By Bill Anderson

Brother, it’s cold outside. Twenty below zero on Sunday, February 10, and the weatherman says we ain’t seen nothing yet. Despite the frigid temps, signs of Spring can be seen, however. Hope springs eternal, so they say, and there are none more optimistic than those who sell seed when it’s 20 below in preparation for the golden harvest to come next Summer and Fall. Wenzman Seed has been making deliveries of corn and soybean seed to Sargent County’s foremost seed dealer, Kulzer Feed & Seed of Rutland. Mike Kulzer reports that most local farmers have ordered their seed for the 2008 crop, but some seed, particularly wheat seed, is a hard to get item this season. Call Mike at 724-3345 for top quality seed for a top quality crop. On the livestock side of the ledger, Jordan Wyum has been busy with calving duties for his herd of 150 black angus heifers. So far the calving season is progressing well, despite the cold weather. The next time you purchase a roast beef at the local grocery store, or order a prime steak at a local cafe, pause for a moment to remember the labor of the cattlemen who worked all night in below zero cold to make sure that prime beef made it to your plate.

Dennis Prindiville, Pat Prindiville and Michael Prindiville were in Rutland on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday last week, in residence at the Prindiville family farmhouse on the south side of town. They had been in Bismarck on Monday, where they attended the funeral of their brother and uncle, Roger Prindiville. Although retired, Pat is still employed, part-time, measuring grain in storage for the auditors at grain elevators. At 72, Pat still climbs up the grain bins to check things out, although he says that he leaves some of the taller bins to his business partner, a much younger man, only 71 years of age. Pat’s son, Michael, assists them on some of the bigger jobs. On Wednesday Pat was measuring up the grain in storage at the Fullerton Elevator.

The Rutland Community Club met in the Town Hall on Tuesday, February 5, and decided to move the date of the Community Club’s annual supper and play to Friday, March 14, due to a scheduling problem at the Hall. The traditional Palm Sunday Dinner is scheduled for Sunday, February 16, and Club members determined that two major events in two days would be too difficult to coordinate. Next year, the Supper and Play will be back on for the 3rd Saturday in March. This year, the Community will be entertained with a re-make of that 1990 classic, “The Miss Rutland Pageant”, which will also include appearances by two stars of the ’90 production, Miss Piggy and Miss Saggy Hose. That’s Friday, March 14, for the Rutland Community Club’s annual supper and play. Advance tickets will be available at the Rutland Café, Rutland General Store, Alley Cuts and other Rutland businesses. In other business, Club members hired Ella Lou Nelson and Renee Cramton to paint the kitchen in the Town Hall. The next meeting of the Rutland Community Club is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 4, in the Rutland Town Hall.

Tickets for the Rutland Sportsmen’s Club annual fish fry were distributed to members at the Club’s February meeting on the evening of Thursday, February 7. The fish fry will be held on Friday, March 7, in the Rutland Town Hall. Only 550 tickets are available, so get ’em while they’re hot.

Another event for which tickets are still available is the annual Fishing Derby which will be held at Silver Lake on Sunday, February 24. The event has been sponsored by the Cogswell Gun Club and the Rutland Sportsmen’s Club in previous years with the proceeds being donated to the Sargent County Park District for improvements at Silver Lake Park and other area fishing holes. Some of the locals who can provide tickets are Quentin Hoistad and Kim Rasmussen. There are reports that anglers have been catching some northerns and walleyes at Silver Lake in recent days, so there is a real chance that derby participants may catch some nice fish, too.

Rachel Olson of this Community was in Bismarck from Saturday, February 9, until Tuesday, February 12, attending a counseling conference. At present, Rachel teaches Home Economics part-time at the Wyndmere High School while she pursues a Master’s Degree in Counseling with studies at NDSU in Fargo. As Rachel was departing Bismarck about noon on Tuesday, her husband, Jeff, was entering that City in the company of his boss, Tewaukon National Wildlife Refuge Manager Jeff King, to attend training on the use of global positioning systems and other electronic gadgetry for the rest of the week.

Grant Gulleson accompanied his son, Peder, to Phoenix AZ recently and returned to Rutland on Sunday, February 3, just in time to get in on the coldest weather of the Winter. In Phoenix, Grant visited his sister and brother-in-law, Helen & Herlin Nordine, as well as several old friends from this community, including Orvis & Alphie Pearson and Elvoy & Grace Askerooth. Peder spent his time in Phoenix in the service of his employer, the Bobcat Company, at the Bobcat proving grounds there. Grant reports that it’s fun to visit but it’s great to be home.

Jim Marquette has been at work constructing an addition to the Paul & Sue Anderson home at 309 Gay Street this week. The foundation for the project was laid last Fall, but the weather and Jim’s recent carpal tunnel surgery have slowed progress until now. Jim was up to full speed this week, though, as the walls are now up and the rafters may be on by the end of the week.

Local coordinators are scheduling times for the United Blood Services Blood Drive which will be held from 2:00 to 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, February 19, in the Rutland Town Hall. If you haven’t been called, contact Sheila Wyum, Joanne Harris, Pam Maloney or Janet Kiefer to schedule an appointment to give the gift of life.

Meanwhile, on the national scene, the President and the Congress have finally agreed on something, the so-called Economic Stimulus package that is supposed to stave off a national economic recession by pumping $150 billion of Federal money into consumer spending. The money will be distributed in increments of $300 to the American people in what is being called a “tax rebate”, although it is not actually a rebate, as all of the taxes the American people have paid have already been spent. This money will be borrowed, increasing the National Debt by another $150 billion. Oh well, what’s another $150 billion! The current President, with the help of both Republican and Democratic Congresses, has doubled the National Debt, from 5.8 trillion in 2001 to more than 10 trillion by the end of this year, during his term in office. There is no doubt that this money will stimulate economic activity, briefly, but the basic problems in the national economy will not be addressed by it. When all of the money has been spent, we will have another $150 billion worth of trinkets, gadgets and junk produced in other countries, while our transportation infrastructure will still be crumbling, our electrical power grid will still be antiquated and our schools will still be struggling to prepare our children to meet the challenges of the 21st Century. When all of the money has been distributed and spent, we will be another day older and deeper in debt, and that’s about all. The President is urging people to spend the money as soon as they get it. Don’t save it and don’t invest it, he urges, just spend it. He believes in fighting economic fire with fire. After all, it was financial irresponsibility that got us into this mess, and financial irresponsibility should get us out of it. Can January 20, 2009, get here soon enough?

Check out Rutland’s internet web site at http://www.rutlandnd.com for more information on what’s going on in the old home town. It’s the responsible thing to do.

The following are excerpts from the L. S. Sanderson column of February 12, 1953: And the signs of the times show that spring is just around the corner. Stocks of farm implements are being unloaded, farmers are cleaning their seed and from the back alleys come the nightly serenade of the tomcats. One experienced farmer states that he expects to be through seeding in March…Ole Breum came down from Bismarck to spend Sunday at home. He reports a very busy session of the legislature and considerable work yet to be taken care of…Roman Kulzer has been laid up a few days with an attack of rheumatism in his arms and shoulders…A report from Sioux Falls advises of the death of Sam Swiden at his home there. Sam resided in Rutland for a number of years while engaged in the pool room business with his brother and later operated the livery barn here with his brother, John. He is survived by his wife and children in Sioux Falls, brother Emmet in Sioux Falls, brother John of Chicago and Charlie of Detroit…Hjelmer Strand is confined to his home this week with an attack of pneumonia, an after effect of the flu…Bernie Mahrer has invested in a trailer house which he brought up from Minneapolis last week. His brother, Chuck also invested in a trailer house. They will be employed by the Lien Construction Company and will report for work as soon as conditions permit…Bud Bohn and wife left on Friday for California and were accompanied by their mother who has been visiting here and at Hankinson and is returning to her home in California…The bowling league wound up the season last week with the Alleys, Rutland Township and Tony’s team tied for first place, each team winning 25 and losing 17 games. Last place was won by the Hot Rods who received a garbage can as their prize. High score was won by Halvor Lee who rolled 251. High average went to Harold Lee whose average was 189. The three high teams are arranging a playoff for the prize of $135.00…The Meyers Maternity Hospital reports the birth of a baby boy to Mr. and Mrs. Leo Janish on Friday…Maynard Olstad has returned from a hospital at Excelsior Springs, Mo., where he has been taking treatments for arthritis. His condition has been greatly improved…As a result of lifting the price and wage controls by Pres. Eisenhower the price of a fishing license in North Dakota has jumped from 50 cents to $1.00. We know of nothing more worthless than a fishing license, in fact, it is more embarrassing to be caught with a license than without one, so we are unable to see why the price should double…The fish and game commission is spending a lot of money, but none in these parts, perhaps we live on the wrong side of the tracks. Sargent County has a number of lakes which at present are worthless and perhaps will remain so for the next hundred years. The acreage under water is so large that it has been suggested that the government be asked permission to drain the lakes in order to place the lake bottoms under cultivation and increase the acreage on the tax rolls, and what wouldn’t the government do in order to collect more taxes? There is no sale for North Dakota fishing licenses here, but the demand for South Dakota licenses is increasing…Bud Hoflen and wife arrived here on Monday for an indefinite stay at his father’s home. He has been in the employ of the Atomic Commission during the past five years while stationed at Los Alamos, New Mexico, but has resigned from his position there and his plans for the future are undecided.