Fessenden, ND

July 24, 1911 was the day that Lillian Hirschkorn of Fessenden, North Dakota was born.  Do the math…..she is 99 years old.  Lillian celebrated her birthday quietly with friends stopping in to visit at her house, but she did say that “they even sang “Happy Birthday” to her at church this morning.”  Lillian’s daughter, granddaughter, and great granddaughter were there to make the day even more special. 

Lillian’s health has been good and she stays in shape by doing her morning exercises faithfully…she picks up the leaves and branches that fall on her lawn each day.  If there are none, she doesn’t have to exercise so much that day.

She has been an amazing woman ever since I met her in 1980, and long before that from what I am told.  Lillian was our neighbor when we lived in town and babysitter for our 2 children, a job for which she will never be forgotten.  Her cooking, cleaning, and babysitting skills will always be cherished by those who love her so dearly.

Friday, June 25 was the beginning of the Free Stages at the Wells County Fair for 2010.  Pictures from that day’s events include The Opdahl Boys, , Kristi Goldade-The Yodeling Cowgirl, Curtis & Karen Delzer, and Leah & April Hagemeister. 

The 2nd Annual Pet Show was well attended and pets flourished.

On Wednesday, July 21 a “Going Away Party” was held for a teacher we all are going to miss greatly.  Marla Haugen has taught Kindergarten in Fessenden for  years and in Bowdon for  years before that.  She will be teaching in her special education field in Beach, ND this fall.  We all wish her well in her new position and school. 

Another party is scheduled for next week.  You are invited to supper on Wednesday, July 28 @ 6:30 p.m. at Johnny O’s  for a little going away party for Marla Haugen.  Her bags are packed and she is making her new home in Beach.  Let’s go have a night of fun w/ Marla and wish her the best.  She has been a great person to the school and community of Fessenden.  She will be truly missed! 

Terry & Laurel Wentz Home 2 miles north of Fessenden.  Where there used to be 13 Evergreen trees in front of the house are now only 3.  Amazing how big those trees were- 71 ft tall.  Wind laid the trees down flat–all to the North–one on the roof of the house.  2 trees were blocking the driveway and 1 was on the house.  The tree on the house was moved off on Thursday night by Aaron & Rodney Opdahl to reveal some damage, but no leaks in the roof.  On Friday morning, Rod and Scott Lloyd showed up with the payloader and moved all the trees and roots to the pasture, out of the yard. 

Many other trees and branches were also uprooted and caused damage to roofs and homes in Fessenden.  The wind was measured at 69+ at the Chemical Plant in Fessenden’s west edge.  The storm went through at about 3:30pm. 

The new cafe on Main Street in Fessenden opened this morning at 6:30am.   Breakfast is served from 6:30am-10:30am and lunch until 2:30pm.  Sunday Buffet will be served from 11:00am-1:00pm. 

Daily special for Tuesday, June 15 was meatballs and mashed potatoes with gravy.  They ran out of the special by 1:00pm, so it must have been good!!!  We had a burger and a fishwish which were both very good.  The chicken dumpling soup was also great and the Peach Sour Cream Pie was out of this world. 

The old tyme pictures of community members are fun to look at.   Today some of the music students were identified on the pictures with the Orioles Band display.  Janine Alhberg, Twila Gross, Kristi Goldade, and Sarah Eaton were identified. 

Pat and Amy have done a wonderful job with all the cooking and baking, and the Fessenden Community Betterment Association has done a super job of building and decorating.  All should be commended.

Pat & Amy Weigelt plan to open the new cafe on Main Street soon.  They still need to have the plumber finish up and a few kitchen supplies are needed and then Amy says they will be openning, although an exact date was not available.

The cafe is very tastefully decorated with local photos and memorbilia.  Although many of us will not recognize all of the old-timers, most likely many of the faces will be familiar faces from Fessenden and community.

 Whenever the cafe does open, people from Fessenden and surrounging area will be very excited to, “Come on in and try it out!!!”

In  an email received today from Lynette Flage from the Horizon’s Leadership Program she states:

Congratulations and thank you again for the hard work your community put
into the Horizons program.  I do hope that each community involved sees some
difference in knowledge, attitudes and actions of community members.  It has
been exciting and fun to watch from our perspective and we couldn’t be more
proud of the 15 rural towns participating from 2008-2010.

This e-mail is to inform you that your community has done a great job
blogging and we would like to now provide you with the incentives we talked
about early in the program.  Your community will receive a computer and
small laser black and white printer for use in a public place.  It will take about a month or so to get them set up and delivered
so your coach or someone from NDSU will be calling when they arrive.

WELLS COUNTY FAIR FREE STAGE ENTERTAINMENT 2010 (Tentative Schedule – Check for Exact Times) 

Friday, June 25, 2010

12:00pm—Leah & April Hagemeister of Fessenden will play piano pieces from the Lorie Line collection, some traditional music, and a few contemporary pieces.  April will join her sister for some violin additions.

