photo essay | Minnesota Prairie Roots

Part II: Preserving memories in West Concord April 1, 2015

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 5:00 AM
Tags: history, memories, Minnesota, museum, photo essay, travel, West Concord, West Concord High School, West Concord Historical Society

WHAT DEFINES A MUSEUM?

Collections? History? Preserving the past?

All three fit the definition. Yet, it is memories which make a museum personal.

A commemorative plate from West Concord.

A commemorative plate from the small southeastern Minnesota farming community of West Concord.

The West Concord Historical Society, housed in a former school, boasts an incredible museum that showcases West Concord area history. I didn’t grow up here. I don’t live here. Yet, I connected.

Join me on a photo tour showing snippets of what this museum holds.

IN THE HERITAGE ROOM:

I expect many visitors would image Sunday dinner at Grandma's house when viewing this scene.

I expect many visitors will remember Sunday chicken dinners or holidays at Grandma’s house when viewing this scene.

IN THE CARDINAL ROOM:

The school was once home to the West Concord school Cardinals. An entire classroom is devoted to all things Cardinal. this proves a popular place during class reunions.

The school was once home to the West Concord Cardinals. An entire classroom is devoted to Cardinals memorabilia. This exhibit proves a popular place to tour during West Concord High School class reunions. The school closed in 1991. West Concord is now part of Triton Public Schools where the mascot is a cobra.

A cheerleading uniform.

A majestic band uniform displayed along with school trophies.

I was thrilled to find a collection of school yearbooks.

Wearing Cardinal pride.

IN THE FARMERS & MERCHANTS ROOM:

From a local beauty shop.

IN THE VETERANS ROOM:

Between two military uniforms, I shot this view of a 48-star American flag.

Between military uniforms, I shot this view of a 48-star American flag.

Books and documents are also displayed in The Veterans Room.

IN THE SHELL ROOM:

Old radiators in The Shell Room, which features a collection of shells donated by West Concord alumni Burton Goddard and Miriam Goddard.

IN THE 50’s & 60’s ROOM:

Feelin’ groovy…a snippet of 1960s art.

A fondue pot. I remember using a fondue pot in my high school home economics class.

I remember using a fondue pot in my high school home economics class in the 1970s.

Sit a spell in this 60s corner or lose some inches on that exercise equipment, left. Well, consider it, but don’t actually do it.

A 1950s place setting. I collection vintage tablecloths.

A 1950s place setting. I collect vintage tablecloths.

IN THE FASHION ROOM:

Clothing and sewing equipment from times past suggests how far a generation or two have come.

Clothing and sewing equipment span generations in The Fashion Room.

IN THE HALLWAY:

An old radiator and old windows show the character of this aged former school.

IN THE MARY DELZER ROOM:

Remember making these silhouettes from black construction paper? I hadn't thought about these in decades. Janis Ray had her students create these profiles each year as a gift to their parents.

Remember making these silhouettes from black construction paper? I hadn’t thought about these in decades. Former educator and WCHS director Janis Ray had her elementary aged students create these profiles each year as a gift to their parents. These are displayed in a room dedicated to education and in which Janis taught.

IN GRANDMA’S ATTIC:

In Grandma’s Attic you can buy garage sale type items, like these lamps, with proceeds benefiting the WCHS. I really should have purchased the two matching lamps. Aren’t they fabulous?

IN THE OFFICE:

A recent donation awaits research and placement.

School letters left-over from West Concord High School are available for purchase.

School letters and numbers left over from West Concord High School are available for purchase. West Concord is now part of Triton Public Schools (West Concord, Dodge Center and Claremont). West Concord Public Charter School, however, is open in the community.

FYI: If you missed my first post on the West Concord Historical Society museum, click here. Today’s post is the second in a three-part series.

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One of the reasons I appreciate my community of Faribault February 5, 2015

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 5:00 AM
Tags: businesses, Faribault, historic buildings, historic downtown, history, Minnesota, photo essay

I NEVER WANT TO TAKE my community for granted, as cliché as that sounds. But sometimes I do. We all do, I suppose.

We need to appreciate the place we call home as much as we sometimes criticize or yearn for whatever we think is better. The grass is always greener. Or so we think. Often it’s not.

A beautifully restored building a block off Central Avenue at 31 Third Street N.E. houses a restaurant and pub on the lower levels and a ballroom on the second floor.

A beautifully restored building a block off Central Avenue at 31 Third Street Northeast houses Alexander’s Supper Club and Pub 31 on the lower levels and a ballroom on the second floor.

Today I want to show you a photo snippet from downtown Faribault. These images reveal one of the reasons I value this community where I’ve lived for 31 years.

A mural, one of several in the downtown area, promotes historic Faribault. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.

My southern Minnesota city is old, historic old. Fur trader Alexander Faribault established a fur trading post here in 1834. That was 15 years before Minnesota became a Territory. The city of Faribault was platted in 1855, three years before Minnesota statehood.

Sturdy, aged buildings define most of the downtown. It’s lovely.

Situation across from the post office, this former warehouse was restored. Today it houses Alexander's Supper Club and Pub 31.

Situated across from the post office, this former warehouse is home to Alexander’s Supper Club and Pub 31.

Just up the hill you'll find the Vintage Ballroom and Suites at 129 Central Avenue North. Bernie's Grill occupies the first floor.

Just up the hill a few blocks away from Alexander’s, you’ll find the Vintage Ballroom and Suites at 129 Central Avenue North. Bernie’s Grill occupies the first floor.

Historic buildings are reflected in the windows of Studio 14 Salon and Spa at 204 Central Avenue North. The salon created a “Frozen” display for a downtown holiday decorating contest, earning first place.

Grampa Al's, 28 Third Street Northwest, claims to be one of Minnesota's oldest bars.

Grampa Al’s, 28 Third Street Northwest, founded in 1929, claims to be one of Minnesota’s oldest bars. The business website says Grampa Al’s has been “serving hamburgers and cold refreshments since the end of Prohibition.”

Crafty signage suspended high in a window at The Crafty Maven hints at the crafty goodness you will find inside this historic building at

Crafty signage suspended high in a window of The Crafty Maven hints at the crafty goodness you will find inside this historic building at 212 Central Avenue in historic downtown Faribault.

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Back to the Minnesota prairie for the holidays December 24, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 5:00 AM
Tags: Christmas, family, holiday, home, photo essay, southwestern Minnesota, travel, U.S. Highway 14

LAST SATURDAY I WENT “home” for the holidays. Back to my native southwestern Minnesota prairie. Back to see my mom and siblings, in-laws and nieces and nephews. Twenty-nine of us gathered to celebrate. Three were missing.

U.S. Highway 14 curves toward grain bins on the west edge of Sleepy Eye.

To get there, we journeyed through many a small town, first along Minnesota State Highway 60 and then onto the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Highway, U.S. Highway 14. Through towns like Elysian and Madison Lake. Past Mankato. Through Nicollet and Courtland and New Ulm. Then on to Sleepy Eye and Springfield.

Entering Lamberton from the east, the Lamberton Stockyards.

And finally, west of Sanborn Corners, to Lamberton. Past the Gypsy Park and then turn right at the Chicken Pox Factory. Unless you’re in my family, you won’t understand the park and pox bit and I’m not going to explain.

Grain bins, like these in Sleepy Eye, mark the prairie.

So many farm sites that have stood here for generations.

So many farm sites have stood here for generations.

There are so many well-kept barns along U.S. Highway 14 between Sleepy Eye and Lamberton.

There are many well-kept barns and farm sites along U.S. Highway 14 between Sleepy Eye and Lamberton.

As we traveled, I studied the land and farm sites, the communities, the details that define the prairie that shaped me.

