Bigfoot Collectors Club – “Minnesota’s Bigfoot” w/ Rich Sommer

Podcast: Bigfoot Collectors Club
Episode: "Minnesota's Bigfoot"
Date: April 16, 2025
Guest: Rich Sommer (actor, “Mad Men")
Hosts: Michael McMillian & Riley Bray
Theme: Exploring Minnesota’s regional cryptids, tales of high strangeness, board-game culture, skepticism vs. belief, and local legends with guest Rich Sommer.

EPISODE OVERVIEW

In this episode, Michael McMillian and Riley Bray welcome actor and avid board-gamer Rich Sommer to the Clubhouse for a deep-dive into paranormal lore, high-strangeness in Minnesota, and the Bigfoot mythos. The trio traverses personal histories, nostalgic boardgames, skeptical and wishful approaches to the unknown, and classic local legends — including Stillwater’s own folklore and Reamer, MN's hairy hominids. Sommer brings humor, candor, nerdy reverence, and a fresh perspective to classic cryptid chatter.

GUEST INTRODUCTION & BOARD GAME NOSTALGIA

[01:16 – 16:14]

• Michael introduces Rich Sommer, calling out his roles (“Mad Men”, “Minx”) and shared past of “fun voicemails” (an ongoing bit never before discussed outright).

  • “We’ve had each other’s phone numbers for at least a decade, maybe more, but…we've never actually had a real conversation.” — Michael [03:01]
  • “We would only speak as these characters we've created.” — Rich [03:36]

• Rich describes a unique game on his shelf: “Toodles”, a two-person cooperative drawing game.

• Board Games & The Paranormal:

  • Michael recalls “Ideal Haunted House,” a 3D haunted house board game from the 1960s, evoking his “earliest tactile memories of something spooky.”
  • Rich reminisces about “Shrieks and Creaks,” an interactive game with a tape player that provided creepy commands and sound effects.
    • “You'd pick up these keys...the right combination would activate the speaker. So wherever the tape was, it would impact the game...split up by spooky sound effects.” — Rich [07:13]
  • The group cracks up over the “non-binary character” comment about classic peg game pieces.
    • “I doubt there were non-binary characters in that game. This thing’s from a long time ago.” — Rich [08:22]

• Bigfoot-themed Board Games:

  • Michael brings up the 1970s Milton Bradley “Bigfoot” board game, admired for its kitschy art and memorabilia value. Rich notes the German version: “Yeti Der Schneemensch” — “Snow Dude.” [11:01]

• Modern Games:

  • Rich talks about “Cryptid” (a deduction game with a cryptid theme) and “Horrified: American Monsters,” referencing Mothman, Chupacabra, and others.

• Personal History:

  • Rich traces his board game love to friendship, outsider-dom, and finding “the thing I’d been looking for” on boardgamegeek.com.

PARANORMAL ENCOUNTERS & SKEPTICISM

[20:55 – 26:03]

• Ouija Board Experiences:

  • Rich describes trying the Ouija board as a kid, but, thanks to Penn & Teller and James Randi’s writings, always approached with skepticism:
    • “Here's the thing. Before we ever tried a Ouija board, Matt and I grew up on Penn & Teller...I read all of [James Randi’s] books and it really guided my thinking as far as becoming a skeptic.” [21:58]
    • “The planchette moved, but…we were like wow, isn't physiology amazing that we're moving that thing and it doesn't even feel like we're moving it?” [23:25]
  • Rich and the hosts maintain an “agnostic” or open-while-skeptical stance:
    • “Part of…being a skeptic is also acknowledging that I…don't know shit.” — Rich [24:14]
    • “We ultimately remain agnostic to this stuff.” — Michael [24:54]

• Supernatural Interests In Childhood:

  • Rich, a voracious library-goer, loved cryptid and witchcraft books, UFO stories, and “wished them to be real,” though eventually skepticism grew.
    • “It's a lot like how I feel about other aspects of life. I always and still wish them to be real. I don't…my gut is that they're not. But also I wish for them to be.” — Rich [26:03]

• UFO pop-culture moments recalled, especially “Communion” by Whitley Strieber and its iconic “grey” alien cover art:

  • “Whoever drew that cover effectively prescribed what we would think of aliens looking like for maybe ever…That's what we picture when we see aliens or think of aliens 100%.” — Rich [29:28]

MINNESOTA STRANGENESS & LOCAL LEGENDS

[30:04 – 34:49]

• Michael tells of “walking tin cans” — oddball alien sightings from Minnesota described by John Keel, highlighting the spectrum of paranormal encounters (not just “greys”).

