By Bill Anderson

Richard Bradbury of this community was a patient, or rather an impatient, at Innovis Hospital in Fargo for the past week and a half, recuperating from the effects of influenza, pneumonia and what may have been a heart attack. Brad reports that he was not feeling well, and his neighbor, Larry Christensen, drove him up to the hospital in Lisbon on the afternoon of Sunday, March 16. About 2:00 a.m. on Monday, the Lisbon Hospital transferred him up to Innovis by ambulance, where he woke up on Wednesday afternoon. The staff at Innovis sent him home on the evening of Tuesday, March 25, with medication, therapy instructions and orders to return in a few weeks for more tests. Brad retired last October, after 34 years at the helm of The Teller, and has been resting up for the beginning of the 2008 golfing season since then. His recent illness now requires that he rest more intensively, a tough job but he’s working at it.

Spring arrived at 12:05 a.m. on Thursday, March 20, and 18 hours later more than 6 inches of wet, heavy snow blanketed the area, indicating that Winter is not done with us, yet. The month of March came in on a pogo stick, bouncing from Winter to Spring and back again on a daily basis, and it looks as if it will go out that way, too. It appears that the only way we will get rid of Old Man Winter is by trickery, and with April Fool’s Day coming up next week, we might have a chance.

Catherine Jacobson has been a surgery patient at Meritcare Hospital in Fargo since Thursday, March 20. Family members report that Catherine is recuperating well and that she expects to be back home sometime during the first week in April. Her many friends here wish her a speedy recovery. Those with computer access can keep posted on Catherine’s condition at the Caring Bridge web site.

Janet Malstrom arrived back at her Tewaukon Township farm home on Friday, March 21, following several weeks as a patient at the Community Hospital in Lisbon and Meritcare Hospital in Fargo battling pneumonia. Janet’s many friends here are happy to have her back in their midst.

Greg Donaldson was under the weather for a few days last week, feeling the effects of the influenza bug, or maybe it was the price of oil that made him ill. Greg was back up to speed and in charge at Rutland Oil Co. by Monday morning, though.

Chuck Sundlie of Elk River MN spent the Easter weekend in Rutland, visiting friends and relatives here. Chuck stayed at 409 Anthony Street during his Rutland visit.

Harvey & Judy Preble of Burnsville MN were in Rutland for several days last week, visiting at the home of Harvey’s mother, Hazel Preble. Hazel is preparing to move from her long-time home at 217 Arthur Street to one of Rutland Housing’s apartments at 207 First Street. Brad Siemieniewski and family of Wahpeton have made arrangements to purchase Hazel’s house and plan to move in later this Spring. The Prebles traveled up to Fargo on Easter Sunday, to the home of Hazel’s youngest daughter, Carol Harrison, and her husband, Sid.

Mike & Diane Kulzer drove down to Brooklyn Center MN to spend the Easter weekend with their son, Chad, and his family. Joining Mike & Diane in Brooklyn Center were younger son Jeff Kulzer, his wife, Katy, and their 2 children. Mike reports that the high price of gasoline does not seem to have diminished the traffic around the Twin Cities.

More than 2 dozen youngsters, age 12 and younger, participated in the annual Easter Egg hunt on the morning of Saturday, March 22, at Lou Sanderson Field, reports Jeanne Leinen, one of the organizers of the event. Finding the eggs proved to be more difficult this year, due to the several inches of snow that covered the search area, Jeanne stated. Despite the snow, though, most of the prize winning eggs were recovered, however. Miss Josephine Nelson, daughter of Trent & Eva Nelson of Rutland Township, won the Grand Prize bicycle, and Miss Gracie Baumgarten of Casselton, granddaughter of Jerry & Karen Christianson of this community, won the smaller bike. The annual Easter Egg Hunt has been sponsored and organized by the Leinen Family, with some help from the Rutland Community Club, since 2002. Congratulations are due to the Leinens and to the Community Club for another great event.

