12/31/2013 (1931)

Posted on December 31, 2013 by Gary

Happy New Year Everyone

For us here in the Philippines, it is already NYE. With the inspiration of this message that I received from Hans, the Marco Polo GM and with Bernadette feeling pretty good today too, we will be going to the Marco Polo for our NYE celebration with a few of our Cebu Expat group of friends.

Dear Gary,

Thank you personally for your initiative to bring the Cebu ExPats to Marco Polo on New Year’s Eve.

Please check how Bernadette feels on the day of the 31^st and if all is ok, please bring her to the Grand Ballroom, even if it is just for dinner and the start of the Bloomfields, this year’s Show-Band extraordinaire. I have 4 tickets for you, on the House, just awaiting your signal.

Bo and I wish you and Bernadette and your family a Merry Christmas.

Hans

Hans R. Hauri
General Manager &

Area General Manager – Philippines

The four complimentary tickets are for Bernadette, me and Bernadette’s two nieces, our helpers, Novie and Mirasol. In addition we purchased 2 additional tickets for Bernadette’s sister Alotte and her Sister-in-law Bebe.

With each of our monthly Expat dinners that we have had at the Marco Polo, Hans has given us four complimentary dinners on the house. Non of the other establishments have made this offer and I don’t ask. The Marco Polo is a 5 star hotel too. There are 4 five Star hotels in Cebu and numerous 4 stars. Lately we have been averaging a hundred or so folks at our monthly dinners. Not many places can handle groups larger than a hundred.

Gary

Hay stack moving memories

From Keith Pladson (’66): Roanoke Rapids, NC

Gary, in the re-posted blog from 1/26/2008 you and Dale Pritchard discussed how Elwood would pull in haystacks with the D8 Cat. That reminded me of others who moved hay by various means back then. When we lived on the place where Ted Nerpel now lives we also pulled in hay stacks. Uncle Art Pladson had an A John Deere and Dad had an old D John Deere. The D was a little more powerful than the A, but it was so slow that you could almost keep up to it walking when it was in 3rd gear (the fasted forward gear). Anyway, we had a fenced in hay pen behind the barn and using a cable strung between the two tractors and coordinating the right gears to use on each tractor to match the speed of each, Dad and Uncle Art would loop the cable around the haystacks and pull them from the fields into the hay pen. Once they got those stacks moving, they slid across the ground fairly easily even on dry dirt/gravel/grass/etc. To the best of my recollection, they pulled in a lot of hay that way over the years we lived there.

A few years later my cousin Gary Olson bought a stack mover and he moved hay stacks for us and other people all over the hills first with his M International and later with his R John Deere. Thinking back now, he must have gotten awfully cold at times pulling those hay stacks in the middle of the winter. As I recall he never had cabs on his tractors, so he was fully exposed to the cold air blowing over him. I don’t know how fast either of those tractors would go, but I know he ran them pretty much full speed on the roads. Brrrrrrr, I get cold just thinking of it.

Of course baling hay came along after that and the need to stack hay or move hay stacks became history. When I worked for Carl Melgaard, I remember moving a lot of baled hay using Norse Knutson’s stack mover. Most of Carl’s hay was up north near the border and Carl (as you might remember, Gary) had a Minneapolis Moline that was kind of light in the front. Every time I took a load down the road to the building area (about four miles or so), I had to go up that hill south of Robert Pritchard’s. And every time I did the front of that Minneapolis would come off the ground about half way up the hill. The first time it did that it about scared me to death. But with each subsequent load I got more and more comfortable steering with the back brakes.
Keith Pladson (66)

Keith,

I remember well that Minneapolis tractor of Carl Melgaard’s. It ran on propane too. You needed that extra traction from the front end lifting to make it up that hill too. That Minneapolis was a pretty small tractor on the front of that big stack mover. I am willing to bet you coasted down all the hills, if not, you ran the chance of the Tractor jack knifing on you. As I recall, there were no brakes in those stack mover wheels? You were king of the road.

Gary

Richard Family Photos

Reply from Colette Hosmer (’64): Santa Fe, NM

Thank you so much for posting the Richard family photographs. I am writing an early history of my Mom (Leona “Hosmer” Richard, who’s father was Fred Richard.) She was raised on a farm near Thorne, ND, along with her 5 brothers and sisters. These are wonderful photos of the Richard family.

Colette

Richard Family history

Posted by David Schimetz (’79): Mandan, ND

A long history of the Richard family in North America

The Richard family along with several other familiar French family names in North Dakota like the Fugere, Montpilier, Cossette, Savageau and several others I can’t think of at the moment were part of the first known settlement or settlers of North Dakota south of Fargo North Dakota called the Little Rice settlement. Some of the families stayed in the Fargo Area and several move to the Turtle mountain area in mid to late 1800’s. There is over 1.5 million people in the United States that are direct descendants of Michael Richard whom was born in the late 1500’s. Many were originally from and some to this day are still living in the Nova Scotia area or Acadia as the Richard name is still a very common name there today like Johnson is in Minnesota or if a Johnson marries a Johnson the last name would be spelled John”sin”:)ok just a joke sorry

The English came here to mostly conquer land for the Queen while many French whom lived near or with many Indian tribes or assimilated into their culture were captured by the English and placed in a ball and chains and sent to the swamps of Louisiana and New Orleans area to be enslaved by the English for which is where most of the Cajun people came from originally. My mother’s maiden name was Stella Richard who’s family came from 3 rivers Canada or Quebec area. Mom has numerous old picture of the 1800’s where several family members were Priests and Nuns and pictures of some beautiful 3 story Victorian style home with a 2 seated buggy out front. There were men with tall black hats and women in beautiful gowns were present. My great grandfather Hyacinth came to the little Rice settlement with his uncle prior to coming to the hills. My great grandfather and grandmother later lived in Willow City and Great grandmother mom said had long hair to her waist she would tie in a bun during the day and let it down at night for which mom was amazed how long her hair was. During the installation of the railroad line between Rugby and Bottineau Great grandma was the cook for the railroad crew installing the new railroad line from Rugby to Bottineau. Moms stayed with them while attending the Catholic school in Willow City in the late 30’s and early 1940’s. They are both buried in Tarsus grave yard between Dunseith and Bottineau for which is where the little white Catholic Church that is in Dunseith came from.

The Bouche family my grandmothers maiden name came here from New England whom was talked into selling his farm in New England by his brothers whom were already here in North Dakota. Great grandpa Bouche stayed here for a short time and hated it here so he and his wife and some of the younger kids move to Sioux City Iowa where he ran a grocery store. I found his death certificate that stated he died from arsenic poisoning (interesting). My grandma was old enough to make the decision to stay here with numerous uncles and cousin for which a short time later she met and married George Richard who’s children were =Art, Gene, Floyd, Ernest, Irene, Stella.

Posted by Neola Kofoid Garbe: Bottineau & Minot, ND

Helen Francis Hill
(March 3, 1943 – December 28, 2013)

Send Flowers Send Sympathy Card
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HELEN FRANCIS HILL

Helen Frances Hill age 70, of Bottineau passes away on December 28, 2013 in a Minot hospital after a long courageous battle with cancer. Funeral services will be held on Thursday, January 2, 2013 at 10:00 A.M. in the Our savior Lutheran Church in Bottineau. Burial will be in the Oak Creek Cemetery also in Bottineau. Visitation will be Wednesday, January 1, 2013 beginning at 11:00 A.M. until 9:00 P.M. in the Nero Funeral Home in Bottineau.

She was born on March 3, l943, in Crystal Lake, Iowa. She was the daughter of Frank and Dorothie Haan.

Helen grew up and was educated in Iowa before moving to North Dakota in 1960 where she met and married Kenneth Hill. That union ended in 1986.

During her early years in North Dakota” Helen worked at Dale’s Cafe and San Haven until it closed in mid 1980s. In 1987 Helen married Vernolle Hill and moved to Bottineau where she worked at Dakota College, The Norway House, and Family Bakery before retiring in 2011.

Helen enjoyed spending time with her family both in Iowa and North Dakota. She especially enjoyed playing cards with her husband Vernolle and a great game of Scrabble. When she wasn’t working her puzzle books, Helen spent many days traveling the four comers of North Dakota to watch her grandchildren participate in a variety of sporting activities, her favorite being hockey.

Helen is survived by her loving husband, Vernolle, of 26 years, son Troy (Robin) of Bottineau, daughter Melanie Hill (and partner, John Stewart) of St. John, son Byron (Chassidy) of Dunseith, son Lavern of Alden, MN, and daughter Lavonne (Jeremy) Henderson of Minot. 12 grandchildren, I great-grandchild and another expected in April. Brother Joe (Mary) Haan of TX, sister Mary Lloyd) Anderson of IA, numerous other family members.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Frank and Dorothie Haan, 1 sister and 1 brother in infancy, Sister Joan, and Brother Peter.

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Blog posted on January 27, 2008

1/27/2008

Posted on January 27, 2008

Loretta Neameyer’s (72) message to Bev Morinville (72):

I thought about Bev all day yesterday (the day of her surgery). Am thankful her surgery went better than previously thought. Bev, you have alot of friends that are thinking of you and praying for you. May you heal and recover quickly.

It’s been fun reading all the e-mails from everyone. I, too remember alot of these memories as we moved to town in 1963. We spent lots of time with Morinville’s, Campbell’s, Malaterre’s, Evans, Hennings, Hagels, Mongeons, Martinson’s, Schimetz’s and Fontaine’s, just to name a few. They were very good times.

Loretta J. Wall (Neameyer)

Ele Deitrich’s (69) message to Deb Morniville (72):

In reply to Deb Morinville—our prayer circle is working….let’s all keep praying and Bev will make a full recovery. I hope that she is reading these as she recuperates as we are all with her in this time of need.

Ele

Reply from Evon Lagerquist (77):

Hi Gary, the teacher’s names that we striked for were Mr. & Mrs. Cloud. I remember him as being sort of a rebel and her as a meek, quiet little woman.

Memories from Gary Morgan (54):

Hi Gary,

I have really enjoyed the memories of others so thought I would throw in one of my own….
Back in the days of iron men, wooden ships and leather football helmets, we played our basketball at the old city hall. It seems like there would be a public dance there about every week so it was necessary to scrub off the dance wax before we could practice. Every morning, after a dance, Big Ed (Ed Conroy, our superintent, not to be confused with Little Ed, our custodian, Eddie Boguslawski) would designate about half a dozen of us boys to go over and scrub the city hall. I can’t believe I considered it a real privilege to be able to go over and scrub the hall rather than sit in a warm classroom, but I did.
My junior and senior years, it seems we had an open period at the end of the day so we would get to go to the hall for practice about 40 minutes before the coach would get there. Herman Martinson’s bakery was just across the alley from the hall so we would load up on bismarcks and raised doughnuts before practice. I think they were like a dime apiece or if you bought a dozen, it was a dollar. I don’t know if Coach Jerstad ever did figure out why we would get horrendous side aches during basketball practice.

Gary Morgan
Class of 54

Message from Shirley Brennan (60):

Dear Gary

Want to thank you forthe awesome job you have done putting this project together.

Yes Pat is my sister. She doesn’t have e-mail her last name is Groff and she lives in Bellingham Wash.

Shirley

Message from Marjorie Landsverk (57):

Hi Gary, Jan.26

I just sent you a article from the Good Housekeeping magazine of 1955.

How times have changed. I think that article had to have been written by a man. (Marjorie, it’s a great article. I will include it with one of the future group mailings. Gary)

I have enjoyed reading the different e-mails from over the years and how things changed in Dunseith. I think it only becomes important when we are in our looking back years.

I remember Shelvers Drug store and their soda fountain that had Cherry cokes.

There was a cafe close by too. The Red Owl store and Hosmers, the pool hall when I was younger and the theater where the price to get in was 12 cents . I used to go to K.C.Sines store with my dad, he had a good choice of many things and especially had a variety of penny candy. He would always give me a pear. They lived just across the alley from us. Sy Kadry had a store at the south end of mainstreet and he also had a variety of choices. I got some neat clothes there, a sweater with angora trim and different colored jeans which we could wear to school.

Sat. night was the big night and when the country folks would come to town to get groceries and the street would be full of cars. It was fun just to watch the people. Too bad we can’t get that back!

My mother made a lot of my clothes and the others we sent for in Montgomery Ward or Sears and Roebuck or Speigal.catologue’s.

When I was in highschool we had Mr. Erickson for a band director. I think the band was good. I remember marching in Brandon Canada and Minot. He wore a white and gold uniform with a high fur hat.

There was a lot of snow and cold but we were tough. I went ice skating on the rink by the jail and then we would go in to the jail to warm up. Crack the whip was scary!

Thanks for the chance to share Gary.

Sincerly,

Marjorie ( Landsverk) Fish

Horicon, Wi. 53032

goldfish@powerweb.net

I lived just a half a block so. of the school so I could always make it. I could hear the first bell ring and be there by the 2nd.

My parents had kids from the country staying with them when I was real little.

It must of been harder then to get them to school.

Don Lamoureux’s (75) Memories of Mr. Johnson & the school strike:

I also have great memories of being in Mr. Jonson’s band. I started out playing clarinet, which didn’t seem too cool for me, I hadn’t heard of Benny Goodman. I later switched to the string bass, when that spot opened up, and was even happier when the school bought an electric bass guitar, so now I could play and be heard.

He also helped me out of a pickle during deer season one year. I was in big rush after school to get to a hunting spot, driving my dad’s 4 wheel drive jeep pickup, and was tearing up the hill past Sime’s to get to a spot before dark. I mean to get to a spot where I could hunt until dark. I rounded a curve to discover that an oncoming school bus and I were going to be occupying the same space shortly. I swerved to get out of the way, missed the bus, but put the truck into a spin, I did a 360 and then went backwards off the road and down the ditch.�

I know I was closer to some other folks, but didn’t feel like confessing my crappy driving to anyone else, so I walked down to Mr. Johnson’s. He fired up a tractor and we went back to pull it out. The ditch was pretty steep, and the only thing that kept it from going farther down the ditch was the tree I managed to wedge the truck up against. I think Mr. Johnson had to go back home to get a chainsaw. It’s not real clear to me, because I was pretty much dreading having to go back home and face the music there, so to speak. Mr. Johnson tied the truck off to the tractor, buzzed the tree down, yanked the truck out, and sent me on my way. Mr. Johnson must have called ahead to smooth out the waters, because it really wasn’t that bad when I got home. Probably Dad could see nothing was going to make me feel worse than I already did. There still was the inevitable lecture of course, but then he told me of a time as a kid he was driving one of the brand new cars from the garage, and wrecked that.

I can also recall spending many fall days looking for grouse and pass-shooting ducks at Mr. Johnson’s.

School strike

I don’t remember if we had any out and out strikes when I was in school, but I do remember there was an uproar when the girls in our class got fed up with having to wear dresses and all showed up in school wearing pants. I can also remember something happened where we all felt school was more like prison, and somebody came up with the bright idea of devising unique prison numbers we could all wear. The first number was our year followed by a zero, followed by where were in our class numerically, based on our last name. So we all walked around with prison numbers for a couple weeks.

Don Lamoureux (75)

12/30/2013 (1930)

Posted on December 30, 2013 by Gary

Happy Birthday Don Lamoureux (DHS ’75): Bethel, MN

Richard Family Pictures

Reply from Lorraine Richard Nelson (’46): Mesa, AZ

Hi Roberta Houle.. What beautiful pictures of my loving Richard family.. Thank you so much. The first Communion pictures are of my Aunt Leah and Uncle Leo Richard. My name is Lorraine Richard. my dad was Joe Richard and my fondest memories is of my childhood growing up in the wonderful Turtle Mountains.

Leah (Richard) Bergeron & Leo Richard

More Old for Identification

Posted by Roberta (Gary ’63) Houle: CHAMPLIN, MN

Good evening, Gary–

Here are the pictures of the male RICHARD. This is the last I have of the first communion/confirmation pictures.

Roberta (Gary ’63) Houle: Champlin, MN

Not sure who this is. On the frame it says First Communion

& shows photographic studio as E. O. Holler, Willow City, ND

Some thought these were Omer(older) and Fred (younger).

Shows photographic studio as E. O. Holler, Willow City, ND

Some thought these were Albert (older) and Pete (younger).

This is a post card. Not sure who this is.

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Blog posted on January 26, 2008

1/26/2008

Posted on January 26, 2008

Deb Morinville’s (72) Surgery: Report from Deb Morinville (70):

Hi Gary,

Here is the first report after Bev’s surgery today. The dr. said that he didn’t have to take as much of her tongue. In fact he could leave the tip and so she will have way less difficulty talking. She should be able to very quickly. The CAT scan and other tests look like they got everything and the tumor hadn’t spread. We are all so relieved and are cautiously optimistic. When I hear more I’ll let you know. BTW thank you to all who have sent her cards and emails. She is overwhelmed (in a good way) and deeply moved. You have all helped her to face this with a lot of strength and grace. I am so grateful to you all. But what else could you expect from Dunseith’s best?

Deb

Allen Poitra’s (76) reply to Mona Dionne Johnson (48)

Hi Mona Dionne Johnson (48) I wanted to add that in 1975-76, the High School had a sit down strike, that included most of the students in the high school. We also had hopes of convincing the staff to keep 2 much appreciated teachers. If I remember correctly, it too was unsuccessful. The names of the teachers escape me now but I believe they were a married couple. Maybe someone else would remember but I just can’t remember. Anyone remember the teachers names? I thought we also got on the news…I think we also got mentioned on the Minot News…

Verena Gillis’ [(Mrs. Pete (65)] reply to Mona Dionne Johnson (48):

In reply to Mona’s question, there was a strike around the 70′s. I
don’t really know if it was 1977 or could have been before that. I
don’t quite remember what about either but will find out. They had a
sit-down in the high school gym at that time. I was working at the
elementary school at that time but only heard a little about it. I
found out it was my niece Sandy Gillis (now deceased-Cliff & Alice
Gillis’ daughter) who led the strike.

Verena

Dale Pritchard’s (64) reply to Elwood Fauske:

Hi Gary,

I remember Elwood as the man with the bulldozer who cleared our land of
trees in the Winter. That had to be a rough way to make a living,
bouncing around on the dozer all day. I would venture to say that he
had a monopoly on that job because no one else wanted to do it. I think
I remember him clearing snow also when it got too deep even for a
tractor or the horses to function. Also remember getting stuck in a
snow drift in your driveway one time. Took a lot of shoveling to get
going again. A good snow shovel, and maybe a bucket of sand, were
seasonal necessities to carry in your trunk.

Dale Pritchard

Gary Stokes’ Reply to Dale:

Dale, Elwood cleared a lot of trees for us too, among other things with that Rolette County D-8 Caterpillar. He pulled in hay stacks from the field in the winter, pushed manure piles away from the barn in the summer, plowed the land he had cleared the trees from in the winter, etc. Elwood and George Gregory were well known for their gifted skills running the county equipment. George did one hell of a job maintaining the gravel roads in the summer and keeping them cleared of snow in the winter with that road grader. Elwood did some beautiful work with that D-8 cat. He was able accomplish the most difficult tasks requested of him with that cat.

I called you mother (Dorothy Pritchard) yesterday morning and wished her Happy Birthday (95th). She had just gotten her hair done and was on cloud nine with her birthday day ahead of her. She was expecting a cake to be delivered from the Bakery that your brother Darold normally orders that she shares with the rest of the folks with their noon dinner at Oak Manner. She had some other activities planned too in celebration of her 95th birthday. It was quite obvious that she wasn’t planning on staying in her apartment all day. Gary

12/29/2013 (1929)

Posted on December 29, 2013 by Gary

Reply from Diane Larson Sjol (’70): Lake Metigoshe & Minot, ND

Thank you so much for the birthday wishes. Gary, you do such an awesome job on this site. I had a great day. I can’t believe how old I am! Haha.

Old Richard Family Pictures for Identification

Posted by Roberta (Gary ’63) Houle: CHAMPLIN, MN

Hi Gary–
I finally have the pictures so I can send them to you. Don’t know whether I said previously that I only am fairly sure of the names for 2-3 of the people. I’m guessing they are confirmation &/or first communion pictures. I’m also sure many of them, if not all, are the RICHARD family, since they were with Lillian (Dostaler) Houle’s things. Lillian’s mother was Bernadette RICHARD.

Here is a list of the siblings of Bernadette from oldest to youngest: I hope they stay in columns.

FEMALES: Bernadette (Richard) Dostaler      b. 1891
Anna (Richard) Bergeron               b. 1900
Leah (Richard) Bergeron               b. 1912

MALES:    George                b. 1894
Omer                    b. 1896
Fred(or Alfred)      b. 1898
“Joe”                       b. 1902
Albert                      b. 1904
Pete                        b. 1906
Leo                          b. 1914

I will tell you who I think they are and you can decide whether to put this info on the website with the picture before you get any responses.

Thank you and all the bloggers for your help.

Roberta Houle, wife of Gary Houle (63)

.
.

Think this is Bernadette. Note photographic studio name.

Think this is Anna. Same photographic studio

Probably a first communion?

Post Card

Many years ago that was how pictures were made

New years resolution

message from Vickie Metcalfe (’70): Bottineau, ND

Gary and friends,

I hope every one had a great 2013 is thinking of New Year resolutions, these last few days of 2013.

I think I have made mine.

I am recalling, how well fed I was while on my last holiday to Scotland.

My first breakfast choice in the Shetlands, Orkneys and Highland Isles was always the full Scot’s breakfast, which is so much like a the “farmers breakfasts” we ate long ago on the farm.

“Okay,the traditional Scots breakfast is so much more!” It consists of toast with homemade soft fruit jam, tea, grilled tomato and mushrooms, beans, egg, black pudding, bacon, ham and sausage. (the eggs are from free range chickens; the yolks were quite orange, and the bread a heavy grained) The black pudding? I can take or leave.

I enjoy the variety on my plate and was most reluctant to try other highly favored Scots breakfasts. i.e. porridge, kippers or salmon.

However, while at our lodging on Fionophort, the Isle of Mull, I finally sucumbed to curiosity. And I discovered,

Scots take porridge making a serious endeavor.

Our hostess said, “You need to order porridge the night before, as it takes time to prepare. “hmm.My thought, “I microwave Quaker oatmeal every morning, how could porridge be so special?”

The next morning as I ate the creamy porridge. I realized it was different.

Later that, afternoon while in Tobermoray I purchased my first “spurtle”.

Coming home to ND, I decided to take oatmeal i.e. porridge making to the next level.

I went on line and found out simple facts.

“Stir porridge clockwise; stirring anti-clockwise is liable to stir up the devil

Always eat porridge standing up because “a staunin sack fills the fu’est” (a standing sack fills the fullest)

Source: A Bowl of Porridge, Guthrie Hutton”

I looked at my spurtle and thought of my dear Uncle, Bill Metcalfe who told me his secret to a long life was oatmeal every morning. Well I am sorta there.

Confession, I still use the Quaker Oatmeal and the microwave. The spurtle is in amongst my other utensils waiting to be used. I still unsure of which end is which.

My 2014 new year resolution, which end of the spurtle do I use? I don’t want to stir up the ……!

Until later,Vickie

Today’s posting

From Wayne (’61) & Rosemary Smith: Lake Metigoshe, ND

TAPS…as you have never heard it played before…

This was beautiful…

The Silence

A few years ago, a friend visited the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial in the village of Margraten, about six miles from Maastricht. There lie buried 8,301 American soldiers killed in the battles to liberate Holland in the fall and winter of 1944-5. Sgt. Bill Dukeman, 101st Airborne Division, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, Second Battalion, Company C (of “Band of Brothers fame) is buried there. He was killed in the battle of “The Crossroads” in northern Holland.

The Dutch hold an annual memorial concert every September at the above cemetery to remember and honor the Americans who died to free them in Operation Market Garden and subsequent efforts to eject the German army from Holland. Sgt. Dukeman, like many other fallen GIs, was “adopted” by a Dutch family. Dukeman’s family in the States was contacted and hosted in Holland, and his grave site decorated each year by his Dutch “family.” They keep his portrait in their home, displayed in a place of honor. Fathers pass this obligation down to their sons in Holland. This version of the original “taps” music is played by a 13 year old Dutch girl named Melissa Venema. The conductor of the orchestra is Andre Rieu from Holland .

Many of you may never have heard taps played in its entirety . The original version of Taps was called Last Post, and was written by Daniel Butterfield in 1801. It was rather lengthy and formal, as you will hear in this clip, so in 1862 it was shortened to 24 notes and re-named Taps.

Melissa Venema is playing it on a trumpet whereby the original was played on a bugle.

Watch at this site, and go full screen.

http://www.flixxy.com/trumpet-solo-melissa-venema.htm

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Blog posted on January 25, 2008

1/25/2008

Posted on January 25, 2008

Memories from Mona Dionne Johnson (48):

Hi: I wonder if anyone receiving these news emails remembers when in
1947, we all (except two who didn’t know about it) in High School,
probably around 80 students, went on strike and didn’t attend school
that day, in the hopes that we could convince the School Board at that
time to retain a teacher for the following year that we all thought very
highly of. Needless to say, we were not successful ! The teacher was ”
Russell P. Lund”. We, who attended the “2000 reunion” classes of
’47,48 last saw him then.
He lives in Fargo area. That was quite an experience. Wonder if that
was the first and only strike at Dunseith High ?
Mona Johnson

Posted by Gary Stokes:

Note: Russell was born in 1919.

STEVEN P & RUSSELL P LUND

2921 34th Ave S, Apt 142

Fargo, ND 58104-5144

(701) 293-6192

Memories from Ele Dietrich (69):

I, like everyone else, have truly enjoyed reading all the memories and can not thank you enough for what you have done for us Gary. You are truly a wonderful person and we are blessed to have you in our lives.

After reading Deb M. memories of the Governor’s Choir in 1969, I felt that I just have to add this tickle of memory: Mr. Johnson (who would ever have called him anything else) probably had the highest impact of any teacher in Dunseith when I was in school. Through him we all learned to appreciate music. We also learned to give from our hearts when we sang and I think that has stayed with all of us to this very day. I personally can not thank him enough for that gift. I will always remember though that he absolutely dispised Buck Owens and the nasal tone of his music. Remember “let the sound come from the mouth not the nose”…those words will be with me always. He introduced me to so many kinds of music, music that I had never heard before and still love to this day. Thank you Mr. Johnson.

And Deb, I too remember singing Grace in the restaurant…what an awesome moment of time. The whole place stopped and listened, almost as if time stood still.

Thank you again Gary and all who have shared their memories with us.

Ele (Dietrich) Slyter ’69 rules !!!

Elwood & Eleanor Fauske:

Folks,

I had a wonderful visit with Elwood and Eleanor (Hiatt) Fauske today. Going on 66 years of marriage, they are going strong. They live just east of the Bottineau Fair Grounds. Russell, their son, recently had some ligament surgery on his left arm. Russell & Glenda live on the Fauske farm, formally the John Hiatt farm up in the Ackworth community. Elwood has been driving up to Russell’s every day to do his chores while he is convalescing. Eleanor is still active with her crafts and with the store she has partnership with, in Bottineau.

The Fauske siblings are Connie (62), Russell (64), Carrole (66), Beth (67), Arlinda (Lindy) (69) & Brian (70). Many of you among our ranks are niece’s and nephew’s Elwood & Eleanor.

I told Eleanor & Elwood that some day they will become Senior Citizens. Elwood is 5 years younger than my dad and he would have been 92 last September.

Gary Stokes

12/28/2013 (1928)

Posted on December 28, 2013 by Gary

Folks,

The only thing I have to post today is a past blog from January, 2008

Gary

Blog Posted on January 24, 2008

1/24/2008

Posted on January 24, 2008

Memories from Deb Morinville (70):

This experience of hearing from so many Dunseith people has jogged my memory so much! How many of you remember these?

When the people from Canada came down to promote the big “Bingo” games they had. There were guys with huge hats on that covered their shoulders and had their bellybuttons painted like whistling lips. They had whistling music playing and moved their bellies in and out. That puzzled me for years!

My dad, Joe Morinville, had nectar in his store. It came in a brown bottle and was a super concentrated fruit liquid. It was so strong but we would all try to drink it straight. But then came “Fizzies” I even found them online somewhere.

How about “Sparkle Paints” They came in an art kit and each color had a little tub and a spatula. I loved them!

How could any of us forget “Captain Kangaroo”? Grandfather Clock, Mr. Green Jeans, the Rabbit who stole carrots, and the neat craft things they did with shoe boxes and scotch tape. Dennis Dion and I even had our moms get us green bib overalls!

David Slyter jogged memories from our Governor Choir days. I learned how to play “Whist” because we had down time sometimes. I also remember Governor Guy coming to Dunseith for a banquet. The town really spiffed up and it never looked so good! I also remember many long hours on busses and getting up at 5 AM to travel to many different places to sing.

Like in the legislative chambers at the Capitol in Bismarck

Yeah we had the blue blazers and the girls wore white skirts and the boys black pants. We stopped in Harvey one time to eat and filled the restaurant. On cue from Mr. Johnson we all stood up and sang our “Grace” It was very impressive. We were scattered all over but still managed four part harmony. I never realized important reading music would be. Now I singon a worship team and the ability to read music helps me to learn it quickly. Mr. Johnson had a huge impact on my

life in the way he taught me to appreciate so many different kinds of music. He never really liked country music though! What a legacy he left. It was such a great joy and privilege it was to sing with some of those former members at the Sunday service last summer at the reunion. Gary Fulsbakke directed us and we dedicated the songs to Mr. Johnson.

Keep the memories coming everyone!

Deb Morinville Marmon 70

Message from Mr. Bob Lykins, Former DHS Business teacher in the Mid 60′s.

Mr. Lykins was one of the greatest typing teachers of all times.

Note: Mr. Lykins surprised us all by attending our Class of 65 reunion this last summer. He kept telling us he would not be able to attend, but he made the trip from Germany to attend our reunion, the Dunseith all school reunion and Q-centennial.

Hello, Gary. I am sorry that I have not replied to you sooner but for the past few months I have been rather busy. I did retire on January 4, 2008 after 33 plus years of Federal Service. I am currently at my sister’s house in Pflugerville, Texas waiting for my shipment to come in and my renters to leave my house . My new address will be 103 Wren Cove, Hutto, TX 78634. My phone number is (512) 788-3978. My e-mail address is switched back tobbplykins@aol.com. My wife is monitoring that address and forwards to me any messages meant for me. I no longer have an e-mail address with the government. In the meantime, until I get settled in my house, I am using my sister’s e-mail address at vicki.rowe@sbcglobal.net.

It has been a very trying and emotional time for me for I have dearly loved my job and working for the government overseas. Also leaving the family behind was very hard. Even though my wife and I are separated we still have a great relationship and then there is my young son whom I miss desperately. Add to that the process of dismantling my life of 28 years in Wiesbaden, Germany and establishing a new life in Texas. This would include getting rid of all of my electronic appliances, etc (they were 220 volt) and cars and other stuff. Now it is buying a new car, getting a new driver’s license, insurance, buying all new appliances, and job hunting. I am signing up to substitute teach at the local school and maybe teach some college classes. Nothing heavy nor time consuming. I am, after all, retired. As I suspected, adjusting to life back in the United States is like adjusting to living in a foreign country. We call it “reverse culture shock.” It’s that Third Culture thing.

I enjoy reading the tales from the old days in Dunseith as they are related by former and current residents. It is more than a bit of local history that you are gathering and, judging by the comments, much appreciated by everyone.

Good luck, Gary. I wish you and Bernadette the best in the new year.

Bob Lykins

From Crystal (Fassett) Andersen…….who is working like crazy putting Dad’s slides on a website………………..this is Susan Fassett’s birthday party in 1957 in the Fassett backyard.

Front: Earl Hiatt, Ronnie Longie, Dean Helgeson, Bill Grimme, Ronnie Johnson

2nd row: Paula Fassett, Debra Mongeon, Kathy Fassett, Donnie Mongeon, Patty Fassett, Ann Carbonneau, Terry Martinson

Back: Patty Boguslawski, Shirley Boguslawski, Evie Gottbreht, Carol Jasper, Charlie Carbonneau, Susan Fassett, Mark Anderson, Karen loeb & Pam Fasett

12/27/2013 (1927)

Posted on December 27, 2013 by Gary

Posted by Neola Kofoid Garbe: Bottineau & Minot, ND

Blog posted on January 23, 2008

1/23/2008

Posted on January 23, 2008

Message from Dale Pritchard (63): His mother Dorothy will be 95.

Good Morning Gary,

Greetings from soggy Louisiana, 60 miles North of Lake Charles and 110
miles South of Shreveport! Just thought I’d throw this out. For those
of you who know or remember my mother, she will be 95 years old this
Saturday, January 25th. She attributes it to the clean air, cool
climate of North Dakota, heredity, and stubbornness. She is reasonably
healthy yet but has a hard time getting around now on her walker. She
lives in Oak Manor, a senior citizen’s apartment complex in Bottineau.
Although the eldest of her family, she has outlived all her brothers and
sisters.

Dale

Gary Stokes’ (65) reply to Dale & Dorothy Pritchard:

Dale,

You guys were our closest neighbors to the south, in the Ackworth commuity, up in the hills. I will call your mother and wish her a happy birthday. Her number is 701-228-3648. I frequently call her and we always have a wonderful visit. We visited her this last summer. She was having a bit of problem walking, but other than that she sure seems to very mentally sound and alert. She sure doesn’t have any problem remembering and relating to the present and the past.

Debby, my brother Darrel’s wife, retired from teaching several years ago and for a retirement activity helps out with the noon meals at Oak Manner 3 days a week. Your mother orders the meals that are served by the Bakery, so she sees your mother often. Joann Smith Fuchs from the DHS class of 65 has been your mothers hair dresser for years. She normally goes to Oak Manner every Friday to do your mothers hair.

I think your mother can attribute some of her longevity to all of the hard work that was demanded of her on the farm. She always helped with the chores, milking the cows, in addition to all her other duties she had as a farm wife and mother. Washing that cream separator everyday was a real chore in it self.

Gary

Question from Diane Hill Moline (75):

I have a question for Dave Slyter. Where is Donna Wenstad?�
Class of 1975. We were good friends through high school, but
lost touch after that. Diane Moline

Diane, There should be a number of folks on this distribution that can be of assistance getting you reconnected with Donna. Gary

12/26/2013 (1926)

Posted on December 26, 2013 by Gary

Happy Birthday Diane Larson Sjol (DHS ’70): Lake Metigoshe, ND

Christmas day dinner at the Stokes house.

