When I think of Hennepin County I think Minneapolis and its suburbs. I think MERTOPOLITIN Area. There is over 1 million people living in this county. Loretto is rural. It is about 650 people and surrounded by fields. While we were driving out to Loretto it was like we all of a sudden burst out of the metro into open land. There was a lot of county parks nearby, lakes, and they had a great trail coming into and out of town reaching these places. They also have the Arnold Klaers Baseball Field for the Loretto Larks.
Loretto has a fairly prominent railroad line running through town to this day. It started out as a railroad village. Loretto was founded in 1886 and named ultimately after a small town in Italy by the same name (Loreto). With the main settlers being immigrants of German and Dutch descent, this might seem odd. However, it is more of a trickle-down effect. Minnesota’s Loretto has links to Kentucky’s Loretto and Lorette, Quebec, Canada (named in 1673). Lorette was a Roman Catholic mission for Huron Native Americans refugees. Loretto, MN was officially incorporated in 1940.
Wedding/Fun Fest
Loretto also has an annual fun festival for the past 24 years. It is full of activities including kids’ inflatables, face painting, medallion hunt and a fire department street dance. They also have fireworks on Saturday night. This was the pretty spectacular thing we got to see when we were leaving from a wedding in 2019. The fireworks were a pleasant surprise on our drive home from a lovely evening. We pulled over and watched with delight.
The wedding we attended was just a little way outside of town at Bien Aime Farm. It was a very beautiful venue and a very beautiful wedding. The temperature was just right, the flowers still had blooms, and it was a magical feeling. My husband and I went solo without our two children at the time. I was also in my first trimester with my son and was a bit miserable here and there. In these blogs when there is a wedding involved, I will try to keep the blog not focused so much on the couple or photos of them out of respect for their privacy.
Bien Aime Farm is more then a wedding venue. In fact I’m not sure how many they really have there. They do have retreats and other events though. If you look at their site the farm is a place for adoptive families to come and bond. They host homeschool enrichment classes, family activities, creative expression, equine experiences, and more. It seems like a blessing to the community.
Sources
Loretto Community Athletic Association :: Home (lorettoathletic.org)