New Ulm | Minnesota Prairie Roots

Autumn, Southern Minnesota’s season of harvest & hope October 4, 2016

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 5:00 AM
Tags: Belview, Courtland, crops, farming, harvest, Hope, Morgan, New Ulm, photo essay, rural Minnesota, southwestern Minnesota

Somewhere between Morgan and New Ulm, in the middle of prime Minnesota farm land early Saturday evening.

HARVEST. That word holds the seasons of a farmer’s hope.

A partially-harvest cornfield between New Ulm and Morgan.

From spring planting to summer growth to autumn ripening, a farmer focuses on the outcome—a yield that brims with golden corn and soybeans.

Harvesting between St. Peter and Nicollet.

Harvest equipment sits in a cornfield west of St. Peter.

Through months of looking toward the skies, of weathering too much or too little rainfall, of watching heat shimmer waves across fields, of tending and waiting, a farmer anticipates this season of harvest.

Driving west on Minnesota State Highway 99 toward Le Center.

On a day trip Saturday from the southeastern to the southwestern side of Minnesota—through Rice, Le Sueur, Blue Earth, Nicollet, Brown and Redwood counties and back—I observed the harvest. Minimal on the eastern side, which has been flooded with too much recent rainfall, but in full swing in the counties of Brown and Redwood.

Combining beans near New Ulm.

Farmers worked the land, dust enveloping combines.

A red grain truck jolts color into a field near New Ulm.

North of Belview, trucks await the harvest.

Parked outside the elevator in Morgan.

Farming communities like Morgan are busy with harvest.

Grain trucks idled in fields and barreled down county roads toward local elevators

Near Courtland.

Grain bins near Waterville.

or homestead grain bins.

Driving into Courtland.

This time of year, motorists need to be watchful of slow-moving farm equipment.

Harvest started west of St. Peter.

The landscape crawled with tractors and combines and trucks, farmers at the wheels, guiding the crops toward harvest.

A harvested field against a farm site backdrop of white.

And I observed it all. No longer an intimate part of this process as I once was so many decades ago on my Redwood County childhood farm, I am still connected to this season by the memories that trace deep within me.

West of New Ulm.

Harvest still holds me in hope.

Comments (25)

A message for Santa & all of us December 22, 2015

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 5:00 AM
Tags: Christmas, communication, family, Minnesota, New Ulm, Santa, sign, thoughts

WHEN I SPOTTED THIS MESSAGE to Santa while traveling through New Ulm on Saturday en route to a family Christmas gathering, I laughed. What a humorous way to draw attention to a real estate company, I thought.

But then I thought some more about that message after reading a magazine article titled “5 times when you should hold your tongue.” The writer of the piece in Real Simple advised that diplomacy, tact and a lot of silence can go a long way. In other words, think before you speak or write. That’s great advice.

You may think it’s your sister’s fault when, in reality, it isn’t. Perception is not always truth.

I’m a big proponent of listening. I truly believe if we all chose to listen, rather than jump to conclusions, many disagreements would never happen. But in the heat of the moment, when we feel we’ve been wronged, we fail to hear anyone’s voice but our own. That is the precise time when we need to clamp our lips, lift fingertips from keyboards and cell phones and consider that, yes, there’s another side to this story. Once hurtful words are written or spoken, they cannot be taken back.

The holidays are a great time to reconnect with family. But such gatherings can also prove stressful. Travel, too much alcohol, lack of sleep, changes in routine, strong personalities, perceived grievances and more can fuel disagreements. It’s all too easy to lash out with angry words. Don’t. Just don’t.

I tend to fade into the background at family gatherings. I’m quiet and reserved. I listen more than I speak. I prefer to talk one-on-one with family members rather than wedge my voice into a conversation dominated by strong personalities in a roomful of people.

It’s important to remember that only in silence can you listen.

Would Santa rather read “It was my sister’s fault!” or “I’m sorry I was mean to my sister?”

Thoughts?

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A must-see in New Ulm: German Park August 3, 2015

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 5:00 AM
Tags: Angel of the Waters fountain, art, Central Park, flower gardens, German Park, Minnesota, New Ulm, New York City, parks, Top Ten Things to See, tourist attraction, travel

MINNEAPOLIS HAS THE LAKE HARRIET Rose Garden. St. Cloud has the Munsinger/Clemens Gardens. Chaska has the Minnesota Landscape Aboretum.

A view of German Park from the street-side steps that lead to the park at the bottom of the hill.

A view of German Park from the street-side steps that lead to the park. There’s also access at the bottom of the hill so you don’t need to take the steps.

And New Ulm has German Park, centered by a replica of the Bethesda Fountain in New York City’s Central Park.

Stroll the paths and enjoy the flower gardens. Or sit and contemplate.

If you haven’t discovered this park in the heart of Minnesota’s most German community, then you need to visit this oasis just a block from New Ulm’s downtown business district. I came across German Park a few years ago and revisited it on the Fourth of July while en route to a family gathering an hour farther west along U.S. Highway 14.

The Angel Fountain centers the park which features an abundance of plants and flowers.

The Angel of the Waters Fountain centers the park which features an abundance of plants and flowers, a picnic shelter and other amenities.

Here, in a tranquil setting of fountain and flowers, my husband, son and I lunched on sandwiches and fruit while delighting in the beauty of this place. There’s a reason the New Ulm tourism website lists German Park as one of the “Top Ten Things to See.” This place, this park, is poetic and pleasing, and just plain lovely.

Gigantic urns overflow with flowers like these petunias, lilies, marigolds and more.

This is a flower lover’s delight.

These roses, which remind me of the wild roses that grew in road ditches when I was growing up, were nearly done blossoming.

These roses, which remind me of the wild roses that bloomed in road ditches when I was growing up in southwestern Minnesota, were nearly done blossoming.

The pathways are designed to allow visitors a close-up look at the flowers.

I love these rustic urns, which are so large and heavy it would take several people to move them.

A shady spot to rest.

The fountain is a small reproduction of the fountain in New York’s Central Park. French sculptor Jules-Felix Coutan created this fountain purchased in 1998 from an auction house in Atlanta. It is a gift to the city from Barbara Sweasy Haroldson.

Be forewarned.

Splashing your hands in the fountain is not forbidden.

Water spills over the fountain cherubs.

Angel of the Waters, the focal point of German Park.

In another section of the park, greenery and benches, marked by lovely columns, offer a place of respite.

Imprinted on columns is information about what I assume to be park supporters. The August Schell Brewing Company is a major New Ulm attraction and on the list of “Top Ten Things to See” in this city.

German Park was obviously a community effort. I love when a community works together to create something stunningly beautiful like his park.

German Park was obviously a community effort. I love when a community works together to create something stunningly beautiful like this park.

Local history is imprinted on pavers.

This granite statue along German Street just above the park honors the German-Bohemian immigrants who lived in the section of New Ulm known as Goosetown.

A portion of New Ulm's downtown business district with the Glockenspiel, another of the city's "Top Ten Things to See," in the background.

A portion of New Ulm’s downtown business district along N. Minnesota Street with the Glockenspiel in the background.

FYI: German Park is located at 200 N. German Street, several blocks south of U.S. Highway 14 and a block from N. Minnesota Street. The Summer Concerts in the Park series at German Park continues every Monday through the end of August. Music starts at 7 p.m.

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Planting season in southern Minnesota May 28, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:00 AM
Tags: agriculture, farming, Mankato, New Ulm, rural Minnesota, southern Minnesota, spring planting

IF THEY WEREN’T WORKING the land, farmers along a stretch between Mankato and west of New Ulm were preparing to plant on Saturday.

Everywhere, these tenders of the earth steered tractors along roadways and through fields, hurrying to prep the soil and seed crops during this year’s delayed planting season.

Seed bags topped wagons and pick-up trucks.

Mammoth tractors pulling equally mammoth implements crept along rural roadways.

Sky and land swallowed small scale tractors.

On a rare occasion dust flew in the field.

And I took it all in, savoring this sweet time in the growing cycle as only one born and raised on a farm can.

This place, this land, still claims my heart each spring, each summer, each fall, through the seasons of planting and growing and harvest.

Photos were taken along U.S. Highway 14 and along Brown County Road 29.
© Copyright 2014 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

Comments (21)

Rural patriotism May 19, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 7:46 AM
Tags: agriculture, Brown County Minnesota, farm buildings, farm sites, farming, Morgan, New Ulm, patriotism, photo essay, rural life, rural Minnesota

Along Brown County Road 29 between New Ulm and Morgan, Minnesota.

Along Brown County Road 29 between New Ulm and Morgan, MN.

RED

Along U.S. Highway 14 between Mankato and Nicollet, MN.

WHITE

Along Brown County Road 29 west of New Ulm, MN.

AND (touches of) BLUE.

