© Copyright 2022 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
My message to you on election day November 8, 2022
Rural Dundas show prompts tractor memories September 4, 2022
GROWING UP ON A CROP and dairy farm in southwestern Minnesota, tractors are part of my history. I am familiar with the putt-putt-putt of an aged John Deere, the maneuverable size of a B Farmall, the necessity of a dependable tractor.
The tractor is the workhorse of the farm. That remains as true today as it did 50 years ago when I still lived in rural Redwood County.
So when I attended the Rice County Steam and Gas Engines Show in rural Dundas on Friday, I began reminiscing. I expect many others did the same while meandering among the rows of vintage tractors or watching the daily high noon parade. This event is heavy on the tractors, threshing machines and farm equipment in general. And that holds appeal for those of us rooted in farms.
I am old enough to remember tractors without cabs, air conditioning, GPS or other technology. Instead, my dad’s tractors were shaded from the hot summer sun by an umbrella, protected from the winter cold by canvas and guided solely by the skill of hands on the steering wheel.
My most memorable tractor story is that of Dad driving my brother Doug and me the mile into Vesta on the open cab John Deere in the dead of winter so we could get to school. We were both in junior high then, attending school in the county seat some 20 miles to the east. It was a particularly snowy and brutal winter, so awful that buses couldn’t venture onto rural roads to pick up students. If we could get into town, we could catch the bus at the local cafe. From there, the bus took a state highway to the school in Redwood Falls.
Dad wasn’t partial to any tractor brand. He owned John Deere, International Harvester and Ford tractors. The B Farmall remains my favorite as I drove that small scale IH tractor in the farmyard, pulling the flatbed trailer up to the feed bunk to unload hay for the cows.
John Deere likewise will always hold a special spot in my heart. I remember once a year attending John Deere Days at the farm implement dealership in Redwood Falls. That included a free meal followed by a John Deere promotional movie at the local theater. To eat ice cream from a plastic cup with a little wooden “spoon” and to see a movie on a screen were treats, not to mention the door prizes. Like silver dollars. And bags of seed corn.
Aging has a way of making us view the past through a nostalgic lens. Yet the reality of life on the farm in the 1960s and 1970s is one of hard work and challenges. Uncontrollable factors—weather, prices and more—have always made farming a gamble. Yet, for those of us who grew up on the land, there’s an undeniable sense of hardiness within us, even decades removed from the farm.
When I attend an event like the Rice County Steam and Gas Engines Show, I reconnect to my past. Remembering. Appreciating. Thankful for the land and hard work that shaped me personally and professionally. I expect that’s true for many who walk the show grounds at this rural-rooted annual event in southern Minnesota.
FYI: The Rice County Steam and Gas Engines Show continues today (Sunday, September 4) with gates opening at 7 am and closing at 5:30 pm on the grounds south of Dundas along Minnesota State Highway 3. For more information, visit the club website and/or read my first post on this year’s event. This show is about much more than tractors and other farm equipment.
© Copyright 2022 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Flea market finds from art to crafts & more June 8, 2021
An overview of vendors at the Rice County Steam & Gas Engines Swap Meet & Flea Market on Memorial Day weekend. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo May 2021.
I’VE REACHED THAT STAGE in life where I don’t need more stuff (although I would like an updated kitchen). But I’m talking about all the miscellaneous that fills our homes. Not necessarily necessary, but stuff that we like, whether art, antiques, collectibles or whatever.
A beautiful mirrored gazing ball offered by a crafter. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2021.
I’ll always appreciate those extras which personalize our houses and outdoor spaces, which make a place a home.
The event also included a live auction. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2021.
And I’ll always appreciate swap meets and flea markets, a good source for unusual finds. Flea markets, after a year’s hiatus due to COVID-19, are back in my area of southern Minnesota. And recently I attended my second of the season, this one hosted by Rice County Steam & Gas Engines, Inc. in rural Dundas.
My favorite “character” at this year’s flea market. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo 2021.
