I sat behind these healthcare professionals at the meeting hosted by the Minnesota State Attorney General’s office. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2026)
I’VE BEEN SITTING on pages and pages of notes from a community forum held in Faribault earlier this week on the proposed sale of Minnesota-based Allina Health to California-based Sutter Health. The Minnesota State Attorney General’s Office hosted the meeting, which drew around 200 people.
The intent of the listening session, according to Attorney General Keith Ellison, was to evaluate if the proposal is in the public interest. He cited concerns like wages, competition, unions and access to services. By state law (Statute 145D.01), Ellison is required to consider public input and then make a decision.
But Wednesday’s listening session, which allowed those who signed up in advance to comment for one minute each, seemed anything but a community-oriented event. Rather, Sutter flew in top leaders. Likewise Allina was well-represented by leaders and employees. This seemed well-orchestrated and slanted toward the proposed acquisition. Sixty-two people, nearly all healthcare leaders or professionals and others in leadership positions, spoke.
AVERAGE PERSON UNHEARD
I felt like the average person, the patients, the people in my city and surrounding areas served by Allina Health, were not well-represented. Maybe it’s their fault for not showing up more than they did. Maybe they weren’t aware of the meeting. Maybe they were, like me, intimidated by speaking before a crowd. Maybe jumping through the hoops to comment and/or register online and then waiting to learn the meeting location proved too technologically difficult. I think all factored into the voice of everyday people being mostly left unheard. Two friends of mine who registered online never received email notification of the meeting location.
I didn’t speak. I could have. But I’m uncomfortable standing in front of and addressing a large audience. I’d prefer a roundtable approach, where every voice, not just those of polished professionals, is heard, in person, not via a comment form.
Follow the top right pointing arrow to the emergency room at Allina Health Faribault Medical Center. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)
AN IMPACTFUL STORY
Yet it was the voice of a rural Faribault resident who made the most impactful comment of the evening, in my opinion. And it was because of a personal story he shared. Stories connect us, proving to be undeniably powerful in making a point.
This man spoke of a neighbor finding him unresponsive, an ambulance transporting him to the Faribault hospital and then learning from his healthcare team that he had been within minutes of death. His point: He likely would not have survived a longer transport to a hospital in another community.
“If we have to go back to the municipal model, let’s do it,” he said. The Faribault hospital was community-owned until Allina bought Rice County District One Hospital in 2015. And now, 11 years later, change could be, likely will be, coming again with a large California-based healthcare nonprofit buying a smaller Minnesota healthcare nonprofit.
The birthing center in our local hospital, left, recently closed. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)
FROM OUT OF STATE & BIGGER
That concerns me—a much larger entity from out of state buying a healthcare system that currently provides services throughout Minnesota and western Wisconsin, including in Faribault and neighboring Owatonna. Allina just recently closed Faribault’s birthing center.
The CEOs of both Allina and Sutter used the word “partnership” multiple times in describing the proposed purchase of Allina by Sutter. In my head, I was thinking, “Call it what it is, a sale.”
I get my primary care here, at the Allina Health Faribault Clinic. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2026)
EMPHASIS ON LOCAL CARE
Allina CEO Lisa Shannon, stating that “healthcare is in real trouble,” something we all know, promised access to affordable and high quality care, keeping the patient as close to home as possible. Likewise Sutter CEO Warner Thomas said several times that “Local care is best care.” I agree. I prefer local to going out of town for my healthcare, although I understand sometimes that’s necessary.
I hope the two CEOs mean what they said. Numerous commenters asked for assurances in writing to protect patients and employees. That seems a valid request.
TECHNOLOGY & FINAL THOUGHTS
The topic of technology also came up repeatedly in referencing benefits of the acquisition by Sutter Health. That bothered me, not because I don’t consider advances in technology in healthcare to be important, but because technology was emphasized so much. It is people who are at the heart of healthcare, not technology.
I could write much more about the positives and negatives expressed during the state-hosted listening session. But rather I’ll stop, hoping that the distrust, doubts and concerns I feel are unwarranted. I will continue to stay informed.
I hope, if this purchase happens, that healthcare in Faribault remains strong—available, accessible and affordable for everyone. That means no closures, no loss of services. I hope I can continue to get most of my healthcare locally from professionals I’ve grown to know and trust. That’s important to me, especially as an aging Baby Boomer.
Chocolate chip cookies (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)
THE OTHER MORNING, after I finished baking a batch of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, I stepped outside into an ideal summer day. The temp hovered around 70 degrees with a sky that transitioned from sunny to cloudy and back. Freshly-laundered sheets and towels hung on my backyard clothesline. All was good in my world.
