Bloomington Historical Society

When Nancy and and I drove up to the Bloomington Old Town Hall History Museum on Saturday to do a program that included my Halloween story, A Farm Country Halloween, we knew the outside activities planned for kids would have to be moved inside. The weather was overcast and sprinkling, though nothing like the really good rain that we needed.

The Old Town Hall, which is the home of the Bloomington Historical Society, is a striking building, with its bright white siding and red trim. Since we forgot to take a photo of it on Saturday when it was raining, we went back Sunday when the sun was shining to snap a picture.

The annual Fall Festival is an event that celebrates the agricultural heritage of Bloomington. At one time there were over 300 farms in what is now Bloomington, and now there are none. The Fall Festival is a way for the Bloomington Historical Society to commemorate the agricultural heritage of the area. The event was scheduled from noon to 4:00 PM on Saturday, and when we arrived at 12:30, kids were busy painting small pumpkins, rolling candles from beeswax, and having their faces painted. All activities were inside the building, which was full of great historical displays. Outdoor activities were held later in the afternoon when the rain ceased.

Painting pumpkins was a popular activity.

I chatted with Mary Vavrosky, above,

 and later she supervised as children and adults rolled beeswax into candles, below.

After she interviewed and briefly videotaped me,  Gina Szafraniec, a writer from an online magazine called The Bloomington Crow, treated us to a terrific smile as she posed by Nancy's Farm Heritage Display. Go to the website to see her video and story. www.gotothecrow.com

With all the activities going on, the area was pretty cozy, but the audience was fun and had several questions afterwards. I was really pleased that my former neighbor, Betty (Speiker) Cavenaugh, from the farm neighbor hood where I grew up, attended the show. She is wearing an orange sweatshirt and is seated with her family in the back row. Betty's presence at the program forced me to tell the truth in my fictional story because I actually used to go trick or treating with Betty and her brothers and sisters back in the 1950s.

Several youngsters volunteered to help me demonstrate how a character from my story used a pulley in a trick to scare his young neighbors.

Nancy snapped a photo of a few members of the Bloomington Historical Society as they watched my program. Vonda Kelly, standing on the left, arranged my visit to speak at the museum.Members asked questions after the show, and I was privileged that Larry Granger, (second from right) who is very active in local history, spent time with me telling stories and advising me on possible future writing projects. Seriously, the wisdom among this back row humbles me.

I was again both humbled and gratified when the young lady, pictured above with her two daughters, had me autograph a book for her family. She explained to my wife that the small farm she grew up on in Ukraine was like the one I described in my stories. Farm buildings and equipment were old and barely adequate. She bought the book as a way to connect her two children, who were born in the U.S.,  to the experiences she and her mother had in their homeland. Her mother was at the museum and even though she spoke very little English, she expressed a liking for my books because of the memories they inspired. 

Closing shot of the Old Bloomington Town Hall, located at the intersection of Penn Avenue South and West Old Shakopee Road. I recommend you take your family and visit soon. See the website for scheduled events.  www.bloomingtonhistoricalsociety.org

Thanks to everyone at the Bloomington Historical Society for inviting me to do my Farm Heritage Program and my book, A Farm Country Trick or Treat. Thanks to Vonda Kelly for arranging my visit and special thanks to the customers who bought my books. Please read them often and pass them on to future generations.

Photographs by Nancy A. Fredrickson

Goodhue Area Historical Society, Goodhue, MN

For historical societies to flourish they need lots of local support. It appears that local support is exactly what has made Goodhue Area Historical Society successful up to the present, and there is every indication the support will continue into the future.

They've outgrown the new building they built in 2004 (above) and are in the planning process of  adding on to the structure.

Ardy Henrichs, who contacted me to arrange for my doing a program at the society's March meeting, also arranged to open the museum early so Nancy and I would have time to visit the museum and view photographs of harvest on farms and to look for pictures we might use in our upcoming book, A Farm Country Harvest. We found many interesting pictures that the members generously let us copy.

Pictured above from left to right are President Roy Buck, Director Ray McNamara, Dorothy Buck, and Secretary Ardy Henrichs. The fact that they all came to open up the museum and greet us made us feel especially welcome.

In addition to checking out the pictures, Nancy and I viewed the variety of tractors, horse-drawn implements, hand tools, household tools of all types, and many other pieces in the museum. One thing that caught my eye was the terracing plow, which has an auger powered by the tractor's PTO. Roy explained that the plow works by having the auger throw the dirt, which will pile up and create a terrace on the field to prevent soil erosion. He said it was used by the WPA as well as a number of farmers in the area. 

Terracing plow owned by the Goodhue Area Historical Society

Needs of farmers vary from region to region, which is why I always enjoy visiting museums in different parts of Minnesota and other states. I do not claim to have "seen it all," but much of what I see in museums are tools I've either seen before or I've seen something like it before. This seed separator shown below stopped me in my tracks because I had never seen one like this. The museum had several like it, where the seed is dumped into a hopper and guided into rolling screens. I would love to see one of these work. Only the good seed makes it all the way through the screened tubes.

Examples of seed separators with rolling screens in the pictures above and below.

After the museum tour we followed Ardy with our truck to St. Peter's Lutheran Church, where we unloaded and set up our equipment in the basement. There was a good turnout for the meeting, which lasted less than an hour, as the members set up committees and discussed projects, including a new addition to the museum, a display of rural schools, and an oral history project.

My Farm Heritage Program (above) lasted about 50 minutes and afterwards while eating lunch the members visited with each other and with Nancy and me, and many of them purchased some of our Collector series of Farm Heritage Books. We were delighted with all the time people were willing to share with us telling their stories about their experiences farming.

We thank all the members for being such a fun audience and for their kind words about my Farm Heritage Program. Among the many members we talked to were David and Kay Betcher, who shared their dairy farming stories with us, and R. Duane Aaland from the Zumbrota  News Record, who shared some of his interesting background stories with me.

We thank Roy, Ray, Dorothy, and Ardy for greeting us at the museum and Treasurer Karleen Franklin for delivering to me the member's generous donation for our travel expenses.

And, Ardy, thanks so much for arranging for me to speak at the Goodhue Area Historical Society. Nancy and I had fun and we hope your members did too.