Minnesota Prairie Roots

Writing and photography by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

Happy Fourth of July from southern Minnesota July 4, 2024

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At the Kenyon Public Utilities building, signage marks the birth and bicentennial of our country from 1776-1976. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)

BUILT BY THE PEOPLE FOR THE PEOPLE. I suppose in many ways that could describe the building of America. We are a nation built by the people on the principles of freedom, of democracy. That’s important to remember in the hoopla of the Fourth of July, a holiday synonymous with BBQs, parades, fireworks and a day off from work.

Spotted on a house in Kenyon. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)

But the founding of our country, the birth of a nation, is at the core of our July Fourth celebration. Or at least it should be.

A stunning house along Red Wing Avenue showcases beautiful landscaping and the red-white-and-blue. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)

On recent day trips to several small towns in southern Minnesota, I noticed the red-white-and-blue on full display. Visual reminders that loyalty to country and liberty are still cherished.

A flag flies at Kenyon’s hardware store. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)

I appreciate when people, businesses, governments showcase the colors of this country in ways that honor and respect the integrity of America. Not to make a political statement.

Patriotism in carved eagles and an American flag in a Kenyon neighborhood. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)

In Kenyon, a rural community of just under 2,000 in Goodhue County, I found an array of red-white-and-blue. From Main Street to residential neighborhoods, locals have infused the colors of our country into the landscape.

Allan and Connie Turner have lots of kitschy handcrafted art in their yard at the corner of Red Wing Avenue and Eighth Street next to the Kenyon water tower. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo 2024)
American made sold at All Seasons Thrift Store. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)
Patriotic bags for sale in the thrift shop. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)

Flags fly. Kitschy yard art celebrates the Fourth. Even inside a thrift store, American pride shows.

An American and MIA flag fly at the Kenyon Post Office. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)
An American flag is barely visible to the right as a sprayer passes Kenyon’s veterans’ memorial. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)
A patriotic barn and porch quilt, available at D & S Banner, Sign & Print. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)

This is America. From small town to big city. From coast-to-coast. No matter where we live in this big wide country, we are, today, one nation celebrating the birth of our nation.

One of several flag decals in the windows of the VFW. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)

Happy birthday, America! And happy Fourth of July, dear readers!

© Copyright 2024 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

July Fourth thoughts from southeastern Minnesota July 4, 2022

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An American flag graces Welch Mill Innertubing. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2021)

BACK IN NOVEMBER 2021, I photographed this symbol of America in the unincorporated village of Welch. Today, the birthday of our country, seems a good day to finally share this image from southeastern Minnesota.

There’s something about the simplicity of this scene which I find particularly appealing. An historic mill. Faded signage. Blue sky on a perfect autumn afternoon. And then the jolt of bold colors in the American flag. It all comes together visually, leading to thoughts of history and what that flag symbolizes. Freedom. Democracy. Maybe even hope in the face of so much division.

A flag inspires us to ponder, to reassess, to consider, to feel gratitude. To celebrate.

In this spot along the Cannon River and the Cannon Valley Trail in Welch Township in Goodhue County, American pride runs strong at the former Welch Feed Mill, now home to Welch Mill Innertubing. The business rents inner tubes, canoes and kayaks.

During my stop eight months ago, I viewed the scene through a photographic lens, with an artist’s eye, grateful for the freedom I have to come and go, to photograph, to express myself as an artist, unencumbered.

Happy Fourth of July from southeastern Minnesota!

© Copyright 2022 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Patriotic tradition continues with Memorial Day parade in Faribault June 1, 2021

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A vet rides on the Moose Lodge float during the Memorial Day parade. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo 2021.

TO CELEBRATE MEMORIAL DAY in Faribault means coming together as a community. First during a ceremony at the Rice County courthouse, then the 10 a.m. parade through the heart of downtown followed by a program at Central Park.

Lining up for the parade near Buckham Library. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo 2021.
An honored veteran. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo 2021.
The Color Guard marches along Central Avenue past the many historic buildings which grace our downtown. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo 2021.

This represents Americana. Tradition. A public way to honor those who died in service to our country.

Faribault Fire & Rescue is always part of the parade. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo 2021.
Parade participant. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo 2021.
City Council members always ride atop the fire truck. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo 2021.

It’s a day when politics are set aside and the focus shifts to patriotism and gratitude. We are simply Americans, thankful for freedom.

The Faribault Moose Lodge float. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo 2021.
This vintage wagon advertises Minne Roadtrips to the Faribault/Northfield/Owatonna area. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo 2021.
The Scouts always walk in the parade. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo 2021.

As has been our tradition for decades, Randy and I unfolded our lawn chairs along Central Avenue to watch the parade pass by. Little changes. Veterans and flags and fire trucks and Scouts and vintage vehicles and horses define the 15-minute parade. Absent this year were high school bands and the Shattuck-St. Mary’s Crack Squad.

A particularly patriotic truck. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo 2021.

But we were happy simply to have a parade, canceled last May (and rightly so) due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

American Heritage Girls distributed flags. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo 2021.
I love this vintage John Deere tractor, representative of this agricultural region. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo 2021.
Flags adorn a vintage pick-up truck. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo 2021.

On this Memorial Day 2021, American flags stretched in the morning breeze. Parade participants waved. And kids waved mini flags distributed by Scouts and American Heritage Girls. Veterans clutched flags. And flags adorned vehicles. It was all about the red-white-and-blue.

Crowds line Central Avenue to watch the parade. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo 2021.
Horses always end the parade. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo 2021.
Folks lingered after the parade. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo 2021.

While this parade rates as short and simple, I none-the-less cherish it. I cherish the tradition. I cherish the opportunity to come together as a community. And I cherish the opportunity to remember and honor those Americans who died while serving our country. Our America.

Please check back for photos from the Memorial Day program at Central Park.

© Copyright 2021 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Fourth of July 2020, just a few words July 3, 2020

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An American flag flies in Cannon City, Minnesota. Minnesota Prairie Roots edited file photo May 2020.

 

I WANTED TO WRITE a positive post about America and the Fourth of July. I couldn’t do it. I sat and stared at my computer screen with negative thoughts jumbling in my mind.

These are difficult days in this country. I will leave it at that with the following addendum.

I wish you a safe and healthy holiday. Please, mask up and social-distance if you are out and about. Avoid gatherings and crowds. And, if you’re not feeling well, please stay home. End of post that began with an idea that failed.

© Copyright 2020 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Reflecting on 9/11, then & now September 12, 2019

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In remembrance of 9/11, photographed last September 11 in Hastings, Minnesota. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo 2018.

 

YESTERDAY BROUGHT TIME for reflection. Reflection upon the events of September 11, 2001, a day which forever changed us as Americans.

 

I reconstructed a tower using the same blocks my then young son and his friend used on September 11, 2001, to duplicate what they saw on television. These are also the same toy airplanes they flew into the tower. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo 2011.

 

The terrorist attacks on our country made us feel vulnerable, unsafe and realizing, perhaps for the first time that, just because we live in America, we don’t live in a bubble of protection from those who would harm us.

 

Photographed along Interstate 90 east of La Crosse, Wisconsin. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo May 2011.

 

Yet, in the midst of that tragedy, that sorrow, that new reality, there emerged a solidarity. We felt united as a country, a people.

 

On the campus of Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, a plaque honors an alumnus who died in the World Trade Center attack. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo July 2019.

 

Eighteen years later I no longer see that unity. I see rather a fractured country. That saddens me. The discord. The political upheaval. Even the overt hatred toward certain peoples.

 

Faribault, Minnesota, firefighters pay special tribute to the fallen New York firefighters on this memorial sign. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo 2011.

 

Yet, when I look closely, I see the care and compassion extended by many Americans toward those who need our care and compassion. We have always been a giving nation. I hear the voices of those who speak for those whose voices have been mostly silenced by rhetoric and oppression and policies. We are still individuals with voices that matter.

