…you pull into your hotel parking lot and park your vehicle across the chain length fence from a row of Demco gravity flow wagons.
Luverne, Minnesota’s newest hotel, the GrandStay, 908 South Kniss Avenue.
Join me this week for a series of stories from Luverne, a farming community located in the extreme southwestern corner of Minnesota, right next to South Dakota and Iowa. It’s a community worth visiting, as I will show you via photos and words.
Copyright 2013 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
RURAL MINNESOTA LONG AGO claimed my heart. It is the place where I grew up, the land I love, the connection to earth and sky and elements that, despite more than three decades of living in town, has never vanished.
I’m rooted to the land and I find myself often longing to turn onto the gravel driveway, to swing open the creaky barn door, to follow the corn rows.
I ache for the days when I lived on the farm. Sunset and sunrise unbroken by buildings. Wind rustling. The heady scent of freshly-mown alfalfa. The rich earthy smell of the land at planting time and harvest. Wagons brimming with corn. Quiet. Stars studding the blackness.
Today I still claim rural Minnesota—in my memory, through the lens of my camera, in the words I write. And that is my solace, the road I follow back home.
FYI: These edited photos were taken earlier this summer in the Vernon Center/Amboy/Truman area of southern Minnesota.
© Copyright 2013 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
IF EVER I DOUBT carting my camera with me nearly everywhere, I need only consider the photos I snapped on Saturday in rural Minnesota. The images show snippets of everyday life, of moments and places that seem not extraordinary at first pause, but which are extraordinary for the stories they tell. This is life. These are the moments of our days, the Main Streets of our towns, the way we live.
And I delight in all of it, in this place I call home, this southern Minnesota.
Mid-morning Saturday, while watering flowers, a mini tractorcade puttered past my Faribault home. By the time I realized what I was seeing and retrieved my camera from my office, I was able to photograph only the tail end of the line. Lesson learned: Grab my Canon before going outside to water flowers.
Over in Owatonna in the afternoon, I shot this signage in the heart of downtown. Walt the Barber. I expect he could spin a story or ten.
Perhaps Owatonna’s best-known historic building, the old National Farmer’s Bank Building, considered by some to be “the most beautiful bank in the world.” I’ve toured it previously and can vouch for the accuracy of that description. Chicago architect, Louis Sullivan, designed the bank, built in 1908. It’s a must-see.
On the opposite side of the street from the bank, I spotted this sign in the front window and this cooler of fresh sweetcorn outside of Party-Plus of Owatonna. My husband had already purchased sweetcorn earlier in the day for more money, so we didn’t need any. If you’re looking for anything party related, this store offers a great inventory of products.
I stopped at family-owned Owatonna Shoe and snapped 40 photos, the best of which I will share in a later post. For now you’ll have to settle for this exterior shot with that delightful OPEN TODAY til 5:00 postscript. I’ll also feature photos from “Steele County: Butter Capitol of the World,” an exhibit at the Steele County History Center and my reason for visiting Owatonna on Saturday.
I love beautiful, historic architecture. Driving by Kristi’s Clothing in downtown Owatonna, I zipped down the window and shot this image of one stunning building. Look at that sweet balcony and the detailed art.
Instead of bar hopping, this bridal party stopped at an ice cream shoppe. I captured this scene as my husband and I were leaving downtown Owatonna and heading back to Faribault via County Road 45. No Interstate 35 for us due to road construction.
The Congregational United Church of Christ posted this message in the heart of Medford. I love these faith-based messages because they always cause me to reflect. Mini sermons, I call them.
Copyright 2013 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
WHENEVER I ATTEND the Rice County Steam and Gas Engines Show in rural Dundas, I never quite know what I will discover, or hear. Look and listen.
Displayed at the Friends of Minnesota Barns booth.
I noted the above sign at the Friends of Minnesota Barns booth. Then the guy manning the display shared a story from the Le Sueur County Pioneer Power Show a week earlier. A man and his wife read the sign. The husband asked, “Will you take my wife in trade?”