I delight in walking among vendors on this spacious acreage. I enjoy the people-watching and the array of merchandise.
And I welcome spotting a tractor or two, which takes me back to the farm.
Love this fish art by Ron Hammond Artworks of Faribault. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2021.
Darlene Wondra of G & D Sales in Montgomery did this handstitched dish towel embroidery. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2021.
Beautiful rag rugs crafted by Lito Xydous Hufford of CA2 BY LITOUS. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2021.
Often, I pause to chat with vendors, including those who sell crafts or art.
“Snake woman,” found at the booth of Daniel Bell. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2021.
I also search for art in the used merchandise available for purchase. As a creative, I view the world through an artful lens.
Among the unusual merchandise: wigs for sale. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2021.
The unusual, the oddities, the unique draw my focus.
And then there’s the food, this time mini donuts, my long-time fair food favorite. These were especially good. Warm. Sugary. And not at all greasy.
Some of vendor Daniel Bell’s offerings. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2021.
There’s so much to enjoy about flea markets, even if I’m only looking and not buying. And this year, especially, it feels exceptionally good to be out and about. Meandering. Reminiscing over merchandise. Admiring creativity. Simply appreciating life and being among people again.
© Copyright 2021 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Left behind November 23, 2020
I LOVE FINDING KINDNESS STONES. I appreciate the effort an artist or wordsmith takes to craft a message, add some art and then drop the stone in a public place. Each time I discover these sweet surprises, I feel uplifted. And I wonder about the individual inspired to show such kindness.
On a recent weekend, while out and about, I didn’t discover any inspirational stones. Rather I found several items left behind, the first at Medford Straight River Park. An abandoned purple scooter leaned against a picnic table in the shelterhouse near the playground with no kid in sight. As Randy and I ate our picnic lunch, a Grandma showed up with her 5-year-old granddaughter to reclaim the well-used scooter, forgotten the previous evening. How small town, I thought.
The next day, while picnicking again, this time at Mill Park in Dundas, I noted black-frame glasses stuck in the crack of a picnic table. What is it about picnic tables and stuff left behind? Now, if I’d left my glasses behind, I would struggle to see, such is the state of my vision. Randy checked and confirmed the lost glasses were cheaters. Whew.
From Mill Park, we crossed the Cannon River pedestrian bridge to Memorial Park by the ball field.
There, by the playground, sat two perfectly fine lawn chairs. Opened, as if someone had recently occupied the two spots. But there were no adults, no kids, anywhere, except a couple picnicking by the ball diamond, bikes parked nearby. Obviously not their chairs.
Next, we drove to Northfield, parked downtown and walked around. While crossing the pedestrian bridge over the Cannon River, I discovered a mini skull atop dirt in an otherwise empty flower box hanging on the bridge. The skull looked pretty darned real to me. But then I remembered that just days earlier it was Halloween and I figured that was the reason someone left a skull behind.
TELL ME: Have you ever found something particularly interesting left in a public place? I’d like to hear about your odd discoveries.
© 2020 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Thoughts during this season of autumn in Minnesota October 20, 2020
LIVING IN SOUTHERN MINNESOTA, as I have for my entire life, I feel a strong connection to the land rooted in my rural upbringing.
Each autumn, I reflect on this time of bringing in the crops. Of gathering the last of the garden produce. Of harvesting corn and soybeans from the acres of fields that define rural areas. I miss the sights and sounds and scents of farming this time of year. Once-green fields muting to shades of brown, Combines roaring down field rows. The air smelling of drying leaves and of earth.
For those reasons, I always appreciate a drive through the countryside, especially along gravel roads. The pace is decidedly slower than traveling on a paved surface.
Although farming has changed considerably with bigger machinery and bigger farms and bigger yields, the basic connection to the land remains. At least for me. It’s part of my creative spirit, of my being.
