By Bill Anderson

Sunday & Monday, May 15 & 16, were not only the two nicest spring days of May 2022, but they were the two nicest days of the entire year of 2022, so far. Actually, they were the two nicest days since mid-October of last year. With the sun shining, the birds singing, the temperature hovering around 70 and, for once, the wind not howling like a hurricane. the experience was almost nice enough to make enduring the most miserable Winter in recent memory worth the effort. Nothing lasts forever, though, especially nice weather. By Tuesday, the rain clouds had moved back in and made the afternoon of Tuesday, May 17, a soggy Syttende Mai for those inclined to celebrate Norway’s Constitution Day. Rick Bosse reports that his rain gauge at his farm near Brampton registered .25 of an inch from Tuesday’s rain, enough to keep the already saturated fields saturated, and to require cancellation of Brampton’s Syttende Mai Parade. Chuck Anderson had a .23 of an inch reading on the gauge at his farm in Weber Township; Duane Lock stated that .3 of an inch was measured at his farm near the center of Rutland Township; and Mike Banish said that .23 of an inch of rainfall was measured at his farmstead 2 miles south of Rutland. 

The wet weather has continued to hamper planting progress throughout southeastern North Dakota. Even so, some local farmers have made a little headway. Last week, Larry Erickson managed to get a field of corn planted west of his farmstead 2 miles south of town, and Mark Wyum reports that his son, Rob, has managed to get some field work done on fields near Brampton in the southwestern quadrant of the County, and on fields near Crete, in the northwestern quadrant of Sargent County. As of the morning of Wednesday, May 18, Mark says that two acres of corn planted, along with a few more acres of soybeans and wheat, is a good start.

Kristine Radke, longtime manager of the Waloch-Johnson Insurance Agency’s Rutland office, has accepted a position at Town & Country Bank in Fargo and has resigned from her position here as of the end of April. According to Walt Johnson of Lisbon, owner and general manager of the agency, the search is on to find a replacement for Kristine at the Rutland office. Anyone interested in the position can give Walt a call at 701.724.6484. The Rutland community is sorry to lose Kristine. She was dedicated to her profession, and to her clients.

The TNT Lutheran Parish, consisting of: Trinity Lutheran Church of Havana; Nordland Lutheran Church of Rutland; and Trinity Lutheran Church of Forman will conduct a joint service at Nordland on Sunday, May 29. This is the first of three joint services that will be held in the Parish during the Summer of 2022. Nordland has selected a “Country Gospel” theme for the May 29 service that will feature music by some current and former members of the congregation. Pastor Julie Johnson says that everyone is invited.

Jeannie (Dewey) Boorman of Whitefish Mt was a visitor at the Steve & Sheila Wyum home over the Saturday, May 14 thru Sunday, May 15, weekend. Mrs. Boorman is a daughter of the late Charles & Vivian (Hurley) Dewey, who owned a hardware business and a farm in the Forman community back in the 1940’s, 50’s & 60’s. The Dewey Farm is now owned & operated by Rick & Jeannie Hoistad. The Dewey Hardware building on Main Street in Forman is now one of the buildings used by Dakota Precision Fabricating in its metal fabrication business. Mrs. Boorman grew up in Forman and graduated from FHS in 1958. She has made her home in western Montana since the 1960’s. Jeannie is a first cousin of the 3 Wyum brothers: Steve; Mike; and Mark; of Rutland.

The 1^st Annual Rutland Sportsmen’s Club’s Gopher Classic was held on Thursday, May 12. The event had originally been scheduled to be held back on April 10 but had to be postponed because the local gophers were too smart to come out during a blizzard just to test the marksmanship of local sharpshooters. The prize for most gophers shot was won by the team of Brody Mahrer, Kyle Mahrer, Mike Mahrer and Lincoln Mahrer of Rutland. The quartet bagged 62 gophers, 58 of them of the Richardson variety and 4 of the striped gopher type. Brody, Kyle and Mike were each shooting .17 caliber varmint rifles, and Lincoln did yeoman duty as the gopher go-fer, digging the targets out of their burrows to confirm the kills. They hunted in pastures near the Wade & Joanne Anderson farm, east of Havana, and on the Dennis Fliehs farm, west of Havana. According to Brody, their biggest gopher weighed 14½ oz., 2 ounces smaller than the Gopher Classic’s largest gopher, a 16½ oz. lunker shot by Athan Zirnhelt, son of clint & Patsy Zirnhelt of Forman. Gophers are destructive pests that are capable of doing damage to pastures, haylands and crops. The Gopher Classic was the idea of Sportsmen’s Club member Brian Ciesynski and was intended to provide an opportunity for members of the public to enjoy the great outdoors, improve their marksmanship and perform a public service, all at the same time. The event can be counted as a success on all three counts.

Janice Christensen of this community accompanied five friends, all current or former members of the Rutland community, to Wahpeton for another birthday party marking Janice’s transition from septuagenarian to octogenarian status. In addition to Janice, those participating in the party were: Dianna Anderson of Rutland; Bev Tesch of Rutland; Diane Kulzer of Fargo; Ann Erickson of Rutland; and Mary Woytassek of Detroit Lakes MN. Janice says that she doesn’t mind having 3 or 4 birthday parties as long as she doesn’t have to add a year for each party. Back when Janice was born, it was just 6 months since the U. S. had been dragged into WW II by the Japanese attack on Peral Harbor. The war had been going badly for America, but within a month of Janice’s birth the situation turned around. The U. S. Navy won a big victory at Midway, and the fortunes of war were reversed. By the time Janice turned 3, America and its allies had won the war in Europe and were within 4 months of ending the war with Japan with another victory. Just goes to show what a determined woman can accomplish when she puts her mind to it.

