By Bill Anderson

Oh, it’s Springtime in North Dakota, and there’s still three feet of snow; Yes, it’s Springtime in North Dakota, and the wind chill’s at 29 below; It will soon be Summer in North Dakota, but it’s warming up so slow; When it’s Summer in North Dakota, will it still be 29 below?

The month of March, 2023, is on course to be one of the coldest since records have been kept. According to the official records of the U. S. Weather Bureau, the highest temperature recorded, so far, this March has been 37 above. There have been no 40 degree days since early November. In Rutland, the mercury registered 9 degrees below Zero at 6 a.m. on Wednesday, March 29, and the “wind chill index” was at -29. Well, it has been said that March is the month that God put on the calendar so that people who don’t drink can know what a hangover feels like. His point has emphatically been made in 2023. We are ready to swear off sub-zero temperatures indefinitely.

As usual, the Rutland Community Club (RCC) has been maintaining an active schedule of events for adults and children, alike, undeterred by snow, cold, wind and other obstacles created by inclement weather and the perversity of nature. Community Club President Katie McLaen has provided the following report on the Community Club’s annual Fun Night, held this past Sunday, March 26, and on other events coming up in the near future: “By my best calculations we had 170 people at the Rutland Town Hall for Fun Night… a larger crowd than expected so we ran out of pizza! There were 50 door prizes and at least that many cakes for the cakewalk. There were 9 carnival games as well as a Photo Booth and coloring table and a popcorn/cotton candy stand. There was BINGO, with Norbert Kulzer hitting the jackpot, winning once at regular Bingo and also winning the final bingo game of the night, which was blackout! Norbert credits his success to his BINGO skill and know-how. The Rutland Volunteer Fireman served pizza and cookies for supper. Our next community club meeting will be at a date & time to be determined, taking into account religious observances, family events and community activities during the Easter holiday. The Annual Rutland Community Easter egg hunt will be held at the Rutland Town Hall on Saturday, April 8^th, at 10am, with Easter egg prizes furnished by the RCC and bikes donated by the Rutland fire departments fundraising efforts as the Grand Prizes. The Rutland American Legion Auxiliary ladies will be serving breakfast treats to kids and adults in attendance.” Thanks to Katie McLaen for the information in her report. 

The Rutland community acquired another new resident last week, the old fashioned way. William Price Gulleson was born to Cameron & Jenny Gulleson at 12:36 a.m. on Wednesday, March 22, 2023, in the 10^th floor birthing center at Sanford Hospital’s facility on Veterans’ Boulevard in Fargo. According to his Dad, young William weighed in at 9 pounds 4 ounces, and stood 21 inches tall in his bare feet on arrival. He made his entrance at his new home on the Gulleson farm 1½ mile east of Rutland on Thursday, and reported for work, accompanying his Mom as she fed cattle, on Friday morning. William joins his older sisters, Dillon and Payton, in the Gulleson home. Although this past Winter and early Spring have brought tough conditions for calving with them, it’s a good thing that William is hitting the ground running as he won’t experience many years worse than this one in the next 80 to 100 years, when he is likely to be running the Gulleson Ranch’s cow-calf operation. Welcome to Rutland, William. You were named after your paternal Grandfather and Great-Grandfather, William Gulleson & Price Gulleson, and you will have some big boots to fill one of these days. Cameron states that the Breakfast Burritos served in the maternity ward at Sanford Hospital were so good that he just might stop in there for breakfast the next time he is in Fargo.

Dan Thompson of Wyndmere, a former Richland County Commissioner, stopped in at The Lariat Bar for supper and conversation on the evening of Monday, March 27. Dan reported that the CPRail train derailment that occurred a couple of miles southeast of Wyndmere early on Monday morning, March 27, dumped 31 cars of a 70 car freight train off the track. Although some of the cars carried potentially hazardous materials, such as: asphalt paving oil; and, ethylene glycol; the spills did not appear to be sufficient to damage the environment or get into any water supplies. The upset appeared to have been caused by a broken rail. Dan, an Air Force veteran of the Vietnam War, served on the Richland County Commission from 2004 to 2020. Since his discharge from the Air Force back in the 1970’s he has been farming and operating an aerial applicators business at Wyndmere. Dan says that he and his friend, Deb, enjoy the cuisine, as well as the friendly staff and patrons, at The Lariat Bar in Rutland.

Mike & Cheryl (Hoistad) Zirnhelt of Forman stopped in at The Lariat Bar for supper on the evening of Monday, March 27. Cheryl is the daughter of the late Quentin & Doris (Nundahl) Hoistad of this community. The Zirnhelts report that they spent several months of this winter at Port Aransas TX, returning to their Sargent County home in early March. They thought that winter might be letting up by that time of the year, but they underestimated the endurance and tenacity of a North Dakota winter. Mike reported that he had gone fishing on the Gulf of Mexico on a few occasions this winter, and had some success catching red snappers, the premier eating fish along the Texas Gulf Coast. Commercial fishermen sell their red snapper catch for $31 per pound. Mike said that they did their fishing in water that was 50 to 60 feet deep. During their time at Port Aransas, Mike & Cheryl also got together with Cheryl’s brother & sister-in-law, Harris & Carol (Smith) Hoistad, and with old friends Steve Grohs and Judie (Anderson-Seavert) Grohs. According to Mike, Steve & Judie haven’t done as much fishing this year as has been their custom during previous winter vacations, but Judie is still the luckiest fish catcher in the harbor.

Bill Anderson of this community departed Rutland on the afternoon of Monday, March 20, bound for Fargo’s Hector Airport and an allegiant Airlines flight to Arizona. Bill visited at the winter home of Paul Anderson & Carol Fridgen in Sun City West AZ from Monday night to Friday afternoon. Although those who spend most of the Winter in Arizona thought that the daily high temperatures, in the mid to high 60’s, were kind of cool, they felt pretty good to Bill, especially with the Arizona sun shining on his back. Bill, Paul & Carol also got together with Paul’s mother-in-law, Etha Quinlan, and with Etha’s nephew, Mark Landies, a couple of times during the week. Bill returned home on the evening of Friday, March 24. It was a nice trip, but too short, he reports. Bill states that Allegiant Airlines’ ground crews and flight crews were very efficient, helpful and friendly, both coming and going, but the seating space on the airline seems to shrink a little more each year.

This past Wednesday, March 29, was “Vietnam War Veterans’ Day” in America. The Federal holiday commemorates the day back in 1965 when American military forces were first committed to ground combat in the Republic of Vietnam. By 1969 and 1970, more than 500,000 American soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines were stationed on Vietnamese soil. Between 1965 and 1975 more than 2.7 million Americans served in Vietnam. More than 58,000 young Americans, including Sargent County natives Danny Hanson of Gwinner and Cleo Levang of Forman, lost their lives during America’s involvement in the Vietnam War, and hundreds of thousands still bear the physical and psychological scars of their service in Vietnam. March 29 was their day to be recognized for their service. If you didn’t do it then, do it now. Stand tall, and salute!

Some upcoming events in Rutland include: Palm Sunday Service at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, April 2, at Nordland Lutheran Church on Cooper Street in Rutland; City of Rutland Board of Equalization meeting to discuss property valuations with Sargent County Director of Tax Equalization, LaJuanna Hayen, at 5:00 p.m. on Monday, April 3, in the Rutland Town Hall; Rutland City Council meeting immediately following the City’s Board of Equalization meeting on Monday, April 3, in the Rutland Town Hall; TNT Parish Maundy Thursday Pot-Luck Supper Worship service at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 6, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Forman; TNT Parish Good Friday Worship service at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, April 7, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Havana; Rutland Community Club Annual Easter Egg Hunt at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 8, at the Rutland Town Hall; and, Easter Sunday Worship Service at 7:00 a.m. on Sunday, April 9, at Nordland Lutheran Church in Rutland.

Meanwhile, out in Bismarck, the State Legislature continues to behave as if it was a wooden duck that had been hit on the head by a bolt of lightning in a thunderstorm. This is the Legislature that can take $24 million of State funds away from the State’s public schools and give it to private schools, but can’t find $6 million to provide hot lunches for schoolkids in North Dakota; that can give an oil extraction tax cut worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Texas & Oklahoma based oil companies that have been producing oil in North Dakota without getting anything at all for North Dakota in return; and, that bans books from the shelves of public libraries and makes criminals of librarians who retain the books of Shakespeare and other classic authors on their shelves. Well, former President Harry Truman said, “…the American people get the government they deserve.” In other words, we elected these nit-wits to run our State, so we have no one to blame but ourselves.  . Back in the days immediately preceding the American Civil War, a South Carolina pro-Union politician made the statement that his State was, “…too small to be a republic, and too large to be an insane asylum.” It appears that the current North Dakota Legislature is trying to prove the second half of that statement wrong, at least in North Dakota’s case. North Dakotan’s next chance to recapture control of the asylum from the inmates is coming up in 2024.

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