Yes, it’s easy to get nostalgic about rural life. I offer no apologies for that because I shall always feel grateful for the 17 years I lived on a farm. I learned the value of hard work, of living with minimal material possessions, of working together, of recognizing that inner strength and fortitude and resilience are important as are honesty and good character.
I am thankful I used an outhouse during my childhood, pitched manure, picked rocks, walked beans, fed cows and calves, pulled weeds, didn’t get birthday gifts… There’s something to be said for having grown up in such a setting, in a way of life that by necessity requires significant physical labor and living within your means.
In the winter, my hands cracked and bled from exposure to water and the elements. In the spring, when I picked rocks from fields, dirt sifted into holes in my canvas tennis shoes. In the summer, the hot sun blistered my skin as I pulled cockleburrs. (We didn’t have sunscreen.)
And so these are my thoughts as I immerse myself in the season of harvest via a country drive. A drive that takes me from the countryside into town, to seasonal displays and thoughts of Halloween and Thanksgiving and the winter ahead.
I fully recognize that the forthcoming winter will challenge all of us. I am determined to stay the course during this ongoing global pandemic. To mask up, to social distance, to wash my hands, to connect only with my small family circle, to try and stay as healthy as possible, to care about others…to tap into my can-do farm girl attitude of strength, common sense and resilience. For this is but a season of life, one which requires each of us to think beyond ourselves, understanding that our choices matter now, more than ever to the health and safety of all.
© Copyright 2020 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Let peace & love guide us August 26, 2020
It’s truly timely. The message posted in windows spanning the front of an historic building in Dundas.
VOTE FOR OUR PLANET EARTH
VOTE FOR OUR DEMOCRACY
VOTE DEAR ONES VOTE
And then in the windows to the right side of the front door:
LET THE SPIRIT OF PEACE
AND THE POWER OF EVERLASTING LOVE
BE YOUR GUIDE
—JOHN ROBERT LEWIS
And then above the door:
BLACK LIVES MATTER
I spotted these powerful words while in this small southeastern Minnesota community on Saturday for a history cruise. And I felt compelled to stop and photograph the scene, to share this with you before continuing on to the tour.
As someone who grew up after and near the end of turbulent times—the Civil Rights movement (with its racial injustices) and the Vietnam War and an increasing awareness of environmental issues—I get it. The teenage me embraced the peace symbol, wrapped my wrist in a POW bracelet, wore Earth shoes. That was decades ago. Yet, it seems sometimes that little has changed.
And so those words resonate with me in their familiarity. I appreciate the gentleness of the selected words, yet the power behind them. Urging people to vote by calling them “dear ones” feels intensely personal and loving. Now, more than ever, we must exercise our right to vote. Men and women have died for our freedom, ensuring our democracy and the right to vote. Others have marched for the right to vote, including long-time Georgia Congressman and Civil Rights leader John Lewis, who died in July from cancer.
The quote from Lewis that peace and love should prevail is something we can all aspire to in this deeply divided nation in need of healing. I appreciate the positive message. The words uplift, rather than press down. They enlighten rather than oppress. They encourage rather than attack.
And, yes, black lives do matter. As does every life. I recognize the frustration, the anger, the desire for change. I don’t condone the violence, the looting, the destruction, which detract from the cause. Let peace and everlasting love be our guide.
John Lewis marched for voting rights for blacks across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma in 1965 and suffered a skull fracture at the hands of police. He organized voter registration drives and participated in lunch counter sit-ins. And here we are, so many decades later, with root cause issues unresolved, people still struggling, hurting, protesting.
If only we remember how “dear” we are to one another, how the words we choose, the actions we take, matter, affect others. Let peace and the power of everlasting love be our guide.
FYI: The building where these messages are posted was built of locally-quarried limestone in 1866 as the Ault General Store and is on the National Register of Historic Places. It is the only remaining structure from Dundas’ original commercial district, which ran along Second Street. When the railroad came to town, businesses moved to the west side of the Cannon River near the new train station. That included the Ault Store.