 

My then 8-year-old son drew this picture of a plane aimed for the twin towers a year after 9/11 for a school religion assignment. He was a third grader in a Christian school at the time and needed to think of a time when it was hard to trust God. To this day, this drawing by my boy illustrates to me how deeply 9/11 impacted even the youngest among us. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.

 

That ability to express ourselves—whether through the written or spoken word, in music, in art, in acts of kindness—remains. Strong. We have the power individually to make a difference in our communities, to start small, to rise above that which threatens to erode.

THOUGHTS?

© Copyright 2019 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Reflecting on Veterans Day November 11, 2018

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U.S. Army Cpl. Elvern Kletscher, my father, in the trenches in Korea.

 

IT’S EASY ENOUGH to write words of praise on Veterans Day. Those are words we expect. And they should be spoken, written.

But there are other words which also need exposure. Like sacrifice, pain, guilt, suffering. I saw all of those in my dad, who fought on the front lines in the Korean War. Kill or be killed. He shared little of his experiences, but just enough that I understood the horror he saw, the horror he endured, the pain he would carry with him throughout his life. Peace eluded him. I felt helpless to help him. And I don’t know that I could have, never experiencing war as he did. Eventually he joined a veterans’ support group decades after the war, when post traumatic stress disorder was finally recognized. It helped him to talk to those who understood.

Please take time today to reflect. Reflect on those who served and who still serve.

Be thankful for those who are working hard to keep America safe. Freedom is never a guarantee and today, more than ever, I am fully cognizant of that.

To my many family members and friends who have served in the U.S. military, to my readers who have done likewise, thank you for your service. Because of you, I have the freedom to write this post, to continue to write, to live in a nation where I can go to the polls and vote.

Thank you, veterans, for the personal sacrifices you made for your country. Today I honor you.

© Copyright 2018 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Independence Day 2018 July 3, 2018

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I WANTED TO WRITE an uplifting post focusing on the celebration of Independence Day. Freedom, and all that means in the USA.

But, instead, I find my mind shifting to the challenges this country currently faces. These are difficult times. Violence. Hatred. Anger. Attacks on peoples. The press. Policies and statements and actions that, in my opinion, do not fit a democracy.

I love this country. I value my freedom. But never in my sixty-plus years have I feared so for our nation.

Yet, I hold hope. I hold hope in the rising of voices. I hold hope in the humanity of Americans, that we still care enough about one another, about freedom, to stand strong. To rise. To seek truth and do what is right.

A happy and safe Fourth to each of you, my dear Americans.

© Copyright 2018 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Take two: A second look at the film “Sweet Land” & immigration issues February 6, 2017

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sweet-land-envelope-copy

The letter Inge received from Olaf, in the fictional film Sweet Land.

She is not one of us. We speak a common language. We have a common background, a common culture. She is not one of us.
#

We have to be careful about this sort of thing…German nationals. German nationals engage in prostitution. They harbor dangerous political convictions. Are you aware of the Espionage Act of 1916?
#

English only in the church. English.
#

You’re German. It’s a bad influence. You’re German. It’s a disruption to my community. You make coffee that’s too black.

She makes good coffee, not like the women in church.
#

I was fearful of her differences, but I was hopeful she could join us on our path….Do not allow your good lives to be poisoned by these two.
#

This is German food?

No, just food.
#

You don’t have the papers.

sweetlandposter_mini

Promotional from Sweet Land website.

LAST WEEK I REWATCHED Sweet Land, an award-winning independent film released in 2005. The movie, based on Minnesota writer Will Weaver’s short story, “A Gravestone Made of Wheat,” and filmed on my native southwestern Minnesota prairie, rates as a favorite of mine.

sweet-land-farmhouse-copy

Olaf Torvik’s home on the prairie. The film was shot in and around Montevideo, Minnesota.

I appreciate the early 1920s setting, the music, the story and, now, its relevancy to today. The above dialogue comes from Sweet Land, which focuses on the challenges faced by Inge Altenberg, summoned to America by Norwegian farmer Olaf Torvik. He expects a Norwegian mail order bride as do others in the community. But Inge is not Norwegian; she is German.

Thereafter, the conflict begins with “She is not one of us.”

The land and love shape the story.