Bernadette prepared dinner for about 40 friends and relatives on Christmas day. She was dragging and not feeling well, but she managed. She had good help. This is one of two tables of food. There were lots of left overs.

One of four tables. Pre-dinner drinks and visiting.

We expats went in the house to get our food from the table above and then went back outside to eat.

Bernadette’s relatives ate in the house. There wasn’t much English spoken in there.

Here in the Philippines we can be outside like this 24/7 365 days per year.

Happy Holiday message

From Connie Zorn Landsverk: Bottineau, ND

Here’s wishing everyone on the blog a wonderful Christmas & a new year filled with peace, joy & prosperity!!

K-Mart Boxer Jingle Bell Story

From Larry Hackman (’66): Bismarck, ND

Darwin’s Theory of Evolution

What has Christmas Revealed? Could this be population control?

The big debate at our house has been over the recent Christmas television commercials, and these people and items actually evolving to the point, that they could be used in these commercials.

It began with the Hershey Candy kisses commercial this year. We know they are shaped like bells and after studying the principals of Darwinism in Mr. Corbin’s Biology Class in high school it seems possible to me that Hershey Kisses could eventually develop clangor’s or donger’s or dingers or whatever you call them to become bells. Thereby being hired and used to do the jingle bell tune played by them in the Hershey Kisses Christmas advertisement. But to get them to jump and shake out the jingle bell tune is amazing to me. They have no legs or shakers, just a tab, kind of like a skin tab. How do you explain all that evolvement?

But, the Kmart commercial with the men lined up in their boxers shaking their pelvises and being able to ring out The Jingle Bell tune with their personal parts is truly amazing. I don’t think Darwin could have predicted this? There is no bell! So, is it possible that some of our species have evolved from balls to bells? According to Darwinism It must be possible and when I think back to them high school days, I know some of the students thought it was very possible, as when you walked down the hallway, “I called it running the gauntlet” some them fellows standing up against the hallway walls and looking like they could care less about who was walking down the hall would suddenly reach out and tap the person walking in the front of the pelvis. Now, I thought they were just being mean, but now I know that they were just checking to see if that person had evolved to a bell ringer. Is it possible these boys were that advanced in their thinking?

I just know it never felt could to be checked, actually it hurt like hell and you soon learned to carry a book in front of your pelvis to prevent being tapped. Actually I never did hear any ringing noise, but I heard a lot of name calling and a lot of other words said, that we all are better off not reading at this time. After all you could end up being on someone’s naughty list and we wouldn’t want that to happen at this time of the year. Why, it made these people laugh that were doing the tapping and checking is beyond me. But, I never heard any bells ringing so I don’t think anyone had evolved to the Kmart group’s advanced stage of being, at least not at that time in the Dunseith area.

However, the debate about the Kmart commercial has been raging on at our house and even at the doctor’s office where I went for an appointment the other day. The Kmart commercial came on the TV while several of the nurses were in the room with me. One nurse commented she hated that commercial. A male nurse in the room said that he and his wife have been arguing about it also. He said, his wife said it was about time, that they put some eye candy on the tube for women to watch, and that she liked the commercial. After all she said, men have had NFL cheerleaders and the Victoria’s Secret Women to watch for years. The female nurse replied that she still hated it and at least those women aren’t out there shaking their junk, like the Kmart men are, and she thought it was disgusting. What do you think?

Now think of this, Kmart might have the answer to population control on our planet. It will be like Jerry the mouse putting a bell on the neck of Tom the cat. Men won’t be able to sneak up on anything anymore?

Keep on laughing,

Larry

Goggle> Kmart boxer jingle bell commercial

Following Christmas dinner at the Stokes house, Santa came to Cebu.

Santa came unannounced to our community. Once he made his appearance the word traveled fast. Within a very short time there were hundreds of kids making there way to see Santa for their little hand out of candy and chips.

In 90 degree heat, Santa was kind of warm. Leo Tacke, in the dinner picture above, played Santa.

Santa and Novie

Folks, these are houses on the left that these folks live in. Some are 2 story too

Blog Posted on January 22, 2008

1/22/2008

Posted on January 22, 2008

Message from Marlene Richard Parslow (65):

Thanks for keeping us in the loop regarding the cruise! My hubby and I may consider going. We are doing our very 1st cruise this year in March. So depending on how that goes, we may be joining you all to Alaska!!
�
Hope your year is going well.
Marlene(Richard) Parslow

Reply and Memories from Dave Slyter (70):

How many remember the good ole band and choir days of good ole DHS.   Of course who could forget the best music director of all of DHS’s history, Don Johnson.   He done so many things for so many students.   One of the most memorable was when Dunseith received the Governors Choir award.  I think I remember then the choir had over 60 members in it. The high school band always had big numbers in it.   He ran a very high standard music department.�
�
Alan Poitra, I remember those funny looking hats also but they were always locked up in the little practice room and we were all hoping that no one would mention to Mr. Johnson that we should wear them while we march. ha    I always remember the home coming parades in Dunseith and also the day that we would travel to Minot for the Minot State College home coming parade. It was a long march, (especially when I had to carry that big ole bass drum) but was the best of times.   Always went downtown Minot and hung out at all the stores. Always went to the five and dime store.  �
�
When we were in the music program in the late 60′s and into 1970(by the way that is the best year ever) we had the really nice blue blazer that we wore for high school concerts.   I think we wore them for marching also. I also remember going to Devils Lake for the high school music contest or festivals.    Dunseith always came home with high marks.
�
I think that was the best part of jr. high and high school was being in the famous Don Johnson music program. Well that and passing my grade each year. ha�
�
One more memory I have to mention about the DHS music department. It has to do with years after I graduated but was a memory I will never forget.   I was once a custodian at DHS after the good ole years of San Haven employment. My daughter Stacey was in high school band then and was under the direction of one of Don Johnson’s former students and everybody knows her, Cheryl Haagenson.   She too did a great job in the music department. During the year that Stacey I think was a Junior in high school they decided they wanted to take in a contest down in Orlando Florida. So the money raising was put into place and the plans and dates of the trip were decided. I was fortunate enough to be a chaperone of this big event and what a memory it was. It will be with me for a very long time. The kids were so well behaved and they should have been so proud as they brought home this big huge trophy that I hope still is in the show case at the school. “Way to go Cheryl”   You have done the school proud.�
�
Thanks for the memories.
�
Dave Slyter (70)

Master Dunseith Alumni Email List:

Folks I have attached a copy of the latest “Master Dunseith Alumni Email List”. It’s in an Excel format.

This list is sorted by total name and also by class year. To view the desired sort just kick on the “Name Sort” or “Class Year Sort” tabs located on the bottom left of the screen under the names.

All ladies that are part of a Dunseith High School Class are listed first by their maiden name on this list. I have broken husbands and wives apart and listed everyone with a separate line on this list.

With the size of this list, I have decide to sent it out only in the Excel formant. The file size is getting to be fairly large, for group mailing, with a pasted copy in the body of the email message.

If you don’t have the ability to read these Excel files, I strongly recommend that you down load Excel Viewer. This will enable you to open, view and print Excel attachments sent to you. I have also used Excel putting together all of the class lists. I’ve pasted the link below for a free Microsoft down load of Excel viewer. While you are in the site, I’d also recommend that you down load Power Point Viewer and Word Viewer, if you are unable to open these files, too.

12/25/2013 (1925)

Posted on December 25, 2013 by Gary

Merry Christmas everyone:

It is already Christmas in Cebu.

Merry Christmas

From Cecile Carbonneau Marchand (’51): Clearwater, FL

A very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year to all of you. I really enjoy your Blog. There are so many memories that everyone shares. There are not many of our family left in the area any more as My brother Emery Carbonneau and my sister Rita Anderson are gone now. I have Carol Carbonneau in Bottineau and her daughter Ann O’connell . Thanks for all the time you spend to keep the old times alive in our memories. I am so lucky to be able to spend my winters in Florida and not in the frozen North.

It is zero in Wisconsin (my summer home) today. It is 70 here today.

Merry Christmas

From Trish Larson Clayburgh (’73): Portola Valley, CA

Happy Christmas Gary! Sounds like you have wonderful plans with friends and family there. I will be working in the ED, trying to cheer up the poor souls who end up in the Emergency Room on Christmas Day.

For all the blog readers out there – I hope you find something good to eat and drink and someone nice to share it with.

In the spirit of the season, I wish you all the best in the coming year!

Trish Clayburgh

’73

Anne Marie Nerpel Dunlop Obituary

Posted by Vickie Metcalfe (’70): Bottineau, ND

Anne Marie Dunlop
(May 24, 1914 – December 20, 2013)

Send Sympathy Card
Sign Guest Book

Anne Marie Dunlop, 99, passed away on December 20, 2013 at the Presentation Medical Center in Rolla, North Dakota. She was a long-time resident of Rolla and spent a number of years at Park View Assisted Living. Anne was born May 24, 1914, at Carpenter Lake, North Dakota, one of fifteen children. Her parents were Gustav and Susie (Gores) Nerpel. Anne spent her early years on the family farm at the north end of Carpenter Lake. She and her siblings walked two miles to a one room country school through many harsh winter days. At a very young age she took on the responsibilities of cooking, cleaning, child care, and gardening on the family farm. At the age of thirteen she left home to work as a housekeeper and caretaker of children for various families in the Dunseith and Bottineau area. Here she earned her room and board and bought clothes and books for school. She also worked at San Haven, a tuberculosis sanatorium north of Dunseith for a period of time. Any extra earnings were sent home to help support the family. Anne’s love of reading at a young age and her work experience taught her the value of an education. After graduating from high school, she put herself through two years of secretarial school at the School of Forestry in Bottineau. She was employed by the federal farm agency in Rolla after college. Anne married Orin Dunlop March 25,1939, and they farmed in Maryville Township. For a short time during World War II, they lived in California where Orin worked in an airplane factory. They returned to North Dakota where they farmed one mile north of Rolla and raise their family there until building a home in Rolla in 1951. Anne was in charge of a huge vegetable garden, which resulted in much of the produce being canned. She groomed a lovely flower garden in her yard in Rolla as well. Anne was a member of the First Presbyterian Church and the Presbyterian Women. Though her greatest focus during her life was home and family, she enjoyed going to Study Club and Homemakers. As an avid reader, she made good use of the Rolla Community Library. Anne and Orin wintered in Arizona for twenty-five years and traveled a great deal. Anne’s heart was always in North Dakota close to kids and grandkids. Anne learned to knit and crochet out of necessity in her younger years. In later years, it became a hobby and she supplied her large family and many friends with lovely handmade gifts. She donated afghans to various organizations to be used for fund raising. One winter, she knit purple and gold hats for each member of the Rolla wrestling team. Anne has two surviving siblings: Gus Nerpel of West Richland, WA, and Maude Abrahamson of St. John, ND. She is survived by her six children and their spouses: Jon (MaryAnn) Dunlop of Missoula, MT; Janice (Donald) Jungling of Tucson, AZ; William (Patricia) Dunlop of Wayzata, MN; Robert (JoHanna) Dunlop of Rolla, Leslie (Doreen) Dunlop of SanTan Valley, AZ; and Charles (Sharon) Dunlop of Bottineau, ND. She had thirteen grandchildren and fifteen great-grandchildren . A Burial and a memorial service will be held in the spring of 2014. Elick Funeral Home, Rolla, ND, please go to www.elickfh.com to sign the online register book.

Today’s posting

From Leland Hagen (’50): Bryan, TX

A Little Poem, so true it hurts!

Another year has passed

And we’re all a little older.

Last summer felt hotter

And winter seems much colder.

There was a time not long ago

When life was quite a blast.

Now I fully understand

About ‘Living in the Past’

We used to go to weddings,

Football games and lunches.

Now we go to funeral homes

And after-funeral brunches.

We used to have hangovers,

From parties that were gay.

Now we suffer body aches

And wile the night away.

We used to go out dining,

And couldn’t get our fill.

Now we ask for doggie bags,

Come home and take a pill.

We used to often travel

To places near and far.

Now we get sore asses

From riding in the car.

We used to go to nightclubs

And drink a little booze.

Now we stay home at night

And watch the evening news.

That, my friend is how life is,

And now my tale is told.

So, enjoy each day and live it up…

Before you’re too damned old!

Christmas Eve dinner in Cebu

Folks,

Our Christmas eve catered dinner went over very well. We had about 100 folks total. 75 of Relatives and in-law relatives and about 25 of our Cebu Expat group of friends. The caterers came in set everything up, served our food and when we were finished they packed everything up and left. Wonderful service.

Bernadette was insistent on preparing a Christmas day dinner too of which she and her helpers are preparing at the moment. We will have about 40 folks for dinner at 2:00 pm this afternoon.

Gary

12/24/2013 (1924)

Posted on December 24, 2013 by Gary

Folks,

We are having Christmas eve dinner catered at our house this evening. Bernadette normally prepares a large meal that is served at midnight on Christmas eve to her relatives and in-law relatives in our immediate area. With her health conditions this year, she is unable to do that, so we are having it catered. We have also invited a few of our close Expat friends. There are 72 relatives and in-law relatives plus another 23 Expat folks for a total of 95. The only thing we have to do is provide added beverages of which put on ice this morning. Dinner will be served at 7:00 PM this evening.

Bernadette, with her love for cooking and entertaining wanted to have a few folks over for a lunch on Christmas day (Tomorrow) too. Her lunch has turned into a dinner though. She has invited about 40 folks.

The catering service just called me for directions to our house. They will be here in about an hour.

Gary

PS – I am pressed for time, so I am not including any past blogs today.

Happy Birthday Aimee Lagerquist (’97): Helena, MT

Happy Birthday Diane Hill Maline (’75): Burlington, ND

Happy Birthday Conrid Metcalfe: Seattle, WA

12/23/2013 (1923)

Posted on December 23, 2013 by Gary

Picture request

From Colette Hosmer (’64): Santa Fe, NM

Hi Susan and Crystal (Fassett),

I read your messages on Gary’s (“rerun”, 1/20/2008) today. I would love to see the photos that you mentioned posting.

Would you give us the site information again? Thanks so much for this historical record!

Colette

Ruby Desjarais

Message from Bob Hosmer (’56): Lynnwood, WA

Hi Gary,

Sure do enjoy the blog though I don’t contribute much to it. It has stirred
up some good memories and helped me sort out some things that I wasn’t clear
about. I left Dunseith first at age 13 to go to school at Queen Ann High in
Seattle, but returned home at Christmas and stayed in Dunseith the rest of
the school year (8th grade) then through my freshman year. After that I
went to Oak Grove Lutheran High School in Fargo and graduated there.

But what I’m writing about is to add to the list of email recipients Ruby
Desjarais who lives in Everett now, but works in Lynnwood about three
minutes drive from me. Her email is: lynnwood-FD@ I hope we
see her writing in the blog soon.

Have a beautiful Christmas. Bob Hosmer

Bob,

It is my pleasure to add Ruby.

Ruby, we are looking forward to hearing from you too.

Gary

Hosmer Memories

Reply from Lola Metcalfe Vanorny (’68): Dunseith, ND

BIll Hosmer—- i remember my mother Ella Metcalfe talking about what a nice and gracious lady Inez was–

mom just couldn’t bear to give shots to my brother Gary for his asthma–so when Gary would have an attack she would go down to Inez’s and Inez would give the shot to Gary– Mom really thought that was awesome that she wouldn’t take Money – and no matter what time day or night would cheerfully administer the shot–so Mom said she would bring “Inee” (our nickname for her) cream from the farm in appreciation to her– funny the memories that are sparked by anecdotes from the blog

I went to visit Inee and Jack at her request one day – she had questions on insurance policies that she had– and she said the first time she saw Jack Hosmer- she knew she would marry him!!_ and in later years she would say “Love you Jack” and he would say “ditto”— I thought that was so sweet!!-such wonderful people we had in our town– I only got to know the other Hosmers from that family –very well—– in Don and Jess- and they were two diamonds too– !!_ I just loved them both!!_ she as my teacher and later friend and Don– just to run into and visit– Such humble and loving people– Don and my BRother JIM were really good friends- –LOla

Reply from Dennis Dubois (’63): Minneapolis, MN

To my friend, Kenny Nerpel, a small apology for getting the color of his sister, Kathy’ hair the wrong color. To Kathy a large apology, how stupid of me. I’m sorry. Paula Fassett and I were out to dinner last night and she helped me straighten it out. For some reason, I believe I got Kathy and Charlene Pearson, both gorgeous girls, mixed up. How I could ever mix Kathy up with anyone is beyond me. Paula and I went to a restaurant last night that the waiter couldn’t even pronounce the words on the menu, fantastic food and we visited for several hours, great evening. We do this on a somewhat regular basis. I did make comment to her that I didn’t think the entrée I had wasn’t served at Dale’s, that got a chuckle out of her. To everyone out there, MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Memories

Reply from Lola Metcalfe Vanorny (’68): Dunseith, ND

Ha!!- Larry I think Charlie Anderson and i had the same finesse with our bowling!!- i would throw the ball and it would do some funny curves and i actually got some pins down-!!!-LOL!!! Drove Jay crazy!!_LOL!!!_ first we bowled after we got married with leroy cote and his wife and then with Patti and Dwain coleman– my sister- we had so much fun!!!_ — and a lot more fun after bowling!!- Donna Leonard was such a hoot !!– loved her- !!!

Jay won a belt buckle back in the 60’s for a 300 game– — I used the buckle to strap my kids into their high chair so they wouldn’t slide down and choke!!!_LOL!!!_ didn’t realize the importance of it!!- I still have it although the prong is broke off to put in the loop – i guess i will replace that one of these days– !!-LOL!!_ i know there was some controversy with Jay’s coach Hepper — about getting the buckle– !!– I thought it was funny that his own coach would try to keep him from getting it- ??!!- — and being good friends supposedly——- of his dad– — strange-!!! anyhow!!!- it doesn’t matter a hoot now anyway!!!–funny what seems so important at the time means nothing a few years later- !!–

Jay and all my kids participated in sports and say now that — the only thing they learned of importance in playing sports is the teamwork!!- and fellowship with the other players– other than that nothing else did much for their Careers!!!!– or matters a hoot now- !!_= see?? — I tried to get them all to play guitar- but no dice!!-LOL!!! that is something you use all your life!!-LOL!!!–wish i had learned- t !!

Larry keep your colorful stories coming- I bet you have a whole bunch that are really colorful!!-living in town!!- you are probably too polite to rest them!!_ LOL!!!–

take care and sty warm!!-LOla

Posting of the day: Turning Algae into oil

Posted by Vickie Metcalfe (’68): Bottineau, ND

Williston Harold

Jerry Burnes

The Bakken’s biggest threat could be algae of all things.

Scientists and engineers at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory announced Tuesday a continuous chemical process that turns harvested algae into crude oil in less than 60 minutes.

The catch? While the process takes minutes rather than a million years to form crude oil, the process isn’t exactly cost-efficient yet.

“Cost is the big roadblock for algae-based fuel,” said Douglas Elliott, the laboratory fellow who led the PNNL team’s research, in a release. “We believe that the process we’ve created will help make algae biofuels much more economical.”

What cut the cost to a more economical level was being able to use wet algae in the chemical process, as opposed to using energy and money to dry it out. The PNNL’s new process uses a “slurry” of algae that uses up to 90 percent water.

This isn’t the first time algae has been considered a viable biofuel and the PNNL is far from the first lab to experiment with it — instead it has just found the most success with continuous processing of the slurry.

With a little more refining to the algae-based oil, it can also be converted to aviation fuel, gasoline or diesel fuel. Even the wastewater is processed further to create burnable gas and substances such as nitrogen and potassium, which the PNNL says can be recycled to grow more algae.

“Not having to dry the algae is a big win in this process; that cuts the cost a great deal,” said Elliott. “Then there are bonuses, like being able to extract usable gas from the water and then recycle the remaining water and nutrients to help grow more algae, which further reduces costs.”

The PNNL’s recent work is part of the Department of Energy’s National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts and was funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds by the DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

Don’t expect algae to replace traditional crude extraction any time soon though.

Hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling have improved the cost and efficiency of drilling and multi-well pads, which could begin holding up to 30 wells on one spot, have even further reduced the cost of the process.

That doesn’t mean biofuels won’t come to fruition.

On Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp laid out her case for keeping yearly biofuel production targets in place that were set forward in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.

She said North Dakota’s corn-based ethanol industry can also stand to benefit and would suffer if the administration’s proposal to limit biofuels production go through.

“At a time when we are rapidly increasing our production of North American energy resources, now is not the time to limit our ability to produce a home-grown renewable fuel like ethanol,” Heitkamp said in a statement. “In North Dakota, we see firsthand how biofuels help support our economy, create well-paying jobs, support rural communities and provide cleaner energy.”

Genifuel Corp., which has worked with the PNNL team since 2008, believes its a matter of just getting biofuels economical, and the PNNL’s recent success is good start.

“It’s a formidable challenge to make a biofuel that is cost-competitive with established petroleum-based fuels,” said Genifuel President James Oyler. “This is a huge step in the right direction.”

Blog posted on January 21, 2008

1/21/2008

Posted on January 21, 2008

Message From Dick Johnson (68):

Gary,

This has been the most interesting reading. Thanks for all the
work you are doing to keep the history of Dunseith alive. It
seems many of us remember several of the same things with only
minor variations probably do to our own perspectives of that
memory at that time. I do very vividly remember the sunny day
when Capt. Bill Hosmer and his wingmen decided to dust off
Main Street in Dunseith. How many towns of fewer than 800 have
ever had a private aerobatic show by the Thunderbirds? Bill,
thanks for the memories. One other thing that I remember is
going to the show at the Althea. I remember stopping first at
Said (Sy) Kadrys pool hall for a Sugar Daddy sucker. We all
waited for the show hall to open and would lay the suckers on
the sidewalk so they would freeze. When the Hackman kids would
open the door everyone would grab their Sugar Daddys and break
them like glass. Then in the show you could eat a piece at a
time without getting all sticky. Smart kids. In the late 50′s
and most of the 60′s you could have a night out for 25 cents.
The show ticket was $.10, pop $.5,popcorn was $.10! My how
things have changed!I have many good memories of growing up in
Dunseith and I encourage others to share their stories with us.
On a current note; Kenny Nerpel asked about our music group,
The Turtle Mountain Hillbilly Band. We will be playing in Minot
at The Frozen Fingers Bluegrass Festival Feb.9 at 1PM This is
at the hotel at Dakota Square Mall.If you attend be sure to
come find us after the gig. I did hear a recording of Kenny and
his wife Sherry doing several songs, it was very good. Hope to
see any of our old friends there. Again, thanks
Gary!

Dick Johnson

Message From Mel Kuhn (70):

Gary

It’s another balmy 20 below morning in the Turtle Mt’s. Reading about the lutefisk reminds me of working at Hosmer’s store. I was sent into the meat dept. to help Dennis Brennan repackage some of the lutefisk out of the barrells’ that it came in,and lets just say, ooofta I’ve never been the same.

Mel Kuhn[70]

12/22/2013 (1922)

Posted on December 22, 2013 by Gary

Kathy Fassett Klemmer, Darrel & Bill’s sister, change of Email address.

Message from John Klemmer: Plantation, FL.

Gary,

Thanks for your great hosting.

We have a new email address. Please use it in the future.

Merry Christmas!

John Klemmer (the poorer half of Kathy nee Fassett Klemmer)

Perception, Friends, Family, Memories

Reply from Vickie Metcalfe (’70): Bottineau, ND

Gary and friends,

In days gone by, I, a mere second grader amongst 8 others in my class which was combined with 1^st graders on the stage at Dunseith Elementary.

I had attended Liberty School in Marysville ,WA in first grade while our family lived with dad’s brother, Archie in his home.

Among the 2^nd grade classmates was my best childhood friend, L. Dean Lamb..

That previous year 1^st grade experience had taken a toll on me.

Returning to ND, I still was devastated by my Uncle’s horrifying death.

I recall one Sunday afternoon playing trucks with Dean upstairs of the Lamb home. We were making our truck sounds and driving around those trucks around and round the open stair case.

In midst of our play, Dean stopped his truck turned to me and said, “I heard about your uncle.”

Weakly, I whispered, “yeahh?”

Dean said,”I am sorry.” Nothing more was ever said.
But I believed finally, someone….. Dean… understood my pain, he cared and voiced his love.

Dean made a difference.

That year, another other best girlfriend emerged.. I latched on to her like a woodtick, pesty, inviting myself to stay with her over nighting as often as I could at Uncle Jim and Aunt Ella’s

I always managed to finagle the second seat behind the bus driver, on the drive from the elementary school to the high school.

I saved that spot for my coveted cousin.

Helen made a difference.

But many times a rascally high school boy would jump in and sit beside me teasing. He wouldn’t leave., tell methe seat was his. I usually made my harrowing escape by crawling over the seat, under the seat and finding another. I was quite angry with him! And I made a childlike judgment of dislike.

For many years, I believed the rascally high school boy was Loren Dubois.

At the gathering at the Bingo Barn 4 years ago. I told Loren of my second grade displeasure. He apolozied. But clearly didn’t know what I was talking about.

And apparently later discussed it with his brother Dennis.
At a later date, probably at cemetery cleaning, Loren approached me, “Do You remember telling about my taking the seat for Helen on the bus?” Yes. then he said, My brother Dennis said, “Loren, don’t you remember we’d moved into town and we didn’t ride bus.”

“Wow, I am so glad after all these years, I’d I had a long case of childish mistaken identity, and perception.”

It is good to communicate, discuss events and memories.

Gary you have provided many of us the opportunity to communicate our perceptions, feelings and memories on this blog. You have planned fabulous reunions. You have shown your beautiful wife, home and Filipino friends. You have opened our eyees to another culture

And you share your consideratation without judgement.

Gary, You have made a difference!

Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year.

Vickie

Reply from Lola Metcalfe Vanorne (’68): Dunseith, ND

Ha!!- Larry I think Charlie Anderson and I had the same finesse with our bowling!!- I would throw the ball and it would do some funny curves and I actually got some pins down-!!!-LOL!!! Drove Jay crazy!!_LOL!!!_ first we bowled after we got married with Leroy cote and his wife and then with Patti and Dwain Coleman– my sister- we had so much fun!!!_ — and a lot more fun after bowling!!- Donna Leonard was such a hoot !!– loved her- !!!

Jay won a belt buckle back in the 60’s for a 300 game– — I used the buckle to strap my kids into their high chair so they wouldn’t slide down and choke!!!_LOL!!!_ didn’t realize the importance of it!!- I still have it although the prong is broke off to put in the loop – I guess I will replace that one of these days– !!-LOL!!_ I know there was some controversy with Jay’s coach Hepper — about getting the buckle– !!– I thought it was funny that his own coach would try to keep him from getting it- ??!!- — and being good friends supposedly——- of his dad– — strange-!!! anyhow!!!- it doesn’t matter a hoot now anyway!!!–funny what seems so important at the time means nothing a few years later- !!–

Larry keep your colorful stories coming- I bet you have a whole bunch that are really colorful!!-living in town!!- you are probably too polite to rest them!!_ LOL!!!–

take care and sty warm!!-Lola

Blog Posted on January 20, 2008

01/20/2008

Posted on January 20, 2008

Message from Alan Poitra (76):

Hello Gary, many, many thanks for the fond memories of Dunseith. As I read many of these, I ask myself who are half these people, of course I remember the names but for the life of me, cannot picture them. Being from the class of 76 of course explains it, (we all get to turn the big 50 this year) but I do have such fond memories that I could not pass up the chance to mention but a few. I often go back to Dunseith and as I drive thru main street, I remember there use to be such stores as Gambles, The Pool Hall, the Laundromat, the Bowling Alley, Hosmer’s Dept Stores, The Movie Theater, Moe’s Gas Station (?), The Dakota Hotel, San Haven (the big turning event in Dunseith)walking thru the tunnels with the Hagel Clan, (yes Denise you remember those good old days) , the A/C Bar and The Corner Bar. I remember Friday and Saturday nights cruising main street and trying to find a beer runner…(oops did I say that) Not too forget the many memories of going to high school in Dunseith, the homecoming parades, the football and basketball games, (going to State in 72) the floats made by each class, the marching band (remember we use to have one, anyone remember the big hats…did we ever march with those on???)

The many high school concerts, those were the days, performing for our families and friends. (anyone remember the Music Festivals) Hermanson’s Bakery, he was such a good man, he use to give us credit and loved those baked goods. I remember snowmobile parties with my classmates, I remember going to many parties at Beer Can Alley, Halvorson’s Grove, The Butte, and the Gravel Pit.

I can go on and on about the good times spent in Dunseith North Dakota, but wanted to mention but a few things that I remember and do pop up from time to time when visiting with old friends, I guess that is why they call them memories. I do enjoy the stories from people and how time changes. Although we go our separate ways in life, we tend to always go back to our roots and I am very proud to say I grew up in Dunseith North Dakota!!

Once again thank you Gary for allowing us to walk down Memory Lane!!! Oh and by the way…as always the Class of 76 Rules!!!!

Gary’s Reply to Alan:

Alan, It is my pleasure to be able to do this. We all have one thing in common and that is our Dunseith roots. Taking a look at the Alumni, Dunseith did a darn good job of educating it’s folks. I am glad that I had the opportunity to get the education I got from Dunseith that enabled me to successfully move on in life. Mr. Bob Lykins, you were a big part of that, developing my typing skills, enabling me to comfortable sit down and zap out these messages in relatively short order.

More History and Memories from Bill Hosmer (48):

Gary, and other Dunseith folks. A recent package of comments, memories,
and other recollections was a dense concentration of interesting
dialogue.

I happened to be in the Stone Church in Dunseith, sitting next to
Mabel Boardman who was holding Don before his baptism. He sang in
Church for the first time, probably, since he was a very young tike.
It was mostly a “WAH” rather that hymnal in nature, but I was
observing a beginning of a long time musical avocation. I knew his
brothers Bob and Harold very well. I have read about his work in
Bottineau County over the years.

I was two years behind Don Johnson and Bernice Olson in high school
at Dunseith, and they both were very good friends. Dick and Brenda
have established themselves in the musical world, and thanks to Wayne
Smith, I got to spend a pleasurable evening at his terrific facility
west of Lake Metigoshe and enjoy hours of top notch entertainment by
those two and many others from that part of the world. I’ll
certainly be returning for future engagements when I return from the
SW. That is a tremendous feature that the Turtle Mountain citizens
have built right in.

The conversations about pie made me remember that our neighbor
Florence Sunderland and my mother, Inez Hosmer used to deliver a
sampling of cookies, brownies, etc to each other when a new batch
took form. My brothers and I would feast on those fresh delights
(still warm). I used to shovel a path through the snow from door to
door, so there wouldn”t be and delays in delivery. Patsy Sunderland
and I at a pre school age used to walk around the town to places
like Mrs Isaacson, wife of Carl SR. and Mrs Higgins, wife of Frank,
and get cookie and milk treats on the back steps of their kitchens
during summer months. The cookie jar in our kitchen was usually
stocked, and most of the time there was a chocolate cake with thick
chocolate frosting in reach for after school treats. The aromas that
occurred in that kitchen was a joy. I hope its getting close to
dinner, because my mouth is watering, although desserts are the
exception nowadays.

Bill Fassett’s daughters have been generous with important picutes
of people so familiar to me. It certainly is a gift to have this
interaction going on.

Another memory out of the past is that my mother used to help with
baby birthing events, as she, Lenore Lamoureux, wife of Leo, Hattie
Lilleby, wife of Arnold were registered nurses. I was quite young
but accompanied mother to the Grimme home above the shoe shop on
mainstreet, near the show hall (Althea Theater). I was standing in
the living room with Mr. Grimme and we heard Conley’s first cry.
Mr. Grimme said, “My God”. Bill Grimme came later.

Getting back to food for a bit, it was a tremendous challenge to
walk by Pat McAtee’s bakery without stopping when the Bismarck’s
were being put on display. They cost a nickel, and sometimes they
were hard to come by when we were kids. One source for money was
picking up soda and beer bottles in the ditches and return them for
1cent each. After a dance, they were prevalent and we even used to
get enough pennies to pay for the movie which was a dime for awhile
when I was young. We did not miss many movies. One time my brother
Don and I attended a Sunday matinee, after eating a hot pork
combination sandwich at the Peace Garden Cafe which was two doors
south of the drugstore. The movie was “Blood and Sand” with Tyrone
Power who was a bull fighter. When we got home, Dad’s ear was next
to the radio, and he told us we were at war. It was 7 Dec 1941, and
he had been listenting to President F D Roosevelt. That really
changed our lives in a big way. Pat McAtee became our Boy Scout
Troop Scoutmaster, and we got busy collecting paper, tin cans,
bacon fat and doing all the other things scouts did then. The troop
is pictured on page 311 of PRAIRIE PAST AND MOUNTAIN MEMORIES.

Then our men started to leave for war, and it really was a dramatic
time as they finished their training assignments, then came home on
furlough before they got into the fight. We had these young men in
every branch of the service. The Cornell family had four sons at war
at the same time. We younger guys would try to talk with them, though
their time was limited, because we wanted to know what it was like.
They were certainly our heroes without question. They certainly did
become the Generation which Tom Brokaw described in an impressive way.

Way too long this time, but it might trigger some recollections from
others, who have been doing it so well. Cheers, Bill Hosmer

Reply & Message from Susan Fassett (65):

In reply to Bob Hosmer—–The picture of Jack Flynn and Bob Hosmer was taken in June of 1955 at Lake Metigoshe at Jack and Inez’ cabin. There are more pics from that day also. I will try and forward some more of them later. My sister, Crystal, has all of dad’s old slides and is scanning all of them and putting them on our flckr website for all to see. There are some interesting old pics there.

To Larry H. — I hope you eat that apple pie with a generous slice of cheese. My mom and Grandma Kate and Grandma Goodie were some of the best pie bakers around. Sadly, I did not inherit that skill. And there is nothing wrong with people who like sauerkraut, lutefisk and limberger cheese(althought my husband may argue otherwise–Ha!!).

