One of several scary characters positioned in a residential yard near downtown Waterville. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
HAPPY HALLOWEEN, my friends!
For sale at The Barn craft sale in September in Cannon City. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
If I was a kid, I’d be super excited about putting on my costume, grabbing my candy collecting bucket or bag and heading out to trick-or-treat. But, since I’m an adult, there will be none of that, only a quiet evening at home. I didn’t even buy candy to hand out since the number of trick-or-treaters to our house sometimes numbers zero. Plus, the cost of candy is too high.
Thrift shops, like the Salvation Army in Red Wing, are good sources for Halloween costumes. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
But my grandkids, ages nine months, six and nine, will join countless costumed kids canvasing neighborhoods for treats. Izzy is dressing as Pikachu, Isaac as Numberblock Six and baby Everett as a dragon. Not that a baby can eat candy, but, well, his parents are pretty excited about their son’s first Halloween. I remember our oldest daughter’s first Halloween costumed as an angel. And I remember my childhood Halloweens in rural Minnesota, especially the year I dressed as a gypsy.
In Waterville, warnings in a neighborhood Halloween display. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
I remember Mom dropping me and my siblings off in my hometown of Vesta, population around 360, to collect goodies. This wasn’t necessarily ring the doorbell or knock, then grab and go. Sometimes we stepped inside to show off our costumes and sign a guestbook before being given our candy. Or, in the case of Great Aunt Gertie, a homemade popcorn ball, which was quite capable of causing a chipped tooth. When we were done gathering treats, we went to Grandma’s house where Mom picked us up for the short ride back to the farm.
The entrance to Coy and Kathy Lane’s Haunted Mini-Golf interactive Halloween display at 234 First Avenue Southwest in Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
One aspect absent from my childhood Halloweens were yards full of spooky decorations. Today they are everywhere. My neighbors up the street, Coy and Kathy Lane, create a themed display in their yard that is open from 10 a.m.- 9 p.m. the entire month of October. This year they built a haunted mini golf course. It’s impressive. Sound, lights and action make this a fully-immersive experience created by a couple who clearly love Halloween. They’ll be handing out full-sized candy bars on Halloween, the final date the display is open to the public…until next October.
A Halloween display on a front porch in small town Nerstrand. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
All around Faribault and neighboring communities, inflatables and other factory-made decorations have popped up in yards. Cats. Frankenstein. Skeletons. Witches. And on and on.
As much as I dislike creepy dolls, I posed with this one at Coy and Kathy Lane’s haunted mini golf course. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo by Randy Helbling, October 2025)
But the single freakiest Halloween decorations for me personally are the dolls. I can’t quite put my finger on why they creep me out other than that they do. My neighbors have an entire family of creepy dolls circling one hole in their mini golf course. I posed with one of them while Randy took a photo. We were there with our two oldest grandchildren during daylight hours, which likely explains why all of us were more entertained than scared.
I spotted this creepy doll in a storefront window in Montgomery, Minnesota. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
Now had a mouse been running around or a bat flying about, I would have fled the Halloween scene, snap, just like that.
My favorite hole at the Lane Halloween display features clowns. And, yes, some move. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
TELL ME: What are you doing for Halloween? Also, I’d love to hear a Halloween memory or story. Please share.
City View Park on Faribault’s east side provides a sweeping, colorful view of the city in October. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo 2022)
IF I WANT TO VIEW fall colors, I needn’t go far. I can step into my backyard to see glorious golden maples. Up the street from my Willow Street home, more trees blaze. If I follow Second Avenue to its intersection with Seventh Street, I’ll find especially vibrant trees on a corner property owned by friends Mark and Laurie. There are more splashy hues along Seventh Street and all about town. Tree-lined bluffs rising above the Straight River burst with color. Faribault is a beautiful, historic riverside city anytime, but especially in autumn.
A view of the Cannon River from the pedestrian bridge at the Cannon River Wilderness Area between Faribault and Northfield. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
Yet, even with all the colorful trees in town, I like to go into the countryside to see the colors, too. And it’s not just about the orange, red and yellow leaves. It’s also about sky and water, fields and farms, the “all” which comprises and defines rural Minnesota in September and October.
This weathered barn with the fieldstone foundation sits along the gravel road leading to Richter Woods County Park west of Montgomery in Le Sueur County. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
It’s also about following back gravel roads, the vehicle kicking up dust. It’s about meeting massive farm equipment on roadways. It’s about stopping to look at a weathered barn. It’s about traveling at a slower pace.
