Valerie – Page 17 – Valerie's Voice

The Valley Grove Country Social

It was a nice afternoon for the Valley Grove Country Social. It was cloudy, but no rain. A blue-sky backdrop would have been nice, but looking out from on top of the hill to the surrounding prairie and farmland is a beautiful sight no matter what the weather.

I never tire of this scene approaching these two historic churches.

The fall Country Social, which I incorrectly called Valley Grove’s fall festival, began its annual affair with a two-day event in 1995. Back then it was a local artist’s exhibit in the two churches. Various fall events took place during the ensuing years, all with different names.

This photo was taken in fall of 2020, when the sky was blue. We visit Valley Grove many times throughout the year. It’s one of my favorite places.

It wasn’t until 2002 that it officially became titled the annual “Valley Grove Country Social”, held the third weekend in September. It Is a fundraiser, and chance for folks to enjoy the area, and to learn about this very special place…two churches, a cemetery, and 52 acres of restored prairie.

A beautiful view, no matter what the weather.

This year there were a few artist’s works displayed, but it mostly was a time for joining in on two walks; a cemetery story tour led by Jeff Sauve a local historian and author, and/or a prairie walk.

Plus, both churches were open to explore. They are both on the National Register of Historic Places. Refreshments were for sale in the 1862 stone church with photo books on display, and a few artist gifts available to buy. There was four exquisite tapestries (see below) hanging on the walls.

The bell tower on the 1894 wooden church. The bell weighing 1,433 pounds was moved from the stone church to the wood church when it was built in 1894. Using a pulley system with rope and horse power, the bell never touched the ground as it was transferred from one church to the other.

There was outdoor background music by two different Nordic groups, recitals in the 1894 church, displays and hands-on activities for everyone, and the members of the Valley Grove Preservation Society were in attendance to answer any questions you had about these two historic and beautiful churches. The group works hard to maintain these remarkable churches built by Norwegian immigrants in the 1800’s.

There were several highlights for me this Sunday afternoon…

One was leisurely meandering the grounds, and running into people we recognized, stopping to chat…soaking in the energy of folks excited to be here in this wonderful space.

Another highlight was the cemetery story tour with Jeff Sauve. It was interesting. He’s a great storyteller!

A view looking towards the prairie from the churches…in the corner is where the beloved, old oak tree used to stand.

Riding in a horse-drawn wagon through the surrounding prairie, which the preservation society also maintains, was fun.

The horse-drawn wagon ride was popular with folks.

And, I really enjoyed seeing four beautiful tapestries on display in the old stone church.

This tapestry depicts the 1894 white wooden church, birds in the area, the Minnesota state flower and also the dwarf trout lily (found in Rice County, one of three places in the world).

Funded by a grant, a Minneapolis textile artist, Robbie LeFleur, was hired to depict the Valley Grove churches and life in Valley Grove, back in the day.

The tapestry for the 1862 Stone Church. It was common at that time for women in the area to raise chickens and sell their eggs.

LeFleur designed and created the tapestries (20”X26”) using a traditional Norwegian type of handiwork.

Nils. A. Quamman was the longest serving pastor for the congregation. According to church lore, he sometimes skied from Farmington to Valley Grove, staying overnight with parishioners.

The tapestries were made to hang beneath four light sconces in the stone church. Each tapestry had a write-up explaining the various scenes on each one.

This tapestry depicts the beautiful old oak tree that grew tall and wide in the corner of the cemetery, and was felled by a storm in 2018. It is surrounded by animals of the area.

What a lovely display to peruse on a delightful afternoon at Valley Grove, one of my favorite places!

Hair

I can’t tell you how many times I went to turn on a light switch, or look at the clock yesterday morning…and neither of them worked. The electricity went out in our neighborhood Sunday morning, as we were getting ready for church.

I had showered and dried my hair…the next step was to use the flat iron to smooth out and curl my hair under a bit. But that’s when the electricity went out. I thought, if it doesn’t start up soon I won’t be going to church because of my hair.

Next, a text came through saying the electricity would not be restored for a couple hours. Hmmm

OK, so I wondered if I should stay home from church because of my hair? That’s not a very good reason…yet it kind of is…then I thought of some old Velcro curlers I had in my dresser drawer. I retrieved them and set my hair, and looked a sight– think 1960’s!

Although my hair was dry I thought maybe the curl would still take, especially if I used hairspray. I let the curlers set for ten minutes and then took them out. It did help enough, so I did get to Sunday school, and church.