Rutland Fire Chief Ron Narum reports that the Easter Brunch served by the Rutland-Cayuga Volunteer Firemen and the Rutland General Store at the Town Hall last Sunday proved to be a big success. More than 220 advance tickets were sold and another 30 were purchased at the door. Debbie Liermark crushed her opponents in the ticket selling competition, being responsible for the sale of 100 of the tickets sold. The Brunch featured a tremendous variety of entrees, salads, and desserts prepared under the direction of General Store Chef Toni Hajek, with the assistance of Bert Siemieniewski, Laurie Greene, Debbie Liermark and Gretchen Vann. The Volunteer Firemen did the set up and cleanup, served the food, and also conducted several raffles in conjunction with the Brunch. Raffle winners were: Wava Arth; Jill Anderson; and, Mark Breker, winners of the Toy Raffle; and, Sharon Ritten; Jack Saunders; Mitch Mahrer; Earl Cramton; Shelly Pherson; Glen Lueck; Marlin Helmer; Jodi Severson; Jason Smykowski; Beth Stroehl; Chuck Sundlie; and, Bill Anderson, winners of the adult prizes. The Easter Brunch was a fund-raiser for the Fire Department, and both the Firemen and the Rutland General Store rate a pat on the back for a job well done. The regular last Sunday of the month brunch will be served at the General Store starting at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, March 30.

Diane Smith reports that the Community Club BINGO sessions have been going well. She states that the Grand Prize for blackout on the last game of the day is now up to $65.00 and 54 numbers. Five Dollars are added to the prize each week until it is won. Each week the number of numbers called also increases by 1. Bob Johnson of Havana has won the $20.00 prize for BINGO in the last game for the previous 2 weeks in a row. The Community Club has conducted the BINGO games each Sunday afternoon, with the exception of Easter Sunday, since the end of February and plans to continue through the month of May. The next BINGO session will start at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 30, at the Rutland Seniors’ Center. Coffee and lunch are also available.

A public hearing on the proposed revised Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Ordinance for the City of Rutland has been set for 7:00 p.m. on Monday, March 31, at the Rutland Town Hall. Copies of the 2 documents have been made available for review at several Main Street businesses. Following final revisions to be made after Monday’s hearing, the revised Plan and Ordinance will be presented to the Rutland City Council for consideration and possible adoption.

Some upcoming events in Rutland include: Rutland Community Club BINGO at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 30, April 6, 13, 20 & 27, at the Rutland Seniors Center; public hearing on the Comprehensive Plan & City Zoning Ordinance at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, March 31, at the Rutland Town Hall; Rutland Community Club meeting at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 1, at the Rutland Town Hall; Sargent County Underage Drinking Prevention Town Hall Meeting, supper at 6:00 p.m. & Town Hall Meeting with panel discussion at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 2, at the Rutland Town Hall; Rutland City Council meeting at 5:00 p.m. on Monday, April 7, at the Rutland Town Hall; and, Rutland Sportsmen’s Club meeting on the evening of Thursday, April 10, time and location to be announced.

All Sargent County residents are invited to attend the Sargent County Underage Drinking Prevention Town Hall Meeting on Wednesday, April 2, at the Rutland Town Hall, according to Alcohol Abuse Task Force Chairperson Wendy Jacobson of Rutland. Information in the news recently that North Dakota teenagers lead the nation in the abuse of alcohol has prompted a Statewide effort to get a grip on the problem and begin to deal with it. All County residents, particularly those who are parents of minor children, are urged to attend this Town Hall Meeting. A supper will be served beginning at 6:00 p.m., prior to the panel discussion, says Mrs. Jacobson. There is no charge for those attending the event. This is the 4th in a series of meetings concerning the problem of underage drinking that have been held in Sargent County in recent months. The other meetings were held in Gwinner, Forman and Milnor.

