Minnesota Prairie Roots

Writing and photography by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

Musings during a multi-day southern Minnesota blizzard March 15, 2026

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My husband, Randy, blows snow from our driveway Sunday morning. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo March 2026)

WHILE I SAT IN THE RECLINER hand-stitching loosened seams in a cuff of Randy’s flannel shirt and listening to “Face the Nation,” my husband was outdoors firing up the snowblower.

We are in the middle of a major winter storm in much of Minnesota. Snow began falling here Saturday evening and continues with some nine-plus inches of accumulation thus far in Faribault. Winds are whipping the new-fallen snow into a blizzard with no travel advised, roads closed, and more cancellations than I could possibly list. That includes cancellation of church services.

Little Prairie United Methodist Church, rural Dundas. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

Across town, while I was stitching, then dicing celery and onions for the Chicken Wild Rice Hotdish I’ll make for supper, my friend Marian was tucked inside her home watching Little Prairie United Methodist Church services online. Broadcast not from the rural Dundas church, but from Pastor Penny Bonsell’s living room in nearby Northfield.

“She (the pastor) was in her slippers with a cup of coffee and her puppy needing to be removed from front and center!” Marian shared with me. “A close neighbor trudged through the snow to play the piano and she and her husband have beautiful voices. The puppy didn’t sing!”

Marian invited me to watch the service. I did. After I finished the breakfast dishes, ate the brunch Randy made, washed dishes again, and video chatted with my second daughter and one-year-old grandson four hours away in southeastern Wisconsin. Only light snow is falling in Madison.

Randy had just finished clearing the driveway and sidewalk when the snowplow came by, filling in the ends of the drive and walk with a deep ridge of snow. Back to blowing. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo March 2026)

Snow is still piling up here, falling thick and heavy. But the Rev. Bonsell gave thanks for the new white snow, which “reminds us to be clean and make a new start in life.” I appreciated her positive perspective, which can be difficult to consider when you’re out shoveling and blowing away snow in fierce winds as Randy did for 1½ hours this morning.

But as I watched the Little Prairie UMC Church service, I felt such peace. Pastor Bonsell has a calming voice, graceful and poetic. As she led the service from her cozy living room, fire blazing in the fireplace, slippers on her feet, sipping coffee, rocking in a rocking chair, I felt the comfort of words offered in song, prayer and in her message, “Restores My Soul” (based on Psalm 23). Said the pastor, “You are never, ever alone.” She also talked about light and darkness, referencing Ephesians 5:8-14 and choosing to live in the light, to choose good.

I took this photo early Sunday morning as the wind-driven snow began to pile up against the garage door. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo March 2026)

I didn’t intend to watch a church service when I was shaping the idea of this blog post around our winter storm. I attended worship at my church last evening given this morning’s service was canceled. But then my friend Marian’s words about the puppy and the pastor in slippers drew me to the Little Prairie UMC YouTube video.

Once online, I immediately felt at home in the pastor’s living room. I noticed a pillow with the directive to “Be Kind” positioned on a child-sized rocking chair. The fire blazed. The puppy roamed. Pianist Peter Webb sat poised at the piano.

Just like the Rev. Bonsell, I advised Randy to be careful while clearing the heavy snow. Here he blows open the sidewalk with dried hydrangea in the foreground. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo March 2026)

And the Rev. Bonsell, in her welcome on this “snowstormy day” (her words), advised everyone to be careful when shoveling the heavy snow. Then, before beginning the worship service, she asked for more people to make pies and salads for a March 27 Fish Dinner. She announced the Holy Week schedule and a 90th birthday party open house for twins Doris and Doug, showed a video of a youth group bowling outing, and more.

And during a sharing of the peace, typically hand-shaking, the pastor and her husband, Tom, kissed. That sealed it. The snow may be falling at a rapid rate as I write. The wind may be creating chaos in the world outside. But in a small southern Minnesota living room, a pastor brought peace and love in the middle of a blizzard that won’t end until 7 a.m. Monday.

© Copyright 2026 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Through my camera lens: Rural Minnesota in March March 11, 2026

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I’m drawn to photograph barns, this one along Goodhue County Road 11 west of Pine Island. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo March 2026)

IN THIS GO-BETWEEN TIME of almost spring here in southern Minnesota, the landscape appears mostly winter drab, plain, devoid of many photo opportunities. That is until I look beyond the bare-branched trees, the barren land, the basic gray of March skies.

The brightest farm outbuilding I’ve ever seen is this one along Minnesota State Highway 60 between Faribault and Kenyon. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo March 2026)

Color, although not abundant, can still be found among the neutral hues.

Camera in hand, I watched for bright spots and more on a recent business road trip with my husband to Rochester. I kept an eye out for anything I thought would be photo-worthy. Or interesting. My definition of both may differ from yours.

