Tag: Rutland Community Club

The Rooster Crows – June 15, 2018

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By Bill Anderson

Oh, listen to the rumble, hear the rattle and the roar, as she tears her way ‘cross the prairie, over hills and down the shore. Hear that mighty wind a’whistlin’, this ain’t no railroad train. It’s a monster of a thunderstorm, and it’s bringing in more rain! Accompanied by thunder, lightning and a powerful east wind, between .6 and .75 of an inch of rain blessed the Rutland area early on the morning of Monday, June 11. Roger Pearson reported .6 of an inch in his rain gauge at 409 Gay Street, and 1 block west, at 309 Gay Street, Paul Anderson’s electronic rain gauge recorded .74 of an inch. Harvey Bergstrom reported that his gauge situated 3 miles south of Cayuga showed precisely .63 of an inch on Monday morning, with a few intermittent showers yet to pass through, while Bonnie Anderson reported that the rain gauge at her farm three miles north and 3 miles east of Rutland registered .75 of an inch, and Doug Spieker stated that the rain gauge at his Tewaukon Township farmstead registered .95 of an inch when he headed to town for coffee and conversation on Monday morning. You can’t make it rain, and you can’t make it stop, but you can appreciate it when it arrives. Harvey Bergstrom reports that the flag leaf is beginning to emerge on his wheat fields, and, that with some sunshine and a little more rain, the wheat will soon be shooting heads. Harvey says that he’s not counting his chickens before they’re hatched, but right now there are enough eggs out in those wheat fields to produce a lot of chickens, metaphorically speaking.

The Rutland community has acquired another new citizen, the old-fashioned way. Easton Edward Erickson was born to Jake & Taryn Erickson of this community on Friday, June 1, at Sanford Hospital in Fargo. Easton weighed in at 8 pounds 4 ounces and stood 20½ inches tall in his bare feet on arrival. Easton is residing with his parents at the Erickson farm southeast of Rutland. He is the 6thgeneration of Ericksons to reside on the family farm since it was homesteaded by his great-great-great-grandfather, August Erickson, back in the early 1880’s. Welcome to Rutland, Easton. We will expect to hear some stories and original songs from you in the future. You are Raymond’s great-grandson, after all. Better get to work on Great-Grandpa ray’s coin tricks, too.

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The Rooster Crows – June 8, 2018

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By Bill Anderson

The 2018 crop is in the ground. Some local growers finished up planting operations this past week, while others have been done for a couple of weeks or more, but the crop is in, and most of it’s up. Being done planting isn’t necessarily all roses, though. Mike Walstead reports that he was going to put his planter into storage last week, but had to move his combine out of the shop in order to get the planter in. As he backed out with the combine, one of the extensions on the combine’s hopper caught the bottom panel of the overhead door on Mike’s shop, so now he has some door repair work to get done, too. A farmer’s work is never done! Weed control will be a primary activity for most producers during the month of June, and Jason Arth, manager of Northern Plains Ag at Cayuga reports that demand for chemicals and spraying services has been brisk. The old cultivators that used to take out a few rows of corn with the weeds once in a while are now rusting in the trees, replaced by huge sprayers that cover more acres in an hour than the old 4-row cultivator could get done in a week. For the next couple of months all eyes will be turned to the sky, wondering when that next rain will come. Well, .2 of an inch of rain, accompanied by thunder, lightning and wind, did arrive late on the evening of Friday, June 1. Readings were uniform throughout the Rutland area, with Paul Anderson and Norbert Kulzer in town, Randy Pearson to the north, Doug Spieker to the south and Mike Walstead to the west all reporting .2 of an inch in their rain gauges on Saturday morning. Roger Pearson reported that someone had turned his rain gauge upside down, so it registered 0, although the outside of the gauge was damp. The agreement among rain gauges ended on the morning of Wednesday, June 6, though, as the thunderstorm that roared through at about 2:00 o’clock that morning put .7 of an inch into Norbert Kulzer’s rain gauge, but only .62 of an inch into Roger Pearson’s gauge located only a few feet from Norbert’s. The Assembled Wise Men averaged out the various reports, though, and have awarded an even .65 of an inch to the entire area, except to Rick Bosse who only received .4 of an inch at his farm near Brampton. Rick plans to put more effort into rainfall production next time.

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The Rooster Crows – May 18, 2018

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By Bill Anderson

Well, did you enjoy Spring this year? It commenced during the last week of April, and turned the corner into Summer on Monday, the 14th of May. The birds, the bees, the grass and the trees are loving it. The Mayfly hatch has been in progress for the past week, and these insects that look like giant mosquitoes, without the deadly stinger, have been smearing windshields and providing nourishment for all kinds of wildlife, including fish. The fisherman who can make his bait look like a may fly when the walleyes are gorging on these bugs can usually count on some filets for the frying pan. Of course, luck may have some bearing on an angler’s success, too. Roger Pearson, an expert practitioner of the piscatorial arts, reports that he was fishing from the bank of one of our local lakes last week, with only a bullhead to show for his efforts, when a friend from Fargo who is a frequent Rutland visitor came down to the lake and began fishing some distance to the east of Roger’s position. As Roger watched, this fellow proceeded to cast his lure out into the water, and within 45 minutes he had caught his limit of 5 walleyes and was on his way home. Roger moved down the bank to the spot from which his friend had enjoyed such success, and, reports that his luck did not change. Still no fish. In his youth, Roger was an excellent baseball player, but occasionally he had to endure a slump when he couldn’t buy a hit. The only way to break out of a hitting slump is to keep going up to the plate and swinging at the pitch, and the only way to break out of a fishing slump is to keep going to the lake and tossing a hook into the water. A good hitter will eventually break out of a slump, as will a good fisherman. Of course, just because Roger says he’s not catching any fish doesn’t necessarily mean that he isn’t catching any fish. He is a fisherman, after all. Besides, as Roger has often said, “The worst day spent fishing is still better than the best day spent working.” A philosophy for the ages.

A pair of Rutland girls, Sonja (Anderson) Christensen of Wahpeton and Judie (Anderson-Seavert) Grohs of Rosholt SD were Rutland visitors on the afternoon of Wednesday, May 9. The two sisters joined friends for lunch at the Rutland Seniors Center and then stopped in for the season opener at The Old Parsonage where each found some items they could not live without. They plan to be back in the old home town on Monday, May 28, for Memorial Day.

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The Rooster Crows – May 11, 2018

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By Bill Anderson

A quarter of an inch of rain early on the morning of Tuesday, May 8, reminded those racing to get the 2018 crop planted that rain is still a possibility in this land that early explorers once described as “The Great American Desert.” Roger Pearson, Jim Lunneborg and Mark Wyum all agreed that rain gauges and the size of puddles in the farmyard confirmed a ¼ inch rainfall in the Rutland area on Tuesday morning. To our north, Mark Gainor reported a .4-inch rainfall in the Milnor area. Despite the scarcity of rain so far this Spring, all reports are that soil moisture appears to be in good shape, so far. According to Mr. Gainor, the area between Milnor and Cayuga appears to be the wettest in the eastern half of Sargent County. The frost has not yet gone out of the soil, though, and conditions may change rapidly when that occurs. Well, as the old-timers used to say, “It always rains after a long dry spell;” and, “Every day that it doesn’t rain is one day closer to the day that it will.” So, that big rain is getting closer, and better times are comin’. As of Monday, May 7, some of the Spring Wheat in Ransom Township, between Rutland and Cayuga, is up!

The Lariat Bar in Rutland has extended its hours, once again opening at 11:00 a.m. and serving meals at Noon. Day One for the new schedule was on Monday, May 7, when proprietors Mike Pyle and Scott Beyer served a “Noon Special” that included a salad bar and a main course of homemade chicken pot pie. Mighty tasty, by all accounts. A “Noon Special” is planned for each day, and patrons will also be able to order items from the Bar’s lunch menu. A Noon eating place on Main Street is a service that is greatly appreciated by the community. The Lariat Bar can be checked out on Facebook or on the business’s internet web site at lariatbarrutlandnd.com. The phone number at The Lariat is 724-3610. Stop in for fine beverages, excellent cuisine and friendly service at the Lariat Bar in Rutland, where Mike, Scott, Janice, Cheryl and Sue provide service with a smile. No reservations needed. Come as you are.

