The Rutland City Council, on Monday, January 7, approved the recommendations of Diane Smith and Carolyn Christensen for the Rutland Renaissance Zoning Board. We’re happy to have Lori McLaen, Rachel Olson, Shannon Mehrer, Larry Christensen, Deborah Banish, Norbert Kulzer and John Harris on the Renaissance Zoning Board. Diane Smith will be a non-voting ex officio member. She will deal with the administrative and promotional duties.
Author: rutlandramblings
This is a blog for Rutland, North Dakota, area news and events. This blog is supported and paid for by the Rutland Community Club. For official information from the City, please see the City website at rutlandnd.com
Santa Day 2008 For All Ages
The new committee for Santa Day included something for all ages on Santa Day, December 15. Everyone enjoyed Bingo, the kids had a great time doing a variety of crafts, and Santa arrived with bags of candy for all. Pictures taken with Santa were popular, as well as pictures taken in Santa’s sleigh. The Luther League had a bake sale with a wonderful variety of goodies. They also sponsored a basket raffle and served a lunch of soup and sandwiches. After supper, the Earl Fust Family Band entertained the crowd and young and old enjoyed a little dancing.
The Rooster Crows – January 19, 2008
The weather and the stock market have both been bouncing around like a yo-yo on a string for the past week, but now it appears that both the weatherman and the stock brokers have made up their minds, sending both into the tank. The mercury hit 15 below zero in Rutland on Monday morning, then topped out at 22 above by Tuesday afternoon before starting a slide into the cellar that is not predicted to stop until it hits bottom at 25 to 30 below sometime this weekend. Well, the weather forecasts aren’t always right, but why is it that they usually miss when they’re predicting sunny and 70, but are rarely wrong when predicting ferocious, frigid and frozen? Ask your stock broker, he’s as likely to have the answer as the weatherman.
Cameron Gulleson, Mark Wyum and Rob Wyum drove down to Texas during the first week of January to discuss contracts for spraying crops in that area with Texas farmers. Cameron and Rob, along with Lance Gulleson and Cody Gulleson, own and operate an agricultural chemical application business, and the boys are looking for a way to keep the equipment rolling year-round. Reports are that the number of acres planted to winter wheat in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas is way down this year due to increases in the acreage going into the production of corn, soybeans and milo. King Cotton in Texas has suffered the same fate as King Wheat in North Dakota. They have both been deposed in favor of a new regime. As a result, there is now a shortage of wheat and the price has soared to stratospheric levels for winter wheat, spring wheat and durum. The price could just as well be $100.00 per bushel, though, because no one has any to sell right now. There is one thing, though, that the American farmer can do better than produce, and that’s overproduce, so just give him a few years with some timely rains and it won’t be long until crop prices are back in the tank with the weather and the stock market, too.
Continue reading “The Rooster Crows – January 19, 2008”Rutland Hosts Regional Housing Roundtable
Community leaders have seen the ever increasing need for adequate housing in Rutland be a deterrent for community growth. Because this need has been identified as an issue that does not seem to be met nor will it be in the near future, the Horizons committee decided to host a roundtable to discuss this issue as a regional one.
Diane Smith engaged the North Dakota Housing and Finance Agency to come to their community along with other STAT members to speak to community leaders about solutions to the housing shortage. The STAT team is made up of representatives from a number of state agencies. They are: ND Housing and Finance Agency, Affordable Housing Developers, Inc.; Community Works ND; Eastern Dakota Housing Alliance; Fannie Mae; ND Dept. of Commerce; ND Rural Dev. Council and Center for Technology and Business; US Dept. of HUD; and USDA Rural Development.
This event was publicized to neighboring communities who are struggling with the same issue. The event led to a great discussion and exchange of ideas about what is working in rural communities around the issue of housing.
This small community of 300 isn’t afraid to tackle tough issues. Citizens fully intend to meet them head on.
The Rooster Crows – December 28, 2007
The Rutland community received the ultimate Christmas decoration, a snow white blanket, in two layers, a little more than an inch of new snow on the evening of Saturday, December 22, and a light powdering on Christmas Eve, making this a “white Christmas” to match the song. Seeing the temperature rise to the 32 degree mark on Christmas Day didn’t hurt anyone’s feelings, either.
Chuck Sundlie drove up to Rutland on Saturday, but deteriorating weather conditions in the Twin Cities area delayed the arrival of Kim and Aden until Christmas Day. Chuck did some pheasant hunting on Saturday and Sunday, and reports that the birds are quite wild, although one rooster held so tight in the cattails that one of his dogs, unable to flush the bird, finally just picked it up and presented his master with an early Christmas gift, a live ring-neck rooster bagged without firing a shot. Chuck, Kim & Aden expect to remain in Rutland until New Year’s Eve.
Cameron Gulleson, Andrew Hanson, Matt Bosse, Luke Anderson and John Stenvold returned from their Lake of the Woods fishing expedition on Tuesday, December 17. Cameron reports that they caught about 40 walleyes and saugers while fishing through the ice, but the fish did not have much size. He also states that the ice was about 12 inches thick where they were fishing, but there are still large areas of open water on the lake. The boys headquartered out of the Sportsman’s Inn near Baudette MN, and report that their accommodations were excellent.
Continue reading “The Rooster Crows – December 28, 2007”The Rooster Crows – December 20, 1999 Addendum
By Bill Anderson
Here’s a Christmas reminiscence I wrote back in 1999 that appeared in The Sargent County Teller as an addendum to the December 20, 1999 edition of The Rooster Crows.
WAITING FOR THE TRAIN
When we were kids, growing up in a small town in southeastern North Dakota, the rhythm of our lives was governed, to a large extent, by the schedule of the Great Northern Railway Company. Our father, Earl Anderson, was the station agent/telegrapher for the Great Northern in our hometown of Rutland, North Dakota. His schedule was set by the Great Northern and our schedule was set by him. Back then railroad trains ran on schedules, with arrival and departure times calculated down to the minute. Tough conductors like Shag Lehmann and Herb Cochrane would cuss a blue streak if their train arrived in the station as little as a minute or two ahead or behind the scheduled time. Forty-five years ago, you could tell what time it was by the freight train steam whistle or the passenger train air horn as it came into town or departed with a load of freight, passengers, cream cans and U.S. mail. It’s not that way any more. Now, a person can’t even determine the time of the year by the arrival or departure of trains on the Rutland branch line. As Ahrlin Hoffman commented some years ago, “I used to set my watch by the old Great Northern, then, one day, I came into town and discovered I was two months late.”
Back in the 1940’s and 1950’s the trains ran on schedule every day, holidays being no exception, and the men who worked for the railroad were on duty whenever the company said they were needed. As the railroad’s agent and telegrapher, Dad had to be at the depot when trains were scheduled to arrive. Everybody knew the train schedule and, a lot of times, folks would go down to the depot in the evening to “meet the passenger train” just to see who got on and who got off. The arrival of the eastbound evening passenger train from Aberdeen was always looked forward to with anticipation. Everything from freight to passengers to postcards moved by rail in those days and folks were always looking forward to either sending or receiving something.
Continue reading “The Rooster Crows – December 20, 1999 Addendum”
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