Along Goodhue County Road 11 to the west of Pine Island, I found lots of well-kept red barns to photograph. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo March 2026)

But I enjoy on-the-road, literally, photography—taking photos from the passenger seat inside a moving vehicle. This requires awareness, anticipation and quick framing with the camera set at a fast shutter speed. Clean, or mostly clean, windows help as does a smooth road.

Sometimes I get the image I want. And sometimes I get an unfocused photo. It’s a bit of a crapshoot.

Fog shrouds bins and a grain drying complex along US Highway 14 west of Rochester. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo March 2026)

Regardless of photo outcomes, I’m content to scan my surroundings, appreciating the nuances of rural Minnesota. On this particular Thursday morning along US Highway 14 about 20 minutes west of Rochester, I was drawn first to fog enveloping a farm site. Gray on gray on gray on gray. Gray skies. Gray bins. Gray grain dryers. Long gray metal buildings.

The restored historic Ear of Corn Water Tower near Graham Park in Rochester on a recent gray morning. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo March 2026)

Once in Rochester, color popped at me from a roadside attraction, the 151-foot tall Ear of Corn Water Tower built in 1931 for Reid, Murdoch & Co. The food cannery used the 50,000 gallon water tower in its canning operation, which included canning corn. The business changed hands twice before the plant closed in 2018. But the water tower landmark remains. I found it definitely photo-worthy as we passed by.

An American flag as photographed along US Highway 52 in Rochester. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo March 2026)

But something as simple as as an over-sized American flag flapping in the morning breeze, a red barn flashing color, a sprawling white farmhouse, a row of power lines, a distant farm site can grab my visual attention, too.

I always wanted to live in a sprawling farmhouse similar to this one along Goodhue County Road 11. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo March 2026)

I’m drawn to photograph rural scenes because of my farm background. Deep in my soul, I long to live again in the countryside, away from close neighbors, near nature, cocooned by quiet. But reality is that will never happen.

And so I find ways to reconnect with the land. In my writing. In my photography. In every season.

A farm site west of Pine Island along Goodhue County Road 11. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo March 2026)

Every farm field holds the hope of a farmer. Every farm site holds memories and hard work. And dreams. I see this on the road, through my camera lens, as my focus shifts with every mile covered.

Kenyon-Wanamingo High School sporting accomplishments banner signs. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo March 2026)

I view an ever-changing rural winter landscape of red barns, aged farmhouses, towering silos, untilled fields and then, on the edge of Kenyon, signage boasting local high school sporting championships. Such signs are common in small Minnesota communities.

I zoomed in on this eagle flying high above the land outside Kenyon. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo March 2026)

Nearing the end of this quick road trip, an eagle leads us along Minnesota State Highway 60 west of Kenyon before veering to the right. When I see this majestic bird on this day, I feel as I always do about eagles—in awe of their size, their power, their speed. I snap three quick frames.

Massive power lines stretch seemingly into infinity along US Highway 14 somewhere between Owatonna and Rochester. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo March 2026)

Time passes. Miles pass. Rural southern Minnesota unfolds before me, captured through the lens of my camera on an almost-spring day in March.

© Copyright 2026 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

My top 12 (not 10) southern Minnesota people photos from 2025 December 31, 2025

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When I walked into Ron’s hodgepodge of a shop in downtown Waterville, I found him working on a puzzle. I asked to take his photo and he agreed. He loves puzzling and that shows. I really like this everyday slice-of-life-in-a-small-town portrait. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)

THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, I take thousands of photos, many of them at public events. At these gatherings, whether celebratory or somber, I am drawn to document moments of humanity. Perhaps it’s a look, a reaction, an interaction. I’ve been doing photography long enough to understand when something will make a good photo. And when I say “good,” I mean a well-composed image that tells a story and, hopefully, garners a reaction from anyone who sees it.

I come from a journalism background, earning a degree in mass communications, news-editorial emphasis, in 1978. I was required to take a few photography classes as part of that long ago degree. Those taught me the basics, which I carried with me to every newspaper reporting and freelance job I’ve ever held. I didn’t always have the luxury of a staff photographer. I was the reporter and the photographer.

In the decades since, from film to digital, I’ve gained confidence and skills in photography. And I continue to the love the craft. For me, photography centers on storytelling.

As I’ve been out and about in southern Minnesota during 2025, I’ve used my Canon EOS 60D, an older DSLR camera, to document what I’ve seen. Among the thousands of people photos I took this past year, I chose my top 12 to highlight in this end-of-year post. Only one image, the photo at the top of this post, was not photographed at a public gathering.

Enjoy! And feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section.