The land and love weave into this story. Here Inge and Olaf dance on the prairie.

I won’t give away the plot, which includes a love story. But I will tell you that I watched the movie this time from a much different perspective, in the context of current day immigration issues in our country. Sadness swept over me.

Please watch this thought-provoking, conversation-starting film. It’s a must-see whether you make coffee that’s good, judged as too black or you don’t brew coffee at all. It’s still coffee.

FYI: Sweet Land, the musical opens April 29 at History Theatre in St. Paul. It runs for five weeks, Thursday – Sunday, until May 28. Will I go? I’d love to…

RELATED: Saturday afternoon a sizable crowd gathered on the Rice County Courthouse grounds in my community for a peaceful protest. Please click here to watch the video, Faribault, Minnesota Immigration Ban Protest 2-4-17, posted by Terry Pounds. Faribault is home to many immigrants and refugees, including from Somalia.

A photographic exhibit of refugee children who fled Syria, leaving everything behind, is showing at the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis. Photos for Where the Children Sleep were taken by award-winning Swedish photojournalist Magnus Wennman. In order to increase community access to the exhibit, the ASI is providing free admission on Wednesdays in February. The exhibit runs through March 5. Where the Children Sleep launches the Institute’s 2017 “Migration, Identity and Belonging Programming.”

Review © Copyright 2017 by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Happy birthday, America July 4, 2014

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THROUGH THE YEARS, I have photographed numerous patriotic scenes and American flags.

Today, in celebration of the birthday of the United States of America, I bring you American patriotism from…

 

Copy of Garage, Stars & Stripes 1

 

 

the Stars & Stripes Garage in Heidelberg, Minnesota;

 

Flags, Decorah house

 

an historic home in Decorah, Iowa,

 

Flags, Montgomery, Minnesota, edit 1

 

the Main Street of Montgomery, Minnesota,

 

American flag edited

 

and Anywhere, USA.

Happy Fourth, dear readers! Enjoy this holiday and thank God for the freedoms that come with being an American.

© Copyright 2014 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Marking the anniversary of Kennedy’s assassination & reflecting on a Presidential quote November 22, 2013

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Dallas, Texas, 12:30 P.M. November 22, 1963: The President has been shot!

American flag edited

TODAY, ON THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, we’ll be swamped with news coverage and memories recalled. Where were you when you heard the news?

I was inside a classroom at Vesta Elementary School in rural southwestern Minnesota. That’s it. I don’t remember my reaction or that of my teacher or my parents. But I had only recently turned seven, old enough to understand, but young enough that details did not imprint upon my memory.

My husband, though, remembers the phone ringing in the one-room country school he attended in North Dakota and the teacher’s announcement that the President had been shot.

On the day of Kennedy’s funeral, the Helbling family relocated to central Minnesota. I expect that for a 7-year-old, moving hundreds of miles away from extended family and friends was more emotionally gripping than the death of the President.

So, if I don’t have better memories than that to share, why am I writing anything at all today? Well, listening to the radio this morning, I heard this famous Kennedy quote: Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.

That got me thinking.

And then I read Bob Collins’ online NewsCut column over at Minnesota Public Radio (you really ought to read this daily if you don’t already). Collins also featured that quote in his morning 5×8 list.

That got me thinking even more.

It seems to me that today we expect our country to do too much for us. I don’t want to get into a heated political discussion here. But just consider how government, more and more, is intruding into our lives on so many levels with this law and that law, this government program and that government program. Frankly, it scares me.

Given the erosion of self-sufficiency in our society, it might do all of us some good to reflect today on Kennedy’s words and ask: What can I do for my country (or my community, church, neighbor, a stranger)?

I suppose that seems contrary to self-sufficiency. Allow me to clarify. I’m not anti-government or anti helping others. We need government assistance programs and laws that protect the vulnerable and those in need. We need nonprofits and charities and individuals to assist others.

But there seems to be a pervasive attitude, even expectation, among many Americans that government should solve all of our problems. And that just does not sit right with me.

Thoughts?

© Copyright 2013 Audrey Kletscher Helbling