Not too long ago, I came across this saying: "If you want to be a part of the village, you have to be a villager." My first thought was, whoever said this hit the nail on the head. My second thought was, but wait - what constitutes a village? Is it your family? Your neighborhood? Your job? The various groups you identify with? Your city? Your STATE????? After some consideration, I came to the conclusion that the answer is, Yes. With that being said, however, I found myself asking, how does one be a villager in every village they belong to? Where do you find the energy? The resources?

Community comes in all different shapes and sizes, and the way we contribute will vary depending on which community we're participating in. For example, when you're participating in your home, you may be cleaning shared spaces or making shared meals. If your participating in your neighborhood or your city, you may be picking up garbage while on your walk. Participation in your state may be campaigning for candidates or casting your vote at the poll.

The way you participate in your many communities need not be grand gestures or action, although many believe that to be the case because large efforts are what are noticed and praised. However, the small ways that we show that we care add up and make an impact. If we all do something as small as picking a piece of garbage up off the sidewalk, we create a space that is healthier and more welcoming for everybody. It's not the size of the action you take, but the impact that your actions make that matter and are so very appreciated.

With that, let's dig into this week's issue of my contribution to our village the Meadowlark Informer. I hope you enjoy and have a wonderful rest of your week!

Community Spotlight

Food is a language of love, a symbol of togetherness and, for Leola Daul, the foundation of how she and her team take care of our community. When I walked into the basement kitchen of First Presbyterian Church, the base for Heart-n-Soul Community Cafe, the first thing I saw was the chef teaching volunteers how to roll burritos. They were having so much fun and putting in so much care into making sure that every one of them were rolled beautifully. You can tell that they were taking pride in what they were doing.

This initiative started somewhere around 2016, when Leola found herself reading a magazine article about a woman who had opened a community cafe in Utah, where everyone pays what they can afford for a healthy, nutritious meal. For some, this may sound like a wonderful, but infeasible idea - what with the pressure to balance finances and impact - but for Leola, it was the best way to balance our community’s needs and desire to help. She knew then, just as she knows now, that sharing a meal and connecting with your community is the pathway to personal well-being and a stronger community.

She began forming and sharing her plan to start a community cafe of her own and, while many people were supportive, few committed to involvement, which made it difficult to go all in at first, but a friend was able to convince her to at least give it a try, so she did. She signed up for a beginning entrepreneurship class where she was given a deadline to get everything started, which led her to attend a Chef’s Association meeting to look for a chef and underutilized kitchens. It was at this meeting, where she met Tracy Walvatne, who just so happened to have a kitchen in Josie’s Corner Cafe that Leola could use on Sundays, thus began the Heart-n-Soul Community Cafe.

In the beginning, there were some challenges to overcome that were a bit discouraging. She was working full-time and everything was run on donations and through the use of volunteers - but for every roadblock that was put up, a new path forward would emerge. Through community partnerships with local farmers, such as Noreen Thomas and Bill Erbes, The Kitchen Coalition Program through Great Plains Food Bank, other nonprofits, local businesses and the many, many community members that volunteered, she's been able to pull through the initial difficult obstacles, and rise to the challenge of those presented during the pandemic.

Like it did for so many, everything changed in 2020. People could no longer safely convene and many community resources had to pivot to continue to meet the needs of the people they serve. For Heart-n-Soul Community Cafe, that looked like delivering bagged lunches, to the tune of 500 lunches per weekend made by 8 volunteers - complete with caring notes encouraging people to hang in there, we’re in this together.

Understanding that transportation is a huge barrier to food access, Leola wanted to continue bringing the food where the people are, while also ensuring safe access, so she pursued a food truck. It was kind of pricey and she had no idea how to set one up, but that didn’t stop the process. A kind, anonymous donor helped pay for the food truck and the previous owner, who strongly believes in their mission, helped her learn how to set it up over the course of a year. On June 12, 2021 the food truck made its debut at First Lutheran Church.

Leola and her team are firm believers that everyone should have access to nourishing, diverse meals. With that they source the vast majority of their food from local businesses, farmers and gardeners to create their dishes. Their menu is developed based on the season, ingredient availability and through welcoming guest chefs who bring with them their own expertise and recipes. Best of all, they welcome everybody - no questions asked. If you can pay, that’s great. If you can’t, that’s understandable, so long as you're fed, that’s what matters. However, if someone is worried about not being able to pay, their team is always grateful for help around the food truck.

For Leola and her team, the work they put in to ensure that their Community Cafe continues on, is well worth seeing their community come together and the opportunity to ensure our neighbors are being nourished. Through their efforts, they get to learn about and try new foods, and share what they learn with everyone who comes along.

The Heart-n-Soul Community Cafe truly is a community run initiative. If you’re interested in contributing to their mission, you can do so by:

• Providing Donations
• Volunteering
• Becoming a Guest Chef - there is no need for formal training, just a love for cooking and a want to feed our neighbors
• Becoming a Sponsor - they give back to businesses that sponsor by putting their logo on their food truck
• Attending any of their 3 fundraisers held annually
• Spreading the word
• And, of course, coming to share a meal - be sure to bring a friend!

You can find more information on their website heartnsoulcafe.com and by following them on Facebook.

Artist of the Week

When we think of art, we often think of painting, drawing, ceramics, writing, music - you know, something "traditional." Many people do not readily consider digital art when thinking about artforms, especially in this, the age of AI slop. However, this week's artist, known as Void Feathers, readily challenges this notion.

Void is a Fargo native creative, who's imagination brought to life an entire universe where natural phenomena give birth to entities, known as The Guardians. Having written many stories about The Guardians, they began capturing them in visual digital art.

