By Bill Anderson
The Calendar said February 24 on Wednesday morning, but the thermometer said it was the 55th day of January, according to the Assembled Wise Men at the Rutland Café. Depending on whose thermometer was checked, the mercury was hovering at somewhere between 21 and 25 degrees below zero. “Is it cold enough for you?” was the question of the day, to which the correct answer was, “Not until the fat lady sings!” The answer was nonsense, but so was the question.
Kevin and Wendy Willprecht returned from a Winter vacation get-away in Jamaica on Friday, February 19. They had flown out of Fargo a week earlier, making stops at Minneapolis and Atlanta before landing at Montego Bay. The Breezes Beach Resort near the city of Nigrel was their final destination. Kevin reports that 7 miles of white sand beach and ocean water temperatures hovering around 80 helped make their stay a pleasant one. Coffee beans and sugar cane are the two major crops grown on the mountainous island, says Kevin, with much of the sugar cane becoming the raw material for the production of Jamaican rum, one of the island nation’s major exports, along with bauxite, the ore from which aluminum is made. A former British colony, Jamaica has been an independent nation since 1962. Despite a booming tourism business, much of the island nation’s population appears to struggle with Third World economic status, says Kevin. All in all, he reports a very enjoyable time on the tropical Caribbean paradise. The Wilprecht’s children spent their vacation time in the Grandma and Grandpa Resort at the home of Arlen & Jan Willprecht in Lidgerwood, where the attentive staff catered to their every need.
Rob & Lacey Wyum departed Rutland on Friday, February 19, bound for Minneapolis, where they boarded a flight to Miami on Saturday, Feb. 20, with their destination being a cruise ship headed for the eastern Caribbean. The cruise is a delayed honeymoon trip for Rob and Lacey, who were married in Milnor last October. Rob is employed with his father, Mark, and uncles, Steve and Mike, in the Wyum Brothers Ransom Township farm business. Lacey is employed at the Sargent County Abstract Co. in Rutland and in the Clerk of Court’s office at the Sargent County Courthouse in Forman.
Here’s some urgently needed information! The Spring Conservation Snow and Blue Goose hunting season opened in North Dakota on Saturday, February 20. Although we have plenty of snow, right now we have no geese. According to Jack Lalor, Assistant Project Manager at the Tewaukon National Wildlife Refuge, the geese are still down in Texas, Louisiana and Mexico with the rest of the snowbirds, waiting for the snow between here and there to melt. As conditions appear now, Mr. Lalor stated, it is unlikely that many geese will be seen here before late March or early April. The purpose of the Spring conservation season is to reduce the numbers of snow and blue geese so they do not over populate, over graze and destroy their summer nesting range in northern Canada. Resident hunters need a valid 2009 North Dakota hunting license and a shotgun in order to participate in the hunt, according to Mr. Lalor. There is no daily limit or possession limit during the conservation season, and hunters may remove the plugs from shotgun magazines, as well. Non-resident hunters may also participate in the hunt without the usual limitation on the number of days that restricts their hunting opportunities during the Fall season. Non-residents may purchase a license to participate in the Spring snow and blue goose season from the North Dakota Game and Fish Department for a fee of $50.00. The season ends on the first Sunday in May. Even though the season is open right now, though, an expedition afield will probably not be very productive for several more weeks, in Mr. Lalor’s opinion.
Continue reading “The Rooster Crows – February 26, 2010” →
rutlandramblings 