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The open road is calling!

School days are soon coming to an end and summer vacation plans have begun. Are you thinking about an epic road trip this summer? I have some road trip books for you to check out. Experience the beauty of Minnesota by taking a drive with “Scenic Driving Minnesota: Including Lake Superior’s North Shore, Itasca State Park, and Minneapolis Lakes” by Phil Davies (917.7604 Davies). It includes beautiful photos and full-color maps. As long as you are touring Minnesota, you might as well take “Waterfalls of Minnesota” by Lisa Crayford (917.76 Crayfor) along with you. It is arranged ...

‘Say it with flowers’ for Mother’s Day

“Say It With Flowers!” No wonder it’s one of the most successful advertising slogans ever. It works for nearly any occasion and is especially appropriate for Mother’s Day. In fact, the slogan was created for the Society of American Florist’s 1918 Mother’s Day campaign, but flowers were already an important part of the holiday. Anna Jarvis held what is considered the first Mother’s Day observance in 1908. It was on the second Sunday in May, the day her mother, teacher and activist Ann Reeves Jarvis had died in 1905. Ann Reeves Jarvis promoted public health throughout her ...

Japanese lacquerware picnic box is a work of art

As spring progresses and the days grow longer, warmer and sunnier, outdoor activities become more appealing. Picnics are a favorite way to celebrate the spring weather. But most of us wouldn’t pack ours in a box like this one, which sold for $2,560 at an auction by Nye & Company. This five-tiered lacquer picnic box was made in Japan in the 18th century. It was probably for a wealthy family whose crest graces the top. Today, it is a work of art, and similar Japanese lacquer picnic boxes appear in museum collections around the world. Lacquerware has been made in Japan for thousands of ...

Battle of the Books and Books

The Traverse des Sioux Library Cooperative will host its Tween and Teen Battle of the Books on August 2, 2025 at the St. Peter Community Center. Battle of the Books is now accepting participant applications. You can apply at the New Ulm Public Library or on our website at www.newulmlibrary.org. Just scroll down on the library’s home page and click on the poster for the event in your age range. You have until May 29 at noon to apply and space is limited. Tweens (ages 9-12) and teens (ages 13 -18) who are accepted will receive four books to keep. You will be notified when your books ...

Wooden knives are functional works of folk art

A knife with a painted wooden blade might sound like something strictly decorative. If it’s a flax knife, or scutching knife, that’s not the case. Before mechanization, making flax into linen fabric was a very long, complicated, multi-step process. Scutching, removing the tough stalk from prepared flax stems, comes partway through this process. The resulting flax fibers are then further processed, spun into thread and finally woven into linen. The fibers are separated from the stalk by scraping or beating, not cutting; so scutching knives are made of wood. There are simple wooden ...

Off the Shelf

Pooh book by A.A. Milne, Pooh and Piglet set out on a very windy day to visit as many friends as they can within the Hundred Acre Wood to wish them a happy Thursday and perhaps get a “little smackerel of something.” Their friend Owl remarks, “…am I right in supposing that it is a very Blusterous day outside?” I have often been reminded of this story in the past few weeks as many people have commented on how windy it has been. Much like in the Winnie the Pooh story, trees have been knocked down by the wind, and people have been blown about too. In the English language, we have ...