I caught the moment a firefighter rang a bell outside the Faribault fire hall during a 9/11 commemoration. The morning light was perfect and everything fell into place to make this an especially moving photo. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo 2025)
A tender moment when a mom retied a ribbon on her daughter’s Czech costume during a dance at Montgomery’s Czech May Day celebration. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
Oktoberfest in Dundas provided plenty of photo ops, including this one where a young boy wanted to join the dancing adults. Or maybe he was just watching, happy to be on the sideline. Whatever, I like the photo a lot. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
In this inter-generational scene, a grandfather teaches marbles to his grandsons at the Valley Grove Country Social, rural Nerstrand. They were so intent on the game that they paid me no attention, just as I like it. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
I found this scene humorous and likely relatable for every guy who has ever waited for their partner to finish shopping. I took the image outside RR Revival in Lonsdale during a craft show in that small town. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
If ever there was a photo that exudes love of country in rural Minnesota, it is this image of a wagonload of people heading to the Memorial Day program at the Cannon City Cemetery. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
In the context of everything happening in America, especially in Minnesota, this photo sends a strong message of American pride. These Somali-American children, U.S. flags in hand, watched the Memorial Day parade in downtown Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
As a cannon shot off during the Riverside Rendezvous & History Festival in Faribault, attendees were told to cover their ears for protection. I framed this scene to tell that story. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
There were no second chances to get this photo of two women greeting each other at a downtown Faribault Car Cruise Night. I love the joy I was able to photograph in one single shot. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2025)
The Rice County Steam & Gas Engines Show tractor parade offers plenty of photo ops. I see total admiration on this young boy’s face and was delighted to photograph that sweet moment. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
I loved watching and documenting the younger and older generations shelling corn together at the Rice County Steam & Gas Engines Show in a living rural history scene. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)

© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

A Tale of Two Barn Sales September 30, 2025

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Autumn merch and nautical merch displayed against a small red shed at Nicole Maloney’s fall sale. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)

THIS TIME OF YEAR in Minnesota, we not only usher in autumn but also the season of fall craft, collectible, vintage and antique sales. This past weekend, two women in the unincorporated hamlet of Cannon City just east of Faribault hosted two occasional seasonal sales.

Shoppers peruse goods inside and outside Debbie Glende’s barn as smoke wafts from a campfire. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)

Both were marketed as barn sales—Nicole Maloney’s Mini Flea at the Red Barn and Debbie Glende’s The Barn Sale.

Halloween goods galore at the Mini Flea at the Red Barn. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)

I shopped at both, located across the road from one another along Rice County Road 20/Cannon City Boulevard. I’ve been to Glende’s several times, but never Maloney’s although she’s sold goods in her yard and a small shed for some 10 years. Somehow I missed her market.

The red barn in need of shingles. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)

But you can’t miss the massive weathered red barn which rises above her rural property. It was the first building I noticed upon pulling into the yard. And it is the reason, says Maloney, she opens her place once a year to sell her finds. Monies raised from the sale are going toward reshingling the barn. I expressed my gratitude to her for saving her barn when so many others are falling into heaps of rotting wood.

Inside Maloney’s shed, the display that tipped me off to a design degree. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)

I also complimented Maloney on her artful displays of merchandise. I could see she has an eye for design. I was not surprised that she holds an interior design degree, although she doesn’t work in the field. The annual sale allows her to use her design skills to create inviting displays.

An outdoorsy and cabin themed merchandise display created by Maloney. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
This small shed centered the sale in Maloney’s yard. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
One side of Maloney’s shed featured all Halloween merchandise. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)

As I wandered about the yard, I saw separate groupings of items themed to rustic cabin/farmhouse, Halloween, Christmas, nautical and more. And sometimes I observed simply a hodge podge of goods, including furniture. All of it, though, seemed deliberately staged to appeal to shoppers.

A vintage truck surrounded by fall decorations serves as a photo prop for shoppers at The Barn Sale. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
Seasonal appropriate signage for sale at The Barn. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
I saw a lot of these cute cats, in assorted Halloween colors, inside Glende’s barn. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)

Across the road at Glende’s sale in her small (compared to Maloney’s) red barn, shoppers circled inside the building to view an eclectic array of merchandise cramming shelves and tables, hanging from walls, sitting on the floor. From my non-merchandising perspective, it looks like a lot of work to artfully arrange and showcase all those goods.

The steak sign, left, caught my eye. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)

Like her neighbor, Glende’s merchandise was heavy on Halloween and autumn themes. As it should be for a sale held the last weekend in September. She also holds sales in December and again in the spring. But my eye was drawn to a large vintage sign promoting beef sirloin steak for $1.50. I don’t know if that was per steak or per pound, but a bargain either way.

Shoppers could poke through miscellaneous items scattered around Glende’s yard. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)

Outside the small red barn, shoppers found plenty of piles of stuff. Junk to some. Treasures to others.