1:00pm—Curtis Delzer, “The Balladeer”, with his wife, Karen, from Fessenden will sing & entertain you with his guitar & singing. Their favorites are Country & Oldies.  

2:00pm—The Opdahl’s from Fessenden, Garin, a 1st grader, Levi, a 3^rd grader, and Natalie a 8^th grader will entertain you with their youthful variety of music.

3:00pm—2nd Annual Wells County Free Stage Pet Show  Everyone come to show your pets.  Bring your pet because it is the best behaved, the cutest, the most talented.  We will have prizes and it will be fun to see all the pets.

4:00pm—LeRoy & Pat Krueger from New Rockford will play accordion and drums with Country & Old Time music.

5:00pm— Kristi LaRae Goldade, the “Yodeling Cowgirl,” from Wishek will entertain with Country hits and yodeling.  She won the 2008 Colgate Showdown in South Dakota and has performed at the State Fair in SD four years.                                            

NO FREE STAGES (6:00pm—Ranch Rodeo in the Grandstand)

8:00pm—Lauri Anderson, Fessenden, and Julie Anderson, Minot will sing a variety of music as a mother/daughter duo.

Saturday, June 26, 2010 

11:30am or after parade—Shriner’s Calliope from the Minot Shrine Club will entertain with their musical numbers and clown entertainment.  They will be in the parade and Free Stage both.

12:30pm— Clinton Krause’s Concertina Band from Bowdon, he plays the concertina and drums-Country Western music.

1:30pm—Karen Olschlager from Fessenden, plays accordion and sings Old Tyme & Country.         

NO FREE STAGES (2:00pm-4:00pm-ATV Ride in the Grandstand – Rhubarb Fest at the Festival Hall) 

4:00pm—James Scheer (former Fessenden native now living in Cedar Rapids, IA) is back in town to demonstrate numerous feats of Mentalism.  “Mind reading, predictions, and much more.”  Witness the powers of the mind.

4:45pm—The Peterson Family from Alamo, enjoys sharing their love of God, family, and music with audiences of all ages.  Arlon & Jan, along with their 7 children ages 3 to 19, play a variety of instruments including guitar, mandolin, violin, bass, banjo, and harmonica.  They do a variety of music styles including country & gospel bluegrass. 

6:00pm—Sound of the Trumpet with Joel Finnesgard from Sioux Falls, SD includes a blend of patriotic & gospel music, leans towards easy listening, uplifting, & gospel.

7:00pm—Edie Schell from Harvey will be singing Country and more.

8:00pm—??                                                                                             

NO FREE STAGES (8:30pm Elvis in the Grandstand) 

Sunday, June 27, 2010

(10:00AM Gospel Hour in the Festival Hall)

11:15am—Cheaper Than Therapy from Jamestown, a women’s quartet singing 4 part harmony.

12:15pm—Jamestown Drum & Bugle Corps.  This group will perform our favorite patriotic music with drum & bugle music in a big band style.                                              

NO FREE STAGES (1:00pm-Demolition Derby in the Grandstand)  

4:00pm—??

5:00pm-7:00pm—Karaoke Singing Contest on the Free Stage.  Sign up for your time and win some cash!!

7:00pm—Chrissie Hager from Harvey will sing a variety of Country & Christian music.

8:00pm—??                     

 NO FREE STAGES (8:30pm-Johnny Holm Band in the Grandstand)

***Sound System Provided by Perry Anderson – “Class A Music” – Fessenden, ND 

Free Stages Sponsored by:  KHND Radio, Heartland Trailer Sales, The Computer Loft, North Dakota Telephone Company, Pioneer Auto Service, Nelson Funeral Home, Herald Press, Hertz Funeral Home, The Hair Shak & Glenda Hockridge of Zags Popcorn.

Call Laurel Wentz 399-9741 to enter Pet Contest, Karaoke Contest or to sign up for open free stage times.

If you have been watching for signs of spring in the great outdoors, maybe you have noticed that Ellery Ehni has been busy working on some more wooden creatures lately.  I haven’t been able to pick out what he is working on, but I notice everyday as I drive by that he is making progress.  Plans are to stop by soon with the camera.  Be watching for an update.

The Wells County Fair will be held Thursday, June 24-Sunday, June 27 at the Wells County Fairgrounds.  There will be fun events like the Demolition Derby, an ATV ride, the Bull-A-Rama, and a Ranch Rodeo.  Of course there will be a fun midway carnival, 4-H events, and the Free Stages.  Watch for a complete listing later, but so far Friday will be the 2nd Annual Pet Show and at 5:00pm Kristi Goldade, the Yodeling Cowgirl.  Saturday will have James Scheer - Mentalist at 4:00pm, the Peterson Family - Bluegrass & Gospel at 5:00pm and at 6:00pm will be theSound of the Trumpet with Joel Finnesgard.  Sunday’s stages will begin with Cheaper Than Therapy - women’s quartet at 11:15am and the Jamestown Drum & Bugle Corps at 12:15-1:00pm.  Watch for more scheduled entertainment to be posted soon.

It’s open!!!  Eating side to open this Wednesday, May 12.  Fessenden-Bowdon Prom couples are welcome to come to try it out on Saturday night–by reservation only.  Samples of the food they have been practicing cooking taste great……Plan to get in there soon!

What a day!  The Horizon’s final celebration was held in Bismarck at the Ramkota Inn on Tuesday, May 4.  Eric Bollingberg, Pastor Shirley Teske, Jodi Helm, Laurel Wentz, Anita Schindler, and Darlene Dietz attended from Fessenden.  Jerry Klein, our state senator, was also there to celebrate with us.  It was a very nice celebration with each community presenting a 5 minute talk, power point, or combination about their progress towards poverty reduction in their communities.  15 communities were honored.

Track meets at the Fessenden-Bowdon School Track are starting out with record attendance.  Tuesday, April 27 was the  Clark & Sharon Lloyd Memorial Track & Field Meet in Fessenden.  Meet records, according to the program handout, date back to when the memorial meet originated in 2000.  With the 20 some buses parked in the area, many schools were represented.  Names on the buses included Maddock, Washburn, Hazen, Harvey, Underwood, McClusky, Towner, Granville, Upham, Rugby, Bottineau, Dunseith, Rolla, Griggs County, Carrington, and New Rockford.  It was a very busy place with 94 entries in the girls shotput, just as an example. 

Word on the street is that the Fitness Center has opened in the old “Checkerboard Boutique” on Main Street.   Alyssa Lengyel has been working hard to finish out the building and has opened for business this month.  She has exercise bikes, elliptical equipment, lifting machines, as well as boxing equipment.  Details can be obtained by stopping in on Main Street or Alyssa can be reached at 701-650-8766.

                 According to Johnny O himself, he plans to open his new bar and grill on Friday of this week!  Wow exciting plans in the aftermath of the big fire.  Details are not for sure, but Johnny says most likely the bar will only be open at first and then they will be adding food service later.  Watch for more information!

The final Horizons Gala will be held on Tuesday, May 4th at the Bismarck Ramkota Inn.  If anyone from the community is interested in attending, please let Laurel know.   We can bring up to 10 people and it would be great to show support for this program.   

This will be an opportunity for our 15 current Horizons towns to showcase what we have done and celebrate with each other over the progress each community has made.  It is always a great day and Governor Hoeven has been invited to attend and take pictures with all of us as special presentations are made to each town.

Attending so far are Pastor Shirley Teske, Dee Hirsch, Eric Bollingberg, Jodi Helm, Anita Schindler, Darlene Dietz, and Laurel Wentz.  Please come and join us…it should be a fun day!

The Fessenden Golf Course Spring Fling is scheduled for Friday, April 16 at the Festival Hall in Fessenden.  The cost is $10 per person and includes a beef/pork dinner.  It is a great way to treat yourself and/or your other half.  There will be a silent auction with many nice things.  There will also be door prizes.  The public is invited to attend and participate.  If you are interested, Lane Moellenkamp has tickets.  See attached list of auction items that will be auctioned off.

Fessenden-Bowdon School students (and employees) will have 2 days added to the weekend for Easter Vacation this year.  Good Friday, April 2nd there will be no school and Easter Monday, April 5th there also will be no school.  Enjoy the break everyone and let’s plan for nice weather!!!

Teachers at the F-B School have been involved in education of their own.  Monday & Tuesday, March 15 and 16 and Monday, March 22 teachers were very busy from 3:30pm to 9:30pm soaking up information on “Differentiating Instruction.”  The classes taught by Minot Public School teachers, Julie Jaeger and Sally Jenkins were fast paced and crammed full of usable ideas on everything from assessing your students in order to get to know their interests, learning styles, and motivational triggers to providing extended materials for the students that complete assignments early.   Lesson plans that allow flexibility for students and still meet the standards were focused on and technology ideas were infused into everything.  Making the classes especially fun was the fact that Julie Holter Jaeger taught in Fessenden as a Speech Patholgist in the late  1970s.  Those of us that were there then enjoyed reminiscing with her during breaks.   

Earlier in March, teachers began taking Instep classes through teachers from Edutech of North Dakota.  Charity Nix and Willard Leith  have been involved in helping us move into new and more useful technology infused into our lesson plans.  We were to choose what we wanted to learn more about and they are helping us to implement these assorted activities and techniques into our classes. 

Yes, we do believe in LIFELONG LEARNING!!