This week’s view from Minot highlights a free brass band concert, fall color at the Farmers Market, a rodeo lesson for local students, a new home for a historic trainer aircraft, and an upcoming downtown celebration.

One of a Kind

The Brass Band of Minot is the only British-style brass band in North Dakota. British-style brass bands were fashioned after Salvation Army brass bands, which often appeared on street corners and in city parks to raise money for Salvation Army centers. Their musicians were typically skilled professionals who performed without pay.

As you may have guessed, I play in the Brass Band of Minot. I cannot claim to be a professional musician, but many of our players are music teachers, and I would consider many of them professionals. Together with musicians like me and several high school students, we field a band of about 35 players. Our one-hour concert begins at 4 p.m. this Sunday at Anne Nicole Nelson Hall in Old Main at Minot State University.

Exciting Guests Share the Stage

The Cover Down Brass Ensemble, part of the 188th Army Band from Fargo, will join us as our guest group. Cover Down Brass performed on Main Street during the Fall Festival, and several recordings of the group playing patriotic songs appeared on Facebook.

The ensemble includes Jack Austin, a former Brass Band of Minot cornet player. It will be exciting to welcome him back to the stage, and Jack has agreed to perform the second half of the concert with the Brass Band of Minot.

Admission is free. The concert begins at 4 p.m. Sunday at Anne Nicole Nelson Hall on the Minot State University campus.

Fall Colors

My friend and Farmers Market vendor Elizabeth LeDoux shared a photo of a Minot home decorated with pumpkins from her garden. From what I have heard, this has been a great year for pumpkins and squash. When I visited the Farmers Market a few days ago, Elizabeth had a trailer filled with many varieties of squash, and the colors were vibrant. The Farmers Market will be open Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Oak Park, so there is still time to pick up pumpkins and squash for fall decorating.

A Little Rodeo 101

Students from Minot and surrounding school districts were entertained by JayLynn Hicks, Miss Rodeo North Dakota, and Dalton Morris, one of the rodeo clowns from the Badlands Circuit Finals Rodeo. JayLynn, who is from Dunn Center, North Dakota, will compete in the Miss Rodeo America pageant at the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas in December.

Dalton has been a rodeo clown since he was about 3. “I can’t remember wanting to be anything but a rodeo entertainer. My dad and grandad were trick riders, and I got the bug to be a rodeo entertainer from them.”

Besides being a rodeo clown, Dalton is a skilled trick roper and, in his words, “kinda an all-around entertainer, I guess.” He explained to the students that rodeos grew from gatherings where cowboys tested their skills at riding, roping, and handling horses. He also showed them his whip and explained that cowboys on a trail ride use its loud cracking sound to move cattle along. “I want to make something really clear: We use the whip to herd the cattle, not hurt the cattle. Big difference, right? Herd, not hurt,” he told the students.

JayLynn and Dalton were excited to visit many elementary schools and invite students and their parents to the Badlands Circuit Rodeo held this past weekend.

A New Home

I watched for a few minutes as crews from Minot Air Force Base moved a T-33 trainer, also known as a T-Bird trainer, to its new home in the MAFB Air Park. The Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star is a subsonic jet trainer designed and produced by the American aircraft manufacturer Lockheed. This aircraft once stood near the front gate at Minot AFB but has now joined other static-display aircraft in the Air Park. According to Paul Elliot, chief of staff for the 5th Bomb Wing, the goal is to gather all of the base’s static displays in the Air Park area.

Rod’s Ramblins’

Be sure to mark your calendar for the Christmas Open House in downtown Minot. Activities begin at 4 p.m. Friday, November 27, and conclude with a fireworks display around 6:30 p.m. Everything takes place on Main Street, and the evening’s highlight will be the lighting of the Downtown Minot Christmas Tree.

Today’s Chuckle

If you sleep like a baby at night, it’s a sure sign you don’t have one.