It's not exactly what you'd expect in a town of 68 people. Vining, Minnesota has an impressive, relatively large sculpture garden. Amid the sculptures of a flowerpot and pliers, stands a steel astronaut. And it's that astronaut that's especially meaningful to the sculptor and the town.
Ken Nyberg is the town's sculptor. He's also the father of Karen Nyberg, who'll be making space history next week as the 50th woman to journey to space.
"I don't think there was much difference, no she was just a kid," said Phyllis Nyberg outside the Vining Post Office on Thursday.
The Nybergs raised six children in the West Central Minnesota town. Karen was the second youngest. The 1988 graduate of Henning High School loved painting, volleyball and reading as a child. She also taped a poster of an astronaut to her bedroom wall.
"She had it in her bedroom all the time she was growing up," Phyllis said.
Next week, 20 members of the Nyberg family plan to travel to Florida when Karen and her crew take off for the International Space Station on board the shuttle Discovery. The launch is set for 4:02 p.m. on Saturday, May 31st.
But the Nyberg family won't be the only ones watching. After all, in a small town like Vining, the whole town and more will be watching Karen's every step.
"It's just awesome to think that she comes out of a little town of Vining and School of Henning," said Marie Trosdahl, Karen's Advanced Algebra teacher. "I always keep telling my kids you can be anything you want to be no matter what size school you come from."
(Copyright 2008 by KARE. All Rights Reserved.)
