Birthday party for Winifred Eurich and Dorothy Pritchard – Posted by Jean Eurich Roland (80): 

Good morning and a belated Christmas greeting to you and your family! The Season this year is reminiscent of Christmas’ years ago…the snow fall that is!  In Minot we received another 5 inches last night. I’m not sure what our season accumulation is so far but the snow banks along my driveway are higher than my car and I had snow banks as high removed earlier this month!

I thought I might use the Dunseith Alumni blog to make an announcement. My sisters (Eileen Nelson, Mary Knutson, Sharon Hanson and Dorothy Strietzel) and I are hosting a birthday party/card shower for our Mom, Winifired Eurich, and our aunt, Dorothy Pritchard, on Sunday, January 4, 2009.  In January Mom will be 90 and Aunt Dorothy will be 96 – both are residents of St. Andrew’s Health Center Long Term Care in Bottineau.  We’ll serve cake and coffee from 2-4; for those who can’t make it, cards may be sent to them at 316 Ohmer Street, Bottineau, ND  58318.

Thanks so much and Happy New Year!

Regards – Jean (Eurich) Roland

Jean, It’s so wonderful that you gals are having a birthday party for your mother and Dorothy. They are both great ladies and are well known in the Dunseith/Bottineau communities. I visited Dorothy when we were back in 2007 and I last saw your mother at my mother’s funeral in July of 2004. They are sharp ladies.  Gary

Reply from Vickie Hiatt LaFontaine (73): 

I loved the little poem about North Dakota, I remember the looks on my girls faces the first time I told them ” you know its really cold when your nose sticks together when you take a breath ” Its amazing they are all grown up and I still get that look when I say somethings go figure.  I enjoy the stories of gamble store.  I worked in the store when dad owned it and what a sales person I was, just ask David Fugure.  He came one evening for a case of shells and I was going to sell him the box which he explained to me was 12 cases. Thank God he was honest our I’m sure Norman Hiatt would of had a heart attack. Another time I was left to do the weekly ordering and I orderes 100 of potting soil.  Well guess what I ordered 1oo cases not 100 bags, Well I didnt get fired but I did make him laugh and swear at the same time.  I hope all of you have a wonderful New Year Vickie Hiatt LaFontaine

From Sybil Johnson: 

HAPPY NEW YEAR, to all you from North Dakota. This pictures were fabulous. For all those who lost loved ones this year, I send my condolences. I must

say, I don’t miss your winters. The winters down here in Wyoming are enough for me. Keep warm and safe.

Sybil Johnson

Reply from Bill Hosmer (48):

GARY,  YOU BROKE THE CODE ON THE CONFUSION OF WHICH YEAR. IT WAS BOTH, OF COURSE.  MAYBE THERE IS A WAY TO MAKE THAT CLEAR, ALTHOUGH THE INTEREST IN THE MATTER IS ALWAYS FLATTERING.  THANKS FOR A BLOG WITH REAL INTEGRITY.  BILL HOSMER

Reply from Gary Morgan (54): 

Gary and All,
Dick Johnson was right when he said it really doesn’t matter what year The Thunderbirds buzzed Dunseith.  It was a wonderful gesture and will forever be a part of Dunseith lore.  I think they did appear in Minot in 1961 and that was probably Bill’s only point of reference.  I figure anyone who has flown 240 combat flights is entitled.
According to Google, the Cuban Missle Crisis was in 1962 but later in the fall.
We hope to get out of here today to spend at least three months in Mesquite, NV but we got dumped on again last night and travel is questionable.  For sure I’m going to have to blow out my driveway before I can go anywhere.  That will be the ninth time this winter.  Anyway, I think my internet goes down tomorrow so I’ll probably be out of touch for awhile but keep those emails coming, Gary.
Hoping you all have a prosperous and healthful 2009!

Gary Morgan

Follow up reply from Gary Morgan:

Gary & All,

One last side note while I’m snowbound on the banks of Lake Sakakawea…..when I was looking for that article on the Thunderbirds, I needed help to make a copy from the microfilm.  The fellow from the State Library expressed surprise that there wasn’t more of a write up for such a momentous event.  He wasn’t aware, of course, that at least at that time, if Dunseith was to get any recognition for anything, it certainly wasn’t going to be from the Rolla paper.

Gary Morgan

Gary, All three local papers gave us great support with our 2007 reunion, however, I have to agree with you for their lack of Dunseith coverage back in the 60′s. Something as significant as the famous Thunderbirds buzzing Dunseith should have been big front page head lines, with or without pictures. I’m sure some folks must have had a few pictures that could have been published.  I’m surprised that the Minot daily didn’t pick it up either. In today’s environment, I’m sure this event would have been front page news in all of the papers.  For the 40′s & 60′s to present ‘ Turtle Mountain Stars’  are published on the WEB.  I was very surprised when I could not find anything at all in the achieved papers about this event other than what was mentioned in the Dunseith News section submitted by Marlene Armentrout. Gary

The following are replies to the Getzlaff Photo posted in Blog (286) on 11/18/08 by Neola Kofoid Garbe: 

Identities for the Getzlaff photo from Marsha Getzlaff Bakken (74): 

Hi,

Sorry it has taken me so long.  Row 1 siting:  left to right

Marilyn, Marlis, Cora Delvina, Row 2 (dad) Darrell, Grandma Lillian, Grandpa Walter, Alvin Row 3: Darwin, Myron, Gloria, Norman, Virgil

I will send more information later just wanted to get this to you.

Thanks Marsha (Getzlaff) Bakken

Reply from Ron Link (58): 

Gary: If my memory serves me right I believe the 1st man in the middle row is Darrel Getzlaff. I can remember his face but sometimes the name is not quite as easy to recall. RON LINK-1958

Reply from Bobby Slyter (70): 

Reply from Dick Johnson (70): djcars@srt.com

Gary,

The guy on the left in the middle row is Darrel Getzlaff. He has been a
‘fixture’ at Dale’s since the 50s. He still drives the bulk truck  and
delivers fuel. Of the gals, I only knew Gloria. One of the bearded guys
was in Dunseith for a while in the mid 60s and I only knew him by the
nickname, ‘Sonny’. I don’t know if he is Mike, who works for the
Bottineau Courant, or if it is the other guy with the beard. Someone has
to know–out of your 600+ readers! Thanks Gary!

Dick

Reply from LeaRae Parrill Espe (67): 

Getzlaff family picture:  I can identify some of them.  Back row-Darwin, Mike (Turk), Gloria Hagen, Norman.  Center Row-Darrell, Lillian, Walter.  Front Row:  I don’t believe I know any of these sisters.

Darrell worked at Dale’s Truck Stop for years.  All of his kids attended DHS.  Marsha, Lester, and Arlinda are three of his children and I believe I am missing some (Kevin?). (Sorry I can’t think of the others right off hand-someone help me out!) Arlinda is married to Allan Suchan and they live near Botno.

Darwin died of a sudden heart attack when he was very young.  His wife Phyllis (Jenson )babysat for my oldest son Brady.  Their son Curt was the Brady’s hockey coach for several years.  Curt lives just a couple miles east of Bottineau on Hwy 5 and has his John Deere repair business there.

Turk or Mike was the editor of the Bottineau Courant for a number of years.  He was also the main one to cover the sports.  I think he retired for that job around five years ago.

Norman now lives on the town line North a Botno.  He is married to Phyllis’ sister Margaret (Jenson).  They were one of the first places on the right side at the crest of the first hill as one heads North. They have it lookin’ good with all the trees and the landscaping they have done.

I believe most of the hillbillies know Gloria (Mrs. Orville Hagen).  She passed away from colon cancer about three years ago.  Her daugher Kristie Brooks now teaches in Bottineau.  I got to know Gloria when she was an aide at Bottineau School.  She worked at San Haven for many years prior to that.

Someone else will have to identify the other sisters.

Identities provided by  Marsha (Getzlaff) Bakken:
Row 3: Darwin, Myron, Gloria, Norman, Virgil
Row 2: (dad) Darrell, Grandma Lillian, Grandpa Walter, Alvin
Row 1: siting:  Marilyn, Marlis, Cora, Delvina

Thunderbirds buzz Dunseith in July 1962 – posted by Gary Morgan (54): 

Gary & All,

     Please note the first item in the attached copy of the July 26, 1962 issue of the Turtle Mountain Star.

     Enough said.

Gary Morgan

From Dick Johnson (68): 

Gary and Friends,

Last evening at a restaurant in Bottineau, I had a chance to visit with
Ann Carbonneau O’Connell and during our reminiscing I mentioned having a
couple school pictures of her mother, Carol Watkins Carbonneau. These
are from the early 40′s when she was a classmate of my mom, Bernice
Olson Johnson. I’m sending the originals to Ann but would like to post
them for others to see as well. She sure was a cutie! Thanks Gary!

Dick

Dick, Ann Caronneau O’Connell is on our distribution list and she shares these daily messages with her mother Carol.

Carol, this is a beautiful picture of you. You were a very pretty girl and are a beautiful lady today. I’ll bet Emery was the envy of the town courting you.  With the several conversations I have had with you, you are equally beautiful on the inside.  You are so friendly with such a sharp mind.  You have excellent recall of the past too.  Gary

Reply from Diane Larson Sjol (70): 

To Bob Lykins and all,
Bob, I am very jealous that you are in Germany right now, especially
over Christmas….Some of my most wonderful Christmases were spent in
Deutschland when my dad was stationed there.  It seems as if Germany
is transformed during the holidays or maybe it was just because I was
a kid…..but when I smell an evergreen tree, it takes me back to the
sleepy little village close to the post where we were stationed.  I
spent a couple of Christmases there in my early twenties and even
though I was away from family, they were very majical.  One of these
days, I would like to experience that again….so enjoy the snow and
to make you feel better, we are shoveling snow in ND too….it is
snowing again tonight and my husband just groaned when he saw it; took
three motrin and went upstairs with the heating pad…he is so sick of
shoveling…
Oh, when I was a kid in about the sixth grade, we used to play in the
old German bunkers (we were stationed in Wildflecken) and found all
kinds of things in there….old shells etc.

Reply from Dick Johnson (68):

Gary and Friends,

Thanks again for Bob Lykin’s personal insight from his travels to WWII
battle sights. This may not be as interesting to some of the readers as
it is to me, but it ranks high in my interest. The caves on Mt.
Suribachi, on the island of Iwo Jima were said to be linked throughout
the inside of the mountain by tunnels. My father-in-law, Trygve Knutson,
said the ships and planes bombed and shelled the Island until they
thought nothing could survive. The invasion forces said the sand was
actually hot from the continuous shelling. They tried to use shell holes
for cover but the sand was nearly too hot to lay against. After all
that, there were still thousands of Japanese soldiers unharmed in the
tunnels and caves. My old buddy, Carroll Carlson, believed the war could
have ended sooner but the Japanese would not surrender because we
demanded an ‘unconditional’ surrender. He said they thought the US may
make them slaves or worse. They supposedly indoctrinated the Japanese
people to believe the US was totally bloodthirsty and would reign over
them without pity. This may have made it plausible for the willingness
of the Kamikaze pilots to die without regret. At any rate, it certainly
gave them more reason to fight to the last man. History is full of half
truths and questions of political nature, but for the average man sent
into action it was  real and  vicious no matter what  the government
said. That has been the nature of war since the beginning of time.
Politicians start it and then send other peoples sons to finish it—my
humble opinion. Thanks Gary!

Dick

Reply from Vickie Metcalfe (70): 

Greetings Gary, from the last cold North Dakotan breath of 2008.  I am
sharing my 2009 Years Resolution.
Thank You,  Dick Johnson for sharing about your father-in-law’s WWII
service in the Pacific and Mr. Lykins for  information regarding the
many battle fields,which sound quite familiar from listening to dad’s
and Carroll’s oral histories.   My dad Cliff, spoke of many of the
same places while he was in the Pacific on the USS Hamlin.  He
recalled Tokyo Rose, the Kamakazees, and  men he served with.  He too
watched the flag raising at Iwo Jima…… And, he put soldiers on
many of those places while piloting a PTO boat…….then, with a
grappling hook…..picked up many of those brave soldiers as…
bodies in the unforgiving sea…. memories… which he wrestled with
for years.
Dad also shared the same opinion as Carroll Carlson on General
MacArthur which was definitely not what I read about in any history
book.
Yesterday, I received a Christmas card from the man who served along
side my dad all those years ago.  Dads friend, George, was closer to
him than a brother for the hellish experiences they shared. Our
family never went through Montana unless we stopped to visit George
and Betty Johnson.  His children were honorary cousins for my
siblings and I.  And, all 5 of us hold George in high esteem because
our dad did.
So, my 2009 New Years  resolution  will be to honor dad’s memory by
continuing to reach out to WWII veterans.  God Bless cousin Gary
Metcalfe who’s never given up on honoring the memories of  his
maternal uncles Bing and Ole Evans.
To  each  of you, Dunseith Alumni who listen and acknowledge the
voice of veterans, all the best of 2009!
Vickie
–
Vickie L. Metcalfe

Posted by Gary Stokes

USS Hamlin (AV-15)

Kenneth Whiting Class Seaplane Tender:

• Laid down, at Todd Pacific Shipyards, Inc., Tacoma, WA; Launched, 11 January 1944
• Commissioned USS Hamlin (AV-15), 26 June 1944, CAPT. G. A. McLean in command
• Decommissioned, 18 January 1947 at San Diego, CA
• Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, San Diego, CA.
• Custody transferred to the Maritime Administration, September 1962 for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, Benecia, CA.
• Stuck from the Naval Register, 1 July 1963
• Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 8 March 1962, to National Minerals & Alloys Corp. <LI.Hamlin received three battle stars for service in World War II

Specifications:
Displacement 8,510 t.(lt) 12,610 t.(fl)
Length 492′
Beam 69′ 5″
Draft 22′
Speed 18.7 kts.
Complement 1,077
Armament

two single 5″/38 dual purpose gun mounts

two quad 40mm AA gun mounts

two dual 40mm AA gun mounts

sixteen single 20mm AA gun mounts
Propulsion steam turbine, two boilers, one shaft, 8,500hp.

History of the USS Hamlin (CVE-15)
http://www.historycentral.com/NAVY/MISC/hamlin.html

Letaine Bolen Brandt (Former Teacher) info provided by Neola Kofoid Garbe: 

LETAINE BOLEN  BRANDT, 60, Bottineau, died Tuesday in a Bismarck hospital. Memorial service Wednesday, 2 p.m., Nero Funeral Home, Bottineau.

William/Letaine C. Brandt

815 Fifth St E

Bottineau, ND 58318-1463

(701) 228-5197

Message/Picture from Marge Landsverk Fish (57): 

Merry Christmas from Marge Fish (57)

I was happy to have my kids home for Christmas and their families.

Brad lives in Odenton Md., Brian in Freeport Fl. and

Kim in Waupun Wi.

We have been having an old fashioned N.D. winter so I think they are glad to be back

On the picture Brad and Brian are in back and  I am in front with my daughter Kim Bunkoske.

I live in Horicon Wi.

Thanks for all your hard work Gary and have a Happy New Year and a Great 2009!!

Marge Landsverk Fish Family:
Back: Sons – Brad & Brian
Front: Marge & Daughter Kim

Back: Lola Metcalfe, Patt Metcalfe, Joan La Croix
Bottom: Joann Houle, Corliss Allard, Randi Mongeon

Folks, This is a picture of DwightLang when he was visiting in Russia several years ago. Dwight has a home in Tucson and Lake Metigoshe.  He spends his summers up at Lake Metigoshe.  I know he’s a golfer.  Not sure if he’s made pro status yet though.  That’s something he may still be working on.  I know one thing for sure though, and that is the fact that Dwight has developed excellent computer skills. Gary

             Dwight Lang (61)

Dunseith News provided by Neola Kofoid Garbe:

====================================
Blog (319) posted on December 28, 2008

Season’s greetings to each and everyone of you from our house to yours. Today marks one year of continuous distribution of our daily blog.  You guys have done a wonderful job of keeping this going.  It’s so nice coming from a smaller community where everyone knows or knows of most everyone from the distant past to the present.  All of your contributions are greatly appreciated by most. I and I know a lot of you look forward, each day, to what will be sent in. It’s always so exciting hearing from new folks and folks we have not heard from in a while too. For general info, we currently have 641 folks on our Dunseith email list and growing.

Folks, turn up those speakers and enjoy.

Gary & Bernadette.

Carol Allard Buxbaum’s (65) reply to Gary: 

Patty Boguslawski
Carol Allard 7/12/07

Gary,  My computer is working now, I just don’t get on it enough. I’m on the communion picture, and my brother Larry is too. He is the second from the right, in the second row. Ginger had me right. Dark hair and bangs. I like getting these e-mails Gary. You’re doing a great job. Thanks for the cheery music.  Merry Christmas  and Happy New Year to All!!  Carol Allard

Carol, I have included that Cajun music with today’s message for everyone’s enjoyment while reading this message. Folks turn up your speakers and enjoy. Thank you Neola for providing.

The communion photo of Ginger’s that you referenced was posted with message (312) on 12/18.

I have known both you and Patty Boguslawski Gottbreht for many years, but I never knew you were first cousins until recently. I didn’t know you and Mel Kuhn were first cousins on the other side of your family either.  Gary

Rita Anderson’s reply to everyone’s articles (Former owner of the Gamble store):

I enjoy the articles that you write, they are very interesting and informative. Just want to say that you were right about the Santa Clause. Walter Hiatt and Junior Mellhmer were the Santa Clauses. The suits that they wore belong to us at the Gamble Store, I had made it for our use. We always had a Santa Clause that would pass out candy to whoever was in the store at a certain time. We also used to play records outside over a loud speaker, I am sure you would remember that. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Rita Anderson

Reply from Sharon Longie Dana (73): 

Reply to Gary

Dennis and Dallas LaVallie are brothers but not twins. I don’t know why Dennis isn’t listed. Can someone

tell us.

Sharon Longie Dana(73)

From Janice Leonard Workman (56): 

Gary,

The thing I remember about Christmas in Dunseith is that Carols were playing over a loud speaker, I think at the Gamble Store but you could hear them all over Main Street.  I loved them all but especially “Silver Bells.”  That song always made me sing and I am a horrible singer.  Here is the Auburn area we have about 8 – 10 inches of snow and the temp was at 30 degrees a couple of days.  Lots of activities were canceled and school was closed a couple of days early for the Christmas vacation.  I know those of you in ND and MN are probably laughing and I don’t blame you, because I know there is more snow and it is colder there than here.  But we complain anyway.

