celebrate by having a street dance, just like they did in 1901.
INTERVIEWER: How's it been in Stillwater with the road detour?
CORY BUETTNER: I've talked to quite a few businesses, and there's some days like today. My front door is not accessible. So we-- the-- our restaurant is closed in the dining room. But our back patio is open. So we've just come to adjust and pivot, and do the best we can.
And I would say that's very similar to the other restaurants, and shops in town, is that it's an inconvenience. But there's also some bright spots to it. Usually, main street is-- it's Highway 95. And it's full of commuter traffic or dump trucks, or just a lot of traffic coming through town.
And now, with the detour, a lot of that traffic is pushed out onto other major roads. And Stillwater is a little more slow. A little more slow-paced, I should say. And it's a little bit more pleasant to be downtown.
INTERVIEWER: I'm betting that my friend Brent Peterson, who's the Head of the Washington County Historical Society, is happy, happy, happy that you found a historic photo to use for this. Are you going to-- I'm hoping you're going to recreate the original photo because that would be cool.
CORY BUETTNER: Yes. So we're going to-- we have an actual-- I was up on the rooftop yesterday and getting the exact angle set. So our official photographer can go up onto the roof and take the picture.
We're having the dance starts at noon, and it goes until 10:00 PM. And I think we're going to be taking pictures throughout the day. But specifically at noon, two, four, six, eight, and then, 10:00 PM, and just follow the day as it goes from the same angle of that picture. And if your listeners haven't seen that photograph, they should go to greaterstillwaterchambers.com. And there's a picture there.
And it's also on some other news outlets. The high-resolution picture is just really fun to zoom in on the outfits that people are wearing. Everyone-- if someone can look at that photo and find someone not wearing a hat, or a head cover, I'll give them a free malt at my malt shop, because I've been looking and looking and looking. And there is-- everyone's wearing a hat. Even the little baby's wearing a bonnet.
INTERVIEWER: So I think we've got that photo on our website mprnews.org. Hey, Cory. I wish you all well. Have a great time on Saturday.
CORY BUETTNER: Thank you so much. Come out and see us. And thank you for having me on. It's been a pleasure.
INTERVIEWER: Absolutely Corey Buettner is the owner of Leo's Malt Shop. He's the organizer of the old-fashioned street dance in Stillwater this coming Saturday.
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