• Rich speculates that, if aliens exist, there’s no reason they’d all look the same; perhaps the “walking tin cans” are agricultural spirits evolved for modernity.

  • “I also have a theory…maybe they aren't aliens at all, but there's some sort of, like, representation of…nature spirits…evolution of the nature spirit of the corn gods…now appearing as cans.” — Michael [32:13]
  • “Totally tracks, as far as I'm concerned.” — Rich [32:59]

• Rich recounts local Stillwater legends:

  • “Buster”, a well-known eccentric in winter garb, often seen with a baseball bat and rumoured to bash street signs.
  • “Leaping” or “Limping Linda,” a beloved, peculiar woman known for hopping into the street.
  • “He was always kitted out in…winter clothes…had a coat, a scarf…carried a baseball bat…there were stories he had done all these things…” — Rich [47:18]

• Local “campfire story” about “Crazy Charlie” and phosphorescent woods at Boy Scout camp. Rich connects this to the larger pattern of unexplained phenomena inspiring folklore.

  • “You could see the glowing wood…they were like, oh, he's been all over the place…and I slept on the floor of their cabin that night…sobbing.” — Rich [43:54]

GAME SEGMENT: RAPID-FIRE BELIEVE IT / BULLSHIT

[36:15 – 41:14]

• A Clubhouse staple, the hosts put Rich to the “Believer or Skeptic” test, listing paranormal phenomena for Rich to quickly label as “Believe it” or “Bullshit.” See below for highlights and Rich’s tone of agonized skepticism:

Notables:

• Ghosts: Bullshit

• Bigfoot: Bullshit

• UFOs: Believe it

• ESP, Chupacabra, Mothman, Abominable Snowman: Bullshit

• Loveland Frogman (giant frog with a wand): Believe it

• Hopkinsville Goblins (Kentucky classic): Believe it (if family “shot at something”)

• Hollow Earth, Michigan Dogman, Tarot, Out of body experiences (as experiences): nuanced skepticism

• Life on Other Planets: Believe it

• Life After Death: Believe it (possible, thanks to recent physics reading)

• “I’m sweating…I don’t know if you can see but I am pouring sweat.” — Rich [41:14]

MINNESOTA BIGFOOT/HARRY MAN LEGEND

[46:09 – 65:02]

Stillwater Area Lore (Rich's Hometown)

• Rich reacts to local legends Michael found during prep — Buster and Leaping Linda.
• “Buster…was definitely…a guy that everybody knew or knew of Buster.” — Rich [49:31]

The Story of High Strangeness: “Minnesota’s Bigfoot”

Main narrative starts [49:40]

• Michael recaps a 2008 Bigfoot sighting near Washburn Lake and the long-standing lore of hairy hominids in Minnesota, especially in the towns of Vergas and Reamer (“Reamer, MINN — Home of Bigfoot”).

• Trail Cam Evidence:

  • The Kadrowski family’s 2009 trail cam photo captures a large, blurry figure (about 7 feet tall) at night. The image, while inconclusive, set off local speculation and investigation.
  • “It’s a color trail cam photo, which we don’t see often…what looks like—a figure, a blurry figure walking through the trees.” — Michael [54:33]

• Bigfoot Woods:

  • Rich casually drops that he just filmed a movie, “Bigfoot Woods,” in Minnesota, set in a fictionalized "Steamer," riffing on local Bigfoot legend. The movie is both about Bigfoot and about a small-town father grappling with his child’s gender transition.
    • “It is about a small town that basically has an easier time grappling with the idea of an imaginary monster than…someone going through a transition.” — Rich [53:49]
    • The film consciously includes themes of acceptance and understanding (metaphorically linking Bigfoot belief with embracing difference).

