BOTTINEAU
Beautifying Bottineau By ANDREA JOHNSON
Staff Writer ajohnson@minotdailynews.com
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ppropriately enough for a town located in the Turtle Mountains, downtown Bottineau is filled with images of turtles. Much of it is thanks to the work of an army of volunteers working with the City of Bottineau’s Beautification Committee. Just last May, stepping stones in the shape of turtle were installed in a gravel courtyard area in the downtown on the east side of Marie’s Restaurant. The stepping stones came from a company in Boissevain, Man. Getting them across the border at a time when U.S.-Canadian border was closed to all but essential travel took a bit of work, said Penny Nostdahl, the city auditor. Daryl Fisher at Paterson Grain agreed to pick up the turtle stepping stones in Canada and bring them across the border. Essential business travelers were permitted to cross the border this spring. In the courtyard are planters made from concrete slabs that are marked with handprints and signatures of groups that performed at the Rockin’ the Hills concerts that were held at one time in the area. The Beautification Committee will probably call the “pocket park” “The Rockin’ Park.”
Photos by Andrea Johnson/MDN
TOP: Volunteers work on painting a mural in Bottineau in June. ABOVE: Whitney Gonitzke, executive director of the Bottineau Economic Development Corporation, and Penny Nostdahl, Bottineau city auditor, pose beside planters made out of concrete slabs that were signed by groups that performed at the Rockin’ the Hills concerts.
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