Faribault | Minnesota Prairie Roots

Unbelievable! Record snowfall on May 2 in Faribault, Minnesota May 2, 2013

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 8:28 AM
Tags: Faribault, life, May 2 snowstorm, Minnesota, snow, weather, winter, winter storm

Willow Street, shortly after 7 a.m. May 2. That’s my house on the right.

YOU WOULD GUESS, walking my neighborhood this morning, that this is March instead of May. I am living in a winter wonderland, if you want to put a positive spin on the fresh snow blanketing the landscape.

Our measurements showed seven inches. I expect we got closer to a a foot of snow since it began falling Wednesday afternoon.

An unofficial seven inches of snow have fallen here by measurement of the yardstick my husband thrust into the snow this morning. I expect we got more like 12 inches as much melted upon hitting the ground. I believe the old record for this date in Minnesota was three inches in 1946.

Owatonna, 15 miles to the south got 13 inches in this storm. Falling snow limited the time I spent outdoors with my camera this morning.

Schools are closed.

My husband blowing out our driveway.

It’s a mess out there.

A limb broke off my neighbor’s tree around 6 a.m., striking her house and then smashing onto her car, breaking the windshield. In this photo my husband had already sawed a portion of the limb off. We then pulled this remaining limb from her car so she could move it, before another limb fell.

Branches are down all over, including at my new neighbor's house across the street.

Branches are down all over, including at my neighbor’s house across the street.

Look to the upper left in this photo and you’ll see one particular limb broken off and looming over my neighbor’s yard.

This shows the intersection right by my house and my husband blowing snow. Note the sagging utility lines.

Branches are broken and littering yards. Power lines are sagging from the weight of the heavy wet snow.

I opened the garage door this morning to this scene.

Cars are buried in driveways and residents are slogging through the snow with snowblowers.

Clearing our snow-covered driveway.

Our snowy backyard.

Note, again, the sagging power lines in this shot taken from my backyard looking toward my neighbor’s house across Willow Street.

Need I say more.

I want out.

JUST AS I WAS WRAPPING up this post, the snowplow barreled past my house, throwing the snow with such force that it blasted the side of our house and the bedroom window. I checked the window and it doesn’t appear to be broken.

UPDATE 3:55 P.M.: Tree service removal trucks and the buzz of chain saws have frequented my neighborhood this afternoon as clean up begins after the storm.

A tree service company arrived at my neighbor’s house across the street this afternoon to remove dangling limbs. That’s her car with the smashed windshield to the left in this photo. See my earlier photo of the car (above) when parked in her driveway this morning. The limb crashed onto her car at about 6 a.m.

Directly across Willow Street from my home, another neighbor had to deal with fallen branches and limbs in his yard.

A City of Faribault snowplow driver and a Thompson Tree Service worker confer along Willow Street this morning.

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“I hated myself”: Journey to recovery through Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge April 30, 2013

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 7:39 AM
Tags: alcohol addiction, drug abuse, drug addiction, faith, Faribault, God, inspiration, life, Minnesota, Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge, music, recovery programs, recovery stories, Trinity Lutheran Church

A member of the Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge Choir sings a solo during a presentation on Sunday at Trinity Lutheran Church in Faribault.

A member of the Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge Choir rehearses his solo before a concert on Sunday at Trinity Lutheran Church in Faribault.

SHE’S FOUR MONTHS to graduation, this mother of four, this 13-year meth addict.

Jill speaks with passion, sharing her downward spiral into addiction and her remarkable recovery through Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge. Her voice raw with emotion, Jill reveals how, as a single mom trying to raise a son and a daughter, who had cystic fibrosis, she gave her girl up for adoption. That pushed her over the edge.

Later, she would marry, have two more children and, eventually, her husband would enter treatment at Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge, a faith-based recovery program for those with drug and alcohol addictions. “I watched him turn into a godly man,” Jill says. “Our lives are unbelievable. We love each other. It’s amazing what God can do when He’s in your life. He restores.”

