Minnesota Prairie Roots

Writing and photography by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

Birding at River Bend May 5, 2026

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Langston Richter looks for birds at River Bend Nature Center in Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

THEY ARE BIRDERS. I am not. But I love encountering people who are passionate about interests like birding. That would be Tom Boevers and Langston Richter.

A bluebird house photographed during a previous visit to River Bend. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

The two were walking the trails of River Bend Nature Center in Faribault recently when Randy and I met them along a section of the Prairie Loop. We’d just been talking about bluebirds and Tom, whom we know to be the caretaker of bluebird houses at River Bend.

Bluebird eggs in a nest, as shown to me by Mr. Bluebird, Keith Radel, several years ago. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

And there Tom was, looking for birds with Langston, a Bethlehem Academy senior. Tom shared that he’s tallied five bluebird eggs at his Faribault home and 23 in the nature center this spring. I don’t recall other details. But the pair’s interest, knowledge and ability to spot birds impresses me.

In the jumble of branches, a bird perches. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

As we chatted, Langston suddenly swung his binoculars upward toward the top of a tree. While he spotted a bird immediately, I took much longer to find it camouflaged among the bare branches. I hear plenty of birdsong while hiking at River Bend, but can’t find birds with much ease.

A low-lying nest at River Bend, likely left from last season. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

I suppose good vision, a knowledge of bird species, habits and habitat, plus experience, factor into successful bird watching. These two have all of that down. They met when Langston was volunteering at the senior center and someone, knowing their shared avian interest, connected them.

Tom wears his binoculars, ready to watch birds. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

Both carry binoculars. Langston also brings a camera to photograph birds. And on this afternoon, he sported an eBird cap. Ebird is an online database for logging bird sightings. Later I checked eBird, where Langston noted seeing the following (and more) on April 29 at River Bend: a Virginia Rail, Blue-headed Vireo, Sedge Wren, Marsh Wren, Orange-crowned Warbler and Palm Warbler.

A cardinal, photographed during a past nature center hike. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

Now if you’re familiar with those specific birds’ names, you’re smarter than me. I thought a wren was a wren was a wren. Tom and Langston understand otherwise. They are serious birders, who probably wished I would quit talking so they could go about scouting for birds in silence. I appreciated their patience with me.

A bird among pond grass and dried cattails on a previous visit to River Bend. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

Later, Randy and I connected with them again, this time in the woods. Tom motioned for us to come closer. They’d spotted woodpeckers and some other bird, which I don’t recall. I looked and saw nothing. The guys all saw the birds. Finally, I noticed movement and then a woodpecker. I wished I was closer, quicker and had a longer telephoto lens. Or maybe the patience to stand still and observe.

This bird was easy to see on the end of a branch. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

Tom and Langston definitely have patience and a certain calmness likely necessary when bird watching. Their love of the outdoors is apparent. It was no surprise then to hear Langston tell of his post high school plans to attend Cornell University in New York and eventually become an environmental lawyer. I have no doubt he will achieve that goal.

Celebrating mom, nature and birds in a memorial plaque. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

As Randy and I continued along Raccoon Trail, Tom and Langston well ahead of us again, I stopped to photograph a memorial stone. The words fit the moment: “It’s for the birds…May all who come here learn to love nature as we did, growing up beneath the spread of her wings.”

Diseased ash attract woodpeckers to peck for bugs below the bark. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

FYI: Several opportunities to learn more about birds are coming up in the area. Those include a campfire program, “Woodpecker Wonders,” from 7-8 p.m. May 30 and a naturalist-led hike, “Birding in the Big Woods,” from 9-10 a.m. May 31, both at Nerstrand Big Woods State Park. Then from 10-11 a.m. June 6, River Bend Nature Center hosts “Bagels & Birds.” Attendees can enjoy coffee and bagels in the Interpretative Center while viewing birds through the Windows on the Wild viewing area.

© Copyright 2026 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Kenyon up close, the details of community April 30, 2026

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A street scene in the heart of downtown Kenyon. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

TO WRITE A FICTIONAL BOOK, you begin with an idea, which births words. Words beget sentences, then paragraphs, then chapters. But the process is not quite that simple. Creating a work of fiction requires attention to detail from character development to dialogue to setting to plot. I’ve written short stories that have published, thus understand the craft.

I want to hone in on one word—details. They are a hallmark of a good story, of creative writing. And they are also the hallmark of small towns. Let me explain.

Just as you drive into Kenyon from the west, you’ll see this TARDIS in a residential yard. It’s the featured mode of transportation in the BBC sci-fi television show “Doctor Who.”

How many times have you driven through a community without really seeing it, without noticing the rich details that, like details in a story, make it unique, interesting?

I notice the little things. Perhaps it’s my journalism and photography background that draw me to look closer, beyond the surface. I seek out anything that is different, unusual, surprising. And I’m never disappointed.

Help wanted in Kenyon. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

Drive slowly around any small town or walk along Main Street with a focused perspective and you will soon see the details that integrate into the story line of a community. That includes Kenyon, a Goodhue County town of around 1,900 best known for its Boulevard of Roses.

Sign painter Mike Meyer, formerly of Mazeppa, painted the sign for the former Martin Fox Garage. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo 2026)

Minnesota State Highway 60, along which all those roses grow, runs right through the heart of Kenyon, intersecting with state highway 56. The intersection thrums with traffic. But I wonder how many motorists notice the bold Fox’s Garage Firestone Tires sign painted on the side of a stalwart brick building half a block away from that busy intersection? It’s an artsy nod to local history.

This memorial is located in the veterans park along Minnesota State Highway 56. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

Nearby, at the Kenyon Veterans Memorial Park, I discovered Jacob’s Tree and a plaque honoring Jacob Wetterling and all missing children. It was an unexpected memorial in a place focused on veterans. But it also seemed fitting to honor the 11-year-old Minnesota boy who was abducted by a stranger in 1989, his remains found 27 years later. Jacob was, after all, a small town boy grabbed while biking to a video store.

The video store is closed, but the sign remains. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

Kenyon once had a video store, now a tobacco and vape shop. The K-Town Video sign tells me that.

For a small town, Kenyon offers several downtown food options, including Che Che’s Lunchera at a former corner gas station. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

Likewise, remnants of fuel pricing signage still banner a former gas station where today Che Che’s Lunchera food truck serves up Mexican food under the station canopy.

Old, faded signage posted long ago for snowmobilers. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

Details like these point to a town’s history, to its evolution. Back at the vets park, a fading vintage sign once directed snowmobilers to gas and food along a designated trail route.

The newest sign at Kenyon Meats. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

I hold a fondness for signs and Kenyon offers plenty of homegrown signage. That includes clever and humorous messages posted outside Kenyon Meats along highway 60. I expect many motorists have noticed SMOKE MEAT NOT METH and DON’T FRY BACON NAKED. And now the newest—YOUR MOM LIKES OUR MEAT.

A tractor and a pick-up truck, rural hallmarks. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

But it takes a turn onto a side street and through an alley to see an old John Deere tractor parked next to a pick-up truck behind a building. This is a farming community rooted in rural.

A basketball hoop in an unexpected place. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

Along that same alley, next to the post office parking lot, I noticed a basketball hoop standing between dumpsters and a recycling bin. It seemed out of place until I realized there’s probably an apartment above the post office. The hoop hints at teens dribbling a basketball across the pavement on a hot summer evening, arms and legs flailing in a pick-up game, sweat beading their foreheads.

An honoring message on a door at the VFW. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

Across the street at the Kenyon VFW, I spotted the silhouette of a veteran on a side door with an honoring message of “WE SALUTE YOU.” More characters, more dialogue, more stories. On this visit to Kenyon, I looked for details that often go unnoticed. And when I looked, I saw community.

© Copyright 2026 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

April showers bring May flowers in Minnesota April 29, 2026

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Petals 2 Metal, a flower shop in Kasson, features a spring message, floral arrangements and salvaged treasures. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo March 2026)

RAIN DRIPS OFF the roof line, big fat drops plopping onto brown stalks of hydrangea emerging from dormancy into a world reawakening.

Tulips about to bloom. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

April showers bring May flowers. Tulips bloom, replacing the crocuses and daffodils already finished flowering. Fiddleheads pop through the soil, reaching for the sun, unfurling into leafy ferns that bend in the wind. Peony plants push up. Bleeding hearts dangle from stems, strong, yet vulnerable.

