The New 3 Rs: Retire, Recharge, Reconnect

Posts tagged with small town

KindaSquare #1 – Kinda Cute Kids, 1969

10/01/2020•Family, memories, Minnesota

Waiting for the Parade to Start, 1969, J.P.W. Friederichs

One of my pandemic projects has been going through my dad’s slides and getting them ready to send off to be scanned, which I did on Monday. My dad took a lot of pictures of us growing up and looking at them brings back lovely memories. Just what I needed at the moment. I grew up in a small town in northwestern Minnesota, close to the North Dakota border, population about 8.000. Smalltown America in the 1950s and 1960s was not perfect and certainly not the idealized bucolic place to grow up promoted by many people who look to return to a time that never existed. But it was a good place to grow up. Life was slower. There were school and community activities.  Kids could roam the neighborhood or ride their bikes to the city swimming pool in the summer without adult supervision. Candy at the corner store cast a penny. We knew most of our neighbors and the “neighbor ladies” had coffee outside on summer mornings. It was good to get a glimpse of this former life, to restore a bit of faith in humanity.

Every summer, Crookston held an annual festival. In my day, it was called Pioneer Days. Now it was called Ox Cart Days. The Red River Valley (of the North) was famous huge carts pulled by oxen along the route between St. Paul, Minnesota and Canada. At least one summer, they had a kiddie parade as part of the festivities. I think this shot was taken in 1969, based on the age of my two sisters who are in the photo. Our neighbor Christie is on the left, then my sister Karla and my sister Ruth. I’m not sure about the other girl but I think it is one of the neighbors. Dressing up was always a fun way to spend part of a day. I was 15 at the time, much too old and dignified for a kiddie parade. Here’s to those days, my friends, we thought they’d never end.  (The image is not the best. I took a photo of the slide with my phone before I sent it off to be scanned.)

 

 

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Backroads America: Auburn, ND

09/26/2019•backroads, North Dakota, rural

When The Railroad Passes By

In 1883, a post office was established in Auburn, an unincorporated community in Walsh County, North Dakota. Founded on the windswept prairie in the northeast corner of North Dakota, Auburn is about 40 miles south of the Canadian border. At one time Auburn had two hotels, a hardware store, a general store, seven saloons, a school, a church, a saddle maker, and many other businesses. In the winter of 1888/89, much of the business area was destroyed by fire. With the construction of the railroad, business activity shifted to nearby Grafton, and the town’s population dwindled. The post office remained in operation until 1943.  As of the 2010 census, the population was 48. Ancestors of one of my sisters-in-law helped settle Auburn and farmed in the area. Her family still has a house in Auburn and farm land in the surrounding countryside.

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Backroads America: The Royal Bar, Park Rapids, Minnesota

07/31/2018•backroads, Destinations, Minnesota

The best hamburgers in northern Minnesota.

Once the first movie theater in Park Rapids, The Royal Bar serves a mean hamburger. The old movie theater sign is inside.

Great staff and service.

Park Rapids is famous for its parking down the middle of the street.

Backroads America: Valatie, Columbia County, New York

07/01/2018•backroads, New York, rural

The Hudson River Valley is home to many villages, hamlets, towns, and cities. Valatie is a village of about 1,900 that sits in the middle of the town of Kinderhook. It was settled by the Dutch in 1665 as part of New Netherlands. The original inhabitants of the area were Mohigan, an Algonqin Indian Tribe.

At the height of its prosperity, Valatie had 9 cotton mills and a number of grist mills. The mills were powered by two waterfalls on. Valatie means “little falls” in Dutch. This is the Beaver Mill Overlook; the mill no longer exists.

Valatie was an important regional center of commerce. It was home to the workers though it has a number of large houses. The John Morgan house dates to 1830.

The owners lived in Kinderhook, where large stately home can be found.

It has a lovely cemetery.

In 1946, it was the home of the first Santa Claus Club.

Agriculture is one of the economic drivers in the area. Bio fuel corn has replaced many grain crops. Fruit and vegetables are important and roadside markets are scattered throughout the area.

Locally grown strawberries are in season at the moment.

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