BURKE COUNTY FAIR HOSTS FREE MAIN EVENT

By Erica Kingston

The small town of Flaxton, N.D., is gearing up for a fun-filled weekend as their annual county fair line-up kicks off this week.

The Burke County fair board has been hard at work planning this year’s fair that starts on Thursday and runs through the weekend. The main events of bull riding and live music are being offered free of charge.

“These will be free,” explained Nate Schneider of the fair board. “We are trying to bring people to Burke County.”

Badlands Professional Bull Riders are bringing over 30 riders for the Duel in the Dirt at the Burke

County fairgrounds at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday. Slamabama out of Fargo, N.D. will perform a concert right after. Food vendors and beer gardens will be on site.

An array of bounce houses will be available Friday-Sunday with the option of purchasing a day or weekend wristband for the kids to participate. The petting zoo will be open from 12-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Burke County 4-H families will be showcasing their work throughout the fair with exhibit judging starting Thursday. The horse show and pet/small animal show is Friday with the large animals being shown on Saturday. The sale will be at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

Other events include a dodgeball tournament sponsored by Farmers Union of Burke County, karaoke, a free lunch on Saturday sponsored by Northwest Communications Co-op, a crafters and bakers market, bingo and mini golf.

Northern Edge Saddle Club is hosting the youth ranch rodeo on Sunday at 10 a.m. for all ages of kids on foot and horseback.

The Burke County fairgrounds are located one mile north of Flaxton, N.D. So take the family for a weekend of great entertainmen.

BOOK REVIEW: The Rose Code by Kate Quinn

Reviewed by McKenna Walter. Genre: Historical Fiction; New Adult

I’m a historical fiction nut, especially around the World Wars. There’s a lot of pain associated with the World Wars but also great bravery and heroism that just make World War stories so compelling. Kate Quinn is quickly becoming one of my favorite historical fiction writers and The Rose Code is definitely part of the reason. I’ve read two books by her now and they were both just amazing. I could gush on and on about them both. I actually have a third book by her waiting on my shelf for when I just need my history fix.

In 1940, as England prepares to fight the Nazis, everyone is doing their part. For three very different girls, their part is answering the mysterious summons from Bletchley Park where brilliant minds broke German military codes. Beautiful, wealthy debutante, Osla has everything, even the young Prince Philip’s heart it seems. But everything isn’t enough, she wants a purpose, to be able to help. She puts her fluency in German to work at Bletchley as a translator of decoded enemy secrets.

Mab has lived in poverty her whole life but at Bletchley, she’s the queen and puts her skills to work on the legendary code-breaking machines.

Billeted together, Mab and Osla are quick to see the potential in the daughter of who they’re billeted with.

Beth is a shy spinster but her shyness just conceals her brilliant ability with puzzles.

Soon, Beth is spreading her wings as one of the Park’s few female cryptanalysts.

In 1947, war, loss, and the pressure of secrecy has torn the three girls apart. As they try to pick up the pieces of their lives, Beth, Mab, and Osla are yanked back to their time at Bletchley Park by encrypted messages that bring them back to their time at Bletchley Park. When the encrypted messages also spell out the story of a mysterious traitor, the girls must return to the long-ago betrayal that destroyed their friendship and sent one to the asylum to uncover the truth.

This book was filled with so many great and uniquely different characters. There was no cookie-cutting the girls and it filled it with so much realisticness. Mab is probably my favorite. She’s such a strong, no nonsense character right from the start. But her story of love, heart break, and the way it changes her is just so well-written.

Osla also goes through quite a bit of struggle with her relationship but she struggles more with her identity. She’s sick of being known as a silly or stupid debutante and despite all that she’s done and continues to do, she’s still called that. She struggles the same as the other girls but I think her struggles were less difficult. I’m not trying to take away from her struggle, though. It’s just a different kind of struggle from the other two. Osla’s biggest struggle is probably when her and Mab’s friendship broke apart. She also struggled with her relationship with Prince Philip.

Beth had the most growth out of the girls. She started off as shy, not stepping out of line, etc. But then she takes the job at Bletchley Park and stops letting her mother belittle her. She even starts a relationship. She becomes a strong, determined character. You could call her obsessed with the way she has to break all the codes. Her downfall and then having to rebuild herself is great, too.