The longer you observe their drawings, created in Adobe Fresno, the more symbolism you will find, with elements subtly and organically woven throughout their pieces. Their primary focus is on creating character imagery, but they also enjoy capturing specific scenes. They enjoy experimenting with perspective and proportions, which can be seen across recreations of various characters.

Their art can be described as comic, anime or chibi in style and contains undertones of diversity. Many of their characterizations are anthropomorphic, which allows for more symbolism to show through All in all, their art includes a range from realism to whimsical.

They accept commissions for character creation pieces, reimagining existing characters (so long as it is within copyright), logos and more. You can find more of their art on Deviant Art (which also lists how to request commissions) and Tumblr. They also have a YouTube channel where they've begun posting their process of character creation.

Just a thought. . .

Due to some unforeseeable circumstances (ahem, the weather), I was unable to meet with the business of the week, so I thought I'd pivot and share some thoughts on something that's been on my mind lately.

Have you heard of the "Curb Cut Effect?" If you haven't, essentially, it's the idea that changes made at large to help specific groups have a larger positive impact for the whole community. The specific example that this effect is based on are the sloped sidewalks designed for individuals who have impaired mobility. Once installed, it positively impacted the whole community by providing safe, more accessible movement for everyone, including bikers, parents with strollers, roller skaters, skate boarders and even joggers.

I've come to observe that, nowadays, many people are trapped in a scarcity mindset, and for good reason - there's inflation, mass layoffs due to AI "solutions," rising costs of living, the list could go on. This mindset can lead to skepticism of changes that are made to benefit a specific group, because it feels like resources are being allocated to benefit only some when the vast majority of us are suffering. It can be hard to see that the changes advocated for at large have the potential to create a positive impact for everyone, including ourselves.

My thoughts on this are encompassed in the intro. When we contribute to our village, even in small ways, we have the ability to make our village better for everyone. This extends to supporting our villagers' accessibility to resources and safe environments. When we guarantee the rights for accessibility for some, we are guaranteeing the rights for accessibility for all - regardless of circumstance. It is not pie. There is no limit to the benefits, when we look out for one another.

In the inspiring words of Leola Daul, "If everybody in our community is doing well, it makes for a good community."

Recipe of the Week

This week's recipe of Asparagus Tarte was brought to you by none other than. . . Me. . . again! (seriously, I would love some more recipe submissions 😅). It's inspired by spring and one of my family's most favorite recipes.

Ingredients

• 1 Premade (thawed) or homemade Puff Pastry dough
• 1 bunch of fresh Asparagus Spears
• 1/2 Cup Sour Cream
• 2 Egg Yolks
• 1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
• 1 Cup Gruyere Cheese, shredded (if this is too strong, I found that you can substitute a canister of Feta Cheese without compromising the quality)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper - set aside
3. Prep your Asparagus spears by rinsing them, patting them dry and cutting off the woody ends - set aside.
4. Lay your Puff Pastry dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out to an approximately 14 in. x 10 in. rectangle.
5. Transfer the rectangle to the baking sheet.
6. Using a sharp knife, score a border about 1 inch in from the edge all the way around the rectangle. It should look like a rectangle within a rectangle.
7. Using a fork, dock (poke holes) in the center rectangle every half inch to stop puffing in the center.
8. Put the pan with the dough in the oven for 15 minutes (until golden brown).
9. While the dough is baking, shred your Gruyere Cheese (if it isn't already) or break up your Feta (if that's what you're using).
10. Mix the Egg Yolks, Dijon Mustard, Sour Cream and 1/4 cup of shredded Gruyere Cheese in a large bowl.
11. Remove the dough from the oven and spread the mixture into the center rectangle.
12. Sprinkle the remaining 3/4 cup of Gruyere on top of the mixture.
13. Arrange the Asparagus spears horizontally in a single layer on the mixture.
14. Return the pan and dough back into the oven for another 15 minutes.
15. To Serve, lightly cool and use a pizza cutter or sharp knife to cut into 8 - 10 even sized rectangles.

Did you know?

Many people know of Fargo's great fire of 1893, which broke out on Front Street (modern day Main Avenue) and devoured 31 city blocks in a matter of approximately 5 hours of, what is now considered, North Fargo. However, did you know that, in less than a year, the community was able to rebuild a whopping 246 buildings? That is approximately 1.48 buildings erected each day! This is the strength of a community that binds together.

Sources:

• North Dakota State University Libraries. (n.d.). Fire of 1893. Fargo History. https://library.ndsu.edu/fargo-history/indexee8b.html?q=content/fire-1893​
• Rapp, E. (2025, June 7). A storied corner: 1893 Fargo fire monument returns. Fargo Underground. https://fargounderground.com/2025/06/07/a-storied-corner-1893-fargo-fire-monument-returns/​

Out on the Town

If you're looking to fly the nest, here are some fun things to do. . .

• Art Journals (Beginner Bookbinding) - Events4All - Monday, May 18th @ 6 pm
• Fruit Plate Class - Rising Dawn Ceramics - Tuesday, May 19th @ 6 pm
• Swing Basics & Social - Studio14 - Tuesday, May 19th @ 7:30 pm
• Parent's Night Out - Code Ninjas Fargo - Friday, May 22nd @ 6 pm
• Fairy Fest - Yunker Farm - Saturday, May 23rd @ 1 pm
• 2026 Downtown Fargo ONE BITE Challenge - Fargo Broadway Square - Saturday, May 23rd @ 1 pm
• Fargo Cars and Coffee: Straight Line Show & Shine - Straight Line Detailing - Saturday, May 23rd @ 5 pm