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July 21, 2020July 21, 2020

Communism in America – Honest Talk

Communism is an interesting topic that middle-aged people like me haven’t given much thought to since the era of the Cold War. Are you old enough to remember the days of students diving under their desks during safety drills? Evidently, we should have been paying a little more attention to Communism, because it never really went away. It’s here in the western hemisphere. Don’t believe me?

I came across an interesting document that first showed up in front of Congress back in the early 1960s. More specifically, on January 10, 1963, Congressman Albert S. Herlong Jr., of Florida, read the list of 45 Declared Goals for the Communist Takeover of America into the Congressional Record. The purpose was to give his colleagues, as well as the American population, some insight into Communism and their liberal elite ideas and strategies for America that sound ridiculously familiar. They’re happening right in front of our collective faces.

The list itself was first attributed to Cleon Skousen, a researcher who authored “The Naked Communist.” You really should be shocked at how these have played out in front of us. Some of those 45 steps to Communism have been outdated through the course of history. However, many of them are in play today.

Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not the items could be used for war. We already buy a lot of goods from communist China. There’s also a push from free markets and the European Union to further globalize buying and selling.
Here’s a good one; promote the United Nations as the only hope for mankind. If the charter is ever rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government, complete with its very own military (which it already has). Capture one or both political parties in the United States. They’ve infiltrated the Democratic Party, one that I used to be a member of. If you don’t agree that the Democrats have been taken over, you haven’t been paying attention. As the “Social Justice Warrior Democrats” are pushing for full-bore socialism, this seems to be an ongoing effort. And the “conservatives in Congress don’t seem to feel the need to put a stop to any of it, do they?
Get control of the schools. Use them to promote socialism, soften the curriculum (ever heard the term ‘dumbing down?’), and get control of teachers’ unions. Do you honestly think it’s a coincidence that more and more U.S. college students favor socialism?
Infiltrate the press. Do you think it’s a coincidence that liberal politics gets a lot more positive press than conservative politics?
Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and the movies. Is it a coincidence that “Hellywood” is pretty much liberal across the board? Doesn’t appear to be.
Present homosexuality, degeneracy, and promiscuity as “normal, natural, and healthy.” Do you see the stuff on TV these days? That would have NEVER been allowed just two decades ago.
Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for “intellectual maturity.” Ever heard the phrase “religion is a crutch?” That’s where it comes from.
Discredit the Constitution as something inadequate, old-fashioned, and out of step with “modern needs.”

Are you depressed yet? I sure am. You’ll like this one if you live in Minneapolis.

Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. “Defund the police,” anyone? Oh, and make sure to treat all behavioral problems as “psychiatric disorders,” which no one but psychiatrists can understand or treat.
Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.
Emphasize the need to raise children away from the “negative influence” of their parents. “It takes a village,” anyone?

How about this one, given all the nonsense we’ve seen during the past four months.

Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use “united force” to solve economic, political, or social problems. Hello… Do Antifa and BLM come to mind? The REAL BLM is a group of “trained Marxists,” according to their co-founder, Patrice Cullors. That’s communism in a nutshell.

As you read these bullet points, do you feel your gut tightening?

Speaking of the liberal elite, it’s long past time to stop voting for the same old people every time we have an election. We have politicians on both sides of the fence who’ve been in Congress since Kennedy was president. Those same people are just NOW going to solve the country’s problems and get us back on track? If they haven’t done so by now, it’s probably time to retire them?

And you, my fellow Christians, take heart. This is Revelations playing out in front of us. We win in the end. The Rapture is coming. I can’t wait. If you haven’t made a real commitment to Jesus, now is the time.

June 1, 2020June 1, 2020

Banning State Park and a beautiful Sunday afternoon

Banning State Park was on my radar for a Sunday afternoon hike and the day couldn’t have been much more perfect. The park is located near Sandstone, Minnesota, which is ironic because the park was once a working sandstone quarry that employed 500 workers back in the late 1800s. You can see the remnants of the old power station building as you walk down the Quarry Loop Trail.

