Seeds, soil, rain, livestock, garden tools and machinery are blessed

Rain that fell throughout the morning let up with cloudy skies and 50 degrees for the hourlong Celebration of Rural Life attended by about 40 people on Saturday afternoon at the Barron County Fairgrounds chapel, put on for the first time by the Fairtime Chapel Board.

The Rev. John Bergson, pastor of the rural Stanfold Lutheran Church and a member of the chapel board, gave individual blessings of seeds, soil, rain, garden tools, livestock and machinery with the blessings interspersed by scripture readings and hymns.

Also providing music to open and close the event was The Getaways, a quartet made up of Ken Gonske of Rice Lake, Lee Johnson of Barron, Tom Overby of Amery and Mark Nelson of St. Croix Falls.

Dale Hanson of Barron, a retired county soil conservationist and soils instructor at UW-River Falls, talked about the importance of planting in good soil to reap the most benefits. He offered advice on fertilizers to increase organic matter and encouraged soil testing before planting to achieve the best results.

Fair Board President Russ Rindsig shared a gardening poem. In addition to the blessings, Bergson talked about the Fairtime Chapel’s desire to promote rural living in any way that it can throughout the year.

“We want to ensure rural life isn’t lost, because we know there is great value in rural living,” Bergson said.

Serving on the Fairtime Chapel Board are Bergson, Rindsig, Barbara Balts, Tim Borstad, Ken Gonske, Bob and Dorothy Groshong, Emily Hagen, Severt Olson, Jim Richie and Amber Wolfe.

“Hopefully more will turn out next year,” commented Hagen after the event. “The rain and cold may have kept folks away. It was a great first year service.”