(relaxing music) (keyboard keys clacking) (relaxing music) (upbeat music) (keyboard keys clacking) - People are quite surprised when they come here, for the most part.

- They've pretty much tell us this is one of the finest fire museums in the country.

(relaxing music) The building itself was built in 1920, and it was the first station designed to hold motorized apparatus.

We are part of history.

To look back at things that happened, fires we went to.

It's really pretty cool.

In this first floor, we have an old service ladder truck, a steamer, a Model T, two other pumpers.

And the pride of our collection, I think, is the Neptune, which is the first hand pumper in the city of Toledo, which was built in 1837.

(relaxing music) So upstairs, we've repurposed up there, we've built a little mock-up.

There's a bedroom to show especially children how to get out in case of fire.

- This was originally the locker room when it was a fire station.

We've now utilized the lockers as display cases, which was a natural to do.

So this is where all the men assigned here had their lockers.

(relaxing music) There was a shower behind me that they would be able to come take a shower after coming back from a fire.

What we've done with the former shower space is make it into a mock-up.

It doesn't look exactly the same, but at least people gives people an idea of what the alarm office downtown looked like where the alarms were sent to all the stations.

So that's what it looks like for display purposes.

(relaxing music) Those alarms that you are looking at, of course, are part of history.

They were in every room of the fire station, kitchen, apparatus floor, dormitory, and those alarms.

When an alarm came in at the watch desk, the man on watch would hit that bell, and believe me, everybody woke up when those alarms went off because they're very, very loud.

The map is a map that shows a station, every station in the city of Toledo.

At one time, the most stations they had was 22.

There are now 18 stations.

But that map shows the location of every existing station.

That map's probably 50 to 60 years old.

Most of the badges that are in our collection are from local fire departments.

But on occasion, somebody from a foreign country even will bring a badge or a patch.

We have a huge patch collection.

Patches are firefighters, what they wear on their uniform that tells where they came from or what fire department they're from.

And we have thousands of patches here and literally from all over the world.

(wistful music) - [Joe] So we can actually research in the company journals we have up there, fires that they went to as well.

- I really enjoy people coming here looking up relatives, because we do have a tremendous amount of information.

We have a log book when you enter the building, and we asked people if they would sign it, sign the book with their names and where they came from.

And at the end of the year, we look up how many states we've had visitors from, and ironically, foreign countries.

We have 15 to 20 foreign countries represented here every year.

Well, the community has in fact embraced this facility.

This is supported by the firefighters themselves on a payroll deduction, and volunteers working here, volunteers manning the place on Saturdays.

But we've always gotten tremendous cooperation from the city.

The camaraderie of the fire service is unparalleled.

You depend on each other for your life.

I've been in fire stations all over the world, and it's generally the same camaraderie that you see.

It's amazing.

(upbeat music) - It's important to have a place like this because it preserves the history of the firefighting, it preserves the history of the city of Toledo.

And for folks who didn't know how things were, I think it's a pretty neat place to come.

- [Kimi] Sarah's work ethic is second to none.

The girl is nonstop.

- [Sarah] I would say the biggest thing that sets us apart as a brand is you will not find anybody more obsessed with what they do than me.

(keyboard keys clacking) We were sitting in the living room and we were watching the Miss America pageant and I saw my earrings walk across the stage.

And I just was like, "Pause the TV.

Stop."

(upbeat country music) So the story of Rhinestone Lipgloss is one of accidental amazement.

My real job was a Mandarin Chinese translator.

So went to Ohio State, graduated, and I'm doing the things, I'm adulting, I had a real job, and I had a practice marriage that went south in early 2014.

And through that marriage, I acquired a $500 barrel racing horse.

And if anybody knows anything about horses, you can't find anything for $500.

So she was very cheap, but I loved her.

Her and I learned to barrel race and rodeo together, and we got pretty good at it.

My mom had made me a shirt to compete in and it was red with black fringe and rhinestones, and I love vintage western, and I like shiny things, kind of always have.

So this shirt was totally me.

- She just needed to have something to kind of fit her personality, just to make it say I'm Sarah Kelsey, here I am, I'm ready to go.