A view of Kelly Lake and a colorful shoreline. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
And it’s about stopping, exiting the van to walk into the woods or stand along the shoreline of an area lake to admire a colorful tree line.
A sweeping view of the countryside in the Union Lake area. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
As a native of the mostly treeless southwestern Minnesota prairie, it was not until I moved to Rice County in 1982 that I fully realized just how overwhelmingly stunning this season is in our state. I didn’t grow up going on vacations with the exception of two—one at age four to Duluth and the second to the Black Hills of South Dakota during my elementary school years. But each autumn, my siblings and I piled into the Chevy with our parents for a Sunday afternoon fall color drive along the Minnesota River Valley from north of Echo to Morton.
A partially-harvested cornfield in the Union Lake area. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
And so my love of Sunday drives (which were frequent during my youth because Dad wanted to look at the crops) evolved. As did my understanding that all we needed to do was travel a short distance to see a different landscape. One with woods, colorful woods, in autumn.
Colorful trees by Union Lake. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
The topography of Rice County is incredibly diverse. From the familiar flat prairie to rolling hills and valleys to lakes and rivers and streams, it’s all right here. Lovely.
Sometimes you just have to stop and look up, here in Richter Woods. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
I encourage Sunday afternoon drives, or whatever day works for you. Forget about schedules and the work at home. Get in the vehicle and go. Go local. Appreciate what’s right in your backyard.
Pull over along a gravel road, if it’s safe to do so, and take in the countryside. Stand along the shore of a lake. Walk into the woods. Hear the crunch of dried leaves beneath your soles. Look up at the colorful leaves. And see, really see, the autumn beauty that surrounds you…before winter strips the land, leaving it naked and exposed.
I looked to a second floor window of the Arts Center of Saint Peter to see this word. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo October 2024)
AS A WRITER, I’m drawn to words. Perhaps that’s why I appreciate signs, slogans, even interesting messages on t-shirts such as “I put ketchup on my ketchup.” I spotted a guy in Faribault recently wearing a ketchup tee and told him I liked his shirt. I appreciated the humor. It was his second compliment of the day, he said. I’m not surprised given an American obsession with the condiment. I mean, my older brother squirted ketchup on his potatoes when we were kids. And most people can’t eat fries without ketchup. I can.
A t-shirt sold by a vendor at Montgomery, Minnesota’s Czech May Day. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
Then there’s the t-shirt I saw for sale earlier this year at a Czech celebration in Montgomery. In white letters on black fabric, the noun, Czech girl, was defined “like a normal girl but cooler.” I guess I will never be Czech cool since my heritage is German.
Bohemian pride in Montgomery. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
Nor will I hold Bohemian power or pride as printed on two buttons worn by a man in traditional Czech attire at the same Montgomery event. He was in the right place, Minnesota’s Czech triangle, to be sporting those ethnic-proud buttons.
Powerful words in Montgomery, Minnesota. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
But I saw one identifier in Montgomery that proved relatable. And that was “Hope Dealer” displayed on a downtown storefront window. Hope happens to be one of my favorite words, one I’ve leaned into often during challenging times in my life. There’s nothing quite like hope to focus thoughts on difficult days. In Montgomery, “Hope Dealer” marks a substance abuse treatment center, which offers hope to those who walk through the door. The noun applies to me when I offer hope to someone who needs to be uplifted, encouraged and supported, maybe even inspired.
Identifying license plate on a Captain Marvel-themed car. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2025)
Sometimes superheroes inspire as seen on a flashy purple car parked at a downtown Faribault Car Cruise Night this summer. Captain Marvel themed the car. The Minnesota license plate, CPTMRVL, did not escape my notice. This car owner clearly identifies with the positive superhuman powers of Captain Marvel.
Identifying art at Makeshift Accessories. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2025)
Over in Northfield at Makeshift Accessories, a home-grown shop featuring art crafted from primarily recycled materials, I found a sign that fits me—MN G1RL. It’s made from Minnesota license plate letters and a single number cobbled together. The rustic look appeals to me. But mostly, it’s the words I appreciate. I am a life-long Minnesota girl. If I were to define MN G1RL, I’d write “like a normal girl but stronger.” You’ve got to be strong to survive our long, harsh winters (although they are not as long and harsh as they once were).
Whether you’re from Minnesota or elsewhere matters not. Whether you’re into superheroes or not doesn’t matter to me. Whether you’re Bohemian or German or some other ethnicity matters not either. Whether you douse everything in ketchup or not, I don’t care.
But it does matter to me that you hold hope. It matters to me that you can read that singular word and feel the optimism it carries. You can carry hope in your heart. And you can dispense hope within your community through your words and actions. While you do that, notice the signs, slogans and interesting messages that surround you, that are part of everyday life wherever you live. Words matter. So says this southern Minnesota writer.
Montgomery Kolacky Days royalty introduce themselves at the Czech May Day KCHK Radio tent, from left to right, Miss Congeniality Tayla Kline, 1st Princess Olivia Skluzacek and Queen Neysa Anderson. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
NEARLY EVERY SMALL TOWN community celebration comes with royalty. And Montgomery, Minnesota, is no exception. While attending Czech May Day in this Le Sueur County town on Sunday afternoon, I saw a whole lot of royalty.
Gathering around the May Pole for a royal photo before the pole raising. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
I am impressed by the poise and confidence of these young women who represent not only their community, but also their Czech heritage. They are well-spoken, graceful, truly deserving of their royal positions.
A sampling of the Kolacky Days queen portraitsringing the walls of the Arts & Heritage Center of Montgomery. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)
Since 1931, Montgomery has crowned princesses and a queen during its annual late July Kolacky Days celebration. Kolacky is a Czech treat, a sweet bun with a fruit or poppyseed filling. Montgomery calls itself the Kolacky Capital of the World and perhaps rightly so. These folks love this Czech pastry, which is baked in home kitchens and by the thousands at Franke’s Bakery, a community staple since 1914.
The flag of Slovakia, which was once part of Czechoslovakia, flies at the Czech May Day celebration. The flag of the Czech Republic also flew. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
Montgomery’s 2025-2026 Masopust King Isaak Worm introduces himself. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
A royal sash. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
There’s a whole lot of pride in being of Czech ancestry and I love that about Montgomery. These folks share their heritage, teaching all of us about culture, food, traditions and more still celebrated and honored generations removed from the homeland. They celebrate Czech Masopust (which has a Masopust king), Czech May Day and Kolacky Days.
Royalty take a break to visit and enjoy the May Day entertainment. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
You’ll find Montgomery’s royalty at these events, promoting community and heritage. Area high school juniors living within a five-mile radius of Montgomery or neighboring Kilkenny are eligible to enter the Montgomery Kolacky Days queen competition. They are judged in three categories: interview, talent and evening gown.
On the state level, Miss Czech Slovak Minnesota represents the Bohemian heritage. Here she holds a May Pole ribbon in Montgomery. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
Those chosen as the queen, first and second princesses and Miss Congeniality must then attend 15 specific events during their year-long reign. Now that takes time and commitment. They are rewarded with not only scholarships, but also new friendships, travel and a wonderful opportunity to shine a spotlight on Montgomery and its Czech and Slovak heritage.
I saw lots of these red royal family t-shirts at Czech May Day. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
I observed lots of support for these young women who represent Montgomery in traditional Czech costumes at events throughout Minnesota. Their families sport red t-shirts with “Royal Family” emblazoned across the back. Elementary-aged girls also wear red tees reading “Kolacky Days Royal Little Sister.” Future princesses or queens perhaps.
Miss Czech Slovak Minnesota Queen Sarah Langridge of Prior Lake holds a May Pole ribbon. She moved from Europe to Minnesota at age eight. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
Even the current Miss Czech Slovak Minnesota queen attended Czech May Day in Montgomery entertaining the crowd in song, but mostly gracing everyone with her presence.
Gathering around the May Pole. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
As these young women mingled and later wound ribbons around a May Pole, I considered how much they care about their Czech culture and heritage—enough to carry on a royal tradition of 91 years.
Multiple ages perform traditional Czech and Slovak folk dances in traditional costumes. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
WHENEVER I PHOTOGRAPH an event, a place, a whatever, I use my camera to tell a story. And that means framing not only overall scenes, but also focusing close-ups. It means, too, that I am conscious of moments which convey emotions, feelings, all part of the story.
A sweet face conveys serenity during a folk dance. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
The Czech May Day celebration in Montgomery, a small southern Minnesota town, offered an ideal opportunity to create a visual story celebrating the community’s Czech heritage. That event centered on music, dance and traditional costumes.
