Minnesota Prairie Roots

HEAT AND HUMIDITY gave way to a lovely evening on the prairie. Here, on a grassy space edged by trees, a cornfield, county road and gravel parking lot south of Dundas, folks gathered for “Music on the Prairie.”

And, oh, what an event, the first in a three-part summer concert series hosted, fittingly, by Little Prairie United Methodist Church. As I took in the scene, I thought, life doesn’t get much better than this—great food, music and conversation in the outdoors on a perfect summer evening in southern Minnesota.

Even waiting in line for a fresh local beef patty, a cup of specialty beans (the special ingredient being sauerkraut) and the most delicious homemade chocolate chip cookie sprinkled with sea salt didn’t phase typically-impatient me. Conversation flowed. And the down-home music of the Old Country Boys thrummed a beat across the land as they performed atop a flatbed trailer.

This was an evening meant for pulling out the lawn chairs, for coming here to eat a meal served up by church members, to chat with friends old and new, and to listen to songs like “Ring of Fire,” “King of the Road,” “Sweet Caroline,” “Country Roads” and more. Music that got some in the crowd waving their arms, singing along and others on their feet dancing across the lawn.

The Rev. Penny Bonsell and her husband, Tom Hollenhorst, dressed all in black, briefly took the stage to entertain the crowd as June Carter and Johnny Cash singing “Jackson,” the duo’s 1967 billboard country chart hit. The performance was a hit with the audience as was a song Bonsell sang for her husband in honor of their third wedding anniversary.

Another couple in the crowd was celebrating their 70-something anniversary (I didn’t catch the exact year). They were married at Little Prairie, a picturesque white country church located on a country crossroads corner just to the east of the concert site.

Both anniversaries were recognized with rounds of applause. A band member also led the crowd in welcoming a woman home from a lengthy hospital stay while he videotaped the message for Deb. Such care and compassion builds community, connects us.

All ages came to “Music on the Prairie”—babies in strollers, toddler Afton in her floral skirt and soft pink Princess tee celebrating her first birthday the next day, a four-year-old girl who had just finished preschool, young people, parents and grandparents. All generations.

I watched as a little girl dipped an over-sized wand in a bucket, then drew bubbles across the air. I watched as a dad helped his two-year-old daughter thread beads onto a string, making a bracelet for her mom. I watched as kids climbed ladders inside the Little Prairie Playground, a mini replica of the church.

I listened as a train whistle blew, the train rumbling past on a track through a tree line next to the cornfield next to the lawn where we sat enjoying the music of the Old Country Boys.

I listened to the clang of a church bell inside the playground, the hum of a generator powering the band’s amplifiers and electric guitars.

I hugged my friend Lee whom I haven’t seen in a while. I talked to other friends I haven’t seen in a while. And I made new friends here at Little Prairie where great food, music and conversation connected all of us on a beautiful early June evening in the countryside.

FYI: The next “Music on the Prairie” on Wednesday, July 22, features the Over and Back Band playing funky rock n roll and gypsy bluegrass. The third and final summer concert happens on Wednesday August 19, with The Rockin’ Hep Cats performing roots rock n roll. Attendees can purchase a meal beginning at 5:30 p.m. Music is from 6-8 p.m. The concert is free with donations accepted to support Little Prairie ministries.

© Copyright 2026 Audrey Kletscher Helbling