Tag: Rutland General Store

The Rooster Crows – February 19, 2010

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By Bill Anderson

Well, it’s still winter out here on the prairie. Highs in the teens and low 20’s accompanied by snow and 25 to 30 mph winds were replaced by clear skies and below zero readings by Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. Although it appears that winter has settled in for the long haul, there are glimmers of hope that this, too, shall pass. The seed catalogs, with their tantalizing pictures of rich golden ears of sweet corn, luscious red tomatoes and sinfully sensuous strawberries are out, bringing with them the promise of warm Summer days ahead. It has often been said that, “There are only two things that money can’t buy, true love and home grown tomatoes,” but at least you can purchase the hope of home grown tomatoes from a seed catalog. When it’s 10 below zero on a mid-February morning, it’s hope that keeps us going. A recent national survey revealed that North Dakotans are the happiest people, believe it or not, in the 50 United States. Well, after three months of winter, several blizzards and winter storms, more than four feet of snow and sub-zero temperatures, North Dakotans are happy because they know that it has to get better – it can’t get much worse. It’s only when conditions have been good for a while that hardy North Dakotans become unhappy, because they know that good times can’t last forever, either.

Members of the Rutland Sportsmen’s Club held their February meeting in the dining room of the Lariat Bar on the evening of Thursday, Feb. 11. The first order of business was the election of officers for the coming year, with Wyatt Nelson, Vaughan Rohrbach and Travis Paeper being re-elected as president, vice-president and secretary/treasurer, respectively.  Plans for the Club’s annual Fish Fry to be held on Friday, March 5, at the Rutland Town Hall were discussed and tickets for the event were distributed.  Only 550 tickets for the event are available. They may be obtained from Club members. Get ‘em while they’re hot! Club officers also delivered a report on the Club’s Charitable gaming revenues. After 6 months of operation, the Sportsmen’s Club’s pull-tab machine at the Lariat Bar had generated more than $57,000.00 in gross revenues, approximately $50,000.00 of which had been paid out in cash prizes. A portion of the remainder may be used to defray operating expenses and the rest is available to be distributed for charitable purposes. The Sportsmen’s Club’s Charitable Gaming Board consists of the 3 officers plus Jerry Sapa and Trent Nelson. Rebecca Christensen and Polly Rohrbach run the day-to-day operations of the gaming project for the club.

Bill Walters of West Bend, Wisconsin, and a band of hardy Wisconsinites have been at work making improvements to the house at 222 Bagley Street which Bill purchased last Fall from Shawna McKinney. Working through a period of extremely cold and inclement weather, Bill and crew have torn the old porch off the east side of the dwelling; commenced the construction of a new, slightly larger, front porch; torn off the old shingles and installed new metal roofing on the residence; commenced construction of an addition to the porch on the northwest corner of the house; and, installed several new windows. The improvements will improve both the appearance and utility of the structure. The community congratulates Mr. Walters for his investment in Rutland, and commends him and his crew for their hardy industry and endurance. This dwelling, located on the northwest corner of Anthony and Bagley Streets, was formerly owned by: Eddie & Ida McLaen; Edith & Otto Malpert; Rudy & Gladyce Malpert; Bryon Malpert; Tommy & Rosalie Jones; and, Shawna McKinney.  Mr. Walters and his family own and operate construction, property management, commercial fishing and sport fishing businesses in Wisconsin.

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The Rooster Crows – November 21, 2008

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By Bill Anderson

November, 2008, is living up to the 11th month’s reputation as the gloomiest month of the year. The first 3 weeks have seen only sporadic sunshine, long stretches of gray, overcast skies, fog, mist and snow. The excessive rain of October has ceased, but there has not been much drying going on since then, either. The whitetail deer season opened on November 7th, with rain and snow flurries in southeastern North Dakota, but a real knock-down drag-out blizzard hammered the rest of the State, stranding many would be deer hunters at home with nothing to do but tell each other stories about epic hunting experiences of years gone by. Standing corn still affords a lot of cover for deer in this area, and, although there have been steady reports of deer being harvested, there was no rush of success during the opening weekend as in many previous seasons. As the corn harvest progresses, both whitetail deer and ringneck pheasant hunters are finding it a little easier to spot and stalk their quarry. That still doesn’t solve the problem of being able to hit what they shoot at, but that’s another story. Just ask Kaia Thorfinnson, who took 6 shots at a standing doe, only to see the animal calmly flick its tail and stroll away when the shooting subsided. Kaia redeemed her reputation as a sharpshooter on Sunday, Nov. 16, though, when she dropped a nice whitetail with 1 shot, through the heart, at about 100 yards using a Remington model 700 BDL 6mm rifle equipped with a Nikon 3X9 variable scope. Now Kaia has 2 stories to tell about the 2008 hunting season: one about the one that got away; and, one about the one that didn’t.

