Since the coronavirus started to really impact our lives, it’s been amazing how people have shown their support for one another — and particularly local businesses. When I first heard that Governor Walz was issuing an executive order to shut down bars, restaurants, hair salons, and fitness centers on March 17, 2020, I was wondering how this would impact our small town … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past: Rise and fall of Riceford – stagecoach start, railroad rejection
Following an Indian trail, fur trader Henry Mower Rice forded a creek while surveying what would become a settlement that (along with the creek) would be named for him – the town of Riceford, located in Spring Grove Township along Riceford Creek in southwest Houston County on the Fillmore County line. Rice, later one of Minnesota’s first two senators, would be one of only two … [Read more...]
The attack of the fine fescue
By Al Batt “I want to sit up front with the adults!” I said that aloud while pushing a lawn mower this week. It didn’t matter. Nobody could hear what I said over the sound of the grass cutter or a mawn lower as Reverend Spooner, the unintentional creator of spoonerisms, might have called it. The importance of a well-manicured lawn is as small as the little end of nothing … [Read more...]
One Moment, Please… Wedding anniversary season
‘Tis the season for weddings, which means many couples are celebrating anniversaries this time of year. This year, my wife and I will be celebrating 20 years of marriage on July 8. That may seem like a long time, but we are just getting started by some measurable comparisons. A friend and neighbor, Eric Hammell, was recently passing by our house in Fountain. He slowed … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past From hymns to math lessons to museum — three centuries, three sites
Early schools and churches often began meeting in the homes of pioneer settlers. Simple one-room schoolhouses would often host church worship services before formal church buildings were constructed. It was different for Daley School, east of Caledonia, where a church building became a schoolhouse. Education began in the home of Timothy Hackett in January of 1856 before a … [Read more...]