BY MASAKI OVA
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — Dec. 9, 2005, was a significant date for Jamestown. A fire destroyed the Orlady building in downtown Jamestown on First Avenue where the Hansen Arts Park is now located.
That same evening, Brian Lunde and his wife, Barbara, had flown into Jamestown Regional Airport and drove to the fire scene. Near the scene, they also drove by the Zappas building that is now the Buffalo Grill, which is located on the corner of First Avenue South and First Street East. The Zappas building had been vacant for years.
“‘The pigeons owned it, we said,’” Brian Lunde said. “We did kind of a typical, ‘Why doesn’t somebody do something to fix our downtown?’”
The fire prompted the Lundes to renovate the historic Zappas building, which is now Buffalo Grill. That led to renovating two other buildings in downtown Jamestown — Davoni’s and the building to the west of Blue Star Dry Cleaning and Beyond on First Avenue West.
“That’s what started this passion to get in, come back, see if we couldn’t be a catalyst to jumpstart our downtown,” Lunde said. “We kind of viewed ourselves as a cog in the wheel of progress here.”
Lunde is gracious and a loyal citizen of Jamestown, said Connie Ova, former CEO of the Jamestown/Stutsman Development Corp.
“If he hadn’t taken the bull by the horns, and worked with JSDC on renovating that, I think there are a lot of things that are in downtown Jamestown that never would have happened,”
she said.
A career in campaign management, grassroots organizing
The Lundes graduated from Jamestown High School in 1972. Brian Lunde graduated from the University of South Florida with a bachelor’s degrees in mass communications and political science.
Lunde has over 40 years of experience in campaign management and grassroots organizing experience at the national, state and local levels.
Lunde began his political career in 1976 as a national field director for the Jimmy Carter presidential campaign. He has served as an executive director of the Democratic National Committee and as campaign manager of the presidential bid of Illinois Sen. Paul Simon.
He also served as a national co-chair of Democrats for Bush in 2000 and 2004 before serving on the Bush Transition Advisory Committee.
Lunde has taught seminars on campaign management and political communications for the Washington Center for Politics and Journalism.
Lunde is a partner in Advocates Inc., a public affairs and issue advocacy firm in Washington, D.C., but he said he is trying to move more into a council role there.
Driven to make a difference
Lunde said he has always been driven to make a difference. He remembers watching political conventions when he was 14 years old, enamored that “good” men and women were running for office and trying to make a difference.
Lunde said he and his wife had spent many years in the Washington, D.C., area and it was time to come back to Jamestown.
“You can’t have people drive downtown with half of your buildings
“You are your zip code where you grew up,” he said. “It pulls at you. It tugs at you. … You may have a career in Washington, D.C., but what do you love? I love wide open spaces.”
It always bothered the Lundes that Jamestown’s population has been the same as it was 60 years ago.
“If you are going to break 50 years of history being at 15,000 people, you’ve got to do something completely different because otherwise you are just treading,” Lunde said.
Lunde said Jamestown cannot stay stagnant.
“I may be wrong about this but you really do grow or die,” he said. Lunde referenced
businesses would fill the other buildings.
“It’s the first reason you get people to come downtown,” he said, referring to the need for downtown restaurants.
A city needs to have a viable and attractive downtown to inject a growth in population, Lunde said.
“You can’t have people drive downtown with half of your buildings empty,” he said. He said Jamestown went through a period where businesses located near the Interstate 94 exit in the southwest area. He said that would just make Jamestown a pit stop but wouldn’t cause the city to grow.
“You’ve got to come back to your roots and get the downtown fixed,” he said.
Lunde turned the longtime vacant Zappas building into what became Buffalo City Grille and four condominiums. Because the building had been vacant for many years, he said there were talks about demolishing it.
He said the historic building needed to be saved because it’s destructive to the community to tear it down.
Culpeper, Virginia, as an example, which has grown in population from about 8,600 people in 1990 to over 20,000 in 2020. He said Culpeper is similar to Jamestown because it is positioned between three larger cities — Washington, D.C.; Charlottesville, Virginia; and Fredericksburg, Virginia.
“They fixed their downtown and now it’s like a postcard,” he said. “It looks like a Virginia countryside postcard town.” He said Culpeper’s population growth was sparked in part because of downtown revitalization.
“You are going to clean out your downtown and you will have nothing to use as a core,” Lunde said. Lunde said the buildings that currently house the Corner Bar and Jerry’s Furniture were flagship buildings when he was growing up.
“You have to get back to that viability it once had,” Lunde said.
“That’s the connection to the past that you cannot skip over your downtown and lose it.”
Once the Lundes purchased the Zappas building, they decided that it needed to be used as a cornerstone business to draw
BY KATHY STEINER The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — Dean Haas admits that when he first started donating blood, it wasn’t really with a charitable reason in mind.
“That started all the way back in the military because back in the military if you donated blood, they gave you a half a day off. What the heck, you know,” he laughs.
These days, he regularly donates blood and it has nothing to do with time off from work.
“It’s what I can do to give back,” Haas said. “I believe you should give back, not just take. And it’s very easy for me to do that, especially to donate blood. An hour every eight weeks? Really? Is it that tough?”
He not only donates blood to help Vitalant, he coordinates two blood drives every year in Jamestown. He says it’s only a few weeks of work to get 150 units of blood to help patients in need.
“... everything I do I try doing 100 percent,” Haas said. “If I’m going to do something, I’m doing it the right way. For whatever that’s worth. If I’m going to do it, I throw 110 percent effort into it.”
North Dakota native
Haas grew up in Napoleon, North Dakota, where he graduated from high school. He earned a Bachelor of Science in history at Valley City State University in 1983, with minors in physical education, coaching and driver’s education.
“Then I went in the military and I was in the military for quite a while,” he said. “I actually started with National Guard, then I went full-time Army and … I was even an officer in the United States Army.”
Haas spent a total of 10 years in the military stateside and was a paratrooper, a combat engineer and an Army medic, he said.
After his discharge, he moved to Jamestown and sold insurance for four years in North Dakota before joining R.M. Stoudt, where he’s been a sales consultant for more than 33 years.
When Haas moved to Jamestown, he became a member of the Knights of Columbus. Billy Guthmiller was in charge of a KC blood drive and had served with Haas in the National Guard.
‘He’s the one that said, ‘Haas, you need to come over and donate blood,’” Haas said. “I go, ‘I have no problem with that, I’ve been doing it.’”
Longtime donor Haas has donated blood for more than 40 years.
“In that time, I’ve given over 20 gallons, I think I’m almost to 25 gallons now,” he said.
He said through his work coordinating annual community blood drives at R.M. Stoudt and the KCs, he has helped get more than 3,500 units of blood for United Blood Services and later Vitalant.
“He has been a fantastic supporter of blood drives in the community out in Jamestown working with Vitalant,” said Weldon Roberts, senior manager of donor recruitment for Vitalant.
Roberts has worked with Haas for eight years on those two community blood drives.
“There
“With Dean, the first word that comes to my mind is passion,” Roberts said. “He has a passion to make sure that blood is on the shelves in the hospitals. And that passion goes into a dedication of getting blood donors to his drives.”
Haas recalls a few years ago there was a blizzard during a scheduled blood drive and he got a phone call from a Vitalant representative who said the drive was going to “flop.”
Haas said no it wasn’t.
“All I did is made phone calls and I called down to … the (North Dakota) Farmers Union State Office and I got ahold of someone I knew and I go ‘I know you guys aren’t doing much other than waiting to go home because it’s blizzarding outside, so load four or five people in a vehicle and
come up to the KC Hall because we got a blood drive,’” he said.
Haas called businesses where there were donors he knew as well as other “good donors,” telling them to bring two people with them.
“We had a total, total sold out drive, filled all the slots,” Haas said. They also managed to get the bus loaded with the donations, which made it to Fargo despite the terrible weather, he said.
“There wasn’t a beat missed,” Haas said. “... so where there’s a will, there’s always a way.”
Haas said he has worked with other blood drive coordinators in town when they’re having trouble.
“They have a successful drive, it’s good for Jamestown, it’s good for everyone,” he said.
Haas said getting people to donate here is not a problem.
“Of all the towns literally in North Dakota, Jamestown is the best per capita, bar none,” he said. “No one touches us. So Jamestown people are the best at donating blood. So normally I don’t have to spread the word so much, just got to let them know when the drive is ‘cause they’re real good about signing up.”
Roberts agreed, saying there is a higher percentage of donors in the Jamestown area compared to the national average.
“(The) national average is less than 5 percent of the population donating blood three or more times
a year,” Roberts said. Although he did not know the actual number for Jamestown, he said it was a lot higher, noting there is a list of over 1,000 eligible donors in Jamestown.
Every eight weeks there is a community blood drive in Jamestown, Haas said. Other drives are also held at businesses but those are not considered community drives.
That doesn’t mean Haas isn’t looking for ways to get more drives in the community.
“He actually helped us get the Battle of the Badges blood drive started in 2016 (in Jamestown),” Roberts said. “This is the one where the police and the fire departments band together, reaching out to the community. We do a three-day blood drive in January — Thursday, Friday and Saturday. … We
just celebrated our 9th annual Battle of the Badges this January, and Dean was instrumental in getting the police and fire chiefs on board and excited about their blood drive as well.”
Need for blood is ‘constant’
Haas said there is always a need for blood.
“Roughly only 6% of the eligible people in the United States donate blood,” he said. “So of all the people that are eligible, not everyone’s eligible, but only 6 percent give. And there’s always a shortage. The national statistic is every 2 seconds in the United States someone needs blood.” Roberts said currently, there is less than a fourday supply of blood on the shelves going out to hospitals.
“We’re not in a critical
a restaurant for the business community that could be used for meetings and a gathering place.
“We really didn’t have our flagship where we said Jamestown needs a place where if you close your eyes, you could be in Chicago, Minneapolis, Seattle,” he said. “Walking in here, you don’t know where you are at.”
He said a cornerstone restaurant is a catalyst to get other businesses to locate in the downtown area. He said downtown restaurants are usually independent restaurants.
“You are going to have to get independent uniqueness,” he said.
He said the Buffalo Grill building was renovated as a private-public partnership. In 2006, Lunde received a loan of $450,000 and a $350,000 grant in city sales tax money from the
John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun
Community blood drives help provide needed blood products to hospitals in the region through Vitalant. A recent community blood drive was held at the Knights of Columbus in Jamestown.
need but the need is constant,” he said. “That replenishment, having regularly scheduled blood drives, helps us make sure that we’ve got that blood product ready to go when those hospitals need it.”
Vitalant supplies almost 70 hospitals in the area, Roberts said, and has to find at least 250 volunteers every day to meet that need.
Jamestown/Stutsman Development Corp., The Jamestown Sun reported. At the time, Ova said renovating the Zappas building could be a catalyst for downtown development.
Because of the help he received from the JSDC, Lunde said he renovated two other historic buildings in downtown Jamestown.
“They contributed enough that I felt we owed them to do more after this was all done,” he said.
After a cornerstone restaurant was established, other businesses located in Jamestown. Downtown Jamestown now includes Babb’s Coffee House, Jonny B’s Brickhouse, Corner Bar and Davoni’s among others. The Hansen Arts Park has also been established in the area where the Orlady building once stood.
“When you get a core of what brings people downtown, then all of a sudden
“With that, we’re not able to reach that many people directly,” he said.
“So we work with a lot of sponsors, coordinators out in various communities. That’s where Dean comes in. He is the person on the ground talking face to face talking with people out in Jamestown and getting them to come to blood drives. Without people like him, we wouldn’t be able
you have people … rehabilitate or renovate a building,” Lunde said. “All of a sudden you have reinvented your downtown which is the core, I think, of any growth strategy.”
If he hadn’t worked with JSDC on renovating the project, Ova said there might be a lot of projects in downtown Jamestown that never would have happened.
Lunde said Jamestown is doing great but it’s still in the incremental model.
“It starts incrementally at first,” he said. “You grow incrementally for a while but you do fix your downtown.”
‘Then what?’
Lunde said the Jamestown area has solid core industries such as ag and energy for organic growth.
“You are always going to have that,” he said. “Then what plays do you make off of that?”
He said if Jamestown wants to become a
to do our job, we wouldn’t be able to meet that need.”
Haas said people don’t realize there’s a shortage of blood and recalls one young woman who came to donate at a local drive for the first time several years ago after learning that firsthand.
She said the woman’s mother went to Fargo for surgery, which had to be rescheduled because there wasn’t enough blood on the shelves.
“And so she started to donate blood because she did not know there’s that shortage,” Haas said. “... There’s just such a shortage, but the other thing, it’s not like you got billions of dollars and you can just go buy yourself some blood. Blood has to be donated. You cannot produce it. It’s not like a lot of other things we can go out and make more, buy more, whatever. If they don’t have the blood, they don’t have the blood.”
Haas said all of his
destination city, it usually happens in the tourism industry.
“How do you become a destination that gets you into rapid growth,” he said.
Lunde is heavily involved in the Bison World project. The project started as a way to improve the Frontier Village area.
He said Bison World is the “outside-the-box” thinking that could trigger a large retail industry based on all the new people coming to Jamestown during a seven-month period.
“The beauty of it is you get new residents out of something like that, new long-term residents, but you also get economic activity off of people who spend their money and leave,” he said. “It’s a double whammy. You get the new growth, more housing, more people but you also get this added benefit of people spending their
family and his children donate blood.
“People will sometimes tell me ‘I’ve got my little ones so I can’t donate that day,’” he said. “I go, ‘Bring them, we’ll watch them,’ and they can see that Mom or Dad are donating blood and maybe down the road, now they’ll become donors.”
Haas said he sees people all the time who know nothing about donating blood as well as people who say they’re scared to donate.
“And all I do is tell people ‘Since you’ve never donated blood, please just do it one time for me,’” he said. “And then if you didn’t like it, it was a bad experience, you never have to do it again. But try it once, and I think you’ll be totally blown away that it’s not the end of the world …”
In addition to his work with blood drives, Haas finds time to serve on the Jimmie Booster Board, the
4th Degree Knights and as head usher at St. James Basilica. He also served with the group working on the NAIA Women’s Wrestling National Championships at the University of Jamestown.
“I got a few things on my plate,” he said.
Haas said he and his wife, Toni, who together have five children and five grandchildren, also volunteer in other areas of the community.
Haas said people interested in learning more can go on vitalant.org, put in their zip code and find out where there are blood drives in their area.
“There is a such a need for it and it’s the easiest way to give back,” he said. “For someone that wants to give back what’s one hour every eight weeks to donate blood? And you can change, literally, someone’s life.”
ksteiner@jamestownsun. com | (701) 952-8449
front corner building on the
money and leaving.”
Lunde said the Bison World project wouldn’t even be thought of if there wasn’t vacant state land and 8.8 million people who drive by Jamestown on Interstate 94.
“It allows us to think about geometric growth, a whole new industry,” he said. “How do we get people to spend their money and leave, which is the tourism industry?” Lunde said Jamestown is also branded as the Buffalo City and that can be used to leverage the brand of the city.
“That’s what Bison World is all about,” he said. “ … If you are the Buffalo City and you got Bison World, it all starts to tie historically together.” mova@jamestownsun.com | (701) 952-8454
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f u n d r a i si n g e v e n t s , o u r e m p l o ye e s a r e d e d i c a t e d to g iv i n g b a c k a n d st r e n g t h e n i n g t h e b o n d s w i t h i n o u r c o m m u n i t i e s
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to ge t h e r, a m a z i n g t h i n g s h a p p e n
She has been an ambassador for many years
BY KATHY STEINER
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — If you’ve ever seen a Business of the Month award photo or a Customer Service Award photo from the Jamestown Area Chamber of Commerce, chances are you saw Shirley Jackson in it, even if you don’t know her.
“There’s very few that I miss because people will come in the store and say, ‘You’re the one in the paper (The Jamestown Sun),’” says Jackson, manager of Riddle’s Jewelry.
“... I’ve gotten that so much.”
Jackson is an ambassador for the Jamestown Area Chamber of Commerce and that’s why she’s in many of those photos. Chamber ambassadors can be found at events in the community that include ribbon cuttings, groundbreakings and award presentations.
“She shows up every time and she’s so reliable,” said Emily Bivens, executive director of the chamber. “She gets community and she knows how important it is to support people within the community, and she really wants Jamestown to be better and better. She does that through showing up and it’s a big part of it.”
The chamber has up to 30 people serving as chamber ambassadors, Bivens said. An individual must apply to be an ambassador — a volunteer position — and meet certain criteria.
“They are the PR arm of the chamber,” Bivens said, calling the ambassadors “the cheerleaders” of the organization. “They’re to promote all the good things that the chamber does.”
Ambassadors are expected to attend ribbon cuttings, award presentations and S.T.I.R. (Socialize, Talk, Interact, Remember) events, help with the chamber’s annual banquet, Loyal to Local and Welcome to Jamestown programs, parades and delivering chamber directories, Bivens said.
Bivens said while people will listen to her as the chamber’s executive director, it means something else when it comes from another professional in town who is a chamber member, such as Jackson.
“They’re a huge part of what makes the chamber the chamber,” she said.
“Being in my position, I’ve been able to speak with other chamber professionals in other communities and our ambassadors are stellar. Other communities don’t have the good ambassadors that we do. I don’t know how some of those chambers do what they’re doing.” Jackson could be in a league of her own.
“She is very reliable. She is always there ready … to celebrate with these businesses of these individuals and lift them up.”
Whatever the occasion, Jackson can be depended upon to show up, Bivens said.
“She’s in a lot of those photos,” Bivens said. “She is very reliable. She is always there ready … to celebrate with these businesses of these individuals and lift them up. … She’s a cheerleader for the chamber as much as she is for the community.”
Jackson says she’s not sure how long she’s been an ambassador but it’s been a long time, noting she also served as president of the chamber in 2011.
“I like getting out in the community,” she said. “It makes you feel good, I mean, to help people. l love to go out there in the community and meet new people.”
She says it’s important to attend chamber events.
“I feel if they got the nomination for the customer service (award), there should be at least people there to honor them with that customer service (award),” she said.
Chamber ambassadors can be recognized at events by their blue polo shirts or jackets and name tags. Jackson wears her Riddle’s Jewelry name tag, which also helps promote the business to new people
in town, she says.
“She definitely leads by example,” Bivens said. “If people see that there’s this other business professional in town that is going to all these things and is wanting to support all these other businesses, they see that that is important. It is important for businesses to support each other, professionals to support each other. We are a community and that is part of it and that is her way of showing that support is always being there. I think that speaks volumes. Just by her showing up it shows that she really cares.”
North Dakota native Jackson is from Sykeston, North Dakota. She attended Interstate Business College for two years and then began working for Holsum Bakery in Fargo, where she sent out bills, she said.
She went to Finley, North Dakota, one weekend with her roommate and met her future husband, Larry, who was stationed at Finley Air Force Station. After they were married, the couple stayed at Finley for “quite a while,” she said, before moving to other places. They have two sons, Chad and Michael, and four
grandchildren. Larry retired after 20 years of service in the Air Force and then began working for the U.S. Postal Service. That eventually brought them to Jamestown, where they’ve lived for 37 years.
“My first job (in Jamestown) was at Anderson’s Footwear in the Buffalo Mall,” Jackson said, where she worked for 10 ½ years. “And then they recruited me over to Riddle’s (Jewelry) and I have been there 26 years now.”
She said she had to learn “everything” at Riddle’s Jewelry.
“It was sink or swim. I’ll
never forget it,” Jackson said. “I didn’t know computers … I got hired the end of October and it was Christmas time. And I didn’t know much about jewelry. It was tough, I didn’t know if I’d make it or not. I learned on the floor. Questions. A lot of questions.”
She said she got involved with the Jamestown Area Chamber of Commerce when she started working at Riddle’s Jewelry.
“The manager before me, he was an ambassador, so I thought that was a neat way to see what goes
on in a community and see what businesses come into town so I have an idea what’s out there,” she said.
Many people who come to Riddle’s Jewelry also have questions about other places in Jamestown, she said, and she likes to help.
Jackson might seem to have enough on her plate as a chamber ambassador, but she volunteers in other areas of the community too.
Jackson is the director of traffic for the Great Plains Mobile Food Pantry when it is in Jamestown, donates blood for Vitalant, helped during the NAIA Women’s Wrestling National Championships at Harold Newman Arena, serves on the Jamestown Community Foundation board and as treasurer for Rotary Club.
She served as a host for one of the teams competing at the State Class B Girls Basketball Tournament in Jamestown, delivering welcome packets and being available to answer any questions. She previously served as a host during the NAIA Women’s Wrestling National Championships as well.
“It gives me such a great feeling,” Jackson says of volunteering. “It’s just uplifting. It helps the community out. And lately, I’ve been taking my grandaughter (Brooke Jackson) along and getting her used to volunteering and the feeling. A lot of times she says, ‘Grandma, I’ll come along.’” Jackson, who turned 73 this month, doesn’t have any plans to retire any time soon. She says she’ll continue to volunteer when she does.
“I love it,” she said. “I love it. I love volunteering, there’s no better feeling.” ksteiner@jamestownsun. com | (701) 952-8449
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Matt Perkins appreciates support for McElroy Park field renovations project
BY KATIE RINGER
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — Matt Perkins has been coached from the beginning to get involved in things that matter to him.
”Growing up my parents always kind of preached about hard work and being present for the things that are important to you so that was instilled in myself and my three brothers at a young age,” Perkins said.
Perkins has been doing what his parents taught him — on a large scale — since April 2022.
In April 2022, the Jamestown Parks and Recreation District was one of 16 park districts to apply for grants for facility renovations through the North Dakota Parks and Recreation Department.
During the 67th Legislative Assembly special session, Senate Bill 2345 established a $5 million local park district facility renovation grant utilizing federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to assist local communities in renovating and upgrading their existing outdoor recreation facilities.
The North Dakota Parks and Recreation Department approved Jamestown’s grant request of $911,100 to update the Al Boelke baseball park.
In the last two years, Perkins has helped raise approximately $3.6 million for the project. The project’s groundbreaking occurred in the fall of 2023.