Colorful traditional Czech attire created a festive scene. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
This was, in many ways, a photographer’s playground. And, by that I mean simply a heckuva lot of fun to photograph with endless photo ops. Colorful, detailed attire and constant movement had me clicking the shutter button of my Canon camera as a story unfolded before my eyes.
My favorite photo from Czech May Day. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
Yet, it was the quiet moments, too, which caught my eye. When a young dancer stepped away from the circle of dancers so her mom, seated next to me, could re-tie the ribbon around her neck, I aimed my camera lens upward and caught the tender moment. It was sweet and loving and profoundly endearing. To be witness to that felt like a gift. It is my favorite photo from Czech May Day.
I observed many women holding the hands of girls before, during and after dances. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
Likewise, as I zoomed in on the hands of dancers, I saw a woman’s hand clasping a child’s hand. That, too, speaks of tenderness, love, care and mentoring. We’ve all experienced the protection and guidance of a reassuring hand. This photo shows a truly relatable human moment.
The colors of the Czech and Slovak flags are reflected in these traditional dresses. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
Full skirts flared during the dances. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
So many beautiful Czech dresses… (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
As I watched the multi-aged dancers, I was taken by their colorful attire, by detailed embroidery, eyelet lace, aprons tied around waists, crisscrossed lacing, vests, flying ribbons and patterns and floral wreaths. It was like looking through an ever-changing kaleidoscope via my camera lens.
This young boy was among the few males who were part of the folk dancers. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
When I caught a young boy with outstretched arm in a circle of dancers, I caught more than that choreographed movement. I also captured his concentration, his sense of pride in being part of a celebration honoring his heritage.
This woman portrays confidence and strength of character in my eyes. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
And when I photographed an emcee in her traditional dress, I saw grace and strength, not just a portrait.
May Day attendees could try on traditional Czech attire at this photo cut-out and a second one. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
The St. Paul Czech and Slovak Folk Dancers and Sokol Children Dancers are only one part of my visual storytelling of Czech May Day in Montgomery. On Tuesday I shared the overall story in images and words. Today I focus on those traditional dancers, on their dress and movement and those stand-alone moments when they connected individually. And with me.
A section of Montgomery’s Main Street with Franke’s Bakery (known for its kolacky) on the far left and Pizzeria 201 on the right. In the distance to the right is Heritage Park, site of the Czech May Day celebration. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
MONTGOMERY, MINNESOTA HAS CZECHED the box on one more reason to love this Le Sueur County community of 3,200 some 20 miles west of Faribault. That’s Czech May Day.
Czech royalty wait in line at the KCHK Radio tent to introduce themselves to the crowd. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
Sunday afternoon, on a sunshine-filled spring day as perfect as they come in southern Minnesota, Randy and I headed to Montgomery to Czech out this annual event. What we found at appropriately-named Heritage Park were a community, a region, a whole lot of people proud of their Bohemian roots.
A member of the Czech Heritage Club sports celebration buttons on his vest. Some he’s been to, some he hasn’t. (MInnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
A member of the Czech Heritage Club even tried to convince Randy and me that we might have some Czech blood given our German ethnicity. I suppose it’s possible, but unlikely based on knowledge of our family ancestries. But who are we to disagree with a man wearing a traditional Czech vest plastered with buttons like BOHEMIAN POWER and A KOLACH (kolache/kolacky) A DAY KEEPS THE DOCTOR AWAY? He even schooled us about “Minnesota’s Czech Triangle,” which includes Montgomery and the neighboring communities of Lonsdale, New Prague and Veseli.
Czech dancer topiaries, Alenka and Vlada, created by Meghan Petricka, a former Miss Kolacky Days queen, welcome attendees to the Czech May Day celebration. Czech and Slovak flags fly in the background. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
Mostly, though, this event was about music and dance with entertainment by the Czech Area Concertina Club,St. Paul Czech and Slovak Folk Dancers, and Sokol Children Dancers. I was mesmerized by the mostly women and girls spinning and circling and stepping, their colorful skirts twirling as they moved to the steady rhythm of Czech music that sounded a whole lot like a German polka to me. But I am no music expert and, I suppose if I asked my new Heritage Club friend, he would be quick to explain the difference.