My husband, Randy, has a little fun with antlers he found at Glende’s sale. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)

Sales like these appeal to me also because the sellers are attempting to extend the lives of whatever rather than tossing something into the garbage to end up in a landfill. It’s a win-win for everyone.

The vintage lamp I really liked, but didn’t buy. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)

I seldom buy anything at these sales because, at this age in my life, I don’t need more stuff. Even if I see a lot of items that I would really really like to have. Such as a vintage lamp in Glende’s yard. And a small round side table in Maloney’s.

Before leaving Glende’s sale, I photographed these friendly donkeys behind a shed per an invitation to do so. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)

Instead, I settled for photographing these two barn sales, which attract many, bring back memories and prove a delightful way to spend a bit of time on a stunning autumn day in southern Minnesota.

© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

About photography & more Rice County farm show images September 5, 2025

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Wagons heaped with harvested oats provide an interesting backdrop for the approaching horse-drawn wagon at the Rice County Steam & Gas Engines Fall Show. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)

PHOTOS TELL STORIES, record moments in time, preserve memories, prompt emotional reactions, convey messages and more.

The first picture I took at the farm show, just outside the entry gate. I love the creativity and humor in this scene. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)

My venture into photography began when I studied journalism in college with a photography class as part of the degree requirement. This was back in the day of film and darkrooms. Chemicals, water baths and contact sheets were part of a long process to get from photo snapped to photo printed.

I love capturing moments like this of someone so focused on a task that they are unaware of my presence. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)

During my twenties working as a small town newspaper reporter, I honed the craft of photography. I juggled interviews and note taking with shooting photos. Today’s reporters do the same unless they are employed by a metro newspaper with a staff photographer.

I opted to zoom in on this mammoth steam engine, focusing on the steam and wheels, emphasizing the power of this long ago agricultural work horse. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)

After a while, I got comfortable with the camera, confident in my abilities to shoot images to accompany hard news, features and other stories. Practice may not make perfect, but it certainly builds skills.

I was sitting on the ground underneath a tree eating lunch when I aimed my camera lens up and took this photo of a guy driving this 1955 Oliver Super 66. The perspective makes this photo. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)

I’ve grown to love photography through the years, especially after acquiring a digital camera while freelancing for a Minnesota magazine. Digital unleashed the photo creative in me. I no longer had to worry about the cost of film or running out of film. So I took a lot more photos, tried new perspectives, began to see the world through an artistic lens. More often than not, I find myself thinking, oh, that would make a good photo.

I didn’t even realize I’d captured this joyful moment until I uploaded my photos to the computer. I’d been firing off shots of the kids’ pedal tractor pull and this one, among all, is my favorite. It shows a moment of pure happiness. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)

But vision issues are now affecting and limiting my photography. My eyes are misaligned, meaning my brain works hard (even with prism-heavy prescription eyeglasses) to see. It’s exhausting. I do my best. Yet it’s challenging sometimes to tell if an image is sharp. I can feel the strain on my eyes when I use my camera for an extended time and when I process images on my computer.

I stood in the doorway of the dining room to photograph these women visiting in the kitchen of the 1912 farmhouse where homemade cookies awaited guests. I like how the doorframe frames this photo, as if the viewer is eavesdropping on a private conversation. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)

Still, I persist. Until I either have another bilateral strabismus eye surgery or try a different (and expensive) prescription, this is the way it is. At least I can see. I manage. I can still create with my 35mm Canon EOS 60D.

During the tractor parade, I noticed these sweet kids riding in a wagon behind an old corn picker mounted on a John Deere tractor. I like the perspective and that part of the corn picker shows in the upper left corner of this photo. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)

Last Saturday I did the longest photo shoot I’ve done in several years. I took hundreds of images during six hours at the Rice County Steam & Gas Engines Fall Show. It’s a fun event to document with so much happening and so many people attending. I don’t want to stop doing what I love.

This close-up image of corn shelling shows exactly what I had hoped: the dust. I sometimes zoom in to focus on a smaller part of the broader picture. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)

My biggest challenges in covering the event came in dodging golf carts that swarmed the grounds and in avoiding dust from some of the farming demonstrations. Cameras and dirt are not friends. I also always had to be cognizant of unintentional photo bombing by people and those pesky (but necessary for some to get around) golf carts.

This photo shows off not only tractors, but human connection as the driver waves to the crowd during the tractor parade. I love this moment of humanity when nothing else matters. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)

I’ve already shared many show photos with you in an overall post about the event and in a second focusing on art. Today I bring you a hodge-podge of more favorites, with an explanation in the captions of why I like the images. Enjoy!

© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

The art of a southern Minnesota farm show & rural flea market September 4, 2025

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Vintage posters displayed from the early years of the current Rice County Steam & Gas Engines Fall Show, before the name and location changed. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)

ART EXISTS EVERYWHERE, even at a farm-themed event. My photos from the Rice County Steam & Gas Engines Fall Show last Saturday in rural Dundas prove that. As a creative, I view life through an artistic lens. So I’m naturally drawn to photograph items that others may not necessarily see as art.

I see tractor emblems, including this one on a vintage Ford, as works of art. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)

In this photo essay, you’ll view a sampling of the “art” I discovered. I found art on vintage tractors, on clothing, at the flea market, especially at the flea market, and beyond.

Two brass sculptures offered by a vendor. They are not solid brass, so not as heavy as they appear. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)

Let’s start there, among market vendors selling a variety of goods ranging from toy tractors to glassware to home décor and everything in between. The art that drew my deepest interest—two massive brass sculptures of African men—sat on a flatbed trailer. They were nothing short of spectacular. Such grace. Such power in their muscular arms and legs. Truly, truly stunning. Seller Daniel Bell of Faribault, who calls himself a picker, found the matching pair in Iowa. The sculptures once supported tabletops, now missing. He’s priced each at $575. I can connect you with Dan if you’re interested.

Vintage tray art from the 1950s. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)

Almost as interesting, and certainly thought-provoking in 2025, is a 1950s image of children dressed in western attire and brandishing pistols. When I reflect on that scene printed on a tray, I remember how I, too, owned a toy cap gun and played “Cowboys and Indians.” That all seems so terribly wrong now when viewing this as an adult in a world riddled by gun violence. I’m thankful for changed attitudes and perspectives about our Indigenous Peoples and about toy guns.

A Jolly Green Giant themed plastic mug. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)

I spotted art on a plastic coffee mug from Minnesota Valley Canning Company featuring the Green Giant brand of GREAT BIG TENDER PEAS. The back side of the mug is imprinted with the story of the Jolly Green Giant. I should have purchased the cup, which belonged to the father of the flea market vendor. He worked at the canning company in Le Sueur until its 1995 closure. This mug is more than a mug. It’s a collectible piece of regional literary and visual art.

The artsy cover of the 1984 Northfield Arts Guild commemorative cookbook. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)

And then I found art on the cover and inside the Northfield Arts Guild’s 25th anniversary cookbook from 1984. Not unexpected, it features the art of rural Northfielder Fred Somers, whose work I admire.

A damaged work of art. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)

At another vendor, I spotted a bullet-riddled cow weather vane, a form of functional rural art. And apparently a shooting target, too. I saw a horse weather vane inside a showgrounds building.

Pop art in my eyes. The vendor saw the lips as otherwise, as a bill holder. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)

And then there were the duck decoys, the red plastic lips and the jar full of colored plastic clothespins, all viewed as art by me.

The leather goods vendor paints while manning his stand. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)

I even saw a vendor painting, freshening up the words “C’MON MAN!” on his van. He was selling mostly leather belts, an inventory purchased when a leather goods shop closed.

Show buttons on a straw hat and even a keychain are forms of art. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
Creative arts of yesteryear shown inside the old farmhouse. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)

Elsewhere around the showgrounds, art exists also. I discovered it on commemorative buttons, stickers and signs. Inside the 1912 farmhouse a vintage sewing machine and fabric scraps highlighted the creative arts.

Brand loyalty in fashion. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)

I even found fashion art—in a John Deere/Hawaiian shirt worn by a John Deere tractor owner.

Among the art displayed inside the old Waterford School and then community center. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)

Art (prints and photos) graces a wall of the Waterford Community Center, once a one-room school, moved onto the Steam & Gas Engines showgrounds and opened to the public this year.

The culinary arts in pies crafted by the Amish. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)

And then there are the culinary arts as perfected by an Amish family selling handheld fruit pastries and pies plus homemade ice cream crafted on-site as attendees watched. They are new-to-the-show vendors. The peach pastry and ice cream, oh, my, so delicious. They sold out of pies and handhelds.

I see this collage of farm show stickers as art. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)

This may be a show themed to farming of yesteryear. But, as I discovered, art also abounds. Sometimes you just have to look through an artistic lens to see it.

© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Rice County Steam & Gas Engines fall show honors farming of yesteryear September 3, 2025

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Hundreds of tractors in all makes and models lined the showgrounds. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)

SIX HOURS OF ENDLESS WALKING, many conversations, one shared handheld peach pastry, a small taco, several bites of a burger and fries, one molasses cookie, a couple swallows of soda, one shared dish of Amish-made ice cream and hundreds of photos later, I left the Rice County Steam & Gas Engines Fall Show on August 30 exhausted. In a good way.

