Tag: Veterans Day

The Rooster Crows – Dec. 2, 2022

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By Bill Anderson

The four day Veterans Day weekend, from November 10th through the 13th, gave us rain, cold, ice, snow and slush, bringing down power lines, wrecking trees, damaging buildings and making traffic of any kind, pedestrian or vehicular, hazardous. The four day Thanksgiving weekend gave us sunshine, temperatures into the upper 40’s, and altogether pleasant conditions that raised spirits, melted snow, removed ice, and greatly improved conditions for travel and other activities. The Almighty giveth and the Almighty taketh away, in this case that turned out to be a mighty good deal. By Wednesday, November 30, conditions were back to winter, with a temperature of 9 above and a 25 mph northwest wind, but at least the ice and snow were gone, for a little while, anyway. Sometimes old guys wear their long woolies; Sometimes they wear the ones filled with down; sometimes they’re all in the laundry; then those old guys are the talk of the town.

A few years ago, the City of Rutland installed a speed limit sign with a flashing light on it along County Road #10/First Street, on the south side of town, in an attempt to slow down the traffic entering Rutland from the south. The sign is now missing, as is its flashing light. Anyone with information about the present location of the missing sign is asked to contact the City of Rutland at 724-3081. Traffic signs are expensive, and they are installed for the protection of the public. Some folks think that it is humorous to remove or deface traffic signs. Several years ago, someone thought that it would be fun to steal a STOP sign from the intersection of County Road #14 and ND Highway #11 at Geneseo. Shortly after the sign had been removed, a person unfamiliar with the area drove through Geneseo from the south and, as there was no sign, did not stop at the intersection. The driver’s vehicle was struck by a tractor-trailer rig in the center of the intersection. The driver was killed and her car was demolished. This was not humorous to any of the parties involved. If you have any information about Rutland’s missing speed limit sign, please see to it that the sign is returned so no one will have to carry a tragedy on their conscience for the rest of their life.

Paul Anderson travelled on Delta Airlines to Phoenix AZ on Tuesday, November 22, to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with his Mother-In-Law, Etha Quinlan of Sun City West, his daughter, Betsy, from Las Vegas NV, and his daughter, Katy, and her family from Seattle WA. Present at Etha’s home in Sun City for Thanksgiving Dinner were: Etha Quinlan; Paul Anderson; Betsy Anderson; Josh & Katy Elfering; Rhys Elfering; and, Arlo Elfering. Betsy, Josh, Katy and the kids all headed for home on Friday, November 25, and Paul arrived back in Fargo on the11:00 p.m. flight from Minneapolis on Sunday, November27.

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The Rooster Crows – Nov. 18, 2022

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By Bill Anderson

The winter storm that began on the evening of Wednesday, November 9, and continued through Thursday & Friday, November 10 & 11, covered Rutland and vicinity with an inch thick coating of solid ice, and left a trail of broken branches, snapped power poles and downed lines in its wake. Otter Tail Power’s service in Rutland had only a few, brief interruptions of a couple of minutes or less, but downed power lines on the Dakota Valley (formerly RSR) Rural Electric Co-op’s system left several hundred farm and rural customers in Sargent, Ransom, Dickey & Lamoure Counties without electric power for a day, or more. Several dozen linemen from surrounding RECs came in to assist Dakota Valley meet the emergency and get its lines back in service.

Most rain gauges have been taken in for the season, but a few of the sophisticated all-weather electronic gauges were still in operation during the storm. Chuck Anderson reports that the electronic gauge at his Weber Township farm had filled up with ice, so he had to bring it in to let it thaw out before it would give him a reading. He states that once the ice had melted the gauge held .94 inch of liquid water. An unconfirmed report of .68 inch of precipitation was received from Sargent County’s Hub City, our neighboring community of Forman.