Dancing in traditional dress. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
Dancers wore flowers and ribbons on their heads. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
The dancing included jumping. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
On this day it was not as much about learning as observing and enjoying. I watched and photographed, weaving in and out of the crowd, pausing, too, to take it all in, to be in the moment. I saw precision and concentration in well-rehearsed dances. I especially liked the mixing of ages, how women and elementary-aged girls paired, seasoned performers mentoring the young, passing along heritage to the next generation. Their joy was palpable as they clasped hands, leapt, spun. I found myself tapping my foot.
Members of the Czech Area Concertina Club make music. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
Likewise, the Concertina Club set my foot bouncing and my mind wondering. How can these musicians possibly manage to press the right buttons while also moving their squeezeboxes in and out? But they did and created pulsing music in the process.
Raising the May Pole. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
It was the May Pole, though, and subsequent dancing which centered the celebration. The raising of the Majka by a team of men was, in itself, impressive to watch. Randy suggested I sit in a “safe” location lest the towering conifer, stripped of its bark and topped with a ring of flowers and spruce top, topple. He needn’t have worried about my chosen photographic position. These guys, using thick poles, ropes, sawhorses and brawn, easily guided the Majka up and then into a pre-dug hole before stabilizing and securing it. They made the process look easy.
Grabbing ribbons on the May Pole. Two circles circled the pole. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
The floral wreath near the top of the May Pole. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
Ready to circle the May Pole. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
Montgomery Kolacky Days and Miss Czech Slovak Minnesota royalty mostly comprised the first group to circle the May Pole. I will say, though, as I sat baking in the hot sun, it seemed to take an interminably long time to separate the 16 wide ribbons streaming from the May Pole and to get everyone into place. Yet, once the walk, not really a dance, began around the tree, it appeared to go seemingly flawlessly, at least to me.
Czech treats and other baked and canned goods were available from Czech Sis Kitchen. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
American-Czech folk artist and illustrator Doreen McKenney created and vended greeting cards, coloring books and more. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
Working at the Czech style hot dog stand. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
By then I was feeling overheated. So Randy and I headed back toward the van, passing food and beverage stands selling Czech hot dogs and beer, vomacka, kolacky and more. Next time we won’t eat before we come…although we did buy an authentic fruit-filled kolache from two Czech immigrants at the Czech Sis Kitchen.
Painting a wing for the Wing Walk. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
We also passed other vendors and a painting station where anyone could dip a brush and work on painting customized wings as part of The Montgomery Wings Mural Walk. That features butterfly wings scattered around town.
Posy Floral & Gifts vended May Day baskets and more. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
Art, community pride and heritage—even if not of my German ethnicity—draw me to Montgomery. I love this small town with its old-time bakery, meat market and barbershop, its arts and heritage center, its brewery, historic buildings and signage, its homegrown specialty shops and much more. And now that “much more” includes the celebration of May Day, Czech style.
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FYI: Please check back for more Czech May Day photos. I shot more than 200 images and would like to share a few more of my favorites in follow-up posts.
A Northfield Arts and Culture Commission mural by Brett Whitacre, just off Division Street in Northfield, blooms love. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)
IS IT COLD out there?” I asked before rolling out of bed on a recent subzero morning.
In an underpass tunnel along a recreational trail in Northfield, Adam Turman created this summer scene on a mural. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)
“No, it’s summertime,” he answered.
A Montgomery Wings Mural Walk wing on Lanette’s Coffee Shop features flowers watered by Scarlett, who is wearing traditional Czech clothing. That honor’s the Czech heritage of Montgomery, MN. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)
That sarcastic response from my husband acted as a writing prompt during this week of cold weather advisories and warnings in Minnesota. We’ve experienced wind chills ranging from -25 to -50 degrees across the state. That’s brutally cold.
Wild geraniums painted by Adam Turman inside an underpass tunnel in Northfield. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)
On the morning I asked Randy about the cold, the 7:17 a.m. air temp registered -12 degrees. With the wind chill, it felt like -29 degrees. That marked the coldest day in six years. I know we are not alone here in Minnesota as frigid air and snow sweep the country, including into the deep South.
Flowers fill the LoveForAll mural by Jordyn Brennanin downtown Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)
Because I can’t flee to a warmer location, I opted to transport myself from the currently cold, colorless landscape of southern Minnesota to a place of beauty. Without leaving the area. For me, that comes in photos I’ve taken of floral-themed murals blooming throughout the area. In the deep of winter, these paintings hold the hope of warmer days, of sunshine and flowers.