Plowing with horses. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
There were lots of steam engines at this year’s show. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
Tractors provide the power to shell corn. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)

This event held at the showgrounds in rural Dundas over Labor Day weekend saw ideal weather and record crowds during the 50th anniversary celebration focused on “preserving a bit of yesterday for tomorrow.” That’s exactly what this organization accomplishes. From horse power to steam power to gas power, the early days and evolution of farming are on display in living history demonstrations. Rows and rows of vintage tractors and other agricultural equipment and on-site old buildings also showcase history.

This could be one of my brothers back in the day driving tractor. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)

I love everything about this show as it takes me back to my rural roots, reconnects me with the land and reminds me of the importance farming had, and still has, in Minnesota.

Two generations work at shelling corn, one by machine, the other by hand. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
Horse-drawn wagon rides by Tom Duban, rural Faribault, transport attendees around the showgrounds. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
Tossing oats into the thresher is labor intensive. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)

I love, too, the passion I see here in tractor collectors and in those operating massive steam engines, guiding horses, shoveling and shelling corn, pitching and threshing oats, sawing wood, making ropes, creating commemorative wooden shingles, stitching leather, pounding hot metal, and much much more.

The barrel train passes the threshing area as it winds through the showgrounds. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
There are several vintage merry-go-rounds at the site and kids love them. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
One of several contestants I watched at the kids’ pedal tractor pull. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)

I also love people-watching, seeing young and old alike immerse themselves in the past. This truly is a family event for all ages with hands-on activities for the kids and lots of reminiscing for those of us who grew up on farms. I watched kids spin on old-fashioned merry-go-rounds, grind corn, toss basketballs into hoops inside a grain wagon, pedal with all their might in a competitive kids’ pedal tractor pull, ride in an old-fashioned barrel train and on a mini train, steer tractors…

The event included music and dancing in the music hall, where a beer garden is also located. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)

A flea market, music, food…they, too, are part of this well-organized show. It takes a lot of volunteers, a lot of work and dedication, a lot of time and commitment to pull this off.

Transported from the Rice County Historical Society in Faribault, this 1916 Case steam engine sparked the interest leading to the first show. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)

This organization has grown this event, which began with a threshing demonstration in Faribault in 1974, sparking formation of the Rice County Steam Association and the first show near Warsaw in 1975. The 1916 50 hp Case steam engine that started it all 50 years ago was pulled out of storage at the Rice County Historical Society Museum for display at the 2025 show.

This young boy is focused and determined as he drives a John Deere during the tractor parade. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
Three on board a Case for the tractor parade. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
I love the look of joy, admiration and contentment on this young boy’s face as he rides a John Deere in the parade. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)

Everywhere I walked, everywhere I looked, I saw smiles. I saw, too, an inter-generational connection over a shared love of tractors, farming of yesteryear, the rural way of life.

The lengthy parade of hundreds of tractors began at noon daily. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)

In the noise of roaring farm machinery, in the belch of steam from massive steam engines, in the dust flying from shelling corn and threshing oats, in the clop of horses’ hooves, even in the scent of horse manure, I observed and experienced rural life as it once existed. Labor intensive. Dangerous. Family-centered. But at it’s core still the same. Valued. Honored. Truly a way of life rooted in the land and cherished by those who live upon and tend it.

Allis Chalmers guy. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)

PLEASE CHECK BACK for more posts about this show.

© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

In praise of monarchs, milkweeds & fireflies July 16, 2025

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A monarch butterfly feeds on a milkweed flower. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

ON A RECENT AFTERNOON, I looked up from washing dishes and out the kitchen window to see a solitary monarch butterfly flitting among milkweeds. Something as common as a butterfly remains, for me, one of summer’s simplest delights. Along with milkweeds and fireflies.

A monarch caterpillar on milkweed. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

This year I have a bumper crop of milkweed plants growing in and along flowerbeds and retaining walls. I stopped counting at 24 plants. I have no idea why the surge in milkweeds. But I am happy about their abundance given monarchs need milkweed. It is the only plant upon which the monarch lays eggs and the sole source of food for monarch caterpillars.

A crop of milkweeds in a public garden. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

My farmer dad, if he was still alive, would likely offer a different opinion about milkweeds. As children, my siblings and I walked rows of soybean fields eradicating milkweeds, thistles and the notorious cocklebur. This was called “walking beans,” a job that we hated, but was necessary to keep fields mostly weed-free without the use of chemicals.

I never considered then that I might some day appreciate milkweeds, the “weed” I pulled from the rich dark soil of southwestern Minnesota. On many a hot and humid afternoon, sweat rolled off my forehead and dirt filtered through the holes of my canvas tennis shoes while hoeing and yanking unwanted plants from Dad’s soybean fields and on my cousin John’s farm.

