By Bill Anderson

Irv Rustad of Lake Agassiz Regional Council met with a group composed of the Rutland Renaissance Zone Board, Zoning Board, City Council, Housing Authority and other interested citizens, in the Nordland Fellowship Hall at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 30, to discuss revisions and updates to the City’s Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Ordinance. Participants went through the Comprehensive Plan and updated goals based on the findings of the community forums held by the Horizons Program during the past year. The next step in the process will be to propose changes in the City’s Zoning Ordinance to make it consistent with the goals set out in the Comprehensive Plan. Mr. Rustad is the Executive Director of the Fargo based Lake Agassiz Regional Council.

The Horizons Steering Committee met on Thursday, January 30, to allocate the $1,500 grant recently approved by the Northwest Area Foundation. The grant was distributed $500.00 to the advertising committee, $500 to the community recreation center committee and $500 to the housing committee to help them meet the goals set last year. If the Horizons Program stays on schedule, the committee will be eligible for another $8,500 from the NWAF next Summer, says Horizons Program coordinator Carolyn Christensen.

News was received here of the death of Rutland native Roger Prindiville at his home in Bismarck on Thursday, January 31. He was 77 years old at the time of his death. Roger was the fourth of the 6 children of the late John D. & Naomi (Barnhardt) Prindiville of this community. He was born and raised on the Prindiville family farm on Rutland’s south side. Roger went to high school at St. Francis Academy in Hankinson, where he was an outstanding athlete. After graduation from high school in 1948, he served in the U. S. Army, then returned home and married his childhood sweetheart, Joann Bommersbach of Forman. After graduating from the University of North Dakota, Roger pursued a career in personnel administration with Job Service of North Dakota. The Prindivilles had made their home in Bismarck for many years, but were frequent visitors to the family farm at Rutland and had a host of friends, both old and new, in this community. Joann passed away in 2006. Roger is survived by 3 daughters, 2 sons and a number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He is also survived by 3 brothers, 1 sister and numerous nieces and nephews. The funeral service was held in Bismarck on Monday, February 4. The Rutland community extends its condolences to the family and friends of Roger Prindiville.

Kim Rasmussen stopped for coffee and conversation at the Rutland Cafe on the morning of Friday, February 1, secure in the knowledge that he had already had a good day. Kim was selling tickets for the Silver Lake Fishing Derby which will be held on Sunday, February 24, and he reported that his first sale of the day had been to an old friend, Jack Brummond, known to be careful with a dollar. The price of a ticket is $10.00. Despite the efforts of Kim and Roger McLaen to convince Jack to buy a whole book of 10 tickets, though, he held firm at only 1. Well, with Jack’s golden touch, one should be enough.

Ed Christensen of Bismarck arrived in Rutland on Friday, February 1. Ed was in town to participate in the Rudy Anderson Memorial Pinochle Tournament. Ed reports that he has been working to reform North Dakota’s Work Force Safety & Insurance bureau since the scandal over the administration of the agency broke in November of 2006. Ed is now circulating petitions for an initiated measure to bring the bureau back under the supervision of the Governor’s office, so there would be some accountability, at least.

Sixty-four pre-registered teams were on hand when play commenced at the 9th Annual Rudy Anderson Memorial Pinochle Tournament at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 2, in the Rutland Town Hall. With such terms as meld, deeces, pinochle, ropes and Hundred Aces buttressing their vocabularies, the teams tested skill and luck to determine who the 2008 Champions would be. When the last card had been played and the last point counted, Steve Dietrich and Patty Lies of Wahpeton had captured the title, and the $300.00 First Prize, with a score of 1,604. A pair of Sargent County residents, Bill Smith of Forman and Betty Rust of Brampton, garnered 1,600 points and took second place. Throughout the day, tournament participants enjoyed coffee & lunch served by the Community Club and a dinner of Rutland’s traditional scalloped potatoes, baked beans and ham sandwiches, also served by the RCC, at Noon. The tournament is sponsored by the family of the late Rudolph & Edna Anderson of this community and by the Rutland Community Club. The 14th Annual Tournament will be held in the Rutland Town Hall on the first Saturday in February, 2009.

Ground Hog’s Day was a day of mixed blessings. The sun was shining, making for a nice day, but the Ground Hog saw his shadow, meaning 6 more weeks of winter ahead. The first week of February is already providing almost as much winter as the month of January, with below zero temperatures, wind chills and snow flurries to remind us that Spring is still a couple of months down the road. Well, it’s a road we’ve traveled before, so we shouldn’t get lost.

Fishing action on local water holes has slowed down some, recently, but a few fishermen are still reporting catches of perch, walleye and an occasional northern for the angler with the perseverance to hang in there and wait for the right moment. Some of the local boys have been going down to South Dakota to try the waters there, and reports are that the fish have been biting at Pyas, Mallard and 2 Mile Lakes in the area of old Fort Sisseton. When the fish will start biting again around here is anyone’s guess, but one thing is sure, if you’re not out there when they do, you won’t catch any.

News was received here on Saturday that former Rutland resident Alwood Huckell had been seriously injured in a snowmobile accident near his current home at Devils Lake on the evening of Friday, February 1. While traveling on a groomed snowmobile trail, Alwood had apparently been thrown from his machine when it struck some kind of obstacle. The driver of the next machine was unable to stop and struck Alwood as he lay in the trail. Reports are that his right leg was severely cut by the snowmobile’s ski, and broken in 5 places by the impact. He was transported by Life Flight helicopter to a hospital in Fargo on Friday night, and was transferred to a hospital in Minneapolis for treatment on Saturday. Alwood has had a run of bad luck in recent years, but he always snaps back with a positive outlook and enthusiasm for life. His many friends here wish him a speedy recovery and a quick return home.

The Rutland City Council met at 5:00 p.m. on Monday, February 4, in the Rutland Town Hall with Mayor Narum, Auditor Hoistad and Aldermen Arneson, Harris and Mahrer present. Alderman Christianson was absent. Also present were Carolyn Christensen, Diane Smith and Bill Anderson. The financial report indicated that all funds were in the black, except the water operating fund where the deficit from last Summer’s water main repair has been reduced to $8,500.00. Mayor Narum reported that both furnaces at the Town Hall were in need of repair and that Jacobson Excavating, Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning of Rutland had been contacted to provide estimates for the completion of the needed work. The heat exchanger in the smaller unit has apparently worn out and the larger unit appeared to be having some kind of electrical problem. Ms. Smith and Mrs. Christensen discussed the possible transfer of responsibility for managing the Hall from the City Council to a Committee which includes representatives from the Community Club and other community organizations. They also discussed some ideas concerning fund raising to ease the burden of funding Hall operations which currently rests on City taxpayers. The Council approved charitable gambling permit #123 authorizing the Rutland Community Club to conduct BINGO games on a regular basis at the Rutland Seniors’ Center. The Council had no objection to the construction of a new approach from Mahrer Construction’s shop building site on the north side of town to County #10. The Bernard Mahrer Construction Co. is planning an expansion of its present facility that will make another access approach necessary, according to Alderman Mike Mahrer. Mayor Narum and Alderman Harris reported that the new Bobcat had been delivered by Jacobson Implement, and that the old one had been sold. Auditor Hoistad reminded the Council that 2008 is an election year for the City, with the terms of the Mayor and 2 Council members expiring. Persons interested in being candidates for those offices are required to submit petitions to the City Auditor prior to the April deadline in order to have their names on the ballot for the June election. Petitions can be obtained from the City Auditor. In other business, the Council approved the payment of bills totaling more than $6,000.00. The next meeting of the Rutland City Council will be at 5:00 p.m. on Monday, March 3, at the Rutland Town Hall.

North Dakota held its Presidential Preference Caucus on Tuesday, February 5, along with 23 other States. There were contests in both major political parties, with Clinton and Obama battling for the Democratic nomination, and GOP hopefuls McCain, Romney and Huckabee seeking to be the successors of G. W. Bush. In the 26th Legislative District, the Dem-NPL Party had 10 polling sites that were open from 2:00 to 8:00 p.m., and the Republican Party had 1 polling station, open from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in Wyndmere. At the Rutland polling station, the kitchen of the home of Bill Anderson & Kathy Brakke, 51 votes were cast, with 26 going to Clinton, 24 to Obama and one for former Sen. John Edwards. District wide, 510 Democrats participated in their Party’s caucus, with 234 votes going to Sen. Clinton, 252 for Sen. Obama and 14 for everybody else. No report has been received from the 26th District GOP Caucus. Statewide, more than 19,000 participated in the Democratic Caucus, with 61% for Obama and 37% for Clinton. On the GOP side, over 9,000 participated, with 36% backing Romney and 23 % supporting McCain. Texas Congressman Ron Paul and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee came in 3rd & 4th, respectively, for the GOP. Nationwide, Clinton and Obama ended up with a nearly even split, with Obama carrying more States and Clinton winning a few more delegates. Sen. McCain has now emerged from the Republican pack as the clear front-runner and, although he did not lock up the nomination on Tuesday, he is clearly on the way to doing so. The big concern now is what will happen to the well oiled Republican hate machine which has turned its attack dogs, Rush Limbaugh, Shawn Hannady, Anne Colter and their ilk, loose against McCain during the nomination process. If McCain takes the Republican nomination away from their golden boy Romney, will they continue to heap abuse upon him during the General Election campaign, or will they just shift their venom to the Democratic candidate, as has been their practice in previous elections? Well, it will be interesting to observe these slithering reptiles of the political world as they wriggle and writhe to maintain their grip on power within the GOP. It would be America’s good fortune if McCain could follow the example of St. Patrick in Ireland, by driving these snakes out of his Party, out of his Country and into the sea.

Cam Gulleson, Rob Wyum and Cody Gulleson were among several members of the Rutland Fire Department who attended First Responder training in Lidgerwood on the evening of Tuesday, February 5. First Responders receive training in basic emergency response techniques and can provide emergency first aid until the ambulance and the EMT’s arrive.

Community volunteers will be called to line up appointments for the United Blood Services Blood Drive which will be held on Tuesday, February 19, in the Rutland Town Hall. According to Janet Kiefer, one of the local coordinators, this drive will be held in the afternoon and early evening. Anyone wishing to donate who doesn’t receive a call should contact Janet Kiefer, Sheila Wyum, Joanne Harris or Pam Maloney to schedule a time for their donation, or just walk in that afternoon and get on the list. This will be the first of 2 blood drives scheduled to be conducted in Rutland during 2008.

A Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) training class will be held at the Rutland Fire Hall on Thursday, February 21, according to Fire Chief Ron Narum. Everyone is invited, and urged, to attend this class on a basic life saving technique. Don’t miss it.

Don’t miss Rutland’s internet web site at http://www.rutlandnd.com, either. Stop by to check out what’s going on in the old home town.

Following are excerpts from the L. S. Sanderson column of February 5, 1953: Early to bed, and early to rise; Makes you the winner of the Booby Prize…And the news is that the people of North Dakota do not have enough laws and regulations to make them law abiding, so the House of Rep. of Bismarck proposes to enact 346 new laws to hold em down. The senate will no doubt go them one better and enact 350, but since the session is half over, we need have no fear. They are trying an experiment which is unique, but no doubt a step in the right direction, in committee assignments. This is how it works. If you are a farmer, experienced in agriculture and have served for a number of years on the agricultural committee, then you are in a rut and should try something else. If you have had a number of years experience on the same committee, then get out of the rut and try something new, something you know nothing about…Wolf Gabriel left last week for Minneapolis where he expects to spend the rest of the winter…Bernie Mahrer and wife are Minneapolis visitors this week. The café is in charge of Frank Mahrer and wife during their absence…Helmer Ronning arrived on Tuesday to take charge of the barber shop. Mr. Ronning hails from Ft. Ransom, but has been employed in a shop in Lisbon for some time. Mr. Gillespie who has operated the shop for some time has returned to Larimore. Old barbers never die, they just float away…George and Leslie Peiterick of Wolford, N. D., are visiting at the home of their uncle, Andrew Peiterick this week…Henry Mitzlaff has returned from a trip thru the south where he visited relatives in Iowa and Georgia, also spent some time in western South Dakota where he formerly resided…The American Legion and the Auxiliary have made extensive repairs to their hall here. The interior has been remodeled, treated to a coat of paint and new floor and the owners have every right to feel proud of their new home…Raymond Syverson reports the loss of the license plates for his school bus. It was lost between his home and Rutland, the number being 9373. If found, please return to Mr. Syverson…1954 car license plates will bear the emblem “Peace Garden State” according to an act of the legislature. Since the peace garden is so far north, there is some objection from the southern part of the state, ten too, this is said to be a federal project and the state should not attempt to steal the show from the federal. If the whole state if to be represented, several suggestions could be offered. Since N. D. is strictly agriculture “100% Parity” would fit or we could copy after Minnesota, who has “10,000 Lakes” and say “10,000 Sloughs.” Also in driving thru the state where there are so many idle farms and vacant farm buildings, maybe the license plates should read “North Dakota-Nobody Home”… It appears that prize fighting has been included in the curriculum at one of our institutions of higher learning which has just concluded a Golden Glove tournament. No doubt that a course in prize fighting is necessary to maintain order in some school rooms.