Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
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In 1966, twelve residents of Eddy County came together with a mission to create and maintain the Eddy County Museum. Pictured above, early board members make the entry into the Dodd's Schoolhouse, the first of three structures that would one day house the entirety of the museum's collection. The next priority became acquiring items to include in the collection, and area residents were happy to help. Elvera Johnson may have been a collector herself, but the records suggest that she found most of...
We reconvene our review of 2020 at the beginning of summer. Despite the challenges posed by a global pandemic, dynamic events and dedicated people were the hallmarks of the second half. Fair food in town It was a highlight for many when Ron Lende offered his delicious fair food to locals. From brats to Philly cheese steaks, Lende served up summer meals right. His tent on the Cities Service Station lot at the corner of 7th Street and Central Avenue was a fixture throughout the summer. Outdoor...
Eddy-New Rockford Librarian Susie Sharp has been busy shopping, thanks to a $2,000 grant from the North Dakota State Library Coordinating Council. "Our young adult section was becoming a bit outdated," says Sharp, who applied for the grant this fall. Now, with an updated selection of new books, readers can choose from more classic reads as well as modern works. Below are a few of Sharp's favorites, but keep in mind, there are many more to choose from- 120 newly acquired youth books to be exact....
Long ago many things were made by hand. There are a wide range of handmade items on display in the Eddy County Museum from breadboxes and bloomers to cowbells and cleavers. But are such items art? Or simply a sign of the times when resources were scarce and people resourceful. But at what point does something stop being handmade and instead becomes a thoughtful piece of art work? I'm not sure there is an answer for that question, especially for us 21st century digital folk. If any of us were to...
Boy oh boy, 2020 was a doozie. It seems we can agree on that. But before you write off the whole year as fodder, take some time over the next couple of weeks to review the top stories of 2020 with us. Perhaps you’ll come across something worth remembering! This week’s edition covers January to June. New Year, New Heart 2020 offered Steven Cartwright a new beginning. Son of New Rockford residents Kevin and Vicki Cartwright, Steven spent months chasing diagnoses after diagnoses only to have doctors tell him he was suffering from acute heart fai...
Lori Weber knows a little cheer can go a long way these days, but she had no idea that it might one day earn her the status of Employee of the Month. The New Rockford Area Chamber of Commerce president Amy Wobbema presented Weber with the award at the CenDak Cooperative's New Rockford convenience store along U.S. Hwy. 281 Friday, December 18. The nomination was made by Colleen Hagen who says, "Lori has worked at CenDak for quite a few years and every time I have gone in, I am greeted with a...
Happy anniversary to Archival Anecdotes. It was one year ago that the Eddy County Museum launched this column. I freely admit that the majority of Archival Anecdote features included images and artifacts from Eddy County's early days. This isn't because I am overly fond of the homesteading era or Edwardian fashion. It is because the museum has a host of collections dating from 1900-1920. This afforded many looks back to consider what life might have been like a century ago. It must have b...
Eddy County must have been an interesting place to have lived in the early 1900s, especially at Christmas. Despite being isolated, it is quite likely that the passenger train would have brought in plenty of visitors throughout the winter holidays. Those who could not visit loved ones would send brightly colored and highly ornate Christmas cards. This particular card pictured at top left was sent to Maud Johnson of Barlow, N.D. from 'Maggie' on December 18, 1911. In the text Maggie wrote about...
The NR-S Board of Education convened via Zoom technology on Monday, December 14 for its final meeting of the 2020 calendar year. Superintendent Jill Louters shared that $30 million had been allocated statewide as part of the CARES Act to implement technology and mental health support. For NR-S, more than $300,000 from three grants needs to be committed by the close of the calendar year. The school’s planning team helped to prioritize student needs. Of greatest need are technology upgrades, namely acquiring additional Chromebooks and r...
The Bison Lodge is once again locally owned and operated. Officially registered as K&M Bison Lodge and Outfitters, the long-standing hospitality locale has become Kim Bulman and Matt Schaefer's side project. "It's more like our forever project," added Matt. His comment is multifaceted as the couple both work full time and have big plans for the business. Even more, the idea of a forever project refers to the family-owned and operated nature of the business. "It's a kind of commitment," says...
In a normal year, band and choir students would be putting the final touches on their holiday program. As with all things 2020, we can expect some deviation from the norm. Due in part to the cautious restart at New Rockford Sheyenne school this fall, music students didn't begin practicing until October. Music Program Director Annette Hovey says that it took some time and creative thinking in order to implement the necessary protocols required to slow the spread of COVID-19. "There are...
Some 4,000 years ago, folks wishing to travel across the frozen flats of Finland devised a more effective mode of transportation. Based on archaeological findings, it seems these early skaters used not much more than a couple of leather straps and a piece of bone or antler. The bone skates were likely very slick and required a push-off, resulting in a glide across the ice. During the 15th century, metal blades came into production and soon ice skating became a popular mode of transportation...
“A vaccine is the only way out of this pandemic,” these words, spoken by NDSU’s Dr. Paul Carson at the North Dakota Department of Health press conference held on Wednesday, December 2, serve as a light at the end of the tunnel. Since March 13, 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic and all the associated regulations and guidelines have been an unwavering part of life for Americans. Now, the promise of a vaccine has the North Dakota Department of Health preparing a COVID-19 vaccination plan, which is available at https://www.health.nd.gov/covid-19-vaccine-...
After months of steady increases in the number of COVID-19 cases, Eddy County is on the decline with a total of 18 active cases as of Thursday. To date, four individuals have died in the county due to the virus. Other nearby counties, however, are still struggling to contain outbreaks and have experienced many more fatalities. In Benson County, there are 29 people battling the illness, and 14 have died from COVID-19 since the pandemic began. Ramsey County currently has 106 positive cases and...
Jell-O had me stumped as a child. It was as refreshing as liquid and solid enough to suspend banana slices. Eventually I asked my grandma, because if anyone knew anything about the Jell-O's state of matter it would be her. She said, "It's more like plasma or bone marrow." At that point, I tried to swear off the jiggly sweet stuff, but such efforts only lasted until the next family gathering. As it turns out, Grandma wasn't wrong. Meat-eaters since the dawn of fire have noticed the gelatinous...
Small business owner Gina Clifton knew from a very early age that she would run a retail business. She recalls pulling all the clothes out of her closet to play store or count inventory. If you would have asked her back then about her love for flowers, she would have likely told you that she loves the flowers that grew in Great-Grandma Ida Jasman's garden. But young Gina just hadn't put the idea of flowers into a shop yet. That revelation would come years later, when Gina was in college. After...
I am a firm believer that there is no right way to celebrate Christmas. I’ve celebrated the season via candle-light hymnal, midnight sledding, last-minute shopping, unannounced guests and spur-of-the-moment road trips. As great as those experiences have been, not a single one is representative of the perfect Christmas. That remains true in all my years of celebrating Christmas. Never have I experienced a perfect holiday. I’m not trying to be a Scrooge. There is no such thing as a perfect Christmas! It’s true! And all the experts agree— at leas...
The above photo was taken in the early 1900s, but still manages to capture a scene all too familiar to the residents of New Rockford. Even with virtually every building in this picture gone, can you tell where it is? Now called Central Avenue, this portion of the city has long been home to small businesses. Those most visible in this photograph begin with the First State Bank building which also included the Transcript and the Land Office. Further to the west are signage for "Arcade Restaurant"...
The governor's statewide mask mandate announced Friday, Nov. 13 seems to have everyone covered when it comes to slowing the infectious spread of COVID-19. But what about the people who refuse to comply with the mandate? This is the question county commissioners had for Sheriff Paul Lies at the regular commission meeting held on Tuesday, November 17. A visible grin of hesitation made it clear that Lies had mulled over this topic more than once. "In all honesty," Lies began, "this is a lot like...
Be careful what you ask for! At least that's what they say. A couple of weeks ago we at the Transcript asked if any folks who had been infected with COVID-19 would be interested in sharing their story. There was no reply to our request, only crickets. So, we have watched the numbers from day to day and week to week. One new positive, six new positives, 13. Then a stop. Then on to 12 new positives, then nine, and 37. Eventually, I became one of those statistics. Now that I have recovered, I'm...
Lately my archivist tasks have been centered on preserving and digitizing the photographic collections housed at the Eddy County Museum. During a recent bout of convalescence I found myself restless. So I arranged to collect a couple of photo albums from the museum to keep me occupied. Imagine my dismay when I sat down to work through these albums and found they were not photo albums as I expected, but instead albums packed full of postcards from the early 20th century. At first I was confused....
The above artwork, titled "Rabbit's Funeral" is one of the fine art pieces that can be found at the Eddy County Museum. The original photograph was taken by photographer Fitz W. Guerin circa 1900 and is housed in the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division in Washington, D.C. Guerin served in the Civil War and was a recipient of the Medal of Honor. After the war, he settled in St. Louis, Mo., and became a successful society photographer. His path to success wasn't nearly so...
Sarah has spent the past year embarking on a career-changing journey. "I knew I needed more opportunities to connect with people, businesses, projects and community, but I had no idea what that meant," says New Rockford resident and entrepreneur Sarah Smith Warren. She began by participating in several professional opportunities through the Bush Foundation. One of these opportunities took Sarah and a group of professionals from North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota all the way to Washington,...
In an effort to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus in Eddy County, the City of New Rockford issued a mask mandate effective Wednesday, November 4 at 8 a.m. The mandate was adopted after the Lake Region Health Unit recommended such actions, citing the increasing COVID-19 numbers in the county. The decision was made at a regular city council meeting on Monday, November 2. The mandate will model a similar directive issued by the City of Devils Lake last week. While there is no legal penalty...
I sat down to prepare a selection for this week's Archival Anecdotes with Veteran's Day in mind but found it difficult to select any one item from the Eddy County Museum. This was mostly due to the fact that there are so many military artifacts that extend back hundreds of years. Rather than choose just one artifact to discuss, this Veteran's Day I offer you readers a timeline of artifacts just to see how far back we go. But first, a few disclaimers. Veteran's Day was originally founded as Armis...
