Category: Rooster Crows

The Rooster Crows – November 23, 2018

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By Bill Anderson

We’re getting used to Winter. The cold temperatures and 4”-6” inch snowfall that caused a lot of excitement back on October 10 would barely raise an eyebrow these days. The mercury climbed back up into the mid-40’s on Wednesday & Thursday, November 14 & 15, but hit the skids on Friday and has been bumping along in the single digits for morning lows since then. Monday morning’s wind chill reading of -13 did have some of the locals looking for the gloves they had put away at the end of April, and even inspired a few to don a cap. The rain, sleet & snow that arrived on Friday, November 16, brought with it some Slick roads and hazardous driving conditions. Mayor Narum got the worst of it cleared off the City’s streets on Saturday morning, but one hapless driver on ND Highway #11 lost control of his eastbound vehicle while going around the curve on the south side of the Crappie Crossing Slough about 1½ mile east of the intersection with ND Highway #32. The gray mini-van went through the ice amid the cattails on the south side of the highway, proving that 4” of ice is not enough to bear the weight of a vehicle. The mini-van was partially submerged, but reports are that the driver was uninjured. All’s well that ends well.

Joel Susag headed up to Fargo on Friday, November 16, with his brother, Ivan. Ivan & Joel picked up Ivan’s horse trailer and 2 horses at Ivan’s farmstead near Fargo and then started south for Ivan’s winter homestead in Arizona. Joel plans to be at the home of his sister, Sandy, for Thanksgiving, and to return home via Allegiant Airlines on Thursday, November 29. Joel wants to get out of the desert and back to North Dakota before he becomes accustomed to the warm weather and loses his northern prairie toughness.

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The Rooster Crows – November 16, 2018

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By Bill Anderson

Mother Nature has been supplying all of the cold, snow, wind and ice we ever wanted, and more. Tuesday, November 13, registered the lowest temperature of the season, so far, at -1, but that won’t even register on the discomfort scale in a few weeks. Right now, here in Sargent County, we have a bin-busting soybean crop and the most bountiful corn crop in history in the process of being harvested. From cold to corn, we have everything in abundance in North Dakota. You sure can’t beat that!

Roger Pearson and Mac Pherson report that the siege of cold weather has put ice on all of the local lakes and sloughs which had been producing fish a few weeks ago, putting an end to both fishing from a boat and fishing from shore. Mac estimated that the ice on Sprague Lake could be as thick as 4 inches on Tuesday, November 13, which some ice fishing enthusiasts claim is thick enough to walk on. Mac, however, is a little more cautious, preferring at least 6 inches of ice before he ventures out. Roger has no illusions at all about his ability to walk on water, even if it is frozen, and prefers to wait for warm weather and open water, so he can catch his fish while both feet are firmly planted on dry land.

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The Rooster Crows – November 9, 2018

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By Bill Anderson

Snow, wind & cold, those dreaded 4 letter words, hit with certainty on the evening of Election Day, Tuesday, November 6, and the following morning. An inch of snow, a 19-degree temperature and a 5-degree wind chill on Wednesday morning left no doubt that Old Man Winter is well armed for the season. The cold, wet weather has again delayed completion of harvest activities for many farmers, but some are getting close to the finish line. Colin Sundquist reported that 35 acres of soybeans remained to be harvested on the Sundquist farm north of Forman as of Sunday, November 4, and Mike Walstead reported that the soybean harvest had been completed and only 100 acres of corn remained to be threshed out on his Rutland Township farm as of Tuesday, November 6. Mike stated that the 2018 yields were the best he has seen since he started farming nearly 40 years ago. He didn’t want to boast, but if someone accused him of a soybean average of over 50 and a corn average of more than 200, he would have to plead “guilty!” He only wishes that he could plead guilty to $12 beans and $5 corn, and he would gladly accept his sentence with no remorse at all.

Harvey Bergstrom reports that he and Judy were at the Clarion Hotel in Minot on Saturday, November 3, to attend a meeting and banquet sponsored by the Farm Rescue organization. Harvey had suffered a heart attack a year ago, and Farm Rescue stepped in to help get his 900 acres of soybeans planted this past Spring. During the banquet on Saturday evening, several farmers from across the State, including Harvey, spoke of the assistance they had received from Farm Rescue and of their appreciation for what the organization had done. Harvey says that it is a good organization to have by your side, if and when the need arises.

Construction workers have been making progress on The Old Parsonage renovation project at 217 First Street this past week, despite the weather. Calvin Jacobson had his excavator at work and got the foundation and basement excavated, removing more than 600 cubic yards of dirt, clay and rocks. No buried evangelists, dinosaur bones or treasure chests have been discovered, at least none that Calvin is talking about. Strege Construction of Wyndmere had the footing Forms set on Friday, November 2 and the footings were poured on Monday, November 5. The next step is to install plumbing and in-floor heating prior to pouring the basement floor, and then the basement walls will be poured. It is estimated that the old house will be moved onto the new foundation within a week after the basement walls have been installed. After that, it will be a winter project for Buskohl Construction.

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The Rooster Crows – November 2, 2018

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By Bill Anderson

For those who are old enough to remember Al Capp’s “Li’l Abner” comic strip, today, Friday, November 2, is Sadie Hawkin’s Day, the one day in the year when it was permissible, at least in Li’l Abner’s home community of Dogpatch, for a spinster lady to run down and capture any bachelor she could lay her hands on and drag the hapless creature to the Finish Line where Marryin’ Sam, the local preacher, would pronounce them man and wife.  Times and customs have changed, but in this year, 2018, the national equivalent of Sadie Hawkin’s Day is Election Day, when it is not only legal, but encouraged, for any candidate to run down citizens and drag them to the polls to perform their patriotic duty. Thankfully, unlike Marryin’s Sam’s pronouncements of life sentences in Dogpatch, commitments made in a polling place or voting booth, like the promises of the candidates, are short term, for no more than 2, 4 or 6 years. Some of the promises don’t even make it past the vote counting.  Well, the election campaign of 2018 will be over when the polls close on the evening of Tuesday, November 6, and the election campaign of 2020 will begin at the same instant. In Sargent County, citizens have the ability to end the pursuit by utilizing Vote By Mail to mark their ballots at home and mailing them in to be counted; by voting early, prior to election day, at the Sargent County Courthouse in Forman; and, by casting their ballot on Election Day at the County’s centralized polling place at the Sargent County Courthouse in Forman. In Dogpatch, Li’l Abner’s mother, Mammy Yokum, was the undisputed boss, the power who settled disputes, righted wrongs and imposed order. When Mammy Yokum made her decision and laid down the law she concluded her pronouncement with, “I has spoken!” Every voter who casts their ballot in this election is entitled to quote Mammy Yokum, and there will be another chance to make a pronouncement in only 2 more years.

Rainfall has been scarce during the past week, but cool mornings and heavy dews have been no friends to those trying to harvest the 2018 soybean and corn crops. Thunder and lightning rolled through the area at about 6:30 in the evening on Saturday, October 27, and left behind just enough of a sprinkle to make the combines growl as they chewed through the soybean fields. Paul Anderson’s electronic rain gauge recorded.15 of an inch of precipitation on Sunday morning. The rain gauges of Norbert Kulzer and Roger Pearson have been retired for the season and will record exactly the same amount every morning from now until next Spring. Although most local producers are still concentrating on the soybean harvest, some corn has also been combined, and reports of both yield and quality indicate an excellent crop.

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The Rooster Crows – October 26, 2018

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By Bill Anderson

Soybean harvest has been going strong since Wednesday, October 17. The temperature climbed way up to 73 on Thursday, October 18, 60 on Friday, October 19, but only 37 on Saturday, the 20th, before climbing back up into the high 40’s and mid-50’s through Wednesday, the 24th. Mark Wyum reports that yields are fluctuating from 40 bu. Per acre to 60 bu. Per acre, with the average being somewhere in the mid to upper 40’s range. Mark states that he made the mistake of harvesting his best fields first, so he has been disappointed with the declining per acre average yield of the bean harvest since then. Cameron Gulleson reports results similar to those reported from the Wyum Farm, with the average running about 47 bushels per acre. The yields would be considered to be good, if commodity prices were at their pre-tariff, pre-trade war levels. Depressed prices and rising interest rates – we have been down this route before. A philosopher once made the statement, “Those who will not learn the lessons of history are condemned to repeat them.” Is that a school bell, or an alarm bell, we hear ringing? Either way, there could be a lesson coming at us.