So Merry Christmas and Happy of New Years to you all.  Hope to see lots of you in July,

Janice

Janice, Having lived in the Bremerton/Seattle area for nearly 37 years, I am very familiar with the affects of the snow in that area when it snows. The snow in Seattle is very heavy and wet. It packs to ice very quickly causing very slippery roads. The icy roads combined with lots of hills and inexperienced winter drivers makes for some very dangerous driving conditions. The wet snow causes peoples cars to get high centered too.  Then they are really stuck, even with 4WD, chains and studs.  Bremerton currently has a foot of snow, but it’s suppose to melt soon. Gary

Folks, this is a picture of Bernadette with all her siblings that we took last night. Bernadette is the oldest (60), Jose (58), Berlinda (56) & Alot (54).  They are all home for Christmas.  I will say one thing and that is the fact that the relatives and folks in our compound, including our helpers, had an extra special Christmas with Bernadette’s sister, Alot, being here from Japan with all her generosity.  She, like Bernadette, is very generous. Gary

Back: Bernadette & Berlinda (lives next door)
Front: Jose (from Mindanao, PI) & Alot (From Japan)

Picture from Wendy Strietzel (Dorothy Eurich’s (75) Daughter): 

Gary,

I thought you might get a kick out of this.

Wendy Strietzel

                               Spring Break in ND

Greetings form  BETTY LAMOUREUX MALONE BADGETT (49): 

MERRY DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS – AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL.

THANKS, GARY, FOR CREATING THIS!!

BETTY LAMOUREUX MALONE BADGETT

From Bobby Slyter (70): 

GARY; THE PICTURES OF YOU AND BERNADETTE AND HER FAMILY ARE WONDERFUL, I KNOW THAT YOU HAVE BEEN TOLD BEFORE HOW ALL OF US FROM DUNSEITH AND OTHER AREAS APPRECIATE WHAT YOU DO, BUT IT IS ALWAYS WORTH REPEATING YOU ARE APPRECIATED FOR WHAT YOU DO THANKS AGAIN

JUST LITTLE OLE  ME FROM KANSAS

Thank you Bobby for the nice comments. Bernadette has held her age well over the years. Her sister Alot is showing her age more the last few years. When she went to Japan as an entertainer (dancer) in 1988 she had to lie about her age to be eligible to go. She was 34 at the time, but listed her age as 24, with documentation. With those trips to Japan, she met and married her current husband in 1994. In Japan she is and always will be listed as being 10 years younger. She has a wonderful husband that we have met when visiting Japan.  He’s an Electronics Engineer, working for the Sony corporation.  Alot reads, writes and speaks very fluently, 4 languages and Bernadette 3.  Unlike most of the folks in this country, they both speak very fluent English. 80% of these folks know English, but few are fluent. Things are expensive in Japan, but then again, their wages are higher too. Alot told me today that the road tolls from their home in Tokyo, round trip to the air port, 50 miles one way, are $70.  That’s nearly a months wage for many of the folks here in the PI.  Gary

Reply from Bob Lykins (DHS Teacher mid 60′s): 

Indeed, Richard, the Side-Hill Gouger.  One of the least understood and appreciated creatures of our planet.  We are fast approaching that date in Feburary when they gather by the trillions and march around the side of hills causing land and snow slides across our world.  Every so often one will read or hear of a major landslide or snowslide which causes great damage. Most put the causes for such calamities on natural events like heavy rains and snows.  Ugh, ugh, no, no, it’s Side-Hill Gougers on the move.  That is one of the reasons for my frequent visits to Deutschland.  I am studing the mating habits of Gougers in the Bayischer Wald Mountains of Germany. As I recall, I believe we had a Side-Hill Gouger Day celebration at DHS.  I remember one of the Casavant boys tapping a steady beat on a drum as I told the tale of the Gouger.  Didn’t we also do something for St. Urho’s Day?  March 16th?  That’s the Finnish patron saint who drove the grasshoppers out of Finland.  This was very important since it saved the grape crop and allowed the Finns to contnue to produce wine for their favorite national sport of getting “Crocked.”

Dick, you say your father-in-law was at Iwo during the battle.  I flew in there twice on resupply flights and toured the Island.  Even though it was used briefly during the Korean War as a base for a fighter squadron, it remains very much like the day the war ended.  There are some changes.  There is only one airstrip remaining and that is maintained by a small contingent of Japanese Self-Defence Forces.  At the northern edge of the Island, where the last Japanese stand took place, is a small Coast Guard LORAN Station.  There, about 40 CG men spend a year providing communication and navigation services for ships.  That station may be closed by now as satallites and GPS have made such stations obsolete.  Also, the Americans planted heavy vegatation on the Island to cover a lot of the scars from the bombing and shelling.  However, Mt. Surabachi is still barren and I climbed up it’s side.  While most of the Japanese caves have been sealed a few pop open now and then revealing the remains of the Japanse dead.  The Japanese Government used to send a Graves Registration Team to Iwo yearly to register the dead many of whom have been left where they died so as to not disturb their souls.  I happened to be on Iwo when one such cave was discovered.  I was allowed to go in and I took some photos but left everything as it was.  Still, I felt guilty about the photos and I have never shared them with anyone.  Before the invasion, as Iwo was being fortified, the Japanese brought supplies in by huge concrete barges and ships. After they were off-loaded the concrete barges and ships were taken around to the West side of the Island, where the Japanese, at first, thought the invasion forces might land, and sunk as defenses (We invaded from the East side).  Their super structures remained above water. With time and the sea,  sand has filled in between the old shoreline and these ships allowing one to walk out to them to explore.  Before the war there were two Japanese fishing villages located on Iwo.  The people were evacuated and they have never returned. The Island remains virtually unpopulated except for the thousands of dead Japanese soldiers interred in the caves.  If your father-in-law were to stand on the deck of his ship and look upon Iwo today, he would see the same Island he remembered (Minus the shelling and landings).  It remains a very sad but peaceful place whose quiet is only broken by the sounds of birds and the waves washing on to shore..

Bob

Reply from Neola Kofoid Garbe: 

Loved the picture of you/Bernadette and the one of Bernadette/her siblings.  There is definitely a family resemblance!  Bottineau had music playing “in the old days”, too.  I, too, really enjoyed it.  It made Christmas special. “Silver Bells” was/is one of my very favorite Christmas songs, too.  I also agree with what Dick said a few days ago–it’s wonderful to have the Christmas tree back on Main Street in Bottineau–where it belongs!  They have signs now that say, “No Left Turn”.  Making left turns either in front of, or going around the tree and turning left, used to make it interesting/fun.

Neola

Reply from Floyd Dion (45):

Gary

In reply to Dick Johnson’s message of world war 2 about the battle of Leyte Gulf , he ask if there were anything from world war 2 still around. I was at Leyte Gulf in August 1945 and I did not see anything around in the water, but could not say anything about the land, we were only on the beach for a beer or two. From there we went to Guam and I did see things poking out of the water, maybe landing crafts, and don’t remember what all , its been 63 years. then off to Sasebo, Japan for the occupation of Japan.

I was in the US Navy on a Liberty supply ship, which was torpedoed 400 miles from Sydney Austraila( I was not on the ship when it happened) it had 18,154 bales of wool going to San Francisco when a Japanese submarine sent one torpedo and blew a hole in the aft end , thinking it would sink left , but it did not sink and was towed to

Sydney for repairs.

If you want to see a picture of the ship and the hole in the side go to your search engine and type in

awm.gov.au  then click on australian war memorials, then on the right side under quick links click search our collections, then in search terms type in Peter H. Burnett and search. It will give you a picture of the ship and the hole in it.

Floyd Dion

Floyd & Dick, You guys realize that the gulf of Leyte off the island of Leyte is only about 50 miles from our home here in Cebu. One of these days we will have to take a trip over there. The island of Leyte is located to the east of us.

Floyd, I’ve pasted pictures with some info of the ‘Peter H Burnett’ below.

        American cargo vessel Peter H Burnett – 22 January 1943


Peter H Burnett:

From Dick Johnson (68): 

Gary and Friends

The ship my father in law spent his days on in WWII was the ‘Samuel S.
Miles’. It was designated DE 183 and was a destroyer escort. He told me
this information Christmas Day. His brother Gilmore Knutson was one of
the crew who was lost in the sinking of the submarine ‘USS Trout’, sunk
by the Japanese in late 1943. He told of an attack on the Samuel S.
Miles by a kamikaze while they were underway with the fleet. The pilot
was a novice and couldn’t get a direct hit but managed to slide across
the deck and over the side. His bomb exploded when he hit the water and
it left a 6′ hole in the side of the ship. They were able to keep from
capsizing by filling the compartments on the other side of the ship with
seawater. When the ship leveled off, the deck was only 3 to 4 feet above
the water. The fleet was heading into battle and had to abandon the
Miles at sea. He said they headed back to Hawaii by themselves through
Jap infested water, traveling on one screw (propeller) at about 4-5
knots. Men were stationed all around the deck with any kind of rifle or
hand gun available and would open fire on anything that looked
suspicious in the water. He said they picked up a sonar sounding on a
sub and when it didn’t respond they dumped all the depth charges and
anything else they had and barely cleared the explosions because they
were so slow. He said our planes found an oil slick the next day and the
crew was given credit for destroying a large Jap sub. This was
determined by the size of the oil slick as the smaller ones didn’t have
that much oil/ fuel on board. He also said that after weeks they finally
made it to Hawaii and he was never so relieved in his life, all the way
thinking he would never make it. He said when he was to be discharged in
San Diego, as he came down the gangplank, there was a reenlistment table
and if you signed up they gave you a hand full of money and a week off.
When the guy said,” How about you sailor”? my father in law gave him the
old one finger salute and headed for home! Again this is his story and
I’m just repeating it as he told it to me. Thanks Gary!

Dick

Dick, I’ve posted what I found for the USS Samuel S. Miles below, Gary

USS Samuel S. Miles (DE-183)

Operational and Building Data

Laid down by Federal Shipbuilding, Port Newark NJ on 5 July 1943
Launched 3 October 1943, Commissioned 4 November 1943
Decommissioned 28 March 1946, Stricken 26 September 195

Fate: Transferred to France 12 August 1950, renamed Arabe (F-717), stricken and broken up in 1968

http://www.desausa.org/images/uss_samuel_s_miles.htm

On 3 October 1944, Japanese submarine I-177 was sunk by DE 183 North West of Palau, 07 d. 48′ N, 133 d. 28′ E.  Many sources show that on  3 October 1944 USS SAMUEL S. MILES DE 183 sank Japanese submarine I-364 in the Palau Islands.  This is incorrect.  As stated above, on this date DE 183 sank I-177.  This information has been verified by official USN and Japanese Imperial Navy documents and by Charles R. Markham, DE 183 crewmember.

At the time I-177 was sunk by my ship, DE 183, the Submarine was under the Command of Lt. Cmdr. Masaki Watanabe.  Capt. Kanji Matsumura, the Commander of SubDiv 34, was also aboard.  Capt. Matsumura was a high ranking Officer in the Japanese “Kaiten” Program.

Charles R. Markham

Reply to Albert LaVallie’s passing from Susan Malaterre Johnson (69): 

Hi again,  Albert is a brother to Andew, Beverly, Dallas, Leo, and Dennis.  I believe that he has other sib’s.  He married Ramona Theifault.  Susan

Susan, I did not realize Albert was Ramona’s husband. I have spoken with Ramona, numerous times, putting all these high school class lists together.  She is such a nice person and has always been very helpful with the many questions that I’ve asked of her locating people.  Her job is quite demanding, but she has always taken time to entertain my questions.  Gary

Ramona, I am so sorry to hear of the passing of your husband Albert.  When calling you, I spoke with him several times, when you were out of town. Our thoughts and prayers are with you at this time.

For folks info, I have pasted your contact info above.  Gary

Reply from Sharon Longie Dana (73):

Reply about Albert LaVallie: If its the Albert I know he is a brother to Dennis and Dallas and Leo LaVallie, his nickname was Swede, growing up. Joyce Nadeau Morin is his neice.

If I have the right one that is. I know someone back home will know for sure.

Sharon Longie Dana(73)

Passing of (Cleo) Letaine Bolen Brandt (former teacher) from LeaRae Parrill Espe (67): 

We were saddened to learn of the passing of C. (Cleo) Letaine Bolen Brandt, a former English teacher and coach in Dunseith, Bottineau, and Belcourt.  She passed away at Med Center One in Bismarck today, Tuesday.  After receiving a kidney transplant earlier this year, she developed an infection and later suffered several heart attacks.  She was too weak to operate on the heart and has been in very grave condition for a couple of months.   We have no word on the funeral arrangements.  Her brother has been with her through most of this critical time.  She leaves behind one daughter, Brittany, who is currently a student at Minot State.

Reply from Don Lamoureux (75): 

Gary:

Reading Bonnie Awalt’s recollection of getting the bag of candy from Santa reminded me of a time I also went to the city hall to stand in line.  I remember being just old enough to “believe”, but was at the point of having doubts about Santa.  I was walking in with my mom. and looking up at the roof to try to spot Santa’s Sleigh and Reindeer.  I couldn’t figure out how Santa could get there without them.  Anyway, my mom put me in line, and I was in back of a couple of older kids.  The two older kids got to the front of the line, and I was right behind them.  Santa took a little while to really just sit there and stare them down. Then he asked them the ultimate question:  Do you believe in Santa Claus?  Their answer was yes.  Santa’s immediate response was: “You ain’t sh-tten me, are ya?”  “Nope”.  They each got a bag of candy.  Thank God I wasn’t tested, but I chuckle every holiday season as I remember that 10 seconds in Dunseith as a kid.  Wish I knew who Santa was.  Merry Christmas.

Don Lamoureux(75)

Reply from Patti Metcalfe Woods (67): 

Dear Gary and Bernadette,

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and congratulations on your recent wedding anniversary!

I have to add to my brother Gary Metcalfes initiation into Dunseith High School.

We had attended school at the country school “Hilltop” before going to school in Dunseith.

I remember the high heels.  Seems I also remember that he had to put umpteen braids in his hair tied with bones.

Yes, he had to pull Lois in a red wagon all the way out to DALES….

Now for a little girl seeing her brother in such attire, made me wonder what in the world this new school was all about.

Twelve years later I graduated with the class of 67. Everyone likes to think their class was the best……..

Patti

Sharron Gottbreht Shen’s (59) reply to Gary Metcalfe’s Question: 

I will search today for my treasures regarding Herman Boucher. First hand info might best be had from Barb Rivard of Dunseith. Sharron

Sharron & Gary, I have pasted Barbara Rivard’s phone and address below.  Barbara is married to Robert Rivard and they live up in the Beaver Dam area near the Art Rude farm.  Gary

Barbara A Rivard
2486 102nd St
Dunseith, ND 58329-9414
Household: Robert J Rivard

From Ele Dietrich Slyter (69): 

Perhaps memory isn’t the right word to use for this one, but it certainly touched my heart and brought Christmas home in an instant and will always be a memory of Christmas for me from now on.

I was working a few nights ago when a man ordered 3 large hot chocolates.  “And be sure to give me the good, premium ones, not those made with water, I don’t care if they cost more or not.  I just saw a car accident down the street, everyone is fine, but it is so cold out here that I thought they could do with a bit of warming up, so I am going to take the hot chocolates to them.  Thank you and Merry Christmas.”

I do not know where this man was from, or anything about him, but he has made Christmas a little more special for me this year and in the years to come.  I thanked him for the order and also told how special I thought he was to do such a nice thing.  May all of us do something nice for someone this Christmas, especially for someone we do not know, Even something as small as a smile and a Merry Christmas greeting can brighten someone’s day.

Wonder if he was Santa in disguise or better yet one of our own Dunseith alumni?

Ele, I’m assuming you are still taking McDonald orders from folks around the nation.  Little do these out of state folks realize they are talking to you in ND and up in the Turtle Mountains, when calling in their order.  Do you have specific areas of the nation that you work, taking orders from?  Gary

Reply from Bill Grimme (65): 

Folks, Bill Grimme has listed the ships that he served on while in the Navy. What he did not mention is that the Navy’s elite nuclear program paved the way for a very successful career for him both with his 10 years in the navy and with nearly 30 years working for the General Electric company.  He retired from GE’s executive ranks in September of 2007.  Bill told me that GE has been offering to hire him back and of coarse with a substantial salary increase, but Bill said he is enjoying his retirement way to much to go back to work.

Gary,

The notes today about the battleships got me thinking about some of my old “homes” so I thought I would share them with you. I was on USS Henderson for a year, the USS Omaha for two years, and the USS Alexander Hamilton for three years. Fond memories of all three. Here is some info on them:

Bill, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, my former shipyard, has the only Submarine recycling facility for the whole US Navy. At one point we had a graveyard fleet of over 100 decommissioned nuclear submarines waiting to be cut up for scrap. The Navy has a very regulated program for the disposal of the nuclear reactors from these decommissioned submarines.

I found this for the USS Omaha “USS OMAHA was the fifth LOS ANGELES-class attack submarine. Decommissioned and stricken from the Navy list on October 5, 1995, the submarine is now berthed at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Wash., awaiting scrapping.”

I was involved with the Nuclear Refueling Overhaul of the USS Alexander Hamilton when she came to our yard, from the east coast, in 1986. I was again involved with her recycling in 1993.  At the time I did not know you had been on this boat.  I’m assuming that you were one of the Reactor Plant Operators when you served on both of these submarines. Gary

Posted by Gary Stokes:

John Frykman, This is your old boat, the USS Turner Joy.  She is now on display at the Museum in Bremerton, WA.

Folks, I know many of you probably know John Frykman from Bottineau.  His family owned the Frykman Ford dealership and garage in Bottineau for many decades.  John has been on our distribution list for a few months now.  Bill Grimme and John were room mates when they attended UND. Back to John and the USS Turner Joy. Right after the Turner Joy was put on display for the public in Bremerton, John gave my dad the specific location of his bunk when he was stationed on the ship.  When dad visited us in Bremerton, he and I located Johnny’s bunk.  That was a highlight of my dads trip.  For those of you that knew my dad, you know he was thrilled to report back to Johnny that he had located his bunk and of coarse with a few added joking comments.

USS TURNER JOY (DD-951)

Welcome to the USS Turner Joy (DD-951) Naval Destroyer Museum Ship, moored in Bremerton, Washington.

The destroyer USS Turner Joy was the last Forrest Sherman-class destroyer built. While some of these ships were later converted to guided missile destroyers, Turner Joy remains close to her original 1959 configuration. The destroyer has been restored to reflect the appearance during her active years between 1960 and 1982.

Note: For those of you that served in the Navy on ships, please let us know the ship you served on so we can look it up. Most every US naval ship is listed with it’s history and pictures on the NET.  Gary

Albert LaVallie’s passing posted by Susan Malaterre Johnson (69):

Hi Gary and All, Just to let you know that Albert Lavallie passed away today.  Susan Johnson

Susan, We are so sorry to hear of Albert’s Passing.  Can you fill us in with a bit of Albert’s history and who he is related to?  Thanks,  Gary

From Bonnie Awalt Houle (56): 

Dear Gary,

Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones, may the Good Lord Bless and Keep you.

I remember Christmas in Dunseith when I was a kid, one memory that comes to mind is the Christmas Tree that was decorated in the center of main street.  It was where the Bank, Stone Garage, Movie Theater and LaCroix’s Liquor store guarding the tree on each corner.  The Tree was HUGE.  The community business men contributed so a Santa could pass out bags of candy to every child.   One year as it was my turn to get my bag of candy Santa reached down and picked me up placing me on his lap.  I was really scared until he started to laugh and I said, “You aren’t Santa, you are Mr. Hiatt!”  That ended my belief in Santa. Walter Hiatt had such a great chuckle, but he tried to convince me that it was Santa, but I knew his laugh.  Every year something new was added to the Christmas celebration.  For a small town they had marvelous Christmas’s.  One year Arnold Lilleby had a free matinee for all the children.  Another year Santa came in on a hay rack pulled by a team of horses.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE AND KEEP THOSE MEMORIES COMING!

Bonnie Awalt Houle 1956

Reply from Gary Metcalfe (57): 

Message from Bev Morinville Azure (72): 

Reply from Diane Larson Sjol (70): 

Hello everyone,
I have been so busy with the end of the semester and working a little
at the hospital.  I was in the mall today and ran into two former
patients whose babies I had the pleasure of assisting into the
world…One was 9 years old and the twins were 8 years old…time does
certainly fly!  It is bitter cold here but not as windy today as it
was yesterday.  Old man winter hit us hard but the snow is a beautiful
sight.  It was so pretty on Friday when I worked at the
hospital..looking out the window you felt as if you were in a snow
globe with glitter all around….then outside to get in my car and
forget it!!!! It was miserable….so I will just stay inside where it
is toasty warm and look at my pretty Christmas tree, wrap presents,
write my cards and bake a little.

I don’t know what I did to deserve all the praise cousin Bill Hosmer
gave me, but thank you very much.  It is often hard for us to realize
how different healthcare systems are around the world.  I went to
Reynosa Mexico as a senior nursing student with a group from United
Campus Ministries at MSU in Minot, and we went to assess and choose 50
children for a nutritional program.  Other non nursing students from
the college held a bible school for the kids…we were there for 10
days living in a Presbyterian compound run by a young American
man….to get to the point,,, we ended up assessing 80 kids and took
them all…we dug ditches and put in a purified water system…painted
their building..assessed these kids with a stethoscope and a box of
gloves…gave them tshirts for diapers, etc.  we were humbled and
learned alot from them….Because they were so poor and couldn’t
afford a birth certificate when they were born, they do not exist in
the eyes of the Mexican government so they were pretty much left on
their own.  The kids played on an old garbage dump and they lived in
anything they could use to construct a shelter….but they were very
cheerful people and very proud of their kids.  We want to take care of
everyone but we can’t …sometimes we do just do what we can and show
kindness and compassion….We didn’t go down there to show them
anything or tell them we were right and they were doing things
wrong…we just went to help and lend a hand and ended up gaining so
much more than we gave….

So this holiday season, be a little kinder, smile more …..don’t be
impatient when someone is taking too long paying for their groceries
or driving too slow….that is just God’s way of telling us to take a
deep breath and enjoy the moment.  On that note, I want to wish you
all a very blessed Christmas and holiday season…..Diane Sjol

Reply from Sybil Johnson: 

Thanks Dick, for more of an insight into the Johnson family. Hans and Pa surely were men, that one could look up to. I wish I would have known your grandfather.

Dick, do you know the story about the 44-40 rifle that Augie has? It’s the Winchester/”One of a Thousand”. Its just another part of the Johnson and Kelly families.

Merry Christmas to everyone and stay warm up there in North Dakota, for I personally know about those winters. Sybil Johnson

Reply from Dick Johnson (68): 

Gary and Friends,

Thanks to Mr. Bob Lykins, might I say the old ‘Sidehill Gouger’, for his
very informative story. He will know what the moniker is and so should
most who were his students at DHS! I only wish I could follow in his
travels to the different battlefields he wrote of seeing. My father in
law was at Iwo Jima during the US invasion. He was a sailor on a
destroyer escort, a smaller warship than the battleships. He said they
went in closer to the shore to fire on Mt. Suribachi, while the
battleships fired over their heads. All this was going on while the
Japanese were firing at them from the bunkers on the mountain. He said
they would fire the battery on one side of the ship and constantly turn
in circles as they were getting ready to fire the other side. I have a
documentary film that has an ariel picture of the battle, taken from a
recon plane several thousand feet up, and in it you can see the wake
circles in the ocean from the destroyer escorts that were inboard of the
rest. He said he was as worried about a dud shell from one of our own
big ships dropping on them than the Japs hitting them. The big warships
fired guns that were as big as 15″ diameter explosive shells. He said
when the Japanese made a direct hit on a landing craft it literally
vaporized. To this day he has no use for a Japanese car or TV or
anything else they have! He says they ruined the best four years of his
life and he doesn’t think he needs to help them out now!
My grandmother’s brother, Paul Strietzel, Jr. was one of the poor guys
that had to hit the beach at Guadalcanal. He survived to tell about it,
but about 1600 didn’t. The Japanese lost about 25,000 from battle,
starvation, and disease on Guadalcanal. They would not surrender and
would fight to the last man. They followed a doctrine called Bushito
(sp) which said the greatest honor was to die for the emperor. One of
our generals said, “Help them out”!
Bob’s mention of Gen. MacArthur reminded me of my old buddy, Carroll
Carlson, who used to call him ‘Dugout Doug’. He said MacArthur never
liked to be too close to the battle and was only filmed ‘returning’
after it was secured and all chance of a fight was over! I apologize if
my figures and memories are off as I’m trying to do this from memory and
it has been quite a while since I studied any of this. The first person
accounts are their own stories as told to me, so correct or not, this is
how they saw it. Who am I to say differently? Thanks to Bob Lykins and Gary!

Dick

Posted by Gary Stokes:

The 16″ guns pictured on the Battleships below could fire a 2,700 lb shell filled with TNT, with precise accuracy, nearly 29 miles.  Each of the four Battleships of this class were outfitted with nine of these 16″ guns.

The end of WWII – 9/2/1945
On board the USS Missouri (BB-63)

Allied sailors and officers watch General of the Army Douglas MacArthur sign documents during the surrender ceremony aboard Missouri on 2 September 1945. The unconditional surrender of the Japanese to the Allies officially ended the Second World War.

Missouri arrived in Seattle on 15 September 1954. Three days later she enteredPuget Sound Naval Shipyard where she was decommissioned on 26 February 1955, entering the Bremerton group, Pacific Reserve Fleet.

The USS Missouri was moored in Bremerton, WA from 1954 until 1984 when she was again recommissioned.  While in Bremerton, hundreds of thousands of folks visited her each year.  I left Dunseith at the age of 19, moving to Bremerton. I worked at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for 37 years, before retiring and moving to the Philippines, in December 2003. I was on the decks of the Missouri, many times, when she was in Bremerton. She is now again decommissioned and moored in Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard along with the USS Arizona pictured below.  Gary

Reply to yesterday’s message from Joe Johnson (77): 

Gary,

Wasn’t this supposed to be #315?

Merry Christmas!!!

Joe

Joe, you are so right. I forgot to record #314 from the day before, so we now have two #314 messages. Today’s message is #315.  Gary

From Blanche Wicks Schley (42): 

Holiday greetings from snowy and chilly North Dakota!    We are layering these days and still feel the blast of the minus zero temperatures and the wind chill.  I am sure that you remember those days….probably glad that they are just memories and not the actual daily type weather.  Most here do not mind the cold temperatures, but the wind is the worse and it is so cutting.  After so many years we have sense enough to wear warm clothes.  Of course, I did see a young man with shorts and flipflops at the store…today he would have to trade in his flipflops for boots!

I have enjoyed your daily e-mails.  I do not know many of the people who write you, but many of the manes are familiar.

Hope that you have a blessed holiday.

Blanche Schley

From Jacqueline Hiatt Fix (79): 

From Ray Lilleby (57):

Ray & Kathy, I hope you don’t mind me posting this so folks, like Gary Metcalfe, also from the class of 57 and others, see your name and know that you are also recieving these messges.  Gary

Hi Gary,

Ray wanted you to know that he’d like to attend the dinner if he’s in town.  He surely thanks you for all the work you are doing on the reunion and keeping in touch with everyone.  He’ll let you know closer to the time of the dinner if he can come.

Merry Christmas,

Ray and Kathy Lilleby

Ray, We’d dearly love to see you at the Dunseith reunion in Seattle this next summer. We’d love to see your sisters too.

WWII history from Bob Lykins (Mid 60′s DHS teacher):

Gary,

Happy holidays to all from the home of the Weihnachts Baum (Christmas Tree).  I am currently in Wegscheid, Germany sitting in a house on the side of a small mountain overlooking a snow covered valley with a sleepy farming village below.  That may sound very romantic but all I have done is shovel snow. I had forgotten how upset one can get when the snowplow throws everything back in to where one has shoveled. I am here for the holidays visiting my son.

Being an old history teacher and Social Studies Education Specialist I can respond to some of Dick and Gary’s comments regarding WWII.  As you may recall, I have traveled extensively throughout the Pacific and Europe and I have visited many battlefields from a number of wars

Regarding battlefield junk.  There is still a lot of it left over and much can still be found in the PI. I picked up more than a bit of it as I walked through Iwo Jima, Suri Ridge (Okinawa) Bastogne, Arhnem, The beaches of Normandy, Verdun, Waterloo.  One of my favorite places and truely hallowed ground is Corregador at the mouth of Manila Bay.  I spent two days there and even flew over it in a private plane.  It remains much the same as the day the war ended.  I had as my guide an old Filippino veteran of the battles for Bataan and Corregador. He was also a POW of the Japanese but was later released.  He was an interesting fellow and I wish I had jotted down everything he had to say as he is gone now. He and I had some great adventures tromping over old battle sites where he had fought.  We were in Malinta Tunnel (MacArther’s HQ) when an earthquake struck.  Not the greatest place to be and I later read where the tunnel had been sealed to prevent people from going there because it was unstable. I believe Corregador is now a national park and people can take a ferry from Manila to the site.  When I was there in the early 1970′s, the only way to get to the island was to rent a boat.  As a result, little had been done to the island and it was still pristine.  Most of the Islands, beginning with the Solomen campaign and moving on up to Iwo, still retain much of the refuse of war.  Rusting hulks of ships and landing craft still litter the beaches of many of these Islands.  It is just so difficult to get to them.  Many of them, like Iwo Jima, remain uninhabited.  Even in Europe the battlefields contain much.  I was in a farmer’s field on a bluff overlooking Omaha Beach in France.  I kicked at the dirt and hit something solid. Digging it up I found a piece of metal that I was later to determine as being a piece of shrapnel from a shell fired from a ship off shore.  One must be careful, however, as there are still people dying from WWII ordinance left buried in the ground.

The 34th was an outstanding fighting organization that covered itself with glory.  The 442nd Regimental Combat Team that Gary alluded to was and all Japanese-American outfit whose ranks were filled with many men recruited from the Japanese interrment camps as well as those of Japanese decent from Hawaii. Needless to say these guys felt they had something to prove.  The 442nd RCT became the most highly decorated unit of WWII and suffered the highest rate of casualties of any unit.  I met a number of 442nd vets at a seminar this past spring at Camp Mabury, Austin Texas.  This is HQ for the 36th (Texas) Infantry Division.  The seminar was held to commemorate the 442nd’s relief of a battalion of 36th ID soldiers who had become trapped in an area of the Vosage Mountains near Strasburg, France.  They have gone down in legend as the “Lost Battalion” with movies and books written about this action.  Not only did I get a chance to meet vets from the 442nd but also vets from the Lost Battalion and a pilot who flew a fighter plane in support of the ground action.  Besides the humility of all of the vets, the thing that struck me was the size of the Japanese/American vets.  None were over 5′ 4″ inches tall and all were very slender, looking in excellent shape for men in their 80s.  An M1 rifle was taller than these men.  The 442nd’s motto was “Go For Broke” and they sure did.

I have been very fortunate to visit such places where men fought and died while history was being made.  My sister keeps after me to write down all that I experienced overseas.  Everytime I begin to tell a tale my brother-in-law runs off to get his recorder.  I guess that is what everyone should do if these tales of individual past experiences are to be preserved.

My best to all for a blessed Christmas and a great New Year!

Bob Lykins

Follow up message from Bob Lykins:

Gary,

A footnote about Dick’s comment on the Japanese Vet who held out for so long in the PI.  It turns out he wasn’t even Japanese at all.  He came from Taiwan and was actually Chinese.  He was impressed into service by the Japanese Army. I was living in Japan when he was discovered and returned.  He was a national sensation and much was seen of him on TV and in the newspapers.  His was an interesting story of survival and deception.  Even though not Japanese, why he held out for so long is a mystery to Western thinking and a credit to his Japanese commanders who trained him and to he himself for following his orders to the last.

Bob

Message & Pictures from Dick Johnson (68):

Gary and Friends,

Folks remembering sleighs and sleigh rides brings to mind hauling hay in
the winter with a sleigh mounted hay rack. Back in the days before
haystack movers, we had to go out to where the hay was stacked in the
field or slough and pitch on a load by hand with pitchforks. After
Grandpa ‘retired’ his team of Belgian horses, Barney and Bill, we used a
tractor with chains and pulled the sleigh out to the stacks. I remember
we had a short chain on the drawbar and a longer chain so we could
unhook and drive the tractor trough a snow drift and then hook the long
chain back to the sleigh and pull it through. My job was to hook and
unhook and then hook and unhook, over and over until we broke a trail.
We would pitch on a full rack and then try to hit the same track on the
way back, again hook and unhook. The one hay meadow we had was over a
mile away, cross country. It would sometimes take us most of the day to
get out and back with a load of hay, if the snow was deep. When we got
more cattle it was impossible to haul enough hay this way so we decided
to see if we could slide the stacks home behind the old Caterpillar. It
was already an antique in 1967 as it was a 1932 model. I pushed the
stack over to the trail, with the dozer, and then wrapped a cable around
the stack and took off for home. Once the stack started to slide we
hardly lost a fork full all the way home. I dragged about 60 stacks home
the first winter and it sure took the work out of the old process of
getting hay! The pictures were taken by my dad to show his buddies who
were ‘nay sayers’, figuring it wouldn’t work! It did!
Thanks Gary!

Dick

Dick, I remember well, dad hiring the county D-8 Cat, operated by Elwood Fauske, to drag in hay stacks from the fields.  Norman Hiatt also moved a lot of hay stacks for the hills folks with his stack mover and his two international 707 farmal tractors. In the winter months he’d often times get stuck between two hills. It would take both his tractors and often times some of the neighbors tractors to assist getting those big stacks up over some of those hills. I remember that 707 international tractor looking pretty small hitched to the front of that big stack mover. It was the biggest tractor of times though. Years later, I also remember Elwood Fauske toeing his stack mover behind his 3/4 ton 4WD ford pickup. If I remember correctly, I think I saw him towing that stack mover past our place behind his pickup with a stack or two of hay. I think he was moving stacks from the  prairie.  I think from his sister Lydia LaCroix place.  I remember he had a hearty ford pickup.  Gary

From Mel Kuhn (70): 

Gary,

I thought this might interest our group.

Mel

If any of you have doubt about what we as kids paid for a coke and a sandwich at Woolworths (How many don’t even know what Woolworth’s was?) in the 1950′s, here’s proof of the era we lived in……..

From Dave Slyter (70): 

Gary, Bernadette and all alumni of DHS.

Heres wishing all of you a blessed Christmas and the best for 2009.

Again Fargo/Moorhead is in another winter storm warning with about 4 inches of fresh new snow.  Winds are suppose to pick up this afternoon and then we are in a  blizzard watch.    I am ready for it though, as yesterday I went out and bought a brand new snowblower.  I broke my old cloncker in the last snow storm so had to shovel over half of it.  At my age, all muscles that I didn’t know I had was aching.

I think that is great Gary that you and Bernadette provided the lady with the little child, money to get her out of the hospital.   Christmas is the season for giving and how appreciative the mother must be that their are people like you in this world.    In our church a family of 7, had a house fire that pretty much took everything from them.  My wife Pat and I have decided that when they do find their new home to live in we are going to donate our sectional couch to them as we were going to trade it in, or sell it anyway.  We feel they can certainly use it.  We are also donating to them financially as our church will take a special collection this coming Sunday so they can have a sort of good Christmas.    It is a very good feeling to know that we can help in many ways not only during the holidays but everyday of every year.

On that note, again I wish everyone the Merriest of Christmas’s and the best to you in the coming year.

Dave Slyter (70)

Dave, We intended that to be a loan to the lady so she could get her granddaughter out of the hospital, but it’s looking more like a gift.  She has exceeded the dead line of when she said she’d repay us.  Sometimes these folks, even if they get the money, will drag their feet with repayment because they think we can afford the gift to them.  Bernadette goes after these folks kind of hard.  They for sure do not want a visit from her.  She’s very soft on those truly in need. Gary.

Reply from Bill Hosmer (48): 

Gary, your description of some of the basic health issues made me most appreciative of treatments I have had recently.  Sometimes we here in the US take for granted some things that others do not experience. Health issues as you described them are certainly critical, and my hope is that those standards of health service in the PI, will improve.  My cousin Diane Larson Sjol, who is immersed in the vital realms of the very beautiful and complicated medical orientation of bringing babies into our society is a person who might bring more perspective into this focus. She is a national asset in my book.  Hopefully, she will comment on the situation you described in the Philippines.  Her discipline and practical standards of life at its best encourage me to encourage her to  respond.   Besides that, she is just a miracle  in the finest arena of education and  contributions to all of us in her sphere of influence.  All of us Dunseith Folks are in special company

with the presence of this special American.  Cheers, Bill Hosmer

Bill, The standards of health care are good in this country.  It’s just that a big percentage of these folks can not afford them.  The doctor and hospital fees are relatively low in comparison to the USA, but the medication (drug) costs are about the same, which is very high.  Bernadette and I are very fortunate that our GEHA and Tricare insurances cover nearly all of our medical and medication (drug) needs in this country.  We are very satisfied with the latest state of the art services available here.  Because of cost and no insurance coverage, most of Bernadette’s relatives are unable to have these services provided to them.  We will help out in extreme emergencies, but we can not, out of pocket, take care of all their needs. Sometimes some of them think we should, but we have to be selective in the areas that we assist. Gary

Lumpectomy update From Neola Kofoid Garbe: 

Hi Everyone,

Thank you for ALL the emails.  I have so many people praying for me God might need to hire an assistant to hear prayers for other people!  Seriously, thank you so much for your prayers/sharing your experiences with this very problem/support/just sending greetings/etc.  I enjoy reading your emails and appreciate them tremendously.  I still hope to reply to them.