”It’s given me a lot of appreciation for those people who do this kind of thing all of the time and it’s given me a lot of appreciation for our community members who are willing to donate their hard-earned money to a project they feel is worthwhile,” Perkins said. “We’ve had donations from $10 to $300,000. Every little bit helps.
”There are lots of things going on in the community that people are continuously trying to raise money for,” he said. “I am super grateful to live in a community
where people are willing to donate to a cause that might be outside their personal benefit.”
Perkins has been on the JAYBAL Board of Directors since 2020. Currently, he is the acting president of the JAYBAL Association.
”Baseball was always my sport growing up so that was kind of always a passion for me and now my son and daughter and my youngest son are involved in the baseball program,” Perkins said.
“I was kind of tired of us having facilities like we’ve had. When we go out of town to play to Fargo, Grand Forks, Bismarck or Mandan, we always seem to be behind as far as facilities go.
”We certainly have nice facilities for basketball and those sort of things but baseball-wise — we were always way behind the eight ball as far as where we could play and the facilities that we have,” he said.
“The goal of this project is to make the facilities into something we can be proud of and bring people to town and showcase what we can do here.”
Construction is slated to begin this spring, beginning with the northeast end of the complex.
The first phase of the renovations are slated to feature two fields, both with turf infield, Gould Field, a Babe Ruth field and a Cal Ripken and/or fastpitch softball field, as well as a parking lot, concessions and restrooms building with a paved patio area.
The estimated cost of the first phase is $4.5 million.
”Matt is the catalyst for the McElroy Park field renovations,” said Amy Walters, executive director of the Jamestown Parks and Recreation District. “He has volunteered countless hours to help JPRD develop the design plans and raise the funds needed for the project. I am so grateful for his leadership and support to bring this much-needed improvement to our community.”
Even when construction on the northeast end of the complex is
“He has volunteered countless hours to help JPRD develop the design plans and raise the funds needed for the project. I am so grateful for his leadership and support to bring this much-needed improvement to our community.”
Amy Walters, executive director, Jamestown Parks and Recreation District, referring to Matt Perkins
complete, the renovation project still has a long way to go.
The targeted cost for the second phase is $2 million. The second phase includes the installation of two Cal Ripken or fastpitch softball fields, two tee ball fields and batting cages.
The remaining funds will be allocated to Jack Brown Stadium. The Jack Brown phase includes transforming Jack Brown Stadium to a full turf field. Perkins said the committee has plans to make renovations to the grandstands and install new locker rooms along with a fan deck. A concessions and restroom building are also in the works. The cost of the Jack Brown phase is still to be determined at this time.
”I don’t have the mentality of starting something and then just giving up on it,” Perkins
said. “We started it and we’re going to do everything in our power to get to where we need to be and to reach the goal that we set.”
gratitude to his fellow volunteers: Walters, Jason Falk, Mark Anderson and Kevin Sortland. The group of volunteers has been meeting at least once a week for the past two years.
”It’s been a process that I am happy we undertook,” Perkins said. “We are continuing to work towards our goal. When we see the kids’ faces and see them playing on the field, that’ll make it all worth it.
A lot of times what you need is somebody who says we are going to do this and figure it out. That’s what we’ve done.” Perkins expressed his
”I don’t see myself as a quitter so we’re going to continue to press forward,” he said. “It is a lot of time and effort but it is something that is certainly worthwhile. It takes a lot of people and a lot of effort to get something like this done.
”To me, it is just such a worthwhile cause for the community and the youth here,” he said. “I am not doing it for me. I am doing it for the kids that it will impact.” kringer@jamestownsun. com | @KaitlynRinger on Twitter
BY MAX O’NEILL
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — Many people volunteer to make the Frontier Village what it is, and two of the most dedicated are CJ Hager and Amanda Thrift.
“I think it’s a great attraction for Jamestown and there’s a lot of opportunity to not only bring visitors to Jamestown off the interstate but to show residents within the community that there are additional opportunities to get involved and see what the community has to offer,” Thrift said.
“People don’t realize that now with the General Store open up there, now there’s another place to get ice cream. It’s a great opportunity to go and buy gifts as well from the General Store to get the branded Jamestown merchandise. So I just really like to give back to something that I think can grow and better our community.”
The city of Jamestown owns Frontier Village but Jamestown Tourism manages it. Allison Limke said the village annually has between 20 and 30 volunteers depending on the time and date.
“We usually plan a service day in the beginning of May to get ready for the opening of the season,” Limke said. “During that day we often get a lot of groups whether they’re Girl Scout groups or groups from a bank or groups from another entity in town. I know Triumph (Inc.) always likes to bring a group of people and that group alone is about 30 to 40 people. Sometimes those dates don’t work out for some businesses so they organize their own service day.”
Limke said organizing the volunteer opportunities takes a lot of work, with most of the work coming from assigning tasks and cleaning the village. Limke said they schedule each service day to take between three and four hours. Limke said it means a lot to her that people in the community like Hager and Thrift volunteer.
“It’s Jamestown’s Frontier Village and when the community has such passionate buy-in it just proves how much this site is important to the people here,” Limke said. “What we take pride in is showing off to our visitors because we have hundreds of thousands of people that stop in there from all over the country and even all over the world, and when our locals are so passionate to make sure that they have that good impression, it really makes a difference for our community.”
When the village is closed over the winter months, Limke said the buildings become full of cobwebs, spiders and mice that need to be cleaned up before the village opens in the spring.
Hager said he has volunteered at the village for a few years. He said he and his colleagues, Brittni Rodin, Jill Trygg, Hager’s wife, Wendy Hager, Dylan Hager and Brian Amundson do work through their company Ameriprise Financial’s annual service day. Hager and his colleagues reached out to Jamestown Tourism and volunteered their services and were put to work on different projects.
“A few years ago, we helped with general maintenance, painting, clean up, also helped with getting all the vegetation and plants on the strip that goes out to
“What we take pride in is showing off to our visitors because we have hundreds of thousands of people that stop in there from all over the country and even all over the world.”
Allison Limke
buffalo there all set up,” Hager said. “Just setting up for those types of things. We put together a couple little fencing projects that were used for parking and that kind of thing. … We went up there ... and they had us do a variety of different things.”
Thrift said she started volunteering at the village six years ago when she was a member of the Jamestown Tourism Board of Directors.
Thrift also volunteers with the Kiwanis Club, the Kiwanis Action Club and her coworkers at First Community Credit Union.
Thrift said she enjoys working at the village because the jobs are never the same. Thrift said she does whatever the village needs. She said she likes meeting new people and having the ability to see a job from start to finish.
“We’re going to help start cleaning out some of the buildings just from the dirt and dust from the winter months,” Thrift said. “I’ve planted flowers, I’ve cleaned up some tree branches. I’ve done everything to repairing the walkways up there and hammering in nails. It really just depends on what the need is and what time I have to give.”
Limke said Hager and his coworkers volunteer yearly doing more manual labor jobs including
staining a deck and painting around the village.
Hager said he enjoys working at the village because of the impact that it has on tourism in the city. He also said his mother, Mitzi Hager, volunteered at the location.
Hager said he believes the village helps businesses in Jamestown by attracting visitors here.
Thrift said people should volunteer at the Frontier Village alongside Limke and Emily Bivens, executive director of the Jamestown Area Chamber of Commerce and Jamestown Tourism.
“Allison and Emily are great to work with and they are super flexible and they will find a job or task for anybody to do. It doesn’t matter what your abilities are,” Thrift said. “I have gone up before with our Aktion Club which is a Kiwanis Club for adults with disabilities and they’ve been able to tailor tasks for our individuals that have special needs to make sure that they felt involved and included as well. They’re great to work with and they’ll find a task for anybody.” Limke said volunteering at the village is as easy as letting the tourism office know that you would like to help.
moneill@jamestownsun. com | (701) 952-8461 | Follow him on Twitter @ MaxONeill16
BY KATHY STEINER
The Jamestown Sun
Downtown Jamestown may have filled up in recent years, but if Lynn Lambrecht had her wish, some of the historic buildings that once were there would still be around to fill.
“I’m a history buff and I love old buildings, so if there was one thing that I could do I would go back in time in the ‘70s and stop the urban renewal program,” she says, laughing. “If I had my dream … we would still have the opera house, we would still have quite a few of the older buildings that we could be capitalizing on right now and we can’t.”
But the president of the Jamestown Downtown Association is still happy with how far the downtown has come and says it’s always evolving.
“I feel like we have accomplished a lot of things,” she said. “... if you were to compare what the downtown looked like in the late ’90s, early 2000s versus what it is now, it’s easy to forget, like, for example, the Straus building used to have a big old pigeon facade thing on the front of it. But at the same time, there’s always going to be a project. There’s always going to be an improvement that we can make. The bumpouts, the road diet, those are all improvements in my opinion that helped make the downtown feel more welcoming, more pedestrian friendly. But there’s still other things that we can do.”
Returning native
A native of Jamestown, Lambrecht earned a business administration degree from North Dakota State University before launching her career in other states, spending time in Wyoming and Oregon.
“I was in retail management to begin with, worked for Kmart and they moved me around for a while, and then I came back (to Jamestown) and took a job at White Drug,” she said. “... I always say that I moved away long enough to know that I
wanted to come back especially when it came to raise kids …” Lambrecht has three daughters, Lara, Erika
and Keira.
Lambrecht said when she began working at White Drug in downtown Jamestown, she learned
about the history of downtown, which would evolve into a “passion” for downtown revitalization.
Lambrecht was the assistant manager for White Drug, working there for six years until 1997 when she moved upstairs – literally — in the same building to work for Robert Ingstad Broadcasting Inc. She stayed with the company, now i3G Media, where she is the general manager and oversees six staff. There are five radio stations run out of the Jamestown office, she said: Big Dog Country, Q101, Ted FM, KRVX The Raven and Jamestown 107.1. There is also a Carrington station, KDAK, and the website newsdakota.com.
Lambrecht didn’t plan to go into sales work, which happened through her involvement with what is now known as the Jamestown Downtown Association.
“I started meeting other business owners and
learning more about their businesses and so it just kind of evolved into a, I know them so I could probably help them with their marketing with their business … ,” she said.
Lambrecht said the downtown association at that time was mainly concerned with retail promotions such as Crazy Days and opening hours for Christmas shopping.
“We kind of took that little association and turned it into something bigger,” she said, into a development and revitalization organization. “We got involved in the national Main Street program. We started looking into things like the Renaissance Zone, we started looking into development programs for downtown.” Lambrecht noted that in the late 1990s and early 2000s, there were a lot of empty buildings downtown.
“We had the Zappas building that had been empty for 25 years before that got filled with a restaurant (Buffalo Grill) and stuff,” she said. Other empty buildings included the former Fair Store (Corner Bar) and part of the Maple Mall.
“We knew that we needed to do something to encourage people to locate their businesses downtown and put those buildings to use,” she said.
Monica Hieb, vice president of the Jamestown Downtown Association who has worked with Lambrecht for at least eight years, says Lambrecht’s knowledge of the downtown’s historic buildings is invaluable.
“I think she’s been through every building downtown and knows who had it,” Hieb said. “ She knows its history, she knows exactly what was there, when it started.”
Nancy Miller, who is the JDA secretary and has served for almost 16 years on the board, agrees.
“She’s just very passionate about downtown and Jamestown as a whole,” she said.
“So you could see the trend of this is working, the importance behind it is working, the support behind it is working.”
BY MASAKI OVA
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — Tara Kapp’s involvement with Baskets, Bags and Bubbly and R.M. Stoudt’s Running of the Pink is a passion for her and a way to give back to the community.
“It’s important to me that there are individuals in this community that have the access that they need for (cancer) screenings,” Kapp said.
Kapp has a long history of cancer in her family. She said her mother comes from a family of six and four — including her mother — have been lost to cancer.
“To me, that hits really hard,” Kapp said. “Since cancer is so prevalent and it’s so common, you hear that all the time and there isn’t a person you can’t talk to around here that doesn’t know someone or hasn’t been somehow connected to or affected by cancer. It’s just sad and depressing.”
Kapp said it’s worth it to be part of anything that can help in the fight against cancer.
“For me, knowing what my family has been through being there with my relatives who have had a diagnosis, I know what it’s like on the back end,” she said. “I’ve been there, I’ve done that and it sucks.” Kapp, a Jamestown native, was formerly an event coordinator for the Running of the Pink and serves as a co-chair of Baskets, Bags & Bubbly. She still volunteers with Running of the Pink. Kapp said her involvement with Running of the Pink began when she started working for R.M. Stoudt in 2013.
“It was the first thing I was thrown into,” she said.
Getting involved with Running of the Pink Kapp helped organize 10 Running of the Pink events. While working for R.M. Stoudt, she said she realized how important the event was for the community.
As an event coordinator, Kapp said she did anything from the basics of marketing Running of the Pink to ordering the T-shirts, getting sponsors, rounding up volunteers and figuring out who was going to do what task.
“A lot of our staff members from Stoudt’s were involved as well,” she said. “It wasn’t just me. It was a massive team effort.”
When Kapp left R.M. Stoudt, she told the business that she still wanted to be involved with Running of the Pink.
“I want to see the people,” Kapp said. “I want to witness the success and just be part of what Running of the Pink stands for.”
Getting involved with Baskets, Bags & Bubbly Kapp’s involvement with Baskets, Bags & Bubbly began with a friend’s invitation to the event. She said the event is one of the best wellkept secrets in Jamestown.
“A lot of people don’t even know it exists because we sell out so fast,” Kapp said. “It’s for 200 people. It’s not highly advertised because Deb Lee started it and she created such a successful event that you don’t even need to advertise.”
The following year, Kapp was asked to emcee the event. Kapp was the emcee of Baskets, Bags & Bubbly for two years and then the coronavirus pandemic hit.
“We were able to have the event and it was all virtual because it was an auction,” she said. “ … So I was a little more involved with the planning of the event at that point, not heavily, but still got to see kind of how it happened in the back end of things.”
The following year, Kapp and Nicole Lemieux were asked to co-chair the event. She said Lee had asked the two to cochair the event because she was retiring after running it for 15 years. But Lee would only retire from running the event under two conditions — Kapp and Lemieux run the event and the money raised go toward Running of the Pink.
“It was an honor really,” Kapp said.
Lee said it was time for new blood and a new generation to take over the event. Lee started the event in 2005.
“They’ve increased the amount of money made and the enthusiasm they had, it’s just been the right thing to do,” she said.
Being the co-chair of Baskets, Bags & Bubbly included getting R.M. Stoudt on board with it as well. Kapp talked to R.M. Stoudt owner Casey Stoudt about her and Lemieux potentially becoming co-chairs of Baskets, Bags & Bubbly.
“He looked me in the eye and he said, ‘Absolutely, you can do that,’” Kapp said.
Kapp said she was told that R.M. Stoudt would be the headquarters of Baskets, Bags & Bubbly, where people could bring their auction items.
Running of the Pink raises money for local cervical and breast cancer awareness and breast cancer awareness. Registration fees, sponsorships and donations go to the Jamestown Regional Medical Center’s “No Excuses” program and Central Valley Health District’s Women’s Way program.
Running of the Pink includes a virtual and inperson 5K run/walk and 10K run, according to its website.
Baskets, Bags & Bubbly is for women only, and they gather to wine, dine and bid the night away to raise funds for local cancer causes, including JRMC No Excuses, Central Valley Health’s Women’s Way program and Jamestown Area Cancer Support, according to JRMC’s website.
Kapp said the best way to fight back against cancer is early detection. Cancer screening studies in history have reconfirmed that regular screenings cut breast cancer deaths by about 33% in all women ages 40 and over, according to the American College of Radiology.
Kapps said within the first two years of JRMC launching the No Excuses program, the amount of mammograms increased significantly because of the success of the program and Central Valley Health spreading the word about JRMC’s 3D mammography.
She said the programs help eliminate barriers to get cancer screenings.
“So you could see the trend of this is working, the importance behind it is working, the support behind it is working,” Kapp said.
Kapp said she was invited two years ago to attend the Quarter Craze event that raises money for local cancer causes as
well. Proceeds from the event go to purchase gas gift cards that are distributed to cancer patients who must travel for outof-town treatments.
“So you have Women’s Way, you have No Excuses, you have help from Hope and Healing formed from the cancer support group to just help,” Kapp said. “We are fighting back against cancer by trying to detect it early and for those who have to travel, we are helping them as well. So it’s kind of hitting both ends.”
Growing the Running of the Pink
Kapp said the first Running of the Pink had a small turnout.
“As with any event you start small and you keep growing but due to Casey’s hard work and the hard work of everyone at the dealership to promote and believe in the event, it’s just grown exponentially,” she said.
Kapp said the idea for the event was for it to be a kickoff for individuals who are training for a marathon or a 5K or 10K run. The event is held before the Fargo Marathon and other marathons in the tri-state area.
“So this would be a really good way to try it, or if you are not competitive and just want to try it for fun or you really just want to go for a walk, it fits everybody,” she said. ”It’s really family friendly as well.”
Kapp said Stoudt and Doug Klaudt, a former manager at R.M. Stoudt, ran in college and researched what the needs in Jamestown were.
“They found that there was a hole in helping individuals get the cancer screenings they needed,” she said. “At the time, they began working with Central Valley Health.”
A few years later Jamestown Regional
Medical Center was the first hospital in North Dakota to have 3D mammography technology.
JRMC also created the “No Excuses” program, which works with Central Valley Health and its Women’s Way program to make sure there are no barriers between individuals and the needed cancer screenings.
The event gets about 500 participants on average. The biggest event had 700 participants.
“He (Stoudt) knew there was a need,” Kapp said. “He wanted to fill it and he’s continually worked with others to make sure they reach as far as a goal they can to just give back to Jamestown.”
Help from others with the events
Kapp said everyone at R.M. Stoudt plays a role in helping with Running of the Pink, including Stoudt.
“He’s in the trenches. He’s helping as much as he can,” she said.
She said Barb Gefroh, who was an employee at R.M. Stoudt, was diagnosed with breast cancer and eventually passed away.
“What was interesting to me is a diagnosis of breast cancer wasn’t uncommon. We’ve gone through that with my family,” Kapp said. “But personally what I saw is there are individuals at the dealership who maybe hadn’t been as close to somebody who had a cancer diagnosis and they were able to see Barb and her strength and what she went through.
“To me, it felt as if more of the employees in the dealership all of a sudden went, ‘OK, we knew this was a thing, we knew it was a good event for the dealership and the community, but now we believe in it even more because we have a closer tie to it,’” she said. “So it
Masaki Ova / The Jamestown Sun file photo
just seemed like we just saw more dealership employees really be more passionate about the event because it hit so close to home.”
Kapp and Lemieux coordinate the Baskets, Bags & Bubbly event, but they have friends and family who help as well.
Kapp said friends and family serve the tables, help with registration and set up the event.
“What they have found
too is over the years of helping, they are like, ‘OK, it’s a lot of work, but we believe in this too because if we didn’t we wouldn’t help,’” she said. “ … It’s us getting everything coordinated, but without our family, friends and the volunteers and the staff at Stoudts, we couldn’t do it. There is no way two people could do that.”
mova@jamestownsun.com | (701) 952-8454
The Jamestown Downtown Association has more than 100 members, Lambrecht said.
“Our investors in the downtown are from all over the city,” she said.
“They don’t have to be a downtown core business to want to see their downtown revitalized. But at the same time, that’s where we concentrate our efforts, is on that downtown core area, that First Avenue core.”
JDA is a nonprofit organization whose purpose is to “provide service, support, leadership, and advocacy for the vitalization of downtown,” according to its website, jamestowndowntown.org.
“There’s a lot of positive things happening in downtown and then we just keep on trying to focus on things that help the entire downtown area,” Lambrecht said of JDA. “We still have a couple of promotions that we do — the Rods and Hogs and the Holiday Dazzle Parade and stuff that help to draw people downtown and put a focus on our downtown. And we just got done buying new Christmas decorations which seemed to be very well received.”
During the summer, JDA places 50 flower baskets on the street poles downtown.
“Anything that we can do as a group to enhance the downtown area and make it more inviting for people to not just come and visit but then also to locate their businesses downtown, we’re going to try and do that,” she said.
Don’t be surprised to find Lambrecht and daughter Keira watering those baskets of flowers twice a week all summer. She says her husband, Wade, set up one of their own trucks with a donated water tank for the job.
“I’ve had people ask me, ‘What is your stake in this,’ or ‘What do you get out of it’ … and honestly, it’s just that feeling of pride.”
Association
Lynn Lambrecht, president, Jamestown Downtown
Lambrecht says when she is watering those flowers up and down First Avenue, she likes to take in the look of the downtown.
“I’ve had people ask me, ‘What is your stake in this,’ or ‘What do you get out of it (the downtown work)’ … and honestly, it’s just that feeling of pride,” she said.
Hieb says Lambrecht “always puts so much on her.”
“She could delegate, but I think she just feels like she doesn’t want to trouble anyone, but she has … such a pride in our downtown that she just tries to do whatever she can to make it better and bring attention and make it look nice,” Hieb said. “She organizes us in the spring to go and pick up garbage … She weeds flower beds. I think people think that all the plants that were planted (downtown) when the
road diet was completed, that the city takes care of those. They do not. That is the downtown association.
That’s Lynn. … She does that all on her own.”
Downtown always evolving
When Lambrecht considers where the downtown has been and where it is now, she thinks it’s become stronger.
“My philosophy has always been you take it brick by brick, building by building,” she said.
“Because every building is important and every business is important, and there’s always going to be that one building that we still have to work on. So for example, we’ve come a long way as far filling some of those downtown core buildings, but we still have the Elks, the former Elks building that I would love to see (revitalized) and I’m working on a
couple of people on that right now.”
She said the downtown is always evolving with buildings whether a business moves in or closes, but she’s encouraged by some of the development that’s occurred.
“Eagle Flats is an absolute wonderful addition to downtown,” she said. “We encouraged that and supported that 100 percent, so anytime we can see some of those existing infrastructures built back up again so that they’re good for the city and good for the community, we obviously promote the revitalization effort and the Renaissance Zone effort over and over again.”
The Renaissance Zone program works to revitalize communities in the state and encourages development through tax incentives, according to the North Dakota Department of Commerce’s website. Jamestown participates in the program.
“The state is going to allow towns to expand it and so that is something else that we’re involved in, working with all of the different entities,” Lambrecht said. “... The Renaissance Zone has been a good tool. The hard part is just educating
everybody that it’s there and to use it.”
She noted the most recent project here was with Tim Perkins and the Premium Property Management building.
“That is a wonderful use of not just the Renaissance Zone but mixed use …,” Lambrecht said. “He has a beautiful apartment on the upper level and then his service business downstairs. That’s exactly what we would like to see is more projects like that.”
Lambrecht said while most downtown buildings are filled, there are also underutilized buildings and in her wish list, she’d like to see more apartments developed upstairs in them although she understands there are challenges with that as well.
“Probably 50 percent of our second stories are not utilized right now,” she said.
She said she’s also encouraged to see some of the downtown boutique shops and her wishlist would include more opening, adding “what’s realistic and what can be done is two things sometimes.”
The downtown association doesn’t recruit businesses to fill empty buildings, she noted, but acts more like a “matchmaker,” helping a business connect with the owner of a building, for example, or putting information on available retail space in its newsletter.
“We don’t necessarily go out there and recruit chain businesses and things like that,” she added. “We don’t have the population for that. The moms and pops, the incubator businesses, the boutique shops and things seem to be a better fit for some of our spaces downtown.”
She says one of the most “beautiful sites in a downtown” is big dumpsters outside of a building, which means changes and improvements are being made to it.
“The Wooly, just seeing that building come back to life right now is amazingly satisfying, the improvements that have been made in the former Schubert’s building again,” Lambrecht said. “And so those are the changes that we like to see. And if we can find a way to connect someone who wants to develop a building or someone who wants to develop a business with the people that are ready to sell that building or have an empty space available, that’s what we want to do.”
She cited the current Arts Center project to expand into the former Wonder Bar building as well and noted the Hansen Arts Park provides a crucial piece to the downtown.
“One of the things that you will always see when you’re talking to anybody that specializes in downtown revitalization is that the community needs a place to gather,” Lambrecht said. “They need a space that they feel safe, that they can gather for events and just have a space for community. And that’s why almost every successful downtown will have some kind of a courtyard or a park in the middle of their downtown or … just be a space like the Arts Park.”
Hieb says Lambrecht’s love for the downtown is evident in her work.
“It’s almost like those buildings are hers,” Hieb said. “... Like they’re family to her, she’s got to take care of them. I don’t know where even Jamestown would be without that lady. She sure cares. I think people thought when we lost Charlie Kourajian (the late former mayor and community advocate) that where would things go, but it’s almost like Lynn didn’t skip a beat. She … kept going to make sure that nothing was lost.”
ksteiner@jamestownsun. com | (701) 952-8449
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BY MASAKI OVA
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — The cat and dog managers at James River Humane Society have always had a love for their respective animals.
Kris Meidinger, of Jamestown, serves as the dog manager at James River Humane Society.
Sheila Marsalek, of Jamestown, serves as the cat manager at James River Humane Society.
They work with different animals at the James River Humane Society, but in the end, their goal is the same to find homes for their cats and dogs they take in.
Last year, the James River Humane Society had 112 dog adoptions and 133 cat adoptions.
The adopters come from all over the state including Bismarck, Fargo and Grand Forks.
Meidinger said she gets repeat adopters as well. Interest in volunteering Meidinger, who is originally from Fredonia, North Dakota, said it’s a gift from God to have the desire to save dogs.
“He gives everybody a gift and my gift is that, the compassion for dogs,” she said.
Growing up, Meidinger lived on a farm in Fredonia where there was a highway just to the north.
“People would dump dogs there so we ended up with dogs at the farm that weren’t ours and we’d keep them,” Meidinger said.
When she was in high school, Meidinger would bring strays home all the time. She said her father instructed her to find homes for some of the dogs so she gave them to her friends.
“For every rescue that closes, it puts more pressure on the others because we are all full.”
Meidinger always had a love for dogs, she said. As a child, she enjoyed reading books and nine out of 10 were dog related.
“I always learned about dogs,” she said. Meidinger wanted to be a veterinarian until she found out that she had to work on deceased animals too.
She started volunteering at the James River Humane Society in 2000 and became the dog manager there in 2004.
Along with her work at JRHS, Meidinger volunteers to help people through the Community Christmas Dinner.
Meidinger said the dinner, which is held at Victory Lutheran Brethren Church, began so those with nowhere to go could get a meal.
“It’s just for people to have that fellowship and to feel like they are loved,” she said.
The dinner has been held for 20 years and is offered to anyone.
Cats a part of Marsalek’s early years Marsalek grew up on a farm in Montpelier where her family had every kind of animal, including cats.
“We had lots of animals, not just cats,” she said. As she got older, Marsalek thought there had to be more to life than just working so she started volunteering at
the James River Humane Society.
“I started and never stopped,” she said. After a few years of volunteering, Marsalek took over as the cat manager. She has been volunteering at the Humane Society for 20 years.
“It can be difficult, but it’s very rewarding,” Marsalek said. “When you have a cat that’s been there for months and months and it finally goes home, that’s very rewarding.”
Marsalek and Meidinger said they have made some good friends through volunteering at the Humane Society.
“Some of my best friends that I know, I’ve met through rescuing (animals) at the Humane Society,” Marsalek said.
“There is a lot of great people that help. It’s not only in Jamestown, it’s in Bismarck, it’s in Devils Lake. People that I keep in touch with are in those rescues too.”
Meidinger said she stays in touch with a large majority of the dog adopters. She said the adopters send her photos and updates about the dogs.
“I’ve built up a lot of good relationships and friends out of the deal –people that I actually call friends because of the contact,” she said.
Importance of JRHS
The Humane Society prioritizes cats and dogs taken to the city pound. It also takes in strays, owner surrenders and ones from kill pounds.
Meidinger said she works with Search & Rescue in South Dakota as well. She said one dog was sent to Search & Rescue and he’s now doing rescue work in California.
The Humane Society
BY MASAKI OVA
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — Raising funds to support elementary school students is the biggest benefit of being involved in a parent-teacher organization, according to Angela Vigil, treasurer of the Gussner Elementary PTO.
“If there’s no people to help raise the money or spend the money they won’t get to do all those fun activities we’re raising money for,” Vigil said.
Vigil, who grew up in Dickinson, North Dakota, moved with her family from Denver to Jamestown in 2017.
“We wanted our son to grow up in a small town,” she said. “We want him to grow up where you might actually know some of the kids in your graduating class.” Vigil has been involved with the Gussner Elementary PTO since her son started kindergarten. She is in her sixth year with the organization.
She also works as a special education paraeducator at Gussner Elementary School.
The Gussner Elementary PTO has raised funds and received donations for a makerspace room for students and an asphalt walking track. The funds also support fun activities for students such as visiting the A-Maze-’N Clown Pumpkin Patch.
“I think our PTOs really do a great job aligning with the mission and vision of our buildings and helping us to address the needs of our teachers and students,” said Rob Lech, superintendent of the Jamestown Public School District. “The connection from home to school is a critical one. And in a PTO it’s kind of
the embodiment of that where our teachers and our parents are working together to fulfill the mission of the school.” Vigil said Gussner Elementary PTO hosts dinners for fundraisers or the school’s teachers might work a “McTeacher’s Night” at McDonald’s. The PTO also hosts “Bingo for Books” where students play bingo and every winner receives a book.
“Every kid leaves with a book regardless of winning,” she said. “ … Handing out books is the purpose of it.” At the Bingo for Books event, the PTO also sells pizza and soda to raise extra funds.
The PTO’s biggest fundraiser is in the fall when students sell items from a
catalog such as cookie dough and wrapping paper. The PTO also hosts a fundraiser dinner that includes a silent auction.
“We also have just as much fun having dinner with getting the kids all together,” she said. The event has games for the kids.
A makerspace room was one of the large projects that Gussner Elementary PTO raised funds for.
A makerspace is a space where students can make or build items.
“We’re the only one in Jamestown who has one that the school didn’t pay for,” Vigil said. The makerspace was established in a preexisting room at Gussner. Vigil said Gussner Elementary PTO raised about $6,000 for the makerspace.
“They can expand on some science instead of just reading from the book,” she said. “Now they can build things and do some more interactive science or interactive learning than just reading about something.”
The makerspace includes standup tables on wheels, magnet walls, a green screen, a Cricut machine and Lego walls, among other items.
Vigil said every teacher who uses the makerspace room teaches sciencebased classes, but one teacher only teaches a reading and writing class. In an effort to make the room useful for that teacher, a green screen was added.
“We did the green screen thinking they can write a paper, then they can make a background and read their paper or to get them to use the room without having it be necessarily for science,” Vigil said.
“It’s just really wonderful people that give to our kids and give to our teachers. It’s really a great partnership and one that we know is really important.”
superintendent, Jamestown Public School District
Lech,
Rob
CONTINUED from D6
She said other items are for projects related to STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). For example, kindergarten students read a book and then were assigned a project to do in the makerspace.
“They all got to make a monster to go with the book,” she said.
Students might also make an item out of toilet paper, popsicle sticks and a spoon, she said. The room has storage for premade kits where students can be assigned to make items such as a basket that “Little Red Riding Hood” carries.
Other projects that the PTO raised funds for include an asphalt walking path, rollerblades and lockers.
Vigil said the walking track allows the school to have a walking program for students. The students receive a prize after they have walked a certain amount of miles.
The purchase of the rollerblades allows the school to have them all year versus renting them for a month, Vigil said. She said rollerblading is used as a reward or good academics or behavior.
She said new lockers were purchased so every student could have one.
Lech said PTOs allow projects to happen faster
without taxpayer funds.
“We might have a vision for what could occur in the district and the PTO allows that to happen sometimes faster because they can support financially to expedite something like that,” he said. “A lot of it is supporting our teachers and our students with those needs too.”
Vigil said the Gussner Elementary PTO needs more members. She said the organization currently has two staff representatives and seven parents.
“When we have events, parents will volunteer their time to assist such as in the Italian night for dinner, they’ll come and help,” she said.
Vigil said the PTO members are trying to brainstorm ideas on how to get more people interested in joining the organization.
She said as treasurer she puts in about 10 hours a month.
She said PTO members are involved in a meeting that is held once a month and then help with events.
“It’s just really wonderful people that give to our kids and give to our teachers,” Lech said. “It’s really a great partnership and one that we know is really important.”
mova@jamestownsun.com | (701) 952-8454
“It’s very hard to see the dogs come in.”
transfers some to other rescues. The Humane Society also trades with other rescues.
Meidinger said it would be difficult for the animals around Jamestown if the James River Humane Society didn’t exist. She said some humane societies in the state are closing.
“For every rescue that closes, it puts more pressure on the others because we are all full,” she said.
Meidinger said the Humane Society is there to save dogs and put them in a home where they can be happy and treated the way they deserve.
Marsalek said it’s important to educate the public about spaying and neutering cats. She said the cat population can get “out of control” if they don’t get spayed or neutered.
“People just need to be better educated on spaying and neutering and how important it is to keep the population down,” she said.
She said the Humane Society helps the public as much as it can with spaying and neutering cats. The Humane Society provides coupons for spaying and neutering that can be used at veterinarian clinics to help reduce the cost.
situations. Meidinger and Marsalek said they have taken in cats and dogs from hoarding situations or were abused.
Some cats and dogs are found in the middle of winter on the streets or by main highways.
“When they are abused, there is always going to be something that is going to affect them,” Meidinger said.
Meidinger said there was a 15-year-old dog that was discarded in town.
“People don’t understand that they may discard their dog and not think twice about it but it hurts us to the core,” she said.
when temperatures were below zero. She said the adult cat had its front claws declawed and was very malnourished.
Meidinger said she is an animal advocate and rescuer and a voice for the voiceless.
“I pray that I’m doing a good job at being their voice.”
“That’s what keeps me going,” Meidinger said.
Some dogs and cats at the Humane Society come from difficult
Marsalek said the Humane Society took in a cat that was found walking along U.S. Highway 281 in the winter
“They don’t have a voice so somebody has to be their voice,” she said.
She said she advocates for stronger laws in North Dakota that protect animals. She said it’s difficult to get stronger laws because North Dakota is a farming state.
“There should be some type of punishment for taking a dog and dumping it,” she said.
mova@jamestownsun.com | (701) 952-8454 CONTINUED from D5
BY KATIE RINGER
Jamestown Sun
The
JAMESTOWN — Sometimes, change starts with one person noticing something.
At least that was the case with Jamestown resident John Greenwood.
”We’ve always kind of ridden bikes around town,” Greenwood said referring to himself and his wife. “Then a couple of years ago we bought E-bikes and we were seeing more and more people riding around on E-bikes and older people like us out biking.
”We have all of these bike paths and walking paths around the city but none of them connect,” he said. “I just thought, there has to be some way to connect these without building new concrete paths.”
Greenwood said last year, he bumped into Jamestown City Councilman David Steele, who is a long-distance biker himself, and asked him if he might be willing to bring up the idea of connecting bike paths at a City Council meeting.
”(Steele) said, he wouldn’t get anywhere doing it on his own — that it had to come from a citizen,” Greenwood said.
Jamestown Parks and Recreation District Executive Director Amy Walters said the same thing.
”After talking to those two, I thought, I could round up a bunch of people who I knew were bikers,” Greenwood said. “People told us that to succeed, we needed to stick together and we’ve done that. We got a group of probably 25 people that wants to see this through.”
expand that group of people who is interested and involved in the Bike Advocacy group.”
One way Greenwood has attracted more members was by heading up events like community bike rides.
Last summer, the Jamestown Bike Riding Advocacy Group partnered with Two Rivers Activity Center and its Community Bike Fleet to put on several community bike rides. Interested parties were free to bring their own bikes and helmets but the Bike Fleet was available for those in need of a bike. The Community Bike Fleet consists of an enclosed trailer and 30 adjustable hybrid bicycles for youngsters and adults that people can ride free of charge.
Greenwood said his and the advocacy group’s goal is to figure out how to go about connecting the paths.
”We had a lot of direction from Amy (Walters),” Greenwood said. “She really helped us get going. It’s not a one-anddone thing, it’s an ongoing process.”
The Jamestown Bike Riding Advocacy Group is a mixture of community members who all share the pastime of bike riding whether for leisure or for competitive sport. The group was officially established in early May 2023 and has begun to meet to talk about member priorities when it comes to biking in the city of Jamestown.
”John approached me several months ago regarding his concern that Jamestown lacked safe pathways for community members to bike,” Walters said. “I
encouraged him to organize a group that could lead initiatives to improve this aspect of our community.
”John has taken that suggestion, forming the Jamestown Bike Advocates group that is actively working to identify potential pathways and funding sources,” she said. “I am so appreciative of community members like John who see an area for improvement and then work to make the change.”
Since establishing a group, Greenwood and some other group members have started to draw up a map of all the existing bike paths to post so people have a better idea of connection points and distances.
Greenwood was also part of a committee that rode the streets of Jamestown and plotted out what streets would be the best streets to use to
try and connect the already existing bike and walking paths.
”You see other cities like Fargo, Bismarck and Grand Forks, they all have great bike paths,” Greenwood said. “Jamestown is well known for its bike trails but it doesn’t accommodate the people who like to stay on the paved roads.”
While initially, Greenwood’s idea seemed like a simple project — Greenwood has learned in a hurry that nothing happens until officials give you the green light.
”The city has to figure out the footage and of course, there are federal, state and city regulations which none of us knows anything about — we have to rely on the city engineer for that information,” Greenwood said. “After they figure that out we will know what the cost is for signage and painting in bike
lanes and then the next part would be getting grants for funding.
”It’s much more complicated than any of us thought,” he said. “It does take some time and effort and planning. It is a gradual project that will take some more time to do but we want our officials to do this and we’ll help out in any way we can.”
While no visible improvements have been made to the biking conditions in town, Greenwood and other members of the Jamestown Bike Riding Advocacy Group have worked to raise awareness of the lack of suitable biking conditions.
”John has provided really good leadership for our group,” Jamestown Bike Riding Advocacy Group member Diane Crowston said. “He has been great about seeking out input from all kinds of people and trying to
At 6:30 p.m., there was a route overview. Riders then departed from the meeting location and rode to another location in town. Once all riders arrived, they were split into two groups — one for families with young children or more inexperienced riders and one for more seasoned riders.
The idea of community bike rides is a credit to Greenwood via Steele.
After Steele explained his idea to the group, a few members approached the Jamestown Parks and Recreation Commission to see if a partnership would be possible.
”Events like those really give people the idea that this can be accomplished but it does take work and it does take time,” Greenwood said.
“If you get a group of people who see a need in the community, that’s the best way to go about meeting that need.” kringer@jamestownsun. com | @KaitlynRinger on Twitter
BY KATIE RINGER
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — Pat
Stockert received a phone call from Al Lindberg in 1988.
”He said he had a director who left town and had one year open on the Stutsman County Fair Board,” Stockert said. “I said I would help him for the year and he could find someone else for the next three-year term.
”I am still on the fair board,” he said. “That’s a pretty good one-year term, isn’t it?”
Lindberg said when he gave Stockert the initial call, Stockert was working with the Jamestown Hockey Boosters.
”At that time, the fair paid the Hockey Boosters a percentage to have people at the outside gates to collect the fair entrance gate fee,” Lindberg said.
“Pat was the guy in charge of that and he showed a real keen interest in the fair. It seemed like he was up at the fair from noon to midnight every day.
”Over the years we got to know him — he did a great job of running the outside gates for the fair — and it just seemed like he would be a good fit to come on the board,” he said. “I don’t think he had to think twice about it — he was interested.”
At the beginning of Stockert’s work with the fair board, he was tasked with manning the outside gates — a job that came easily to him due to his previous work with the Hockey Boosters.
After a couple of years, Lindberg approached Stockert again.
“Nobody on the board put more hours in than Pat. He comes early and stays there until midnight. He was always there to help out and be there for us. He’s an outstanding board member. The fair board has been very fortunate to have him.”
Al Lindberg,
former longtime board member of the Stutsman County Fair
”There was a board member who ended his three-year term and then retired and he ran all of the food vendors,” Stockert said. “Al asked if I would take over the food vendors. I said, ‘I don’t know anything about running the food vendors.’ He said ‘You’ll figure it out.’” Stockert still oversees all of the independent food vendors at the Stutsman County Fair. ”He’s done a wonderful job,” Lindberg said of Stockert’s work with the food vendors. “He knows every single employee and proprietor. It’s been over three decades now, but he’s still the go-to guy.”
The Stutsman County Fair is the biggest true county fair in the entire state. Stockert is one of nine Stutsman County
Fair Board directors who oversee preparations.
”It’s such a huge community activity and it’s important to all of the people in Stutsman County and the whole area,” Stockert said. “I enjoy being able to help bring that back every year and I enjoy seeing people bringing their families back year after year. We hear so many good compliments about everything. There’s more good that comes out of it than everything.”
The 2024 fair is slated to run June 12-15, but preparations have already started.
”We’re working all
year-round,” Stockert said. “Once the fair from the previous year is over, we have meetings once a month. Then in November, we have a convention called the Heartland Association for Fairs, Festivals and Events (HAFFE).”
Stockert said at the HAFFE conventions, organizers will showcase entertainment options and hold safety and ticket seminars. There are also law enforcement sessions with a roundtable discussion about what people need in terms of law enforcement and emergency response teams.
Stockert said a hot-button
topic this year involved that of active shooters.
”They have things like that to help all of the HAFFE Association members,” Stockert said. “We all come back with something and we implement quite a bit of it actually.”
Stockert said the fair board directors are planning to implement a new safety and hazard avoidance plan at this year’s fair so visitors are extra safe when they enter the fair gates.
There have also been improvements made to the fair’s communication system which Stockert said will make it easier for assistance to be notified if there were ever a serious accident.
After attending the HAFFE convention, Stockert sends out his food vendor contracts and does whatever else he can to make the coming fair a success.
While it appears obvious why fairgoers keep attending the Stutsman County Fair, Stockert’s reasoning for putting in the work is in the intangibles.
”I would actually be missing the pleasure of being able to help run a fair each year as good as
we have,” Stockert said. “All of my food vendors say that we have some of the best fairgrounds ever.
”Along with that, when you see all these people come in and all these little kids and you get people who come up to you and tell you how happy they are that we do this for the community — it’s pretty cool,” he said.
“There’s just not enough credit given to all of those people who, for all of those years, gave their time.”
Stockert was just elected to another three-year board term last summer. This might be his last one — but you never know.
”Nobody on the board put more hours in than Pat,” Lindberg said. “He comes early and stays there until midnight. He was always there to help out and be there for us.
He’s an outstanding board member. The fair board has been very fortunate to have him.
”He’s a great guy, and boy, he sure made my job a lot easier,” Lindberg said. “He deserves all of the recognition.” kringer@jamestownsun. com | @KaitlynRinger on Twitter
BY TREVOR HUNNICUTT Reuters
Hosting rapper Fat Joe at the White House to talk about reforming marijuana laws. Visiting an abortion clinic. Calling for a ceasefire in Gaza at the historic Selma bridge in Alabama. Walking the bloodstained crime scene of the Parkland, Florida, school shooting.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris has stepped out of the shadow of President Joe Biden in recent weeks as part of a high-profile effort to persuade the fractious coalition of voters who sent them to the White House to give them a second term.
Harris’ evolving role comes as progressive Democrats target Biden over his pro-Israel stance, polls show him in a tight race against Republican rival Donald Trump.
As left-leaning voters question Biden’s age and leadership, a problem Trump doesn’t face with his core voters, the 59-year-old Harris is taking on more heated topics, more often and more directly than Biden. While some have knocked Harris’s performance as vice president and value to the reelection campaign in the past, she’s moved into a starring role.
Biden has defended abortion rights but emphasized women whose lives are in danger, and called it a “deeply private and painful” matter.
Harris has gone further - during a visit to Planned Parenthood in Minneapolis, believed to be the first time a sitting vice president has visited an abortion clinic, the former senator described abortion as a basic part of women’s healthcare in vivid terms.
”Everyone get ready for the language: uterus,”
she said. “Issues like fibroids — we can handle this — breast cancer screenings, contraceptive care — that is the kind of work that happens here, in addition, of course, to abortion care.”
In Selma, she delivered the strongest comments at that point by any U.S. official on Israel’s offensive against Hamas: “Given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire.”
Her use of the word “ceasefire,” a term leftleaning Democrats were so eager to hear that it had become a rallying cry, was cheered by some, although others demanded it be met with policy changes, too. Harris also pushed Israel to do more to ease what she called a “humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza.
”There is no doubt the vice-president has tried to move the conversation about Gaza to a more empathetic place but introducing new language falls flat when there is no evidence she’s pushing for a more meaningful policy shift,” said Abbas Alawieh, a top official for a campaign urging voters to protest Biden by voting “uncommitted” in the Democratic primaries.
”She needs to push Biden harder to change U.S. policy,” he said.
Current and former Harris aides disputed the idea of any difference in policy between Biden, characterizing their efforts as a difference in tone and emphasis. They said Harris’ initiatives are a reflection of areas of interest that, in some cases, date back to her time as a prosecutor.
”She’s been on the leading edge of some of the most important issues facing the country, and certainly [those] that are going to be determinative of the election,” said Dave Cavell, a former
Harris speechwriter. Biden cannot emphasize divisive cultural issues without alienating more conservative voters he needs to win, current and former aides said. As the Democrats’ “coalition leader” he needs to focus on the core economic issues that will sway centrists, they said.
To that end, he has used 11 of his 16 trips this year to competitive election states like Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania to promote “kitchen table” economic policies like bringing back manufacturing jobs shipped overseas and supporting unions.
Harris, the first Black, Asian and woman vice president, instead, is embracing a pugilistic role, with a “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms” tour and a “Fight for Our Freedoms” college tour, in addition to talking about the economy.
Another challenge for Harris Biden has assigned Harris a number of seemingly intractable issues during her vice presidency, from the decades-old problem of migration to the U.S. southern border to pushing back on a generations-old pattern of limiting voting rights for left-leaning Americans. Winning back parts of the Democratic coalition that has fractured over Israel policy, immigration and the economy is another big challenge.
Harris’s approval ratings hover under 40%, but she is also the U.S.’s most popular Democratic politician after Biden. Some White House aides have privately questioned her effectiveness as an administration spokesperson.
Reuters/Ipsos polling that shows Biden and Trump tied nationally also reveals a majority of
BY ANDREW GOUDSWARD Reuters
WASHINGTON — Don-
ald Trump on Friday asked a Georgia appeals court to disqualify the district attorney prosecuting him for trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat in the state for a romantic relationship the prosecutor had with a former top deputy.
The legal filing from the Republican presidential candidate and eight co-defendants asks the appeals court to reverse a judge’s ruling this month that allowed Fani Willis, the District Attorney of Fulton County, to continue prosecuting the case.
The appeal presents another opportunity for the former U.S. president to delay or derail one of the four criminal cases he faces.
Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee was sharply critical in his ruling of the relationship between Willis and Nathan Wade, an outside lawyer contracted to help lead the prosecution. But he rejected claims from the defense that the romance posed a conflict of interest that would require Willis’ office to be removed from the case.
Wade stepped aside from the case after the
judge said he would need to withdraw for Willis and her office to continue.
Trump defense attorney Steve Sadow said in a statement on Friday that McAfee should instead have dismissed the indictment outright and, “at a minimum,” disqualified Willis and her office from prosecuting the case. In a brief submitted to the court, Christopher Anulewicz, a lawyer representing co-defendant Robert Cheeley, argued that the failure to disqualify Willis and her office should be reversed because, if allowed to stand, “it would render each and every trial in this case a nullity.”
The appeals court has 45 days to decide whether to take up the issue. McAfee gave Trump and the other defendants permission to immediately appeal his ruling, but said he would continue moving the case toward trial during the appeal. If the court accepts the case, Trump could seek to pause the proceedings while the appeal plays out. A trial date has not yet been set.
McAfee’s ruling came after a tumultuous period for Willis, who was grilled by defense lawyers in dramatic testimony about whether she
City.
improperly benefited from the relationship through vacations booked by Wade while he was being paid by her office.
Trump’s lawyers also accused Willis of “stoking racial animus” in her response to the allegations and misleading the court on when the romantic relationship began. Willis denied receiving any improper benefit from the relationship, arguing that expenses were divided roughly evenly between her and
Wade, and said the romance had no impact on the criminal case. Willis has cast the disqualification bid as an effort to distract from racketeering and other charges against Trump and 14 co-defendants who are accused of scheming to overturn Trump’s narrow defeat in Georgia in the 2020 election. Four others who had been codefendants in the case have pleaded guilty in deals with the prosecutors.
women, people under 40 and Latinos disapprove of Biden’s performance as president. Each group favored Biden in 2020, helping him beat Trump.
Only 56% of Black people approved of Biden’s job performance, low figures for a group that typically votes 9-to-1 for Democrats in presidential elections.
If Trump wins white voters, the largest U.S. racial group, for the third election in a row, Biden needs a dominant showing among a diverse set of groups that typically favor Democrats.
There are some signs that Harris is in for a tough fight.
On a trip to San Juan last week also aimed at courting the 5.9 million Puerto Rican Latinos who live in the mainland United States, Harris’ arrival at a community center to celebrate the Caribbean island’s culture was
shouted down by demonstrators.
Some chanted “Yankee, go home” and held signs calling Harris a “war criminal” for the Biden administration’s support of Israel in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, despite a mounting Gaza death toll. Such protests have occurred at multiple Harris events.
She has an increasingly vocal fan in Biden, though, who once wrestled with the decision of whether to make her his running mate in 2020. Harris has worked carefully to make sure that she doesn’t appear out of sync with her boss, describing Biden and her on March 4 as “aligned and consistent from the very beginning” on Gaza. ”I love her,” Biden said, unprompted, of Harris of Feb. 6. She’s “doing an incredible job,” he added on March 18.
BY HUMEYRA PAMUK AND IDREES ALI Reuters
WASHINGTON — The U.S. in recent days authorized the transfer of billions of dollars worth of bombs and fighter jets to Israel, two sources familiar with the effort said on Friday, even as Washington publicly expresses concerns about an anticipated Israeli military offensive in Rafah.
The new arms packages include more than 1,800 MK84 2,000-pound bombs and 500 MK82 500-pound bombs, said the sources, who confirmed a report in the Washington Post. Washington gives $3.8 billion in annual military assistance to Israel, its longtime ally.
The package comes as Israel faces strong international criticism over its continued bombing campaign and ground offensive in Gaza and as some members of President Joe Biden’s party call for him to cut U.S. military aid.
Biden on Friday acknowledged “the pain being felt” by many Arab Americans over the war in Gaza and over U.S. support for Israel and its military offensive. Still, he has vowed continued support for Israel despite an increasingly public rift with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The White House declined comment on the weapons transfers.
The Israeli embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The decision on weapons follows a visit to Washington by Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant this week when he discussed Israel’s weapons needs with U.S. counterparts. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Gallant, apparently seeking to cool U.S.-Israeli tensions, said he stressed the importance of U.S. ties to his country’s security and of maintaining Israel’s “qualitative military edge” in the region, including its air capabilities.
The United States has been rushing air defenses and munitions to Israel, but some Democrats and Arab American groups have criticized the Biden administration’s steadfast support of Israel, which they say provides it with a sense of impunity.
MOSCOW — Russia said on Friday that major powers needed a new approach to North Korea, accusing the United States and its allies of ratcheting up military tensions in Asia and seeking to “strangle” the reclusive state.
Russia vetoed the annual renewal of a panel of experts monitoring enforcement of longstanding United Nations sanctions against North Korea over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.
Moscow’s move, which strikes a blow at the enforcement of a myriad of UN sanctions imposed after Pyongyang carried out its first nuclear test in 2006, underscores the dividend that Kim Jong Un has earned by moving closer to President Vladimir Putin amid the war in Ukraine.
“It is obvious to us that the UN Security Council can no longer use old templates in relation to the problems of the Korean Peninsula,” said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
Zakharova said the United States was stoking military tensions, that international restrictions had not improved the security situation and that there were severe humanitarian consequences for the population of North Korea, formally known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).
“The United States and its allies have clearly demonstrated that their interest does not extend
beyond the task of ‘strangling’ the DPRK by all available means, and a peaceful settlement is not on the agenda at all,” she said.
The U.S. State Department said on Thursday that Russia’s veto had “cynically undermined international peace and security” and accused Moscow of seeking to bury reporting by the panel of experts on its own “collusion” with North Korea to get
weapons.
“Russia alone will own the outcome of this veto: a DPRK more emboldened to reckless behavior and destabilizing provocations, as well as reduced prospects for an enduring peace on the Korean Peninsula,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.
The Russian veto is seen as a major turning point in the international sanctions regime against North Korea, which was
formed in 1948 with the backing of the then-Soviet Union while the Republic of Korea was backed by the United States.
North Korea is the only country to have conducted nuclear tests in the 21st century - in 2006, 2009, 2013, twice in 2016, and 2017, according to the United Nations.
Sanctions?
Russia said the experts’ work was neither objective nor impartial, and
that they had turned into a tool of the West.
“The Group of Experts of the UN Security Council Committee 1718 has lost all standards of objectivity and impartiality, which should be integral characteristics of its mandate,” Zakharova said.
She said the experts had “turned into an obedient tool of the DPRK’s geopolitical opponents. There is no point in saving it in this form.”
The veto illustrates just how far the Ukraine war, which triggered the deepest crisis in Russia’s relations with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, has undermined big-power cooperation on other major global issues.
Since Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Moscow has gone out of its way to parade a renaissance of its relationship - including military ties - with Pyongyang.
Washington says North Korea has supplied Russia with missiles that it is using against Ukraine, assertions which have been dismissed by the Kremlin and Pygonyang.
For Putin, who says Russia is locked in an existential battle with the West over Ukraine, courting Kim allows him to needle Washington and its Asian allies while securing a deep supply of artillery for the Ukraine war.
For Kim, who has pledged to accelerate production of nuclear weapons to deter what he casts as U.S. provocations, Russia is a big power ally with deep stores of advanced missile, military, space and nuclear technology.
Russia, Zakharova said, sought a compromise under which sanctions would be reviewed over specific time limits, though that proposal had been met with “hostility” by Washington.
“We call on the parties concerned to refrain from escalating steps and reconfigure themselves to find ways to detente, taking into account known security priorities,” Zakharova said.
BY ALVISE ARMELLINI Reuters
VATICAN CITY — Pope
Francis canceled at the last minute his attendance at the Good Friday procession at Rome’s Colosseum, in what the Vatican described as a bid “to preserve his health” ahead of more Easter week engagements.
Francis’ agenda for the next two days consists of an Easter Vigil service on Saturday evening and an Easter Mass and the twice-annual “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and world) message and blessing on Sunday morning.
The 87-year-old’s sudden no show is likely to renew concerns about his declining strength. Francis uses a cane or a wheelchair to move around due to a knee ailment, and suffers from repeated bouts of bronchitis and influenza.
Good Friday leads on Sunday to Easter, the most important and joyous date in the Church’s liturgical calendar
- commemorating the day Christians believe Jesus rose from the dead.
The Vatican announced the pope’s absence from the “Via Crucis” (Way of the Cross) procession just as it was about to start, saying in a statement he would follow it remotely from his Vatican residence.
Francis, who had looked fitter this week after weeks in which he struggled to speak in public and canceled some meetings, also missed the procession last year, after recovering from a fourday hospital stay for bronchitis.
Focus on women
The Via Crucis at the Colosseum is a re-enactment of Jesus’ death by crucifixion, in which participants take turns in holding the cross as they walk in and around the ancient Roman arena, stopping to pray and hear meditations.
Nuns, priests, a hermit, charity workers, migrants and disabled people were among those
who took part in the service, held in a landmark monument believed to have been a place of martyrdom for early Christians.
Francis personally wrote the meditations for this year, a first in his 11-year papacy. They included praises for meekness and forgiveness in response to acts of evil, and prayers for persecuted Christians and war victims.
The pope, who has called for the Church to become less male-dominated, also hailed the women who helped Jesus while he carried the cross, and pleaded for “those (women) who in our own day are exploited and endure injustice and indignity.”
In another sign of his focus on women, Francis on Thursday performed the foot-washing ritual, which recalls Jesus’ gesture of humility to his apostles at the Last Supper, in a women’s prison in Rome.
Earlier on Friday, the
pope joined cardinals and bishops for the Passion of the Lord service in St Peter’s Basilica, which featured chants in Latin recounting events from
In previous years, Francis would start the service prostrating himself on the floor of the
BY NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI Reuters
CAIRO — Israel sustained its aerial and ground bombardment of the Gaza Strip on Friday, killing dozens of Palestinians, as fighting raged around Gaza City’s main Al Shifa hospital, Palestinian officials and the Israeli military said.
Palestinian health officials said two Israeli strikes on the Al-Shejaia suburb in eastern Gaza City killed 17 people, while an Israeli air strike on a house in the AlMaghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip killed eight people.
Gaza’s Hamas-run government media office
said at least 10 policemen, tasked with securing aid to the displaced in northern Gaza, were among those killed in Al-Shejaia.
The Israeli military said its forces continued operations in around Gaza City’s Al Shifa complex “while mitigating harm to civilians, patients, medical teams, and medical equipment,” adding that over the past day it killed a number of gunmen and located weapons and military infrastructure. Al Shifa, the Gaza Strip’s biggest hospital before the war, had been one of the few healthcare facilities even partially operational in north Gaza before the latest fighting.
It had also been housing displaced civilians.
The Israeli statement said its forces conducted raids in central and southern areas including Khan Younis and Al-Karara, where troops exchanged fire with Palestinian gunmen before they killed them and located weapons and rockets.
The armed wing of Hamas said their fighters targeted Israeli forces near to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, one of the city’s two hospitals blockaded by Israeli soldiers for several days.
In the far south of the Strip, Israel continued its bombardment in Rafah, the Palestinians’ last
refuge where over half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people were sheltering. An air strike on a house killed 12 Palestinians late on Thursday.
More than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, with 71 killed in the last 24 hours, according to health authorities in the territory.
Thousands more dead are believed to be buried under rubble and more than 80% of Gazans have been displaced, many at risk of famine.
The war erupted after Hamas militants broke through the border and rampaged through
communities in southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and abducting 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
In the northern Gaza Strip, where the United Nations has warned famine is imminent as early as May, an elderly man died of malnutrition and lack of medication, Palestinian media said.
On Thursday, the World Court unanimously ordered Israel to take all necessary and effective action to ensure basic food supplies to Gaza’s population and halt spreading famine.
“The renewed binding order from the @ICJ (International Court of Justice) yesterday is a
stark reminder that the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is man-made and worsening. It can however still be reversed,” Philippe Lazzarini, head of the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, said on X.
“(This) means that Israel must reverse its decision and allow @UNRWA to reach northern Gaza with food and nutrition convoys on a daily basis and to open additional land crossings,” he added.
Earlier this week, UNRWA said Israel told it that it would no longer approve its food convoys to north Gaza. Four such requests were denied since March 21, it added.
BY KEVIN HARDY Stateline News
OVERLAND PARK, Kan.
High-fives, fist-bumps and hugs come with the ice cream at the Golden Scoop.
Tucked into a shopping center in suburban Kansas City, the shop employs 15 people with developmental disabilities. While customers first come for the sweet treats, many are drawn in by the Golden Scoop’s mission and friendly environment.
The nonprofit shop could have sought federal approval to pay workers below the $7.25 federal minimum wage. But each of the store’s “Super Scoopers” earns at least $15 per hour plus tips.
They include 32-year-old Jack Murphy, whom customers know by his nickname of “Mayor.” He enjoys connecting with them, the managers and the job coaches who support him during his shifts.
Everything at the Golden Scoop was designed to set workers up for success: The menu has been pared down for simplicity. Employees pre-scoop and package the ice cream to streamline service. Binders with big pictures show step-by-step directions on mixing batches of ice cream. And baked goods are prepared elsewhere.
“They provide customized employment. They’re providing the right accommodations for individuals that work there in order to succeed,” Sara Hart Weir, executive director of the Kansas Council on Developmental Disabilities, said of the shop’s managers. Weir, who also serves on the board of the Golden Scoop, hopes to see more Kansas employers follow the ice cream shop’s model after a state law this year provided grant money for organizations to pay workers with disabilities above minimum wage. The law, for the first time, also made a special tax credit available only to employers paying at least minimum wage. Since 1938, when Franklin D. Roosevelt was president, federal law has
allowed some employers to pay people considered less productive because of a physical or mental disability well below the federal minimum wage. While the law was originally intended to provide opportunities for those with little access to work, policymakers in a growing number of states are trying to move away from the practice.
With federal authorization, the employers pay pennies or a few dollars per hour in “sheltered workshops” that contract with companies and hire workers to perform menial tasks such as shredding paper, attaching product labels or packaging consumer goods in group settings that are segregated from mainstream employees.
While most workers have intellectual disabilities that can include cerebral palsy or Down syndrome, federal regulations list blindness, alcoholism and drug addiction as qualifying disabilities for lower pay.
At least 16 states have eliminated the subminimum wage, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Others, including Kansas and Minnesota, have agreed on a middle ground: creating funds to help employers make the change themselves.
The move comes at a time of increased scrutiny of Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act, the federal law authorizing the lower pay, and follows decades of efforts to fully integrate people with developmental disabilities into their communities.
Congress has failed multiple times to ban the practice: A bipartisan group of lawmakers from both chambers of Congress introduced such legislation last year, but it has not advanced. It followed the U.S. Department of Labor announcement of a “comprehensive review” of the federal program. In a 2020 report, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights found “persistent failures in regulation and oversight” of employers by the federal Labor and Justice departments.
While many disability
advocates see moving away from subminimum wage as a basic issue of fairness, others worry that raising pay could affect social service benefits for disabled workers or put some operations employing disabled workers out of business altogether.
A report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office last year found about 120,000 workers were employed under the program, with half earning less than $3.50 an hour.
But the program’s use has been declining for years, as more disabled employees have moved away from sheltered workshops into mainstream work settings such as the Golden Scoop.
In 2010, more than 3,100 employers across the country participated in the federal subminimum wage program. By 2019, that number had dropped by nearly half, with 1,567 employers participating, according to the GAO. ‘Everything is about choice’
In Minnesota, disability advocates have been working for years to phase out the subminimum wage. Last year, lawmakers embraced most of the recommendations from a state task force. In an omnibus spending bill, they provided funds for technical assistance, case management and training for those employers transitioning to the minimum wage.
Last week, a House committee approved a bill that would abolish the subminimum wage. Sheltered workshops are as antiquated as the state institutions that formerly housed many people with disabilities, argued Jillian Nelson, a member of the task force and the community resource and policy advocate at the Autism Society of Minnesota.
“We would never do that now,” she said. “We saw when we brought people out of institutions, they thrive. When we brought people out of institutions, our communities became more diverse. … And this is very much the same thing.”
Nelson, who has autism, said she struggled for years with mainstream employment. She said she was not attuned to office politics and bounced around among entry-level jobs, but then found an employer that supported her.
“It’s changed my sense of self-worth. It’s changed my value of myself,” she said. “It’s hard to want more for your life when you’re making $4 an hour. It’s hard to see value in yourself when you’re being told you’re worth $3 an hour.”
But ending the subminimum wage could remove options for some families by causing the closure of workshops, said Minnesota Republican state Sen. Jim Abeler.
“For me, everything is
about choice,” said Abeler, who opposes abolishing the subminimum wage.
“Nobody should be trapped, and so if they want to be independent, we should try to support them in that.”
Abeler said he supports efforts to help workers with disabilities move to competitive employment — if they choose. But, he said, that’s not an option for everyone.
Of the 3,200 Minnesotans who work for subminimum wages, he said, a few hundred may be able to find mainstream work.
Nate Crippes, the public affairs supervising attorney at the Disability Law Center of Utah, said his state’s 45-day legislative session makes it hard to have lengthy debate on the topic, but that the discussion is needed.
“I think it needs to be a longer discussion than just, ‘Oh, these places would go out of business and people would have nowhere to go,’” he said. “Because I don’t think that would happen.”
Crippes said day programs and other services for those with disabilities will persist even if sheltered workshops are required to pay minimum wage.
“My struggle is that our minimum wage is pretty low and it is not a living wage to begin with,” he said. “Just getting people to $7.25 shouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility.”
BY JEFF OSTROWSKI Bankrate.com
In a real estate transaction, there’s always some level of negotiation. If you’re the seller, you face haggling not only with prospective buyers, but also with the person you’re working with to seal the deal: your real estate agent.
Thanks to a federal lawsuit that was recently settled, the way real estate commissions work will change in July 2024 (pending court approval).
If you’re looking to save some money, here’s what you need to know about how commissions work, and how to agree on a rate that both you and your agent can feel good about.
How real estate commission works, and who pays for it
A generation ago, real estate commission rates were typically around 6% of a home’s sale price. But the average real estate commission rate has gone down in recent years to just under 5% of a home’s sale price, according to Real Trends, a real estate research and consulting firm, and to Anywhere Real Estate, the parent of Century 21, Coldwell Banker and other brokerage brands. Under the current system, the fee is typically paid by the seller at closing, and it’s customarily split down the middle between the seller’s agent and the buyer’s agent. (So, for a 5% commission, each agent would earn 2.5%.) On a $400,000 transaction, which is around the median sale price nationwide, the 5% fee amounts to $20,000.
Agents and brokerages can offer a variety of commission structures, though, with some marketing flat fees or other incentives. So there may be opportunity to negotiate the rate if you’re looking to save on the cost of selling your home.
Due to a recent lawsuit, sellers will soon no longer be required to pay for their buyer’s agent’s fee. This may open the door to more competition and negotiation.
“There are agents and brokerages that reduce, discount or coupon their services,” says Kevin Van Eck, an executive with @ properties, a brokerage in Chicago. “Each agent, along with their brokerage, can determine where they set commissions based on the value and success created.”
Can you negotiate Realtor fees? Often, yes, there is room for bargaining. And as of July, there may be even more room. As a result of a lawsuit involving the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and several major brokerages, new commission rules will take effect that month that will mean sellers no longer have to cover the cost of the buyer’s agent’s fee, which may lead to more aggressive price competition among buyer’s-side agents. In addition, listing agents will no longer be permitted to state the buyer’s agent commission
in the MLS (multiple listing service), as has been common practice.
Your success at negotiating often depends on an individual agent’s circumstances, says Dave Liniger, chairman and cofounder of RE/MAX Real Estate. “Some agents are dead-set,” he says. “Other agents need the business so bad they’ll readily negotiate.”
As you prepare to list your home for sale, you may want to meet with a few listing agents to find the right one for the job. Ask each agent about their commission rate and what exactly you’ll be getting for that price. Consider not only how the agent plans to market your home, but also their skill in pricing it, experience, resources and track record.
“It’s OK for a seller to ask about the commission, but the best time is after talking with the agent and understanding their experience, how they will create exposure
for the home and the value they bring to the table,” says Van Eck. Liniger suggests that sellers invite three to five listing agents to their homes to make their pitches. The competing proposals will let you see how much agents charge, and give you leverage to bargain for a better deal. “You don’t get if you don’t ask,” he says. You might also consider weighing what you learn from full-service agents against the services of a discount broker. Just keep in mind that the discounter’s offerings may be limited compared to those of a traditional agent.
How to negotiate real estate commissions
Once you understand exactly what you’re paying for, you will be in a better position to ask for a discount. Here are some tips: If you’re able to offer the agent more than one listing opportunity, that
BY AUGUSTA SARAIVA Bloomberg News
The Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge of underlying inflation cooled last month while household spending rebounded.
The so-called core personal consumption expenditures price index, which strips out the volatile food and energy components, increased 0.3% from the prior month, data out Friday showed. That followed a 0.5% reading in January, marking the biggest back-toback gain in a year.
Fed officials may nonetheless take comfort in a tame increase in a narrower gauge of services inflation within the report. At the same time, inflation-adjusted consumer spending exceeded all estimates on the heels of the biggest gain in wages in over a year, according to the report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
The cooler inflation reading is a welcome reprieve after other measures showed price pressures intensified at the start of the year. Even so, Fed officials are looking for more evidence that
“We really just haven’t seen that consumer fatigue that we were getting some hints of in the last month’s data. That’s going to make it really hard, I think, for businesses to hold the line on prices if consumers are still willing to splash out at these levels.” SARAH HOUSE, SENIOR
ECONOMIST AT WELLS FARGO &
CO.
inflation is sustainably on a downward trend, and in the meantime, they’re not rushing to cut interest rates. Chair Jerome Powell said the figures were
“pretty much in line with our expectations” and reiterated the central bank doesn’t need to rush to cut interest rates. Policymakers will have access to one more PCE report, in addition to others on consumer and producer prices as well as employment, before their next meeting starts on April 30.
Officials pay close attention to services inflation excluding housing and energy, which tends to be more sticky. That metric stepped down to 0.2% from a month ago after a 0.7% surge in January, according to the BEA. Health care and financial services registered much smaller increases than in the prior month.
A still-robust labor market has so far supported household demand, despite high borrowing costs, fewer job postings and persistent inflation. Services spending surged by the most since July 2021, bolstered by international travel, transportation and financial services. Goods outlays, meanwhile, edged up after a steep drop in the prior
month and helped by auto sales.
“We really just haven’t seen that consumer fatigue that we were getting some hints of in the last month’s data,” said Sarah House, senior economist at Wells Fargo & Co. “That’s going to make it really hard, I think, for businesses to hold the line on prices if consumers are still willing to splash out at these levels.”
Separate data out Thursday showed consumer spending was revised higher at the end of last year on the back of stronger outlays for health care and financial services, even as goods spending was weaker than originally estimated. Fourth-quarter core PCE inflation was also revised slightly lower in that report.
While overall incomes moderated due in part to weaker dividend payments, a narrower measure of earnings known as wages and salaries advanced 0.8%, the most since the start of last year.
might be a compelling argument for a reduced commission. “If [you’re] a real estate investor who is looking to offload several properties, I would definitely talk about the commission,” says Dana Bull, an agent with Compass in the Boston area. Most agents welcome repeat business, she says. If you don’t have another listing opportunity of your own to offer, try leveraging your ability recommend the agent to others in your neighborhood or network. This might be especially persuasive if you know they are looking to build their business. “I can’t just slash my commission, but I might be willing to give a slight discount if the client offered some sort of other strategy to get more business after the sale,” Bull says. If you have a home in a sought-after area, or a buyer already interested, or an unusually high sale price, your agent may not need to do as much to
earn their fee. If neither party can foresee the need for additional services — “if an agent is coming in to basically just do some hand-holding, keeping the transaction on schedule and assisting with paperwork,” Bull says — that might be another good reason to propose a slightly lower rate. If you plan to buy a new home while selling your current one, use that in your favor. Liniger says an agent who can represent you on both the sale and the subsequent purchase will likely be willing to cut their fee. You may be considering skipping the commission conversation entirely and selling your home yourself. If so, be aware: While an experienced house flipper might be skilled enough to list a home without an agent, for most homeowners, the for-sale-by-owner route can be more challenging, more costly and more time-consuming in the long run.
Bottom line
In any negotiation, both parties must be willing to give and take. Negotiating your agent’s commission can work in your favor, but an agent can walk away if they don’t necessarily need your business. Keep in mind, too, that it can make sense for sellers to pay more for additional services instead of negotiating the commission down, Bull says. These might include higher-end marketing, home staging or additional mailers, for instance. And if you’re not in a rush, consider waiting until after the July rule change to see how things shake out. Ultimately, it’s important to find an agent you can speak with openly about cost, and who you trust to do the best job to sell your home.
© 2024 Bankrate.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency LLC.
Eileen Lisko says the Grief Support Team formed to fill a gap in the community
BY KATHY STEINER
The Jamestown Sun
When the Jamestown Area Grief Support Team (JAGST) launched in 2002, it seemed a natural fit for Eileen Lisko to be part of the group that would support people dealing with loss.
Lisko worked with her husband, Dan, at Lisko Funeral Chapel in Jamestown and in Edgeley.
The JAGST offered a Grief Support Group to give people grieving a place to talk about it.
Now, more than 20 years later, Lisko is still supporting people after the death of their loved ones as they navigate the new road ahead.
“It’s hard but it’s extremely rewarding,” Lisko said. “… they’ll come up to you after each session or after when it’s ending, and they’ll say, ‘Thank you so much, you can’t imagine how much this has helped me,’ and that’s all the feedback I need.”
A move to Jamestown
Lisko, who is from St. Paul, and her husband, Dan, a licensed funeral director, moved to Jamestown from Minnesota in 1981 when they purchased Daly-Peterson-Thornby Funeral Home. Dan, a native of Oakes, North Dakota, had wanted to return to the state and own his own business.
Eileen took a break from teaching when they moved to Jamestown to help at the funeral home. When the youngest of their two daughters (Ivy and Mary) started kindergarten, she returned to teaching. She worked at St. John’s Academy for eight years, starting the preschool program and later teaching second grade.
“I loved it,” Lisko said. “I loved every grade that I taught. I really did.”
But she would leave teaching when they purchased the funeral home in Edgeley. With two sites
to operate, Dan needed her help.
“... There was no such thing as cellphones at that time,” Lisko said. “In a funeral business, your phone is answered 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. And so there always had to be someone in the building and if it wasn’t me, it was somebody that we had to hire to come in.
I answered the phones, I answered the door … and if there was a visitation going on, you know, just greeting people, arranging the flowers. I would type the obits, I would do a lot of the paperwork, the death certificates, that type of thing. And later on, I did work at the funerals with Dan.”
The Liskos sold the business to Mike Williams in 2012. She worked at two medical clinics before retiring.
Lisko said the main thing she learned working at the funeral home was to listen to those grieving a loss.
“They need to talk about it,” Lisko said. “They may need to tell you that same story of what happened in that hospital room 20 times and that’s OK. Listen and just let them tell it. And that’s one of the beauties of the (grief) support group is that people get to talk about this. They get to talk about what happened when this death occurred but also what’s happening to them now, what they’re feeling now, what they’re going through.”
She said many people have told her that no one will let them talk about what happened or mention their loved one who died. They’re supposed to be fine, back at work and living their life. If they bring up their loved one who died, others will change the subject because they’re uncomfortable.
JAGST
The Jamestown Area Grief Support Team has 12 volunteer team members.
”This group was started by two people,” Lisko said.
“Wendy Hournbuckle, who was the director of (Jamestown) Hospice at that time, and Doug Opp, he was a minister at St. John’s Lutheran Church and he was the hospice chaplain.”
The two, noting there were few resources to support people after death, decided to fill that gap. They enlisted a few people they knew including Lisko. The group worked for a little over a year before the Jamestown Area Grief Support Team began operating as a 501(c) (3) nonprofit. Only two original members including Lisko remain.
JAGST holds one free Grief Support Group in the spring and one in the fall. The group also offers a weekend Widow’s Retreat at Maryvale in Valley City and a daylong widower’s program, which will be held for the second time this year, she said. A new group will be offered in April for parents who have lost a child, Lisko
said.
The Grief Support Group is usually limited to 12 people and meets once a week for six weeks.
”That is for anyone who’s experienced the death of someone important to them,” Lisko said.
“Usually it’s a family member, it doesn’t have to be. It could be a friend, a neighbor, a coworker, someone that you loved who’s now gone.”
The loss might have been recent or years ago, she noted.
“We have people who facilitate the groups, but the point of the group is for those attending to give and receive support from each other,” Lisko said.
“And once that happens, you’ve met your goal. That’s the best thing that a group can provide.”
Sandy Farthing’s husband, Dave, died on March 23, 2022. They had been married for 46 years.
“He had COPD and emphysema and then it went into lung cancer,” she
said. “He was at home with me on hospice and so he passed away at home here.”
Lisko later suggested Farthing consider taking part in a Grief Support Group.
“Eileen knew I was having a really, really bad time and so she said, ‘I think this would be really beneficial for you,’” Farthing said.
Grief and mourning Lisko said what holds people back after a death has to do with grieving and mourning.
“People use the words grieving and mourning interchangeably,” she said. “Grief and mourning are two different things. Grief is what you feel inside — those thoughts and feelings that are going around in your head and in your heart that you are feeling.
“Mourning is when you express those feelings outside of yourself … It can be by talking, it can be by crying, it can be journaling, it can be by painting a
picture, writing a poem,” Lisko said.
That’s when people begin to heal, she said. She added that people aren’t going to recover from grief and be “fine forever.”
“You will, if you mourn, if you express that grief outside yourself, you will learn to reconcile that grief to yourself,” she said. “You will learn to live with it. People who don’t mourn, who don’t express their grief, those are the people who really struggle. And there are people who struggle for a lifetime because they don’t ever talk about it, they don’t ever express it and the more you keep it inside, the harder it becomes.”
Lisko said people can become physically ill, develop emotional problems, have trouble sleeping or other issues because they haven’t expressed that grief.
“Or they might just be miserable for the rest of their lives,” she said.
People can walk through this journey and things will improve, Lisko said.
“You’re always going to miss that person,” she said. “There’s always going to be something missing in your life from someone that you loved who’s no longer here. But you will be able to move on, you will be able to find hope and find some happiness again and start to live a new life. When people say, ‘I just want things to get back to normal,’ when someone that you love who was a close part of your life is gone, there is no such thing as getting back to normal. What was normal for you is gone and it’s never coming back.”
Instead, it’s about finding a new normal, she said. The journey of grief is about coming to that new normal and figuring out how to live your life without that person in it anymore.
“And it’s not easy,” Lisko said. “It’s some of the hardest work a person will ever do.”
Most JAGST members have had training at the Center for Loss and Life Transitions in
BY KATHY STEINER
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — Barb
Lang said she didn’t really know anyone when she moved to Jamestown in 1987. A native of Valley City, North Dakota, Lang had lived in Houston, Texas, for 22 years, working in the banking industry.
Lang’s parents, Roy and Marie Sheppard, owned Cable Services in Jamestown, and Roy wanted to retire more from the business in 1987.
Lang said that year there was a “terrible crash” of the financial services industry in Houston.
“A lot of savings and loans failed,” she said.
Seeing the future — that her job would be eliminated as a result of that crash
— she decided the time was right to help with the family business.
“I came back to North Dakota and worked at the Cable Services here in Jamestown for 10 years and then I retired,” Lang said.
When she moved to Jamestown, she dived in.
“I started getting involved in the community pretty early after I got up here because I just didn’t know anybody and I was single, had a couple of kids,” Lang said. “So it just sort of evolved and after I retired, the community involvement got even more.”
In those early days, she volunteered for the Jamestown Area Chamber of Commerce, where she learned about the Jamestown Community Foundation, which the chamber established in 1983. The foundation, which worked on economic development, eventually evolved to a new mission when the Jamestown/Stutsman Development Corp. formed.
Lang became active on the foundation board after
serving as chamber president in 1995 and hasn’t left. “I told the board a couple of years ago that I was
going to retire and they have basically ignored me,” Lang said. “But then I guess it’s my own fault
because if I was truly serious, I would leave … You really want to support the community that you live
“We are, in fact, cheerleaders for the community. That’s very much what we’re trying to make sure happens is that the community gets better and better.”
Barb Lang, president, Jamestown Community Foundation
in. You want to be active, make the community better. It seems to me that’s just part of the purpose of our community members is to do what they can do to help make the community a better place to live. And so I keep on plugging away.”
Curt Liechty, vice president of the foundation board, said Lang’s longtime service on the foundation board has been valuable.
“You’ve got such a great resource in what we have done and also what we would like to do in the community,” he said in Lang. “She really wants to make sure we have a local impact and helps us. We’ve got grant guidelines that we’ve developed over the years and she helps us keep focused.”
He noted that Lang carried much of the work for the foundation for a long time.
“She’s done a very good job with leading the organization,” he said.
He said she’s given a lot of her personal time in getting and reviewing grants as well as promoting the foundation.
“You can tell that she really cares about a variety of different entities,” he said.
Lang has been active in The Arts Center, Stutsman County United Way, AAUW Jamestown Affiliate, Zonta Club and the 1883 Courthouse Committee. She and her husband,
Art Todd, have a “big blended family” of five children and 10 grandchildren. Jamestown Community Foundation
The mission of the Jamestown Community Foundation is to provide a convenient tax-exempt local organization for donors to fund worthy causes in Jamestown, Lang said.
”It’s a feel-good organization to be part of because you’re doing good things for the community,” Lang said. “Permanent good things, not just money that gets drained away because you’re giving to a permanent fund.” The foundation board meets quarterly to consider grant requests.
“... we have a grand time together and we’re doing good work,” she said. “So it’s very rewarding, very rewarding.”
The JCF has restricted funds designated by the donor to a specific project and nonrestricted funds, which are invested and managed by the foundation’s investment committee. Income from the investments is available to grant to area projects. Lang, the board’s president, and Paulette Ritter, secretary, are the longestserving members on the foundation board. Lang noted that the chamber’s president, vice president, secretary/treasurer, past
The center’s director is Alan Wolfelt, Ph.D., recognized as a death educator and grief counselor expert in North America, according to the center. Wolfelt has been called in to assist in large events, including the terrorist attacks on 9/11, Lisko said. He has written a number of books including “Understanding Your Grief,” which is used by the JAGST for the Grief Support Group.
Each week there are suggested chapter readings, but the sessions are not set in stone, Lisko noted. It’s most important that people talk about their experiences, so if they veer off topic that’s OK.
Farthing said attending the Grief Support Group helped her.
“Because they allowed
president and executive director serve on the foundation board, adding that many of the foundation board members at one time served as chamber presidents.
“Our board is almost 17 people,” Lang said. “We have an advisory council as well. Those are people who are waiting who would love to get on the board, but we don’t have room for them.”
She describes the board as “a wonderful group” and says there are no term limits.
“Nobody ever wants to leave this board because it’s fun,” Lang said. “... well, they have to raise money, grumble grumble, they have to raise money. But … we get to give grants. We are pretty careful with our granting so that the people who receive the grants use them for the purpose intended and do the work that they promised that they would do. And we
us to talk about it where sometimes you can’t find somebody to talk about it with, where we did,” Farthing said. “We were all allowed to talk about it, and we were all allowed to cry and sometimes we –would even get mad. Because you do. You get mad because they’re gone.”
While people grieve differently, the other participants understand, Lisko said. People think they’re sad and lonely, but there are other emotions too.
“They never stop to think they’re angry, they’re frustrated, they’re confused,” Lisko said. “They feel abandoned, they’re terrified. … And for them to just be able to talk about it and also to listen, to listen to what the person next to them is telling and say, ‘Oh yeah, I get it, that’s just how I felt when this happened. …
have been very lucky that has always happened.”
The Jamestown Community Foundation is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization that helps other nonprofits.
“We do help groups that are not 501(c)(3)s but have organized for a particular need in the community,” Lang added.
During the coronavirus pandemic, Lang said the foundation helped a group of mothers at Washington Elementary School that was raising money to place water bottle stations in all of the elementary schools in Jamestown.
When flooding occurred in 2009 in Jamestown, despite assistance through FEMA, there were gaps in aid, she said.
“So the churches got together and formed a group called the Unmet Needs Committee and they came to us and said ‘Could you help us with the donation part?’ because they’re not a 501(c)(3), but if you ask people to donate to a 501(c)(3), it’s tax deductible on your taxes,” Lang said.
“You can get better dona-
and to just see how these people connect with each other because of their shared experience is really a beautiful thing to see and how they help one another.”
The group’s main purpose is to create the conditions for the participants to support one another, she said.
“That’s our goal is to support people in the community who have lost someone that they love,” Lisko said. “And sometimes people have a lot of support from their family or friends. Many times they don’t. And this is just a place for you to go where you are going to have some people who understand what your experience is like and are there to support you as you go through this journey.”
Farthing took part in a Widow’s Retreat after the Grief Support Group. She
tions that way.”
So the foundation did a restricted fund agreement with the committee. The donations came to the foundation and were passed to the committee, which granted the money as needed, she said.
“ ... it really helped some of those people that really needed the final dollars to fix their basements,” Lang said. “... And we’ve done that (restricted fund agreement) with other organizations.”
When turtles ate the flowers at the flower garden on 4th Avenue and 11th Street Northwest near the James River, the foundation provided a grant to the group of women in charge of the garden for fencing and flowers, she said.
“We, in the very beginning, helped A Moment of Freedom … the horse therapy program,” Lang recalls. “We gave them a grant to purchase some of the corrals that they needed right at the get-go and then we also helped get them a computer.”
The foundation has
said she has made friends at both and is currently a member of a support group that formed after the retreat. She suggests others grieving a loss consider attending one of the events.
“Go and find someone to talk to or go to the support group because it really does help,” Farthing said. “It helps to know that you’re with somebody that went through the same thing that you did because a lot of people try to struggle on their own. And you can’t do that. Very hard. So if you can go find a support group or go to the one they have offered, then by all means do because it does help you.”
For more information, visit JAGST at https:// www.jagst.org/ or Facebook. ksteiner@jamestownsun. com | (701) 952-8449
contributed to larger projects as well, such as Jamestown Regional Medical Center when it moved to its current campus, the new Anne Carlsen Center building project and the Raising the Bar for the Arts campaign for The Arts Center to expand children’s programming.
Lang said the foundation looks to those asking for funds for a little work too.
“They will ask for an amount and we will give partially based on what our budget is, we’ll give what we can,” she said. “Sometimes we want to challenge those organizations to do other kinds of fundraising. We don’t want to give all the money for a project, we want to give some of it and then encourage them to use that as a match for going to other people” to get other funds.
Occasionally, Jamestown Community Foundation gets grant requests from outside of the community, but those are turned down, she said.
“Our mission is to help
within Jamestown and maybe a 5-mile radius around the town so that we are helping the community grow and become a better place to live, which is what we all want.
“We are, in fact, cheerleaders for the community,” Lang said. “ That’s very much what we’re trying to make sure happens is that the community gets better and better.”
Gifts to foundation sustain the work
The Jamestown Community Foundation has an endowment fund with the North Dakota Community Foundation, which has grown over time to about $300,000.
“Their rules are that somewhere between 3 and 5% of our fund can be used for granting out each year,” Lang said. “It’s different each year.”
Last year, the foundation was able to use about $12,000 for grants, she said.
“And then we have our own endowment fund here in town and we also have one of those 40% tax credit endowment fund accounts,” she said. Lang said gifts of any size to the foundation are appreciated.
“If you give a gift to the foundation, it is going to work for the community forever because all of the money that is donated to the foundation is put into our endowment funds,” she said. “We are all volunteer. There is no staff. I always consider the donations that we get from our own board members every year more than cover expenses our little expenses (like flyers, etc.). Our expenses are very very low because it’s all volunteer.”
She said the business community is pretty aware of the foundation but she wishes they could reach more individuals.
“… it’s hard to reach just individuals, and it’s a little hard to understand the concept because we’re not raising money … ‘to buy three chairs’ (for example). We’re raising money to put into an endowment that works for the community for the long haul,” Lang said.
BY MAX O’NEILL
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — For the last 18 years, Don Wegner and the Jamestown Harley Owners Group have been launching themselves into cold water to donate money to the Jamestown Regional Medical Center Hospice.
“It was just something to help benefit a lot of people because sooner or later we’re all gonna need it or use it or have family that have used it.”
Don Wegner, one of the founders, Polar Pig event
The Polar Pig event sees participants walk off the plank of a wooden ship and into a big tub of ice-cold water. Wegner, one of the founders of the event, said the participants are expected to raise a minimum of $100
but they usually raise between $500 to $600 for JRMC Hospice. He said
the event averages between 15 to 22 participants and the most they’ve had is 30 people participate.
Through the event, Wegner said the organization has raised a total of $350,000 for JRMC Hospice.
“It feels good to be a part of the community and support it and help it,” Wegner said.
JRMC Hospice provides individuals with compassionate end-of-life care, according to JRMC’s
website. The website says Hospice’s mission is to help individuals and their families through the special challenges of life’s last season. The website also says the goal of Hospice is to provide comfort through symptom control and support of the individual and their family throughout this process.
JRMC Hospice Coordinator Maren Radi said the funds have been put to good use over the years, funding multiple different areas.
“It’s supporting in many ways, there’s things that we can do in addition to what we get reimbursed from insurance companies,” Radi said.
“For example, we can hire a chaplain, which we maybe weren’t able to do otherwise. There’s some additional equipment that we can obtain or expenses that are not necessarily paid for by insurance such as Medicare or private insurance.
Wegner on E8
Hayley Wolf an advocate for Kids Against Hunger, Kiwanis
BY KATIE RINGER
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN —
Almost a decade ago, Hayley Wolf got bit by the volunteer bug.
”I got started with volunteering back in 2016,” Wolf said. “My oldest daughter and I volunteered at the Kiwanis Kids Against Hunger event and after that event, I remember feeling like, wow I made a difference. All of those people that come together really made a difference that day.”
Since its first Kids Against Hunger packaging event in 2010, the Jamestown Kiwanis has packaged more than 1.3 million meals and has raised more than $400,000 to do so.
Shortly after volunteering with the Kiwanis for the first time, Wolf underwent an employment change. She currently serves as the business and human resources manager for Triumph Inc. in Jamestown.
”Our agency is very community based and one of the things that we really foster with our employees are those community connections,” Wolf said. “I remember telling my bosses that I had volunteered at a Kiwanis event and that I really loved it and that I wanted to be a part of it. I asked them if they would support me in it and they said ‘absolutely.’
”Shortly thereafter I joined Jamestown Kiwanis Club,” she said. “I really enjoy the mission. The members are all about
children and all about community and coming together to make a meaningful impact, and we do that in various ways.”
Kiwanis is a global organization that is committed to serving the needs of children in the community and the world. The Jamestown Kiwanis was chartered on Sept. 5, 1922.
The Kiwanis meet weekly at noon at the Quality Inn & Suites in Jamestown. There are currently 38 active members in the Jamestown Kiwanis Club.
”We have a weekly program where we bring in speakers from the community or even from around the state and they speak on different topics or organizations that align with our mission
“I really enjoy the mission. The members are all about children and all about community and coming together to make a meaningful impact, and we do that in various ways.”
and we really seek to help those organizations,” Wolf said. “Everyone is busy, but there is a sense of fulfillment that you receive when you can contribute to your community —especially to the children.”
Some of the other causes that the Kiwanis support are the Community Action programs, Safe Shelter, Frontier Village, Daily Bread - Jamestown, the Jamestown High School Key Club and Orphan Grain Train.
”Hayley’s dedication to giving back to her community is inspirational to others,” Kiwanis member Amanda Thrift said. “She has approached her time as the Kiwanis president with a can-do attitude and has helped move the club forward in many ways including membership growth and increased giving.”
Wolf on E8
Wolf originally took the Kiwanis presidency in 2022 and is now serving her second term.
Prior to becoming president, Wolf served as the Kiwanis secretary for four years.
”That was kind of my comfort zone,” Wolf said of her position as secretary. “I’ve always been one of those people behind the scenes getting everything ready and planned for the president, who was going to control the meeting and make everything go.”
But then she talked to Searle Swedlund, former Kiwanis president.
”He sat me down for coffee, told me he was going to be moving that fall and then he said, ‘I know you are more comfortable in that secretary role but I really feel like you could take this club to the next level and I would really like to see you do this,’” Wolf said.
”I remember telling him that this was not in my comfort zone but that I was willing to try it,” she said. “It has been one of the most rewarding things that I have done not only personally but also for my professional career as well.”
While Wolf is often busy running the club meetings, Thrift said she has had the privilege of serving the Kiwanis Aktion Club as Wolf’s coadviser. The Aktion Club is the only service club in the community for adults with disabilities. Thrift said the respect and dignity that Wolf shows the individuals the club advises is unmatched.
”This is a passion for me and another reason it felt right to become a Kiwanis member,” Wolf said. “It’s important that people with disabilities receive the same leadership opportunities as anyone else in their community. Jamestown Aktion
Club strives on the ability of all our members, not their disability.”
There are currently 26 individuals in the Aktion Club whom Wolf and Thrift advise.
”This group has just been amazing for me both personally and professionally,” Wolf said. “One thing I love about Kiwanis is that it’s something I can enjoy with my own children. My children are able to help out at our events and be a part of making a difference in their community. There have been so many gains that I have experienced. I highly encourage others out there to give it a try.” kringer@jamestownsun. com | @KaitlynRinger on Twitter
So it’s always very helpful and it also ensures that we can continue to provide services for our terminally ill patients in the Jamestown area.”
Radi said it means a lot to her and her colleagues that people care enough to donate to JRMC Hospice to help people be comfortable at the end of their lives. Radi said participating in the event gives her an appreciation for the donations that support JRMC Hospice. She said she appreciates the effort that the Wegners have put forth in helping hospice.
Wegner said his wife, Marla, who used to work at the hospital, helped put the first event on.
“I just knew that it was a good thing to donate to because hospice, I believe, they don’t charge for their services … so I thought what are we gonna do with this money if we do this and where would it go and it’s just like how about the hospice,” Marla Wegner said.
Don said the event helped raise awareness locally for hospice and what it does. He said the event was first part of Cabin Fever Days through the Jamestown Parks and Recreation Department.
“Then we just started doing the money raiser and donating it to Hospice,” Don said. “It was just something to help benefit a lot of people because sooner or later we’re all gonna need it or use it or have family that have used it.”
Don said the first five or six ships were made out of cardboard but they made it more sustainable.
“We came up with this idea, we took a hay rack and built a ship on top of it and we reuse that same ship every year,” Don said. “So that took a whole fall and part of a winter to build this ship
for the Polar Pig out of wood and then we just reuse it every year. “
Don said he puts in around 120 hours per year into organizing the event. He has to send out invitations and hand out fliers. He said Marla puts in between 80 to 90 hours per year into planning for the event.
“The biggest thing is to notify people that it’s coming up,” Don said. “Marla and I, we send out 100-some letters to friends and relatives asking for donations every year and we also go around talking to different businesses trying to get jumpers and get them to raise money.”
Don also said a team of individuals works on the event and the entire group works between 450 to 500 hours on it.
He said the Individuals Motorcycle Club and District 8 Abate group also help with the event. The District 8 Abate group puts on a chili competition.
Don said prizes are given for the best costume, the biggest splash and a spirit award. While
Don said he usually participates, Marla laughingly said she has never jumped into the tank.
Radi said in the past, she has jumped into the water and experienced the event.
“I jumped the year when the heater didn’t work, I remember that,” Radi said. “I catapulted out of that water, I’ll tell ya. I think I it did last year or the year before. … I’ve probably done it three or four times, maybe five times over the years.”
In addition to the Polar Pig event, Wegner said the HOG organization has put on a potato-growing contest with the potatoes going to food banks in Jamestown. In the past, he said the organization has put on a charity ride that benefits the James River Humane Society and a benefit for kids struggling to get school supplies. moneill@jamestownsun. com | (701) 952-8461 | Follow him on Twitter @ MaxONeill16
BY MAX O’NEILL
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN —
Throughout the years, Colin Wegenast has been one of the most active members of the Jamestown Mystics group.
Wegenast has been a member of the Mystics since 2017. He said he first joined the club because he wanted to help children’s causes.
“I just wanted to,” Wegenast said. “It’s a great group of guys and I just wanted to have fun and help the kids. We do a lot of fundraising to support children’s causes … I always say we’re a bunch of Shriners having fun helping kids.”
While he said he doesn’t know exactly how many hours he’s put into working with the Mystics, he has enjoyed every second of it.
“It has been totally worth every hour when you get to hear about and see the difference it makes in children’s lives,” Wegenast said.
Wegenast said the Mystics are one of two separate units in town that are affiliated with the El Zagal Shriners. The other Shriners unit is the Jamestown Clowns.
Through his work with the Mystics, Wegenast has helped put on all four of the group’s annual fundraising events.
Wegenast said the four events are a fish fry, the El Zagal Shriners Circus, a gun raffle and Fishing for a Cause.
”It’s a great day (at Fishing for a Cause), the kids have fun out there, we have bounce houses and face painting and a free fishing tournament,” Wegenast said.
“We also do a raffle for that where you can win a bunch of really nice prizes.”
“... we couldn’t have done all that without the Jamestown area supporting everything that the Shriners do. We wouldn’t be able to raise the money if it wasn’t for their help.”
Colin Wegenast, member, Jamestown Mystics, referring to the Christmas lights on Mill Hill
Wegenast said the fishing event takes a full day’s worth of work to put on when the day actually comes. He said all Mystics members and their spouses help. He said they start preparing for it early in the year, getting permits and prizes. He said he enjoys seeing kids having fun
catching fish, getting their faces painted and jumping around in the bounce house.
“It’s a lot of work but it’s fun work,” Wegenast said. “We really enjoy this event. It’s a great event for the community.”
Wegenast said he appreciates the community’s support in helping
the two units. Wegenast said the difference between the two units is that the Mystics formed as a result of a cap on membership in the Clowns that used to exist.
Wegenast said he likes spending time with his fellow members.
“I just enjoy the camaraderie,” Wegenast said.
“Our little Mystics unit, the age range of members is between probably 30 years old and 80 years old and everybody gets along so well. We’re all best of friends. I’ve met people that I would have probably never known if I wasn’t a Mystic and become very good friends with them.”
This year’s El Zagal Mystics Fish Fry is the 43rd annual Fish Fry, according to the group’s Facebook page. Wegenast said he appreciates the fact that the price to get in is the same this year, $15, despite the rise in the price of fish.
One of the most noticeable things that Wegenast and his fellow Mystics do every year is maintain the Christmas
lights on Mill Hill. He said the lights stay up year-round. They check the Christmas lights every year and replace any broken bulbs. Wegenast said the biggest expenditure on the lights is the electricity and any potential maintenance costs that may arise.
“So, it’s a few hours each year to get them ready again,” Wegenast said. “I think it’s just an amazing sight to see those things when you come down the hill with some snow on the ground. It’s just beautiful and again, we couldn’t have done all that without the Jamestown area supporting everything that the Shriners do. We wouldn’t be able to raise the money if it wasn’t for their help.”
Wegenast said he enjoys seeing the lights on his drive home from Lifestyle Appliance and Entertainment Center, which he owns with his wife, Toni.
Wegenast said he firmly believes everybody should join the organization.
“What are you waiting for? Just do it, everybody’s busy, everybody’s got things going on,” Wegenast said. “It’s just a matter of what your priorities are and in my opinion, this is a phenomenal organization to belong to.”
Wegenast said he hopes the club continues to thrive in town.
“I just hope that we can continue to do the fun things that we do to raise money for local and national children’s philanthropies and just keep doing what we do,” Wegenast said.
moneill@jamestownsun. com | (701) 952-8461 | Follow him on Twitter @ MaxONeill16
We
extend gratitude to our dedicated team members who improve the lives of our patients and promote their recover y.
Career oppor tunities are available in clinical and nursing professions, facilit y ser vices and direct suppor t positions.
Join our team and receive:
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We also par tner with the Universit y of Jamestown, Universit y of Mar y, Universit y of Nor th Dakota and Dakota College at Bot tineau nursing programs with classes taught on their campuses.
BY KATHY STEINER
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — The Jamestown Area Chamber of Commerce is one of the biggest cheerleaders of the community and its businesses, says Emily Bivens, executive director.
“One of the ways that we do that or help promote being cheerleaders within our community is through these monthly awards (they give out) and also our ribbon cuttings and groundbreakings as well,” she said.
The Business of the Month and Customer Service awards presented by the chamber also give local citizens an opportunity to become cheerleaders in the community, especially for local businesses, she said.
The Business of the Month award recognizes a business that provides consistent, good customer service and products, Bivens said.
The Customer Service
Award highlights those individuals who go above and beyond their customers’ expectations and provide great customer service, Bivens added.
The awards are not limited to chamber member businesses or individuals, she said. Bivens encourages residents to nominate a business for the Business of the Month award or an individual for a Customer Service Award. She says recognizing businesses and good customer service is important for those businesses and people. She said these days, people are drawn to the negative things in the news and it’s nice to hear good news and be recognized for going above and beyond.
“I hope it changes people’s perspectives on our local businesses and reminds them of all the great things that they do,” she said. “I feel like the bad is highlighted more than the good sometimes and so the chamber is here to be that cheerleader and
to remind folks that we have a lot of great things going on in our community. Our businesses are doing a lot of great things … there’s a great workforce and they’re doing things that go above and beyond for our customers and for our community.”
Nominations can be made by the community on the bottom of the homepage at the chamber’s website at james-
townchamber.com.
The chamber also presents larger awards — Above and Beyond, Citizen of the Year, Business of the Year and Young Professional of the Year –— and people may submit nominations through the website for those as well during the nomination period.
Ribbon cuttings and groundbreakings
The chamber also likes
to promote its businesses and celebrate with them when they have big changes, Bivens said. Ribbon cuttings are held for chamber businesses for milestones including new ownership, changing a business name, change of location, newly remodeled offices or new businesses.
“It’s just another great way that we can help them get their name out there and build their brand within our community and give them a recognition,” she said.
Groundbreakings are exciting, she added, because they’re new businesses or a business building new and investing in the community, helping to grow the economy.
ksteiner@jamestownsun. com | (701) 952-8449
BY KATHY STEINER
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — Joyce
Heinrich says being active in parks and recreation seems natural to her.
“It goes back to my mom and dad (Alta and Don Wenaas), I guess,” she said. “They were great volunteers here in Jamestown. Dad was on the park board and mother took us to all the park board activities when we were young. We played in the parks, I worked in the parks when I was in high school and college in the summertime doing the activities with the kids.” Heinrich has served in many roles in the Jamestown Parks and Recreation District.
“Joyce is a consistent cheerleader for Jamestown Parks and Recreation,” said Amy Walters, executive director, Jamestown Parks and Recreation District. “Over the years she has served as an elected commissioner
on the park board (Jamestown Parks and Recreation Commission) and continued in that service as a volunteer that led the planning for construction of Pepper’s Dog Park, supporting youth golf instruction, and now currently as a board member on the Jamestown Parks and Recreation Foundation. Our community is better because of volunteers like Joyce.” The mission of the Jamestown Parks and Recreation Foundation, according to https:// jamestownparksandrec. com/foundation, is “to enhance the facilities and programming of recreational opportunities for the Citizens and Visitors to the City of Jamestown. Including those offered by the Jamestown Parks and Recreation Department.” The foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, also offers a program intended to encourage partnerships between JPRF and organizations by providing a way to sponsor projects within the
Jamestown Parks and Recreation District.
Heinrich serves on the planning committee for the Festival of Trees foundation fundraiser, where people bid on decorated and donated Christmas trees and wreaths and stuffed stockings. She can also be found baking bars sold at basketball tournaments at Two Rivers Activity Center.
Pepper’s Dog Park is one project close to Heinrich’s heart.
“I think Pepper’s Dog Park was one of the most fun things I ever worked on,” she said. “Once Clarice and Reuben Liechty said ‘Hey, we’ll give you this land,’ I just ran with it. … l will forever be thankful for those people with their giving hearts that they have that gave us that property down there.”
Pepper’s Dog Park is a fenced-in park with amenities for dogs and people including fountains and benches.
Heinrich also serves on a board to help the
district with new longrange planning.
“You’ve got to keep people active into their 80s and 90s,” she said. “When I walk up at TRAC in the afternoons or mornings
… there are all age groups and it’s so nice to see some of these elderly people that are walking together and taking care of their health … it’s just good that they’re taking care of themselves. They’re going to live longer if they take part in these things.”
ksteiner@jamestownsun. com | (701) 952-8449
BY MASAKI OVA
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — Applied Digital Corp. wouldn’t be the company it is today if it had chosen a different location other than Jamestown, according to Nick Phillips, executive vice president of operations and public affairs.
“Jamestown was fantastic to us as a first site,” Phillips said. “From the day that we set foot in Jamestown, the community was very welcoming and interested in what was going on.”
Applied Digital designs, develops and operates next-generation data centers across North America to provide digital infrastructure solutions to the high-performance computing (HPC) industry, according to its website.
center operator. He said the company provides “extensive” training to its employees.
“We are bringing folks along that maybe don’t really perceive that hightech jobs in high-tech companies is something that they can do but it is really something that is achievable if they are willing to put in the work, time and the energy,” he said.
Phillips said the company has employees who started at the entry-level position and have worked hard to move into major roles at the North Dakota sites.
Giving back
said. “MDU (MontanaDakota Utilities Co.) returned several million dollars to their other customers in Ellendale. … Otter Tail (Power Co.) has also been a great partner for us to work with there in Jamestown in the same regard. We make sure we are benefiting the community and not being a drag on it.”
Applied Digital is also constructing a 10-megawatt HPC facility north of Jamestown and a 125-megawatt HPC facility at Ellendale. Phillips said the 10-megawatt HPC facility
In North Dakota, Applied Digital has blockchain sites about 7 miles north of Jamestown and 1 mile west of Ellendale. Applied Digital currently has a 100-megawatt facility in Jamestown and a 180-megawatt facility in Ellendale.
at Jamestown will be operational in the upcoming months. About half of the building has been erected for the HPC facility at Ellendale, he said. The company is also constructing a new administrative building in Jamestown that includes work space and lounging space for its employees.
“That’s another example of us as a company growing, but it’s also an example of places for our employees to grow inside of the company,” he said. Phillips said Applied Digital will need more employees who have opportunities to grow within the company. He said new employees start as an entry-level data
Phillips said the company has given back to its communities in several ways.
He said people have been concerned about their power bills increasing because of Applied Digital.
“One of the things that we’ve been able to do is work with our utility providers to make sure that hasn’t been the case,” he
He said Applied Digital donated to TRAC for the new outdoor pickleball courts and has participated in other fundraisers. Phillips said it is important for the company to buy locally. The company purchases memberships at TRAC for its employees. When Applied Digital officials are in Jamestown, they take employees to local restaurants.
The company also donated to the University of Jamestown’s sports programs after studentathletes helped unpack items for Applied Digital’s facility. mova@jamestownsun.com | (701) 952-8454
BY KATHY STEINER
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — Cen -
tral Valley Health District may best be known for providing immunizations, says Executive Director Kara Falk, but the public health agency that serves the area also works behind the scenes in emergency preparedness, environmental health and health promotion activities for the region.
Emergency preparedness
Frank Balak is the regional emergency preparedness and response coordinator for CVHD.
“Our goal is to prepare the community to be prepared for both natural disasters such as flooding or tornadoes, manmade disasters such as a chemical spill and biological or viral,” he said, such as COVID-19.
After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the U.S. developed pointof-dispensing plans where agencies could provide antibiotics for communities of any size within 48 hours, he said.
“A lot of the planning that we have done previously for … points of dispensing we actually put into play for our COVID-19 response for both testing and our vaccination processes,” he said.
He said those plans were used during COVID at its testing sites at the Civic Center and at vaccine and flu clinics.
Other types of response
During the ice storm in December that caused power outages in the area, Balak noted Red Cross shelters were set up in Medina and Gackle. Falk said CVHD could have provided medical shelters with a higher
seats for families in need.
“That program’s pretty busy,” Klatt said. “We’ve seen a huge increase over the years of people in need of safe car seats for their kids.”
A child who qualifies for WIC or Medicaid qualifies for a free car seat. CVHD has grant funds to assist families that do not qualify and cannot pay the $40 car seat fee, she said.
CVHD provides free bike helmets for kids at Kid Safety Day and education/fitting of helmets at day cares/day care centers, she said.
Cribs available
In the last year, they helped the Jamestown Civic Center develop a mother’s room where families can go to feed their babies and a mother’s suite was placed at Harold Newman Arena.
Klatt said decreasing barriers is their goal — moms quit breastfeeding because they’re having issues, it’s not convenient or they don’t have support.
level of care if needed in that situation.
Other emergency preparedness and response areas CVHD can help with include flooding, evacuations of facilities such as clinics, longterm care facilities or hospitals including patient tracking; trainings that include simulated disasters; and firefighter rehabilitation equipment in the event of a wildfire.
“I work with the emergency managers in eight counties for planning and different types of response,” Balak said. Environmental health CVHD provides licensing, inspection and education in environmental health programs in eight counties, said Marcie Bata, director of environmental health. Those are Barnes, Dickey, Foster, LaMoure, Logan, Mcintosh, Stutsman and Wells.
It provides licensure of aquatic facilities (pools, spas and splash pads); food service facilities including restaurants, bars, school food
service and child care facilities; tanning and body art facilities; and septic system installers. It also permits new installation or repair of existing septic systems.
“Most of the time people don’t know we’re coming to our licensed facilities,” Bata said, noting they are unannounced inspections.
They use a specific form during inspections to check they’re in compliance with rules, along with providing education and answering questions. They follow up on complaints from the public and also conduct any follow-ups necessary after the inspections.
“All of our inspections are open record, those can be found on our website (centralvalleyhealth. org),” she said.
Inspections for aquatics, tanning and body art facilities can be obtained by sending a request to CVHD, she said.
“We want the public to know what’s going on in these facilities if they have questions and to be contacting us if they have concerns so we can
get out there and provide education because we’re only out there potentially once or twice a year,” Bata said “… and they may be doing different things during a holiday season or during the summer months that we don’t necessarily see during our inspections.”
