We’ll have a vinyl talk! We’ll have a cider talk! We’ll have a highway talk! We’ll have three nerdy talks!
We’ll sing the songs that remind us of the good times! We’ll sing the songs that remind us of the best times!

Join us on Wednesday, September 24 starting at 7:30pm at No Name Bar for our next Nerd Nite Winona

TALK #1: “A Slice of Environmental Advocacy” by Lonna Simanovski

Advocating for the environment can take many paths. The talk will provide a little history of the environmental movement, some ideas on what can be done, and a lot of info about a favorite way to help: Adopting a Highway.

Lonna is not a person who does public speaking, but she is passionate about the environment, has big ideas, and when she jokingly said this would make a great topic, she was encouraged to do this by her most enthusiastic friends. She has been the leader of a group for 5 years.

TALK #2: “Vinyl Revival: Why Records Are Back and Vinyl Collecting Will Never Die” by Jim Cottrill

Since 2022, vinyl records – once thought to be a dead format – have surpassed CDs to become the highest-selling physical medium for music, building on an upward trend that has began in 2007 that shows no signs of abating. I explore the enduring appeal of record collecting and why so many people continue to love the format despite, as New Yorker cartoonist Alex Gregory notes, “the expense and the inconvenience” of it.

Jim Cottrill is a Professor of Political Science at Winona State University whose first record purchase was Elton John’s Greatest Hits Volume 1 way back in 1978. Jim’s other nerdy pursuits include trivia, board games, and occasionally writing and recording songs with Saint Wry.

TALK #3: “Cider Making or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Pomme” by Josh Datta

Rack and cloth, bitter apples, spontaneous fermentation, Johnny Appleseed, petillant natural and exploding bottles – is it a cold war spy thriller or the US’s alcoholic beverage choice for most of the 19th century? Join me as we pull back the curtain on cider making and hopefully give you the confidence to try making this deceptively simple libation.

Josh Datta has been figuring out ways to turn sugar into alcohol in the most delicious way possible since 2011 when he fermented his first batch of cider in a recycled water jug. More recently he worked for Hoch Orchard as a field hand and currently works for Featherstone Farm (which took over management of Hoch Orchard).