She shot back, “You’re the INSERT SLANG WORD FOR MULE in the family.”
The Friends of Minnesota Barns guy and I laughed, oh, how we laughed.
Speaking of INSERT SLANG WORD FOR MULE HERE, EXCEPT IN PLURAL, look at this lawn art by opinionated Bob Michniewicz of Madelia. You never quite know what Bob is going to say or create.
“Quality Lawn Ornaments” from Michniewicz Sales.
I did a double take on this potty humor:
Brand loyalty and potty humor. Seriously, I could not believe I was seeing this. I grew up with John Deere farm equipment.
Let me show you something sweet and endearing:
Family time at the playground on vintage playground equipment.
And patriotic:
Flags abound at the show.
This reminds me of my growing up years on the farm and the Farmalls my dad owned and I drove (a B Farmall to be exact):
Vintage Farmalls.
Loren Fossum’s corn picker. That is not Loren driving, though.
I was just plain giddy when I saw this vintage 1960s corn picker, similar to one my Dad used but not a Ford. Loren Fossum of Northfield recently purchased the combo tractor and corn picker for a bargain price, which I won’t reveal because maybe Loren doesn’t want that publicized. He told a little story about overhearing a conversation among several young men trying to figure out what type of equipment they were viewing. They finally concluded that the blue monstrosity was designed to take down trees. Wrong. That would be corn, boys.
Another reminder of life on the farm, spotted at the flea market:
Oh, how I loved to twirl the handle on my dad’s vise grip until I tightened something, maybe a block of wood, in place.
And just because I found this Cropgard Farm Dryer interesting:
Apparently not just an ordinary vintage farm wagon.
This quartet was so engrossed in viewing photos of the homemade John Deere tractor that they didn’t even notice me. Sweet. I love capturing moments like this that tell a story:
Immersed in tractor talk.
Tractors everywhere:
Rows and rows and rows of vintage tractors define this show. For me the interest lies in the artsy aspect of these machines. Just look at the front of this Massey Ferguson–the font, the grill…
More cool vintage:
Anything rustic and vintage appeals to me visually.
My parting shot, taken through the fence on the back of bleachers, says it all: Passing a love of tractors along to the next generation.
To future generations of John Deere tractor lovers…
AFTER VIEWING THESE IMAGES, let’s hear from you. Do any of these photos spark memories or thoughts? Please share.
Copyright 2013 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
THE SONG REPEATS in my head. The wheels on the bus, except I’ve substituted tractor, go round and round. Round and round.
Everywhere I turned, wheels/tires/circles fell in to my line of vision at the Rice County Steam and Gas Engines Show.
The wheels on the tractors go round and round. Round and round…
The tractor parade on Sunday afternoon.
Among the oldest of wheels.
An aged steering wheel.
Oh, to overhear this conversation between the wheels of a John Deere tractor.
Rims at the flea market.
Adding 100-pound wheel weights for the tractor pull.
The wheels on the tractor go round and round at the tractor pull. I had to walk away as the noise was deafening and I am already deaf in one ear.
More my type of wheel on a Unique “Dependable” Typewriter for sale at the flea market.
The merry-go-round wheel goes round and round.
© Copyright 2013 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
WHENEVER I SHOP a flea market with my camera, I challenge myself to find and photograph items that rate as unique, odd, artistic. I consider shapes and fonts, weirdness and, really, anything unusual that catches my eye.
Sunday afternoon browsing the Rice County Steam and Gas Engines Show Flea Market in rural Dundas provided plenty of subject matter.
Here are my top picks for flea market art and oddities, starting with the weirdest, a trio of doll heads in a colander:
Kind of creepy if you ask me.
The same vendor, Lou of Mantiques LLC (gotta appreciate that creative name), also offered another odd item, a child’s coffin, for sale. It drew my interest in that unsettled sort of way when you’re curious enough to ask but are uncertain you want to hear the story.
