Julia & Merek Petrovic talk on Food Hub

There were many local producers at the first meeting of the Anamoose Food Hub which was a pot luck held at the Anamoose Fire Hall on Sunday.  It was interesting to hear where they all were from and what they grow or market.  They were from Rolette, Rolla, Bowden, Harvey, Fessenden, Rugby, McClusky, Esmond, New Rockford, plus I missed a few.

One young couple from Fessenden raised Aronia berries.  I looked the berry up on the Internet and found they are “chocked full of antioxidants and also offer digestive help and aid in balancing blood sugar.  They are used in juices, wines, syrups, chutney and pies.”  I heard from the others about the usual vegetables being raised, but also fruits, herbs, chickens, turkeys, eggs,  a pumpkin patch, and in Rugby “T he Double Batch Made From Scratch”

where they make bread plus pizza crusts on a grill and sell to customers.

Merek and Julia Petrovic are remodeling the old Sally’s Upholstery building on Main Street for the Food Hub.  They told of how their plan to start a Food Hub has evolved.  They got financial help from the Anamoose JDA for the building and Bonnie Helm, JDA Director, has been helping them with their business plan.  Merek redid the roof, gutted the upstairs, and plans on fixing up the main floor for the Food Hub with a certified kitchen in the back where value-added products can be made.  An example would be making salsa out of tomatoes, or making jams, jellies, pickles.

Rachel Brazil spoke on the Bismarck Community Food Coop at Bismarck.  The Coop plans to open a new store in February, 2016.  They are interested in forming a partnership with the Anamoose Food Hub that would supply them with locally sourced products year round to sell in retail and use in the deli.

Many people want to make a living on gardening and the Food Hub project sounds like it could do just that for area gardeners.

Saturday, March 28^th, the Anamoose Park Board did an awesome job bringing this Easter Egg Hunt event to town.

The Park was filled with excited, smiling boys and girls of all ages ready to greet the Bunny and hunt for some special eggs filled with goodies!  The Easter Bunny arrived escorted by the Anamoose Fire Department and greeted kids with waves and a very big smile.  The kids had an opportunity to get up close and personal with the firefighters and the equipment.  How exciting for them to sit at the steering wheel and blow the siren!

The SADD Members, supervised by Kim Meckle, from Anamoose-Drake High School assisted in all the activities of the day in the Park and at the VFW.   Members present were:  Elizabeth Rotherham, Kailey Lemer, Lee Reinowski, Colton Martin, Pete Buri, Tyler Duchsherer, Jackson Rudnick; Hannah Lemer, Austin Schatz, Kenzie Volochenko, Levi LemerThey were great with the kids, but doing so much more.  They all stepped in where needed setting up, cleaning up and keeping the excitement of the event going.  Great job SADD!

A tasty lunch was served at the VFW Hall followed by cake walks, raffles, more dancing, visits with the Bunny and so much fun was had by all.  

Shania Martin from Anamoose and Jade Uhlich from Drake both found the eggs that contained the bike tickets and both took shiny new bikes home.

No one was actually counting heads, but an educated estimate was there were about 200 + people having fun in the Park and at the VFW for the indoor activities.   There are rumors that the event could become annual!  Everyone liked the idea of looking forward to another spring event in the Park!

It was great fun and the Park Board did a great job in putting this fun for the community together and raising funds for the playground equipment at the same time.

The Bunny took time to pose with the Park Board members present:  Karissa Gahner, Kim Meckle, Lori Schmaltz and Torrie Dosch.

Most people know that May brings with it two of the biggest holidays of spring: Mother’s Day and Memorial Day.  However, if you’re looking for a celebration in May, you don’t have to wait very long after the month begins because May 1st is a holiday, too.

May 1 is known as Loyalty Day in the U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower declared May 1 Loyalty Day in the fall of 1958, amid the Cold War and the Red Scare, and it effectively replaced May Day in the country. Every president since then has issued a presidential proclamation for Loyalty Day on May 1 to “reaffirm our allegiance to the United States of America and pay tribute to the heritage of American freedom,” according to President Barack H. Obama’s Loyalty Day proclamation.

After the performance comes the treats!

Ready for Bingo!

Sun was shining brightly, just the gentlest of breezes blowing by the way and a good day for a gathering!  A very nice crowd gathered for a Loyalty Day observance Friday, May 1st at the VFW Hall.  Everyone was greeted at the door with a bouquet of Poppies and a welcoming smile.  Musical entertainment was provided by the 6th Grade class from Anamoose-Drake Elementary school, led by Mrs. Holler.

Judy Buchholz Frueh, of Martin, author of “Laughing Solo” and “To Be a Hannah” also gave an inspiring presentation, followed by Bingo games and a lovely lunch.  Everyone that was lucky at Bingo took home a beautiful plant.

It was a good day to be an American in a small community on the plains in central North Dakota USA.

Anamoose Café owner, Connie Rudnick, serving breakfast.

What do you see when you walk into or drive by Anamoose?

“If you are like many of us, you see a place that offers you goods and services, a place you can go to and get what you want,” says Glenn Muske, the North Dakota State University Extension Service’s rural and agribusiness enterprise development specialist.

Even though we don’t have a large number of businesses you may see the economics surrounding the businesses.  Small businesses mean contributions to the local economy and jobs.  In many rural areas, new businesses may mean an empty space in a struggling downtown is filled.  Yet they mean so much more.  They often form the cornerstone of local communities.

What this means is that small businesses are many times the first in line to support local projects.  Not only do they donate money, but the business owners contribute time by working at special events or fundraisers.

The owners aren’t the only ones, however.  Their employees get involved in these local activities as well.

“But it doesn’t stop there,” says Bonnie Helm, McHenry County Job Development Authority Director.  “Our local business owners and their employees are involved in leadership roles, formal and informal, elected  and volunteer, private and nonprofit, throughout the community.”

In practically al of the small communities in North Dakota, small-business owners and their employees also help with the emergency response teams: fire, ambulance, and disaster response.

Small-business owners recognize the community is their home and don’t hesitate to step up with support.

May 4-8 is Small Business Week in the U.S. this year.  Take the time to stop by your local businesses and say “thanks” for all they do.

Today’s Minot Daily News headline “Weird Weather Weekend” best describes what we had in Anamoose on Sunday.  It started out with about 3 inches of rain that turned to snow later on in the day.  In checking with others we had somewhere between 5 and 8 inches of snow.  Many tree branches were down around town.  Pictured is a large branch broken off in William Piper’s yard. 

Then last night (Monday) the temperature went down to 27.  Even the weeds were drooping this am.  Hopefully the crops and perennial flowers like the lilacs survived the cold overnight temp.

This all comes after several week of reasonably nice weather.  This past week on a walk around town I saw the flowering crab trees  blooming.

Anamoose will have its first Old Settler’s Days on August 14-16celebrating our German, Russian, & Slavic Heritage on Friday,August 14-Sunday, August 16.  This is sponsored by MainStreams to raise funds for restoring the 1909 Historic Bank.  A committee is working to plan for this 3 day event and have come up with the following ideas:

• Dinner Theatre comedy depicting the early 1900’s ‘way’ of “Finding a Wife”.
• Early 1900’s carnival activities and atmosphere
• German-Russian Breakfast & Scandinavian Breakfast
• Early crafters demonstrations: spinning, candle making, blacksmithing, carrier pigeons, more
• Pioneer Parade
• Ethnic foods and baked goods for sale
• Petting Zoo and Lasso Spinning for youngsters
• Much more

Contact BHelmLake@gondtc.com or go to http://www.anamoose.com for more information.

(Back row)Mark, Bryan, Sharon, Ken, Robert,  Dennis(Front row)  Lisa, Lawrence, Tillie, Donna

Sunday I was invited to Lawrence Reinowski’s 90th birthday celebration at his daughter Donna English’s home east of Harvey.  All 8 children and 12 of their 15 grandchildren were able to attend.

Lawrence has farmed ever since he was old enough to work in the field plowing with horses.  Lawrence and Tillie will be married 60 years in October.

David Gienger

There are 4 other Anamoose citizens that are 90 and older. Hope I have them all.  David Gienger had his 90th birthday May 26th.  Connie Rudnick posted his birthday on Facebook and there were 109 birthday wishes.  Since retiring from farming for himself he has helped Richard Bartz. David lives in the Anamoose Housing.

Mary Dockter

Mary Dockter is 92 years old.  She still makes quilts with neckties sewn onto background squares.  Her family furnished her with the neckties..

Ruth Ammon

Ruth Ammon turned 90 March 17th.  She still is active with yard work, making quilts with her daughter Merilly, and helps her daughter Connie at the café.  Ruth said that her 18 grandchildren will get quilts this year.

Matt Sieg

Matt Sieg is 93 years old.  He farmed east of Anamoose, but now lives in the Anamoose Housing with his wife Helen.  He still goes out most days to help his son Tom.

All 5 of this 90 and older group have lived in the Anamoose area all their lives.

Sorry, but I made a big error!  David Gienger is 94.  I knew that too, but my typing finger didn’t connect with my brain. 

Derek McClintock

I had heard they were putting new linoleum at the school, but when I went there today I found all kinds of activity.  I first hunted for Tom’s Home Furnishing’s flooring crew.

Ryan Engen, Quincy Marchand & Randy Vetter

Randy Vetter, and his crew of 5 from Harvey are putting linoleum down in all the classrooms and halls.  They started on Monday, June 8th and figure it will be 6 weeks before they are done.  The crew consists of Randy Vetter (Flooring Technician), Derek McClintock, Ryan Engen, Quincy Marchand, and (not pictured) Spencer Marchand, and Brent Wagner.

Tan Blueprint commercial vinyl

In the north school section I found the H. A. Thompson & sons crew that is installing new unit ventilators, air conditioning, temp controls, and boiler pumps.  All the school rooms except the office, gym and shop will have a heating and air conditioning unit.  This project will take several weeks.

Crew boss Marc Beyer of Minot

(left) Weston Grade from south of Drake & Kasey Boucher from Drake

As I was ready to leave the north end I came upon the new Anamoose grade principal Melissa Melaas painting her office.  Now that is a good way to get the color you want!

Melissa Melaas

Before I left  I quizzed Superintendent Steve Heim on the new school addition.  The school board just voted to add a new Day Care and PreK.  The 50×30 addition will be on the east where the buses are now parked and will match the old school.   Heringer Lumber got the bid and Becker Construction will put the building up.  Plans are to start construction in the fall, but the plumbing and heating can’t be done till later.

Sleeping in?  Not for these 11 grade kids that are taking part in the 21st Century School Program.  this is the 4th year for the program that is an after school program and extended into the summer.  The 9am-12 noon program includes Monday baking for snacks for the week, reading, gardening, educational games, and observing holidays among other activities.

The program had to be moved to the Drake school this summer because of all the improvements being made at the Anamoose school (see previous blog).  Instructors are 3rd grade teacher Karissa Gahner, 2nd grade teacher Brittany Bromley, 1st grade teacher Julie Fahy and teacher’s aid Kristin Reinowski who just finished her first year at Mayville State College.  Deb Reinowski is a volunteer who provides the space and time.  When I arrived at her farm she was explaining how to hill the potatoes so they don’t poke out and turn green and what tools to use in the garden.  The plan for the morning was to hill, weed, pick radishes, and lettuce and dead  head the flowers.

One of  the 2 huge gardens had rows of perennial  flowers intermingled with the vegetable rows.  Seeds are furnished by NDSU Seed Trial.  Deb has to fill out the paper work for the trials.  New seeds this year are kale, pole beans, red sweet corn, and Scarlet Runner beans that are flowers as well as edible beans.

On 06/22/15, Alyce & Mardi welcomed 3 new families to Anamoose.

Our first stop was at the home of Ashley Pine, Travis Washburn and their 1 year old daughter Savannah.  They moved to Anamoose from Velva for housing as their home in Velva was very small.  They both are employed at the C-Store in Velva.  They claim not to have any time for hobbies at this time in their lives as they are busy working and raising their cute little girl.  They have a new puppy and kitten which sure keeps Savannah laughing and playing with them.

Our next stop was at the home of Nick & Lyndsay Wilson and their 2 children Alexander (3), and Lily (1).  They come to Anamoose from Corcoran, Minnesota.  Their cousin also moved here a few years ago.  Jobs bring them to ND.  Nick currently has 3 jobs in Harvey.  He works at Spectators, Americana Motel, and Hornbachers Café in Harvey.  Lyndsay is kept busy caring for the children, moving in, and finding a place for everything.  She plans to take on more homemaking duties after she gets everything organized.  She mentioned baking bread, canning, jelly making, etc.  Nick likes to fish when he gets time off.

Our 3rd home was a bit in the country.  Edward & Tammy Scherman moved into Lawrence Zuther’s farm and are loving it!  They were busy planting a vegetable garden, trees, bushes, flowers and grape vines.  They have new flower gardens and have cut down many dead trees.  They also have chickens and are planning to get a goat or two.  They moved here from Minot and Edward works for BNSF.  Their original residence was Montana.  Tammy retired from her job as a currier bringing packages to this area for many years.  She loved the area and was looking for a place like this on her travels.
Their hobbies include gardening and yard work.  They were hard at the yard work when we arrived.  We can’t wait to see all their plans for their property take shape – they have a good start to say the least!

As I headed for the café on Thursday I saw the 4 petunia flower pots  are up on Main St. intersections and there are 9 hanging petunia baskets up and down Main St.  Jerry Helm has again volunteered to water the flowers.   This is quite a job, as he has to do it daily.

At the café there were people coming and going to get in on the daily buffet.  After you get filled up on the buffet you get a dish of soft serve ice cream with topping.  Um-good!

I finally remembered to take my camera when I went down to the Greenhouse to get some perennials. It is getting late in the planting season, but Mike Schmaltz still has some beautiful flowers at 25% off.

It was a perfect Sunday summer evening for the Anamoose Fireman’s potluck picnic in the park.  All current and past members as well as directors, sponsors and families were invited.  Firemen grilled hamburgers, hot dogs and donated fish, so along with all the salads, desserts, etc there was LOTS of food.

(back) Keith, Kevin
(front) Brenda, Deb
Reinowski

Left-Nathan Martin, Dean Martin, Clarence Lemer

Kevin, Debbie, Keith and Brenda Reinowski donated the most fish.  Dean and Nathan Martin and Clarence Lemer were the next highest group to donate fish.  Dean caught the largest walleye on Sunday at 2 lb. 5 oz.

Dean Martin

Jeff Lemer is the Anamoose Fire Chief with Jason Mann and Dean Martin as assistants.  The Fire Dept. could use a few more firemen to fill their quota of 30.

Jeff Lemer, Fire Chief

New Windows

It has been a busy week at the Anamoose Housing Apartments!  The tenants are getting new windows, and to prepare for new siding coming soon, the shrubs in the front of the building have been removed. Everyone living at 507 3rd Street West is happy and grateful for the improvements being made on their behalf.  Both Stan & Norma Martin were on deck sprucing up, pulling weeds, raking rock and pleading with me not to take a picture.

Shrubs removed!

LOOKING GOOD!!

Frank Ewert & Crew busy installing new windows

It almost looks like they are ordering a burger and fries!

Seven women from Anamoose joined others to spend a few hours on Sunday, July 26th at the Petrovic farm.  We had a great time touring the farm and seeing the animals.  We started out eating freshly baked Russian Blyny with jams or chocolate and lemonade-always a good way to start a tour!

We were surprised at the number of gardens Julia and Merek have, as well as the varieties of vegetables, fruits, and spices.  No commercial fertilizer is used.  They are very knowledgeable about all the produce they grow.  An intern is staying with them, but she had a family gathering on Sunday.

Barbara Helm with goats

Merek chased the mother cow and her twins, goats, sheep, chickens, and ducks out of the barn, plus we saw a bunny rabbit in a cage.

The whole family is involved in the tour, especially the stand where they sell tour tickets, flowers, and their mother’s baked goods.  We were unable to stay for the games and music due to a prior commitment.  I would recommend to take advantage of this tour that will continue from 4-8pm every Sunday through August 30th.

Bin complete except for conveyors

Arthur Co-Anamoose just put up a new 285,000 bushel bin just west of their 7 smaller bins.  All that is left to do is put up conveyor belts on the top and bottom.  The crew from Wasta, a South Dakota company, put up the bins in about 3 weeks.

The bin is 78 feet in diameter and 24 rings high or approximately 80-90 feet tall.

Jeff Lemer, the station manager, stated “This bin will greatly increase the space for harvest” which is good news for our farming community.

Today I could hear chain saws and heavy equipment cleaning up the mess from the high winds that blew through Anamoose last evening.  Winds up to 50 plus miles an hour can cause a lot of damage to trees.

Okie cleaning up tree

Mike Schmaltz at work

Joey and Amber Fisher said the tree in their front yard broke in half about 8:30pm Tuesday with half falling to the south and half falling across the street blocking it off.  Pictured is Okie Thompson with the help of Mike Schmaltz cutting up and hauling the tree away.

A tree on the east school lot broke off, but Okie had already cleaned that up by afternoon.  A large evergreen in the park was pulled out of the ground by the high winds.

Jerry and Barbara Helm had 2 trees down in their yard.  One fell on their roof giving them a good scare, but about an hour later it slid off.  The tree in the back yard broke in half about 10 ft. above the ground.  Today Mark Engen and Andy Melton can over to help them clean up their yard.

As I went around town I saw people cleaning up for their friends and neighbors.  Bob Becker was out last evening and early this morning raking up Emanuel Kesler’s yard which is across the street from him.  This afternoon Ron Cartwright and family were getting rid of branches in Dennis and Phyllis Zimmerman’s yard and Emanuel Kesler’s empty lot west of Zimmerman’s.

Barbara Helm summed it up very well.  “When there is a disaster the best of people comes out”.

The 2015 Anamoose Area Community Foundation grants were handed out on Sunday at the Anamoose Senior Center during the Sunday Brunch.

Five grants were given out to the following non-profit organizations:

Steve Heim, left, accepting Little Raider’s grant from Joe Weninger

$3000 Little Raiders Daycare-building

Jacque Reis accepting Park Board grant from Joe Weninger

$2500 Anamoose Park Board-playground equipment

Ron Carwright, right, accepting Senior Center grant from Joe Weninger

$1000 Anamoose Senior Center-roof repair

Bill Goodwin, right, accepting Senior Citizen grant from Joe Weninger

$1000 Senior Meals & Services-matching funds for senior meals

Bonnie Helm accepting grant for MainStreams

$400 MainStreams-replace hot water heat registers

Over $34,000 has been given out in grants to Anamoose non-profit organizations since 2009.  In the past, donations have also been given to: the Fire Dept. for equipment and building , the City of Anamoose for sidewalks, Anamoose Housing for improvements and Anamoose Civic Club for summer rec. program.

“She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy”

Anamoose is hosting a Dinner Theatre on August 14 and 15 during Old Settlers Days.  The Dinner Theatre, held at the VFW Hall, will begin at 6:30 pm with a fine dining German dinner followed by the comedy theatre production: “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy.”

The play is based on Germans from Russia living in central North Dakota during the early 1900’s.  The comedy was written by two of the actors in the play.

The OSD (Old Settlers Days) Players include LeRoy Becker, Maurie Becker, Bonnie Helm, and Julia Petrovic, all from Anamoose and three of them are AHS alumni; George Helm from Minot and Steve Dockter from Rugby, both of whom are AHS alumni; and Deb Forschen and Julie Muscha from Harvey.

Their director is Kim Meckle, an Anamoose-Drake English teacher who has been taking her high school Thespians all the way to State competitions in recent years.

After the comedy production there will be vocal entertainment.  And on Saturday night, there will be a free Street Dance.  $25 per ticket buys the fine dining German dinner, the theatre production, vocal entertainment, and your first libation of beer or wine free.

There is limited seating, so it is important to reserve your seats early.  You can do that by booking them online at Anamoose.com and then clicking Old Settlers Days, which will take you to the seating chart and instructions to buy your tickets.  You may also call 701-850-4217 to buy/reserve your seats.

Schedule of Activities_2015_FNL_080115

Many people were out camping on Saturday, but 7 of us were busy painting and improving Main Street in Anamoose.  The workers were:  Barb Helm, Phyllis Zimmerman, Neva Ripplinger (Phyllis’s granddaughter), Scott Knutson, Annette Kost,  Bonnie Helm and myself.

We painted the front of the old bar building on the east side of the street and some windows on several other buildings.  Lace curtains were also hung in some windows of vacant buildings.

On a sad note-someone stole the hanging basket by the Senior Center.  I think that is pretty low of someone to do that after all the work that Jerry Helm does every day with watering them through all this wind and heat.

Bonnie Helm, Phyllis Zimmerman (behind Annette), Annette Kost, & Neva Ripplinger

The Anamoose Area Community Foundation is again holding a cash raffle to raise money for grants to non-profit organizations in the Anamoose area.  Tickets are $10 each with only 500 sold.  There are 20 chances to win between $50 and $550 for a total of $2500 given out. 

Tickets can be purchased from AACR members:  Norma Martin, Joe & Rose Weninger, Julie Fahy, Phyllis Zimmerman, Dick Hauser, Shurley Nitz, and Alyce Heer.  They also can be purchased at the First State Bank-Anamoose Branch, Heringer Lumber Yard, Anamoose Senior Center, and KB Bar.  The Drawing will be Sunday, December 6th at the Anamoose Senior Center at 10:30am.

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