December | 2015 | Minnesota Prairie Roots

In Kenyon: How a small town police chief connects via Facebook December 3, 2015

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 5:00 AM
Tags: Chief Lee Sjolander, communication, Facebook, Kenyon, Kenyon Police Department, Minnesota, social media, thoughts

Kenyon’s Boulevard of Roses cuts through Minnesota Highway 60. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.

ABOUT 15 MILES TO THE EAST of Faribault lies the town of Kenyon. Other than roses planted along the boulevard of Minnesota State Highway 60, Kenyon appears your typical southern Minnesota farming community. Hardware store. VFW. Restaurants. Grocery store. Municipal swimming pool. Police station.

Kenyon, Minnesota, welcomes visitors to its recent Rose Fest.

Kenyon, Minnesota, welcomes visitors to its annual August Rose Fest. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.

But look a little closer, online closer, and you discover that things operate a little differently in Kenyon. Specifically in the police department. Police Chief Lee Sjolander, according to a recent story in the Kenyon Leader, “highlights the positive, human side of law enforcement with Facebook.”

And that he does, so I confirmed after checking out the Kenyon (MN) Police Department Facebook page penned by the Chief. With introspective, encouraging and uplifting words, often mixed with humor, this policeman shows care and compassion for those in his community of around 1,800.

Don’t just take my word for it. Read the Chief’s thoughts on thankfulness, safe driving, the challenges of his job and more. Read his encouraging words to a commenter who feels like an outcast. Read how his department is helping those in need at its annual Garage of Goodness, a give-away event set for noon to 4:30 p.m. December 5.

View the photos and read the stories in the Chief’s “My hands, my story” series.

Laugh at the postings in his “Life with my teenage daughter” series.

Cats roam the farm and kids chase after them.

Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo used for illustration only (not photographed in Kenyon).

See how he cares for wandering dogs and cats in Kenyon.

His posts get hundreds of likes.

In a day when law enforcement officers are less and less appreciated, it’s refreshing to see the support given to the Kenyon Police Department, to read the words of a police chief who cares deeply and passionately for those he serves.

Check back on Friday to read another story that originates in Kenyon.

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When health insurance costs become your biggest financial fear December 2, 2015

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 5:00 AM
Tags: Affordable Care Act, budget, economics, finances, health insurance, health insurance premiums, Minnesota, Mnsure, thoughts

I EXPECTED THE INCREASE. Yet, when I received notice of a $190 monthly hike in my health insurance premium, I reacted with shock. And anger. My new premium for an individual policy with a $6,550 deductible will be $602. Are you BLEEPING kidding me? That’s a 46 percent increase from my current $412/month premium. Plus, the deductible jumped $1,350 (from $5,200). For a “bronze” policy that basically offers only catastrophic coverage.

I decided to let the news simmer. Maybe time would ease the sticker shock, the worry about extracting more money from an already tight budget. Perhaps I would accept this as simply the way things are under the Affordable Care Act. That hasn’t happened. I’m still mad. There’s nothing affordable about my health insurance premium.

But anger doesn’t solve problems. I needed to make a decision and stop thinking that I could just as well drive down the highway and toss $7,224 out the window toward the offices of a company that advises me in its ad campaigns to Live Fearless with a Trusted Name. Really? The cost of health insurance is now my biggest financial fear.

The health insurance issue wasn’t going away. So I scheduled an appointment with our accountant (who also sells insurance for the aforementioned company) to discuss options. She is as upset as my husband and me about the escalating cost of health insurance.

In three columns on lined paper, she inked in the existing options—stick with my individual plan or choose one of two plans offered through my husband’s employer. We inquired about other plans, too, and I later followed up by visiting the MNsure website to compare plans. Since my husband’s employer offers health insurance, we can’t get a subsidy anyway and it would be minimal if we could.

We settled on a $3,500/person deductible company plan with a $723/person monthly premium. (With the Live Fearless company.) It made the most sense given the premium and deductible differences and the impact on our taxes (which is why we saw the accountant).

My husband’s employer pays half of his premium. That $361/month will help.

I will now pay $723/month rather than $412/month. My health insurance in 2016 will cost me $8,676 compared to $4,944 currently.

Add in another $204/month for our college son’s health insurance premium and our family will fork out $1,288/month for health insurance premiums in 2016. (Keep in mind that the employer will add $4,332 to the pot, pushing the total annual premium cost to $19,788) Affordable? No. But I suppose one could argue that, if we need to use our health insurance beyond our $3,500 deductibles (for my husband and me) and rack up substantial medical bills, we will consider the $15,456 we paid in 2016 premiums well spent.

Health insurance, for us and I suspect many, has become basically a catastrophic plan that keeps us from going to the doctor.

Thankfully, our home mortgage was paid off years ago. We have income. Both of us grew up in poor families, therefore are thrifty. Yet, at this stage in our lives nearing retirement, we shouldn’t have to worry about out-of-control, astronomical health insurance premiums.

Something has to give here. With so much of our income now going toward health insurance, we are not spending elsewhere. Or saving for retirement. Like our tightening family budget, the economy will feel the impact.

GO AHEAD, VENT. Tell me your health insurance woes. Solutions are welcome. I know my family is far from alone in facing these excessive health insurance costs.

Click here to read a related story published on MPR.

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A photographic farewell to the Red Wing Pottery salesroom December 1, 2015

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 5:00 AM
Tags: art, business closing, Minnesota, news, photo essay, pottery, Red Wing, Red Wing pottery, Red Wing Stoneware, travel

EDITOR’S NOTE: Red Wing Pottery and Stoneware is closing its salesroom. According to a news release posted last week on the company’s website, owners Bruce and Irene Johnson are shuttering the store due to stress and pressure related to a lawsuit; threats against them, their family and the business; and more. You can read the complete statement by clicking here.

While the salesroom will remain open only through December 24, the company will continue to produce a limited number of Red Wing Pottery and Red Wing Stoneware pieces at the Stoneware facility. Those products will be available for purchase online.

I visited the store in October 2014 and drafted the following post in May 2015, planning to publish it as part of a series on Red Wing. I still intend to publish that series. Eventually. For now, this post stands alone:

A sign in Red Wing Pottery summarizes the company’s history.

RED WING AND POTTERY. The two are synonymous in the Mississippi River town of Red Wing in southeastern Minnesota.

As far back as 1861, when German immigrant farmer John Paul created the first piece of stoneware from clay found on area land he intended to farm, pottery has been a part of Red Wing’s story.

Potter Mark Connolly

Today potters still shape clay into practical and beautiful works of art at Red Wing Stoneware & Pottery. Crocks, pitchers, mugs, bowls, commemorative pieces and much more are created by the hands of those devoted to this craft.

A large jug inside the pottery store lists chapters of the Red Wing Collectors Society.

Signature Red Wing pottery has a passionate following with chapters of the Red Wing Collectors Society scattered throughout the country. They hold conventions and are serious about this Minnesota pottery. Check out the Society’s website, where experts will even answer your questions about Red Wing pottery for free.

This river town also boasts a new Pottery Museum of Red Wing and plenty of antique stores with Red Wing pottery.

Visiting potters Paul and Denise Morris of Morris Pottery in Ogilvie created Minnesota-shaped pottery for the Red Wing company.

I love this Minnesota-made pottery. I’m not a collector, although I have a few pieces. There’s something about owning an aged crock or an artsy piece of Red Wing pottery that connects me to that German immigrant farmer, to this river town, to the land.

Red Wing Pottery on West Main Street.

Join me now on a photographic walk through Red Wing Pottery on West Main Street. The company has a second location, Red Wing Stoneware, along U.S. Highway 61.