But it was about to become better. Not because anything extraordinary happened. Rather a decision I made to pick a bouquet of flowers flipped my day into a feel-good, generous day.
I grabbed a clippers from the garage, headed to my messy front yard flowerbeds and started cutting phlox. The purple, pink and white flowers run rampant among equally untamed ferns anchored by hydrangea.
As I clipped and gathered, I breathed in the strong perfume scent of these flowers that some may consider weeds—only if they are unwanted—but which I love. They are, simply put, lovely.
Once I had a sizable clutch of phlox, I started back to the house. And then I saw her, the young woman walking down the sidewalk towards me. In that moment, I decided my fresh floral bouquet would be hers. I asked if she was heading home soon. She was.
I extended the flowers to the 20-something, told her I wanted her to have the bouquet. I advised her that the phlox were delicate, might last a few days. She thanked me, smiled the most beautiful smile and said she would put the flowers in water as soon as she got home.
A kindness rock found in Montgomery, MN. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)
Our interaction, our conversation, was brief. Yet, it was deeply meaningful. To be able to give something to a stranger, to extend kindness, uplifted me. I hope the young woman felt likewise.
I watched my new acquaintance walk away with her flowers, then went back to clipping phlox. I gathered a bouquet for myself, all the while thinking about the importance of kindness, even small, spur-of-the-moment acts of kindness that can flip a day for the giver as much as the recipient.
TELL ME: Please share your kindness stories. I’d like to hear how you’ve either given or received kindness recently.
FIFTY YEARS AGO, my friend Barb married Chuck during the bicentennial year. She themed her wedding in red, white and blue.
That same year, my dad bought a boxcar full of hay to feed his cattle during one of Minnesota’s worst droughts ever.
And in 1976, I attended Farmfest, an agricultural exhibition and bicentennial celebration near Lake Crystal in southern Minnesota.
That trio of memories defines the bicentennial for me. I wasn’t thinking about the stability of the U.S. or anything political back then. But, oh, how my thoughts have shifted in 50 years. In 2026, I find myself worried about the future of this country.
In June 2025, I attended my first protest. Since then, I’ve become a regular on the protest line in my community, publicly raising my voice every Saturday morning against the current administration. I never thought that at my age, I would be protesting. But there I am standing street-side, shoulder-to-shoulder with others as concerned as me about the leadership in America and the very real threats to our democracy. “Very” is not a word I like to use. But I can’t think of a suitable synonym.
What concerns me? Threats to voting rights. Threats to freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Threats to individual liberty. Threats to the environment. Unlawful immigration enforcement. Lack of due process. Unauthorized and unnecessary war. A lack of checks and balances in a government of executive, legislative and judicial branches. Unchecked power. Unqualified individuals in federal government leadership positions. Cuts to Medicaid, education and more areas than I can possibly list. A Congress that mostly seems to lack a backbone, that caters to the president. Inflation. Tariffs. The high price of everything. The pardoning of insurrectionists. Abuse of power. Lies, lies and more lies. So much. So much.
I find all of this incredibly challenging in this semiquincentennial year when we should all be focused on celebrating. But if I pause and reflect among all the uncertainty and chaos, I recognize that I still have a voice. I am free to express myself. To write. To disagree. To hold a protest sign.
And, for now, that is something worth celebrating.
Red, white and blue define this front yard along First Street Southwest in Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2026)
RED, WHITE AND BLUE banner everyday life annually around this time each year. I’m talking not only U.S. flags flying from poles, but much more. And this July 4, the 250th birthday of our nation, American pride seems especially abundant. Or maybe I’m simply noticing because of the milestone celebration.
Harvest Time Church in Faribault is celebrating the Fourth on July 5. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2026)
Whatever, I challenge you to see how your friends and neighbors, local businesses, churches and other organizations are celebrating and/or running with the July 4 theme.
A patriotic front window display at Keepers Antique Shop. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2026)
Locally, I found plenty of examples in expected, and unexpected, places. At Keepers Antique Shop along Central Avenue in Faribault, I always expect proprietor Nona Boyes to create a window display appropriately themed to a particular event. She didn’t disappoint, staging two mannequins draped in red, white and blue holding an American flag between them. The patriotic theme carries to a corner curio and additional window space. Boyes’ art education and background show in every single window display she creates for her antique shop.
A July 4 tabletop display at Books on Central, owned by the Rice County Area United Way and run by volunteers. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2026)
Across the street at Books on Central, I happened upon another July Fourth display, this one atop a table. Because this is a used bookshop, books center the space created by volunteer Jeanne Campbell with assistance from Mary Campbell.
