Rochester

Avalon Music is a historic three-story red brick building in Rochester, Minnesota. It opened in 1919 as the Northwestern Hotel. The Sam Sternberg... family operated it as a kosher restaurant and hotel for Jewish travelers, including many visitors to the Mayo Clinic nearby. In 1944, Vern Manning bought it and renamed it the Avalon Hotel. As the only hotel in the area which welcomed African Americans before desegregation, its guests included Duke Ellington and boxer Henry Armstrong. It became a local focus of the Civil Rights Movement and opposition to it; both a march for racial equality and a cross burning occurred at the property on August 23, 1963. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. It has since been restored as retail and studio space, and houses a shop for musical instruments and audio equipment.
more

The Chateau Theatre originally opened as a Vaudeville house in Rochester, Minnesota that opened in 1927 with an interior decorated as a medieval... village. The theater was converted to a movie house eventually remodeled and reopened as a Barnes & Noble bookstore. The Chateau was originally opened on October 26, 1927. The architects, Ellerbe, said," We have given this town the finest theater of its size, bar none, in the U.S." In April, 1927, Dr. Charles Mayo laid the building's cornerstone. The structure was originally called the Chateau Dodge Theatre because the Dodge Lumber Company had previously occupied this site. With construction costs of a then-unheard-of $400,000, the theatre opened on October 26, 1927, showing the movie "Spring Fever." The Chateau Theatre was one of Rochester's first air-conditioned buildings, presenting plays, concerts, operas, silent and later talking movies, and vaudeville: In 1940, 25 cents' admission provided audiences 3 acts of music/magic/juggling, "Pathé news," comedy, and a main show.
more

Benjamin Jeffrey Utecht is an American football player and singer. Utecht was a tight end for the Indianapolis Colts and the Cincinnati Bengals. He... was signed by the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent in 2004. He played college football at Minnesota. Utecht has also played for the Cincinnati Bengals. He earned a Super Bowl ring with the Colts in Super Bowl XLI. Utecht graduated from Hastings Senior High School in Hastings, Minnesota where he helped lead the Raiders to three State Semi-Final or Finals appearances. Utecht became a four-year starter at the University of Minnesota, starting 35 of 44 games and playing in the Music City Bowl. He signed as a free agent with the Colts on April 30, 2004. Utecht did not see much action in the 2004 and 2005 seasons. His best season was the 2006 season, with 37 receptions for 377 yards. In the 2006 postseason, Utecht had 5 receptions for 41 yards. He would then go on to help the Colts win Super Bowl XLI. In 2007, he caught 31 receptions for 364 yards and a touchdown. Utecht became a restricted free agent in the 2008 offseason.
more

Sheree Julienne Wilson is an American actress, primarily known for her roles in soap operas and television. She is best known for her role as April... Stevens on the American prime-time television series Dallas , and as Alexandra "Alex" Cahill-Walker, on television series Walker, Texas Ranger from 1993-2001. The daughter of two IBM executives, Wilson moved to Colorado at the age of nine. In 1981, Wilson received a degree in fashion merchandising and business from the University of Colorado at Boulder. While working in Denver on a fashion shoot, one of the photographers mistook Wilson for the model; he introduced her to a New York modeling agent, who signed her on the spot. She moved to Manhattan and within eighteen months, had appeared in over thirty commercial campaigns for Clairol, Sea Breeze, Keri-Lotion and Maybelline. Her print work ran in such popular magazines as Mademoiselle, Glamour and Redbook. After three years of modeling, Wilson moved to Los Angeles.
more

Dan Bakkedahl is an American improvisational actor, comedian and teacher from Chicago's Second City. Born in Rochester, Minnesota and raised in... Stuart, Florida, he attended St. Cloud State University in Minnesota before completing his studies at Florida State University where he was a member of the Chi Phi Fraternity. After college, Bakkedahl toured for a year with the Repertory Theater of America. After moving to Chicago, he made a name for himself at the Improv Olympic performing in the influential two-man improv show ZUMPF with his teacher Miles Stroth. Dan went on to perform at the Second City mainstage, eventually writing “Doors Open on the Right,” Second City’s 90th Revue. In Chicago, he is often noted for having left the Second City mainstage due to artistic differences. Bakkedahl continues to perform regularly at comedy venues such as the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, Magnet Theater and Second City in Los Angeles. Bakkedahl's best known television work was on Comedy Central's The Daily Show where he served as a correspondent from 2005 to 2007.
more