My most recent mural discovery was several months ago on Wild Wood in Nerstrand. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)
I love when communities embrace this form of public art, because murals are accessible to anyone, anytime. They spark joy, generate interest in place, show community pride. I get excited when I unexpectedly happen upon a mural.
The rare Dwarf Trout Lily grows only in Rice, Steele and Goodhue counties in Minnesota and is depicted here by Adam Turman on an underpass tunnel wall in Northfield.(Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)
Floral-themed murals, especially, have a way of uplifting spirits, of celebrating all that is beautiful and lovely. Bold, vivid hues in the deep of January in Minnesota, offer a welcome visual respite.
A close-up of mums and peonies, forefront, in Jordyn Brennan’s LoveForAll mural. Faribault was once renowned for those two flowers. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)
I can almost imagine meandering through a flower garden, dipping my nose into blossoms, appreciating each scent, each petal, each stem. Oh, the beauty of it all.
Floral-themed wings appropriately placed outside Posy Floral & Gifts in Montgomery as part of the Montgomery Wings Mural Walk. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)
On these frigid days, when I view a drab landscape of muted tones, trees stripped of leaves, snow layering the earth, I delight in sharing the floral murals I’ve photographed. No one ever promised me a rose garden. But these murals hold the promise of spring and of summertime in Minnesota.
We followed roads west of Faribault toward the Kilkenny and Montgomery areas. I gave up trying to keep track of where we were. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2024)
THE WHEELS KICKED UP DUST as our van moved along back gravel roads in Rice and Le Sueur counties on a recent weekday. Randy and I were on a fall color drive that took us past cornfields and farm sites, past woods and wetlands, past trees blazing orange and those still green.
This farm site sits along Leroy Avenue, just off 160th St. W. between Shieldsville and Kilkenny. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2024)
As we wound our way along winding roads and along straight grids west of Faribault, I felt what I always feel this time of year—a longing for the land. In this season of harvest, this season of leaves coloring the landscape, I yearn to connect with the soil, the earth, the agrarian heritage that roots me.
Corn awaits harvesting. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2024)
I miss the land. I miss the roar of combines harvesting corn and soybeans, golden grain spilling into wagons or trucks. I miss the distinct, indescribable scent of autumn rising from fields. I miss all of it. A country drive in October helps ease the heartache of one who grew up on a farm, but left it fifty years ago.
This curving gravel road took us past wooded hillsides and a wetlands restoration area. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2024)
This is the time of year, whether you’re rural, small town or city-raised, to take a drive into the countryside. Off paved roads. Onto gravel routes.
Some treelines were vivid with color, others not. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2024)
I am always drawn to barns rising above the landscape. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2024)
A rural intersection ablaze in color. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2024)
Gravel forces a slower pace, offers opportunities to stop and appreciate that which unfolds before you. On this drive, it was the coloring of trees, just beginning, aged farm sites back-dropped by woods or surrounded by fields. Just being here in the rural-ness honored my past, filled my soul.
A Czech church and cemetery west of Montgomery. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2024)
And then we paused at an historic country church nestled among cornfields near Montgomery. We walked the expansive cemetery. As I meandered and took photos, I heard the wind rustling the dried corn leaves, a comforting sound in the silence of the land.
Anna and John Frolik are among the early settlers buried at Budejovice. They were born in 1886 and 1887. Their photos adorn their tombstone. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2024)
I wondered about the Czech immigrants who settled in the area, built Budejovice Church in 1868. What were their heartaches, their stories, their hopes and dreams? I expect they longed for the Old Country, for the familiarity of home, for the loved ones an ocean away.
This machine shed, surrounded by cornfields, sits just across the gravel road from the church and cemetery. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2024)
Such thoughts filter through my mind whenever I am among the souls of the departed, my soles touching the land under which they lie buried. I don’t feel sadness as much as a sense of respect for those who came before me, who forged a new life in Minnesota with grit, determination and a whole lot of fortitude.
Cornfields flank a gravel road leading to a colorful treeline. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2024)
Driving the countryside in autumn evokes not only nostalgia and reflection, but also a sense of time passing. Leaves turn color. Crops morph to golden hues, ready for harvest, or already harvested. And dust rises from the land, carried on the wind, coating our van. Miles and miles and miles of gravel roads behind us, we arrive home. I’m exhausted. My shoes are covered in dust. But I feel content. Replenished. I needed this, this country drive that was about much more than viewing fall colors. It was also about filling my soul.
