Peter Gillis’ address in Kosovo
From Pete (65) & Verena Gillis: Dunseith, ND.
Gary,
Our son is now in Kosovo and says it’s fine over there. He gave me his
address so for those of you that asked for it…..
Spc. Gillis, Peter J.
TF Defender Co. A
KFOR 12 Camp Bondsteel
APO AE 09340
Pete & Verena Gillis
Jim Metcalfe Request
From Gary Metcalfe (57): Forsyth, MO
Gary, My brother, Jim would like to be included in receiving the daily blog.
Thank you. Gary Metcalfe
John & Margaret Bedard’s new contact info
From John Bedard (65): Lake Metigoshe, ND
Gary
Letting you know that we have moved permanently to Lake Metigoshe
and have new home and e-mail addresses as follow.
18 Birchwood Heights Rd N
Bottineau, ND 58318
telephone:
e-mail:
John and Margaret Bedard
Dunseith Alumni reunion in June & message
From Aggie Casavant (69): Fort Mill, SC
Gary, So how’s your domestic construction going? Looks like you have a really nice place.Looks very coastal,like a beach house. It seems strange for it to be built right in the middle of such poverty,but I guess the zoning laws are different in each country.The only thing that bothers me about living around poverty would be the crime. Do they have much crime in the Phillippines? Where I live is minimal,but then you can go 7 miles on the other side of the S.C.border in Charlotte N.C. and theirs every crime imaginable. It’s a shame cuz it’s such a beautiful city,but it’s the result of not controling our borders. We have a gang problem in Charlotte,that’s completely out of control. The drug cartel from Mexico has moved in and to just drive from my home in S.C. to across the border in Charlotte at night can get pretty tricky sometimes.You sometimes see stuff on the way to work,robberies,shootings,and either road rage incidents or carjackings.Whats shocking is this is in really nice areas of town.The place where I work is in a beautiful part of town,but the apartment community that is side by side with our facility,on week-ends especially during summer months,you can hear gun fire,police cars and ambulances. In the winter,fires. There has been 4 fires in the 7 yrs.that I’ve been on my job….cause on all 4 fires,”cooking drugs” I think they call it,free basing…where you melt “crack rock” in a spoon for a syringe…what’s really ironic about this is this is an upscale apartment community,with white collar residents…The bottom line is that drugs has taken over this country,and we the citizens of this country have no one to blame but ourselves…The American people were too trusting of people in high places in this country,who have chosen to turn a blind eye to this mess cuz everyone wants a peice of the pie. With the drugs has come every other dispicable crime,child pornography,prostitution,pedophiles(this crime has gone rampant in this country…why???? Cuz no-one wants to pass a law to execute these people…and they deserve nothing less….So much for America The Beautiful!!!
The other night at work,this guy from Lyberia came over to talk to me. He made the statement,”For America being the “Greatest Country” in the World….I said, “The Greatest Country in The World??? “If Americas the greatest this worlds got …then this whole world is on it’s way to Hell”. People get really angry with me when I make statements like that,but I tell them,”As long as we as a country,stay in denial about the problems in this country,this country is going to continue on, in a downward spiral,and I don’t know how much further we can go with out smashing into the bottom head first”,and as long as we want to beleive how “Great” we are,we have no reason to change…How sad…In closing on this subject,I want to close with a saying I read some where, it went like this: “When The People of This Country Cease To Be Good,America Will Cease To Be Great”. Don’t get me wrong,there is alot of good still left in this country…but there is “ALOT”that has gone unchecked for too long,which in turn is rapidly eroding the greatness of this country…This is the point I was trying to make in a nutshell,but it seems I am always forced to make a “Hair raising,fighting words statement” before I can get anyone anymore into a problem solving,thought provoking conversation”. I’ve had it all said to me,the old over used statement,”Love It Or Leave It”. But I find the people who say stuff like that are either,content with the downward spiral,are not aware of what’s going on in our country, have there own drug lab,or marijuana field in there back yard,or are too fearful what people might think if you speak out…or don’t believe they can make a difference…..As you can see ,I’m none of the above. It doesn’t mean it makes me a better person,it just means:”That if a person feels that they are one of those people….don’t criticize or put down those of us who are trying to make a difference…Like the old saying,”Lead, Follow or Get Out of The Way”
Well, Gary, I bet you would never guess what I really started writing you about… So far I got 17 people including Hwy 43,Verena,Pete,and I. I thought for some reason that we would have a bigger response thru the blog alone…Maybe putting it in the paper isn’t such a bad idea after all. If you would like to check with Verena what she thinks,and maybe we could run it in the paper for the month of November.
Thanks Gary for all you do.It would be interesting to see what the whole process is you go thru getting all this out
Thanks Again,
Ms.Aggie
P.S. This letter wasn’t written for the blog, but if you want to put it on, it’s fine with me…
Aggie, Yes I want to post this. I can assist you guys with getting this in the papers too. I’m hoping they will view this as a community activity involving many of their readers, of which I think they will, and publish this info when we send it to them.
Folks, Aggie, Verena & Pete are trying to get a head count for those interested in attending the Dunseith Alumni reunion they are planning in May. Please let one of us know if you are planning on attending. Our contact info is listed below. When they know how many plan on attending, they will choose a facility to accommodate accordingly. If enough folks plan on going, they can use the High School Gym. They just don’t want to reserve a larger facility if they don’t have the numbers. Their goal is to keep the costs to a bare minimum.
May 22, 2010
4:00pm to 6:00pm – Social Hour
6:00pm to 8:00pm – Cook Out
8:00pm to Midnight – Music & Hanging Out
Band: Hwy 43…AKA Dick & Brenda Johnson & Ron Hett
Aggie, now to address some of the other topics of your letter. You talked about security concerns with the ramped poverty of our Filipino neighbors. We have absolutely no problems at all. In the Filipino communities, everyone knows everyone and knows what belongs to everyone. If anyone sees anyone putting a hand on anything that is not theirs questions are asked and folks are confronted. That seldom happens though. Our garage is located about 300 feet from our house up on the main road. If there’s any strange activity going on or if something goes wrong in the area of our garage, we are instantly notified, day or night, by the folks up there. Everyone knows who belongs in their communities and are very inquisitive when visitors come. These folks especially love seeing our American friends coming to visit. After their first visit, they are not forgotten with return visits. Gary
Messages to Ken Stiker & Trish Larson Clayburgh (73):
From Gary Metcalfe (57): Forsyth, MO
To Ken Striker
I am going to scribble out a couple stories and see if Gary decides to post them. Ken I think you live somewhere near where old Pap Striker originated from. He was a Hoosier. This story is about Erman or E.D. Striker, brother of Lee and Elmer. Erman in the years I knew him, was a tea totaler who did ride a horse from that Peace River Country in Canada to Ten Sleep, Wyo. Erman was absolutely one of a kind to wife Tina and good, clean living. Working together they could have lived entirely off the land. When the bell would ring on Carpenter Lake in November at noon, muskrat trapping was on and everyone set or claimed as many houses as they could. I really admired Erman’s ability to skin a rat and have a pelt in his hand in a matter of seconds. Hunter and trapper, fruit trees, fishing….thanks to Tina, Erman always looked as neat as a pin. A common scene to see was Erman and Tina in the fall months, parked out in the woods, little green ’48 chevy pickup, with a right saw (cousin to the chain saw), with a picnic lunch, enjoying life and nature to the fullest.
Lee Striker was a friend of my dad’s, not a tea man, but a great visitor.
To Trish Larson
It is very evident that you have a deep love of horses, so I want to share some horse stories from my life. My dad’s association with horses started at a young age. It was a respect and partnership more than a love of horses. Old Dewey was a fixture on our farm for a lot of years, he came on about 1946 when Grandpa Evans asked my dad to knock him in the head. I think at about 2 years old their teeth get loose and they can’t forage very well in deep snow in winter. So dad loaded him on a stone boat and hauled him up to our place then commenced to pull him up and down with a wire stretcher for a couple months. Pretty soon he was in harness along with half brother, Jim. A perfect match.
Our first team was Nellie and Squirrely and our last team was Bird and Doll who we got from Jake Thiefoe. Then came a saddle horse fit for a cowboy, Scottie. Harold Kelly found him over by Belcourt. The Davis’ had him on their race adjenda. Scottie was one half Arabian from Aladdin. Aladdin was a magnificient horse who met a sad fate down near Willow City. He had too much spirit, he would pick up a fence post and would run with it. One day he hit the corner of the barn and killed himself. Anyway when Scottie would get warmed up, he was back in the race, so my dad was the only one on the farm who could ride him, one day when Dad had Scottie’s head pulled around, eyeball to eyeball, he jumped over a willow bunch right into the Johnson Lake. So that called for a new type of bit. Pretty soon, he had a horse fit for a king, tough, fast and he earned a great retirement….run of the oat bins and hay stacks, you see my dad was a horse man way more than a tractor man. Horses were a source of absolute power to a person who knew how to handle them. Especially in the deep snow and mud on the Canadian border. They were used a lot and had a feeling of being needed. Trish you look like you are right where you like to be, on a mission. By the way I had a quarter horse mare that was a joy to ride and easy to catch. Like anything else it is hard to find a good one for you. You surely are in the right place to enjoy horseback riding and hunting. Gary Metcalfe
Luella Boardman Bjornseth’s (49) family
Posted by Neola Kofoid Garbe: Minot & Bottineau, ND.
Comment: Ralph sure looks like his father Jacob in this photo. Gary
Back: Luella & Ralph
Front: Mark, Janice & Ron
