FUN, FOOD, COMMUNITY AND CREATIVITY drew all ages to Central Park on September 13 for two special events—the Faribault Farmers’ Market Family Day and the Faribault Makers’ Market Customer Appreciation Day.
Randy and I joined those shopping for local food and goods. We brought home a ginormous watermelon from our friend Al plus two pounds of ground beef from Big Woods Beef, sweetcorn from River View Veggie Farm, and four juicy and savory pears from a vendor who lives near Union Lake.
I also snapped photos and engaged in some wonderful conversations. For me, these markets are all about celebrating community—the people who live here, farm and garden here, bake here, create here.
I learned, for example, when chatting with the couple at Big Woods Beef that their refrigerated truck is a repurposed Schwans delivery truck. That led to my reminiscing about the Schwans “Ice Cream Man.” We talked about farm prices too, about the low prices of corn and soybeans and the high price for beef. And I understood, as I did decades ago when my farmer dad struggled to support his family, how challenging the economics of farming remain.
At the farmers’ market, there’s a direct link to the land—in fresh eggs gathered, in bumpy pumpkins pulled from the vine, in garden fresh tomatoes ripened by the sun, in clutches of colorful zinnias and gladiolus cut from fields…
Three Glad Girls (and their mom) have vended gladiolus at the Faribault market for years, since the sisters, after whom the business is named, were young. They battled mosquitoes to bring their $10 bouquets of glads to Saturday’s market. The mosquitoes proved relentless even as they sold their flowers.
Saturday’s special family day focused primarily on activities for kids. I met several of them. Jax, 1, clutching a cookie and wearing a simple black tee with the words “CAUTION instructions not included.” Now that made me laugh. His mom, Jaylyn, was selling tallow balms, lotions, sugar scrubs and more with her business, Tallow Parlor.
Over at an informational display about Scouting, Margot, 4, not old enough yet for Girl Scouts, posed with a coffee filter butterfly she crafted at a master gardeners’/University of Minnesota extension service table. The adults got a swag bag.
Near the Central Park band shell, kids bounced inside an inflatable castle and played yard games while shoppers passed nearby. There was market BINGO for all ages.
I continued to work my way along the sidewalk, pausing to chat with vendor Amelia, a bubbly and energetic young woman who crafted a carrot and corn to wear in her hair, her contribution to the fun. I always make a point of talking to her because she makes me happy. Amelia stitches and crafts. Her dad gardens and cans.
I walked past piles of melons, pumpkins filling a wagon, jars of homemade salsa and a whole lot more local goodness.
Over on the south side of the park, where the makers set up shop, I talked to my friend Ronda, whose joyful personality matches that of bubbly Amelia. Ronda’s love of crafting is evident. She’s been doing this for years, crafting and selling at markets.
I popped into several other booths, passed by the Mighty Fine Coffee vendor, stopped to photograph Harvey, almost seven, sporting a freshly-painted spider web and spider on his arm. His smile reached to his eyes.
This is why I attend community markets and events. This place, these people, bring me joy.
© 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