Rutland natives David & Pat Kulzer, accompanied by their dog, Buster, departed Rutland, bound for their home on the west slope of the Rocky Mountains, in the Swan River Valley of northwestern Montana, on Friday, October 12. They arrived at their mountain home on Sunday, October 14, and the following report was received from Pat: “…Weary Dave & I arrived home about 3 pm yesterday. We decided to take the shortest route home, via Highway 200, but the cold northwest wind on Saturday made it a long day’s drive from Dickinson to Lewistown. Today begins a weather warmup and for the next week we’re supposed to enjoy temps in the high 60s. Having so recently experienced rain, wind, cold, snow, more wind & blizzard, we will definitely enjoy this Indian Summer! The tamaracks and aspens are bright gold now, so the scenery is beautiful, too…” Thanks to Pat for the report, and the Rutland community thanks the Kulzers for helping out during Uff-Da Day activities on Sunday, October 7.Jesse & Marcia Brakke of this community headed for Stillwater MN on the afternoon of Thursday, October 11 to help with wedding preparations for Jesse’s son, James Brakke of Stillwater, and James’ fiancé, Miss Sydney Koch, a native of Fargo ND. The couple were married on the afternoon of Saturday, October 13, in a ceremony at a Unitarian Church near Stillwater. The groom is the son of Jesse Brakke of Rutland and the late Michelle (Garot) Brakke. The bride is the daughter of Randy & Jean Koch of Fargo. Among those who traveled from a distance to celebrate with the bride & groom were James’ maternal grandparents, James & Diana Garot of Oceanside CA, James’ uncle, Bob Garot of New York City NY, and John Welch, a lifelong friend, from Charleston SC. James, a 2010 graduate of SCHS and a 2016 graduate of the NDSU School of Pharmacy, is employed as a pharmacist at the Walmart Pharmacy in New Richmond WI. The couple will be making their home in Stillwater MN. Their many friends in Rutland extend their congratulations to James & Sydney on the occasion of their wedding, and best wishes to them for a long and happy life together.

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The Rooster Crows – October 19, 2018

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By Bill Anderson

The first blast of the Winter of ’18-’19 roared in on the morning of Wednesday, October 10, with a nasty northwest wind and 6 to 8 inches of wet, heavy snow that piled up on streets, sidewalks and driveways, and made travel on all roads, city, county and State, hazardous. Shawn Klein, manager of the Sargent County Bank’s Rutland Station, reported that her vehicle would begin hydroplaning at any speed over 20 mph, and that, “my knuckles were white clear up to my elbows,” during her Wednesday morning commute from Havana to Rutland. Several vehicles did end up in the ditch as a result of the treacherous driving conditions, but no rollovers or injuries have been reported in this area. The snow let up late on Wednesday evening, and the City Council authorized Mayor Narum to put the City’s snow removal equipment into action on Thursday morning. The snow, on top of the rain that had fallen on Monday and Tuesday, put an end to any hopes of resuming, or starting, harvest activities for the rest of the week.

The Pherson Custom crew was reported to be harvesting corn near the Mark Breker farm southeast of Rutland on the afternoon of Sunday, October 14, and the combines of Jerry and Andrew Woytassek were at work in corn fields near the Gary Thornberg farm in Weber Township that afternoon, as well. According to Doug Spieker, yield monitors on the Pherson combines were indicating 225 bushels per acre from the headlands, and the moisture content of the corn was running at 18 to 19%, requiring some drying if the corn was to be stored. So, despite being beset by those 4 letter words: rain; snow; cold; and, wind; local farmers will not be deterred from getting after the 2018 harvest. Now, if there was just a market for it. Well, we can’t have everything. We did get a tax cut, after all.

Stephen Kulzer and son, Will, of Hartford SD drove up to Rutland on Friday, October 12, to get in some duck hunting action on Stephen’s old hunting grounds. The 2 were guests of Stephen’s parents, Will’s grandparents, Norbert & Beverly Kulzer, during their stay here. On Saturday morning, their trusty guide, Norbert, sensed that the ducks would be flying about 2 miles east of Rutland, and the hunters were ready, with all 3 bringing home a “Duke’s Mixture” limit of mallards, pintails and green-wing teal. On Sunday morning, Stephen & Will accompanied their cousin, Brandon Wyum, and several other hunters to a likely spot near Buffalo Lake where both Kulzers bagged their limit of mallards. “Nice greenheads,” Norbert described them, with the orange feet of northern ducks.

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