By Deborah Banish

The Rutland Senior Center was the place to be on Thursday, August 22, when a large gathering of Senior Citizens enjoyed the music of the Tanner Family of Fairmont, West Virginia. The Tanner Family members sang a medley of religious songs with a bluegrass flair backed up by guitar, violin and mandolin. The group is making its way across the country stopping and sharing their talents at different Senior and community centers as they travel. It was fun entertainment in the old town!

On Tuesday, August 27^th, the City of Rutland Tree Committee – Delores Lysne, Chair, with Jeff Olson, Park Board President, and City Auditor Deborah Banish – cruised though the town with Mary O’Neill, Community Forestry Specialist from the ND Forest Service Lisbon Field Office. The four of them toured the town to identify City trees that need to be removed due to disease or condition requiring removal. The City has been awarded a matching grant up to $3,000 to remove 10 or more diseased and dying trees this year. Fifteen trees including ash, cottonwood, and Siberian elm trees were marked for removal. As required by the grant, the City will obtain three written bids for this project before selecting a tree-removal service to eliminate then. This is the second year the City has removed trees and the first year a grant has been obtained to help with the project. Once the trees are removed, the Committee and Ms. O’Neill will identify locations and species of trees to be planted next year. The City will be eligible to apply for another grant to help fund planting to ‘green up’ Rutland in 2020.

Well, Rutland is rolling lefse and making great strides toward the goal of 3,000 lefse for Uffda Day. The first few sessions have produced over 1,000 lefse – 1,094 to be exact. There are a few more lefse-making dates and volunteers or ‘drop-ins’ are always welcome. Scheduled dates remaining at this time are August 29, September 10 and 12^th at the Rutland Town Hall.  Sessions begin at 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. and typically last about ninety-minutes. Another day – morning and evening – may be scheduled so be sure to watch on the Rutland website and the Facebook Uffda Day page for updates. Everyone is welcome to come help with rolling, turning, folding and packing. Give Marcia a call at 763-221-7862 or just drop if you can make any of the scheduled dates and times to help.

Uffda Day is still seeking parade entries and vendors for Sunday, October 6^th. Interested individuals and organizations can find entry and registration forms on the Rutland website at https://www.rutlandnd.com/uffda-day

The Rutland City Council will hold a public hearing on the 2020 City Preliminary Budget on Monday, September 9^th, starting at 5:00 p.m.  and the regular meeting will follow the hearing.

The Rutland Community Club will meet Monday, September 9^th, at 7:00 p.m. in the Rutland Town Hall to finalize plans for Uffda Day on Sunday, October 6^th. Check out details and information on the Rutland City website and on the Uffda Day Facebook Page.

That’s it for this week from Rutland! Enjoy the warm weather that is predicted to appear again soon. It’s hard to believe that fall is coming but the cooler weather was just a tease of what’s to come. The Farmer’s Almanac is describing the weather for much of the Midwest, from Montana to Minnesota, as frigid and snowy for the winter months!