Minnesota Prairie Roots

Writing and photography by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

On the road to Fargo through small town Minnesota December 6, 2024

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Only an hour from Faribault, we stopped in the Minnesota River town of Henderson so I could take photos. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2024)

LATE NOVEMBER FOUND US on the road, first heading west 285 miles to Fargo, North Dakota, then back home to Faribault, and 1 ½ days later driving east 261 miles to Madison, Wisconsin. That’s a lot of windshield time for Randy and me in the span of one week.

But we did it and delighted in every aspect of our travel, except for the hour when I grew extremely hangry. More on that in a moment.

Henderson is an old river town with beautiful historic buildings. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2024)

We began our Fargo trip on back state highways and county roads, opting for a leisurely pace that would take us through small towns rather than zipping past everything on the interstate. We stopped whenever we wanted as we drove toward Morris, our day’s end destination and an overnight stay with Randy’s sister Vivian and husband, Jerry. The next day we would head to Fargo.

In the heart of small town Glencoe, Buffalo Creek Community Church rises. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2024)

Along the way to Morris, we did, indeed, stop. In Henderson, Glencoe, Cosmos, Willmar and Benson. The Willmar stop was solely to eat fast food. Not by choice, but out of necessity. Our plan to enjoy lunch at a small town cafe never materialized. I envisioned ordering a Beef Commercial (roast beef and mashed potatoes on white bread smothered with homemade gravy) while dining with locals in a cozy restaurant overlooking Main Street. That, it seems, is the stuff mostly of nostalgia. The small towns we drove through either did not have eateries or, if they did, were closed.

Abandoned vehicles outside what appears to be a former creamery in downtown Cosmos. Love the building. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2024)

Most communities appear only shells of their former selves with abandoned buildings and few businesses. This is reality in many parts of rural Minnesota.

In Cosmos, the restaurant that was closed when we were in town. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2024)

Not even The Dive Bar & Grill in Cosmos was open over noon-time. It’s probably a fine place to eat, even given the unappealing name, but I’ll never know. I hopped out of our van to take numerous photos of space stuff in Cosmos, including the water tower, while Randy searched on his phone for places to eat. He knows I do not do well if I don’t eat on schedule. And I was not doing well, meaning I was irritable and grumpy. Extremely hangry.

Paintings on the underside of the Cosmos water tower celebrate the town name cosmic connection. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2024)

As we left Cosmos heading for Willmar, I realized we’d passed a gas station and convenience store. Why, oh, why didn’t we stop for a snack, a slice of pizza, something I could eat? Finally, in Willmar, I ate, wolfing down fries and a pot roast sandwich.

That evening, at my sister-in-law and brother-in-law’s Morris home, we enjoyed a delicious meal of ribs, cheesy potatoes, green beans and more with a grasshopper for dessert. Grasshopper being the minty green after dinner ice cream drink once served at supper clubs. What a treat. But even more so was the great conversation with much-loved family.

A view of the 300 block on North Broadway in Fargo. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo November 2012)

Saturday found us on the road to Fargo for the wedding of Hannah and Bryton. Hannah is the daughter of friends, a young woman I mentored in poetry as a teen. To attend her wedding, to see Hannah giddy in love, to watch her and her dad bustin’ dance moves in the father-daughter dance, to embrace Tammy and Jesse on their daughter’s wedding day filled me with absolute joy. Life on that day in Fargo, except for the cold and the snow already pushed into piles in parking lots, doesn’t get any better.

Sunday morning we arose early and hit the interstate, this time with the goal to simply get home. My brother-in-law had wisely handed me two granola bars, which I tucked inside my purse. Just in case I got hangry. I didn’t. But somewhere along I-94, either by Fergus Falls or Alexandria, I spotted a billboard for a restaurant with this singular message: “Hangry?” It was absolute validation for me that feeling irritable when hungry is a real thing. Next long road trip, I will be sure to pack snacks.

NOTE: I’ll share more about my travels in upcoming posts. If you have time, take the road less traveled. And always carry snacks.

© Copyright 2024 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

An uplifting surprise in the mail July 3, 2023

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(Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2023)

THE THICK FLORAL WRAPPED PACKAGE arrived unexpectedly in my mailbox today. A sweet surprise from the usual junk mail and bills. As soon as I saw the return address, I knew that whatever I found inside would bring me joy. And it did.

Once I managed to remove the stubborn packaging tape, I discovered a foam sleeve filled with greeting cards from blog reader Roxy of Owatonna. Her selected stash of 27 assorted cards that I can give to whomever I wish is much-appreciated. Roxy, simply by reading my blog posts, knows how much I value sending cards to celebrate, encourage, comfort, thank…

What a kind and thoughtful gift, that also includes stamps on some envelopes and some seals. To receive these cards from Roxy uplifted me in the midst of my ongoing challenging and complex health issues. Many times it’s simply a struggle to manage my symptoms, to get through my days and nights.

But in this moment my focus is one of gratitude for individuals like Roxy, whom I’ve never met. She took the time to put together this collection of greeting cards for me. Her act moved me to tears. And one particular card of birds and vines and florals brought even more tears. It was the scripture gracing the front of the blank card that prompted those emotions. Be still and know that I am God is a Psalm (46:10) I’ve relied on to calm me during challenges. The words remind me of God’s presence even in the chaos of life’s uncertainties, especially now.

Roxy also included seven cards designed by Glencoe artist Bonnie Mohr, who specializes in rural art. Like the Holstein cow wearing a laurel wreath and the fitting message, Wear the flowers. And the quart jar of pale pink roses. A lone tree and a single egg in a nest. Simple. And so me, me who grew up on a dairy farm. Me, rooted in southwestern Minnesota. Me, writer of Minnesota Prairie Roots.

That Roxy understands the essence of me reveals her awareness of who I am via reading my blog. She couldn’t have known, though, that I’ve enjoyed Mohr’s work since her art was featured on the November/December 2013 issue of Minnesota Moments. I freelanced for that magazine many years until it eventually folded. The cover Mohr created is a bucolic winter scene of snow falling on a farm site with Holsteins fenced next to an iconic red barn, aged white farmhouse in the background. That painting speaks to my past, to the family farm, to that which was once the heart and soul of rural America.

The soul of America also exists in good, kind and caring people like Roxy of Owatonna, who penned a personal note expressing her gratitude for the joy I bring into her life and for helping her see the world in a different way via my writing and photography. I am grateful for her generous words and for her well wishes as I work toward reclaiming my health.

I continue to feel grateful for my many readers who have so graciously encouraged me through supportive comments and cards. I feel the love from coast to coast and throughout the heartland. Thank you.

© Copyright 2023 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

“Life can change in an instant”: A Minnesota family in need January 10, 2013

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IT IS THE MOMENT we all fear—the late night phone call, the unexpected knock on the door.

For Nina Hedin, a young mother from Glencoe whom I highlighted in a magazine feature about 10 Minnesota bloggers, fear became reality on Saturday afternoon. Her husband, Tom, was seriously injured in a snowmobile accident.

Photo of Nina Hedin published in Minnesota Moments, winter 2012 issue.

I got to know Nina about a year ago, when she was among 10 Minnesota bloggers highlighted in a feature I wrote for Minnesota Moments magazine. This photo of Nina published in that winter 2012 story.

Here then, in Nina’s words, is the beginning of her family’s new reality:

I’ve told this story so many times over the last two days that the words are flying out of my fingers and onto this computer faster than I am thinking them.

Saturday, January 5, Tom left after lunch to ride snowmobile a little bit; he was going to visit a friend just outside of town. Around 3 pm he had still not returned and he had not sent any messages or called. This was VERY unusual for Tom and I was worried. Normally he’ll be out for 30-45 minutes and always, ALWAYS sends me random text messages.

I called friends that Tom sometimes rides with to ask if he had been by.

I hopped online to see if he used our check card anywhere; maybe he stopped for something to eat or there would be another clue.

At 4:30 pm there was a loud knock at the door. My stomach dropped. I knew it would not be good. I knew it. The county sheriff told me that Tom was in an accident and was to be airlifted to HCMC.

Fear, panic, adrenaline…

Nina and Tom Hedin with Jack and June.

Nina and Tom Hedin with Jack and June.

This, dear readers, breaks my heart. Even though I’ve never met Nina or her family, I remained connected to Nina after writing that initial magazine feature (which you can read by clicking here). I continued reading her The Adventures of Artsy Nina blog and we exchanged occasional emails. She is a vivacious, creative (she also runs two Etsy shops, Camp Honeybelle and Nina Baran Upcycled Vintage Jewelry)  and caring individual with a delightful sense of humor.

So when the call went out to Nina’s circle of blogging friends to share the Hedins’ story, I didn’t even have to consider. Helping someone in need, especially a friend, is the right thing to do. And the family needs assistance, both financially and in prayer.

Blogging about an evening out with her husband in early December, Nina wrote: "We held hands and ran the short block home through the first snow fall of the season, laughing and enjoying the end of a good night."

Blogging about an evening out with her husband in early December, Nina wrote: “We held hands and ran the short block home through the first snow fall of the season, laughing and enjoying the end of a good night.”

Here again, in Nina’s words, are the injuries her beloved Tom suffered:

Injuries listed from top to bottom; brain hemorrhage and complications, fractured orbital (eye) socket, facial lacerations, fractured T6 vertebrae, broken and dislocated right wrist, broken left elbow and fractured upper arm, left knee cap broken with severed tendon and puncture wound, right knee ligament injury.

He faces a long, hard road to recovery. As of yet we are unsure of the extent of damage to the brain, and the recovery time/therapy needed for his limbs and back will take months.

A recent photo of Tom with Jack and June.

A recent photo of Tom with Jack and June.

You can only imagine the insurmountable medical bills this couple in their early 30s, with two children, Jack, 3, and seven-month-old June, will face. An online “Help for Tom Hedin” account has been set up at GiveForward to assist the family with mounting medical and day-to-day expenses. The goal is to raise $100,000 by March 9.

Please consider offering your financial support by clicking here. Together we can make a difference and ease some of this family’s financial worries. Perhaps your friends, church group, family, co-workers, card club, coffee group, etc., can join efforts to collect monies for the Hedins. Every dollar, whether ten or 500, helps.

Because Tom has been with his current employer for only six months, he does not qualify for benefits under the Family and Medical Leave Act. He has been his family’s main source of financial support.

Please also pray for the Hedin family and their medical team. I am a firm believer in the power of prayer.

Tom with Jack and June at Halloween.

Tom with Jack and June at Halloween.

In closing, let’s listen to Nina one last time with this excerpt from her January 8 blog post, “Life Can Change in an Instant”:

It’s a cliche. You hear it all the time, think it some of the time, but you don’t really get it until something happens to you and yours.

Life as you know it can change in an instant.

Hug your kids, your husband, your mom, your dad, your neighbor, your friend. You never, ever know what that next moment might bring.

TO OFFER WORDS of encouragement and support and/or to read the latest updates on Tom’s condition, visit his CaringBridge website by clicking here.

NINA’S BLOGGER CIRCLE of friends is already posting her family’s story. Click here to read a post by Montana resident and former Minnesotan Bernie at One Mixed Bag.

Then click here to read a post by Beth Ann from Iowa at It’s Just Life. For every comment posted to her blog during January and February, Beth Ann is donating 50 cents to the Hedin family for medical expenses. This is part of Beth Ann’s ongoing “Comments for a Cause” campaign. So simply by commenting on any of Beth Ann’s posts during the next two months, you will be helping Tom, Nina, Jack and June.

© Text and photos copyright of Audrey Kletscher Helbling and Nina Hedin
Photos courtesy of Nina Hedin

 

Harvest time in Minnesota: God bless our farmers & keep them safe September 16, 2010

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 7:16 AM
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LIFE GETS ESPECIALLY BUSY this time of year in rural Minnesota as farmers gear up for harvest. They’re readying their equipment, preparing to move into the ripening corn and soybean fields. Some have already been out chopping corn.

