Minnesota Prairie Roots

SIX MONTHS AGO, Randy and I met friends, Sue and Charley, for lunch in Pine River while vacationing in the north central Minnesota lakes region. We enjoyed our meals and conversation at the Damsite Supper Club, which really isn’t a supper club by my definition, but which serves damn good food. It sits across the road from the Pine River Dam, thus the restaurant name.

Afterwards, our friends headed back to their Hackensack home while we poked around Pine River. I love exploring small towns for all the treasures they hold. And Pine River holds many, starting with the Kindness Rocks Inspiration Garden, just across from the supper club and river bridge.

Kindness rock gardens, or simply scattered kindness rocks, are, in my opinion, an inspiring addition to any place. Every time I find kindness rocks, I feel a surge of happiness. The positive messages and art painted, written or drawn onto rocks (technically stones) always uplift me.

And right now I feel like we could use a whole lot of kindness rocks in this country. Boxcars full. Truckloads full. Cargo holds full. Dump them upon the land. Let them rise like mountains or flow like rivers. Let inspiring words, followed by acts of kindness, generosity, love, compassion and care, spill upon the soil and take root.

In Pine River, the Kindness Rocks Inspiration Garden grows from tragedy. The corner community garden honors the memory of 11-year-old Bryce Mink, who died nearly two years ago on March 12, 2023, a month shy of his 12^th birthday. Bryce went into cardiac arrest, was airlifted to Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis and died two days later. He had undiagnosed lymphoma with a large mass pressing on his chest, restricting his airway, impeding CPR efforts by his mother and resulting in brain damage.

This is nothing short of tragic, to lose a child unexpectedly, so quickly, so young. But to see Bryce’s legacy of kindness continue in that public park, well, that says something about the impact he made on his community. Bryce was described as “a kind boy and a friend to all.” I believe it. Children, at that age, are often not yet tainted by the unkindness of adults. They live life unencumbered. Make friends easily with most anyone. Play. Learn. Smile and laugh and love and live with exuberance. It’s no wonder we often wish we could still be kids, free of the challenges that come with adulthood.

It’s tough being a grown-up sometimes, especially now, in a country that seems lacking in the very basics of decency and kindness. Certainly not in everyone and not everywhere, but in too many people and places.

Perhaps it’s time we pick up a rock and, instead of hurling it, print a message of kindness upon it. Write of goodness, generosity, compassion and care: Peace. Do your best. Be kind. Shine your light. Then live those words. Like Bryce did.

© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling