Alyce and I met the Greens today, 12/19/13. They moved here from Michigan. David & Pat have a son in town along with his wife and children
, the main reason for the move to Anamoose. They raised 3 children and have 12 grandchildren and one great grandchild. They are retired and after David’s recent health problems improved he is looking for a part-time job with the city. Their hobbies include walking, deer hunting and fishing.
The last couple of mornings Janice Buchholz & I walked at the school gym. It was too darned cold outside with way below O temps.
Thursday morning we discovered the kitchen all wrapped up. Carol Martin, custodian, as part of her “12 Days of Christmas” had put wrapping paper on the two doors, front of the serving counter, refrigerator, & even the back entry to the kitchen.
The colorful paper went well with the brightly colored walls that head cook Barbie Martin had painted last summer. Barbie & Cheryl Linardon, assistant cook, told me that Carol had been presenting them with daily prank gifts such as a pot holder one day, a second one the next day, red aprons, etc.
With much encouragement I got Carol to pose in front of the brightly colored hallway at the school.
I was so impressed on Saturday, December 28th when I peeked in the VFW Hall & saw the beautiful decorations for Christy & Fred Hase’s reception. Dorothy Kesler had told me she was making a chandelier out of 2 hula hoops & large Christmas balls. She did wonders with tables & other ceiling decorations.
Dorothy has done wedding receptions & church for 30 years since she first started decorating for family receptions. Claudia Isaac has helped her for the last 17-18 years.
The banner was made by Keith Reinowski.
Everette & Greyson Becker
Greyson & Frosty the Snowman
Lacy Becker & upside down snowman
Years (& years!) ago when my kids went to the Anamoose school it was rare for school attendance to change once school started. But this year our Anamoose Grade School started out with 97 students, & now there are 104 students.
As Mary Beck,Business Manager, said “It fluctuates a lot this year-a couple in & a couple out, a couple in, a couple out”. 
The largest class is Miss Hilzendeger’s 5th grade class at 22 students. It has increased 3 since last year. Mrs. Heim said that her 4th grade class has had 1 student leave & now has 3 new students.
Steve Heim, Superintendent
Lois Rott, Foster Grandparent
Kristin Reinowski placed second at the state level of Voice of Democracy. Her essay won first at the local & district level before placing second at the state level. Kristin won $200; & then $300 plus a plaque at the state level.
This annual audio contest is sponsored by the VFW with the theme for this year “Why I’m Optimistic About Our Nation’s Future”.
The following is her essay:
Why am I optimistic about our Nation’s Future?
“Few things in the world are more powerful than a positive push. A smile.
A world of optimism & hope. A ‘you can do it’ when things are tough.” Richard M DeVos
I am a person who loves quotes and when looking for ideas for this essay I found this one and it really struck me. I really try to be a positive person and most of the time I think I succeed in doing so. When thinking about what to write for this essay a lot of negative thoughts popped into my mind, even though, as I said before, I believe myself to be a more positive person. There is a lot of negative going on in our country, but we, as Americans, have to be optimistic enough to know that we are a resilient nation and will bounce back.
Even though our nation has gone through some negative, such as being in debt and the government shut down, we can, and will bounce back into something positive. I can be optimistic about our nation’s future because of several factors. We are a free country with many rights and privileges that many other countries are not afforded. We have technology in a wide variety of fields with more advancements being made daily. Communication such as social networking sites and internet make the world more accessible for personal, professional, and political growth. These advancements are convenient but not necessary. However, our basic needs such as clean, running water , power sources, and quality agriculture products are also being maintained. We, as a country, have arisen from a Civic War, a Great Depression, and 9/11 and come out stronger in the end. As Kelly Clarkson would say, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
Some of our nation’s optimism shows in the prosperity and jobs being developed. Many of these workers move from states with struggling economies with hopes and dreams of making things better for themselves and their families. They see the positives that moving offers with their own personal sacrifice of leaving their families, previous careers, or businesses. I got to see this while talking to a man who left his home state in the hopes of making life better for him and his family. He drives a truck for an oil company and told me how good it has been for him and his family to move to where he could find a job.
Our nation’s optimism starts with us. In order to be optimistic about our nation, we first have to be optimistic about ourselves and our life. We, as students, put our optimism to the test everyday with school, sports, and several other activities. As a future high school graduate, I look forward to the changes and challenges of my future and our nation’s future. I just have to keep reminding myself that a positive attitude is so much better than a negative one and that bad is bound to happen, but we need to have faith and believe that everything will get better. Just as I opened my essay with a quote I will close my essay with a different one. In the words of Jack Layton,
“My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.”
Barb Martin
Lowell Dusek
I had a fun trip this afternoon going out north of Anamoose to see Keith Reinowski’s new business location. In January Keith moved his business onto his farm 4 miles north & 1 3/4 miles west of Anamoose. Keith built the building 3 years ago with the intention of eventually moving his business there.
Keith started his business in his garage in Harvey on April 1st, 2001. He moved the business to Martin in 2002.
To help customers find his business he has put up 4 signs with directions from Anamoose & Drake. Pictured is the sign that will go up north of Drake.
Angie Mack has worked part-time for Keith for 8 years. They make all kinds of signs for towns, custom farm machinery, mirrors, political signs, vehicle accessories, & banners (wedding, graduation, etc) & business cards. Keith showed me these personalized clocks you can order in any color. 
When I asked about where customers are from Angie said that they even shipped as far as the tip of Texas. Some signs go by train & some by UPS. Keith remarked they “make lots of stuff for Seed & Agricultural Companies. Word of mouth is our biggest advertiser”.
The yellow & red Welcome to Anamoose signs that are north, east, & south of Anamoose were made by Midwest Graphics & Signs. Joe & Ana Moose that stand next to the large sign at the south Anamoose entrance were also made by Angie & Keith. Angie designed Ana while Pam Heim designed Joe. Keith installs 80-90% of the signs he makes.
Most of the business is done by telephone & on-line where designs can easily be emailed to the customers.
To find out more about Midwest Graphics & Signs go to: www.midwestgraphicsandsigns.com
By the long line of people lined up before 5pm on Sunday for the annual St. Martin’s Lutheran Church potato feed, I could tell it was going to be a success. It was 70 minutes before there was a break in the line.
I counted 14 potato toppings, 20 salads and 20 desserts, so no-one should have gone home hungry.
This has become a popular annual event that people look forward to in March.
Pictured is (back)Chris holding Greyson, Lacy, LeRoy, (front) Everett & Kathy.
I found out that Becker Chopping is a family business. Almost 6 years ago Chris Becker & his father LeRoy purchased a 12 row corn chopper. They have been doing custom corn chopping in about a 90 mile area.
Lacy Becker ( Chris’ wife) says she gets to drive the truck. Kathy (Leroy’s wife) is the babysitter & the “lunch lady”.
Just because it was cold out last evening that didn’t stop the senior citizens from coming out for the monthly social at the Senior Center. It started out with members showing their treasures & telling why they were important to them. 
Pictured is Lois Rott with a wedding gift that Harold & Lois received in 1961 from the County superintendent Nettie Thorsen. Lois also had cards from Nettie that she sent every anniversary for the next 30 years till her death.
Emanuel Kessler loves Studebaker cars & showed his 1951 Studebaker Land Cruiser that was the biggest car made at that time.
The evening continued with lunch, cards & dominos.
The last 2 pictures were taken at the café this morning. This group of women meet monthly to celebrate birthdays of the month. We were celebrating Tillie Reinowski’s birthday. Connie Rudnick decorates the table with fancy napkins & tablecloth. Pictured are: (back) Alyce Heer, Janice Buchholz, Shirley Nitz, Dorothy Peerboom, Fern Reinowski, LaDonna Goodwin, Barb Martin. (front) Mardi Helm, Lyla Dockter, Barb Zuther, Tillie Reinowski, & Lois Rott. (Norma Martin is missing).
I couldn’t leave out a picture of the men that usually get together at 8am.
At the Anamoose Area Community Foundation meeting Monday evening our committee set the 2014 grant application dates for June 1st to June 30th. This is open to all 501c3 organizations in the Anamoose area. Grant applications are available on line at www.ndcf.net/anamoose
This year approximately $7000 will be given out in grants. Over the past 5 years we have given out over $20,000 to organizations that benefit Anamoose.
The fund-raising goal for 2014 remains at $10,000 as it has been since 2009. We have succeeded in reaching our goal every year.
We plan to have our 6th annual corn feed in August.
The officers for the coming year are as pictured:
Left: Alyce Heer, President:; Joe Weninger, Vice President; Shirley Nitz, Secretary/Treasurer
Last week Bonnie Helm was an award recipient at the YWCA Women of Distinction Awards banquet. Bonnie was honored in the Rural category.
In addition to her job as McHenry County Job Development Authority director, Bonnie has been active in our Anamoose community. She is on the City Council (only the 2nd women to serve on the council), Chairman of MainStreams LLC (Save the Bank), Chairman for 2015 Anamoose German/Scandinavian Heritage Days, & was Chairman for the Anamoose All-School Reunion 100th Anniversary, 2011.
Yesterday I saw the 5th grade students out walking & picking up some liter along the way. I talked them into stopping long enough to have their picture taken.
Aaron Loff, Phy. Ed teacher, said that all 6 grades had been out walking. This is in celebration of Earth Day. It looked like they were having a lot of fun.
Alyce and I welcomed Scott & Briana Ayward and their 2 children Keegan (12 1/2) and Gavin (9). They moved here from Seattle, Washington. They came here for housing and work. They also have friends living next door. Scott works for Home Depot in Minot and Briana works for Walmart. They say their hobbies are the kids and animals who keep them busy. The boys like to ride bike and love the Anamoose Public School System. Scott has many plans for the remodeling and updating the home they are living in and plan to purchase it. Painting the outside will be done the first change this spring/summer.
The Anamoose VFW auxiliary had their annual cancer fund-raiser today with a rummage, craft, bake sale & lunch.
Pictured is the Senior Citizen’s quilt that is being raffled off. Second prize is a jacket & 3rd, 4th, 5th, & 6th prizes are table runners. On the right side of the table are the Anamoose Heritage cookbooks sold by MainStreams LLC. The cookbook has over 300 recipes of residents from Anamoose & nearby towns, family members, & alumni. The books are for sale for $15 & can be purchased at 1st State Bank & KB’s Bar.
This military quilt was not for sale. Barb Nolden (Anamoose alumni) was showing her quilt that has rank & military patches. She will be giving it to her sister Jackie’s grandson, Joe Toth. It has patches from her brothers & other family members. Several served in Viet Nam & Iraq. The center row is Joe’s patches except the top patch was his dad’s-Chris Toth. Pictured are (left) Janice Buchholz & Barb Nolden (quilter) holding up the quilt.
Mike Borgen comes to Anamoose from Minot. He has lived in various ND communities but chose Anamoose because it is a quiet, small town with fair housing prices. He is working on his home on Main Street with multiple updates inside and his shed in the back which will eventually house his pigeons. We were intrigued and asked many questions regarding his hobby of raising pigeons and racing them. Mike also likes to fish and has a boat ready to go. Mike plans to call his business “THE LOFT”, which will consists of renting of white doves released at weddings and special occasions, and selling antique books & toys which will be done mostly on-line.
I made my annual fun trip to Schmaltz’s Greenhouse this am. Mike Schmaltz (owner), Torie Dosch, & Brittney Schmaltz were rushing around putting the cold weather plants like cabbage back outside after the snow & cold weather we just had.
Tomorrow is their official opening day. Their schedule will be 9am-8pm Monday-Friday, 9am-6pm Saturday & 12 noon-6pm Sunday.
Mike says there aren’t any really new flowers this year, but he has many new pots & decorations. Pictured is: Brittney (holding her brother Brady’s new puppy, Rusty) & Mike Schmaltz.
Thursday was a beautiful day when KMOT came to Anamoose to video & interview for a small town spotlight on Channel 10 “ND TODAY”. This show is on every week day from 9-10 am. It is an honor to be chosen for this. Bottineau & Rugby have been featured so far.
Mike Schmaltz getting ready for interview
Theresa Hoke getting her microphone on.
Ted Mertz by 2 houses he is remodeling.
Mike Borgen by his homing pigeon cage.
We had 5 excellent interviews with Anamoose residents: Mike Schmaltz, Bonnie Helm, Theresa Hoke, Ted Mertz, & Mike Borgen plus my neighbor Hunter Street did some skate boarding on our newly paved streets.
I will post when the interview will air. I was told it would be some time towards the end of May.
See the following article for why Anamoose is a great place to live.
When I travel people ask me where I live. When I tell them I live in Anamoose ND, a small town of approximately 250 people, they look at me as if to say “Why would you want to live there”. So I want to list some advantages to living in Anamoose:
I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea that I am proud of our community. But if you have any ideas on how we can improve just let me know. We are always looking for good ideas.