I visited with the surgeon today: Dr. Lane Lee, Minot.  Surgery will be January 5, 2009, at Trinity.  Surgery is at 12:15.  I check into the hospital at 8:00 A.M.  It’s same-day surgery, so I should be going home later in the day.  I won’t necessarily be “out”, could just be heavily sedated.  I think I would prefer being heavily sedated, but I don’t know if I’ll have a choice.  It really doesn’t matter, either way is fine.

Sometime after the surgery, I need a bone density test and a chest extra.  After that, I’m not sure how long, radiation will begin and last for, I think, 6 weeks.

All is going fine.  I’m very relaxed about all of this.  I arrived in Bottineau about six o’clock this evening and will be here until about January 3–depending on the weather forecast.  I need to be sure I’m in Minot January 5.

I’ll be spending Christmas with Mom/Jim in Bottineau.  Wally will spend it with his family in Minot.

The weather in ND is COLD!!  The roads were good, no snow/ice.  I have groceries, and I think I’ll stay “home” until Sunday when they are having special music at Good Samaritan, where my mom lives.

Thanks again for all the support.  I would rather have this than to need to “poke” my finger every day and take insulin, or have chronic pain, or many other ailments so many people have.  So far, I have had absolutely NO pain (even after the need biopsy)/have lost no sleep/or been worried about this coming experience.  Like I said before, God apparently thinks I need another experience  to add to my life’s resume. I’m thinking so positively about this cancer experience, I even ordered caramel supplies for next year’s craft sales. 

Merry Christmas to all of you. :

Neola

From Dick Johnson (68): 

This is a note or question actually, for Gary our ‘Webmaster’. I was
wondering if you see any artifacts from the fighting in WWII around your
area. The Japanese lost thousands of soldiers when the Allied forces
retook the islands. The allies also lost many men and the carnage was
extreme. There were pictures of  tanks and planes and other equipment
scattered across the Philippines after the battles, so I just wondered
if any of it was still there or if it has since all been removed. Leyte
Gulf was the sight of one of the biggest naval battles and so many ships
were sunk, they nicknamed it ‘Iron Bottom Sound’. When you mentioned
Bernadette’s brother was from Mindanao island, wasn’t that where they
found the Japanese soldier who had hid out until the early 70s! I think
three Japanese hid out but one was shot later while stealing food and
the other died in the late 60s from natural causes, leaving one man to
live alone in the hills. He didn’t believe he could surrender without
disgracing his family.There was a documentary on TV about his life and
eventual return to Japan. He came back to a fully modern country and was
overwhelmed. I never had any idea we would ever know anyone who lives
anywhere near the places where these events took place, but with you
Gary, we now do!
Thanks and please post your answer for us all to read.

Dick

Dick,

I was never much of a history buff back in my school days and as a consequence, did not retain much.  I squeezed through Mr. Hepper’s world history class and that was about it.  Now that I’ve traveled the world some, If I was to take some of those classes over again, I’d probably retain a little more than I did back then. Yes, this area is rich in WWII history.  According to Bernadette, everything you have said is right.  She is pretty much up on all of the history of this country.  We, the USA, had to reclaim these Islands from the Japanese for the Filipino people.  The Japanese did not treat the local people well at all when they were in control.  They forced the local girls to have sexual relations with their soldiers.  They also shipped local PI girls to Japan for that purpose.  They also made slaves out of these people, giving them little food. I read about some of this in the local paper here a few months ago.  I have not seen much, if any, of the remains of the second war. The Local transportation, the Jeepney’s, that this country has an abundance of today, were invented, after our country left an abundance of jeeps in this country, following WWII.  The locals started using these jeeps, that we left behind, as mini buses to transport people.  The concept evolved into the development of larger vehicles, with longer wheel bases, that had bench seats an open backs that ply these roads today transporting the locals.  There are over 10,000 jeepney’s registered in the city of Cebu today.  They are very regulated with specific routes. In fact they are a large contributor to the major traffic congestions that this country is experiencing today.  Over all they are a bunch of ruthless drivers competing for passengers on their specific routes. They wear out brake pads quickly. Most drivers rent their vehicles, so they abuse the living day lights out of them.  When we first got here, we thought that would be a good business to get into, so we purchased a Jeepney. What a mistake that was.  The cost of breakdowns, by far, exceeded the rent money collected.

Back to Mindanao.  Southern Mindanao has always had a large population of Moslems. There are the good and the not so good.  Most of the not so good live in southern Mindanao.  They have been causing major problems with rebellion for many years.  This is a very poor country.  The southern Mindanao area is the poorest of the poor. There has been kind of a civil war going on in that area for many years that this country has been trying, unsuccessfully, to resolve.  Gary

                        Filipino Jeepney

From Gary Metcalfe (57):

Note: for some reason there are two 314’s, yesterday’s and today’s. that was a screw up on the numbering on my part back in 2008.

Folks,  Bernadette’s sister arrived from Japan yesterday and her brother and his wife from another island here in the PI, Mindanao. They will all be here until after the new year. Her other sister lives next door, so all of her siblings will be together for the holidays.  Bernadette is the oldest and by far the healthiest. Her sister from Japan has a few ailments, but over all is pretty healthy. Her brother had a stroke several years ago that has affected his right side and his mind. He can walk, but very slow. When he came yesterday he called Bernadette by their sister’s name, but he remembered me.  He was such a brilliant guy too. It’s sad. Her sister that lives next door is nearly blind from the affects of diabetes. Had her brother and sister had proper medical attention afforded to them with the proper medications they probably would be OK today. We had a lady borrow $30 from us last week, so she could get her 6 month old granddaughter out of the hospital. They would not release her until payment  was made. They released her to an area within the hospital that was guarded so she could not leave until payment was made. In this country, folks in hospitals, with no money, are refused treatment, even if their condition is life threatening.  There is no welfare.

Bernadette’s sister from Japan is longing for good old Filipino food while she is here, so she has hired a full time cook, just to cook for everyone, while she is here. They normally prepare special food for me, because I don’t eat a lot of their foods.  Normally for every meal, including breakfast,  they will have rice with some variation of fish among other things. We had lunch at the mall today though.  Gary

From Esther Murray Flemming (65): 

Hi Gary;

I would just like to take this opportunity to wish everyone the Merriest Christmas and the richest of New Years, and also the best of health. I really enjoy all the e-mails and keeping up with everyone.

The weather here in Flint, MI is really terrible today and winter is not officially here until Sunday the 21st.But you can’t stop it. Tell Bernadette that I said hello and you folks have some wonderful holidays.  Got to go.

God Bless you all

Esther and family

Reply from Dick Johnson (68): 

Gary and Friends,

Rich Campbell’s reply about playing basketball reminded me of our luck
when it came to the game . In the sixth grade I couldn’t wait until the
next year when we could play seventh grade basketball. They then made it
7th and 8th, so we sat on the bench, Oh well, next year. The next year
they made it junior high basketball, we sat on the bench again. I
remember always wishing we could play but the older guys got the floor
time. It was my favorite sport by far but riding the bench wasn’t really
that exciting. I do remember getting in near the end of a very exciting
game against Wolford over in Rolla  in ’67 at the district tournament.
We were down by two points and three of the main five had fouled out.
With only a second or two left I passed the ball in the lane to John
Bogus who nailed it for the tie at the buzzer. I remember Don Egbert
jumped out on the floor from the stands and picked me off the floor. In
the overtime we went back and forth until the very last seconds when a
Wolford player threw a ‘hail mary’ shot that bounced off the support
structure and fell in for a one point win. Mr. Hepper protested loudly
that it was out, but it counted and we lost by one point. I still don’t
know if the basket should have been counted, but the officials ruled it
was in so we lost! Thanks Gary!

Dick

Folks, isn’t this a beautiful picture of Bill Grimme with the Schnieder sisters? The Schnieder girls got together with Bill when they were visiting down in his area of Birmingham, AL last year. It looks like they had a nice dinner setting too, next to the windows in what appears to be a high rise building.  Gary

Dunseith News Povided by Neola Kofoid Garbe:

Folks,

I received Bill Hosmer’s package yesterday with 3 bottles of “Mile High Hot Sauce” and a copy of the book “The Birds Were Silver Then”.  This hot sauce is very much like Salsa and comes in 10oz bottles.  I just had to open a bottle and taste when I received the package.  I love Salsa and this sauce is premium to any I’ve ever had.  It’s got just the right amount of peppers to give it that added spark and flavor.  This stuff is produced & marketed by a friend of Bill’s.  Check out his Websitehttp://milehighhotsauce..com/product.html .

This book, “The Birds Were Silver Then”, is written by, Lowell Peterson, another friend of Bill’s.  Taking a quick glance at the book, there are many pictures, near the back of the book. Bill is also featured in this book, with numerous pictures.  This is a beautiful hard cover, nearly 200 page book, with stories of the Vietnam Air War.

This book is published by:

Peterson House

2627 Beechwood Court

Appleton, WI 54911

SRoseClear@aol.com

Thank you Bill for sending all this to me, here in the Philippines,  half way around the world.  We will truly enjoy.

Gary

From Maria Parlade Corral (62):

Hello Gary: I just wanted to wish all a Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year full of health and prosperity. I also wanted to thank you for including me in your emails which I enjoy very much . Maria Parlade Corral

Marie, I feel this letter you sent last August 12th deserves a re-run.  Whether you realized it or not, with all that you guys went through, with the Cubin crisis an all of the adjustments relocating to Dunseith, you guys were kind of special to our community and the school.  Gary

Hi Gary; I graduated from Dunseith HS in 1962. At the beginning of the school year(1961) we had just arrived from Cuba and in Dunseith is where I learned to speak English . I was the oldest  of six of my brothers and sisters that were in school also and being the oldest I had to learn English fast. I remember that in my class were the Bedard triplets and I think Nancy Hosmer but I have never read any news from them in your wonderful collection of memories that you so faithfully send to all of us who had the privilege of living in Dunseith even if it was for only a short time. I enjoy reading all the news although I don’t know most of you. Actually we lived in San Haven since my father was a doctor there.
I have lived in Miami Florida since 1969 after I completed my college and M.A. I am married and have 5 children and seven grandchildren. One of the things I want to do is to go back with my husband and show him North Dakota specially Dunseith.. I have heard that the San Haven Hospital has been knocked down. Has Dunseith grown a lot.? One thing I can tell you is that when we arrived to Dunseith from a tropical country to me it was like coming to paradise. We found peace and freedom and we lived with fear no more. Thank you for letting me remember that every time I get one of your emails.   Maria Parlade Corral

From Martha Lamb Schepp (68): 

Hi Gary,

I feel like a whiner. I am missing numbers 308-311. Les Halvorson says there’s a story about a gun that my Dad had. Tonight when I opened up my e-mail here there was a personal e-mail from Dick wondering if I knew anything about that gun. Thanks for keeping this going. I have many stories I could write but I’m not much of a story teller and a few would be too embarassing. Thanks again. Merry Christmas, Our family will all come next Tues. and stay over to go to church with us on Christmas eve. It’s been very cold here and windy. Good old North Dakota. I really do like North Dakota but I am to the stage that I would like to pick the days I leave the house. This is year 31 that I have been teaching. I like it every day but the cold days.

Thanks,
Martha

Martha, I have forwarded you those missing messages. Number 308 is where Dick talks about the gun you guys had.

Folks, Again, and I stress, please let me know of any of these messages you do not receive. With these messages coming from overseas, often times they are perceived as spam when being screened by your internet providers. As a result they don’t get delivered or are delivered to your trash or spam folder. Gary

Reply from Rich Campbell (68):  

Hi Gary,

Responding to Lyle Olson’s comments on Dec. 17th.  He is too kind when speaking of his first coach (that’s me) being a star player on the varsity basketball team.  I was lucky to get to dress for the games.  Thanks Lyle.  It was fun coaching the kids.  Even more fun with all the basketball games we played on our driveway.  You mentioned those awhile back.  Dick Johnson could hit a jumper before falling into the rose bush.  Many others hit their heads on the garage door frame after driving for a basket.  Good times.

Rich Campbell

Cheryl Larson Dakin (71): 

HI Gary and All

I keep reading comments about how cold it is back there now and I remember those days too. I got an email from Diane the other day that it was -20 and dropping, I emailed her back that (this past Sunday) we had spent a balmy 78 degree day at Six Flags over Texas with my 2 1/2 year old grandaughter and that we were in short sleeves all day long. Her comment was that she wanted to reach through the computer and smack me right into next winter. I just had to laugh. Back in 1991 my husband and I and our 3 children drove up to Bottineau to spend Christmas with Mom and Dad. We had to outfit all the kids with real winter jackets and heavy duty gloves. Fortunately Mom and Dad had boots they could wear. We had a great trip up, dry roads. Got there the day before Christmas Eve. The kids had never seen snow like they did in North Dakota that winter. The weather never did get above 0 but the kids bundled up and played outside every day. They also got to skate at the hockey rink. Their cheeks would be so pink from the cold and they absolutely loved it! Driving back we hit an ice storm in South Dakota that finally broke up at Oklahoma City and by the time we got to the Texas border, we had nothing but fog! We still did the 1300 mile trip in 26 hours and I was never so glad to be back home in my life. I did go back several years ago in January expecting it to be bitter cold, and was very prepared for it, and that trip it never got below 30. With no wind. I was needless to say, happy about that!

Stay warm everyone.

Cheryl Larson Dakin

Reply from Don Aird (Carroll Carlson’s Nephew): 

Your sleigh story reminded me of my Grandpa Peder later Peter Carlson.  My Mother Clarissa took my two year old sister Christine to visit the Carlson’s over Christmas 1949.  The Carlson homestead was three miles south of  the PeaceGardens.  Dad and I stayed in Wahpeton because I had just started first grade that year.  The hills had a Christmas blizzard that kept my Mother and Sister trapped on the farm for two weeks.  Finally Pete harnessed the horses to the hay wagon and took my Mother and Sister to the train some ten miles away. Pete would have been in his 70s.   Dad couldn’t cook so he and I had tomato soup and toast for two weeks.  I can’t look at a bowl of tomato soup without getting sick.

From Sybil Johnson: 

Thought I would send all of you, a wish for the best of all holidays. Its fun to think back when one was a child, especially as we get up in years. So MERRY

CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR, to all of you and may all your wishes come true.  Sybil Johnson

From Bill Awalt (61):

Hi Gary, Just to let you know not to send any e-mails until after the
first of the year.  We will be in Alabama.  My sister Bonnie will fill
us in.
Thanks.
Bill

Reply to Ginger LaRocque Poitra’s communion picture posted yesterday, from Ron Longie (65): 

Gary,  Yes that is me standing behind Ginger, and I think the guy next to me is Mark Anderson. I think the guy standing behind me and in the rear is Terry Martinson.

Ron Longie

Reply to Ginger LaRocque Poitra’s communion picture posted yesterday, From Allen Richard (65): 

HI Ginger– Yes I was in there some place.  Maybe the kid in the green in front, though I don’t remember a shirt like that.  I think I wore a little suit.  Maybe I’m behind Ron Longie.  I think Ron Richard Angela Berube and Jo Ann Houle were in the same class too, but I can’t make out the faces.

ALLEN rICHARD

Dunseith News Provide by Neola Kofoid Garbe:

Ardys Bakken Horner (former English teacher): 

Hi Gary, I continue to enjoy your daily blog and want to wish everyone a blessed Christmas, we are struggling with too much snow and numbing cold in Northern Minnesota, at least it will be white for Christmas, and the fish house is on the lake for our  kids and grand kids to fish in
during their visit.  Because of your efforts some of my former students have been in touch with me which has been a lot of fun.
Thanks for all you do. Ardys Bakken Horner (former English teacher)

From Ivy Eller Robert (74):

Hi Gary……..

I read the story Dick Johnson told about the gun & Bill Peterson. It triggered (no pun intended) a memory about Bill Peterson & his brothers, Duane & Jack! My folks built a new house in Dunseith in 1971 and hired Bill as the contractor to build it. Of course, being the ‘Tom Boy’ I was and Dad’s helper……I was there at the construction site every day, from helping Dad clear the lots, to the digging of the basement to the framing and everything in between to helping Loraine Peterson paint the exterior.
Well, one day Dad had to go to Belcourt for something, and the attic needed to be insulated with bats of fiber glass insulation. I didn’t know anything about insulation at that time, so when no one wanted to get into the attic to do it, I said I would, since I wasn’t very big and could get around in the attic better than the full grown men. (I’m pretty sure Bill wasn’t around that day, I only remember Duane & Jack being there) So they were eager to let me do that job. Well, I found out fast why they were so eager to let me, I swear I itched for days from it. But before I got the entire attic done, my foot slipped off one of the rafters over the tub in the bathroom, broke through the sheet rock and nearly fell threw and would have landed in the bathtub. I know I yelled for help and Jack & Duane helped me get out of that predicament. They told me, maybe I shouldn’t tell Mom or Dad especially Dad what had happened and promptly fixed the damage I had done to the ceiling. They finished the insulation in the attic themselves. And I had one huge scratch & “black & blue” mark that went from my ‘backside to the back of my knee on my left leg. I never told Mom & Dad or Bill for that fact………..I never did know why, only speculated that maybe they weren’t suppose to have me doing something like that.
I have fond memories of the Peterson Brothers building our house. They were quit the joke-sters………..

Ivy Eller Robert

Ivy, That is a great story.  Thank you so much for sharing. My dad and Jack Peterson were always good friends, but became especially close in the years before Jack’s death.  They’d talk on the phone several times each day. They both loved to tell stories.  Jack was married to Nettie Hiatt.  Jack did not let his terminal cancer get him down. He lived a normal life, knowing he had terminal cancer, pretty much right up to the end. He was a remarkable man and I remember him being well loved by the Lagerquist family and the rest of his family members too.  Leola Lagerquist and Nettie are sisters.

From Rhonda Hiatt (75): 

Hi Gary,

I thought I would pass this on (Video). You can send it out if you want. I thought it was a very nice video. You will need to turn your volume up.

Merry Christmas to you, your family and to everyone else on the list.

Thanks

Rhonda Hiatt (75)

Ronda, That was truly a great Video. We can really count our blessings. This Video is a bit large to be sending out with a group message, however, I encourage folks to request a copy from you.

