IT’S BEGINNING TO LOOK a lot like Christmas…
Free horse-drawn wagon rides were offered around downtown Faribault Saturday afternoon. Here the wagon, with Santa aboard, passes The Depot Bar and Grill.
with a one-horse two-horse open sleigh wagon winding around and through historic downtown Faribault.
Copyright 2014 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
SATURDAY DIDN’T LOOK or feel a lot like Christmas here in Southern Minnesota. Snow melting. Temps in the 40s or near 50. Beautiful weather for December, except for the lack of sunshine until late afternoon.
Inside Shumway Hall, a sign welcomes visitors to the annual Campus Christmas Walk.
But on the campus of Shattuck-St. Mary’s, a holiday mood prevailed during the private prep school’s 12th annual Campus Christmas Walk, a gift to the Faribault community.
Heavy wood doors dominate the entry to Shumway Hall.
My husband and I attended “Winter Chronicles,” the fabulous figure skating show; walked the wide hallways of historic Shumway Hall
Impressive Shumway Hall.
Plates of sweet treats awaited visitors.
Kids worked on holiday crafts in the dining hall.
Colorful Christmas ornaments to craft.
to the dining room for sweet treats and cider/hot chocolate;
The Inn at Shattuck-St. Mary’s, a conference/retreat center and hotel, opened on Friday. Watch for an upcoming post tour of The Inn.
One boy headed for a treat after visiting Santa while another raced toward Santa’s open arms.
toured the just-opened The Inn at Shattuck-St. Mary’s where Santa proved the most popular guest;
The Chapel of the Good Shepherd.
and then popped into the old stone chapel.
Wreaths aplenty, including these on the entry to Shumway Hall, decorate the campus.
If time had allowed, we also would have taken in the Christmas Performing Arts Showcase. Next year.
The ornate stairway just outside the dining hall.
As an appreciator of historic buildings which stand strong in stone and dark wood and sturdiness, I truly enjoy this once-a-year opportunity to tour Shattuck.
The Shattuck-St. Mary’s campus features beautiful stone buildings constructed in the 1800s.
Every time I enter this campus, I feel like I’m at some Ivy League college. Not that I’ve ever been to a Harvard or Yale. I can only imagine. Shattuck has that feel of age and strength and wealth.
A sign on Shumway Hall notes Shattuck’s centennial anniversary in 1958.
Of course, it’s more. Much more. Like a school that produces great hockey players and draws students to my Minnesota community from all over the world.
© Copyright 2014 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
GREY DRIFTED OVER THE CITY, layering an eerie mood over downtown St. Paul on a late November Saturday afternoon.
The temp had warmed to hurry from your car to building without a coat warmth as my husband, eldest daughter, son-in-law and I exited the Minnesota History Center.
As we aimed toward the parking lot facing the St. Paul skyline, double church spires drew my eye. So did the red umbrella marking Travelers Insurance. And because I do not know this city well, I could not identify the other buildings in my view except Catholic Charities, marked as such.
But that mattered not, for in that moment angles and fog and mood mingled into a scene worth photographing.
The writer in me was already formulating the plot for a Capitol city mystery, inspired perhaps by the Nancy Drew board game spied inside the History Center.
© Copyright 2014 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
TOY: Object for a child to play with.
If you’re a Baby Boomer, that object may have been Tinker Toys or Lincoln Logs, anything space or Western related, a baby doll or Barbie or perhaps a troll. How about a Tonka truck? Twister or Cootie or Candy Land, anyone?
The Minnesota History Center’s “TOYS of the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s” is a skip down memory lane for my generation. A recent tour of the exhibit, which runs through January 4, 2015, skipped joy into my heart as I spotted toys I hadn’t thought about in years. Sometimes it’s fun simply to forget about today and remember the carefree days of youth. The days of hopscotch and jacks and stick horses and…
Outdoor toys and a play area are part of the exhibit.
I didn’t see a jump rope, though, but perhaps missed it.
Oh, the hours sitting cross-legged with Tinker Toys scattered across the floor, attempting to construct a Ferris Wheel.
