Anamoose, ND

We have been hearing a lot on TV & in the newspaper about the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (Stimulus).  Yesterday Janice Buchholz & I attended a workshop in Bismarck on how the Stimulus will be impacting ND.  Plans are still evolving, but ND did get an extra 4.9 million dollars.  We were referred to recovery.gov to find out how the Stimulus money will be spent. 

Shane Goettle, Commissioner of the Dept of Commerce, spoke on 3 reasons that ND was not affected as much by the recession:  1.  Our conservative nature.  We have the 2nd lowest bank card debt in the US  2.  Healthy State government.  3.  Lower unemployment rate of 4%. 

Our prospects for the future are good as we have a good business climate, & we have lots of natural resources like oil, coal, gas, wind power, etc.  We have the largest supply of lignite coal in the US & we are the largest oil producing state.  We are the most diverse agricultural state as we are leading in the production of 14-16 crops. 

What a busy Memorial Day this was.  I attended the Memorial Day program at the VFW this am, graduation  at 2pm, & then open houses for Kari Weninger at the Fire Hall & the 50th graduates at the Sr. Center.  Sandi Cartwright put together lots of pictures & memorabilia. 

 This is the final Anamoose graduating class as next year Anamoose & Drake will be combined.  1.  The graduates are :  Kyle Heim, Austin Ponzer, Kari Weninger, & Dustin Rudnick.  2.  Part of the crowd at Kari Weninger’s open house.  3.  Kari with her grandparents, Joe & Rose Weninger.  The cake that Rose made was delicious. 

The 50 year graduates were also honored at the graduation.  Nineteen of the class of 25 were present.  1.  50 year graduates.  2.  Cake (made by Rose Weninger) with all the graduates names  3.  Class motto

Janice Buchholz & I planted 4 flower barrels on Main St. yesterday.  The flowers were paid for by the Anamoose City Board. 

Just got home from the 55th reunion of the Anamoose class of 1954 at the Senior Center.  Eleven of the 22 living graduates were there.  The class of 26 graduates was the largest graduation class from Anamoose. 

Saturday evening 11 alumni & spouses met for supper at Auggie’s restaurant in Harvey, and visited later at Fran & Art Prom’s home in Harvey. 

Pictured are:  1.  1954 graduates.  2.  Spouses  3 & 4  Visiting at Sr. Center

The Whispering Moose is the newest lodge in the Anamoose area.  It is located at 508 1st St. West, Anamoose-just 1/2 block north of me.  I want to call it hunting lodge, but owner John Schnase, says it is suitable to rent for hunters, reunions, weddings, etc.   The Lodge sleeps 8 with 4 bedrooms, a pull out couch, & a roll away.  It is fully furnished with laundry facilities.  It will have cleaning facilities outside.  It has off-street parking for campers & trailers.  To rent call Susie & John Schnase at 701-306-5646. 

This is just one of five hunting lodges for rent in the Anamoose area. 

  Michelle Vaughn taught a craft class of 13 ladies on glass etching on Monday 11th.  Some of us made vases for a long stemmed rose or other flowers and others made a glass votive to burn a candle in.  All were very nice and the project was very easy once we were shown how by Michelle.  She and Lillian Schmidt are shown in the first picture doing the simple steps to get the final product the ladies are holding in the group picture. 

           Those participating were: back row - Michelle Vaughn, Mardi Helm, Carol Sears, Tami Miller, Kathy Rademacher, Angie Kesler;  Second row - Janice Buchholz, Sandy Cartwright, and Leela Sprenger; front row - Lillian Schmidt, Phyllis Zimmerman and Marlene Whitaker.  The other picture is a close up of one of the tall vases we made as it is hard to see detail on the large group photo.  Our next craft class will be June 22 nd, at the senior center at 1 PM.  We will be making a Patriotic Wall Hanging and Leela Sprenger and Tami Miller will be the instructors.  Come join the fun!!

I can hear chain saws, lawn mowers, birds, & many more signs of spring as I walk around Anamoose.  I am proud of our community as I see people,or their children,  cleaning up their yards, & sometimes empty lots. 

Pictured are: 1 &2 Helen Nolden’s family removing hedge, trimming trees, & refinishing a fence.  3.  My neighbor, Todd Hauser, cutting his yard. 

Anamoose School held its Activity Awards Potluck Banquet on May 13th. Many certificates and awards were presented. Rachael Rott, Kaitlyn Kline and Kaya Engen entertained the audience with two selections from spreech competition.
Participation and special awards were given to members of: SADD, Science Olympiad, Speech, One Act Play, Spring Play, Music Festival, Mathcounts, Acalympics, Band, Choir, ND Governor’s School, and NDHSAA Distinguished Student.
Kyle Heim, Dustin Rudnick and Kari Weninger were presented scholarships from various organizations and colleges.
Pictured are Kaitlyn Kline and Kaya Engen presenting their speech.

The Anamoose-Drake elementary schools performed their spring concert under the direction of Valerie Holler on May 12th. The kids in K-2 made the audience giggle by singing “The Looth Tooth Tune”. The 3rd and 4th graders played a tune on their recorders and the 5th and 6th grade boys sang a fun song called “Peanut Butter Jam”. The 5th and 6th grade bands demonstrated that they’ve made great strides in their abilities throughout the year.

The Anamoose-Drake High School choir and band under the direction of Valerie Holler held their spring concert on May 11th. The percussion section was featured on one selection. The best set of the concert featured the senior high girls donning poodle skirts and the boys in white t-shirts and blue jeans. The girls sang a medley including Johnny Angel and the boys sang Boondocks. The highlight of the concert was the group singing and doing the twist for which they received a standing ovation. Congratulations on a great performance.

Members of the Anamoose Playmakers’ Club did an awesome job during their performance of “Next Victim, Please” under the direction of Kim Meckle on May 8th. Cast members included: Brady Schmaltz, Chamonix Martin, Kari Weninger, Andrew Rott, Kaya Engen, Brandon Rudnick, Kaitlyn Kline, Casey Rau, Toya Sotello, Erica Rott, Rachael Rott, Nathan Martin, Michael Wagner, Brittany Bender, Ryan Engen, Carlie Filler, Kristin Reinowski, Levi Fahy, and Tristin Martin. Brady and Andrew provided some unrehearsed humor when Andrew was suppossed to bump into Brady, but instead fell on top of him. Congratulations to Mrs. Meckle and the cast on a great show.

Woody and Kathy Selzler offered area children a chance to experience a hay ride on May 2nd. Using a small tractor, Woody pulled a utility trailer filled with straw bales and excited children. The ride went to the Kevin and Debbie Reinowski farm where hot chocolate and cookies were provided by Greg and Patty Reeves.

I couldn’t resist going to Schmaltz’ Greenhouse for the 3rd year in a row to take pictures of Mike Schmaltz with all his flowers.  Mike stated “I love this job.  This is the best job in the world”.  You can tell this is true by listening to him tell about his new flower varieties & hearing his enthusiasm as he showed me around.  Mike has had a stress-full week though as he starts to ship out to other communities. 

Pictured are:  1.  Many pots available  2.  Newest greenhouse building  3. Mike with his flowers.  4. Rocky (the greeter) & Mike. 

     Alyce Heer was given a plaque for her eight years of service as the President of the Anamoose Senior Citizens on Monday 05/04/09.  Lillian Schmidt was also given a plaque for her 8 years as treasurer for the organization.  These ladies are a tremendous asset to our community and without such people the programs we have in Anamoose would not have the sucess that we have had in recent years.  We want to thank all those that help keep the Senior Citizen’s Center active and a great place to have a meal, quilt, learn a lesson or just plain have some “Senior Fun”!!  Our new president Phyllis Zimmerman is pictured with the recipients of the awards. (click on picture to enlarge)

We had a great crowd last evening for our meeting with the Public Service Commission concerning our poor cell phone service.  Over 50 people turned out to voice their complaints &  hear Tony Clark & Brian Kalk of the Public Service Commission.  SRT had 4 representatives at the meeting, but there was no one from Alltel (our largest provider) or Verizon.  Tony Clark told us our meeting is one of many “Zap the Gap”  meetings held in ND “to encourage wireless investment in ND, collect information from consumers with high need, low service. & provide wireless with useful information”. 

Many residents from the Anamoose-Drake area told of their concerns.  Pat Jund told of his motorcycle accident 2 miles east of Anamoose on Highway 52 when he couldn’t even call 911.  A SRT representative said that all 911 calls should work no matter where there come from.  Ron Ziegler, owner of Ziegler Oil of Drake, has two cell phone providers, SRT & Alltel, to cover his business & yet still looses service north of Drake & Anamoose.  Louise Bibelheimer, Drake, asked “How come all towers can’t work together”?  A SRT rep. stated they welcome partners on their towers,”just like we use theirs”.  SRT has a new tower 1/2 mile south of Anamoose.  Each tower costs about $500-700,000 according to Tony Clark, PSC.    Cell towers only have a diameter of 20 mile coverage.The best place to use a cell phone in Drake is at the Drake Cemetery.  I have heard that the best place in Anamoose is by the elevator. 

Alan Hornbacher, Anamoose, had his cell phone booster equipment at our meeting and he called it “$230 worth of junk.  Cell phone coverage has gotten worse.”  After our meeting Buck Buchholz talked to Tom Brewer from Garrison who lost his cell phone signal completely when Alltel changed from analog to digtal.  Steve Heim, Anamoose-Drake superintendent, stated “cell phones are vital to us”.  Many others spoke at the meeting of their frustrations with cell phones. 

Brian Kalk, PSC, said cell phone coverage is a big issue in the state, so it won’t go away.  The PSC said they have “a pretty favorable track record” in getting improved cell phone coverage.  They encouraged us to fill out consumer wireless surveys (available at Anamoose & Drake Banks).  We will also have a petition to sign to voice our displeasure.  So lets keep talking about this problem.  If you have any ideas or concerns contact me, Alyce Heer, at 701-465-3476 or aheer@gondtc.com. 

Pictured are: 1.  Larger crowd listen to Brian Kalk, PSC  2.  Tony Clark, PSC (back to camera) gave a Power Point presentation.  3. SRT Representatives: Jim Newman, Director; Wayne Larcombe, Lynn Nelson (both from SRT office-Minot, & Dennis Schott, Director.  4.. Wayne Larcomb, SRT, visits with Tom Rafferty, PSC Public Outreach Specialist.  5  Tom Rafferty, Brian Kalk, myself, & Tony Clark.  I don’t like my picture taken, but they insisted that I be in the picture. 

Time is flying by & the 1st Anniversary of Joe & Ana-Moose is coming soon-Saturday, June 27th to be exact.  Some eager beavers thought it was time to have a baby moose, but our happy couple are too young & having too much fun to have a little moose yet. 

We met last evening to plan for the big event.  Starting at 4pm on the 27th we will have a program in the park with music & speakers.  We are still working on all the details.  The Wedding party will be all dressed up to greet you.  Ana said she has a new dress for the occasion.  She is still shopping for Joe so he doesn’t come in his old work clothes. 

Following the program we will have a pot luck meal with sloppy joes & coffee furnished.  So mark your calendar for Saturday, June 27th, & will will be giving you more details on the big 1st Anniversary as the day comes closer. 

Pictured are: Janice Buchholz, Phyllis Zimmerman, Kathy Rademacker, Doug Rademacker, Ron Cartwright, & Barb Martin. (Click to enlarge)