Folks, This is a great Video, especially for those of us that often times feel we have been neglected of the worldly goods.  Please contact Rhonda for an electronic copy.  Gary

From Ele Dietrich Slyter (69):

From Lyle Olson (75):

Gary and all:

I went to a college basketball game the other night and was fascinated at how angry the coach was with his players.  Witnessing that event got me thinking about some of the coaches we had at Dunseith.  I was fortunate to play under some great coaches.  My first coach was Rich Campbell.  I was in the 5th grade and he coached basketball in the old grade school gym.  We had just moved to Dunseith from Minnesota where the only sport that mattered was hockey, which I was actually quite good at given my size.  In fact, it was the only sport that I can say I was better at than my siblings.  In any event, Rich Campbell was then a star basketball player for the varsity and he was an excellent coach.  I particularly remember him trying to teach me which leg to go off when attempting a lay-up.  I struggled with that for several years!  They would often match teams and let the 5th and 6th graders play a 15-minute scrimmage between helf-time at the Varsity games.  I wonder if they still do that in Dunseith?  I hope so because it sure was exciting to play in the big gym in front of all those people.

Summer came along and it seems we were either coached by one of the Berube brothers (Tom, Jim and Billy-Boo) or one of the Martinson brothers (Terry and Tim).  In the early to mid-70′s Dunseith fielded great baseball teams.  I remember playing in the State Babe Ruth Tournament in Fargo and then leaving that tournament to go the State Legion tournament in Carrington.  We always seemed to be going to State back in those days.  I also remember Jim Berube letting me drive his car to Babe Ruth baseball games.  I was told to wear glasses early in the summer but vanity prevented me from doing so.  Driving to a game in Rolla, I hit this board on the road simply because I did not see it in time to swerve.  Jim was quite upset that I didn’t seem to see the road hazard and I reluctantly told him that I was supposed to wear glasses when driving.  Without missing a beat upon receiving such information, he told me that perhaps that was the reason I struck out so often!!!

The Berube and Martinson brothers knew baseball inside and out, and they taught the game with patience and humor.  Tom Berube would entertain us with back flips when he went out to the 3rd base coaching box.  Bill Berube was perhaps the best all around baseball player I have ever seen.  He could field, hit and run the bases.  I remember watching him steal home one time and he literally jumped over the catcher’s head to touch home plate – that memory is burned in my mind.  He was a great coach as well.  So, too, were Tim and Terry Martinson.

Football coaches in Dunseith in my era were a different cat.  Gene Hepper was the varsity coach and I remember he used to dress up like Vince Lombardi – long coat and hat – on those cold fall nights.  Dennis Espe was the Junior High Coach.  I remember being an 8th grader in 1971.  The varsity wanted to run a full scrimmage so Coach Espe “volunteered” Sam Tooke, David Hagel, Stanley Thompson, Forrest Parisien and myself to “practice” with the varsity.  Well, needless to say the varsity took no mercy on the young punks.  I remember having nightmares about Puggy Azure, Curt Hagel and Don Olson coming right at me with one taking me low, the other taking the mid section and the other taking the head.  These were the three horseman to be sure, with the fourth – Greg Evans – serving as running back looking to spike whatever remains were left over.  I would like to say for the record that I stood my ground but that was more out of pure stupidity and fear than courage.  Sam Tooke laughed so hard at what remained on the ground that I think he peed his pants!!  Thank you, Coach Espe, for a memorable experience!!

I was lucky enough to make the varsity basketball team in 1972.  The head coach was Larry Haugen and his assistant was Richard Becker.  We used to call Coach Becker “crooked” but I forget why?  He was a rough and tumble fellow to be sure.  He used to open the gym for us on Sundays and he would play right along with us, elbows and all.  He was not the best of basketball players but he taught us toughness and to never quit.  What was amazing about him was his willingness to share his free time with a bunch of young kids.  He did not need to open the gym everytime someone called him, but he did for some reason.  It kept a lot of kids out of trouble and it also honed the skills of many a basketball player.  I often wonder what happened to him.  I saw him once at a Class B tournament but was not able to talk to him and thank him for those hard fought Sunday games.

Coach Haugen was a great basketball coach.  Unfortunately, he is remembered as the coach of the 1972 team that lost the opening game of the State tournament after the team had built a 13 or 16-point lead. I, however, remember him as the coach who led his team to 25 victories that season.  He was smart and he knew how to motivate kids. He never lost his temper and he took that loss harder than most imagine.  He also would not tolerate anyone blaming the players for the loss.  He continued to coach in Dunseith but left after the 1973 school year.  He benched me for the last part of the season that year.  I do not know why to this day, but I never questioned him on it as I respected him as a coach.  He came to my mother’s funeral and we talked for quite some time.  Needless to say, I did not enjoy that day but I sure enjoyed seeing him again.

In closing, it sure would be nice if every kid could have coaches like we did in Dunseith in the early 1970′s.  The coaches we had taught life lessons without our knowledge and they made sports fun.

Here is hoping that everyone has a Merry Christmas!!!

Lyle

Message/Pictures from Ginger LaRocque Poitra (65): 

Gary,

This is a picture of my first communion class.  I do not remember all the students, I do know a few, the ones I think I know are…

Front row from left Helen Rivard,…Allard, might be Margaret Faine,….don’t know, ginger LaRocque Poitra, ..don’t know,…don’t know, directly behind me I’m sure is Ronnie Longie,and to the right of him is Mark Anderson, Alan Boguslawski is two to the right of Mark, I see Alfreda Patnaude to the left of Evie, Evie Gottbreht who is directly behind Allard.  we have Sister Gabrial and Father Lorchid. Need help in identifying, I think Allen Richard and some Evans Boys are in there as well. This was taken in the St. Louis Catholic Church, in Dunseith in 1955.

I Have included our wedding picture as well, that was in 1965, June 5th. My dress and veil was made by my sister JoAnn I carried red baby roses and wore my mother’s pearls.

Ginger LaRocque Poitra.

Ginger, We’ve got lots of folks, many of whom are included in this picture, that will be able to help identify some of the folks in this photo.  I am sure that is Ron Longie standing behind you.  He has not changed.  Gary

Ginger’s first communion class – St. Louis Catholic Church in Dunseith.

Ginger, you were a very pretty bride. You’ve got a handsomeguy too, with a stylish 57 Chev. Gary

Ginger LaRocque & Tony Poitra – June 5, 1965

Request from Rachelle (Shelly) Hagel Peltier: 

Gary,

I would appreciate it very much if you would add me to your email list.

My maiden name is Hagel.

I work with Ramona LaVallie.

Thank you

Rachelle (Shelly) Peltier

Shelly, It is my pleasure to add you to our distribution. I know folks will remember you.  We have several of your siblings in our files too.

Yes, I know Ramona Thiefoe LaVallie from the class of 66.  She has been very helpful with finding folks as I put these class lists together.  She’s a very nice lady.  Gary

From Bev Morinville Azure (72): 

Gary , With  Toni’s premission   I  am  sending this to u to  share  with the  rest  Every once in awhile  Toni sends  letters   “TO THE WOMAN I LOVE”  this one   made me  laugh and  wanted to share  the  day she had with the rest of  you .  Thanks for all u do Gary  and may

  GOD  BLESS YOU …………BEV

Toni Morinville Gredesky’s (68) letter: 

Date: Tuesday, December 16, 2008, 1:29 PM

For those of you distantly removed from the school setting and atmosphere, let
me remind you how it goes.

We missed school yesterday after a blizzard dumped a foot of snow in the area.
Those of you who
have relocated will remember that following a storm, we plunge into the deep
freeze; however,  -14 below isn’t too bad.
Our weekly meeting in the library was uneventful except that we were informed
that
the phones were not working and the heating system had frozen up in part of the
building
and some water pipes containing water and a very stinky chemical had burst in
the office
area.

The principal commented to me that I would have to put up with a library that
might be a bit too
warm because they had our end cranked up to accommodate for the problem. Ten
minutes later
a pipe broke in the special ed room across the hall. Water was gushing
everywhere. They got it
turned off but had to cut the heat.  I was about to lend my small space heater
when that happened.
The chemical in the water immediately stripped the floor of the wax, and now it
stinks in our end of
the building.

I went to the office and one of my drama kids, Robbie, a freshman, was sitting
on the couch holding an ice
pack on his head. Robbie is quite a character –squirrelry and has a comeback
for everything.
I asked him just what had happened. He said he had “hit his head.”
Just then his science teacher
came in to check on him. It seems that they were typing their blood in class
and when Mr. Fuller
poked Robbie’s finger and Robbie saw the blood, he fainted dead away. Being
the character that
he is, Mr. Fuller thought Robbie was kidding. Not so, he has a mild concussion
but can still name
our current president — who did a pretty good job avoiding his own concussion
when he ducked
the thrown shoes.

A bit later I went to check the mail. Yep, you guessed it. Another pipe had
broken in the boy’s locker room.
By now the kids are ticking like a time bomb. Anything out of the ordinary can
only raise two questions.
#1 Are we getting out of school? #2 What time are we getting out of school?

After I picked up the mail, I stopped in the office again when another of my
freshman drama students, Brayden came walking
out of the principal’s office. He looked like he had been or was going to
cry. Brayden is NOT a character. He is actually
quite shy and introverted. In fact, the last night of the play, his mom called
to say that Brayden wasn’t coming to the play. Well,
we managed to get him here. When I saw Brayden come out of the principal’s
office, I said, “Are you in trouble?” He said,”No,
I got punched right in the nose by Aaron.” Aaron is not in drama, but his
reputation precedes him. He is not a happy kid.
Anyone who staples his thumb to get out of gym is just not happy.

That took us up to lunch. The time now is 1:30. All seems to be going well. The
phones are fixed. The pipes are holding.
The children are nestled, all snug in their whatever. . ..  My little space
heater feels nice in my little niche.
We have 12,000 books in our library. I just hope the pipes hold.

I love you all,
Toni

Toni, this is a great letter, well written.  You are a great story teller. We’d love to hear more of these stories.  I’ll bet you can remember a few from the past too.  Gary

From Sharon Longie Dana (73): 

Reply to Ele Dietrich Slyter:

I have lived many places since I left the Turlte Mountains but some of my fondest memories in my life are of the winters there. The frost on the trees so thick it looked like diamond necklaces in the moonlight, and the full moons made the blankets of snow just glisten and sparkle. and it was so cold the snow crunched so loud beneath your feet and it was so much to shop then. And the snow days…the phone would start ringing after breakfast and out we would head with our sleds to find the perfect place to go.

Thanks Ele for jarring my memory today. The winters here in Montana can be beautiful too.

I was thinking of North Dakota and all of those cold days when we got our storm Friday night and we had no snow here in the valley til then and our high Monday was zero…..

I think   BBBRRRRRRR….but i always know its colder back home then it is here and I remember days gone by and so much fun.

To all my friends and classmates from all classes: I wish you good health and prosperity in the New Year and have a wonderful Christmas.

Sharon Longie Dana(73)

ND Weather from Dick Johnson (68): 

Gary and Friends,

Ele’s story of crunching snow underfoot made me think of another sound
we ‘older’ folks remember. That is the squeal of sleigh runners when the
temps reached -20. When the sleigh hit packed ice like on a road
surface, the made this sharp high pitched screech that only came with
very cold temperatures. The old timers used to say that when the temp
hit -60, whiskey would gel. Now who would wait to see if whiskey was
going to gel, when you are out in -60 weather? Unless of course you had
a lot of whiskey!! Thanks Gary!

Dick

Weather report from Mel Kuhn (70)

Howdy Gary,

In reply to Dave Slyter, There was a blizzard? We got lucky up here and only had 3-4 inches of snow but it was a bit breezy. I cleaned those same 3-4 inches of snow out of my drive about 5 times. As Ele said -30 degrees and I believe it warmed up to -10 yesterday. Dick and I were going to go hual some old cars on Saturday but changed our minds when it was too cold for the hydraulics on his truck to work. It’s supposed to get up to 0 degrees Wednesday so that will be nice. Later.

Mel Kuhn[70]

Comments – 63 basketball team – Dick Johnson (68):

Gary and Friends,

The DHS basketball team, shown in the picture, was a very exciting team
to watch. Too bad Dave Shelver was out with an injury when the picture
was taken. Dave and Dan Danielson  played out front as guards and did a
great job getting the ball in to Dennis Dubois who was center. Jim Evans
and Bill Henry were forwards and were deadly from from the corners. I
never missed a game that I can remember. If you look carefully at the
locker room behind the players, and then the background in the
cheerleaders picture, you will see it was taken at the School of
Forestery gym in Bottineau. One very exciting incident from that
tournament, aside from the Dunseith win of course, was when a Willow
City–Notre Dame player, Gordy Roberge tossed the ball full court with
one second remaining, and nearly ripped the net off the hoop! I came
close to hitting the lights and dropped straight through the net. He was
as surprised as anyone! DHS had several good teams over the years, but
the ’63 team was one of the better ones that I remember! Thanks Gary!

Dick

1963
 

Folks, Phyllis Jerstad is living in Fargo and is on our distribution list.  Gary

Bob (51) & Donna Sunderland (52) Leonard headed south for the winter: 

Dear Gary:  Just a quick note to let you know we are leaving home for the winter.  Heading for Dallas on Tuesday, providing the weather clears, spending some time with our son, Tim.  Then on the Yuma, AZ after New Years.  Plan on being there until the end of March.  Will let you know when you can add us back onto your daily e-mails.

Fun reading about all of the experiences you send of everyone, good job.

Sincerely,

Bob

ND blizzard report from Dave Slyter (70):

Was wondering if everyone from North Dakota survived the blizzard we just had here all over the state.  The Fargo Moorhead area received 8 to 12 inches of snow and the winds were a howling to 45 miles per hour.  Wind chill factors were down to 50 to  60 below.  Both interstates were closed.  I-29 from South Dakota border to the Canadian Border and I-94 from Jamestown N.D. to Alexandria Mn.  Still closed.   Temperatures this morning are 12 below and I am sure it is even colder than that up in the hills by the canadian border.  Hey Dick and Melvin, how about it,  did you guys get it hard up there?     See what all you people are missing that live in the south and west and in warm countries like the Philippines.  ha   Ah,  the good ole days.

Dave Slyter  (70)

From Dick Johnson (68): 

Gary and Friends,

Several years ago I was over at Bill Peterson’s place, for some reason.
We were in the shed of their house, on our way outside, when I noticed
the barrel of an old rifle sticking up from behind the deep freeze. I
have always been fascinated with antique guns and noticed it had an
octagon barrel. I asked Bill what it was and he said it was an old
Marlin lever action 32-20. It was slightly rusted and he said the kids
played with it until they broke the firing pin. After looking it over, I
asked if he cared if I took it home and fixed it?. I have done several
that were much worse shape so knew the challenge. Bill said he didn’t
care but that it wasn’t much of a gun anyway. He said it was so slow
(bullet velocity), that all it was good for was butchering pigs, and
then you better stand real close so they don’t hear it go off and jump
out of the way! I laughed at his analysis of the gun and took it home
with me, to fix for him. I found the parts it needed from a supplier on
the east coast and cleaned the rust and paint specks off the gun and had
it looking real authentic, not ‘restored’. At a gun show in Minot, I
bought half a box of 32-20 ammo, so I could check out the function and
fire the gun a few times. This caliber is obsolete so ammo was hard to
find. I went out in my yard and loaded a couple rounds, then picked out
a tree down in the woods and fired one round. I had nearly put the old
gun down when the bullet finally hit the tree. It was only about 40
yards away! It caused me to remember what Bill had said and I busted out
laughing, thinking about it! When I took the gun back to Bill, I said,”
I see what you mean about slow”. Bill, in his gruff voice said, ” A man
who was good with a slingshot, could do better than that”! The Petersons
still have this old gun and have it displayed. Thanks Gary!

Dick

Reply to Dragons Photos from  Karen Schneider Bowman (64): 

Reply to Dragons photos from Bev Morinville Azure: (72):

I think  the basketball players are  Jonny Leonard, Jim Evans, Don  Ebert,not sure maybe a  Dubois Dennis maybe.  I think u have the   rest right  but the  others I am not  sure of.  Dick I bet u  know  em all.

Bev, you are so right about Dick.  Gary

Reply to Dragons photos from Dick Johnson (68): 

Gary and Friends,

This was the team and cheerleaders from 1963.

Back row:  John Awalt, Terry Martinson, John Leonard, Jim Evans, Don
Egbert, Dennis Dubois, Lyle Lamoureux, Bill Henry, Cliff Henry, Coach
Hepper.

Front row: Dan Daneilson, Jerry Gunville, Pete Gillis, Terry Espe,
Warren Anderson.

Cheerleaders: Back row: Francie Gottbreht, Patty Boguslawski, Connie
Halvorson.
Front row: Sharon Wheeler, Sharon Peterson, Karen
Schneider.

Dick, You have a fantastic memory for all this stuff and 99% of the time you are right on, as you are with those in these photo’s.  You would have been in the 7th grade in the school of year 62-63.  I was a sophomore at the time and I couldn’t remember.  I should have remembered Francie Gottbreht though.  Gary

Reply to Dragons photos from LeaRea Parrill Espe (67):

DUNSEITH DRAGONS 1962-63 TEAM

Back Row:John Awalt, Terry Martinson, John Leonard, Jim Evans, Donald Egbert, Dennis Dubois, Lyle Lamoureux, Bill Henry, Clifford Henry, Coach Eugene Hepper

Front Row: Danielson, Jerry Gunville, Pete Gillis, Terry Espe & Warren Anderson

Seniors on the team were Evans, Dubois, Lamoureux, Bill Henry. (Dan Machipiness would have been a member if he hadn’t transferred to another school)      ( David Shelver would have been on this picture, but Terry said he had a knee injury at the time.)

Terry remembers playing in the Regional tournament in Rugby with this team.

That year Wolford was favored in the district and had bought brand new uniforms for their anticipated trip to the state.

In the district tournament held in Bottineau Souris upset Wolford and Dunseith beat Souris and was awarded a trip to the region in Rugby.

We think two teams went to the Regional at that time and Bottineau won the district  and Dunseith took second.

Dunseith was beat in the first round of the Regionals  by Michigan, a team on which Larry Haugen was a member.

Larry later was hired to coach the Dragons and in 1972 coached the Dragons to the state tournament.

Others may have additional memories.

Cheerleaders for the team above. Again my guess with identities.
Back L to R: Francie Gottbreht, Patty Boguslawski &Connie Halvorson
Front L to R: Sharon Wheeler, Sharon Peterson & Karen Schnieder

We were talking about errors with yesterday’s message and lone behold when reading my returned copy I made another big one. What I meant to say was:

“In fact giving public address’ is not my thing.  I will leave all that up to theprofessionals, Bill Grimme and company.”