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The Rooster Crows – April 6, 2012

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April 6, 2012:  Spring weather continues to hold the prairie in its warm embrace, and even provided a gift of Rain on Thursday, March 29, depositing .4 of an inch in Rutland, and more to the east.  Saturday was a beautiful day, with little wind and the temperature in the low 70’s.  Mother Nature provided a change of air on Sunday and Monday, April 1 and 2, as high winds swept across the region, but Tuesday, April 3, resumed this gentle Spring’s aspect.

Greg Donaldson reports that the walleyes were biting along the Wild Rice River earlier this Spring, and he had been having some good luck until the water flow slowed down.  Greg is close-mouthed about the hot spots on the River, though, only admitting that the best place to fish on the Wild Rice is somewhere between Straubville, in southwestern Sargent County, and south Fargo, where the Wild Rice flows into the Red River of the North.  Gordy Phillips has been spending some time fishing at the spot where the Wild Rice enters Silver Lake, and reports that the fishing success was pretty good there back in the middle of March, but the bite has slowed as the water level in the River has dropped.  For those who have the patience to keep at it, the local lakes: Tewaukon; Sprague; Silver; and, Buffalo; have been producing some nice fish, not a lot of them but enough to keep the fishermen coming.  Chris Dennison reports some nice walleyes and northerns, but never in the same place twice, and usually only 1 or 2 a day.

Peder & Connie Gulleson and girls; Steve Wyum; and, Bill Anderson; were among those from Rutland who drove over to Cogswell on Friday afternoon to take in the retirement party for County Extension Agent Julie Hassebroeck.  Julie had served as County Extension Agent in Sargent County since March of 1986, her 26 years of service being the longest that anyone has served the County in that capacity.  As the County’s Extension Agent, Julie has been very proactive and helpful in arranging programs on economic development; transition of farms & businesses from one generation to the next; livestock and crop production; and, 4-H Youth activities.  A lunch was served by the staff of the Sargent County Extension Service office, assisted by some of Julie’s friends.  A number of co-workers and friends also spoke of Julie’s contributions to the job and to the community during the reception.  Mrs. Hassebroeck now intends to devote her energies to assisting her husband, David, tend to horses, cattle and crops on the Hassebroeck farm in southwestern Sargent County. Continue reading “The Rooster Crows – April 6, 2012” →

The Rooster Crows – December 16, 2011

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By Bill Anderson

David-1, Goliath-0, so far, anyway. The Rutland Post Office, and other post offices in rural communities, have been saved, at least temporarily. Word was received here on Tuesday, December 13, that the U. S. Postal Service has imposed a moratorium on Post Office closings until May 15, 2012. The moratorium was imposed in response to a request from a substantial number of United States Senators, including those from Montana and South Dakota. Neither John Hoeven (R-ND) nor Kent Conrad (D-ND) were among the Senators requesting the moratorium, an omission that has not gone unnoticed by those engaged in the struggle to maintain services in rural North Dakota. The notice sent out by the Postal Service stated that the review process would continue during the moratorium period, so rural Post Office patrons will still have to pay attention lest they lose their appeal rights during the moratorium period. The hard work and diligent effort of Rutland postal patrons who wrote letters and sent in their comments on the Postal Service’s proposal to close the Post Office here has paid off, at least temporarily, with a moratorium that may lead to a permanent rescue of the local Post Office. Congratulations to the Rutland Community Club for leading the fight. The fight is not over yet, though, as this moratorium is only temporary, so rural postal patrons will have to stay awake and pay attention to make sure that a permanent fix for the Postal Service’s woes is found.

Chuck Sundlie of this community headed off to Palm Springs CA on Sunday Nov. 27, to visit at the home of his parents, Leif & Phyllis (Donaldson) Sundlie. Chuck Traveled via Allegiant Air to Los Angeles, then accompanied his brother, Stan, to Palm Springs. He reports that the weather was very nice, and a few rounds of golf were played. Chuck returned to Rutland on Sunday, December 4, and found the weather here to be pretty nice, too, at least for December.

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