Trash, burn variances, wells
Bata said environmental health can provide education in areas that include mold; nuisance issues such as trash in a neighborhood or abandoned buildings; burn variance assistance related to burning down old buildings; well testing; and care, maintenance and concerns related to new and older septic systems.
Injury prevention programs
Certified car seat technicians offer free car seat checks, said Shannon Klatt, director of health promotions. She said state data has found that 75 percent of car seats are used incorrectly.
CVHD offers free and reduced rates of new car
The Cribs for Kids program provides a free pack and play to families for any baby under age 1 along with education on safe sleep, Klatt said. There is no income requirement.
Klatt said CVHD’s goal is to increase the number of women breastfeeding their babies to age 6 months.
In the last year, it developed the James Valley Breastfeeding Coalition.
“We work together with community partners like JRMC and other specialists in the community to help moms with resources when it comes to breastfeeding,” she said.
Two certified lactation counselors provide free appointments and consultations with moms to check their baby’s latch, do a weighted feed, help them measure for their breast pump and other assistance.
“We also work with our coalition to develop community spaces where moms are able to feed their babies,” Klatt said.
The Women, Infant, Children (WIC) program provides healthy supplemental food packages for pregnant women, breastfeeding moms, infants and children up to age 5. Families who qualify for Medicaid, TANF, SNAP or Healthy Step programs qualify for WIC.
The Health Tracks program provides growth and development screening up to the age of 21 at no charge for those who qualify for Medicaid. Substance use prevention programs
CVHD offers substance use prevention programs in several areas including tobacco, opioid overdose prevention and underage drinking.
Klatt said CVHD works with the Jamestown Police Department. It has provided ID scanners, which are available for the bars to use to help decrease the underage population being in the bars as well as support bars in responsible beverage server training. The police department provides the training.
With opioid overdose prevention, CVHD has free Narcan available to anyone who wants it. Narcan is a reversal drug that helps reverse an overdose to opioids and fentanyl, Klatt said. ksteiner@jamestownsun. com | (701) 952-8449
BY MASAKI OVA
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — New ownership of Buffalo City Diesel became official on Jan. 1.
Amanda Finck, Randy Christianson and Charles Ferreira are the new owners. Christianson has been with Buffalo City Diesel since August 2003, Finck since July 2007 and Ferreira since October 2022.
Mechanics at Buffalo City Diesel work on heavy-duty trucks, semitrailers, buses and even motorhomes.
“Anything basically not your typical vehicle,” Finck said.
Finck said Buffalo City Diesel stays up to date on new diagnostic equipment and tooling.
“We have a pretty full inventory,” she said.
Finck said Buffalo City Diesel contributes to the
El Zagal Shriners’ Jamestown Clowns because of Kevin Thoele’s involvement with the organization. Thoele is the former owner of Buffalo City Diesel who passed away in 2021.
“We are continuing his legacy and what he loved to do,” Finck said. “That was a big part of us wanting to buy the shop in general, being able to continue his legacy as he would have wanted instead of some outside company.”
Buffalo City Diesel works on some of the Jamestown Clowns’ vehicles. She said Buffalo City Diesel works on a fire truck that Thoele built and a bus that sometimes needs repairs.
Thoele was Christianson’s best friend and the life of Buffalo City Diesel, Finck said.
“He started this place from the ground up,” she said. “We had the shop
burn down in 2009 and he rebuilt from the ground up again.”
She said Buffalo City Diesel also supports other organizations.
Finck also said Buffalo City Diesel partners with the James Valley Career and Technology Center for interns. Through the Career and Technology Center, Buffalo City Diesel worked with a student during the fall semester.
“He would come every day and work in the shop with the mechanics so he could get credit,” she said. She said Buffalo City Diesel supported the internship opportunity so the student could see if the diesel repair field is something he wants to pursue.
Buffalo City Diesel also had a student job shadow for half a day, Finck said.
“She loved it,” she said. “It’s exciting to see young people wanting to get into that field of diesel repair.
If we can partner with a sponsor or give scholarships, that’s something that we’re open to doing.” Buffalo City Diesel is
of life enrichment.
JAMESTOWN — From creating a comfortable, inviting place to live to providing cares that empower independence, Eventide Jamestown goes to great lengths to do everything it can for its residents to thrive. Another important component of achieving its mission of empowering older adults to thrive is its life enrichment program including activities, events and programs to enrich the lives of those Eventide serves.
Activities and events
Throughout the Eventide Jamestown campus, activities and events are based on its unique, six-faceted approach to wellness. The approach utilizes cooperative programming aimed at enhancing intellectual, social, emotional, spiritual, occupational and physical well-being to help aging individuals enjoy a more active and engaged life. The six wellness facets are intellectual, social, emotional, spiritual, occupational and physical.
“It’s amazing how many people move to Eventide not realizing they’d been missing the socialization that our activities and events provide,” said Jackson Johnsrud, executive director, Eventide
Jamestown.
Residents and their family members comment on how they are thriving since the move to Eventide, he said.
‘It’s often because they’ve started socializing in a way they haven’t for a while,” he said. “Sometimes it is because prior to living at Eventide, our residents lived alone at home and became isolated. It’s amazing how powerful it is to see new residents start to engage and come out of their shell a bit as they meet new friends and reconnect with friends they knew long ago.”
Activities in Eventide’s senior living apartment building include exercise programming, Bible study, canvas painting classes, music performances, parties, movies and more. In the care center, there are many art projects, music performances, parties, bingo and more. Residents and families also suggest ideas for activities.
The Daydreams Project One program funded by Eventide’s foundation is The Daydreams Project. Anyone (visitors, family members, staff, residents) can submit a request for a resident dream to come
true. Eventide has granted daydreams including a resident going on an airplane ride, attending a family reunion or wedding they wouldn’t otherwise be able to attend or taking a trip to a family homestead.
“We like to say if a resident can dream it, we will try to make it happen,” Johnsrud said. “We encourage anyone who would like to request a daydream to fill out a form that can be found at our reception desks at any of our locations or go to eventide.org/ daydreams-project.”
Volunteer opportunities
Eventide Jamestown encourages anyone interested in volunteering to call 701-252-5881. Volunteers can help with any life enrichment activity or event or spend one-on-one time with residents.
This summer, Eventide is offering its Junior Volunteer Program to encourage those age 12-plus to spend a couple of hours per week at Eventide volunteering and earning a certificate. Eventide will begin taking applications soon, so anyone interested should check out eventide. org/news to find out more.
BY KATHY STEINER
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — The owners of RE/MAX Now Jamestown and Valley City say they appreciate the support their business has received.
“We would like to thank Jamestown and Valley City and the surrounding communities for their great support over the past seven years,” said Beth Keller, owner/broker, and James Jensen, associate broker/owner.
RE/MAX Now Jamestown and Valley City received a special award recently, Keller said.
“We are proud to announce that RE/MAX Now received the Outstanding Brokerage of the Year award for North Dakota and South Dakota in 2023,” she said.
The award says:
“Thank you for conducting your business with pride and integrity, encouraging the success of your sales associates and demonstrating leadership throughout your commitment to the RE/ MAX network.”
Keller also honored agents for the company’s 2023 Club Awards.
“Club awards are the agents’ commitment to the company and more importantly, their customers,” she said.
The awards given by RE/Max LLC to RE/ MAX Now Jamestown and Valley City agents: Executive Awards: John Halverson, Amber Backstrom and Sally Domke
100% Club: Shelby Hart, Ross Powell, Nichole Klundt and Alicia Wanzek
Platinum Awards: Tim Perkins, James Jensen and Beth Keller The market “Moving forward into
the 2024 market, I’m excited that the housing listings are picking up, the interest rate has stabilized, and we still have an influx of buyers moving to Jamestown for jobs and growth,” Keller said.
She said RE/MAX Now’s agents are very dedicated to help clients and customers in the community.
“We look forward to working with anyone interested in buying or selling in the future,” she said. “They are willing to give a market evaluation of your property to give potential sellers an idea of what their home could be listed for in the open market in Jamestown.
“RE/MAX agents have a vast amount of education, experience and motivation to get the job done for you,” she added.
She said she is proud of RE/MAX Now’s agents, calling them “very hardworking diligent people, and I’ve had more than enough compliments on how our agents just work so hard for their clients and customers.”
Keller said she loves living in Jamestown and is proud of the community.
“I was born and raised here and I love seeing the growth,” she said. “I have a lot of people that come to me right now that are moving here for jobs. So that’s a good thing. Currently, we have a low inventory because of that. The demand is high. But as we move into the spring, it’s common and typical for listings to pick up.” RE/MAX Now is made up of two locations, in Jamestown and Valley City.
“We have 14 agents that cover the central region of North Dakota and we would love to serve these communities and the surrounding communities in years to come,” Keller said. ksteiner@jamestownsun. com | (701) 952-8449
A new year provokes the feeling of newness for many people. At The Home Design Center, a new year means new projects and trends but what stays consistent is its goal of helping people create a space they’ll love.
2024 is presenting the interior design world with a list of new and exciting trends, Home Design Center staff say. It’s out with monotone furniture that looks and feels staged and in with antique and eclectic pieces that invoke a feeling of comfort and nostalgia.
While the use of wood in airy, blonde tones was popular last year, dark wood is back in the spotlight in 2024. Brass accents are here to stay, but don’t discount stainless steel’s comeback. The return of intentionally placed decorative lighting in living rooms, office spaces or small bathrooms is an easy way to elevate an existing space. Largescale artwork and jawdropping, metallic ranges in kitchens are ways to create an eye-catching feature wall. Tile mimicking brick and stone adds warmth and character to a room on a fireplace or floor.
People also shouldn’t be afraid to be open-minded to adding texture to the home, they said. 2024 is redefining the word “neutral” with the use of color taking a vibrant turn. Color can be used to create many different atmospheres. When adding color to a room, the most important thing to remember is how you want to feel when
you’re in that particular space. Accenting with jewel tones and soft blacks create a moody, mysterious ambiance, perfect for bedrooms and reading nooks. Bold pairings like turquoise and peach are great for an office space, providing an energizing, uplifting and cheerful environment. Mixing shades of olives and mustards with dark wood accents creates a cozy and nostalgic feeling perfect for living spaces. The sky is the limit when adding color, and bold colors are making a return to the forefront in many homes this year. Home Design Center staff say their favorite trend is the one that
never goes out of style; a home that is clutter free, functional and unique to people’s style and taste. At first glance, change can seem overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. Whether a project is a big remodel or updating a smaller area of a home, the Home Design Center helps navigate people through the design and remodel process, alleviating any feelings of unease. People interested in or inquiring about a project they’ve been considering are encouraged to stop into the Home Design Center showroom or call to make a consulting appointment.
BY KATHY STEINER
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — Hofmann Trucking will celebrate a milestone in 2024, says Curt Waldie, CEO and owner.
Hofmann Trucking was founded on July 1, 1999, by Waldie and the late Larry Lee Hofmann. The business provides over-theroad trucking services and some local truck repairs.
“This year on July 1, 2024, we’ll be celebrating 25 years in business,” Waldie said.
Hofmann Trucking began with Waldie, Hofmann and three employees and has grown to more than 160 employees in four locations. The business’ corporate office is in Jamestown and there are terminal locations in Fargo and Tioga, North Dakota, and Douglas, Wyoming.
Waldie said supporting local communities is
important to the business. “We support most any and every charitable thing around town,” he said.
“We’re always big on helping the local community and the surrounding community. I grew up in Marion, North Dakota, and
Larry was from Medina.”
Hofmann Trucking provides charitable support to a large area, Waldie said, noting the business encompasses a large area.
“We were happy to be able to support the purchase of the new rural fire
BY MASAKI OVA
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — The Flex PACE Program is
“great” for businesses that are looking to grow or offer more services or products, according to Alyssa Looysen, director of business development for the Jamestown/Stutsman Development Corp.
Looysen said the program helps businesses with financial assistance from the Bank of North Dakota.
“The Flex Pace Program can help businesses with financial assistance in the form of interest buydown from the Bank of North Dakota,” she said. “JSDC partners with Bank of North Dakota as a 30% community where we can provide up to our max of
$85,714 towards interest buydown on the loan. The portion from JSDC is a loan that is to be paid back at a set interest rate after the length of the loan has been distributed from the Bank of North Dakota.”
The 2024 Flex PACE Program was funded up to $500,000.
In 2023, the JSDC participated in six Flex PACE loans totaling over $365,000 and that investment leveraged over $855,000 and more than $5.7 million in private investment into the Jamestown area.
In 2023, the JSDC also approved a PACE interest buydown of more than $128,000 that leveraged $300,000 and over $3.2 million in private investment.
Looysen said the JSDC Daycare Expansion Assistance Program has helped
open up more spots for child care. She said 45 child care spots — including full time, part time, after school, summer or drop-in care — have opened since the program launched in 2023.
“It’s opened up a lot of spots to be able to help our workforce,” she said.
Looysen said $50,000 was made available for the program on a first-come, firstserve basis. The program is a 1-to-1 match and cannot exceed $10,000 in matching funds.
The program funds child care projects that increase capacity. Eligible items the funds can be used for include fixtures, furniture, equipment and construction-related costs.
The project must be a licensed child care facility or be in the process of
truck for the Jamestown Rural Fire Department,” he said.
The business also supports organizations that the employees have been associated with, he said.
“Giving back is something our employees enjoy
participating in and we’re looking at continuing to do more of that, increase that support going forward,” he added.
Another charitable organization that the company has supported is Firefighters for Healing, which is based in Minneapolis and provides housing for families of burn victims and firefighters/first responders who are from/live in Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota and are being cared for at Hennepin Healthcare Burn Center and other Twin Cities hospitals or transported to the level 1 trauma at Hennepin Healthcare or Region’s hospital, according to https://firefightersforhealing.org. The nonprofit provides 12 suites for those families near the burn center, Wadie said. Firefighters for Healing also offers Camp Red, a summer camp for children with burns.
“Anyone who’s burned
or has those issues from anywhere in the multiple state area, if you’re from North Dakota, you’re being flown down there,” he said. “They provide housing. It’s something we took part in when our son was burned and so it’s an organization we’ve gotten behind.”
Waldie says he knows a few other families from Jamestown have also been assisted through Firefighters for Healing. Hofmann Trucking will be working to raise more awareness of that program through truck wraps and other ways, he said.
Hofmann Trucking is looking to the future as it celebrates its milestone this year and wouldn’t be where it is without its employees, Waldie said.
“We have several employees that have been there almost the whole time and we couldn’t do it without all the hard work of everybody involved,” he said.
getting licensed through the state of North Dakota. Providers who receive funding must remain in operation for a minimum of two years from the application date, and failure to do so will result in a prorated return of grant dollars to the JSDC.
The JSDC’s Internship
Reimbursement Program also helps Stutsman County employers with workforce recruitment and retention.
The program contributes up to $3,500 to reimburse employers that are hiring university/college students to assist in payroll costs and is open to employers in Stutsman County. Employers may be eligible for half the payroll cost to be reimbursed.
“Hopefully that turns into them (interns) coming on full time as a staff member and helps them to establish their work and career in Jamestown,” Looysen said.
BY KATHY STEINER The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — The Jamestown Fine Arts Association will celebrate a milestone this year.
“We started in 1964, so we’re celebrating our 60th year and we’re going to do some cool events around that,” said Mindi Schmitz, executive director of The Arts Center, which is operated by the Jamestown Fine Arts Association.
“It just started as a group of volunteers that were interested in promoting arts in Jamestown,” she said.
The Jamestown Fine Arts Association was incorporated in 1971. The Arts Center opened in 1981 but initially was just a oneroom exhibit space, Schmitz said.
BY KATHY STEINER
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — Running of the Pink is synonymous with R.M. Stoudt.
“I think it’s just become who we are, right down to our (Stoudt dealership) license plates are pink,” said Clint Boom, general manager of R.M. Stoudt. “... we try as much as we can to have the conversation with people. When a big burly man buys a diesel pickup with a pink license plate and says that he doesn’t like the license plate — when he finds out what the license plate’s pink for ... it’s a special conversation and then he doesn’t have a problem with the color of the plate.”
R.M. Stoudt will host the Running of the Pink for the 17th year on June 8, Boom said. The event has raised more than $290,000 for women’s health screenings since it began, according to runningofthepink. com.
“We went from a really
This rendering shows the planned expansion of The Arts Center in Jamestown.
“Obviously, we’ve come a long way in 60 years,” she said. “We started with — basically one volunteer. So now we have The Arts Center, the Hansen Studio, the Arts Park and the new space.”
In 2022, the Hansen Arts
Park was upgraded with a sprinkler system, sod and a native flower pollinator garden, accomplished through the work of many volunteers, Schmitz said.
The Arts Center has already incorporated the 60th-year milestone into
its annual Gala, held earlier in March with a ‘60s theme.
It will also hold an art show on Nov. 7, Schmitz said.
“The art show is going to call for artists to do something on a 6 by 6
Contributed / The Arts Center
canvas, so the 6 theme,” she said.
The Raising the Bar for the Arts $2 million capital campaign also continues.
The campaign is raising funds for an expansion project into the former Wonder Bar building next
poor percentage of screenings (in Stutsman County) to a healthy percentage in the amount of time that we’ve been having the program,” Boom said. “So we can see statistically that it’s changed our community.”
Running of the Pink is an in-person and virtual 5K walk/run and 10K run for all ages that raises
money for local cervical and breast cancer awareness and breast cancer research, according to runningofthepink.com.
“One of the most interesting parts is when someone does have a friend or a family member that’s struggling, they’ll get together in groups and they might have 25 people walking together or
running together,” Boom said. “And it’s pretty special for those guys because they can’t take away the cancer from their loved one, but they can prevent someone from getting too far in by not having proper screenings done at the hospital (JRMC).” Boom said registration is usually around 1,000 people for Running of the
Pink. All money raised is given to Jamestown Regional Medical Center for Central Valley Health’s Women’s Way and JRMC No Excuses programs to reduce barriers to care for women, Boom said. Boom notes R.M. Stoudt owner Casey Stoudt provides the Running of the Pink and matches a
door. Schmitz said the campaign is “on target.”
“Soon … sometime this spring, we will start the renovation of the new space, which will include a classroom and a culinary kitchen,” she said.
Schmitz noted that summer camps for kids begin in June. The camps are for grades K-2 and 3-6.
The popular Downtown Arts Market which features entertainment and arts activities will be held starting July 11 through Aug. 29, she said.
Other events planned this year include the annual Jamestown Fine Arts Association Art Show, which is scheduled Aug. 1. Sally Jeppson, the former gallery manager of The Arts Center, is expected to return to jury that show, Schmitz said.
certain dollar amount in donations. He said the match has been “significant,” noting last year’s was at least $10,000. Boom said the community also contributes, supplying equipment, routes and traffic control. Companies have donated items such as sports drinks and snacks for the participants, he said.
After the walk/runs, they celebrate and tell the stories of a few people who battled cancer and how that affects their families, Boom said. He said everyone has been touched by cancer, noting R.M. Stoudt lost an employee to the disease. Barb Gefroh, 53, died of terminal breast cancer in 2017, according to her obituary.
“We’re a business here, but it’s so much more than that,” Boom said. Running of the Pink is a way to connect with the people they do business with every day, he said. ksteiner@jamestownsun. com | (701) 952-8449
BY KATHY STEINER
The
JAMESTOWN — The concessions workers and janitors are an important part of the Jamestown Civic Center, said Pam Posse, director.
“Our events and the success of the Civic Center would not be possible without their support and dedication to their positions,” she said.
Concessions workers
Fosse said there are about seven regular concessions personnel on the Civic Center’s team. Six of those workers have other full-time jobs, she noted.
“And then they come over to here to work during our events simply because they enjoy it and they want to support the Civic Center and our events,” she said. “Three of them frequently use vacation days from their full-time jobs so they can be here to support different events such as the (Class B) girls state basketball (tournament).”
Fosse said people may not realize that during the basketball
tournament or other events, those concessions workers may put in 12-hour days or more. Through concessions, the Civic Center also partners with athletic teams from the University of Jamestown, Fosse said.
“Our No. 1 assistant for concessions are the women’s soccer team,” she said. ”The team that’s come in most frequently for large events the last two years has been the women’s soccer team. They’ve worked both boys and region tournaments, division girls state basketball, they’ll be working gymnastics.
“They come in and work concessions alongside our team. And then we pay the team directly so it’s a fundraising activity for their team as well,” she said.
She said although concessions workers are cross-trained, they have their designated area and have worked out a system to get people through those lines “quite rapidly.”
She said without those workers, the events wouldn’t be as successful as they are.
“Oftentimes, especially with conferences or large athletic events, we’re able to offer reduced rates knowing that our concessions stands will provide revenue to the city of Jamestown and the team in concessions are the ones that make that happen,” Fosse said.
a
your
The Jamestown Civic Center has two full-time and a few part-time janitors.
“You’ll often find them here late at night and early into the morning switching events, turning over,” Fosse said. “For instance, moving from the circus into a
conference or a wedding.
So they are as equally vital in the success and operations of all of our events that take place here at the Civic Center.”
Fosse said the janitors not only work at the Civic Center but also help other city departments when things slow down a bit.
For example, they spent many hours at Frontier
Village last summer painting the buildings, cleaning the grounds and making minor repairs.
“They also have helped out with the Forestry Department in trimming trees, mowing lawns and maintaining some of the park areas,” she said. ksteiner@jamestownsun. com | (701) 952-8449
BY KATHY STEINER
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN —
Jamestown Regional Medical Center’s OB/ GYN services have grown to help meet the needs of women in the region, says Trisha Jungels, chief nursing officer. They include lactation counseling services, Women’s Walk-In Clinic and 24/7 OB/GYN care.
Jungels said JRMC has “an amazing team” of people that delivers this care and is dedicated to the women of Jamestown and the region.
In January, JRMC received the Women’s Choice Award in Obstetrics from Blue Cross and Blue Shield, a distinction award given every year to organizations that meet certain quality metrics, she said.
Birth volumes up Jungels said more women are having babies at JRMC. In 2023, JRMC had 370 births, up 52 births from the 318 reported in 2022.
“We’re excited about that,” Jungels said, noting JRMC is the only hospital delivering babies within a 100-mile radius.
JRMC started providing 24/7 OB/GYN coverage two years ago. Its OB/ GYN physicians are Dr. Gregg McAdoo and Dr. Emily Stromquist. With that coverage, JRMC brings specialty care in complex deliveries or emergency cases along with routine care, Jungels said.
“Women deserve access to specialty care and OB/
GYN is one of those specialty services that we deserve as women,” Jungels said. “And we shouldn’t have to travel 200-plus miles for this care because it can be safely and effectively delivered in this organization.”
Jungels noted that JRMC invites its moms to come back after they’ve delivered their baby.
“They come back two days after they’ve gone home or sooner if they need to and we do weight and color checks free of charge to that new family,” she said.
Lactation counseling
Mckenzie Breitbach is a nurse practitioner and certified lactation counselor at the JRMC Specialty Clinic who works with McAdoo and Stromquist. Mercede Fiebiger, RN and Jamestown Speciality Clinic manager, is also a certified lactation counselor.
Jungels said the lactation counseling services that JRMC began providing in September 2023 is a “great place” to refer moms and families.
“They’re allowed more time and it’s very individualized,” she said. “And the space that’s been created for this counseling is warm and welcoming and beautiful. You get to sit in a special chair that really supports breastfeeding and it’s just a great adjunct to labor and delivery.”
The lactation counselors can observe the latch, answer questions about breast pumps, provide help if moms are
struggling with milk supply, answer questions related to bottle feeding and provide support and information on resources.
Breitbach noted that JRMC Family BirthPlace also has lactation consultants as well.
”It’s quite rewarding,” she said of her work.
“You get to help moms at such a vulnerable point in their life and give them support. And most of the time it really is supporting them in the decisions they’re making and keeping them healthy as well, so I am so excited that we are able to offer that service to the community ….”
Megan Hillius, RN who works in OB/GYN at the JRMC Specialty Clinic, previously worked in Family BirthPlace and says the opening of the lactation counseling services is “an amazing opportunity for women in our community,” noting it supports moms after delivery.
Breastfeeding is hard, Jungels said, and people don’t talk about it.
“And to have that support, that’s half the battle,” Hillius said.
Breitbach said breastfeeding support in Jamestown has grown. She noted that the James River Valley Breastfeeding Coalition is hosting the North Dakota Biennial Breastfeeding Conference on Sept. 5 in Jamestown at Harold Newman Arena on the University of Jamestown campus.
“It’s exciting that JRMC is one of the major sponsors of the event,’ she said.
Entertainment
Breitbach said she is proud to be on the coalition working on the conference and having support from JRMC is “incredible.”
“And then that we get to host it in Jamestown and show all the hard work we’ve been doing these last two years with breastfeeding and supporting the community,” she said.
The conference will provide continuing education and is open to breastfeeding moms who have questions, she said.
Women’s Walk-In Clinic
Jungels said JRMC knows that issues can occur for women at any time.
“We started Women’s Walk-In (Clinic) because we wanted women to have access to OB/GYN at any given moment, and we
wanted women to get to know our team and that we’re here,” she said.
The clinic opened in January for women’s health concerns including urinary tract infection, bladder infection, vaginal discharge, abnormal period, sudden onset uterine pain, breast pain and IUD checks.
The Women’s Walk-In Clinic is available from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. For an urgent appointment, call 701-9524878 and ask for Women’s Walk-In.
SHERO Award
BY KATHY STEINER The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — Lifestyle Appliance & Entertainment Center owners Colin and Toni Wegenast say it’s important to be involved in the community, and they are particularly passionate about helping children.
Toni is a volunteer and wish granter for Make-AWish North Dakota and serves on the board for Safe Shelter, which helps victims of domestic violence, often involving children. Colin is a member of the Jamestown Mystics.
“We (the Mystics) obviously do a lot to help children in our community and the Shrine community,” he said. The two are involved with other organizations as well. Among them, Toni serves on the Jamestown Community Foundation and is a member of Kiwanis. Colin serves on the First Community Credit Union board.
Lifestyle Appliance & Entertainment Center, which has been in business since 1977, donates to community events such as post-prom and
post-graduation parties, benefits, the Polar Pig, which benefits JRMC Hospice, and Dine and Bid at the University of Jamestown.
Toni and Colin say their employees and customers make that community involvement possible.
“If it weren’t for our awesome employees and our customers, we wouldn’t be able to have the time to do the extra stuff (community involvement) we do,” Colin said.
Toni said they encourage their employees to be involved in community activities and appreciate that they also are there to cover the store when Colin and Toni are volunteering in the community.
The customers also help Lifestyle Appliance & Entertainment Center donate to those community events.
“The customers are the reason that we are able to give back to the community too when they shop local,” Toni said.
Shopping local helps businesses in the community support community events, Colin said. New line of appliances
Lifestyle Appliance
recently added the Bosch line of appliances for customers, Colin said.
“We’ve been getting a lot of requests for ... their dishwashers because they’re generally No. 1 rated,” he said.
In addition to Bosch, the store carries most brands including Speed Queen, Maytag, LG, General Electric and Frigidaire. In addition to appliances, it offers mattresses, hot tubs and Big Green Egg grills.
“We also have a fulltime service department to take care of what we sell,” Colin said.
“We do free delivery and service after the sale,” Toni said, adding that it’s important to them to provide that for customers.
There are currently nine full-time staff, including the Wegenasts, at Lifestyle Appliance & Entertainment Center, located at 918 17th St. SW. Hours are 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. For more information, call 252-8111 or visit https://www.lifestyleappliance.com. ksteiner@jamestownsun. com | (701) 952-8449
JRMC gave out the first SHERO Award last year.
JRMC will accept nominations for the award from April 8 to May 3. Eligible women for the award are 18 or older and live in central North Dakota and lead, love and inspire goodwill in the community. The winner will be announced in May.
“You can kind of think of a SHERO as a cheerleader for her family ….,” said Nicole Saavedra, media and public relations specialist. “We’re excited to run the second round of nominations.”
People are encouraged to keep an eye out for the link to nominate women, she said.
JRMC is also beginning the second cycle of its SHERO Award. According to JRMC, the SHERO is “the CEO of her family, the adventure-seeking, calendar-juggling, goalsetting woman who is admired or idolized for her courage, outstanding achievements and noble qualities.”
ksteiner@jamestownsun. com | (701) 952-8449
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BY MASAKI OVA The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — Employees at Wilhelm Chevrolet GMC support the community by volunteering with a variety of organizations.
“I’m proud of what these guys are doing with this volunteering and helping the community,” said Rod Wilhelm, co-owner of Wilhelm Chevrolet GMC.
Stephanie Johnson, marketing coordinator, said Wilhelm encourages employees to be involved in organizations that support the community.
“He allows us time to leave work and attend any meetings,” she said.
When he first agreed to work at Wilhelm, salesman Brett Stockert said being able to still coach youth sports was important to him. Stockert only coaches youth hockey now, but he also coached baseball and fastpitch softball back then.
Kathy Boe, a comptroller, said during her job interview she told the business she would need time off to volunteer and asked if the business allows that. She said the business encouraged her to continue volunteering.
“They stand behind what they say,” she said.
Boe said the dealership has many employees who also volunteer for other organizations.
Salesman Johnny Jerome said the business encouraged him to join community service groups.
“It was immediate that it wasn’t just for you to get out to bring back sales,” he said.
Jerome volunteers with the Optimist Club. He said the organization has three major events each year including the annual spaghetti dinner. He said a private event — Kickball Palooza — has now become an event of the Optimist Club where all proceeds support youth.
“I enjoyed helping kids prior to having my own but now having kids, and with the Optimist Club, all these different entities come in and tell us about funds they need so it’s nice to be able to know
that they are given directly to the kids,” he said.
“Having kids definitely has reinforced that necessity to help.”
Stockert agreed.
“I think it makes you a better person all around,” he said. He added that volunteering makes him a better father and husband.
Stockert said it’s humbling to help youth in the community. He said he knows a few individuals he coached who are now coaches.
“That’s one of the best feelings you could have as a coach is knowing that someone did something right for them and that they wanted to do what I’m doing,” he said.
Stockert said employees help each other out by covering for each other if someone is volunteering for an event.
Boe is a Lions Club member and delivers meals for Meals on Wheels. She said the Lions Club repurposes eyeglasses and gives them to individuals in need. She said the Lions Club also works with an optometrist in Jamestown to provide eye exams to individuals who can’t afford them.
Boe said she enjoys delivering meals for Meals on Wheels. She said the individuals who receive the meals are happy to see the volunteers.
“When I deliver Meals on Wheels, the smiles on those people’s faces when you come to the door with their meal is something that you can’t ever describe to anybody because they’re just so happy to see you and it’s such a small part of my day,” she said.
Johnson volunteers with the Jamestown Area Chamber of Commerce’s Young Professionals of Jamestown. The Young Professionals of Jamestown hold the Lindsey Vogel Memorial Volleyball Tournament and also helpschoose recipients of the Business of the Month and Customer Service awards.
“We’ve got our hands on a lot of stuff because there’s a lot of Jamestown groups that reach out to the chamber or YPJ for
volunteers,” Johnson said.
With the Young Professionals, Johnson said she has opportunities to network with other people in the community.
“It’s not necessarily you’re promoting yourself, but you are promoting yourself individually throughout the community saying, ‘This is what I represent,’ but you’re volunteering and you’re getting your face out there and it helps because if someone needs something, they’ll be like, ‘Hey, I met that person at that event. Maybe they can help me,’” she said.
Boe said Wilhelm’s volunteer efforts and community support also encourage everyone else to do the same.
Wilhelm Chevrolet GMC supports Stutsman County 4-H by donating to the organization after members help sell raffle tickets that support the Huntington’s Disease Society of America. The annual Don Wilhelm Car Show & 5K Run/Walk for Huntington’s Disease raises funds for the Huntington’s Disease Society of America’s Northern Plains Chapter.
“As employees, none of us are required to help with it but because it’s such a great event, we all volunteer too,” Boe said.
Johnson said the dealership has a competition with R.M. Stoudt where the two businesses each fill a truck with items that go to the James River Humane Society. She said the dealership also sponsors golf tournaments in Jamestown during the summer.
Stockert said he’s “blown away” by Wilhelm’s support for Miss Rodeo North Dakota. The dealership gives Miss Rodeo North Dakota a pickup to drive for a year.
The dealership is also a supporter of other local events, clubs, organizations, youth and the University of Jamestown.
“The Wilhelms are very supportive of our organizations as well,” Boe said. “Financially, they’ll help pay our dues or buy raffle tickets that we’re selling.” mova@jamestownsun.com | (701) 952-8454
BY MASAKI OVA The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — A new business was borne early this year out of collaboration with Dan Poland Machine and Enzminger Steel.
Brett Poland and his wife, Shannon, purchased Dan Poland Machine Inc. two years ago, and they bought Enzminger Steel in January. Enzminger Steel is now Poland Steel.
“I hired Fred Kainz as General manager at Poland Steel,” Brett Poland said. “He does the day-to-day tasks and oversees everything.”
Poland Steel and Dan Poland Machine are located right next to each other near Interstate 94 in southeast Jamestown. Poland Steel is located at 8040 36th St. SE. Dan Poland Machine is located at 8056
36th St. SE. Dan Poland Machine provides fabrication, plasma cutting, welding, repair, crane, millwright, and service truck services as well as a large selection of steel and parts to the Jamestown area, according to its website.
Poland Steel provides grain bins and grain-handling systems across North Dakota, according to its website.
“Poland Steel selling grain bins and grain-handling equipment meshes pretty close to part of what Dan Poland Machine does,” Poland said.
He said many customers of Dan Poland Machine are already customers at Poland Steel.
Poland said Dan Poland Machine donates scrap metal to schools in the surrounding area. He said the students practice welding
and more with the scrap metal.
Poland also said Dan Poland Machine partners with the James Valley Career and Technology Center for internship and job-shadow opportunities.
“We actually ended up hiring one student last year so it works out for everybody,” he said. “I think the internship program is wonderful. I think it gives good experience into the nonmanufacturing side of welding. … We are welding, bending, plasma cutting, fabricating and repairing so they get a taste of a broader selection of activities in this field.”
For more information about the businesses, visit www.danpolandmachine. com and www.polandsteelinc.com. mova@jamestownsun.com | (701) 952-8454
BY KATHY STEINER
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — Jessi-
ca Graves and Andrea Edinger took similar paths to their careers at the North Dakota State Hospital.
Graves and Edinger have been employed there for 25 years and 19 years, respectively.
“Our stories are kind of similar in that we both … started as CNAs and were encouraged and supported by nursing up here (at the hospital) to go on and further education,” Graves said. “We were both assisted to go to LPN school, both assisted to continue on to RN school, and she’s (Edinger) currently in RN school.”
Edinger expects to graduate in May with an associate degree in nursing. Graves is Edinger’s direct supervisor.
Graves drawn to psych nursing A native of Kulm, North Dakota, Graves said she has always been interested in psychiatric health care.
Graves said NDSH staff encouraged employees who were interested in continuing their education, offering financial assistance and working with employees’ schedules to accomplish those goals. Graves completed a two-year LPN program and then continued her education to earn a Bachelor of Science in
Nursing.
“As I went along in my educational progress … this place has provided me different opportunities to see psych nursing in different areas,” Graves said.
As an LPN, she worked in the rehab unit for about three years. When she became an RN, she worked in the admission unit for 10 years, where there were the most acute cases. Graves said her career has continued to evolve. She decided to work in infection control during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and is the hospital’s infection control nurse.
“I’m still learning, I’m still able to challenge myself and learn different aspects,” she says, after 25 years at NDSH.
She and Edinger say that’s another plus to working at the State Hospital, having opportunities to grow in areas of interest.
“Always different opportunities available for you to expand your skills or learn new skills,” Edinger said.
Edinger’s work Edinger, who is from Jamestown, said she started working at the NDSH as a CNA in 2004 right out of high school.
“I actually had family that had worked here, like a couple generations worth, and so I kind of knew what it was about and it seemed interesting,” she said. “So I …
decided to come up here and try it and I liked it. So I’ve been here 19 years.”
After Edinger graduated with her LPN in 2011, she worked on the hospital’s units. About two years ago, she began working full time at the hospital’s Medical Consult Clinic, where she serves as nurse manager, she said.
”If a client needs to be seen by the doctor, we’ll help them get down (to the clinic), see them, assist with any medical procedures that we’re able to do here,” she said.
BY KATHY STEINER
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — Residents of SMP Health –Ave Maria are giving back to others in many ways, said Peggy Widmer, activities director.
“A lot of them were very involved in their communities to begin with so they just wanted to feel important again and have that purpose in life again,” she said.
The residents decide who they want to help, Widmer said.
Among the projects that residents have taken on include making cat and dog beds using donated clothing for the James River Humane Society and hygiene kits and dresses made from pillowcases for young girls distributed through Orphan Grain Train.
They raised $1,200 for St. Jude Children’s Hospital by selling button pins, held a food drive at Christmas for the Community Action Region VI food pantry and raised $500 for the Running of the Pink by folding towels for donations.
Residents made dream catchers for White Shield School students,
bookmarkers for St. John’s Academy and Roosevelt Elementary third and fourth graders, cookies for A Moment of Freedom’s bake sale and little hearts for the NICU at Sanford Medical Center in Fargo.
After a shooting in Fargo where a gunman killed one police officer and injured two other officers, residents showed their support for the Jamestown Police Department with little “Lifesaver” jars and purchased sandwiches and drinks for them, Widmer said.
Annie Hancock, development director, said staff also support the residents’ efforts.
“I think that says a lot about our team and our mission,” she said.
Coats for Kids
Annie Hancock, development director, noted that Ave Maria was a drop site for Coats for Kids, but when the Salvation Army discontinued it, she took it to the Rotary Club to see if they could take it on instead. The board for Rotary agreed, launching the “Gear up for Winter with Rotary” drive to collect coats, boots, snowpants, mittens and other
warm winter attire.
More than 50 families were helped last year through Rotary’s community effort. More than 500 items were collected and given away on a distribution day. Hancock said any items left over from that day were donated to Community Action Region VI, Orphan Grain Train and an elementary school where children without winter gear can check it out for winter recess.
Rotary will spearhead the effort again this year in September and Ave Maria will be a drop site, Hancock said. “I feel like if I wasn’t working at some place like Ave Maria that promoted community and volunteerism, that I don’t think I would be able to do projects like that,” she said. “So I’m just thankful for that value … that atmosphere of giving that’s here.” For her work with the Coats for Kids project and other volunteer work, Hancock received the Above and Beyond Award this year from the Jamestown Area Chamber of Commerce. ksteiner@jamestownsun. com | (701) 952-8449
“Coordinate care if they need to be seen by a specialist …”
Edinger said she began studies to become a registered nurse with the support of Graves and the administration and has received educational assistance and flexibility in her schedule.
Graves says being assisted in furthering their career in nursing helps them and the State Hospital, which is investing in nurses.
Graves also noted the benefits for employment through the state are “very good,” including
free health insurance, which Edinger said was an important consideration for her in employment.
Rewarding career Graves and Edinger say choosing a career in psych nursing can be very gratifying.
“Psych nursing can be rewarding working with people who are in their acute phase of their mental illness … it really teaches you how to develop those communication skills, how to connect with people on different levels while getting them the care that they need,”
Graves said. The two say it’s about meeting the client where that client is at and trying to build trust from the bottom up.
“And so that can be very rewarding after you see them through the process and they are better, whether it’s a young kid who had their first mental break or it’s maybe someone who struggles to find stability in their mental illness,” Graves said.
She encourages anyone who wants to work in health care or the medical field to consider psych nursing.
“I think people have preconceived notions of what psych nursing might be,” she said. “I’ve had a lot of fun working with the clients on the unit. You meet a lot of neat people that kind of stay with you. It really is very interesting and very fun to work with those individuals.”
“For me, it’s also rewarding when you get to see them, like the progress that they’ve made and then them getting to go back to the community,” Edinger said, where they are stable and a member of the community.
To learn more about careers at the NDSH, visit www.hhs.nd.gov/ north-dakota-state-hospital
ksteiner@jamestownsun. com | (701) 952-8449
BY KATHY STEINER
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — Dale’s
Auto Mall & More has been in business for 46 years.
“We have the cool rides, from classic cars to UTVs to ATVs,” says owner Dale Lende.
Dale’s Auto Mall & More has been in business in Jamestown since 1978.
“We’re a full-service repair shop from automobiles to lawnmowers,” he said, with complete service for small and large engines. “We have classic cars, Aodes and Massimo UTVs and ATVs.”
The ATVs and UTVs can handle a number of transportation and hauling needs on the farm or ranch.
Dale’s Auto Mall & More buys, sells and consigns classic cars. The largest auto showroom in Jamestown also has one of the community’s largest displays of community and automotive memorabilia.
“I don’t know if anybody in the state has more memorabilia hanging on their walls than we do,” Lende said.
“From the early ’30s to the modern times.” Lende has operated service stations and other automotive-related businesses in Jamestown since 1978 and some of the items on display are from his businesses. Other items reflect the automotive and petroleum industries.
Some items are icons from Jamestown’s past,
Haut Funeral Home
including a sign from the Blockbuster franchise that operated on First Avenue some years ago. And a mannequin changing into a Superman costume in a phone booth is another piece of American pop culture on display.
Dale’s Auto Mall & More is located next to Paradiso Restaurant at 417 24th St. SW in Jamestown. It is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. People may also call Lende for an appointment at 2692374. To learn more, visit dalesautomall.com.
“The coolest rides in the state can be found right here in Jamestown,” Lende said. ksteiner@jamestownsun. com | (701) 952-8449
BY KATHY STEINER
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN — Direct support professionals at Alpha Opportunities are cheerleaders for independence for the people they support, says Becca Andres, agency trainer.
Alpha Opportunities
Inc. is a non-profit organization providing person-centered services to people with disabilities, according to its website, https://alphaopportunities.org/. Its mission is “Empowering lives Through Advocacy, Opportunities & Independence.”
Alpha employs about 60 direct support professionals and supports about 57 people in the community, Andres said. It operates a day center and has four group homes where there is staff on-site 24 hours a day.
“Some of our people supported have their own apartments,” Andres said. At the day center there are activities, medical support, transportation and socialization, said Kory Anderson, day care center supervisor.
“We also take them out on outings,” Anderson said. “It doesn’t matter whether they are ambulatory or not. We have some
people that are in wheelchairs and we make sure that they are involved if they so choose in the activities that we do.” Anderson said about 40 people supported use the day center on a typical day.
“They come here and then maybe they get the transit or maybe we take them on a work crew,” Anderson said. “ ... this is kind of a home base and they can do what they want.”
Anderson noted that
direct support professionals assist and also prompt people supported.
“If we know that somebody can do something, we’ll be a cheerleader and say ‘I know you can do this, I have seen you do this before,’” she said.
“Yes,” agreed Walter Baesler, a person supported through Alpha.
People supported through Alpha have an opportunity to work if they choose, Anderson said.
“We take people out on
crews where we clean, we’re cheerleaders as far as making sure that they do a good job,” she said. Baesler said he wipes down tables, sweeps and mops at Burger King and cleans the floor and takes out garbage at the city’s water plant near the Bloom exit. He also cleans at Jamestown Regional Airport and Alfred Dickey Public Library.
Most of the people working through Alpha clean. A few also work at two local hotels with cleaning and laundry tasks, Andres said. Anderson said having those jobs is about responsibility, doing a job and getting a paycheck.
“It’s their own money and a lot of them, that is very important to have,” she said.
Andres said it’s important that people who need support and can live on their own are able to do so and Alpha is a key part of that.
“Because if it wasn’t for the day center, those that are retired or have more needs, they wouldn’t even be given the opportunity to learn how to do their own laundry or warm up their own lunch,” she said.
ksteiner@jamestownsun. com | (701) 952-8449
