THE UPCOMING WEEKEND brings a quartet of local events that not only entertain, but also honor, support and celebrate. Count me in.
First up is the Rice County Historical Society Fall Flea Market from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, September 13, at the RCHS museum grounds along Second Avenue in Faribault. Here vendors set up shop and sell an assortments of goods with the variety of an old time mercantile.
I love browsing, and sometimes buying, at this outdoor market. But I also enjoy connecting with the sellers and other shoppers. Often I’ll see people I haven’t seen in a while, which leads to conversations. And to me, that’s what these events, at their core, are really about—connecting and reconnecting to build a strong sense of community.
LIGHT OF HOPE
Saturday afternoon, beginning at 4 p.m. until 10 p.m., folks will gather in Faribault’s Central Park for the Light of Hope Celebration, which focuses on cancer. Or, more accurately, focuses on those who have died from, survived or are fighting cancer. I expect every single one of you have been touched by cancer. Many of my friends and family members have endured cancer, including my dad who died of cancer in 2003. And my dear friend Barb, who died in 2024. I also know plenty of survivors.
Light of Hope aims to raise monies for local cancer patients and their families through the sale of luminaries, bench markers and donations. Recipients receive gas cards and/or monies to assist with mortgage payments, groceries, utility bills and other everyday expenses. The Light of Hope organization emphasizes “local” in their mission. I appreciate that people within my community can get financial help in the midst of a cancer diagnosis.
Saturday’s celebration includes a luminary walk, personal stories, family fun, music, food trucks, raffle baskets and more. While the mood is celebratory, it can also be difficult as memories of loved ones unleash strong emotions. I know. I’ve walked the luminary path and cried as I read names of those dear to me.
SPIRIT FEST
Also on Saturday, from 5-9 p.m., Divine Mercy Catholic Church in Faribault hosts its annual Spirit Fest, a jam-packed weekend event featuring, food, music, auctions, raffles, makers’ market, bake sale, kids’ crafts, games, inflatables, outdoor movie, mini golf, cornhole tournament and much more. The fest is open to the public. Sunday, September 14, brings a second day of fun starting at 9 a.m. and running until 5 p.m. (Click here for a full schedule of events.)
VALLEY GROVE COUNTRY SOCIAL
In rural Nerstrand, the focus turns to history, specifically two historic Norwegian immigrant churches set high atop a hill in rural Nerstrand. The Valley Grove Preservation Society celebrates its annual Country Social from 1- 4 p.m. Sunday, September 14, with Nordic music, a history stroll, wagon rides, children’s activities, blacksmithing and rope-making demonstrations, a book discussion and more, including coffee and treats.
Hutenanny performs under the oaks from 1-2:30 p.m. Jeff Sauve, writer and former archivist at St. Olaf College in Northfield, leads “Unbound Love at Valley Grove” history strolls from 1:30- 2 p.m. and from 3-3:30 p.m. A discussion of the book Muus vs. Muus—The Scandal That Shook Norwegian America by Bodil Stenseth happens in the wood church from 2-2:45 p.m with editor Kari Lie Dorer and translator Torild Homstad.
Attendees are also encouraged to view commissioned Norwegian tapestries inside the 1862 stone church and the renovated steeple on the 1894 clapboard church just across the lawn.
Valley Grove happens to be one of my favorite spots in rural Rice County because of its natural beauty, history and peacefulness. Fifty acres of rolling prairie grasses and woods surround the two churches, which are on the National Register of Historic Places. The church buildings are beautiful in their simplicity. It’s not hard to imagine long ago Norwegian immigrants gathering here to worship, mourn, marry and celebrate.
Truly, all four of these weekend events in my area are about community, connecting and celebrating. Thank you, organizers, for offering these activities that are fundraisers for your groups and fun for all of us.
© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
Politics, passionate voices & peach pie at a potluck September 9, 2025
Tags: America, Ben Schierer, commentary, democracy, DFL, DFL Garden Party, freedom, Martha Brown, Matt Little, Minnesota, Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, Minnesota Senator Erin Murphy, opinion, political candidates, politics, potluck, Rice County, southern Minnesota
MONDAY EVENING I GATHERED in rural Rice County with a crowd concerned about issues ranging from healthcare to immigration, agriculture, education, the environment, diversity, gun violence, the SNAP program, tariffs, voting rights, veterans’ benefits, the economy and much more. All current-day topics worrying many of us, including me.
I’ve never been politically active. Until this year. To stay silent now feels complicit. I care enough about this country, about freedom, about democracy, to let my voice be heard. I’ve participated in three pro-democracy rallies, including the NO KINGS Day Rally in Northfield and two on Labor Day in Owatonna. I’ve volunteered at a DFL Sweetcorn Feed in Faribault. I’ve donated to the DFL, called and emailed my legislators in Washington, DC. And Monday evening I attended a potluck, billed as a DFL Working Families Garden Party. This all from someone who previously voted primarily Republican. But no more, not in the past four Presidential elections or in some other past elections. I’ve always looked at candidates, their character and their stances on issues before voting. I still do, but party affiliation now matters to me, too.
DEEP CONCERN
At all of these recent events, I’ve heard—whether from politicians, candidates for office or ordinary people like me—a deep concern for our country under the current administration and those who go along with whatever our President says and does. This concern comes from good, decent people. Farmers, teachers, business owners, lawyers, blue collar workers, college students. People who carry crockpots of pulled pork and baked beans, bowls of creamy garden-fresh cucumber salad, peach pie and bars to a political party on a rural acreage.
As I sat in this bucolic setting Monday evening listening to short speeches from candidates like Martha Brown of Faribault, running for Minnesota House District 19A on the slogan of “Common-Sense Leadership for Working People,” or fiery Matt Little from Elko New Market who embraces the label of “radical” and who is running for Congress in the Second Congressional District or Ben Schierer of Fergus Falls, campaigning for state auditor and vowing to represent both urban and rural communities, I felt hope.
COMPASSION & HOPE
I felt hope, too, when I heard Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon talk about protecting voter information, voting rights and more. I felt hope when I heard Minnesota Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy speak. As a nurse, her care and compassion for others threads through her speeches, shines in her political life.
Most notable in Murphy’s talk, at least for me, is the deep grief she feels over the politically-motivated assassination of her friend and colleague, Minnesota Speaker of the House Emerita Melissa Hortman and Hortman’s husband, Mark. The Hortmans were shot to death on June 14, the day I protested in Northfield, despite warnings not to do so. I refuse to be silenced.
Murphy spoke on Monday evening against a backdrop of American and Minnesota state flags and a banner of the Hortmans and their dog with this message: STAND UP FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE. She talked, too, about attending the funeral on Sunday of Fletcher Merkel, 8, among two students killed in a mass shooting that injured 21 others at Annunciation Catholic Church in south Minneapolis on August 27. Justice. Peace. No more gun violence.
UNPRECEDENTED
I’ve lived enough years to observe that what’s happening in this country right now is unprecedented. I’ve never felt more fearful of losing our freedoms under authoritarian rule. It’s happening already with snatching people off the streets, imprisonment and deportations without due process. It’s happening in intimidation and retribution; mass firings; suppression of free speech; funding cuts that are undermining research, healthcare, education and more; gathering of private information by the government; sending armed military into cities; and in countless other ways that affect all of us no matter our political affiliations.
This isn’t about rural vs urban. This isn’t about us vs them. This is, rather, about preserving and protecting our very freedoms as Americans. This is about caring and feeling hopeful. This is about speaking up. About doing something. And sometimes this is also about eating pulled pork, baked beans, cucumber salad and homemade peach pie at a potluck on a beautiful September evening in southern Minnesota.
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© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling