Spring/Summer Blossoms around Foster County Courthouse - ND

Here are a few pictures of our Foster County Courthouse... taken today - Sunday, May 20, 2018. 

You can see the new leaves and blossoms on our trees in Carrington.

 It won't be long before we see flowers and blossoming trees all around the city. 

Note:  I just want to point out the beautiful restoration work done on the courthouse dome by Leo Straley who has a construction business - General Roofing & Construction - here in Carrington.  It's great to know that a local contractor has such awesome expertise in renovating a historic building like the Foster County Courthouse.  His exceptional work is being noted by architects and builders across the state.

Summer Weather Is Finally Here!

Happy Monday to you! Here in Carrington we're having wonderful weather... a little cloudy today with the sun shining through... with a high of 77 degrees. 

It's actually going to be in the 80's and sunny for the next two days.... Hooray! So happy warm weather is FINALLY here... to stay, I hope! 

This picture was taken on Sunday, May 13, 2018. You can see the buds on the trees in the background, and the grass is quickly turning green.

 It's amazing how fast things grow in the summertime here in North Dakota. It's like Mother Nature is saying, "Hurry, hurry, hurry before Winter comes again!" Hope you are having a wonderful day in your part of the world! #carringtonnd #carringtonndnews

American Legion Auxiliary BINGO - Carrington, ND

GREAT BINGO PRIZES!  $200, $150, $75 and many $50 prizes!  Buy a ticket for $10 and get three cards with a chance to win one or more of these prizes. The American Legion Auxiliary is sponsoring a FreeWill Supper and BINGO on Monday evening, April 30th at CrossRoads in Carrington, North Dakota. The meal starts at 5pm and BINGO starts at 7pm. 

This is the ALA's major fundraiser of the year... and an awesome organization to support.  These ladies do so much for our community... along with the VFW Auxiliary they produce a Memorial Day celebration/meal for the community in May, as well as  a Veteran's Day celebration/meal in November.  

They also contribute to many causes in our community, supply clothes for needy children, send care boxes to soldiers overseas, donate to our local/school libraries, feed community members who help put flags on veterans graves, give prizes to children who win their Americanism essay contest, give flag etiquette presentations to our local school children, make and give gifts to the veterans in our local nursing home, distribute poppies in memory of our veterans... and much more.  

A BIG THANKS to all of you who have already bought tickets.  You can still buy tickets at the door, but come early because there aren't that many left!  Hope to see you there, visit and have fun playing BINGO!!!  

Moondogs!!! Have you ever seen moondogs? I didn't realize there was such a phenomenon. I took this picture last night - New Year's Eve - speeding along between Carrington and New Rockford, so it's not a very good look at them. I was so amazed at what I was seeing that I didn't get my camera out till the moondogs almost disappeared. Did any of you local folks get a shot of them? I'm hoping they will appear again tonight.

According to Wikipedia: "A moon dog, moondog, or mock moon,... meaning "beside the moon"... is a relatively rare bright circular spot on a lunar halo caused by the refraction of moonlight by hexagonal-plate-shaped ice crystals in cirrus or cirrostratus clouds... Moon dogs appear as part of the 22° halo, roughly 10 Moon diameters outside the Moon. They are exactly analogous to sun dogs, but are rarer because the Moon must be bright, about quarter moon or more, for the moon dogs to be observed. Moon dogs show little color to the unaided human eye because their light is not bright enough to activate the cone cells."

(By the way today's moon - January 1, 2018 - is called a supermoon. That occurs when the full moon is at the closest point of its orbit to the Earth. If you don't get to see the super moon tonight, another instance will occur again on January 31st.)
#carringtonnd #carringtonndnews #moondogs

Dolly Footitt Passes Away at Age 103

So sad to say that my dear friend, Dolly Footitt, passed away on Friday morning. At this point it's hard to realize that I won't be able to talk with her again. She has been my best buddy, fun shopping companion, Carrington event partner, coffee klatch friend... and just all-around sweet companion for years. 

Having lived in this area for over 103 years... and being such a wonderful person... Dolly has many, many friends and has contributed so much to our community. We shall all miss her cheery personality, her sharp/funny comments, her coconut-cream pies, and all the yummy baked goods that she contributed to so many families and organizations over the years. 

Dolly's daughter, Susie, tells me there will be a prayer service for Dolly on Tuesday, December 19th... and a funeral service for her in Spring. (Please visit the Evans Funeral Home site for more details.) 

In the meantime, here are a few pictures of good times and good memories with Dolly. Sincere prayers and blessings for her family and friends...

Veterans Day Luncheon - Carrington, ND - 2017

The Veterans Day Luncheon in Carrington is always well-attended.  Folks from all around the area come to have a meal together in honor of our veterans

The local American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliaries always furnish a great meal for all to enjoy.  The kitchen at CrossRoads Golf Center is a perfect place to host an event like this..

People can relax and visit in a pleasant atmosphere.  It's especially nice when you can visit warmly inside while you're looking out the large windows at a snowy wonderland.

         

                     

The Veterans Day Luncheon is a great place to bring family and friends.  The cost of the meal is free or a free-will donation which goes to services and activities for veterans.

Kudos to the ladies for these veterans auxiliaries for providing such an excellent activity and support for our veterans ... not only at this luncheon, but throughout the year.

Working at the Top of the Foster County Courthouse

Working at the top of the world!  At least it must seem like that at the top of the Foster County Courthouse dome.  Leo Straley, the contractor in charge of the dome's restoration, seems to be right at home on his immense lift. 

                                      

Notice that Straley is in the process of installing the final small round window and repairing the area around it.  He still has to install the large round windows which you can see at the lower level... the large rectangular windows having already been installed.  These immense round windows are quite heavy, but Straley says they should go in easily... after which he will repair the decorative metal work.

                                      

It might seem that the most complicated aspect of this entire project would be to repair the damage to the metal exterior.  Not so for Straley who has been an exceptional metal fabricator for a large part of his life.  The most strenuous aspect of this work was repairing and recreating all the woodwork inside the dome which supported the metal exterior.  The wood was so seriously damaged (rotting and falling apart) that he practically had to rebuild the whole wood interior.  

                                      

So, many kudos to Straley and people like him who can do this kind of precarious, detailed, beautiful work!  Thanks to him and his crew, our courthouse will eventually be back to its original beauty... with light once again streaming through the beautiful stained glass to the corridors below.

                                      

Courthouse Dome Restoration

There's quite a view from the top of the Foster County Courthouse dome! Leo Straley, the contractor in charge of the restoration of the dome, likes to take pictures of the work as it progresses.

                                      

 Here Straley is photographing one of the four round windows that are being installed at the top of the structure. There are eight much larger and heavier windows which will he and his crew will be installing next.

Although installing the heavy windows is a rather difficult task, Straley says it is easy compared to the detailed restoration work that he and his crew are doing inside and around the dome... due to the intense wood and metal damage that has amassed over the years.

 According to Straley, their work is progressing well, even though they discovered more involved damage than prevously thought.

As far as the Carrington community is concerned, It's comforting to know that our wonderful courthouse dome .. as well as the stained glass, murals and beautiful interior...will now be safely protected as our North Dakota winter approaches.

Excellent Video about Carrington, ND

Love this video about Carrington!  It was created by Hansen Video Services for Carrington Economic Development Authority.  

Honoring Kaye Hier-John - Prairie Paws Rescue

Kaye Heir-John is a well-known, loved person in our Central North Dakota area. I first contacted her years ago when I saw an article in the Jamestown Sun about her Prairie Paws Rescue organization. I loved what she was doing and volunteered to do a website for her.

I can't even begin to tell you the number of animals she and her volunteers have rescued over the years... thousands, for sure! Sometimes I had a hard time keeping up with posting all the pictures of animals ready to be adopted. When Kaye' s daughter came back from Afganistan, she took over the website, and they have continued to work wonders with rescuing and finding homes for needy animals. 

The fact that Kaye is a DJ for Big Dog Country 95.5 in Jamestown and her daughter is a DJ for The Buzz in Nashville has really helped in supporting the work that they do for Prairie Paws Rescue. Kaye has made many great connections with "Country" stars who have helped support her fundraising events in many ways. 

All in all, I continue to admire and greatly respect Kaye Hier-John for all the hard work and effort she has put into accomplishing something she really believes in.... and I'm so glad we made that friend connection on Facebook so many years ago.

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(I will continue to link all of Kaye's PPR posts to my Carrington News site and hope that helps out. The fact that her posts get lots of hits is a sign that people pay attention and really like what she is doing. Way to go, Kaye!!!)