Minnesota Prairie Roots

AS DUSK DESCENDS on the prairie 11 miles east of Faribault, countless holiday lights glow on the Keller farm, just down a gravel road from St. John’s United Church of Christ, Wheeling Township. In this country church, I first met members of the Keller family years ago. For more than 50 years the Kellers, rooted in faith, family and community, have decorated the home place with holiday lights and displays.

The Keller Christmas Farm is a sight to behold and a must-see during the holidays. Some families have been coming here for years.

On a recent evening, Randy and I followed back county and township roads, past farm sites, fields layered in snow and St. John’s church, to the place where Craig Keller has lived his entire life. He and his brother Keith coordinate this annual holiday display which draws thousands to this rural location. A steady stream of vehicles followed the snow-packed, icy driveway into and around the farmyard to view the scenes as Christmas music blared.

Randy and I wound through twice since I was trying to photograph scenes and we didn’t want to slow others down. For a bit I trudged in the snow to take a few photos, not something visitors should do. But I figured Craig knows me and he would be okay with me stepping briefly outside the van for a brief walk about.

There’s so much to see here that, even if you’re not taking photos, a second drive-through seems necessary. Seemingly every building from house to barn to grain bin to sheds, even the towering silo, shines with lights and decorations.

I especially love that many of the decorations are homemade—painted on pressed wood and plywood and weathered by decades of Christmases exposed to the elements.

I love that vintage, hard plastic holiday decorations stand aglow in the dark. I don’t recall seeing a single blow-up anything. I love the personal messages, too, written by the Kellers.

I love that farm equipment, like a tractor, grain wagons, a corn planter, grain drills and more are incorporated into Christmas scenes. Even a tractor tire has been transformed into a wreath.

This festive holiday display definitely looks and feels uniquely rural.

Here you’ll find secular aspects of Christmas—Santa, his elves, snowmen, etc.—but also, and mostly, the faith aspect focusing on the birth of Christ. I didn’t even try to count all the Nativity scenes. But there are many, including next to a mini white wooden church. Outside the church, an organist plays a massive pipe organ. In real-life, Craig Keller plays the organ at St. John’s.

A three-layered birthday cake for Jesus, complete with red candles, is strategically placed by the church, a focal point that draws attention to the real reason for Christmas—Christ’s birth.

After about 45 minutes at the Keller farm, I left with cold fingers (from taking photos), but a warm heart. Family matriarch Elsie Keller, who died in 2019 at the age of 93, would be happy that her family continues with this annual holiday lighting tradition, only a field away from the country church her immigrant grandparents helped found in 1856. The place where I met Elsie and her descendants, the family that has shared Christmas with the public for more than half a century in rural southern Minnesota.

FYI: The Keller Christmas Farm drive-through holiday light display is open from dusk to 10 pm daily until January 6. To get there from Faribault, take Minnesota State Highway 60 east for 8.3 miles, turn left/north onto Jacobs Avenue for two miles and then, by the church, turn right/east onto 190^th Street East. You’ll see the farm on the right at 10557 190^th Street East. While the display is free, donations are accepted in a special donation box between the house and barn.

© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling