After being shunned from the Amish community in Harmony, Minnesota, Mary Hershberger, 66, spoke with students about her experiences. She gave the students the home address to Jake Hershberger who was also shunned by the Amish. As students pulled up to the Jake’s home, colorful chairs were scattered in his front lawn. With no cars […]

Two older men sit in yellow rustic chairs surrounding a circular wooden table while eating their breakfast at Mabel’s Hwy 44 Bar & Grill. It’s a green paneled building set on the outskirts of town in which people enjoy fishing and hunting. It’s where Ron Gerard, 60, and Bruce Mielke found themselves before they headed […]

After a successful opening weekend of hunting season, Robert Schmidt, 34, and his two sons, were dragging a doe out from the back of a pickup truck. The garage door was open and Schmidt could be seen tethering the deer to the rafters. As three students approached his driveway, Schmidt sunk his knife into the […]

Spring Grove, Minnesota for all intents and purposes is an unassuming small town in the Midwest. This is a town that is built on community and tradition, a fact made obvious by the amount of residents gathered in the gazebo to set up their annual Christmas decorations. The people here are welcoming and willing to […]

Aside from the gas station and a packed corner diner that has a sign up insisting it’s closed, the only business open on a Sunday in Spring Grove, Minnesota is a combination antique store and laundromat called LJ’s Ye Old Wash and Play House. Situated in a long, skinny two-story brick building, it’s the first […]

Mabel, Minnesota for all standards is a typical small town. It’s located between the borders of Minnesota and Iowa in Fillmore County. While Minnesota voted for Hillary during this election, the county of Fillmore made a shift from typically voting democratic to Trump. In 2012 and 2008, Obama became president with 50% of the vote; […]