I photographed this peace van parked outside a shop near Garrisonthis past summer. It took me back to the 70s. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo 2025)
I CAME OF AGE in the early 1970s near the end of the Vietnam War. Those were years of national protests and pushing for peace. Young people, especially, embraced the word “peace”—in speech, in fashion, in actions. Like so many other teens of my era, I flashed the peace sign, wore peace-themed jewelry, drew the peace symbol on the covers of school notebooks. I once wrote a poem about peace, long forgotten now and tucked into a cardboard box among other long ago musings.
Love the message on the tee worn by a member of the Jackson Paulson Band when they performed at a Faribault Car Cruise Night this summer. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo 2025)
Lately, I’ve been musing about peace during these tumultuous times in which we live. So I challenged myself to look around for that which uplifts, enlightens, makes me smile. Gives me a sense of peace.
Harmony is a synonym for peace. This mural is on Minnesota’s Iron Range in Crosby. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo 2025)
I found what I sought in art, actions and, most of all, words. I am, after all, a wordsmith. Someone who works with words. Building, shaping, sharing. Someone who understands that words hold great power to build up or destroy. Someone who understands that words matter. Greatly. They can inspire, give us hope, offer peace. Or just the opposite.
Nerstrand Meats sits several blocks from the school in the heart of downtown Nerstrand. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
With peace on my mind, I revisited the Peace Garden at Nerstrand Elementary Charter School in the rural farming community of Nerstrand, population not quite 280 and perhaps best known as home to 135-year-old family-owned Nerstrand Meats & Catering.
This green space centers the Peace Garden outside the school entry. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
In 1999, the school was established as a peace site with the garden started in 2000 on the front lawn. That’s 25 years now of honoring peace. In words, art and plantings, this garden features 14 countries.
A unifying message posted at the Peace Garden. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
Signage at the garden emphasizes that we all live under the same sun and moon on the same planet. We are all connected and all part of building a world “to make everyone proud.” That includes the U.S., Russia, China, Mexico, Canada… This is not a political message posted outside this small town Minnesota elementary school. Rather, this is a simple statement about those of us who call planet Earth our home.
To the right, Ukraine’s national flower, the sunflower, flourishes. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
I arrived on an autumn day looking for the newest addition to the Peace Garden. Ukraine. And I found it near a picnic table and bike rack—a yellow and blue (the colors of the Ukrainian flag) planter filled with towering sunflowers past their summer prime. As I paused and read the singular word “Kiev” on a sign, I thought of the people of Ukraine. Oh, how they must yearn for peace in the midst of ongoing war.
Sunflowers grow around a sign naming Ukraine’s capital city. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
Peace on an international scale feels elusive, as it’s always been. But then the same can be said nationally. Disagreements have flamed into much more than differences of opinion.
While the word PEACE was photographed from the back (because I couldn’t get a front angle), it holds the same meaning either way. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
Yet, here I stood outside a school where children grow their knowledge, begin to understand that this world is much bigger than Nerstrand or Rice County or Minnesota or the U.S. I’m thankful that each day, as these student walk into school, they see the word “PEACE” atop the roof.
Lovely landscaping, flowers and plants surround the art honoring China with an inspiring message. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
These children are our future. Perhaps they will grow to make peace marks upon their communities, maybe even the world. Perhaps they will live just ordinary lives, living peacefully among others while doing good. There’s so much potential.
Peace, a universal word we can understand no matter our home country. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
I needed to walk around the Nerstrand Peace Garden, take in the words, art, plantings. In the quiet of this small town where the school sits next to farm fields, peace feels possible.
Outside RR Revival/Rusty Rabbitiques in Lonsdale, this guy waits with a decorative metal pumpkinin my favorite market photo. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
DAYS BEFORE THE AUTUMN EQUINOX, I found myself in small town Lonsdale at a craft and flea market. Located in northwestern Rice County, this community of just under 5,000 with easy access to Interstate 35 to the east, is experiencing both residential and business growth.
The aged grain elevators of Lonsdale near the market site. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
Yet, it retains its rural character, most notable in the aged grain elevator complex rising high above the town. Those grain elevators provided the backdrop for the recent weekend sale centered around RR Revival/Rusty Rabbitiques, a spacious vintage goods, garden iron and home accessories business.
Vendors set up shop outside RR Revival. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
Vendors set up shop near RR Revival to sell food, crafts, flea market and other goods. That included mushrooms, floral bouquets, jewelry, upcycled clothing, hand-painted seasonal décor and much more. If you weren’t in a fall mood when you arrived, you would be upon departure.
An artful display of seasonal merchandise for sale at RR Revival. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
Flowers for sale burst in autumn hues. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
RR Revival is packed inside and out with goods. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
Pumpkins and mums, ghosts and scarecrows, flowers and gourds in autumn hues, all set the stage to welcome the change in seasons. I even saw a young girl trying out her “Wizard of Oz” Dorothy costume, complete with red shoes, for Halloween.
Among the numerous food vendors set up in the street, this one from Gaylord and selling kettle corn. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
As I wandered, the caramel scent of kettle corn wafted through the air.
This duo added to the market with their music. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
Musicians played in the shelter of a small tent pitched on the street near RR Revival.
Upcycled shirts from The Thrifty Toad Shop included this autumn-themed one and others themed to sports, music, movies and much more. Ellorie is based in Cottage Grove and also sells on etsy. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
I appreciated the smallness of this craft and flea market and the ease with which I could meander and chat with sellers. The creativity and ingenuity of artisans always amazes me. Take Ellorie at The Thrifty Toad Shop. An avid thrifter, she turned her love of thrifting into a business. She buys second-hand shirts (mostly flannel) and graphic tees then upcycles them by cutting and sewing the t-shirt designs onto the backs of flannel shirts. I love this idea of reusing second-hand clothes, of creating something visually interesting and different. I’m no fashionista. But for someone like me who wears a lot of t-shirts and flannel (come autumn), Ellorie’s shirts are the perfect fit.
An example of the art created by Patti of A Touch from the Heart Creations based in Chaska. Patti brought mostly autumn and Christmas art to the market. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
Under another tent, Patti of A Touch from the Heart Creations also upcycles, painting seasonal designs onto old shovels, spades, pails, gas cans and more.
Shellie, from nearby Webster, chats with customers inside the tent displaying her mostly autumn and Christmas-themed crocheted creations. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
At Shellie’s Stitches Everything Crochet, it’s all about crocheting—Christmas trees, snowmen, pumpkins and, well, whatever this crafter wants to make and vend.
A representative from Dispatch Dogs of Lonsdale was on hand to talk about supporting dogs in need through fostering, transporting and fundraising. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
Loved this Minnesota shaped vintage ashtray with key town names and locations on the back and for sale from a flea market vendor. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
RR Revival organized the market. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
This event, along Railway Street near the grain elevators in Lonsdale and billed as the RR Revival Flea Market, proved a wonderful way to welcome autumn.
This thrift shop is packed with goods and is one I’ve shopped before. A small ice cream shop has been added to the space. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
Two blocks away, the Something for All Consignment/Thrift Store also drew me inside to shop in the building’s nooks and crannies. Outside the shop, kids (mostly) could pose behind seasonal photo cut-outs, decorate a mini pumpkin, play with an oversized Jenga. There were wooden ghosts, jack-o-lanterns crafted from gas can, fiery salsa and more for sale, too.
Halloween decor and pumpkins for sale outside Something for All. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
I left Lonsdale without a single purchase. But what I bought was a few hours of contentment and enjoyment in a small town with a grain elevator, a familiar rural landmark that will always claim a piece of my heart.
Fest-goers, some in festive attire, gathered at picnic tables and under tents. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
ATTENDING OKTOBERFEST IN NEARBY DUNDAS last Saturday, I felt a sense of unity, of community, of celebration. It felt good. We were all there just to have fun. Even the kids.
Kids roll down the hillside near the main celebration tent. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
I love this photo of this young boy watching the adults dance. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
On the edge of the fest grounds, a place for kids to paint pumpkins. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
From dancing to painting pumpkins, riding in a barrel train and rolling down a hillside, the youngest among the fest-goers appeared to have as much fun as the adults.
Volunteers are behind the success of Oktoberfest. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
I love that organizers thought of the kids. It takes a lot of man, and woman, power to run an event like this in a town with a population of some 1,800. I’m grateful to the many volunteers who stepped up so the rest of us could come and enjoy ourselves on a lovely Saturday of clouds mixed with sun and occasional showers.
Three of the remaining contestants in the women’s mug holding contest. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
As I roamed the fest grounds, chatted with people, encouraged my husband in the mug holding contest, sang some German songs, watched enthusiastic dancers, drank beer, and shared savory and raspberry handhelds from Martha’s Eats & Treats, plus cheese curds from the Dundas Dukes baseball team, I thought, I’m having such a good time.
Biking through downtown Dundas past the car show, these kids wore festive German hats. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
Umbrellas came out when a brief shower passed through. I ducked into a tent and used Randy’s jacket to protect my camera. I wasn’t expecting rain. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
Even some of the youngest came dressed in German costumes. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
It’s fun to photograph events like this, too. To take in the activities, the details. To notice kids rolling in the grass, a boy splashing in a puddle, a toddler hidden by an umbrella, two kids pedaling a two-seat bike down Dundas’ main drag…
Loved all the German messages on shirts such as this wish for a good day to everyone. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
The adults are equally as interesting to watch. I loved seeing the happy faces, the conversations, the mixing of fest-goers in this small Cannon River town with the champion baseball team, several bars, a makerspace, Martha’s Eats & Treats, a paint store, Chapel Brewing, a big box store along the highway and more.