I learned the power went out in much of Northfield, and I talked with others who struggled with the same issues of no electricity…shaving, curling hair, getting the car out of the garage (electric garage door openers)…

The power came back on in time for church, everyone settled in and no one paid one bit of attention to my hair… imagine that! Ha

And on the subject of hair…after church, I couldn’t resist taking a photo of these three characters from our church who were talking together…

Photo taken with permission to publish on my blog. 😉

Red Feather

Tiny red feather
Stood out among the birdseed...
A love gift for me?

I’m going with the idea it was left behind as a love token for me. 😉

Bees on the Trail

These past few days have been glorious. Bright sunshine and low humidity and comfortable temperatures. Great days for bike rides.

The new mile markers on the Sakatah Singing Hills State Trail.

We were bicycling on the Sakatah Singing Hills State Trail on one of these fine weather days. The trail is in good condition. We rode out several miles, stopped for lunch and then turned around and rode back. It’s a delightful, easy ride.

There are about 70 species of annual and perennial flowering plants in the daisy family Asteraceae commonly known as *sunflowers*.

Once again, this time of year, we were surrounded by yellow daisy-type flowers and goldenrod and yellow cone flowers. It is pretty, especially with blue skies.

This field of yellow flowers were full of bees. I couldn’t capture them on camera, but there were hundreds of them.

We stopped for a water break and noticed one field of flowers bursting with busy bees. It seemed as though there was a little bee on every flower, collecting nectar and pollen. It was a good sight to see.

I appreciate these colorful, autumn bike rides, especially during the week when there are few riders on the trail. We saw more bees than people!

A Morning Walk

On my morning walk this morning, along the ponds in my neighborhood, I looked for nature photo ops, and found many signs of fall.

Sumac – soon the foliage will turn bright red-orange.

More sun flowers…or maybe yellow cone flowers.

A curious cat. Animals always are worth a photo…

Psalm 23: 1-4

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
       he leads me beside quiet waters,
       he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
       for his name’s sake.
 Even though I walk
      through the darkest valley,
      I will fear no evil,
     for you are with me;
     your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me

But summer is not over yet…my hibiscus in bloom, this week.

A Letter

I was unloading groceries the other day, when my husband brought in the mail. With a quick glance I noticed a gold envelope which was set apart from any bills and advertising, so I took a closer look. Sure enough, it was a hand-written letter from an old friend. I stopped what I was doing and opened the envelope and began reading…it was so fun to receive. Forget the groceries, this was much more important.

I’m not too surprised at my reaction. I don’t get many letters these days and it sure was a fun surprise. She told news of her family, and gave a response to a story I had written. She also included a poem and a haiku… It was great to hear from her.

Getting what has become known as “snail mail” these days is unusual, but a delightful and welcomed gift…if anyone is so inspired…it can make someone’s day.

A New Camp Stove

We were camping recently in a Minnesota State Park camping cabin. The cabins are so cute, as only camping cabins can be. HA They have two large bunk beds, a table with benches, electricity, a ceiling fan, and a screened-in front porch. Compared to a tent, it’s luxurious.

A camping cabin in a Minnesota State Park.

Gary and I have always enjoyed camping, and have camped many times over the years, using a tent. Now we like the camping cabins.

When Gary and I first got married one of our first major purchases were sleeping bags. We paid a lot of money for good ones forty-four years ago, and they are still in great condition, and have served us well.

Another camp supply that held up well was the green, Coleman camp stove. Gary owned it even before we were married. We used it a lot over the years, even converting it to the new canister-style propane mini-tanks a few years back. But, finally, it started to rust out and we decided it was time to buy a new one.

So, on our recent camping trip we had the inaugural test run of our new Triton Coleman camp stove. It is so sleek and clean, and it passed with high marks!

Our new Triton Coleman stove with our very old, nesting camp pots and pans. Hmmm…

We will not be using this stove for forty-four more years, but we think it will serve us well when we need it in the coming years…

Steele County Fair

The Minnesota State Fair is in full swing now, but we will not be going to it. However, we were encouraged to go to the Steele County Fair a couple years ago, and went to that fair again this year. We like the size, and the entrance fee. There is no charge to get in. When our boys were young, we did take them to the Dakota County Fair for several years, and the Minnesota State Fair once or twice, but that’s about it for fair attendance.

This year, we were especially thankful for the free entrance fee, as it started to storm after only an hour and a half after we arrived at the fair. Fortunately, we had found a close parking spot…someone must have just pulled out, since the cars were lined up and down the curb for several blocks. When the rain started falling, we started running. Even though the car was close we got very wet. But, actually…it was kind of fun…running in the rain that is.