Praise and personal testimonies highlighted the choir’s performance.

By age 13, James from my community of Faribault, was smoking crank out of a light bulb. The son of a teacher and social worker, he had no direction or purpose in life. He was using and selling drugs and breaking into places. By age 22, he’d been to prison twice, had a son. “You try to manage and have as much fun as you can before you get locked up again,” he says.

He also used heroin. Then his brother died. “They’re thinking they’re going to bury two kids in the same month,” James says of his parents.

In 2011 he graduated from the Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge treatment program. “I found God and feel God. I have the joy of the Lord.”

And then James shares more. He was once best friends with a 27-year-old Faribault man charged last week with first-degree attempted murder and first-degree and second-degree assault in an attack on his fiance, stabbed more than 30 times. She survived and is out of the hospital.

“Bad things happen…God sustains you,” this former addict says.

Heartbreaking and inspirational stories were shared.

A soloist performs with the choir.

Heidi, 22, the daughter of divorced parents and an alcoholic father, grew up in a small town. She started drinking, eventually wracked up two driving under the influence charges, was in and out of court-ordered treatment.

She turned to abusing prescription drugs, yet managed to go to college, even held a job in sales. She stole from her family, got into heroin.

By her admission, Heidi says, “I threw away opportunities in life…I hated myself…I was sitting in my apartment all day getting high.”

Then she overdosed, suffered a seizure.

Heidi is set to graduate in May from Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge. “I needed a relationship with God,” this young woman says.

IF YOU’VE NEVER attended a Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge presentation like the concert/personal testimonies I heard at my church, Trinity Lutheran in Faribault, on Sunday, I’d encourage you to do so. You will never forget the stories of these courageous individuals who have overcome so much to reclaim their lives and their families and forge new relationships with God.

Choir members line up and dish up at the potluck after the service and concert.

At the potluck dinner after the concert, I sat with Tyler, a 20-year recovering heroin addict and father of two boys, 9 and 13. When his wife died two years ago, Tyler knew he needed to change. You’d never guess, just looking at and talking with this well-groomed and articulate young man, that he’d once been into drugs. He’s been in and out of treatment several times. But this time, in the longer one-year faith-based recovery program, Tyler’s succeeded. He’s set to graduate soon, will start college and work, and get his boys back.

Tyler, Jill, James and Heidi and about 35 others, through primarily song and those few personal testimonials, brought their messages of hope, joy and recovery to my church through the center’s community outreach program.

Anthony Bass, who played for the Minnesota Vikings from 1998-2000 and is now the church relations manager for Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge and is planting a church in northeast Minneapolis, says the on-the-road programs are part of an effort to help fight heroin, meth and prescription drug addictions, showing “how God’s power has helped and restored.”

Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge has eight facilities in Minnesota—in Minneapolis, Brainerd and Duluth and one soon to open in Rochester. The name was changed last October from Minnesota Teen Challenge to Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge, more accurately reflecting the ages of program participants. Eighty percent are over age 18.

Bass also asked for prayers and financial support.

The Trinity Quilt Makers gifted the group with this stash of quilts.

As I sang the hymn, “Who Are You Who Walk in Sorrow,” with the congregation and choir members, I considered how fitting these words:

Great companion on our journey,
Still surprise us with Your grace!
Make each day a new Emmaus;
On our hearts Your image trace!

FYI: Click here to learn more about Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge.

(Note that I may or may not have the correct spellings of names referenced in this story. I did not check the spellings. And, yes, I asked and was given permission, to photograph the Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge Choir.)

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Hardy, defiant or ? April 24, 2013

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:59 AM
Tags: Faribault, Minnesota, motorcycle, spring, thoughts, weather, winter

Scene on Willow Street, Faribault, Minnesota, 6:09 p.m., Tuesday, April 23.

TUESDAY EVENING, APRIL 23, and I’ve just finished supper when I spy a motorcycle on the street.

Any other spring, and I would not give this mode of transportation a second thought nor grab my camera.