A child’s coffin.
According to Lou, who speaks with a thick accent even after 18 years away from Boston, during the diphtheria epidemic parents built coffins in advance, storing the boxes in barns in anticipation of their children’s deaths. Sad. Just plain sad. The coffin Lou was selling has never, obviously, been used but was passed down through the generations. Not in his family; some other. I can’t imagine anyone buying this coffin, but…
Michniewicz Sales presents “Quality Lawn Ornaments” made in the USA, in living color.
To balance the melancholy of that story, let me show you a sampling of Bob Michniewicz’ kitschy lawn ornaments. I first met Bob a year ago at the same flea market, photographed and blogged about him (click here to read that post). He was happy to see me again as, apparently, the publicity I gave him last September resulted in the sale of 10 cow lawn ornaments. Bob extended an open invitation to photograph his art anytime I please.
Tools and/or art, you decide.
Now not all vendors are likely aware that they’ve created art. Or perhaps the art unfolds in the eyes of the beholder. While most flea market shoppers would see open end wrenches, dies, a brush and a turnbuckle hook when viewing these tools, I see something more—a collage.
Historic art.
Ditto for community celebration and homecoming buttons. These are mini pieces of historic art. Mini, however, would not describe the Albert Lea Tigers’ “Stomp the Packers” (as in Austin, not Green Bay) homecoming button. That button is the size of a dessert plate. Wowza.
A vendor’s “trailer.”
Finally, my camera lens landed on a vintage Winnebago camper because, yes, sometimes even a camper converted into a flea market merchandise hauler can be a work of art in angled lines and graphics.
There you have it. My top picks from this year’s flea market.
© Copyright 2013 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Frame 1
I’M NOT NECESSARILY a fan of the end result of crop dusting—some chemical sprayed upon a field with the residue sifting into the air and upon the earth.
Frame 2
But watching a crop dusting plane at work does fascinate me.
Frame 3
On a recent Saturday afternoon, while traveling Minnesota Highway 28 en route to Morris, I was entertained by a crop duster spraying a cornfield near Westport.
Frame 4
Frame 5
Frame 6
Just ahead of the van in which my husband, son and I were traveling, the plane skimmed across the highway before completing a sharp turn to pass back over the roadway and across acres of corn.
Frame 7: How low do you think this plane is flying?
I am no aviation expert, but it seems to me that special skills and a dose of daredevil courage are required to fly a crop duster.
Frame 8: Just the tail and wings of the plane visible above the cornfield.
Thoughts?
© Copyright 2013 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
I MAY HAVE MISSED attending the Stevens County Fair in Morris when I was in this western Minnesota community for a family reunion this past weekend.
But I didn’t miss this kitschy piece of fair advertising positioned on the corner of the Family Dollar parking lot downtown.
I expect most of the locals are so used to seeing this mini Ferris wheel rolled out every summer that they think nothing of it. However, as an outsider and one who appreciates such homegrown creativity, this certainly caught my attention.
My two regrets are these:
That I could not attend the fair because, even though I am not a fan of tromping around a fairgrounds among a crowd of people, I expect this rural fair would have appealed to me.
I did not see this Ferris wheel brightened by the holiday lights attached to the frame. In my mind’s eye, I can visualize the Christmas bulbs popping with color in the fading prairie sunset.
THAT ALL SAID, if any current or former Stevens County residents can enlighten me as to the history of this homemade Ferris wheel, please share. Who made it, when, has it always been parked downtown…?
And what about the fair itself? What do you love about the Stevens County Fair?
For the rest of you readers, did/will you attend a county fair this summer? Let’s hear.
© Copyright 2013 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Just inside the entry to the Blue Earth County Fairgrounds.
PRIOR TO LAST FRIDAY, I’d never been to the Blue Earth County Fairgrounds, nor even to Garden City, the unincorporated community in which the fairgrounds is located. That would be south of Mankato, along the banks of the Watonwan River.
Log cabins on the fairgrounds include this one from 1860 and a replica of an 1839 cabin.
What a delightful place—like a step back in time.
The beef barn, shaded by an oak tree.
Space for chickens and ducks and geese and such poultry.
Always a fair favorite, the sheep.
Just look at these old-fashioned buildings and imagine the cattle, pigs, poultry and sheep trucked into this scenic spot for the annual showing of the best of the best.
I expect (hope) the 4-H food stand was repaired before the fair.
Imagine 4-Hers clutching coveted ribbons.
The open class exhibit buildings. Look at the splendid old doors on these structures.
Imagine the families and old folks, the neighbors and strangers mingling here to celebrate life in rural Minnesota.
Imagine the young lovers strolling the grounds.
My Aunt Marilyn remembers, more than 50 years ago, attending this fair on a weekday afternoon along with other Blue Earth County employees. “I suppose they don’t do that anymore,” she said.
I expect not, Marilyn.
A posting of fair sponsors just inside the front gate.
Today, August 1, through Saturday, August 3, you can experience this grassroots fair when gates open at the Blue Earth County Fairgrounds/Shady Oaks Campground in Garden City just off U.S. Highway 169.
CLICK HERE for detailed fair information and click here for info about the campground.
BONUS PHOTOS:
It seems every fairgrounds has an old school or church like this one.
An on-site beverage stand.
The Future Farmers of America building.
© Copyright 2013 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
SMALL TOWNS INTRIGUE ME. Each possesses a unique character.
A snapshot of Hayfield’s downtown business district.
For that reason, and because I favor rural more than urban, my husband and I purposely detour off highways, park our vehicle along Main Streets and explore.
This biker ran out of gas and pushed his motorcycle up to the pumps at Casey’s General Store in Hayfield, just off Minnesota Highway 56.
Often we are the only ones walking about, especially since our stops are typically on Sunday afternoons.
However, even on a recent Monday morning visit to Hayfield, population 1,300, southwest of Rochester in Dodge County, the downtown was quiet enough that I didn’t have to worry about standing in the middle of the street to take photos.
Welcome to Hayfield. So…I’m wondering whether the town is named after a person or a hay field.
And Hayfield offers plenty of photo ops, beginning with the welcome sign just off Minnesota State Highway 56. The “Where People Make Progress” slogan puzzled me, until I read this explanation on the city’s website:
Our community has had many projects which have been accomplished by grants, donations and countless volunteer hours.
Examples of that progress include the local pool, ball diamonds, the library, Meals on Wheels…
A sign in a window advertises the chicken dinner served during Hey Days.
The annual community celebration of Hey Days, slated for July 26 – 28, also involves countless hours of volunteerism. That’s the thing about small towns. People don’t necessarily sit and wait for someone else to do something. They just do it.
Part of the impressive vets’ memorial.
I bet volunteers planned, raised funds for and helped build the veterans’ memorial park next to First Presbyterian Church at the end of the business district. It’s one of the most impressive memorials we’ve seen.
First Presbyterian Church, next to the veterans’ memorial.
Inside that lovely old church.
That memorial is definitely worth a trip into town as is the church. We found the door unlocked and so let ourselves into this beautiful sanctuary. I’m pretty certain the guy working on a school bus at the bus garage was watching us.
Font art at the former newspaper office.
And more art on the former news office.
Across the street, the font and paintings on the former Herald newspaper office, now a home, caught my eye. The newspaper is now merged as the Star Herald based in nearby Dodge Center.
The library on the left, the former newspaper office on the right.
Next door I tried the door of the library, only to find it locked.
Like most small towns, you will find a Legion and a bar and grill in Hayfield.
Yes, when I explore small towns, I’ll always try the doors. Always.
© Copyright 2013 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
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