Jesse Brakke of this community was in Wisconsin from Wednesday, May 11, to Sunday, May 15, visiting his son, James, & daughter, Claire. Jesse Drove to James’ home in Somerset WI, and then he & James rode together to Claire’s home in Madison WI. Jesse reports that they made a comparison of deep-fried cheese curds at several establishments in and around Madison, and concluded that all were good, but some were better. Doug Olstad kept an eye on Jesse’s Ransom Township farmstead during his absence.

Eight students will be graduating from Sargent Central High School on Sunday, June May 22. One of them, Christopher Kochevar, better known to The Assembled Wise Men as “Columbus,” makes his home in the Rutland community. Chris has spent several summers in and around Rutland with his uncle & aunt, Mike & Jill Anderson, and their family, his cousins, Audrey & Miles. Chris liked our community and the Anderson home so much that he convinced his parents to let him finish out his High School education at Sargent Central, rather than back in Minnesota’s Iron Range. In addition to the formal education he received at Sargent Central, Chris has also absorbed considerable wisdom from the Assembled Wise Men at the Round Table. The Rutland community extends its congratulations to Christopher Kochevar and his fellow Sargent Central graduates on their graduation from High School, and on the commencement of a new chapter in the stories of their lives. Wherever they go, whatever they do, a little bit of this community will go with them, and a little bit of them will always be a part of this community. Bon voyage, kids! It’s a great adventure you are embarking upon. Enjoy it to the full.

Rutland Community Club President Katie McLaen reports that the date has now been set for the Annual Rutland Community Block Party. The Block Party, to which everyone is invited, will begin at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 8, in the City Park adjacent to the Town Hall. The Rutland Volunteer Firemen will be grilling burgers & brats, and other picnic fare will also be served. The Firemen will also be providing water entertainment for the kids during the party. The Block Party is an excellent opportunity for new folks in the community and Rutland old-timers to get acquainted. It’s at 5:30 on the afternoon of Wednesday, June 8, next to the Town Hall. The Block Party will be in the Town Hall in the event of inclement weather.

Some upcoming events in Rutland include: TNT Parish joint Country Gospel church service at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, May 29, at Nordland Lutheran Church; Memorial Day services, program & community pot-luck dinner commencing at 10:15 a.m. on Monday, May 30, at the Nordland Cemetery, the Rutland Cemetery and the Rutland Town Hall; Rutland City Council meeting at 5:00 p.m. on Monday, June 6, in the Rutland Town Hall; Rutland Community Block Party at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 8, at the City Park adjacent to the Town Hall; and, Rutland Community Club meeting at 5:00 p.m. on Monday, May June 13, at the Rutland Town Hall.

The final weekend of June 2022, will also mark the 50^th and 40^th anniversaries of 2 big events in Rutland’s history. The first, which occurred on June 23, 24 & 25 of 1972 was the “90 Years On The Prairie” celebration. It started out to be just a 1 day, maybe an afternoon, event to celebrate paying off the bonds that had financed construction of Rutland’s municipal water system back in 1954. The water system cost $59,000 back in 1954, an amount that seemed immense at the time. Before the planning was done, though, the 1972 event had grown into a 3-day blast complete with historical pageant, parade, rodeo, circus with a real live elephant, dances, softball tournament and many other events & activities. It was a great party, and those far-sighted members of Rutland’s 1954 City Council who had dared to think beyond themselves got to enjoy the party, too. The second was on June 25, 26 & 27, 1982, Rutland’s “Pride Of The Prairie Centennial” celebration. If 1972 was 90 years, then 1982 must be 100, right? The Centennial celebration featured much that had been included in the celebration a decade earlier, plus other events, and the centerpiece of the event, making, frying, flipping and eating “The World’s Largest Hamburger” on Saturday, June 26. Every member of the community, from infants to the oldest folks around, were involved in making everything work. The event was covered by local, regional and national news services, and was a headline story in newspapers around the world. News reporters on the scene estimated the size of the crowd in Rutland that day at somewhere between 8,000 and 10,000 people. Mike Prindiville, in the U.S. Navy in Tokyo at the time, saw a Japanese newspaper with a picture of the giant hamburger on the first page and a story with a Rutland, North Dakota, dateline at a Japanese newsstand. The World’s Largest Hamburger was the lead story on CNN back on June 26, 1982, and the huge burger made it into the Guinness Book of World Records, too. Well, we ain’t done, yet! Every year since 1985 the people of the Rutland community have produced Uff-Da Day on the first Sunday in October for the enjoyment and amusement of themselves and their neighbors. It’s always the same, but every year it’s different. Thousands of people come from all over the place, just to have a good time with old friends, and friends they haven’t met yet, at Uff-Da Day in Rutland. So, this year, when that last weekend in June rolls around, raise a glass to the Pride Of The Prairie Centennial, to the 90 Years On The Prairie celebration, to 37 years of Uff-Da Day, and to the little city that can do, and has done, all of them.

Well, that’s the news from Rutland for this week. 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 take a look at the Rutland Facebook page while you’re at it, too. Don’t forget to patronize your local Post Office and remember to keep the pressure on the U.S. Postal Service and the North Dakota Congressional delegation to SAVE OUR POST OFFICE! Later.