Jim & Mary Ann Levery called their Ransom Township neighbors, Mike & Jill Anderson, on the evening of Wednesday, November 9, to check on the weather. Mike gave Jim the bad news, and then Jim informed Mike that he & Mary Ann were at the Grand Ol’ Opry in Nashville TN, attending the annual Country Music Awards ceremony. They had great seats, Jim reported, as far back and as high up as you can get. The acoustics were very good, though, and they could hear the music just fine. Anyone who has heard Jim sing and play the guitar during Rutland’s Uff-Da Day might have thought that Jim was in Nashville to receive an award, but he said, “Not this year.” The Leverys had departed for Nashville on Sunday, November 6, and met up with a tour bus that took them to Nashville for a week of touring the sites and enjoying country music. One of the places they visited was the Johnny Cash Museum which contained many artifacts from that Star’s career. Jim said that the weather in Nashville was very pleasant during most of their visit, with the temperature in the 70’s most of the time. The temperature began to drop and the rain began to fall right after they departed Nashville, headed for home. They arrived home on Sunday, November 13, and report a very good time in the Capitol City of Country Music. 

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The Rooster Crows – Nov. 11, 2022

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By Bill Anderson

“Don’t know why … there’s no sun up in the sky … stormy weather…” moaned the late blues singer Lena Horn as she mourned the loss of a faithless lover in her classic theme song. Her sentiments were echoed by Republicans on the morning of Wednesday, November 9, as they awoke to find that their predicted Red Tidal Wave had not materialized as the votes had been counted the night before. There was not even a Red Wave, as many Democrats had feared, although the national results might be described as a Red Ripple. As of Wednesday morning, control of the U. S. Congress was still in doubt, although it looked as if the GOP might eke out a bare majority of a few votes in the House of Representatives. The Senate had 48 Democrats, 47 Republicans and 5 contests still too close to call. The election results indicate a fairly decisive rejection of Trump and Trumpism by America’s voters and may indicate that the flood of political poison unleashed on America’s body politic by Trump’s brand of politics may finally be receding. In North Dakota, the GOP, fueled by a flood of oil money, has retained control of State government by a substantial margin. The initiated measure that would have legalized the recreational use of marijuana in the State appears to have gone up in smoke, and the voters approved an initiated measure limiting State Legislators and the State’s Governor to two consecutive 4 year terms. Well, Election 2022 is over, and Election 2024 has begun. This year neither the red wave nor the blue wall controlled the result. Next time, who knows? 

The first winter storm of the season has been predicted to hit North Dakota, South Dakota & Minnesota on Thursday and Friday, November 10 & 11, threatening to disrupt activities and programs honoring America’s veterans on November 10 and on Veterans Day, November 11. According to Kaia Mahrer, a teacher at Sargent Central, if Thursday’s predicted blizzard causes the scheduled November 10 program at the Sargent Central Activities Center to be postponed, the program will be rescheduled to 2:00 p.m. on Monday, November 14. Keep your eyes & ears open for schedule changes.

The Rutland City Council met at 5:00 p.m. on Monday, November 7, in the Rutland Town Hall with Mayor Mike Mahrer; Auditor Deb Banish; and Council members Bill Anderson; Rodney Erickson; Delores Lysne; and Lori McLaen; present. Also present was City Maintenance employee, Scott Haan. The Council and Mr. Haan discussed a minimum hours guarantee per pay period for Mr. Haan’s position, and reimbursement of Mr. Haan for use of his personal vehicles while performing city work. The Council approved payment of a minimum of 50 hours per bimonthly pay period for City employee Scott Haan; and, authorized a payment of $50.00 per month to Mr. Haan for the use of his personal vehicles for City work. The Council also complimented Mr. Haan on the excellent work that he has been doing for the city. The Council discussed the State of North Dakota’s water operator certification requirement and approved the City entering into a contract with Southeast Water Users to maintain an appropriate valid operator certificate for the City of Rutland’s municipal water system. The Council authorized the purchase of the tax forfeited property in Rutland described as Lots 1 & 2, Block 5 of the Original Townsite of Harvard a/k/a Original Townsite of Rutland, at a cost of $1.00 plus delinquent special assessments, if the property is not sold at the County’s auction on November 15. The Council discussed the cost estimate for replacement of two exterior entrance doors at City Hall. The Council postponed action until other cost estimates have been received and reviewed. The Council approved the October financial reports and payment of bills as presented. The Council Adjourned at 5:45 p.m. The next meeting of the Rutland City Council is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. on Monday, December 5, at the Rutland Town Hall. All meetings of the Rutland City Council are open to the public, and Rutland residents are invited to stop by to observe their City’s governing board in action.