An enthusiastic emcee under the big tent. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
Oktoberfest focused on celebrating German culture and heritage in music, dance, song, food, drink, dress. Whether you were German or not really didn’t matter. On this day, this gathering was mostly about having a good time, connecting, and building community among family, friends and strangers.
Raising their commemorative bier mugs at Oktoberfest in Dundas. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
BIER FLOWED.Musik pulsed. People of all ages danced and sang and visited and ate and drank, simply having a wunderbar time in the small town of Dundas. Randy and I were among the fest-goers, celebrating our first ever Oktoberfest Saturday afternoon. Why did we wait so long?
Dancing to the musik of The Bavarian Musikmeisters. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
This, for lack of a better phrase, was a whole lot of fun.
Deutsche costumes were prevalent. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
Lots of hats decorated with pins. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
Dancing in Deutsche costumes and street clothes. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
The mood proved jovial, festive and cheerful. Attendees really got in the spirit of the day, arriving in costume—lederhosen and dirndls and hats adorned with pins.
Chapel Brewing in Dundas served bier, cider and non-alcoholic drinks. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
An assortment of mugs and steins sit on a picnic table. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
A stash of bier kegs at the Chapel Brewing tap tent. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
I arrived not quite knowing what to expect. Clearly many were seasoned in Oktoberfest, carrying their own massive steins and mugs to Chapel Brewing’sbier tap wagon. Lines formed outside the local craft brewer’s bier dispensing site.
Attendees celebrated inside and outside tents on the festival grounds in downtown Dundas. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
The Bavarian Musikmeisters perform under the big tent. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
The song leader first taught attendees how to pronounce the Deutsche words before leading them in a boisterous drinking song. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
Under the big tent, crowds packed the space to overflowing. Here the 35-member Twin Cities-based band, The Bavarian Musikmesiters, performed Deutsche songs while fest-goers listened, danced and even sang in Deutsch.
Randy, left, and other contestants compete in the mug holding competition. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
When a mug holding contest was announced, Randy stepped up to join a group of guys competing to see who could hold a water-filled mug the longest. One-handed. Straight out in front, even with your shoulder. No elbow bending. Randy finished third out of eight. Not bad for the oldest among the competitors. The winner works an office job and lifts 15-pound hand weights at work. But the women, competing with each other at the same time, outlasted the men. Winners kept their mugs and got a free bier.
One of the largest and most detailed bier steins I saw at Oktoberfest. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
Many times people lifted their bier-filled mugs, steins and plastic cups in Prost! Cheers.
Vendors set up shop along the street next to the Oktoberfest grounds. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
A barrel train barrels along the sidewalk, returning from Memorial Park to the fest site. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
Little Prairie United Methodist Church served up Deutsche foods and more. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
There was lots to cheer about here from entertainment to food and drink, a craft fair, a collector’s car and motorcycle show, and activities for kids.
A fest-goer carries his stein to the bier wagon. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
I took it all in, celebrating my Deutsche heritage, trying to remember the Deutsch I learned in high school and then in college. I’ve forgotten most of the Mother tongue. No one much cared. Rather, the focus was on fun, Deutsche style fun. Prost!
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NOTE: Please check back for more photos from Dundas’ Oktoberfest.
This shows an edited section of the front page of the June 19, 2025, The Gaylord Hub. (Minnesota Prairie Roots photo June 2025)
ALTHOUGH I AM DECADES removed from working as a full-time journalist, my innate curiosity remains unchanged. I still want to gather the facts, get answers, and uncover the who, what, when, where, why and how. That has never left me.
Last Saturday, June 14, memories of working as a newspaper reporter in Gaylord, the county seat of Sibley County, rushed back as the top news story in Minnesota, and the nation, unfolded. That breaking news was the politically-targeted assassinations of Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and the shootings of Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette. The suspect now accused in the crimes, Vance Boelter, 57, lived near Green Isle. In rural Sibley County.
My first job fresh out of Minnesota State University, Mankato, in 1978 with a degree in mass communications, news/editorial emphasis, landed me in small town Gaylord, at The Gaylord Hub. I was affectionately dubbed “The Cub from the Hub,” or at least affectionately by those who appreciated my fair and balanced reporting. Some did not. Gaylord lies about 15 miles southwest of Green Isle, where Boelter was eventually apprehended near his home. Green Isle was mostly outside The Hub’s coverage area, although I recall writing a few stories from that part of Sibley County.
