Minnesota Prairie Roots

Writing and photography by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

Go fly a kite April 15, 2014

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Sign in the window of Horsfall's Lansing (Iowa) Vareity. Photographed in July 2013.

Sign in the window of Horsfall’s Lansing (Iowa) Variety. Photographed in July 2013.

THERE ARE DAYS when I’d like to share exactly what’s on my mind. I’d spew: “Go fly a kite!”

And some days I’d like to fly a kite—to stand on the edge of a stubbled alfalfa field, ball of string gripped in one hand, kite in the other. I’d run like the wind (although I’ve always wondered how the wind runs) with kite held high until the breeze catches and carries her upward.

I’d stop then, plant my feet upon the earth, feel the tug of wind on cotton cord as the kite dips and soars high above me in frenzied flight.

Ah, to be so free and fearless, unencumbered by the weight of misspoken and unspoken words.

© Copyright 2014 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Gold Bond Stamps memories December 27, 2013

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Photographed this past summer in Rossville, an unincorporated village in Allamakee County in northeastern Iowa.

Photographed this past summer in Rossville, an unincorporated village in Allamakee County in northeastern Iowa.

THROUGH THE FILTER OF MY MEMORY, I picture her seated at the kitchen table, booklets spread before her on the stiff floral oilcloth.

She’s licking strips of Gold Bond Stamps, carefully placing them within a paper grid.

Fill the booklet and she can redeem the coveted stamps for merchandise. Except I cannot remember anything my mom ever got with those stamps.

Rather, I recall the stockpiling of stamps, watching her and, occasionally, myself, running my tongue along the glue then meticulously positioning those precious golden rectangles upon paper.

Oh, the memories of Gold Bond Stamps.

© Copyright 2013 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Minnesota’s church dinner season underway August 2, 2013

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TIS THE SEASON of church dinners.

Diners dish up at last year's fall dinner at Trinity Lutheran Church, North Morristown.

Diners dish up at the 2011 dinner at Trinity Lutheran Church, North Morristown.

Although I’ve never partaken in the one at The Church of the Nativity in Cleveland, I’ve attended plenty of others in southern Minnesota. Church dinner food is typically homemade, the draw for me, along with the fellowship.

If I wasn’t already busy this Sunday, August 4, I’d head west to Cleveland, which sits along State Highway 99 six miles east of St. Peter, to this Catholic church dinner and festival.

The beautiful chicken dinner sign I spotted along Minnesota Highway 99 on the edge of Cleveland.

The beautiful chicken dinner sign I spotted along Minnesota Highway 99 on the edge of Cleveland.

Since I can’t review the food, I’ll award these dinner promoters five stars for creative and eye-catching roadside signage.

To learn more about the dinner, I checked out the church website (click here) where the meal is tagged as “Men’s Chicken Dinner & Parish Festival.” Now I’m certain women and children are welcome. I assume the “men’s dinner” means the men are cooking the advertised “fabulous broasted chicken.”

In addition, baked potatoes, creamy cucumbers, baked beans, pie and beverages will be served. Homemade pie. The best.

Food will be served from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Mass starts at 8:30 a.m.

My meal at last year's Trinity dinner, minus the bread and cranberries. I had cake for dessert, too.

My food plated at the annual Trinity North Morristown church dinner.

Besides food, the festival offers your usual games, beer garden (this was an initial surprise for me, a Lutheran, to discover beer at a church event) and silent auction. The Church of the Nativity also has an antique car show and a coffee bar, neither of which I’ve seen at a parish fest.

Next year this event is going on my list of must-attend church festivals.

FYI: I’d recommend attending these three church dinners:

Click here to read about the Veseli Ho-Down, Most Holy Trinity’s annual parish festival and dinner. This event is held in late August. Great food, music, games and more.

Click here to read about the annual church dinner at Trinity Lutheran Church, rural North Morristown. The dinner is served in mid-October in the church basement. Excellent, excellent food.

Click here to read about the Strawberry Festival held each June at Moland Lutheran Church, rural Kenyon.

Also, check out the website, Church Cuisine of Minnesota, for stories and photos of other church dinners.

HAVE YOU ATTENDED an outstanding church dinner and/or festival? if so please share in a comment to this post.

© Copyright 2013 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

A muddy shoe ban in Morgan July 24, 2013

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YOU BEST NOT ENTER the Shell convenience store/gas station in Morgan with muddy shoes. I never checked my flip flops nor the floor upon entering. My initial focus was finding the bathroom in Wayne’s C-Store, as it’s known by locals.

Posted on doors of the Shell station in Morgan.

Posted on doors of the Shell station in Morgan.

Only afterward did I ponder the message and wonder how many times staff has dealt with mud trekked inside this retail hub in this rural southwestern Minnesota community. Often enough, apparently, given the postings on the two front doors.

A view right outside the Shell station.

A view right outside the Shell station.

My husband and I had just driven about 100 miles, more than an hour of that in rain. But, unless our soles acquired mud while walking from our gravel parking space into the store, they should have been clean.

A rural-themed mural on the side of Wayne's C-Store.

A rural-themed mural on the side of Wayne’s C-Store.

