Year in Review....

July 25: Security State Bank held their Customer Appreciation Day on July 12th and many people from around the area came to enjoy the beautiful evening and the Appreciation dinner.

Red Lake County Rebels won Roseau Varsity Boy’s Basketball tournament July 10. RLC beat Northern Freeze 46-25, Roseau 48-39, and Warroad for the championship 42-31.

This week in American History. On July 17, 1980, Robert Asp debuted his replica Viking ship Hjemkomst in the Duluth Harbor. Fulfilling a lifelong dream, Asp would later sail his ship from the Great Lakes to the harbor of Bergen, Norway. The ship has since been installed in the Heritage Hjemkomst Interpretive Center in Moorhead.

Nasty will be nice and Fosston will be ogre-the-moon when the Fosston Community Children’s Theater presents their production of Shrek The Musical JR. beginning July 27. The family-friendly musical comedy follows the adventures of an ogre named Shrek who sets off on a quest to save a princess from a dragon.

We were treated with a  tenth of an inch of rain on Sunday night. Grateful though we are, we needed an inch. We will take whatever we get though, it would help the crops if we got some more rain.

August 1: Del, Cindy Determan and their son Jess, with his children Emma and Elizabeth and Macy, daughter of Brad Determan accepted the Farm Family Award from the University of Minnesota on July 24th.

A traveling exhibit about the Fur Trade in our area will be featured in the City of Oklee’s Historical Museum on the main floor as well as in 14 others in the northwest corner of the state during the upcoming months. A regional group, Minnesota’s Historic Northwest, made up of about 20 county historical societies and other historical and cultural organizations and museums, has been working with the  Minnesota State Historical Society for nearly three years to prepare for this program.

A public hearing was to open the floor to comments regarding the vacancy left by Anthony Flage’s resignation. Auditor Bob Schmitz explained the rules regarding a vacancy. If it is less than one year before an election, the board can appoint a commissioner, if it is within 90 days of an election, they cannot appoint a commissioner and they would have a vacancy until the election was completed. And if the board could not make a decision then a special election would have to be held. There were a few people in attendance for the public hearing. Al Remick was appointed after the public hearing to fill the position.

August 8: City of Oklee added a dumping station to the Omar Sundrud Park just across the bridge north of Oklee. There is also a small boat landing for kayak’s and canoes.

Class of 1953 got together for their 65th class reunion at Milo Sandeen’s home in Oklee. Attending were: Shirley and Darrow Lundeen (Oklee), Doreen Charest (Cottage Grove), Milo Sandeen (Oklee), Leila Medrow (Oak Creek, WI) George Spong (Oklee), Lucille Christenson (Oklee), and Ray Swenson (Oklee).

The Red Lake County Rebels Boys Basketball team completed a very successful summer by winning another tournament championship. The team beat Fisher-Climax 51-42 in the semifinals and then beat Clearbrook-Gonvick in the championship game 49-45 on Friday, July 27th in Red Lake Falls.

No rain again. Trees are losing their leaves and grass is drying up. One good thing is that it saves mowing time, the grass quit growing but the weeds are rampant. We need rain. I saw that at St. Cloud they got 5 inches, and had flooded streets, this past week. 

August 15: At the RSVP Awards luncheon two of Oklee’s Senior Volunteers were honors. Eleanor Christianson (who was unable to attend) received the American Bandstand Award for 27 years of RSVP service and Irene Rosten received the Making the Scene Award for good action in the first year of service.

Motorists on Highway 92 between Brooks and Trail will encounter detours, lane closures and delays as construction begins on Monday, August 13. The project includes culvert work, resurfacing 19 miles of pavement, and construction of a combined by-pass and right turn lane.

Emma Howard, age 6 had a pull of 14’9”, and McKenna Gordon, age 5 with a pull of 10’2”, were the winners in the age 5 - 6 age group for the Pedal Tractor Pull held during Market Day in Oklee. In the 10-13 age group were Ashlyn Nelson and Kehan Nelson. In the age 7-9 group were Jake Howard with a full pull (27’) and Jack Bartelt with a pull of 24’8”.

In the afternoon at Market Day there was Old Fashioned games for all ages. Here is two teams trying the best in the three legged race combined with a spoon holding a marshmallow with out dropping it.

George Olson of Oklee participates every year in the plowing event and he enjoys restoring McCormick tractors. He has quite the collection of tractors.

No rain yet. It is DRY. Many farmers are going full bore in the fields getting their wheat crops off the fields. Today the wind came up and the oppressive heat is stifling. The roads are dusty and no car that travels on the side roads can get away from being dirty. It is August and it hasn’t rained here in weeks.

Watch for more Year in Review next week...