Tag: Rutland City Council

Hens Do Crow – March 1, 2019

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By Deborah Banish

Mother Nature has not been playing nice lately and I know I am getting tired of the snow. The snowfall and ground blizzard on February 24th resulted in some area events being postponed or cancelled. The Rutland Community Club Fun Night has been rescheduled for Sunday, March 10, same time (4-6 p.m.) at the Rutland Hall. The Rutland Sportsman’s Club cancelled the Fishing Derby at Silver Lake but the Club’s drawing will be held once all the sold tickets are received. The next snow event that is predicted for Friday, March 1, is the date of the Rutland Sportsman’s Club Fish Fry but that won’t stop this event from happening. The Sargent Central Clay Target League members will be holding their bake sale fundraiser that evening so be sure to head in early. Serving starts at 5:30 p.m.

The Rutland Community Development Corporation (RCDC) had to postpone their January 30th meeting to February 20th at the Rutland Senior Center. Several members attended but, due to weather, the turnout was less than planned. The Lariat Bar is current on the loan payments with the RCDC and those are the only two loans out at this time. The RCDC has money that is available to be invested in the community if any individual or entity is interested in establishing a business in town. Calvin Jacobson and Jake Erickson were both elected to another term on the RCDC Board and Cam Gulleson was elected to fill the remaining two-years of the term held by Sam Gillespie.

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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 – 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” →

The Rooster Crows – December 7, 2018

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By Bill Anderson

The cold weather of the past several weeks has thickened the ice on local lakes to 7 inches or more, enough to support the weight of ice fishermen and ice fishing houses. Norbert Kulzer reported that there were three ice fishing houses on Buffalo Lake on Tuesday, December 4, and one on Consolidated Lake, along with a couple of fishermen out on the ice in cold weather fishing gear. Several houses were on the ice at Silver Lake last week, but they had picked up and moved to some other location by Tuesday afternoon. No reports of fishing success have been received, and when fishermen aren’t talking it usually means that they are catching fish and don’t want anyone else to find out about it. Of course, it could mean that there just aren’t many fish being caught, but that’s not as interesting.

Rutland native Dan Narum, Presiding Judge of North Dakota’s Southeast Judicial District for the past several years, was preparing to deliver jury instructions at the conclusion of a trial in the Dickey County Courthouse in Ellendale last Tuesday, November 27, when he stood up from his desk and discovered that his right leg was numb. A terrible pain in his back put him to the floor. Ever the professional, the Judge got himself back to his desk, called the 2 attorneys in the case into his office, explained the situation to them, then delivered the jury instructions to the waiting jurors in written form, and had himself taken to the hospital. He was first taken to Aberdeen, the closest hospital, where a serious back problem was diagnosed. Immediate surgery was necessary, but a surgeon capable of performing it was not available, so Dan made a trip to Sanford Hospital in Fargo where the surgery was performed on Tuesday night. Tests indicated that the surgery had been successful, and, “…when I moved my toes about ¼ of an inch, they really got excited,” Dan reported. On Friday, November 30, he moved to Sanford’s Physical Therapy Unit on South University Drive for what was expected to be 2 weeks of intensive physical therapy, but his recovery and progress was so rapid that he was scheduled to be released from the hospital to return to his home in Lamoure on Wednesday, December 5. Dan states that he has an elk hunt booked in northeastern New Mexico beginning on January 1, and is still planning, and hoping, to be able to make it happen. Well, Dan is a tough and determined guy. If he can’t make it to New Mexico, maybe he can issue a judicial order, and have the elk brought to him. In the meantime, he is recuperating at home, in the care of his wife, Caroline, and their 2 children. Dan’s many friends in Rutland wish him a speedy and complete recovery, and a good hunt, too.

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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 – October 5, 2018

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By Bill Anderson

The 34th Annual Uff-Da Day Fall Festival in Rutland is coming up this Sunday, October 7. There has been some concern expressed about the weather, but, the old saying is, “The Sun always shines on Rutland, even when it’s raining!” and this year will be no exception. Rain or shine; warm, cold or somewhere in between; the show will go on! Uff-Da Day will begin with the Uff-Da Day Classic 5k Run/Walk, commencing at the intersection of First and Cooper Streets (County #10 and #3) at 8:00 a.m. followed by the opening of the craft booths by 10:00 a.m. Demonstrations, food stands and dinner at the Rutland Town Hall are all scheduled to be up and running by 11:00 a.m. The Uff-Da Day Parade will be stepping off at its assembly area on Dakota Street at 1:00 p.m., with candidates for public office of all political persuasions, from County Commission to U.S. Senate being prominently featured, and the Kids Pedal Tractor Pull is scheduled to take place on Main Street, right after the parade and the Nickel Scramble, at about 2:00 p.m. There will also be one of the best antique and classic car shows in the region, horse drawn wagon and buggy rides throughout the day, as well as inflatable games for the kids. Demonstrations of pioneer crafts will be going on throughout the day. At 3:00 p.m. the First Annual Uff-Da Day Nor-Ski competition will pit teams of 4 cross country skiers against each other with the winning team to receive bragging rights for 1 year and other fabulous trophies. Unlike most cross-country ski races, though, this one will put all 4 team members on the same pair of skis at the same time. The Kulzer Family Team of Kalispell MT has challenged all comers, so get your teams and strap on those skis! Lefse Lena and the Rommegrot Queen will be on hand all day long at the Senior’s Center to show folks how to create those Scandinavian staples the old-fashioned way, the way Grandma made them. Over in the Rutland Fire Hall, the Park Board will be serving up Uff-Da Tacos, something that Grandma and Grandpa never heard of, but which they would have wished that they had. Visitors can pick up a free copy of the 2018 issue of The Rutland Leader that contains more information about Uff-Da Day activities and events, as well as local history, at the Information Booth on Main Street. Uff-Da Day XXXIV chairperson Marcia Brakke, and the entire Uff-Da Day Committee, invite everyone who enjoys good food, good friends and a good time to come on over to Rutland on Sunday, October 7, for Uff-Da Day XXXIV. Uff-Da Day XXXV is scheduled for the first Sunday in October, October 6, 2019.

The Prairiewood Vineyard & Winery of Elliot ND has presented an Uff-Da Day wine tasting display of its North Dakota vintages on the porch of The Old Parsonage for the past several years, but, with The Old Parsonage up in the air, the Uff-Da Day wine tasting will be held in the Pioneer House, just south of The Rutland Depot Museum, on the west side of Main Street. John & Julie Steffes, owners of Prairiewood Vineyard & Winery will also have their North Dakota wines on sale, by the bottle or by the case. Try it, you’ll like it.

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