Minnesota Prairie Roots

Writing and photography by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

Raising our voices with poetry May 14, 2026

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Poets D.E. Green, left to right, Becky Boling, Rob Hardy, Audrey Kletscher Helbling and Dougie Padilla with publications including their poetry. Missing, Larry Gavin. (Photo credit: Content Bookstore)

UNITED WE READ at Content Bookstore in Northfield. Earlier this evening six Rice County poets, including me, shared our poetry. Not just any poetry, but poems we’ve penned mostly themed to what’s unfolded in America with immigration enforcement, the war in Iran, threats to our democracy…

Anger. Frustration. Hope. Truth. Passion. Those topics threaded through poems by Northfield poets Becky Boling. D.E. (Doug) Green, Rob Hardy and Dougie Padilla and Faribault poets Larry Gavin and me. I read two poems on-topic and two off.

It was an honor to be in the presence of such fine creatives who use the power of their words to raise their voices. I encourage you to listen to a recording of the event on the Content Bookstore Facebook page by clicking here.

I am grateful to this independent bookstore for supporting writers not only through the sale of books, but also through readings. Listening to a poet read adds a depth to a poem that you don’t get simply by reading it in print. Emotion, word emphasis, volume and more factor into that.

To the attentive and appreciative audience, thank you for coming out on a Thursday evening to listen, to encourage the six of us in our poetry and to support your local independent bookstore.

United we write. United we read. United we raise our voices.

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FYI: Many of the poems read this evening were published by Shipwreckt Books in Lost Lake Folk Opera, Volume 10, Winter of ICE with the subtitle of A Literary Struggle to Preserve Our Democratic Republic. Other poems published in Content Bookstore’s chapbook, Words to Meet the Moment: Poetry Against Fascism. Both are available for purchase at the bookstore.

© Copyright 2026 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

A flea market, riverside rendezvous & Syttende Mai celebration

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A leather stitcher at the May 2025 Riverside Rendezvous & History Festival in Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo May 2025)

WHETHER YOU’RE INTO HISTORY, flea markets, music or art, you’ll find a trio of events in the area this weekend covering those options.

Vendors set up shop outside the Rice County Historical Society. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo September 2025)

First up is the annual Rice County Historical Society Spring Flea Market from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, May 16, in Faribault. Vendors offer an array of goods from antiques and collectibles to crafts, art, oddities and assorted merchandise to endless to name. I’ve shopped here many times, enjoying the experience of not only poking around for something I may or may not need, but also socializing.

Making ropes at the 2025 Riverside Rendezvous. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo May 2025)

Just down the road from the RCHS grounds, the historical society is hosting its second annual Riverside Rendezvous and History Festival in North Alexander Park from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, May 16, and again from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on Sunday.

I attended last year and immersed myself in the living history with added music, food (try the frybread) and interaction with re-enactors and others rounding out the festival. The event features the trades, tradition and history of the 18th and 19th centuries via demonstrations of blacksmithing, leatherworking, fur trapping, candlemaking and more plus an appearance by MN Jack Sparrow.

Listen to the music of Curtis & Loretta, The Leather Souls, Bonnie Drunken Lad, the Roe Family Singers and The Skally Line. Try your skills in competitive Voyageur games, tomahawk throwing and archery. Buy goods from vendors, cash only. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for kids, a bargain considering all the rendezvous offers.

Musicians will perform inside the Valley Grove wooden church. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

Sunday brings more entertainment, this time at the historic Norwegian Valley Grove churches, rural Nerstrand. From 1-3 p.m. May 17, the Valley Grove Preservation Society celebrates Syttende Mai, Norway’s Constitution Day.

Inside the old wooden church, St. Olaf College students will play Norwegian hardanger fiddle music from 1-1:30 p.m. After that, until 3 p.m., the duet Over Yonder, with Martha Larson on cello and Brian Johnson on guitar, will play original compositions from their recent album “Valley Grove.” That includes the title track, “(The Big Oak at) Valley Grove.”

Crosses crafted from Valley Grove burr oaks. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

In honor of the big burr oak that once anchored a corner of the Valley Grove Cemetery until a 2018 storm blew the tree down, a pop-up art exhibit will be featured inside the old stone church. Attendees are invited to share their paintings, drawings, photos and wooden items (made from the 250-year-old burr oak) at the exhibit.

This trio of area happenings gets my recommendations. I can’t make all three. But if you can, go. Every single event promises to be worth your while whether you love history, flea markets, music, art or all four. This is a jam-packed weekend of educational, entertaining and enjoyable events right here in your own backyard.

© Copyright 2026 Audrey Kletscher Helbling