Back in the day, people needed the sandstone for construction and, based on what I saw, there’s a lot of it even to this day. Evidently, the strength of the stone and the pink coloring were in high demand by construction companies.

The place has actually seen its share of tragedy. On September 1 of 1894, the great Hinckley forest fire swept through the area, doing a lot of damage to the quarry and the St. Paul and Duluth rail line that was serving it.

One end of the old powerhouse building that powered the Bannon Quarry, which was located
in what is now the Banning State Park near Sandstone, Minnesota. (Photo by Chad Smith)

The business got going again and by 1896, a village was established right above the quarry. It was named in honor of William L. Banning, the President of St. Paul and Duluth Railroad. The village was quickly incorporated into a town of 300 people in 1900. However, the end was in sight for the quarry.

Steel began to take over the construction industry shortly after the dawn of the new century. By 1905, all work at the quarry had come to a close.

As you can probably imagine, with that many trees close together, fires continued to be a problem, and the town of Banning basically ceased to exist in 1912. All that’s left of the quarry itself are a few weathered ruins I have pictured here and on my Facebook page (Link takes you to my photo album).

Banning State Park was officially established by the Minnesota legislature in 1963, containing more than 5,200 acres. The park was expanded a couple times over the next decades, the last coming in 1986 with total acres numbered at 6,237.

A 10-mile stretch of the Kettle River runs through the park and it is absolutely beautiful. There actually was a dam in the river at one point, but the local Sandstone community, the Department of Natural Resources, and the Pollution Control Agency came together to remove the dam back in 1995.

The interior of the old powerhouse that provided power to the old sandstone quarry in
the Banning State Park. I would love to know what it looked like when the place was
active. (Photo by Chad Smith)

If you like to ride the rapids, you’ll have options up at Banning State Park. The Kettle River includes five pretty spectacular rapids, including Blueberry Slide, Mother’s Delight, Dragon’s Tooth, Little Banning and Hell’s Gate. The Minnesota DNR website says those rapids will give you one of the most challenging whitewater experiences in the state.

It’s beautiful up there. I was totally shocked at the piles and piles of sandstone that are still there to this day. Park workers carved trails directly through several sandstone walls and I bet that took a ton of time to do properly. I’ll admit, the sandstone was fun to climb on but if you aren’t wearing boots, it gets a little slippery. Call it a lesson learned.

Sandstone everywhere. This was out in front of what was the stone cutting shed, according
to the park sign. (Photo by Chad Smith)

You can get a map at the park entrance and it costs just seven dollars for a day pass, which I thought was a really good deal. I will tell you that you need to stay on the Quarry Loop Trail if you want to see the old buildings. The signs refer to the Quarry Loop Trail as the “self guided” trail on signs along the way. I’ll warn you and say the trails get a little confusing if you aren’t paying attention and don’t have your map.

Another lesson learned.

I was hoping to see a little wildlife but the best I could do was a woodchuck that ran across my path. Oh well. Make sure you take bug spray. You’ll need it!

Seriously? We needed to tag this building all the way up north? Come on, people. (Photo
by Chad Smith)

The Power House. Sounds like a great name for a restaurant, doesn’t it? (Photo by Chad
Smith)

May 17, 2020May 17, 2020

Hobbies broadening my horizons in middle-age

Hobbies. I’ve never really had much time for them through the course of my life and I’m honestly not sure why as I sit here and write. Too busy trying to make ends meet? Too lazy? The truth, as it is with most everything in life, is probably somewhere in the middle.

I’ve never really been the adventurous type. Always seemed to want to play it safe and never do anything other people might find unexpected. Then, I moved to the Twin Cities and discovered urban exploring. It’s been a rather eye-opening experience since adding it to my still-growing list of hobbies.

I saw people going to places very few others went to. That spoke to me and I honestly wasn’t sure why at first. Then, as I got a little further into the hobby, it started to dawn on me through the feedback I got mostly through Facebook. “I really enjoy following your explorations,” is something I heard on a regular basis.