Comments (10)

Beer, brats & bare feet January 24, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:00 AM
Tags: August Schell Brewing Company, beer, book fair, Gaylord, Gaylord Public Library, Gibbon, humor, library programming, life, Minnesota Historical Society, Minnesota's Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, New Ulm, St. Peter's Lutheran Church, Sven & Ole's Books

RIGHT NOW YOU’RE likely wondering about that title, Beer, brats & bare feet. What’s the connection?

The commonalities, my friends, are the letter “b” and Minnesota.

Let me explain.

The other morning a customer stopped by the automotive machine shop which my husband runs in Northfield, Minnesota. Nothing extraordinary about that. Customers filter in and out all day.

Imagine wearing sandals right now outdoors in Minnesota.

But this customer arrived in sandals. On a day when temperatures hovered around zero degrees Fahrenheit and the windchill plunged the “feels like” temp even lower. This guy wasn’t wearing socks with his sandals, as you might expect, although he was wrapped in a winter coat.

Naturally, my spouse inquired about the bare feet and sandals. The customer replied (and this is not an exact quote) that he was tapping into his inner hippie.

Alright then.

My husband loves brats and grills them in the winter along with meats that I will eat. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.

My husband loves brats and grills them year-round along with meats that I will eat. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.

Over at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in rural Gibbon, Minnesota, parishioners are apparently tapping into our state’s Scandinavian and German heritages via a Sven & Ole Book Fair at an All You Can Eat Pancake & Bratwurst Dinner from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Sunday, January 26.

Bars made by Lutherans, but not from St. Peter’s Church. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.

Also on the menu are applesauce, cheese, cookies and bars. Yes, bars. How Minnesotan is that?

And how Minnesotan that the book fair comes via Sven & Ole’s Books in the nearby noted German city of New Ulm. And, yes, the proprietor’s name truly is Sven and his brother’s middle name is Olaf, Ole for short, according to the bookstore website.

Icy cold beer served up in a Minnesota Vikings mug. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.

Now about that beer, which I think would be a better accompaniment for brats than pancakes. I like neither brats nor pancakes, although I am 100 percent German. But I do like bars, the kind you eat. And I enjoy an occasional mug of beer.

I learned through a recent column in The Gaylord Hub, a small-town newspaper where I worked as a reporter and photographer right out of college, about the Minnesota Historical Society’s “Beer and Brewing in the Land of Sky Blue Waters” lecture/workshop offering. It is funded through grant monies from Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund as part of the Minnesota Historical Society in the Libraries Adult Programming.

August Schell Brewing Company in New Ulm. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.

A “discussion of brewing history along with beer tasting by Schell’s,” a New Ulm brewery, was recently held at the Gaylord Public Library, for adults 21 and over with valid ID, according to info written by Gaylord’s librarian. Two days later, nearby St. Peter hosted the same beer event at its community center.

So there you have it. Beer, brats and bare feet in Minnesota. Cheers.

Thoughts?

Comments (30)

What is this Minnesota bicyclist thinking? December 22, 2013

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 5:16 PM
Tags: bicyclist, biking, Lamberton, New Ulm, rural Minnesota, southwest Minnesota, sports, travel, U.S. Highway 14, weather, winter

Sun dogs photographed through the dirty passenger side window of the van this morning east of Lamberton along U.S. Highway 14.

Sun dogs photographed this morning through the dirty passenger side van window east of Lamberton along U.S. Highway 14 in southwestern Minnesota.

YOU KNOW IT’S COLD when sun dogs emerge, the wind whips flags straight out and a bank sign temperature reads five degrees Fahrenheit.

Strong winds drift snow across U.S. Highway 14 east of Lamberton this morning.

That would be southwestern Minnesota this morning as my family left my brother and sister-in-law’s rural Lamberton home after a family Christmas and began the 2 1/2-hour drive east back to Faribault.

After an hour on the road, we entered New Ulm where I photographed this scene at the intersection of Brown County Road 29 and U.S. Highway 14:

The biker, to the left in photo, caught my eye in New Ulm because of his attire.

The biker, to the left, caught my eye in New Ulm because of his attire.

Tell me, how could this bicyclist tolerate biking in shorts or without a cap on his head? I sincerely hope he didn’t have far to pedal on this official second day of winter. Exposed skin can freeze quickly in such brutal temps.

He was, at least, wearing gloves.

Comments (33)

The price is right May 20, 2013

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 7:02 AM
Tags: All Seasons Thrift Store, bargains, charity, Faribault, furniture, Goodwill, Minnesota, New Ulm, Rochester, The Treasure Haus, thrift stores, thrifting

I LOVE A GOOD DEAL. Who doesn’t? Even more, I’m especially pleased when I can recycle an item which benefits charity.