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The Rooster Crows: April 25, 2008

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By Bill Anderson

Severe Weather Awareness Week, April 21-28, started out with a bang, complete with a thunderstorm, wind and hail as Mother Nature’s study aids. The hail was heavy enough to cover the surface of ND Highway #11 out by the Dennis & Lori McLaen farm, 2 miles north of Town, but no reports of damage to vehicles or buildings have been received.

Marcia Moen, Margo Ganske, Kate Tagg, Laura Feltes, Victoria Parker-Christensen, Marianne Parker, Susan Guilbert and Sue Anderson gathered at the home of Kathy Brakke for a cousins quilting weekend that had scissors clicking and sewing machines clattering from the afternoon of Friday, April 18, to Sunday afternoon. All but the two Susans are related to Ransom Township pioneers K. P. & Ingrid Ahrlin. Sue Anderson is Kathy Brakke’s sister-in-law and Sue Guilbert is Mary Ann Parker’s sister. In addition to getting in a weekend’s worth of quilt making and reminiscing, the group enjoyed a visit to the Rutland General Store and a Saturday luncheon at the home of Mary Ann Thornberg in Weber Township.

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Rocket to a Cure

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The Big “C” … Cancer.  That word makes us shiver in our boots.  My dad died of lung cancer in 1991 and my mother has successfully beaten cancer of the vocal chord and is now recovering from having her cancerous bladder removed.  Practically everyone has some story to tell about their family’s fight with cancer.  June 20 is the Sargent County Relay for Life.  Pam Maloney (Chairperson), Joan Lee, Diane Smith, Hilary Mehrer and Carolyn Christensen met on Wednesday after work to decide on a name, slogan, fundraising, and advertising among other details, for the Rutland Community Club sponsored Relay for Life team.  We are the Rutland Rockets (That used to be our basketball team.) and we will “Rocket to a Cure” as we work toward raising money for research of this terrible, frightening disease.  Other members of our team are Larry Christensen, Shannon Mehrer, Taryn and Brianne Maloney and Ione and Val Pherson.  We will be making theme baskets to raffle and hope to have the baskets available by May 19.  They will be in the Sargent County Bank in Rutland, so make sure you stop by and see what we have to offer.  On June 15 we plan on having a diner-type 50’s meal from 5:00 to 7:00 with hot dogs, hamburgers and root beer floats available for a free will offering.  It will be at this supper that the names will be drawn for the winners of the baskets.

The Rutland General Store is also sponsoring a team for Relay for Life.  Their slogan is “Love Me Tender”.  Members of their team are Laurie Greene, Shauna McKinney, Gretchen Van, Debra Liermark, Margie Johnson (Chairperson), Bertha Siemienieski and Renee Cramton.  They have begun their fundraising efforts with a garage sale.   They also have a canister in the General Store for people to drop change into, if they choose.

 Of course, both of Rutland’s teams will be selling luninaries.  We are working hard to raise lots of money for cancer research, but we’ll manage to have a lot of fun doing it.  [Carolyn C]

No Cooking Sunday!

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April 28, 2008

Sunday in Rutland was a day when Mom’s did not need to cook. There were lots of places to eat yesterday.  In addition to the Rutland Cafe, with expanded hours, it was the last Sunday of the month which meant the Rutland General Store had its Sunday buffet. The place was packed when our family dropped in.  Everyone enjoyed the spread of ham, roast beef, cheesy hash-browns, mashed potatoes, egg bake, waffles, caramel rolls and more.  After filling up at that feast, it was time to head home to rest up before Sunday afternoon Bingo at the Senior Hall where Yvonne Johnson continued her winning streak. Her husband Don won the blackout game but not in the 58 numbers to win the jackpot.  (Try next week for $90). During the break, Bingo players got to feast on pie, bars and beverages. Right after Bingo it was off to Rutland City Hall for the Park Board Baked Potato Feed which again drew hundreds to dine on potatoes with all the fixings along with lots of homemade desserts! Monday is “food hangover” day for Rutland and area residents.

The Rooster Crows – April 11, 2008

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By Bill Anderson

Old Man Winter’s role in the drama of 2008 is supposed to be over, but the doddering old actor can’t seem to find his way off the stage and keeps coming back for curtain calls long after the audience has tired of his cold and dreary performance. Despite the fact that Sargent County snowbird Harlan Klefstad has returned from Arizona, the fact that farmers have tractors fueled and planters ready, the fact that Canada geese are starting to nest, the fact that the snow geese have moved on to the North and the fact that fat robins are scratching around for their next meal in local yards, Winter made another appearance here last weekend, dropping another 4 to 6 inches of wet, heavy snow on this area on Sunday, April 6, with enough wind to make the storm as close to a blizzard as we have seen this year. Snow covered roads and slippery conditions slowed traffic and delayed the start of classes at local schools by 2 hours on Monday morning. Sunny days and temperatures that climbed into the mid-40’s on Monday and up to 53 on Tuesday cleared away most of the snow by Tuesday afternoon. Mark Wyum reports that Sunday night’s high winds blew many fields clear, depositing the snow in draws and coulees that will make good tractor traps in another week or so, when Spring planting commences.

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