Minnesota Prairie Roots

THOMAS IS 10 YEARS OLD and these are his words:

“It makes me feel bad and sad when someone calls me names or makes fun of me. I wanted to quit one of my favorite activities because a boy was being mean to me. I talked to my Dad and Mom about it and they talked to the teachers for me. It got a lot better. I learned a lot from a website. I will not let anyone bully someone else.”

Anna is 53 and these are her words:

“Even after all these years, the mean words, the taunts, the teasing remain with me. Nearly every afternoon I came home from school crying, not wanting to go back the next day. I’m not sure why I was picked on, but I think it was because I was a farm kid who didn’t quite fit in with the town crowd. Only when my independent school consolidated with another district did my nightmare end. At my new school, nearly everyone lived on farms. Finally, I was accepted. Yet, the pain inflicted upon me by some of my junior high classmates has never left me, even after all these decades.”

Kate is a mother and these are her words:

“Our son, is an amazing person… giving, thoughtful, unique, smart and just doesn’t fit into your standard role of boy. He has a creative side and an amazing voice. We have worried: Do we encourage him to be who he is even though we know that he will get some resistance from other kids….or do we constantly crush his spirit and make him fit into the expected norm? We decided to encourage him to be who he is, but warn him that sometimes people may judge him on how he acts or who he is…

He is now 10, in the choir and loving it. He started getting called names by another boy in the choir. It was another one of those parental decisions that are so hard to make. Do you let him handle it on his own or step in and discuss it with the staff? After he came home the second time and told us he wanted to quit choir, we knew we had to step in. We talked to the instructor, who had already addressed some behavior issues. We also discussed a plan for our son—who to talk to if the behavior happens again. The boy apologized to our son and then started in again. Our son followed the plan. It took some time, and a lot of patience, but the situation has improved so our son is happy going to choir again.

Here’s what I learned from the experience: I resisted talking to the instructor because in our society, we teach children not to tattle. Many children do not tell when they are being bullied. I learned that someone is bullying when they are intentionally making someone else sad. I also learned that if you don’t address the behavior, it may not go away. We found a website that helped us to understand that it is not OK to be a bystander and let someone else bully. I encourage you to role play with your children on how to react to someone bullying them or even just how to respond to negative comments.”

The above accounts are all true. Thomas and his mom, Kate (not their real names), live in central Minnesota. Anna is me.

These examples of bullying speak for themselves.

For more information about bullying and advice on how to help your kids, check out the websites recommended by Kate: www.PACERKidsAgainstBullying.org and www.PACERTeensAgainstBullying.org

Students from Convent of the Visitation School in Mendota Height, Delano Middle School and Delano High School were involved with producing materials for the above PACER websites.

Special thanks to Kate and Thomas for sharing their stories with Minnesota Prairie Roots readers during National Bullying Prevention Awareness Week Oct. 4 – 10. Bullying must be addressed. So do your part to prevent and end bullying.

Los 3 Reyes Bakery, at the center of a controversy over paint color in historic downtown Faribault.

Stacks of pastries and bright colors greet customers inside the bakery.

“DO THEY HAVE DOUGHNUTS?” Randy asks me.

I pause, think. “I didn’t see any,” I tell my husband after visiting Los 3 Reyes Bakery in Faribault. The business is at the center of a dispute over exterior paint color and I have come to photograph the vivid green building. (See my blog, “A controversy over color in downtown Faribault,” posted Sept. 30 on Minnesota Prairie Roots.)

This is not your typical Minnesota bakery, and if there are doughnuts, I missed them.

But I observe an abundance of other treats to tempt my sweet tooth inside this bright, cheery ethnic bakery with the checkered floor. Rows of huge conchas line baking sheets. I don’t know Spanish, so I ask Javier, who is manning the business, to write down the word for me. “Shell,” he says. I look again at the pastries and see that they resemble shells.

I point to another pastry. He writes down besos. Later I use Google translate to learn that the word means kisses.

Next, I photograph gallinas, which translates to hens.

Javier smiles all the while I am photographing. He offers to remove a sign from the glass that protects racks of pasteles, tempting cakes topped with strawberry glaze or carefully arranged rings of kiwi and strawberries and peaches. These are works of art, almost too pretty to eat, I think.

I tell Javier that I want him to leave everything just as it is, to change nothing. We talk some about the issue of color and he says the bakery is getting support to keep the bright green exterior despite the objections of some. I tell him I like the color too.

The longer I am inside this bakery, the more I believe the hue, a green color popular in Mexican culture, fits this place.

This bakery speaks to happiness. Above me colorful piñatas dangle from the ceiling and sit atop display cases. The pastries and cakes, so foreign to my Minnesota bakery standards of doughnuts, long johns and bismarcks, simply draw me in with their ethnic allure. The entire bakery exudes warmth and smells absolutely delicious.

And then there is the bakery name—Los 3 Reyes Bakery. I turn to my daughter, Miranda, who is majoring in Spanish in college and who lived in Argentina for six months, for help. Los Tres Reyes Bakery, she tells me, likely refers to the Three Kings bearing gifts for children on January 6. This is part of Latin American culture, similar to Santa delivering gifts on Christmas.

I have learned so much already about differences in culture simply by walking through the doors of the bright green Los 3 Reyes Bakery at 409 Central Avenue in historic downtown Faribault.

Selecting treats at Mariano Perez' bakery.

Rows of conchas.

Colorful pinatas are also sold at Los 3 Reyes Bakery.

Gallinas, another delectable offering.

Tempting pasteles on display.

(The Faribault City Council’s Joint Committee meets at 7:15 tonight in the public meeting room of city hall to discuss several issues, including “Regulation of downtown building colors,” according to agenda information posted on the city website.)

