Month: February 2019

Hens Do Crow! February 22, 2019

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By Deborah Banish

Paul Anderson and Carol Fridgen took a trip to Longboat Key, Florida, to shake off the snow and replace it with seawater and sand. They left on February 10th and returned on the 16th. While in the area they took in the Ringling Circus Museum. A very interesting look into the logistics of putting on a show and moving it every day. The weather was in the mid 70’s to low 80’s and the sun shone every day. Lots of time in the pool and at the beach. The only disappointment of the trip was having to come home. It was -10 when they left, and -9 when they got back, guess they should be happy temps are heading in the right direction!!!

Kaia and Kyle Mahrer and family took their first family vacation of 2019 spending six cold February days in Orlando visiting Walt Disney World. Kaia’s father Steve Thorfinnson and Aunt Janelle Brakke accompanied the group that left Minneapolis on February 12. Kaia provided the following information: The past 6 days were wonderful! Disney is a magical place and my kids will have memories for life of spending time as a family. I would like to thank my amazing father for this trip of magic. This was our Christmas gift (for the next 10 years!!) from him and we couldn’t be more grateful for the memories, the warmth, the love, and all of the money spent to make this a truly great trip! Addy met her favorite Disney character, Vampirina and the light in her eyes made me tear up. Julia got to meet her favorite, Cinderella and it was such a wonderful sight to see her magic come alive. Brody loved toy story land and dinosaur land and was so happy to be a pirate for a day. Kaitlyn loved the animals. My magic came alive seeing my kids eyes light up to all the sights and my favorite part was Avatar. Florida was beautiful and Brody asked if we could move there. I wish, buddy!

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Hens Do Crow! – February 15, 2019

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By Deborah Banish

Despite snow, cold and wind, 92 brave souls made it to the Rutland Town Hall on the morning of Sunday, February 3, to fortify themselves for that afternoon’s Super Bowl game with a hearty breakfast of Biscuits & Gravy served with scrambled eggs, coffee and orange juice. The breakfast was prepared and served by members of Bergman-Evenson Post #215 of the American Legion. Some of the Sargent Central High School music students who are planning to participate in the Northern Ambassadors of Music tour of Europe this coming Summer also volunteered to assist with the effort. The Legion Post has contributed to the fund established to assist those students who will be participating in the European tour.  Proceeds of the breakfast were also used to help defray extra expenses incurred by a fellow Legionnaire who had recently undergone serious back surgery. Rutland’s Unit #215 of the American Legion Auxiliary also held a sale of home baked goods during the breakfast, allowing football fans to load up on extra cookies, bars, muffins and other good stuff prior to the big game. The New England Patriots, who had biscuits and gravy for breakfast, defeated the Los Angeles Rams, who did not.  The score was: Patriots 13 – Rams 3. That’s the difference between starting the day with a hearty breakfast and trying to play in the big game with the fuel tank on EMPTY!

A large group of family and friends gathered at the Rutland Hall on Saturday, February 9th for a “Rocking the 60s” party. Wayne Maloney turned 65 in December and Pam (Jacobson) Maloney turned 60 in January and what better reason to hold a party in the cold of winter. Pam’s family provided a “Maloney/Jacobson” rendition of the 12 days of Christmas highlighting events in Pam and Wayne’s lives. Attendees helped stock the food pantry instead of bearing gifts for the birthday couple. The party featured a photo booth, food, dancing and singing – the karaoke was a big hit but that was to be expected from the available pool of talent in the Jacobson/ Christensen/Maloney households.

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The Rooster Crows – February 8, 2019

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By Bill Anderson

Mother Nature gave Rutland and vicinity a 2 day reprieve from the siege of Arctic weather on Friday and Saturday, February 1 & 2, just enough time for the Ground Hog and about 120 pinochle players to make their annual appearance in the little city that can. The Ground Hog was pretty quiet. The pinochle players, though…well, they’re another story. The following report was received from Sonja (Anderson) Christensen, one of the organizers of the 24th Annual Rudy Anderson Memorial Pinochle Tournament: “As the sun rose at 7:48 a.m. on February 2 in Rutland ND, Mr. Groundhog, aka Rutland Roscoe, was busy checking out the weather conditions. Seeing his shadow, he jumped right back into his hole after he saw all 120 pinochle players arriving in town.  Mother Nature knew how important the first Saturday of February is to all of those eager pinochle players. Raising the temperature from minus 36 degrees on Tuesday and Wednesday, She cranked the thermostat up into the plus 20’s for pilgrims to make their way to the 24th Annual Rudy Anderson Memorial Pinochle Tourney on Saturday. Jason Hayen formerly of Cogswell, now living in Oklahoma, traveled to Rutland just for the weekend to play his favorite card game with his mother Kathy. Judie Seavert flew in from Port Aransas TX to partner up with her niece, Jessica Hayen of Fargo, for the tourney. Two newcomers were Charlie Makovsky and his daughter Madison from Grand Forks. Madison was recognized as the youngest player, saying, “This was so much fun. I will be back next year.” When asked how they knew about the day of pinochle, Charlie said he read it on the Rutland website. Due to Madison’s participation, players ranged in age from 20 years to 97 years, the latter honor going to Heb Diederick of Wahpeton, an All-Star baseball player back in the 1940’s & 50’s who is a contemporary of the late Leif Sundlie, Harvey Shasky and the other great players of Rutland Rooster fame. Sadly missed was Jack Brummond of Havana, The Sage Of Weber Township, who passed away shortly before the tourney, on January 29. Jack had played in the first 20 tournaments and must have decided he couldn’t stand to miss any more pinochle, so he wanted to be there in spirit to assist his former partner, Roger McLaen. Playing in all 24 tournaments were Roger McLaen, Norman Preble, and Stella Bell. Their devotion to hand after hand of pinochle is to be admired, as they teach others the love for the game. Roger and Benita Ziegler of Forman took first place with 1,818 points. Benita said, “It only took 23 years but we finally made it!” Congratulations to the persistent couple. Like the little train who kept saying, “I think I can, I think I can,” they made it to the top. Former Rutland residents who returned for the big day were Harvey Preble, Joel Hoistad, George Resler, Judie Seavert, and Norman Preble. Despite Harvey’s regular partner, Ed Christensen, not being able to make it to Rutland for the day, he quickly found a partner from Ellendale, Darlene Schock, to put up with his sense of humor and infectious attitude, reminding many of his days back in Rutland High.

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The Rooster Crows – February 1, 2019

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by Bill Anderson

Mother Nature’s vocabulary of four letter words seems to be limited to3 this past week: cold; snow; and, wind. The coldest weather of the week, the month, the year and the Winter arrived on Tuesday & Wednesday, January 29 & 30, with the daily lows bumping off the -35 mark and the daily highs hovering around -10. According to the weather experts, this week’s weather is the coldest since this time of the year back in 2004, so, if you thought that you were experiencing déjà vu, you were right. The weather system that moved through ahead of the cold brought about 1½” of new snow on Saturday night, and another 4 or 5 inches on Sunday. The snow was hard to measure, because the wind brought it in sideways, piling it up at intersections, around buildings and in the trees. Tuesday’s winds of 20 to 30 mph, combined with the sub-zero air temperatures, produced a “wind-chill” index of 55 to 60 below, according to the weather gurus. Ground Hog’s Day is coming up on Saturday, though, and the TV Weathermen are predicting a high in the upper +20’s to low +30’s, just so Rutland Roscoe, the local ground hog, can wander out to see his shadow. Well, Saturday, February 2, is also the date for the 24th Annual Rudy Anderson Memorial Pinochle Tournament in Rutland, so it just might be the aroma of scalloped potatoes with ham that lures him out. Another cool down for the first week in February is predicted, but, with a little bit of luck, the worst cold may be behind us. To paraphrase Winston Churchill, “This is not the end of the winter. It is not even the beginning of the end of the winter; but it may be the end of the beginning of the winter.” That Winston sure had a way with words, didn’t he?

FYI. Paul Anderson’s electronic digital thermometer recorded a low of 36 degrees below zero on the morning of Wednesday, January 30, in his backyard at 309 Gay Street in Rutland, and Jesse Brakke’s electronic digital thermometer recorded a low of 37 below in his Ransom Township farmyard between Rutland and Cayuga that same morning. Mike Anderson stated that he was sure glad that he lives a mile north of Jesse, because his thermometer only got down to 31 below before it froze up.

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