The bottom portion of the front page story written by Joseph Deis. (Minnesota Prairie Roots photo June 2025)
Today the June 19 edition of The Hub landed in my mailbox. I’d been waiting for this issue, curious to see how third-generation publisher and editor, Joseph Deis, would cover the largest news story in the paper’s history. The Hub front page headline reads: Shooting suspect lived in Gaylord a few years ago—Largest manhunt in state’s history ends in Sibley County.
I couldn’t help but think how hard Joe (he was just a kid when I worked for his dad, Jim, at The Hub) and other media have worked to cover this evolving story. It’s not easy to gather information from multiple sources and angles and keep everything straight. That said, law enforcement did an impressive job of informing the media and the public, at least from my at-a-distance perspective.
And Joe Deis did a good job of pulling everything together in a lengthy story that published in his weekly. His dad would be proud, as am I. His story included new-to-me information that Boelter and his family lived on the northwest side of Gaylord a few years ago. They mostly kept to themselves, the article states.
Now, as if the Gaylord/Sibley County connection to my past isn’t enough, there’s more. I left The Hub after several years to become a newspaper reporter at The Sleepy Eye Herald-Dispatch. The murder suspect grew up in Sleepy Eye, graduating from the public high school in 1985. (I was long gone.) Boelter returned to his rural southern Minnesota hometown, living with his family in Sleepy Eye from 2008-2011 and working at Del Monte. And he apparently preached occasionally at church services held in the high school gym, according to media reports. If I know one thing about Sleepy Eye, it’s that the community is deeply religious, with an especially strong Catholic base. I have no idea what Boelter’s childhood faith background may be. But he graduated from an interdenominational Bible college in Texas in 1990 and served as an evangelical missionary in the Democratic Republic of Congo in recent years.
These two connections to my past rattled me. But they also reminded me that, even in rural areas, a reporter’s job can be about more than covering government, sports, community events and the everyday happenings of small town life. Sometimes it can be about covering a really big, life-changing story. A story that grabs headlines locally, statewide, nationally and internationally as did the manhunt in Sibley County, in the readership area of a small town weekly newspaper where I once covered the news.
Vendors set up and shoppers shop in front of an historic church and school at the 2024 RCHS Spring Flea Market. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo May 2024)
TIS THE SEASON of sales for anyone who appreciates used and local handcrafted and homemade goods. That would be me.
The seasonal-themed paint-by-number paintings I regret not buying at a past RCHS Flea Market. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo 2022)
Saturday brings a flood of such sales to my area beginning with the Rice County Historical Society Annual Spring Flea Market from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. at the RCHS in Faribault. I’ve attended this spring and fall event often, both as a shopper and a photographer. Well, and also as a place to connect with others. From antiques and collectibles to glassware, handcrafted goods and more, the offerings are varied and many, as are those who attend. I love catching up here with people I haven’t seen in a while.
Flea market merch, old Minnesota polka albums. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)
Over in the much smaller community of Nerstrand to the east of Faribault, the town is hosting city-wide garage sales, also from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday. I’ve never been to yard sales in Nerstrand. But this Saturday may be a good time to start. Among those vending used goods are two churches. St. John’s United Church of Christ, Wheeling Township, will be selling at the city park pavilion. And Nerstrand United Methodist Church hosts its sale at the church, offering household items, clothing, vintage goods and more.
This sign marks a much-loved small town meat market. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)
That “more” includes food—donuts, rolls, beverages and Nerstrand weiners. The weiners, which I suppose you could say are “famous,” come from Nerstrand Meats & Catering. The meat market has crafted old-fashioned wood-smoked meats since 1890. Unfortunately, the market will be closed during the city-wide garage sales, likely to the dismay of my husband (who loves Nerstrand weiners; there’s a package in our fridge right now) and many others. But the butcher shop and its next door eatery, Boots and Lu’s Cafe, are temporarily closed for good reason. They are renovating and expanding with reopening set for early June.
In the meantime, Nerstrand Meats meats are available at their Lakeville storefront (didn’t previously know they had one) and in area grocery stores.
Artist Jordyn Brennan painted this mural on WildWood of Nerstrand. There’s a green space on this side of the event center/gathering place. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2024)
A few doors down from the meat shop, WildWood of Nerstrand will host a May Market from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday inside and out its event center, easily-identified by a beautiful sprawling floral mural. Simply reading through the lengthy list of local crafters, artists, bakers and growers is enough to get me interested in attending. Here’s a sampling of those creative business names: The Dancing Baker Co., Papa Bear Bar-B-Que, Rustic Woods by Gavinn, Cookie Cruiser, Plants Need Sunshine, Grumpy Dwarf Iron & Fine Leather, and Happy HomeSteader. See what I mean?
