Hometown Hallmarks 2020 Part 2 of 2 by MinotDailyNews

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Mohall’s beautification is visual treat

mohall

summer drive down Mohall’s Main Street is always a treat. The city’s beautification efforts catch a visitor’s eye. The City of Mohall and dedicated volunteers have ensured that, for many years, flowers grace the streets every summer. The city dips into its coffers and the beautification committee collects donations from its annual luncheon to be able to purchase flowers every year. The fire department also has offered some of its gaming funds to the cause. The beautification committee has hanging pots and sidewalk pots as well as flower beds at Millennium Courtyard and along Main Street. At one time, the Flower House Garden Center in Mohall handled maintenance of the pots and gardens, but volunteers now do the weeding and city Public Works employees water the flowers. Sonja Stromswold, who manages the Flower House, said the shop produces between 750 and 1,000 individual plants that go into the city’s flower displays each year. It starts plantings in March. “It ends up being a chunk of our greenhouse space,” Stromswold said. The Flower House grows petunias to fill 18 24-inch street planters. It also creates 16 large hanging baskets with about a dozen plants in each. It provides volunteers with additional plants for flower beds and for 18 large pots that they plant. “It has really taken off,” Stromswold said. “The city and beautification committee really stepped up and work very hard to make it look nice.” Adding to the city’s visual appeal, resident Bonnie Locken painted fire hydrants in different designs, such as a Dalmation dog, a gum ball machine and Tigger, the tiger from Winnie the Pooh. Mohall has become so widely known for its efforts that a beautification volunteer once overheard a conversation in Fargo in which a stranger remarked about having visited Mohall and urged a friend to do the same. The beautification efforts started years ago. The community gives much of the credit for promoting beautification to former residents Walter and Anne Gokavi as well as former mayor Wanda Emerson. In past years, a Yard of the Week has been honored as well, encouraging residents to contribute to the beautification.

Hanging petunias are among the decorations along Main Street in Mohall. Submited Photo

Hometown 2020 • MinotDailyNews.com

Submitted Photo

There’s much to check out at Mohall Marketplace, which has been connecting vendors and customers just before the holidays for more than 30 years.

Mohall show is holiday tradition By JILL SCHRAMM

Senior Staff Writer jschramm@minotdailynews.com

he Saturday before Thanksgiving is marked in red on the Mohall Chamber of Commerce calendar. That’s the standing date for Mohall Marketplace, the chambersponsored craft and vendor show that has been held annually for what will be 33 years this fall. Three women from the chamber decided to organize a show in 1987, and it continued as they eventually handed the duties off to others. Chamber President Bonnie Locken had served as the show’s organizer for about 12 years. She said the show initially was held in the town’s American Legion Club. The chamber moved it to the school to be able to expand. In 2019, there were 42 vendors. The show draws from a large area. “Our vendors are from all over. The people that come to the show are from all over also,” Locken said. “In fact, we’ve even advertised in Canada, because we have Canadians that come down too.” Vendors often come back year after year. “There have been vendors that have encouraged their friends to come and take it on too because they’ve enjoyed it so much,” Locken said. “That’s a big deal when you have vendors that will, through word of mouth, tell other vendors that they had a good experience and encourage them to come in and set up too.” Kim Lee, a past vendor, is lead organizer for this year’s show, which has been tentatively going forward amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Lee and her sister-in-law first set up a booth at the show to sell their home decor in 2018. “We always enjoy the Mohall show, especially being from the area. We see people we haven’t seen in a while, and the community

really seems to support us,” Lee said. Seeing the other displays and what is new from the other vendors is part of her enjoyment of the event too, she said. Working in the organizer’s role has gone smoothly because of the show’s long history, Lee added. “We’ve kind of got it down to a science on what needs to be done,” she said. Locken said organizing the event typically takes few people, but setting up, assisting vendors and cleaning up after the event require a number of chamber volunteers. “We do have, it seems like, the same group of people that help year after year,” Locken said. However, she added it is good to see new, younger chamber members join in to keep it going. Typically, school students with the Close Up program serve lunch as a fundraiser. Locken said admission proceeds go into supporting the show, paying for expenses such as advertising or replacing any equipment and supplies. The goal is not to raise money but to bring people to Mohall and to provide an enjoyable activity for the community, she said. “It’s something that everybody looks forward to because it has been always a really good show,” she said. Coming just before Christmas, it’s on many people’s radar for shopping for gifts and baked goods. Last year, the Chamber of Commerce and City of Mohall launched another annual community event, the Harvest Moon Festival. Initially held to draw people to a building newly remodeled for a community center, the festival was a way to show appreciation to residents for their support for the construction. Scheduled for late summer or early fall, the festival is a day-long event with a variety of activities, including vendors, children’s games, food and a band in the evening. “It’s just something to bring a day of fun,” Locken said.

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Fai t h Un i t ed M et h o d i st Ch u r ch 5900 Hwy 83 Nor th Minot, ND 58703 Sunday School 9:45 am Sunday Coffee Fellowship 10:30 am Sunday Worship 11:00 am ,FO .VOE 701-838-1540 www.faithumcminot.com

Kenmare’s Danish windmill By ANDREA JOHNSON

of maple, according to a quote from the North Dakota Travel Department that is distributed as part of the Kenmare Community Directory and Visitors Guide. hen people think of Kenmare, North The windmill was in use for more than 15 years before it was Dakota, the Danish Windmill at the turned into a building to store grain. According to an article that center of the town might be one of was written in commemoration of its 100th anniversary in 2002, their first associations. the windmill was used to grind grain into livestock feed but “It is so valuable because it’s a could also grind wheat into flour. It could produce up to 200 landmark,” said, Arlen Gartner, pressacks each day. ident of the Kenmare Park Board. “It’s a tourist spot.” In 1958 the Kenmare Association of Commerce purchased the A suspected arsonist set fire to the windmill in January 2019 windmill from its owner Bernard Larsen of Bismarck and it was reand the fire caused some structural damage to the inside suplocated into Kenmare. It was restored under the supervision of the porting beams and fire damage to the wood on the outside of North Dakota Historical Society, according to an article that was writthe windmill. ten in 2002 in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the windmill. “It’s been open since the fire,” said Gartner. “It’s been reRestoration was completed in 1961. It was located for a time south stored, rewired, repainted. It’s actually in better shape than it of the town swimming pool on the north end of Central Avenue. has been for years.” In 1965, the Park Board, Lions Club and Betterment AssociThe Danish windmill was originally built in 1902 north of ation joined forces to have it moved into the town square. It is Kenmare by Danish immigrant farmer Christian Jensen, who one of three Danish windmills in the United States, according to had emigrated to the United States in 1890 and moved to Kena past story in The Minot Daily News. mare in about 1898. Gartner said the windmill remains a popular spot for people It had four 18-foot-long vanes. Canvas sails covered the vanes to take pictures and to tour. and were used to regulate its speed. The vanes were attached to a The park board has also added playground equipment and pic15-inch diameter center shaft. Its gears were hewn by hand and made nic tables in the park surrounding the windmill. Staff Writer • ajohnson@minotdailynews.com

kenmare

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Tommy the Turtle is the biggest turtle statue in the world. It has stood in Tommy the Turtle Park for over 40 years. It is a hallmark of Bottineau. Andrea Johnson/MDN

