HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!
SPORTS Marmarth hosts annual event-Page 7 Serving the Region Since 1907
DEADLINE IS FRIDAY AT 4 P.M Vol. 115 No. 27
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JULY 3, 2020
The Bowman branch of the Dakota Community Bank and Trust handed out about 200 free lunches June 25 as part of the company’s 80th anniversary celebration. PHOTO/Brad Mosher
Local bank branch Music of the Bulls serves up free meal as anniversary celebration North Dakota band
Breaking Eight band members Jerilyn Wiseman, Beni Paulson, Ty Taylor and Luke Smillie will be playing at the Fallon County Fair in mid-August. Submitted photo
Staff Report
The Dakota Community Bank and Trust continued its 80th anniversary celebration June 25 with a free lunch in front of its branch location in downtown Bowman. According to a local bank spokesman, the lunch was part of a year-long celebration of the fact the business opened in 1940 and has served communities in North Dakota ever since. In addition, the bank will have more celebrations of its anniversary throughout the year. The local bank set up a serving table on the sidewalk in front of the bank, with tables for the people to eat in the parking area. On the menu were free hamburgers, snacks and drinks. In addition, people could pick up a free S’mores packet. The bank offered the lunch for two hours, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The bank also had a drawing for a fire pit
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filled with summer snacks such as the makings for S’mores, along water bottles, drinks and tumblers, insect repellent and grilling tools. The banks are also participating in an #80Actsof Kindness program throughout the year. Recently, members of the Bowman branch delivered boxes of donuts to a local business for its employees. A large number of the bank’s planned special events were canceled earlier this year, but the recent reopening of the economy in North Dakota has allowed the celebrations to resume. According to Kristy Pagel, the bank manager, between 175 and 200 people were served in front of the bank. “This is the fourth year we have done this,” Pagel said. There is another anniversary event in the fall planned, but the schedule has not been finalized yet, she added. Wayne Gerbig of Amidon won the fire pit S’mores drawing.
Marmarth holds July 4 rodeo, fireworks
For the 55th time, there will be a Fourth of July rodeo in Marmarth. The Little Missouri Saddle Club will be hosting a rodeo, parade and fireworks Saturday. The Slope Summer Circuit sanctioned rodeo will start at 8 a.m. with the timed event slack, then continue at 5 p.m. In addition, there will be a Wild and Wolly Team Sheep Racing event for the 12 and under crowd. The Independence Day celebration will continue with games on Main Street at 10 a.m., with a break for the parade at 1 p.m. “The Mollys” will be providing live music at the street dance Saturday evening. The fireworks display will start at sunset along North Main Street.
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The state and Bowman County officials held the first drive up COVID-19 testing Tuesday morning at the Bowman County Fairgrounds. See next issue for more on COVID-19 TestingPHOTOS/Brad Mosher
has strong rodeo flavor By Brad Mosher
ago, he said.
bmosher@countrymedia.net
For Beni Paulson, there is a special kind of music that hits bull riders just right. And he feels his band, Breaking Eight, lives up to it. The fact that the group of North Dakota and Baker musicians have already played in Las Vegas at the Professional Bull Riding Championships means they have already arrived. And with the loosening of the COVID-19 shutdown, their schedule has picked up, playing in Mandan July 2 and at the Country Fest in New Salem a week later. “Our schedule is fairly limited right now,” he said. “We are working on shows this winter in Las Vegas and others, but it is so hard right now. We don’t know if they are happening or if it will be canceled.” The band, which specializes in rodeo rock, has also been selected to play at the Fallon County Fair in mid-August. Raised in Killdeer and living on a spread north of Richardton, Paulson says both rodeo and music have been a big part of his life. The name of the band, Breaking Eight, is a bull riding reference. “I used to be a professional bull rider. It (the name) had kind of a ring... a cadence to it. It is hard to find names because all of the good ones are taken,” he added with a chuckle. He said the band has a web page already. “We have a good presence on Facebook and Instagram.... Twitter. We got it all.” The band started up several years ago. “We are a pretty new band,” Paulson explained. “We pretty much do our own music. We started the band to do our own stuff.” The band recorded its second album in Nashville six months
Breaking Eight released its second album, titled “Double Down” in May. “Music born on the back of a bull is kind of our slogan because it signifies we are high energy. I used to be a bull rider and Jerilyn was a rodeo competitor as well,” he explained. The group got together because they all wanted to write music and do original music on rodeo and the western way of life, he said. “I knew Ty (Taylor) and Luke (Smillie). We all played together in previous bands throughout the years. We happened to be in western North Dakota anyways. “I moved from Killdeer seven years ago,” he said. The final piece to the band puzzle would come from the Montana border town of Baker, Paulson explained. “Jerilyn (Wiseman) was going to school at Dickinson State University. I had read a bio of her because she was a rodeo student that said she was a competitive fiddle player. “I did a little asking around and a little research on her to make sure she was a decent person. Once I determined that, I called her up and asked her if she would be interested.” Paulson said “she is kind of the superstar of the group.” The band had been traveling, including performing at the PBR Finals in Las Vegas, but the travel has been limited by
the COVID-19 pandemic, he said. “We set off on this expecting big things, so there has been no surprises to me that it has been working out, but we have gelled really good as far as writing music. We have learned and grown in the songwriting department – as a team,” Paulson explained. He added that the band’s music videos for “Lost and Found” and “Still Around” show what the band can do. “It is very representative. The video companies and us are getting more efficient doing these videos as well.” In addition, the band is seeing some international interest with some of the downloads, he said. “Eventually, when the world opens up we are going to solicit tours in other countries. We are kind of waiting for things to happen, but we fully expect to be touring everywhere.” Home crowd Wiseman came to Baker to stay years ago when her family returned to Fallon County where they had ties, allowing her to finish up her final two years at the high school and competing in local rodeos. Her events were barrel racing, team roping and breakaway. After graduation, she went on to Dickinson State University and spent four years there on the Blue Hawks’ rodeo team. She majored in Ag Business and had an associates degree in Equine Marketing. Being on the rodeo team in Dickinson was a special time, she explained. “Some of my very best friends were on that team. The reason I chose that team over other places was because of the morals that coach instilled in his students. A lot of people can make you a successful athlete, but he does such a successful
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