Uffda 1987

On May 5, 2025May 4, 2025 By rutlandramblingsIn UffDa DayLeave a comment

Rutland held its third annual Uff-Da Day on Sunday, October 11, 1987, and it was deemed the most successful to date. Events actually began Saturday evening with a potluck supper and concert. A 53-member orchestra and folk-dance group had arrived earlier on Saturday. Twenty-four of the group were members of the Vessigebro Dragspelklubb (Accordion Club) from Vessigebro, Sweden. The group was on a tour in the three state area as part of a cultural exchange. They performed in New York, Boston and Minneapolis, and were on their way to Fargo and then Minot. Performances were also done on Sunday at the Nordland Lutheran Church and Baptist Church. Members of the troupe stayed through Monday with host families in Rutland.

Sunday activities ran from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and included live demonstrations of pioneer crafts and ethnic foods, homemade ice cream and butter churning, four different horse and mule-drawn hayrides, the antique quilt display, an antique tractor pull and two more Scandinavian group performances. In addition to the ethnic food sales around town, an escalloped potato and ham dinner was served at City Hall. Ten roasters were consumed along with about 1,300 lefse, 800 rosettes, five roasters of rice pudding, and 12 batches of homemade ice cream (about 500 servings). The abelskievers were a big hit and the crew ran out of ingredients and had to raid their kitchens for more.

The antique tractor pull drew about 45 entries and was held in McLaen’s Meadow, just west of town. That competition took most of the afternoon.

According to the financial reports the two largest expenses for the event was, of course, the food from J&K Market and the Swedish group performances which ran a whopping $400.00. The profit from the event was just over $1,500.

Celebrate Arbor Day Today!

On May 2, 2025May 1, 2025 By rutlandramblingsIn NatureLeave a comment

Today, Friday, May 2, 2025, is Arbor Day in the State of North Dakota. Rutland is one of about 50 communities in North Dakota registered as a Tree City USA. Five of these communities also received a Growth Award in 2024, which recognizes major milestones and annual activities that build sustainable community forestry programs over the long term. Rutland is one of those Tree City communities that received a Growth Award.

To be a Tree City USA, Rutland had to meet four standards including having a tree board, a community tree ordinance, spending at least $2 per capita on urban forestry, and celebrating Arbor Day. These efforts impact the health, safety, and economy of our community, and enhance the quality of life and make our town a more beautiful place to live, work and play.

There are benefits to being a Tree City:

Recognizing and rewarding communities for urban forestry management
Providing education on relevant tree care and management practices
Greater community pride by showing the community and its decision-makers care about the environment
Increased public awareness of urban forestry practices
Some North Dakota Forest Service grants provide extra points in their scoring for Tree City USA communities
Community Family Forest grant awards increase by $500 for Tree City USA communities

The City of Rutland has been a recognized Tree City USA since 2018 and has achieved the Growth Award for several of those years. Projects have included the removal of nearly 25 trees and planting new trees in those and other locations. The City also maintains, trims and prunes trees as needed to help the City trees thrive.

Celebrate the day by planting a tree in your yard. For every street tree, there are said to be as many as 10 trees on private property. This makes an enormous contribution to the community’s air and water quality – and more yard trees would mean an even healthier environment. In many case, trees can also replace grass and save on water bills and time spent on lawn maintenance. Trees can also help reduce exposure to ultraviolet rays in sunlight.

Cleaner air, wildlife habitat, cooler temperatures, better moods and a happier planet – when it comes to sharing all their benefits, trees don’t hold back. Discover everything trees can do and the value they hold for our planet by checking the tree resources available through the Arbor Day Foundation at https://www.arborday.org/tree-resources

If you do plant a tree, send a photo to the City at rutlandnd@drtel.net to share it on our website!

Uffda Day 1986

On April 26, 2025April 26, 2025 By rutlandramblingsIn Rutland Community Club, Rutland History, UffDa DayLeave a comment

In March of 1986, the Rutland Community Club (RCC) designated the second Saturday in October of each year for Uffda Day, committing to the event for years to come. The RCC now could plan further in advance instead of pulling the event together in two months as they did in 1985. The second annual Uffda Day was held October 18, 1986. Kickoff was, again, at 1 p.m. and for only four short hours crafters demonstrated their art and rides were a big hit. This year more food options were added including abelskievers for the first time. Rosettes were available at the Insurance building and rommegrot at the Post Office. Antique quilts were on display at the Baptist Church and antique machinery could be seen around town. A Scandinavian smorgasbord started at 5:30p.m. with advance tickets for the supper and dance for only $5.50. Those who missed out on advance tickets had to purchase tickets at the door $3.50 for the supper and $3.00 for the dance. The meal included Swedish meatballs, boiled potatoes, peas and carrots, sweet soup, a relish tray, rommegrot, lefse and “assorted Norwegian cookies”. A 25-member band and dance group from Norway, The Fjellklang Spelemannslag, was the evening entertainment with a concert followed by a dance.

Crafters
Rev. Myron Reed at the potters wheel
Janet Kiefer, right, demonstrating hardanger
Norma Brekke demonstrating crafts
Phyllis Bogart at the spinning wheel, Patti Carlen bottom
Lots of rides and riders
Evelyn Hermanson, top, and Phyllis Sjothun, dinner help
Cal Jacobson, Mitch Mahrer, Joe Mahlstrom cooking abelskievers. Janice Christensen keeps the batter coming.
Quilt Show
Rommegrat at the PO (Casper Syverson, red sweater, Izetta Colvin, standing). Rosettes (Sharon Pearson & Donetta Hoistad)at the Insurance building.
More rides

Uffda Day Origin 1985

On April 18, 2025April 18, 2025 By rutlandramblingsIn Life In GeneralLeave a comment

In August 1985, the idea of having a fall festival was brought up at a Rutland Community Club meeting. Bill Anderson, Kathy Brakke and Milton and Danene McLaen had been to the Decorah, Iowa, Nordic Fest a couple of times and suggested that a one-day, small-scale version of the Nordic Fest could be the pattern for Rutland’s Fall Festival. That same month Carrol Juven of Fargo was contacted to find out if any Scandinavian type entertainment could be arranged for the event. He had a Swedish group, Nils Hakan and His Orchestra, scheduled to tour North Dakota in October. This schedule fit in perfectly with plans for the fest and the date was set for October 12th. A catchy name for the event was still missing, but Greg Donaldson, a local businessman, came up with Uffda Day and the name caught on.

In 1985, Rutland served eight Scandinavian foods, had children’s games, hay rides, demonstrated pioneer crafts and had an arts and crafts sale. The Swedish Band performed during a beef barbeque and sweet corn roast supper and, then again, at the dance at 9 p.m. Entry to the dinner and dance was $5.00 per person with advance sale tickets including the dance. The event was deemed successful. Unfortunately, we have been unable to locate any written reports or summaries of the first celebration. “Uffda Day was discussed and evaluated” at the November Rutland Community Club meeting and “several suggestions were made.”

Getting signage ready
Kathy Brakke
Getting the store ready
Hall display
Crafts at the Hall
Chicken Scratching
Rosemaling by Danene
Spinning Wheel craft demo
Fattigman & coffee
A busy Senior Center
Kids games
Mule Rides
Making Rosettes

This column will be part of a series on the history of Uffda Day in Rutland in recognition of the upcoming 40th and final Uffda Day in Rutland. There will be a selection of photos and information from several, if not all, of our previous Uffda Day events on display this year. Thanks to the records of Bill Anderson, Kathy Brakke, and photos taken by Ron Narum, and other reports, the history of the event can be documented.

1920 Pocket Directory of Rutland North Dakota

On February 6, 2025 By rutlandramblingsIn Life In GeneralLeave a comment

A 1920 Pocket Directory of Rutland North Dakota was printed compliments of several Rutland business firms that also advertised in the Directory. The Businesses who advertised included Martin John Vulcanizing & Retreading; the City Billiard Hall, candies cigars tobaccos and soft drinks, R.M. Peterson Prop.; John R. Jones Lumber Farm Implements and Fuel; Geo. E. Hansen, City Barber Shop, home of toilet articles and face creams; the City Opera House, Billiards and Bowling, John Bloomdale Prop.; Columbia Restaurant, Meals-Lunches Home Cooking, Mrs. John Jones, Proprietor; the Rutland Garage & Repair Co. , Theo. Helberg and Paul Kuester; Rutland Farmers Co-Operative Co., E.J. Hoel, Manager; Green Brothers Corporation; First State Bank; Edward Benson, general merchandise; the Rutland Meat Market, C.W. Barger, Proprietor; Farmers Co-Operative Store, J.W. Johnson, Manager; and Johnsons Cash Store.

The Pocket Directory also provided a profile of Rutland:

Rutland had a thriving community of nearly 300. That, unfortunately, has declined but has remained close to 163 population for several years.

The Burger is Back!

On November 29, 2024 By rutlandramblingsIn Rutland Community Club, Rutland HistoryLeave a comment

The burger is back. That’s right folks – and I’m not talking about the McDonald’s Quarter Pounder. The Rutland griddle is back in its glory with a fresh coat of paint after spending most of 2024 as a plain black canvas. The first time the grill was painted was in 1985 when one side of the grill was erected at Sanderson Field, and it has been repainted several times. The Rutland Community Club had been working with a local printer to make a canvas to cover the grill as a more permanent solution, but that option fell through. The Community Club found a rostered artist with the ND Council on the Arts who was available to do the work. Marcus Tracy, a visual artist, muralist and teaching artist, spent only a few days in Rutland to complete the burger painting.

The Rutland grill at Sanderson Field is one-half of the skillet used to fry the (then) World’s Largest Hamburger in 1982. Each half of the skillet weighed more than a ton and had 201 square feet of grill space. The hamburger itself was 2½” thick and weighed 3,591 lbs. (raw). A homemade burner was used to cook the meat, and it was rolled flat with a 20-ft rolling pin that was also made by Rutland residents. Turning the burger was not a simple job. An identical plate was lowered by crane to the top of the burger, secured, and the burger was turned by crane and the upper plate removed. It took about two and one-half hours to cook the burger that was served to nearly 10,000 people. Be sure to check out the Rutland Centennial video on the City of Rutland, ND, YouTube channel. The burger is featured at about 13:20 in the video feed.

On July 7, 1982, the Guinness Book of Records of London awarded a Record Certificate stating that the “Rutland Community Club of Rutland, North Dakota, USA did break the Largest Beefburger record with a weight of 3,591 lbs. and diameter 16 feet.” The 1983 Guinness Book of World Records, p.325, still listed the Largest Hamburger (made of beef) on record of 3,020 lb. served in 13,083 portions in City Park, Towner, “Cattle Capitol of North Dakota” on June 18, 1981. However, in the Newly Verified Records section at the end of the book listed the “Largest Hamburger. A weight of 3,591 lb was registered for a hamburger 16 ft in diameter and 2½ in thick, made by the Community Club of Rutland, ND.”

There have been other hamburger records since then and even one flipped hamburger in Coral Springs, Florida, in 1988 when they cooked a 5,100 lb. burger on a 40-foot grill (comprised of 8-ft. sections) and firefighters used a crane to turn it one piece at a time onto smaller grills. That event was BYOB (bring your own buns). In my opinion, if they had a category for a flipped hamburger, Rutland would still hold the record!