Origins

Avon Hills:
A Place of Intersection for Millennia

For thousands of years, the glacial till or morainal hills of the Avon Hills have been a place of transition and intersection. A transition zone of geology, flora and fauna, they also marked the meeting of the Big Woods and the Big Prairie, where the Native American Nations and tribes of the Dakota and Ojibwe overlapped.

The rolling wooded hills with lakes and streams certainly attracted the indigenous American peoples in much the same way as people today.

We acknowledge that the land on which we work, learn, and commune at the Avon Hills Folk School is the ancestral homeland of the Dakota and Ojibwe tribal nations. We acknowledge the painful history of genocide and forced removal from this territory, and we seek to honor and respect the diverse indigenous peoples still connected to this land on which we gather. We commit ourselves to inviting the Dakota and Ojibwe communities to join us in authentic conversation and collaboration around this difficult and important work.

Early On: An Accidental Folk School

During the mid-late 1800’s, the Avon Hills were destinations for woodcutters, moonshiners, and farmers arriving late to the region. It was not viewed as suitable for much else, all the “good land” having been claimed by new arrivals from Europe or the eastern United States earlier in the century.

But by the 1970s and ‘80s, the Central Minnesota population had experienced significant growth, and the Avon Hills went from being undesirable to very much in demand for its natural beauty and proximity to St. Cloud and I-94 (see documentary If a Road Runs Through It).

Francis and Karen Schellinger purchased the land on which the folk school operates in 1969. Since that time the family has actively embraced the land through sugaring (maple syruping), bee keeping, vegetable and flower gardening, selective logging, hunting, gathering, and small-scale animal husbandry to include horses, cattle, pigs, rabbits, chickens, ducks, geese, pigeons, etc.

As people increasingly made the Avon Hills their home, they often found their way to the home of Francis and Karen Schellinger to simply visit, solicit advice, or to borrow this or that in order to complete a project on their newly acquired property.

A much-anticipated event at the Schellinger property was the annual Bouja Party, at which friends and neighbors would gather each year on the first Sunday in October. This became, as much as anything, an example of Francis and Karen’s unconscious and innate ability to bring people of all backgrounds together in community.

Through many years of welcoming visitors, Francis and Karen practiced, unintentionally, the tenets of the folk school—building community through the sharing of skills and knowledge. In meeting the Schellingers, many people came away with a newfound confidence to take on new challenges, knowing they were part of a community of supportive teachers and learners.

It is this beautiful and valued practice of building community through hands-on learning and hospitality that we seek to continue through the Avon Hills Folk School.