((PKG)) A MOST UNLIKELY PLACE ((Banner: A Small Town Revival)) ((Reporter/Camera: Deepak Dobhal)) ((Map: Lewellen, Nebraska)) ((Map: Lewellen, Nebraska)) ((NATS/ Music: Up and under….)) ((Popup Banner: A family of artists tries to save a small town from fading away)) ((NATS/ Music: Up and under - laughter)) ((Cynthia Miller, Co-owner, The Most Unlikely Place)) This is The Most Unlikely Place in Lewellen, Nebraska. ((NATS/ Music: Up, under and out)) ((Cynthia Miller, Co-owner, The Most Unlikely Place)) My husband Dennis, my brother-in-law, Rex Miller, and my sister-in-law, Jean Jensen. ((NATS – group chatting)) ((Jean Jensen, Artist)) We were all involved in a lot of, a couple of years of economic development meetings, and after a while, we, kind of, thought we should just do it and start taking action and do less planning and make more direct changes. ((NATS - traffic passing by)) ((Dennis Miller, Artist)) We have six buildings all together here. Buildings were run down and some of them probably would have collapsed if we hadn't fixed the roof. The first building that we bought is the one which is now The Most Unlikely Place. ((NATS/ Music: Up and under….)) ((Cynthia Miller, Co-owner, The Most Unlikely Place)) We purchased the building when it was a 100 years old in 2008. We cleaned it up, took out the ceiling, did some renovating. The guys spent three months the first winter, just working on this place. Started as a gallery because the artists needed a place to hang some art. ((Jean Jensen, Artist)) Right. ((Cynthia Miller, Co-owner, The Most Unlikely Place)) Our homes were full and our children's homes were full and it’s time..... ((Jean Jensen, Artist)) Our closets were full. ((NATS/ Music: Up and under….)) ((Cynthia Miller, Co-owner, The Most Unlikely Place)) Dennis is the pastel artist, Jean Jensen paints oils and watercolors, and Rex has all of the wood sculpture. ((NATS/ Music: Up and under….)) ((Cynthia Miller, Co-owner, The Most Unlikely Place)) Then we purchased a coffee machine in order to have, maybe, a little more business and learned how to make coffee drinks. And then someone suggested that we might have a brunch, a Sunday brunch. ((NATS/ Music: under….)) ((NATS/Sound – group chatting)) Welcome. Hi, Jenny. Nice to see you! Good to see you my dear. And who did you bring? My sister, Jean and her husband, John.)) ((NATS/ Music: Up and under….)) ((Cynthia Miller, Co-owner, The Most Unlikely Place)) When we first opened, there were tables up by the windows. So, that's quite a distance. So, I put my skates on in order to get down to the end of the room more efficiently. ((NATS/ Music: under – group chatting)) ((Cynthia Miller, Co-owner, The Most Unlikely Place)) Every table has a history and everything has been donated. We're happy to take whatever anyone wants to give us. ((NATS/ Music: under – group chatting)) ((Cynthia Miller, Co-owner, The Most Unlikely Place)) Many guests say this is the perfect name for this place because it's unlikely that this place would be here in this little town. It doesn't seem to make sense to them. They say, well, this should be in San Francisco or in Vail or somewhere else. ((NATS/ Music: Up and under….)) ((Cynthia Miller, Co-owner, The Most Unlikely Place)) We have all kinds of crafts from local artists. We have an area on the wall for a featured artist each month. We have local authors. We have book signings and readings occasionally. ((Local Artist)) She'll sell our things there and so it brings the artist. I was an artist who was under the table. I didn't know. I just did it. I gave it away as presents. I never thought I could ever sell my stuff. ((NATS – outdoor and indoor ambiance)) ((Dennis Miller, Artist)) The next door building, which was the old Lewellen hotel, became available. It is now Rex's woodworking shop. The upstairs part, my sister Jean now has her studio in. ((NATS – Jean painting)) ((Jean Jensen, Artist)) I have really been eyeing it and liking the light and thinking it would be a good studio, but it was, kind of, a mess and needed some work. So, Rex helped and we, well, he did most of the work, so we insulated it and, you know, cleaned a bunch of junk out of it and I've been painting since. ((Dennis Miller, Artist)) And then, on down the fourth building on the corner, was an old filling station. It now has a gallery in it that we rented out to a local art club. So they, group of artists, have their gallery there. When we started actually doing it, we really didn't have a vision. We didn't have any goals. We didn't really know what the building was going to be. ((Dennis Miller, Artist)) We just started and, kind of, let it evolve into what it became over time. ((NATS – outdoor ambiance)) ((Rex Miller, Woodcarver)) And we want to create things that we can enjoy ourselves. ((Dennis Miller, Artist)) Yeah. ((Rex Miller, Woodcarver)) And our friends and community can enjoy. ((NATS – outdoor ambiance)) ((Dennis Miller, Artist)) So, we have signage on the highway. We were able to fix up the fronts of the buildings and create some activity in town. So, it certainly does and it has drawn people into the town. In the last five years, we've gotten 49 people, 49 homes sold. ((NATS – outdoor ambiance)) ((Cynthia Miller, Co-owner, The Most Unlikely Place)) When people see that the town is alive, then they're more likely to want to live there. ((NATS – outdoor ambiance….music under)) ((Cynthia Miller, Co-owner, The Most Unlikely Place)) We have pride in our town. This is our home. This is where we've all chosen to live. And so, we will do everything we can to make it into where we want to live. ((MUSIC/ up and out))