WildWood is located in a renovated historic building in Nerstrand. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo October 2024)
Besides all those handcrafted goods and homemade foods offered at the May Market, attendees can also enjoy outdoor music and treats. This event is about much more than local sales. It’s also about bringing people together, about connecting, about building and celebrating community.
One of two hardware stores in small town Waterville. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)
Over in Waterville to the west of Faribault and in Lakeville to the north in the south metro, you will find more city-wide garage sales on Saturday. Tis the season when garage doors rise to a treasure-trove of goods, when driveways crowd with tables overflowing with excess and unwanted items, when another’s cast-offs may be just what you want or need. Or don’t need.
Shopping at the 2024 RCHS Spring Flea Market. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo May 2024)
Happy shopping, wherever you live!
TELL ME: Do you shop flea markets, garage/yard/rummage sales and/or maker markets? If yes, why? I’d like to hear about your experiences, your finds.
Montgomery Kolacky Days royalty introduce themselves at the Czech May Day KCHK Radio tent, from left to right, Miss Congeniality Tayla Kline, 1st Princess Olivia Skluzacek and Queen Neysa Anderson. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
NEARLY EVERY SMALL TOWN community celebration comes with royalty. And Montgomery, Minnesota, is no exception. While attending Czech May Day in this Le Sueur County town on Sunday afternoon, I saw a whole lot of royalty.
Gathering around the May Pole for a royal photo before the pole raising. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
I am impressed by the poise and confidence of these young women who represent not only their community, but also their Czech heritage. They are well-spoken, graceful, truly deserving of their royal positions.
A sampling of the Kolacky Days queen portraitsringing the walls of the Arts & Heritage Center of Montgomery. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)
Since 1931, Montgomery has crowned princesses and a queen during its annual late July Kolacky Days celebration. Kolacky is a Czech treat, a sweet bun with a fruit or poppyseed filling. Montgomery calls itself the Kolacky Capital of the World and perhaps rightly so. These folks love this Czech pastry, which is baked in home kitchens and by the thousands at Franke’s Bakery, a community staple since 1914.
The flag of Slovakia, which was once part of Czechoslovakia, flies at the Czech May Day celebration. The flag of the Czech Republic also flew. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
Montgomery’s 2025-2026 Masopust King Isaak Worm introduces himself. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
A royal sash. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
There’s a whole lot of pride in being of Czech ancestry and I love that about Montgomery. These folks share their heritage, teaching all of us about culture, food, traditions and more still celebrated and honored generations removed from the homeland. They celebrate Czech Masopust (which has a Masopust king), Czech May Day and Kolacky Days.
Royalty take a break to visit and enjoy the May Day entertainment. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
You’ll find Montgomery’s royalty at these events, promoting community and heritage. Area high school juniors living within a five-mile radius of Montgomery or neighboring Kilkenny are eligible to enter the Montgomery Kolacky Days queen competition. They are judged in three categories: interview, talent and evening gown.
On the state level, Miss Czech Slovak Minnesota represents the Bohemian heritage. Here she holds a May Pole ribbon in Montgomery. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
Those chosen as the queen, first and second princesses and Miss Congeniality must then attend 15 specific events during their year-long reign. Now that takes time and commitment. They are rewarded with not only scholarships, but also new friendships, travel and a wonderful opportunity to shine a spotlight on Montgomery and its Czech and Slovak heritage.
I saw lots of these red royal family t-shirts at Czech May Day. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
I observed lots of support for these young women who represent Montgomery in traditional Czech costumes at events throughout Minnesota. Their families sport red t-shirts with “Royal Family” emblazoned across the back. Elementary-aged girls also wear red tees reading “Kolacky Days Royal Little Sister.” Future princesses or queens perhaps.
Miss Czech Slovak Minnesota Queen Sarah Langridge of Prior Lake holds a May Pole ribbon. She moved from Europe to Minnesota at age eight. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
Even the current Miss Czech Slovak Minnesota queen attended Czech May Day in Montgomery entertaining the crowd in song, but mostly gracing everyone with her presence.
Gathering around the May Pole. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
As these young women mingled and later wound ribbons around a May Pole, I considered how much they care about their Czech culture and heritage—enough to carry on a royal tradition of 91 years.
Multiple ages perform traditional Czech and Slovak folk dances in traditional costumes. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
WHENEVER I PHOTOGRAPH an event, a place, a whatever, I use my camera to tell a story. And that means framing not only overall scenes, but also focusing close-ups. It means, too, that I am conscious of moments which convey emotions, feelings, all part of the story.