“The Star Spangled Banner” was among patriotic songs performed at a recent concert by the Mankato Area Community Band in Faribault. Singer Barbara Dunker dressed in patriotic attire for the finale of “The Stars and Stripes Forever.” (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2026)
Books about the White House, “The Star Spangled Banner” and Alexander Hamilton are for sale along with other volumes artfully placed among mini American flags, a Betsy Ross statue and touches of red and white ribbon. “We the People—A Pictorial Celebration of America” and “1776” by Pulitzer Prize winning author David McCullough are also among the selections.
A holiday ribbon adds a festive touch to a straw hat worn by a woman attending a recent concert in Faribault’s Central Park. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2026)
If you really want to get to the basics, you’ll find a pocket book of the U.S. Constitution propped in a front window display themed to celebrating the birth of this country.
A special holiday sale at Fashions on Central, selling used clothing for women with proceeds going to the local senior center, Buckham West. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2026)
To the north on Central Avenue, Fashions on Central promoted a RED WHITE BLUE SALE on a sandwich chalkboard.
A State Bank of Faribault flower pot decorated with an American flag for the holiday. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2026)
At the State Bank of Faribault, an American flag graces a lush pot of flowers outside the bank’s front entry.
A floral scene created by Faribault homeowner Kay in celebration of America’s 250th birthday. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2026)
But it was red flowers planted in galvanized tubs and backdropping white hydrangea that drew my admiration for July Fourth floral plantings. I was en route to a garage sale in a south-side Faribault neighborhood when I spotted the work of gardener Kay, who planted red, white and blue flowers throughout her yard. She wasn’t home when I stopped. But her husband, Paul, promised to pass along my praise.
Gerda Dolman pieced together Lady Liberty. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2026)
When I stopped at an estate sale, I purchased an unusual piece of art perfect for the Fourth of July. For $3, I snagged a puzzle of the Statue of Liberty pieced together by Gerda Dolman of Madison, Minnesota, when she was 100 years old. She lived to nearly 102, dying in 2021. Her son mounted the puzzle on wood. Gerda’s Lady Liberty now hangs on my dining room wall, a visual reminder of freedom, liberty and hope for all who came, and continue to come, to America. Like Gerda’s Norwegian ancestors.
I photographed this boy dressed in patriotic clothing and clinging to his mom’s leg at a recent car show in Dundas. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2026)
As we celebrate our nation’s 250th birthday, I focus on those foundational words of liberty and freedom. I hope others do, too, as they don patriotic attire, enjoy parades and BBQs, watch fireworks, and consider all this nation has endured from the Revolutionary War to present.
For sale in the Rice County Historical Society gift shop, 250th anniversary caps. The RCHS is celebrating its 100th birthday this year. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo 2026)
This message lifted from the tabletop display at Books on Central says it all: “For 250 years, we have maintained and loved this country that was created as the great American experiment, an exercise in self-governance and respect and freedom. Long may this great experiment reign, cherished and supported by those it protects and honors. Happy birthday to the United States of America!”
This barn sits along Minnesota State Highway 57 north of Mantorville. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2026)
IF A SINGLE BUILDING symbolizes agriculture in Minnesota, it is a barn.
A massive barn in the Cosmos area, which is northwest of Hutchinson. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2026)
Barns hold the history of farming within their walls. They hold the stories of farm families who labored therein. They hold memories—the heat of cattle, the lingering scent of manure, the pulse of milking machines, the scurrying of barn cats and much more.
Barns also hold heartaches and challenges and the satisfaction and rewards that come with farming.
A farm site in the Arlington area with a signature red barn. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2026)
To step inside a barn, or even to observe one from a distance as I did on recent trips out and about in rural Minnesota, is to understand the importance agriculture plays in this state.
Photographed traveling west of Cosmos on Minnesota State Highway 7. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2026)
Sure, farming has changed. Many barns no longer house animals, once a farm staple, as ag has shifted to crop farming. But at its core, this profession, this way of life, still centers rural parts of Minnesota, keeps small towns going. I saw that, from Mantorville to Faribault and from Faribault to Morris and back home.
A grain elevator complex with fading “Grove City Market Company” signage. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2026)
Barns dominate farm sites just like grain elevators landmark many small rural communities.