Fiddleheads emerge. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

This is spring in southern Minnesota, a time of transition, of new growth, new life. Lush. Vivid. Visually-pleasing after months of drab surroundings.

A flowering crabapple tree at the corner of Fifth St. NW and Fourth Avenue NW in a residential neighborhood near the River Community Church in Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

Leaves, only weeks ago tight buds on branches, now color a canopy of green across the land. Spring Snow ornamental crabapple trees scent the air with perfume in a blizzard of blossoms clinging to branches.

Off the grill, a burger topped with peanut butter, blueberry jam, pepperjack cheese and bacon with a side of charred broccoli. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

There’s so much to take in. So much to experience with all of the senses. The intoxicating scent of apple blossoms, of earth and April rain. The birdsong of early morning. The green, oh, the greenery, everywhere. The furry softness of a fuzzy curled caterpillar found among decaying leaves. The taste of burgers from the grill.

A poem about rain by Aimee Hagerty Johnson outside the Northfield Ice Arena and part of Northfield’s Sidewalk Poetry Project. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

And a poem imprinted in the sidewalk outside an ice arena. Poetry not about icy winter, but about welcoming rain.

Flower baskets for sale at Mary’s Rustic Rose in Kenyon. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

April showers bring May flowers. Gardeners tend perennial flowerbeds, plan plantings, shop for annuals, buy flowering baskets. Planters are plumped with fillers, spillers and thrillers.

Low-growing spring flowers. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

We Minnesotans thrill in welcoming spring, when rain replenishes a land awakening from yet another winter.

© Copyright 2026 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Into rural southern Minnesota during spring planting April 28, 2026

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Planting just off Gates Avenue along 230th St. E. east of Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo April 2026)

MY PHOTOGRAPHIC GOAL on a recent morning trip to and from neighboring Kenyon was simple enough: Photograph spring planting. But it wasn’t until Randy and I left this small Goodhue County town that I spotted field work underway.

On the drive over from Faribault, I saw a guy picking rock with a rock picker. He had uncovered an oversized rock, too big to move. That led to a brief conversation about our childhood rock picking experiences. Rock pickers were kids like us, not machines. They did not yet exist.

We assessed, as we headed east, that the absence of farmers in fields meant they’d either finished spring planting or had not yet begun due to no-tillage farming practices.

A winding road leads into Monkey Valley. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

Once we left Kenyon, heading southwest into Monkey Valley, a picturesque rural area of woods, rolling hills and valley, creek, the North Fork of the Zumbro River, farm sites and fields, a tractor came into view. I must pause here to explain that Monkey Valley, as local lore claims, was named after monkeys that long ago escaped from a traveling circus into the valley. True? I don’t know. But it’s a good story.

Leveling the field with a roller in Monkey Valley. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

I found that first farmer, pulling a roller across the land leveling the earth, just before the gravel road wound into the woods of Monkey Valley. I realized how much farming has changed in the decades since I left rural southwestern Minnesota. There’s more specialized equipment. Bigger implements to work more acres. Different methods of farming that are more environmentally-friendly.

The woods of Monkey Valley. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

As we followed the gravel road, our van kicking up dust on an especially windy morning, I admired the distant dense woods nestling a farm field under a semi-cloudy sky. Patches of blue peeked through the gray of building rain clouds.

The Old Stone Church and cemetery in Monkey Valley. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

Soon we happened upon the Hauge Old Stone Church built in the 1870s, a place we’ve previously toured during an annual open house. We stopped only long enough for a photo. No meandering among the graves this time as we are wont to do when coming across a country cemetery.

An old silo and barn ruins. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

Farm sites hug the road here in Monkey Valley. While many are well-kept, some show the marks of time, like an abandoned silo standing next to the walls of a collapsed barn. I always feel melancholy in the presence of barns gone, their ruins like rural gravestones.

Wild turkeys cross a rural road near Kenyon. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

Not far ahead, life teemed in a flock of wild turkeys. I exited the van, moved slowly toward them, hoping to sneak closer for a better photo. But, like all wildlife, they are tuned in to danger and quickly dashed across the road from one ditch to the other. Never mind me and my photographic wishes.

Signs on a tree advise motorists to drive slowly. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

Traveling on back gravel roads requires a slower pace. A sign posted on a roadside tree instructed: SLOW UR (sic) ROLL.

Cows at Donkers Farms. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

Continuing west toward Faribault, we slowed our roll for a herd of Holsteins fenced in the cow yard at Donkers Farm. I hold a special fondness for cows. I spent my formative years in the barn, scooping silage, pushing a wheelbarrow full of ground feed, feeding cows and calves, bedding straw, forking hay, shoveling manure, carrying milk pails and more. That imprinted upon me the value of hard work, of a farm family working together, of a rural way of life.

Tilling and applying anhydrous ammonia fertilizer in a field along 230th St. E. off Gates Avenue. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

All across southern Minnesota, farmers prep the land, apply fertilizer, sow corn and soybeans. They invest not only their time, efforts and finances in the land, but also their hopes. Hope for timely rains. Hope for good growing weather. Hope for an eventual bountiful harvest. And then hope for a good market with high commodity prices.

Another farmer in the field east of Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

So much hinges on hope. I see that on this day, on this drive past the fields and farm sites of southern Minnesota.

© Copyright 2026 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Persistent peaceful protest April 23, 2026

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Protesting by the Rice County government services building along Minnesota State Highway 60 in Faribault during the third No Kings Day nationwide protest in March. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo March 2026)

THEY PROTESTED during the Vietnam War. Larry, Karl and Mary, who was tear-gassed at the University of Minnesota back in the day. Nearly 60 years later, they are on the protest line again, holding signs, voicing their concerns.

On a brutally cold February morning, my friend Larry held this sign on the protest line. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo February 2026)

And I’m there, too, standing along Minnesota State Highway 60/Fourth Street in Faribault exercising my First Amendment rights to free speech. I never thought that at my age, I would become a protester. But nearly every Saturday morning from 11 a.m.-noon for the past three months, I’ve stood in solidarity with Larry, Karl, Mary, Kate, Mercedes, Randy, Raven, Matt, Barb, Kirsten, John, Gary, Wendy, Elizabeth, Josh, Sheri, Mark, Ann, Reed, Susan, Donna, Travis, Carrie, Allison, Hannah…up to 175 people at the most recent No Kings Day protest.

I’m proud to call these kind, compassionate and caring individuals my friends. Some I’ve met on the protest line; others I knew previously. Whether friendships old or new, I value every single person who is taking a public stand against the chaos unfolding in this country. There is value in protesting.

I saw this message online and immediately knew I needed to craft this sign. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

We express our concerns in the signs we craft, or buy, and hold for passing motorists to see. Concerns about immigration enforcement, the environment, Constitutional rights, the Epstein files, voting rights, the future of our democracy, human rights, data centers, the economy, incompetency of elected officials, un-presidential images with comparisons to Jesus…and most recently the war in Iran.

A sign I made and held at a protest this winter. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo 2026)

I have a stash of signs in my basement and continue to create new ones. When issues pop up, I pull out the markers, the tag board or cardboard, the stencils and write a message. There’s no shortage of concerns I hold for this country and world under the current federal leadership.

One of my newer protest signs focuses on peace. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

Lately I’ve held “Peace, not war” signs. It’s an issue on everyone’s mind, this unnecessary war our president started without Congressional approval, without a clear understanding of the Iranian regime’s mindset, without an exit. American soldiers are dying. The economy is a mess. And on and on. Threats to bomb away a civilization don’t sit well with me. Nor do comparisons to Jesus or attacks on Pope Leo XIV.

Peace has always felt elusive. Even on the protest line, where we practice peace, we sometimes find ourselves under verbal attack from motorists who clearly support the president and his agenda. We’ve been yelled at, called “stupid, retarded, mentally ill, dumb a**es” and more while getting the middle finger sometimes accompanied by a “f**k you!”. We just smile and wave, refusing to give these angry MAGA individuals the negative reaction they desire. That said, when they drive dangerously close to us at a high rate of speed, they cross the line from free speech to public endangerment.

Nearly 60 years ago, Larry, Karl and Mary were young adults protesting the Vietnam War. I admire that they are back on the protest line. They understand the importance of speaking up, of not remaining silent.