After photographing the NO MUDDY SHOES ALLOWED! sign and the mural on the side of the convenience store, I swung my camera around to photograph Harvest Land Cooperative across the street.

A snippet of the Harvest Land Co-op complex across the highway from the Shell station.

A snippet of the Harvest Land Co-op complex across the highway from the Shell station.

There’s something about an elevator that always causes me to pause and reflect on my rural Minnesota prairie roots.

The hatchery is closed.

The hatchery is closed.

From there I skirted vehicles parked alongside the Shell station and dodged puddles to photograph signage on the next door old Morgan Hatchery.

A side view of the former hatchery.

A side view of the former hatchery.

At that point I likely muddied my flip flops. But that was just fine. I wasn’t returning to the NO MUDDY SHOES ALLOWED! store.

© Copyright 2013 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Caution: Machinery, deer (maybe even a John Deere) & a cold front October 4, 2012

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IF YOU LIVE IN MINNESOTA, in the heart of farm land, you’ll totally understand the first part of the message below posted on a sign in front of the Henderson City Hall.

Slow moving farm machinery and deer chased from their habitat most assuredly are reasons to be extra cautious while traveling rural roads during the fall harvest.

As for that “Chilli on the Hilly,” strike the second “l” in “chilli” and you have chili served this coming Saturday at the Henderson House Bed and Breakfast up that road to the left (Minnesota Highway 19) and around the curve and then to the  right up the steep hill.

Or, strike that second “l”  in “chilli” and change the second “i” to a “y” and you have the current weather in Minnesota. Chilly. Ten inches of snow forecast for northwestern Minnesota today, folks.

Copyright 2012 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Really, the unbeatable Vikings? And what about that stadium? January 12, 2012

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 7:34 AM
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WITH A CURRENT 3 – 13 regular season record, the Minnesota Vikings rate as anything but unbeatable. You know this. I know this.

So when my husband and I spotted this misplaced “unbeatable” signage posted above a rack of Vikings shirts at a major discount retailer in Faribault recently, we simply had to laugh at the clearly inaccurate message as it relates to the football team’s wins and losses.

Sometimes you have to find the humor in this whole Vikings fiasco. And I’m not talking just the season record here.

NOW THAT I’VE OPENED that topic to discussion, how do you feel about plans for a new Vikings stadium? Do you support a new stadium? Why or why not? If yes, where should the stadium be built and how should it be financed?

Stadium proposals are due in to Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton by 5 p.m. today. State legislators are then supposedly going to resolve the stadium issue during the upcoming legislative session. One can only hope.

Go ahead, submit a comment and tell them what you think.

Copyright 2012 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

Photo by Randy Helbling

 

The truth about goldfish revealed at a convenience store October 11, 2011

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YOU’RE ON THE ROAD. You need to pee. You also need a beverage to quell your thirst. It’s a hot afternoon. So you pop into a convenience store.

You use the facilities, select a bottle of tart lemonade and then head for the check-out counter.

That’s when you spot this message scrawled on the whiteboard, propped between the Minnesota State Lottery and Jean Ross sunglasses displays:

The message posted recently at a southeastern Minnesota convenience store.

And then you think to yourself, “What is the meaning of this message?”

When you inquire, you learn that this is the “thought of the day,” with a new parcel of wisdom or tidbit of information posted whenever the manager is on duty.

It’s as simple as that.

As you walk out of Parkside Gas and Grocery on Main Street in Nerstrand, you think, “Well, I just learned something new.”

And then you have this fleeting thought that you should rush out and buy a goldfish, stash the fish tank in a closet and test the validity of this statement.

But then you remember just how much you dislike cleaning a fish tank.

HAS ANYONE ever tried this? Do goldfish really turn white when kept in the dark?

© Copyright 2011 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

This is what it means to be free July 5, 2011

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 8:08 AM
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FOR THE PAST SEVERAL days, I’ve kept my eyes peeled for the perfect July Fourth image.

I thought that photo might come from my extended family’s annual July 4th weekend gathering or from the Roberds Lake Independence Day boat parade. Or perhaps I’d just see a patriotic display worthy of showcasing. Maybe a field of flags.

However, the photo I selected to best portray our nation’s birthday falls into none of these categories.

I chose this image, taken along Seventh Street in Faribault late Monday afternoon.

Let me explain.

This homeowner disagrees with a recent decision by the Faribault City Council to forgive a $72,000 water bill assessed to FWF Fund One, current owners of the Faribault Woolen Mills property. The woolen mill closed some time ago, leaving an original $120,000 unpaid water bill, which has since been paid down $48,000. Now new investors are working on purchasing the property and restarting the mill, thus prompting the request to forgive the remaining portion of the unpaid water bill. Read more about the issue by clicking onto this recent Faribault Daily News article.

Even though I happen to agree with the homeowner, I didn’t choose this as my favorite Independence Day photo for that reason.

This grassroots expression of an opinion represents to me the cornerstone of our nation: freedom.

As citizens of the United States, we are free to speak—to voice our ideas and opinions and concerns.

We needn’t be eloquent speakers or writers or members of city councils to express ourselves.

A simple handwritten sign posted on a tree along a busy street epitomizes freedom at its most basic, individual, level.

© Copyright 2011 Audrey Kletscher Helbling