Oh, the anticipation of rolling a six on the die to insert the last of six legs into a Cootie’s body.
Oh, the tears that raged when I discovered my oldest brother had punched in the boobs of my new bridal doll.
Oh, the gratitude to my friend Robin for gifting me with a mini pink-haired troll at my ninth birthday party. It was the only troll or childhood birthday party I would ever have.
Some artsy favorites like Spirograph, Lite Brite and making bugs from goop.
Oh, the delight in creating kaleidoscopic designs with Spirograph’s pens and plastic shapes.
A museum visitor checks out the 1960s exhibit.
Memories rolled in waves as I perused the showcased toys. Some I had as a child; many I did not.
In the ’50s section of the exhibit, a Christmas tree with coveted toys of the decade.
I remember each December paging through the Sears Christmas catalog (AKA “Wish Book”) that arrived in our rural southwestern Minnesota mailbox, wishing for so much, knowing in my deepest desires that I would never get the Pogo stick I coveted nor the doll that cried with the pull of a string or a new bicycle (mine came from the junkyard).
Space toys were big in the 1960s and my oldest brother had a rocket.
I would receive what my parents could afford and I expect they sacrificed much even for that.
Toys strewn across the floor in a play area of the 1970s part of the exhibit.
Looking back, that inability to give me and my siblings a pile of toys was a gift in itself. Sure, I wanted the hottest new toy. That’s normal thinking for a kid who doesn’t understand family finances or a parent’s thoughts on curbing greed.
I remember life without TV and our first television, black and white. And Mr. Potato Head, a popular toy back in the day.
Because of my upbringing, I have never focused on material things.
Anything Western related was especially popular in the 1950s and 1960s. Here you see the Western influence in furniture. My siblings and I spent countless hours riding our stick horses through the grove and, in the winter, around the house.
Yes, toys are fun to get and give, especially those that encourage creativity and imaginative play and don’t require batteries.
I cherish the blessings of family and home more than anything. I spotted this needlework in the 1970s portion of the exhibit.
But it is family that I cherish most. And when I toured the History Center’s toy and other exhibits, I did so with my husband, eldest daughter and son-in-law. Nothing skips joy into my heart like being with those I love.
As we left the museum, we voted for our favorite Minnesota made toy. My daughter and I voted for Cootie. Our husbands chose the Tonka truck.
FYI: For information on “TOYS of the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s,” click here. Just a little heads up: This exhibit was packed on a Saturday afternoon. I’d advise visiting this St. Paul museum on a weekday, especially if you want an opportunity to participate in the interactive parts of exhibits.
BONUS PHOTOS:
My son-in-law noted, as we toured the 1970s part of the exhibit, that toys began to reflect social issues such as being environmentally conscious.
A 1960s living room.
I didn’t grow up on the Little Audrey cartoon and I’m glad I didn’t. Really, a little girl carrying a gun?
© Copyright 2014 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
I THOUGHT I MIGHT make it through a local holiday theatrical production without crying.
But I didn’t.
The Santa Diaries actors, left to right, Thomas Drenth as Timmy; Samuel Temple as Marley the Dog; and Michael Lambert as Will Hawes. Photo by Edward Brown and courtesy of The Merlin Players.
Saturday evening found me seated on the far right side of the Bahl Family Auditorium, near the back of the Paradise Center for the Arts restored theatre in historic downtown Faribault, wiping away tears during The Merlin Players performance of The Santa Diaries.
The play penned by Mala Burt and Laura Ambler and debuting in Minnesota, in Faribault, resounds with the age-old theme of discovering what is truly most important in life.
For main character Will Hawes, played by seasoned actor Michael Lambert, that is deciphering whether he truly values his success as a Hollywood actor over love and family. A return to his small hometown at Christmas causes Hawes to reexamine his choices in life.
During an especially creative scene in which Hawes is dreaming, he is advised to “open your heart and listen.”
This holiday chorus line will put you in the Christmas mood and have you laughing out loud. Photo by Edward Brown, courtesy of The Merlin Players.
That could be the mantra for a production that mixes serious topics with humor. From the Hotdish Ladies (“Casseroles” in the original script, but this is Minnesota) bearing Sweet Potato Hotdish to a chorus line to the moment that made me cry—hearing the inner thoughts of Martha (played by Stephanie Weiss) wanting nothing more than her family home for Christmas—The Santa Diaries touches the heart.
You will laugh. You may cry. And, with absolute certainty, you will consider your own family and your life priorities as The Santa Diaries unfolds.
The older I grow, the less I care about the worldly trappings of Christmas. Like Martha, I just want my family home for Christmas. That won’t happen. Not precisely on Christmas Day. But we will have 1 ½ days together prior. And I am grateful for that. (The college son arrives home from Boston in exactly eight days.)
While The Santa Diaries presents a rather predictable happy ending—hey, you can’t have a holiday show that ends badly—real life isn’t that way. I know that. You know that. Life is messy. Work and distance and disagreements and busyness keep families apart.
But there is hope. People change. Situations change. We grow older and wiser. And, like main character Will Hawes, we eventually figure it out, that family is more important than money and success and work and schedules and, well, whatever else fills the time we could be with those we love.
The Paradise Center for the Arts is the cultural hub for theater and art in a historic theatre along Faribault’s Central Avenue. Each December a holiday show is featured. This photo is from a past performance.
FYI: Additional performances of The Santa Diaries are set for 7:30 p.m. December 11, 12 and 13 and for 2 p.m. December 14. Julianna Skluzacek is the artistic director for the play featuring 28 passionate performers ranging from elementary age to decades older. Call (507) 332-7372 for tickets from noon – 5 p.m. Tuesday – Saturday or noon – 8 p.m. Thursdays. Tickets may also be purchased an hour before show times. I wouldn’t wait, though. Tickets are selling quickly.
The playwrights are flying into Minnesota from the East Coast on Friday and will be here for all three weekend performances.
© Copyright 2014 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
The Santa Diaries photos copyright of Edward Brown/The Merlin Players and published here with permission.
WISCONSINITES ARE CRAZY about their Green Bay Packers. That I’ve learned in the four years since my second daughter moved to eastern Wisconsin.
From Packers billboards to barn signs, Packers apparel and green and gold brat buns in the grocery store, Packers craziness abounds.
My daughter photographed this display of Green Bay Packers themed holiday items at Shopko.
You can even find holiday décor promoting this much beloved football team, as discovered by my daughter on a shopping trip to the local Shopko. She couldn’t resist texting an image of Cheesehead Green Bay Packers snowman ornaments.
A clearer image of the Packers Cheesehead snowman from the Green Bay Packers Shop.
Cheesy or cute? You decide.
© Copyright 2014 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Photo courtesy of Miranda Helbling
Second image from the online Green Bay Packers Shop
AS A PHOTOGRAPHER, you know when you’ve snapped a photo that tells a story, that freezes a moment, that captures an emotion. Light and composition and focus also factor into the equation of a memorable image.
The BINGO callers. My first place winning photo.
Such was my reaction to photographing John and Lavonne, BINGO callers at the 2013 July Fourth celebration in North Morristown. Many of my images from that day make me proud of my work as a photographer.
Through my photography, I strive to show the everyday and celebratory moments of life—the people, places and happenings that define my world in Southern Minnesota.
And North Morristown on the Fourth of July is about as rural and down-to-earth as you get in these parts. So when I saw this couple calling BINGO, I determined to photograph the scene. They appeared to not even notice me and my camera, so focused were they on their job.
That’s precisely how I like it, to go unnoticed, to click the shutter button and document.
Professional photographers John Hart and Amber Arnold from the Wisconsin State Journal saw, too, what I see in that “Fourth of July BINGO Callers” image. They selected it as the first place winner in the People category of the 2014 photo contest sponsored by National Mutual Benefit.
The judges commented:
This photo has a timeless quality and is a candid, natural moment. It’s a slice of Americana.
I couldn’t have said it better.
Me and my Canon EOS 20D. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.
As a photographer, I am delighted to receive this professional validation of my work with a monetary prize and publication.