Peace, a children’s picture book illustrated by a Michigan artist. (Book cover sourced online)

Creatives like Wendy Anderson Halperin also understand how we can use our voices to make a difference. I recently found her book, simply titled Peace, at my local library. Published in 2013, this children’s picture book is especially relevant today. I encourage you to read it, to study Halperin’s detailed illustrations and to read the many quotes woven into the artwork. Quotes that are thought-provoking, uplifting, revealing, encouraging.

I leave you with two quotes printed in Peace:

“When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.”—Jimi Hendrix.

“Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and greed. If people all over the world would do this, it would change the earth.”—William Faulkner.

I came up with this sign idea after an ICE agent was charged last week with felony second-degree assault for allegedly pointing a gun at two people in a vehicle along a Twin Cities highway during Operation Metro Surge. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

RELATED: Sahan Journal, a nonprofit digital newsroom in Minnesota dedicated to reporting for immigrants and people of color, published an outstanding article on April 21 about more than 70 Minnesota children detained by federal immigration agents during Operation Metro Surge. This is an eye-opening story that should be read by everyone, regardless of political affiliation. Click here to read.

© Copyright 2026 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

A look at “Jake’s Women,” on stage at the Paradise April 22, 2026

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The program cover for “Jake’s Women,” now playing at the Paradise Center for the Arts, Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo 2026)

THEATER ENTERTAINS. But often it also makes us think, and think deeply.

That’s the case with Jake’s Women, a play by Neil Simon now unfolding on the stage of the Paradise Center for the Arts in Faribault.

I attended the play on opening night last Friday after volunteering to greet guests at the door. I admit I felt hesitant about watching this drama because I expected the content might unsettle me. It did. But sometimes we need a jumbling of emotions and thoughts in a controlled setting.

CONTROL

Control. Main character Jake, played by Jake Gustine, struggles with control issues, especially in his relationships. He’s a writer, which in itself requires discipline and control. Fiction writers shape characters, stories, dialogue, control the plot. As a writer who’s written short stories, I understand the craft and could, in many ways, relate to what I was hearing from Jake on the stage.

But this play stretches beyond control and Jake’s work as a writer to his relationships with women. He’s struggling in his marriage to Maggie, his second wife. His first wife, Julie, died. I’ve been married for 44 years. That’s enough decades to realize partners won’t always agree—and they shouldn’t. There will be joys, struggles and hard times. But I’ve found through all of it, the good times and the difficult ones, that my husband and I balance one another and that our love for one another has grown and deepened through the years.

COMMUNICATION

Communication is a hallmark in any relationship. That message resounds in Jake’s Women. As a professional communicator/writer, I wanted to walk onto the stage and yell at Jake, “Listen, just listen!” That’s how invested I was in the play. I consider myself to be a good listener, a necessary skill for my previous work as a newspaper reporter with a bachelor of science degree in Mass Communications. Listening seems underrated. But I’m convinced if we all listened more than we talked, we would all get along better.

CRISIS

There are certainly many conflicts between Jake and the other seven characters in this play. But conflict also exists within Jake as he experiences delusions while in the throes of a mental health crisis. He struggles to separate fact from fiction, a mark of psychosis. I appreciate whenever mental health gets a spotlight if for any reasons other than to raise awareness and educate.

Throughout the play, Jake “talks” to the women who have been an important part of his life. Here the play gets interesting. The audience needs to pay close attention to lighting to determine when Jake is living in reality and when he is delusional. The set never changes and Jake never leaves the stage, which is a feat in itself during a play that lasts more than two hours.

I quickly found that I could not allow my mind to wander during this theatrical production directed by Palmer Huff and performed by the Paradise Community Theatre. I had to listen closely to every word spoken by Jake Gustine and performers Brianna Bauernfeind, Linda Anderson, Charli Gomez, Casper Andersen, Kate Southwick, Clair Borgerding and Kris Snow.

Jake’s Women is an intense play. It’s also thought-provoking. And it’s a play I highly-recommend you see.

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FYI: Upcoming performances of Jake’s Women are set for 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 24, and Saturday, April 25, and at 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 26. Click here for ticket information.

TELL ME: Have you seen Jake’s Women? If yes, what are your thoughts on the play?

© Copyright 2026 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Earth Day: Stories, roots & local events April 21, 2026

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Garbage I recently picked up from my yard. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)

DECADES AGO, when I worked a summer job with the Redwood County Highway Department through a government program for low income families, our crew of several teens was tasked one day with walking the ditches along a county road. That proved an eye-opening experience as we gathered litter. Most memorable among our finds were a dirty disposal diaper and a torn love letter. We spent our lunch break piecing together that heartbreaking love note.

Today I’m still picking up litter, now in my Faribault yard. Living on a corner lot along a high traffic street, my lawn gets plenty of garbage tossed by passing motorists. Every time I grab another beverage container, a fast food bag or box, a whatever that should have gone in the garbage or recycling, I wonder why people are too lazy to properly dispose of waste.

Photographed several years ago on a public recycling dumpster in Northfield. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

EARTH DAY BEGINS IN 1970

With those personal backstories, I’m grateful for ongoing efforts to educate all of us about taking care of our planet during annual Earth Day events. This marks 56 years since that celebration began on April 22, 1970.

I remember the early 1970s, when America was in the thick of an energy crisis. Prices rose at the pump. Fuel was in short supply. In some ways, all of this fueled an awareness that we need to conserve our natural resources, choose alternative energy sources, and respect and care for our planet.

(Black Beach book cover sourced online)

BLACK BEACH

Because I like to learn, I popped into the Faribault library recently with the intention of checking out children’s picture books about Earth Day. Others apparently had the same idea. I found only one book, Black Beach—A Community, an Oil Spill, and the Origin of Earth Day, written by Shaunna and John Stith and illustrated by Maribel Lechuga. But it was the only book I needed to root out the origin of Earth Day.

A large oil spill from drilling off the coast of Santa Barbara, California, on January 28, 1969, prompted outrage, action and the eventual establishment of Earth Day the following year. I high-recommend this book as an invaluable resource with an interesting, factual-based story, a timeline of events, additional information on Earth Day and actions we can take to advocate for and protect our environment.

A banner flies at a past Earth Day Celebration at Bridge Square in Northfield. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

NORTHFIELD EARTH DAY EVENTS

Libraries are always an excellent resource. At the Northfield Public Library, Earth Day Game Day will be held from 10-11 a.m. Saturday, April 25. Led by Science in World and Word class students from St. Olaf College, the event celebrates planet Earth with educational games and activities geared for 6-11-year-olds. Game Day is part of Northfield’s larger Earth Day Celebration.

I’ve previously attended the Northfield celebration, now in its 17th year. Activities are centered at Armory Square from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, April 25, with workshops, eco exhibitors, crafts, a climate information session, farmers’ market, and more. Visit northfieldearthday.com for a full schedule of activities.

Other Earth Day Celebration weekend events in Northfield include clean-up of Riverside Park, a tour of regenerative Salvatierra Farms (from 1-3 p.m. Sunday), an Earth Day Contra Dance (from 7-10 p.m. Friday) and tree planting at the Carleton College arboretum.

Sky and trees in spring at Falls Creek County Park, rural Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

TREE PLANTINGS & MORE

Tree plantings are happening in other area communities during Earth Day week and on Arbor Day, April 24. At River Bend Nature Center in Faribault, staff will lead volunteers in planting trees to replace diseased ash. That’s set for 1-3 p.m. Wednesday, April 22, and from 10 a.m.-noon Saturday, April 25. The City of Faribault, a designated Tree City USA, hosts an Arbor Day tree planting ceremony at 9 a.m. at Batchelder Park. The same day, the Rice County Master Gardeners will give away tree seedlings from 3-5 p.m. at the Rice County Fairgrounds.

In Owatonna, trees will be planted at several city parks, beginning in Mineral Springs Park, at noon, Friday, April 24. This activity honors retiring city employees.

Additionally in Owatonna, the holistic wellness boutique Daisy Blue Naturals, 121 West Main Street, is hosting an Earth Day Storytime from 3:30-5 p.m. Wednesday, April 22, with Miss Midwest 2026, May Diddy. This includes a puppet show, book reading, activities and snacks.

This banner flew at the 2022 Northfield Earth Day Celebration. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

CARING FOR PLANET EARTH

Fifty-six years ago, Earth Day began in this country. To see how it’s grown and evolved is heartening. It takes each of us, individually and collectively, to do our part for this planet we call home. Whether that’s recycling, repurposing, composting, hanging laundry on the line, thrifting, planting trees and rain gardens, conserving water, and much more, we are responsible for taking care of Earth. That includes disposing of litter properly—not in a road ditch. And not in my yard.