Along a main route into Montgomery’s downtown, this sign points to the KC Food Stand several blocks away. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)
Volunteer Ernie at one of two walk-up food service windows at the KC stand. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)
The small corner building with walk-up food service windows houses the Knights of Columbus Council #1573 Food Stand. And, by all accounts, business is brisk. Every weekday, from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., from June until Labor Day, volunteers run this street-side stand at 206 Vine Avenue West.
Food and signs, including a sign that reads “Thou shalt not whine.” (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)
On the Thursday I stopped by, drawn by street signage to check out this food stand, Ernie, Jean and Evelyn were running things. The offerings are simple, basic: wieners (not hot dogs), brats, pork burgers, chips, candy bars, ice cream treats, pop and water. Not all meats are served daily. Wednesday is Brat Day. Pork burgers are served on Fridays.
Evelyn, left, and Jean await customers on an afternoon in early June. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)
Jean serves a wiener/hot dog from Edel’s Meat Market. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)
Condiments and menu specials at a serving window. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)
The meat comes from Edel’s Meat Market just down the street. The brats, Edel’s Shelterbelt Beer Brats, are made with Shelterbelt beer from Montgomery Brewing, also just down the street. This food stand is all about supporting local.
Most Holy Redeemer Catholic School, Montgomery. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo June 2024)
Proceeds from the stand benefit local entities: youth scholarships/trips, Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church and School, Tri-City United (the public school) activities, membership death benefits and the Montgomery community in general.
Signage at the KC Food Stand. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)
Funds raised here are no chump change. In 2023, the stand grossed $12,000, netted $8,000, according to volunteer Ernie. The KC stand has been around since the 1950s, although not always at today’s location. The stand is meeting a need in the community, the trio of volunteers agreed.
The KC Food Stand is on the same block as Most Holy Redeemer Church, just to the east on the corner. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo June 2024)
It follows the Knights of Columbus principles of charity, unity and fraternity by giving to the community and bringing people together. I love this about small towns, the way folks work together for the good of people and place. That’s happening in the small blue building on the corner of Vine in Montgomery every weekday during the summer.
American pride displayed at a brewery in Montgomery, Minnesota. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
A flag flies from the popular Franke’s Bakery in downtown Montgomery. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)
How often have you sung those words, heard those lyrics, considered the meaning of our national anthem? Perhaps, after time, the words have become simply rote, voiced without much thought of their meaning.
A flag rock in a flower garden at Most Holy Redeemer Catholic School. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)
Our nation’s birthday seems a good time to ponder the depth of bravery required to attain and maintain our freedom. It’s come at great cost with loss of life and physical, mental and emotional trauma. And, at times, with events that have rocked the very core of our democracy.
A flag flies near The Monty Bar, a mammoth building anchoring a corner. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)
Through everything, our flag still waves—sometimes tattered, torn and abused—but still there. A symbol of our country and the freedoms we live.
Patriotic art on Legion Post 79 is part of The Montgomery Wings Mural Walk. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)
It always amazes me how small towns, especially, fly so many American flags. Take Montgomery, a southern Minnesota community that honors its veterans with photos and bios of them posted throughout the downtown area. Montgomery also flies a lot of U.S. flags.
To the far right in this photo, an oversized flag flies along Main Street Montgomery. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)
Those flags mostly grace lampposts, but also flagpoles, businesses and flower gardens. The red-white-and-blue flashes color into Main Street and elsewhere, creating a visual of patriotism. There’s something about a crisp, new American flag publicly displayed that swells the heart with love of country.
Another flag rock in a Most Holy Redeemer garden. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)
My country ‘tis of Thee, sweet land of liberty of Thee I sing…let freedom ring.
A flag drapes on a pole outside The Rustic Farmer on Main, an event center and community gathering spot in Montgomery. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)
Let freedom ring, unsuppressed by anyone who may attempt to silence it via words, actions, ego, authority. Let freedom ring strong and loud in this land.
Even small flags like this in the storefront window of a cleaning service make an impact. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)
Let the flag fly as a symbol of a free people, a free country, where democracy is to be valued, cherished and respected.
Montgomery has a lot of drinking establishments and a lot of American flags. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)
This Fourth of July, the 248th birthday of the United (emphasis on united) States of America, let’s remember the freedoms we have and vow to always honor them. Always.
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
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