The local newspaper, the Dundas News, was housed here from 1876-1979 as was the town’s first library on the second floor. Today the old store is in a residential neighborhood and a residence. But it still retains that feel of community, of centering knowledge and of expressing opinion.
© Copyright 2020 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
From milling flour to drinking whiskey in Rice County, history tour Part II August 25, 2020
At the ruins of an historic flour mill in Dundas, a kiosk provides historical info, including this map of flour mills in the area.
RICE COUNTY IS RICH IN HISTORY, especially in historic buildings. I value that about this region of Minnesota. I appreciate that many aged structures remain, well cared for and treasured. I appreciate, too, those who share their knowledge of the past.
I grew up 120 miles west of here, on the prairie. Given the difference in landscape and settlement time and other factors, the history of southwestern Minnesota differs considerably from southeastern Minnesota. I am still learning about Rice County, the place I’ve called home for 38 years.
Vintage vehicles were among those on the history cruise, here at Christdala Swedish Lutheran Church near Millersburg.
On Saturday I expanded my understanding of this area by attending the first ever “Cruising Rice County History” tour, an event that took attendees through the county to seven historic sites. In yesterday’s post, I covered three of those places—Prairieville Church, Nerstrand City Hall and Valley Grove Churches.
The Archibald Mill ruins are fenced to keep people from wandering onto the historic site.
Today we head west to the small town of Dundas, just outside of Northfield, and then even farther west to the even smaller settlement of Millersburg. Pre-tour, I was familiar with each point of interest on the cruise. But I still picked up tidbits of information either new to me or forgotten over the years.
A few walls remain of the once flourishing flour mill on the west side of the Cannon River in Dundas.
Kiosk info details flour milling history here.
Tour participants check in at the flour mill ruins, where they could learn more about Rice County flour mills from local historian Jeff Jarvis, Susan Garwood (director of the RCHS) or read printed info.
In Dundas, the ruins of a long-gone flour mill, destroyed by fire, focused the third stop. I learned of the mills the Archibald brothers, from Canada, built here around the 1860s along the banks of the Cannon River. Their flour was world-renowned and their flour patent eventually sold to what is now General Mills. It’s quite a history in a region once known for its flour mills. If only one remained…
The history cruise took us throughout rural Rice County. This farm field lies along Rice County Road 1 on the way to Millersburg from Dundas.
Before heading to the next stop, Randy and I picnicked at Memorial Park in Dundas. That left us a bit crunched for time as we aimed out of town along Rice County Road 1 past farm sites and farm fields to the Millersburg District #20 School House Museum. We’ve been here before, toured the museum.
The former Millersburg School now houses a museum operated by the Christdala Preservation & Cemetery Association. Exhibits include school and church items, tools and info related to the James-Younger bank robbery.
While we couldn’t go inside the schoolhouse, we could peek our heads in the door.
Appropriately, a bell sat on the check in station at the schoolhouse.
An historic marker outside the schoolhouse. You can also see the swings, remaining from the playground, to the right in this photo.
The back side of the historical marker outside the schoolhouse.
As the story goes, the Younger gang stopped for whiskey at the Millersburg store in September 1876 at the current location of Boonies.
But this visit I picked up some info not necessarily related to the 1881 school, but to the 1876 robbery of the First National Bank in nearby Northfield. Here, four members of the James-Younger Gang stopped for whiskey at the then Millersburg Store (today Boonies Bar & Grill across from the schoolhouse), stayed at the Cushman Hotel just down the road and the next day met up with fellow outlaws in Dundas.
Christdala’s defining steeple. The church is on the National Register of Historic Places. Randy and I recently picnicked on the front steps of Christdala.
I was delighted to find the doors open to Christdala Swedish Lutheran Church.
And on their way back from robbing the bank, the gang followed the same route, taking us to the next stop on our tour, Christdala Swedish Lutheran Church. I’ve also visited here many times, including just a few weeks ago. Swedish immigrants built this church in 1878 high atop a hill, spurred by the death of friend and neighbor Nicolaus Gustafson. He was an innocent bystander killed in a shoot out during the Northfield bank raid. Because the Swedish community had no cemetery, Gustafson was buried in Northfield.
