Ryder News June 25, 2015

Ryder News for June 25, 2015

   There will be no bingo for the month of July as the regular bingo night falls on the 4th of July weekend.

Cancer Survivor banquet L-R: Kenny Bradley, Roger Nogosek, Lois Nogosek. Credit for picture given to Minot Daily News and Tendar Tsering

   Sunday evening June 14th Kenny and I along with Roger and Lois Nogosek attended the annual Cancer Survivors honorary dinner which is sponsored by the American Cancer Society that was held at the Grand Hotel in Minot. Cancer survivors from as long ago as 25 plus years were in attendance. We had a nice little meal and were entertained by a lady from Hankinson, ND who works with the nuns there. She is a 3 time cancer survivor, twice with breast cancer and once with a very aggressive form of leukemia. She had a stem cell transplant to battle the last one and had to spend many months at Mayo.

Makoti Women who celebrated Sally Bruns 85th birthday: L-R: Joyce Pank, Lue Schenfisch, Kitty Ann Olson, Sally Bruns, Doris Ann Zieman, Maria Bigelow

    Last week a group of Makoti women drove to Bismarck to visit Sally Bruns at Edgewood to celebrate her 85th birthday. The ladies that went were, Maria Bigelow, Kitty Ann Olson, Joyce Pank, Luella Schenfisch and Doris Ann Zieman. Bonnie Schenfisch was unable to join them. These ladies have been getting together on birthdays since their kids were little.
   That same morning the women toured the Heritage Center there. When they arrived at the Heritage Center, they ran into Doug Wurtz who offered to show them around and tell them some history of each area. Doug is associated with the N.D. Archaeological Association.

Ralph Hjelmstad

   We just received word that Ralph “Waldo” Hjelmstad a 1944 Ryder High graduate passed away on June 16 due to complications of advanced dementia. Ralph was born on July 16, 1926 to John and Marit Hjelmstad in Ryder, ND. He is survived by siblings Lester, Dagmar and Wendell. He is also survived by daughters Ann Hollmann, Gail Dragoo, Melissa Hardy, 4 grandchildren, 2 great and 2 step great-grandchildren. In 2008 he lost Mary Jo, his beloved wife of 58 years. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, June 27, 2015 at 2:00 at Resurrection Lutheran Church, 4930 E. Greenway Road, Phoenix, AZ 85254. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Resurrection Lutheran Church at the above address. Our sympathy goes out to his family.

“Elvis” Kenneth Opsal and Sue Bradley with the famous scarf around my neck!

Johnny McGrath singing at Hiddenwood Picnic wearing that “Elvis” scarf

   The highlights of our weekend were the Hiddenwood Picnic and spending time at the lake in our camper. Both were loads of fun!

   There were 125 people attending the Hiddenwood picnic this year. Shane Larson had the honor of being the Master of Ceremonies. The main entertainment was Elvis played by Kenneth Opsal. Johnny McGrath (my grandson) also sang a few little songs. “Elvis” sang a song to me and put his signature scarf around my neck. I will have to save it forever! “Elvis” also had his picture taken with some of his fans!
   There were kid’s races and also the money toss where coins are tossed into tall grass on the ground and the kids get to hunt for and keep what they find!
   Everyone that attended the picnic received a door prize and then of course a person was also able to purchase tickets for a $1 each to try their luck at winning a fantastic prize. My name was actually drawn (surprise) and I won an electric table top grill from Verendrye Electric.  Staci McGrath had her name drawn for a 4 place setting of dinnerware from Conlin’s Furniture.
 

4 generation Magandy picture. L-R: Grace Magandy, Alvin Magandy, Chris Magandy, Kaylee Magandy

     I received a 4 generation picture from Joetta Magandy. Great–Grandmother, Grace Magandy of Ryder; Grandfather, Alvin Magandy of Douglas; Father, Chris Magandy of Garrison; and his daughter Kaylee Magandy.

    Olive Boots is celebrating her 87th birthday by having a get-together at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church (3705 11th St. SW) in Minot starting at 4 p.m. on June 27th.

   For the past 100 years, the Mueller farm, located 2.5 miles southeast of Ryder has been owned by a Mueller, making it an official North Dakota Centennial Farm.  To celebrate the event, and thank the people of Ryder for their support over the years, the Mueller’s are having a little party (maybe a big party) at the farm on Saturday, August 22nd.  Things will get going in the afternoon, and continue well into the night with the band “Highway 6” performing. There will be several out-of-state Mueller’s coming to Ryder for the event, and the Mueller’s are looking for houses, rooms and/or campers to rent for that weekend. If you have some type of lodging near Ryder for a Mueller or two (most are well-behaved) please contact either Kirby (701.340.5172) or Gus (701.223.7474). To find out more about the Mueller Clan and their party, go to: kmueller87.wix.com/muellercentennial.

