travel | Minnesota Prairie Roots

One sweet antique shop in Mankato, on the way to Hiniker (not Golden) Pond January 16, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:00 AM
Tags: antique shops, antiques, collectibles, Hiniker Pond, Mankato, Mankato Poetry Walk and Ride, Minnesota, poetry, Pond Road Antiques, Schmidt beer collectibles, shopping, travel, vintage, vintage cowboy hat, vintage toy accordion

Love these letters showcased at Pond Road Antiques.

I DON’T RECALL exactly when I began to appreciate antique stores. It certainly was not in my 20s or 30s, nor probably even in my early 40s.

But now, closer to age 60 than to 50, I’ve developed a fondness for these shops that hold memories of my past. Nostalgia sells.

Not all antiques shops are created equal, though. Too much old stuff stuffed inside a dark, cramped and musty building overwhelms me. Artfully arranged merchandise in sufficient light draws me for a closer look.

Inside Pond Road Antiques.

Pond Road Antiques, just off Highway 169 at 111 Butterworth Street in Mankato, ranks as one of the most visually appealing antique shops I’ve shopped. While the exterior, a fancied-up new pole shed style building, doesn’t fit the merchandise inside, don’t judge a book by its cover. Inside you will find 38 dealers showcasing their wares in a visually pleasing way. Think designer display.

Here are a few photos of the merchandise (I failed to photograph the exterior) shot this past summer after a stop at nearby Hiniker Pond Park, where my poem, “The Thrill of Vertical,” is currently posted as part of the Mankato Poetry Walk and Ride. (Click here to learn about that poetry project.)

My poem, “The Thrill of Vertical,” located next to Hiniker Pond.

I’d suggest a jaunt to Mankato to check out that poetry, scattered throughout Mankato and North Mankato, and to peruse the appropriately-named Pond Road Antiques.

My husband, Randy, and I were thrilled to find this vintage straw cowboy hate. We reminisced for awhile about watching Westerns on TV and getting new cowboy hats each summer.

My husband, Randy, and I were thrilled to find this vintage straw cowboy hat. We reminisced for awhile about watching Westerns on TV and getting new cowboy hats each summer while growing up.

With a soon-to-be son-in-law with the last name of Schmidt, I find myself drawn to Schmidt beer collectibles.

With my eldest now married to a Schmidt, I find myself drawn to Schmidt beer stuff.

I nearly flipped when I saw this toy accordion, just like one I had as a child. I loved my accordion and it is the only musical instrument I've ever played.

I nearly flipped when I saw this toy accordion, just like one I had as a child. I loved my accordion. It is the only musical instrument I ever had the opportunity to play. I should have bought this although, if I recall correctly, the price was higher than I wanted to pay. But how I would love that toy accordion…

Unusual for sure and, well, I've always thought grasshoppers were interesting insects to watch.

Unusual for sure and, well, I’ve always thought grasshoppers are interesting insects to watch. Grasshoppers were everywhere on my native prairie when I was growing up. I love how items like this are being repurposed as art.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE antique shop?

FYI: Pond Road Antiques is open from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday – Saturday and from noon – 5 p.m. Sundays.

Comments (35)

Family love knows no distance January 15, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:00 AM
Tags: Boston, college, family, life, Minnesota, parenting, thoughts, travel

File photo, Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. The son flies Southwest, not Delta.

TUESDAY, 6:39 a.m. and I’ve just arrived home from the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport after a slow drive there on treacherous, snow-packed roads with my husband and son. The 19-year-old is on his way to Boston, back to college.

Wednesday, 6:00 a.m. and he is in Medford, Massachusetts, now, settled into his dorm, about to start his second semester at Tuft’s University.

And I am a sad mama. I go through this every time my son or my daughter, who lives 300 miles away in northeastern Wisconsin, leaves. I cannot help it. I love having my “kids,” who are not at all “kids” anymore, home. Given the distance two of them live from Minnesota, I don’t see them as often as I would like.

The son, left, the eldest, the son-in-law and the second eldest daughter.

The son, left, the eldest and her husband, and the second eldest daughter after I snapped “posed” photos when we were last together. I actually prefer this image to the perfectly posed shots given the love and affection it reveals.