Folks, in regards to the Seattle Dunseith reunion, if you are thinking of going, to be assured of getting a reservation, please make your reservations ASAP with Bill Grimme. If for some reason you are unable to attend, Bill will refund your money up to 4 days before the reunion.  We have 150 slots reserved, but down the road, if the Best Western has another request for that same evening they may take some of those slots, down to the number we have signed up at that time, away from us. Right now we have the whole ball room with a capacity of 275. If you have misplaced your reservation form, Bill or I will gladly forward it to you.  Following this reunion, this event, with a group picture and a detailed write up, will be published in the Rolla, Bottineau and Belcourt papers.  If some of you folks, not going on the cruise, living outside of the Washington/Oregon area can make this reunion too, it would be wonderful.  Gary

With the death of Lois, I should have posted Orelle’s address and phone earlier. Gary

Gary,

I was hoping to get on your mailing list.  I have heard some very positive comments.

Thanks

Clark Crum

 CrumClark A.7550 Ojibway Park BayWoodbury, MN 55125(651) 414-0799 54

Clark, It is my pleasure to add you to our distribution list.  Gary

Reply from Joyce Boardman Smith (53): 

Hi Gary:

Please forward reply to

Tom Hagen.

Yes Tom I certainly do remember playing the Black Hawk waltz on the Piano.  Those were good times.  Many good memories from those days.

I now play piano for our Baptist church here in Chicago.

Mom was a wonderful woman.  After dad passed away we took her on vacations.  Most years we went fishing and she Loved it.  Also took her to the Grand Canyon, Smokey Mts., Blue Ridge Mts., etc.  Jim and I have many great memories of time spent with her.

Hope you and Dot have a very Merry Christmas and happy holiday season.

Thanks Gary and Merry Christmas to you and your lovely wife.

Joyce Boardman-Smith

Reply from Lois Lilleby Fielding (51): 

To Larry Hackman:  Phil Larson is my cousin who lived in Phoenix, but moved to Houston TX, where of couse, it is very hot and also very humid.  His mother was my mom’s sister.  Phil’s sister Lynn and brother Lee live in AZ.

My Mom’s family was from south of Barton, Swedes among mostly Norwegians, but all friends.  I remember as a very young child going by horses and sleigh to the farms of my grandfather’s brothers –all half a mile apart. I can remember being wrapped in a huge quilt and that is was very exciting.  Great Uncle Ola would give me a coin and we probably ate lutefisk.  My daughters and I still make lefse and kaldomars for Christmas.  Thanks for interesting stories.  Lois Lilleby Fielding

Reply from Bill Hosmer (48): 

Gary and Larry, and Good Friends,    That was a classic take of the Thanksgiving trek.  The description of the new snow, and how it changed the attitude should be published, along with that equine check valve you talked about.  Again, it was 1961 for my time over Dunseith. Can’t take the blame for any other similar event.
Gary, I hope the sauce and book made it all the way.  Cheers, Bill Hosmer

Bill, I have not yet received your package. Priority mail normally comes through within a week or so, but things are slower this time of the year with all of the Christmas packages.  Bill Grimme sent me a CD well over a year ago that I have not yet received.  I’m assuming he sent it regular mail though.  I have never experienced any problems with priority mail coming to the PI.  FedEx, UPS, DHL, etc are guaranteed deliveries, but very expensive.  Gary

From Dick Johnson (68): 

Gary and Friends,

The cold north wind is howling and the snow is blowing here in the
Turtle Mts. It would seem like a good time to reminisce about days gone
by. Larry’s memory of taking the horses and bunk sleigh down to Walters
for Thanksgiving got me thinking about the trail they would have taken.
I will bet they went west from Gus’s and then south past Stowell lake
past Carlsons and Seims. That trail is the same one Floyd Lamb told me
about hauling hay on back in the ’30s. I hunted deer with Floyd and his
son Dean back in the late ’60s. I would drive up from town and be at
Lamb’s by about 5AM. Dorothy and Martha served breakfast, like none you
have ever experienced! We would eat and then go down in the basement to
put on our outdoor gear for the hunt. One day as I was putting on my
stuff, I looked up in the ceiling and spotted an old Winchester carbine
between the floor joists. I made some comment about the little rifle and
Floyd took it down and handed it to me. It had a saddle ring on the side
and showed a lot of honest wear, being worn to a shine on the outside. I
asked what the saddle ring was really for? That was when Floyd told me
the story. He said he didn’t know what others used the ring for, but
back in the ’30s his dad and he would have to go down the afore mentioned
trail to the Seim meadow to get hay. The snow was so deep that many wild
animals were having a hard time to survive. Coyotes were starving and
when the horses got into the deep snow, the coyotes would actually
ignore the humans and attempt to take the horses. He said the little
rifle hung by a leather strap on the rein post and the strap went
through the saddle ring. They had to shoot the coyotes to stop them from
trying to kill the horses. Coyotes normally run at the sound or scent of
humans, so these must have been on a’ last ditch’ effort to survive. The
depression years of the 30s were also well known for vicious cold and
nearly unmatched snow depths. This sounds similar to other stories of
those years of hard times. I have often wondered what became of the
little Winchester 25-20 with the desperate past. I sure hope the family
has been able to pass this gun down to some of the younger generation.
It certainly earned it’s keep! Thanks Gary!

Dick

Hiatt picture reply from Dave Slyter (70): 

Here is who’s who in the Walter Hiatt family

Back row:  Freddie Hiatt, Delores Hiatt (Birkland) Eldon Hiatt
Front row: Bernard Hiatt, Julia Hiatt, Lois Hiatt,(Fugure),Walter Hiatt, Wallace Hiatt

What a great picture.  Thanks for sharing Stan, Joan and Dick.

Also thank you everyone for thinking of the Hiatt/Slyter family during our loss of Lois.  It is much appreciated.

Dave Slyter (70)

Hiatt picture reply from Rhonda Hiatt (75): 

Gary,

Thanks Dick and Stan for the great picture of the Hiatt family. The back row from the left is Freddie (Dad), Delores, Eldon. The front row from the left is Bernard, Julia, Lois, Walter and Wallace. I have seen this picture before, but I don’t think I have a copy so will print it out. Thanks so much!!

Rhonda

Hiatt picture reply from Bobby Slyter (70):

Hiatt picture reply from Evon Lagerquist (77): lagerquist@srt.com

From left to right in the back: Freddie, Delores, Eldon

In front from left to right: Bernard, Aunt Julia, Lois, Uncle Walter, and Wallice.

Thanks Gary!

Evon

Evon, with your mother, Leola, being a Hiatt, Walter and Julia were indeed her first degree uncle and aunt.  Gary

Hiatt picture reply from Stan Solmonson (61): 

Hi Gary,

Photo family order:  Back Row- Freddie, Delores, Eldon; Frist Row: Bernard, Julia, Lois, Walter, Wallice.

Juila and my Grandmother Arla Millang were sisters.

Sounds like you had a great time on celebrating your 30 th Anniversary.  We’re happy for you.  Steve had

an enjoyable time in Hong Kong too and got home safely.  He appreciated your phone call and regretted that

you were unable to get together.

We’re having a really cold, snowy and windy storm here with -14 degrees.

Thanks for all you do.

Stan (61)

Stan, I thought I knew most all the relationships of the folks up in our neck of the woods, but I never new that your mother, Agnes, was related to the Borre Johnson family. With the Hiatt’s and Johnson’s many of our readers are related the Walter & Julia Hiatt family.

Speaking of weather, last night when we were sitting outside chatting with the folks in our compound, they were chilled and started covering their arms with towels to keep warm.  The temperature was 81F.  I talked to Warren Anderson, in Rolette, yesterday and he said there was a big storm headed for the area with predicted -65 degree temps, with the wind chill factor, to follow the storm. I think it would be neat to experience the cold and snow again.  The last time I was in ND, in the winter, was 1970.  Gary

From Cecile Gouin Craig (61): 

How many of us remember the aprons? All our grandma’s or Mother’s had aprons. Cecile

I don’t think our kids know what an apron is.

The principal use of Grandma’s apron was toprotect the dress underneath, because she only had a few, it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and they usedless material, but along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.

It was wonderful for drying children’s tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.

From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.

When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.

And when the weather was cold, grandma wrapped it around her arms.
Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.
Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.
From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.
In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.

When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.

When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.

It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that ‘old-time apron’ that served so many purposes.

Send this to those who would know, and love, the story about Grandma’s aprons.  Or it can be a good history lesson for those that have no idea how the apron played a part in our lives.
REMEMBER:
Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to ‘cool’. Her granddaughters set theirs on the window sill to ‘thaw’.

They would go crazy now trying to figure out how many germs were on that apron; however, I don’t  think I ever caught anything from an apron.

Cebu City, Philippines:

Folks, We took this picture out the front windshield of our car on the way to the mall the other day.  This picture was taken on the main highway that runs north and south on this island.  Can you imagine this little Daihatsu going down one of the main freeways with more than a dozen folks in the back, in the USA?  I can count a dozen folks, but there are probably more underneath, that we can not see. There were also 4 or 5 passengers in the cab.  These folks like togetherness.  Gary

Note:  Take note of the Motorcycle on the left going down the oncoming traffic lane. Cars will do the same when there is an opening.  Somehow they always manage to squeeze back into their lane of traffic.  I have never seen anyone get a ticket for doing this either.  They give lots of tickets for the less hazardous offenses like making an illegal turn or stopping in a no stopping zone.  These roads are wild and as you can see there are 3 lines of car traffic going our direction on 2 lanes of road. With the two motor cycles there are 5 lines of traffic.  Folks will often times go up on the sidewalk to pass on the right.  I have gotten used to it and can bully my way through with the rest of them. In spite of all this, there is very little road rage.  This was noon.  The traffic gets a lot heavier towards late afternon and evening.

Peter Richard (51):

Folks, Peter Richard called me today.   Peter was with the class of 51. He transferred to the academy in Willow City his senior year.  Peter has been in the real-estate business for many years. He and his wife just returned from a South America Cruise.  I called and left a message with his voice mail when he was gone and he returned my call.  I located Peter when Tom Hagen told me that he was in their class. I have pasted Peter’s address and phone number below, however he does not have email. Peter is a really friendly sort of a guy, so I’m sure he’d enjoy hearing from you guys.  Gary

Reply from Rhonda Hiatt (75): 

Gary,

No need to apologize. I don’t know how you keep any of this straight,with everyone sending things in and you putting it all together everyday, and then sending it back out. You really do such a remarkable job. It seems like everyday someone wants to be added to the list and that just shows you how much this really means to everyone. When you are at the dinner in Seattle, I hope you stand up and take a bow, you certainly deserve it.

Rhonda Hiatt (75)

Rhonda, I am so glad that you and several others pointed those errors out to me.  I encourage folks to let me know of these mistakes.  I am not bothered in the least by them doing so.  I will admit, that was a gross error that I should have caught before hitting the send button.

About taking a bow, I kind of don’t think that will happen.  I’d rather be in the shadows. In fact giving public address’ is not my thing.  I will leave all that up to the professions, Bill Grimme and company.  With the reports that I’ve gotten, I think the majority of you Vancouver folks plan to attend the Dunseith Reunion dinner at the Best Western, in Seattle on July 24th.  That’s wonderful!  We are looking forward to seeing everyone.  Gary

From Shirley Olson Warcup (49): 

Condolences to Lois Hiatt’s family,

I was sorry to hear of Lois’s death.  I am 7 or 8 years older than Lois so didn’t know her as an adult.  I remember her only as a child–a very pretty little girl.  I also did not know about the death of Wallace.  (For those who may not know this–Lois and Wallace are my cousins.  Our mothers were sisters.)  I’m grateful to Gary for this service he’s providing.  It really does keep us informed and connected.  Thanks Gary!

Shirley Warcup

From Bobby Slyter (70): 

JUST LITTLE OLE  ME FROM KANSAS

Another great story from Larry Hackman (66): 

Larry, You mention being a little bit over 50.  If memory serves me right, I think you were a year behind me and I’m 61, so I’d say you are indeed, over 50 by a few years. Gary

Gary

How areyou?  Glad to have you back with us.  Here is a  little story about a day gone by.  Things are all white around here in Dakota land, and we are getting ready for temperatures that will be well below the ones we keep in our freezers.

Put a smile on your face and we will turn up the thermostats.

Take care,

Larry

Thanksgiving Day Trip in the early 1950′s

It snowed the night before.  There must of been at least a foot of nice fresh snow laying on the ground in a giant undisturbed quilt.  Isn’t it funny how it changes your whole perspective on the world.  With the sun shining It looks like a new beginning, everything looks so nice and clean and bright.  We were invited to my uncle and aunts, Ed and Celia Walter farm for Thanksgiving dinner.  Dad knew there was no way he was going to get there with the car, and nobody would be opening up the roads on Thanksgiving Day.

Dad went and harnessed up the team of horses and pulled the sleigh with hay rack up along side the grain wagon.  Then he slide the the hay rack off the sleigh onto the ground and then slide the grain box from the wagon onto the sleigh.  People were strong in them days.  I suppose because most things were done by hand.  I don’t remember anyone ever going to the gym to work out.  What was a gym?  The grain box which measured 4 to 5 feet wide and 10 to 12 feet long, and with 4 ft. sides all the way around,  was then filled with a couple feet of straw.  Mom had all us kids, I think there was 5 or 6 of us at the time all bundled up.  We were all put into the wagon  box, and then they got in with us.  We were off to grandma’s house all nice and snug in the straw.  Us boys standing hanging onto the side watching the scenery go by. Grandma Hackman along with my two uncles lived on a farm located about a mile southwest of us.   The three of them got into the grain box with us and we proceeded across country through the trees to the Walter Farm.  The Walter farm is located about 4 miles south of my Grandma’s Farm as a crow would fly, if it would fly straight.

Dad,s team of horses, two black mares, worked good together as they trotted  through the snow pulling us along behind on the sleigh.  Babe the leader of the two horses guided us along the trail with directions signaled to her through the reins that were handled by my dad.  The other horse who was named Topsey because of her large body balanced on top of legs that looked to small to support her body, trotted along side Babe.  Many years ago a older gentleman from the Turtle Mountians told me the story of Dad buying the two horses at a sale being held at the County Fair in Rolla, ND.  He said there were more people outside the fence watching my dad break them horses to ride then there were inside the fence going to the fair.  He said my dad was blessed with long legs and once he wrapped them around a horse he was on to stay.  Dad rode one horse and lead the other from the fair grounds to the farm located about 10 miles northwest of Rolla.

Did you ever notice while working with horses or on hay rides, that horses seem to take more air in through their nostrils then they are able to expel  through them? There must be a check valve located somewhere between their lungs and their nose to keep their lungs full so that they can exert more force for pulling.  If this is the case,  there must be a pressure relief valve to keep them from exploding.  Apparently this valve is located to the rear of the animal?  This is probably why more people ride them?

Back to Thanksgiving.

It was a beautiful day the sun was shining and there was no wind.  Any day the winds not blowing, is a beautiful day in North Dakota.  We arrived at the Walter farm and had a delicious Turkey dinner.  After the meal the men sat down to visit and the women were busy visiting and cleaning up.  The boys were chased out of the house.  Which, always seemed to happen to the boys after eating a meal.  I wonder why?  I don’t know where the girls would go.  I know there was plenty of snow for washing faces outside.  The Walter boys who were in there teens at the time kept us busy.  I remember them showing us there home made 22 pistols that they had built using a small pipe and a carved wood handle with a nail for a firing pin.  I remember they took us to this pond that had a nice undisturbed layer of fresh snow on it, where they tramped out paths in the shape of a huge wagon wheel.  We played fox and goose.  I remember I didn’t like the game much, as when I became it , I ended up staying it, as my legs were short and the snow was deep.  Hell, I wouldn’t of been able to catch them guys if I had on tennis shoes and been on a paved track.  I was more like that little guy on that movie, A Christmas Story, where that little guy had on so many clothes that when he fell over he couldn’t get back up.  However we all must have worked up quite an appetite by mid afternoon, as the Walter boys snuck, sneaked, into the chicken coupe and got some eggs.  We then went off into trees, brush and found a secluded spot.  There they built a campfire, took a coffee can, filled it with snow, put it on the fire and when the water was boiling,  they put in the eggs.  We had boiled eggs for lunch.

The next thing I knew the folks were holloring.  It was time to load up and head for home as they wanted to be home before dark.  At home there would be cows to milk, eggs to gather, and animals to feed.

We proceeding along at pretty good clip with the horse drawn sleigh through the woods when all of a sudden one of the back runners of the sleigh caught a rock or a stump,  Grandma Hackman who was about 75 years old was standing in the back of the box was catapaulted into the air and out of the box.  She landed head first in a snow bank.  Dad got the team stopped and his two brothers got out and picked up their mother.  She was alright.  I emagine with all the clothes she had on and the fresh snow provided her with a soft landing.  They got grandma back into the box and we proceeded on our way.  I don’t know what was said,  but I do know that Grandma said something and my dad and his two brothers, pretty much laughed the rest of the way home.  Their loud laughter echoing through the trees on a quiet evening, was a nice finishing touch, to a great day.

 A couple of thoughts

I know this was at a different time but I just don,t remember throwing rocks at that old car body.  I don’t remember you even hiding in there. Were we playing hide-and-seek.  It must have been somebody else that threw them rocks or maybe there was just a small hail storm over that old car body?

I don’t recall who mentioned this, but I do recall that there were two fly-overs, over Dunseith. I don’t know the years for sure.  I remember being on the south end of Main when the street lights started rattling and before you knew it, these jets went flying by.  I’m thinking this was in 1962.  The other incident was prior to 1962, and I remember watching the jets fly over town from our yard located two blocks west of the Drug Store.  I don’t know if it was, The Thunderbrids, Blue Angels, or a joy-stick jockey from the Minot Air Base. but, I do know that everyone blamed that crazy Hosmer kid, for both fly overs.  By the way, I am a little bit over 50.  Where have the years gone?

There was a Phillip Larson that use to come up from Arizonia and spend summers, across the street from us, at Arnold Lilleby’s.  He would stretch a hammock between two trees on the north side of Arnold’s house.  My job being the good neighbor kid, was to sneak over and tip him out, and try to take his place in the hammock.  We also shared and traded a lot of comic books.  He was the first one to tell me, that it gets so hot in Phoenix, AZ. in the summer time, that you can fry eggs on the street.  Now my sister Betty lives down there and she has told me the same thing.  I suppose it does save on washing dishes?

Laugh and the whole world laughs with you.

Larry

Walter Hiatt Family photo provided by Stan Salmonson (61) & Dick Johnson (68):

Gary and Friends,

This afternoon I stopped in at Northland Builders in Dunseith. Stan
Salmonson handed me a picture of the Walter and Julia Hiatt family from
the mid ’40s. This is Lois Hiatt Fugere’s family and she is the little
girl in the front, with blond hair. She recently passed away at about
age 70. I think many of the readers are acquainted with, or related to,
the Hiatts. The family consisted of Walter and Julia–parents, Freddie,
Delores, Eldon, Bernard, Wallice, and Lois. Thanks for posting, Gary.

Dick

We know who the family members are, but other than for Walter, Julia & Lois; I’m not sure who’s who in this

photo.If some of you can identify who’s who, I will repost with names.  Thanks, Gary

                               Walter & Julia Hiatt Family

Dunseith News Provided by Neola Kofoid Garbe:

First of all, I want to apologize for a gross error that I made with the caption above Lois Hiatt’s picture with yesterday’s message.  Actually there were two mistakes. Lois is Deceased, not Diseased and she died in Dec. not Nov. That was a typing error on my part. I actually caught both those mistakes when I re-read my returned copy. Often times I forget to use spell check, but I did spell check yesterday’s message. With Diseased being a word, spell check did not detect the error. Often times I find my self reading right over some very obvious errors when proof reading what I am sending. Thanks to those of you that replied with corrections to those errors.  I really do appreciate all replies with corrections.  Gary

Reply from Rhonda Hiatt (75): rhonda_hiatt@yahoo.com

Hi Gary,

Yes, we are all on the list now. Thank you for the pictures of Lois. I didn’t have any pictures of her where she was that young. I never really thought I looked like her, but I do see the resemblance when I look at the picture now, although she was a lot prettier then I was at that age.

Thanks to everyone who have sent pictures of the Hiatt family. I think Dick is the main person who has sent some if not all of them in. It is nice to be able to print out ones that we have never seen or didn’t have.

To Rita Anderson: Sometimes I don’t think my memory isn’t as good anymore either, but Wallace passed away (I think) a year ago and then not too long after that, it was Eldon. The only one left is Bernard.
Wow, I didn’t know Dad had worked at the Gamble store. I do know that Mom and Dad really enjoyed being around you and Edgar.

Rhonda Hiatt

Gary, I hit the send button by mistake I wanted to add Happy Holidays to Rita and I changed the caption over the picture of Lois to Dec 08 and Deceased.

Thanks
Rhonda

Reply from Bobby Slyter (70): 

TO RITA ANDERSON: BERNARD HIATT IS THE ONLY CHILD LEFT LIVING IN THE WALTER AND JULIA HIATT FAMILY. HE LIVES IN WASHINGTON STATE, UNCLE WALLY PASSED DEC 16, 2006

JUST LITTLE OLE  ME FROM KANSAS

Condolences to the Hiatt Family from Bev Morinville Azure (72):

To the  Hiatt, and  slyters , I am  so sorry to hear  of the  passing of your  aunt. Please  know you are all in my  prayers
  GOD  BLESS YOU …………BEV

Question from Sybil Johnson: 

MERRY CHRISTMAS, to all of you! Does anyone know what happened to Hazel Hiatt? I remember her always wearing men’s clothes, but she was a hard worker.

Seeing the Hiatt name many times, these past months, reminds me of her coming to Bernice’s house all the time. She was a tiny woman, as I remember and

always wore a cowboy hat. I have a picture of her, somewhere and when I find it, I will put it on.

Sybil (great_grandma2007@msn.com)

Bill Hosmer’s (48) Reply to Don Aird: 

Gary and All.  I was pleased to read about Don Aird’s commennts.  His Mother worked at the Hosmer Store for many years.  When I was a kid, in the 30′s  I mean the decade, not my age, folks, I would walk into the store, go into the “Ladies Side” as was called the dress, notions, and other “lady merchandise” part of the store.  I tried to time it around mid afternoon, because Clarissa usually went for coffee, or something at the drug store. If I looked a little neglected, she would invite me to the drug store for a malted milk made by Annabelle, or Glen, or even Mrs Horsman, who owned the store before Glen Shelver took it.  I was in a little bit of heaven sipping that tall treat, with leftover poured into my glass.  She was a gracious and wonderful example of generosity.  There was not alot of money going on in those days, and every free goodie was most appreciated.

Another of my memories was when she invited several of us “town kids” to visit her parents farm, and watch what “farm kids” did for excitement.  Mr and Mrs Carlson showed us about, let us ride some of their horses, with supervision by your  Aunt Ursella.  I got on a horse bare back, behind her, and we took off on a dead gallop straight west to that willow  grove which was close to the intersection of no. 3 and the east west road I think has been referred to as cigarette, or snoose or cigar corner.  When we did the fast hard turn back to the barn yard, I nearly came off, but managed to firm up the  grip I had around her and she laughed it off.  She showed town kids what it’s like out there, and did it with alot of class.  The visit included a typically delicious lunch for everyone.  Mr Carlson was busy with the stock the whole time, but managed to introduce us to the animals and treat us with his hospitality.
Now, one more thing I remember, is that before your Dad and Mother were married, my Dad volunteered our taking care of a dog which Don Aird owned while he made a trip somewhere. It was for a few days.  It was a big dog, which was like a Bull Mastiff, or Newfoundland breed, and that dog was bigger and heavier than me, but I spent hours with him in our yard, where he was tied to our outdoor pump. When anyone or any critter came into the yard, that dog would get into a defensive crouch and start barking and showing teeth.  Never did to me, so I’d tell all my friends happening by that it was a one man dog, and I was that man. I think I’d impress  my pals by saying that the dog could pull out that pump and chase you if you do something funny.

So, these remembrances may add a little to your understanding of what a fine heritage you have.  Don and Gary, Thanks for the memories.  Bill Hosmer

Bonnie Awalt Houle’s (56) reply with names for pictures: 

Hello Gary,

You will probably get this twice as I am having a problem with my e-mail.  Rather than take the chance that it didn’t get sent at all I am redoing this message.

Picture 1:  1953 Cheerleaders  Elaine Schneider, Janice Leonard, Bonnie Awalt, Lois Hiatt

Picture2:  Girls Basketball 1954-55:  Back:  ?Knox, Ellen Graft, Joanne Kester, Barbara Bott, Arlene Allard, Mr. Conroy
Front:  Lois Hiatt, Marlene Kraft, Arline Lamoureux, Millie Crum, Mickey Haagenson, Bonnie Awalt

Picture 3: Cheerleaders 55-56  Lois Hiatt, Janice Leonard, Mickey Haagenson, Bonnie Awalt

Picture 4 Girls Basketball 1952-53   Hopefully the names will show up on the photo.  (SEE ATTACHMENT)

Back:  Elaine Schneider, Carol Fassett, Arliss Nordquist, Neva Haagenson, Babe (Joy) Nordquist, Lois Hiatt, Bonnie Awalt, Mr. Berg

Front:   Viola Hobbs, Arline Lamoureux, Millie Crum, Doris Peterson, Betty Lou Poeppel, Janice Leonard

Thank you again for all you do to keep the Dunseith People connected.
Bonnie Awalt Houle 56

Hiatt Bonebrake (81): 

Folks, We have added Julie Hiatt Bonebrake to our distribution. She is the youngest daughter of Freddie and Margo Hiatt. Julie graduated from Rugby, but was with the class of 81 in Dunseith.  She is currently living in Minot.  Please correct me if I’m wrong, but I think we have all of Freddie and Margo’s children (Richard, David, Bobby (Slyter), Brenda, Rhonda, Kim & Julie; on our distribution list. It’s wonderful having all of you guys included with the distribution of these messages.  Gary

Lois Hiatt Fugere (56)
   Diseased Nov. 08

Reply from Rhonda Hiatt (75): 

When I heard that my Aunt Lois Hiatt passed away, it brought back a lot of memories of their family and ours and of the times we spent together. As far back as I can remember, people always said that I looked exactly like Lois. When Grandma Hiatt passed away, and we were at her funeral, this lady came up to me (I don’t remember who she was) and she was talking to me like she knew me and I kept thinking to myself I don’t know who this lady is. Later I saw her talking to my Mom (Margaret Hiatt) and I went over to them and Mom said This is Rhonda. That whole time she had been talking to me earlier, she thought I was Lois.

It is sad to hear of her passing, but also brings comfort knowing that she, like my Dad are no longer suffering from that horrible disease.

Rhonda Hiatt (75)

Reply from Don Aird:

Folks, Don’s mother was Clarissa Carlson, sister to Carroll.  She died in 1952.

I was standing the on the roof of Shelver’s Drug Store when Bill Hosmer flew his jet down main street!  I remember I could read the markings on his fuselage

Mr. Wonderful

Follow up Reply from Don:
They (Hosmer’s)were good friends of my parents – I’m not sure if I ever met them.  Their store was right across the street from Shelver’s Drug store.  My Mother worked for Glenn when Dad was overseas during WW II.

Mr. Wonderful

Cancer update from Neola Kofoid Garbe: 

Gary,

If you would like, you may include this in your alumni news.  Special thanks to Ely, Paula, and Bev for their comments/emails. 

Neola

Hi Everyone,

I FINALLY have time to update you on my “breast cancer saga”.

For those of you who might not have heard, I was diagnosed with non-invasive breast cancer last week.  At one time, this news would have been devastating.  However, at this point in my life, I look at it as one more experience God is adding to my life’s resume.

Wally/I met with the oncologist (Dr. Freiberg) yesterday; he explained my choices.  He was very thorough; our appointment least 2 hours.  He’s a neat fellow.  I chose the same treatment many of you have chosen: lumpectomy, radiation, anti-estrogen pills, etc.  I have an appointment with Dr. Lane Lee, surgeon, on December 18.  At that time, a surgery date will be set up–most likely after Christmas.  Sometime after the surgery, the radiation will start.

Thanks for all the emails/prayers.  I am truly blessed to have so many caring friends/relatives.  Because of the many emails I’ve received, I MIGHT not have time to reply to each one–again, because of all you caring people.  Thanks!  I don’t expect to know more until after December 18; I’ll send an update then. 

Thanks again for all the emails/prayers/concerns/etc.  As I do with everything, I take it one day at a time and let God do the driving/leading/guiding/etc.

Merry Christmas to all of you!  I may/may not get a Christmas letter composed and sent.  Not because of my health, but because I’m a procrastinator!!

Neola

Message & Pictures from Bonnie Awalt Houle (56):

Dear Gary,

It was so sad to hear that Lois had passed away.  She will leave a big whole in the hearts of those that knew her.  Lois and I graduated together, we were in basketball, choir, and cheerleading.  I am attaching some of the pictures of Lois and the activities she was involved with.  My deepest sympathy to all her family.  I can just imagine Mickey, Millie and Lois having the grandest reunion together.  CELEBRATE GIRLS YOU ARE MISSED.

Bonnie Awalt Houle class of 1956

Bonnie, If you can identify those in these pictures I will repost them with names.  Thanks Gary

                                Lois Hiatt Fugere (56)
                                    Diseased Nov. 08

From Lois Lilleby Fielding (51):
Lois, This is wonderful. Thanks for sharing. Gary

Hello,

Your friend Lois Fielding has sent you the following webpage :

http://www.openmyeyeslord.net/ALookBackInHistory.htm

She/He included the following message:

Hi Gary.  If this goes through successfully, it is long but good.  Lois

Condolences to the Hiatt family from Dick & Brenda Johnson (68):

Gary and Friends, I want to thank Jacqueline Hiatt Fix for letting us know of Lois’s passing. Our condolences to the Hiatt family. Dick and Brenda

Reply from Dave Slyter (70):

To Jacqueline Hiatt   Thank you so much for letting us all know that Aunt Lois has passed away.   She was a wonderful, kind hearted Aunt who will be missed a lot.   She too, like our dad Freddie Hiatt, had dementia in her later years of her life.  It robs them of all memories of the present and most of the past.  It’s a very sad disease and it is very hard on the immediate family.   Our condolences to Dana, Delmar, and Janelle and their Dad Orelle.   You will be in our thoughts and prayers.   Dave Slyter

Reply from Bobby Slyter (70):

Message from Lynn Halvorson Otto (75):

Hi Gary and all, congrats on your anniversary and trip to Hong Kong.  I haven’t been there yet but hopefully before we move back to the states someday.

I want to wish all my family, friends and everyone on this Dunseith site a blessed and very Merry Christmas.  We have lots to be thankful for.  Thanks again Gary for putting this all together.  It’s a great walk down memory lane.  Lynn Otto

Folks, Lynn is currently living in Korea.  Gary

Debbie Mongeon Cernohous’ (66) reply to Gary:

Debbie, I hope you don’t mind me sharing your reply. I know many folks remember you.

Folks, A co-worker (Jane) of Debbie’s recently visited family here in the PI.  Gary

Hi Gary,

Just had to let you know that Jane was in with her pictures from the PI. Such beauty in places and poverty in others.  She had a great time and is glad to be back home.

We now have about 7 inches of snow her in Wisconsin and love it.  We don’t have the harsh winters like ND.  I like to snow shoe and cross country ski so hope to do it over Christmas break.

It is always so good to hear all the news from classmates.  But we did talk at the class reunion so have seen each other in the last couple of years.

Debbie

Reply from Bill Grimme (65):

Gary,

Great picture of you at McDonald’s in Hong Kong! You and I have a lot in common, we find the best things in life no matter where they are! Can’t beat good old American Fast Food!

Bill

Thunderbird article provide by Susan Fassett Martin (65):

Bill Hosmer with the Thunderbirds. The date got cut off, but I think this was 1961? Gary

Correction to the Ramada Inn info that was posted:

Folks I added an extra 1 in the confirmation number I posted for the Ramada to be referenced when calling in for Reservations. The correct number is “Confirmation Number P01959″.The Ramada Inn Phone number is (206) 277-0700.

The Ramada Inn also had our group listed as the “6255 Dental Reserve Unit”. I have gotten that corrected too. The group is now listed both under my name and also the “Dunseith Alumni”. I am going to make our reservations, probably tomorrow.  In doing that I will find out if the receptionist has the right information.

I am also planning a reunion, on August 8th, for my former Army Reserve unit.  That is where the mix up came with the wrong listing for our group.  I’ve got the Best Western Ball Room reserved on August 8th for my Reserve unit reunion also.

Gary

Lois Hiatt Fugere (56) Passed away – messsage from Jacqueline Hiatt (79):

Hey Gary,

I wanted to share with those who knew my Aunt Lois Fugere Hiatt (Mrs. Orelle Fugere) passed away early yesterday morning. I don’t have any information on the details.

Jacqueline

Jacqueline, We are so sorry to hear of Lois’ Passing. Please keep us posted.

Folks, Lois was a sister to Freddie and Wallace Hiatt. Jacqueline is Wallace’s daughter.

Reply from Bev Moriniville Azure (72):

                   Bernadette Stokes shopping in Hong Kong

I figured if Bill Grimme could have a Big Mac in France, I could have one in Hong Kong.

                                              Gary Stokes

These are our two helpers, Tata & Cindy. Tata and her husband Aldren have been with us since before we moved over here in 2003. Aldren takes care of all the outside chores keeping everything clean, watered and maintained. Tata and Cindy take care of all the inside chores.  Cindy has worked for us two years now. Her family has always lived in one of our apartments. She is single and 20 years old. Tata & Aldren have a 6 year old son and a 10 year old daughter. We provide an apartment for them that is within shouting distance of our house.The apartments we have for our helpers and some of Bernadette’s family are by no means 5 star accomodations. To their standards they are, but by no means to the American standards.  We treat our helpers well and they in turn take good care of us.  They do have a lot of free time, but they are on call 24/7.  Gary

Bill Grimme has some corrections to his letter that was posted yesterday.

Gary, See my corrections in Red. 

Bill Grimme’s letter posted yesterday:

Gary,

I occurred to me that as I receive payments for the Seattle dinners from folks I am getting some use of their money in the period between collection and final payment, which I will pay from funds collected. So, after a little back of the envelope calculating, I think it is fair if I give the benefit back. My paying for two dinners seems about right. Now, how to do that? I propose a raffle. For each dinner paid, I will enter a “ticket” (explained later) times a multiplier for how early the payment is. For dinner payments postmarked on or before January 31, the multiplier will be five. So, if a person sends payments for 5 dinners, they will get 25 tickets. Payments before February 29 will have a four multiplier, March 31 will have a three multiplier, April 30 will have a two multiplier, May 31 will have a one multiplier. I will ask your help for a drawing for two dinners on June 15. Here is the raffle plan that I believe will be relatively impossible to “fix”.

The “tickets” will consist of line items on an Excel spreadsheet.

For example, a payment received in January for one chicken dinner and one beef dinner will get 10 line tickets – 5 lines for chicken and five for beef. A payment in February for one chicken and three beef will get 16 line tickets-4 for the one chicken and 12 for the three beef, etc.

A few days prior to the drawing, I will send you the password protected Excel file with all the line tickets on it and you can send it to everyone. Along with that transmittal, I will ask that you send two numbers selected randomly in the range that corresponds to the number of lines on the spreadsheet. After everyone has the password protected Excel spreadsheet and your two numbers, I will send you the password for the spreadsheet and everyone can open and locate the two winners. I will send checks to the winners for two chicken dinners, two beef dinners or a one chicken and one beef, depending on the winning line items. In other words, I will pay for two dinners, regardless if they are beef or chicken.

If you or anyone else sees a flaw in this raffle, let me know.

Bill

Folks, Bill Grimme (65) is one hard guy to keep ahead of.  Bill is providing two dinners to be given away, with a raffle, for our Seattle reunion dinner in July. Please see his letter below.

Bill, I see no flaws in your method of doing this at all.  Thank you so much for this generous deed.  Gary

Bill Grimme’s letter:

Gary,

I occurred to me that as I receive payments for the Seattle dinners from folks I am getting some use of their money in the period between collection and final payment, which I will pay from funds collected. So, after a little back of the envelope calculating, I think it is fair if I give the benefit back. My paying for two dinners seems about right. Now, how to do that? I propose a raffle. For each dinner paid, I will enter a “ticket” (explained later) times a multiplier for how early the payment is. For dinner payments postmarked on or before January 31, the multiplier will be five. So, if a person sends payments for 5 dinners, they will get 25 tickets. Payments before February 29 will have a four multiplier, March 31 will have a three multiplier, April 30 will have a two multiplier, May 31 will have a one multiplier. I will ask your help for a drawing for two dinners on June 15. Here is the raffle plan that I believe will be relatively impossible to “fix”.

The “tickets” will consist of line items on an Excel spreadsheet.

For example, a payment received in January for one chicken dinner and one beef dinner will get 10 line tickets – 5 lines for chicken and five for beef. A payment in February for one chicken and three beef will get 12 line tickets-4 for chicken and 8 for beef, etc.

A few days prior to the drawing, I will send you the password protected Excel file with all the line tickets on it and you can send it to everyone. Along with that transmittal, I will ask that you send two numbers selected randomly in the range that corresponds to the number of lines on the spreadsheet. After everyone has the password protected Excel spreadsheet and your two numbers, I will send you the password for the spreadsheet and everyone can open and locate the two winners. I will send checks to the winners for two chicken dinners, two beef dinners or a one chicken and one beef, depending on the winning line items. In other words, I will pay for two dinners, regardless if they are beef or chicken.

If you or anyone else sees a flaw in this raffle, let me know.

Bill

hyllis McKay’s (65) reply to Gary:

Hi Gary,

I did receive the two e-mails and I did talk to Pat about the dinner. I will send our order into Bill when I get the checks made out. My daughter and Pat’s daughter will be turning 40 in 2009. We are going to take them to Paris in February to celebrate! Speaking of celebrating, congratulations on thirty years of marriage. That is great that you will be able to go to Hong Kong to celebrate. I spent a week in Hong Kong and had a great time.

I have been getting your e-mails but have been so overwhelmed at work with conferences and learning the new curriculum that was adopted, besides teaching every day, that I don’t seem to have time to keep up with the e-mails let alone writing in response to the ones that jog my memory. Please keep them coming, I just love reading them. Phyllis

Follow up reply from Phyllis:

Gary, I haven’t had any communications from the Department of Defense. With the down turn in the economy, I have heard that more people are joining the military. Hopefully that means they will need more schools and more teachers. Of course my time as a teacher is coming down to a few more years so I don’t know about the time commitment. It still sounds like something I would like to do. I taught in China one summer which was a tremendous experience. You are always welcome to post my small contributions to the cause. I am home sick with bronchitis so I hope to get caught up with your e-mails. Ha! Love Phyllis.

Folks, Phyllis has been a teacher for many years in the Seattle area. Our former High School teacher, Mr. Bob Lykins spent a career working overseas for the Department of Defense Schools after leaving Dunseith in the mid  60′s. Through Mr. Lykins, Phyllis thought this may be a fun thing to do, so she has applied to teach overseas with them.  Gary

Phyllis McKay 2007

Neola Kofoid Garbe has Breast Cancer: 

Hi Gary,

I’m glad to hear you/Bernadette enjoyed Hong Kong; not surprising! Ha!

It appears I’m now a member of the “health problems” club on your blog.  I learned yesterday I have breast cancer.  It was detected early/small cluster/hasn’t spread/sounds very treatable, so I’m not too concerned at this time.  I have also learned worrying doesn’t help anything, so at this point in time, I’m not concerned/worried about it.  I know God is in charge, and I’ll go the route He chooses for me.  I’ve told this “joke” for years: Mom, Jim, and Dad all had cancer.  I said I wasn’t going to worry about getting it, as I thought 3 out of 4 were pretty good odds.  I didn’t think it would be 4 out of 4. So much for that theory! Ha!

I have an appointment with an oncologist on Tuesday.  The weather doesn’t sound great on Sunday, so I’m heading back to Minot tomorrow (Saturday).

It was great to receive your Alumni News again, Old Faithful!!

Neola

Neola, Please keep us posted. Like I told you before, time is not on your side with this one.  Our prayers are with you.  How can we survive without all those wonderful pictures you provide? Gary

Message from Mel Kuhn (70): 

Gary,Gary,Gary,

I’m really glad to hear that you had this exciting trip to Hong Kong and this wonderful 30th anniversary of shopping and site seeing with your wife and all………but what about us? Those of us that you got hooked like a bunch of old junkies and then just cut us off cold turkey. I don’t know if we can allow this to happen again. Dick and I talked it over and we were just lost every morning without our daily fix of Gary. If you are planning any more vacations you’re just gonna have to do like Paul Harvey and get a fill in or set aside time each vacation day to take care of us with your laptop or something. If need be maybe we can take up a collection and get you some kind of big fancy one with your own satellite and everything so that you can get us taken care of. Priorities are priorities you know. For me it might not have been so bad, but I had just started trying to quit smoking a couple of days before you decided to just drop us. Boy, it’s been tough. Not to have that morning smoke with my coffee, but no Gary fix….WHEW!!! I had almost broken down and had a conversation with my wife over morning coffee. All kidding aside it’s good to have you back, and I AM glad that you and your wife had a good vacation and anniversary. 30 years is worth celebrating. My wife and I just had our 26th a couple weeks ago. I found it hard to believe that I’ve put up with her that long, but what the heck, I’ve got some underwear I’ve had just as long. Well, enough of that. Later.

Mel Kuhn

Mel, Thank you so much for the compliments, but I’m thinking I should have purchased some waist high boots when we were in Hong Kong, but they wouldn’t have fit in our luggage.  All kidding aside, I too look forward to the messages I receive from all of you.  I never got hooked on smoking, but my dad was a moderate smoker and he tried many times, unsuccessfully, to quit, so I know it’s a tough. They say each cigarette smoked takes 10 minutes off of your life.  Gary

Message/Picture from Susan Fassett(65):

I found this picture in one of my mom’s scrapbooks when I was looking for info on the Thunderbirds.  Mom worked at the Gamble store at one time.  I think that the boy is Gerald Anderson hanging on the side of the vehicle.  Thought there would be some that would enjoy seeing this picture.  If anyone would like a copy, please let me know.  Hugs and prayers,  Susan

Evelyn Pladson’s Obituary provided by Neola Kofoid Garbe:

Folks,

We arrived this evening about 7:00 from Hong Kong.  We had a beautiful trip.  Hong Kong is a beautiful city consisting of most high rises.  In fact I did not see one single house. It appears that everyone either lives in an apartment or a condo. It is a well developed city with a well managed transit system both on top the ground and under the ground. They have a very modern state of the Art MTR train system that runs underground and also under the sea.

Other than for our travel days, we were only in Hong Kong for two days. We stayed at the City Center Hotel in Kowloon.  Other than for taking several excursions on the MTR train, we pretty much spent most of our time in Kowloon.  We explored their many beautiful shopping areas.  It was fun just walking around and seeing the many different shops and the area. Bernadette loves to shop. She didn’t over do it though.  We were able to get everything into the two medium size suit cases that we took along.

I called Steve Salmonson, Stan & Joan’s son, who was also visiting Hong Kong.  With our schedules, we were not able to hook up with him like we would have liked to have done.

We will be busy in the morning, so I’m sending this out tonight before going to bed.

Gary

Reply from Larry Millang (66):

Hi Gary long time since we have seen each other. I just got my first computer so am very new at this but am enjoyng all the articles. I was a 1966 graduate from Dunseith I see Larry Hackman and Keith Pladson I believe were also 66 graduates. I left North Dakota in 1982 and lived in Glendale, California 1982-1987 then moved to Las Vegas, Nevada 1987-2007 and returned to Bottineau in September. I am helping take care of my Mom and work at our New Wal-Mart.

Reply from Tom Hagen (51) To Joyce Boardman (53)

Dear Gary, this is for Joyce Boardman Smith who was a friend of ours many long years ago.   Do remember playing the “Blackhawk Waltz”???? We had lots of good times singing around the piano at the Boardman house and enjoyed seeing your mom in later years when she came out to Williston to see your aunt Eva Nash a good friend of ours in later years!!!!! We love E-mail letters,  Love Tom and Dot

Reply from Don Martel (Principle/teacher):

Hi Gary,

We too enjoy the daily contact with Dunseith that you make possible.

      In regards to Gary Morgan, Bill Hosmer and Dick Johnson’s memories of when the Thunderbirds were in Dunseith, I learned some time ago to not trust the memory of anyone over 50 years of age.  Maybe the Turtle Mountain Star would have a record of it.

Don

Folks, I’m sure this was published in the “Turtle Mountain Star” in 1961.  Do any of you have any articles?  Gary

Report on Chuck Munro (Geri Metcalfe 59) following quadruple bypass heart surgery:

Dear Ones,   Just a note to tell you that Chuck had his one-month checkup with his surgeon today, an EKG and Chest X-ray and blood work.  Dr. Newman was very pleased with his progress, and wants him to “keep up the good work with his diet and exercise program”. She took off of all his heart meds, including blood pressure meds.  Everything looks good!!   Love, Geri and Chuck

From Brenda Hoffman (68):

Happy Aniversary! Hope you post some anniversary photos when you return. Doesn’t time go by rapidly when you’re with the right person!

Brenda class of 68

Reply from Greg Larson (70):

Gary:

Thanks for the birthday wish.  I appreciate all of your work on these emails.

Gregory C. Larson
Attorney at Law
LARSON LATHAM BLISS HUETTL

Reply from Cheryl Larson Dakin (71):

Congratulations on your wedding anniversary and have a wonderful trip.

Cheryl Larson Dakin

Reply from Bobby Slyter (70): 

JUST LITTLE OLE  ME FROM KANSAS

Reply from David Slyter (70):

Gary and Bernadette:   “CONGRATULATIONS”  on 30 years of marriage.   That is a “Big”  milestone.   I have seen pictures of you and Bernadette thru this emailing blog and I you guys make for a great looking couple.  Have fun in Hong Kong and please hurry back so I and most of the rest of us will not have a melt down while you are gone.   These messages are so addicting.   ha    Have fun   Dave Slyter (70)

Reply from Dick Johnson (68):

Gary and Bernadette, Just want to say Happy Anniversary and enjoy your trip! Dick

Fauske family photo & Message from Glenda (Russell 64) Fauske:

Gary and Bernadette, Congratulations!  30 years is a milestone.  Russell and I celebrated 30 years this year, too! Attached is the Fauske Family photo.  I just got a new scanner, but it must have dust in it?!  I’m disappointed with the quality…this is the first one I’ve done on it.  I cleaned the glass and wiped the screen clean, but still the dust shows…so you’ll have to keep the picture small.  Happy holidays to you! g The Lazy RF Ranch            (701) 263-4742 Russell and Glenda Fauske RR 1  Box 139                  Dunseith ND  58329
Thank you Glenda for sending this photo at my request.  Dust or no dust, this is a wonderful picture of the Fauske Family!  One of these days Elwood & Eleanore will join the Senior ranks. One would never guess by looking at this photo that they have been married over 66 years.  They were married in October 1942.  I had the pleasure of attending their Golden Anniversary celebration at their farm, with my folks in 1992.  Bernadette did not make it back to ND that year. It was at their anniversary that we got the very sad news of Orville Hagen’s passing. I will never forget that. Cancer took his fate at a young age.  So sad.

Back to the picture.  You guys are all looking great! Connie, Beth & Arlinda (Lindy); I have not seen you guys for many years, but I think I’ve labeled you all correct. Please tell me if I have not and I stress that wholeheartedly.  I goofed up with that 60′s photo of you guys that Tim Martinson straightened me out on.  Gary

Elwood Fauske Family – November 2008
L to R: Carrole, Brian, Connie, Eleanore, Elwood, Beth, Russell & Arlinda (Lindy)

Message from LaRose Ketterling (46):

Gary and Dick

The picture of the guy walking in front of broken windows in the hail storm picture is of my Dad- Richard Ketterling.  He was the manager of the Peavey Elevator in Dunseith from 1942-49. He always had his cigarette in a holder even though it looks like a pipe. I remember that storm- all of the windows of our porch facing west were broken.

LaRose Ketterling

Reply from Lynn Halvorson Otto (75):

Reply from Sybil Johnson: 

Yes Cecilia, I remember those aprons. Both my grandmother and mother wore them. I guess it was easier to hold things in the pockets.

At 7:00 in the morning, its -9 here in Cheyenne, but Im still immune from the cold; after living in ND for 20 yrs. I remember those severe winters,

very well. Sybil Johnson

Reply from Don Aird (Carroll Carlson’s Nephew): 

Thanks for these updates – I only lived in Dunseith until I was 3 years old I visited sometimes twice a year until I moved to Texas.  I always felt like I was coming home when I could see the TurtleMountains on the horizon.

Mr. Wonderful

Passing of Loretta Morin provided by Neola Kofoid Garbe: 

LORETTA MORIN, 65, Dunseith, died Friday in a Rolette nursing home. Funeral Thursday, 10 a.m., St. Anthony’s Catholic Church, rural Dunseith. Wake service Wednesday, 4 p.m., with a Scriptural prayer service at 7 p.m., both in the church. (Nero Funeral Home, Bottineau.

Early to mid 60′s basketball team. Not sure of the year. Please refresh the identities those in this photo.  At one time the class of 65 had these folks identified, but without a lot of research, I can not easily locate that info. I’ve got a system set up now to be able to easily locate the identities of those in these photo’s.  Gary

My stab at who I think some of these folks are.
Back Row: John Awalt and Terry Martinson with ties. Coach Gene Hepper on the extreme right.
Front L to R: Dan Danielson, ?, Pete Gillis, Terry Espe & Warren Anderson

Cheerleaders for the team above. Again my guess with identities.
Back L to R: Doreen Houle, Patty Boguslawski &Connie Halvorson
Front L to R: Sharon Wheeler, Sharon Peterson & Karen Schneider

Folks,

Bernadette and I will be leaving for Hong Kong tomorrow (Tuesday) morning. We will be in Hong Kong for 3 nights and 4 days, returning Friday. Wednesday, December 3rd, we will be celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary.  I can not believe that it has been 30 years since the shipyard sent me over here to Subic Bay for a pre-overhaul ship check on the USS Enterprise (CVN-65), when I met Bernadette. Joan Wurgler Salmonson informed me that their son Steve is visiting in Hong Kong this week too. She gave me the phone number to his hotel, so we will try and connect with him too, while we are there. He is actually staying close to where we will be.

While we are gone, I will not be posting any blog’s, but keep the messages coming.  I will catch up when I get back.  Other than for a few days when our phone line was stolen, this will be the first break since December 26th of last year for sending this daily blog.  You guys are doing great providing the memories and material to keep this going. As you can tell, I try to keep things focused on Dunseith and the Alumni to include a few outside things that may be of interest to the majority of you folks.

I’ll be back with you Friday night or Saturday morning

Gary

Clarence Hagen’s obituary provided by Neola Kofoid Garbe:

       Clarence Hagen

Dec. 26, 1914-Nov. 27, 2008 Clarence Hagen, age 93, of Bottineau, formerly of Dunseith, died Thursday at a Bottineau hospital.

Funeral will be held on Tuesday at 10 a.m. at the Peace Lutheran Church in Dunseith. Visitation will be Monday from 10 a.m. until 9 p.m. with a prayer service at 7:30 p.m. at the Nero Funeral Home in Bottineau. Burial will be at the Salem Cemetery north of Bottineau.

Clarence Jens Hagen, a son of Henry and Sarah (Waddle) Hagen, was born on December 26, 1914. He was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran faith. He later attended Ackworth country school and later graduated from Dunseith High School. Clarence drove the Standard Oil bulk truck until entering the U.S. Army in April of 1941. He received his basic training in Camp Claiborne, LA and Fort Dix before being sent overseas.

He served with the 5th Army, 34th Division, 135th Infantry during the European-African-Middle Eastern Theatre. He received his honorable discharge in June of 1945. He returned to Dunseith and in the spring of 1946 he moved to Wahpeton and worked for the U.S. Soil Conservation District. On July 1, 1950, he married Mary Ann Rodlund in Milnor. In December of 1950, they moved back to Dunseith and built their home in the Turtle Mountains. They lived there until moving to Bottineau in 2005.

Clarence was a member of the Peace Lutheran Church in Dunseith. In addition to his love of farming, he served on numerous community and county boards. He was a loving husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather.

He is survived by his wife, Mary Ann, of Bottineau; 6 children, Susan Froseth of Bottineau, Karen (Dale) Simon of Bottineau, Arthur (Mavis) Hagen of Bottineau, Ellen (Jim) Redding of Minot, Arlan (Denise) Hagen of Bottineau and Henry (Sandy) Hagen of Bottineau; 13 grandchildren, Michelle (David) Saville, Nicole (Clint) Bogden, Jennifer (Andrew) Dittberner, Peter (Denise) Simon, Joanne (Justin) Karch, Devonne (Jon) Leonard, Joshua (Keisha) Hagen, Justin Redding, Sarah Redding, Breien Hagen, Tracy (Brad) Christianson, Melissa (Josh) Van Dyke, and Angela Hagen.

He was preceded in death by his parents; sister and brother-in-law, Thelma and Donald Bannister; infant sister, Verna; and son-in-law, Steve Froseth.

Arrangements are with Nero Funeral Home in Bottineau.

Salem Church & Cemetary: Clarence Hagen’s final resting ground.

Reply  from Marie Iverson Staub (60):
Mel Kuhn, take note:

I don,t mind if you post my message tomorrow and we will try and make the reunion. Joyce and I are cousins my mother(Agnes Ronning) and her mom( Minnie Ronning) were sisters and they married brothers

my dad was Adolph Iverson and her dad was Carl Iverson. I think I am related to most of the people in Bottineau area. The Lunds, Sivertsons, Johnsons, Iversons and I’m sure  several others in one way or the other as my dad had 8 siblings and my mom also had 8 siblings.

Joyce’s brother Oliver was a good friend of Marvin Kuhn and when I read the messages from Mel Kuhn I can sure see he is related to Marvin he has the same humor.

Take care.

Marie Iverson(Staub)60

Marie’s initial reply:

Hi Gary,

Yes , I have been getting all of your EMAILS.

I’ve never been interested in the computer until you started sending all these wonderful memories.

I’m not sure yet about the dinner but were going to see if we can rearrange some things to be there.

By the way I talked to Joyce Flaata yesterday and she said to say hi.

Hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday season.

Have a great anniversary.

Keep up the good work I really look forward every day to these EMails

Marie Iverson Staub 60

Note: Marie’s cousin, Joyce Flaata, lives south of Vinje church up in the hills. We were all members of the Metigoshe Lutheran Churches.

Message from Bob Lykins (Teacher):

Gary, Congratulations to you and Bernadette on thirty years of wedded bliss.  God bless and have a great time in one of my favorite cities in the Far East, Hong Kong. Bob Lykins

Message from Sharon Longie Dana (73):

Gary, I just wanted to wish you and your lovely wife a Happy Anniversary!!!!!!  Next August i will be married to my sailor for 30 years !!!! Its always funny to me when people ask how long I have been married and i say 29 years and they a lot of them say to the same guy…makes me laugh, I have a girlfriend who has been married 3 times and she says and i still haven’t hit 29…. Have a great trip!!! Sharon Longie Dana(73)

My apologies to Dick Johnson:

Dick, I totally forgot to include this picture with the posting of your message yesterday.  I knew I had seen the picture when you replied asking if it came through after seeing I had not included the picture with the posting.  You are just too polite.  You should have told me I screwed up and didn’t include the picture. When I went looking for the picture, just now, I discovered it was included with your message I posted yesterday. I am so sorry for this mix up.  Gary

Dick’s reply to include picture:

Lloyd Awalt–If Bonnie will keep typing, keep sending memories. We enjoy them. Your mention of the big hailstorm had me remembering the picture of that storm that is in the Dunseith history book so I scanned it for those who don’t have the book yet. The caption under the picture says 1943. Thanks for the memories! Thanks Gary for your tireless posting of these memories of old Dunseith! Dick