Driven by the need to find the 19-year-old son an inexpensive piece of furniture for the living room in his first-ever apartment, we hit the thrift stores in Rochester Saturday afternoon, move-in day.

On the final stop, Caleb found a leather sofa tucked under a merchandise display shelf at the Goodwill store, 239 28th Street Southeast.

Total purchase price for these three items was just over $30, including tax. Additionally, I bought the coasters (about 10 of them) on the table for 25 cents at a garage sale.

His dad and I discouraged shelling out $110 for a sofa he needs for only the three-month duration of his summer internship at IBM. So I suggested he approach a floor clerk and barter. Better a poor college student seek a discount than parents. We temporarily disappeared so he could negotiate.

He and the clerk talked for awhile and then she cut the price to $75. I don’t know what transpired, but in between the time Caleb grabbed the tag and walked up front to pay, she slashed the price even more—to $25.

Hallelujah. A comfortable couch to fit a college student’s budget.

Goodwill had originally priced the sofa at $150.

Scrubbed later with a leather cleaning product, purchased for under $4 on our way back to the apartment, the sofa really shines. Plans to return the couch to Goodwill in August have been scrapped; the son wants to keep this piece of furniture now that it looks so good. That will be open to negotiation.

Prior to the Rochester move, we also secured several other apartment items at thrift stores, including a free end table from All Seasons Thrift Store, 310 Central Avenue, Faribault. The freebie was a $10 reward for spending $50 in the store. I’ll reveal those $50 purchases in a future post.

All Seasons proceeds benefit food shelves in the nearby Kenyon and Wanamingo areas.

Finally, the $3 lamp which now rests on the freebie end table next to the $25 leather couch comes from a New Ulm thrift store, The Treasure Haus, 1209 South Broadway. As a bonus, the lamp included a three-way light bulb. Sales from the Treasure shop go toward Christian schools, programs and missions.

There you go, readers. It is possible to partially furnish a living room for around $30.

Now, let’s hear about your thrift store bargains.

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A taste of Germany coming to Faribault on November 11 November 1, 2012

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 5:55 PM
Tags: Cannon Valley Lutheran High School, education, ethnic meal, Faribault, food, fundraiser, German fest, German language, German meal, Minnesota, Morristown, New Ulm, Trinity Lutheran Church

ONCE UPON A TIME, in 1974 to be precise, I entered college with every intention of majoring in German. Eventually, though, I realized that following such a path, because I had no desire to teach, was rather foolish. And so I pursued my other love, writing, and earned a journalism degree.

I tell you this tidbit because it relates to the rest of this post, about an upcoming German Fest to be presented by Cannon Valley Lutheran High School.

We need to backtrack even further, first to Wabasso High School where I studied the German language for four years and was an active member of the German Club. I loved learning German. I expect either you love learning a foreign language or you don’t and German was the single foreign language offered at my alma mater.

I also enjoyed the social aspect of German Club, specifically our annual club trip to New Ulm, undeniably the most German city in Minnesota. Back in the 1970s, traveling to New Ulm in the next county to the east to shop downtown and at Domeier’s, a little German import store, and later dine on a German meal at Eibner’s Restaurant, rated as a major trip. I am serious. It is not all that often that I left Redwood County while growing up.

It was on one of those German Club trips to New Ulm that I first tried sauerbraten, beef marinated in vinegar and I don’t know what else. The main dish tasted so exotic and different from the corn-fed beef my mom roasted in her speckled enamel roaster back on the farm.

During that single meal in the upstairs of a New Ulm supper club, I felt as if I had traveled across the ocean to Germany to dine.

Serve me sauerbraten now and I am that giddy German-speaking high school girl dining at Eibner’s in New Ulm.

The 2011 CVLHS German meal: sauerbraten and spaetzle on the left, German potato salad, sweet and sour cabbage, dinner roll and sauerkraut and brats.

Today I needn’t even leave Faribault, my home of 30 years, to eat sauerbraten. Cannon Valley Lutheran High School will serve sauerbraten and a plateful of other German foods—spaetzle, German potato salad, sweet-and-sour red cabbage, bratwurst with sauerkraut and bread pudding—at a Sunday, November 11, German Fest. Serving is from 5 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. in the gymnasium at Trinity Lutheran Church, 530 Fourth Street Northwest, Faribault.