A sweet face conveys serenity during a folk dance. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
The Czech May Day celebration in Montgomery, a small southern Minnesota town, offered an ideal opportunity to create a visual story celebrating the community’s Czech heritage. That event centered on music, dance and traditional costumes.
Colorful traditional Czech attire created a festive scene. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
This was, in many ways, a photographer’s playground. And, by that I mean simply a heckuva lot of fun to photograph with endless photo ops. Colorful, detailed attire and constant movement had me clicking the shutter button of my Canon camera as a story unfolded before my eyes.
My favorite photo from Czech May Day. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
Yet, it was the quiet moments, too, which caught my eye. When a young dancer stepped away from the circle of dancers so her mom, seated next to me, could re-tie the ribbon around her neck, I aimed my camera lens upward and caught the tender moment. It was sweet and loving and profoundly endearing. To be witness to that felt like a gift. It is my favorite photo from Czech May Day.
I observed many women holding the hands of girls before, during and after dances. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
Likewise, as I zoomed in on the hands of dancers, I saw a woman’s hand clasping a child’s hand. That, too, speaks of tenderness, love, care and mentoring. We’ve all experienced the protection and guidance of a reassuring hand. This photo shows a truly relatable human moment.
The colors of the Czech and Slovak flags are reflected in these traditional dresses. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
Full skirts flared during the dances. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
So many beautiful Czech dresses… (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
As I watched the multi-aged dancers, I was taken by their colorful attire, by detailed embroidery, eyelet lace, aprons tied around waists, crisscrossed lacing, vests, flying ribbons and patterns and floral wreaths. It was like looking through an ever-changing kaleidoscope via my camera lens.
This young boy was among the few males who were part of the folk dancers. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
When I caught a young boy with outstretched arm in a circle of dancers, I caught more than that choreographed movement. I also captured his concentration, his sense of pride in being part of a celebration honoring his heritage.
This woman portrays confidence and strength of character in my eyes. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
And when I photographed an emcee in her traditional dress, I saw grace and strength, not just a portrait.
May Day attendees could try on traditional Czech attire at this photo cut-out and a second one. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
The St. Paul Czech and Slovak Folk Dancers and Sokol Children Dancers are only one part of my visual storytelling of Czech May Day in Montgomery. On Tuesday I shared the overall story in images and words. Today I focus on those traditional dancers, on their dress and movement and those stand-alone moments when they connected individually. And with me.
A section of Montgomery’s Main Street with Franke’s Bakery (known for its kolacky) on the far left and Pizzeria 201 on the right. In the distance to the right is Heritage Park, site of the Czech May Day celebration. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
MONTGOMERY, MINNESOTA HAS CZECHED the box on one more reason to love this Le Sueur County community of 3,200 some 20 miles west of Faribault. That’s Czech May Day.
Czech royalty wait in line at the KCHK Radio tent to introduce themselves to the crowd. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
Sunday afternoon, on a sunshine-filled spring day as perfect as they come in southern Minnesota, Randy and I headed to Montgomery to Czech out this annual event. What we found at appropriately-named Heritage Park were a community, a region, a whole lot of people proud of their Bohemian roots.
A member of the Czech Heritage Club sports celebration buttons on his vest. Some he’s been to, some he hasn’t. (MInnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
A member of the Czech Heritage Club even tried to convince Randy and me that we might have some Czech blood given our German ethnicity. I suppose it’s possible, but unlikely based on knowledge of our family ancestries. But who are we to disagree with a man wearing a traditional Czech vest plastered with buttons like BOHEMIAN POWER and A KOLACH (kolache/kolacky) A DAY KEEPS THE DOCTOR AWAY? He even schooled us about “Minnesota’s Czech Triangle,” which includes Montgomery and the neighboring communities of Lonsdale, New Prague and Veseli.
Czech dancer topiaries, Alenka and Vlada, created by Meghan Petricka, a former Miss Kolacky Days queen, welcome attendees to the Czech May Day celebration. Czech and Slovak flags fly in the background. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
Mostly, though, this event was about music and dance with entertainment by the Czech Area Concertina Club,St. Paul Czech and Slovak Folk Dancers, and Sokol Children Dancers. I was mesmerized by the mostly women and girls spinning and circling and stepping, their colorful skirts twirling as they moved to the steady rhythm of Czech music that sounded a whole lot like a German polka to me. But I am no music expert and, I suppose if I asked my new Heritage Club friend, he would be quick to explain the difference.
