Wrenshall news: There's darkness and light in country lockdown

I took the news of John Prine passing away last week a little hard. His music holds a special place in the mythology of the Food Farm. When telling the story of Jane and John founding the farm, we often turn to the lyrics to Prine’s “Spanish Pipedream.”

“We blew up our TV, threw away our paper. Went to the country, built us a home.”

They moved from Oregon to Holyoke in 1975 to start a farming community during the height of that decade’s back-to-the-land movement. Author and farmer Gene Logsdon expressed the mission of that dream as “the kind of independence that defines success in terms of how much food, clothing, shelter, and contentment I could produce for myself rather than how much I could buy.”

Like many folks around the country, I’ve found comfort during this pandemic in baking bread. I was gifted a sourdough starter from Dave Hanlon — one of our longtime farmers on the Food Farm — and we took time to fire up our outdoor oven on Sunday to make some loaves. I also pulled down the recipe my mother-in-law, Jane, had given me for homemade yogurt and made my own cold brew and whipped coffee.

John Prine died of complications due to COVID-19, a virus made possible partially because of the globalization of our world’s economies. His music resonated with a generation motivated by self-sufficiency and independence. While it is still a sad passing, I’m finding consolation in the knowledge that many of us are discovering new skills and pacing to life that connect back to Prine’s words.

Part of self-sufficiency is learning how to entertain ourselves. I’ve had a wonderful time learning from James Sheetz and Dale Wolf about some of the history of Wrenshall. Ron Eng called last week and added to the knowledge base. He confirmed Sheetz’s account of the number of brickyards and added that the companies often exchanged owners and managers. An estimated 600 million bricks were shipped from those yards over the years. He added a question for readers as well. Did the Bressiers own a small store by the stop sign across from the Presbyterian Church? He distinctly remembers buying candy there. Maybe someone out there can remember the details?

And one last note on the topic of entertaining ourselves: The mayor of Wrenshall, Donna Mae Weiderman, announced the city’s plans for a weekly “summer in the park” series.

“It is the hope of the city that this will be a welcome weekly outing to our community,” she said. The free events planned include a talent show, music, bingo and lawn games. She is seeking sponsors for the evenings to help support the series. Contact her with questions at 218-590-6960.

If you have a Wrenshall-related story or related trivia, contact Annie Dugan at 218-310-4703 or [email protected].