This is the second time I’ve won in the National Mutual Benefit Photo Contest. My last win came in 2003 when I photographed a butterfly on a daisy, garnering first place in the scenery division. That was back in the day when I was still shooting with film. I’ve only entered the competition a few times.
What do you think makes a winning or really good photo?
FYI: To view all of the winning photos and judges’ comments, click here. None of the contest images could be digitally altered.
© Copyright 2014 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo of 2013 Salvation Army bell ringing.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE 25 degrees can make.
The temp felt downright balmy ringing bells for the Salvation Army outside the north entrance of the Faribault Walmart this morning.
A year ago, at the south entrance, my husband and I rang bells in temps that hovered around a bone-chilling zero degrees Fahrenheit. Numerous times we stepped inside to warm up.
But this morning the sun shone bright upon us during our 10 a.m. to noon shift. It was lovely. No need to head to the bathroom to thaw hands under the heat of a hand dryer. This was an orange shorts topped by a Green Bay Packers jacket kind of morning, per the attire of one Walmart customer.
In true typical Minnesota talk, numerous folks commented on the beautiful weather. We couldn’t have agreed more. Standing in the outdoors for two hours in 25 degree weather felt almost tropical compared to the bundled up with minimal skin exposed temps of a year ago.
We were happy to be there, no matter the weather.
This marks my second year of bell ringing. And, like last year, I used eye contact and a friendly greeting to welcome folks, whether they gave or not.
And so many gave—from the smallest tyke hoisted to the kettle by a parent to the elderly man shuffling across the parking lot to the woman waiting for a taxi to the family with five children who gave on their way in, and then out of, the store.
I appreciated the kind words of several who thanked us and held dear an elderly woman’s words, “God bless you.”
It touches me deeply when parents pause so their children can drop coins and bills into the kettle. We thanked those children by handing out kisses—chocolate candy kisses. And I thanked the parents, too, for teaching their children to give.
In this season of spending, I hope you will donate to a charity to help those in need. Who knows, some day that person in need may be you, or me.
© Copyright 2014 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
HOW LONG WILL YOU wait in line at a car wash?
Which line should we choose?
My husband and I recently waited for nearly half an hour at the Kwik Trip Car Wash in Faribault on a Saturday evening. Fourth in line. Next to a second line equally as long.
Moving up in line.
Arriving, we pondered which row to choose. Which will move faster? The one with the monster pick-up that doesn’t really appear in need of a wash? Or the other row? It’s a gamble. We chose the pick-up line. (Yeah, I know…)
I passed the time by deleting content from my cell phone. I took photos. I scanned the waiting vehicles and wondered why some were there, like that truck.
Before we headed over to the car wash, I snapped this photo through the dirty driver’s side window.
It was obvious why my husband and I were waiting. Road salt and grime layered our van from a 600-mile round trip to eastern Wisconsin when the windshield wipers and washer fluid dispenser worked over-time. We could barely see out the side and rear windows for the film of white.
Randy wished aloud for some car wash tune to play on the radio while he amused himself by timing the length each vehicle was in the bay.
Not exactly a night at the movies, but entertaining anyway in the form of car wash art.
As for me, I thought to myself, after 32 years of marriage, it’s come to this—a Saturday night date at the car wash. But, you know, I’m OK with that.
© Copyright 2014 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
I always watch for Amish farms in the Coloma, Wisconsin, area.
I’D NEVER CONSIDERED THIS, how the Amish travel comfortably in cold weather months. But then I don’t live in Amish country, only pass through it on the several times a year trips from southeastern Minnesota to eastern Wisconsin.
On Thanksgiving morning I spotted an Amish buggy along Wisconsin State Highway 21 just outside of Coloma. I didn’t expect this on such an unseasonably cold and winter-like day. I wondered how this mode of transportation can possibly keep its occupants warm. Perhaps a heater, as suggested by a Google search, provides the necessary warmth.
I couldn’t see the riders for the glass. A disappointment. But then again, who would ride in an open buggy in such cold temps? Not me. And not these Amish either.
© Copyright 2014 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
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