Tag: pinochle

The Rooster Crows – Jan. 10, 2020

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By Bill Anderson and Deborah Banish

“Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!” chanted Dorothy and her companions as they danced along The Yellow Brick Road on their way to the Emerald City and the land of Oz, in the 1939 movie classic “The Wizard of Oz.” So far, there have been no reports of tigers and bears in the Rutland area, but, as for lions, oh my YES! Joe Breker reports that as he was giving grandchildren and others a sleigh ride through the hills near the Coteau des Prairies Lodge south of Rutland on Saturday, December 28, he heard the kids erupt into sudden screaming and yelling, so he stopped the tractor with which he was pulling the sleigh in order to investigate the source of the uproar. Joe feared that one of the grandchildren may have fallen off the sleigh, but that was not the case. The cause of the excitement proved to be the sighting of a mountain lion that had crossed the trail just after the sleigh had passed by. A quick thinker in the group managed to snap a picture of the big feline with their cell phone camera. Joe checked out the big cat’s tracks in the new snow and states that they were larger than his hand, definitely not the tracks of a stray tabby. Some of the older children followed the lion’s tracks for a short distance and found where it had bedded down for a while, in the trees below Frenier Dam. Joe was grateful that the kids had not caught up with the mountain lion, as well. Once you have a lion by the tail, is it more dangerous to hang on or to let go? As of Monday, December 30, the lion had not been sighted again, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not around. Lions & Tigers & Bears, oh my!

The Rutland community entered the New Year of 2020 with another new citizen. Miss Peyton Marlys Gulleson was born to Cameron and Jenny Gulleson of this community on Monday, December 30, 2019, at Sanford Hospital in Fargo ND. Peyton weighed in at 9 pounds 7 ounces and stood 22 inches tall in her bare feet at the time of her arrival. Although Peyton entered this country without a valid Passport or a Visa and was totally unable to support herself or provide for her basic needs, she was welcomed with open arms by the Gulleson family and the Rutland community. Peyton is making her home on the Gulleson farm 1½ miles east of Rutland with her parents and her older sister, Dylan. Welcome to Rutland, Peyton. Get ready to butter lefse and serve that lutefisk, too!

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The Rooster Crows – February 8, 2019

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By Bill Anderson

Mother Nature gave Rutland and vicinity a 2 day reprieve from the siege of Arctic weather on Friday and Saturday, February 1 & 2, just enough time for the Ground Hog and about 120 pinochle players to make their annual appearance in the little city that can. The Ground Hog was pretty quiet. The pinochle players, though…well, they’re another story. The following report was received from Sonja (Anderson) Christensen, one of the organizers of the 24th Annual Rudy Anderson Memorial Pinochle Tournament: “As the sun rose at 7:48 a.m. on February 2 in Rutland ND, Mr. Groundhog, aka Rutland Roscoe, was busy checking out the weather conditions. Seeing his shadow, he jumped right back into his hole after he saw all 120 pinochle players arriving in town.  Mother Nature knew how important the first Saturday of February is to all of those eager pinochle players. Raising the temperature from minus 36 degrees on Tuesday and Wednesday, She cranked the thermostat up into the plus 20’s for pilgrims to make their way to the 24th Annual Rudy Anderson Memorial Pinochle Tourney on Saturday. Jason Hayen formerly of Cogswell, now living in Oklahoma, traveled to Rutland just for the weekend to play his favorite card game with his mother Kathy. Judie Seavert flew in from Port Aransas TX to partner up with her niece, Jessica Hayen of Fargo, for the tourney. Two newcomers were Charlie Makovsky and his daughter Madison from Grand Forks. Madison was recognized as the youngest player, saying, “This was so much fun. I will be back next year.” When asked how they knew about the day of pinochle, Charlie said he read it on the Rutland website. Due to Madison’s participation, players ranged in age from 20 years to 97 years, the latter honor going to Heb Diederick of Wahpeton, an All-Star baseball player back in the 1940’s & 50’s who is a contemporary of the late Leif Sundlie, Harvey Shasky and the other great players of Rutland Rooster fame. Sadly missed was Jack Brummond of Havana, The Sage Of Weber Township, who passed away shortly before the tourney, on January 29. Jack had played in the first 20 tournaments and must have decided he couldn’t stand to miss any more pinochle, so he wanted to be there in spirit to assist his former partner, Roger McLaen. Playing in all 24 tournaments were Roger McLaen, Norman Preble, and Stella Bell. Their devotion to hand after hand of pinochle is to be admired, as they teach others the love for the game. Roger and Benita Ziegler of Forman took first place with 1,818 points. Benita said, “It only took 23 years but we finally made it!” Congratulations to the persistent couple. Like the little train who kept saying, “I think I can, I think I can,” they made it to the top. Former Rutland residents who returned for the big day were Harvey Preble, Joel Hoistad, George Resler, Judie Seavert, and Norman Preble. Despite Harvey’s regular partner, Ed Christensen, not being able to make it to Rutland for the day, he quickly found a partner from Ellendale, Darlene Schock, to put up with his sense of humor and infectious attitude, reminding many of his days back in Rutland High.