Bottineau’s famous hallmark

Hometown 2020 • MinotDailyNews.com

Beaver said the statue was completed in 1978 at a cost of $26,000 and was solely paid for by the Bottineau Chamber of Commerce. According to Roadside America, Beaver was constructed by n iconic, fiberglass statue of a Boots Reynolds, a man from Idaho, and transported on a flatbed trailer. 30-foot-tall turtle riding a Beaver said the statue was left on the snowmobile stands guard flatbed for about two weeks before it was peroutside the municipal tenmanently placed in its current location. nis courts in Bottineau. The plan had originally been to locate the Tommy the Turtle is there for tourists to see massive statue in the Turtle Mountains by the and admire whether it is a sweltering, 100-degolf course but that plan didn’t work out. gree summer day or a bone chilling, 20 below Instead, it was moved to land that the zero day in January. Chamber had quickly purchased. ‘”I love Tommy Turtle,” said Kelly Beaver, “The park was built around it then,” said executive director of the Bottineau Chamber Beaver. “It’s a beautiful park.” Tommy Turtle of Commerce. “People get pictures of it. All of Park has become a popular spot for picnics and our kids have pictures of it, all of our relatives.” for children to play and to gape at the turtle Beaver said Tommy the Turtle, whose statue. name is taken from the Turtle Mountains that Beaver said that one story that still makes surround Bottineau, is a true asset for the town the rounds about the statue is that Bottineau and something people visiting the town usuwas robbed of an indoor swimming pool and ally want to see. “we got the turtle instead.” However, she said According to RoadsideAmerica.com, that story isn’t true. Tommy Turtle is billed as the Largest Turtle Beaver said Chamber owns the land where in the World and the snowmobile the turtle is the statue is located and the Bottineau Park riding is even larger, at 34 feet long. Board maintains the site. The statue weighs three tons. Staff Writer ajohnson@minotdailynews.com

bottineau

TOMMY THE TURTLE

By ANDREA JOHNSON

Iconic Old Main to get new academic mission at Dakota College By ANDREA JOHNSON

Staff Writer ajohnson@minotdailynews.com

D bottineau

akota College at Bottineau’s iconic Old Main may soon have a new purpose in life. Dr. Jerry Migler, campus dean, said the college hopes to repurpose the 114-year-old building into a facility for Rural Health Education with a strong focus on nursing. Dakota College is part of the Dakota Nursing Program, a consortium of four community college nursing departments which work together to offer a common curriculum for a Practical Nursing Certificate and an Associate in Applied Science in Nursing. Migler, along with nursing program faculty and students, said there is a real need for an updated space for the program. Nursing students and faculty need more dedicated space for simulations that replicate the situations they will encounter in hospital and clinic settings. Modern programs use special mannequins that can be programmed to have symptoms of a patient of a certain age and condition. In a new space, a professor could watch from behind a one-way glass to see how nursing students handle an emergency setting. The newly remodeled space would also include study areas, interactive television studios, and other updated spaces. Bottineau, which is in a rural setting, seems like a good place to train nurses who might soon work in rural hospitals and clinics. Migler said the college plans to ask the Legislature to approve $2 million for the project and the Dakota College

at Bottineau Foundation would raise the remaining $2 million. If it is approved, work could begin on the building by next summer. Old Main is the building that many people in the region think of when they think of Dakota College at Bottineau and its North Dakota School of Forestry. The building was designed in the Romanesque style by architect Joseph Shannon, from Jamestown, and built by general contractor Edmund White to house the North Dakota School of Forestry. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2006. “Like other Old Main buildings at college campuses across the country, it was essentially the home for everything,” said Migler, who started his own college career at the college as a first year college student before he transferred to North Dakota State University. It is one of few remaining Romanesque Revival style buildings in the Midwest, according to past news articles. There have been ongoing efforts to preserve the historic building since it was decommissioned in 2007. At the time, it was decided that it would be more effective to remodel the college’s Thatcher Hall than to to attempt to renovate Old Main. Different groups have had different ideas about what to do with the building but it will now return to its original academic purpose if everything goes according to MAIN: Old Main today. plan.

Submitted Photos

ABOVE: Dr. Jerry Migler hold a photo shoe Old Main in earlier times.

MinotDailyNews.com • Hometown 2020

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Kim Fundingsland/MDN

More than a dozen parks are situated throughout Watford City, a growing town situated in the heart of oil country.

Kim Fundingsland/MDN

ABOVE: Jacobson Park in northeast Watford City boasts a playground, basketball court, picnic shelter and other amenities.

Watford City – city of parks Outdoor opportunities in growing community

By KIM FUNDINGSLAND

Staff Writer kfundingsland@minotdailynews.com

ant to take your dog for a swim? How about a jog or just strolling along with a youngster? Exercise outdoors? Maybe just sit back and relax? No matter your preference, this community has a park suited to your liking. “We’ve had a lot of parks and we just keep expanding on it,” said Robin Arndt, parks superintendent. “We try to have parks within walking distance for people.”

watford city

The Children’s Park is located on Main Street in Watford City.

MinotDailyNews.com • Hometown 2020

Improvements are still underway at the newest park in the city, even as it is open for use. Linear Park on the city’s east edge, near the high school and Rough Rider Center, is designed around a fitness and exercise trail. Arndt credits an area developer and the city with coming up for the concept. “Our newest addition has a 1.9 mile walking trail, all lighted. This spring we added 20 pieces of fitness equipment that we’re really excited about,” said Arndt as an afternoon jogger passed by. “People are using this quite a bit. We wanted this for a long time but just didn’t have the place to do it until this park went in.” With its close proximity to the city’s impressive new high school, Linear Park is expected to be utilized by physical education classes as well as the general public. The park is just one of many in this town of less than 10,000 people. The list of parks includes the Doc Nelson Dog Park with sections for small dogs, large dogs and a swimming pond, and the Kent Pelton Nature Park that boasts a large picnic pavilion and fishing pond. In the works is a new recreation complex too. “We lost our current diamond complex with our airport re-alignment,” explained Arndt. “So we have a new complex going in southwest of town. We’re doing five adult fields, two combination soccer-football fields, playground, restrooms and concession facility. All that is in phase one.” Phase two, if and when demand arises, is slated to included two Cal Ripken baseball fields, a girl’s fastpitch softball diamond and a lengthy walking path around the entire facility. “We have another 75 acres open for discussion on what to do. We definitely have room to grow and expand our facilities as the community sees fit,” said Arndt. “We hear comments all the time from people moving here that we do have a lot of parks and we keep them up really well. People enjoy that.” No question about it. Watford City’s growing list of parks makes a good impression on residents and visitors alike. The parks are a great complement to the recently expanded 18-hole golf course and help meet the demand of a fitness conscious public and those wishing to spend quality time with family and friends.

Kim Fundingsland/MDN

Robin Arndt, Watford City Parks superintendent, consults with contractors working on Linear Park on the city’s east side in the area of the high school and Rough Rider Center. The new park features a walking/running path and exercise equipment.

WATFFORD CITY

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HYGGE HOTEL OFFERS UNIQUE STAYS Part of Powers Lake history,

An historic hotel sat vacant for many years until revived and reopened in 2019.

