-9° -26° -3° -19° Mostly Cloudy CHANCE OF RAIN: 0% Wind: NW at 11 mph
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Cando, North Dakota 58324-0519
Mostly Cloudy CHANCE OF RAIN: 10% Wind: W at 14 mph
0° -12° Partly Cloudy CHANCE OF RAIN: 0% Wind: N at 7 mph
Volume 126, Issue 25
‘White Christmas’ links history, family
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hristmas has come and gone but this article first printed in the Fargo Forum December 22, 2013 by Bob Lind bears repeating.
One of the Christmas tree ornaments made by Tim Kessler to honor his father. The ornament shows the original sheet music of "White Christmas" which Paul J. Kessler and fellow members of the 164th Infantry Division of the ND National Guard heard for the first time while they were in Guadalcanal on Christmas 1942.
For those of you who don’t know Paul and Eva Kessler, they were long time Candoites and former business owners of K & E Meats. Paul has since passed away but Eva now lives in Detroit Lakes. It was a rugged place to spend Christmas in 1942: Guadalcanal, where the 164th Infantry Division of the North Dakota National Guard was in fierce combat with the Japanese forces occupying the Pacific island. The fighting had been virtually nonstop since the division landed that October, making it the first U.S. Army unit to go into offensive action during World War II, and the loss of life was high. Then Christmas Eve arrived. The men of the 164th, far from home, took advantage of a rare break in the fighting to gather around a shortwave radio and listen to the Armed Forces Network’s Christmas Eve broadcast. And for the first time they heard a song that had only recently been released: “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones I used to know …” It was the first time Paul J. Kessler, then of Anamoose, N.D., and a member of the 164th, had seen grown men cry.
Family tradition
Paul’s son, Tim Kessler, Detroit Lakes, Minn., says the family had a Christmas season tradition: Paul, safe-
ly home from the war, and who had a rich Bing Crosby-like baritone voice, sang “White Christmas” every year. His seven kids just took it for granted, not knowing the special significance the song had for their dad. But one Christmas not long before he died in 2007, Paul told Tim about the time he first heard that song. “He talked about the battle-hardened soldiers all ‘blubbering’ ” during the song, Tim says. “Where the tree tops glisten, and children listen to hear sleigh bells in the snow.”
Special pine cones
A few years ago, while Tim was visiting his father’s grave in the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery in Mandan, he noticed many large pine cones under a nearby tree and thought they’d make nice Christmas tree ornaments. So, knowing what “White Christmas” meant to his father, he reproduced an image of the song’s original sheet music and a wartime photo of his dad on those pine cones from the gravesite and created ornaments for his siblings and their mother, Eva, of Detroit Lakes. But his mom’s ornament had a special addition on it. Back when his father was buried, the Mandan VFW honor guard had fired the salute. Later, Tim shook their hands, then “On a whim,” he says, “I picked up
Area Student Art Show March 4 – 14 in Cando The AREA STUDENT ART SHOW is on exhibit at the Cando Art Center/Gallery, 4th and Main in Cando. Art work by the students from Rolette, Towner, and Cavelier County is on exhibit. Participating schools are Rolette, Munich, and North Star. The gallery is open on Tuesdays, 1 – 6:30 p.m., Wednesday through Friday 1 – 4 p.m. or call 701-9683655, Shelley Lord, as we are happy to open the gallery at other hours.
Eva Kessler holds a Christmas tree ornament with a photo of her husband, Paul J. Kessler. The ornament was made by her son, Tim, to honor his father. sler Sr. was part of the first U.S. Army offensive operation of World War II, and his son, Paul J. Kessler Jr., was part of the end of the American involvement in the Vietnam War. And both had links to that much-loved Christmas song. “May your days be merry and bright, and may all your Christmases be white.”