Benjamin Jeffrey Utecht is an American football player and singer. Utecht was a tight end for the Indianapolis Colts and the Cincinnati Bengals. He... was signed by the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent in 2004. He played college football at Minnesota. Utecht has also played for the Cincinnati Bengals. He earned a Super Bowl ring with the Colts in Super Bowl XLI. Utecht graduated from Hastings Senior High School in Hastings, Minnesota where he helped lead the Raiders to three State Semi-Final or Finals appearances. Utecht became a four-year starter at the University of Minnesota, starting 35 of 44 games and playing in the Music City Bowl. He signed as a free agent with the Colts on April 30, 2004. Utecht did not see much action in the 2004 and 2005 seasons. His best season was the 2006 season, with 37 receptions for 377 yards. In the 2006 postseason, Utecht had 5 receptions for 41 yards. He would then go on to help the Colts win Super Bowl XLI. In 2007, he caught 31 receptions for 364 yards and a touchdown. Utecht became a restricted free agent in the 2008 offseason.
more

Leilani Münter is an American race car driver and environmental activist. She drives in the ARCA Racing Series, and previously drove in the... Firestone Indy Lights, the development league of IndyCar. Prior to her debut in open wheel racing, she was a stock car driver in the NASCAR Elite division. She was born and raised in Rochester, Minnesota, earned a degree in Biology in San Diego, California, and currently lives in Cornelius, North Carolina. Prior to becoming a race car driver, Münter earned a bachelor's degree in biology, specializing in ecology, behavior, and evolution from the University of California, San Diego. During her college years, Münter was also a volunteer at a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation center. Münter began racing in California in 2001 in the Allison Legacy Series. She debuted with a seventh place finish. In 2002 Münter made the move to Mooresville, North Carolina, widely regarded as the center for NASCAR racing. In 2003 she had her first start in the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series at South Boston Speedway, she finished ninth.
more

Michael Lee White is an actor, writer and producer. He starred in the 1987 TV series, Summer Breeze and several episodes of the 1993 TV Series,... Spirit of Television. Behind the scenes, he was a co-writer and producer on the 1992-1993 TV Series, Computer Doctor and executive producer for the 1993 series, Spirit of Television. White was born on August 2, 1967 in Rochester, Minnesota. He is the youngest of 3 children born to Floyd Leroy White and Yvonne Cecile Jarrett . White moved to Tucson, Arizona while he was only a few weeks old and remained through his teenage years. White openly admits he received his start as an on-screen purely by accident. In 1985, while assisting the director on a television commercial for the University of Arizona, he was asked to step in at the last minute when one of the actors failed to show. In 1987, White starred as Michael Wainwright in Summer Breeze, a single pilot episode which aired on the NBC television network. After NBC failed to pick up Summer Breeze, he decided it was time to go behind the camera and began to work as script consultant on a number of shows for Fox Television.
more

Emily Sandberg Gold is an American model and actress. Sandberg was born Emily Margaret Sandberg in Rochester, Minnesota, to a nurse/stage-actress... mother and an attorney father. At 13 she joined a mime troupe and performed at Renaissance festivals and area schools; on weekends she mimed on her own at local malls. Sandberg went on to act in regional productions of Thornton Wilder's Our Town and Shakespeare's The Tempest and A Midsummer Night's Dream. After appearing in an off-Broadway production of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Unabridged, she moved to New York City, where she was discovered by NEXT Model Management and convinced to sign with the agency. From 2000 to 2003, Sandberg was an international runway fixture, walking for fashion houses such as Marc Jacobs, Calvin Klein, Narciso Rodriguez, Christian Dior, Christian Lacroix and Dolce & Gabbana. She has starred in ad campaigns for the likes of Versace, Fendi, DKNY and Marni. A favorite of photographers Annie Leibovitz, Steven Meisel, Mario Testino, Craig McDean and Peter Lindbergh, she has appeared on the covers of Harper's Bazaar, Elle, and the French, Italian and Japanese editions of Vogue.
more