Someone’s rural home on the southwestern Minnesota prairie.

Oh, how I still love this land. It was good to be home, if only for a short while.

Wherever you travel this holiday season, may your journey be safe, your time one of joyful celebration.

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A photographic journey through rural western Wisconsin November 5, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:00 AM
Tags: agriculture, farm sites, farming, photo essay, photography, rural landscape, rural life, rural Wisconsin, travel

SHADOWS AND CURVES AND LIGHT.

Sky.

Land.

Farm buildings.

All draw my eyes to the landscape, my hand to the camera, eye to the viewfinder, finger to shutter button.

Flash of color: A red barn.

Rural scenes unfold before me on this drive through western Wisconsin, from Nelson north to St. Croix Falls in early October.

I am linked to the land by my past, daughter of a southwestern Minnesota crop and dairy farmer. Even after 40 years away from the farm, fields and farm sites hold my heart more than any grid of city blocks or cluster of homes or urban anything.

If I could, I would live in the country again, close to the scent of dried corn stalks and fertile black soil.

I would live under a sky that overwhelms, inside a white farmhouse with a welcoming front porch. That was always my dream.

But dreams cost money. Instead, I have lived in an old house along an arterial street in a town of some 23,000 for 30 years. I am grateful to have a house, to live in a community I love among dear friends.

Still, a part of my soul yearns, aches for the land I left.

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Glorious autumn in my Minnesota backyard October 24, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:00 AM
Tags: autumn, backyard, leaves, maple, Minnesota, nature, photo essay, seasons, thoughts, trees

I SHOULD HAVE RAKED leaves this week. Should have.

A view of my backyard taken from the back steps shows the one maple tree that has dropped all those leaves.

But I couldn’t. Couldn’t because there’s something wonderful about stepping out the kitchen door into a backyard blanketed by golden maple leaves.

Focusing up at the leaves still clinging to the maple.

Wonderment of color and earthy scent and crackle of dried leaves underfoot.

Garden art given to me by my mom several years ago is surrounded by fallen leaves.

Oh, how I love this season, this Autumn.

Garden art still staked outdoors copies the hues of leaves and sky.

The hues and scents and crispness endear me to October.

Posing Grant Wood style after raking leaves. The ground is once again strewn with a layer of leaves.

I thrilled in watching cousins—my two great nephews and a great niece—gather leaves by rake, hand and wheelbarrow into a pile for hiding and jumping.

My great nephew, who just moved to rural Faribault from Utah, didn’t quite know what to think of being placed atop a leaf pile.

Oh, to be a kid again.

The monster leaf on the left measures nine inches across, here compared to a more normal-sized maple leaf.

I marveled, along with Deb visiting from the Iron Range, at the nine-inch span of a leaf dropped by the backyard maple. Neither of us had ever seen a maple leaf so large. She took it back home to show her husband, who’s never traveled south of Minneapolis.

I’m in no hurry to rake the leaves in my backyard. This fountain rests on a patio table.

Autumn is too fleeting to rake her leaves in, to bag and haul them away in unwelcome dismissal.

I’m still hanging laundry outside and will do so until the snow flies. I noticed how this kitchen towel mimics the hues of autumn.

I don’t want this glorious season to depart, so why would I hasten Autumn along?

Flower pots are stacked, waiting to be stashed inside the garage.

Being a life-long Minnesotan, though, I understand the need to prepare for Winter. And I’ve started. Yes, I have. I’ve emptied flower pots of dead plants. I’ve yanked zinnias from the ground. I’ve hauled fern and cactus indoors.

Every day more leaves drop from my backyard maple. I know I will wake up one morning soon and the branches will be bare.

The leaves, though, will stay for awhile longer.

A garden art angel I have yet to move indoors.

A garden angel I have yet to move indoors.

Oh, how I love this blessed season of Autumn.

