A good way to encourage appreciation for the past is to rekindle and share memories from previous years. Farmsteads and Old Neighborhoods is a collection of some of those memories from in and around Fergus Falls, Minnesota. Author Tom Hintgen's Farmsteads and Old Neighborhoods drips with nostalgia. It's backyard history at its best. No organized playdates in those days. Just people coming together to enjoy what life offered in the 1950s and 60s. Those who grew up on area farms refer to working alongside family members while milking cows, planting crops in the spring, harvesting in the fall, baling hay and doing other chores. They worked with animals from chickens to horses. In rural Fergus Falls, and throughout Otter Tail County, life on the farm also included opportunities to watch the sunrises and see some beautiful sunsets. Many farm kids were surrounded by animals. Those kids loved country school, 4-H and friends on nearby farms. Those who grew up in Fergus Falls neighborhoods and in other area towns, especially during the 1950s and 1960s, recall the days when they would collect empty pop bottles to take to the corner grocery store to cash in for a few cents in order to purchase penny candy. It was a time when farm neighbors and residents in the communities would sit on front or back porches and actually engage in conversation. This held true for adults and kids alike while enjoying lemonade during the summer months. Country schools are fondly remembered, as are the many grade schools that kids attended in the various neighborhoods in Fergus Falls and other nearby communities. Many former classmates who grew up on farms and who now live in big cities say they always have maintained some affection for the farm. The same feelings hold true for many of the author's former classmates who grew up in small town neighborhoods. Enjoy this book as people in their later years recall growing up on area farms and in city neighborhoods.