Dancing in traditional dress. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
Dancers wore flowers and ribbons on their heads. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
The dancing included jumping. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
On this day it was not as much about learning as observing and enjoying. I watched and photographed, weaving in and out of the crowd, pausing, too, to take it all in, to be in the moment. I saw precision and concentration in well-rehearsed dances. I especially liked the mixing of ages, how women and elementary-aged girls paired, seasoned performers mentoring the young, passing along heritage to the next generation. Their joy was palpable as they clasped hands, leapt, spun. I found myself tapping my foot.
Members of the Czech Area Concertina Club make music. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
Likewise, the Concertina Club set my foot bouncing and my mind wondering. How can these musicians possibly manage to press the right buttons while also moving their squeezeboxes in and out? But they did and created pulsing music in the process.
Raising the May Pole. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
It was the May Pole, though, and subsequent dancing which centered the celebration. The raising of the Majka by a team of men was, in itself, impressive to watch. Randy suggested I sit in a “safe” location lest the towering conifer, stripped of its bark and topped with a ring of flowers and spruce top, topple. He needn’t have worried about my chosen photographic position. These guys, using thick poles, ropes, sawhorses and brawn, easily guided the Majka up and then into a pre-dug hole before stabilizing and securing it. They made the process look easy.
Grabbing ribbons on the May Pole. Two circles circled the pole. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
The floral wreath near the top of the May Pole. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
Ready to circle the May Pole. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
Montgomery Kolacky Days and Miss Czech Slovak Minnesota royalty mostly comprised the first group to circle the May Pole. I will say, though, as I sat baking in the hot sun, it seemed to take an interminably long time to separate the 16 wide ribbons streaming from the May Pole and to get everyone into place. Yet, once the walk, not really a dance, began around the tree, it appeared to go seemingly flawlessly, at least to me.
Czech treats and other baked and canned goods were available from Czech Sis Kitchen. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
American-Czech folk artist and illustrator Doreen McKenney created and vended greeting cards, coloring books and more. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
Working at the Czech style hot dog stand. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
By then I was feeling overheated. So Randy and I headed back toward the van, passing food and beverage stands selling Czech hot dogs and beer, vomacka, kolacky and more. Next time we won’t eat before we come…although we did buy an authentic fruit-filled kolache from two Czech immigrants at the Czech Sis Kitchen.
Painting a wing for the Wing Walk. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
We also passed other vendors and a painting station where anyone could dip a brush and work on painting customized wings as part of The Montgomery Wings Mural Walk. That features butterfly wings scattered around town.
Posy Floral & Gifts vended May Day baskets and more. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2025)
Art, community pride and heritage—even if not of my German ethnicity—draw me to Montgomery. I love this small town with its old-time bakery, meat market and barbershop, its arts and heritage center, its brewery, historic buildings and signage, its homegrown specialty shops and much more. And now that “much more” includes the celebration of May Day, Czech style.
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FYI: Please check back for more Czech May Day photos. I shot more than 200 images and would like to share a few more of my favorites in follow-up posts.
An artistic interpretation of the night sky painted on the underside of the water tower in Cosmos, Minnesota. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2024)
THE NIGHT SKY HOLDS a vastness that makes me feel small. It’s mysterious and dark and, in some ways, intimidating. Yet, it possesses an alluring beauty that draws me to gaze heavenward. To imagine. To delight. To stand in awe of its infinity.
Fascination with the night sky seems universal. Kids, like my kindergartner grandson and, years ago, my own son, fixated on the solar system and all the night sky encompasses. I, too, find it interesting, although not to the degree of learning everything I can about the expanse above me.
Rather, if I learn of a newsworthy event in the night sky, I may step out after dark to look. Right now, that’s a seven-unit “planet parade” of Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Mars and Saturn visible to the naked eye after sunset and Uranus and Neptune visible via a visual aid.
My first view of the space-themed water tower in Cosmos. The town is located at the intersections of Minnesota State Highways 4 and 7. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2024)
All of this reminds me of a cosmic discovery I made this past fall while on the back roads to Morris in far western Minnesota. In the small town of Cosmos, population around 500, in southwestern Meeker County, I discovered a unique space-themed water tower and community event, the Cosmos Space Festival.
The underbelly of the Cosmos water tower is themed to space. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2024)
With a town name like Cosmos (originally called Nelson), it should come as no surprise that the community would build on the Greek word meaning “order and harmony.” The cosmic focus makes this place along Minnesota State Highways 7 and 4 stand out among all the other little towns in this part of the state. When I spotted the water tower with a space shuttle, planets, stars and more painted on its underbelly, I immediately wanted to stop and photograph this work of art, this town identifier.
You’ll find cosmic street names in Cosmos. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2024)
In the process, I discovered that all the streets are named after planets and constellations and that the town celebrates the Cosmos Space Festival annually on the third weekend of July. That started in 1969 as a celebration of man’s (Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in Apollo 11) first moon landing. I’m old enough to have watched that monumental moment in history on a black-and-white television.
