From April 22-24, 2022, artists in SE Minnesota’s Bluff Country will open the doors to their creative spaces for a behind-the-scenes studio view not usually offered to the general public. During this annual self-guided event, these accomplished artists will be displaying their work, demonstrating their processes and selling pottery, paintings, turned wood items, jewelry, fiber … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past Horses traveled on trains, Knute’s big dream of a big barn
Part four of a series and the second concerning Knute Lee Mustangs moving from Montana to southeast Minnesota? Some took the train. Two Spring Grove men traveled by train to the “wild west” state of Montana where it was still possible to catch wild horses. Knute Lee and John Kjome purchased recently-domesticated (broken) mares and broncos and brought them back by rail to … [Read more...]
Beatty Darr achieves Eagle Scout
Beatty Darr of Troop 53, Rushford-Peterson area, has achieved the highest rank available of Eagle Scout. The celebration for this prestigious award was held on Sunday, March 20 at the American Legion in Rushford. Scoutmaster Thomas Butterfield presided over the ceremony. Beatty’s Eagle project was adding concrete and pavers to the flag pole at Oakwood (Sherwood) Cemetery in … [Read more...]
International Owl Center auctions owl art by Ukrainian children
Karla Bloem, executive director of the International Owl Center at Houston, was flabbergasted as she watched the ending of the recent online auction of 59 pieces of owl art created by Ukrainian children. “It was like high drama and every time I refreshed the total would go up thousands of dollars!” Bloem exclaimed. Bloem would have been happy to raise $6,000; at the end of the … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past If you had horses and a wagon and were willing to work…
Part 3 of a series Everyone owned them; many bought and sold them. Some bred them, but few caught and “broke” them. But Knute Lee did it all and even sang to horses. He was an extraordinary horseman of Houston County during the first two decades of the 1900s. Previous generations of the Lee family had immigrated from Norway to Black Hammer Township, where the family name … [Read more...]
Convergence CiderWorks A celebration of local
By Tanya O’Connor Convergence CiderWorks is a great spot for “a date night in tennis shoes,” says co-founder Natalie Naber. But there’s more. Naber’s quick to add that Decorah’s growing cider house also serves as a stop while biking, a family getaway, somewhere for “noshing on good eats” or looking for live music. It is, she says, about “just enjoying each other’s … [Read more...]
Decorah Women’s Weekend Out set for April 1-3 This year’s celebration marks event’s 20th anniversary
By Tanya O’Connor Here’s a fun fact from Decorah Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jessica Rilling: This small northeast Iowa city boasts over 40 women-owned businesses in the downtown district alone. Rilling invites visitors to shop, save, sip and (hopefully) soak up a bit of spring sunshine at the 2022 Women’s Weekend Out (WWO) event scheduled for Friday, April 1 … [Read more...]
Dinner honoring two Lanesboro elders
LANESBORO, MN, March 16, 2022 – The Lanesboro Area Chamber of Commerce and History Alive Lanesboro invite the public to a dinner on Wednesday, March 30, 2022, at Sons of Norway Lodge in Lanesboro to honor two local elders and those actors who told their stories in last fall’s History Alive Pop-Up Play. In the fall of 2021, History Alive Lanesboro presented a Pop-Up Play … [Read more...]
SEMAC Awards Arts Grants
On March 8, 2022, the Board of Directors of the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council (SEMAC) awarded 35 arts programming grants for a total of $155,335 in funding to applicants throughout southeastern Minnesota. This included 25 Individual Artist Grants for $100,335, five General Operating Support Grants to arts organizations for $50,000, three School Residency Grants for … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past Horse, farmer save each other when lives were threatened
Topper, Trigger, Champion, Silver and Buttermilk were all television and movie stars in the 1940s-50s. They were horses, arguably as famous as their human riders (Hopalong Cassidy, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, The Lone Ranger, Dale Evans). And there were the four-legged comic book heroes Thunder and Papoose transporting Red Ryder and Little Beaver. Before their exploits in media … [Read more...]