Faribault – Page 2 – Valerie's Voice

Frosty the Snowman

We took a drive down to Faribault MN to see Faribault Frosty. Even though we do not have any snow on the ground Faribault’s Frosty still came to be – and is a wonder for us all to see.

Frosty is an oversized Snowman and one that has been created every year for 17 years by a wonderful family giving this gift to their community in Faribault. Employees from Shattuck- St. Mary School’s ice rink shaved ice with their Zamboni for this family’s tradition to carry on in spite of the fact there are no students at the school practicing their hockey skills or ice skating.

We took our grandchildren to see Frosty standing tall. As we drove up the master creator was on a ladder tying Frosty’s red scarf around his neck. He told us we came just in time – that the kids could help him patch up Frosty by adding snow to some holes in Frosty’s body. The kids had a great time doing so.

This is a great tradition this Faribault family has built. Frosty’s creator, was so kind to our grandhildren and he made their day.

And mine too…every little act of kindness these days really means a lot.

Story Walk

We entered Forestville State Park into the GPS system in our car and ended up on a dirt road in the middle of two tall cornfields with the system declaring we had “reached our destination!”

Following the red truck down the gravel road.

We pulled over and as we got out our map, a red pick up truck pulled up along side us and stopped. We rolled down our window and he asked, “Are you looking for the state park? “ We said, “Yes.” He said, “Follow me.” So we did. He stopped a couple miles up the road at his farm and gave us directions from there to the park. He laughed and told us he meets the nicest folks at the end of his driveway… every weekend. They find themselves where we did, in the cornfields looking for the state park.

The beautiful golden cornfields under an interesting sky.

Along our route that morning we saw colors of autumn. Yellow, red and orange leaves on the trees and stunning golden corn stalks in the fields so we didn’t mind this beautiful detour… and we did find the state park.

Once there we met up with friends. They greeted us with a campfire. We planned to do some hiking.

The park has set up a wonderful Story Walk along one park trail. I had seen this Story Walk idea in Faribault. I had checked out a few storyboards downtown. The title of the featured book in Faribault was Eric Carle’s, From Head to Toe.

(That morning in Faribault has a side story… I left our house and drove 25 minutes south to Faribault to run some errands. When I got out at my first stop I realized I had my slippers on! It was too far to go back home and change shoes so I ran my errands in my slippers!)

Back to Forestville State Park. The book featured on the Story Walk was One North Star by Phyllis Root.

Look for “Eight yellow pond lilies float, seven great blue herons…”

Each page of the book was placed behind plastic on a sign staked to the ground, spaced several hundred feet apart on the trail.

Look for “Nine mosquitoes whine, eight small cranberries…”

As you walk along the trail you stop to read another page of the story. This book is a beautifully illustrated, counting book featuring Minnesota animals and flowers. We stopped at each page to read and count. It was fun!

I enjoyed the book so much I bought a copy at the park office.

I can only imagine how much fun this Story Walk would be for children. It is engaging. We were wishing our grandchildren were along, hiking this Story Walk trail with us.

Kings of Swing

Apparently the city of Faribault has been hosting concerts in the park for over 100 years. That’s impressive. Currently the outdoor concert series are held at Central Park. I don’t know if the concerts have always been at that location, but it is lovely, and there is a permanent band shell there.

We were alerted the band scheduled to play last week was a popular Faribault band, Kings of Swing. We have heard the band several times before and really liked their music so we packed up some drinks, a snack, our lawn chairs and headed to Faribault’s Central Park. We found a shady place to sit back, relax, and listen to some great, jazzy music.

It was well-attended and people did cooperate by physical-distancing themselves from others. There were folks of all ages enjoying themselves. We saw, and talked, to a few friends we haven’t seen since March, the beginnings of this pandemic. That was special too.

And we really enjoyed sitting there people-watching. Near us was a woman with a big bubble wand, creating giant bubbles and having a good time, while providing enjoyment for onlookers too.