© Copyright 2026 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Remembering Minnesota’s Prince 10 years after his death April 20, 2026

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This bronze statue of Prince, photographed in a Prince Memorial Garden in Henderson, is now in a music-themed New Ulm museum. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo 2020)

MY CLOSEST CONNECTION to Prince, Minnesota singer, songwriter and performer, came in 1983. I was working as a reporter for the Owatonna People’s Press when a co-worker’s girlfriend joined the set of Purple Rain as a movie crowd extra. Had I been thinking, I would have interviewed Kim about her small part in the 1984 film. But, for whatever reason, I didn’t. It was a missed opportunity to take a broader, state-wide story and localize it.

This shows a close-up of a Prince portrait done in oil by Dana Hanson, former Faribault resident, in 2016. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo 2016)

Flash forward to now and the 10th anniversary of Prince’s death on April 21. I’m not a Prince fan, but I appreciate that many are worldwide. He rates as one of Minnesota’s best-known, most-beloved musicians. As such, it’s fitting to write about him a decade after his untimely passing.

I could write about Paisley Park, Prince’s Chanhassen home and recording studio now turned museum and music venue. Thousands pay homage to the Purple One each year by visiting the site. But 75 miles to the southwest in New Ulm, the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame also honors Prince, among its 229 inductees. Prince was inducted in 2007, joining the likes of Minnesotans Bob Dylan, John Denver, Marilyn Sellars and even the St. Olaf College Choir.

The Prince guitar sculpture outside the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame. (Photo courtesy of the MMHF)

I have yet to visit the MMHF, although I’ve passed by many times en route to my native southwestern Minnesota hometown. Located along a main route, U.S. Highway 14/Broadway Street, the museum is land-marked by a 16-foot tall sculpture of Prince’s purple guitar outside the front entrance. Iowa artist Jefferson Davis created the upcycled metal artwork, showcased first in a sculpture walk in neighboring Mankato before finding a permanent home in New Ulm.

Up close with Prince, in bronze, photographed in Henderson in 2020. The sculpture is now in New Ulm. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo 2020)

Step inside and volunteer “host to the visitors” John Kass says you’ll find the museum’s largest exhibit to be the one on Prince. It draws people from all over the world, including those who’ve first toured Paisley Park before venturing into rural Minnesota and the New Ulm museum. Many come on the anniversary of Prince’s death and on Prince Roger Nelson’s June 7 birth, Kass notes.

Highlights of the Prince exhibit, according to Kass, include a motorcycle from the movie Purple Rain; a script from Prince’s third movie, Graffiti Bridge; clothing from his wardrobe; memorabilia; and even the valances that went around the curtains in the living room of Prince’s house. I must admit that I inwardly chuckled when Kass mentioned the valances. But I suppose to avid Prince fans, those offer a glimpse inside the musician’s home.

An overview of the Prince Park in downtown Henderson before it was removed. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo 2020)

Additionally, the exhibit includes a granite memorial bench and also a brass sculpture of Prince crafted by Brodin Studios of Kimball. Both once stood at a memorial garden in downtown Henderson as part of the Prince Legacy Henderson Project. I visited that Minnesota River town’s Prince shrine in 2020 before items were donated to the New Ulm museum.

The Prince mural in downtown Henderson. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo 2020)

Henderson remains a draw for Prince fans where a scene from the movie Purple Rain was filmed along the river. A mural of Prince with his signature purple guitar and little red Corvette is all that’s left of the Henderson tribute site. The artwork graces the side of the Healing Hub along state highway 19 in the heart of downtown.

Prince portrait by Jada Fairbanks displayed at a 2018 student art show at the Paradise Center for the Arts, Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo 2018)

Tuesday, April 21, marks a big day for Prince fans as they remember the music icon. In Red Wing, the Sheldon Theatre is hosting a 7 p.m. concert, “Celebrating the Legend of Prince—10 Years Later,” by Chase and Ovation. The Minneapolis-based band exclusively performs the music of Prince.