We—the husband, the eldest daughter and her husband (who live in the metro), the middle daughter and the son—were all together the Friday evening before Christmas to celebrate the holidays. For that I am grateful. I treasure these times we have as a family. Many families are spread far and wide across this country and world and see each other less often than we do each other.

But when my son left this time, it was different. He’s accepted a summer internship in Boston. I don’t know when he will return to Minnesota. Over spring break? Maybe. Maybe not. Depends on his plans and the cost of a flight.

That is the reality of mothering—this separation.

Yet, distance and separation do not limit love. And for that I am grateful.

HOW DO YOU COPE with long distance separation from family? And how do you stay connected?

Comments (26)

What’s the story behind this license plate? January 13, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:00 AM
Tags: cats, Minnesota, Northfield, personalized license place, travel

THE THING ABOUT PERSONALIZED license plates is this: I always wonder about the story behind the choice.

Is the owner of this Lincoln MKX, recently photographed along Minnesota State Highway 3 in Northfield, a cat owner? Or simply a lover of cat naps? Or?

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Discovering an historic church in Garden City January 10, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:00 AM
Tags: churches, First Baptist Church, Garden City, historic building, Minnesota, National Register of Historic Places, small towns, travel

I found the doors of First Baptist Church locked while in Garden City this past July.

THE FRUSTRATING FACT for me as a photographer, when I come upon an aged church, is that most often I find the doors locked. I understand. Churches need to protect not only their buildings but also the valuables therein.

My first glimpse of this historic 1868 church.

So, unless you have been inside the First Baptist Church in Garden City or seen interior photos elsewhere, you will simply have to imagine what lies within this church constructed in 1868 a block from the Watonwan River.

Those 1868 cement blocks, up close.

Built of locally-made Geist and Huntzelman cement blocks, the building holds special significance as the earliest known use of concrete blocks in Minnesota. In 1980, the church was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Looking up toward the belfry.

It is built in the Greek Revival style, with a belfry added later. In 1959, a concrete block addition was added at the rear of the church.

How wonderful that this remains a functioning church.

Apparently the structure still functions as a church with the Rev. Harvey Hallada leading 9 a.m. Sunday worship services.

Now sometimes photographers, like my friend Jackie who blogs at “Who Will Make Me Laugh,” find a church door open. Jackie appreciates old churches, barns and drives in the country as much as I do. So be sure to click here to read Jackie’s post showcasing Pilot Mound Lutheran Church in the Chatfield area. She found one gem of a church and several other wonderful old buildings and scenes while on a recent Saturday afternoon drive with her husband.

I’d encourage all of you to follow Jackie and another photo blogger, Dan over at Dan Traun Photography, if you enjoy viewing photographic results of a drive in the country or through the city (that would be Dan).

A side view of the church in Garden City, located 60-70 miles from my home.

I’d encourage you also to find time in 2014 for country drives. There is much to be discovered nearby, in our own backyards, if only we will take the time to look.

FYI: These photos were taken in July during a brief stop in Garden City, south of Mankato along U.S. Highway 169. See posts from the past two days for additional images shot in Garden City.

Comments (21)

Zip code 56034 January 9, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:00 AM
Tags: Garden City, Garden City Post Office, Minnesota, post offices, small towns, travel

YESTERDAY I SHOWED YOU the quaint 154-year-old Blue Earth County Fairgrounds in Garden City, the fate of which will be decided this evening at a special shareholders meeting of the Blue Earth County Fair Association.

The Garden City, Minnesota, Post Office, housed in a former bank building.

Today, I reveal another gem in this unincorporated village along U.S. Highway 169 south of Mankato. That would be the post office.

I took my camera inside the post office on a July morning because, well, you just don’t see all that many post offices like the one in Garden City.

According to the postmistress, the post office has been housed in this former bank building since the 1960s.

It’s a glorious place from the old-fashioned front screen door to the tile floor to the woodwork, glazed windows and rows of vintage post office boxes.

THERE’S ONE MORE THING you should know about Garden City. Ten men, who “went on to be significant contributors to modern day industry giants like Piper, Jaffray, Archer Daniels Midland and GlaxoSmithKline,” once called Garden City home, according to promotional info for the book, The Remarkable Men of Garden City by E. Winston Grundmeier.

How’s that for small-town success?