Efforts have been made to upkeep the aged farm building, likely a small barn, on the left. This is along Minnesota State Highway 57 between Mantorville and Wanamingo. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2026)
While I see too many dilapidated barns fallen into heaps of rotting wood, I also see those that are well-cared for, still standing strong against the ravages of time and weather. I know that comes at a cost to the landowner. Keeping a barn properly roofed and painted is a major expense. I appreciate efforts to preserve barns built by generations past.
A farm site in, I believe, Sibley County. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2026)
My ancestry traces to farming, to German immigrants who arrived in America, eventually making their way to southwestern Minnesota. There they found rich dark soil in which to plant seeds. Land upon which to build farmhouses, barns and other buildings necessary to the operation of a farm.
Still standing…the old barn and the old corn crib to the left. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2026)
I am rooted in farming. I worked inside the barn my father built. I shoveled manure, scooped silage, pushed a wheelbarrow heaping with ground feed, carried pails brimming with milk, bedded straw, tossed hay bales from the hayloft, fed calves… I worked the land, too, picking rock and pulling cockleburrs. I carried lunch to my dad and uncles on hot summer days of baling hay.
Based on the side door and address number on the building, this barn near Hutchinson has been refashioned into perhaps a home or business. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2026)
There is nothing romantic about farming. It is hard work. It is a risky business affected by weather, markets, prices, too many factors out of a farmer’s control.
A farm site near Mantorville along Minnesota State Highway 57. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2026)
Yet, I will unequivocally state that I am incredibly thankful I grew up on a working farm. The lessons learned there about working together, about forging forward despite setbacks, about standing independent and strong are ingrained in me.
A pick-up truck kicks up dust along a gravel road in the Cosmos area. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2026)
My dad laughed when I told him I wanted to be a farmer when I grew up. He knew better. There was nothing to keep me on the farm. And so I left, went to college, became a journalist. But even though physically-removed from the farm, I’ve always carried my ruralness within me, reflected in my writing and photography.
This massive barn near Hutchinson appears to have been repurposed for another use besides sheltering animals. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2026)
I find myself still drawn to rural scenes. A farm site. A grain elevator. A gravel road. Cattle grazing. Farm machinery, especially tractors, traversing fields. These all define agriculture. But it is the barn which symbolizes farming and the enduring strength and hope of a farmer.
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NOTE: I took these photos from the front passenger seat, either through the windshield or side window while traveling at highway speeds. Locations of several photos are not noted as I don’t recall the exact locations.
A slavery bill included in the exhibit “Testify: Americana Slavery to Today” from the Diane and Alan Page collection and exhibited previously in Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)
CONSIDER FOR A MOMENT the significance of Juneteenth. On this date in 1865, news of the Emancipation Proclamation finally reached enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas.
Imagine the jubilation of learning that you might really and truly be free. I expect that may have been difficult for many to believe. But two years earlier, President Abraham Lincoln signed the document ending slavery in states that had seceded from the Union. Not all states. Only those that had been part of the Confederacy.
The proclamation reads in part: I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free… What powerful words—shall be free.
A portion of a photo by Steve Somerstein included in the exhibit “Selma to Montgomery, Marching Along the Voting Rights Trail.” (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)
While slavery ended long ago, the struggle continues for anyone whose skin is other than white. Injustices and racial discrimination remain. To think otherwise is to be in denial. Look what’s happening with gerrymandering and voting rights. Consider cases of police brutality and incarcerated Black men who were later cleared of crimes they did not commit. Consider poverty.
And remember the Civil Rights movement, the fight for equality that happened long after slaves were declared free. But not equal.
Juneteenth marks a day to reflect on how far we have come and how far we have yet to go. I care about this personally. My 18-month-old grandson is bi-racial. And although he looks decidedly White with light skin and a head of blonde curls, the blood of slavery runs through his ancestral veins. Some day he will learn about the Emancipation Proclamation and the struggles that preceded and followed.
Joyful Nigerian-themed art created by a friend. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)
And I hope that when he understands, he will celebrate Juneteenth in a big way. He already loves music, bopping his head and swaying his body to the beat of songs thrumming from his toys.
Juneteenth holds the same joyfulness. The spirit of freedom and celebration encompassed in the words of the Emancipation Proclamation. You shall be free.
The Alexander Faribault house, a historic site owned by the Rice County Historical Society. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)
MANY YEARS HAVE PASSED since I toured the nondescript wood-frame house built by Alexander Faribault in 1853. Multiple times a week I pass by this house which sits along busy Minnesota State Highway 60 in downtown Faribault. It’s become so much a part of the local landscape that I don’t even notice the building which was briefly home to Faribault and his family. But it’s an important part of local history given Alexander Faribault founded the town in 1855.
A promo for the upcoming birthday celebration features a photo of Alexander Faribault. (Promo credit: Rice County Historical Society)
Attendees at the upcoming birthday celebration can learn a whole lot more about Faribault, the town and the house from staff and volunteers with the Rice County Historical Society. I’m always up to learning more about the city I’ve called home since 1984.
This sculpture of Alexander Faribault with a Dakota trading partner stands in Faribault’s Heritage Park near the Straight River and site of Faribault’s trading post. It sits atop the Bea Duncan Memorial Fountain. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)
I know the basics about Alexander Faribault, a licensed fur trader who first established a trading post along the Cannon River in 1826 or 1827, depending on your information source. He was only twenty years old. He grew his business throughout the region, trading with the Wahpekute, a band of the Dakota, and moving his trading post to the confluence of the Cannon and Straight Rivers, current-day Faribault.
A mural on the former Erickson Furniture business features Alexander Faribault against the backdrop of the city’s historic viaduct. The “bridging” theme fits Faribault the man and Faribault the city. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)
I imagine for Faribault, who was French Canadian and Dakota, developing trading partnerships with the Dakota proved easy given his understanding of the people, their language and culture. But later that same relationship proved challenging for him. Some locals, after the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, no longer appreciated his friendship with the Dakota and his willingness to shelter some of them on his farm.
This scene in downtown Faribault reflects our community’s diversity. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)
Back then, just like today, this community has not always been accepting of others. In the 1860s, the Dakota were targeted. Today it is the Somali community. It’s disheartening when history repeats itself, when differences in skin color, food, culture and language separate us. Alexander Faribault, as a mixed blood who embraced the Dakota, surely witnessed and felt the challenges of injustices and discrimination.
Children gather around a pinata at an international festival in Faribault. It is one of my favorite award-winning photos. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)
My community has certainly made progress in welcoming all to our city. Yet, we could do better. I still hear derogatory comments about our Somali neighbors, worsened by the current political climate. I still hear derogatory comments about our Hispanic neighbors, made worse by current immigration policies. We are all, unless Indigenous or descendants of slaves, of immigrant roots, something people often forget.
An overview of Alexander Faribault’s gravesite in Calvary Cemetery on the west edge of Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)
Alexander Faribault wasn’t “from” here. He was born in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. But he came here, established a fur trading business and eventually founded the city of Faribault. By all accounts, he was kind, generous and compassionate and served in many capacities from interpreter to territorial legislator to school board member to postmaster. I’m sure he had his flaws. We all do. But it seems Alexander Faribault did his best to build a strong and inclusive community that has grown into the diverse city of today. I think he’d appreciate a legacy of diversity.
A snippet of the words written about Alexander Faribault on a memorial marker at Calvary Cemetery, Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)
On a 1958 marker at the entrance to Calvary Cemetery where Alexander Faribault is buried, these words are written about him: Race or creed did not color his judgments. He saw in every man the image of God and thereby the possibility of making this a better place in which to live.
Those seem necessary and profound words for all of us to read. Especially today.
This banner honors Melissa and Mark Hortman just months after they were shot and killed. My photo also shows the Minnesota state flag and a campaign sign for Jake Johnson, DFLer running against Republican Congressman Brad Finstad in the First Congressional District. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo September 2025)
IF NOT FOR THE DATE, June 14, Sunday would have been like most Sundays for me. Off to early church, then bible study and back home for brunch.
But June 14, 2026, was not just another Sunday. This date marked the one-year anniversary of the politically-motivated assassinations of Minnesota Speaker of the House Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and the shootings of State Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette.
June 14 also marked Flag Day.
And June 14 marked another No Kings Day event, nationally a concert and locally several protests.
A quote from scripture on a sign once posted in downtown Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)
I began my Sunday in church, where the pastor’s sermon focused on love. That seemed a fitting topic given the day. I jotted notes, taking away the key point that true love is “the willingness to do good.” The pastor applied that to both the love between and among people and the love God has for us as sinners unworthy of his love. Of course, the sermon got much more in-depth. I left church and bible study feeling loved and more determined than ever to show love in my actions. And words.
A quick change into jeans, a tee, denim jacket and tennis shoes and hair pulled into a pony tail and baseball cap placed atop my head, I was ready to join the weekly protest along Minnesota State Highway 60 in Faribault. The organizer changed the usual 11 a.m.-noon Saturday protest to Sunday because of the national No Kings Day event.