Today I instruct my husband not to pull or mow any milkweed plants in our Faribault yard. Randy understands their value, even if he didn’t walk beans on his childhood farm. He more than made up for that lack of field work by picking way more rocks than I ever did. Morrison County in central Minnesota sprouts a bumper crop of rocks compared to my native Redwood County, where I also picked rocks.

A milkweed about to open. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

But back to milkweeds. I love the scent of the dusty rose-colored common milkweed. So if you drive by my Faribault home or walk through River Bend Nature Center or Central Park or past Buckham Memorial Library and see me dipping my nose into a cluster of milkweed flowers, that’s why.

As summer progresses, I’m curious to see how many monarchs soar among the milkweeds in the tangled messes of plants that define my untamed flowerbeds. Thankfully our next door neighbor appreciates milkweeds also and is OK if the wind carries seeds onto his property.

Fireflies glow in the garden art honoring my nephew Justin. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

I’ve already seen fireflies aplenty in our backyard, which abuts a wooded hillside. And recently, while driving home in the early dark of a summer evening, Randy and I saw hundreds of fireflies lighting up grassy road ditches. It was truly magical, reminding me of childhood sightings and of Eric Carle’s children’s picture book, The Very Lonely Firefly. I had a copy for my kids, battery included to light up firefly illustrations. And, until it stopped working, I had a solar-powered firefly garden sculpture honoring my nephew Justin, who loved light and fireflies and died at age 19 in 2001 of Hodgkins disease.

Often what we love is about much more than simply whatever we love. I see, in writing this story, that my love of milkweeds, monarchs and fireflies connects to memories. Summer memories. Farm memories. Family memories. These are the stories we carry within us, that help define who we are, whether we consider a milkweed to be a weed, or a flower.

TELL ME: What simple summer things delight you and why?

© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Growing up with 21 siblings in rural Minnesota, a memoir June 10, 2025

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This book is also packed with candid and posed photos of the Miller family, adding to the text. (Book cover sourced online)

THIS COULD BE MY STORY or that of any other Baby Boomer who grew up in rural southern Minnesota. With one primary exception. None of us had 21 siblings. Yes, twenty-one. I had only five—three brothers and two sisters.

But Helen Miller had seven brothers and 14 sisters, all single births, all born to the same parents, Lucille and Alvin Miller of rural Waseca, over a span on 26 years. She’s chronicled the family’s life in a self-published memoir, 21 Siblings—Cheaper by the Two Dozen.

I happened upon this book, printed in 2018, after visiting the Waseca County History Center and seeing an exhibit about this unusually large family. I knew then that I needed to read this story by Helen, 13th in line. She’s just a bit older than me. I expected my farm upbringing during the late 50s through the 60s and into the early 70s would be similar in many ways. I was right.

WHITE RICE & PANCAKES

This book proved a stroll down memory lane. I remember meals of mostly meat and potatoes with a side vegetable given that was the preferred meal of my farmer father. He, like Alvin Miller, was quite content to eat those basics and didn’t care for any deviations. Large gardens were the norm, no matter family size. Lucille Miller canned fruits and vegetables, just like my mom, except a whole lot more. And, when food supplies ran low, both our mothers cooked a meal of white rice and cinnamon. I detested that and to this day still don’t like plain white rice.

I also do not much like pancakes, although I have no particular reason to explain that dislike. Helen Miller should. She writes of the family receiving boxes and boxes of pancake mix following a railroad accident. Except they didn’t get the pancake mix until months later…when weevils had infested the food. The Millers simply sifted out the bugs, prepared and ate the pancakes. They weren’t about to turn down free food.

Specific stories like these point to the challenges of feeding a mega family, even with their own garden produce, chicken, pork and eggs. With that many people to feed and to shelter, you can only imagine the logistics of running the household. Older siblings were responsible for younger siblings. Everyone pitched in with chores. They shared a lot—clothes, shoes, a singular cup for drinking water (same as my family), rooms, a love of music and a strong faith.

This shows part of the Miller family exhibit at the Waseca County History Center. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo May 2025)

THE IMPORTANCE OF FAITH

The Millers’ Catholic faith centered their lives. Lutheranism centered mine. Faith carried the Millers through an especially tragic event—the deaths of their aunt, Irene Miller Zimmerman, and her six young children in 1959. An unseen train broadsided their station wagon just blocks from Sacred Heart School, the same school Helen and her siblings attended. She writes: It was under this veil of grief that I grew up a rather serious child. She was only four years old.

Amid the difficult moments, Helen documents light-hearted moments, too. One in particular caused me to burst into laughter. As a seven-year-old, Helen went to Confession for the first time, thinking she had not broken any of the Ten Commandments. But she had to confess something to the priest. Helen admitted to disobeying her parents twice, having false gods twice and then, and here’s the kicker, committing adultery three or four times. Now there’s nothing funny about that sin. But when an elementary-aged girl confesses to something she clearly doesn’t understand, well, I wonder how that priest kept from laughing aloud. He didn’t laugh, or correct her, according to Helen, who twice confessed to breaking the Sixth Commandment.