I expect Twin Cities media will note the day of Prince’s death, too, with tenth anniversary stories. And in the community of New Ulm, the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame, 27 N. Broadway Street, will likely await a surge of visitors later in the week. The MMHF is only open from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday from April-October. Admission is $7, a small price to pay, says volunteer Kass, for a museum that showcases the best of Minnesota’s musicians. And that includes the Purple One, Prince Roger Nelson.

© Copyright 2026 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Celebrating immigrants in a children’s picture book by Faith Ringgold April 16, 2026

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:00 AM
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(Book cover sourced online)

TEN YEARS AGO, award-winning African American author and artist Faith Ringgold (1930-2024) published We Came to America. I find this children’s picture book especially relatable to today as ongoing federal immigration enforcement continues in this country.

I wish everyone who rails against immigrants would read this book to remind themselves of their roots. Unless Native American, every single one of us can trace our ancestral roots to a place other than the United States of America.

Ringgold celebrates the diversity of this country in this colorful, celebratory book featuring a diversity of peoples. She honors the music, food, culture, stories, dance and more of those who resettled here. She recognizes the reasons—injustice, fear and pain—many came.

MADE AMERICA GREAT

This author even uses the words “made America great,” not in a political context, but to celebrate how diversity enriches America.

“We came to America/Every color, race and religion/From every country in the world,” she writes in a poetic refrain.

LOVING THIS BOOK

I love this book. It’s simple. Easy to read. Joyful. Accurate. Timeless. Appropriate for all ages, including adults, especially adults.

I love that the author, born and raised in Harlem, was part of the Black Arts Movement and an activist who worked tirelessly for civil rights and social justice. Ringgold is best known for her story quilts.

PEACE, FREEDOM, JUSTICE

She dedicates her picture book about immigrants to all the children who come to America: “May we welcome them and inspire them to sustain a love and dedication to peace, freedom, and justice for all.” Reread those words: Peace. Freedom. Justice for all. Ringgold was 86 when she wrote those words, created the art for We Came to America.

I wonder how Ringgold would feel about the threats to democracy and personal freedom and about the injustices occurring in this country today? I expect she would use her creative voice to rise up, resist and remind all of us that we are valued, that together we are America. All of us, no matter our color, our race, our religion. And no matter our roots.

TELL ME: Have you read We Came to America or any of Faith Ringgold’s books? Or have you seen her art exhibited? I’d like to hear your thoughts on her work and/or that of other creatives like her.

© Copyright 2026 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Building bridges in Faribault via a talk on Somali culture April 15, 2026

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 11:40 AM
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(Promo source: Rice County Historical Society)

IN EVER-INCREASINGLY DIVERSE Minnesota, including my community of Faribault, growing understanding between peoples rates as more important than ever.

To that point, Ibrahim Khalif, executive direction of the Faribault Youth Empowerment Center, will speak at 6 pm Thursday, April 16, on “Building Bridges: Intro to Somali Culture” at the Rice County Historical Society (RCHS) in Faribault.

I attended that same presentation by Khalif in late January at the local library and highly-recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about the many Somalis who call my community, and Minnesota, home.

Khalif knows of what he speaks. He arrived in the U.S. as a teenage refugee from Somalia, grew up in Faribault, faced the challenged and embraced the joys of living here.

His January talk proved educational as Khalif shared personal stories, photos and information about the Somali culture. Both helped the sixty of us in attendance to better understand our Somali neighbors and ways we can connect to each other.

Certainly the word “bridges,” titling his talk, fits. Bridges connect. Khalif’s talk focuses on “building bridges in a diverse environment,” according to a media release from the RCHS. The release further states that Khalif “will share information and insights that help us foster mutual respect and understanding.”

I’m all for that and hope Thursday evening’s event is as well attended as his first at the library. I feel like way too many locals remain unwelcoming of the thousands of Somalis who call Faribault home. I’d like to see attitudes change. That starts with listening, learning, connecting on a personal level, bridging that which divides, recognizing that we are all just people.

FYI: To pre-register for “Building Bridges: Intro to Somali Culture” on April 16, call the RCHS at 507-332-2121. Admission is free for RCHS members and $5 for non-members.

Click here to read my January blog post about Ibrahim Khalif’s presentation at Buckham Memorial Library.

© Copyright 2026 Audrey Kletscher Helbling