Fillmore County, more than once, was the top tobacco-producing county in Minnesota. Houston County ranked seventh in 1860, third in 1870 and then second in 1880, according to U. S. Department of Agriculture statistics. Fillmore vaulted to number one in 1890 with five acres yielding 7,158 pounds of tobacco. In 1900, Fillmore was still on top with 86 acres producing 105, 420 … [Read more...]
Pastor Devotion – Teach us to number our days…
By Pastor Kevin Barnhart Spring Grove Evangelical Free Thrumming in the deepest part of my heart was a steady reminder that this breath is a gift. I would like to tell you that eons ago I learned to number my days, but that isn’t altogether true. I am and have been learning this lesson for a lifetime. Every day we are being sharpened by God. Flawed…human... too often … [Read more...]
Do UFOs believe in you?
“A dark night in a city that knows how to keep its secrets, but one man is still trying to find the answers to life’s persistent questions — Guy Noir, Private Eye.” That’s from the old Prairie Home Companion radio program. “Do you believe in UFOs?” someone who wasn’t Guy Noir asked. Like everyone, he had some crackpot ideas like the Vikings winning a Super Bowl during his … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past Some stomped, others popped those large tobacco pests
Minnesota is not often associated with tobacco farming - more likely, Virginia or Kentucky. But there were tobacco fields in Houston County. Local historian Georgia Rosendahl wrote about her tobacco experiences after her father Oscar Kroshus, one day in the mid-1940s, announced he was going to grow tobacco on the family farm just southwest of Spring Grove. “He had told the … [Read more...]
Pastor Devotion – That was fast!
By Pastor Jeff Jacobs Unity Lutheran Parish - St. Paul, Saetersdal and St. Matthew’s, Granger One could say this for a “COVID” summer last year – it sure lasted a looong time. Chances are, like me, you felt this summer by contrast sped quickly. August has ended, September is upon us, school resumes and autumn is practically here – already?!? Of course, that is only our … [Read more...]
What part of “uffda” don’t you understand?
Boy, howdy! I’d been contentedly looking at myself from the inside. Then my alarm exploded at 4 a.m. I usually wake up before my alarm sounds, but not this morning. First, I thought the disruption was part of a nightmare. I couldn’t find a crevice to shove the shrieking alarm, so I got out of bed. I can sleep through anything that doesn’t wake me, but the alarm gave me … [Read more...]
Pastor Devotion – How firm a foundation?
By Pastor Stuart Weist First Baptist Church of Preston Where do you turn when the world is in chaos? Just a week ago I headed out for some one-on-one time with my 11-year-old son. We packed our bags and headed North to Bayfield, Wis., where we spent five wonderful days swimming, hiking, and camping on the shores of the Apostle Islands National Park. It was a great time of … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past Eight buildings burned during two nights of terror
The newspaper account read: “Saturday night, Tony Peters, who resides in the east part of town, was attracted by the barking of his dogs and upon hearing someone close the gate near his barn, he went near the place (and) heard two men talking rather low behind the barn. As soon as they saw Mr. Peters coming, they started out on a run across the fields. “The following night, at … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past Theatre destroyed just hours before the production
A man “carrying a casket upside down on his shoulders in the red glow of the flames, was a weird sight,” according to one account of a fire that caused the evacuation of caskets from the Schummers Building in Caledonia. Fire was a great threat to the survival of fledgling southeast Minnesota villages during the last half of the 1800s. With closely-clustered frame buildings … [Read more...]
The Flatulent Donkeys sang, “Tears in my goulash”
“Do you like flying squirrels?” “I don’t know, I’ve never flown one,” I told the inquiring caller. Flying monkeys are kind of creepy and I’ve never seen a flying cow or donkey. While on the subject of donkeys, I shared my intentions with my wife who responded, “Have you gone soft in the head?” She mumbled, “Give blood, play donkey ball.” I’d planned on riding … [Read more...]