Playground Safety and Student Success Outside
As a certified Early Childhood Playground Inspector since October 2020, I have inspected seven playgrounds on Minot AFB. The first one was the Lewis and Clark Park, which satisfied my final project requirement for certification. Next, the Bud Ebert Park, which consists of ten play structures and is located at the far end of the […]
North Dakota Border Towns
As we all know, North Dakota borders South Dakota, Minnesota, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Montana. What many of us my not know is there are numerous communities that were built right on a border and in a couple of cases, they extend beyond North Dakota. The most obvious border town is Fargo. It’s our largest city […]
Historically quirky North Dakota
Despite our state being only 136 years old, we all know there is plenty of history that happened during those years. Military history, the building of the railroads, cities springing up on the steel rail, massive cattle ranches and bonanza farms are all part of it. There’s also the lesser-known history that most of us […]
The Glass Is Half Full
Whether your passion is hiking, biking, camping, swimming, kayaking or just plain hanging…around on a beach, take some time and fill the glass to overfull with exciting hour long, or day long events. Best Kept Secrets- Small Towns, Big Events:There are so many small communities in North Dakota that host world class events. We have […]
The Spring Shift
Last week, I began clearing things out of my garage to clean and sell on Facebook Marketplace. This is part of my spring-and-fall routine: pull out the large toys—bikes, scooters, strollers, and all manner of plastic monstrosities we’ve accumulated over the previous season. Then I audit. What don’t we use? What are the boys too […]
Big ‘A’ Airmen
You might say “well Rod, that’s what they are told to do” and I will agree. But it certainly would be easy to have a bit of a chip on your shoulder when weather conditions are extreme, and I am pretty sure that not everyone who drives up to the gate is having a Grade […]
Organic farming in North Dakota
There’s some new data from the Organic Farming Research Foundation that outlines the state of organic agriculture in North Dakota. Although our state lags behind the national average of organic farming and processing, there are some solid numbers that should be explained. To start with, there are 113 organic farms in North Dakota encompassing 106,000 […]
Why do you like Minot so much?
“Why do you like Minot so much?” I get asked that a lot. But last week, over the course of two days, I answered that question for four different people, in four different places. Even for me—a self-proclaimed “Minot guru”—that was a bit above average. So that night, I shared a reel to my Instagram […]
Pen pals 50 years on…
March 30, 1975 was not only Easter Sunday, but was a day that would resonate with two people for more than 50 years. On that Easter Sunday an American teenager wrote a letter to an Australian girl. Forward 50 years and they remain close through email and regular Zoom calls. I was 16 at the […]
Starting To Hear That Word!
PCS…Permanent Change of Station. Some of my Airmen friends say PCS with a smile because they are happy with their new station, others are not happy at all, having grown fond of Minot Air Force Base and Minot. It could be because their kids have enjoyed going to school in Minot, it could be because […]