But this is no ordinary April in Minnesota. The six inches of snow which fell Monday into early Tuesday morning in Faribault have mostly melted, but plenty still blankets the landscape.

Forty degrees. Snow on the ground. And a biker hits the road.

As crazy as this appears, I recall seeing a motorcyclist riding in 30 degree temps a few months ago.

Thoughts?

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Yes, Minnesota, there really is a spring April 23, 2013

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:44 AM
Tags: Donahue's Greenhouse, Faribault, flowers, greenhouse, Minnesota, nature, photo essay, photography, photos, spring, weather, winter

ALLOW ME TO WEAVE a magical photo essay today, to sprinkle fairy dust into your eyes, to transport you from the snowy Minnesota landscape into a place of wondrous beauty and warmth.

If you truly believe, just as Virginia believed in Santa Claus, you will see spring.

Ready? Let’s go.

A little fairy dust in the eyes

and we enter the magical world of spring inside Donahue’s Greenhouse in Faribault.

Here a spell is cast upon winter weary Minnesotans, some of whom load their carts with plants, unable to resist the overpowering pull of flowers in bloom.

Blossoms unfurl, fooled into spring by the warmth of the greenhouse, the rare sunshine which graces this April day.

Gazing into the future, gardeners envision spring

with nesting birds

and soil warm enough to embrace seeds.

They imagine delicate buds unfurling into graceful blossoms,

defying winter in bursts of vibrant hues.

Everywhere, in this magical place, the sweet promise of spring prevails,

except on a shelf where fantasy vanishes in the face of truth.

Spring, my dear Minnesotans, exists only in our dreams.

THIS MORNING WE AWOKE to “a bunch of snow” (my husband’s measurement) here in Faribault, snow which began falling around 4 p.m. Monday and was still coming down when I went to bed around 11 p.m. Snowfall guesstimate would be around six inches. The landscape looks similar to this scene (click here) from last Thursday, except with even more snow. Power lines and trees are frosted with the heavy, wet snow. And for awhile last night, probably less than 15 minutes, the power was off in my neighborhood.

The scene outside my office this morning, dear readers, looks nothing like spring and exactly like winter.

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Time to exit Minnesota, Old Man Winter April 19, 2013

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 1:47 PM
Tags: Faribault, Minnesota, snow, thoughts, weather, winter

THURSDAY EVENING, instead of following the yellow brick road to the Emerald City, I closed the curtains on a snow globe world.

Wintery weather caused Faribault High School to cancel its opening performance of “The Wizard of Oz” musical, much to my dismay. I was looking forward to the temporary evening escape into a magical world far, far away from snowy Minnesota.

It was not to be.

Rather, I was stuck in my snow encased house (OK, I’m being somewhat dramatic here), curtains drawn.

The beautiful view of my backyard this morning with about four inches of new snow on the ground.

This morning, when I drew back the curtains, a beautiful snowy landscape unfolded before me.

“It’s pretty,” I remarked to my husband after glimpsing the woods adjoining our backyard.

A portion of the unshoveled sidewalk by my house, which I cleared of snow this morning.

A portion of the unshoveled sidewalk which I cleared of snow during morning “rush hour” on Willow Street.

Not so pretty were the driveway and the sidewalks. More shoveling. More blowing of snow.

My husband cleared snow from our driveway and that of a neighbor before leaving for work in Northfield.

Honestly, I just want the snow to stop, for Old Man Winter to take his final bow, exit and allow Spring to take center stage.

Truly, on April 19, is that really too much to ask?

A defiant Old Man Winter promises more snow for the weekend when all I want is for the snow to STOP.

BONUS SNOW PHOTOS, if you really want to see them:

I should be using this wheelbarrow in my backyard, not photographing it covered with snow.

My next door neighbor shovels his driveway, left, on Tower Place before 8 a.m.

I shoveled my way to the front steps to retrieve The Faribault Daily News.