Keep the memories and thoughts coming. Hugs and prayers to all. Susan(Fassett) Martin

Reply from Crystal Fassett (70):

Gary, In reply to the Bob Hosmer & Jack Flynn picture. It was taken by my Dad Bill Fassett,at the Hosmer’s cabin at Lake Metigoshe. The occasion was Father’s Day 1955 ,but it WAS the Hosmers’ lawn chairs. I am in the process of putting all my Dad’s slides on computer,so I can share them with sisters , cousins & kids. Dad took lots of slides ,so it may take me until next winter to finish,but it fun to see all the “little” kids and the “old” area sights. Lots of St.Paul Butte,Lake Metigoshe & Bottineau County Fair parades,as well as anything that went on in Dunseith. Susan is the correspondent in our family,I am only the “editor” but try to read most the emails. Thanks Crystal Fassett Andersen Walhalla ND

12/21/2013 (1921

Posted on December 21, 2013 by Gary

Request for Peterson/Evans family pictures

From Dale Evans: Algona, WA

Hi Gary – Thank you so much for your efforts & energy to maintain this blog, my mother Mary (Peterson) Artzer really enjoys reading it

Would you happen to have any old photo’s of my mother or the Peterson family? or perhaps of my father – Martin Evans?
,

Very well said Vickie

Reply from Vickie Metcalfe (’70): Bottineau, ND

Gary,Kenny and Dick,

Readers of this blog often dialogue about the same event.

But, the individual stories differ.

Each of us brings memories based on our own unique perceptions and feelings,

Oft times I write into this blog and hit “send”.

Then wish I didn’t write or hit send.

I am gratified when I receive a personal e-mail from

those I truly respect.

As Dick stated each persons memory belongs to them.

Please continue sharing, don’t be “skunked”?.

Thanks. Vickie

Reply from Dennis Dubois (’63): Minneapolis, MN

Kenny Nerpel, I’m so sorry that I got the color for your sister’s hair wrong, or did I get the wrong Kathy Nerpel? Did you folks live in town, real close to the high school, in 1963? I remember you from that basketball team. I think I’ve got something really mixed up here. I saw Kathy at the 2007 reunion. Was there another Kathy Nerpel out there? Help me out. I liked you comment bout Don Prouty’s temper. He has told me that an incident in Rolette caused him to re-think his coaching career, he never coached again, after Dunseith. I had gotten kicked out of the game for, my temper tantrum with the ref. Don was seated on the stage, where the visiting teams sat, and when the ref ran by, he has told me, he kicked out at him. He says if he would have hit him, he would of really hurt him. He said he went home that night and told Bernie, his wife, “I don’t think I’m cut out to be a coach”. That was the last year he ever coached. Kenney, I’m so glad that you brought this up. Oh, was your sister older than you, as this Kathy that I knew would have been.

Posted by Neola Kofoid Garbe: Bottineau & Minot, ND

Posting of the day from Mark Schimetz (’70): mschimetz@msn.com Rolette, ND

Dec 20, 1957:

Elvis Presley is drafted

Previous Day December 20 Calendar Next Day

On this day in 1957, while spending the Christmas holidays at Graceland, his newly purchased Tennessee mansion, rock-and-roll star Elvis Presley receives his draft notice for the United States Army.

With a suggestive style–one writer called him “Elvis the Pelvis”–a hit movie, Love Me Tender, and a string of gold records including “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Hound Dog” and “Don’t Be Cruel,” Presley had become a national icon, and the world’s first bona fide rock-and-roll star, by the end of 1956. As the Beatles’ John Lennon once famously remarked: “Before Elvis, there was nothing.” The following year, at the peak of his career, Presley received his draft notice for a two-year stint in the army. Fans sent tens of thousands of letters to the army asking for him to be spared, but Elvis would have none of it. He received one deferment–during which he finished working on his movie King Creole–before being sworn in as an army private in Memphis on March 24, 1958.

After six months of basic training–including an emergency leave to see his beloved mother, Gladys, before she died in August 1958–Presley sailed to Europe on the USS General Randall. For the next 18 months, he served in Company D, 32nd Tank Battalion, 3rd Armor Corps in Friedberg, Germany, where he attained the rank of sergeant. For the rest of his service, he shared an off-base residence with his father, grandmother and some Memphis friends. After working during the day, Presley returned home at night to host frequent parties and impromptu jam sessions. At one of these, an army buddy of Presley’s introduced him to 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu, whom Elvis would marry some years later. Meanwhile, Presley’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker, continued to release singles recorded before his departure, keeping the money rolling in and his most famous client fresh in the public’s mind. Widely praised for not seeking to avoid the draft or serve domestically, Presley was seen as a model for all young Americans. After he got his polio shot from an army doctor on national TV, vaccine rates among the American population shot from 2 percent to 85 percent by the time of his discharge on March 2, 1960.

Face book Capture from Iris Wolvert

Blog posted on January 19, 2008

01/19/2008

Posted on January 19, 2008

Folks,

For general info, these messages are going to folks around the globe. We have Dunseith folks living in Korea, Germany, Switzerland, Canada, Mexico, United States & Philippines. That’s all I can think of at the moment. Please let me know if I’ve missed a country that some of you may be living in. Within seconds after I hit the send button, you all receive the same message. The power of email.

Gary

Bob Hosmer’s (56) reply to Gary Stokes (65) with his address correction for the DHS 56 class list:

Hi Gary,

Here’s a correction for the Hosmers:

We now live at: 18606 52nd W. #222

Lynnwood, WA 98037

425-673*6254

I’m enjoying the Dunseith memories and good to hear from people who I either knew or knew their families. The picture of my Uncle Bob with Jack Flynn, brought back memories of those days. That picture was taken in uncle Bob’s back yard–I remember the tree in the back ground and the lawn chairs they were sitting in. Bob Hosmer

Larry Hackman’s (64) Reply to Gary Stokes (65) with Gary’s former reply to Kenny Nerpel (65):

Gary

Ahhh Pie, What would we do without it? Funny you should bring this up at this time. My wife just had taken a cherry pie out of the oven when I opened this message. Dessert tonight will be warm cherry pie, alamode, For you novice pie eaters alamode means with ice cream, and there is nothing better then fresh straight from the oven, warm cherry pie with ice cold, sweet vanilla, ice cream. Your mouth watering yet?

Guess what? Now she, just made and put into the oven a double thick apple pie. Wow, talk about torture. I wasn’t going to respond to this pie message Gary. But, I thought, hell, he can take it. I’m going to respond and make him suffer. After all I have to wait for them to cool and this will help pass the time. What can I say Gary. A happy pie hole, means happiness.

Who cares about that little bump in cholesterol.

Sure beats the hell out of balute, lutefisk or sauerkraut. I hope these arn’t fighting words. People that eat some of these foods tend to be bullheaded. I don’t know why? I love sauerkraut, myself, but thinking of these foods and burned toast with onions, sure takes the zest out of the pie story.

I added this last paragraph for you dieters.

A pie eater,

larry

Gary Stokes’ comments to Kenny Nerpel:

Kenny, You’ll have to admit, we had some really fine pie. Those home baked pies they had at the Senior Center were so delicious, right Larry Hackman? I just couldn’t resist having a piece or two every time I passed by the area. I’ll have to admit, those pies were probably my comfort food. It must be my scananavioun blood. I am fond of most anything sweet. In my growing up days we ate a lot of sugar sandwiches. Brown sugar was the frosting on the cake. I remember my dad liking burned toast and onion sandwiches too. Gary

12/20/2013 (1920)

Posted on December 20, 2013 by Gary

Another skunk Story

From Dick Johnson (’68): djcars@hughes.net Dunseith, ND

Gary and Friends,

Cute story from Kenny Nerpel about the skunk. I hope Kenny will
keep sending the memories of the past as I know he has many. Don’t let
what someone else might say about your memories stop you. Usually those
folks don’t remember what happened and just can’t see how anyone else
can either? Just write your memories as you have earlier—we love it!
I also have a few skunk stories from over the years here at the farm.
One such episode happened when I was about 12 years old. The original
tar paper shack and log home that my great grandmother and her kids came
to in 1914, was still standing and my Grandpa Hans had set a trap for a
pesky raccoon that had gotten in a ripped things up. Nobody had lived
in the place for 25 years or so but he didn’t want the place wrecked
more than it was. I was out near there hunting ducks with his old
shotgun and found a small skunk in the trap instead of a raccoon. He
had simply stepped on the trap and it snapped shut on his back foot. I
thought maybe he was too young to do what skunks do in defense as there
was no smell anywhere around there so I set the old gun down and got a
long stick to see if I could open the trap and let him go. I pushed the
spring down with the stick and as soon as he pulled his foot out, he
squared off and shot he right on my chin and chest! I gagged and gasped
and stumbled backward but managed to grab the old shotgun and send him
to meet his maker before I got it again. At close range like that, it
isn’t just the smell but so overwhelming it’s hard to even breath. I
gagged many times on my way back to the house not knowing how I was
going to get rid of the stuff? I stood outside the door for a while
just thinking what I should do and then my grandma got a whiff through
the screen door and said, “DON’T come in here if you got sprayed!” She
told me to go and take off my jacket and put it in the lake along the
shore and put a rock on it so the waves could wash it for a while. I
did that and washed my chin and neck as best I could and by the late
afternoon, my old jean jacket had been cleared of the smell. The old
folks always seemed to know how to handle things as they had nearly
always seen them before. Thanks Gary!

Dick

Blog Posted on January 18,2008

01/18/2008

Posted on January 18, 2008

Message from Lynn Halvorson Otto (75):

Hi Gary, Thanks for doing all this work of organizing the e-mail list and I so enjoy reading all of these Dunseith memories. I don’t know a lot of the people but I’m sure getting to know them now. One thing was it gave me an opportunity to get in contact with one of my classmates of 75, Rhonda Hiatt. We were neighbors all through school and rode the bus every day. We have contacted each other through e-mail so I thank you for this. Living in Seoul, Korea can give you a feeling of isolation from friends and family but this has giving me a touch of home so to speak. Thanks again.

Lynn Otto ( Halvorson ) 1975

Lynn, Most of us remember your famous barn, half in Rolette county and half in Bottineau county. You lived 1 1/2 miles west of the Willow Lake School. Gary Stokes

Pictures provide by Susan Fassett (65):

Bob Hosmer & Jack Flynn

Carlotta Fassett & Red Kester

Lucien Bedard, Bill Jr., Bill Sr. Fassett

12/19/2013 (1919)

Posted on December 19, 2013 by Gary

Reply from Kenny Nerpel (’65): Rugby, ND

Thanks to Dennis Dubois and Gary for the birthday wishes. I did have a great day. Some great companionship followed by a trip to Harvey High School to watch the Panthers blitz the Hornets 80-33. Rugby High School advanced to the class B State tournament last year and I think they have shot at winning it all this season and the next. They have some great players including a junior who I think deserves to be mentioned among the best players of all time from Rugby. Dennis knows that is quite a statement. Certainly an all state candidate. This Friday I think I will head over to Bishop Ryan High School to watch Larry Hackman’s beloved, and state ranked, Hazen Bison compete against the Ryan Lions. Or, Larry, can they only compete in football? Dennis, I have to question your long term memory though as I’m fairly certain that I never had a red headed sister.

I’ve been avoiding social media lately because I think that maybe folks our age simply don’t have the necessary writing skills to say what we are trying to say without offending some that we think highly of. Recently in another blog I said some things tongue in cheek that were taken seriously. I asked the guy what the problem was and he suggested that I should become familiar with the use of emoticons. But anyway, some memories.

I remember Don Prouty as being a guy with a quiet demeanor, but also a quick temper. The only thing that I remember specifically about him had to do with basketball, him being the coach. I first played the sport as an eighth grader and could take part in it because practice was during the noon hour. Being a country boy I could not make it to practice my freshman year and was forced to give it up. I did go to the first week of practice and tried to thumb rides home but with no success. I would then walk down to my cousin John’s home and spend the night. I decided to leave the team simply because I did not want to be a burden to my Aunt and Uncle. When the A team was announced after the first week of practice my name along with fellow freshmen Don Egbert and Clifford Henry was on the list. Anyway, it was a crushing blow to me at the age of 13 to know I had made the team but to also know that I had to quit. About two weeks later Mr. Prouty approached me in a study hall and asked me why I quit the team. When I explained it to him, he simply said that Abraham Lincoln had walked twenty miles to get a book he wanted to read. Now I was a shy kid and said nothing, but, “did he do it everyday in below zero weather,” was on the tip of my tongue.

A little about country living in the late fifty’s. I’m not sure of the time frame, but I think I was possibly in the fourth grade and my pitch-black haired sister Kathy was in the fifth grade. We had a skunk hating dog that slept in a shed that was attached to our lake home. One Friday evening a wayward skunk ventured into the shed and was immediately attacked by the startled dog. As you all can imagine this left the entire house engulfed in the smell of skunk. My mother had heard that washing clothes in tomato juice could eliminate the smell. I’m not sure where all the tomato juice came from but she figured she had time to eliminate the smell by Monday when we would be back in school. It seemed to us that after several washings, all of our clothes were free of the smell. As we boarded the bus on Monday morning we began hearing the comments. “Did we just run over a skunk?” “Wow, we must have, do you smell that?” One of the longest bus rides I’ve ever been on. After arriving at the school I decided I would try to at least go my first period class, but as soon as I opened the door and entered the same type of comments began. I excused myself and headed for the boys bathroom, opened the window and did a forward roll onto the ground. I then did the half mile or so to Lucien and Hannah’s in what I thought was record time. When I got there I opened the door ran up the stairs though the kitchen and there was my sister sitting on the couch. Her only comment was “what took you so long.” Those were the days my friends.

Kenny

Reply from Paula Fassett (’71): White Bear Lake, MN

Hi Gary and All:

Happy birthdays, December people…….today is my sister Crystal’s AND her son Aaron’s birthdays…….Aaron’s daughter Erika turned 10 yesterday – Susan’s grandson Evan turns 10 tomorrow……Brenda (Hill) Mueller is joined in celebrating a December birthday w/her son Matthew, her sister Joanne and I THINK Diane also…..and maybe a few more Hills……hard to keep track!

In reading Walter Decoteau’s obituary, I see his sister Caroline Deschamp listed as living here in Minnesota somewhere. I’m wondering if anyone has any contact information for Caroline. She was one of my classmates that I haven’t seen or heard of since we graduated in 1971. She was quite a personality – happy and fun-loving. I would like to get in touch with her if possible.

I mentioned to Dennis Dubois one time that it would be fun to have a gathering here in the Twin Cities of Dunseith people that live here and/or in the area…..as long as someone else organizes it – ha!

Happy Holidays to everyone.

Paula

Jokes of the day

Posted by Lee Stickland (’64): Dickinson, ND

A man spoke frantically into the phone; “My wife is

pregnant and her contractions are only 2 minutes apart.”

“Is this her first child?” the doctor asked. “No, You

idiot”, the man shouted, “This is her husband!”

______________________________________

YOU MIGHT BE A REDNECK IF…

* you need one more punch in your card to get a freebie at the House of Tatoos—

*you move your refrigerator and the grass underneath it has turned yellow—

*you mow your lawn and find a car—

* going to the bathroom in the middle of the night involves putting on your shoes,

grabbing a jacket and a flashlight—

*you need an estimate from the barber to get your hair cut

_____________________________________________

I used to work in technical support for a 24/7 call center. One day I got a call from an

individual who asked what hours the call center was open. I told him, “The number you

dialed is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”

He responded, “Is that Eastern or Pacific time?”

Wanting to end this call quickly, I said, “UH, Pacific.”

LEE s

Blog posted on January 17, 2008

01/17/2008

Posted on January 17, 2008

Message from Bev Morinville Azure (72):

hi Gary, Please pass on to all the great people that have sent me good wishes and prayers A GREAT BIG THANK U . I will be having surgery on the 25th. I will lose 75% of my tongue and will have to learn to speak and eat all over again. Sounds like it will be a long road bk but I have the greatest family and support system. I love reading all the memories ,,, I may not be able to answer for awhile but I am reading … my wonderful husband got me a laptop so I can play with my pogo friends and keep in touch with u all…. I will be able to talk with my kids on I’m and my sisters also. thank god for the net. love and prayers to u all… Randy thanks so much for the letter I enjoyed it A lot but Clarence wants to know how u cold forget him lol …… If any of u smoke please stop ….this is what caused my cancer . It is easy to give up when u want to live . Please don’t wait till u have to go through this before u see the light. love ya all Bev

Message from Deb Morinville (70):

Hi Gary,

I got the date of Bev’s surgery wrong. It’s on Friday the 25th . Sorry.

Deb

Margaret Metcalfe’s (65) Reply to a message Gary Stokes sent her:

Note: in reference to Margaret’s message, she is a teacher at the Belcourt HS.

Hi Gary,

Sorry I haven’t had the time to respond although I have read with pleasure
every e-mail you send.

This is quite a service you are providing for all of us; hope
you realize how MUCH I appreciate all that you do.

We have moved into our new school and though it was tons of work to move
and get everything organized and put away, I am adjusting to my new room.
I am right across from the elevator which is nice since I am on second
floor with a beautiful view! I just got new students yesterday….second
semester. Only 2 more semesters to go until retirement and I’m thinking
that will be great!

Take care,
Margaret

Marlene Schniender’s (58) reply to a message Gary Stokes sent her:

Hi Gary,

This is all very interesting and brings back many enjoyable memories of Dunseith. There are several of these people that I don’t remember and I bet I’m not the only one having trouble with names, etc.

Elaine, Karen and I had a wonderful time visiting Bill Grimme last spring. We had gone to the NASCAR race in Talladega, AL and met him in Atlanta. What a great evening!

My husband and I are leaving for Phoenix the 27th of Jan. and plan to be gone until the middle of March. Hopefully, we will see Colleen & Don Martel while there. Even though the temps. aren’t that great in AZ, it’s better than here! We have -20 tonight!

Thanks for all the interesting reading.

Marlene Haverland

Message from Diane Wenstad (69):

Gary,

I just want to thank you for all the emails from Dunseith. It has been great as I am recovering from my surgery. Home care finally got the wound healed from the surgery; its been a long time. I finally I will get back to work part-time. Ready or not here I go!
I just read this email and notice Arn Wenstad and Darlene in the news clips. As you know, we are from the family of the 24 kids, “Cousins by the Dozens” as know by some of our cousins. We lived on the county line, Don Boppre to the south and Bob Bott was to the north. I have emailed Ann Marie and she is living on the home place now.
We went to Beaver Damn school and my dad transferred us out of there when I was in grade 4; 1/2 way though the year. That was very difficult for us kids as we did not have very good schooling at Beaver Damn. we were so far behind in every aspect of reading, writing. etc. I went back to retake my grade 4 because Mrs. Conroy took the time to help me catch up. It was a struggle but I was the only one of the 13 that completed high school.

I don’t know if you remembered that Arn was killed in a car accident in April 1977. What I remember so much and valued was how the whole community came together with places to stay, all the food and just the best friendship my family could of used in a time like that. That was true when my mother died quit suddenly in December 1981, just after Christmas. You look down the street there were people walking to the house with food, cards and a good visit and just there for the family. It was so nice to see people we hadn’t seen in years after most of us left Dunseith.

My dad lived in the housing for the elderly and the ladies all were so good to him as well. At first he was the only “rooster in the hen house”, as my dad put it. Darlene and I took our families down to Dad’s apartment and prepared a dinner for all the ladies in that unit he was living in. My dad was so proud and all the ladies enjoyed the dinner so much. When he passed on in October 1989 some of these ladies were so helpful in while we were there getting dad’s thing out and cleaning the apartment. Again the community was so helpful and thoughtful that words can not express.

Memories of Dunseith were few as we were bus kids but I can bring some others forward later but for now I should go. Thanks again for the great job of keeping this going and to all the other former students for there comments and memories.

Diane

Dale Pritchard’s (63) reply to Gary Stokes:

Gary,

Carl Melgaard put me work during the Winters of 63-64 and 64-65 also.
Really, I think he and his wife, Shirley (Knutson), just liked to have
someone around – there sure wasn’t that much work to do in the Winter
other than milking cows. They’re both exceptionally “good people.” I
remember dances at what I think was called Peterson’s Hall just South of
Kelvin but have no recollection of who played the music – probably Ole
Bersinger for one. I couldn’t have been more than 7 to 10 years old.
Somewhat later came the music and dancing at Kelvin – Gary Olson always
played there but again the memory is fading. Those were good times with
good ways to unwind at the end of a week!

Dale Pritchard

Susan Fassett’s (65) Reply to Cecile Gouin (61):

Cecile Gouin asked if the Morgans were still living. I assume she meant Kenny and Marjorie and they are both deceased. Also John Morgan passed away, I think with cancer. Dick Morgan and Gary Morgan were both at the reunion this summer. —–Susan

Message from Neola Kofoid Garbe (Gary Stokes’ Cousin) – Hills and Plains Country Gospel CD:

Gary,

I’m quite sure you received this when I sent it out a year ago. It’s the information about the CD “Hills and Plains” (group Don Boardman performs with) is selling. It’s very good. I bought a copy for my brother and myself as soon as it was released right before Christmas last year.

Don, if there is anything you’d like to add/delete to this email, please tell me. Or tell Gary.

Neola

—– Original Message —–.

From: Neola

To: Undisclosed-Recipient:;

Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2007 3:18 AM

Subject: Hills and Plains Country Gospel CD for sale/Not a forward

Hi Everyone,

The performers on the Hills and Plains Country Gospel CD are/were Bottineau area people. I say are/were as Marge Johnson Pladson, vocalist/guitarist, passed away (She fought a very courageous fight with cancer, but lost the fight.) after the group made this CD and cassette.

Others in the group are Dan Pladson, Marge’s husband; Jerry Olson (Bottineau High School, Class of ’60); Don Boardman (grew up/lived on the “Boardman Place” just west of Dunseith and is now a Bottineau resident. Don was the District Conservationist for Bottineau County for 27 years.; Dave Mettler, area farmer. I feel a certain “kinship” to Dave, as my father (John Kofoid) worked for Dave’s grandfather (Oscar Vikan) in Oscar’s garage back in the early forties. Some of you who received this email, will remember Oscar’s garage–north end of Main Street. Arnold Haugerud later owned the business.

Dan’s sister, Tina Bullinger, now sings with the group. Sharon Hubbard, Canada, sometimes plays the “upright” bass with them now.

Hills and Plains Country Gospel performs at nursing homes/basic care facilities/churches/other events in the Bottineau area, outlying areas, and in Canada. Last year, they performed at the Frozen Fingers Festival in Minot. They are the “driving force” behind the two-day Gospel event, which is held at the Peace Garden in August.

If you love Gospel music, you’ll enjoy this CD/cassette. I particularly enjoy this/my CD because I’ve heard this group perform MANY times. Because of this, I’ve learned to know these people so well and consider them my friends.

The CD’s are $15.00; the cassette tapes are $10.00. If you would like more information about the CD’s/tape cassettes, contact:

Dave Mettler phone: 701-263-7749

Don Boardman phone: 701-228-2698

Neola

Message from Neola Kofoid Garbe (Gary Stokes’ Cousin) – Frozen Fingers Festival in Minot:

Gary,

This is the email I sent out a year ago for the Frozen Fingers Festival in MInot. A couple of people have written about it. As was mentioned, the dates this year are Feb. 8/9/10. It is held at Sleep Inn, which is connected to Dakota Square. To me, Sleep Inn is “pricey”; that includes free swimming in their “fancy” pool. There are several less expensive motels near the mall/Sleep Inn, too.

I’m looking for a picture I took of Hills and Plains, the group Don Boardman mentioned in his email. It’s quite good. I have so many folders, I can never remember which one I save it in! Uff da!

Also, to the lady who printed the picture of Ernest Tennancour: I’m so glad you like the picture of Ernest and are related to him. I liked/enjoyed Ernest tremendously. He was such a neat fellow.

Neola

—- Original Message —–

From: Neola

To: Undisclosed-Recipient:;

Sent: Sunday, January 07, 2007 4:09 AM

Subject: Frozen Fingers Festival/Feb. 9-11, 2007

Hi Everyone–near and far, from Minot to Norway.

It’s Frozen Fingers Festival time again!!!

The Frozen Fingers Festival is a time for “old-time” music and bluegrass friends to get together for an enjoyable weekend of lots of good music/dancing/laughing/good feelings (No alcohol is allowed, so children are most welcome, too!) It is sponsored by BOTMAND (Blue-grass, Old Time Music Association, (of) North Dakota, a group of which I am, and have been, a member for many years.

The dances are fun. My friend, Phyllis Gordon, and I have a standing “date” to sell tickets at the Friday night dance. We have done this for many years, and thoroughly enjoy it. It is so great to see old friends who come for the weekend and to meet new friends. Frozen Fingers’ audiences are fun/friendly people. Curt and Denise Halvorson usually attend each year.

On Saturday, there is great music all day, with a dance in the evening.

I have to admit I really enjoy the gospel music on Sunday. All music is good, but there is something about gospel music that really “gets my attention”–most of it, anyway!!

I’m assuming there will be more information in the February newsletter, which I will send at that time.

We are always looking for new BOTMAND members. Membership was just raised to $15, which is not much for a year’s membership, which includes an interesting newsletter each month. If you are interested in becoming a member, notify me, and I send, via email, a membership form to you. If any of you are interested, we can always use volunteers during the weekend.

Please forward this to anyone you think might be interested in seeing it.

Blue-grass and Old-time music rocks!!!!!! Ha!!

Neola

P.S. CD’s (donated by the groups who perform), caramels (compliments of the Caramel Lady), and a LARGE door prize will be given away during the event.

12/18/2013 (1918)

Posted on December 18, 2013 by Gary

Happy Birthday to Kenny Nerpel

From Dennis Dubois (’63): Minneapolis, MN

Happy birthday to Kenny Nerpel, I hope you have a great day. I’m sorry Kenny, I don’t remember you as well as I remember your gorgeous red headed sister, Kathy, I wonder why? Tell her I said hi.

Reply from Brenda Hill Mueller (DHS ’70): brmuell@utma.com Rolla, ND

Dear Gary,

Thank you for posting birthday wishes to me. I also thank those who responded to wish me

a happy birthday. The photo is of my husband Bryant Mueller and myself dancing at the celebration

of my son Blake Gottbreht’s wedding last year. It was a wonderful gathering of friends and family.

Thanks for all you do, Gary, to keep us all in contact.

Brenda Mueller

Rolla, ND

Reply from Joanne Hill Evans (’72): Owatonna, MN

Gary,

That is Brenda’s husband, Bryant Mueller, she is dancing with, at Brenda’s son’s wedding.

Joanne Evans

In regards to Don Prouty

Reply from Dennis Dubois (’63): Minneapolis, MN

I want to reply to Colette Hosmer and Alan Richard, in regards to Don Prouty. I will pass on both of your comments to him. I know that will make his day. Yes, Colette, Mr. Prouty, I still call him that, was a great literature teacher. I can still recall me envisioning that damn black raven sitting up in a loft, cawing away, in Poe’s “The Raven”. I didn’t want to spoil Mr. Prouty’s day, but I have since told him, in real life I would have shot the damn thing. That brought that low chuckle from him. He has 3 daughters, great kids. One is going through breast cancer, using the holistic treatment method, which concerns Don and I, but we both support her decision. Alan, Bob Jury had taught in South Dakota for two years before coming to Dunseith, he left Dunseith and went to Thief River Falls, Mn. and was a teacher and athletic director there until he retired. He died of cancer a few years after he retired. I got to see him a few times, as I hunted by there for years. He liked to spend time in the local VFW. Don Prouty had the first licensed, drivers education business in North Dakota, his daughter operates it today. Don does teach for her part time. Oh, thanks, Colette, for washing my sweaty jersey, being single today, I have to wash my clothes myself. I hope you two have a very merry Christmas. Thanks, also, Gary, for bringing these two people back to the forefront of my mind.

Beautiful, very touching video

Posted by Keith Pladson (’66): Roanoke Rapids, NC

Thought this was a good one to forward at this time of year. I’m not ashamed to say it brought a tear to my eye. Hope all of you enjoy it as much as I did.
Keith

Please enjoy this short video clip of an Ohio State Trooper’s Christmas … it’s brilliant … the best I’ve seen for a long, long time …

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxjZB5S_g7s&feature=youtu.be

Posted by Neola Kofoid Garbe: n Bottineau & Minot, ND

FRANCIS PELTIER

(June 28, 1939 – December 12, 2013)

Francis Peltier, age 74 of Belcourt, died Thursday, December 12, 2013 at Belcourt hospital. Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, December 18, 2013 at 10:00 A.M. in the St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Dunseith. A wake will be held on Tuesday beginning at 6:00 P.M. with a prayer service at 8:00 P.M. in the Church. Cremation will take place after the service.

Francis Peltier, a son of John and Agnes (LaPlante) Peltier, was born at Belcourt on June 28, 1939. He was reared and educated in the Dunseith area. After his education he moved to Washington state and worked in the orchards. Francis returned to the Dunseith area for a time. He traveled back and forth to Washington for many years. He retired to Dunseith where he has resided since.

He enjoyed spending time outdoors and spending time with family.

He is survived by his son, Robert Peltier of Dunseith and a daughter, Peggy (Frank) Gillis of Dunseith; 11 grandchildren; 7 great-grandchildren; two sisters, Genevieve Jerome of Copalis Beach WA., and Marlene Dauphinais of Belcourt and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, George, Stanley and Edward; sisters, Melinda Lafountain, Louise Chase and Alvina Peltier.

Posted by Neola Kofoid Garbe: Bottineau & Minot, ND

Walter John DeCoteau
(January 5, 1955 – December 13, 2013)

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WALTER JOHN DECOTEAU

Walter John DeCoteau, age 48 of Dunseith, died Friday, December 13, 2013 in a Belcourt hospital. Funeral services will be held on Thursday, December 19, 2013 at 10:00 A.M. in the St. Anthony’s Catholic Church of rural Dunseith. Burial will be in the Church Cemetery. A wake will be held on Wednesday beginning at 4:00 P.M. with a prayer service at 8:00 P.M. in the church.

Walter J. DeCoteau, a son of Walter and Isabelle (Vivier) DeCoteau, was born on January 5, 1965 at Rolla, ND. He attended school in Dunseith and completed his education in Belcourt. After his education he worked at Noodles by Leonardo in Condo for a time. Then began working at Turtle Mountain Manufacturing in Belcourt. On October 2, 1998 he was married to Stella Bradford at Belcourt. After their marriage be worked different jobs in the area. They have continued to make Dunseith their home.

He enjoyed going to the Casino, riding 4-wheeler, fishing and going camping with his family.

He is survived by his wife Stella at home. daughters, Amy Ann DeCoteau, Shannell Marie DeCoteau and Tessie Rae DeCoteau all of Dunseith; Mother Isabelle DeCoteau of Dunseith; sister, Caroline (Paul) Deschamp of Minnesota; brothers, Alfred (Rita) DeCoteau, Larry (Theresa) DeCoteau and Jim (Alonda) DeCoteau all of Dunseith.

Walter was preceded in death by his father; a brother, Lyle DeCoteau and a granddaughter, Aubree Marie Counts.

Blog Posted on January 12, 2008

01/12/2008

Posted on January 12, 2008

Bonnie Awalt’s (56) message to Bev Morinville (72):

Good Morning Bev,

I visited your Mother when she was in Minneapolis having surgery for her cancer. What a good lady with a lot of SPUNK, we spent the day today before she left to return to Dunseith on the train. She was optimistic and so anxious to get home to her family. If you have her spunk you will recover, remember talking can now be done by TEXT-MESSAGEING. I will be praying for you.

Bonnie Awalt Houle (56)

Message from Bev Morinville Azure (72):

This is the doctor that will be doing my surgery on tues. Please keep me in your prayers. I love u all, Bev

http://www.zoominfo.com/search/PersonDetail.aspx?PersonID=1222452779

Message from Verena Gillis (Mrs. Pete Gillis 65):

Gary,
I have the web site information for Dunseith Public School if you would
like: www.dunseith.k12.nd.us

Also, we wish Bev the best of luck, they had to go to Minot yesterday and
she was having surgery. We haven’t heard anything else as of yet, we may
have to wait until Clarence gets back to let us know how everything is
with her.

Don’t know if you remember Roddy Burcham Sr. He passed away at 62 years
old. The wake for him was last night and the funeral is today.

(Note: Roddy Burcham was with the class of 65. I sent his Obit out to the class of 65. Gary)

Marlys Zorn Bryan (’69) answer toCheryl Kester Gaugler’s (69)

Cheryl, that is so funny! You’re right, I never remember any boys beating me up, but I don’t remember being in any fights with boys either. But then, we must remember that from the 3rd grade on, I was the tallest kid in class. That may have given them pause…..We must also remember that I grew up in the middle of 4 brothers. That probably gave me quite an advantage! I got tired of never winning against my brothers apparently, and decided to do something about it, and today, my husband and I have a martial arts school, and we both are black belts in jiu-jitsu.

Being taller than all the guys unfortunately lasted through my high school years. Almost everyone I dated was at least 2 inches shorter than I was-made it very hard to strike a romantic note…….but my hubby is ¾ inch taller than me, so in the end it all worked out all right.J

Nice to hear from you!

Bill Grimme’s (65) memory with a ?????:

I heard a news anchor mention “comfort food” today. Got me thinking.

My comfort food is:

Root Beer-You got in the big cone cup at Shelver’s Drugstore for a nickel. Mrs. Leonard mixed it sweet.

Potato Salad-Chunks of potato, egg, and bits of onion. Mixed with mayonnaise and enough mustard to make it the color of a dandelion. Hard to find just the right one, even in a well stocked deli, so, I make my own.

What’s yours?

Bill

Story from Larry Hackman (66):

Subject: 60 years old this month

I turned 60 last week. I have been kind of depressed about it. Then friends and relatives began telling me that I should be happy, after all I’m in this club now. I asked, what club is that? They shouted your in the Golden Years Club, You gotta be happy and proud to be in such a club. Everybody becomes a member. After they explained the benefits about restaurants giving you food for less money and you can get motel rooms cheaper, I started to feel pretty good about this. They did not say anything about getting gas cheaper but I guess you just get it more often. As long as I get more miles per gallon, I don’t care. The more I thought about this age thing and this club, the better I felt. So, I was feeling kind of up beat about the whole thing and decided to go out and see whats new in the world of hardware. I always like to wander around the hardware stores to see whats new. I was wandering around in Home Depot and I wandered right into a old retired friend.

We got to talking about age and birthdays and such. I asked him about this Goden Age Club and how you join. He said there is no joining, your just in. What do you mean your just in? He said, your just in. What if don’t like it? There is no likeing or dislikeing, you are just in. What if I want to back out? He said, there is no backing, your just out when your out. He finally said, Larry get this through your head your in until your out. I said you mean its like getting drafted into the military. He said there is no drafted, your just in until your out. I said, well, in the sevice there were a few that just up and deserted, couldn’t I do that? He said, Larry there is no deserting, your just in until you are out. So, I’m just automaticly a member of this Golden Years Club for the rest of my life, and I’m in until I’m out?

He said, The Golden Years Club is a misnomer. I said, Oh come on, I did not miss November. I remember sitting at the table on Thanksgiving Day eating the turkey neck and gizzard like I always do. In our family the oldest guy sitting

at the table always gets first choice on the good stuff, and gets to eat dark meat sandwiches for two weeks after, cuz the women and the kids eat all the white meat. That is just the way it is, so I know I did not miss November. My old friend looks at me, and says, Larry you fool, I said misnomer. I said, I know what you said, you said I’m going to miss November. Did you mean from now on? You mean next year is only 11 months long? No wonder time passes so fast for the people in this club and I’m not giving up Thanksgiving, it is one of my favorite holidays. I’m just not gonna join your club. He said again, you are in until your out, and the proper name of the club is, The Only Thing Golden is Your Urine Club, so you see the name, The Golden Years Club, is a misnomer. I said, I don’t care what you say I’m not giving up November . He said, Larry, nobody relishs the idea of being in this club, your just in it until your out and there is nothing you can do about it. I said relish, we have a relish tray at Thanksgiving too, I’m not giving that up neither and left him standing there in the middle of Home Depot. I don’t know if I’m ever going to talk to that guy again. A guy that ends every sentence with a preposition ought to be hit along side the head with a dangling participle. I did not particularly like being called a fool neither. What would Beulah Shurr say? I think I’m going sit down, when I get home and write a letter, and complain to the AARP, excuse me.

Remember!

Laugh and the whole world laughs with you.

larry

Kenny Nerpel’s (65) reply to Allen Richard (65):

Allen,

I remember George Miller well. He was one of the good guys from the East coast. The Forestry was a unique little college. It attracted a variety of people from around the world and many area students as well. It offered a place of refuge for those who were not ready for the military or had not yet decided what direction they wanted to go academically. It was really quite a culture shock to the East coasters who came from the hustle and bustle of the bigger cities to north central North Dakota seeking a degree in Forestry. I remember being kidded quite often about how backward we North Dakotans were. George was not one of those. I think that George became the President of the young republicans (don’t TAX me Bro) at the same time that you were elected President of the young democrats. Even though you were opposites on the issues you got along quite well.

I’m pretty foggy on the intramural softball team but do remember the intramural basketball league quite well. We were coached by a fellow by the name of Al Zeltinger and our outstanding players were a couple of East coasters by the name of Robert Henderson and Joe Lesnick. Joe went on to play football at NDSU and Robert abandoned the intramural league after his Freshman year to play the sport at the Varsity level. I suspect that intramurals were just too rough for him. Another member of that team was good friend Dick Beier.

Kenny

Message from Allen Richard (65):

Hi Gary. Thought you could send this to even the most religious, right wing, and politically correct of us. George Miller was a college friend from “The Forestry” Kenny, and John A should remember him as Spider. He played first base and pitcher on intramural softball team I captained back in ’66. At 6’4 with a 78 inch wing span he was pretty hard to miss at first base — even for me. He also pitched–with either hand. He has two gloves–one for each hand. He would use one and attach the other to his belt and “switch pitch” when he wanted to. We were 4 and 0 —

He was also my partner in my one season dirt track racing career. Carol Jasper Ross was a racing fan back in those days along with Gary Pigeon The RPM racing team — 1968-69. She attended most of the races. That is the last time I saw Carol. Sure wish she could have made it to the reunion.

12/17/2013 (1917)

Posted on December 17, 2013 by Gary

Happy Birthday Kenny Nerpel (DHS ’65): Rugby, ND

Reply from Debbie Mongeon Cernuhous (’66): River Falls, WI

That looks like Jim Mongeon dancing with Brenda.

Merry Christmas to all,

Snowing and cold in Wisconsin, but due for a little warm up.

Debbie

Brenda Hill Mueller

Don Prouty (HS teacher)

Reply from Colette Hosmer (’64): Santa Fe, NM

Hi Dennis,

It made me happy to read your words about Don Prouty. He was my favorite teacher, too, and I’ve often wondered what happened to him. His literature class was the best. I can still remember his ability to transfer his love and enthusiasm for poetry and great writers to kids like myself. His considerable powers also included getting us girls to hand wash your hard-worn basketball jerseys. I never knew guys could sweat so much.

Loved your comment about the $7.00 and the golf shoes. Please say hi to Mr. Prouty for me.

Colette

Don Prouty (HS teacher)

Reply from Allen Richard (’65): AllenRndmn@aol.com Midland, MI

About Don Prouty—- I share Dennis Dubois views. He and Bob Jury arrived the same year. Both first year teachers as I recall. Both were really good guys and good teachers. I’ve not had contact with Don for many years. Last time was when in the legislature and the legislature was making the lives of driving schools miserable. I think I helped — but that was a long time ago. I hope he is doing well.

A small world story

From David Schimetz (’79): Mandan, ND

A small world story-

I remember my Dad telling me a story about him and Johnny Hill and not sure whom else maybe one of the Tenecores traveled to the west coast “Seattle” area sometime I believe in the mid to late 1940’s.They got a room in the downtown Seattle area or Fisherman Warf area of town. My dad said it was the most disgusting room he ever stayed in as he open up the dresser drawer and a HUGE rat came flying out of the drawer. Back then it was the gangster era so the guys all tried to look tuff and dress up like a gangster. We actually have a picture with Johnny and Dad and I think there was a Tennicore in the photo in a make shift jail all in hand cuffs. Anyways Dad was thirsty so he headed towards the nearest bar a couple of blocks away.

As he was getting closer he heard fighting going on and loud crashes and things breaking. Obviously he thought hell had broken loose in that bar as sailors were flying out the door head first. Dad walked in anyways just to see the live entertainment and also he was still thirsty so what the hell he entered the bar. Tables were broken, glasses were smashed and 2 big guys were kicking the butts of a bar full of bunch of sailors. All of a sudden the two big guys stopped for a moment and turned at dad and said Hi Louie what the hell are you doing here. Turn out it was the Metcalfe boys not sure which ones but they were having a ball Dad said learning the sailors. Dad said they were all happy to be heading back to North Dakota as it was way to wild and noisy for them….I wish I had more details but that’s all I remember…

Dad had a knack of entering some pretty rowdy and dangerous bars as he was actually shot after leaving one in Minneapolis as a mugger tried to hold him up. Dads response (loud squeal first) as he told his mugger to get a !@#$%^ job and earn it like everybody else you worthless little SOB.BOOM he was shot above the knee cap…I remember he called home afterword’s as he had missed his train to Rugby mom was wondering where he was because he wasn’t at the A.C. Bar. Mom asked him (I was on the other phone) Louis where are you his reply was priceless…Well I’ve been shot! A 22 round just above the knee cap…Police should up as dad was sitting on the boulevard and the policeman said I heard gunshots dad replied well ya I’ve been shot for Christ sakes….The police man said what did he look like dad said he was black who the hell knows!

Blog posted on January 11, 2008

01/11/2008

Posted on January 11, 2008

Bev Morinville’s (72) reply – Cancer:

Deb,,,,,it’s a tough 0ne but with the LORD I plan on winning.tough part will be not talking cause u know how I LOVE TO talk. pray for me please, BEV

Allen Richard’s (65) Reply to Cheryl Kester (70)

First of all your Dad was a beloved friend of my family, working as a youth for my Grandpa Pigeon, later as our fuel provider and as he guy who did perfectly adjusted reloads for my deer hunting ammo.

But to Beer Can Alley — frankly I’m not sure where that was exactly — I had lots of beer cans and deposited them in lots of alleys —- but we owned a quarter section — formerly farmed by Sal Schneider, Karen’s Dad. This place was 3 miles west of Dunseith, and about a mile south — South of the Ernest LaCroix place. I think if not beer can alley, it would be beer can 2.

Dad was tired of all the trash, and he approached somebody — I don’t remember who, but the person was widely suspected of partying there. Dad said he didn’t really care if they were there, but he wished they would at least put all the trash in one pile. Within a couple of weeks the whole place had been cleaned up and all the bottles and cans were in a pile that would take more than one pick up truck to haul away.

So if any of you want to fess up to partying there send your notes to my sister, Stephanie — ’70. She now owns the land after dad died.

Allen Richard

Memories from Ron Longie (65):

Gary,

I remember the old school yard where we used to play dodge ball, Dean Helgeson,Ron and Allen Richard, Billy Grady, Dennis Persian, Jerry Walett, Mark Anderson, Skip VanDel, well you get the jist of it all the guys, and girls, it was a grand time to be young, playing marbles in the spring,and no better place to experience grade school than Dunseith Public in the “OLE WHITE SCHOOL’. Thanks Tim for the memories.

Ron Longie

12/16/2013 (1916)

Posted on December 16, 2013 by Gary

Happy Birthday Brenda Hill Mueller (DHS ’70): Rolla, ND

Don Prouty (HS Teacher)

Reply from Dennis Dubois (’63): Minneapolis, MN

Wow, how we all have a different perspective on teachers. In reply to Larry’s remarks on Don Prouty. I thought he was one of my two favorite teachers, the other being, Bill Allen. In 1962, Don Prouty was making $4750 per year, he asked for a $300 a year raise and was turned down. I liked him so much that I went to the businesses in town, seeking donations, so that Mr. Prouty would stay. I got a little over $7.00, evidently the people in town did not have the same affection for Don Prouty as I did. I gave it to him and he bought a pair of golf shoes. Don Prouty contacted me in 1990 and we have continued a wonderful relationship since, as a matter of fact, I just received a Christmas letter from him and his wonderful wife, Bernie. I have visited with he and his wife in Bismarck many times over the years. He and I have enjoyed many rounds of golf. I wonder how many other people have that type of relationship with a school teacher after 50 years? I feel so blessed to have had Don Prouty as my teacher, coach, mentor and friend. Dunseith was a better place because of him and many other fine teachers that we were blessed to have. Merry Christmas to all.

Cebu Expat dinner last Saturday at the Radisson

We were honor with the presents of former Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia at our Cebu Expat dinner this past Saturday. She had to pass though our area to a birthday party she was attending in a room behind our group. With her passing she stopped to say hello and posed for a few pictures too. She recognized several of the folks in our group too. Gwen was the Governor of this Island and several others that fell into her district too for nine years. With a three year term and a three term limit, she had to step down for one term. She ran for a national congressional seat and won, so she is now a Congresswomen. Gwen was a good Governor and one that stepped down to no one. As Governor she made front page news headlines nearly everyday. She is a pretty famous lady in this part of the country.

Bernadette and Gwen are 3rd degree cousins. Bernadette remembers Gwen’s great uncles and aunts very well from her childhood days.

Gary

Blog posted on January 10, 2008

01/10/2008

Posted on January 10, 2008

Message from Deb Morinville (70). Bev Morinville (72) has Cancer:

Bev, Our thoughts and Prayers are with you. This is a tough one, but you will make it.

Hi Gary,

If it’s possible could you pass this along to the classes of 68 through 73? As you know Bev found out that she has cancer in her mouth, under the tongue to be precise. She has to have Cat scans, chest X-rays and bloodwork, but it looks like she will be having surgery on Tuesday. It’s going to be very rough for a few weeks. They told her she will lose about 75% of her tongue and will have to have speech therapy. She will also have a g-tube for feeding and drinking for a while. Also they will remove her bottom teeth because it makes it easier for radiation.

Those of you that have time I know that she would love to hear from you. Her snail mail is

Bev Azure

POB 447

Dunseith ND 58329

Her email is

Heads up to those of you who smoke. Her doctor said this is totally caused from smoking! Glad I quit 23 years ago!

Deb Morinville Marmon 70

Tim Martinson’s (69) Reply to Cheryl Kester Gaugler’s (69) message to him pasted below:

Hi Gary,

Red Rover, Red Rover, send Cheryl on over, Red Rover, Red Rover, send Pennie on over, now there was Marlys Zorn left and she was tough as any boy. Now to the boys demise these girls were bigger than the boys. Marlys could always find the weakest link as well as the Kester twins capturing an opponent who more than likely wanted to be on their team anyway. Funny how I remember the girls being bigger than the boys in the early grades then we caught up in stature and by graduation the boys were larger. Now comes the time an announcement over the intercom for a classmate I knew was outside. I ran out, passed on the information, spent a little to much time outside, talking and goofing off and got caught by Mr. Rude watching out the Principal’s office window, which looked right out on the playground. Mr. Martinson come with me to the office, he sat me down took out a tablet and pencil and wrote on the top of the page, I will not go outside in winter without my hat, coat, mittens, and overshoes on. Mr. Rude told me to write that 100 times and give it to him when I had finished. It was below zero that day and as we all know, now that we are older and wiser that frostbite can happen quickly on uncovered parts of the body. Every time I passed by the office after that I remembered the time spent there writing and the sight of Mr. Rude anywhere slowed me down. Thanks Mr. Rude for a lesson in life that paid off for me later. Recess in school was always an ants in your pants, can not sit still, watch the clock, stay out of trouble or you will lose your recess privilege. The bell rings and it is a race to the swings. I’ve got a swing, someone give me a push and I am off. Pumping my legs higher and higher I go until I can feel that loose chain feeling that means you have topped off and are going above the crossbar. Now it is time to slow down and see how far you can fly from the swing when you bail off the seat in mid air. Mark the spot and wait to see if anyone dares to try and beat my mark. Sliding down the slide was a lot of fun as long as the line was not to long but still remember the long climb up the metal steps to the top and those first few times were scary standing at the top looking down. This was just the beginning for the tree climbing along willow creek and hanging out with the older boys who were smoking cigarettes,” they borrowed from their parents”. Since I do not have any photos of the old playground equipment I thought it would be fun to get any comments on the pictures below of what I thought

was in the school yard. Open up those memories.

Take Care,

Tim

Cheryl Kester Gaugler’s (69) Message to Tim Martinson (69):

Hi Tim,

I’ve really enjoyed all the e-mails – brings back a lot of memories. Also makes me wonder what the heck I was doing when all those things were going on! Has anyone brought up ‘Beer Can Alley’?

I saw your question about Deer Heart Lodge – it was up in the hills not far from Mary & Chester Hill. Marvel may have some info on it, her brother Kenny used to live there after it ceased to be an attraction for the public. She could probably answer any questions.

My Mom still talks about her visit to Alaska and how glad she was to be able to talk with you. She enjoyed reminiscing about your Dad and others. Mom just turned 90 and is doing very well. She’s now living in the Haaland Home in Rugby, so if you ever pass by that way stop in and say hi.

My oldest son spent 2 1/2 years near Eagle, Alaska. He just left a couple months ago. I was hoping he’d stay longer so we could make another trip up there but it wasn’t to be. Now that Mom sold her house and land in Dunseith I probably won’t go back there much. Will be spending time in North Dakota on the farms with Pennie and Joanne.

Keep the memories going in your dialogues with Gary Stokes et al. I’m mostly a voyeur, so won’t be writing much!

Hope 2008 is a good year for you and your family. Take care.

Cheryl Gaugler

Colette Hosmer’s (64) reply to Larry Hackman (66):

Larry,

You are very talented at conjuring up visual images with your words. Your old bowling alley account sharpened my memory of the place like nothing else could. I was the “half-pint” running around up front (most likely when my league-bowling parents couldn’t find a babysitter). I didn’t get a decent growth spurt until junior high — I ended up being the tallest of everyone in my eighth grade class (which earned me the nick-name of Bob-Skyscraper) until some of the boys took over. Dale Hoffman, for one, ended up well over 6 feet.

Your description of the cars parked on main street reminded me of Saturday night uptown in the summertime. I’m sure everyone (of a certain age) remembers when all the stores stayed open late, and the farmers would come to town to buy their groceries, etc. for the week. Both sides of the street would be lined with cars (some people would park early to get a good location). Adults would visit from their cars and watch people walk by. My girlfriends and I would “dress up” and walk up and down main street and around selected blocks, on the look-out for boys with cars to ride around with. If we had our sights set on a certain group — and they drove past on one side of the block — we would run like hell through the alley to turn up nonchalantly on the other side where we knew they would turn.

I wish I had a nickel for every time we made that loop……through main street, turn at Dale’s, back through main street, turn at the San, back down the hill, etc., etc. Gas was cheap then.

Colette

Memories from Gary Metcalfe (57):

Responding to Bill Hosmer, I sure agree with considering it a privilege to be raised in Dunseith at the right time. I knew many “colorful” old timers such as John Bedard, a stately old fellow by the time I knew him. John worked for my dad, Jim Metcalfe, in Seattle during the war. He was a cook and man of many talents. They took him on Chris Berg’s yacht to do all the cooking for a weekend of fishing. He was a good man to have in that department.
In 1960′s I bought John’s farm, a piece at a time, north of Dunseith, two miles west of the Indian Day School. I stayed with John through a winter. He made some head cheese, since John made it, I tried it. It was o.k. John was 86 years old at that time. One cold winter night, John went to town, came home about 11 pm and I said, “Where you been John?” and he replied, “Well, we had a meeting at the Red Owl store. (his sons Lucien and Albert had died within a short time of each other) I cleaned up the cooler, put new papers all around and stopped at the Tap for a drink.” “There is a guy giving that Lowell (Leonard, bartender) a hard time. I said, “Well, what did you do John?” and he said, “I put him in a vice.” (grabbed him by the neck) all of this in his French brogue. One day we woke up to about 4 feet of fresh snow, Sherm Burcham’s barn had collapsed and pinned the cows in their stantions, so I took my snowmobile, “see you later, John” and headed NW about 4 miles, snow was so deep the snowmobile would hardly get through it. That night I came back home to John’s pretty late, after taking asprin to the neighbors, Gagnon’s, brought Alvin Hogenson back home to town from the farm, I said to John, “I have a couple calves that need watering in the barn.” He said, “I took care of that”. A year later I found two pieces of plywood with string, Old John had made snowshoes, carried water all the way to the barn, shoveled out the barn door and watered those calves. Remember he was 86 years old!

One day I said to John, “What happened to your screen door?” He looked at his old white Arydale and said, “You money maker you.” The dog had jumped through it when the dynamite charge went off in the well.

Audrey Aitchison’s Correction: (Gary Stokes’ and the Morniville kids Cousin)

I want to make a correction about the raccoons. Ruby didn’t get one. Jean and I each got one. She got a male and named hers Marvin and I got a female and named mine Ruby after Ruby and Marvin Kuhn– brother and sister.

12/15/2013 (1915)

Posted on December 15, 2013 by Gary

Happy Birthday Muzette Berube Fiander (DHS ’74): Melbourne, FL

Spelling Error apology

From Bob Lykins (Teacher): Hutto, TX

Gary,

My apologies to all of those German speakers out there who probably noticed my spelling error “Guttes” which means good (for Guttes Neu Year). That is the proper spelling as I typed “Gottes” which means God. It’s tough using a German keyboard as the way the letters are arranged are not the same as on the keyboard that we all learned our typing skills. I wouldn’t mind being in the P.I. about now as the weather should be great whereas here, in Germany, in the Bayischer Wald, it is cold and foggy. Hope you enjoyed your ex-pat night out and all went well.

Bob

Handwriting, communication and different generations

Reply from Aime Casavant (’65): Jamestown, ND

Dick, that was a good and interesting post you did on handwriting, communication and different generations. I liked your observations and descriptions. There is someone who said “Mother nature always reclaims what is hers.” Maybe that will occur, somehow, with spoken and written communication. Now let me hope if there are any grammatical errors in my words, that they be minor.

Posted by Neola Kofoid Garbe: Bottineau & Minot, ND

Francis Peltier
(June 28, 1939 – December 12, 2013)

Francis Peltier, age 74 of Belcourt, died Thursday, December 12, 2013 at Belcourt hospital. Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, December 18, 2013 at 10:00 A.M. in St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Dunseith. A wake will be held on Tuesday, beginning at 6:00 P.M. with a prayer service at 8:00 P.M. in the Church. Cremation will take place after the service.

He enjoyed spending time outdoors and spending time with family.

He is survived by his son, Robert Peltier of Dunseith, and a daughter, Peggy (Frank) Gillis of Dunseith; 11 grandchildren; 7 great-grandchildren; two sisters, Genevieve Jerome of Copalis Beach WA., and Marlene Dauphinais of Belcourt and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, George, Stanley and Edward; sisters, Melinda Lafountain, Louise Chase and Alvina Peltier.

Gifts

Story from Vickie Metcalfe (’70): Bottineau, ND

Gary and friends,

Thus year was was the fifty year anniversary of the speech,“I Have A
Dream”.

T’was also the anniversary of great national sorrow.

The spring of 1963 I completed 5th grade in at Dunseith Public
School. It was our first year our class of “70 moved from classroom
to classroom a with teachers teaching different subjects. Mrs. Flynn-
Math, Mrs. Hosmer, Mr. Lang, Miss Gilje Language arts, and Mrs. Lang
Geography.

We ate in the large multi purpose room and the high school kids came
down and ate there also.

Of recess and noon hour, I recall a crowded chaotic playground.

I was just one of many quiet, shy farm kids who rode home to do
chores every day after school. I was a bystander.

I never said a word when I heard peers teasing or taunting. others.
That is one regret I live with.

The summer of ‘63, Dad received word from his brother Emil, a foreman
of a plastering crew for a major construction company. A prison was
being build on the coast of WA.

Dad needed to work out, as crop insurance and farm programs were
pretty much non existent.

My parents made arrangements for our farm and bought a different car
to make the trip.

Mom put away her favorite recipe books and other treasures in the
spare bedroom. Dad nailed plywood across its curtained entrance.
Someone was going to “winter” our cattle and live in our house.

Mom packed only clothing and necessities into the new 1963 two- tone/
brown and cream Biscayne station wagon.

Our family left early one morning. We left behind, the best part of
our family; Skip the family border collie, Byrd our first riding/barn
horse, and all the “Bossies” i.e. cattle.

Dad drove steady across prairies and winding roads through mountains
across Montana, Idaho and Washington. It was hot dusy dry trip, but
the windows rolled down kept us somewhat comfortable. We’d never
heard of air conditioning.

One of us girls would say, “Dad I need to stop”.

__perhaps fifty miles later he’d pull over. Mom got a can for
emergency use.

My little brother stood on the back seat. Dad’s rolled down his is
window and propped his arm out.

The 65 mph breeze was powerful in the back seat.

Never eating out,we ate food mom had prepared for the trip in the car
or at public picnic areas, slept in motels with cooking facilities.
And, finally we stopped for an overnight visit with Dad’s navy
friend George and his family in Montana.

(I continue to honor dad’s memory with a Pride Dairy package to
George each Christmas. George is now 90)

Any ways back to my tale.

Finally, we arrived to Uncle Emil’s country home at rural Marysville
on a Sunday. There was much excitement upon seeing our cousins who we
were to stay with. Dad went to work with Uncle Emil early next
morning Mom and Ann began searching for rental houses. We cousins
enjoyed reconnecting. As a North Dakota country girl, I was not
familiar hearing the latest pop singers, but my cousins were well
acquainted with their names and what they sang or played.

“She loves me Ya, ya , ya “

A comfortable three bedroom house was found at the steep cost of
$100.00 a month. Our frugal mother was told by Mr. and Mrs. Hansen
we could move in at the end of the month. The Hansens were the first
Seventh Day Adventists I ever met. Wonderfully, kind and humble was
reflected in their personalities.

During the end of summer and early fall, Mom and Ann canned fruit,
cherries, plums, pears from fruit trees and gathered strawberries from
the field behind “Emil’ and Ann’. And we kids played. We all had
wonderful escapades. Janice and I searched an old abandoned attic
for lost treasures. All that climbing over rickity floorboards was
futile, no gold, just an empty attic box. On the weekends we gathered
around a fire pit in the yard and more uncles and aunts drove up from
Seattle.

So on weekends,

“With a love like that, we knew it could not be bad”………

Shoultes Country school started with ! classroom for each of the K- 6
grades. I found myself down the hall from cousin Janice in Mr.
Gadwa’s self contained sixth grade classroom.

Mrs. E. came and taught the specials in the afternoon.

She taught us to sing “Fair are the meadows, fair are the
woodlands…….and I began my day dream of my ND home.

1963-1964 was a year of lessons. Some in school and some societal.

A listener, I would tune in, focus and listen as my dad and Uncle
Emil talked about interactions of the crew on the job. It seemed
their was some opposition from the crew toward another plasterer,

a former German soldier.

My love for reading had been sparked by beloved Mrs. Conroy. I
burrowed into books. Holey buckets! At this school I could check
out five to six books every week! And, Mr. Gadwa would drive bus
with our class into the big town school to check out books from the
library. I would read 8-10 books each week.

I used books as my escape missing farm life.

On New Year’s Eve, my parents and Ann and Emil were invited to “the
Skerdes.” I believe that was one lesson I heard from Cliff and Emil
Metcalfe about, treating people fairly. ___

Otto was former German soldier who fought on the side of
Hitler……….His wife had been a P.O.W. of the Russians during the
war._____perhaps a “comfort woman”?

My listening skills became more keenly fine tuned.

Sometime,after Christmas vacation 1963, five black children from a
family enrolled at Shoultes. They were the only black children in
school. Curious.

_I had never seen or known a black child before. The very next
day at noon recess, I was leaning against a wall reading my latest
borrowed book, when, six boys from my 6th grade class surrounded the
black fifth grade boy.

They were each at least a head taller than he, they circled, began
taunting and demeaning words. N________r

One reached out and touched his hair , and commented something
about “brillo pads” another,swipiped is finger to his his skin and
commented “ does it come off?’……..the verbage continued along with
more cruel laughter.

Without thinking leaping, I found myself in the middle of that group
of boys. I pushed to stand in front the fifth grader.

Making eye contact_____ words flew out of my mouth, looked each in
the eye as I said,

“Did YOU choose your skin color?” “Did YOU pick your eye color? “
“Did YOU choose your parents?” “ Did YOU choose to be born whe way
you are?”

LEAVE him alone.” because he didn’t choose either!”

I pushed through the group of boys and walked back to my book I’d
left next to the brick wall.

I don’t believe those boys bothered him again, the rest of that year.

I never learned the black boys name. I never went home and told my
parents.

(Both of my parents are now gone, and I never shared that with them)

At school, I’d just find another book and slip it under my one of my
subject books, and read__

Sometimes I’s miss recess because it was too engrossing.

Although,my grades suffered, I never let them go to far down. I was
content to be average.

As I recall those fifty year of memories, and the lessons learned.

My only wish is I’d had more courage through my 7th-12th years.

THEN I smile, and thank God for the gifts I have received from my
parents..

Parents who would not tolerate my bully behavior and the gift of
empathy..

Thanks. Vickie

A Shot Fired into the Air

Story from Larry Hackman (’66): Bismarck, ND

Is that physics or something? Two objects can’t occupy the same space at the same time without consequences. Vance Bailey’s writing reminded me of an incident that took place in Dunseith back in the 60’s.

I had just pulled back into town after going to one of them all night picture shows at the Rugby outdoor movie theatre. It was getting light out but the sun had not made its appearance on the horizon yet. I was surprised to see my mother standing out in the middle of the street talking to Darrell Abbey the Dunseith Chief of Police.

She had called the cops as she had looked out the window in the early morning and saw three fellows trying to get into my brothers car, which was parked in front of the house. She was explaining to Darrell that when these three guys saw his head lights coming down Main Street, that the three fellows had taken off across the street and went into an abandoned two story house that had no windows and with the door standing open. This house had been deserted for sometime and had fallen into disrepair.

Darrell decided to go search the place and I being of more guts than brains, decided to go with him. We went into the house through the open door. Darrell went to check the rooms on the first floor and I for some odd reason I seeing the stairs, decided to go upstairs. I took a left turn into the first room I came to, and all of a sudden there was a huge commotion behind me, someone was running down the stairs and I could hear my mother shouting. I ran down the stairs and saw Darrell Abbey running after one fellow who took off for the alley and they were headed north.

My mother, who was still standing out in the middle of the street between the two houses was very excited. I walked over to her and asked what happened because everybody else was gone. She said two guys jumped out of the upstairs windows and took off running north up the street in front of the house. Its amazing that they never broke a leg or something as it was about a twelve foot drop from that window sill. Mom said the other guy came running out the front door with Darrell right behind him. She said, that guy ran around behind the house and headed for the alley with Darrell right behind him and that they both had disappeared from sight running north.

While we were talking we heard a gun shot. This was getting exciting. It wasn’t long before Darrell come walking back from his early morning run. Of course we were curious and wondering if he got him. Darrell said the guy was outrunning him so he had shouted stop, and shot into the air to try to convince the guy to halt, but the guy kept running and got away.

Unlike in Vance’s story where the cop thought he shot high enough and the guy deciding to jump over a fence, which resulted with a bullet and this fellows head trying to occupy the same space at the same time. In this story no one got hurt. But Darrell probably scared a little religion into their souls. Maybe Darrell was already practicing to become a minister?

Note:

I thought Dennis Dubois’s reply to the spit wad story was a little strange too. It made me feel bad that I had wrote the story and I felt a little sorry for him. Then along came Bob Lykins, a teacher’s reply, that put the whole thing back into perspective. Dennis sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. Merry Christmas.

Henry and I were reminiscing about these spit wad stories again, and he was thinking that maybe it could have been the second biggest guy in the (class of 63) that was involved with these incidents. There were a lot of big guys in that class and Henry said he was only a freshman. He said that he was a freshman through no fault of his own, that it was something that just happened after graduating from the eighth grade. He just had to be a freshman for 9 months that one year in the old school at that time, with a group of people (class of 65). Then they moved onto the the new school to become sophomores. I was told once that the definition of sophomore is silly morons. Is that true?

Henry says Mr. Grossman was tough but, Mr. Prouty, teacher and coach was probably the most intimidating instructor at the time. He says that he remembers an incident where Ernie Gottbrcht was making a little commotion in the assembly room and Mr. Prouty walked up to him and stood by his desk. Henry said Ernie made the mistake of getting out of desk and standing up in front of him. Mr. Prouty grabbed Ernie by the shoulders and sat him back down. Henry said Ernie then stood up again and told Mr. Prouty that he wanted to go the office. Henry said, that was the first time and the last time, that he ever heard a student ask to go to the office. Mr. Prouty grabbed Ernie by the shoulders again, and sat him down and told him to sit there and behave himself. Henry said, Ernie didn’t bother Mr. Prouty again about wanting to go to the head office.

Keep on laughing,

Larry

Joke of the day

Posted by Lee Stickland (’64): Dickinson, ND

If three brawny professional football players are in a car

Who is driving?

The policeman. LEE s

Two neighbor ladies were trading stories across the hedge.

One asks the other “Weren’t YOU going to sell YOUR car?”

“Yes, but I’m told that with 210,000 miles on it , no one would be interested.”

“Well I have a friend from the Turtle Mountains that knows how to turn those miles back.”

So that said gentleman easily disconnected a small cable from the side of the transmission,

Connected his electric drill to that end, making sure the drill was turning the right direction:

Did not want 310,000 miles !

Some days later the ladies were visiting again and it was noticed that the car was yet there.

“Have YOU had any new interest by someone to buy YOUR car?”

“OH !! NO !! I don’t want to sell it; it only has 40,000 miles on it. LEE s

Blog posted on January 9, 2008

01/09/2008

Posted on January 9, 2008

Cheri Metcalfe Evans (74) reply to Trish Larson Clayburgh (73):

Gary, This a wonderful thing you have going here. I hope you continue with it. I was born in Bottineau (Sam Tooke and I on the same day, in the same hospital, so he is one of my oldest friends!!) We moved to Washington when I was two years old. My father is Jim Metcalfe (junior). My grandparents were Jim and Ella Metcalfe. We came back to Dunseith in 1972, just after the Dragons took second at the state tournament.
Anyway my response to Trish-yes, I was in that pageant. Don’t you remember? There were ten contestants and I came in at eleventh?? lol. Cindy Metcalfe was also in that pageant.

To Neola-thank-you for sharing the picture of Ernest Tennancour. I printed it off and gave it to my husband, Jim Evans. Ernest was his grandfather and he really enjoyed seeing the picture.

To Tim Martinson-It was great to hear of your memories of time spent at the farm. Jim and I still live there and raised our kids there. David (our son) and his friends spent a lot of time building forts in those same cottonwoods, and building “rafts” to float down the creek. Jim’s mother, Alice is in the nursing home and unfortunately her memory is not good, But I asked her if she remembered you and she said “yes, but he hasn’t been by to see me lately”. When I mentioned the cinnamon rolls she smiled as if it were something she could remember.

So, thank-you for the memories and bringing Dunseith folk back together

Happy New Year, Cheri (Metcalfe) Evans ’74

Cheri’s follow up message:

I just realized that I mentioned that the Dragons took second in the state B-ball tournament in 1972. I believe they took fifth. They were always first in our die hard dragon fan hearts!!
Cheri Evans-74

Gary Stokes’ comments to Cheri:

Cheri, you mentioned Cindy Metcalfe Miller (74) as being in that pageant also. I have not yet gotten Cindy on our distribution list. Craig and Cindy were neighbors to my folks years, in Bottineau, before moving to Lake Metigoshe. Great folks. We do have her sister Vickie Metcalfe (70) on our distribution. My dad, being an animal lover, loved Vickie’s two little dogs and also Cindy’s bigger dog.

Allen Richard’s (65) Reply to Trish Larson (73)

I think that was about the time Jo Ann Hill was in the Miss Bottineau/Miss Peace Garden Pagent. She did a comedy routine for Dorothy Parker called “The Dance.” She didn’t win–She could probably blame that on her coach————–

Allen Richard

Phyllis McKay’s (65) reply to a message that Gary Stokes (65) sent her:

Hi Gary, I put out my back and have not been able to sit at my computer for any length of time. I helped my son move from his third story apartment, decorated the outside of my house with lights, cleaned and decorated the interior of my house for the holidays. The chiropractors said I had done to much!! I had a party scheduled for the evening that my back went out. My sister, Minnie Mary came over to be the host while I sat and gave directions. My next party was the following Saturday. Several of my friends came early and got everything ready for that party. Thank goodness for family and friends in your times of need! In the mean time I could not teach school and spent my time going to the chiropractor, heating and icing my back. I did return to work just before the Christmas break. I am well on the mend now, doing exercises daily to strengthen my lower back muscles to help to relieve the stress on the vertebrae that have lost the cushion between them.

I have enjoyed the stories about Dunseith from some of the older alumni. I do not know some of them personally but have heard about them through my older sisters and brothers. Many of them were gone off to college or ?? when I was growing up. I was always one of those McKay kids to them.

Gary, your account of the Philippine New Year sounded absolutely intriguing! How fortunate you have been to have the opportunity to experience such a cultural celebration. Your story about the demise of the pig reminded me of the same activity being performed at my house when I was growing up. It was a big occasion and relatives came to help with the dirty deed. The day before the pigs were going to hog heaven, I would feel so sorry for them that I would go out to the pig pen and sing to them through the fence. Of course I did not go into the pen because I had been cautioned that the pigs might eat me if I were to fall down in the pig pen!! We did not have many pigs so they were almost pets. When the old sow would have a batch of piglets, we would hold them, bottle feed them and generally love those little pink sweet smelling babies. As they grew into wiener pigs, we would scratch their sides so often that when they saw us, they would flop down on their sides waiting for us to scratch them with a stick. We have a picture of my sister riding one of her pet pigs! Living on the farm, taught you that animals that might have been pets to you, were food to mom and dad.

Thank you for your concern for me! I don’t know how you are able to keep track of everyone now that you have added so many more people to your e-mail list.

Phyllis

Gary’s Reply to Phyllis:

Phyllis, Having not heard from you in a while I thought something must be up. Glad to hear that you are on the mend. To keep track of everyone, I try to keep everyone organized by classes in my records. Even doing that, I still make a few stupid mistakes, like when I called Colette Pigeon Schimetz not realizing it was her. I knew Reid, her husband, had passed on several years ago. She had told me that when we talked a few weeks ago. I wasn’t thinking when I was putting Reid’s class list (71) together. I did a find and found a number for him and when Colette answered the phone I asked for Reid. Her response was, “Gary, this is Colette” I knew right away I had pulled a boner and I knew what it was. It turned out to be a good boner though. We had a wonderful chat.

Dale Pritchard’s (63) reply & memories:

Gary,

I remember a lot of people mentioned in the emails going back and forth.
Makes one wonder where they all got off too.

I tried pin setting “one” time at the old Snake Pit. Fortunately, I
came to my senses before a pin knocked some into me. It was dangerous!

I worked on the Grand Forks missile sites in 64 & 65 and spent much time
with Jimmy Birkland and Junior Walter. I saw Junior about 4 years ago
at a church supper in Dunseith but haven’t seen Jimmy since 65. There
again, people go their own ways and lose contact with friends. Boeing
paid my way out to Seattle in April, 66 where Leroy Birkland helped me
find a place to live. I haven’t seen him since but will always
appreciate his help.

Uncle Sam caught up to me in 66 also. Since I had to go in the Service
I joined the Air Force instead – one day before I was supposed to report
for the Army. So, I spent my “former life” in the Air Force and reading
Bill Hosmer’s emails about the Thunderbirds brought back some memories.
In 73, I spent 9 weeks on the Thunderbird C-130 (AF cargo plane) support
crew from Forbes AFB at Topeka, KS. We hit about 28 states in that time
and I never got enough of the shows. We were on a 30-minute standby at
each show in case we had go get some parts. The professionalism,
dedication and showmanship of that small group of people was awesome.
In Dec 79, I was at Nellis AFB, Las Vegas doing something for the AF
when 6 of the Thunderbirds “went in” at the same time. The base shut
down for about 2 hours of silence. It was a sad day but there’s no way
to relate to what the families had to go through.

I parted ways with the Air Force in Nov 86 after 20 years and 3 months.
From a former “udder” handler also, and your closest neighbor to the
South, keep up the good work you’re doing, Gary.
I think it snowballed more than you ever thought it would.

Dale Pritchard (63)

Dale, Yes, you were our closest neighbor to the south and at one time Jim & Ruby Birkland were our closest neighbors to the north. Evon Lagerquist is now living on your home place. Gary

Bob Hosmer’s (56) reply to Larry Hackman (66):

Snake Pit Bowling Alley and the lunch counter were all part of my memory too. I remember being a pin setter for a while. I’m not sure when, but I think I was at least 12 or 13. The ten cents a game was still in vogue. Larry’s description is so accurate I saw it all afresh in my mind. There was also a pinball machine in the back corner of the lunch counter area. We discovered several ways of activating the game without using any coins. One was hitting the underside of the machine under one of the bumper lights, another was using washers the size of coins required or the wide part of those little wood spoons used with dixi icecream cups. I think in the end they removed the pinball machine out completely.

Thanks, Larry, for jogging our memories.

Bob Hosmer

Audrey Hanson Aitchson’s reply – Ruby Kuhn Birkland:

Audrey and her sister Jean Pladson are 1st cousins to Gary Stokes and the Morinville kids. Audrey/Jean and Ruby were next door neighbors in their childhood days.

Yes, lots of memories. Jean and I got a baby raccoon and also Ruby got one. We named ours Ruby after Ruby Kuhn and she named hers Marvin after her brother, Marvin Kuhn. We had fun with ours. She had a litter box in the house and used it like a cat. When we came home she was so happy, she danced around our legs. She lived in the house with us. Finally she got out on the road and got run over.

12/14/2013 (1914)

Posted on December 14, 2013 by Gary

Cebu Expat dinner this evening at the Radisson hotel.

Folks,

This evening we will be attending this months Cebu Expat dinner at the Radisson Blu hotel. I have an even hundred folks on the list planning to attend, so it will be a big one. Novie will be attending her HS reunion this evening, so she is unable to go with us, however Mirasol will be with us. I am very sure she will be taking pictures that she will be instantly posting on FB. Both Bernadette’s phone and Ipad are set to automatically log into my FB account so that is where all these pictures will be posted. Novie’s sister, Edelyn, may be going with us too. She too is a picture taker.

Gary

Happy Birthday Pam Houle Hagen (’73): Big Lake, MN

Happy Birthday Crystal Fassett Andersen (DHS ’71): Walhalla, ND

Happy Birthday Iris (Bedard) Wolvert: Willow City, ND

Tropicalglen.com Oldie’s music website

Reply from Dale Pritchard (’63): Leesville, LA.

Gary,

After I learned about the tropicalglen website I would use it when I came back in my office to take care of paperwork. Even kept to a very low volume other people would stop to ask for the website. Before long, almost everybody was using it. It wasn’t long afterwards that the Army blocked it. So much for a good thing! I guess it wasn’t exactly work related. In my opinion, it’s still the best music around. To you and all your readers, “Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year”.

Dale Pritchard

Dale,

I currently am listening to the top country songs from 1960-64. I so agree, it is the best music around with great selections.

Gary

Hand Writing

Reply from Dick Johnson (’68): Dunseith, ND

Gary and Friends,

Technology may have advanced our abilities in certain areas but at
a great cost. People now believe they don’t really need to think or
remember anything because the answer is right there on their phone or
computer so why use your brain for such a waste as thinking. I’ve
actually seen kids text each other in the same house rather than to get
up and verbally ask a question. One thing I have noticed is that the
older the person is, the better his or her penmanship. Somewhere in
about the early ’70s, schools took on teaching a new form of
handwriting. They went away from cursive to an enlightened form. All
the letters appear to be based on a circular motion so everything looks
like an ‘O’ or a ‘C’ with only added dimensions to make another letter.
It really dates those people when they write a note. That’s still not a
bad as text messaging with symbolism rather than words. Many signs are
now only symbols and no words and some are so elementary that they make
me laugh. I think it was Einstein who said he feared the day when
technology replaced people’s ability to communicate with each other. I
think we have seen that day. My humble opinion. Thanks Gary!

Dick

Lake Sisters

Memory from Colette Hosmer (’64): Santa Fe, NM

Dear Gary,

Wasn’t it the Lake Sisters who “wove” baskets and things from native grass? I remember seeing these beautiful pieces in Midge Henriksen’s antique collection that she displayed in Kelvin Store.

Colette

Blog posted on January 8, 2008

01/08/2008

Posted on January 8, 2008

Story from Larry Hackman (66):

Snake Pit Bowling

The Snake Pit Bar and Bowling Alley, located near the South end of main street across the street from Joe’s Grocery, and between Kofoid’s Garage and the [5-10 Red and White Store 5-10] operated by K. C. Sine and his wife also contained a four lane bowling alley and a lunch counter. The Snake Pit was owned and operated by Harold Woodford and Oscar Stadium. It was a rough place as the nickname indicates. Actually, I don’t remember any other name for the place. I observed many a fight that had started in the bar and then would spill out on Main Street. I observed the part that was on the street. I learned from observing a lot of these fights, to never fall to the ground. The people that would get knocked down usually got kicked in the head. It made a horrible sound, something like a clunk. The sound of a ax splitting a block of wood. I can still hear it today. Remember all the kids that grew up sitting in the vehicles on main, waiting for their folks to come out of the bars? In the evening there always seemed to be vehicles parked in front bars with kids hanging out the windows and some running up and down the street, some in their diapers, some without, some in need of a diaper change. Thank heaven you don’t see much of that any more. We seem to be advancing as a civilization.

The Bowling Alley was attached to the West end of the Snake Pit. There were two entrances to the bowling alley, one through the Snake Pit, another through the lunch counter, just north of the Snake Pit entrance. Mrs. Earl Myer (Bertha)a very nice lady, ran the lunch counter. She made the best hamburgers in the world using Snow White Bakery buns. Just 25 cents each. They were delicious. I don’t know what she did, that was any different then anybody else that makes up a good hamburger,

but as I said, they were delicious. Maybe it was the way she toasted her buns?

My brothers Tony (class of 64) and Henry (class of 65)worked in the bowling area of the building as pin setters. They got paid 10 cents a game and each took care of two lanes. I think they inherited this job from the Johnson Boys, Auggie and ? Tony and Henry’s job was to pick up the knocked down pins and place them in the setter and put the ball on the return, then jump into the next alley pit and do the same thing. When the bowler completed their frame you would pull the setter down replacing the ten pins on the alley and return their ball. Never return the ball before picking up the pins as you might end up eating it, if you have a bowler in a hurry or not paying attention to the pin setter. I was a tag-along or a wanna-be at that time. It was a very dangerous place to work and the people that ran the place would chase me out from behind the pin pits.. You never knew where a pin was going to fly. To get hit in the head or some other part of your body was not uncommon. In the head, hurt like hell. However, since my brothers worked there, I usually hung around there too. When one would decide to take a break, then they would let me take over until they came back. They liked to set pins for the league bowlers as they would get into a rhythm, it was safer, and everything including the time would pass fast. It was usually on Friday and Saturday nights, (open bowling) is when it got really dangerous. Some of the young fellows would get a few drinks in them and they would try to throw the ball down the alley so hard that it never touched the lane floor. They were either trying to kill the pin setter or the pins.

In the next lane you might have someone like Charlie Anderson who was a finesse bowler. He would bowl from the left side of the approach. The ball rolled and rolled curving way to the right side of the alley, kissing the edge of the right gutter and then start curving back to the left right into the pocket. Usually he got a strike. His ball came down the alley so slow you wanted to jump out from behind the pin setter and help it. Back to the rhythm thing, if you have balls coming down both alleys at the same time, The pin boy really did not have any place to go. There was this big beam that held up these huge pads behind the pin pits that stopped the balls from going through the wall. The pin setter would have to jump up onto this beam to escape getting killed. You did not want to miss getting up there. This is about time in my life that I missed a growth spurt and everybody else got one, and I got stuck with the nick name, Half Pint. Its probably a good thing they built and opened the Garden Lanes before I became big enough to become a pin setter. I think Tony Samsky was the first manager of the new Bowling Alley? The new bowling alley made pin setting boys obsolete as they closed down the bowling alley at the Snake Pit and the new bowling alley had mechanical pin setting.

larry

.

.

Bobbie Slyter’s (70) Reply to LeaRae Parrill Espe (67):

Regarding LeaRea’s message I did not know that Leroy Birkland had moved back to Bottineau he was married to my aunt Delores Hiatt (Freddie Hiatt’s sister) when they lived in Washington state before she passed away, sure is a small world, maybe she can answer a question for me how is Leroy related to Jim Birkland, saw Jim and his wife at the family reunion this past July up at Richard’s place

I too have tried the jukebox music. Its fantastic. I have it on when I am working in the office. Brings back a lot of memories of the high school days.

.

.

Trish Larson’s (73) Reply to Gary Stokes’ (65) Question:

Trish, This being part of a conversation we had back and forth, I hope you don’t mind me sharing this with the rest. Folks, Trish sent me some beautiful pictures to forward onto another Alumni member. That’s how I was able to see the pictures that I make reference to. Trish, we’d love to see the photo too. Gary

.

.

Gary,

Thanks for the compliment. I won Ms. Congeniality that year, which I thought was the best prize of all. The winner of the pageant won everything else – talent, swimsuit, and the title. We all hated her (lol). I entered the pageant for the $50.00 and enjoyed performing with the mix of gals from Dunseith and Bottineau. It was a good experience. Somewhere I still have a photo…

I believe Cheri Metcalfe was another participant….

Trish

.

.

Gary’s Question to Trish:

Trish,

How did you do in the 1974 Bottineau Pageant? Seeing that picture of you on the horse and those other pictures recently, I’m assuming that you probably did quite well.

Gary

.

.

Message from Gary Stokes:

Folks, PLease forward these messages on to Dunseith Alumni folks that you think may not be on this distribution and encourage them to get in touch with me so I can get them into the system. I get folks into the system with the contacts that I make putting class lists together and with referrals from you guys. I will be sending the class list our for the class of 70 shortly. I’m nearly finished with the class of 71 and I’m working with the class of 58. Next I’ll be working on the classes of 57 & 72. I’ve completed class lists for the classes of 59 thru 70. This has proven to be a really fun hobby. Gary

12/13/2013 (1913)

Posted on December 13, 2013 by Gary

Happy birthday Donna Halvorson Krim (DHS ’77): Sartell, MN

Spit wad/eraser throwing

Reply from Bob Lykins (Teacher): Hutto, TX

Gary,Regarding Dennis Dubois’ soulful confession pertaining to Mr. Grossman. Why am I not surprised -:)

R. Lykins

Cursive Writing

Reply from Bob Lykins (Teacher): Hutto, TX

Gary,Interesting response from Keith Pladson regarding cursive writing and it’s decline. This didn’t start with computers, texting and emails. It began many years ago in the mid 1970s and a “new” process in teaching writing in the elementary schools called the Denailian(sp) Process. It started by teaching the students to print in such a way that later, the teachers would be able to teach the students to simply connect the lines and, vola, cursive writing. The trouble was, someone forgot to connect the lines for the teachers and many students slipped through the cracks not learning to connect those lines. Being secondary oriented, I did not realize this until my oldest son, at the age of 13 and while on Okinawa, had to sign his named on an official document. He did not know how to make the cursive “J” for his middle initial and had to look to his younger sister’s signature for her middle initial “J” and copied it. It was then that I began to seriously question the wisdom of this approach to writing. I did not realize how widespread this loss of an art form had become until just two days ago when working with my youngest son (a student in a German school) on some offical American documents he must complete and he signed his name by printing it. I said, “Noooo! It must be cursive.” He told me he did not know how to write cursive. He told me everybody in his school (Gymnasium school which is an academic, college prep school) writes by printing. Yet, 6 years ago, he signed his American passport in cursive. Obviously, this decline is widespread and not just limited to one country, grade level, or culture. I place the blame in two areas, the failure of our education system to address, head-on, this situation and the area of electronic communication that is dumming down the art of writing with “lol” and “bmfd.” Not that the later letters signify any artful form of writing. It may be that, given the march of “progress,” we may have to say Auf Wiedersehen to the art of cursive writing in world society. It won’t be the first thing we have said goodby to. Merry Christmas everybody and a Happy new Year! Or as they say here in Deutchland, “Frohe Weinachten und gottes Neu Year!”

Bob Lykins

Cursive Writing

Reply from Sybil Johnson: Chippewa Falls, WI.

Yes, cursive writing is becoming very rare. I even find myself doing less and less letter writing. However, I do find when I read, I take notes from what I’m writing, just like I did in school. When we give way to the electronic age, we take alot from those we love; for we no longer take the time to communicate with them. I have many tablets packed with notes of numerous subjects, including my family geneology.

I’m not one to email, unless I absolutely have to; because most of the time, my emails dont get through to the person I’m emailing.

Thank you,

Sybil Johnson

Face book capture

Trish Larson Clayburgh (’73): Certificate of Recognition

Newtown Parents Seek A Clearer Window Into Violent Behavior

Posting from Lee Stickland (’64): Dickinson, ND

Gary & BERNADETTE

I remain quite quiet here in SW ND; where the wind is sure to blow, daily.

I forward the attached link below, being certain of YOUR conscientious attention and editing skills

of each item that OUR classmates provide. YOU will recall that I held this beautiful

girl when she was but a small armful. My son, and his family are friend with the family

and they share weekends together. I was not formerly aware of Avielle’s paintings; seeing

them certainly pulled at my heart and found their own place there.

The death of Avielle was very hard for my grandson, SAM; he immediately began to cry.

He did not understand death but he sensed a separation and he was already missing Avielle

as they were best of friends.

It could be interpreted that my last phrase(s) is belated but I feel it is good to keep such tragic occasions and remaining circumstances in perspective.

Jen and Jeremy are certainly putting their best foot forward as they search for WHY.

Happy 35 ! and counting. LEE s

http://www.npr.org/2013/12/12/250287971/newtown-parents-seek-a-clearer-window-into-violent-behavior

Blog posted on January 7, 2008

01/07/2008

Posted on January 7, 2008

Reply from Bonnie Awalt (56):

Good Morning Gary,

In regard to the mention of the Lake Sisters of Dunseith. They were Esther and Dolly Lake, fabulous cooks, they babysat for us when our Mother had surgery. Esther could be kind of gruff but had a heart of gold. The Lake Sisters made a point of coming over to Grandma Anderson’s every Wednesday afternoon for coffee along with Mrs. Grimmie and Irene Stickland. Grandma so looked forward to Wednesdays. Grandma Anderson still had the wood stove for cooking and was getting along in age and had trouble cooking on the wood stove so My Mother (Gertrude Awalt) would bake every Wednesday Morning so Grandma would have fresh treats when the Ladies came for coffee.

My Dad (John Awalt) decided that Grandma Anderson needed running water, and a gas stove for cooking in her home. He went over to start the job and Grandma stopped him at the door. There was no way she was going to allow him to have water running through her wall and gas into her house. She claimed she would never get a good nights sleep again if he put that stuff in her home. No matter how much my parents talked Grandma would not give in, so until the day she passed on she had the wood stove and no running water in the house.

Bonnie Awalt Houle (56)

Message from Peggy Wurgler Axtman (71): Peggy is Joan & Dave’s younger sister. Peggy lives in Kent Washington.

What a nice surprise to talk with you by phone. Thanks for including me on the list and thanks for doing all the work! I will look through my things I’ve saved from my Dunseith years and see if there is anything ‘worthy’ of sharing with others. Have a good 2008!

Warm Regards from the Pacific NW,

Peggy

Reply from LeaRae Parrill Espe (67):

All my friends think around Bottineau think I know all the family connections around here, but I am becoming so much more enlighted by these emails. My brother Clark’s widow is Nora Birkland Parrill. Nora is the daughter of Ena Hiatt and Norman Birkland. Jimmy Birkland and Eleanor Birkland Dubois are siblings of Norman. Recently LeRoy Birkland has moved back to Bottineau and has a lovely home across from the Catholic Church. Until the recent death of Mrs. Berg, I didn’t realize the connection of Lynette Hamel Dubois and Neola and Jim Kofoid. (Cousin’s to Lynette’s mother, right?) I had Lynette in school and enjoyed her working as a student librarian for me. She married my sister -in- law Nora Birkland Parrill’s cousin, Wade Birkland. So these family tree branches go around and around. Thankfully, no one prunes family trees!

Nora’s mother is the second youngest Hiatt in the family of Nettie Peterson (Jack) and Leola Lagerquist-I think that is the George and Eva Hiatt branch. There about 10 children in that family, but most of them moved from the Dunseith area.

LeaRae Espe

LeaRae, I’d like to add that Dennis Dubois (63) is Wade’s uncle. I think most of us from the classes of the early to mid 60′s remember Dennis and he being the great basket ball player that he was. I talked to Dennis several weeks ago. He lives in Minneapolis. He does not have email, but he sure loves to hear about all this Dunseith stuff. I suggested he should get email and he did not disagree. His phone number is 763-755-4144. He’s still the same friendly Dennis with lots of conversation. I know Dennis would dearly love to hear from any of you. Gary Stokes (65)

Memories from Gary Metcalfe (56):

My first recollection of Dunseith was in 1946 when my family returned to ND from Seattle, after the war. We came in on old hwy. 5 north of town, very hot day, flies buzzing in the barber shop, screen doors squeeking. My dad, Jim Metcalfe talking to the barber about old times, Ed Leonard sitting on the end stool in the restraunt he and Edna had. I think it was called the Peace Garden Cafe. Up the street in front of the Red Owl store, Native American Elder sitting on the sidewalk, and the only name I remember is Long Shanks Talking about the old Indians, Joe Morinville had the corner on humor with the Indian ladies. I do not know what he told them in their language, but they would laugh until tears came down their their face.. They absolutely loved Joe. Across the street old Casey Sime had everybody laughing on that side.

By the way, an add on to the ice cream story,,when soft ice cream first came out, I heard one Indian lady say to another, “just because we are Indians, they give it to us cold”.

Reply from Sandy Lopez (64): Sandy is one of the folks that came from Cuba.

Gary:

I found the e-mail that you referenced and pasted a portion of it below:

….Does anyone remember the Cubans that came to Dunseith during the 60′s We had a girl in our class named Angelina Parlady. Her Dad was a doctor up and the San, I think. Would be nice to find them, too

Deb Morinville Marmon ’70

Unfortunately, I don’t have any information about Angelina and I don’t really remember her.

Although I don’t have much recollection of most of these commentaries on the e-mails, I have continued to read them for any thread of connection with my Dunseith experiences. You are continuing to do a great job with this very time demanding mission. Thank you and I hope that all of you have a great 2008.

Sandy

Email address change for Brenda Hoffman (68): Please update your files with Brenda’s new email address.

Should be the final change today! Am moving from MSN account to Gmail. Same long address but end piece is now gmail.com:NEW EMAIL

Bill Grimme (65), This is a wonderful link. I’ve added it to my favorites. I’m currently playing songs from 1965 and when Bernadette heard them, she said, “Where did you get those nice songs”. Of coarse she wanted this link on her computer too. Gary Stokes (65)

Gary,

This is a really neat website. Check it out. May be a candidate for a class share sometime in the future.

Bill

This is a Jukebox; but it is no ordinary jukebox. It will play all of your favorite songs from 1951 through 1982. Each year has a scroll or drop down box that shows all the great songs for that year. Most years have over 40 songs. There is even a section at the bottom that allows you to listen to show tunes, TV show themes, Doo Wop and several others. This is pretty neat….and it is free. Read the rest of this and then click on the site at the bottom.Once you click on a song it will play and when it finishes it automatically plays the next song in the list and continues until it has played all the songs. ; This is really cool!!!

It has a volume control which you should use in conjunction with your computers volume control.

One of the best features is that it will play in the background. That means you can be doing other computer work on a different screen.

http://www.tropicalglen.com/

12/12/2013 (1912)

Posted on December 12, 2013 by Gary

Happy Birthday Karen Larson (Bottineau Spectrum)

Cursive letter writing

Reply from Keith Pladson (’66): Roanoke Rapids, NC

Gary,Some thoughts/comments in response to Lynn Halvorson Ottos’s item on writing. I’m sure it saddens many that writing personal letters has become a lost art form. And I believe that because of that society in general will experience a major loss of recorded family histories. Here in NC (and I believe in VA also) there has recently been discussions to stop teaching cursive in public school. It would be easy to consider that a dumb idea, but from a practical point of view, it seems to fit with the direction of and advancements in technology and the way most people choose to correspond today. Not only has personal communications become a matter of short emails, text messages and tweets, but more and more business in being conducted in the same manner. Less and less correspondence is being carried out via hand written letters (or even typed letters). And we can see one effect of that by just looking at the sad shape of the U.S Postal Service.In my personal life I have spent virtually all of my adult life on the East Coast. So up until her death in 2001, I exchanged several personal (written) letters with my mother every year. It was our way of communicating. I always looked forward to receiving letters from her because she not only had such beautiful penmanship but she could, and did, pack in all kinds of news about each of my siblings as well as news on everyone I knew (or may have known). Foolishly, I did not keep all those wonderful pieces of correspondence from my mother – something I will now regret for the rest of my life. But all was not lost. Unbeknown to me, my mother did keep all the letters I wrote to her and upon her death I got them all back. What a wonderful gift she gave me. In those letters I now have a somewhat chronicled personal history (one sided only, unfortunately) of my life and all the events in my children’s lives as they were growing up. I plan on making copies of all those letters so I can pass that family history on to each of my children.

Thanks Gary for providing us this unique forum. And, I do hope Bernadette is doing well.

Keith Pladson(66)

Art Hagen: Breakfast this morning on his balcony in Cebu – 86 F – Sunshine

Joke of the day

Posted by Don Malaterre (’72): Sioux Falls, SD

The priest who won’t call a golf cheat a naughty name.

A fellow was getting ready to tee off by himself on the first hole when a tall, stately, grey haired gentleman approached and asked if he could join him.

The first man said that he usually played alone, but agreed to the twosome.

They were even after the first two holes.

The tall, stately gentleman said, We’re about evenly matched, how about playing for five bucks a hole?’

The first fellow said he was a pretty good player, and that he wasn’t much for betting, but agreed to the terms, thinking we’re pretty even so far, so why not?

The stately gentleman played ‘straight & true’ golf the rest of the round and won the remaining sixteen holes with ease.

As they were walking off the 18th green, and while counting his $80, the tall, stately golfer confessed that he was the teaching pro at a neighboring course and liked to pick on suckers.

The first fellow revealed that he was the parish priest.

The pro got all flustered and apologetic, offering to return the money.

The priest said, ‘You won fair and square and I was foolish to bet with you. You keep your winnings.’

The pro said, ‘Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?’

The priest said, ‘Well, you could come to mass on Sunday and make a donation. And, if you want to bring your mother and father along, I’ll marry them.’

Blog posted on January 6, 2008

01/06/2008

Posted on January 6, 2008

Folks, It was brought to my attention that the first publications of the 1982 Dunseith centennial books did not have indexes. For those of you that have those books and need an index, please let know and I can forward one to you. Gary

Message from Gary Metcalfe (56):

Thank you for getting me included on your list Gary. It will be interesting to read these stories, thank you also for being the one that does the work of getting them out for us to enjoy.

My wife and I both remember your parents and went to church with them at the Christian Center. Bob was always ready with a smile. Elaine worked with the residents from San Haven with us too, as did Bob. We had a program that they would bring a few ambulatory residents once a week for the day. Good memories.

We have had several visits with Harvey Hiatt in Arizona and got caught up on some information on all the people in the Ackworth community. Will send you some stories about some the older amazing people in Dunseith later.

Oh this story comes to mind so will continue it tonight.

High school days, to make spending money, I set pins in the bowling alley. It was about 100 degrees in the pin setting area and nearly freezing in the Lake Sisters upstair apartment. This was in January. Get into bed and have so many blankets that I could not even turn over. My 10 cents a line for setting pins did not go far especially with Mrs. Hoopman and Bertha Myer teaching me how to play Smear, but at a high cost. Everyone knew that Bertha was not only sharp, she was very lucky. It seems that Bertha had, “high, low, jic, jack and game” quite often. Fun memories.

Message from anonymous:

I don’t want my name mentioned but the ice cream server Clarice is remembering is Mrs. Rodney Armentrout, not Lagerquist – “I remember them selling soft serve ice cream out of a window of the hardware next to the Beauty Shop. Mrs., Rodney Lagerquest (Marlene Kraft) made and sold the ice cream.

Error message from Larry Hackman (66):

Gary

We made a error on that last message. The girl that use to serve the soft seve ice cream out of the window is now Mrs. Rodney Armentrout, Marlene Kraft. Sorry about that Marlene. Dementia must be starting to settle in somewhere.

larry

Message from Rhonda Hiatt (75):

Gary,

With all the responses to your e-mails, do you get a chance to sleep? Did you ever think it would snowball like this? It’s been fun reading though.

Bev,

I forgot about bony fingers. ha Today that is the look. I was trying to start the trend, it’s just taken this long for everyone else to catch up. ha ha

On the Doobie Brothers, I thought we were in Bismarck. lmao I think we need to get GiGi’s input on this. (Question, who is GiGi? Gary)

Rhonda (75)

Message/Picture from Neola Kofoid Garbe (Gary Stokes’ cousin):

Note: Bert Hanson was a brother to Frances Morinville. Bert was married to my Dad’s sister Olga. Their children, Audrey and Jean, are cousins to both me and Toni, Deb, Bev & Duane Morinville. Mel, you will have to show this one to Ruby. It’s been more than 50 years since I’ve seen Jim & Ruby Birkland. When they were newly married they lived on the Johnny Hiatt farm, now the Fauske farm. We were their closest neighbors. I remember them well. Gary

Hi Gary,

Ruby was mentioned in an email not long ago. Here’s a picture of her when she was young.

I hadn’t seen Ruby since they moved from the house by Bert Hanson’s (Bennett street in Bottineau) until Wade/Lynette Hamel DuBois’ wedding. She was one of the ladies serving the reception. Wade’s mother, Eleanore, and Jimmy Birkland, Ruby’s husband, were siblings, or am I wrong about that? I didn’t recognize Ruby when I saw her. I happened to hear someone mention her name, so I checked to see which one of the ladies was Ruby. I think she said she had recognized me.

Neola

Ruby Birkland

12/11/2013 (1911)

Posted on December 11, 2013 by Gary

Face book capture

Trish Larson Clayburgh (’73) receives award.

Congratuations Dr. Trish,

With a PHD in Nursing, this is your correct title too.

This award couldn’t have been given to a better person. I so very much agree with Christine Southard’s comment too. You have one of the best minds ever. Not sure how you manage all that you have going on in your life, with your horses and all. With some of our middle of the night FB chats on your end, I know you burn the candle at both ends.

You are one amazing gal Trish, with so much to offer.

Gary

Reposted to include the Article and Picture that I forgot yesterday. Gary

Vance Bailey,

Reply from Dick Johnson (’66): Dunseith, ND

Gary and Friends,

Vance Bailey’s memories are truly historical treasure for sure!
Many of the places and situations he described are right on the money.
He spoke of Jule Waldron, the City Deputy. When John Boguslawski and I
hauled a bunch of boxes to the dump ground from under the temporary
typing room over the bleachers in the old school, I found a box or old
papers and letters that were dated way back 30-40 years earlier. I kept
the boxes just to see what was in them and I found a letter from Jule
Waldron to the city of Dunseith applying for the job of deputy. I still
have the letter somewhere in another box. There were also a couple
notes from parents explaining why their kids had missed school. I have
those notes too as well as other interesting papers that were just going
to be burned. This was the same clean-out were I got the old leather
DHS football helmet and the band uniform which I also kept. I got all
this stuff about 47 years ago in 1966. Who is old now? Vance also made
mention of Spencer Teal (46) in one of his comments. I’ll attach a
picture of Spencer Teal and LaRose Ketterling and the newspaper article
about his death in ’66 on Mt. Fuji, Japan in a plane crash. Gary,
thanks for rerunning these early postings. It will definitely stir some
interest and some more memories.

Spencer Teal and LaRose Ketterling

Spencer Teal

Reply form Ivy Eller Robert (’74): Arizona desert

Hi Gary,

Reading Dick Johnson’s posting stirred up a memory about Spencer Teal, or rather his costumes. I think our class was putting on the play, Aaron Slick from Punkin Creek. An there was a ‘Lady in Red’ character in it and we needed a dress for her. Darla Robert Armstrong played the part. Someone said that Mrs. Teal still had some of Spencer’s things stored at her house. My mom had talked about Spencer a few times, that she had went to school with him and what he had went on to do in life. So a couple of us went over to Mrs. Teal’s house and told her what we wanted and she brought out a beautiful red sequined strapless floor length dress w/feather boa to go with it. If I remember correctly, she said Spencer used the dresses in show to dress up as a women. Anyway, we ended up not using the dress, it was not the right size and we were told not to alter it. So, I think Darla’s Mom, Dorothy made her a ‘red dress’ that she used for the play and Spencer’s dress was returned to Mrs. Teal.

I hope I got the facts right about the story. I swear I still have ‘chemo brain’, at times. It’s just when seeing the name Spencer Teal, that story popped into my head.

I hope everyone back home in North Dakota is staying warm. I’m trying to, I’m in Arizona for the winter. My sister Julie & I drove down here in October to get away from the good old North Dakota winter. And boy now for sure, I don’t regret my discussion. It’s a little below average here, but still in the 50’s, 60’s & 70’s, at times. We are in the middle of a desert area, north and west of Phoenix about 30 miles, so at night, it does get down to 32 sometimes. But over all it’s pretty nice around here.

Ivy (Eller) Robert (’74)

Letter Writing

Reply from Lynn Halvorson Otto (’75): Boonton, NJ

Hi Gary, thanks for reposting these memories. I especially enjoyed the letter that Mrs. G Watkins wrote to her husband. I could almost picture in my mind all that she was sharing. Letter writing has gone by the way side which is a shame. Our children are missing out on a relaxing way to share thoughts and ones life with others.
Snow has finally come to New Jersey! The first snow is always the prettiest.
Lynn Halvorson Otto

Blog posted on January 5, 2008

01/05/2008

Posted on January 5, 2008

A few days ago someone was asking about some of the Cuban folks. They were asking about someone in the class of 70 or 72 if I remember correctly. I forgot to reply to that message at the time and now I cannot quickly find it. Anyway, we have found some the former Dunseith Students that were from Cuba. They are on our list and are include with all these messages. I’ve listed their names below.

Manuel (Manny) Cuadrado (63): Manny lives in Omaha, NE.

Santiago (Sandy) Lopez (64): Sandy lives in Rockford, IL.

Maria Parlade (62): Maria lives in Coral Gables, FL.

Carlos Lopez (62):

I also had a requests from Gary Metcalfe (56) and Murl Watkins Hill (50) requesting to be added to these distributions. I have added their names to our master distribution list so they are now receiving these messages. I am working with the classes of 70 & 71, putting their class list together, so those folks are being added as I’m contacting them too. I’m pretty much finished with the class of 70. I’ll be sending their class list out shortly. I periodically send out updates to the master alumni email list as time goes on.

Gary

Message from Susan Fassett (65):

I am sitting in a motel in Mesa, AZ as my daughter, Johnida, is getting married at 4:30 tomorrow afternoon in the Botanical Gardens in Phoenix. I have been reading all the memories and enjoying so many of them. I remember most all of the people that have sent memories. Carol and Emery Carbonneau are part of my extended family, Carol being a cousin to my mother. Sharon Monson Carbonneau’s husband Charles or Charlie as we always called him, and I spent much time together as kids. Charles Watkins that Bill Hosmer mentioned was always known to me as Uncle Chick. He and his wife lived just south of the Methodist Church in Dunseith and I used to love to go there to visit on my way home from school, because they had so many neat knick-knacks. My mother’s step father was Glen Watkins, brother to Chick .Carol Carbonneau, Murl Hill , Jeannine Robert, and Elaine Watkins dad was Roy Watkins, also a brother. When I get home, I will find some info on Deer Heart Lodge that someone was asking about. I have much info on Dunseith and the people who lived there. It was an interesting place to be from, even though many of us didn’t realize it when we were growing up there. I also remember Lucy Hill that Tim Martinson talked about. We lived for a time in Helen Watkins home just north of the Martinson’s and we used to take meals over to Grandma Hill. She was at an advanced age and not very mobile at that time. She is remember by me as a sweet little lady. Who out there was related to her? I’m looking forward to more memories. Hugs and Prayers—-Susan

Clorice Hackman’s (67) reply via her brother Larry (66):

Hi Larry

I will try it this way.

By the way I was reading the last Gary Stokes email and Deb Morinville was talking about Iver Lo as being across the street from them. That house was the Spaeth house next to the Stone Church. Lo’s lived across the the street from us in the white house before the Grossman’s moved into it. They had 2 daughters at the time — Sonya and Lana who probably was about 2-3 when they moved. I remember Betty playing with Sonya. The next house to the north of Iver Lo’s was where Arnold Lilleby lived (owned the Althea Theatre for years before Leonard Cote). Iver Lo operated the Hardware in the building north across the street from Hosmer’s Store. I remember them selling soft serve ice cream out of a window of the hardware next to the Beauty Shop. Mrs, Rodney Lagerquest (Marlene Kraft) made and sold the ice cream. ohhhhhhhh-so-good.

Love Clarice

Rhonda Hiatt’s (75) reply:

Thanks to Deb Morinville for reminding me who it was that talked about the moth balls. There have been so many e-mails to read I didn’t want to go back and try to find it.

To Tim Martinson: Where is Tara at now? Tara, Brenda Birkland and I used to hang out together, and I remember going to the bakery all the time.

Rhonda Hiatt (75)

Bev morinville’s (72) reply to Rhonda Hiatt (75):

Rhonda(rose)

Well I remember calling u boney fingers HA wow those were the days . U were a party girl ever hear from your old side kick GI GI . Remember parting with the Dobby Brothers at the Hotel in Minot after there concert? Yeah we all know why they called themselves the Dobby Brothers lol . OH who could forget Father Wolf he scared us to death (why I am not sure) my mother thought the world of him. Maybe it was just respect. Ronnie Longie I remember u cause my sister Toni was sweet on u I think . I do remember Patty how is she doing? This is so much fun to remember all the old times. thanks for making my day once again. I look forward to reading all the e mails . And once again Gary thanks for all your work. love Bev (Morinville) Azure melvin clarence talks about u guys every once in awhile .

Dave Slyter’s (70) reply to Deb Morinville (70):

Hi Deb,
Sure am glad to hear from you again. I was wondering what happen to you. Yes I too, remember the good ole days of partying. Remember the graduation party up at the butte and the lightning hit? First I couldn’t see then I thought the a-bomb had landed. I wasn’t drunk but I don’t think a lot of people were after that experience. It sure was close. ha

Can you e-mail me. I have a few trivia questions for you

Thanks Deb

Dave Slyter

12/10/2013 (1910)

Posted on December 10, 2013 by Gary

Reply from Vance Bailey’s Wife Doreen and his daughter Dayna: Tempe, AZ

Thank you so much for reprinting Dad’s posting. As a child I listened to his stories, however we never took the time to collect them. To my regret… His last writings was on 12/21/07 within hours of his untimely death (at 1:00 AM. 12/22/007). On that day he said he had so much more to write about, he had planned to do several more entries.

I thoroughly enjoyed my vacations with my parents when we would travel to Dunseith in the summer for the class reunion and to catalog the cemeteries in the surrounding areas.

Dad had always wanted to move back to his home town, much to the displeasure of Doreen and I. We knew we would not be able to stand the winters!

He told me when I was young that he would be buried there and that he would design a cash machine (ATM) graveside so that I would come to North Dakota to visit his grave! His dry humor and wit is something that I inherited from him and needless to say it gets me in trouble to this day!

Doreen and I miss Dad every day. It is wonderful to know that others think of him. He was a Great Man, Teacher, Friend And Father.

Once again thanks for the repost. Doreen and I enjoy reading the posts we feel closer to him when someone re-posts…. If that makes any sense.

I can type no more due to the tears falling on my iPad… Thanks Again!

Vance’s daughter Dayna Lee Bailey (Rasor) and wife Doreen Bailey

Vance Bailey,

Reply from Dick Johnson (’66): Dunseith, ND

Gary and Friends,

Mr. Ben Grossman

Reply from Allen Richard (’65): Midland, MI.

To Dennis Dubois—– I too enjoyed Ben Grossman. Fact is I never would have gone into education if not for him — and the fact that I learned to stop in my tracks when he would boom one of his “Ben-isms” like: “Richard — you are cruisin’ for a bruisin!” or “you’re in for a long drop on a short rope!”

I was honored when he stopped to visit me when I was teaching in Dunseith — but equally un-nerved when he decide to sit through one of my classes!

Allen

Wood burning and cutting Memories

From Vickie Metcalfe (’70): Bottineau, ND

Gary and friends,

Wood and Tree……

I recall wood as a primary source of heat and energy in our Turtle Mountain home.

In early years, about February or March evenings Dad would sharpen the axe or a saw. The next few weeks, after the cows were fed and morning chores completed, he’d go into the woods, with his team of horses.

He would chop or saw trees and windfall. With the horses aid, hitch, snag the tree, load it into the sled and haul home to the yard before the frost left the ground in spring.

Dad estimated what was needed to heat the home and cook stove through the next year. He also planned for fence posts.

Through the spring and summer, breezes “cured” and dried the wood in the long pile. Now and again, one would see a wee mouse scampering into the wood or be startled by Mr. Snake’s slithering.

In later years, a “circular saw was placed on the front of the aged green John Deere tractor. A “crew” sawed the logs. The sturdy smaller diameter oak into fence posts and the others for heat.

In earlier years, before Mr. Jackson’s passing, Dad too, called upon “One Eyed Jackson,” a well known the sawyer from West Highway #43 . Dad would drive the winding dusty highway into Bottineau County to a house on the S. side of the highway.

Jackson’s big saw could saw hardwood tree logs from end to end into building lumber.

The sawyer needed alert, strong, and able-bodied men to assist pushing the logs through. This most dangerous job was not for someone not quite awake. The smaller pieces would be sawed into manageable pieces of wood to be split.

In those days, many neighbors would work together at one place then another. It was quite common for us on mom’s direction when setting the table to look out a window, see someone else joining in the work. “Count to see how many places to set.” And mom always prepared extra! No one was sent away hungry.

Maybe a neighbor had shown up to lend a hand. I could be one of the Petersons, Bill, Duane, or Jack. Or Art Seim, Carroll Carlson, Emil Morin, a Smith, or perhaps longtime hired men, Alcide Lajimodiere, Alvin Nelson or Robert Gunville.

When Jackson or the green John Deere tractor’s job was done and pulled away. There was a “HUGE” pile of wood.

Dad, then contacted the best wood splitters he knew. They were, two eldest sons of good neighbors and friends, John and Helen Gunville’s, Jerry and Bobby.

Jerry and Bobby Gunville would come early in the cool mornings and split wood all day long. It seemed they had boundless energy and rhythm as they worked.

Of course, for all those hard workers; choring, sawing or splitting wood each was well fed.

Our mother after the morning’s milking chores, breakfast, and washing cream separator began preparing food.

Mom, cooked on a combination wood electric stove. She’d peel a kettle of potatoes, clean vegetables, prepare meat balls and gravy or a pork or beef roast in the oven and serve with homemade bread. Then, She’d bring out cake or pie she’d baked the evening before.

The workers would have morning coffee, dinner, afternoon coffee, and supper. I know it was the same if one would go to any one of the neighbors homes.

And of course, we, the daughters of the family, were the resident dishwashers, water and wood carriers, come winter, arriving home from school would change into warm chore clothes, and go to the wood pile fetch wood to be placed in the wood box and carry water for the livestock.

It seemed that was the way of farm living in the Turtle Mountain Hills. Winter_. Spring__. Fall___. Winter__.

Wood and “Tree of Life” in the hills of home where I once grew.

Thanks for the memory,

Vickie

Chrismas Letter “The Magic of Christmas”

From Erling Landsverk (’44): King, WI.

Hi Gary and Everyone:

Igt is nearly Christmas and I have some thoughts I wish to share with you and all my friends on your blog. I have it attached (Pasted below) since I have placed it in our Veterans monthly Courier.

Erling

The magic of Christmas

Christmas is truly magic. It enables all of us to see, feel and comprehend how our creator wants us to live and act during the year, and throughout our entire lives. It is a simple and wondrous life style. Simple rules consisting of basic behavior that allows Christmas to work its magic year around if only we could bring ourselves to do so.

About this time of year, when the magic birthday (Christmas) is drawing near, folks seem to change into innocent and benevolent children. People smile at one another, are prone to help each other, are concerned for each others welfare, and happiness. The love for our neighbor is demonstrated with generosity and expressed with happy and sincere actions of good will. Of course, we all know or have known the Ebenezer scrooge type. Remember the Bah, Hum bug phrase? Generally speaking, those folks secretly look forward to Christmas, but maybe, just maybe they would rather receive than give. Then again, I hope I am wrong. I like to think they will become like the old, loveable and crochetey Ebenezer on Christmas morning. The remarkable change from a stingy and gruff merchant to a happy, loving and generous citizen over night. That is the magic, I believe, was the aim of the story that Charles dickens portrayed so very well in his delightful “A Christmas carol”.

Our friends here in Wisconsin along with all our Christian friends across this great land, celebrate the greatest event of all. The promise of eternal life in a place filled with happiness, brought about by the birth of Jesus, who was born in a humble stable signifying that all who believed and wish to, could inherit the kingdom of Heaven and eternal life. I called it magic. It isn’t magic, but it is God’s Way of showing us a better way of life. Welcoming everyone, even those who reject Him at times. It is a wonderful time in spiritual magic that we experience every year. Remember Christmas Eve in WW I, German and allied troops stopped fighting and joined each other singing traditional Christmas songs. That was the hand of God showing a better way to Peace.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE. MAY GOD BLESS US ALL!

Erling Landsverk

1933 Letter written by Susan Fassett’s Maternal Grandmother, Mrs. G. Watkins.

Posted by Susan Fassett (’65): s Spearfish, SD

DOE

S ANYONE WRITE LETTERS ANYMORE (letters from the past)

When I was a young girl in school they still taught “penmanship” and how to construct a proper letter. Now children hardly know what a letter is and phone calls are giving way to texting and social media. No one will know the sound of a loved ones voice who lives far away. No one will be able to write in “cursive”. The following are letters that my ancestors wrote back and forth to each other. My mother wrote her mother and others every week and let them know what was going on in the family. I miss that and I hope you all do too.

The following letter was written by my maternal grandmother to her husband. She was in the Turtle Mts north of Dunseith ND and he must have had to take a job to make ends meet. He was in Beach ND which isn’t far in these modern times , but in 1933 it must have seemed like a million miles away. Glen was her second husband and she had two little girls, my mom, Irene and my aunt Lenore. Here is the first letter:

Stamped with a three cent stamp and postmarked October 30, 1933. Adressed to Mr Glen Watkins , Beach ND, c/o F.O.Smith Co and return address is Mrs G Watkins, Dunseith ND.

Dunseith, N.D.

Sunday 9:30

October 29th, 1933

My Darling Glen,

Got the two cards that were mailed at Alexander yesterday. Have gotten all the cards and both letters. Thanks for writing so often. Sure glad to get them. Glad you are well. We are just fine. but lonesome for you.

Mailed a letter to you the 23rd addressed it to Trotters, N.D. Had written a little every once in a While since you left. So it was a fat letter. Suppose I’ll get it back if you do not stop there. put return on it. Ernest has been here all the time(her brother). The barn is all finished and in good shape.

Edgar(Gunderson), Elvin(Haagenson), Willard(Haagenson), Roy(Watkins) and Ernest(Amundson) were the ones at the Bee. Rather a temperance bunch. Roy and Ernest had beer for a week after. They done a lot of work tho.

Star is getting along all right. both spavins came out. Ernest used him a cuple days ago. he is a little stiff yet and his legs are swollen, but I think its not bad for the shape he was in. both horses have picked up a little.

The Girls were up to Roys today. Charles came up on Billie. He asked if he could come and work for his board and go to school when the weather gets bad. He had a chance to work at John Deese but they are going away now so thats that. I told Charles he was welcome to stay soon as we get a room more.

He took the cattle down. The Girls finally decided to trade Gogles for Tuesday. So will have Ernest & Roy get her soon. She will not be fresh yet for a mo.

Sue said just so we have something milking when these go dry. They are holding up good yet. Guess we will have to butcher patches, because Erma is getting quite a belly on her. Would not want to butcher her if she will be coming fresh.

We went to the school program friday evening With Roys’ folks’ . The program was very good, all the children sure enjoyed it. us allso. After the program we took all the children up home. I stayed with them while Helen & Roy went to the dance. The dance got good they said. Florence had quite a time keeping some of the boys from fighting . She even cried. We stayed at home all night. Then Helen & I came down and done the chores while Roy and Ernest helped Dad plaster his barn. They got it all done. Dad sure was glad.

Ben Christianson had a opperartion for appendicitus. he was awfully sick after, did not expect him to live but he is recovering now. Its over two weeks since he was opperated on

The new neighbors on Chick’s sure are some whirlwinds. They have built a chicken coop, a barn and a sheep shed. Tomorrow they are going to start on the house. they use the chicken house to live in. The old man and wife stay up here. the young man and wife live in town. The old folks are going back to the lake soon as they get the house so the young folks can move in.

Helen and I called on the old lady today for the first time. The young woman was there. They are very friendly and east to get aquainted with. But very plain spoken. They are from Mo. can tell by their talk. “over yonder'” fyar for fire, “going to get shet of the rooster” Helen and I allmost got the giggles. They have a boy and two girls.

When old man Graham put the run on Archie he made the old lady get out also. She has been staying at Bonnie’s ever since. Roy came home and rented the farm from the old man and started plowing. “but he has no contract” Roy thot his mother would come home. but she refused to go said enough was enough.

The old man said he gave her ten dollars. Just as if that was a fortune. Heard he is not so gay. He thot that she would come back and stay at home. He was mad because he went to , too many church doings. But he is bugs anyway. Never thot him quite so bad.

Sue said brother Sam has lost the place. but can stay on it for two years with out paying taxes or interest. Sure to bad for anyone to loose their home and especially when one gets up in years.

We are going down to the girls to huch and shell corn one day this week then they are going to take it to old man Myers and to get it ground so we will all have cornmeal.

Sue spoke to him for some whole wheat for breakfast food. He sells it at a dollar a hundred. We are to get 50 lbs so that will help on the flour. Its sure good Sue gave us some of what they had gotten.

The snyders are cutting the fence and leaving the gates open as usual. Roy caught Solomon and gave him a talking to, but he never uttered a word. Our cows do not wander far. And Phelps herd theirs.

Mr Phelps said he would educate them when he gets the woven wire fence up if they do any dirt.

We have had three more storms the first one was the 20th. But today it thawed a lot. its warm tonight, a nother day like this and it will all be gone here.

Do not worry about home sweetheart. You must not worry, your work is hard enough. We are fine and every thing is O.K. Do not hurt yourself. remember you have a home.

Am trying to get the sewing done, so I’ll have a lot of time with you, when you come home.

The children are getting along in school fine. They were going to write to you But they played so hard with Carol and Jeannine on the hill today. They made a snow man big as my self. They were all soaked. Murl is saying a lot of things now. She is fat as a pig.

The folks all said to greet you. Mother has washed your mittens and is going to line them.

Now take good care of yourself for me. I love you with all my heart. its bed time.

Have not overslept yet. Wake up every morning when you do. “Blessed be the tie that binds our hearts”

God bless you. I hope you get this letter or the other one. Will write soon again.

Your Loving Wife

Gudrun

Monday 8:15 A.M. Its a beautiful day never froze last night. so there will not be much snow to night.

Good luck, love from all

G.W.

Blog posted January 4, 2008

01/04/2008

Posted on January 4, 2008

Folks,

Thanks to my cousin Neola, Carol (Watkins) (46) & Emery Carbonneau’s Daughter-in-Law Sari is now receiving these messages and will pass this stuff on to Carol & Emery. Thank you Shari.

Shari Carbonneau’s reply to Neola Kofoid Garbe

Thanks for the messages about Dunseith. Charlie’s mom was telling us
about her visit with Vance and how the next day or so he passed away.
She really enjoys the news of Dunseith. I printed off your message and
will mail it to her. She doesn’t have or use the computer so if you
wouldn’t mind sending me new messages, I would print them and send them
to her. She said it is so interesting what each person remembers.
Thanks, Neola.

shari.carbonneau @k12.sd.us

Shari Carbonneau’s 2nd Reply to Neola:

Thanks for adding me to the “List.” I know Carol will enjoy many of the messages. She spoke to Vance Bailey on the telephone quite often. I know she was feeling the loss of a good friend. I don’t have an alias. I became Shari when my brother, Marvin, married a Sharon. He married before I did, so there were two Sharon Monsons. Enjoy the New Year.

Bob Hosmer’s (56) Reply:

Hi Gary and all,

Since seeing my brother Bill’s accounts, cousin Collette’s accounts and Bonnie Awalt Houle’s recollections, I guess I should share some things, too.

I remember the Conroy’s, I remember when they moved to town and Mr. Conroy became the superintendent at the school. I enjoyed visiting the Conroy home. It seemed like Don’s Mom, Florence was always baking bread or some delicious smelling bake goods on the old wood cooking stove on the north wall of their kitchen. She always had a smile for everyone and, for me, was one of the best teachers I ever had in my grade school years. She took her work as a serious calling.

Chuming around with Don was also a treat. Both of us had BB-guns. Mine was a lever-action Red Rider brand and Don’s was, to me at least, a very sleek pup-action model that shot more acurately than mine and wished deeply that I had one like his. Oh well, we had fun setting up cans and bottles and shooting them off a stand.

The Conroy’s had a large garden and I would see Don’s dad working in it in the evenings. I think a lot of the garden was dedicated to potatoes. I remember helping one late afternoon dabbing some sort of solution on the undersides of the leaves to kill aphids, I think.

There are a lot of other memories of my years in Dunseith, but I’ll have to leave that for another time. Really enjoy hearing the stories you all are submitting. Your memores toggle others in my mind, that’s for sure.

Bob Hosmer

Allen Richard’s (65) reply to Mel Kuhn (70):.

Marvin was Mel and Virgil’s dad. He, Cliff Nerpel, David Bergen, Jim Birkland, Mark Schimetz, Dad and I shingled our 40X80 Quonset in 1968—We did it from 5:00 am til 11:00. would have been done sooner, but it rained for an hour. That was back in the day when roofers used real hammers. I was back at the farm last summer-same shingles–no leaks!

Virgil worked for us one summer and had a close encounter of the enlightening kind—-big thunderstorm went through. Dad and Virgil were welding a cultivator hitch. Close lightning strike. Virgil had his foot on a large piece of metal when it hit.

Was the shock heard across the farm–to his credit, Virgil did not use any profanity! He had a sore leg for several weeks. Did quite a dance as I recall.

Allen

Message from Shirley LaRocque (59):

Hey Gary thanks for all the memories. I have enjoyed everyone of them. I read some of them to my brother Garry LaRocque. I remember working at the Crystal cafe.Yes when the Canadians came to Dunseith to go thru customs. I do remember the bakery and the red owl grocery store. Thanks again Shirley LaRocque Wendt Seattle .

Message from Ron Longie (65)

Gary, In reading the batch of Emails forwarded, when I read the one about sister Rose and the moth balls it was dejavu all over again. I was an alter boy when Father Wolff was the priest in Dunseith, on certain Sundays we would serve a mass at the sisters chapel, and sister Rose my O my how iremember her.

The Crystal cafe was another place as a kid, holds many memories for me we would go there after school and load the pop machine then sit down in the basement and we would indulge in a (Soda) or two I was, and still am a big fan of rootbeer.

I also remember going over to Mark Anderson’s house, and spend time at there store helping them dust and doing chores so I could get Mom a pair of salt/pepper shakers she liked. Life was so simple then, many times I wished I had never left to be able to stay in Dunseith and finish school but my folks wouldn’t let me stay with my uncle Verlin and aut Stella.

I often wonder what it would have been like to graduate with a small class that you started in the first grade with and went all the way through school together. I graduated with 884 in my class basically just a number not much one on one. I would have liked to finish with Pete, Clifford, Raphel, John A ,John B and Warren would have been fun.. I am thinking of going back to Dunseith this summer to stay in touch. I hope everyone has a great New Year, and until we talk again I remain as always———– Ronnie Longie

Bill Hosmer’s (48) Reply to kenny Nerpel (65):

Kenny. I certainly remember Alice Metcalf. She struck me as being a
beautiful woman by any measure. I was working (getting in the way) and
she paid attention to me during the course of the work day. I last saw
her at the Lodge Restaurant at Lake Metigoshe in the eightees. On
another matter, I flew F-105s and F-100s during the Vietnam mess. What
Corps Area were you operating in? The F-105s were used against targets
in North Vietnam, and the Huns were fragged against Laos targets and in
close air support of the guys really fighting the war in South Vietnam.
Never checked out in the F-4, I was a single seat, single engine purist
my whole 24 years in the AF. The picture made me remember that hotel as
far back as when Charlie Watkins managed it, before the Grassmans did.
Yes, time passes on fast. Good to read your input. Cheers, Bill
Hosmer

Deb Morniville’s reply:

Dear Gary,

Even more memories!! This is keeping my brain buzzing and at my age I think it’s a good thing.

First, Rhonda (Rose) I am the one who mentioned Sister Rose’s store and the mothballs. The memory of that smell is so strong! But what fun!

Dave Slyter and Mel Kuhn I sure remember partying with you two rascals! When we were seniors in HS we could always find a party couldn’t we? Those days have been long gone for me! I quit smoking and drinking and using drugs about 26 or 27 years ago. I found Jesus! Yep. I’m one of “those” BAC – born again Christians. It;s great! I have been married to the same man, Kenny, for 28 years and have 4 grown children and 3 soon to be 4 grandchildren! And BTW where were you two last July for the big reunion? It was a total blast. It would have been nice to see you guys.

Ken Nerpal Remember me? We partied too! And drank a LOT of beer. I remember Iver Lo too. They lived across the street from us and had a daughter named Sonya. We were friends but never stayed in touch. And you poor deprived “country boys” You may not have gotten to see much (Colette) but I went out with few of you boys and you had no trouble finding the “udders”!!!!

Does anyone remember the Cubans that came to Dunseith during the 60′s We had a girl in our class named Angelina Parlady. Her Dad was a doctor up and the San, I think. Would be nice to find them, too

Deb Morinville Marmon ’70

Message from Mel Kuhn (70):

Gary,

We have another Dunseith hillbilly living over here in St. John by the name of Johnny Hanson, if you remember him. He and a few other friends are helping keep the old days alive with their horse drawn wagons and sleighs. They go out and have many a wild time with trail rides through the hills and as far away as Rolette. In my spare time I still like to do some welding and building and have welded things back together for them after a maybe too wild of a time. I’ve also built them from scracth a wagon and forecart[spelling ?]. Yes Kenny, Marvin Kuhn was my dad. He passed away about 4 years ago now. Gordie Nerpel was in my graduating class. Dave, those Tickle Pink girls were great weren’t they. One of their members Shelly Fulsebakke, married to Mike Albertson lives over here. Their daughter Heather has just an amazing voice.

Mel Kuhn[70]

PS. We have onother old codger from the Dunseith area living here also, by the name of Ike Hiatt, if you remember him. (EVon Lagerquist, Ike would be your first degee uncle being a brother to your mother, Leola Hiatt Lagerquist) I saw Ike, in July 2004, at my mothers funeral.

Message from Dave Slyter (70)

Hi folks:

Rhonda didn’t mention all the other names we use to call her at home. lol ha ha Just kidding sis.

Love you:

Dave : )

12/9/2013 (1909)

Posted on December 9, 2013 by Gary

Folks,

Mel Kuhn found two of Vance Bailey’s (DHS ’46) postings dated 12/14/2007 and 12/21/2007. Today’s blog is devoted solely to Vance Bailey inclusive of the other postings that were posted with his at the same time.

Thank you so much Mel for saving and sharing these postings. Our very first blog that I have on file is dated 12/21/2007. Not sure why Vance’s posting was not included. I think it may have something today with the time differences between the Philippines and the states.

The last message we have from Vance dated 12/21/2007, pasted below, was written the night before his death. He died the following morning.

Vance and his wife Doreen were historians. They recorded a lot of the history of Rolette county being most famous for their hands on recording of all the Rolette County cemeteries.

I consider Vance the pioneer of this Blog. It was his postings that really got the ball rolling with our repore today. He had just gotten started too.

I was very fortunate to have been able to find his Obituary still on line too.

Gary

Vance Allen Bailey

2/8/28 – 12/22/2007

Born in Bottineau North Dakota on February 8, 1928 to Virgil and Marie Bailey. Vance passed away December 22, 2007 at his home in Tempe, AZ. His service record is long: He was in the Navy at the age of 16 and the last phases of WWII. Joined the Air Force after the war, attended college in Minot ND. then was on Military Sea Transport in the Merchant Marines for the Korean war. He sailed on many ships and visited many ‘far away places.’ Vance met his loving wife Doreen in Seattle. They married is 1952. After that he settled down, they did many different things before coming to Arizona in 1980. Vance was employed at Boeing Aircraft for 15 years. Then went into free enterprise: Real Estate, owned a Tavern and Bowling Ally in Ephrata, Washington. In Phoenix he worked for the Maricopa Highway Department doing appraisals for right of way. Later he went into Appraisal /Analyst of Real Estate contract and property values for the Bureau of Indian Affairs Real Estate Department and retired from that department in 1993. He loved his job. He read when he wasn’t listening to the news or on the computer, loved old LP records. Vance was a news/political and history junkie. During his retirement he ventured into Genealogy and now has over 9100 relatives in his records. Some going back to the 1500’s in England. Vance’s passions, other than his family, were old cars, motorcycles, reading, current events, politics, history and lively conversation. His parents Virgil and Marie Bailey and sister Ardis preceded him in death. Survived by his spouse Doreen Bailey, daughter Dayna Rasor, grandson Colin Rasor, daughter-in law Donna Rasor, sister Sharon Conn, brothers Wayne and Gary Bailey. Memorial Service Will be held December 29 11 AM Carr-Tenney Mortuary 2621 S. Rural Rd, Tempe. Donations in Vance’s name can be made to the American Heart Association. If you are unable to attend, a slide show will be available on www.Mem.com and you will be able to leave your condolences. Vance’s burial will be in Bottineau ND in the spring of 2008. Carr-Tenney Mortuary assisted with arrangements. – See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/azcentral/obituary.aspx?pid=100225983#sthash.Kw9lTkHV.dpuf

Published in The Arizona Republic on Dec. 27, 2007

From Mel Kuhn (’70): St. John, ND

Gary,

Here is one of Vance Bailey’s stories that I could find. I’ll keep digging I should have them all.

Mel

Posted on 12/14/2007

—– Original Message —–

From: larry hackman

Gary,
Larry Hackman’s remembrance has shamed me into writing some of my random thoughts about Dunseith in the 1934 to 1941 period. My parents, Virgil and Marie Hobbs Bailey moved to Dunseith from the Bailey farm located a mile or two north of the San Haven so that Wayne and I could go to school in town. We “camped’ with mother’s parents, John and Alice Hobbs, for the first year, and the second in a remodeled cook shack in the hay field just south of the Godbreht Dairy where my father was to guard the haystacks. What a thrill to climb to the top of the stack and then slide off into a pile of hay.

     The next year we moved to the Bailey “Mansion” in the posh Shanty Town area north of the Great Northern tracks and depot. The shack has
disappeared as has the Ice House my father and John Awalt used for the storage of Lake Schutti ice that they sold and delivered to the city people
in Dunseith.
John and my father operated a dray, hauled mail and supplies from the railroad to the San and Kelvin Store, and did concrete work for people. I saw them lath and plaster a house and dad told me that he and John poured the concrete floor in the stone garage using chicken wire instead of steel rods. The garage is still standing and apparently the floor held up.     John and Gertrude Awalt bought a piano and arranged for lessons for Lloyd.
After a month or so of lessons he brought all us younger kids in and he showed us where middle C was. That was the last time we heard Lloyd play the piano.

The summer of 1936+ or – was spectacular, it seemed that every evening we could sit out on the west side of the house (shack) and watch the lightning show. We would count off the seconds between the flash and the thunder and when you got the flash and the thunder at the same time, it was time to hide in the cellar that had been dug under the house. After one of those storms we went out and took a look at where Earl Fassetts barn had been. All that was left was the foundation and a bunch of broken boards out in the slough. There was a plethora of places to explore and enjoy: The stockyards; Rene Bedard had built a stockyard east of the elevators that was our playground. Six foot high fences with 2 inch wide boards, gates that you could swing around to different corrals, cattle, with Horns, that really did not like to be penned up, and ground cover that you did not want to fall into, all added to the fun of playing tag on the fences. Rene used to chase us out 2 or 3 times a week. Another source of amusement was the Railroad gravel pit. It had been a source of fill for the railroad for its road bed and they had cut back into the hill and it had sloughed off so the when you got up on top and looked over the edge it was about a twenty foot drop into sand that was on about a 45 degree slope for another 20 or 30 feet to the bottom. We would run to the edge and jump into the sand. When we tired of that, it was only a mile or so to Lake Schutte, and you could go skinny dipping at the east end of the lake. There was also a swimming hole just south of the bridge over Willow Creek on the road to Bottineau. There was also a Dam built farther north on the creek with a diving platform about 12 feet high. You had to dive carefully to miss the rocks on the side of the pond. The Indian girls used to come down and harass us.
Chuck and Roger Johnson and Van Counts all lived on the north side of the
tracks too. Gerald Maginal and Amie Fulton used to beat on me every chance they got, Other people I remember were Dee Nelson, Bruce and Keith Cornell, John and Leo Murray, my cousin, Harvey Hobbs who always had some kind of animal in a cage. Lee Sanders, Allen Campbell, Emerson Murrey, Neil Hassen, Gene Fassett, Hiel Phelps, John Atchison, the Baumgardners and most of all Eddie Lynch. Bobby Molgard set the standard for pompadours. I don’t think that any of us matched his.
Baseball games I vaguely remember between the All Black Dunseith team and a bunch of bearded guys called the House of David on a ball diamond just west of the Park.
My “most” favorite place to hang out was at the Blacksmith Shop. [It should have been made into a Museum] Billie Lawrence used to let me crank the blower while he heated up a piece of iron so that he could make it into something useful. He used grab the fly wheel to start the big one lunger that ran the belt on a power hammer to shape a round circle that he would shrink onto the wooden spoke wagon wheel. By the time I was ten I knew what I wanted to be.

The Great Northern RR secured a deferment for my father and we moved to Devils Lake right after Pearl Harbor. Our first house with running water, electricity, and an indoor toilet.

We spent a lot of time at the Depot, Roller skating on the board walk around the Depot. Wayne and I used to walk to and from school with Spencer Teal. When we played Cowboys and Indians, Spencer always wanted to play the dance hall Girl. He had the largest collection of Big-Little books I had ever seen. We corresponded during the war. And the next and last time I saw him was in New York City. I was in the Military Sea Transport Service and spent a couple of weeks taking on supplies and personnel to take up to Thule, Greenland to build an airfield.. Years later I found that he died in a airplane crash on Mount Fuji.

As a little kid I remember watching Laddie Stransky paint a sign that stood on the northeast corner of the intersection where the road turns west to Bottineau or goes north to the San. The next time I remember seeing him was in a meeting at Boeing Seattle. He was an Engineering Dept Supervisor and I was just a line supervisor in Quality Control, and he did not remember me at all.

The year the Korean War started I had decided to take the summer session at Minot State Teachers College. That summer Art Rude, Bernice Olson, and a girl named Habberstad were there for the summer session. The Korean war started before the summer session was over and I left as soon as it was over. I don’t think I even went back to get my grades.

Vance A. Bailey

Gary,

Here’s one more from Vance.

Mel

Posted on 12/21/2007

Vance Bailey’s memories:

Gary,

I spent an hour or two last night talking to Carol Watkins and Emory Carbonneau in Bottineau. I read all the correspondence that you have been posting.

Some things that have come to mind that we discussed. Mac McHugh. He and his wife owned the Dakota Hotel that was directly north of the Drug store where Glen Shelver was the druggist and I am sure later owned.In the mid forties Shirley Sunderland worked there as a “sodajerk”.

There was an old Socony Vacuum (later Standard Oil) filing station in front of the hotel that had gas pumps that had a glass tank that held 10 gallons of gas at about 18 cents a gallon. The guy that operated the station would let us kids pump the gas up into the tank once in a while.

There was a row of rooms along the north lot line of the Hotel and the one facing main street was the U.S. customs office manned by Henry Sunderland. When you crossed the border in those days you stopped in Dunseith to declare anything you brought across the border. I’m not aware of anyone ever stopping to declare anything.

We did have some excitement in those days, a nurse up at the San was murdered by Fred Chase and the trial was held in Dunseith. Carol tells me that our teacher got permission to take our school class to watch the trial. My most outstanding memory of the murder was the first night they had him locked in the Jail located in a long low building just north of the skating rink. Several of us kids were there until the crowd broke out a rope and threw it over the crossbar on the streetlight, then they made us all go home. We were all sorry to miss the hanging, but the adults chickened out so we did not miss anything.

How many of you remember the Waldron that was the Dunseith policeman that caught a thief coming out of one of the buildings north of the bank one night. Carol reminds me that he was chasseing him down the alley and as he came to the fence back of the bank Jules Waldron fired over his head to stop him. The trouble was that the robber jumped up to go over the fence and stopped the bullet with his head. Jules had two boys in school and they left town. No good deed goes unpunished!!

For Collette,

The Baileys and the Hosmers intermarried a couple of times (that’s cousins) in the late 1600s and early 1700s in the New England Colonies.

Vance Bailey (46)

Bailey Family Research
1418 E Gemini Drive
Tempe, AZ 85283

.
.

Larry Hackman’s reply to Vance Bailey:

Vance

Wasn’t it Harvey Hobbs who bought fur bearing animals and pelts from a house located about a block straight east of the Lamoureux Brother’s Ford Garage. Was he a relative of yours? I remember we use to trap muskrats and sell them there. I remember going in and him asking how many you got when you entered the front door and then tell you to go into the next room and throw them into the pile. I remember being amazed at the huge pile of frozen rats. I think the unskinned rats were worth about a dollar each. Big money for a kid in them days. I remember dad taking us to a slough about a 1/4 mile west of our farm and showing my two brothers and I how to chop a hole into the side of the muskrats mud hut and how to set the traps inside and then close the hut up again. Then my brothers and I would go out and check the traps every day after that. We would open the mud huts and if their was a muskrat in the trap he would usually pull himself and the trap into the water. You were suppose to reach down into the water with your hand and grab the muskrat and pull him and the trap out together, because if you would just pull on the trap chain, more then likely all you would catch is a leg. If you got out the whole rat and he was still alive you were suppose to smack him with the hammer to calm him down permanently.

At that time in my young life I was not to anxious to put my hand down in the water to latch onto something you could not see. So, we never caught to many rats, but, I know there remained in the slough quite a few three legged rats.

But just think, with less legs, they would be less likely to get caught. Right.

Larry Hackman (66)

Paulette La Croix’s reply to Deb Morinville:

Deb,

Yes, I remember the Snakepit and how dangerous it sounded at night..it didn’t smell so good either. We used to try and get to the bars early summer mornings to load up on as many boxes as we carry, sell them to the grocers and then buy candy at Casey’s store. The banana pop sickles were my favorite. He literally had everything from soup to nuts in there. I think it was those darn Fassett girls that would sometimes get the boxes first. Ha! The Blacksmith shop is something I remember too. Where was the old bowling alley? Do you remember Roy Anderson? How about the guy who spoke with a pipe out of his throat? When he died my mother said that we forget the dead too soon and I vowed to always remember him. Albert La Dew?? Only recently have I forgotten his name!

Oh, I think I just remembered who Charlie Anderson was! Wasn’t he the little fun spunky guy with a speech impediment who was always dressed nicely and talked fast?

“Yes, the mothballs!” When one of us La Croix’s arrived late to mass, sister Rose would get a good pinch of the back of our arms and make us sit in the front pew. The nuns gave us piano lessons in their house and I remember a picture of saint there with a sword cut on her throat. I prayed I would not be “tested” this way. My favorite was sister Gabriel. She would play that circle tag game with us during summer catechism and her habit would be flying up in the air. They used to make house visits too to see if there were any “dirty magazines”or some contraban lying around. At least that’s what mom would say when she saw them approaching the house. We didn’t stop “Skippy” from barking at them as I remember. Ha!

You, Bev and Duane used to do plays in your homemade costumes for Toni and me for hours on end and we’d cry with laughter. The Morinville’s and Hosmers had “the corner” on creativity as I remember. Now it seems those Hosmer girls had the corner on “sexy” too. Ha! We always hoped your mother would attend our school plays since we knew her genuine laughter meant we were doing “alright.”

I am flooded with tons of memories, but must get ready for work! Thanks all of you for sharing. Keep them coming. This is so fun. Thanks again Gary.

Paulette La Croix (68)

Gary’s Reply to Paulette La Croix (Sister Rose)

The Sister’s and Sister Rose’s names came up several times with our class of 65 email exchanges last winter. Our family robe robes literally came from Sister Rose. We were not Catholic, but sister Rose treated us like family and would save stuff for us, knowing our needs. We did not have the money to purchase new clothes so most of our clothes came from the sisters. I do remember the smell of the Moth Balls too. She had a lot of clothes in that tiny store.

Gary Stokes (65)

Larry Hackman’s comments to Gary Stokes & Kenny Nerpel (Milking cows)

Gary and Kenny

Dem udder folks seem to have had a lot to do with you boys from the woods grown up right. What udder answer could it be. Did this just happen da udder day or did you know this was going happen?

ole and sven ( the udder class)

12/8/2013 (1908)

Posted on December 8, 2013 by Gary

Happy Birthday Leona (Lee) Hosmer: Wilsonville, OR

Happy Birthday Joan Tremblay Johnson (DHS ’79): Dunseith, ND

Happy Birthday Mildren Nelson Parrill (DHS ’43): Bottineau, ND

Posted by LeaRae Parrill (’67): espe@utma.com Bottineau, ND

Happy Birthday Mom

My mother, Mildred Nelson Parrill, class of 43 celebrated her 88th birthday today (12/6). We will celebrate a little more next weekend when her sister Marie Nelson Parrill, class of 43 returns from her bus trip to Branson. Mom turned 16 the day before Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese.Dec.7,1941.

Mom taught school for 36 years, the last 26 in Dunseith. 2013 has been much better for her than 2012. In 2012 she was in Minot’s Trinity hospital three times and ended the year at Good Samaritan in Bottineau. She was dismissed from the home in January 2013. She uses a walker most of the time, but her memory is so good, it is amazing. One can always get her going on telling stories about all her “great students” she had in first and second grade. Terry and I ventured out tonight (about -40 with the wind chill) to bring her an angel food cake and some caramels I made. She was on a roll with stories about DHS students from her high school days.

One of the students she mentioned was Bill Sanders who was the editor of the school paper. He was at the 1982 reunion and they looked at some of the old issues, noting that the boys basketball scores were low, like 18 to 22.(” Why Danny Peltier has been known to make more points in one game than those two scores combined! “she remarked. ) There was no father in the Sanders home and Mrs. Sanders got a job working for WPA. She walked through the hills interviewing some of the Native American elders at the time to get their family histories. This information was stored in Bismarck with the historical society and mom said that Alice McKay retrieved some of those interviews and put the information in the Dunseith Centennial Book.

She reads a lot and is currently finishing an older book Poland by James Michener and is waiting for an interlibrary loan of the book Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. She wants to read Blink first before she gets my copy of David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell which is currently on the best seller list. Tipping Point and Outliers are two other books we’ve read by this author. His books are very interesting and quick reads.

Mr. Ben Grossman (DHS Teacher)

Reply from Dennis Dubois (’63): Minneapolis, MN

Ok, Ben Grossman is dead so the truth can come out. That was me that shot Grossman, I was never a very good spit wad shooter, not like Bill Henry or Dan Machipiness. I must say that Sharon Peterson and I were Grossman’s pets, so all he told me was he was disappointed in me. I did see him throw a Counts kid across the room, over desks and chairs, one time. He really had a temper. The class of 1963 was a class of miscreants, but we’ve all slowed down, as evidenced by our gaits at our 50th class reunion last summer.

Follow up reply from Dennis

Upon further reflection, I’m not so sure that the incident that I commented on earlier, may not be in error. It may have been an eraser that I threw, that hit Ben Grossman. The other details are correct.

Wood burning

Reply from Lola Metcalfe Vanorny (’68): Dunseith, ND

In response to Dick’s story — I just love it cause it brings back the old senses of smelling that wood cutting- the sounds- on a very cool fall day – !!- Beautiful colors and ultra fresh air !!!! I remember Dad (Jim Metcalfe) taking us in his old ’50 pickup to talk to “one eye Jackson” a guy with a sawmill– they would cut up the winter wood and also lumber– and the high pitched sounds and smells of the wood cutting and the fresh cut wood is something if you never smelled it — you missed out on a lot!!_and then the wood burning stoves– I still miss that smell– and heat– so much warmer and thorough than our current heat pumps and thermostat– awesome- !!

Jay and I burned wood up until 2 years ago – he enjoyed the cutting with the chain saw– and burning- but very messy — and I still miss the feel of the real wood heat- !!!

Wood burning

Reply from Keith Pladson (’66): Roanoke Rapids, NC

Reading Dick Johnson’s and your input (in issue 1906) on sawing wood brought back a lot of memories for me. We had a stationary saw rig with a twelve horse power engine on it that ran the saw blade. The way it was built you laid the log up on this wood beam and then pushed the log through the blade. This required no less than three people – one to remove the sawed off block and at least one person on each end of the log being pushed through the blade. One of the thing I remember was that the person or persons at the far end of the log had to make sure he or they kept up with the movement of the log through the blade so that the blade wouldn’t bind up in the log. The person on the other side of the blade would grab the block being sawed off and then once it was sawed all the way through would toss it up in the wood pile behind him. This wasn’t so bad when it was smaller logs, but could be quite a chore when it was bigger ones. For the most part, it worked very well and we could cut up a lot of wood in what seemed like a relatively short amount of time. For many years I was too little to clear the sawed wood, but as I grew older it became my job. That old 12 hp engine had no problem cutting through even the biggest logs as long as Dad kept the blade sharp (he was really good at sharpening saw blades of any kind). Thinking back, that was a rather dangerous machine and I am glad no one ever got seriously injured when we used it.

It’s funny, maybe because we used only wood for both heating and cooking when my siblings and I were growing up, I have always burned wood as an adult (as a backup source of heating). My wife and I have owned four different houses since we got married and the one we live in now is the only one that doesn’t have either a wood burning stove or a wood fireplace (we do have a fireplace, but it burns propane gas). Perhaps the most ironic thing about this is that two years ago when hurricane Irene hit this area so hard, we had thirteen huge oak trees go down. Since I couldn’t stand the thought of all that wood going to waste, I sawed up (with my chain saw) and split (with my wood mauls) all the wood. I place an ad in the local paper last month and within a week I had sold it all. I’m glad I did it (it was good exercise and provided a little extra cash for Christmas this year), but I’m also glad that it is now all gone. What I learned from that endeavor was that anyone who cuts and splits wood for a living works very, very hard for their money.
Keith Pladson (66)
.

Joke of the day

Posted by Dick Johnson (’68): Dunseith, ND.

An old cowpoke wrote to Sears and Roebuck and asked if he could buy 10
rolls of toilet paper. Sears wrote back and said they couldn’t take
handwritten orders anymore and that he would have to order it from their
new fall catalog. He wrote back and said that if he had their new fall
catalog, he wouldn’t need their toilet paper.

Dick

Posted by Neola Kofoid Garbe: Bottineau & Minot, ND

Posted by Neola Kofoid Garbe: Bottineau & Minot, ND

Eugene ‘Gene’ DeLorme

Aug. 10, 1928-Dec. 2, 2013

December 7, 2013

Minot Daily News

Save | Post a comment |

Eugene DeLorme, 85, Minot, died peacefully with family present on Monday, Dec. 2, 2013.

Eugene Edward DeLorme was born Aug. 10, 1928, the son of Peter B. and Ida (DeCoteau) DeLorme, in Belcourt. He was raised and educated in Belcourt.

Eugene married Alma Marie Dionne on Aug. 31, 1949, in Belcourt. Their union was blessed with four sons: Eugene Lynus, Duane Allen, Gary Joseph and Steven Blaine. Gene and Alma made their home in Belcourt, Rockford, Ill., and Portland, Ore., before returning to Belcourt. The family moved to Riverdale when Gene and his father joined a construction crew to build the Garrison Dam. The two men then moved to Minot and helped build the Minot Water Treatment Plant where Gene was offered a permanent position after its completion in 1953. He was eventually promoted to water department foreman and remained with the City of Minot Water Department for 39 years until his retirement in 1992. Alma passed away April 16, 2010.

Gene was a member of Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church and the Knights of Columbus, both of Minot. He most loved fishing and spending time with his family.

The family would like to offer a special “thank you” to the staff of Trinity Home Health and Hospice for your support and committed care for our father.

Those who shared in his life include: his sons, Eugene Lynus (Carolyn) DeLorme, Manvel, Gary Joseph (Kathryn) DeLorme, Minot, and Steven Blaine DeLorme, Rockford, Ill.; nine grandchildren, Carolyn M. (Jared Verke), Christine (Steven Shockey), Jamie (LaDonna), Jordan, Andrea, Marriah, Mikayla, Joshua and Devan; four great-grandchildren, Jeremy, Owen, Carter and Eli; siblings, Genevieve (Frank Brant), Grand Forks, Marion (Earl Houle), Belcourt, Evangeline Braun, Minot, Theresa (Mike Mabin), Bismarck, and, Cyprian (Barbara), Stillwater, Minn.; and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.

Eugene was preceded in death by: his wife, Alma; son, Duane; his parents; brother, Clifford; and an infant sister, Doris May.

Mass of Christian Burial: Monday, Dec. 9, at 10 a.m., at Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church, Minot.

Interment: Rosehill Memorial Park, Minot.

Visitation: Sunday, from 2 to 5 p.m., at Thompson-Larson Funeral Home, Minot.

Vigil Prayer Service: Sunday, 5 p.m., at Thompson-Larson Funeral Home, Minot.

Those wishing to sign the online register and share memories may access the online obituaries section at (www.thompsonlarson.com).

Blog posted on January 3, 2008

01/03/2008

Posted on January 3, 2008

Rhonda Hiatt’s (75) Reply

Hi Gary,

It has been great reading everyone’s different memories. I remember Mom would take us kids into Sister Rose’s store also. I can’t remember who said it about the moth balls but they were right.

For whatever reason my sister Brenda (73) would tease me and call me Sister Rose. She finally dropped the sister part and has called me Rose ever since. I honestly can’t remember the last time she has called me Rhonda, it has been years. Now one of my granddaughter’s middle name is Rose (named after my nickname from Brenda).

Happy New Year To All!!

Rhonda Hiatt

AmWest Entertainment

301 S Garfield Ave Suite #7

Sioux Falls, SD 57104

rhonda_hiatt@yahoo.com

605-331-0880 work

605-331-3080 fax

502-664-9168 cell

Shirley LaRocque’s (59) Memories:

Dave Slyter’s (70) Memories:

Bev: So sorry to hear about your illness. My thoughts and prayers are with you. Hope you have a full recovery. Keep a positive attitude and keep praying to our God almighty and things will be back to normal, sooner than you think.Mel: Ha Ha Who could forget Mel Kuhn. ha Thanks for all the memories of the good ole dances. When I lived up there in the hills we use to go to so many dances around the area. I too, love to dance to that ole time fiddle music. I know of Jim and Ruby quite well as Jim’s brother LeRoy was married to my dad’s sister Delores and lived mostly out in the state of Washington. But I too, remember Jim and Ruby cutting a rug. There were so many good bands up in the hills back in the 70′s and 80′s The Poitra brothers and there dad were really good. Then of course there was the Tickle Pink, the Metcalfe sisters. They were really good also. Had the pleasure of playing with them one night up at Kelvin Klinic. I wasn’t really to good on the drums, but the girls didn’t mind. I tried to keep up to them. ha Then Dennis Decoteau played in a band but can’t remember what the name of the band was. But he could really sing a song well. I am glad to hear Dick Johnson is in a band. He would be really good with the back ground of music he had. Who else plays in the band?Nice to hear from a class mate Mel. Stay well.

Dave

Kenny Nerpel’s (65) Memories with a picture:

Gary,

So sorry to hear of the passing of Vance Bailey. I think he had only just begun to share his memories. It would be great if others of that era could share even more. I spoke to my mother of this and she was familiar with many of the characters that he mentioned in his writings. When she was a teen she worked at a hardware store on Dunseith’s main street that was owned by a man by the name of Iver Lo (sp?). She rented an apartment from a Bailey family, probably Vance’s grandparents. She is now 83 years old, doing well and living in Dunseith. Her sister Alice worked at Hosmer’s store. I’m wondering if Colette’s mom remembers Alice Metcalfe. By the way, Colette, you were probably unaware of the drooling because as shy as most of the guys were back in those days most of the “drooling over the ladies” was done covertly. Ha!

This winter Sherry and I continue to go through the many years worth of belongings that we have accumulated in our basement. The idea being that we would like to have everything in some type of order so that our children will not have such a mess to go through in the event of our demise. I believe that I have stumbled upon a picture of the Commercial Hotel taken in 1957. Our primary residence at that time was the lake home near Kelvin Store, but my father worked in building construction for many years and when that employment stretched into the winter months we were forced to move into the city because the snow made the trail to our home impassable. I believe we spent the winter of 1957 at the Commercial Hotel with the Grimmes and their boarders. I remember Sarge and Charlie fairly well. I remember that Charlie loved bowling. He delivered the ball as slowly as it could possibly be thrown and still make it to the end of the alley. He still got good results. Billy’s mom was an accomplished pianist and singer and I believe Carl played the guitar.

In later years we rented a house owned by K. C. Sine, who has been mentioned in previous E-mails, that was adjacent to the property where Mr. Ben Grossman and his family lived. One night after much carousing, probably with Billy Grimme, I arrived home and attempted to enter the house. It had a porch with three steps but I could only negotiate two of them before falling over backwards onto the ground. As a wise man once said, “damned alcohol”. After many attempts I decided I would just get as comfortable as possible under the clothesline (remember when everyone had those) and spend the remainder of the evening there. Early the next morning I was awakened by one of the loudest voices I have ever heard singing “How Great Thou Art”. It was Mr. Grossman out doing some early morning yard work.

There really wasn’t much to do in Dunseith in those years. You had to improvise. Applying tape to gym door latches during school and returning later with a basketball was one of the things I remember doing to help pass the time. I don’t think I ever got to see the Thunderbirds. I remember that it was a really big deal for the town and I think that sometimes false rumors would get started that they would be buzzing the town and I would be disappointed when they didn’t show up. When they actually did make an appearance I was out of town. Like Warren I had many close encounters with the F-4 when in Vietnam. Since then I have always admired the skills of pilots. They saved many American lives. We had one of the “greatest of all times” that grew up on the streets of Dunseith.

The Jack and Lorraine Metcalfe that are mentioned by Mel Kuhn are brother and sister to my mother Eleanor. I remember many family gatherings when they would bring their instruments and sit around and play and sing for hours. They also were members, along with Ole Bursinger, of a group called the “Stump Jumpers”. Mel, are you related to Marvin Kuhn? I remember working with a fellow by that name in the early 70’s.

Kenny

Picture: Kenny Nerpel in front of the Commercial Hotel – Jan 1957

12/7/2013 (1907)

Posted on December 7, 2013 by Gary

No Blog yesterday

For the record I did not get a blog posted yesterday.

Gary

Vance Bailey Postings

The question was asked if we have copies of Vance Bailey’s postings that he posted in November/December 2007, prior to the official start of the blog. I check all my files and I no longer have those postings. If any of you saved them, please share.

Thanks,

Gary

Reply from Esther Murray Fleming (’65): Flint, MI

Hi Gary My prayers are with Bernadette. She will be healthy, God willing. Oh by the way. My husband and I have you beat in Marriage years/ In June 2014 we will have been marriage for 46 years. LOL Love ya Esther

Congratulations Esther with 46 years of marriage. Gary

Dancers – Ray and Mary Christenson

Reply from Ron Peltier (’70): Dunseith, ND

I just read Paula’s response to Trish’s memory of the dancing couple. I too remember Duane and Lorraine dancing and they were great dancers, but I was thinking of Ray and Mary Christenson, I think that’s the last name, who were always showing up at every party I ever went to and they too were excellent dancers, I don’t think they missed dancing to one song. I know they were at my parent’s 45th anniversary back in 1995 in Belcourt and they had a great time dancing to every song. Ray passed a few years ago and I do believe Mary is living in Rolla at the Assisted Living facility they have there.

Ron Peltier

Another Wood cutting story

From Dick Johnson (’68): Dunseith, ND

Gary and Friends,

Another wood cutting story—Once a few years ago I asked my late
good friend Bill Peterson if he knew what he was doing on like February
12 or 14, 1944? He looked at me with a puzzled look and asked, “How the
hell would I know that?” I said, “You were helping Steve Cook saw wood
at Kelvin that day.” He thought for a while and then said, “You’re
right, but how did you know that?” I told him I read it in an old
Kelvin News article from a 1944 paper I have. He looked at me for a few
seconds and just shook his head. The actual article said ‘Billy
Peterson helped S.R. Cook saw wood at Kelvin on Thursday’ or whatever
day it was. I love reading those old ‘Local News’ stories. Thanks Gary!

Dick

Towel story and Spit wad story

From Larry Hackman (’66): Bismarck, ND

Hello Gary;

Happy Anniversary.

Sent a little story, that brother Henry (class of 65) told me about after

reading the recent, spit wad stories and replies.

By the way Gary, several of the early stories that you recently posted, reference previous stories,

especially them written by Vance Bailey. Were any of them stories saved?

Vance had submitted some great stories about his growing up days in Dunseith.

Gary, It’s looking a lot like Christmas around here. Real pretty! Which is the good news. But, before you get too homesick and buy your ticket back to God’s country, I better tell you about the the bad and the ugly news. We first had some rain that turned to ice when hit the ground, then we had about six inches of snow on top of the ice. Now someone went broke off the bottom of the thermometer, and all the mercury is draining out of it.

Then, if that hasn’t been bad enough, the wind has decided to kick up and blow the snow around and drop the wind chill down to a minus 30 to 40 degrees below zero . Now that’s when it gets ugly! So, if you have decided to still fly home and get a taste of a good old North Dakota winter like it was in your growing up days, bring your coveralls, your wool cap with the earlaps, and your long johns (flap in the back with the button optional). Now, doesn’t that make you homesick? It could be worse, back in the day, you had to make your early morning run to the outhouse. Remember, The Ode to the Little Brown Shack Out Back?

The weatherman from here in Bismarck last night, said he gets more calls with people complaining about the weather, when the temperature and humidity starts getting over 80 then when the weather is like this. He said he hasn’t received one complaint about this weather system. Go figure!

There you have it Gary.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

Hope you enjoy the story.

Keep on laughing;

Larry

Towel Snaps & Spit Wad Story

TOWEL SNAPS

After the recent spit wad story, Dick related the story of suffering the snap of the towel snapper. Upon reading Dick’s account of the incident and then adding three to his class year, and then subtracting five, I purity much figured out who had marked him.

I then inquired of Dick as to who it was, that would subject an underclassman to such abuse? I found out that I was right on the money. I too remember going several rounds with that towel snapper. I also remember it being more fun to be on his side then to be against him. There was some real towel snapping competitions that took place back in them days. A person could have lost an eye? You were lucky Dick!

SPIT WAD

Another spit wad story was remembered by my brother Henry (class of 65) that took place in the assembly room in the old school, when he was a freshman. He said Mr. Grossman was the instructor in charge of the room and was sitting at his desk, when he was hit by a spit wad. Now, as a student and getting hit by a spit wad , you had to kind of grin and bear the pain, while saying a few cuss words to yourselves under your breath, and all the time trying to figure who the hell did this to me, and how was I going to get revenge.

But shooting an instructor with a spit wad was looking for trouble, so I’m thinking this fellow wasn’t up on adjusting for windage and elevation, and this was just an errant round. After all none of us had been drafted yet, and I don’t think any of us knew what a rifle range was yet, and never had to adjust or sight in a weapon.

Mr. Grossman upon being hit, stood up and said no one was leaving that room, until the culprit comes forward and takes responsibility for this cruel deed. Not a person moved, or glanced around, everyone looked straight ahead. They did not want to give any indication that they could be held responsible for what had just happened, or any indication that they knew who had performed this action, that had resulted in them all being held in detention. Most students in that room did not have a clue as to what had taken place. They just knew that they were all in trouble.

Mr. Grossman after five minutes and doing some trigonometry, calculus, and three pushups, decided where that spit wad, had originated. He released the rest of the students, except a small group of which he had calculated, performed the dastardly deed and said that they would all have to stay until the offender stood and took responsibility for his actions.

It was amazing; Henry said it was so quiet that you could have heard a pin drop. After a short period of absolute quiet, one student, the biggest student of them all, he thinks, of the junior class (1963) stood alongside of his desk and took responsibility for the deed.

Mr. Grossman dismissed the remaining students from the assembly room. Was this fellow responsible or did he just decide to take the rap? Henry didn’t know! It’s a mystery?

Larry

Posting of the day

From Vickie Metcalfe (’70): Bottineau, ND

Gary and friends,

I do believe many of our parents and grandparents lived the

Cowboy Code. It’s one which was modeled to me by my dad, uncles and

their friends of that ilk. Now I see it penned,share it with you.

Thank You.

as ever, Vickie

Cowboy Code promoted by the late Gene Autry:

1. Don’t shoot first, hit a smaller man, or take unfair advantage.

2. Don’t go back on your word or a trust confided in you.

3. Tell the truth.

4. Be gentle with children, the elderly, and animals.
5. Don’t advocate or possess racially or religiously intolerant ideas.
6. Help people in distress.
7. Be a good worker.
8. Keep yourself clean in thought, speech, action, and personal habits.
9. Respect women, parents, and the law.10. Be patriotic.

Blog posted on January 2, 2008

01/02/2008

Posted on January 2, 2008

Bev Morinville’s (72) reply to Tim Martinson (69) & Bonnie Awalt (56)

Tim and Bonnie, after reading your memories of growing up in Dunseith I really feel you two could write a book. You had me glued from the first sentence. Bev Azure (Morinville)

Mel Kuhn’s (70) reply to Dave Slyter (70), Tim Martinson (69), Bonnie Awalt (56) and comments:

Gary,

A Howdy to Dave Slyter if he remembers me. Isn’t it a blast to remember the dancing of Duane and Lorraine Peterson. I believe they are still going around and dancing as they still have some oldtime dances yet at the hall here in St. John. My uncle Jimmy & aunt Ruby Birkland still attend and dance up a storm, but back in the day when Duane and Lorraine were dancing uncle Jimmy was more than likely one of the guys playing the fiddle. Him and the likes of Jack & Lorraine Metcalfe, Ole Bursinger and many more great old players and singers whose names elude me now. I grew up with it as a child and kind of moved away from it in the teens, instead listening to the likes of the Beatles & CCR and others but secretly loving the old fiddle. I’m getting back with it now with the likes of Dick Johnson who is playing with some friends of his and keeping that good old music alive. I love getting together with him and crew when they come and play in St. John. They even allow me to help haul the equipment and run the sound system for them. Ha.

A thanks to Tim & Bonnie for their wonderful memories and ways of writing them. I remember the big snow storm I believe in the winter of 68. I remember me and Russel Robert jumping off of their dad’s Mobil station and shoveling down to find the door to get in.

Mel Kuhn [70]

Bonnie Awalt Houle’s (56) letter:

Good Morning Gary,

Keith didn’t go to Dunseith, he went to the Academy at Willow City. He graduated in 1954.

The class of 1956 consisted of: Bonnie Awalt, Gayl Bedard, Elmer Boucher, Gary Cota, Don Conroy, Dennis Espe, Neva Haagenson, Kenneth Hill, Lois Hiatt, Janice Leonard, Curtis Pigeon, Kenneth Pigeon, Bruce Poeppel, Caroleen Williams.

Bobby Hosmer had been in our class until his Sophomore year and then he went to Fargo to school. (Hope that is correct)

I remember going up to Butte St. Paul with Neva and Bobby in Bobby’s Dads Jeep. Bobby kept telling us there was nothing to fear because you couldn’t get a jeep stuck. What he didn’t tell us is that you could get a jeep “hung up” on some of those big rocks out there in the fields. I don’t remember who rescued us but we had to do some walking first.

Does anyone remember when we first started the marching band in Dunseith? Seems the director was from Rolla. One memory from it was practicing marching down the street doing our routine. I threw my baton up in the air and it came down in a hole that Mr.Axel Johnson was working in fixing the city water. The baton hit Axel on the head. (Very embarrassing.) Spring 1955

Bonnie Houle

Colette Hosmer’s (64) reply to Tim Martinson (69) and Cecile Gouin (61)

Tim,

Blood sausage and head cheese….our parents and grandparents didn’t waste much. Like they say in China today, everything is eaten but the oink. Processing pigs brings up a memory of when Evie Gottbreht and I went to St. Joseph’s Academy in Crookston, Minnesota (1963). It was a poor Catholic boarding school and it wasn’t unusual for a parent to pay tuition with a pig or two. We were all assigned jobs….I was taking my turn in the kitchen when one of these pigs came in. I remember the cook wielding her knife — a tall, agile nun — the sleeves of her black habit rolled up past her elbows, big white apron covering the full, floor-length skirt. When blood sausage showed up on our plates a few days later I took great pleasure in describing it’s source to the other girls at the table.

I like the added imagery of birds falling out of the trees when the Thunderbirds buzzed mainstreet. You’re a good writer…I hope you share more down the line. And, thanks for the kind words although I certainly can’t remember ever being drooled over (you must have me confused with your father’s bismarcks).

Cecile,

Nice to read your e-mail, Cecile. It would be great if you could find more photos of Deerheart Lodge!

My sister, Janet, was at the Air Force Academy for the first graduating class, but it was for another cousin, Brad Hosmer. His dad, Clark (my dad, Bob’s, younger brother) left for West Point after growing up in Dunseith so Brad never went to school with any of us. The family visited us often however, and Clark’s kids — Brad, Gay and Phil loved the town.

Brad was the top graduate of the first Air Force Academy class (1959). He returned to the academy as it’s Superintendent (1990 -94).

Colette

Randy Flynn’s (70) reply to Gary Stokes (65)

Gary,

When you wrote about New Year’s Eve in the Philippines, I had to
wonder if you are having a pig roast. Excuse the indelicacy of
my words if that is not an appropriate description. I have
only been to one Filipino party but the food was great. I will
always remember the fine hospitality and great singing. My
host was a devote Catholic and entertained us with many
seasonal hymns. The feast was like a church supper in North
Dakota but liquor was served.Randy

Gary’s reply to Randy:

Randy,

Bernadette ordered a Lechon and had it delivered for our New Years Eve Party. Lechon is a whole roasted pig, eye balls and all. The only thing missing are the guts. They run a pole length wise through the pig and then roast it over open coals. The one we ordered for our party was about 70 lbs. These Filipino’s go nuts for this stuff. They love the skin. For them that’s the best part. It’s nice and crisp. When the party was over the Lechon was gone.

A short time after we arrived here, we had a big party for all of Bernadette’s relatives and friends, which number many. We went out and bought two 6 month old pigs and brought them home the day before the party. Bernadette hired a butcher to come in and butcher these pigs the next morning. He arrived about 4:00 AM and proceeded to butcher these pigs. By 7:00 AM these pigs were in many pots, over open fires, in the yard, being cooked. We had lots of help. They prepared many different dishes using this pork. By 2:00 PM there was absolutely nothing left anywhere of these two pigs. It was like they evaporated. We have now developed our place, so we don’t really have an area to do this any more.

Bernadette is one of the finest cooks ever. She loves to cook and everything she cooks or bakes turns out absolutely wonderful. Most of these folks are good cooks too, but they can not hold a candle to Bernadette’s abilities in that department. It sure shows on me too. Here she has help, in the states it was just her.

Gary

Bev Morinville’s (72) correction to her relationship to the Gouin’s

I made a mistake their grandma was my grandma sister could u correct it for me. Thanks Gary. Not thinking to clear these days just found out I have cancer of the tongue. please keep me in your prayers. Thanks for all u are doing it is so important. Love Bev

Bev, So sorry to hear about your cancer. Please keep us posted. Our prayers are with you. Gary

12/5/2013 (1906)

Posted on December 5, 2013 by Gary

Happy Birthday Jerry Williams (DHS ’54): Watertown SD

Wood cutting and heating memories

From Dick Johnson (’68): Dunseith, ND

Gary and Friends,We’re having a good old ND winter back here in the hills. It’s
going to drop below zero for several days and the snow is starting to
pile up so it’s winter from now on. Today reminded me of the old days
when my dad and I would come up and help my grandpa cut and haul wood
for the old wood furnace in the farm house. We had a wooden box trailer
built from a front axle of an old Graham-Paige truck mounted on some
kind of old frame. We would hook the trailer behind the old B John
Deere tractor which had a big ‘buzz’ circle saw mounted on the front of
it. We would drag logs out of the trees and then run them through the
buzz saw to cut them to firewood length. Dad and Grandpa took turns
being the guy nearest the saw blade or on the far end of the log. My
job was picking up the blocks from below the saw and tossing them into
the trailer box. The local name for that job was ‘pitching cobs’. Dad
really drummed it into me that you NEVER leave a block on the ground
where the sawyer might step on it or stumble over it and maybe fall
against the spinning saw blade. It was a dangerous job for sure because
that big blade would spin until it whistled and could easily saw off an
arm or even your head without effort. I remember the concentration had
to be on exactly what we were doing every second. I’m sure we wouldn’t
have passed any OSHA safety requirements if there had been any around at
the time. It was dangerous as hell but if you paid attention to what
you were doing, it worked well and we could cut a big load in a couple
hours. The old clothing we had was also a reason to work harder in
order to stay warm. When we did get a big load on the trailer, we were
only half done because we had to take it home and then unload it all
into the basement. Those who have done this type of thing can really
appreciate modern homes with modern conventional heat. If it gets a
little chilly, we just turn up the thermostat a bit. I remember in the
winter at the farm my grandparents would put a blanket over the upstairs
stairway to conserve heat on the main floor. When I would stay there in
the winter, I slept upstairs and it was like going outside to go to
bed! It was tough to get the bed warmed up but once it was, the heavy
quilts and flannel sheets kept me fine all night. The old house would
get cold at night and I would stay in bed in the early morning until I
heard my grandpa building a fire in the kitchen stove and then down to
the basement to build a big fire in the old furnace. Then it was time
to jump out of bed and head for the kitchen and finish getting dressed
by the stove. It never seemed like anything out of the ordinary to me
because that was the way it had always been as far as I knew. Just
another memory from days gone by. Thanks Gary!

Dick

Dick,

How well I remember those days. I envied the folks that used coal, at least they didn’t have the wood cutting labor involved.

Every fall dad would go out and haul in one load per day of dozed trees from brushing that Elwood Fauske had done with the soil conservation D-8 cat. On Saturdays, we boys would help him. He generally hauled in 15 trailer loads. All the neighbors did the same. Then they’d get a crew of at least 6 neighbors to saw these trees up into stove length blocks. They would go from neighbor to neighbor cutting all their wood. The ones I remember that used to pool their labor was Norman Hiatt, Clarence Hagen, Herman Hagen, Clifford Hagen, Albert Hiatt and my dad, Bob Stokes. They used my dad’s saw that he had mounted on the back of his Ford tractor. That was a large round open saw with no protection that spun super fast with a whistling noise. Remarkable that there were never any arms or limbs cut with that one. The last year that I was home, dad got an oil stove. What a life saver that was.

Those were the days,

Gary

Stanford Medical aid to the Philippines: Message from Kim Wooley

Posted by Trish Larson Clayburgh (’73): Portola Valley, CA

Update from Kim Wooley

by SEMPER

Six months ago I visited Southern Leyte to visit my friend Israel’s family and celebrate Fiesta. He told me that I would fit right in because I’m a “Province girl” being from Lenox, Iowa. There were many similarities between our hometowns, and I had a ball. After preparing the SEMPER team and myself in Disaster Mental Health for the past few years, I knew that I had to respond if my Leyte friends needed help.

Things learned/surprises:
– The area of destruction has no epicenter and is not isolated to Tacloban and the seaside communities, the 200 mph winds destroyed homes and took lives for many miles. The best way for me to describe it . . . It is as if the entire southern half of the State of Iowa, from west to east, was destroyed by a 60 mile wide tornado with 200 mph winds. Every tree is snapped or uprooted, every roof is missing, and many slabs of cement are standing where a home once was.

– There are many medical needs with our team outside of Tacloban seeing 250+ patients a day. It is not so much acute medical problems or trauma, but conditions that quickly turn acute or life threatening after 3 weeks without treatment. A blood pressure of 240/120 for a few weeks needs treatment just as a leg may need to be amputated in the first 48 hours. Who is to say what is most important in preventing loss of life? We are also seeing compound leg fractures with homemade bamboo splints, infected wounds from wood and metal falling on people, untreated asthma, and our miracle baby Joas who was brought in with a parietal skull fracture from the roof falling on his head but he survived the previous weeks because the fracture gave his brain room to swell. He was laughing and smiling, while his Mom was crying tears of joy when Dr. Barbie & Dr. Julieta both agreed he looked to be okay.

– The mental health needs are starting to present and are critical at this time. How people are attended to 3-4 weeks in will determine their overall recovery. It is far enough in that people are no longer talking as much about their emotional, spiritual, physical, and mental devastation but wondering if they should buck up and ignore their tremendous loss. A group of women including the clinic midwife who was helping me with some translation said, “The first week was a blur, the second week we got to work and worked nonstop with sleeping when possible, but now in the third week it is all becoming real and sinking in.” Trouble sleeping, high anxiety, elderly very worried and crying, are the signs that people are having difficulty coping. We encourage that people continue talking about their anxiety with family, not isolating, using simple relaxation deep breathing techniques, attending church and praying. People are deeply touched and feel loved by our caring presence.

– The typhoon lasted seven hours. How did I not realize this fully coming in? Seven hours of terror, mothers huddled over their children ready to sacrifice their own life as long as their babies could crawl out of the rubble. Seven hours is incomparable to other natural disasters where a minute feels like forever.

– Almost every town had 1-14 residents die, and almost every person in town knew that person, yet they feel lucky that they didn’t have a greater loss of life.

Disaster response is vital in weeks three and four, just as medical teams are critical in week one. Lives are saved a month in and it would seem even more unfathomable to hear of people dying at this stage, but most importantly we have seen hope begin. Filipinos are incredibly warm, resilient, gracious, strong, peaceful, and optimistic; I’m honored and humbled to help in any way that I can.

As we have heard and seen painted on what’s left of homes, “We may be homeless but we are not hopeless.” Salamat po to our friends and family at home supporting us in our mission.

Blog Posted on January 1, 2008

01/01/2008

Posted on January 1, 2008

Phone call from Dwight Lang (61):

Folks, This afternoon, for me here in the PI New Years Day, I had a pleasant surprise with a phone call from Dwight Lang wishing me “Happy New Year”. We had a nice long chat. Dwight’s mother was Charlotte Lang who was a teacher in Dunseith for years and went on to become the “County Superintendent of schools” for Rolette & Bottineau counties. She was also my first grade teacher at Ackworth. Charlotte was a Hiatt, born and raised in the Ackworth community with my dad. She was a sister to Howard Hiatt and Elenore Fauske. Dwight and I have lots of commonality to talk about. Dwight has a home in Tucson and a cabin at Lake Metigoshe where he spends his summer months.

Thank you Dwight for that wonderful phone call. Sorry I had to cut it short, after an hour, to go eat my Dinner.

Paula Fassett’s (71) reply to Trish Larson (73):

Gary:

I would guess the dancing couple that Trish (Larson) is referring to is more than likely Duane and Lorraine Peterson. I tended bar at Kelvin when John & Neva Rainey owned it and remember seeing the Peterson’s and was always fascinated by their dancing abilities! My parents were excellent dancers, too, but no once could hold a candle to Duane and Lorraine Peterson. What used to fascinate me most was the fact that Lorraine usually danced wearing tennis shoes!

Happy New Year…………..I don’t think we’ll be doing any outside partying in Minnesota!!!

Paula

Dave Slyter’s (70) reply to Trish Larson (73):

Trish:(73)

The couple that you are talking about that were such good dancers were Duane and Lorraine Peterson. They are Connie Peterson Lagerquists parents. I could never get enough of watching those two dancing around the dance floors. If there was a dance those two would be at it. I bet to this day they probably are still dancing. ha

I also remember the dances up at the metal building at Lake Metgoshe. Matter of fact that is where I got my first traffic ticket. I wanted to go left and everyone else in the car wanted to go right. Ooops blinker was going left and I listen to the gang in the car. Cops were sitting right there. Dang!!! It was called back then “driving without due care” ha Oh well, it was only 20 dollars.

Thanks for the memories.

Dave Slyter (70)

Bev Morinville’s (72) request: Note, I have provided Bev with Morris Gouin’s (67) contact info. Through his sister Cecile (61), we’ve recently located him.

Gary, Maurie Gouin is my cousin his grandpa was my grandma’s brother I have not heard from him in years and would love to touch base with him. Could u ask him if u can give me his personal e mail addy. I would love to know about his mom and dad. They were Duane’s godparents. thanks Gary…. also would love to e mail Randy Flynn also Bev

Deb Morinville’s (70) request: Note, I’ve given Bev & Deb contact info for Morris & Cecile.

Gary,

I know you must be so busy with the “monster” list now but could you do me a favor? Maurice and Cecile Gouin are cousins to us Morinville kids. Their mother was a Dion as was my Dad’s mother. Eva Dion Morinville Peat. We spent many hours with them as kids and I’m sure that Cecile babysat us, too. Maurice was a big kid and during one of our many wrestling times (usually all 5 or more) he knocked out my loose front tooth. I would love to reconnect with them Their dad ran the Standard gas station for a while located behind the Dakota hotel on Main street across from the lumber yard. Give them my email address OK? When you have time!!

Happy New Year to you and your wife there in the Phillipines!! I know a little about there because I have some good friends who were missionary’s there for years.

Deb Morinville Marmon (70)

Message from Evon Lagerquist:

Happy New Year and Thank you for all the news!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR – 2008

DON & COLLEEN (Conroy) Martel

Copy of Tim Martinson’s (69) letter to Colette Hosmer (64)

Hi Colette,I’ve always wondered what happened to that gal that all the older guys drooled over. Funny how life deals out its cards, sometimes you win and other times you lose, it’s just one breath at a time, one step after another on the path to the next assignment. From the sound of your web site, endless opportunities await you and I am very impressed with your accomplishments to date.

In response to the letter you wrote about visiting a pig slaughter house in China. My first exposure to the killing of a pig was at my dad’s parents farm. I was probably four years old and full of questions. The pig had already been killed that morning, it was big and hanging upside down over a barrel of boiling water. What was that liquid in the old galvanized wash tub? Blood from the pig that was going to be made into blood sausage and so the day went on with the tasks of both men and women in cooking, cutting, packaging and freezing of the pig. I wonder how many farmers still make blood sausage? The next time I saw a pig processed was at the Evans farm, same procedure but no blood sausage. Loved those days of play with the Evans boys and the cinnamon rolls Alice would make in the old wood stove. The endless games of basketball we played in the dimly lit hay mow of the barn. Skiing on theside hills of Willow Creek, or being towed behind a horse, skiing or riding in a toboggan on the streets of Dunseith. The games of workup in Evans front yard and the building of tree houses in the big cottonwood trees. Always looked forward to spring and the cattle drive to the pasture that surrounded Mineral Springs. The winter days of play in the haystacks and spring calving. Bringing in the cows for milking and chokecherry picking in the foothills. As your cousin Bill Hosmer had written of his exploits with Myron and others I was of the next generation to enjoy the Willow Creek swimming hole. The flour mill was gone and I have always wondered if there were photos of this business and what happened to the mill since while playing along the creek we could always see the concrete footing in the creek bed below the elevator.

I lived on the south side of town and when I was young we would go and pick Crocuses in the pasture where the High School was built. It was undisturbed prairie land with trails of wagons wheel tracks that led to the Flour Mill and probably the old store that sat by Willow Creek on the south side of Kester’s house. You spoke of the tee pee rings north of Lake Shute and I have this memory of stopping along side the road a little north of the San Haven turn off and watching a pow wow in the early evening. Then also the juneberry picking in the hills. They were so good with cream and sugar. Always some sort of sport to play such as the touch football games, that involved girls too, played on the lot east of the Catholic church. or the basketball games at the old tennis court on the old school grounds and yes the basketball games played in the old gym built into the ground. The old city hall was a great place to play Basketball and I remember the time our independent team played a touring group. I was really impressed with Chuck Johnson, he could make hook shots from the corners and half court. I’m not sure who won that game. John and Stella Johnson had a order of two dozen date filled cookies each time the bakery made them and of course I delivered and I was lucky if I got back within an hour. They were the nicest couple and loved to talk. I finally figured out years later why everyone was busy when we made date filled cookies. Oh well it was their loss and my gain.

Do you ever think about some of the firsts in your life. The first oreo cookie I had was given to me by Grandma Hill who lived two houses north of our house, Again making a bread delivery I could not say no and was asked to get a bucket of coal for her cooking stove and ended up passing time with a nice older lady and that first oreo with the white frosting filling sandwiched between deep chocolate cookies. To the south lived Grandpa and Grandma Nerple, who showed me how they made yarn on their spinning wheel and gave me the chance to comb out the wool and peddle the wheel. Logan and Alice Buchanan lived to the west and I think lived a very organic life style raising chickens and rabbits. They always had very good gardens. And yes it took me a while to figure out where the rabbits went to.

My memory of the fly over by Bill Hosmer and friends. I was watching the birds through the bakery screen windows flying and singing in the trees. All of asudden the first plane came down main street and the birds fell out of thetrees. Of course I headed out the front door and onto main street and watched the show. Wow was the only word to explain it. I did go to the show at Minot and that day was cloudy. So thanks Bill for making a detour and giving the city of Dunseith another first. I have always wondered how far the turn around was for the planes you were flying at that time?Take Care, Tim

Dear Gary,

I am John Awalt’s (65) sister Bonnie (56). Here are a couple of Dunseith memories as I recall them.

Bonnie, I am so gald to hear from you. Now we can get you in the system. I know John has been forwarding this stuff to you. Folks, Bonnie is married to Keith Houle. Gary

SNOWED IN

The daylight filled the room and the cold nipped the tip of my nose. I could see my breath in the air. I waited, listening for my Mother to call us for school. It was so cozy and warm under the thick layer of quilts. I dreaded the thought of having to put my feet on the cold floor. I rose up to peek out the window but Jack Frost had painted a layer of white winter patterns over the panes of glass. I snuggled down into the cozy tunnel of quilts, knowing that my time there was limited. The time stretched out and still no one called me to get up. Curiosity soon got the better of me and I jumped out of bed, grabbed my clothes and raced downstairs to the heat of the furnace.

Mother was in the kitchen mixing bread dough, Dad sat at the kitchen table stirring sugar into his coffee. A glance outside let me know why Dad hadn’t gone to work and why we hadn’t been called to get ready for school. It was a good old North Dakota blizzard! The wind whirling the snow around, drifts piled high, and it was impossible to see the neighboring buildings.

As the rest of the family came downstairs, we ate breakfast and the job of having a free day bubbled forth. After breakfast we cleaned the house and then gathered around the dining room table where Dad had set up a jigsaw puzzle. The home was filled with the aroma of fresh baked bread, the laughter of friendly teasing and the love that only a family can share on a winter day when you are snowed in.

DUNSEITH MEMORIES

Once upon a time, a long time ago, when time didn’t seem to move so fast.

Days were not so busy and children were safe when running free.

The children did run free. They ran free in the pastures, free in the woods and creek and freely through the small town.

In the winter it was not unusual to see the children, loaded with cardboard boxes headed to the City Park to slide the slippery slopes.

They build snow forts and tunneled caves through the winter drifts.

After a major snowstorm it was possible to see children climb from the snowdrifts to the roofs of stores.

The skating rink became a gathering place where red rover and crack the whip were played over and over again. Those children scrambled into the jailhouse/firehall to warm their freezing feet, tell their goofy stories and giggle at nonsense. It was a childhood of innocence and wonderful memories.

by Bonnie Awalt Houle

12/4/2013 (1905)

Posted on December 4, 2013 by Gary

Folks,

Bernadette was dragging most of the day yesterday, but she was determined to go out for our planned 35th anniversary dinner with her sister Berlinda, Berlinda’s two daughters Novie & Edelyn and their brothers (deceased) son’s wife, Mirasol.

We had a lovely dinner at Bernadette’s favorite Chinese restaurant. Once we got to the restaurant, Bernadette was energized and feeling pretty good. Following dinner on the way home we stopped by a French Restaurant for some dessert. This morning Bernadette was not feeling well, but by afternoon she perked up and wanted to go to the mall of which we did with Novie and Mirasol.

I have pasted some picture below that the gals took last night.

Gary

Reply from Colette Hosmer (’64): Santa Fe, NM

Hi Gary,

Thanks for the kind words once again! I’m sure you had a great time at your ex-pat Thanksgiving dinner.

I just returned from Minnesota where I had Thanksgiving dinner with a friend that I’ve seen (only in China) for the past ten years. This year he flew back to his hometown in MN and invited me up for the holiday. I left Santa Fe, NM, and headed for the Albuquerque airport in a blizzard. After clearing a foot of snow from my truck, I drove at 35 – 40 miles/ hour on snow-packed, icy roads and passed nine vehicles in the ditch (including a Semi). I arrived in snow-free Minnesota to clear roads and relatively balmy temperatures! Go figure.

Colette

Colette,

It is so nice to hear from you again. It has been awhile.

Sounds like you had a ND blizzard in New Mexico. Must be the affects of Global warming.

Gary

Reply from Dennis Dubois (’63): Minneapolis, MN

Happy anniversary Gary and Bernadette. I think that is a person’s greatest accomplishment, to stay married for a long time. It is the thing that I’m most grateful for, my mom and dad always there for me. I was never married for very long and it is my biggest regret. I applaud you folks and send my best wishes for many more happy years. You folks enjoy your big day.

Reply from Bill Hosmer (’48): Tucson, AZ

Gary and Bernadette, On the one hand, Many Congratulations on the

milestone of 35 years together and on the other, my sadness on Bernadette’s medical challenges which cause discomfort. After seeing

you both in Bottineau this past summer and witnessing the energy and

interest you generated by your very presence, it is difficult to imagine

the limitations you now experience. Prayers and hopes are with you both.

Bill Hosmer

Thank you Bill for the kind words. Bernadette has her ups and downs. Today she is better than yesterday so that is a plus. She is a fighter and does the best she can to live a normal life with her condition. She is extremely hurt when she is unable to perform some routine tasks. Some tasks that she can not perform one day, the next day she can and the cycle continues. She seems to have leveled out lately. Hopefully this will continue.

Gary

Stanford Medical aid to the Philippines: Message from their Medical Director

Posted by Trish Larson Clayburgh (’73): Portola Valley, CA

Not sure if you have seen this or not, but here’s the latest from our Medical Director at Stanford, the lead MD on the team sent to help in your part of the world.

His name is Dr. Colin Bucks, and he is one of the finest Doctors I have ever worked with in my almost 40 years in nursing.

Trish Clayburgh

970-219-9154

Update from Colin Bucks, MD, associate director of SEMPER

by SEMPER

Greetings,

I will try to get a quick update typed as we wait for a briefing from the Secretary of the Dept of Health (Philippines) and WHO officials. It might be very brief as I hear helicopter blades…

The team in Guiuan is wrapping up our stint here. Tomorrow we will transition in a much smaller group of replacement volunteers from Oregon. I think I can speak for the group in saying it has been a very busy but overwhelming stint. We have been caring for patients with a mixed range of acuity. There is still ongoing wound management from the typhoon. We see a consistent string of acute infections, but the majority of benefit we provide currently is supporting the daily flow of patients (increased about three fold from baseline) at the Regional Health Units (RHU). This has provided the local staff the opportunity to recover and re-group. The discussions regarding formally handing back all care to local staff are actively in process. After that, I see the main project is protecting against and monitoring clusters of disease outbreaks. Along this line, one of our nightly chores includes compiling surveillance statistics for the Department of Health.

Now the important officials have arrived so I should join the briefing.

We have definitely benefited from the outpouring of support, and think of our friends and families at Stanford often.

Folks are healthy, invigorated, and tired. Additionally, the team effort warms my heart daily.

All the best,

Colin Bucks

Joke of the day:

Paddy and Mick were walking along a street in London.

Paddy looked in one of the shop windows and saw a sign that caught his eye.
The sign read, “Suits £5.00 each, Shirts £2.00 each, Trousers £2.50 per pair”.
Paddy said to his pal, “Mick look at the prices! We could buy a whole lot of those and when we get back to Ireland we could make a fortune. Now when we go in you stay quiet, okay? Let me do all da talking ’cause if they hear our accents, they might think we’re thicko’s from Ireland and try to screw us. I’ll put on me best English accent.”
“Roight y’are Paddy, I’ll keep me mouth shut, so I will. You do all da business” said Mick.

They go in and Paddy said in a posh voice, “Hello my good man. I’ll take 50 suits at £5.00 each, 100 shirts at £2..00 each, and 50 pairs of trousers at £2.50 each. I’ll back up me truck ready to load ’em on, so I will.”

The owner of the shop said quietly, “You’re from Ireland, aren’t you?”

“Well yes,” said a surprised Paddy. “What gave it away?”

The owner replied, “This is a dry-cleaners.”

Blog posted on December 3, 2007

12/31/2007

Posted on December 31, 2007

Message from Warren Anderson (65):

Hi, Gary.

How are you and your wife doing? Cora and I are fine these winter days. We took the snowmobiles up to the farm today and rode about 12 miles around the hills. It was nice to see all the animal tracks and even to see some moose tracks. I see Margaret Metcalfe Leonard just about ever week and she is doing fine. They just moved into their new high school building, in Belcourt, over the holidays so she is excited about the 2nd half of the school year. Dunseith just beat the number one rated basketball team in the state last week so Dunseith has some excitement with basketball. Dunseith has a DaCoteau kid that is 6′ 10″.

The jets that screamed over Dunseith even scared me on the farm that day. And I was 7 miles straight north of the city but it seemed they were over us before they got turned around. I was only 13 years old. In Viet Nam we had the F-4s that came in awful close to us but I never feared them like some of the other boys did. Maybe it was the experience of the Dunseith fly over that gave me the feeling you had nothing to fear. Enough about history. I am still trying to sell my office building and apartments and quit counseling but no takers and I don’t feel there will be anything now until spring or summer.

Cora and I wish’s you and your wife a happy new year—–Warren 65

Bev Morinville’s (72) Reply to Bobbie Slyter (70):

To Bobby : thanks for calling us kids , Bev Morinville (Azure)

Message from LeaRae Parrill Espe (67):

Thanks for finding Maurice Gouin. I just knew I had his name spelled incorrectly. That never helps.

I am really enjoying all the messages from everyone. I hope Tim Martinson and Larry Hackman keep up the great memory attacks!

I got my mother, Mildred Parrill, on the computer over Christmas. She stayed in Bottineau four nights so she could visit Marie and her other two sisters. I entertained the bunch for Christmas dinner-my guests were ages 90,89,87,84, and 82. They had a few games of whist and alot of stories. It was great.

Anyway Mom really enjoyed reading some of the messages. Whenever she read about someone she had a story. She remembered Tim Martinson being the coach of the American Legion team on which my brother Clark played. That team did very well. Dunseith had many great athletes. It would be great to hear Tim’s recollection of the season(s). I went to college for three summers and I missed all of that.

Happy New Year!

LeaRae

PS Kay Flynn is really just K. Flynn. She told me once that it represented Knox, but Minnie didn’t want to name her Knox so it was just K. – K. Jacqueline Flynn Richard

(K. I’ve updated all my Data bases with K. Gary)

Message from Cecile Gouin Craig (61):

Have really been enjoying all notes and letters, they have brought back A lot of memories of people and places. Thanks, Cec’
Yes, I remember the Deerheart Lodge well. I’ve got two pics of it. One is the same one you posted and one of the castle. I think my Mother has some, will look in her albums. In 75 or 76 when I went to Dunseith, went looking for the Lodge but couldn’t find it. I sure hope some museum has it all. I loved that place. Will send the pics I find.
On that trip also went to the Butte of St. Paul. There wasn’t even a trail to go in or up the Butte. What’s with that??
Tim I remember the bakery well. During school and lunch time 5 or 6 of us girls would run to the bakery and get 3 raised doughnuts or Bismarck’s for a dime, then race to Shelver’s Drug to grab the only booth. Order cherry cokes. Eat our healthy lunches, then race back to classes. Those were the best doughnuts!
Sorry I missed all the excitement over the Thunderbirds. Collette didn’t Janet go the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs to Bill’s graduation and all the festivities??
Cecile Gouin Craig ’61

Randy Flynn’s (70) reply to Gary Stokes: (Note, Bremerton WA, the city Randy mentions, is where I moved to from Dunseith, until moving to the Philippines in 2003. I worked my entire career at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, retiring in 2003. Gary)

Gary,
Thank you for all the Emails. However, I have not had time to
read them. I still work for Customs but since we are now
Department of Homeland Security and have become Customs and
Border Protection (Immigration, Customs, and Agriculture) there
is always something new to learn. Or something to teach all
the new employees who have no institutional memory. I recently
moved to Portland, Oregon, so I do not plan to retire in the
near future. I would just go back to work anyway.Bremerton is a beautiful place. I have enjoyed taking the
Seattle-Bremerton Ferry to Seattle. The trip provides a
relaxing and interesting view of Seattle when compared with a
trip on I-5 at 75 miles per hour. I have spent an afternoon in
“The Pour House Pub”. A friend’s from Wilton, ND cousin, Carol
and Dave, own the Pub.

If you can provide names of interesting places to see other
than the usual tourist stops I would appreciate it. I have
seen the original Starbucks and purchased some coffee there.
Watched the fish fly from the Ice to the counters, K.C. Sine,
could have used this method to sell more candy to school kids.

I am happy to see you taking such an interest in our roots and
our routes. With the death the fall of 06 of a good friend and
CBP colleague, Clark Parrill (DHS 70), I often wonder where all
of our lives have taken people from Dunseith.

A couple of notes in my travels for work, if you are from North
Dakota, the 6 degrees of separation is really on 4 degrees.
People from North Dakota are everywhere and know everyone
around the world. Since we are from a small rural town and
have Scandinavian heritage we down play our connections. But I
am sure if my life depended on it I could get an autograph of
anyone in the USA and probably the world.

And . . . North Dakota is a Great place to be FROM . . . so
many of us have left the state in search of employment.

Randy

Message from Trish Larson Clayburgh (73)

Hi Gary,

Interesting stories. I’m not sure if I remember a place called Deer Heart, but it reminds me of the lodge in the Peace Garden where many a wedding dance was held. There were some folks there that really knew how to dance to that wild polka music. I remember a married couple who were in their 40-50′s, which would put them in their 80′s maybe now, who danced all night like crazy. They were short and stout and fabulously in love – at least with dancing. I’ll bet somebody knows who they were – they were at every barn dance I ever attended. (Remember those fabulous round barn dances?)

And speaking of dances – remember the Lake Metigoshe dances in the early 70′s? How about those black lights???? Everybody looked tanned!

We North Dakotans sure learn how to throw a good party don’t we?

I remember also a party at my house at the port of entry one winter. My parents had left my brother Greg and I to attend a funeral in Montana, and the word got out that we were having a party. There must have been almost a hundred people squeezed in that little house. When the party was at it’s Zenith, our reveling was cut short however. Somebody spied my parents when they came home early and pulled in the driveway.

They yelled “TRISH – YOUR PARENTS ARE HOME!” For a moment, there was utter silence as we all made eye contact and then….

Oh My! There was a mass exodus out the front door as Hazel and Harvey pulled their big ole Cadillac into the garage. Some nice person offered to grab empties and run out the back door. I believe it was a quiet fellow named Larry….or was it a Lagerquist?

Anyhow my hero came back in the front door a few minutes later to join a few brave partiers had stayed to “face the music” with me. He whispered, “you didn’t tell me there was a hole in the backyard – I almost broke a leg!”. I gasped to remember that there was a pipe project going on out back and as he had dashed out with the best of intentions, he had fallen into the snowy pipe ditch about 2 feet deep – spewing 2 grocery bags full of empty beer cans all over the back yard!

Next morning, bless her soul, my dear mom got up early and picked up all the cans. I couldn’t believe she wasn’t furious with me, but in one of her most endearing moments she laughed and said “I couldn’t let the neighbors see them could I?” She wasn’t angry about the broken chair brace either. I remember clearly the moment George Malaterre put his big ‘ole foot on that spindly chair and snapped it right in two! He was horrified, and very apologetic. I brushed it off, but secretly I WAS a little worried my parents might kill me.

Instead my mom taught me a lesson about forgiveness. And the value in a really great party…

Anyhow, thanks again for stirring the great memories….

Trish (Larson) Clayburgh

Request from Ron Link (58)

Gary: Can you add James Robillard (class of 58) to your E-mail list as He would also like to get copies of your E-mails. His Address is: THANK YOU—RON

New Years in the Philippines:

Folks, It’s now New Years Eve here in the Philippines. It’ currently 7:30 PM and the parties have started. Bernadette’s Nephew has his big sound system set up in our area with the strobe lights and all. Folks are dancing and will continue to dance and party until the wee hours of the morning. There are continuous fireworks going off through out the are, but at midnight it will be like a huge bomb hitting the Philippines with all the fireworks. After midnight, Bernadette will be serving a big dinner for everyone in our area of about 60 folks. This is a tropical country so all the partying is done outside. Folks will go in our house to get their food and go back out side where we have tables and chairs set up to eat.

Happy New year to each and every one of you.

Gary & Bernadette Stokes

12/3/2013 (1904)

Posted on December 3, 2013 by Gary

No blog yesterday

For the record, I did not get a blog posted yesterday. In the evening Novie was gone and Bernadette was not well enough to be left alone, so I was unable to get a blog posted.

Gary

35th Wedding Anniversary

Folks,

35 years ago today I married the love of my life, Bernadette.

We have reservations to go out for dinner this evening with Bernadette’s sister Berlinda and her Nieces Novie, Edelyn and Mirasol. Earlier today she said she wasn’t feeling well enough to go out for dinner this evening, but now she is feeling better, so I think we will be going.

Bernadette had a restless night and has not been feeling well. For the past couple of days she has been going into one of spells. Our son Bernie called and she had a nice long chat with him. That really perked her up.

Gary

Joke of the day

Posted by Neola Kofoid Garbe: neolag@min.midco.net Bottineau & Minot, ND

A guy goes into the confessional box after years being away from the Church. He pulls aside the curtain, enters and sits himself down.

There’s a fully equipped bar with crystal glasses, the best vestry wine, Guinness on tap, cigars and liqueur chocolates nearby, and on the wall a fine photographic display of buxom ladies who appear to have mislaid their garments.

He hears a priest come in: “Father, forgive me for it’s been a very long time since I’ve been to confession and I must admit that the confessional box is much more inviting than it used to be”.

The priest replies,
”
Get out, you idiot. You’re on my side”.

Blog posted on 12/30/2007

12/30/2007

Posted on December 30, 2007

Larry Hackman’s message to Bill Hosmer:

Bill
Just to let you know and to pump up your pumper more, I want to let you
know that I have related the story of the Thunderbirds buzzing small town,
USA, Dunseith, ND many times over the years. That one short moment in
time has meant a lot and apparently not only to me. We did not have much
growing up in Dunseith but we did have a pilot that flew with the
Thunderbirds, Not many towns can make that claim. New Rockford, ND. is
real proud to have a astronaut, but I’ll bet he never buzzed main street
and created the memories that you have for all of us. Thank you. Now if I
can figure out a way to get Gary to stop confusing me with Carmen Myer and
Santa Claus I’ll be doing great. By the way, I think I did meet you and
visit with you for a short time at the Althea Theatre (Senior Citizen
Center) at the Dunseith Reunion. Did you say you were living or staying in
a cabin up at Long Lake or am I confused. Bill, you have a great day and
thank you again, for the memory.
larry

Colette Hosmer’s message to Tim Martinson:

I wanted to thank Tim Martinson for his e-mail regarding the “back room” of the bakery. I managed to find myself at one or two of those gatherings (only as a privileged bystander). Your account was wonderful.

Also, I remember Deer Heart Lodge as a young girl — in fact I was spellbound by the place. I have to think that the art I make today was influenced by those little taxidermy scenes. Does anyone have photos or stories or history to share about Deer Heart Lodge?

Thanks,

Colette

Bobbie Slyter’s comments: Vance Bailey’s movie:

Whoever put Vance’s movie together did a fantastic job, I don’t remember Vance but seem like I did after watching it, I truly enjoyed it.

The picture of the Morinville kids was great I remember them all well

bobbie slyter

Colette Hosmer’s WEB site

To view a very nice picture of Colette, just click on her WEB site that I’ve pasted below. We’ve been seeing all of her nice messages, so now you can see the nice lady behind all these nice messages and browse her very interesting WEB sight if you so wish. Colette has become a very well known international Artist. Gary

http://www.colettehosmer.com/index.shtml

12/1/2013 (1903)

Posted on December 1, 2013 by Gary

Happy Birthday Darrel Fassett (DHS ’47): Boynton Beach, FL

Happy Birthday Don Boardman (DHS ’60): Bottineau, ND

Cebu SM Mall

Candid shot of Bernadette & Novie

Novie always holding onto Bernadette – Notice they are in step too.

Posted by Neola Kofoid Garbe: Bottineau & Minot, ND

Posted on 12/28/2007

12/28/2007-3

Posted on December 28, 2007

Folks, I’ve played with this for awhile getting the file size’s down and in the process keeping the dimension size’s of the pictures large enough to be easily viewed. I never like to send out group messages with large file sizes. This should be manageable for most everyone.

Message Neola Kofoid Garbe (Gary’s Cousin):

Gary,

I just watched the movie of Vance Bailey’s life. WOW!! Someone is talented. I didn’t know Vance, but I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. The more I read about Vance, though, the more I feel like I “know/knew” him.

Here’s a “shortcut” to the movie: http://www.mem.com/movie/MovingMemories.asp?ID=2200968

Neola

Message from Geri Metcalfe with picture (Metcalfe’s & Lagerquist’s):

Gary,
I enjoyed Karen Woodford’s reply re: Bobby Lagerquist and her Lagerquist relatives. Hope this picture comes thru OK–I treasure this picture as this group of kids spent alot of time at my parents, Jim and Ella Metcalfe’s farm.
My sis, Patti is only about two on this picture, so I’m thinking it was taken in about 1950, the year my sis, Lola, was born.The Strong’s lived with us for a time when their home burned about the time we were moving to the farm from Seattle, where Helen and I were born. My parents lived in Seattle for seven years. They moved back before Margaret was born in 1946. Yes, Hilda and Leroy had Bobby L. living with them and I remember Inga and George visiting at our farm as well.We’re getting ready to leave for AZ, so if I don’t get time to send this to Karen, she will get it from you.

Thanks much, Gary, for all you do–I’ll keep in touch in Mesa.

Hope the New Year is kind to all of us,

Geri

Left to right: Bobby Lagerquist, Ronnie Strong, Jerry Strong, cousin Larry Metcalfe, my brother, Gary Metcalfe, Gordy Strong, me in front of Gordy and my sis, Helen in front of me; the three kids in the front are my sis, Margaret (in front of Jerry Strong), her little friend, Timmy Strong and my sis, Patti .

Jerry and Toni (Morinville) Gredesky

Morinville siblings:

Front: Duane & Toni

Back: Debbie & Bev

Message & picture from Neola Kofoid Garbe. Neola’s father, John Kofoid, owned the Corner Garage in the 50′s & 60′s (John Kofoid & Bob Stokes (my dad) were 1st cousins)

Gary,

I think Joe Boguslawski also worked in the “office” for a short time after Ernest. I’m not sure about this. You/your classmates were still quite young in 1953.

Ernest was a neat fellow. I really enjoyed him.

Neola

Picture: Ernest Tennancour

Question and picture from Tim Martinson (69)

Hi Gary, I want to know if anybody remembers
Ray Wilson (PIcture & article previously sent) or Deerheart Lodge? Take Care, Tim

Wedding At DeerHeart Lodge near Dunseith