This old girl was far and away my favorite old vehicle that I discovered during a Saturday
afternoon exploration. (Photo by Chad Smith)

Plus, I got feedback from people I didn’t expect. The City Administrator at Rushford, Minnesota, Tony Chladek, is a busy fella (and does a great job) but he mentioned during a phone call how much he enjoys my urban exploring photography. He said the same thing I get in a lot of feedback; “I really enjoy following you into places not a lot of people go.”

The current Secretary of Agriculture in Minnesota, Thom Peterson, is a long-time Facebook friend who also mentioned he likes following my explorations. It was funny how he mentioned it after we’d finished an interview for a newspaper article I was writing.

While going through abandoned places, I find it a lot of fun to try and picture what life must have been like back in the day, all those years ago. How different things must have been three decades ago? And, how similar some things might have been as well.

That’s what hooked me into it. Going places that other people don’t typically get to go. But it’s even more than that. It’s the history behind some of these places that also fascinates me too. Spent an afternoon a while back exploring the Pokegama Sanatorium near Pine City, Minnesota. One of the most interesting things I found there was documentation and medical papers that went back as far as 30 years.

Got a tip from a Facebook friend and fellow urbex (slang for urban exploring) enthusiast about a bunch of abandoned vehicles tucked away in a shelter-belt near the Mazomani Trail that I had recent explored. I sure found a number of vehicles that had been stashed away a long time ago.

Far and away the BIGGEST piece of machinery I found abandoned in the tree line. Thought
for a crazy moment I’d found the remains of Optimus Prime. (Photo by Chad Smith)

Man, did walking through a shelter-belt bring back memories of life on the Gerhold Farm. My brother, Travis, and I spent all kinds of time exploring the tree lines around the entire farm. If I remember right, Grandpa John had his own vehicles stashed away among the trees as well.

Talk about some serious nostalgia that made this soon-to-be 50-year-old smile like he was all of fourteen again. Of course, my wife will occasionally say that me and my grown sons can collectively be 14 years old as well. Not sure that’s a compliment?

Hobbies. We all need one or two. If you don’t have one, get one, okay? Hobbies make life more interesting.

Nature always wins in the end, doesn’t she? (Photo by Chad Smith)

April 5, 2020April 5, 2020

Abandoned Jabs Farm Near Jordan, MN, Was Underwater

Abandoned places are so much fun to explore. The history, the old structures, and the stories they tell just fascinate me. I have at least three kids in my family that feel the same way I do, so we hop in the car regularly and go looking for neat places to see.

This was a solo trip for me on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. I have an app on my iPhone called AllTrails that shows me great places to hike all around the state. The Mazomani Trail between Jordan and Carver drew my attention because of something called “Jabs Farm.” Another adventurer had posted several pictures of the app that immediately caught my eye.

The Jabs Farm sits in the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, which automatically makes it a great place to visit. It’s a lovely place to hike (at your own pace), get some exercise, fresh air, and some beautiful pictures.

Hiking the Mazomani Trail looking for an abandoned farm built in the early 1900s. (Photo by Chad Smith)

The farmstead was first built between 1860-1880. In 1905, the Jabs family bought the property from the Riedel family, who initially owned the property. The Valley News says there are still members of the Jabs family living in the area today. The structures themselves are remarkable, a combination of wood and blocks of local limestone that’s produced in the area. I HAD to see this site.

The site was owned by the Jabs family for a long time. Back in 1979, the area, including the farmstead, became the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge area. The farm was first restored in 1981, and sat untouched until another restoration project in 2017. Believe it or not, the buildings were redone by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. I had no idea they did things like that, but I am sure glad they did.

Heck, they even brought in a full-fledged archaeologist to oversee the renovations.

The views up high of the wildlife area were striking and I’ve got some pictures to prove it. Walking along the bluffs was beautiful that day, with a slight breeze and temps a little over 40 degrees, but it did feel a little warmer than that. It was nice and quiet. I did run into a few people, along with the occasional rustling of the leaves on either side of the trail that likely heralded a squirrel, woodchuck, or some other member of the vermin, err, rodent family.