Every once in a while a couple would get up to dance to the music together, on the lawn.

There was an over all sense of merriment in the air, so for an hour and a half we listened to some great music and the only way you knew we were in a pandemic was the presence of physical- distancing and some folks wearing masks.

A beautiful evening in Central Park, in Faribault.

This was the last concert of the summer series, although they announced a couple encore concerts planned for September 3 and 11.

I’m grateful the city of Faribault continued with their summer concert series in spite of the pandemic. It was a nice way to spend an evening. It felt “normal.”

Faribo Frosty

A gigantic snowman is fun for any age to see. And this huge snowman, Faribo Frosty, appears each winter in Faribault, MN. It is an annual tradition for this Faribault family to create an enormous snowman with a hat and mittens and scarf, and all other snowman trimmings, including a bucket for his pipe.

We thought it might have melted a little before we got to take the grandchildren to see it this week because of the unusually warm temperatures, but if it did melt any we couldn’t tell…it was still huge, and a big hit with the kids.

The family encourages people to stop by to see FariboFrosty, and to take pictures, and to enjoy their wonderful gift to their community. We are joyful recipients of their labor of love and are thankful for it.

Laughter is Good Medicine

Over the weekend comedian C Willi Myles was the entertainer at the Paradise Center for the Arts in Faribault, Minnesota, and we had tickets.

The marquee for the Paradise Center for the Arts in Faribault, MN.

The description in the schedule of events brochure indicated C Willi Myles “has quick wit, and a great sense of humor to deliver high energy, side-splitting shows for all ages.” That sounded fun.

It also said “C Willi’s non-offensive humor and stories that pull from everyday life have made him a fan favorite with sell out shows from coast to coast.” Non-offensive humor was the clincher for us. We bought tickets and looked forward to this show.

It did not disappoint. We laughed out loud almost continually for an hour and a half, and it felt good. At one point I had tears in my eyes. How can six pillows on the bed, or straight roads through North Dakota, or even colonoscopies be so hilarious, but his stories and wit made them so.

We enjoyed ourselves and hopefully will have the chance to see him when/if he comes again. Apparently this was not his first time at the Paradise.

Comedian C Willi Myles, on stage at the Paradise Theater.

In his closing remarks he reminded us what we all know, “Laughter is good medicine” and then he added, “so start laughing before doctors figure out how to start charging us for it!”

Northfield’s 20th Annual Winter Walk

We attended the 20^th annual Winter Walk in Northfield last night. The downtown is festive: all lit up with white lights and Christmas decorations, different groups of carolers singing, and stores offering sweet treats.

One of the decorated trees downtown Northfield. Photo taken right before sunset.

We received a special invitation to stop in at a business in town, which is where we always start our walk, after tasting some wonderful morsels.

Beautiful and creative special invitation for a Winter Walk event.

Next we visited Content bookstore, then checked out two new stores downtown before heading to the old Model Train exhibits, set up in our library at the end of Division Street.

We strolled back towards Bridge Square, along the closed-off street, full of cheerful folks meandering, a horse-drawn carriage, fire pits, and different music groups. We stopped at a couple other favorite stores: The Rare Pair and an antique store. They were packed with people. Depending on the weather the stores can get very crowded. It was chilly and the stores were full.

Bridge Square during Winter Walk, Northfield.

When we first arrived downtown we caught the beginning of a parade. This is a first for Northfield’s Winter Walk. For me it was too chilly to stand out to watch it go by, but we did see a couple of the entries while walking to our first stop. I enjoyed seeing the tractor decorated in Christmas lights, then we dashed inside.

The lighted tractor to begin the parade at Northfield’s Winter Walk.

Last weekend we planned to go to Faribault’s Winterfest Parade of Lights, including fireworks, but it got postponed due to weather. How ironic, the Winterfest, postponed by winter weather. HA.

That parade has been rescheduled for December 14^th so hopefully it will be “warm” enough to bring our newly arrived grand-children from Africa to see it. “O, what fun…”