Our Sense of Self-By Carl Nelson He is surrounded by some of his favorite written works, including Bob Dylan biographies and histories, to Edward Abbey’s earthy philosophies, and Shakespeare’s collected works. Southwest Minnesota State English Professor David Pichaske will be adding new writings to his bookshelves and many others this summer. Three books that he’s involved in will include writings on local cemeteries, small-town ethnic celebrations, and cafés and meeting places. “It all started with my southwest Minnesota book,” he said about about his upcoming works. Pichaske has been in the process of compiling information and working on these subjects for two years. The books will be in the form of “a photo/ text collage.” “There will be color photos to match the texts,” he said. He explained that cemeteries provide a cultural experience that has been lost over the years. “There are a lot of losses in a cemetery — there is a loss of languages on the tombstones today because people can’t read them — there are the tombstone changes in one plot where a Polish name was Americanized, and then there is the loss of life,” he said. “People (immigrants) also lost the vision...things also fell apart
when they came to these areas. “Two, three, four...kids died in a family of say rheumatic fever
or smallpox — that is an incredible feeling of loss.” “At St. Henry’s south of Redwood there is even the loss of
the church...it became a house and now it is a granary,” he added. Pichaske also mentioned that there are cemeteries hidden in wooded areas
and some are situated in fields and in road ditches. He wants to add these
topics to the book. “Generally there was that loss in the countryside.” While misfortunes befell ancestors in the area, Pichaske also commented
on the the ways that towns find their sense of community in current ethnic
events. “Sometimes these events are a conscious attempt to recover what
was lost,” he said. “What you are trying to do is celebrate and perpetuate a heritage,”
he said. Sometimes these celebrations are even more localized than the communities
that they are to represent. “I went to Madison once for a celebration ... and nobody knew that
it was going on,” he said. Pichaske explained that there are many events to attend around the area
that he will be discussing in his book. He said that it is often interesting
and humorous to listen to what people are discussing at these gatherings.
Pichaske said of these area events: “It is good fellowship and a good time ... I would like to see them
sustained because it is that sense of community to get together and do
something of its own,” he said. “All of these stories came from traveling around and going to these
things in Ivanhoe and Ghent, Hanley Falls, Granite Falls ... it is a tour
of southwest Minnesota town festivals.” If town festivals are the place to get the scoop on local events, Pichaske
claims that cafés and other local hangouts offer the best stories.
“I like to the histories and looking at the menus...the really interesting
part is all of the families that come in — you just have to sit down
and listen,” he said. “The café is the social focus of life. “There are some other important histories like the pool tables in
local bars ... back in the ’30s and ’40s there were pool tournaments
that never get talked about...” Capturing these stories on a page in photographs and in text is what
these books are all about for Pichaske. “I think that we are losing the sense of who we are...we are always
worried about what others think,” he said. “The whole essence
of education is the farm you grew up on, the church, the café,
the bar, and the school you went to.” |