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Touring Franconia Sculpture Park, Part II October 23, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:00 AM
Tags: art, Franconia Sculpture Park, Minnesota, photo essay, sculpture garden, sculptures, Shafer, travel

IF YOU’RE LIKE ME and grew up in a rural area with minimal access to the arts, you appreciate every affordable opportunity to experience art as an adult. For that reason, I often showcase the arts here.

I want you to be aware of the wonderful arts opportunities right in your own Minnesota backyard. To you readers who live elsewhere, I expect you will find local or regional artistic venues unknown to you or unexplored by your for whatever reason.

A snippet overview of Franconia shows “The Harris Project” by Ohio artist Araan Schmidt in the foreground.

That brings us back to the Franconia Sculpture Park which, since its founding in 1996, has supported 735 national and international artists. Impressive. It offers an artist residency program. And to think I’ve never explored this 25-acre park with 100-plus oversized sculptures southwest of Taylors Falls until a few weeks ago.

But then again I’ve never been to the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden either and that’s been around since 1988 and its even closer to my home than Franconia. I really must tour the Minneapolis park sometime. It’s my lack of fondness for urban traffic and urban areas that’s kept me away.

Minnesota artist Mary Johnson’s “Lizard Lounge.”

Give me rural any day, one of the reasons I appreciate Franconia so much. It’s located in Franconia Township, which nestles the St. Croix River. The park runs flat and open and stands next to farm fields.

With these hours, there’s ample opportunity to tour Franconia.

Yesterday I offered you a photo tour glimpse of Franconia, which is open dawn to dusk every day. Here’s one more peek at the art you’ll find there.

Donations are encouraged to support the park.

Admission is free, although donations are encouraged.

ONWARD, INTO THE TOUR:

It’s interesting to study the light reflecting on these triangles. New York City artist Ryan W. Turley created this sculpture which he calls “Spectacle.”

There’s something about the bend of this sculpture and its positioning that drew my eye. And, yes, that’s a cornfield in the background.

There are a few, what one would consider, more traditional sculptures like this one.

There are a few, what one would consider, more traditional sculptures like this haunting one.

Art in progress.

I couldn’t figure out if this was art or the home of a resident artist or both.

Maryland artist James R. Long calls his sculpture “Vessel with Orbs.” To me it looks like BINGO balls minus the numbers and letters.

My impression of this sculpture: escape.

CLICK HERE TO READ my first post about Franconia Sculpture Park.

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Franconia, up close: A visit to a rural Minnesota sculpture park October 22, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:00 AM
Tags: art, artists, Franconia Sculpture Park, Franconia Township, Minnesota, photo essay, sculpture garden, sculptures, Shafer

Welcome to Franconia Sculpture Park.

EXPLAINING THE 25-ACRE Franconia Sculpture Park in rural Shafer, Minnesota, eludes a succinct definition.

Some of the pieces invite interaction and play.

This place, just west of Taylors Falls off U.S. Highway 8 where State Highway 95 turns south in Franconia Township, seems a playground for the imagination. For here you will find 105 oversized sculptures and others in progress that are mostly abstract and open to interpretation.

An overview of a section of the park shows its size and scale.

And isn’t that part of what defines art, the perspective the viewer brings to the piece?

How we view art is rooted deep in our experiences.

I won’t pretend to bring any studied art knowledge to this mini photo tour of Franconia. I bring only my background, my life experiences, my interpretation and a deep appreciation for the creative process. For whether we create with words or paint, metal or wood, or any other material, the reason for creating remains rooted in passion and the need to express one’s self.

This suspended sculpture by Minnesota artist Melanie VanHouten is titled “Reclamation.” All I could think were Dorothy and “you’re not in Kansas anymore” and tornadoes and “The Wizard of Oz.”

Franconia is worth a visit, whether to immerse yourself or for a quick study of art worked from mostly found/repurposed objects. I especially appreciate that aspect of this sculpture park.

I noticed how the trailside flowers mimicked a sculpture behind them.

