Culture & Community

A close-up of an older woman with short, curly gray hair and glasses sitting at a table. She carefully pours seeds from a small packet into one of several small metal cups lined up in front of her. She wears a gray cardigan over a patterned blouse and focuses intently on her task. Papers, seed packets, and a plate sit on the table nearby.

Seed Library Aims to Grow Community in Spring Valley

Spring Valley Public Library launches a free seed library March 14, offering vegetable and flower seeds to grow community, health and food security.

Inside a room filled with framed sports memorabilia, an older man wearing glasses and a maroon baseball cap sits facing the camera while holding a framed certificate and a small glass award. The certificate reads “Heritage Award.” A woman with shoulder-length wavy blond hair stands beside him, leaning in and smiling toward the camera with one hand resting near his shoulder. Behind them are framed photos, vintage signs, and a window, creating a warm, personal setting that reflects community history and recognition.

Essay | Preserving the Past, Honoring the Present

The Houston Area Museum names Ron Carrier as its first Heritage Award recipient, honoring decades of dedication to preserving Houston, Minn. history as the museum approaches its third anniversary.

A woman stands at the front of a community meeting room, speaking and gesturing with both hands while facing seated attendees. A projector screen behind her displays a slide titled “Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture” with a circular diagram of terms. Several people sit at long tables in the foreground, listening and taking notes. The room has gray walls, a refrigerator on the left, and daylight coming through a small window.

FACT Workshop Hopes to Empower Marginalized Groups

Fillmore Action on Coming Together hosted a workshop in Rushford Village examining how marginalized groups are excluded from decision-making and how allyship can help build more inclusive communities.

A low, modern brick building sits on a snow-covered slope under a bright blue sky. Large dark windows face outward, reflecting the light. Bare trees line the hillside behind the building, and a tall communications tower rises above the trees. An American flag stands on a pole near the right side of the building.

Coming Together to Keep the Branding Iron Open

When the Branding Iron Restaurant in Preston, Minn. faced closure, community members and former employees united to save the beloved small-town supper club.

Grand Meadow Artisan Creates Handmade, Permanent Leather Goods

Grand Meadow artisan Zech Sindt of Bluffland Leather Co. creates hand-stitched leather goods built to last a lifetime using traditional, sustainable methods.

Person wearing a knit hat and beige sweater stands on a snowy sidewalk in a small Minnesota downtown, with a local grocery store and historic brick buildings in the background.

Bluff Country Business Academy to Support Local Businesses

Preston and Lanesboro are partnering on the Bluff Country Business Academy, an eight-week program designed to help small businesses grow and thrive.

A sound meditation facilitator sits cross-legged on a patterned rug, holding a frame drum and mallet, surrounded by crystal singing bowls, metal bowls, gongs, and softly lit candles in a calm indoor setting.

Essay | Sound Bath Healing: Relaxation Through Vibration and Stillness

Discover how sound baths and vibrational healing help calm the nervous system, release stress, and restore balance in Southeast Minnesota.

Yellow diamond road sign showing a horse-drawn Amish buggy with a small amber light above it that flashes when a buggy is present, standing beside a snowy rural highway with cars passing on the left and leafless trees lining the roadside in winter

First-ever Amish Buggy Alert Signals Installed in Fillmore County

MnDOT installs flashing Amish buggy alert signs on Highway 44 in an effort to improve safety after two separate fatal vehicle-buggy crashes.

Wildlife rescuer wearing a brown jacket and yellow gloves carefully holds a large adult bald eagle inside a cluttered workshop, with shelves of tools, containers and equipment in the background. The eagle is looking back at the man.

Area Family Rescues Animals Year-Round

An injured juvenile bald eagle rescued near Spring Valley during a snowstorm sheds light on the work of The Rescue Connection, a family-run wildlife rescue serving southern Minnesota.

Historic log cabin in winter, partially covered in snow, with weathered wooden walls, small windows and bare trees casting long shadows across a snowy rural yard.

Southern Minnesota’s Near-Miss: The Children’s Blizzard Revisited

Laney Smith revisits the historic and devastating Schoolhouse Blizzard of 1888 and how the experience reshaped how Minnesota deals with snowstorms.

Young man wearing glasses and a white sweater with an American flag sits beside a lit Christmas tree indoors, looking to the side with a calm reflective expression.

Essay | Buon Natale! Christmas in Italy: Traditions, Food and Family

An Italian exchange student reflects on Christmas traditions in Italy while experiencing the holidays with his Minnesota host family.

CPKC Holiday Train travels through a snowy crossing at night with the locomotive and rail cars outlined in bright red blue and green Christmas lights.

Holiday Train Brings Christmas Spirit to Driftless Communities

The CPKC Holiday Train rolled through La Crescent and other Driftless communities in December, combining live music and dazzling lights with vital fundraising for local food banks.