   Happenings in and around Ryder:
     A special musical concert with Brian Besser and family will be held at Calvary Church on Sunday, June 28th at 7 p.m.. Everyone is welcome to come and have a great time listening to gospel music.

     Monday-Thursday, June 29-July 2 is 5-Day Club, sponsored by CEF-Child Evangelism Fellowship. This year it will be a 4-Day Club due to Independence Day. It’s a fun week for kids ages 4 to 12! (Parents are welcome to attend.) There are two options of location and time: Makoti City Park, 10:00 to 11:30 a.m., and Ryder City Park, by the Gazebo – 1:00 to 2:00 p.m.

    July 6, 7, 8---Vacation Bible School Monday-Wednesday at Calvary Church in Ryder. This is for all kids who are Kindergarten on up to those who have just completed 6th grade. 9:00 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Bring a sack lunch. Teens are welcome to help. For more information and to register your child, contact Pastor Jonathan or Pam Starks by e-mail at jstarks@restel.com or call 758-2401.

   July 12…Ryder’s 10th annual Bull-a-Rama is on a Sunday this year; Mutton Busting at 1 p.m., Calcutta 1:30 p.m., Bull Riding 2 p.m. Held at the new Ryder Rodeo grounds which are right south of Ryder’s SunPrairie Grain Elevator on the old Olson farmstead. There will be Refreshments and Concessions sold. No coolers allowed! There will also be a Rodney Officer Memorial Steak Supper in the Ryder Park at 4:30 p.m. This is all hosted by the Old Ryder Jaycees Community Club. Everyone is welcome!

   That’s it for this week…get your news stories  to me for next week’s edition by Sunday evening so I can get it ready to go by Monday morning or afternoon or whenever I get back from the lake…if I go!!!

Ryder News June 18, 2015

Ryder News for June 18, 2015

   Don’t forget the 113th annual Hiddenwood Picnic this coming Sunday on June 21, 2015. There will be an All Faith Worship service at 11:00 and then the Pot Luck lunch will start at 12:00 noon. Plates and utensils are furnished…you bring the rest! The program will start at 1:00 and Kenneth Opsal as Elvis will be there. At 3:00 the Hiddenwood Ladies will be selling their world famous pies. There will also be kid’s races and there will be lots of prize drawings. You can get to the Hiddenwood Picnic by going 8 miles south of Makoti on County Road # 9.

The new gas pumps are up and running at the Ryder Cenex.

   The Ryder Cenex station has their newer gas pumps up and running, of course so are the gas prices around the area. 

The concrete pillar in the Ryder park has been repaired.

    Rod Johansen, Justin Simmons and Jody Reinisch were busy fixing the concrete pillar in the Ryder Park that was damaged several weeks ago. 

   Last week a Ryder resident heading east ran the stop sign on County highway 22 that runs right by the south side of our house and this person crashed into a semi belonging to Jan Severance who was heading north on State Highway 28. Luckily no one was badly hurt in this accident. Both vehicles sustained major damage and the female driver of the pickup went to the hospital to be checked out.

   Gus Mueller has another article that he sent me to share with you readers and since he is such an entertaining and amusing writer, I am going to print it in the news for this week…besides I really don’t have much else!

Newspaper clipping from the Minot Daily News 50 years ago, when the Ryder Vikings baseball team went to State.

   As many of you know, the Minot Daily frequently has a column titled “50 Years Ago” which highlights an event from the past published in that paper.  For reasons we don’t quite understand, however, they neglected to mention the most important event from the spring of 1965, which is detailed in the clipping from the Minot Daily displayed here.  For 55 years Ryder High School had sports teams, but only once did a team make it to the state tournament—the 1965 baseball team.  This accomplishment was particularly noteworthy in that in 1965, there was only one class division for baseball, meaning that Ryder was lumped together with the likes of Minot High, who were the eventual 1965 state champions.  The Ryder ’65 team was undefeated in the regular season (10-0) and defeated Medina and Kenmare in regional action to earn the state berth.  Except for Rod Wilson, who graduated the year before, the ’65 team was identical to the ’64 Vikings, who also were undefeated in the regular season (11-0), but lost in regional play.  What made this ‘65 team quite unique was that it essentially was the same as the Babe Ruth team that Bud Wilson and Don Mueller put together and took to the state tournament years earlier, with everyone playing the same positions that they had played since little league:  Lyle Christensen (1B), Wayne Larson (2B), Lee Sorenson (3B), Mickey Streeper (SS), Larry Johansen (LF), Mike Larson (CF), Randy Morris (RF), Butch Mueller (P) and Willard Wahl (C).  Sickness or injury was not an option—Larry Sorenson, an 8th grader, was the only substitute.  While the team was good at winning games, they would have never been selected for the cover of GQ.  After many years of simply playing games wearing jeans and t-shirts, Superintendent Dale Doty decided that the team really needed uniforms.  Unfortunately, all the school budget allowed for was an old 1940s vintage set that Doty found at Government Surplus.  These uniforms had once belonged to players who were much, much bigger, and hence, when running onto the field the team looked more like a group of circus clowns than athletes. The town of Ryder pretty much shut down and traveled to Minot on that June ’65 afternoon to support the Vikings in the state tournament, but the winning streak ended, and Ryder eventually finished 4th in the state.  Nonetheless, it was a good two-year run as the Vikings compiled a combined 23-3 record!  That’s what was happening 50 years ago.

   Happenings in Ryder:

 

Sunday, June 28, 2015, @7pm, Calvary Church is hosting a special music concert with the Brian Besser Family. It will be a great time of Gospel music.

Monday-Thursday, June 29-July 2 is 5-Day Club, sponsored by CEF-Child Evangelism Fellowship. This year it will be a 4-Day Club due to Independence Day. It’s a fun week for kids ages 4 to 12! (Parents are welcome to attend.) There are two options of location & time: Makoti City Park, by the Gazebo – 10:00 to 11:30am and Ryder City Park, by the Gazebo – 1:00 to 2:30pm.

July 6, 7, 8---Vacation Bible School, Monday-Wednesday, 9:00am-3:30pm at Calvary Church in Ryder. This is for all kids who are Kindergarten on up to those who have just completed 6th grade. Bring a sack lunch. Teens are welcome to help.

Ryder News June 11, 2015

Ryder News for June 11, 2015

Pete Petz finally had the answer to where Dick and Jane ran to.

   Pete Petz and Danny Hoffer were helping Kathy Kimball take old school library books downstairs to the gymnasium for the rummage sale. Danny said it was a lot of fun to see the old classrooms and talk about all the things that happened in the school when they were kids growing up. Danny managed to snap a priceless picture of Pete clowning around.

Killdeer and her nest of 4 speckled eggs.

   I saw something amazing the other day at an Avon customer’s house…a Killdeer bird nest and it had eggs in it!! Killdeer birds are those fast little birds that run ahead of you on the ground and then finally fly away.  I just had to snap some pictures and mama bird sure didn’t like that; she had to try and lure me away by the old ploy of pretending to be hurt. First she puffed up way big hoping to scare me that way but that didn’t work so she went on to the next trick! I didn’t linger for too long as I didn’t want to stress her out! I can’t wait until they hatch and maybe I will be in time to snap another picture or two.

   Our big 6 party rummage sale was rather spoiled by the rain storms we had that day; there just wasn’t a large turnout, altho I do believe everyone did make a profit.

   Speaking of the rainfall…we had around 1.70 inches and others in the area were close to that total. We (John, Staci, Johnny, Kenny and I took a road trip past Whiteshield on the way to Indian Hills Resort to check on camping spots and they surely must have gotten a lot more rain as there was water in the ditches and standing in the fields.

Brian Frounfelter and Caleb Cross (Caleb is the grandson of Nolan and Joan Fjeldahl from Plaza)

   During the ND State FFA convention this past week, Brian Frounfelter (son of our niece, Danette) and 3 other 4-H members from Granville participated in a 4-H Dairy judging event in Fargo. They took first place and can now go on to the Nationals in Wisconsin later this year! But that's not all; they also were the 3rd place team in the state for the FFA Dairy Cattle judging event! Congratulations on a job well done!

Left to right: Daniel Starks, Carson Rockwell, Trent Williams, Lora Rockwell

On Monday, June 1, 2015,  Towner, ND hosted the 2015 MPU2 (Multi-county Program Units) Communication Arts contest for the District 4-H Clubs.   Prairie Ryders 4-H club members Carson Rockwell, Lora Rockwell, Daniel Starks, and Trent Williams participated in the event. Three out of the four 1st place winners from Ward County were Prairie Ryders club members.  As a Cloverbud, Carson Rockwell, received a Participation ribbon for saying the "Pledge of Allegience." The Cloverbud division is a non-competitive division where all Cloverbuds receive participation ribbons and have the opportunity to practice and learn.  Lora Rockwell earned a 1st Place Medal in the Preteen Speech division for her prepared speech "The 'Grimm' Reality to Being a Disney Princess."  Daniel Starks received a 1st Place Medal in the Teen Interpretive Reading "The Walrus and the Carpenter" by Lewis Carroll excerpt from Through the Looking-Glass.  Trent Williams earned a 1st place medal for Preteen Dramatic Presentation for his "Clowning Around" skit.  Lora, Daniel and Trent have been invited to compete at the 4-H State Communication Arts contest during the ND State Fair.  We applaud them for their efforts and congratulate them for making it to the state contest.

   The Ryder Historical Society is still seeking military pictures of those who served along with a few notes as to which branch with which you served and the years that you served (such as 1988-1996).  You are welcome to add places you traveled to during your term and any honors you achieved!  There are a lot of local folks who have not added their info yet! Please do this! It will make the records more complete and much more interesting. Thanks for any help you can provide in making this more successful before next Memorial Day!

   An obituary of Edith Morris who died in 1940 and ones of Gunder Breiland and his wife have been added to the museum files. Mr. Breiland died in 1940 also, and their one son died in 1929.  Mr. Breiland and his son, Tor, are buried in Ryder’s Rose Hill Cemetery while Mrs. Breiland is buried in Minot. This is great information to have filed at the museum.

   Maybe many of you readers do not realize that many such obits have been and are being filed at the Ryder Museum each year. Thanks to anyone who sends such obituaries as they are Ryder’s history.

   Some of you readers may not know that Art Afdahl, a former Ryder resident, passed away on May 10, 2015. He had been a member of the American Legion for 68 years and Faye Karna thought it was interesting that Jim Mahoney of Douglas just received his 70th year legion membership certificate at Ryder’s last Memorial Day program. Plus, both of them have connections to Douglas, ND. Art was born in Douglas, while Jim still resides there today! Great examples of American Veterans!!

   June 21…Let’s get geared up for some fun this coming Father’s Day! It is the 113th annual Hiddenwood Picnic. There will be an All Faith Worship service at 11:00 and then the Pot Luck lunch will start at 12:00 noon. Plates and utensils are furnished…you bring the rest! The program will start at 1:00 and Kenneth Opsal as Elvis will be there. At 3:00 the Hiddenwood Ladies will be selling their world famous pies. There will also be kid’s races and there will be lots of prize drawings. You can get to the Hiddenwood Picnic by going 8 miles south of Makoti on County Road # 9.

   June 27…87th birthday party for Olive Giffey Boots starting at 4 p.m. at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church (3705 11th St. SW) in Minot.

   July 6, 7, 8---Vacation Bible School Monday-Wednesday at Calvary Presbyterian Church in Ryder. This is for all kids who are Kindergarten on up to those who have just completed 6th grade. 9:00 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Bring a sack lunch.

   July 12…Ryder’s 10th annual Bull-a-Rama is on a Sunday this year; Mutton Busting at 1 p.m., Calcutta 1:30 p.m., Bull Riding 2 p.m. Held at the new Ryder Rodeo grounds which are right south of Ryder’s SunPrairie Grain Elevator on the old Olson farmstead. There will be Refreshments and Concessions sold. No coolers allowed! There will also be a Rodney Officer Memorial Steak Supper in the Ryder Park at 4:30 p.m. This is all hosted by the Old Ryder Jaycees Community Club. Everyone is welcome!

   That’s it for this week. See ya next week.

Ryder News June 4, 2015

Ryder News for June 4, 2015

   I have a correction to last week’s news. It wasn’t Peggy Reinisch that did the mowing in the Ryder Park after all; it was Braden and Riley Janz. They are the two new city mowers. Peggy said all she did was plant the flowers and to give credit to the boys for the mowing!

   Pearl Pollock, 91 of Battle Lake, Minnesota and formerly of Ryder and Minot, North Dakota died Saturday, May 16, 2015 at the Battle Lake Good Samaritan Center. Pearl Adeline Dockter Pollock was born on October 30, 1923 in Parshall, North Dakota the daughter of John and Adele (Burchardt) Dockter. She is survived by two daughters, Shirley Larson of Atlanta, Ga. and Joyce Lovgren of Battle Lake; three grandchildren and two great grandchildren. A Memorial Service will be 2:00 p.m. Sunday, June 7, 2015 at the Glende-Nilson Funeral Home in Battle Lake. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service. Interment will be in the Old German Baptist Cemetery of rural Minot, N.D. - See more at: http://www.glendenilson.com/obituary/Pearl-Pollock/Battle-Lake-MN/1510304#sthash.gMJucMf0.dpuf  

   At the Ryder Calvary Church this past Sunday the graduates were recognized.  The seniors were Nathanial Brown and Amanda Peterson; 8th graders were Josiah and twin, Jason Brown, and Garrett Williams. Jacob Miles represented the Kindergarten level!  A potluck dinner followed with a special cake and decorations.

   Larry Johansen has been home from California visiting his parents, Russel and Jeanette. Janice, Larry’s older sister, arrived in Minot from Texas to stay with their dad a while now that Larry is heading home. Janice reported in church this past Sunday that Russel is doing very well and really does not need their help. But, she stated it was good to come home and see their folks anyway.  

   The Makoti Senior Center will have a BBQ supper on Wednesday, June 10 at 6:00 PM.  All food is furnished and all area seniors are invited to attend. 

   It seems that several young moose have been visiting the area this past week. Art and Billie Miller had two of them in their back yard and she told me that she also saw some north of our place in the field.

   There will be an 87^th birthday party for Olive Giffey Boots on June 27, 2015 starting at 4 p.m. at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church (3705 11^th St. SW) in Minot. Everyone is welcome!

Motorcycles lining west side of Ryder’s Main St.

Motorcycles lining east side of Ryder’s Main St.

  Around 50 motorcycles sponsored by Hunters Bar and Grill out of Garrison lined Ryder’s Main St. on Saturday for their first fun run of the season. They were traveling to the towns of Ryder, Douglas, Max and others with around ten stops in all and then back to Garrison.

   Ryder’s 10^th annual Bull-a-Rama is on a Sunday this year; July 12th! Mutton Busting at 1 p.m., Calcutta 1:30 p.m., Bull Riding 2 p.m. at the new Ryder Rodeo grounds which are right south of Ryder’s SunPrairie Grain Elevator on the old Olson farmstead. There will be Refreshments and Concessions sold. No coolers allowed! There will also be a Rodney Officer Memorial Steak Supper in the Ryder Park at 4:30 p.m. This is all hosted by the Old Ryder Jaycees Community Club. 

   Gus's Things and Stuff, that’s the website of Gus Mueller who has graciously allowed me to use an article or two that he has written and posted on his website. This one is called: WHO’S GOT “THE KEY?”

Church key from Sandy's Place.

   Talking about Ryder and churches last week, made me think of a Ryder “church key” that I owned, and after digging through a couple boxes of mostly worthless stuff, I found it. Here you see what was probably a Christmas gift from the Ryder Bar when it was dubbed “Sandy’s Place,” and owned by LeRoy and Sandra Peterson—don’t tell Sandy, but most of us just called it “The Ryder Bar.” Notice, however, that this is no ordinary can opener—quite the fancy handle, which I suspect, knowing the Peterson and Morris families, is Mother-Of-Pearl. I’ll have it appraised when the Antiques Roadshow comes to town.  

   So, ever wonder why a church key is called a church key? Frankly, I have never used a device like this for anything but opening a can of orange juice, but rumor has it that they also can be used to open canned beer. For you younger readers, it was not until the early 1960s that beer cans had “pop tops,” and having an opener handy was critical. Unlike bottle caps, it was tough to open a can of beer with your teeth, using a car-door latch, or kitchen counter top. I don’t even think a Bic pen would have worked (had we had one).

   Canned beer itself wasn’t introduced until the 1930s. Prior to that, beer was in bottles that had corks, and then later, metal “crown caps” appeared around 1900. It was at this time that “bottle openers” were patented, to open the crown caps. Some of these were ornate and large, and indeed looked much like the key needed to unlock a big door—like those found at a church, hence, the name “church key.” When the design was changed in the 1930s to open cans, the name logically followed, although the device no longer resembled a key.

  I’m not sure, but there could be more Ryder church keys on display at the Ryder Museum, as they always have been a popular give-a-way to use to promote a business (www.ryderhistoricalsociety.org). As an aside, while my dad drank canned beer and used the device, it was never called a church key in our house, as he considered this term a bit sacrilege. 

   I had to call Sandy Peterson and hope that she had a picture of the church key they gave out many years ago so I could have a picture for the news. Luckily she had one she had saved! Gus had furnished a picture for me to use but it was too small.

   June 6th---City Wide Rummage Sale in Ryder, 8:00-3:00.

   June 7---Baby shower for Corbin Reno Larson (son of Jade and Brittany) 2 p.m. at St. John’s Lutheran Church. 

   July 6, 7, 8---Vacation Bible School Monday-Wednesday at Calvary Presbyterian Church in Ryder. This is for all kids who are Kindergarten on up to those who have just completed 6th grade. 9:00 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Bring a sack lunch.

   That’s it for this week.  

   The batteries were given out free of charge.