Tag: water tower

The Rooster Crows – Sept. 22, 2023

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By Bill Anderson

Summer ends, and Autumn begins, this weekend, at precisely 2:49 a.m. on Saturday, September 23, with the arrival of the Autumnal Equinox, when exactly half of our Planet Earth will be bathed in sunshine, and exactly half will be shrouded in darkness. There isn’t much difference between Summer and Autumn on that first day, but, by the time the Winter Solstice arrives, at 10:47 p.m. on Thursday, December 21, it is very likely that weather conditions will be described with 4 letter words such as: cold; snow; wind; and, others not printed in The Rooster Crows but occasionally exclaimed in an ice covered parking lot or a snow filled road ditch. Well, hope is only 6 months away, with the projected arrival of the Vernal Equinox at 5:58 p.m. on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, according to Alexa who gets her info from The Old Farmer’s Almanac. So, enjoy that last day of Summer to the full. It will be a while before days like that become standard equipment again. 

Soybean harvest began in the Rutland area on Thursday, September 14, when Chris Pearson had 3 combines straight cutting beans on fields 2½ miles southeast of town. The fields were located on land that was formerly described as “Maggie Flados’ Quarter,” and, “Melfin Erickson’s Quarter.” According to Chris’ Dad, Randy Pearson, the yields ran from fair to outstanding, depending on whether the combine was on a hilltop or down in the Wild Rice River bottom. According to Randy, the beans were filling the combine hoppers so fast that they had to haul them to 2 different elevators just to keep ahead of the combines. As a local philosopher once observed, “Even if it ain’t true, it ought to be.”

Steve Wyum and Bill Anderson of this community were among those who attended the public hearing held at the Forman Town Hall at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, September 12. The public hearing concerned the proposal to change 2 County offices, County Auditor and County Treasurer/Recorder/Clerk of Court, from elected offices to appointed offices. State law and Sargent County’s Home Rule Charter authorize the County Commission to make the change and require that the people have the right to be heard on the matter at a public hearing. The Commission had previously held the required hearing at a time during a regularly scheduled meeting of the County Commission, but only 1 person had made an appearance, so the Commissioners called a second hearing to be held on September 12. The public will have another opportunity to be heard on the matter on Tuesday, October 3, either before or after the final hearing on the proposed 2024 County Budget. According to current County Auditor Pam Maloney, 26 people attended the September 12 hearing. Eleven of those in attendance were County employees, 3 elected and 8 appointed.

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The Rooster Crows- March 12, 2021

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By Bill Anderson

From below Zero on Monday, March 1 to 62 above Zero on Monday, March 8, a very welcome respite from Winter, but “respite” is the operative word. Monday’s high temperature broke a record that had stood since 1911, when the mercury soared to 54 above zero. Tuesday’s high of 65 degrees above Zero was also a record, eclipsing the 58-degree mark that had been set in 2015. Winter is not done, yet, however. On Wednesday, March 10, the weather gurus are predicting a high of 35 and possible snow. You can rest easy, though, as Winter’s days are definitely numbered.  Daylight Savings Time is scheduled to make its arrival at 2:00 a.m. on Sunday, March 14, and the Vernal Equinox, the First Day of Spring, according to the timetable established by the Creator of the Universe, makes its arrival on Saturday, March 20. These two harbingers of better days ahead are more precise and dependable than the groundhog, the snow geese and the first robin, although not nearly as colorful, active and noisy. Once the Vernal Equinox arrives, spring has definitely sprung, regardless of what the thermometer says. So, just sit back and relax. Winter will make its exit and Spring will make its entrance in their own good time, and all of our questions, comments and complaints will not alter their pace one whit. Meanwhile, keep your snow shovel handy, just in case you have to shovel some of that Spring sunshine off your driveway.

Paul Anderson of this community reports that he is a grandpa, again. Miss Arlo Lake Elfering was born on Monday, March 1, 2021, in Seattle WA to Paul’s daughter & son-in-law, Katie & Josh Elfering. She weighed in at 7 pounds 7½ ounces, according to Grandpa, but he wasn’t sure how tall she was on arrival. Her Mom is 5’2” and her Dad is 6’8”, so she has possibilities in either direction. Arlo joins her big brother, Rhys, in the Elfering household. Congratulations to the Elferings, and to Arlo’s proud Grandpa Paul.

CORRECTION: In last week’s report of the Monday, March 1, Rutland City Council meeting, the last names of City Council member Colton Corry and City Engineer Mike Basingthwaite were misspelled. Apologies are extended to Mr. Corry and Mr. Basingthwaite for the errors, and thanks to City Auditor Debbie Banish for noticing the errors and providing the corrections.

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The Rooster Crows —– January 15, 2021

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By Bill Anderson

Rutland and vicinity have been enjoying a welcome guest since the New Year began. The traditional annual visit of “The January Thaw” began early and has stayed late. This is one guest that doesn’t get old after 3 days. A high temperature of 41 above was forecast for Wednesday, January 13, and even though cooler weather is being predicted for the coming week, the highs are still predicted to be in the mid-20’s to low 30’s, with the lows in the double digits above zero. Weather like that for North Dakota in January just can’t be beat. But, Winter isn’t over, yet, so don’t lose track of your parka and snow shovel!

The house at 301 First Street, also known as The Bagley House, has been occupied by Aaron & Silvia Brooks since shortly before Christmas, 2020. Mr. Brooks is a native of New Orleans LA, and Mrs. Brooks grew up in Bakersfield CA. He is employed by RayMac at Gwinner, and she has her own residential cleaning business in addition to attending classes at the State College of Science in Wahpeton and working part-time as a bartender in Gwinner. The Rutland Community extends a hearty welcome to Aaron & Silvia Brooks! As soon as this covid-19 pandemic is over, we’ll teach you how to make lefse and rommegrot. Uff-Da!

Sonja (Anderson) Christensen, one of the organizers and original sponsors of The Rudy Anderson Memorial Pinochle Tournament, has announced that, due to the covid-19 pandemic, the 26th annual tournament, originally scheduled for Saturday, February 6, 2021, has been postponed and rescheduled to Saturday, February 5, 2022. Sonja extends best wishes to all of the tournament’s regular participants and hopes to see all of them at next year’s event. They are all longing for those Rutland scalloped potatoes.

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Hens Do Crow! Jan. 24, 2020

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Mother Nature packed another wallop for the three-day weekend which became a four-day weekend January 17-20 for many. She rolled in the winds and snow on Friday resulting in school closings to the delight of many children and the angst of parents. Kids not only got an extra day off but they were restricted to the indoors for most, if not all, of the weekend.

Rutland residents received an extra surprise in the early evening of Saturday, January 18th, when water slowly trickled out of the faucets. The City of Rutland sent out an alert to not use water around 5 p.m. that evening. A hearty crew bundled up and drove around town in an attempt to find the problem. The water tower was checked and appeared to be functioning during the storm, although it had a malfunction earlier in the week. The piles of recent snow did not help in that effort. Mike Mahrer and Rodney Erickson, along with the help of Calvin Jacobson, soon found the break near the intersection of First and Front Streets. By this time an army of helpers had gathered to assist with turning off the valve to stop the flow. Mike, Rodney and Calvin were joined by Rutland residents Mitch Mahrer, Chuck Sundlie, Colton Corry, Brad Wyum, Andy Harris, Kyle Mahrer and Mac Pherson. Staff from Southeast Water Users also traveled to Rutland to assist with the locating the break. Turning the valves proved to be a huge task as it takes about 21 turns to shut the valve and one turn of the valve was nearly a Herculean task.  The entire town was without water until about 5 p.m. on Sunday. When the water returned to the south side of the tracks, it was again just a trickle. The water in the tower itself had a thick sheet of ice on top and needed to be thawed. A two-man crew from Maguire Iron of Sioux Falls drove to Rutland on Tuesday to thaw the tower; however, they had to give up due to the high winds that followed the storm. They resumed the job on Wednesday thawing out the large chunk of ice that reduced the water flow. On Wednesday morning, the parts needed to repair the main break were on their way from Fargo to Rutland so that they could be installed to hopefully restore water to the North side residents on Wednesday.

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