© Copyright 2009 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

This sign on the corner of a Main Street business in Nerstrand directs motorists to Grace Lutheran Church.

Grace Lutheran Church, the church under the water tower in Nerstrand.

I HAD INTENDED today to write about the beautiful fall colors here in southeastern Minnesota. That was the plan. But plans don’t always go as planned.

Although some leaves are turning shades of gold and orange, most remain green, as my husband and I discovered Sunday while driving northeast of Faribault to see the colors.

Despite our disappointment, we still had a delightful afternoon that included churches, old buildings, a school, winding gravel roads, wooly caterpillars, a fallen tree and lots more. I figure I got enough material for about a half dozen blogs from our several-hour auto tour. I see stories and photos in places often overlooked by others.

So, to kick off this motoring series, we’ll stop briefly in Nerstrand, population about 230. Like most small Minnesota towns, Nerstrand’s skyline is marked by grain elevators, the water tower and church spires.

And just in case you can’t find Grace Lutheran Church, there are signs to direct you to the church under the water tower, like one posted on a corner brick building along Main Street. I thought the sign rather clever and Lake Wobegonish.

Speaking of signs, let’s detour to Rice County Road 20 between Cannon City and Northfield. If you’re looking for a house to buy, here’s a real fixer-upper.

The "for sale" sign actually directs potential buyers to a house just down the road. But I found the sign's placement in front of this dilapidated building quite humorous.

This bullet-ridden "home" needs new windows. But you can get a federal energy tax credit to offset the cost.

The place needs a new roof too, but there's potential.

(I’ll take you back to Nerstrand in future blogs. There’s much more to see in this charming rural community located near Nerstrand Big Woods State Park, typically one of southern Minnesota’s most colorful parks in the fall. Colors simply were not at their peak on Sunday.)

© Copyright 2009 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

THE WEATHER SET the mood for the evening in dreary gray skies that sputtered occasional drizzle and in a damp cold that chilled to the bone.

Inside the Paradise Center for the Arts in downtown Faribault, theater-goers settled in for the kick off of The Merlin Players 15^th season with the production of Frankenstein. The director and cast couldn’t have asked for more perfect October weather as the play opened to a night-time graveyard scene complete with rolling fog.

Using appropriately-selected dramatic, if not frightening, music, flashes of lightning and booms of thunder and other special effects, along with an impressive rotating set, the director, cast and crew created a mood that could best be described as intense.

The entire production evoked an edge-of-your-seat response.

But on stage, Jake Boyd, who played Victor Frankenstein, was getting a bit worried. He told me after the show that he was freaking out because he wasn’t hearing an audience reaction. However, he soon realized, he said, that theater-goers were really getting into the show.

Exactly.

From the opening scene to the very end, this version of Mary Shelley’s original 1818 novel proved entertaining, thought-provoking and even emotional. And that is to director Daniel Rathbun and the cast and crew’s credit.

In one especially touching scene, De Lacey, a blind vagrant, befriends The Creature. The interaction between the two, played by Tim Vizina and Craig Berg, speaks to every person who has ever been shunned or teased or avoided because he/she is different. The two actors powerfully convey the importance of understanding and compassion and acceptance.

It was like that through-out the entire show—moments that prompted reason to pause and consider issues like life and death, relationships and priorities, social status, selfishness, power and much more.

“What have we done, oh, Creator?” The Creature asks of Victor Frankenstein, the seemingly mad scientist who created the monster in his tower laboratory.

What The Merlin Players have done, oh, Creator, is create one memorable performance through outstanding use of special effects, exceptional sets, top-notch directing and give-it-their-all acting by the performers.

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Plan now to see Frankenstein, which is showing on Oct. 3 and 4 and 8 – 10. Reserve your tickets by calling The Paradise Center for the Arts at (507) 332-7372. For more information, log on to www.paradisecenterforthearts.org or www.merlinplayers.org. While this play has plenty of scary moments, it is appropriate for those as young as upper elementary grades. As one mom who was attending with her family on Friday night told me, her young son loves this kind of stuff. He was, however, looking for the bolts in The Creature’s head. Sorry, no bolts, just an ugly scar.

This photo is a bit dark because I shot without flash. But I didn't want to awaken Keira as she slept on a pew at St. Elizabeth's Church in Brennyville.

WHENEVER I HEAR that a bride is including a flower girl in the wedding party, I worry. These typically preschool girls are usually at just the right age for throwing a fit or stealing the show rather than behaving like princesses.

So when I learned that my great niece, almost 4-year-old Keira, would serve as a flower girl in her Aunt Kristina’s wedding, I held my breath.

But I needn’t have worried. Keira was the perfect flower girl. She slept through nearly the entire wedding service.

And that was just fine, says her mom, Heidi, who was a bridesmaid. The lengthy afternoon nap kept Keira happy and content during the reception. Exactly what a mom, who says she wanted to pretend she didn’t have kids for the event (yeah, right, Heidi), wanted.

I couldn’t resist snapping photos of the sleeping beauty and then more pictures after Keira awoke. The images speak for themselves of a sweet little flower girl acting mostly like a princess on her godmother’s wedding day. That is until Keira started squishing ants on the sidewalk outside St. Elizabeth’s Church in Brennyville.

Kids look so sweet when they're asleep, and even cuter when dressed to the nines like Keira. Her dress was made from her Great Grandma Betty's bridal gown.

Keira's sugar-and-spice, dainty shoe.

And then, half way through the photo shoot, the sleeping Keira turned.

The sweet love of mother and child, Heidi and Keira.

Keira squishes ants.

Keira and her brother, Tristan, who was a ring bearer, run up the steps of St. Elizabeth's Church in Brennyville.

© Copyright 2009 Audrey Kletscher Helbling