By Bill Anderson

Even though the cell phone had predicted sunshine, another welcome rain fell on Rutland and vicinity on the afternoon of Friday, August 26. Bradley Wyum reported .3 of an inch in his gauge 1½ block east of Main Street, but there were several bugs in the gauge so he checked the neighbor’s rain gauge, too, and found that it registered .25 of an inch and was free of bugs. Two blocks to the east Roger Pearson & Norbert Kulzer both had .25 of an inch in their gauges. As their gauges agree so seldom as to make agreement notable, the assumption is that at least one of the gauges, maybe both of them, must be wrong. Kurt Breker reported .35 of an inch at his farm south of Cayuga. The long-range forecast is now for sunny weather for the next several weeks, so stand by for a flood. Weather forecasters and politicians have two skills in common: first, they can predict with absolute certainty what’s going to happen; and second, they can explain, with equal certainty, why it didn’t. Well, we can’t do much about the weather, but we do have it within our power to replace the current crowd of politicians with a new bunch. Throw the old rascals out and give our new rascals a chance!

Mike & Debbie Banish departed Rutland on the morning of Monday, August 29, bound for Medora ND on a shakedown cruise with their recently acquired motor home. The Banishes were planning to do some touring in Theodore Roosevelt National Park on their Polaris side by side RV, which they towed behind the motor home. They plan to be back home when they get back home, sometime in the next week or two.

Shareholders of Rutland Improvement LLC d/b/a The Lariat Bar held a shareholder meeting at 7:00 on Monday, August 29, at the Rutland Town Hall. One hundred seventy-four of the 238 shares outstanding were present. Steering Committee members Paul Anderson, Mike Wyum & Katie McLaen reported on progress to date. Several inquiries have been received from individuals interested in managing the business. Shareholders elected a 5-member Board of Directors consisting of Paul Anderson, Mike Wyum, Katie McLaen, Rob Wyum and Patty Woytassek. Shareholders also authorized the Managers to close on the purchase of the bar’s real estate, equipment, and furniture as soon as possible. Shareholders voted to close the sale of new shares in the LLC as of Saturday, October 1, 2022. A proposal to acquire property and liability insurance coverage from the Waloch-Johnson Insurance Agency’s Rutland office as recommended by the Steering Committee was approved. It was agreed that the Managers would keep shareholders informed by sending the minutes of Managers’ meetings to shareholders via e-mail, and that the shareholders will meet quarterly during the first year of operation. Shareholders also discussed potential provisions to be included in the LLC’s Operating Agreement with attorney LeeAnn Even of Cogswell. The Board of Directors will meet again on Wednesday, September 7. The goal is still to have The Lariat up and running by Uff-Da Day, October 2, but plans have been made to have a licensed establishment from a neighboring community obtain a temporary license to operate in Rutland, on The Lariat Bar’s premises, during Rutland’s annual Fall Festival. One way or another, the Lariat’s door will be open on Uff-Da Day.

A large group of family & friends gathered at Four Seasons Healthcare Center in Forman on the afternoon of Tuesday, August 30, to celebrate the 93^rd birthday of Rutland native Mavis (Hoflen) Wold, with the guest of honor, the birthday girl herself, presiding. Mavis’ birthday is actually August 31, but, as she said, “I wasn’t born yesterday. I was born tomorrow!” As has been her practice through life, Mavis continues to look to the future as she reminisces about the past. Some of the out of town guests who joined Mavis to celebrate her birthday included: her son, David Wold of Minneapolis; her daughter, Mary, of Minneapolis; her cousin, Karen Hornseth of Veblen SD; her cousin, Ann Hoflen of St. Paul MN; her cousin, Allison Hoflen of West Fargo; family friend, Richard Meyers of Sun City AZ & Rutland ND; and, many others.

The Board of Directors of Rutland Housing Inc. (RHI) met at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, August 30, at the Rutland Town Hall with President Delores Lysne; Secretary Carolyn Christensen; Treasurer/Manager/Director of Operations Bert Siemieniewski; and Director Bill Anderson in attendance. Director of Operations Siemieniewski reported that: all payments are current; that the balance in the operating account was approximately $8,000.00; and that the balance in the reserve account was approximately $90,000.00. Ongoing repairs and maintenance on RHI’s three apartment houses continue with the most recent being a new paint job on one of the apartments in the 6-plex on Dakota Street and replacement of a broken bedroom window in a different apartment in that same building. The Board discussed some possible revisions to the guidelines for considering past behavior of applicants for tenancy in any of RHI’s buildings. The Board authorized the D.O. to continue RHI’s operations as proposed. Rutland Housing, Inc. is a not-for-profit North Dakota corporation organized in 1971 to take advantage of long term, low interest loan funding from the USDA’s Farmers Home Administration to build housing for low-income elderly tenants in rural communities. At some point during the past half century, the “elderly” designation was removed from the program’s purpose by the USDA. It is now a program of the U. S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) administered by the Rural Development Agency. RHI’s first apartment house, a 4-plex on Main Street, was opened for occupancy on January 1, 1972. The first tenants were: Bella Peterson & Palmer Thompson; Arthur & Nora Spande; Esther Erickson; and Tina Kuester. The corporation’s first Board of Directors were: Earl Anderson; Rudolph Anderson; Aldon Donaldson; Skip Sjothun; and Norbert Kulzer. The current Directors are of the opinion that it is possible that the original long term low interest loans may be paid off by 2072, provided that there is no recession, depression, inflation, deflation, drought, flood, gas price hikes, war or rumors of war between now and then.

Meanwhile, on the national scene, the political party that used to tout its adherence to “law & Order,” is now threatening to riot in the streets; create public disorder; and incite civil war; if its cult leader, the former President of the United States, is charged with violations of the law, including: theft of government property; disclosing national security information to America’s enemies; perjury; lying to Federal officers; and, other offenses; , while the political party that used to be the party of protest and civil disobedience is now claiming the “law & order” title; demanding enforcement of the law and prosecution of those charged with crimes; and, demanding the swift suppression of civil strife. It is said that an ancient Chinese philosopher once cursed his enemies with, “May you live in interesting times.” Well, we are certainly living in interesting times. We need to find out who pointed that curse in our direction. We may find out that we have done it to ourselves.

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.