It’s a heavy, filling ethnic meal that is absolutely delicious. These Cannon Valley people know how to cook.

Diners pack the Trinity gym and enjoy the German meal at the second annual CVLHS German Fest in 2011.

Tickets go fast. So do not tarry if you wish to partake. To reserve your tickets, call CVLHS at 507-685-2636 between the hours of 8:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. Monday – Friday or email the school at cvlhs@cvlhs.org. (Tell them I sent you.) Advance ticket purchases are recommended by Wednesday, November 7. A limited number of tickets will be sold at the door.

Meal tickets are $13 for ages 11 – adult; $7 for ages 5-10; and free for preschoolers with paid adult.

In addition to the German meal, the Fest includes a free program of “Thanks and Praise”—songs and readings in German and English—beginning at 4 p.m. in the Trinity sanctuary.

During the supper, diners will be entertained with polka music. You will have to tap your feet as I do not expect there to be dancing.

However, I do expect great food and fellowship.

As a bonus, you will support CVLHS students by attending. The meal is a fundraiser for a German Club trip, not to New Ulm three counties to the west, but to Germany in February.

CLICK HERE TO READ a post I wrote about last year’s second annual CVLHS German Fest.

BONUS PHOTOS: Earlier this fall, CVLHS hosted its annual silent and live auctions at the Morristown Community Center in Morristown, where the high school is based. Below are three images from that event. Students, staff, parents and others volunteer countless hours to support Christian education at CVLHS. Their dedication continues to impress me.

The crowd of bidders at the annual CVLHS auction. The school has strong community support.

CVLHS students work the baked goods and produce sale during the recent auction.

Auctioning of a beautiful pieced quilt at the CVLHS live auction.

Comments (12)

A fairy tale park in New Ulm August 3, 2012

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 10:32 AM
Tags: bridal couple, city park, flowers, German Park, Minnesota, New Ulm, photography, photos, travel

An overview of German Park in New Ulm, photographed last Saturday.

IF A PARK COULD BE WRITTEN into a fairy tale, then German Park in New Ulm certainly would serve as an ideal setting for a happily-ever-after story.

Descend the hillside steps into this picturesque park near New Ulm’s downtown business district, and you walk into an enchanting world of flowers and foliage, fountain and photographic opportunities.

I kept my distance from the bridal couple and their families.

However, on the Saturday of my visit, the happily-ever-after part of this story limited my photo ops. Not that I wasn’t tempted to write my own twists into the plot unfolding before me. But I figured the main characters, the bride-to-be and her groom being photographed here, would not appreciate me wedging my way into their storybook wedding day.

Columns add interest and a poetic quality to German Park.

So I skirted the edges of German Park, admiring the flowers and the fountain at a distance. I weaved among the columns, appreciating the beauty and charm of this place, all the while wishing I could photograph freely.

I kept a respectful distance in this, my closest shot of the bridal couple and their families.

At one point a nervous grandma hurried over to snatch up a camera bag as I approached with my camera bag hugging my hip, my Canon EOS 20D looped by a strap around my neck. I wanted to advise her that I wasn’t about to spoil the story, to wind my way up the path toward the happy wedding couple like a wily, wicked witch.

THE END

OK, I was a wee bit sneaky in including the bridal couple in this frame. But I liked how the words tranquility, blessings and ordain from the Preamble to the Constitution seemed to fit the occasion.

One of numerous pavers which enlighten visitors about New Ulm, here the Hermann Monument.

This column informed me of something I never knew, that a deadly tornado ravaged the city on July 15, 1881. That event raised an awareness of the need for a local hospital.

FYI: To learn about the New Ulm tornado of 1881, click here to read an account published in the Saint Paul Daily Globe.

Click here to learn more about the history of New Ulm Medical Center.

Finally, click here to read an earlier blog post about New Ulm’s Goosetown.

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Minnesota Prairie Roots

Writing and photography by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

Autumn, Southern Minnesota’s season of harvest & hope October 4, 2016

A message for Santa & all of us December 22, 2015

A must-see in New Ulm: German Park August 3, 2015

Planting season in southern Minnesota May 28, 2014

Rural patriotism May 19, 2014

Beer, brats & bare feet January 24, 2014

What is this Minnesota bicyclist thinking? December 22, 2013

The price is right May 20, 2013

A taste of Germany coming to Faribault on November 11 November 1, 2012

A fairy tale park in New Ulm August 3, 2012

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An essay of barn photos & memories; In praise of preserving country churches; & Testing the track during a Soap Box Derby trial run in Faribault

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