Me holding my newest sign. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo by Randy Helbling)
Randy and I were ready with new signs, mine themed to the national event wording: Rise up. Sing out. I added “Resist.” I’ve been publicly resisting the actions of the current administration for more than a year now. I cannot imagine remaining silent and therefore complicit.
Forty of us stood strong outside the Rice County government services building on Sunday, holding our protest signs, conversing, listening to Vietnam era protest music strummed on a guitar and sung by several protesters. It felt empowering to be there among like-minded individuals, raising our voices, trying to make a difference, creating awareness and, yes, showing love.
Little hands grasp the sign created by a little girl with an important message for adults. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2026)
Love came in a heartbreaking sign carried by a little girl whose friend was deported to Mexico with her family. “Protect our friends,” her message read. She’d drawn, with the help of her mom, two girls holding hands. One brown, the other white. Two pink hearts filled out the poster.
This is love, when a little girl creates a love-filled message that calls upon adults to “Protect our friends.” Urging us “to do good.”
My sign opposing a proposed ICE detention center, aka prison, in Appleton, MN. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2026)
I carried a similar two-sided sign, NO ICE PRISON IN APPLETON stenciled on one side, RISE UP, SING OUT, RESIST on the other. Plans are underway to open an ICE detention center in an abandoned private prison owned by CoreCivic in Appleton in far western Minnesota. The little girl who carried the sign asking us to “Protect our friends” is likely unaware of this planned prison. She knows only that someone took her friend, whom she misses.
I always bring extra signs to protests. My friend Barb held this one that I created. I have a stash of signs in my basement. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo 2026)
This little girl is among the reasons we protest. We care about our children, about the country they will inherit, about our democracy.
Twelve of us protest on a bridge over I-35 near the Medford Outlet Center between Faribault and Owatonna for an hour on Sunday. (Photo courtesy of fellow protester, Cathy)
Five hours after the Faribault protest ended, Randy and I stood with 10 others on a bridge over Interstate 35 by Medford, each of us holding a single letter to spell out two messages: NO WAR and NO KINGS. As 25-30 southbound vehicles per minute zoomed by below, we stood strong with our letters plastered against the fence, small American flags in between, large American flag flying in the brisk wind at the beginning of our line. Down the road in Owatonna, a similar group faced northbound traffic on the Bridge Street overpass with the same messages.
Protesting above I-35 at Medford late Sunday afternoon. (Photo courtesy of fellow protester, Cathy)
It felt good to be here, to make new friends, to commiserate, to uplift, to wave, to show travelers on the interstate below that we love this country enough to protest threats to democracy, injustices, war,…the abundance of words and actions that are anything but loving.
A red barn and red outbuildings define this farm site along U.S. Highway 14 west of Owatonna. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)
THROUGH SEVEN SOUTHERN MINNESOTA counties we traveled—Rice, Steele, Waseca, Blue Earth, Nicollet, Brown and, then, home to Redwood. Westward bound.
Another farm site west of Owatonna. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)
Only occasionally now, mostly for the annual family reunion and on this day a beloved aunt’s funeral, do Randy and I follow this 125-mile route back to my native Redwood County.
West of Owatonna, a cloudy morning sky dwarfs a distant farm site. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)
Every trip, I see the immensity of sky and land as the landscape unfolds before me. The farther west we drive, the more rural the look, the feel, with the exception of Mankato and New Ulm.
A barn photographed along highway 14 west of Mankato. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)
We bypass the small towns along four-lane U.S. Highway 14 while passing endless farm sites and fields.
This mammoth barn sits along Broun County Road 29 west of New Ulm. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)
I have my eye on the view from the passenger side of our van, scanning the land, watching for photo ops. Photography can be a challenge while traveling at highway speeds. Still, I try, managing to capture images that document the ruralness of this place.
A well-kept, sturdy barn along Brown County 29 west of New Ulm. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)
Barns, especially red ones, always grab my attention. They symbolize agriculture more than any other building. Yet, most no longer center a farming operation. Absent of animals, many barns have been repurposed or have fallen into heaps of rotting wood. I always appreciate a well-kept barn still standing strong against elements and the passage of time.
A greening field west of Morgan along Minnesota State Highway 67. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)
This trip I’m also cognizant of crops at the beginning of the growing season. Corn is popping up in rows across the land, green shoots reaching toward the sun, the sky. Green is good. When my next trip this direction comes in late July, that corn will stand towering and dense across acres of fields.
Entering Redwood County on Minnesota State Highway 68 east of Morgan. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)
I may not be a farmer, but my connection to the land more than 50 decades removed from my childhood farm remains strong. I still look at the crops. I still hope to spot a herd of Holsteins. I still see a silo and mentally climb the interior ladder to throw down silage. I still eye a grove of trees with the playfulness of youth.