SEWING, FISHING & A WHOLE LOT OF PATIENCE

Story after story reveals a childhood upbringing that many times mimicked my own. Like Helen, I learned to sew because, if I wanted new clothes as a teen, I needed to stitch them. I babysat children for fifty cents an hour, just like Helen. I fished, occasionally, with my family. But the Millers fished often, usually at their rustic cabin along Reeds Lake a short drive from their farm. Vacations and dining out were not part of our youthful experiences. The list of similarities goes on and on among the many differences.

I can never fully relate to having 21 siblings. But this rural Waseca family managed and, by all accounts, well. With a whole lot of organization, love, strength and patience. And, Helen notes, with an eternally optimistic and patient mother. Just like my mom.

© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

History & tradition meld at Cannon City Memorial Day observance May 28, 2025

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A horse-drawn wagon leads the parade along the gravel road to the Cannon City Cemetery. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)

MEMORIAL DAY IN CANNON CITY is decidedly simple and old-fashioned, marking a 100-year-plus tradition of gathering in the 1867 cemetery to remember and honor veterans. This observation also embraces community with a mixture of mostly locals and those born here returning home for the 2 p.m. program followed by visiting, lots of visiting.

Several vintage vehicles and a pickup follow. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)

Although I have no connection to this unincorporated village a few miles northeast of Faribault, I’ve found myself often drawn here on Memorial Day. The countryside setting and the way in which the day is celebrated appeal to my rural roots and upbringing 130 miles away on the southwestern Minnesota prairie.

A few people walked the parade route, here past farm land. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)

Monday’s event at Cannon City began with a parade from the nearby former country school to the cemetery. A small contingent of horse-drawn wagon, vintage vehicles and several walkers followed the gravel road past homes and farm fields to the fenced cemetery. I walked alongside the group in the road ditch, photographing the scene as they neared the graveyard.

Vintage vehicles set an historic scene outside the cemetery gates. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)

It was not difficult in that moment to imagine the long ago school children proceeding to the cemetery, carrying homemade floral wreaths of lilacs and other flowers in bloom. Several years ago that original Decoration Day parade tradition was revived. It’s a lovely nod to history.

A crowd gathers for the Memorial Day program centered under the trees. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
All ages attended, including Levi, almost two, who wore these patriotic boots. His grandpa is the cemetery caretaker. Levi helps him and his dad by picking up sticks before mowing. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
The Sartor Brothers lead musical selections. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)

Inside the cemetery gate, folks gathered in the shelter of cedars and pines to listen to inspirational readings and poetry; to sing; to hear the names of 52 veterans buried here read aloud; and more.

Handing out poppies to attendees. Members of the Faribault American Legion Auxiliary and other volunteers crafted the paper flowers. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
Organizer Kathleen Kanne led the program and talked about Jean Ann Pederson. The plaque in front of Kanne was given in honor of Jean Ann. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
A woman’s t-shirt focuses on poppies, representing the blood of heroes who died in war. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)

This year the “more” included excerpts from an interview with Jean Ann Greenville Pederson, a Cannon City native interviewed by Kathleen Kanne and Mel Sanborn. She died in February, shortly after her 93rd birthday. Each May, Jean Ann shared a bit of local Memorial Day history and read “In Flanders Fields” to attendees. Kanne, program organizer, announced the placement of a small “In Flanders Fields” graveside plaque honoring Jean Ann. She then invited us to read the poem together. I recited it, having memorized “In Flanders Fields” as a child tasked with sharing the poem several times during my hometown Memorial Day program. In Flanders fields the poppies blow/Between the crosses, row on row…

American flags marked the graves of veterans in the Cannon City Cemetery. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)

Throughout this commemorative event in the Cannon City Cemetery, I was intimately aware of my surroundings. Under the trees. Next to farm fields. The wind sweeping across the hill. Birds chirping. It felt reverent, almost holy—this place like a sanctuary. For the living and the dead.

Visiting after the program. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)

After the program concluded, families meandered among the gravestones. Stopping. Gathering. Others remained under the cedars and pines, connecting and reconnecting. I grabbed a chocolate chip cookie and went in search of my friend’s, veteran Rhody Yule’s, grave. I found it, flat against the ground, hidden by a bush.

I heard Steve Bonde play taps at the Memorial Day service in Faribault in the morning and then again at Cannon City in the afternoon. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)

Later, as I headed toward the van to leave, I heard Steve Bonde, who earlier played patriotic music, playing more tunes. It was the perfect way to end my time here, where respect for veterans, for community and for tradition carries through generations of those rooted in Cannon City.

© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling