By Bill Anderson

Rutland native David Sundlie, now a resident of Bismarck, reports that he and his wife, Ruth, became Grandparents on Saturday, July 13, when a grandson, Cole Alexander, was born in the Capitol City. Dave reports that Cole weighed in at 7 pounds, 7 ounces, and that pitching & batting coaches are already standing by to get the latest scion of the Sundlie baseball dynasty off on the right, or maybe left, foot.

Cayuga native Randy Kiefer stopped in at the Lariat Bar in Rutland for supper and a visit with old friends, Paul Anderson & Bill Anderson of this community, on the evening of Thursday, July 18. Randy has traveled thousands of miles in many areas of the globe by bicycle, and recently completed a ride from Anchorage, Alaska, to Fargo ND. He has been headquartering at the farm home of his sister and brother-in-law, Pam & Keith Hoistad, between Milnor and Lisbon, since arriving back in his native territory. He also made a trip to Milwaukee WI to attend the wedding of a niece but made that side trip by automobile. Randy stated that he is planning to spend a couple of weeks with the Hoistads at their mountain cabin in Idaho, and will then return to North Dakota to commence a bicycle trek back to California, the place from which his epic journey from southern California to the Arctic Ocean and back to Anchorage began back in the Spring of 2018. For his next ride he is contemplating a trip down the west coast of South America, along the west slope of the Andes Mountains from Colombia through Ecuador, Peru and Chile, to Tierra del Fuego, at the very southern tip of the continent. From there he may travel by sea or air to Antarctica for some cycling with the penguins. Randy is a 1967 graduate of Sargent Central High School, and a 1971 graduate of NDSU. He’s not sure what he’s going to do when he grows up but thinks that it might involve traveling all over the world and meeting a lot of people…and possibly some penguins, too.

Paul Anderson departed Rutland, bound for Des Moines IA and a family reunion at Lake Panorama IA, on the evening of Thursday, July 18. Paul met his mother-in-law, Etha Quinlan of Sun City West AZ, at the Des Moines Airport and then got together with his daughter, Katie Elfering, her husband, Josh, and their son, Rhys from Seattle WA; and, daughter Betsy Anderson from Lincoln NE; to participate in the Smith family reunion at the family farm in central Iowa. Paul reports that the airline Etha was flying on, American Airlines, had some scheduling problems that resulted in Etha arriving 4 hours late while her luggage arrived in Des Moines on time, a reversal of normal airline procedure. The weather in central Iowa was very pleasant, Paul reports, with temperatures in the 70’s on Friday, Saturday & Sunday, not the usual 98 degrees with 98% humidity that is expected in Iowa in July. The Iowa corn crop appeared to be very uneven, with some of the corn that was planted early in the season being over 6 feet tall and tasseling, while other fields were barely waist high. The uneven crop is the result of 6 weeks of rain in the middle of spring planting. The prediction is that an early frost could adversely impact corn yields in Iowa this year. Well, how about that!? Paul arrived back home on the evening of Monday, July 22, and got his lawn mowed on Tuesday.

Kurt Breker stopped by The Old Parsonage at 217 First Street last week, to check out what it will take to remove the massive stump left behind after the removal of the giant cottonwood tree from the premises a few weeks ago. Kurt decided that the stump had to be cut down some before he can go to work on it with his Bobcat stump grinder. Kurt had a chain saw with an 18” cutting bar with him, but that saw proved to be too small for the task. He now has a 24” saw that should be adequate, he reports. He also reported that he used a long metal pipe to check out the depth of the hole in the center of the stump and could find no bottom to it. Readers of Lewis Carrol’s book “Alice In Wonderland,” will recall that Alice began her adventure through Wonderland by falling down a rabbit hole. It’s hard telling just where the hole in the cottonwood stump would lead, but Kurt does not intend to find out. No magic mushrooms, talking caterpillars, Cheshire cats, March Hares, Mad Hatters or crazy queens for him. He’s just here to get rid of the stump.

Mark & Kathy Wyum and old friends Chuck & Mary Beth Anderson hitched up their pickups and travel trailers last Friday, July 19, and headed north for a tour of Fort Totten and the Devils Lake area. The 2 couples returned home on Monday, July 22. Mark reports that the history of Fort Totten is quite interesting, and that a very enjoyable time was had by all, and justifiably so.

Shawn Klein was on vacation from her duties as Manager of the Sargent County Bank’s Rutland Station from Friday, July 19 through Monday, July 22. Shawn reported that she planned to participate in a family camping trip in the lakes country of Minnesota. The annual camping trip has become a family tradition. She plans to be back at work on Tuesday, July 23. Julie Kudelka and Bailey Long filled in for Shawn on Friday and Monday, respectively.

Fortified by a forenoon lunch of home-made caramel rolls, frosted rolls, coffee & juice served by the ladies of Rutland’s American Legion Auxiliary, The Wild Rice Antique Tractor & Plowing Association embarked from Main Street in Rutland on a 40-mile trek at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, July 20. Miss Geneseo 2019, Hannah Ciesynski, a young lady who has been an enthusiastic Uff-Da Day lefse maker, was on hand to see the tractors off, and to wish the drivers well. Twenty tractors, including several vintage Allis-Chalmers, a 1948 “B” John Deere, a 77 Oliver, a number of International Harvester tractors and even a Versatile 4-wheel drive, started out from Main Street in Rutland and zigzagged their way south and east toward Red Iron Springs in the Coteau des Prairies hills in South Dakota. They proceeded west through the hills, past Windy Mound and the gravel pit operated by Bernard Mahrer Construction of Rutland, then back down to the flatlands of North Dakota. The drivers proudly paraded through one of the campgrounds at Silver Lake and proceeded around the lake to the other campground where they parked, grilled burgers and hot dogs and had a great lunch at about 2:00 in the afternoon. Then they headed back to their starting point at Rutland. It was a beautiful day. The temperature was in the low 70’s, and it had rained overnight, so there wasn’t any dust on the gravel roads, a welcome situation for the “tail end Charlies” in the group. Miss Geneseo’s blessing at the outset must have been effective, because all the tractors successfully completed the round trip under their own power, reported Joel Susag of Rutland, an Association member. This was the 10^th Annual tractor caravan of antique and classic tractors to be held in Rutland, and the first one that was not organized and ramrodded by Jim Lunneborg of this community. Following Jim’s retirement as organizer, the members of the Wild Rice Antique Tractor & Plowing Association decided to keep the event going, both to honor Jim’s efforts on behalf of Relay For Life, and to have a good time driving and demonstrating the power and prowess of their prized tractors. The Association’s next planned event will be a plowing demonstration on land owned by Dick Kuehn between Cayuga and Milnor, near the Mike Arth farm. The date for that event will be set after the wheat crop now growing on the land has been harvested. After that, many of the Association members will have their tractors back in Rutland for the Uff-Da Day Parade on Sunday, October 6. The Rutland community extends congratulations and thanks to the members of the Wild Rice Antique Tractor & Plowing Association on another successful event, and for a great show of old-fashioned farm power. Thanks to Jim Lunneborg, Joel Susag and Brian Bjork for the information about the tractor drive.

The 11^th Annual Rutland Rib Fest is scheduled to commence at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 3, according to Mike Pyle, one of the owners of the Lariat Bar and a primary sponsor of the event. According to Mike, the Rib Fest will be preceded by the Rutland Junk Fest commencing at 10:00 a.m. and by the American Legion Auxiliary’s Pie & Ice Cream Social at the Rutland Seniors Center from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. At least 7 rib vendors are expected to be on hand to compete for the title of “Best Ribs in Rutland,” Mike reports. Rib judging will take place at 7:00 p.m., but there will also be a “People’s Choice” award. Music on Main Street will be provided by “The Dirty James River Band” and by “Raw Sugar,” both of which have made appearances at previous Rutland Rib Fests. Everyone is invited to come on over to Rutland for some great ribs, great music and a great time with great friends, both new and old.

The ladies of Rutland’s American Legion Auxiliary met on the evening of Monday, July 22, to make plans for the Auxiliary’s Ice Cream Social that will be held at the Rutland Seniors Center during the Rutland Rib-fest on Saturday, August 3.

The sponsors of Junk Fest, to be held on Saturday, August 3, are still seeking more vendors. City Auditor Deb Banish advises interested persons to check on the Rutland website – visitors tab – for information and the registration form.

The Rutland Raiders 4- H club, along with all of the other 4-H Clubs in Sargent County, will be working at the fairgrounds on the morning of Wednesday, July 24, to clean out the cobwebs and set up for the 4-H exhibits in the now air-conditioned exhibit building. On Friday, July 26, 4-H members will bring their projects for judging and display at the Fair. The 2019 Sargent County Fair has events scheduled from Thursday, July 25 through Sunday, July 28, and will culminate with the Miss Sargent County Fair Pageant on Sunday afternoon in the Fairgrounds Auditorium, also now air-conditioned.

Meanwhile, on the national scene, the President continues to tap into the darkest recesses of the American soul, with naked appeals to racism, xenophobia, anger and fear to gin up his 2020 re-election campaign. The Nuremburg Rallies of 1939 have nothing over the President’s North Carolina rally of 2019. All that’s missing is “Seig Heil!” The President, and the forces that back him, are betting that the lines that divide us are stronger than the ties that bind us together. Are the forces of ignorance, fear, anger and hatred that pull us apart stronger than the more than 240 years of shared history, beliefs, struggles and tradition that tie us together as Americans? Will the better Angels of our nature pull us back from the brink, or will the forces of darkness within us drive us into a new Dark Age in which the children and grandchildren of those who defeated racism and totalitarianism 75 years ago embrace the ideology their ancestors put their lives on the line to oppose? The choice is ours. The answer, like the question, is within us. The General Election will be held on November 3, 2020. As of Friday, July 26, 2019, there are 77 weeks and 4 days remaining until January 20, 2021.

Well, that’s the news from Rutland for this week. Thanks to Deb Banish for most of the information that is in this column. For additional information about what’s going on in the little city that can, check out the community’s internet web site at www.rutlandnd.com, and stop by the Rutland blog and Facebook page while you’re out there in cyberspace, too. Remember to patronize your local Post Office, and don’t forget to keep the pressure on the U. S. Postal Service and the North Dakota Congressional delegation to SAVE OUR POST OFFICE! Later.