- I had the shirt my mom made me and I had a pair of earrings just like from Walmart or someplace, and I thought, I'm going to take these earrings and I'm going to glue some rhinestones to them and make a shiny matching accessory to my shirt.

Well, if you take earrings from Walmart and you glue rhinestones on them, it looks like you took earrings from Walmart and glued rhinestones on them.

And these other cowgirls are like, "how are you doing that with these big earrings?"

How are your ear lobes not being torn out or bleeding?

And I said, "Well, they're really light."

So I took one out and I handed it to the girl and she said, "Can I buy these off of you?"

And I said, "No, but I'll make you a pair."

That turned out to be really neat.

What I didn't realize is that that night in the hotel, I had changed the entire trajectory of my life.

(soft music) So I had $85 saved up.

I bought my vendor's license and my first package of wholesale Swarovski crystal.

I started a Facebook and an Instagram page.

Fast forward to now, this building is 18,000 square feet.

We have worked in 20 countries all over the world.

I'm an international bestselling author.

We've been in Vogue.

The things that have happened in the past eight years, I couldn't have imagined.

- When I came, we probably had, I don't know, seven or eight styles, maybe 10.

And wow, have we grown into lots of different styles.

We've taken in a lot of information from our clients about what it is they like, and our clients have the best ideas.

They come with color combinations that we could never come up with.

- [Sarah] So we have two main demographics when it comes to clientele, we have pageant girls and we have brides.

And we offer private custom design consultations for both of those.

And they're tailored for whichever type of client they are.

So you will sit in there with either myself or one of my designers, and quite literally start from scratch.

Anything from cuff links, tie bars, earrings, necklaces, shoes, stemware, if they want more crystals on their gown or their veil.

- When clients sign up for a consultation, we send them back an email that talks about what the consultation will include, and then when they arrive, we try to have everything really ready so that it's not about the earrings or our job.

We can be sort of working in the background to make them the star of the day.

It's a lot more than blingy earrings.

It's about the experience that that girl has here.

And then for us to produce those earrings that match their garments perfectly that we've co-created, it's really exciting.

- We make sure that every piece is perfect and I think they know what they're getting from the beginning.

And if they're not happy with it, she's going to do whatever she needs to do to see that they are.

- [Sarah] I would say the biggest thing that sets us apart as a brand is you will not find anybody more obsessed with what they do than me.

- [Kimi] Sarah's work ethic is second to none.

The girl is nonstop.

- Anytime an order is placed, either online or a custom order with us, every single one of those gets a handwritten note, and it is not scripted thanks for your purchase, it is tailored to that girl.

I had a client ask me, "How long do you think that's going to be feasible?"

It will always be.

Even if I have to hire a human whose sole job is to write notes, I'm not going to let that go.

Because if it weren't for our clients, this would be an idea still.

It would still be in the hotel room.

I don't ever want any of our girls to think that they're just a transaction, and I think taking that extra minute or two to write a note of appreciation is the least we can do for the girls who choose to spend their money with us.

- [Cindy] That's our goal.

Customer service is just paramount with us, and we always want that side of our business to absolutely shine.

- When my clients put my work on, I need them to feel like them.

Because if they're feeling like anybody else, you're going to be able to tell.

And I have talked myself out of hundreds of thousands of dollars by saying, "That earring doesn't fit you."

Like it's not worth the money to me.

I'm not going to let you walk out of it here with a piece you want to love.

only for you to waste your money because now it's camping out on your dresser.

This company is tangible proof that you can make a living doing anything that you want.

So I think the emotional component with what we do paired with our quality, paired with our comfort, that's an easy, easy recipe for us and it's what we do every day.

- [Joci] The inspiration for opening The Eco-Fill Shop was necessity.

All of the products at The Eco-Fill Shop are cruelty-free.

We're also making sure that our ingredients are not just safe for the environment but safe for you.

- [Announcer] Want to see your favorite local story featured on our show?

Head to our website at wgu.org/scenicstops, find the blue button, and let us know where we should go next.

(keyboard keys clacking) - The inspiration for opening The Eco-Fill Shop was necessity.

I was looking for products that had sustainable packaging, products that had sustainable ingredients, and I was not finding what I needed.