As the days progress swiftly toward winter, farm work too moves at an often frantic pace with long days behind the wheel of a combine or a tractor or a truck. With those increased work hours come fatigue and the very real danger that one slip, one wrong move, could endanger a farmer’s life.

That’s why I’m glad to see projects like the Farm Fatigue Program, a collaboration of the Hutchinson and Glencoe Chamber of Commerce ag business committees. The two groups have teamed up to deliver donated items—like safety glasses, ear plugs, sun screen, apples, water and candy—to farmers laboring in the fields. Members also deliver a message of thanks and a reminder to stay safe, according to the Hutchinson Area Chamber of Commerce Convention and Visitors Bureau.

In the past two years the Hutch and Glencoe committee members have distributed 300 bags to farmers while patrolling the back roads and highways of McLeod County for several days during peak harvest. When the orange-sweatshirt-clad delivery men and women spot a farmer working the fields, they stop.

The Hutchinson group offered the program for eight years before partnering with Glencoe.

Just to the south in Sibley County, a rural church is also doing its part to remind farmers to “be safe.” This Sunday, September 19, Trinity Lutheran Church, located nine miles southeast of Gaylord on County Road 8, is hosting a Tractor Roll-In and Harvest Blessing Service at 10:30 a.m. “Drive your tractor or combine to church, or just come!” event promotional material encourages. “Come experience the Spirit of the Lord of the Harvest.”

Bishop Jon Anderson of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Southwestern Minnesota Synod and Trinity’s pastor, the Rev. William Nelsen, will bless attending farm families.

But the congregation is thinking beyond local farmers and their safety. Proceeds from an after-dinner service will benefit farmers in South Africa, where members of Trinity and its sister congregation, St. Paul’s, recently traveled.

I’m impressed with the strides that the Gaylord, Hutchinson and Glencoe groups are taking to thank farmers and promote safety. For me, farm safety is personal. While growing up on a southwestern Minnesota dairy and crop farm in the 1960s and 1970s, I was always aware of the dangers inherent to farming. My bachelor uncle Mike, who was like a second father to me, lost the tips of several fingers in a wagon hoist accident. Another distant relative lost an arm.

And then there’s my father-in-law, who on October 21, 1967, attempted to unplug a corn chopper. His hand was pulled into the spring-loaded rollers, which trapped his arm. Blades sliced off his fingers. I know the details of that accident because my husband, then 11 years old, ran for help, thus saving his father’s life. (Click here to read an account of that accident.)

An Allis Chalmers corn chopper, like this one recently exhibited at the Rice County Steam & Gas Engines Show, claimed my father-in-law's left hand and much of his arm in a 1967 accident. That's my husband, Randy, who saved his dad's life by running for help. Randy remembers the accident just like it happened yesterday.

Randy showed me the spring-loaded corn chopper roller, where his dad's hand was pulled in and trapped.

My father-in-law lost his left hand and much of his arm in that farm accident. For years he sported a hook arm, but today wears a prosthetic hand and arm. He’s adjusted well. He had no choice.

Thankfully, farm equipment today is much safer than the farm equipment from decades ago.

Just look at the dangers farmers faced as shown in this threshing demonstration at the recent Rice County Steam & Gas Engines Show. Thankfully items like exposed belts are mostly an issue of the past.

Yet, fatigue, haste or a lack of caution can still cause a tragedy in the field, on the farm or even along a country road or highway.

So when I hear about projects like the Farm Fatigue Program or the Tractor Roll-In and Harvest Blessing Service, I’m especially thankful.

Farmers, please be safe this harvest season.

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IF YOU KNOW of any other community farm safety programs here in Minnesota, please share the information in a comment. We all need to work together to keep farmers safe during harvest, and year-round.

© Copyright 2010 Audrey Kletscher Helbling