By Bill Anderson

It started at about 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, June 22, with a rain shower that produced approximately .1 of an inch of rain here. It wasn’t much, but for parched crops it was a start. The consensus among the Wise Men was that there wouldn’t be any more rain for a while, but the Wise Men were wrong! On the afternoon of Friday, June 23, a steady rain had settled in, and it rained steady until the early morning hours of Sunday, June 25. Mike Wyum reported that the 2 rain gauges in his garden averaged 1.8”; Rodney & Leif Nelson reported that the gauge at their farmstead 5 miles south of Rutland showed 2.0” on Sunday morning; Lyle Erickson said that his Mother’s rain gauge, at her home in Rutland, registered 1.9”; Norbert Kulzer reported 2.2” in his gauge at 415 Gay Street; and, Roger Pearson reported that his gauge at 409 Gay Street, only a few feet west of Norbert’s, showed 1.8” on Sunday morning. The corn, soybean, and wheat crops, which had appeared to have been put under considerable stress by the drought, heat and wind of the previous few weeks, were refreshed, revived, rejuvenated and revitalized by the renewed supply of H2O.

Chuck & Mary Beth Anderson and Mike & Debbie Banish have been touring areas west for the past week, and were at Gardner MT on Thursday & Friday, June 22 & 23. The 2 couples are on a voyage of discovery and exploration, retracing some of the route that took the Lewis & Clark Expedition to, and through, the Rocky Mountains back in 1805. During the weekend of June 24 & 25, they were doing some exploring and sight-seeing in Yellowstone National Park. The Park is the oldest National Park in the US, having been established during America’s Centennial Year, 1876. Both couples have their homes on wheels with them. Chuck & Mary Beth have a 5^th wheel travel trailer towed by a 1 ton pickup truck; and Mike & Debbie have a deluxe motor home towing a Jeep that is used for exploring the back country. As with Lewis & Clark, the Anderson & Banish Expeditions of Discovery were over when they got back home, the Banishes on the evening of Tuesday, June 27, and the Andersons on Wednesday, June 28.

The Annual Meeting of Rutland Housing Inc. was held at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 21, at the Rutland Town Hall. Carolyn Christensen and Bill Anderson were re-elected to 3 year terms on the Board of Directors. Board member & Secretary/Treasurer Bert Siemieniewski reported that the corporation finished the previous year in the black, and that all 14 of the corporation’s apartments are now occupied and generating rental income. Rutland Housing Inc. was formed back in 1971 with the intention of taking advantage of a low interest FmHA loan program intended to provide housing for elderly and low income persons. Earl Anderson, Rudy Anderson, Aldon Donaldson, Norbert Kulzer & Skip Sjothun were the corporation’s initial set of directors. The first apartment house, a 4-plex on Main Street, was completed and occupied in 1972. The first tenants were: Art & Nora Spande; Bella Peterson & Palmer Thompson; Esther Erickson; and Tina Kuester. The second apartment house, a 4-plex at the corner of Ross & Cooper Streets was built in 1973, and the corporation’s 3^rd apartment house, a 6-plex at the corner of Gay & Dakota Streets was built in 1975. The current members of the Board of Directors are: Delores Lysne, President; Bill Anderson, Vice-President; Carolyn Christensen, Secretary; and Bert Siemieniewski, Treasurer/Manager. There is one vacant Director’s position on the Board, and anyone interested should contact Delores Lysne or Carolyn Christensen.

The quarterly meeting of the Sargent County Jobs Development Authority (SCJDA) for the second quarter of 2023 was held in the back room of The Lariat Bar in Rutland at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 21. The meeting was called to order by Board President Bryce Carlson of Rutland. Board members reviewed all outstanding loans and found them to be current. The Board also reviewed the SCJDA’s housing incentive program. Contractors may utilize the housing incentive program to obtain short term “gap” financing, in cooperation with a private lender, between the time a new housing unit is built and the time it is sold. The JDA does not provide mortgage financing to home buyers. At the present time the JDA has no gap financing loans on the books. Three new houses have been constructed by one local developer since the Gap Financing program was approved, even though the developer has, thus far, not utilized the short term financing available. Sargent County currently has a surplus of jobs, but a severe shortage of homes in which the people who obtain those jobs can live. As a result, many who work in Sargent County now make their homes in Fargo, Wahpeton and other larger cities in this region, leaving Sargent County to provide necessary services without the tax base to pay for them. One estimate is that a new house, after it becomes taxable, generates as much property tax revenue as does more than 1,000 acres of farmland, and a new house in which school age children reside also generates $10,000 per child per year in State Foundation Aid payments to the local school district. The impact of new residents with good jobs on the local economy is also huge. New housing is crucial to Sargent County’s future. Additional information on the programs and activities of the Sargent County JDA can be obtained from Secretary/Treasurer Sandy Hanson. Keep up the good work, Bryce!

Rural Leadership of North Dakota, Class IX, met with a panel of Rutland community activists at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, June 22 in the Nordland Lutheran Church Fellowship Hall. The panel was made up of: Sonja Christensen; Hal nelson; Bill Anderson; Katie McLaen; and, Abby Erickson. The members of the Rural Leadership of North Dakota class included: Dantae Anderson, Lemmon SD; Stephanie Blumhagen, Bottineau ND; Kristina Dick, Englevale ND; Jasmin Fosheim, Hettinger ND; Julie Johnson, Forman ND; Tom Jones, Wyndmere ND; Kerri Kraft, Bismarck ND; Kylee Merkel, Bismarck ND; Susan Milender, Valley City ND; Eric Muller, Hillsboro ND; Andrea Nelson, Valley City ND; Becky Peterson, Mandan ND; and, Fayme Stringer-Henry, Grand Forks ND. Stephanie Blumhagen and Julie Johnson came down with the covid-19 virus a few days before Thursday’s meeting and were unable to attend. Katie Tyler of the North Dakota State University Extension Service coordinates the program. The Rural Leadership of North Dakota–Class IX is concentrating its studies on the issues of civic engagement and working with different generations. Following the question & answer session with the Rutland panel, the group adjourned to The Lariat Bar for lunch at Noon, and then departed for Forman, where they met with Luke & Amy Anderson at Anderson Seed Farm. They stayed at the Coteau des Prairies Lodge, in the hills southeast of Rutland on Thursday night. The group is studying why some communities and businesses tick, while others don’t.

Harvey & Judy Bergstrom, accompanied by Judy’s sister, Betty Cordner, arrived back home on Saturday, June 24, after participating in a week-long tour of the State of Kansas in their 1924 Model T Ford touring car. Harvey reported that 93 Model T’s from across the US participated in the tour. The Model T was produced by Ford during 20 model years with only minimum changes from year to year, and every year, from 1908 through 1927, was represented on the tour. Henry Ford, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, is credited with making the statement that customers could purchase the Model T in any color they might wish, “as long as it’s black.” The Bergstroms’ Model T is painted with Onyx Black paint, a black paint that is blacker than black. Harvey has been working on repairing and restoring the Bergstroms’ Model T, which he has named “Henry T,” since last Summer, and has it looking, and running, better than it did when it rolled off the assembly line 99 years ago. The route of the tour had to be reduced from the planned 500 miles to 250 due to obstructions created by Kansas’ road construction projects. Kansas, like North Dakota, has only 2 seasons, winter & road Construction. The biggest difference between the 2 States is that Kansas’ road construction season lasts a little longer than does North Dakota’s. Congratulations to Harvey, Judy, Betty and Henry T for their successful completion of the 2023 Model T Kansas Road Tour.

Rutland native John T. Hoflen, RHS Class of ’62, was a visitor in the old hometown from Friday, June 23 to Monday, June 26. John was home to attend a reunion of the Hoflen Family, descendants of the late Andrew and Anna Hoflen who moved to the Rutland area from South Dakota back at the turn of the 20^th Century. The grandson of the original Hoflens, another Andrew Hoflen, is now operating the family farm. According to John’s brother, Robert, approximately 30 family members were in attendance at the reunion.

Carolyn (Jacobson) Christensen; Boyd Jacobson Jr.; Calvin Jacobson; Diane (Jacobson) Smith; and Pam (Jacobson) Maloney hosted a reunion of the VanVlaenderen clan in Rutland on Saturday, June 24. Their mother, the late Catherine Jacobson, was a member of the VanVlaenderen family and grew up in the Geneseo area and eventually met and married Boyd Jacobson Sr. of Rutland after he returned from service in the Army during WWII.

Cayuga native Don Isensee, now a resident of Perham MN, was in Rutland during the afternoon of Monday, June 26, to visit with an old friend, Bill Anderson of this community. Don is a 1963 graduate of SCHS and Bill is a 1963 graduate of RHS. Both attended the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks ND and graduated in 1967. Don had spent Monday morning in Lidgerwood with another group of friends: Bob Fust; Keith Hoistad; Jack Saunders; Keith Saunders; Donald Kiefer; and Randy Kiefer; grinding, stuffing and smoking sausage that will be served during the 100^th Birthday Party for Sister Patrice Kiefer, an aunt of Donald and Randy Kiefer. The recipe and methods used by Monday morning’s group of sausage makers were handed down to them by their predecessors, the late: Bud Isensee; Pete Kiefer; Harry Kiefer; Jim Link; Arlen Will Precht; and others who perfected the ancient and honorable art of sausage making during previous generations. Don reports that when Monday’s task had been completed, the sausage makers had 160 rings of sausage in Bob Fust’s smoker. Well done, gentlemen!

Bill Gulleson was a patient at Avera Hospital in Aberdeen at the beginning of this week. He had knee replacement surgery there on Monday, June 26. Bill is in good physical shape, and is expected to be back at work, taking care of livestock on the Gulleson Ranch. Bill’s many friends in the Rutland community extend best wishes to him for a speedy recovery and return to full throttle.

In their first home game since the end of May, the Rutland Roosters Men’s Slowpitch Softball Team met up with the Havana Arrows for a double-header at Lou Sanderson Field at 6:45 p.m. on Tuesday, June 27. The Arrows took game #1 in a squeaker, but the roosters dominated the scoring in game #2. According to game umpire Marwood Klein, the score in game #1 was Arrows 11 to the Roosters 10, while the score in game #2 was 17 for the Roosters to 11 for the Arrows. Next week there won’t be any regularly scheduled league games due to the Independence Day holiday on Tuesday, July 4. On Tuesday, July 11, the Roosters will be back in action at Lou Sanderson Field, rested and ready to take on the Milnor team in another double-header commencing at 6:45 p.m. The championship concession stand crew of Mac Pherson, Larry Christensen, Hal Nelson & Andrea Erickson will be back in action on July 11, too, resupplied with bratwursts, hot dogs, popcorn, peanuts, crackerjacks, soft drinks and whatever other treats might tickle the fancy of a softball fan. Don’t miss it! Rutland vs. Milnor at 6:45 p.m. on Tuesday, July 11, at Lou Sanderson Field in Rutland.

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.