I could find good ingredients and it was just all in plastic, tons and tons of plastic.

And I just thought, there's got to be a better way.

And because I couldn't find a better way, I made a better way.

(relaxing music) What we as consumers need to avoid purchasing are things that are wrapped in plastic that do not need to be wrapped in plastic.

The Eco-Fill Shop is really doing its part to reduce that.

We have a lot of plant fiber dental floss.

We have dental floss picks that are made out of plant-based plastics that will also biodegrade.

Bamboo toothbrushes so that the handle is completely compostable.

They will decompose and they will not leave behind toxic chemicals as they do so, no microplastics.

And then toothpaste tabs.

You just refill and there's no tubes to squeeze out.

And that's a big deal.

So we do have like the, I call those the accessories to the daily consumables.

Just trying to replace stuff that you use all the time but then throw away.

Like these wax wrap or a plant-based wax wrap to replace cellophane wrap.

That's a big deal because that is where we're going to make the biggest impact for just the amount of trash that as consumers we generate.

Biggest difference for the environment in this store are all of our bar products.

They require no packaging.

You don't have to even put them in the boxes, we use compostable boxes.

They are just as easy to use or fill to make product in as plastic.

At The Eco-Fill Shop, we have a refill station.

And the refill station helps everybody access sustainable products and reduce plastic.

It doesn't eliminate it all together, but it reduces plastic because you can just bring in your shampoo, conditioner, laundry wash, dish soap, whatever liquid product you've been using around the house, you can fill up with whatever product that you are out of.

We do go one step further here at The Eco-Fill Shop to reduce the amount of deliveries that we have to have or products that we carry on our shelves.

Everything is unscented.

And then we offer essential oils that then you can customize your shampoo, conditioner, body wash, whatever it is you're refilling and you get your own scent.

And that really helps us reduce the amount of plastic because then I only have to buy one variety, and then everybody can have their own product.

And that just really makes a big difference in reducing plastic.

We're also making sure that our ingredients are not just safe for the environment but safe for you.

With even the cleaning products, because they're biodegradable and natural, they're also not reactive.

So it doesn't really matter what was in that plastic container before, as long as you've done your best to rinse it out, then it doesn't matter what you're refilling it with because my products are not going to react with other products.

(relaxing music) All of the products at The Eco-Fill Shop are cruelty-free.

You're going to find a lot of vegan products here.

You can do anything with plants that you can do with petroleum or animals.

If we do have an animal product, it is not from a dead animal.

Like our wool dryer balls are from very happy sheep in New Zealand, and they just get shaved and sheared and we get their wool, and then they get to grow another coat of wool and repeat the process.

(relaxing music) You should only have to come here once, maybe twice.

That's the way we're designed is like so that you don't have to go shopping all the time, 'cause that's also not sustainable, it's not really good for the environment.

(relaxing music) This is definitely for university students.

The Eco-Fill Shop is a healthy 10, 15 minute walk.

The next time you run out of shampoo, search out a store like mine.

There are quite a few of us out here doing this to make it so that as an individual, you don't have to work that hard to make a difference.

(relaxing music) (bright lively music) - Castle Noel is so filled with experiences.

This is not just a feeling of Christmas, but it's also pop culture.

I mean, you have all the movie props.

You get to see things from movies you grew up with and get real close to them.

(bright lively music) (keyboard keys clacking) (bright lively music) This whole thing started when I was a little kid and I would watch my dad decorate our house, and he would create this amazing wonderland.

We had a 16 foot tall tree and it was incredible.

Garland and ornaments hanging from all the beams and the ceiling.

And when it was done, people would come from everywhere to see it.

Not public people but friends, relatives, neighbors, and they would bring people from work and my house was always filled with people just experiencing the joy of Christmas through this amazing display my dad would build.

And in those moments of watching all that joy, I got the bug.

And over my lifetime, there's been several iterations of the Castle Noel idea.

And over the years, this idea has developed and developed.

(upbeat music) You're going to love the I Had That, because we have toys from every generation.

It has gone through a massive redo, and now there are 10 times the toys.