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The Rooster Crows – Nov. 4, 2022

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By Bill Anderson

Pleasant weather has been the rule of the week. The temperature on the evening of October 31, Halloween, was so mild that homeowners could sit out on their front porches to greet the little princesses, pirates, werewolves, and witches who hit the candy Mother Lode on their “tricks or treats” route. This was one of the nicest Halloweens in recent memory, although the keepers of weather records have told us that Halloween 2016 was even warmer. Last year, the temperature on Halloween was 42. Take your pick!

No tricks, but possibly some treats, are in store for past and future patrons of The Lariat Bar in Rutland. At a meeting of shareholders called by the directors of Rutland Improvement d/b/a The Lariat Bar LLC, held in the Bar on the evening of Thursday, October 27, the directors disclosed that a manager for the business has been hired, and intends to be on the job by mid-November. The Lariat is expected to be fully stocked, staffed and open for business, both at the bar and in the kitchen, by December 1, 2022. The name of the new manager has not yet been revealed, but it is not expected to be: Ink; Bud; Toddles; Ronald; Martin; Darwin; Kathy; Calvin; Wendy; Junior; Art; Deadeye; Bruce; Paula; Norman; Rita; Janice; Bradley; Rebecca; Jeremy; Mike; Pete; or, Michelle. There are no clues suggesting that Jack Prindiville will be taking over again, either. Just be patient. All will be revealed in due time. Just plan to be in Rutland at the beginning of December, when there will be hot times in the old town, again.

Renee Cramton of this community has been under Hospice care at Sanford Hospital on North Broadway in Fargo for the past several weeks. Renee has been fighting cancer for more than 25 years. She had moved to Bemidji to stay with her son, Jim Cramton, in early October, shortly after Uff-Da Day, but declining health required the move to Sanford in Fargo. Renee’s many friends in Rutland extend their best wishes to her and her family.

CORRECTION: In last week’s column that appeared in the Sargent County Teller it was reported that Joy Harris had accompanied Mike Harris and Andy Harris from San Diego CA to Rutland, arriving in Rutland on Tuesday, October 25. That was incorrect. Joy did not accompany Mike and Andy to Rutland. In fact, she was visiting family in the Philippine Islands at the time. Apologies are extended to Mike Harris, Joy Harris, Andy Harris and the readers of The Sargent County Teller for the error.

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The Rooster Crows – Nov. 5, 2021

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By Bill Anderson

The rain that moved through the Rutland area on Wednesday, October 27, left more than an inch of precipitation in its wake.  Roger Pearson’s rain gauge at 409 Gay Street held 1.2” when the rain stopped on Wednesday evening, and Camron Gulleson reports That his gauge recorded 1.3” at the Gulleson Farm 1½ mile east of town.  Last Wednesday’s reading was the last one from Roger’s gauge for the 2021 season, as he has now removed the gauge from its post in the back yard and taken it inside for the winter. Cameron said that the cumulative amount of rainfall at the Gulleson Farm since August 20 is 13.86”. Prior to August 20, the rainfall amount during the entire 2021 growing season was 3.49”, according to Cameron’s records. Well, there won’t be much growing going on for the next several months. From now til then we are likely to be measuring precipitation amounts with a yard stick, rather than with a rain gauge.

Cameron Gulleson also reports that he and Jenny have been making some improvements to their Ransom Township farm home. A new entryway/mud room has been added to the east side of the house, and the entire house is being re-sided with “Smart Siding” a laminated wood product. Cameron says that he, Jenny and his Dad, Bill, have been doing the work. The house will also be receiving new roofing in the near future. The house was originally built on the NE¼ of Section 13 in Rutland Township by Dale McLaen, and was moved to the Gulleson farm in the NE¼ of Section 29 in Ransom Township by Cameron & Jenny several years ago. Congratulations to the Gullesons on the improvements to their home.

John Lloyd, Mark Charnowski (He says that he’s Irish) and Moose Rose of Fond du Lac WI were Rutland residents from Monday, October 25, to Monday, November 1, headquartering at Lori McLaen’s rental, The Bunkhous, on Rutland’s Main Street. The trio were hunting ducks and pheasants during their stay here. They also spent a few evenings at The Lariat, getting acquainted and making new friends. They enjoyed success on all fronts.

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