Craig Haukebo grew up in Battle Lake, left for school and work, and moved back in retirement. He tells of his experience helping create the mosaics on the benches and planter boxes downtown.

I was one of the 133 volunteers who helped create the mosaics on this bench, as well as the mosaics on the other benches and planters. I’m not an artist, but I got pretty good at cutting glass, smoothing edges, and grouting panels to create the mosaics you see here! That’s because I learned from the best – Annette Hochstein, Battle Lake’s premier mosaic artist, who taught us. Under her patient guidance, we novices exceeded our own expectations.

The four mosaic panels on this bench represent Battle Lake’s natural resources: Minnesota’s pink lady slipper, the dragonfly so reminiscent of summer evenings; the lake in Autumn depicting our native flora and fauna: birch trees, a majestic eagle; our state bird—the loon; a fish jumping for dinner; the ubiquitous whitetail deer; in the mosaic facing the street, the sun rises over the lake as herons and a turtle look on and a goose and her goslings glide over the water.

I remember the cold evening in February 2014 when we toasted the completion of the last mosaic panel—nine months after we’d begun. Over that long winter, I’m the one who kept a sound track going to accompany us while we worked. My selections? Classic Rock, of course, including Cinnamon Girl and Spirit in the Sky.

You’ll notice the bench is located next to Granny’s Pantry, where visitors and locals alike flock each summer for a Granny’s ice cream cone. The bench gets plenty of action then. Little ones climb to the top, balancing precariously, while parents raise a hand to keep them from falling. People sit licking their cones, chatting, and watching the cars go by; EVERYONE drips ice cream on the bench and sidewalk – a mess requiring a hosing down each morning.