Farmward Cooperative, left, with downtown Morgan to the right. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)
While nostalgia runs high on trips like this deep into Minnesota farm country, reality is that farming remains as challenging as ever with ever-rising expenses, low commodity prices and the uncertainties of weather. Will rain fall when needed? Will storms come with devastating wind and hail? Always, always, the risks exist from planting to growing to harvest.
Sky meets land and farm sites along Brown County Road 29 west of New Ulm. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)
But on this day, mile after mile after mile, I see the hope of a farmer. I see a way of life. I see dreams.
Minnesota State Highway 19 stretches before us between Redwood Falls and my hometown of Vesta. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)
And I feel small in this place where land and sky dwarf farm sites, where fields stretch across endless acres, where the highway ribbons ahead of us across seven rural southern Minnesota counties, westward bound.
An honorary wall at Kenyon Veterans Memorial Park. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)
AS THE DAUGHTER of a U.S. Army infantryman who fought on the front lines during the Korean War, I find myself drawn to veterans’ memorials. They seem a sacred space, a place where bravery, service, strength, sacrifice and grief mingle.
“Vietnam Soldier No Man Left Behind” statue, crafted by SVJ Creative Designs of Kellogg from concrete with a brassy bronze painted finish, at the Owatonna Veterans Memorial. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)
Every memorial I’ve visited in southern Minnesota differs from the next. Yet the essence remains the same as a site to honor those who have served, some ultimately dying in service to country.
A story about Cpl. Ray W. Scheibe, published in the July 23, 1953, issue of The Wolbach (Nebraska) Messenger.
Memorial Day marks a national holiday to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice by losing their lives. Whether necessary or unnecessary, war is hard and awful. It claims lives, forever changes people, rewrites history, traumatizes. My dad would tell you that. I saw firsthand the trauma Dad experienced from serving in Korea. He killed the enemy, so close he could see the whites of their eyes. He saw his friend blown apart on the battlefield the day before Ray was to return home to his wife and infant daughter in Nebraska.
My dadcarried home this July 31, 1953, memorial service bulletin from Sucham-dong, Korea. In the right column is listed the name of his fallen buddy, Raymond W. Scheibe.
For every story like this, thousands more exist.
This shows a portion of the Owatonna Veterans Memorial with slabs honoring each branch of the military and stone walls listing names of service members. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)
And so every veterans’ memorial is a tribute to the men and women who are more than names and dates on plaques, but individuals with loving families, friends and communities. Individuals with stories from their time in service.
The iconic image of the flag raising at Iwo Jima is featured on a stone slab at the Owatonna Veterans Memorial. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)
If I let my mind wander while viewing a veterans’ memorial, I can imagine the stories. Inspirational quotes, photos and life-size statues of military members make it easier for me to see beyond the names and dates to real people.
The female soldier at the Owatonna Veterans Memorial. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)
At every southern Minnesota veterans’ memorial I’ve visited, and I’ve been to a lot, statues have only portrayed male soldiers. Until recently. The Owatonna Veterans Memorial includes a female soldier. She stands next to a kneeling soldier with a battlefield cross. And on the far side of the memorial site stands a statue of a Vietnam War soldier carrying his fallen comrade draped across his shoulders.
This flag flies at Kenyon Veterans Memorial Park. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2026)
“All gave some, some gave all.” Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor of White Bear Lake gave her all on March 1, 2026. She was among four American soldiers who died after a drone strike on a command center in Kuwait during the Iran War. The wife and mother of two was just days from returning home to Minnesota. Just like my dad’s 22-year-old friend Ray, who was killed in Korea 73 years ago on the day before he was to head home to Nebraska.
A wall of service members’ names and dates of service at the Owatonna Veterans Memorial. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)
This Memorial Day, as this country is once again engaged in war, I wonder how many more men and women will die. How many more names will be added to memorials around the country with plaques noting KIA (killed in action)?
A veteran scoots past statues at the Owatonna Veterans Memorial. Gary served in the military following the Korean War. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)
Monday may mean simply a day off to some or the kick-off to summer for others. But Memorial Day is really about honoring the brave men and women who have died in service to country. It’s important to remember that, to attend a Memorial Day parade or program, to walk among gravestones, to visit a veterans’ memorial. To focus on gratitude. To grieve. To remember and honor those who “gave all.”
