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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