Starkweather sports co-op approved By Lavonne Haugen For the Record-Herald
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he North Star School Board met on Thursday, February 20 for their regularly scheduled meeting. Three new students have started in the elementary school bringing total enrollment to 186 students. This is up from 167 students at the same time last year according to elementary principal Vicki Held. The Towner County Spelling Bee was held with Noah Weltin taking first place and Brenna Bulman second place. Fifteen children were screened during pre-school screening with an expected enrollment of 18-19 students during the next school year. Mrs. Lybeck and Miss Krile presented the RTI (Response to Intervention) process to the board. The program helps students who do not qualify for the special education program, but need additional help. The two teachers explained that early intervention has been shown, through test scores, to be beneficial in getting students back on track. Examples of test scores showing the progress of one North Star class from the beginning of
"Got my Goat?' by Brett Haddaway, Munich Public School
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one of the spent 30-06 casings from the M-1s they’d fired and pocketed it. When I made the ornaments, I added it to Mom’s, because the M-1 was the weapon Dad carried.” Tim gave those ornaments to his family last Christmas Eve. It was a nice surprise, a nice story. But then a surprising twist to that story was revealed by Tim’s brother Paul J. Kessler Jr., of Green Bay, Wis., and who is known as “P.J.” After graduating from high school in Cando, N.D., where the family had moved, and while the Vietnam War was on, P.J. went into the Navy. On April 29, 1975, P.J. was a seaman on the bridge of the carrier USS Hancock when the helicopter evacuation of Americans from Saigon began. Many of the evacuees were taken to the Hancock. In fact, the movie “The Deer Hunter” included actual footage of the helicopters landing on the Hancock, then being pushed overboard to make room for other evacuees. P.J., in telling this story to his family, also told of the signal given to start the evacuation from Saigon. He said the American personnel there were told they should move immediately to their evacuation points when they heard Armed Forces Radio play a recording of Bing Crosby singing “White Christmas.” So it was, Tim notes, that Paul J. Kes-
the year to now were shared. Tim Johnson was present to discuss a ground source heat pump as the board continues to explore heating and cooling options for the school. Several members of the Buildings and Grounds Committee are making plans to travel to Jamestown to see the system in action. High school principal, Nancy Reiser reported steady enrollment and attendance figures at the high school level. She also reported poor attendance at the spring parent teacher conferences. Tayden Thomas was commended for qualifying for the State MathCounts competition. The high school robotics team will be traveling to Duluth for their competition in March. Activities director Jeff Hagler reported that the Starkweather School Board has approved the sports co-op with the North Star School. The North Star School Board also accepted the agreement. Two games will be played in Starkweather next year. Mr. Hagler also presented the basketball schedules to the board. Dunseith has been added to the district for both boys and girls basketball. North Star will also host the 201415 girls District 8 Tournament. Head football coach, Bryan
Haugen addressed the board to inform them that he has taken over as the head of the Saskota Bowl team. The Saskatchewan representative called Mr. Haugen as Rolla no longer wanted to host the event. Mr. Haugen has put together a committee to help organize and fundraise and was approaching the board for approval to use the football field, practice equipment and busses for transportation this year. The game will be played in Cando next year when he will also need the use of the kitchen and gym for a banquet. The board gave their approval. Superintendent Hagler reported three open enrollment applications. He also informed the board that the school board election will be held June 10 at the Cando Armory. Two positions, those of Vickie Jacksen and Jeana Jorde, will be on the ballot. The filing deadline for petitions is April 7 for those interested in running. Ross Myers addressed the board regarding the State Forester being in Cando for Arbor Day. He also talked about planting trees to replace those removed from the tree row west of the football field. The next regularly scheduled meeting will be held March 19, 2014 at 7 pm at the North Star School.
ing home has lost a small amount each year leaving it in a position where there is no capital available for improvements. The facility has been trying to utilize grant dollars to assist with the remodel. A $20K grant was secured from Workforce Safety and an additional $5K was provided from Cando City sales tax dollars to purchase new beds for the residents in the nursing home. The nursing home activities director, Peggy Hendrickson, and her husband Tim secured a $2,500 grant from the Monsanto Fund to purchase a new patient lift. Along with new beds and
lift equipment, the remodel will hopefully include a new van for patient transportation, new flooring, retexturing and painting the walls, remodeling resident rooms, obtaining new furniture for the common areas, and upgrades for the chiller and boiler. Sunday, March 2nd the Entre Nous club of Cando and the Cando Fire Department will be serving a sausage and pancake breakfast to help fund the van and improvements to the Towner County Living Center. The breakfast will be at NorthStar School from 9am-1pm, with free will donation.
Towner County Living Center looks to remodel
CLC improves its quality rating and looks forward to a remodel in 2014.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) launched a rating system for nursing homes back in 2008. The ratings take the form of a set of “star” ratings for each nursing home. Ratings are based on nursing homes’ performance on health inspection surveys, staffing levels, and a set of Quality Measures (QMs). Towner County Living Center has improved its rating to four stars, from its prior rating of three stars.
Dana Oakland was named the Director of Nursing (DON) at the living center in August of 2013 and has done a great job at focusing on improving quality and making the nursing home a better place to work. Trevor Tompkins has also accepted an administrative role and has been responsible for leading the restorative therapy program and the Certified Nursing Assistants. Both Dana and Trevor have been focused on decreasing the use of agency staffing to ensure that care is coordinated and quality improves. The Living Center
has provided many residents in the area with an opportunity to begin a career in health care. Certified Nursing Assistant positions can be obtained as early as 16 years of age. The starting wage is currently $13/hour and the Living Center will even offer to pay for CNA training for the right candidate. If you are interested in being employed at the nursing home go to www.tcmedcenter.org to download an application and call Pat Klingenberg at 701-968-2555 to hand in your application and set up an interview. In 1997 Towner County Med-
ical Center purchased the Living Center from HMU management. In 1999 a remodel was completed to upgrade the nursing home. The nursing home has struggled with decreasing resident numbers. In 1997 when the hospital purchased the home there were about seventy residents. Today the the number of residents fluctuates in the low thirties. This decrease is due to population decline in Towner County. The Living Center is trying to secure funding to remodel the facility. Due to the slight decline in residents over time, the nurs-