Southeast Minnesota town to dedicate park to national service

It was on a bit of a lark that Ken Fliés applied in 1962 to be among the first 3,000 American Peace Corps volunteers.

Fliés was one of 11 kids on a dairy farm outside Plainview in southeastern Minnesota. His world was small; he'd barely left the farm for more than a day before heading to play football at Minnesota State University, Mankato, then known as Mankato State College. But ever since he devoured the encyclopedia at his country schoolhouse and read about far-flung places like Brazil and India, he wanted to see the world.

Feeling unfulfilled during his freshman year, Fliés saw a Peace Corps advertisement quoting President John F. Kennedy: "Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country." He applied, and on Oct. 22, 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Fliés flew to Brazil, his next two years spent in the São Francisco River Valley. He worked on a hydroelectric substation, built a maternity hospital, started a gardening program and founded the town's first public library.

One surprising thing: Fliés wasn't the only Peace Corps volunteer from his small town. Plainview had about 1,800 people. Four were part of the first-ever Peace Corps cohort. The town's dedication to service would continue, with a dozen Peace Corps volunteers in the coming decades.

"Part of it was just farm boys wanting some adventure," said Fliés, now 80 and living in Eagan, a retired businessman active in volunteerism and in the Twin Cities Civil War Round Table. "We had strong schools and great teachers, very inspirational. Or maybe we just wanted to get the hell out of there. We were tired of working 12-hour days all summer to earn money for college."

His hometown's legacy of service is why Fliés is spearheading an effort to turn a vacant lot in Plainview, 20 miles outside Rochester, into the nation's first National Service Park to honor those who've served in the military as well as AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps.

The first phase will launch on Sat., Nov. 4, with a daylong event at Plainview High School.

A 10 a.m. presentation will feature speakers from the military and national service organizations, including Joseph Votel, a retired four-star general and Minnesota native; Carol Spahn, director of the Peace Corps; and Ken Goodson, director of AmeriCorps NCCC. The event will include food and music as well as displays by the service organizations, which will hold informational sessions focused on showing young people opportunities to serve their country.

Fliés is proud of his hometown's contribution to national service as well as Minnesota's. In the years after Minnesota Sen. Hubert H. Humphrey helped start the Peace Corps, Minnesota was frequently among the top states providing volunteers. In 2011, the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps, the Minnesota State Historical Society put up a marker honoring the town's Peace Corps history. There are historical markers at the same park, the trailhead for the Great River Ridge State Trail, that honor 98 Minnesotans killed in an 1864 Civil War battle — 12 of them from the Plainview area.

"The Peace Corps changed my perception of the world, and how you could contribute to making the world a better place," Fliés said. "The theme of the park is to emphasize these peaceful aspects. So many parks are a memorial. We want it to be an interactive kind of thing where people can get the whole panorama of national service."