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A note about distracted drivers April 2, 2013

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 7:11 AM
Tags: cell phones, distracted drivers, Faribault, guardian angel, Minnesota, Minnesota Highway 21, Minnesota highway 60, opinion, traffic, travel

Red means STOP.

DEAREST GUARDIAN ANGEL,

My apologies for the delay in sending this thank you note. But sometimes it takes awhile for these things to sink in, to understand the gravity of the situation and what may have been.

For me, it was my husband stating, “He could have taken any one of us out.”

That comment slapped me like a sub-zero January morning. Rarely does Randy express such a strong opinion.

But he was right to assess just how bad this could have been—had I not glimpsed the white pick-up truck from the corner of my eye and yelled for my husband to stop, just as our 1995 Chrysler Concorde entered the intersection.

They always say it happens in an instant. How true. The glimpse of white. The realization that the truck was not slowing to stop for the red light on the four-lane. The thought formulating into words. The warning spewed from my lips. The foot to brake. The truck whizzing past, never slowing. The driver, totally clueless.

You, dearest angel, I am convinced, were hovering at Minnesota Highways 60 and 21, one of the busiest intersections in Faribault, around 10:30 p.m. Thursday. There is no other explanation. I could easily have been looking the other way, not spoken soon enough. My husband could have delayed his reaction.

Had Randy not stopped when he did, the truck would have t-boned our car, a direct hit to the driver’s side. I don’t even want to think about the serious injuries that would have been inflicted upon my loved ones, including our 19-year-old son sitting behind his dad and just home from Fargo for Easter.

I do not go through life unnecessarily pondering the “what ifs.” But sometimes particular events stick with you for a few days as reminders of how life truly can change, just like that. I suppose this incident lingers even more given my future son-in-law’s car was totaled by a red light runner in St. Paul several months ago.

My family’s near-collision Thursday evening was reinforced two days later by two drivers, both distracted by cell phones, who pulled out in front of us. One driver stopped just in time. The other, a woman in a van, head bent either texting or dialing, paused at a stop sign and drove straight into our path, not even noticing our approaching van.

To be honest, it scares the hell out of me sometimes how distracted and clueless many drivers are today.

My apologies, dear guardian angel, for referencing my concern with that overused phrase. But sometimes even writers struggle to define stupidity.

Gratefully,
Audrey

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I know that my Redeemer lives March 31, 2013

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 2:29 PM
Tags: Easter, faith, Faribault, hymn, memories, Minnesota, Redeemer, religion, Shieldsville Township, Trebon Cemetery, Vesta

A cross in Trebon Cemetery, 10 miles northwest of Faribault in Shieldsville Township.

I know that my Redeemer lives;
What comfort this sweet sentence gives!
He lives, He lives, who once was dead;
He lives, my ever-living head.

He lives triumphant from the grave;
He lives eternally to save:
He lives all-glorious in the sky;
He lives exalted there on high.

This, one of my favorite hymns, I sang with the congregation of Trinity Lutheran Church in Faribault this Easter Sunday morning.

The words are imprinted upon my memory from childhood Easters, of singing from the balcony of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Vesta with my Sunday School classmates.

I know that my Redeemer lives. I knew that then. I still know that now. He is risen. He is risen, indeed.

Wishing you a most blessed Easter in our risen Lord.

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Fifty-one years of presenting The Last Supper Drama at a rural Minnesota church March 22, 2013

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 7:14 AM
Tags: 12 disciples, art, Christ, churches, drama, Faribault, Holy Week, Leonardo da Vinci, Minnesota, Palm Sunday, Rice County, St. John's United Church of Christ Wheeling Township, The Last Supper Drama, worship

St. John’s members portray the disciples in this undated vintage photo, the first record of a photograph from The Last Supper Drama. Actors, from left to right, are Luverne Hafemeyere, Earl Meese, Vicgtor Luedke, Howard Meese, Virgil Bosshart, Arnold Keller, P.L. Golden, Alvin bosshart, Paul Bauer, Elmer Covert Sr. and Arnold Bauer. Photo courtesy of St. John’s.

