Few of us know that in 1927, the Mississippi River swept across an area roughly equal in size to Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Vermont combined, leaving water as deep as thirty feet on the land stretching from Illinois and Missouri south to the Gulf of Mexico. Close to a million people - in a nation of 120 million - were forced out of their homes. Some estimates place the death toll in the thousands. The Red Cross fed nearly 700,000 refugees for months.

Caring about history will also enable us to better appreciate what our ancestors went through in getting us to where we are today. Many things in our lives are taken for granted, such as our education and justice systems and the technological advancements. Going back to learn how are parents and grandparents got through their lives can only make us very thankful for what their generations and the generations before them did to enhance our quality of life.

Finally, we should be ever mindful of documenting what happens in our own lives so our descendants will know the history of their families. The tragedies like Hurricane Katrina and 9/11 will forever be recorded for review by people in the future. Creating our own history will provide a resource for the people who would want to know.

What people or events helped spark your interest in history?
My dad, through his love of sports. He had a book on college football that his dad gave him as a gift in 1934. It was about the history of college football, which began in 1869. I loved to read this book when I was a kid. He later gave the book to me as a gift. It was interesting to read about how the game progressed over the decades.

As a World War II vet, my dad brought back some Nazi memorabilia that we got to look at when we were kids. He also had the letters that he wrote home to his parents during the war that were very interesting to read and to experience vicariously what life was like during the war.

I also appreciate my teachers, both in high school and college, who taught history. They made the subject very interesting and this only strengthened my resolve to learn more history on many different events, persons and eras.

What are compelling stories from our communities?
The Stiftungsfest celebration immediately comes to mind. The event started in 1861 and is now the oldest annual celebration in Minnesota. Being a native of Norwood Young America, I grew up with this celebration and still look forward to it every August. The recent focus on the historical aspects of the event and the pavilion renovation will only help people in the area better understand how fortunate we are to have a celebration like this with such a great tradition.

Another story is a personal one. 2005 marks the 100th anniversary of when my family started to practice law in Carver County. My grandfather, John J. Fahey, moved to Norwood in 1905 and opened his law office. He was Carver County Attorney for over 30 years. My dad, John A. Fahey, started working with my grandfather in 1940. At that time their office was in Chaska. My dad was a judge in Carver County from 1969 to 1984. When I started practice in 1978, I worked with Robert Nicklaus, an attorney who took over my dad's practice when he became a judge.

With all the growth in Carver County, it is important to remember the importance of the dairy industry in this county and the history associated with it. For a long time we had two of the premier creameries in the state, Oak Grove Dairy and Bongards. Carver County was at one time known as the "Golden Buckle" of the dairy belt.

When I was growing up, you were known as either a town or farm kid. Many of my friends were the latter. Almost all of the farm families had dairy operations. These people knew how to work. As a town kid, it was a challenge to help my friends bale hay and then go up in the barn and help unload the hay when it was extremely hot. This is something that most kids do not get to experience today.