The female soldier looks toward the Owatonna Veterans Memorial. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2026)
FYI: The Owatonna Veterans Memorial is located on the northwest corner of 18th Street and Austin Road by the Steele County History Center. The Moonlighters Exchange Club spearheaded the project and fundraising for the memorial dedicated in November 2023.
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
My take on the state-hosted Allina-Sutter community forum in Faribault July 31, 2026
Tags: Allina Health, Allina Health Faribault Medical Center, commentary, community forum, health, healthcare, listening session, Minnesota State Attorney General's office, news, proposed acquisition, Sutter Health
I’VE BEEN SITTING on pages and pages of notes from a community forum held in Faribault earlier this week on the proposed sale of Minnesota-based Allina Health to California-based Sutter Health. The Minnesota State Attorney General’s Office hosted the meeting, which drew around 200 people.
The intent of the listening session, according to Attorney General Keith Ellison, was to evaluate if the proposal is in the public interest. He cited concerns like wages, competition, unions and access to services. By state law (Statute 145D.01), Ellison is required to consider public input and then make a decision.
But Wednesday’s listening session, which allowed those who signed up in advance to comment for one minute each, seemed anything but a community-oriented event. Rather, Sutter flew in top leaders. Likewise Allina was well-represented by leaders and employees. This seemed well-orchestrated and slanted toward the proposed acquisition. Sixty-two people, nearly all healthcare leaders or professionals and others in leadership positions, spoke.
AVERAGE PERSON UNHEARD
I felt like the average person, the patients, the people in my city and surrounding areas served by Allina Health, were not well-represented. Maybe it’s their fault for not showing up more than they did. Maybe they weren’t aware of the meeting. Maybe they were, like me, intimidated by speaking before a crowd. Maybe jumping through the hoops to comment and/or register online and then waiting to learn the meeting location proved too technologically difficult. I think all factored into the voice of everyday people being mostly left unheard. Two friends of mine who registered online never received email notification of the meeting location.
I didn’t speak. I could have. But I’m uncomfortable standing in front of and addressing a large audience. I’d prefer a roundtable approach, where every voice, not just those of polished professionals, is heard, in person, not via a comment form.
AN IMPACTFUL STORY
Yet it was the voice of a rural Faribault resident who made the most impactful comment of the evening, in my opinion. And it was because of a personal story he shared. Stories connect us, proving to be undeniably powerful in making a point.
This man spoke of a neighbor finding him unresponsive, an ambulance transporting him to the Faribault hospital and then learning from his healthcare team that he had been within minutes of death. His point: He likely would not have survived a longer transport to a hospital in another community.
“If we have to go back to the municipal model, let’s do it,” he said. The Faribault hospital was community-owned until Allina bought Rice County District One Hospital in 2015. And now, 11 years later, change could be, likely will be, coming again with a large California-based healthcare nonprofit buying a smaller Minnesota healthcare nonprofit.
FROM OUT OF STATE & BIGGER
That concerns me—a much larger entity from out of state buying a healthcare system that currently provides services throughout Minnesota and western Wisconsin, including in Faribault and neighboring Owatonna. Allina just recently closed Faribault’s birthing center.
The CEOs of both Allina and Sutter used the word “partnership” multiple times in describing the proposed purchase of Allina by Sutter. In my head, I was thinking, “Call it what it is, a sale.”
EMPHASIS ON LOCAL CARE
Allina CEO Lisa Shannon, stating that “healthcare is in real trouble,” something we all know, promised access to affordable and high quality care, keeping the patient as close to home as possible. Likewise Sutter CEO Warner Thomas said several times that “Local care is best care.” I agree. I prefer local to going out of town for my healthcare, although I understand sometimes that’s necessary.
I hope the two CEOs mean what they said. Numerous commenters asked for assurances in writing to protect patients and employees. That seems a valid request.
TECHNOLOGY & FINAL THOUGHTS
The topic of technology also came up repeatedly in referencing benefits of the acquisition by Sutter Health. That bothered me, not because I don’t consider advances in technology in healthcare to be important, but because technology was emphasized so much. It is people who are at the heart of healthcare, not technology.
I could write much more about the positives and negatives expressed during the state-hosted listening session. But rather I’ll stop, hoping that the distrust, doubts and concerns I feel are unwarranted. I will continue to stay informed.
I hope, if this purchase happens, that healthcare in Faribault remains strong—available, accessible and affordable for everyone. That means no closures, no loss of services. I hope I can continue to get most of my healthcare locally from professionals I’ve grown to know and trust. That’s important to me, especially as an aging Baby Boomer.
THOUGHTS?
© Copyright 2026 Audrey Kletscher Helbling