So after about a 20-minute hike, I came to a split in the trail. One direction would take me to the other trail head, which I had no interest in. But hey, the other one said “Jabs Farm, 1/4 mile” the other way. Well, I came around a slight bend as the trail angled downward and this is what I found.

The most remarkable thing about this? The buildings were less than a quarter mile away and were nowhere in sight. As near as I could tell, they must have been ALL underwater. Wow. That’s a lot of snowmelt in a short time, I guess.

The trees looked like they’d
make a great horror movie
setting. (Photo by Chad Smith)

As I get a little more experienced in the urban exploration game, I’m finding out that it does take some patience. Not every place you go is going to be “lit,” as the kids say. Let me offer one final example before I leave you.

I got back to the car and realized I didn’t want to head back yet. It was nice to be outdoors and I wanted to see if I could find another place to explore. Well, I pulled up the “Abandoned” app and scanned for something close by. Turns out, there was (supposed to be) and abandoned barn about 15 miles away. Well hey, I’m an old farm broadcaster/writer. Let’s take a look.

Well, needless to say, the app hadn’t been updated. I wound up in downtown Chanhassen. It happens. Hey, at least it was a nice day.

The entire video from start to finish.

August 2, 2018

Rushford MN man literally stumbles on bison history

A funny thing happened to Dawson Dahl of Rushford during a family trip to the beach. It was a typical summer day and the family decided to go swimming. While walking through the sand, Dahl accidentally stubbed his toe. That painful moment led to a very interesting discovery for him and the rest of the family.

“It was a hot day and we went down to the Point, which is what we call the spot where the crick and the River meet,” he recalled. “We were swimming while my mom sat on the bank and read a book. After getting out of the water, I stubbed my toe on something. I wanted to rip it out of there so no one else would get hurt. I didn’t know it at the time, but I stubbed my toe on the horn of a big Bison skull.”

Dahl grew more interested as he kept digging and saw that his find was something large. As he worked it out of the ground, his mom noticed all the digging and wanted to know what it was too. After finally working it free, Dahl said his mom wasn’t too thrilled by what he’d found.

“She kept saying ‘throw it away’ but I wasn’t going to,” he recalled. “I said ‘I’m keeping this thing.’ It was heavy. After we cleaned the sand out, I’m sure it was lighter. We took it home and hosed it off. We didn’t polish it or anything like that, but we sure did clean a lot of sand out of it.”

As some folks might imagine, he said it was obviously quite a shock to pull a full-sized, complete Bison skull out of the ground. Dahl dug to the point that he could yank the horn with both hands and finally pulled it up out of its resting place. His first reaction?

“Wow, what is this,” he said. “I literally sat there for a few seconds trying to figure out what it was that I had just pulled out of the creek.

“We live pretty close to the creek, so I just carried it home, and then we got it hosed off and cleaned up,” he recalled. “After that, we stuck it in a wheelbarrow and I guess it sat there for six months. Then, we got the idea to bring it to the family White Elephant gift exchange at Christmas.”

Dahl said he actually wanted to hang the skull on the wall, but his mom wasn’t really high on the idea. So, when Christmas rolled around, the Dahls wrapped it up in a box and decided to give it as a surprise gift to a family member. So, which extended family member got the ‘gift?’

“Of all people, my grandmother picked it out,” he said with a smile that was almost visible during a phone conversation. “She’s really not into that type of thing. She unwrapped the big box and opened the lid, jumped back in her chair and yelled. Everyone wanted to know what it was. She started laughing and said she wasn’t going to touch it.

“My great-uncle Larry walked in, saw what it was, and grabbed it by both horns to pull it up out of the box,” he added. “The whole room just exploded in surprise. He’s into that kind of thing and took it home from the family get-together. I’m pretty sure he actually had someone look at it and tell him the skull was actually from the 1800s.”

The skull actually has a hole in it near the brain and figured that’s where hunters shot and killed the bison. The people who dated the skull figured that the Point is where the skull had been buried before eventually working its way back to the surface, where Dahl literally bumped into it.

“It was absolutely perfect timing,” he said.