Minnesota Prairie Roots

Celebrating her granddaughter’s wedding September 8, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:00 AM
Tags: family, health, life, mother, thoughts, wedding

SHE WAS DETERMINED to attend her granddaughter’s wedding. And she did, one day shy of three weeks after suffering traumatic injuries in a fall.

Three of my mom's granddaughter's visit with her after the wedding.

Three of my mom’s granddaughter’s (including my daughter, middle) visit with her after the wedding.

She would be my 82-year-old mother.

About the only photo I managed during the ceremony, taken from my place in the pew.

Saturday afternoon Mom was among some 400 guests packing English Lutheran Church in Walnut Grove for the marriage of Carlyn and Jared.

The day marked a milestone for Mom, her first outing in three weeks except for the long ambulance ride from a southwestern Minnesota hospital to the trauma unit at North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale and the car ride back to a nursing home five days later.

The reception was held at the community center in the bride and groom’s hometown of Westbrook.

Already while hospitalized, Mom set a goal to attend the wedding. Then she decided that she might like to go to the reception for awhile also. She accomplished both.

Guests shower Jared and Carlyn with birdseed as they leave the church.

It is good to have goals when you are eighty-two, or any time really.

I laughed because my mom's nails were painted and I forgot to paint mine.

Nursing home staff painted Mom’s nails for the wedding.

I am thankful to the staff of Parkview Home in Belview for encouraging and working with my mom and even painting her nails for the wedding.

I am grateful, too, for a family that has been there for her every step of the way, encouraging, supporting, loving.

And for prayers. Yes, prayers.

Mom faces a long road toward full recovery. I understand that. But she has already come so far.

Yet, it is not easy to see the fading purple bruises, the oversized bump that still mars her forehead, the neck collar that locks her broken neck in place, her frailness…

There are times when sadness overwhelms me. But then I remind myself to be grateful. For every single day I have my mother.

Comments (20)

Appreciating the architecture of historic downtown Winona September 5, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 2:46 PM
Tags: architecture, business district, fires, historic buildings, historic downtown, Minnesota, photo essay, travel, Winona

IT’S BAD ENOUGH when a community experiences a devastating fire in its historic downtown. But then again, less than a year later.

Those were my thoughts, as I’m sure that of many others, upon learning the Mississippi River town of Winona lost a 1912 former YMCA building, now housing KidSport Gymnastics, to a Thursday morning fire.

I believe I'm correct in stating the site of last year's fire was in the building to the right of Blooming Grounds Coffee House on the corner.

Last September’s fire occurred to the right of the corner building housing Blooming Grounds Coffee House. The coffee house reopened this summer.

A year ago, on September 13, fire destroyed the downtown Islamic Center and another building and damaged several other historic buildings.

A portion of downtown Winona with the General Store anchoring a corner.

Just last week my husband I were in Winona, staying there upon our return home from a brief vacation to Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa. We parked our van downtown Wednesday evening and started walking, pausing often to study the beautiful, historic architecture which graces this community. As you would expect, I snapped photos, but, unfortunately, not one of KidSport.

Heart’s Desire Gift Shop is housed in this mammoth building. Take note of the fabulous fourth floor balconies.

Eleven entire downtown blocks are on the National Register of Historic Districts. According to visitwinona.com:

The Winona Downtown Commercial Historic District contains over one hundred sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This area represents Minnesota’s largest collection of Victorian commercial architecture on the Mississippi. Most of the buildings are Italianate or Queen Anne in style and date from between the years 1857 and 1916.

Crank your head up and notice the architectural details.

If you appreciate architecture and the history of a river town, I’d highly recommend a visit to Winona. Late autumn with tree-covered bluffs, and not buildings, ablaze would be the perfect time to tour.

BONUS PHOTOS:

Everywhere you look, over-sized building and interesting architecture.

Everywhere you look, over-sized buildings and interesting architecture.

We’re talking old and historic in Winona.

The Garden Chinese Restaurant occupies an historic downtown space. It would be great to see the store fronts returned to the original architecture.

The impressive Merchants National Bank designed in the Prairie School architectural style by architects George Grant Elmslie and William Gray Purcell and built in 1912. It looks similar in style to National Farmers’ Bank in Owatonna.

More downtown buildings.

The Legendary Tavern fills a space in this stunning corner building.

This building seems out of place among all of the historic structures.

This storefront appears out of place among all of the historic structures. Is a gem hidden behind this updated front?

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A bakery hit on Broadway

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:00 AM
Tags: bakery, Bloedow's Little Bake Shop on Broadway, food, Minnesota, travel, Winona

Bloedow’s Bakery is located at 451 E. Broadway St. in Winona.

I’VE HEARD REPEATEDLY just how fantastic the baked goods are from Bloedow’s Little Bake Shop on Broadway in Winona. But not until recently was I able to taste test and judge for myself.

I know what you're thinking, bacon on a pastry. But paired with maple icing, it works. This is one of Bloedow's most popular offerings.

I know what you’re thinking, bacon on a pastry. But paired with maple icing, it works. The maple long john is Bloedow’s top seller.

Everyone who has ever recommended Bloedow’s to me through the years is 100 percent correct. The bacon-topped, maple-iced long john and peanut butter and jelly filled bismarck my husband purchased were, by far, the best bakery sweet treats I’ve ever devoured. Well, we shared.

Some of the choices inside old-fashioned display cases.

I expect anything I would have tried from Bloedow’s would have rated five-star superior.

For me, it is the tenderness of the pastries that sets these apart from those made at other bakeries. You know what I mean, right? Sometimes long johns, doughnuts and such can be dry and tough. Not here. These are almost melt in your mouth tender.

This is one old-fashioned cozy bakery.

You’ll bite into baked goods created from a family recipe that has been around since Ernest and Mary Bloedow opened their bakery in 1924. If you’ve got a good thing going, why change it? Hugh and Mary Polus now own the bakery.

On weekends a line often winds around the sidewalk at this corner bakery. I’m not surprised. These pastries are worth the wait. They are that good.

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Historic Winona drive-in hosts Farm Tractor Night & I was there September 4, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:00 AM
Tags: drive-in, Farm Tractor Night, food, Lakeview Drive Inn, Minnesota, photo essay, rural life, tractor show, travel, vintage tractors, Winona, yesteryear

A John Deere rounds the corner onto the 600 block of East Sarnia Street where the drive-in is located.

TRACTORS RUMBLED INTO WINONA’S Lakeview Drive Inn parking lot on a perfect Minnesota evening in late August. Ideal temps. Sun edging behind the bluffs in this Mississippi River town of nearly 28,000.

Drive-in fare served in a paper lined basket.

Folks reminisced and downed burgers, onion rings and more served in red plastic baskets lined with checkered paper.

A few cars, some vintage, managed to sneak into the drive-in among all the tractors.

Just like the old days. Root beer crafted on-site at the 1938 drive-in and served in frosty mugs by car hops.

Rows of tractors ringed Lakeview Drive Inn.

My husband and I happened upon historic Lakeview’s annual Farm Tractor Night while returning from a vacation to Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin. What a delight.

One view of Farm Tractor Night.

We were first introduced to Lakeview when our eldest daughter attended Winona State University, several blocks away, 10 years ago. I even wrote a magazine feature article on this vintage drive-in.

One can only imagine the conversation.

There’s something about a classic home-grown drive-in that speaks to summer and the past like no other place…

BONUS PHOTOS:

The oldest tractor, a 1937 John Deere A, at Lakeview.

A sweet vintage Ford.

Even the Winona County dairy princesses showed up for Farm Tractor Night.

A lovely old Oliver parked on the edge of the parking lot across the street from a spacious city park.

Loved the original art on this International tractor.

Come as you are for Farm Tractor Night. So authentic.

Attendees could go on a tractor-pulled wagon ride through the park across the street.

Just arrived at the tractor show.

FYI: The Lakeview Drive Inn closes for the season on September 14.

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One definition of rural art September 3, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:00 AM
Tags: art, Dundas, Minnesota, photo essay, photography, Rice County Steam & Gas Engines Show, rural art, tractor emblems

WHEN YOU THINK ART, you likely think of a studio artist creating a work of art via paint or ink or some other media.

Dan and Pam Larson of Rice, Minnesota, craft these gigantic crayons from poplar wood. For the past six years, the couple has traveled to flea markets around the country peddling their popular crayons. They make 20,000 - 25,000 of these crayons annually.

Dan and Pam Larson of Rice, Minnesota, (their home in the warm months) craft these gigantic crayons from poplar wood and three crayons per crayon. For the past six years, the couple has traveled to flea markets around the country peddling their popular crayons. Last weekend they were at a flea market in rural Dundas. They make 20,000 – 25,000 of these crayons annually. I consider their rustic crayons to be works of art as much as tools of art.

But I think beyond the expected.

I also see art in other places, like on the front end of a tractor. Emblems, while identifying a tractor brand, are also art. Rural art.

Here’s some rural art I photographed at the recent Rice County Steam & Gas Engines Show in rural Dundas, Minnesota:

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BBQ at its best in Nelson, Wisconsin September 2, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 1:56 PM
Tags: barbecue, BBQ, food, J & J Barbecue, Nelson, restaurant review, travel, Wisconsin

WISCONSIN MAY BE KNOWN for its cheese. But one small Wisconsin town is noted for both its cheese and BBQ. That would be Nelson, Wisconsin, across the Mississippi River from Wabasha, Minnesota.

Nelson Cheese Factory serves as a destination for Wisconsin and imported cheeses.

You can't miss the vibrant exterior of B & B Barbeque in Nelson, Wisconsin.

You can’t miss the vibrant exterior of B & B Barbecue in Nelson, Wisconsin.

And just down the street at 208 N. Main, you’ll find J & J Barbecue, a mom-and-pop restaurant serving Southern style BBQ that’s mouth-watering delicious.

Love this sign at the order counter.

Owners Jim and Laura Grandy, Minnesota natives who once lived in South Carolina, have perfected their smoked meats and their specialty mustard-based BBQ sauce.

J & J features hickory smoked meats.

The tantalizing smokey aroma will draw you off the highway into this one-of-a-kind joint as much as the BBQ and mustard hue exterior and signage promising the best ribs on the river.

My Southern BBQ Pork Sandwich served with savory baked beans and potato salad.

My generous Southern BBQ pork sandwich served with savory baked beans and potato salad.

While my husband and I didn’t try the ribs on a recent lunch stop, I ordered the Southern BBQ pork sandwich and found it simply superb. Randy chose a wrap—Carolina pulled pork with blue ribbon coleslaw tucked inside—a choice I found tasty, but he didn’t. I wondered why he was ordering a wrap because that isn’t his style and he doesn’t like coleslaw. But he felt pressured to order at the walk-up counter, the one negative part of our dining experience. When you’re new to a restaurant, you need time to study the posted menu.

I love the unique and kitschy interior.

On that particular Thursday, a steady steam of customers stopped to dine in or carry out Styrofoam trays packed with BBQed goodness.

You’ll find more than BBQed meat here.

I’d highly recommend J & J BBQ. Just, please, don’t do as one grandma, overheard asking her grandson, “Would you like the chicken tenders or a hot dog?” I wish she’d encouraged him to try the fabulous BBQ.

Walk past this sign and into the next room to enter the bar area. On the other side of that you will find a gift shop, Laura’s Place.

FYI: J & J Barbecue is open Wednesday and Thursday from 10:30 a.m. – 7 p.m.; Friday and Saturday from 10:30 a.m. – 8 p.m.; and Sunday from 10:30 a.m. – 6 p.m. The restaurant is closed on Monday and Tuesday.

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Farming of yesteryear remembered & celebrated at show August 30, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:28 PM
Tags: Dundas, festivals, flea market, Ford tractors, Minnesota, Northfield, Rice County Steam & Gas Engines Show, rural history, rural life, tractors

IT’S MOSTLY ABOUT THE MEMORIES, I’ve decided.

A snippet of the tractors displayed at the show.

A snippet of the tractors and more displayed at the Rice County Steam & Gas Engines Show.

Past memories.

Spotted at the flea market…

And building memories.

A sign along Highway 3 welcomes visitors.

The Rice County Steam & Gas Engines, Inc., annual Labor Day weekend show, which continues through Sunday, brought back many memories for me as I wandered among tractors and flea market merchandise and more for nearly four hours Saturday.

The young and the older guide a John Deere toward the parade route.

Curve of a Surge milking machine. Putt-putt-putt of a John Deere tractor chugging along the tractor parade route.

Al and Marllene Sutherland of Country Junction, Tripoli, Iowa, pose with the replica small scale farm buildings Al constructs from memory. The corn crib in the foreground includes 400 pieces and sells for $200.

Al and Marlene Sutherland of Country Junction, Tripoli, Iowa, pose with the replica small scale farm buildings Al constructs. He taps into his memory to design and build the buildings. The corn crib in the foreground includes 400 pieces and sells for $200.

The agrarian lines of a corn crib.

Vintage oil cans grabbed my attention at the flea market.

A Midland oil can. An NFO sign. All so familiar.

Rows and rows of tractors, including these John Deeres, line the grounds.

As I paused to admire an aged, rusty John Deere, an elderly woman said the green machine brought tears to her eyes. It was exactly like the one her father drove.

Brothers William and Jacob climb atop a Farmall.

Nearby, grandparents smiled as their two great grandsons climbed onto a Farmall. Building memories.

Several steam engines are part of the exhibition.

If you’re into farming of yesteryear and flea markets, then consider attending this event. Gates open at 7 a.m. Sunday and close at 5:30 p.m. A tractor pull is slated for 9 a.m. Admission is $8 with 12 and under free.

Ford tractors, including this one from Westbrook Ag Power (where my oldest brother is co-owner)

Fords, including this one from Westbrook Ag Power (where my oldest brother is part owner) were the featured tractor at this year’s show. This Ford is owned by a rural Northfield man.

The show grounds is located three miles south of Northfield on Minnesota State Highway 3. For more information, click here.

BONUS PHOTOS:

You can buy a chance to win a Golden Jubilee 1950s Ford being raffled by the Rice County Steam & Gas Engines, Inc.

You can buy a chance to win a Golden Jubilee 1953 Ford tractor being raffled by Rice County Steam & Gas Engines, Inc.

Checking out the Minneapolis Molines.

My favorite t-shirt of the day. The show presents a rural fashion statement.

My favorite t-shirt of the day. The show always offers photo-worthy rural fashion shots.

Every time I attend this show, I order a BBQ shredded pork sandwich from the Rice and Dakota County Pork Producers.

PLEASE CHECK BACK for more photos from the Rice County Steam & Gas Engines Show.

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The Dari (not dairy) King (not queen) August 29, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:00 AM
Tags: childhood memories, Dari King, food, ice cream, Redwood Falls, southwestern Minnesota

GROWING UP IN A POOR farm family with five siblings, it wasn’t all that often we got ice cream treats in town. Maybe Schwans ice cream in a dish or cone from the basement/porch freezer. But not soft-serve at a walk-up/drive-up.

Occasionally, though, Dad would treat us to a cone at the Dari King in Redwood Falls. This was back in the day when a small cone cost a dime. But even then a dime was a dime was a dime.

Forty years after I left the farm, the independent (non-chain) Dari King still stands, serving ice cream and more to the next generations. How sweet is that?

Comments (33)

Meatesota, Minnesota, whatever August 28, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:00 AM
Tags: advertising, billboard, business, Fareway Foods, Faribault, Interstate 35, Iowa, marketing, Minnesota, opinion, sign

THE BILLBOARD MESSAGE plays on Minnesota’s tag, “Land of 10,000 lakes.”

But it doesn’t work for me, this Fareway Foods sign along Interstate 35 just north of Faribault promoting the grocer’s meat department with “Meatesota, Land of 10,000 steaks.”

I don’t get it. What 10,000 steaks?

The thing is, I really do like Fareway’s meat, although I have yet to try a steak. I am not a big steak eater. But I certainly savor Iowa chops.

If this is the Iowa based company’s effort to cozy up to native Minnesotans like me with a spin on our state’s thousands of lakes theme, then this fails in my marketing book.

But I suppose in theirs it succeeded. After all, I noticed the billboard and now I’m writing about it.

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Oh, to be two… August 27, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:00 AM
Tags: family, life, photo essay, thoughts

DON’T YOU WISH sometimes that you could be the carefree kid again? I do.

I wish I could be like my great nephew, Hank, with nothing to worry me—climbing dirt piles, tossing clumps of dirt, running here and there as fast as my short legs can move me.

And then when I was all tuckered out, I’d slip inside the house and cuddle a plush toy before settling onto my mother’s lap.

My head would dip and nod against her until I fell into sweet slumber. Then she would ever so gently lift me from her lap and snug me onto billowy cushions, my curls pressed against the armrest, my fingers furled against my forehead.

I know I can’t be two again. But I can dream.

Comments (15)

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Minnesota Prairie Roots

Writing and photography by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

Celebrating her granddaughter’s wedding September 8, 2014

Appreciating the architecture of historic downtown Winona September 5, 2014

A bakery hit on Broadway

Historic Winona drive-in hosts Farm Tractor Night & I was there September 4, 2014

One definition of rural art September 3, 2014

BBQ at its best in Nelson, Wisconsin September 2, 2014

Farming of yesteryear remembered & celebrated at show August 30, 2014

The Dari (not dairy) King (not queen) August 29, 2014

Meatesota, Minnesota, whatever August 28, 2014

Oh, to be two… August 27, 2014

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An essay of barn photos & memories; In praise of preserving country churches; & Testing the track during a Soap Box Derby trial run in Faribault

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