It was a gift, a wish, a promise and a prayer (maybe a bunch of those), that created “Sister Luv.” Add to all that a dose of colorful creativity, dogged determination and some pretty big dreams, and you have a four-sister vocal quartet from Spring Valley that’s entertaining people and touching hearts across southeast Minnesota. The name captures it. Four sisters — Xena (21), … [Read more...]
Making good time going home from a good time
We took no vacations. We had to make good time going home from a family gathering because we didn’t have a good time taking vacations. My father drove. My mother rode shotgun. I sat in the backseat, as a free-range child not constrained by a seatbelt because there was no seatbelt there. I counted things I saw out the window — cows, dogs, tractors and pheasants. I tried to see … [Read more...]
Junco is an acronym for Just Until Nicer Conditions Occur
The temperature dropped as if it had spotted a State Patrol squad car. Then something landed in my yard. It was no mere bird. October 1 was the day I saw the first dark-eyed junco of the fall migrated into in my yard. I like juncos. I practice an appreciation for birds, but I was reminded of something Dr. Seuss wrote, “How did it get so late so soon? It’s night before it’s … [Read more...]
Historic memories of Fillmore County Turbulent political times prevalent in Fillmore County during poet Aaron L. Sleyster’s stay in Preston
President Grover Cleveland was the only President to serve two, non-consecutive terms in office – 1885 to 1889 and 1893 to 1897. President Cleveland was the leader of the pro-business “Bourbon Democrats” who opposed high tariffs, Free Silver, inflation, imperialism, and subsidies to business, farmers or veterans. With that said, poet, Aaron L. Sleyster, took pen to hand and … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past Medical men and midwives made house calls in early Houston County
In 1897, Houston-based physician Dr. Lewis K. Onsgard and two companions perilously oared through a swift, unpredictable current to reach a patient who was accessible only by boat after floodwaters washed out a bridge. In Houston County and southeast Minnesota, both providing and receiving medical care in the 1800s were as challenging as most other aspects of pioneer … [Read more...]
Real Bites
Village Square of Fountain Some of you may have heard that the Village Square of Fountain in Fountain, Minn., recently won the Fillmore County Journal 2020 Reader’s Choice Award for Best of the Best in the “Pizza” category. Year after year, that particular award bounces back and forth between the Village Square of Fountain, The Pizza Place in Spring Valley, Minn., or The … [Read more...]
A Goodly Heritage
Here on the farm, business has been very steady as this season comes to a close. The garden is the business to which I refer. It has been a challenge, too, since there has been a shortage of canning lids. Many stores tell me that they have not been able to get lids all year. Regardless, I kept busy. My supply of well-loved dill pickles was replenished. Tomatoes have been … [Read more...]
Living to serve
How do you find a few ducks that weigh a single pound full grown? Well, I didn’t know the answer to that until I asked a friendly neighbor for help. I had been raising poultry for a few years, and I wanted to raise call ducks – a breed of ducks that weighs 16 ounces full-grown. Darrell Ray, our neighbor, gave me the contact information for a man named Chuck Rector, who raised … [Read more...]
The contents had burned but the structure was unharmed
I remember it being the year after all the needles had fallen off the tree three days before Christmas. I was at a family reunion smaller than Rhode Island. They were talking of past glitter and petty schemes. They were my family’s elders. I’d guess their average age had been about 104 years. Judging by their wild and weedy eyebrows, none of them were narcissists. I enjoyed … [Read more...]
Historic memories of Fillmore County A lovely Methodist Church once stood on a hill in Preston, but where?
“Farewell To The Old Church” by Aaron L. Sleyster, 1893 When we think of the church on the corner, With a spire that points to the sky, And a bell that will send forth its music, With peals through the clear Sabbath sky,— Our hearts are rebounding with gladness; And we peer in the future, and see A modern and beautiful structure, That is—or so shortly … [Read more...]