• Local Encounters:

  • Multiple sightings of the “hairy man” or Bigfoot described:

    • Eight-foot, scraggly, malodorous, perpetually barefoot, seen in winter.
    • Notable “attacks” on cars (with dented hoods as “evidence”), teens seeing the figure with a stick burst from a cabin, and mysterious screams.
    • A “mysterious skull” (later deemed clearly fake) shown off in a diner, adding to viral Bigfoot lore.

  • “Known as the hairy man, this local legend is described as an eight foot tall, scraggly haired beast…barefoot even in winter.” — Michael [56:43]

  • “Whoever made it…it's just, ‘I wonder what it looks like under that skin’…and that's what that skull is.” — Rich [62:22]

• Celebrating the Legend:

  • Reamer leans hard into cryptid folklore: “Bigfoot Gas & Gifts,” Woodsman Cafe with “Bigfoot hashbrowns," and an annual “Bigfoot Days Festival.”
  • “The way they make them Bigfoot-themed is to call them Bigfoot…Bigfoot burger, Bigfoot Coke, Bigfoot fries…” — Rich [64:18]
  • “This would 100% get my money. That’s all you need to do.” — Michael [64:30]

NOTABLE QUOTES & MEMORABLE MOMENTS

• On skepticism vs. wonder:
  • “I always and still sort of wish them to be real…My gut is that they're not. But also I wish for them to be.” — Rich Sommer [26:03]
• On explaining the "unexplained":
  • “You could get into why so many things are just explanations for a thing that we don't have an explanation for yet. That would explain, I don't know, 90% of the wars we fought on this planet.” — Rich [44:41]
• On the tension of the rapid-fire game:
  • “This is painful…I want to be fun and cool…I'm trying to be open.” — Rich [39:16]
  • “I’m sweating…I don’t know if you can see but I am pouring sweat.” — Rich [41:14]

TIMESTAMPS OF MAJOR SEGMENTS

• Rich Sommer Introduction: [01:16 – 05:08]
• Paranormal Board Game Nostalgia: [05:08 – 16:14]
• Ouija Boards & Skepticism: [21:23 – 25:19]
• Childhood Paranormal Fascination: [26:03 – 30:04]
• Minnesota Alien Lore (Walking Tin Cans): [30:04 – 32:59]
• Stillwater Local Legends (“Buster”, “Linda”): [46:25 – 49:40]
• Minnesota’s Bigfoot/Story of High Strangeness: [49:40 – 65:02]
• Rapid-Fire Belief Game: [36:20 – 41:14]
• Discussion of Themed Diners (“Space Aliens”): [66:05 – 67:37]

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS & THEMES

• Nostalgia and Community: The shared love of games, storytelling, and local legends brings the Clubhouse together, whether as skeptical adults or credulous kids.
• Embracing Difference: Both cryptid folklore and human diversity are treated as wonders to be embraced, not shunned.
• Critical Thinking and Openness: Rich models an agnostic’s skepticism: hoping for the fantastic, accepting he cannot know for sure, and relishing the stories either way.

FINAL NOTES

• Rich Sommer’s upcoming film “Bigfoot Woods” uses Bigfoot belief as a metaphor for embracing all kinds of difference, inspired by real small-town lore.
• Reamer, MINN, continues to make the most of its cryptid status with annual festivals and tongue-in-cheek tourism.
• The episode is full of warmth, humor, and surprising personal connections to both the paranormal and the deeply human.

FOR FURTHER LISTENING

• BCC Patreon: patreon.com/bigfootcollectorsclub — bonus episodes & community
• Check out Rich Sommer’s future “Bigfoot Woods” film for more on Minnesota’s legendary hairy men
• Visit Reamer during “Bigfoot Days” (and get those hashbrowns)