Simple stained glass windows inside Christdala in colors of the Swedish flag.
Today you’ll find Gustafsons buried in the Christdala graveyard along with many others whose surnames end in “son.” This long-closed church was open during the history tour. Although I’ve previously been inside, I wasn’t about to miss another opportunity to step inside this small Swedish church, complete with Swedish flags and stained glass windows in the Swedish colors of blue and yellow.
One of the many displays inside the Rice County Historical Society Museum, this one honoring Native Americans who lived in the county.
The RCHS recently acquired metal art sculptures from Lockerby Sheet Metal, a long-time Faribault sheet metal fabrication company no longer in business. Those pieces are being restored. This knight currently stands in the museum entry.
On the historical society grounds are these two historic buildings: the Pleasant Valley School District #22 schoolhouse (educating children in Bridgewater Township in the late 1850s) and Holy Innocents Episcopal Church, built in Cannon City in 1869 and later moved here.
With time pressing to get back to (event sponsor) the Rice County Historical Society Museum in Faribault, Randy and I didn’t linger for long. We needed to turn in our poker run cards and look around the museum and grounds before everything ended. While Randy handed in our losing poker hand, I breezed through the museum exhibits and took a few photos inside and out.
Many of these historic places still exist thanks to preservation groups and history enthusiasts.
And I considered what a lovely day it had been. Out and about, enjoying and appreciating local history, thanks to the hard work and efforts of those who value Rice County history enough to preserve and share it.
Please check back for a follow-up post on an historic building I discovered in Dundas, and not on the tour, but with a powerful and timely message posted.
© Copyright 2020 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
A Minnesota roadside sweet corn stand August 13, 2019
Along Minnesota State Highway 3 just south of Dundas.
ACROSS SOUTHERN MINNESOTA, signs pop promoting sweet corn. Fresh. From the field. Tasting of summer.
Some farmers sell at local farmers’ markets or to grocery stores. Others vend from pick-up trucks, beds heaped with piles of sweet corn.
Randy selects corn from the Highway 3 stand.
Others park a wagon roadside,
secure a payment box thereon and trust customers to pay on the honor system.
Shove bills into box, bag your corn and go.
I love those stands—the unmanned ones that show people still believe in the goodness of other people. Trust. Honesty. Goodness. Virtues seemingly lost on too many these days. But still present in rural Minnesota.
And I love stories, like the one posted at a sweet corn stand along Minnesota State Highway 3 between Dundas and Faribault.
These entrepreneurs are growing pumpkins and squash, too, in the field next to the sweet corn stand.
Stories that make customers want to buy, and then return.
© Copyright 2019 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Spring photos, spring thoughts May 20, 2019
THE LEAFING OF SPRING.
That string of four words defines May in Minnesota. In the past several weeks, I’ve watched buds form on trees, then unfurl into a canopy of mostly green. But also other hues.
Until you’ve lived through a cold and snowy winter like we did, I doubt you can fully appreciate the magnificence of this season, of viewing these days like a child at play.
The green of spring appears brilliant. Intense. An incomparable green that locks my eyes onto a lush landscape.
I almost can’t stop looking, taking it all in. This spring. This denotes the season of hope and new life, of following roads that lead to the promise of better days ahead.
TELL ME: What in nature signals spring for you?
© Copyright 2019 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Everyday art May 17, 2019
ART. It’s everywhere if we choose to see it. And I do, with my camera.
On a recent walk through a city park in Dundas, I paused on a pedestrian bridge spanning the Cannon River. There I turned my lens to swimming geese,
to the water
and then back to the side of the bridge and the textured growths thereon. Abstract art.
I challenge you to look and really see, to notice the details in your surroundings. To discover often unseen and unappreciated art.
© Copyright 2019 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
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