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Deciding the future of the historic Blue Earth County fairgrounds January 8, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:00 AM
Tags: agriculture, Blue Earth County Fairgrounds, county fairs, Garden City, Mankato, Minnesota, opinion, rural life, travel

The beef and other barns are circled by aged oaks.

IN THE SHADE OF AGED OAKS sprawling along the banks of the Watonwan River in Garden City, agricultural buildings stretched long and lean as my husband and I drove through the Blue Earth County Fairgrounds on a July morning.

I was enamored with this charming and historic place, where buildings are labeled BEEF, SHEEP, POULTRY, FFA, 4-H EXHIBITS…

Just inside the entry to the Blue Earth County Fairgrounds.

For 154 years, folks have come here each summer to celebrate the area’s agricultural roots.

But now this bucolic spot, which so charmed me during that brief drive-through this past July, may no longer serve as the site for Blue Earth County’s fair. The fair board is looking to move the fair within a two-mile radius of nearby Mankato, according to information on the fair website.

A posting of fair sponsors just inside the front gate.

Thursday evening, Blue Earth County Fair Association shareholders meet at Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato to discuss the future of the fair, supported in the past by rural sponsors like Crystal Valley Coop, Watonwan Farm Service and the Blue Earth County Farm Bureau.

Shareholders will vote, beginning at 6:20 p.m., on whether to sell the Garden City fairgrounds. I’m not privy to financial details but, according to a story in the Mankato Free Press, the fair has consistently lost money in recent years. The thought is that moving the fair nearer the county’s center of population (Mankato) and adding amenities will increase attendance and better tell the story of agriculture. Click here to read the document, BLUE EARTH COUNTY FAIR: GROUNDS FOR GROWTH.

I expect this membership meeting may be a heated one pitting historians and preservationists against those favoring change, and country folks against city residents. I might be wrong.

If you buy a $5 share, you can vote. Once. There’s no buying multiple shares for multiple votes. Shares are available for purchase yet today (from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. and from 5-7 p.m.) at Busters on Madison Avenue in Mankato. And shares will be sold before the meeting, from 4:45-5:45 p.m. Thursday.

Open class exhibit buildings.

I’m not fully-informed on all sides of the issue. Yet I do know this: When my husband and I wove our way through the fairgrounds in Garden City, I was impressed by the historic character, the nostalgic charm, the quaint old buildings in the beautiful natural setting and the fact that a place like this still exists. There is something to be said for that, for the time-honored tradition of this fair and the pastoral appeal of this land. It is, undeniably, a picturesque place along the Watonwan River, a lovely gathering spot for the generations who have come here each summer to celebrate rural life.

LET’S HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS on the future of the Blue Earth County Fairgrounds. How would you vote? Move the fair to a site closer to Mankato or keep it here, in Garden City?

Comments (22)

Gold Bond Stamps memories December 27, 2013

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:00 AM
Tags: childhood memories, family, Gold Bond Stamps, Iowa, Rossville, sign, travel

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.

Comments (34)

Northfield, Minnesota: All decked out for Christmas December 26, 2013

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 10:27 AM
Tags: businesses, Christmas, holiday, Minnesota, Northfield, shopping, southern Minnesota, travel

A snippet of Division Street in downtown Northfield shortly before Christmas.

NORTHFIELD, IN MY OPINION, rates as one of southern Minnesota’s most visually appealing and charming river towns.

Nestled along the banks of the Cannon River, this college community of some 20,000 is historically-known as the place where the James-Younger Gang met its defeat during a failed bank robbery.

Merchandise displayed outside of an antique store.

The draw for many to Northfield, though, are the one-of-a-kind artsy shops and eateries dotting Division Street, the main downtown route bordered by primarily historic buildings.

Santa wasn’t in when I stopped at Bridge Square. But kids can meet with the Jolly Old Man in his very own holiday shack.

On a recent Sunday afternoon before Christmas, I strolled along a portion of one block over to the town center, Bridge Square, to capture the holiday scene.

Detailed holiday signage draws shoppers into businesses.

Northfield merchants know how to do Christmas right. It’s in the details—the words and colors and designs and ambiance—creating an aesthetically-pleasing set that draws you into the scene.

A scene in the bakery window.

Another view of that bakery window with historic buildings reflected.

The front window and door of the Eclectic Goat and Glass Garden Beaads.

