Happy Birthday Susan Fassett Martin (’65): Belle Fourche, South Dakota 
Condolences to Pete Gillis
From Ron Longie (’65): Yakima WA
Pete,
Our prayers with you and yours during this time of sorrow, God Bless you and your family.
Ronnie Longie
Memories of Cliff Gillis
From Lola Metcalfe Vanorny (’68): Dunseith, ND.
JAY AND I are both so saddened by the news of CLiff’s death- !!! we pastured alongside him for the 40 years- and were pretty good buddies all those years – !_ He tried to act rough and tough but was a big teddy bear with a heart of gold !!_ WE heard of this death on SUnday and here his funeral was on Tuesday already – !!_ so we missed it — !!- which we were both felt very bad about – !!- BUt our hearts go out to his family and they can find peace in that he passed gently into the night- and into God’s hands with out any pain or suffering- !!!! — Peter and Jay were pretty good friends in high school also!! = so we want to extend our sincere sympathy to him and Verena also !!_ – Cliff would call occasionally and usually about an issue with the cattle – either his bull was in our pasture or vice versa- usually i was the only one home – and we would visit – !!! — he was quite a character – tried to talk tough but as we visited – he would chuckle and showed his true self- !!- I remember once when he called and asked me why his bull was always in our pasture – !!_ and asked if we had a bull in with our cows and i said well of course we do !!_ and he said “WEll, then why is my bull always going up there- and i told him – “Maybe You better tell your cows to get cleaned up and pretty for him !!_ “– and then he had to laugh!!!! – He loved to talk about days when the kids were little and about Alice and would give me grief about why i was still working out- !!! — – H e would tell me we should be enjoying life instead of working all the time like he did – !!- and i Told him well, i guess cause everyone else does – bills to pay and food for the table !!_ He really was pretty lost without Alice after she passed- !!_ but he was a very good neighbor and we got along pretty great !!_ and we will miss him !!!_ God Bless his soul !!!_ he was a good man !!—Lola
Albert Johnson (’70) was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer
Posting from Linda Johnson Juntunen (’72): Perth, ND
Gary,
Attached are snapshots from Albert Johnson’s birthday party. It was a wonderful celebration of life. Al is suffering with pancreatic cancer and the prognosis was that he would not have this birthday. Today he is actually doing quite well, feels good and is looking forward to more birthdays!
Linda
Hackman brothers visit Mel Kuhn
Message from Mel Kuhn (’70): St. John, ND.
Gary,
I suppose that you have heard about the Riff Raff that North Dakota has been seeing quite a bit of since the big oil boom. Up here around St. John we kind of keep an eye out for these kind of people. We even had the Mexican Mafia shoot a fellow about a quarter mile down the road from me a while back. So we’ve kind of been in the habit of keeping a loaded gun kind of handy. I was just not prepared for what happened to me yesterday. I was busy working in my shop and I thought I heard a car pull up. I looked out the door and here was this shiny red pickup full of unsavory looking characters. Here it was a pickup full of Hackman’s. I had forgotten my gun in the house when I went in for lunch so I looked around for something to protect myself with and grabbed a tire iron. My dogs were going crazy when they got out of the pickup. My big old dog grabbed one of them by the leg and I saw this look come over his face like he just got a bad taste of lutefisk or something and he kind of let out a yelp and headed for the trees. I haven’t seen him since then. I hope he gets the taste out of his mouth and comes home soon. Well it didn’t turn out too bad once everything got settled down. They were just lost and a little scared. Once I got them calmed down and told them that I’d help get them straightened back around they seemed to be OK. I got a piece of paper and a pen and tried to write down directions for them but that didn’t work. So I went to the house and found a color crayon and a bigger piece of paper so I could draw them a map and they seemed to be good with that. And they say nothing interesting happens around St. John on a Monday afternoon. I was invaded by the Hackman boys, Larry Sr., Larry Jr. and Henry. I hope you guys had a good time touring the old Turtle Mountains. It sure was good seeing you and it was a good visit. You didn’t have to rush off when my wife got home, I’ve got her trained pretty well now and she hasn’t bitten anyone for a long time now. She even keeps the dishes washed up so I don’t go out and buy new ones when I run out. Later Guys.
Mel Kuhn
==========================================================================
Blog (139) posted on June 21, 2008
From Mel Kuhn (70):
Howdy Gary,
Did you know that Lola V. is a tattle tale, tattle tale? She just had to go and tell my wife about the Hamburger Helper crack. Thanks Lola! I had to share some dry dog food with my dogs for supper last night [was about the same as her Hamburger Helper]. She did give us a big bowl of water to go with it, so that helped. I hope my hands heal up fast, although I do need to loose some weight I do miss being able to scratch where,what and when I want to.
Mel Kuhn[70]
From Marshall Awalt (51):
Hi Gary
While there were pictures of the parades going around I figured I might add a couple.Red Kester and Art Sime were two of Dunseith’s finest.
Your doing a great job Gary keep up the good work.
Marshall
Art Seim
Red Kester & ???? (Need some help)
From Larry Hackman (66):
Gary
I remember attending a barn dance west of Kelvin along Highway #43 back in the sixties. These cousins of the people putting on the dance came cruising and parked in the farm yard much the same way everybody else had parked. I don’t know how the lady of the house knew they were there. But, she came rushing over into the parking area and insisted that they leave the property right now. This young man, her cousin who was about 20 years old at the time, argued with her and tried to convince her to let them stay and enjoy the dance. This lady about 30 years old at the time was’t buying what the young man was selling. She pulled back a fist and let it fly, hitting that young man so hard that she knocked him right out of his shoes. It’s hard to believe, but his shoes were left there sitting in the exact position they were in when he was standing in front of this lady and the young man was laying on the ground about 10 feet behind his shoes. Needless to say the young man grabbed his shoes and left the premises with his buddies. At least I think he picked up his shoes? Anyway, this story in the Pierce
County Tribune reminded me of this little adventure. Maybe it will jog some other memories?
Larry