I noticed how the trailside flowers mimic a sculpture behind them.

It’s a vast, wide open rural space that anchors these sculptures and hosts resident artists. Allow plenty of time to meander the many trails that wind among the sculptures. And, if it’s a cold and windy day, clamp a cap upon your head. You’ll need it.

SELECTED PHOTOS from my tour of Franconia, with more to come in a second post:

Bayete Ross Smith of New York City created "God the Power: Minnesota," a towering stack of boomboxes. Remember these?

Bayete Ross Smith of New York City created “Got the Power: Minnesota,” a towering stack of boomboxes.

These remind me of broken surfboards. They certainly inject a jolt of color into the park. The circle is part of another sculpture in the background.

A somewhat more traditional sculpture.

It is the setting of this geometric art that especially pleases me. Right next to a cornfield.

It is the setting of this geometric art, right next to a cornfield, that especially pleases me.

I happened upon this sign, a reminder that artists are actively at work here.

I happened upon this sign, a reminder that artists work here.

Minnesota artist Kari Anne Reardon’s “The Big Game”drew my attention for the subject matter and scale. Yes that is a “gun” aiming at a deer.

This sculpture was among my favorites and reminds me of milkweeds.

This sculpture was among my favorites and reminds me of milkweed pods.

Milkweed pods, along the Minnesota River Valley National Scenic Byway near Morton, autumn 2006

See the resemblance to milkweed? You’ll find real milkweed growing at Franconia. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.

“Black Book,” the work of Minnesota artist Peyton, features multiple paintings on “pages.”

Donations to this nonprofit arts organization are welcome.

Note: Please visit the Franconia website (click here) for titles of artwork and the artists and for more info about the art shown here.

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A photo essay: Autumn at River Bend October 20, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:00 AM
Tags: autumn, Faribault, nature, outdoors, photo essay, photography, River Bend Nature Center, seasons, southeastern Minnesota, thoughts

A trail through the woods at River Bend Nature Center, Faribault.

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE, I’ve determined, to fast walk my way through a park or nature center, camera slung around neck or over shoulder. Impossible.

A slower pace allows one to notice the individual trees in the woods.

I cannot hurry, even with the goal to raise heart rate and burn calories. My desire and need to notice details, to take in and often photograph my surroundings, overrides.

Rudi, one friendly collie who cooperated for one photo.

On a recent Sunday afternoon walk at River Bend Nature Center in Faribault, I tried, oh, I tried, to step it up. But then Rudi appeared and I just had to pet and photograph this friendly collie. The thing is, I’m not a big dog lover. Typically, I’ll skirt a canine. But not this one who reminded me of Lassie.

A group of goats are grazing on Buckthorn at River Bend.

A group of goats graze on Buckthorn at River Bend.

Rudi proved to be distraction number two after I observed penned goats attacking invasive Buckthorn (more on that in a future post).

Oak leaves

More oak leaves

And still more oak leaves

My husband and I fast-paced for awhile before my eyes focused on patches of oak leaves in burnished shades of orange and red. I veered slightly off the tarred path for close-up images.

So many folks were walking the trails on a gorgeous autumn afternoon in southeastern Minnesota.

My husband claims this is a fossil in rock.

Rustic signs mark River Bend trails.

A burst of brilliant red berries caught my eyes.

Even dried swamp grass possesses a certain beauty.

A dried milkweed pod does not go unnoticed.

A single leaf is worthy of notice for its mottled beauty.

And so the distractions continued—fossil embedded in rock, leaves, tree trunks, contrast of colors and light, a quick chat with another couple, milkweed and signs and berries and dried swamp grasses.

A treeline showcases the changing colors of autumn at River Bend.

Everywhere, nature drew me to a halt.

Fallen trees and branches litter the woods.

Fallen trees and branches appear as nature’s art in my photographic mind.