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The Rooster Crows – February 1, 2019

On By rutlandramblingsIn Life In GeneralLeave a comment

by Bill Anderson

Mother Nature’s vocabulary of four letter words seems to be limited to3 this past week: cold; snow; and, wind. The coldest weather of the week, the month, the year and the Winter arrived on Tuesday & Wednesday, January 29 & 30, with the daily lows bumping off the -35 mark and the daily highs hovering around -10. According to the weather experts, this week’s weather is the coldest since this time of the year back in 2004, so, if you thought that you were experiencing déjà vu, you were right. The weather system that moved through ahead of the cold brought about 1½” of new snow on Saturday night, and another 4 or 5 inches on Sunday. The snow was hard to measure, because the wind brought it in sideways, piling it up at intersections, around buildings and in the trees. Tuesday’s winds of 20 to 30 mph, combined with the sub-zero air temperatures, produced a “wind-chill” index of 55 to 60 below, according to the weather gurus. Ground Hog’s Day is coming up on Saturday, though, and the TV Weathermen are predicting a high in the upper +20’s to low +30’s, just so Rutland Roscoe, the local ground hog, can wander out to see his shadow. Well, Saturday, February 2, is also the date for the 24th Annual Rudy Anderson Memorial Pinochle Tournament in Rutland, so it just might be the aroma of scalloped potatoes with ham that lures him out. Another cool down for the first week in February is predicted, but, with a little bit of luck, the worst cold may be behind us. To paraphrase Winston Churchill, “This is not the end of the winter. It is not even the beginning of the end of the winter; but it may be the end of the beginning of the winter.” That Winston sure had a way with words, didn’t he?

FYI. Paul Anderson’s electronic digital thermometer recorded a low of 36 degrees below zero on the morning of Wednesday, January 30, in his backyard at 309 Gay Street in Rutland, and Jesse Brakke’s electronic digital thermometer recorded a low of 37 below in his Ransom Township farmyard between Rutland and Cayuga that same morning. Mike Anderson stated that he was sure glad that he lives a mile north of Jesse, because his thermometer only got down to 31 below before it froze up.

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The Rooster Crows – January 18, 2019

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by Bill Anderson

When it’s Winter in Dakota, and we’re frozen, cold and blue; When we’re stoking up the furnace and opening up the flue; When it’s Winter on the prairie, and we’re battling ice & snow; We’ll be glad we’re warm and cozy, ‘cause it’s only 15 below.

Tim & Jodi Bogenreif of Moorhead MN were Rutland visitors on the afternoon of Saturday, January 5, calling on 2 of Jodi’s cousins, Paul Anderson and Bill Anderson of this community. Jodi is a granddaughter of the late Rudy & Edna Anderson of Rutland, and one of the daughters of Marilyn Anderson, formerly of Wahpeton and now of Moorhead, and the late Arden C. Anderson, a member of RHS Class of ‘60. The Bogen reifs were accompanied by Jodi’s Mom, Marilyn, by their son, Darien Bogenreif, now a Freshman at The University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, and by a friend of Darien’s, Miss Gretchen Espedal of Ada MN. During their visit in Rutland, the Bogenreifs accompanied Bill Anderson on a tour of The Old Parsonage at 217 First Street, where they checked out the construction work now in progress and joined the Anderson brothers for an early supper at The Lariat Bar where the Special Of The Day was a steak & shrimp “Turf & Surf” combo.

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The Rooster Crows – January 11, 2019

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by Bill Anderson

We are now in the post-holiday season, when all of the fun and frivolity of the past 6 weeks is weighing heavily on our waistlines, if not on our consciences. Well, there’s a cure for that! The Board of Directors of the Rutland Fitness Center recently sent out notices that it’s time to pay annual dues, and to start working off all of those Thanksgiving and Christmas calories. Membership renewals are now due for the Rutland Fitness Center, the Directors have reminded us. Membership fees are $150.00 per year for an individual and $235.00 per year for a family membership. Membership fees may be sent to: RFC, PO Box 24, Rutland ND 58067. Members are asked to include their cell phone # so the new entry code can be sent to them. The code will change on January 12. Due to insurance requirements, minor children utilizing the Fitness Center must be supervised by a responsible adult at all times. The Rutland Fitness Center is located in the American Legion Hall at 123 Gay Street in Rutland. It is open 24 hours a day and 7 days a week to members. At that price, the cost is about 3 cents an hour for a Family membership. A small price to pay for individual, family and community fitness and good health. Directors of the Rutland Fitness Center are: Ione Pherson; Lori McLaen; and Jennifer Christianson.

Sonja Christensen reports that, as of Monday, January 7, 41 teams of pinochle players had preregistered for the 24th Annual Rudy Anderson Pinochle Tournament that will be held on Saturday, February 2, 2019, in the Rutland Town Hall. One team that will be new to the tournament is a father-daughter combination from Grand Forks who read about the tournament on Rutland’s internet web site and then contacted Sonja to sign up. Sonja anticipates that another 21 to 25 teams will have registered before play begins on Ground Hog’s Day. The tournament, which is co-chaired by Sonja Christensen and Bryce Carlson, is sponsored by the Rutland Community Club. Continue reading “The Rooster Crows – January 11, 2019” →

Pinochle Tourney

On By rutlandramblingsIn Events, Rutland Community ClubLeave a comment

Pinochle TourneyLast Saturday, February 5, Rutland hosted the 16th Annual Anderson Family Pinochle Tournament.  Sixty teams made it into town and spent the day in the Rutland Town Hall playing in the Partners Pinochle Tourney.  Players came from far and wide for this annual event — Rutland, Gwinner, Forman, Wahpeton, Sioux Falls and even Texas.  First deal started at 9 a.m. and the first 8 rounds were finished by noon. 

Players and workers alike enjoyed the scalloped potatoes and ham, beans, ham sandwiches, and a wide selection of homemade bars.  The Rutland Community Club once again met the challenge of providing the food for the nearly 150 individuals.  It was a close call but there was just enough scalloped potatoes to go around — the cold weather and invigorating games brought out the hunger in everyone.  Next year we will tweak the menu – keep the scalloped potatoes (and make more roasters!) and maybe provide a salad of some type.  It’s always a learning event each year. Hands resumed about 1 p.m. and the next 8 rounds lasted until about 4 p.m.

As the scores were checked and tallied the Anderson Family awarded several prizes.  Gift certificates for The Lariat and Rutland General Store were handed out as were prizes from Four Seasons, the Fargo Force and other donors.  When the scores were tallied, the women took top honors as the winning team was from Wahpeton — Becki Beach and Kay Christenson.  Teams placing in the top 18 (and the last place team) all received prizes.

Thanks to everyone who helped out in the kitchen and a special thanks to the children of Rudy and Edna Anderson who continue with this event in their memory.