Minnesota 150th Party

AT
THE
FARM

At the Farm is located on Highway 5 in Carver County, Minnesota - 2.5 m. East of Waconia - 4.5 m. West of Victoria - 10 m. West of Chanhassen
Donna Frantz, Proprietor - 8880 East Highway 5, Waconia MN 55387 - imthefarmer@earthlink.net - 952-442-4816

On Sunday, July 27, 2008 I hosted
A Country Festival
to celebrate Minnesota's Sesquicentennial

Afternoon of country hospitality in celebration of Minnesota's farm heritage was enjoyed by all who attended!
Antique tractor and farm equipment display
Polka music by the Wendinger Band of New Ulm, Minnesota
Minnesota Naturalist, Jim Gilbert
Minnesota Historian, Jo Mihelich
Wendilin Grimm Alfalfa Experts, Clarence and Dorothy Kelzer
Artisans: Quilters, Ruth Tremblay, barn photographer,
Yvonne Brown, folk artist

Food samples provided by:

Bongards Creamery, Bongards

Green Olive Catering, Waconia

Whole Hog Heaven BBQ, Waconia

Mackenthun's Meat & Sausage Market, St. Bonifacius

Roasted Sweet Corn courtesy of
At the Farm!

Click here to see another page of photos showing the guests enjoying the food, the music and
the fabulous flower and vegetable gardens!

Donna Frantz, hosted the Country Festival at her farm. Here she stopped for a moment to greet guests who were listening to the Wendinger Band.

The Derek Lee family brought this 1948 Ford 8N tractor to the Country Festival..

Guests enjoyed the lively polka music of the Wendinger Band from New Ulm.

Jim Gilbert, Minnesota naturalist, visits with guests who usually only hear him each Sunday morning on WCCO radio.

Clarence and Dorothy Kelzer, decendants of Wendelin Grimm, were at the festival to share the story of Grimm Alfalfa and its importance to the
dairy industry.

This "automated" corn sheller was powered by a steam engine provided by the Derek Lee family. It was fasinating to the children who attended, as you can see in the photo below.

This young man feeds corn cobs into the sheller. The machine takes all the kernels off the cob.

A group of quilters from Chaska shared their craft with guests.

Ruth Tremblay, artist specializing in preserving barn images and histories, shows her work to a guest.

FWR auctioneers is the oldest family-owned auction company in Minnesota. Auctions were social gatherings in rural Minnesota.




Fresh roasted sweet corn, compliments of At the Farm, was enjoyed throughout the afternoon.



Whole Hog Heaven BBQ, of Waconia, provided pulled pork sandwiches for the guests.



		Bongards' Creamery gave samples of cheeses from their 100 year old business located in Bongards.



		Green Olive Catering, of Waconia, provided samples of a sweet corn appetizer at the festival.



	Mackenthun's Meat Market, of St. Bonifacius, gave their special recipe hot dogs to the guests.



	Jo Mehilich, prominent local historian, shows a guest the book she authored about Andrew Peterson and his role in Minnesota history..



	In this photo, a boy is shelling corn using a hand operated corn sheller, while a little girl fills a hand cranked corn grinder.



	Dave Grandy and two of the Lee children demonstrate how rope can be fashioned from twine.



	Yvonne Brown, folk artist, spoke with guests about her display of artwork inspired by rural life.



	Donna's meadow was utilized as a parking lot for the afternoon of the festival.