And that’s alright. Sometimes life calls for a slow pace. An eye that sees a single leaf in the woods. An ear that hears the crunch of leaves underfoot. A nose that smells the earthy scent of autumn. A hand that feels the rugged bark of a fallen tree.

(These images were shot on October 12. One week later, River Bend’s woods had changed considerably with most trees bare of leaves. My husband reminded me that autumn can transition quickly in Minnesota.)

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Season of harvest in southeastern Minnesota, a photo essay October 13, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:00 AM
Tags: agriculture, harvest, photo essay, photography, Rice County, seasons, southeastern Minnesota

Rural Rice County, Minnesota, west of Faribault.

Rural Rice County, west of Faribault.

ACRE UPON ACRE OF CORN unfolds in the mixed sunshine and grey skies of an October afternoon in southeastern Minnesota.

East of Morristown, Minnesota, along Rice County Road 15.

Harvest underway east of Morristown, along Rice County Road 15.

It is the season of harvest.

Just west of North Morristown.

Cornfields roll into soybean fields, some harvested, some not.

Semis await the harvest in southeastern LeSueur County.

Harvesting just south of Faribault off Rice County Road 45.

A semi ready to be filled with soybeans.

Trucks and tractors and combines labor or await the farmers who will toil day into dark to reap that which they’ve planted and tended and watched until now.

Bins likely have been emptied for the new crop.

Corn fills a wagon at a farm site east of Morristown along Rice County Road 15.

More bins to bank the harvest.

Corn brims wagons like a stash of gold, banks of bins or the local grain elevator ready for harvest delivery.

In rural Rice County, a wagon at the harvest ready.

This is the season the farmer awaits.

Waiting…

This October, this harvest time.

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An afternoon at the Sogn Valley Craft Fair October 4, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 8:54 PM
Tags: art, artists, craft fair, fiber art, food, photo essay, pottery, prints, rural Minnesota, Sogn Valley, Sogn Valley Craft Fair, travel, woodcarving

NEARLY THREE DOZEN ARTISTS ring the farmyard, a grove of trees sheltering their tents on an autumn day that bites with a brisk wind.

Artists shelter in tents.

Leaves litter the grass. Clouds break away into sunshine. Caps clamp heads. Hands shove deep into warm pockets.

Hand blown glass by Steve Claypatch of Ascension Art, Minneapolis.

And folks meander, pausing to admire the art that has drawn a crowd into the Sogn Valley southwest of Cannon Falls for the annual Sogn Valley Craft Fair.

Julie Crabtree creates fabulous mixed media modern embroidery fiber art.

The work of Renee Nation, fiber artist and felt maker.

Colleen Riley of Eureka Pots was selling this garden art among other soda fired ceramics.

Colleen Riley of Eureka Pots sells this garden art among other soda fired ceramics.

Here jurored artists vend their creations—photos, pottery, fiber art, jewelry, woodcarvings, prints and much more.

Homestead apiaries sells honey, beeswax candles and more.

Homestead apiaries vends honey, beeswax candles and more.

Here beekeepers sell honey and beeswax candles.

A welcoming vendor sold baked goods, preserves and more at Ruthie’s Kitchen while the baker returned home, just down the road, to bake buns for Sunday’s fair.

A blueberry tart from Ruthie’s Kitchen.

Tenders of the earth peddle pumpkins and apples. Baked and preserved goods draw those hungry for a taste of Grandma’s kitchen.

Local band, Muchos Machos, entertains.

Musicians strum and croon.

Dogs are welcome.

Dogs, accompanying their owners, are a reminder of farm dogs that once roamed this rural place in the shadows of looming silos.

An overview of the craft fair.

There is something comforting and peaceful about being here among artists in a land where hardworking Norwegian immigrants once settled. In this place, this Sogn Valley.

Parked in the parking area along the farm drive.

Parked along the farm drive.

FYI: The Sogn Valley Craft Fair continues from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Sunday, October 5. Parking and admission are free. Click here for more information.

BONUS PHOTOS: