PRESS
Page 4
THE WALSH COUNTY PRESS ° WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2017
FROM THE
EDITOR'S DESK...
BY ALLISON OLIMB
EDITOR, WALSH COUNTY PRESS
My fi)ur-year-old comes home
from school and I ask him how his
day was. The usual answer: "Cool!"
tie doesn't elaborate much. I
usually have no idea what he did,
what he is learning o1" who his frienlds
are. He did not get his communica-
tion skills from me.
It has been an interesting experi-
ence being a first timer at all of this.
He recently celebrated the 100th a shirt to wear with 100 googly
day of school, though it was proba- eyes on it. He and dad might have
bly a less for the preK kiddos gotten canied away with the glue as
since they had snow days each time the glue soaked through to the oth,
the busses were delayed. He was ex- er side on more than one eyeball, but
cited to celebrate though. There was it was a neat project to visualize how
a big 100 day party. I know they did- many 100 is.
n't do this kind of excitement back in It is amazing how quickly 100
my day, but it was fun to see him get days has gone by. Not every day is
excited about school in the depths of "cool" and "awesome," but he loves
winteL learning and that is really all I can ask
If you've never gotten on the 100 for.
days bandwagon, he has been learn- "Like" the H~tlsh Coun0, Press on Face-
ing how to count to 100 and he made l, ook.co,,.
ltdlo,
The wind is really whipping this
morning! And the forecast is for
gusts over 60 lnph all day long.
Now, if you are a kite-flying cham-
pion, this may not be bad news.
However, if you are a hay or cattle
hauler, this is not good.
A year o1 so ago I was on my way
to Lemmon tbr the weekly livestock
stile. Highway 22 is pretty lonely on
most mornings. Oh, with the wind
1,ran and grain haulers traveling right
now, it has picked up some. But still
relatively quiet.
Anyway, it was a windy morning.
Unlike many states, when North or
South D@otans say it is windy, it is
windy. Like a Wyoming wind. Just
north of the ,junction of 12 and 22
tl ere was a trucker hauling half a
house. You've seen them. Like the
one I live in. Welt, not really. Ours
is an entire house. Not just half.
This guy was hauling one side of
a house. Evidently he didn't read the
manual that says, "Don't haul this
house in high winds!"
The wind had ripped the plastic
covering off the side and the roof
was lilting He was busy strap-
ping and wrapping. I would have
helped but you can ask Shirley. I'm
not much help around the house, falling. It was traveling horizontal to
By the time we left the sale, it was the ground. Or parallel. Whatever.
getting dark. The tracker had gotten It was going sideways.
things sWapped down and was gone. While we were waiting for the
I would guess the buyer of the dealer, whom we wait for a lot, an
house was going to have problems intelligent discussion began. Any
in the first heaw rain. As we got discussion in our game, that does-
back to Dickilason, we caught up n't include four letter words, is
with this poor cowboy. A highway deemed intelligent.
patrolman had stopped him and Norm. Not the Norm from
was writing him up for being on the Cheers, but I think they are related,
road after dark with a wide load. began the discom e. He informed us
Welcome to North Dakota! Leg- that in Norway there was a coun-
endary! terpart to Evil Knievel. His name
A few years ago, because of was, you guessed it, Evil Knutson.
high winds, they had to cancel Evil He was the daredevil champion of
gmievels sons j ump over the Grand the country. His greatest fame was
Canyon. I was watching it with some achieved when he attempted to
very astute people over a pinochle jump over eighteen bmTels of lute-
gmne. The game of geniuses. The risk with a garden roto-tiller.
sport of kings. Actually, it is where I know. I know. It wasn't funny.
lazy people meet. I go there a lot. We didn't laugh either. But we told
Back to Evil Jl.'sjump. It was a bliz- Norm it was delivery. I guess now
zard. It looked like awinter scene in• we'll find out.
the Badlands. The snow was not Meanwhile, back at the ranch. We
spend a lot of days horseback. I
guess that's why they call it a ranch.
Most days we fide on cows. Start
colts. Leg up barrel horses. Or just
ride to get away from the phone.
I'm getting too old and fat to ride
goOd. In fact, I always was. But in
the wind, it's dam fight scary. Colts
are scared of their tails. I'm scared
of the colts. I've told you the story
of Wayne Brown betbre. The one-
eared guy. We were riding together
on a high ridge in the Badlands. A
hundred and fifty t et down either
side. And the wind was blowing like
it has this week. It started to rain a
little. Wayne put on his slicker. I was
scared to reach for mine. I was rid-
ing a green horse that had bucked me
off before. Wayne kind of implied
that I was scared. I told him I just like
being wet.
He said he was riding a bronc one
time in a storm like this and on a hill
like this. He reached back to put on
his slicker and his colt blew up and
bucked over the edge of this cliff. I
asked what happened. He said when
he got to the bottom he was wear-
ing his slicker and riding a slicker
broke horse!
He was a cowboy!
Later, Dean
.appeningsat Our
Good Samaritan
mr :a Nannette Hoeger, A .eTdvities Dir.
Please come and join us for our Feb. 12th 11 am- lpm Spud Bar,
annual Spud Bar Feb. l 2th 11 am - 2:30 Worship w/Karen Midgarden,
I pro. Free will offering and new this 3:30 Cards/Games
year gift baskets as well. Feb. 13th 10am Embroidery
::. ............ .... (!roup, .!pro Bakit g Mini Cheese
Luttieraki 3:30 Super Bowl Trivia Reveal the King and Queen of
Feb. 6th 10am Embroidery Hearts, ll:30CouplesDinner, lpm
Group, Ipin Baking Sour Cream and Crochet Group, 2pro Valentine's
Raisin Bars, 5pro Rosary, 6:45 Bin- Dace w/Teresa and the Plow Boy's
go Feb. 15th 3:15 Bingo
Feb. 7th l pm Bake Sweets Feb. 16th 3pro Phmting, 6pro
Feb. 8th l 0:15 Pen Pal visits to Ladies Night
decorate cookies, 3:15 Bingo, Vot- Feb. 17th Wear Red for your
ing sta s lot ore" King and Queen of Heart, 10:30 Nail Time, 3pro Pop-
Hearts! corn Day
Feb. 9th 3pm Birthday Party Feb. 18th 9:30 Mass, lpm First
hosted by American Legion Auxil- Ladies, 2:15 Bingo
ial3. 6pro Men's Night
Feb. 10th Wear Red for Your Thank you to our many volun-
Heart, 10:30 Nail Polish Time, 3:30 leers; Pastor Hinrichs, Shirley Sobo-
Snow Moon, 7:30 Mennonite lik, Linda Larson, DorothyNovak,
Singer's Jeanean McMillan, Johnathan,
Feb. tl th 9:30 Mass, I pm 'vhlen-- Corinne Ramsey, and anyone I may
fine Crafl, 2:t5 Bingo have missed I am sony. If you
would like to volunteer please call
Next week Feb. t2th " 18th Rose Ulland at 701-284-7115.
Prevent. Promote, Protect.
NORTH D o'r'
P EN ER $ =EW Law
Walsh County Health District
Short Shots
If*'~ i'' * ~/" "T(Tr'~ T1T IIII ~*I C1 ....
When parents m North Dakota lap only seat belts or if all lap and
were surveyed about where they shoulder belts are used by other oc-
get int0nnation on how to best re- cupants. (Booster seats require
strain their children, North Dako- both a lap and shoulder belt tbr
la law was the second most cred- correct use)
ible source of infornmtion, right • Children ages 7-17 must be
behind their health care provider, properly secured in a seat belt or
Most parents want to do the "right child restraint (car seat or boost-
thing" t br their children and they er seat).
trust the law. ° The law applies to all seating
The North Dakota Child Pas- positions-fi'ont seat and back.
senger Safety Law has not been • The driver is responsible for
updated for over 10 years, even ensuring that all occupants
though national health and safety younger than 18 are buckled up in
organizations have updated their
"'best practice" recommendations the appropriate restraint.
for buckling up children.. Watch • The penalty for violation is
this legislative session for a pro- $25 and one point against the h-
posed change in the law that will cense of the driver.
require 7 and 8 year old children Anyone that has struggled with
nde in a booster seat unless they installing or putting car safety
are 4"9" tall. This would update seats into their cars understands
the law to reflect current best that it is not easy. During the 2015
0ractice' ND Cat: Seat Checkups it was not-
ed that 65% of the car seats were
Current installed wrong with 46% in-
, Children younger than 7 are stalled too loosely in the vehicle.
required to ride in a child re-If you are a parent or grandparent
stramt (car seat or booster seat), and want to make sure you have
• A seat belt may be substitut-your car seats installed properly, or
cd chil&en younger than 7 who children restrained properly, con-
,vcigh more than 80 pounds and tact Walsh County Health District
are more than 57 (4"9") tall. to discuss this further. There is no
• A lap belt may be used by chil- cost for an evaluation of your car
dren who weigh more than 40 seat(s).
pounds who ride in vehicles with 2-2017
North Dakota Is In SAD
State of Affaim
By last count, North Dakota has speed limit and giving guns to
757,000 people and by now every man, woman and child in
757,000 cases of SAD, also thestate. All of this reflects risk
known as seasonal affective dis- taking.
order, also known as winter de- SAD is most common in the
pression. We don't get enough sun. dark Nordic countries. That ex-
It is alleged that we get around plains some of the SAD in North
60 percent of the possible sun- Dakota because we have a lot of
shine. This calculation must he those Nordics. Dark Alaska is
made by someone camped on top supposed to have the highest SAD
of White Butte in Slope County, rate of the 50 states.
elevation 3506 feet. Down here If medical marijuana survives
near the ground, that is unbeliev- the legislative makeover, it won't
able. be long until SAD will be added
SAD seems to be more preva-as one of the eligible "debilitating
lent in the Bismarck area for 80
days biennially. That siege of de- medical conditions" and nobody
pression is probably caused more in North Dakota will care if the
by dashed expectations than lack sun shines.
of sunshine. It would be helpful if we could
It is obvious that the Red Riv- shake "North" from the name of
er Valley is more depressed be- our state. Facing "North" every
cause of the sunshine deficiency, day of the year certainly gives us
In a ranking of the drunkest cities a predisposition to depression.
in America, Fargo ranks fourth and Changing the name to simply
Grand Forks 15th. That tells you "Dakota" would be uplifting for
that they're dealing with more than everyone.
high water. Back in the 1980s, Bismarck
Since the state ranks 27th in re- businessman Mylo Candee or-
ligiosity but second in binge drink- ganized a group to change the
ing, we know where SAD people name of the state. At the time, a
are turning for solace. Maybe Fargo entrepreneur by the name of
SAD is contributing to the drug Doug Burgum thought it was a
epidemic, good idea.
SAD symptoms include over- I called Candee to see if he was
sleeping, limited energy, overeat- going to revive the committee
ing and hopelessness. The hope- now that he had an inside man in
lessness occurs when the snow the Capitol.
blower breaks down in December 'Tin leavine,, it on the back
and there are still seven months of burner for now but this harsh
snow to blow. winter certainly justifies another
When it comes to obesity, look," he commented coyly.
North Dakota ranks 17th with 31 Saskatchewan and Maifitoba
percent of the population dragging would like to see the name change
extra body mass around. When po- because it would do wonders for
lar bears get in that shape, they hi- their tourism.
bernate
Other responses to depression Being so far north is SAD
include reckless behavior, risk enough but to be located above
taking and putting selves ill harem's something already called "North"
way. Of course, this could also ap- makes their location harder to
ply to most old people on their market.
way to the nursing home. They're For some folks, being home on
at the point where they have little the range "where the skies are not
to lose. cloudy all day" may be enough but
North Dakota ranks fourth in North Dakota SAD warrants more
reckless driving. These are the than a weasel-worded negative
people who favor raising the like that.
It would be helpful if we could
shake 'North' from the name of
our state. Facing 'North' every
day of the year certainly gives us
a predisposition to depression. Chang-
ing the name to simply 'Dakota' would
be uplifting for everyone.
Extension Exchange
Imagine never cooking your owncheese, fresh vegetables and dips
food. Consider a world where you with pride.
are served every meal, at your table. Serving this type of appetizer
Then, when you are finished eating, helps keep all family members from
you get up and leave to do what your digging into high-carbohydrate and
day requires of you. high-calorie foods while they wait
This is the life many of our chil- for the oven timer to sound. Health-
dren experience, at least to age 3 or ful appetizers can become the first
4. Beyond that, most children can course in a nutritious meal.
help some way in food preparation, Even young children can learn to
serving and cleanup, share the jobs and tools required in
"The Fmnily Table," an initiative cooking. They quickly realize that
of The North Dakota State Univer- putting together a meal takes in-
sity Extension Service has resources gredients and time, and people have
at www.ag.ndsu.edu/familytable to to work to make that happen. Kids
help you get your kids involved in who grow up in the kitchen will be.
family meals, gin to see connections between
The expectations for young chil- their food and its origin, including
dren might be to wash their hands the importance of taking care of the
and set some parts of the table. Or Earth and its resources. They also
children might be required to carry will leam math skills and experience
the •cold salad or ketchup to the table science first hand, right there near the
and, after the meal, carry their own kitchen sink.
dirty dishes to the sink or dish- Preschoolers who have the op-
washer. This is all under the watch- porttmity to practice working in
fill eye of the head che£ of course, the kitchen will learn to appreciate
As parents, our job is to teach our those times when someone does
children how to become respectful, serve them their dinner. It Call be a
self-sufficient adults and responsi- "first course" in learning to be a
ble citizens. The kitchen is the per- needed family member and a re-
feet place for these and many more spectful, self-sufficient, responsible
lessons. Plus, we all have to eat, so citizen.
why not make meal preparation a Eat, connect and savor at the faro-
special time to talk, laugh, enjoy ily table (w v.ag.ndsu.edu/fami-
each other's company and learnlytable). Join the challenges and sign
valuable lessons, too? up for an electronic newsletter with
Young children likely Want to be recipes and tips. Follow the program
near their favorite adults, especial- on Facebook for more tips, meal
ly around mealtime. Thiee-year- plans and ideas for getting conver-
olds who know how tear paper sations going during family meals.
will be great with the salad greens. Any questions about this column
They are also in love with stining, or something else may be directed
Perhaps healthful appetizers are to the NDSU Extension office in
your preschooler's specialty. Your Walsh Cotmty at 284-6624, or email
child can arrange and serve wheat me at: jamie.medbery@ndsu.edu. I
crackers, cheese, fruit, cottage would be glad to help!
., • , •
Walsh County Extension Office
Conservation for the
Bottom Line
Jerry Doan, owner of the Black
Leg Ranch and Aid() Leopold award.
winner in conservation from Ster-
ling, ND, Will be the featured
speaker at this event. He has made
a life out of making conservation
pay on his ranch. The Title of his talk
will be "Conservation and Diversi-
fication for the Bottom Line. He will
be speaking both belbre and after
lunch. Jerry is well known tbr his in-
novative approaches to ranchilag and
running his operation.
This workshop will held on
Wednesday, February 22 at the city
auditorium in Park River. The work-
shop will start at 9 am. The objec-
tive of this workshop is to discuss
the different opportunities for prof-
it from various practices that may be .
may be available for producers.
We are going to focns on things that
can make operators money period.
I am going to start at 9 mn talking
about the money saving advantage
of using recycled grass to cut your
fertilizer cost, improve organic mat-
ter and start building soil health. In
the day of low crop prices and
high fertilizer cost we need to the
home grown fertilizer we create
every year with livestock. I will be
discussing research done out of
Carrington, so this data is about as
local as it can get! I am also going
to be looking at best use scenarios
for land affected by flooding, salt
and erosion. We are going to look
at real Walsh County land! Maybe
returning this land to grass produc-
tion will improve both the land and
the profit potential for it. We will
also talk about the programs for pay-
ing you to do it. We will also look-
ing at the option of returning it to a
perennial forage like alfalfa. We are
always short of hay in this area.
Our rely own Justin Zahradka
will tell you about how he uses cov-
er crops in his beef operation to
make money and improve the soil.
It took me 10 year of trying but I got
my brother to plant cover crops last
year and he grazed to freeze up on
his water sources. He loved it! I am
trying to get him down but not sure
that will happen. He grazed his cows
on turnips, radishes, vohmteer M eat
and corn stubble. He saved thou-
sands of dollars on his feed bill this
past fall while still harvesting his
wheat and corn!
The North Dakota Game and fish
will talk about some of their pro-
grams. Hunting is a big industry in
North Dakota and we largely have
not taken advantage of it in this area.
Maybe hunting can generate cash
flow that will help with some living
expenses. We will round out the day
with Rita Sveen, NRCS, and
Danielle Gorder talking about some
updates and planners with the con-
servation practices available.
Conservation for too long has
been viewed as government md tape"
and costing producm's money not
building the bottom line. This is not
true at all. Saving our soil fi om wind
and water erosion does not have to
cost you anything and in the case of
the cover crop with my brother it
saved him a pile of feed when he
was critically short of it. It made the
difference between selling cattle,
buying feed or not. We can get val-
ue out of some of these dollar los-
ing acres in crop production simply
by returning them to grass and us-
ing cow's to harvest the tbrage or rant
it to your neighbors who have cows
or sell the hay. I grew up on a ranch
and understand that not evelyone is
cut out to be a cowboy or rl. I per-
sonally chose to work with our
hog operation and let nay brother
help with the cows as our main jobs
on the operation. We in North
Dakota have been taught it is much
easier to purchase fertilizer then to
analyze your manure, calibrate your
manure spreader and get free fertility
while improving the productMty for
the long tenn. You can make an ar-
gument in good times it is not
worth the effort but when every dol-
lar counts this is insane.
Dates to Remember:
2-22 Conse ation for the Bottom Line,
City Auditofimn, Park River, N.D.
9 a.m.