Cosmos Space Festival banners hang throughout the downtown, shown here. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2024)
The Cosmos space fest has been going strong ever since, marking its 57th year on July 17-20, 2025. The festival features your usual small town celebration activities like street dances, softball tournaments, city-wide garage sales, a hog roast, pedal tractor pull, pony rides, beer garden, fireworks, parade and much more. That includes the crowning of fest royalty—Little Miss Universe and Man on the Moon. Gotta love those cosmic titles.
And you gotta love how kids (and adults) get excited about the night sky. Locally, River Bend Nature Center is hosting its annual Minnesota Starwatch Party from 8-10 p.m. on Thursday, March 27, with retired meteorologist, amateur astronomer, stargazing columnist and author Mike Lynch. I attended the starwatch party with my husband and son many years ago. Lynch brings telescopes and vast knowledge, so this is a hands-on educational program.
The memorable water towerin Cosmos, zip code 56228. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2024)
Another opportunity to view the night sky through telescopes happens more frequently, from 8-10 p.m. the first Friday of every month inside and outside Goodsell Observatory on the campus of Carleton College in neighboring Northfield. I’ve been to this free monthly activity twice, again years ago with my husband and son. The next open house is on Friday, March 7. But only if the night sky is clear for viewing.
The Cosmos water tower is among the best I’ve seen. It’s interesting, unique, artsy and makes this small Minnesota town stand out. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2024)
Whatever your interest level in the night sky, it’s fascinating. Vast. Dark. The subject of poetry and song and science. And above all, it’s a cosmic wonder, whether viewed from Cosmos, Faribault, Northfield or your little place in the big wide universe.
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
Finding peace outside Nerstrand Elementary School & elsewhere December 2, 2025
Tags: art, commentary, education, learning, Minnesota, Nerstrand, Nerstrand Elementary Charter School, Nerstrand Peace Garden, peace, school, small towns, Ukraine, words
I CAME OF AGE in the early 1970s near the end of the Vietnam War. Those were years of national protests and pushing for peace. Young people, especially, embraced the word “peace”—in speech, in fashion, in actions. Like so many other teens of my era, I flashed the peace sign, wore peace-themed jewelry, drew the peace symbol on the covers of school notebooks. I once wrote a poem about peace, long forgotten now and tucked into a cardboard box among other long ago musings.
Lately, I’ve been musing about peace during these tumultuous times in which we live. So I challenged myself to look around for that which uplifts, enlightens, makes me smile. Gives me a sense of peace.
I found what I sought in art, actions and, most of all, words. I am, after all, a wordsmith. Someone who works with words. Building, shaping, sharing. Someone who understands that words hold great power to build up or destroy. Someone who understands that words matter. Greatly. They can inspire, give us hope, offer peace. Or just the opposite.
With peace on my mind, I revisited the Peace Garden at Nerstrand Elementary Charter School in the rural farming community of Nerstrand, population not quite 280 and perhaps best known as home to 135-year-old family-owned Nerstrand Meats & Catering.
In 1999, the school was established as a peace site with the garden started in 2000 on the front lawn. That’s 25 years now of honoring peace. In words, art and plantings, this garden features 14 countries.
Signage at the garden emphasizes that we all live under the same sun and moon on the same planet. We are all connected and all part of building a world “to make everyone proud.” That includes the U.S., Russia, China, Mexico, Canada… This is not a political message posted outside this small town Minnesota elementary school. Rather, this is a simple statement about those of us who call planet Earth our home.
I arrived on an autumn day looking for the newest addition to the Peace Garden. Ukraine. And I found it near a picnic table and bike rack—a yellow and blue (the colors of the Ukrainian flag) planter filled with towering sunflowers past their summer prime. As I paused and read the singular word “Kiev” on a sign, I thought of the people of Ukraine. Oh, how they must yearn for peace in the midst of ongoing war.
Peace on an international scale feels elusive, as it’s always been. But then the same can be said nationally. Disagreements have flamed into much more than differences of opinion.
Yet, here I stood outside a school where children grow their knowledge, begin to understand that this world is much bigger than Nerstrand or Rice County or Minnesota or the U.S. I’m thankful that each day, as these student walk into school, they see the word “PEACE” atop the roof.
These children are our future. Perhaps they will grow to make peace marks upon their communities, maybe even the world. Perhaps they will live just ordinary lives, living peacefully among others while doing good. There’s so much potential.
I needed to walk around the Nerstrand Peace Garden, take in the words, art, plantings. In the quiet of this small town where the school sits next to farm fields, peace feels possible.
© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling