Tag: Sanderson column

The Rooster Crows – February 22, 2008

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By Bill Anderson

Well, the weather roller coaster ride continues. Thirty-five above on Saturday, February 16 was only a teaser, as the mercury then commenced a slide that hit 25 below zero by Wednesday morning. On the bright side, a brisk breeze accompanied the falling temperatures, bringing in a continuous supply of crisp, fresh air. The record cold temperature for February 20 of 30 below zero was set back in 1889, the year of North Dakota’s Statehood.

Was it romance, or was it just the aroma of delicious food, that was in the air in Rutland on the evening of February 14, St. Valentines Day? According to Gretchen Vann, 53 diners enjoyed a special St. Valentines Day 5 course steak and lobster dinner at the Rutland General Store, and more than 100 enjoyed steak and torsk at the Lariat Bar. The dinner at the General Store featured a crab cake appetizer; potato Parmesan soup; Caesar salad; the entrée of grilled steak, lobster tail and baked potato; and, lemon dessert. The Store’s regular once-a-month Sunday brunch will be served this Sunday, February 24, at the Store. A special Easter Sunday Brunch will be served by the Rutland General Store and the Rutland-Cayuga Volunteer Firemen on Sunday, March 23, in the Rutland Town Hall, and advance tickets for that event are available from local firemen and at the Store. Ms. Vann also states that another special gourmet dinner with an “April In Paris” theme is being planned for the month of April.

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The Rooster Crows – February 15, 2008

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By Bill Anderson

Brother, it’s cold outside. Twenty below zero on Sunday, February 10, and the weatherman says we ain’t seen nothing yet. Despite the frigid temps, signs of Spring can be seen, however. Hope springs eternal, so they say, and there are none more optimistic than those who sell seed when it’s 20 below in preparation for the golden harvest to come next Summer and Fall. Wenzman Seed has been making deliveries of corn and soybean seed to Sargent County’s foremost seed dealer, Kulzer Feed & Seed of Rutland. Mike Kulzer reports that most local farmers have ordered their seed for the 2008 crop, but some seed, particularly wheat seed, is a hard to get item this season. Call Mike at 724-3345 for top quality seed for a top quality crop. On the livestock side of the ledger, Jordan Wyum has been busy with calving duties for his herd of 150 black angus heifers. So far the calving season is progressing well, despite the cold weather. The next time you purchase a roast beef at the local grocery store, or order a prime steak at a local cafe, pause for a moment to remember the labor of the cattlemen who worked all night in below zero cold to make sure that prime beef made it to your plate.

Dennis Prindiville, Pat Prindiville and Michael Prindiville were in Rutland on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday last week, in residence at the Prindiville family farmhouse on the south side of town. They had been in Bismarck on Monday, where they attended the funeral of their brother and uncle, Roger Prindiville. Although retired, Pat is still employed, part-time, measuring grain in storage for the auditors at grain elevators. At 72, Pat still climbs up the grain bins to check things out, although he says that he leaves some of the taller bins to his business partner, a much younger man, only 71 years of age. Pat’s son, Michael, assists them on some of the bigger jobs. On Wednesday Pat was measuring up the grain in storage at the Fullerton Elevator.

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The Rooster Crows – February 8, 2008

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By Bill Anderson

Irv Rustad of Lake Agassiz Regional Council met with a group composed of the Rutland Renaissance Zone Board, Zoning Board, City Council, Housing Authority and other interested citizens, in the Nordland Fellowship Hall at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 30, to discuss revisions and updates to the City’s Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Ordinance. Participants went through the Comprehensive Plan and updated goals based on the findings of the community forums held by the Horizons Program during the past year. The next step in the process will be to propose changes in the City’s Zoning Ordinance to make it consistent with the goals set out in the Comprehensive Plan. Mr. Rustad is the Executive Director of the Fargo based Lake Agassiz Regional Council.

The Horizons Steering Committee met on Thursday, January 30, to allocate the $1,500 grant recently approved by the Northwest Area Foundation. The grant was distributed $500.00 to the advertising committee, $500 to the community recreation center committee and $500 to the housing committee to help them meet the goals set last year. If the Horizons Program stays on schedule, the committee will be eligible for another $8,500 from the NWAF next Summer, says Horizons Program coordinator Carolyn Christensen.

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The Rooster Crows-February 1, 2008

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By Bill Anderson

Both the weather and the stock market were on a roller coaster last week, starting out in a nose dive, then reversing to head upward like a skyrocket. The second January thaw of 2008 saw the mercury hit 40 in Rutland on Saturday, January 26, and hit the 45 mark on both Sunday and Monday before the bottom dropped out, again, sending the temperature plunging 57 degrees, to 12 below by Tuesday morning. A 30 mph wind, gusting to 40 mph, assured a bountiful supply of brisk, fresh air and wind chills to 50 below. By Wednesday morning, the mercury stood at 20 below zero, with the good news being that the wind had let up. A heat wave of 20-degrees above is predicted for Ground Hog’s Day, February 2, this weekend, and all, including the Ground Hog, will be glad to see it.

News was received here on Saturday, January 26, that Brad Brummond, husband of Rutland native Susan (Kulzer) Brummond, had passed away, suddenly and unexpectedly, at the couple’s home in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He was 60 years old at the time of his death. Relatives from this community plan to depart Rutland on Friday to attend the funeral, which is scheduled for Saturday, February 2, in Colorado Springs. The Rutland community extends its sympathy to the Brummond and Kulzer families.

Another individual who was once a familiar figure on the streets of Rutland, Alice Barbknecht, departed this life on Thursday, January 24, at the Four Seasons Healthcare Center in Forman. She was 91 years old at the time of her death. Alice made her home in the Rutland and Havana communities for most of her life. She and her husband, George, resided on their farm in Weber Township, where they raised two daughters, Janice & Gail. George died in a traffic accident on Highway #32 back in the mid-1960’s. Alice will be remembered as a plain speaking, sometimes outspoken, observer of the human condition who was not bashful about sharing her sometimes colorful opinions with anyone within earshot. Throughout her life she was a good person who tried to help those who needed help, a truly unique character and source of local historical information whose presence will be missed. The funeral service is scheduled for Thursday, January 31, at the Price Funeral Chapel in Forman. The Rutland community extends its condolences to the Barbknecht family.

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The Rooster Crows – January 19, 2008

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The weather and the stock market have both been bouncing around like a yo-yo on a string for the past week, but now it appears that both the weatherman and the stock brokers have made up their minds, sending both into the tank. The mercury hit 15 below zero in Rutland on Monday morning, then topped out at 22 above by Tuesday afternoon before starting a slide into the cellar that is not predicted to stop until it hits bottom at 25 to 30 below sometime this weekend. Well, the weather forecasts aren’t always right, but why is it that they usually miss when they’re predicting sunny and 70, but are rarely wrong when predicting ferocious, frigid and frozen? Ask your stock broker, he’s as likely to have the answer as the weatherman.

Cameron Gulleson, Mark Wyum and Rob Wyum drove down to Texas during the first week of January to discuss contracts for spraying crops in that area with Texas farmers. Cameron and Rob, along with Lance Gulleson and Cody Gulleson, own and operate an agricultural chemical application business, and the boys are looking for a way to keep the equipment rolling year-round. Reports are that the number of acres planted to winter wheat in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas is way down this year due to increases in the acreage going into the production of corn, soybeans and milo. King Cotton in Texas has suffered the same fate as King Wheat in North Dakota. They have both been deposed in favor of a new regime. As a result, there is now a shortage of wheat and the price has soared to stratospheric levels for winter wheat, spring wheat and durum. The price could just as well be $100.00 per bushel, though, because no one has any to sell right now. There is one thing, though, that the American farmer can do better than produce, and that’s overproduce, so just give him a few years with some timely rains and it won’t be long until crop prices are back in the tank with the weather and the stock market, too.

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