It's enchanted, so lots of toys are doing things now that they weren't doing before, and it is just an absolute 100% coverage, except for the floor you're walking on, is toys, from the 40s through the 2000s in an amazing collage.

I've been to a lot of different toy museums and things are very carefully kept and this is how it looked.

But when I was a kid, my closet was a mess, man.

Toys were everywhere.

They were all thrown in there and piled up.

So the I Had That Toyland experience is more like a crazy collage of toys.

You walk through The HotWheel MegaWheel with over a thousand Hot Wheels rotating around you as you go in, and it's just everywhere.

It's just insanity of toys.

It really is fun to watch people respond to that, 'cause you've never say anything like it.

It's totally off the walls.

And it took forever to do, but I kind of like to do the impossible stuff.

It's like Walt Disney said, "It's always fun to do the impossible."

So we try to do as much impossible here as we can.

We had some relics from old Cleveland window displays, and people loved them.

And then people would talk about how their childhood was special because they would go to downtown and they would see these windows, whether it was Akron or Cleveland and they loved them.

So I thought, wow, I got to go out and try to find whatever I could.

And I looked everywhere, and there's pieces of windows from Cleveland's history but there's no intact windows.

So I thought, where do they make the most amazing animated windows in the world?

That's New York City.

(bright music) It is a tradition that the windows are destroyed because they are meant to be a gift to the city and not seen again.

They don't want these to end up in places where they're unintended to be.

And we got them to understand what our mission was here.

And we are excited to say we now have windows from Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord & Taylor, Bloomingdale's, Macy's, Marshall Field's, all here at Castle Noel.

Incredible collections of windows.

The Cindy Lou Who bedroom set that we have from the movie, the Grinch.

I told my wife one day early, early on, "I would love to find Cindy Lou who's bedroom set."

And it wasn't like a day later, the phone rings out of the clear blue and it's this woman in Colorado and she says, "I have this Cindy Lou Who bedroom set."

Now that alone was amazing because typically, props are parted out.

You'll get a piece of this, a piece of that.

She had somehow gotten in a situation where she had all the props from the bedroom, which was incredible.

(bright music) (bells ringing) Christmas movies, they become a part of what it is to celebrate Christmas in American culture.

You know, we have over 400 props and costumes from the Grinch movie alone, including the giant Grinch's sleigh.

(bright music) One of the cars from the opening scene, the utility truck that puts up the big star on top the tree.

When people have an opportunity to get right up to the Grinch's sleigh.

Having watched that movie since 2000 when it was released and having watched it every Christmas since, there's this great connection to not only the movie, but to your memories.

Because you'll go back and people will be like, "I remember the first time I saw this movie, and now I'm standing by the sleigh."

(bright music) At the end of our tour, you get into the Grand Hall where we have the really big stuff, the giant 25 foot Christmas tree, the Whoville animated light show, and then at the end, you get to climb the steps and take a ride down the big red slide just like Ralphie in A Christmas Story.

And it is really exciting.

(bright music) It's awesome to come to Castle Noel any time of year, of course.

This is not just a feeling of Christmas, but it's also pop culture.

I mean, you have all the movie props, you get to see things from movies you grew up with, and get real close to them.

The window displays from New York, they're just amazing.

So even though it is of course a Christmas attraction, because of the way it's laid out and what's in here, it transcends the holiday season and just become something awesome to see whenever you come.

I wanted to build it where I was home, where I could enjoy it every day.

You know, we grew up here, we live in the area, and we just wanted to make it a part of our life every day.

And this town is just perfect for it.

We are very blessed to have been given the opportunity to create something every day.

My wife and I are just very humbled by the fact that this project has become so special to so many people.

It's just really amazing.

- My name is Sareka Unique and I am an artist, illustrator, surface pattern designer.

(groovy music) In 2020, YouTube and their marketing team reached out to me to help them create a unique gift that they were giving to their top YouTubers.

They chose four artists from all over the world to create designs to go on sweatsuits.

With these designs, I basically created acrylic paintings on paper, and then I deconstructed the painting into Illustrator, and we applied them in different settings to the sweatsuits, and then these sweatsuits were sent out to all the top YouTubers across the world.

It was a really cool project and one of my favorite projects to date.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music)