Back to the antique store…

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What is this Minnesota bicyclist thinking? December 22, 2013

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 5:16 PM
Tags: bicyclist, biking, Lamberton, New Ulm, rural Minnesota, southwest Minnesota, sports, travel, U.S. Highway 14, weather, winter

Sun dogs photographed through the dirty passenger side window of the van this morning east of Lamberton along U.S. Highway 14.

Sun dogs photographed this morning through the dirty passenger side van window east of Lamberton along U.S. Highway 14 in southwestern Minnesota.

YOU KNOW IT’S COLD when sun dogs emerge, the wind whips flags straight out and a bank sign temperature reads five degrees Fahrenheit.

Strong winds drift snow across U.S. Highway 14 east of Lamberton this morning.

That would be southwestern Minnesota this morning as my family left my brother and sister-in-law’s rural Lamberton home after a family Christmas and began the 2 1/2-hour drive east back to Faribault.

After an hour on the road, we entered New Ulm where I photographed this scene at the intersection of Brown County Road 29 and U.S. Highway 14:

The biker, to the left in photo, caught my eye in New Ulm because of his attire.

The biker, to the left, caught my eye in New Ulm because of his attire.

Tell me, how could this bicyclist tolerate biking in shorts or without a cap on his head? I sincerely hope he didn’t have far to pedal on this official second day of winter. Exposed skin can freeze quickly in such brutal temps.

He was, at least, wearing gloves.

Comments (33)

Bins, bars & beer December 4, 2013

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:00 AM
Tags: bars, Cobden, grain bins, Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Highway, Minnesota, Minnesota Tubby's Bar & Grill, Ridin' High Saloon, rural life, rural Minnesota, small towns, travel, U.S. Highway 14

THE LAST TIME I WAS in Cobden, I told my husband, I was photographing a burning building.

That was decades ago, when I worked as a newspaper reporter and photographer for The Sleepy Eye Herald-Dispatch. Thirty-plus years later, I can’t recall what burned, but I think a bar.

Apparently little has changed in Cobden since I raced, with camera and notebook, to this community of 36 residents just off U.S. Highway 14 between Sleepy Eye and Springfield. As I remember, I borrowed a pen (because mine ran out of ink and why didn’t I have a spare?) from a firefighter. Interesting how a detail like that sticks with me.

Downtown Cobden with Tubby’s to the left and Ridin’ High to the right and the grain bins a few blocks away.

Today, two bars and grain bins define this community in southwestern Minnesota, which boasts some of our state’s best farmland.

A few months ago while en route to Lamberton, my husband turned our van north off the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Highway to circle through Cobden, past the grain bins and then between the two bars—Minnesota Tubby’s Bar & Grill and Ridin’ High Saloon—which comprise the downtown.

Tubby’s, in the old bank building.

There was no time to stop and explore, only a quick roll down of the van window to shoot the building exteriors under grey and drizzly skies. I wished we had time to park and peek inside Tubby’s, housed in the stately 1915 corner brick State Bank building. I wished I could yank away the sheets of brown metal siding that cover the windows. I wished I could see the old bank interior.

Bikers get a hearty welcome at Ridin’ High Saloon.

Across the street, Ridin’ High Saloon, from the looks of the exterior signage, caters to bikers.

The Saloon connects to the Back Porch, right.

The outdoor Back Porch hang-out.

The machine shed style open air Back Porch gives that rough-and-tumble beer drinking impression, a great place to hang out with friends on a warm summer evening.

A close-up of Tubby’s signage.

Maybe next stop in Cobden will be the charm with no fire to cover, no schedule to keep. Just time for a beer.

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Minnesota Prairie Roots

Writing and photography by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

One sweet antique shop in Mankato, on the way to Hiniker (not Golden) Pond January 16, 2014

Family love knows no distance January 15, 2014

What’s the story behind this license plate? January 13, 2014

Discovering an historic church in Garden City January 10, 2014

Zip code 56034 January 9, 2014

Deciding the future of the historic Blue Earth County fairgrounds January 8, 2014

Gold Bond Stamps memories December 27, 2013

Northfield, Minnesota: All decked out for Christmas December 26, 2013

What is this Minnesota bicyclist thinking? December 22, 2013

Bins, bars & beer December 4, 2013

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An essay of barn photos & memories; In praise of preserving country churches; & Testing the track during a Soap Box Derby trial run in Faribault

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