Rain!  Just when you think that the country can’t possibly hold another drop of water, more arrives.  “When it rains, it pours!” used to be the sales slogan of the Morton Salt Company, but it is now under consideration for adoption as the State motto of North Dakota.    A downpour on the night of Saturday, May 22, dropped Another 1.3 inch of rain on the area, accompanied by a dash of marble sized hail and a Mother Nature inspired sound and light show to entertain the home folks.  Another sudden blast of hail and rain hit Rutland on Monday afternoon, leaving some shredded tree leaves and about .1 of an inch of precipitation in its wake.  The driveway at the McLaen farmstead 2 miles north and ¼ mile west of town went under water again, for the second time this Spring,  by Sunday morning, with about 2 inches of water over about 60 feet of roadway.  We don’t want to find out what happens if the driveway goes down for the third time.

All of the water in the region has brought some interesting travelers to, and through, this area recently.  On Thursday, May 20, a pair of moose, or is it meese, were spotted south of the Cameron & Cody Gulleson farmstead east of town.  The ungainly looking critters were peacefully strolling from slough to slough, stopping occasionally to taste the fare, then ambling on toward the northeast.  Later in the day they were spotted near the old Giske farmstead 3 miles east of town, and by late afternoon they had ambled past the old Eugene Bergman farm northwest of Cayuga and were heading across the Lowell Kriz farm toward the Wild Rice River.  The two animals, each about the size of a saddle horse, were believed to be a pair of yearlings looking around for new habitat.  Moose have been seen in this area with increasing frequency in recent years, and the large areas of wetlands coupled with the depopulation of the countryside, decline in cattle numbers and removal of fences has made this part of the country friendlier habitat for large, herbivorous wild animals, such as moose.  There is no season on them in this area, yet, but the Game & Fish Department will likely move to control the population by sport hunting if moose numbers continue to climb.

Phil Tweten of Prescott AZ arrived in Rutland on Friday, May 21, the purpose of his visit being to attend the high school graduation ceremonies of 2 of his grandsons, Julian and Justin Jacobson, on Sunday May 23.  Phil was accompanied by one of his daughters, Gerri Slocum, of Tucson AZ on the trip, and was greeted by another daughter, rutland’s own Wendy Jacobson, on arrival here.  Mr. Tweten and Mrs. Slocum resided at 115 Dakota Street during their visit in Rutland.  Also arriving in Rutland were Julian & Justin’s sister, Adrienne Jacobson, from Ames, Iowa, and a cousin, Mr. Jim Brothen of Minneapolis.  Mr. Brothen departed for the cities on Sunday, but Phil & Gerri stayed to visit friends and family here until Tuesday, May 25.

Norbert and Beverly Kulzer departed Rutland on Friday, May 21, bound for LaCrosse WI and a weekend reunion with Norbert’s sisters, Diane Davis of Chicago, Cathy Kriegelstein of Appleton WI and Karen Buisker of Millette SD.  Also heading east for the reunion were David and Patty Kulzer of Condon MT.  David & Pat had arrived in Rutland on Wednesday, May 19, rested up for a couple of days and then headed off to LaCrosse on Saturday, May 22.  The Kulzer boys and their spouses returned to Rutland on Wednesday, May 26.  Dave & Pat intend to spend another week here, before heading back to the Rockies after the Memorial Day holiday.

The funeral service for Clifford A. Carlson of this community was held at Nordland Lutheran Church on Monday, May 24, with the Rev. Justin Senger officiating.  Price Funeral Home of Britton was in charge of arrangements.  Burial was in the Rutland Cemetery.  Clifford passed away at his home here last week, on Wednesday, May 19, and his passing had been reported in the May 21 edition of The Teller.

Wildur, a native of Peru, was the guest of the Joe & Patty Breker family on Sunday, May 23.  The Brekers hosted a breakfast get-together at the Rutland General Store to greet their guest.  Joe & Patty had met Wildur while on a church sponsored trip to Peru earlier this year.  Wildur has spent a considerable amount of time in the United States over the past several years.  North Dakota native Father Jack Davis first brought Wildur to America for treatment of severe burns he had suffered as a child in Peru.  His first stop on that first trip to America was in Devils Lake ND.  Then he went on to Boston MA, where he spent a lengthy period of time undergoing surgery and therapy.  In the process, he learned the English language, speaking with a soft-spoken New England/Peruvian accent.  For the past several years, he has worked for 6 months each year with the Mathern family of Edgeley ND in the family dairy farm and now in their construction business.  He has a wife and a daughter, at home in Peru.

Several students well known in this community received their High School diplomas at Graduation exercises last Sunday, and then celebrated the event with friends and family at open house receptions here.  Graduation receptions in Rutland last weekend included: Shelby and Alan Rohrbach, sons of Vaughan & Polly Rohrbach at the Rutland Seniors’ Center on Saturday afternoon and evening; Justin & Julian Jacobson, sons of Calvin & Wendy Jacobson,  at their home on Sunday afternoon; Cousins Chase Christensen, son of Bradley Christensen and Penny Beckstrom,  and James Brakke, son of Jesse Brakke and the late Michelle (Garot) Brakke,  at the Rutland Town Hall on Sunday afternoon; Chantelle Sitter, daughter of Shari Leinen & Jim Brown, and Ashley Headdress, daughter of Tony & Lori Nesta, at the home of their grandparents, Jerry & Jeannie Leinen, on Sunday afternoon; and, Cassandra Johnson, daughter of Rodger Johnson and Jackie Lien, in the Community Room of the Sargent County Bank on Sunday afternoon.  Miss Johnson graduated from Britton High School at Britton SD and the other eight graduates earned their diplomas from Sargent Central High School.  Shantell Sitter was inadvertently omitted from the list of graduates from the Rutland community that appeared in last week’s column.  The 2010 SCHS Senior Class motto is “Don’t Stop Believin’!”  This community won’t stop believin’ in them, as long as they don’t stop believin’ in themselves.

Contractor Rod Olson of Fargo was in Rutland on Thursday & Friday of last week as well as on Monday and Tuesday of this week, installing new foundation skirting on the mobile home at 102 Dakota Street owned by Bill Anderson & Kathy Brakke.  The new foundation skirting is a concrete-like material that is installed in steel rails, and is reputed to be much more durable and weather-proof than the usual materials used for mobile home skirting.  This residence was formerly owned by Kris & Gina Jochim.  The Jochims had purchased the former Baumgartner property east of Forman, and moved to their new residence at the beginning of May.  The Rutland community is sorry to see the Jochims leave, but wishes them well in their new location.

Carpenters John Buskohl and Jason Lehman were at work in Rutland this week, constructing a new “3 seasons room” on the house owned by Janelle Brakke at 415 Anthony Street, and constructing a new front porch to replace the front deck at the dwelling owned by Bill Anderson & Kathy Brakke at 102 Dakota Street.

Memorial Day observances in Rutland are scheduled to commence with military rites at the Nordland Cemetery 2 miles east and ½ mile south of town at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, May 31, followed by military rites at the Rutland Cemetery on the east edge of town at 10:15 a.m.  The public is invited to attend a Memorial Day Program at the Rutland Town Hall at 11:00 a.m. with the traditional Memorial Day community pot-luck dinner to immediately follow the program.  In Rutland, as in many rural communities across America, Memorial Day is still a big event, like a memorial service, school homecoming and extended family reunion, all rolled into one.  The entire community, with all visitors and guests, is invited to come together to “Honor America” at the Rutland Town Hall on Memorial Day.

Meanwhile, from Baton Rouge on the Gulf of Mexico to Bismarck on the upper Missouri, a foul odor is in the air.  It is the stench of petroleum, money and corruption.  In Louisiana, a State where corruption is so endemic that it has been said that, “At any one time, half of the State is under water, and the other half is under indictment,” the BP oil spill is licking at its shores, destroying its fishing and tourism industries, and the oil company says that it’s everyone’s fault but theirs.  In Bismarck, misconduct and incompetence on a massive scale in the office of the State Treasurer and on the State Investment Board are slowly coming to light.  These two entities, charged with investing State funds, have lost, misappropriated or stolen, tens of millions of North Dakota taxpayer’s dollars on risky and bogus investments in recent years, it is now being revealed.  A prominent official of the State Investment Board recently took his own life after risky investments which he had been pressured to make by prominent State elected officials failed, resulting in massive losses to State funds such as the Public Employees Retirement System and the Teacher’s Retirement Fund.  In one instance, millions were lost when a risky Las Vegas hotel/casino project promoted by a prominent backer of Gov. John Hoeven collapsed and failed.  Mismanagement and misconduct in the State Treasurer’s office has resulted in the loss of a substantial portion of the Veterans’ Trust Fund, as well as millions from other funds under the control of that office.  The State Investment Board, under the leadership of Lt. Gov. Jack Dalrymple, is attempting to delay and avoid public scrutiny of its conduct by commissioning an audit by a private accounting firm that will not be made available to the public unless and until the State Investment Boards wants to release it.  There is an allegation that the North Dakota Education Association’s officers were told by members of the State Investment Board that the money missing from the Teachers’ Retirement Fund would be replaced with oil tax revenue if the teachers’ group kept its mouth shut.  Otherwise, they could kiss the money, and their retirement,  good-bye.  Then the information came out that 34^th District Republican Party officials knew of prior financial misconduct by State Treasurer Kelly Schmidt before they backed her to head the office charged with managing the State’s money.  The State Legislature’s Audit and Fiscal Review Committee recently considered a motion requesting that the State Auditor conduct a public audit of the State Investment Board, an audit that would be available to the people of North Dakota, but that motion failed on a party line vote, with all Republicans voting against it, and all Democratic-NPL Legislators on the committee voting in favor.  The Governor says that it’s none of his concern, even though he appoints the State Investment Board and all officials concerned are members of his Party.  He is busy packing his bags to head off to Washington, where the loot is measured not in millions and billions, but in the trillions.  Perhaps, as we observe Memorial Day this weekend, we should ask ourselves if this is what those Americans who lie beneath those white crosses in America’s cemeteries fought and died for.  Did they fight and die so that multi-national corporations that care not one whit for American principles of liberty and equal justice can despoil the natural resources of this country and wreak havoc on its environment?  Did they fight and die so that the sycophant political minions of the oil companies can loot the public treasury and steal the birthright of this and future generations of North Dakotans in order to line the pockets of their favorites?  Did they fight and die so that elected and appointed officials can use political ploys, tricks and sleight of hand to hide their misconduct and incompetence from public scrutiny?  So far, North Dakota’s news media seems to be neutral, or leaning toward a “Yes” vote, on these questions.  It’s getting to be time for North Dakotans to wake up and smell the coffee, before the coffee, the coffee pot and all of the cups are stolen, too.

Well, that’s it for this week.  For more information, and pictures, too, about Rutland and Rutland folks, stop by the community’s internet web site at www.rutlandnd.com, and check out Rutland’s blog and Facebook pages, too, while you’re at it.