Monday, March 24, marked another bloody milestone in the Iraq War, when the American military death toll in that conflict hit the 4,000 mark. Many times we hear that these brave men and women gave their lives for their country. They did not. Rather, their lives were sacrificed by us, the American people, in a war that is, at best, of questionable necessity. We did not ask the hard questions that should have been asked, or demand the hard answers that should have been obtained, at the onset of this war. Now 4,000 American families grieve for the fallen, and we have to ask ourselves if the national interest has been advanced, if national security has been enhanced, if the lives of the American people have been improved, by the blood sacrifice of our finest and bravest that has been made in that dismal conflict. Meanwhile, the war goes on, more Americans and Iraqis will die, and the definition of “victory” continues to change with each Presidential address. How many more Iraqis will we have to kill to make them love and respect us? What price wisdom?

Well, here’s some good news. The car belonging to Rocky and Sony Rockswold that was stolen last Tuesday, March 18, down in Texas, has been recovered by Texas authorities and returned to the Rockswolds. According to reports received here, the auto was found about 40 miles from the scene of the crime, somewhat the worse for the experience, but basically intact and repairable. The luggage belonging to the Rockswolds’ daughter, Jody Breker of this community, that had been in the car at the time of the theft was not recovered, however.

No one can steal the information you can obtain about what’s going on in the old home town on Rutland’s internet web site at www.rutlandnd.com. Stop by to check it out.

Following are excerpts from the L. S. Sanderson column of March 26, 1953: The 61 Dollar question this week is “Why are the roads being posted?” Officially speaking, spring is here, but temperamentally speaking, someone has blundered. Farmers have begun seeding operations on several occasions but have been forced to stop and start over some other time and the trouble is we cannot blame this red tape on the government…A baby boy has arrived at the home of Prof. and Mrs. August Schildberger…Last week seems to have been set aside as “Hospital Week”. Bob Bauman has entered the hospital at Breckenridge for treatment, his ailment being kidney trouble. Henry Johnson is a patient at St. Lukes hospital in Fargo, suffering from a heart attack and Herb Swanson is at St. Lukes at Fargo receiving treatment for a disordered liver. Latest reports are all in favor of the patients…At the Village election last week the voters decided not to change horses in the middle of the stream and the entire staff of old officials was re-elected…Hoflen Bros. are at the Live Stock Show and Sale at Jamestown this week with a load of stock from their pure bread herd…Miss Marlene Cryan suffered a broken nose in a fall from a car last week and is unable to attend school. When some of the girls found the road too muddy, they climbed on the fenders of a car driven by Marlene Litchfield and rough riding was too much for them…Jonah Wilson was a Rutland visitor on Monday. Jonah has resided in Sisseton the past year but announces his intention to return to North Dakota soon. We informed him that if the state of South Dakota was permitted to move the body of Sitting Bull from North Dakota, then would ask South Dakota to send him back to North Dakota…A number from here spent Sunday at Marlow and report a bad dirt storm there…The O. H. Jacobson and the Edd Evenson families were entertained at Sunday dinner at the S. J. Susag home…Five mighty Kamerads, the world’s too small for more, Mussolini got mussed up and then there were four; Four mighty Kamerads on a world wide spree, Hitler didn’t hit the ball and then there were three; Three mighty Kamerads told us what to do, Stalin was out for stalling and then there were two; Two mighty Kamerads ruling with a gun, Time has call old Gottwald and then there was one; One mighty Kamerad, his work is nearly done, Mollinkoff will soon take off and then there is none….The Rutland Theatre announces that beginning April 1 a change in program will be put into effect. Pictures will be shown every night except Thursdays, family tickets will be sold admitting the entire family for $1.00. On Wednesday evenings drawings for door prizes will be held, first prize $20.00, second prize $10.00. The winners must be present on Wednesday night, unless they were registered on Tuesday night, in which case they would be eligible…Former county agent, Snorri Thorfinnson will be the principal speaker at the annual meeting of the Farmers Shipping Association to be held at the Legion Hall here on Saturday, March 31. The meeting will close with the usual free lunch.