THOUSANDS OF MILES from Milan, Italy, in the flat farm fields of Rice County in southeastern Minnesota, Leonardo da Vinci has left his mark on a small congregation.

For 50 consecutive years, St. John’s United Church of Christ, Wheeling Township, has presented The Last Supper Drama, a theatrical interpretation of the master artist’s most famous painting created in 1495 as a mural in an Italian monastery.

St. John's 50th presentation of The Last Supper Drama in the sanctuary.

St. John’s 50th presentation of The Last Supper Drama in 2012.

I penned those two opening blog post paragraphs during Holy Week 2012, shortly after attending the St. John’s performance.

So update that number. The congregation is slated to present its 51st The Last Supper Drama at 8 p.m. on March 24, Palm Sunday.

I’d advise attending because you don’t get more grassroots basic than this in the retelling of Christ’s final meal with his 12 disciples via a script penned by a long ago St. John’s pastor.

Judas grips the bag of silver, his reward for betraying Christ, as seen in the 2012 drama.

Each disciple speaks of his personal relationship to Christ, making this a particularly introspective drama presented by members and former members of St. John’s.

The parking lot at St. John’s United Church of Christ, Wheeling Township, is nearly full 20 minutes before the congregation’s annual performance of The Last Supper Drama.

Truly, there’s something about slipping inside this rural 1800s limestone church as evening melds into night, settling upon aged pews among those who have worshiped here for generations, that is particularly comforting.

It is good for the soul to sing and pray and listen, to sweep your thoughts into a meditative mindset for Holy Week.

That this country congregation continues with a tradition begun in 1963 impresses me. Such uninterrupted longevity is a testament to faith, an appreciation of history and a clear understanding that still today, perhaps more than ever, The Last Supper Drama needs to be shared.

A view from the balcony before the drama begins shows the spotlight to the left and The Last Supper table below. The actors enter, spotlighted in the dark church, to take their seats at the table. There they “freeze” in place to mimic Leonardo da Vinci’s painting.

FYI: St. John’s United Church of Christ, Wheeling Township, is located 10 miles northeast of Faribault. Take Minnesota State Highway 60 east for eight miles and then turn north onto Rice County 24. Drive two miles to 19086 Jacobs Avenue.

Click here and then here to read my detailed The Last Supper Supper Drama posts from 2012.

Click here to read my post from 2011.

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U of M study on teen texting and driving targets rural Minnesota February 25, 2013

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 8:11 AM
Tags: Faribault, Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute, Minnesota Department of Transportation, Nichole L. Morris, research, rural Minnesota, teens, texting and driving, traffic fatalities, University of Minnesota

WE’VE ALL HEARD the warnings about texting and driving. You’ve likely even spotted someone texting and driving. I haven’t.

Interstate 94 sometimes seems to run right into the sky as you drive west.

Interstate 94 in western Minnesota. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.

But a brother-in-law, who is a trucker, recently shared a story about watching a young woman lose control of her car along Interstate 94 in western Minnesota while texting. Somehow she managed to keep her car on the road and avoid a crash. My brother-in-law claims the incident happened so fast that the driver never took her eyes off her cell phone.

Stories like that scare me.

Now researchers at the University of Minnesota’s Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Institute are undertaking a study of young drivers and texting practices in 18 Minnesota communities, most of them rural and Faribault among them.

I first learned of the study in a news brief published in the Faribault Daily News soliciting 20 newly-licensed 16-year-olds from the Faribault area to participate in the year-long study. Intrigued, I contacted Nichole L. Morris, a research associate in the U of M’s HumanFIRST program in the ITS Institute. She is working on this project, funded by the ITS Institute and the Minnesota Department of Transportation, along with a team of researchers.

My phone, not a smart phone, but with an important message.

The 300 teens selected for the study will be equipped with smartphones to collect and transmit driving data in real-time for their first full year of independent driving. Researchers will collect data until May 2104 with group data reported to MnDOT and then made public in early 2015.

“These results will hopefully shed light on what areas are most problematic for teen drivers, what can be done with our technology to improve the safety of teen drivers and what changes, if any, should be implemented to our teen driver laws to prevent more teen driving fatalities,” Morris says.

Eighty percent of teen fatal crashes occur in rural areas, Morris says, explaining why the project is targeting 18 mostly rural Minnesota communities. Faribault was selected for the study because of its population and low commuting rate. She declined to name the other 17 communities or any hypotheses to avoid adding bias to the study.

But, says Morris, “My hope is that we find some key answers to reduce crash and fatalities for teen drivers in Minnesota and nationwide. This is such an important issue because traffic crashes are the leading cause of fatalities for teens. The rate at which we lose our sons and daughters on the road is unacceptable and it is a charge to all citizens to help to become the solution to this problem.”

The passion Morris, who holds a Ph.D. in Human Factors Psychology, possesses for this project is palpable. “It is an exciting opportunity for parents and teens to be a part of the solution to end teen traffic fatalities.”

Eighteen communities in rural Minnesota are included in the teen texting and driving study.

The study is targeting rural Minnesota. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.

As of Friday morning, 216 Minnesota teens from the selected communities had been recruited for the study. About 10 more are needed from the Faribault area.

To apply, a teen must be 16 years of age, currently have a driver’s permit, receive provisional licensure between now and April 30, start the study within a month of getting licensed, drive at least 2-4 times a week, have no physical limitations that prevent driving and have parental permission.

Qualifying teens should contact Morris via phone at 612-624-4614 or email at nlmorris@umn.edu

Besides offering teens an opportunity to help find solutions to teen traffic fatalities, the project is also paying a $25 monthly incentive ($300 to be paid at the end of the year-long study) and providing smartphones with free monthly data, text and talk plans for a year.

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Snow removal in my Minnesota neighborhood February 23, 2013

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 8:54 AM
Tags: Faribault, life, Minnesota, neighborhood, neighbors, shoveling snow, snow, weather, winter

About to begin shoveling the driveway.

“HOW MUCH SNOW did we get?” I asked my husband upon arising Friday morning. I had no desire to bundle up and head outdoors to shovel the sidewalk and driveway. Again.

He guessed about five inches.

“I don’t feel like shoveling.”

“You don’t have to. I’ll blow it out when I get home.”

And so I felt a tinge of guilt, making the mail carrier and the few pedestrians in my neighborhood plow through the snow. But at least school wasn’t in session and kids wouldn’t be trudging through the snow, too, packing it down.

The first scoop of snow.

But then, around 2 p.m., the next door neighbor barreled down the sidewalk with his snowblower blazing a trail past our house and then back a second time to clear an even wider path. That Ken did this simply out of the goodness of his heart pleases me.

Up the street, a kindly soul opened the driveway and sidewalks of another neighbor whose property my husband typically clears of snow.

Moving right along…

Across the street, the neighbor boy attempted to clear the driveway, a seemingly insurmountable job for the little guy. He was giving it his all, for awhile, clearing only a small section before abandoning the task.

Perhaps someday he’ll blaze a trail through the snow with a snowblower.

Or maybe he’ll just give up and move to Florida.

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Minnesota Prairie Roots

Writing and photography by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

Unbelievable! Record snowfall on May 2 in Faribault, Minnesota May 2, 2013

“I hated myself”: Journey to recovery through Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge April 30, 2013

Hardy, defiant or ? April 24, 2013

Yes, Minnesota, there really is a spring April 23, 2013

Time to exit Minnesota, Old Man Winter April 19, 2013

A note about distracted drivers April 2, 2013

I know that my Redeemer lives March 31, 2013

Fifty-one years of presenting The Last Supper Drama at a rural Minnesota church March 22, 2013

U of M study on teen texting and driving targets rural Minnesota February 25, 2013

Snow removal in my Minnesota neighborhood February 23, 2013

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