We managed to get dinner at the fair before the rain started. Walleye fingers from The Depot’s fair stand, a sandwich from the 4-H stand, and we were drinking our Dairy Association chocolate malt when the wind started blowing and the rain started falling.

My favorite state fair food, mini-donuts, which I was saving for dessert, had to be forfeited.

I like going to the exotic animal display at the Steele County Fair, and enjoy petting a few of the cute animals. It was the first place we stopped after getting our first “tastes” of the fair.

There are hand washing stations in several places which I really appreciated, especially after petting animals.

A few hand washing stations were scattered throughout the fair.

We also meandered through the horse and cattle barns. And, I learned something new…

Having grown up in the city, I never learned much about farm animals. While paying attention to one particular Holstein cow, I noticed the ears…they had fuzzy fur sticking out of them. It looked so soft, unlike their smooth coat of hair. And that surprised me. I asked Gary, who grew up on a dairy farm, about the ears and he said yes, cow’s ears have fur, and some farmers shave the ears, especially to “show them” in a fair. Hmmm…who knew…

After that initial discovery I looked at cow’s ears while walking through the cattle barn and sure enough…many cows had furry ears…

And I also saw a cow in a stanchion, being all trimmed up…including the ears…

So laugh if you will…I did…when I learned that fun fact about cows.

Dundas Trail

Yesterday I took a morning bicycle ride on the Dundas Trail. Even though it was cloudy, it seemed like the sun was shining…

because bright sun flowers were blooming profusely on both sides of the trail.

Golden rod was already blooming yellow in a few places too, adding to the vibrant yellow color all around.

Golden Rod, a sure sign that fall is coming.

To top it off, three yellow (gold) finches flew across the trail in front of me. I didn’t capture any photos, but they are always a delight to see, and added much cheer to the already lovely, yellow scenery.

I don’t know the name of this variety of sunflower.

Also, I’m grateful for the garden club who tends to the flowers in these bicycle sculpture baskets that are on the Dundas Trail.

Libraries

Libraries are a gift to any community. I have come to love and appreciate Northfield’s public library.

The Northfield Carnegie Library was built in 1910, with a major addition built in 1985, and renovated in 2015-16.

I think of Andrew Carnegie, whose mission was to provide libraries to many communities throughout the world. A total of 2,509 Carnegie libraries were built between 1883 and 1929.* Northfield’s library is a Carnegie library.

“His [Andrew Carnegie] philanthropic interests centered around the goals of education and world peace. One of his lifelong interests was the establishment of free public libraries to make available to everyone a means of self-education.” **

Over the years I have used a variety of our library’s helpful services. I realize my list is a fraction of what libraries have to offer.

My list includes:
When our grandkids lived with us a for a few months, we went to weekly children’s story time. And after story time, I took them to the children’s area and they picked out books to check out and bring home.
I’ve attended author’s talks at the library.
I’ve had help with my computer from a librarian.
I’ve had help finding books and audio books for myself from a librarian.
I’ve had help finding children’s books from a librarian. I have gotten ideas for children’s game.
I’ve found nooks to sit in and write for a spell. It's a peaceful place.
I can order a book from home and the librarian will find it and put it on the hold shelf for me...I just stop in and pick it up! Quick and easy.
The library offers daily newspapers to read.

Tromsø City Library and Archive was opened in *2005*. It was designed by the Norwegian architect Kjell Beite

When we were in Tromsø Norway, we visited the public library. Tourist information for Tromsø includes a visit to the library. It has a beautiful, architectural design. We did purposely walk to see it, and then one day, when we needed a place to rest while walking around town, we found shelter in this beautiful public library. It felt so right, so peaceful. It was comforting to know we had a place to sit for a spell, and to get a drink of water, use the restroom.

Buckham Memorial Library, est.1930. Faribault, Minnesota

There was a seed exchange program at the library in Tromsø. I’ve seen the same seed exchange program in Faribault’s Buckham Memorial Library. What a wonderful idea.

On a side note: In Svalbard Norway, far above the arctic circle, there is a Global Seed Vault, that stores seeds to provide “security of the world’s food supply against the loss of seeds in genebanks due to mismanagement, accident, equipment failures, funding cuts, war, sabotage, disease and natural disasters.” ***

Libraries: the concept is appealing… and I believe, it’s called pooling and sharing our resources!

*Wikipedia: Carnegie Libraries 
**Wikipedia: Andrew Carnegie
***Wikipedia: Global Seed Vault