By JILL SCHRAMM

Senior Staff Writer jschramm@minotdailynews.com

ife is bustling again for a 100-year-old, former hotel that stands as a hallmark in Powers Lake. Lisa Thomas re-opened the hotel in July 2019 after major renovation of a building that holds historic significance in the community. Known as the Hygge Hotel, it retains much of its historic charm while offering modern amenities. In 1909, the building first opened as a hotel, changing ownership many times over the years. Early on, it experienced three fires associated with the kerosene heating system in the basement. In 1967, a Catholic priest purchased the building and converted it into a boarding house for nuns. He died in 1993 but his association continued to own the property until 2003,

when Powers Lake native Jerry Jorgenson bought it. Thomas said she had been interested in the building since high school. Moving back to the community in 2008, she was looking for something to do. “I just wanted to have my own career. I worked in the grocery store for one day and I left crying because this is not what I want for my life. Not that it’s a bad place. It’s just I wanted more,” she said. She went to work for an oil company but kept her eye on the hotel building, which Jorgenson and his brother had planned to renovate into a hunting lodge. “I called him in 2008 when we first moved home and asked him if I could buy it, and he said no. So in 2018, I asked him again,” she said. “The second time I asked, I said, ‘If you sell it to me, I promise I’ll have it done by the allschool reunion.’” Jorgenson initially wasn’t interested in selling but offered a tour, which only made Thomas more eager to buy. “I couldn’t stop thinking about it because then my pas-

sion just ignited,” Thomas said. “Then I started really picturing things.” Jorgenson eventually agreed to sell, but because of the time it took to get the deed, Thomas ended up with only seven months to do the renovation before the July 2019 school reunion. “And I was pregnant, and we did 90% of the work ourselves – me and my husband, his dad and my brother, and my friends. Friends would just come by and offer a hand,” Thomas said. “All the carpentry was done by us. “When people checked in, the paint was still wet, but I had to keep my promise to Jerome,” Thomas said. “We were booked from July until December just full, and I was shocked because I really didn’t know what the demographic or the need for a hotel was, and it was way beyond what I expected.” It slowed enough at the end of the year to allow her to focus on opening a coffee shop, which hosts craft nights, gettogethers and open microphone nights in the winter.

powers lake

Jill Schramm/MDN

MinotDailyNews.com • Hometown 2020

“I love open mic night because there’s just so much laughter and noise and music and life back into something that was silent for 25 years,” Thomas said. The hotel initially offered a first-floor hunter’s suite, an apartment for long-term stays. When the coronavirus pandemic slowed that activity, Thomas converted the space into a kitchen to increase the dining options. The coffee shop serves paninis, soups and salads and is known for its homemade strawberry rhubarb pie, glazed doughnuts and other baked items. Last December, the in-house ice cream shop became a drivethrough ice cream shop. It turned out to be timely with the pandemic interrupting food services operations a few months later. “We needed to utilize the space for more than a hotel. So, the ice cream has been a big hit. We haven’t had soft-serve ice cream in Powers Lake for 15 years probably. So, it’s gone over really well with people,” Thomas said. The original name of the hotel had been The Lakeview. Thomas said she was unable to register that name because “Lakeview” is too commonly used in the state. She began searching for words to describe the place she wanted to create,

and the word that came up in her algorithm was “hygge.” Hygge is a Danish word connoting a coziness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being. “It’s such an awkward, strange word that nobody’s heard of, and when I told my husband, he’s like, ‘No.’ Well, Jerome, the person who was kind enough to sell it to me, is Danish and he was into heritage and history and genealogy, and I thought, you know, that would be just a nice nod to him and show gratitude for him giving us this opportunity,” Thomas said. Thomas, who herself has some Danish ancestry, set a goal for the hotel to live up to its new name. The building itself has an historic feel despite being gutted for renovation. The stair handrail and newel are original, but little actually remains from the original hotel. Old doors were saved and Thomas plans to repurpose them. When the Thomases acquired the building, there were 14 upstairs rooms that were small, with no bathrooms and a very narrow hallway. There was one bathroom upstairs. “We brought it down to six rooms, each with a bathroom,”

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109 Main St S PO Box 856 Stanley, ND 58784 701-628-2394 20328 R6-20

Hometown 2020 • MinotDailyNews.com

Jill Schramm/MDN

The bridal suite in the Hygge Hotel creates an luxurious yet relaxing environment.

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Thomas said. The door transoms were boarded up, so Thomas had an artist friend create mosaics on new transoms. Thomas then designed the rooms and their color schemes around the mosaics. In the early 1900s when the hotel was constructed, builders designed sloped roofs to allow rain to run off. It made for sloped ceilings and for walls that weren’t always plumb, but it also lends to the historical character. To keep the old look, the hotel rooms have classic furniture and early-day television sets that had come with the building when the Thomases purchased it. The rooms still are modern, with mini-fridges, air conditioning, cable and internet. The bathrooms include a lot of pine shiplap walls for the rustic appeal. Each room has its own personality, and repeat guests often ask for certain rooms that are their favorites. A seventh hotel room was carved out of what used to be the maid’s chamber. Thomas said she learned the room’s history when an elderly woman at the all-school reunion mentioned she used to do ironing in the room. “I love when people who used to be from here or work here have stories. There’s a lady who brought me a picture of a guy in here with his horse. It was her grandpa in this black-andwhite photo,” she said. “There’s a picture somewhere of my dad’s cousin riding his horse up the steps. So there’s some funny tales, and there’s still some people around who can tell me about it. So that’s kind of nice. I love hearing the stories.”

One of the interesting stories since re-opening surrounds a couple from Wisconsin who were headed to a state park in Wyoming. Because the park was closed due to COVID-19, they detoured to Powers Lake, which had been the home of a greatgrandfather. They booked at the Hygge, and Thomas was able to connect them with a local historian who could help locate the great-grandfather’s grave. It turned out the great-grandfather had been among widowers who sold or rented their farms and retired to live in the hotel. He had passed away in the hotel. The travelers not only learned their great-grandfather’s story but connected with a second cousin in the town, who took them to breakfast and to see the house their great-grandfather built. “This hotel kind of brought everyone together,” Thomas said. “We have really neat travelers and everybody truly has a story when they’re traveling. And it’s really fun to hear.” The next phase of the hotel project is to tackle the basement, which Thomas wants to return to a restaurant. She would like to add a wine kitchen and envisions an outdoor seating area for people to eat and relax. The Thomases also purchased a neighboring building that used to be a car dealership and see potential to possibly relocate their coffee shop to a portion of that building at some point in the renovation. Thomas said their goal is to fill a need by bringing additional amenities to Powers Lake, and do it by restoring the buildings that have been significant in the community’s his-

Jill Schramm/MDN

Lisa Thomas fills an order for soft-serve ice cream at the drive-up ice cream shop in the Hygge Hotel.

tory. “I just don’t want things to sit empty and go away, because they have a lot of life left,” Thomas said.

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Hallmark of Garrison Photos by Eloise Ogden/MDN

ABOVE: The big fishing bobber theme, “Get Hooked on Garrison, ND” on the water tower in Garrison ties in with Lake Sakakawea and Wally the Walleye. RIGHT: Wally the Walleye welcomes visitors to Garrison. The large statue on the south side of Kenneth Fitzsimonds Memorial Mini- Park attracts many people.

By ELOISE OGDEN

Regional Editor eogden@minotdailynews.com

ally the Walleye, the huge fish at the north end of Main Street in Garrison, doesn’t only attract visitors in this McLean County community. Garrison’s Wally also is an internet sensation and can be found mentioned on many websites. Located in Garrison, about 45 miles southwest of Minot via U.S. Highway 83 and N.D. Highway 37, Wally the Walleye is about 26 feet long. The large fish statue welcome visitors to Garrison, near the north shore of Lake Sakakawea, and “Home of Wally the Walleye.”

Wally watches over the community from its place on the south side of Kenneth Fitzsimonds Memorial Mini-Park. Wally is very photogenic. Often people can be seen taking photos or getting their photos taken by the large statue. “A lot of people do that,” said McKaila Behles, director of the Garrison Convention and Visitors Bureau. Behles refers to a history of Wally the Walleye written by Heather Osadchy and published in the McLean County Independent in 2009. Osadchy was a summer intern there. Wally’s been in Garrison since the 1980s. He was preceded by a fish of another name, Willie Walleye, according to the history researched by Osadchy. Osadchy said in her story the idea to use a walleye as an advertisement was thought to have originated with the Governor’s Cup

Walleye Derby, with the local Civic Club endorsing the idea and spearheading the project. The big fish debuted in 1980 as a joint venture of the Garrison Civic Club, Sportsmen’s Club and North Dakota Governor’s Walleye Cup Committee followed by the beginning of the promotion of Willie Walleye, according to Osadchy. A year later on July 17, 1981, Willie Walleye was dedicated as part of the park named for the late Kenneth Fitzsimonds of Garrison. When the community learned another community, Baudette, Minn., had been paying tribune to a fish of the same name since the late 1950s, Garrison’s Civic club changed the name of the statue to Wally the Walleye, Osadchy reported. A number of other cities also honor the fish. Behles said Wally gets weathered from

being out in all kinds of weather and repainting is a big job. Wally has a companion not too far away. Seen from quite a distance is the big bobber, a city water tower painted like a bobber with a fish and the slogan “Get Hooked on Garrison” on it. “That started with the city council redoing the water tower,” Behles said. Garrison had water towers with “hot” and “cold” printed on them. Behles said a local group of people didn’t want to get rid of the “hot” and “cold,” something of a tradition in the community, but they wanted something more unique to replace it. She said the big fishing bobber theme came into being, tying it in with Lake Sakakawea and Wally. “The bobber is big enough to catch walleye,” Behles added.

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Wally celebrates Garrison and walleye

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Taking care of one another Councilwoman in battle against COVID-19

D new town

r. Monica Mayer was a medic in the U.S. Army Reserve, went to medical school to become a doctor and then practiced medicine for a number of years before becoming a tribal councilwoman representing her home community, the North Segment of the Fort Berthold Reservation. While in the Army Reserve, Mayer trained extensively for pandemics, epicenters and war casualties. Now she’s among those in the front lines of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation’s battle against the COVID-19 pandemic. The war on COVID-19 is like no other battle many people have fought. Earlier this year, Mayer, North Segment councilwoman to the MHA Nation (Three Affiliated Tribes) business council, became one of the members of the tribal COVID-19 Task Force, a group formed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. As of Monday, July 20, the North Dakota Department of Health reported Mountrail County, in which the North Segment of the Fort Berthold Reservation is located, had 93 positive cases, 60 recovered, one death, 2,404 total negative cases and 2,497 unique total individuals tested. When Mayer, an enrolled member of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation whose Indian name is “Good Medicine,” first learned several months ago what was happening in Wuhan, China, in regard to COVID-19 (coronavirus), she formulated her thoughts and knowledge of viruses. Anticipating the virus would travel to other areas overseas and then arrive in America, she told other council members what she anticipated would happen. A graduate of the University of North Dakota School of Medicine, Grand Forks, Mayer has extensive medical experience in North Dakota and South Dakota. Earlier this year, her North Segment staff gathered bleach, tissues, disinfecting wipes, toilet paper and other items to stockpile in case it was needed. Noting it was a lot of items to gather and prepare ahead for, she said, “That’s what doctors do.” In mid-March, Mayer held an emergency re-

sponse team meeting with her North Segment staff and together as a team they assembled care packages with the items that had been stockpiled. Mayer’s staff handed out to tribal elders – those 60 years and older – in the North Segment the care packages of hand sanitizers, bleach, toilet paper, U.S. Centers for Disease Control brochures, information from Mayer and other items. “I had staff distribute to every place,” Mayer said in an interview. She said 281 elders live in the North Segment. The segment includes the city of New Town and is the most populated segment on the reservation. She also conducted a germ awareness demonstration for her staff and the public at Northern Lights Wellness Center, New Town. For a time the North Segment meal site for elders in New Town operated to prepare school lunches for families to pick up for their children. Mayer’s staff also handed out colored paper signs for the elders to put in their windows. She said red is for emergency, yellow for errands and green is OK. Drives are made through the community periodically each day to check for signs in elders’ windows. In late March, Mark Fox, tribal chairman and the business council, adopted COVID-19 mitigation measures in response to the virus, including a curfew requiring people to be in-

Hometown 2020 • MinotDailyNews.com

doors from dusk to dawn. The council also placed a limit on groups of five or more people congregating, acted to develop and enforce cooperative agreements with businesses on the reservation and created a mandate to improve testing for the virus. To let people know about the curfew, Mayer said Jon “Poncho” Brady spread the word through the North Segment community. Brady traveled in the back of a pickup with a megaphone, announcing to families and others they needed to stay home and stay safe. Brady’s announcement carried out Hidatsa ways and traditions. His father, the late Bryon Brady Sr., had the traditional duties of camp crier to the Antelope Society of the Hidatsa people. Mayer also had signs posted in and around the New Town community, encouraging people to stay home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When the tribe’s Elbowoods Memorial Health Center in New Town was in need of testing kits, the kits arrived shortly after, according to Mayer. “This is a very serious situation,” said Mayer of the overall situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “We don’t have medicine. We don’t have a vaccine (for COVID-19) but we do have an order to drive home, and let the virus die and let it move on its way. We have to take care of one another,” Mayer said in an earlier interview.

Submitted Photos

MAIN: Councilwoman Dr. Monica Mayer, front, and her Elder Meal Site staff provide Subway meals to the North Segment constituents during a local community lunch-hour drive-up distribution. When quarantine first began, Mayer provided drive-up meals through mid-April for community members affected by mandatory quarantine and work shutdowns as a result of the COVID-19 virus. Mayer collaborated with Missouri River Resources for the project. Photo from Vonnie Jo Alberts. PHOTO INSET: In late spring, North Segment staff distributed Elder Covid-Care Packages for North Segment Elders.

The Pines includes an indoor gun range and a community room. Built with holdings from a trust fund, the building serves as a collaborative community project in Stanley. Jill Schramm/MDN

The Game & Fish Department installed a different dock at the Stanley pond this year and stocked the pond with catfish and rainbow trout. Jill Schramm/MDN

The Pines creates special place in Stanley By JILL SCHRAMM

Stanely

Senior Staff Writer • jschramm@minotdailynews.com

esidents of Stanley began to see potential realized as an under-utilized pond area in the northeastern part of the city underwent a transformation over the past year. Improvements to the pond and the erection of The Pines, an impressive facility with a state-of-the-art indoor shooting range and community meeting space, were the result of the community’s collaboration to turn a simple fishing area into an attractive gathering place. “It’s a tribute to the whole community,” said Don Longmuir of Stanley. “It’s really been a cooperative effort.” Longmuir is one of three former Scoutmasters and current trustees for a fund that has been behind the project. Other trustees are Wayne Johnson and Normal Mell of Stanley.

In the late 1930s, the Mountrail County Commission obtained 500 acres of land near White Earth Creek for unpaid taxes. They created a trust governed by a threemember board to manage the property for the benefit of the youth. The trust gained income from gravel pit sales and pasture rent and used the money to help the local Boy Scout program. The trust also had leased mineral acres, and those paid off handsomely during the recent oil boom. Lease revenue and oil royalties built the fund to a point where trustees felt it was time to take action. “We are not here to hoard a bunch of money. We’re here to put this money to work and to give it back to the community,” Johnson said. “We felt a responsibility to not to just sit on this money,” Mell added. “We need to do something with it for the community as well as the Boy Scouts, and that was an ideal spot over there. There’s room for camping and all sorts of things once we get things finished up.” More than $1 million has been invested so far in the

The Pines project. “We basically paid cash for the building,” Longmuir said. “It was an effort by (Stanley contractor) Mountrail Builders too because they’re very community oriented. It really centers around the community, wanting things for the youth, and everybody willing to do their part.” Opened in late summer 2019, The Pines is a 7,000square-foot facility. Built with safety in mind, the range portion of the building was constructed with concrete and steel, finished with a dense rubber that traps stray bullets and prevents ricochet or fires. In addition, air is filtered through the facility frequently. “Police officers have been using this a lot, whether it be the Highway Patrol, the city police, the sheriff’s department,” Johnson said. “They come in from other communities, and they’ll certify here.” The range has teamed with Rolling Plains Sportsman’s Club, which operates an outdoor range as well. The club leases space for its winter shoots. There also

MinotDailyNews.com • Hometown 2020

are shooting sessions geared toward women and toward youngsters. The range brought in a Missouri trainer to train and certify others to teach range safety officers. Several people signed up for that training and are able to teach not only locally but also train range safety officers for other communities, Johnson said. Range safety officers monitor and work with range users to ensure safety. The Pines portion of the building that is available for community rental has large windows that overlook an outdoor patio, flagpole and pond. A sound system and large screen are available for presentations. The Pines has been used for wedding receptions, company training meetings, baby showers, birthday parties and other events. Near the commercial kitchen is a garage where caterers can load and unload, Boy Scouts can park equipment or overflow activities can be held.

The facility is designed to be largely self-supporting through revenue from the indoor range and rentals. The City of Stanley invested in the pond rehabilitation. A $30,000 Game & Fish Department grant provided funding to remove cattails and dredge the shoreline to create a better fish habitat and easier access to the pond. The city also had erosion protection installed. A replacement dock was installed and the old one, which had been provided by Game & Fish and the local Lions Club, is being considered for rehabilitation and reuse. The Game and Fish has been stocking the pond with catfish and rainbow trout. Fishing and kayaking are popular activities. A $1.12 million road paving project is being handled by the city with the help of a $300,000 grant from the Department of Transportation Special Road Fund. The city received $275,800 from the state Outdoor Heritage Fund for a walking path along the pond. “It’s really going to be a central focus area for outdoor

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Hometown 2020 • MinotDailyNews.com

recreation,” City engineer Jeff Ebsch said. “It’s just going to enhance it and be a lot more widely used.” The pond was the result of a dam built at one time to hold back water so BNSF Railroad could replenish its steam engines. “I, as a child 50 years ago, played around here daily, and everybody did,” Johnson said. Kids would fish or look for turtles and frogs. When the oil boom came to Stanley several years ago, the city approved a developer’s plan to put in housing near the pond. When the company abandoned the property after its plan fell through, the city gave the land to the trust. The previous Scout building in town had expensive maintenance needs and had been demolished several years earlier. With the completion of the new building, trustees for The Pines were looking this past summer to finish grass seeding and installation of a sprinkling system, drawing water from the city pond. Over the longer term, they envision even more improvements.

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Gas lines have been installed for patio barbecues and for a future firepit. A picnic area is planned and trees are to be planted. “It’s going to be a pretty good deal once we get our landscaping finished up and our lawn in and get some of these things where the Scouts can maybe have some camporees and winter Klondike derbies,” Mell said. “I think it will be a good thing for the community.” Johnson foresees development someday to connect the walking trail with Main Street and possible construction of bird nesting sites with an observation deck. In the winter, there could be a skating pond, which the community currently lacks.

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Longmuir has a similar vision for keeping the property in its natural state. He foresees a year-round attraction, used by many different groups. Specifically for Scouting, it could serve as a location for a day camp that draws Scouts from around the region for fishing, archery and crafts. “Of course, I want to see the kids have a spot where they can ride their bicycles to and catch fish because you don’t realize a lot of children nowadays don’t always get the opportunity to go fishing,” Longmuir said. The trust committee credits those county commissioners 80 years ago for their foresight because without it, there would be no vision today. Without the trust, construction of the building

would have been impossible, Mell said. “It would not even have occurred. Absolutely not,” he said. That it did occur shows how large even a small gift can turn out to be, Johnson added. “It’s a constant reminder – and that’s what this should be – to the community and the area that we need to be benevolent. We need to start thinking about the future, and the gift you give today might not look big, but could be huge in the future,” Johnson said. “Hopefully, we become the inspiration to other people in the community and kids that are growing up, to know that things are being done for them, and someday, maybe they will do things back.”

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A national fixture

Hometown 2020 â&#x20AC;˘ MinotDailyNews.com

Kim Fundingsland/MDN

The shelter at the River Bend Overlook at Theodore Roosevelt National Park-North Unit, is one of the most photographed fixtures in the scenic park south of Watford City.

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The Geographical Center Monument at the intersection of N.D. Highway 3 and U.S. Highway 2 in Rugby attracts attention from visitors and locals alike. Sue Sitter/PCT

Geographical Center Monument a welcoming sight for many By SUE SITTER

Rugby

Staff Writer, The Pierce County Tribune ssitter@thepiercecountytribune.com

or nearly 90 years, Rugby’s Geographical Center Monument has welcomed locals home and invited visitors from all over the world an opportunity to rest and snap some photos. During most of those years, the stone obelisk has sat within a few feet of restaurants, gas stations and other businesses serving as gathering places. The monument is located at the intersection of U.S. Highway 2 and North Dakota Highway 3. Most lifelong Rugby residents remember the familiar landmark and see it as confirmation they’ve come home after a trip out of town.

“It seems to be what you know when you live in Rugby,” said Laurie Odden, a Rugby native who serves as executive director of the Rugby Chamber of Commerce and Convention and Visitors’ Bureau. “I guess something that I remember is how everyone talked about it,” Odden said. “They wanted to take pictures with it. I learned later that wasn’t the actual site of the geographical center,” she added. “I remember taking a trip south of town to the actual (geographical center), and saw it was just a slough down there.” For years, Rugby has held the title, and it’s one city and county officials have at times defended since 1932, when it was built. Locals say the actual center is near the community of Orrin, in northwestern Pierce County. The location of the center is often a source of controversy, but most

Hometown 2020 • MinotDailyNews.com

agree the designation would mark the point equidistant from the North Pole, South America and both coasts of North America. According to a Jan. 25, 2017, New York Times article, global positioning system coordinates and research by cartographers identified the actual location of the geographic center of North America in Center, North Dakota, more than 100 miles southwest of town. The latest controversy hasn’t sparked a flurry of letter writing like similar controversies in the 1980s did, but Rugby still holds the title, with the monument attracting curious travelers from parts near and far. A group of motorcycle riders make Rugby the end of their annual Smackdab Summer Solstice Run in June, which begins at a monument marking the center of the contiguous United States in Lebanon,

Kansas. Pinpointing the exact center of North America first came up for discussion with the Rugby Lions Club in 1931. The Aug. 11, 1932, Pierce County Tribune published a letter that spurred local businesses to “carry that statement on their business stationery, but further than that, nothing has been done for various reasons,” according to a news article about the designation. The discussion was prompted by a letter to Mr. J.W. Parmley, president of the Coast to Coast Highway Association. The association was formed to promote highway construction connecting the east and west coasts of the United States. In his letter to Parmley published in the Tribune, Acting Director of the United States Federal Survey W. Cunendinhan cited Geological Survey Bulletin 817, writSee GEO — Page 75

Rugby Jaycees continue tradition of service

By SUE SITTER

Rugby

Staff Writer, The Pierce County Tribune ssitter@thepiercecountytribune.com

n an age where young adults tend to distance themselves from one another – even without public health emergencies – the Rugby Jaycees pull their community together with services, public events and even a park. Many North Dakota towns have seen civic clubs fade away as lives get busier. But the Jaycees still hang on here, leaving their mark with projects such as a new park on the east side of town, concerts and community recycling events. Just a week after a demolition derby and concert, held the last weekend in July, the Jaycees prepared for future events, including their annual haunted house. Other seasonal events include Easter egg hunts for youngsters, baseball and football competitions and monthly volunteering at Rugby’s Lyric Theater. Rugby Jaycees Chapter President Karin Fritel took office at the beginning of 2020 – a particularly challenging time for any club president, or club member. The Jaycees Park, a popular destination for young families, was closed in spring by the Rugby Parks Department to meet public health guidelines. Jaycees modified their annual Easter Egg Hunt to keep participants home; volunteers hid candy eggs in families’ yards. The Jaycees put their volunteer schedule for the Lyric Theater on hold as the theater closed down. But other events, such as the demolition derby and concert, billed as “Party in the Dirt” went on, with participants practicing social distancing. Fritel pooled information from several Jaycees members to answer questions about the organization. “We’re always looking for new members,” Fritel said, estimating the current number of members at 20. “Locally, we keep our membership dues at $25 yearly,” said a local Jaycees spokesperson. “All we ask is that the member is active and participates in, at minimum, one activity per year. We are always looking for new members to join our group. It is a great way to meet new people and be active in the community,” the spokesperson added. “The RJCs is a great organization to learn many leadership qualities that carry on to many other areas in life. One that sticks out most is a CPG – Chairman’s Planning Guide,” the spokesperson noted. “The US Junior Chamber provides those interested in running a successful project the Chairman’s Planning Guide (CPG). This form, together with atSee JAYCEES — Page 75

The Rugby Jaycees dedicated Jaycees Park in 2010. The club worked to build and raise funds for the park.

Sue Sitter/PCT

MinotDailyNews.com • Hometown 2020

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Geo

Continued from Page 70

ing, “…you will note the geographical center of North America is in Pierce County, North Dakota.” “The geographic center of an area may be defined as a point on which the surface of the area if it were a plane of uniform thickness, or in other words, the center of gravity on a surface,” Cunendinhan wrote. “The exact position of the center of each state or group of states cannot be determined from the records available but the approximate positions are sufficiently exact for ordinary purposes.” Cunendinhan added, “It would not be feasible, therefore, to specify for such a large, irregular area as that of North America the exact section, township and range in which the geographic center lies.” Rugby, however, secured the title, building a monument attesting to it, and, later, engraving it on plaques that read, “Geographical Center of North America, Rugby, North Dakota.” The Rugby Lions Club resolved to create the monument in 1931. An article in the August 11, 1932 Tribune said, “Last week steps were begun toward the construction of a monument with the inscription proclaiming to the world Rugby’s claim to being the cen-

Jaycees

Continued from Page 71

tachments and other documentation can provide valuable assistance to those wishing to run the same or similar project in a different year or location. I know former RJCs who have gone back to creating CPGs for other organizations they are now a part of.” “The USJC has a number of competitions you can participate in, which encourage furthering leadership skills,” the spokesperson added. “Since the state of N.D. no longer has a state organization, the participation in competitions has ceased. We have had local presidents recognized nationally in previous years with the Charles Kulp award (highest honor to local chapter presidents),” the spokesperson noted. Tanya Lashman and Tonia Dosch were recipients of recent Charles Kulp awards. Former Jaycees president and local business owner Dale Niewoehner said he remembered state competitions well. The Jaycees won several competitions under his leadership, and Niewoehner has won several awards. “When I came to Rugby in ’72, the Chamber of Commerce and the Jaycees and the Lions were the principal organizations. They all did things. For example, the Chamber met once a month at what’s now Dakota Farms. It was Andrew’s Steak House then. They had dinner and 50 people there. We’d have a steak supper, and

ter of the continent. The monument will be constructed at the intersection of the C to C highway and highway No. 2, near the Paterson oil station. An electrically lighted sign will be erected on the monument, conveying the message also after dark,” the article read. “The Otter Tail Power Co. will donate the needed current. Various young men in the city together with the Boy Scouts, hauled rocks last week, the Otter Tail Power Co. donating the use of its large truck. W.B. Paterson will do the work of building the monument and the construction will begin at once,” the article added. The Rugby Lions and Rugby Commercial Club donated funds for the project. Additionally, the Rugby post office stamped all mail passing through town “Geographical Center of North America,” according to the article, which noted they had received “a total of over 100 letters from stamp collectors and others who are interested, enclosing stamped, selfaddressed envelopes which they wish postmarked and stamped,” the article added. Ed Roy Paterson took charge of the construction project, with help from his father, who owned Paterson Oil, and Chester Peterson, a Rugby High graduate who picked the stones for the project as a sentence he received for disturbing the peace with his backfiring Model T, according to other Tribune historical accounts.

Former Rugby Mayor Dale Niewoehner said he’s associated the monument with Rugby since he moved to town in the early 1970s. During his tenure with the Rugby City Council and his years as a business owner, he remembers a few controversies with the title. “I came here in ‘72, and the monument was on the south side of the road then,” Niewoehner said. “It was where the Cenex C Store is. And Ed Roy Paterson had a truck stop there where he served hamburgers and stuff. That’s where the monument was. In later years, in the mid’70S, maybe ‘72 or ‘73 or ‘74, that building had been vacant for awhile, and he donated that building to the Rugby Jaycees and we fixed it,” he said. As an active member of the community in the 1980s, Niewoehner became aware of “three or four companies claiming they were at the geographic center of North America,” he said. “I had Mark Butz, the city attorney write to these people,” he noted, opening a folder containing letters to the South Dakota Centennial Commission and a manufacturer of furniture knobs. “This company’s from Woonsocket, South Dakota,” Niewoehner said, picking up a letter. Another controversy caught national at-

tention. “This article’s from Stars and Stripes Magazine in 1987,” Niewoehner said, holding a clipping. “North Dakota’s distinction spurs spats,” read the headline. “At this time, ‘87, we had a guy he was the EDC (economic development committee) person, and they had a plan that they were going to build this umbrella kind of a thing over (the intersection of U.S. Highway 2 and N.D. Highway 3),” Niewoehner said. “It would have arches coming from four directions over the highways. Some kind of a visitors’ center would be on the top,” he added, shaking his head slightly. The project, which Niewoehner said would cost about one million dollars at the time, “never got off the ground.” Since the grand plans were scaled back nearly 40 years ago, locals and visitors have enjoyed the original monument, with Odden and a few volunteers keeping the area spruced up and adding flowerpots. Niewoehner said, “We’re not claiming that (the geographical center) is actually in some (specific) spot. The modern technology changed how these things are determined. “ “The point is, since the early 1930s, Rugby has focused on this designation. And that’s all we want to do is focus on that,” Niewoehner added.

there’d be three or four people that would sponsor the bar, and all that, and we’d have a business meeting,” he said. “There was an honor called a JCI Senatorship,” Niewoehner said, describing an honor given by the Junior Chamber International, a parent organization of the Jaycees. “There were several of us who were honored with that through the years when I was active,” he said. “Then, when you got to be, either 30 or 35, you left (the club).” “After I left, the age advanced to 40,” Niewoehner said. Niewoehner said the Jaycees made their clubhouse in a former gas station building near Rugby’s Geographical Center Monument. “This building we were in, it was pretty bad,” Niewoehner said. “The roof leaked, we had to fix the roof and some of the walls. Maybe there were bathrooms in there, but we fixed them up. We eventually put a grill in the back, so we had steak fries and suppers. For several years, we sold Christmas trees at the west end of it.” “We had a lot of fun doing this. Most of this income, we gave away to somebody. Almost all of it,” he added. “We didn’t rely on gaming,” Niewoehner added, referring to pull-tab and gaming fundraisers for the Jaycees in local bars. “I don’t even think we had gaming. It was illegal.” “Well,” he added with a smile, “We had smokers, but that wasn’t really legal.” “A smoker is an event where you had poker

and blackjack games somewhere where the police or state’s attorney wouldn’t notice,” Niewoehner said. “You sold tickets to come to this, then you also had fundraisers (at the games). We would raffle off hams and turkeys all night and make a lot of money,” he added. A Jaycees spokesperson said through Fritel the group’s two gaming machines, located at I.C. Dubbles and 3rd Street Station, “allow us to circulate thousands of dollars throughout the community.” The Jaycees were famous in past years for selling honey and jelly. “When I was just starting, the state president was from Grafton, and he worked at the North Dakota State School. He started a project called ‘Honey Sunday.’ And later, it became ‘Jelly Sunday,’” Niewoehner said. “We would sell honey bears and jelly later, and all this money went to the state school in

Grafton. All these people would be waiting for us to buy honey,” Niewoehner added. “I think I’ve been in almost every house in Rugby,” Niewoehner said. “We’d have cases and cases of honey, and we’d go door to door,” he added. “People really support those things if they see us doing good.” The “doing good” continues with a younger generation of Jaycees, whose creed includes a line written by national Jaycees Founder Henry Giessenbier 100 years ago. “The group realizes the importance for community-minded events, and the Rugby Jaycees is a great platform to be able to run the events,” said another Jaycees spokesperson through Fritel. “I don’t know that Rugby residents are more community-centered than most, many small towns have groups of people to keep the activity alive in their community. For Rugby, it is the Rugby Jaycees that has been that group for a number of years.”

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Welcome to North Dakota’s Cattle Capital By SUE SITTER

Staff Writer, The Pierce County Tribune ssitter@thepiercecountytribune.com

Hometown 2020 • MinotDailyNews.com

towner

Photos by Sue Sitter/PCT

ABOVE: A clock in Towner’s downtown welcomes visitors to the Cattle Capital of North Dakota. RIGHT: Young trick rider Kinley Follman, Towner, performs at the Towner Rodeo. BELOW: A sign dedicated to Towner Rodeo founding board member M.J. LaValley welcomes visitors.

cres of pasture land and signs to the east and west of Towner send an unmistakable message to visitors: This is cattle country, specifically, the Cattle Capital of North Dakota. Another smaller sign advertises the Towner Rodeo, held every year since the 1950s on July 3 and 4. The event fits the tiny city with a population of about 500 to a T. Many people who call the Towner area home live on ranches that produce beef cattle. West of town, the Sandhills Dairy has milk cows. L o c a l rancher David Drader, who serves as president of the Towner Rodeo Board of Directors, said the Towner Rodeo began in 1951. Called the Towner Stampede, the event was held on June 17 of that year with John Rognlien Sr. as manager, according to publications by the rodeo. In addition to familiar events such as saddle and bareback bronc riding, the stampede featured wild cow milking and a wild horse race. Ronglien and area ranchers chose a site just north of town on a road they named Rodeo Drive to build an arena, which they expanded in 1959. Drader said the rodeo board has a few descendants of founders among its members. Reading from a list of original rodeo board members, Drader noted, “There are two cousins on there, Stacy Jaeger and Sloan Jaeger. Sloan’s dad was on the board, and their grandpa was an original member,” Drader said. “There’s another kid who’s pretty young, last name Jones; his grandpa was a founding member. It goes on that way.” Local contestants also have ties to the rodeo’s beginning.

“We have a young girl performing trick riding today,” Drader noted. “Her grandpa was on the board and her great-grandpa was an original director. (Her family) lives here in Towner and her grandparents and great-grandparents are from here,” he added. “So, it’s a tradition,” he said. The Towner Rodeo Association operates as a member of the North Dakota Rodeo Association. “North Dakota has three rodeo associations. We have the NDRA; we have Roughrider, which is like NDRA geared toward the younger kids; then, we have the Badlands Circuit or PRCA Circuit,” Drader noted. Drader showed up at the arena bright and early on July 3 to make sure things ran smoothly. Several campers and animal trailers had already parked around the gates and camped overnight, ready to start the day. “Are they dedicated rodeo people? Yeah, they are.” Drader said. Drader said the board faced a dilemma when the novel coronavirus pandemic came to North Dakota. “We had sent all our money to the state association in February, then this came up and there was talk that maybe we should just cancel,” Drader recalled. “But we weren’t canceling unless they told us we had to.” Drader said area businesses were still eager to advertise in rodeo programs and sponsor the event, so they decided to continue with their plans. This year’s Towner rodeo saw more participants from the western part of the state, where a downturn in the oil market caused rodeos to cancel, Drader said. “We are the only amateur rodeo held on the Fourth of July,” Drader noted. The 2020 rodeo featured eight events, with a special appearance by Towner’s Kinley Follman, who performed trick rides on her horse, Razor. Contestants vied for cash prizes of more than $750 in some events. The rodeo participants came from throughout North Dakota and as far away as Idaho to compete. Towner resident Tayte Goodman placed first in the saddle bronc event, winning $484. The Towner Rodeo Association also kept plans in place for their annual ranch rodeo, which was slated for August 15. Drader said he expected younger participants from Towner in the ranch rodeo as well. One local resident, Rance Kramer, had planned to compete in the July 4 bareback riding event, but a hand injury he suffered in a rodeo in Blaisdell kept him out of the event. Kramer’s family, who ranches south of Denbigh, has a long tradition with the rodeo. His father, Reed, competed for many years, and his mother, Kolette, has family members among the rodeo’s founders. “My grandpa was Mike Rosencranz from Denbigh,” Kolette Kramer noted. “He and my dad would chases horses into town for the first rodeos. They would get horses from the neighborhood ranches,” she said. “They would provide horses for stock.”

My dad rode bulls in high school,â&#x20AC;? Kramer noted. â&#x20AC;&#x153;He won the first flat race, or pony race in the first rodeo. His name was Rick Rosenkranz.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;I grew up south of Towner on Highway 14 along the river,â&#x20AC;? Kramer added, noting sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s spent â&#x20AC;&#x153;pretty much my entire lifeâ&#x20AC;? in McHenry County. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our kids, both sets of their grandparents were raised in McHenry County,â&#x20AC;? Kramer added. â&#x20AC;&#x153;My grandparents, both sets were raised in McHenry County. Both of Reedâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s were, too. My kids are blessed to have the heritage of McHenry County.â&#x20AC;? Former Towner resident Virginia Fairbrother was the daughter of Homer L. Hill, the townâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s druggist for many years. Although the Hill family made their home in town instead of on a ranch, older residents remember Hill helping to care for animals by providing supplies at times. They also credit Hill for giving Towner its â&#x20AC;&#x153;Cattle Capital of North Dakotaâ&#x20AC;? title. Fairbrother recalled, â&#x20AC;&#x153;When I was a little girl, we lived in the doctorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; house on the north side of town until I was three. I can

remember standing on the steps in front of the house,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;And you could hear the cattle coming because they were driving them to Towner to the cattle yard near the railroad tracks. You could hear the people whistling. They were driving them with horses. That happened day after day when I was little. I always wanted to watch them. My mom always wanted me to stay inside the door. So, I had to stay on top of the doorstep. It was fun to watch. It was something I wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t used to.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;At that time, cattle went by railroad to St. Paul or Chicago, one of the two. The Great Northern Railroad provided a last car on the train, and the last car was for whoever was selling the cattle so they could go on,â&#x20AC;? Fairbrother added. Hill had moved to Towner with his wife, Florence, after living in Lidgerwood and Minneapolis. He had studied to be a pharmacist and taken art classes in Minneapolis to learn to promote his business by painting signage. When he and his wife moved to Towner in the early 1920s, he was impressed at Townerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vibrant ranching community. â&#x20AC;&#x153;He saw how they treated their cattle and animals out

there,â&#x20AC;? Fairbrother noted. â&#x20AC;&#x153;He said they treated them very well.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t remember exactly when my father coined the term, but he said Towner should be called the Cattle Capital of North Dakota,â&#x20AC;? she added. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I went to a funeral one time, it was for my folksâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; next door neighbor,â&#x20AC;? Fairbrother recalled. â&#x20AC;&#x153;And they came up to me afterwards, and he said, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;I wanted to talk to you. I just loved your father.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; He said â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;luftâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, with a German accent. He said, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;He helped me so much as a young farmer. He helped me just to get to be a farmer.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; So, Dad had an influence, anyway.â&#x20AC;? Fairbrother said she sometimes marvels at all the changes in her former community since her childhood in the late 1920s and early 30s. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It sure is different today,â&#x20AC;? Fairbrother said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I was thinking about that the other day. (Cattle) go by truck to town now. You see these big trucks.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;So many things are,â&#x20AC;? Fairbrother added. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When you get to be 96 years old, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a lot of things that are different.â&#x20AC;?

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Monumental hallmark Kim Fundingsland/MDN

Northeast of Velva, near the ghost town of Verendrye and not far from tiny Karlsruhe, is a seldom visited but impressive granite monument. It was dedicated on July 17, 1925, to honor David Thompson.

Thompson was born in England, came to the United States at age 14 and became one of history’s most accomplished explorers and mapmakers. He was employed by the Northwest Fur Company on a surveying and mapmaking expedition when he was in the area of the monument in late 1797. He is credited with making the first map of the region. Thompson’s 1814 map covering Lake Superior to the Pacific Ocean was used for 100 years. He died in near obscurity in Montreal, Canada in 1857 at age 87.

Hometown 2020 • MinotDailyNews.com

Staff Writer ajohnson@minotdailynews.com

he Minot Symphony Orchestra, which is celebrating its 95th season this year, is a jewel in Minotâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s crown. The symphony got its start in 1914 when Blaine Allen formed a small group of around a dozen musicians, from the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, into a traveling ensemble, according to information provided by executive director Ellen Fenner.

Fenner said the group traveled to Minot by train to put on concerts with some of the local citizens. â&#x20AC;&#x153;On one of his train rides in 1915, Allen met an immigrant Italian violinist named Arturo Petrucci, who was living in Mohall. Allen saw in Petrucci the perfect leader for the musicians while traveling around the Minot area. Petrucci moved to Minot, and the seeds of the Minot Symphony Orchestra were planted. â&#x20AC;&#x153;With the local orchestra making a name for itself in the area, the idea of educating more people in the musical arts was on the minds of those at the Normal School, and they decided to start an orchestra program in their

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Minot symphony celebrates its 95th season this year

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developing music department. The college orchestra was started in 1923, under the direction of Harry Bland. Music and culture was important to the students at the Normal School, as well as to the people of Minot. “In 1925 Bland left what had been renamed as Minot State Teachers College, and for the next year the orchestra was conducted by the head of music, Jean Gilbert Jones. In 1926, the college hired Petrucci to be the conductor of bands and orchestra. The hiring of Petrucci created the strong tie between the Minot Symphony Orchestra and the college. Every conductor has been employed as a professor at Minot State, and it is this stable employment that allows the MSO to attract such capable conductors.” Fenner said for many years Minot was the smallest city in the United States that had its own symphony. Now it is one of a handful of smaller cities across the country with its own symphonies.

Grand Forks, Bismarck and Fargo all have its symphony orchestras as well, but Fenner said she has been told Minot’s is the best. Fenner thinks the symphony is so good because of its connection with Minot State University. “It’s a really unique collaboration,” said Fenner, adding only three other cities have a similar connection with a university. In the Minot symphony orchestra, music majors get to sit alongside and play with their professors. The current conductor is Efrain Amaya, who is on the music faculty at Minot State. Performances have typically been packed during the season. This year there will be many adjustments such as social distancing and required masks during orchestra performances due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic but people will still get to enjoy the season. Last year there were typically 70 to 75 musicians per performance in Minot State University’s Ann Nicole Nel-

son Hall and about 725 people in the audience in a hall that holds 955. There were more than 350 season ticket holders. The holiday concert, which also often features a chamber chorale, has been sold out during the last five or six years. Fenner said her daughter, Miranda Fenner, went to a children’s concert put on by the symphony when she was a fifth grader. Miranda later attended Minot State University, majored in music and played in the symphony herself. She is now a music teacher in the Des Lacs-Burlington School District and took her students to a symphony performance. Other symphony members have similar full circle stories. “We have musicians that have met in symphony and married and now have children who played in the symphony,” said Ellen Fenner.

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Fred & Sheri Lien

MinotDailyNews.com • Hometown 2020

Our focus, your success Through economic ups and downs, FIBT is committed to the continued success of our area’s small businesses. Our business banking professionals are always available to answer your questions and provide solutions for any challenge or situation. It’s good to know you have someone in your corner. Give us a call today, let’s get started.

John Drady Central Market President (701) 837-2208

Stacey Diehl SVP, Lending (701) 837-2206

Kevin Vigested VP, Arrowhead Br Mgr (701) 837-2209

Brock DesLauriers VP, North Hill Br Mgr (701) 837-2237

Mathew Jensen VP, Lending (701) 837-2267

Preston Phillips VP, Commercial Lending (701) 837-2221

Michael Larson VP, Ag Lending (701) 837-2262

Karleen Houle AVP/Central Market Retail Supervisor (701) 837-2011

Perry Olson AVP, Business Development (701) 837-2210

Karla Paurus Treasury Management (701) 837-2230

Joshua Wheeler AVP, Commercial Lending (701) 837-2242

Kyle Stephens AVP, Commercial Lending (701) 837-2256

3 Convenient Minot Locations

Arrowhead 150 16th St SW (701) 839-2170

Hometown 2020 • MinotDailyNews.com

Broadway 1600 S Broadway (701) 837-1600

North Hill 2150 21st Ave NW (701) 837-2050

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