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.

Continue reading “The Rooster Crows – October 19, 2018” →