NEWS & NOTES

5/12/2025

        Hi Folks,

• Hopefully you all were able to celebrate Mother’s Day with Mom, family and friends.  If you are like some of us whose Mom is no longer with us, I hope you celebrated with pleasant memories of her.
• “Life doesn’t come with a manual, it comes with a Mom”             ~ ourmindfullife.com
• Struggling a little?  Quality sleep plays an essential role in good behavioral health:  A. Avoid caffeine after 3 p.m. B. Try waking up and going to sleep at the same time every day. C. Make your bedroom into a quiet, relaxing, clutter-free space.  D. Keep the temperature in your bedroom between 60°F and 65°F.
• May 15th annually is Peace Officers Memorial Day and Police Week are observed in the United States.  It is a remembrance paying tribute to local, state, and federal peace officers who have died or have been disabled, in the line of duty.  Blessings to all who have been affected in any way.
• The next public meetings for the VCPS School Referendum will be:  May 14, 6:30 PM @ Washington School Gym followed by   Q & A  the morning of May 15, 7:30 – 8:30 @ Washington School.  Please be an informed voter.  Thank you.
• Sunday afternoon I went for a “short” bike ride.  Being older, the first ride of the season, the 35 MPH wind gusts, it was quite an experience, but good physically and mentally.
• Missouri River Energy Services, our Joint Action Agency providing power for Valley City, is celebrating 60 years of service to its 61 members and last week held its Annual Meeting.  Some of the learning sessions included, Fitch Ratings, Federal activity affecting the Public Power Industry and the U S Army Corps of Engineers hydropower report to name a few.  It was a very educational event.  Thank you to all who made it happen.
• Thank you to all who provide and proof material for this column.
• “Home is wherever Mom is.” ~ Etsy

        Blessings, Pray, be Respectful and Grateful,

Dave

Dave Carlsrud

NEWS & NOTES

5/5/2025

        Greetings Everyone,

• The daytime air is feeling a bit more like summer while the evenings remind us it can still cool nicely.
• Be kind and respectful to everyone 🙂
• Valley City Public and St. Catherines Schools will be celebrating and recognizing educators during “Educators Appreciation Week”.  Everyone who invests time around students is teaching, “kids are always watching” so you are all educators.  Thank you everyone. 
• We are in a busy time with spring sports track, softball, soccer, etc.; North Dakota Outdoors writer Doug Leier noted in one of his recent columns that in North Dakota we can talk about deer and deer hunting ANYTIME during the year!   Check his column “Taking a Look at The Deer Lottery” and https://gf.nd.gov/ for further information.  Thank you Doug.
• This is National Small Business Week.  Small Businesses comprise more than 99% of all private sector employers and provide nearly 66% of the jobs in America.  Support your local small businesses regularly, stop in to say “Hi & thanks”.  They’ll be happy to see you. 
• The Valley City Public School Referendum Vote will be held June 10th.  There are numerous reasons why now is an opportune time to build, one of which may be the passing of the Property Tax Reform.  The next Public Meeting is May 8th at Washington School Gymnasium. Please take a little time to be an informed voter, see: https://www.hiliners.org/o/vcsd/page/referendum.
• ** Clean-up Week is scheduled for May 19-23 with the Transfer Station being open all week.  Please be respectful of directions in the following link and call if you have questions.   https://www.valleycity.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Clean-up-week-2025.pdf  Thank you.
• News from Missouri River Energy Services Government Relations Department indicated state legislative actions on bills regarding public power were favorable for our needs at this point.  A bill allowing Renewable Energy Credits (REC) from hydropower and another balancing mitigation liability due to wildfire damages are two important ones.
• Thank you to all who provide and proof material for this column.
• “Where Flowers bloom, so does hope.” ~ Lady Bird Johnson

        Blessings, Pray, be Respectful and Grateful,

Dave

Dave Carlsrud

NEWS & NOTES

4/28/2025

        Hi Folks,

• I pray this day finds you and yours all well.
• Sue and I drove to Breckenridge, MN over the weekend and it was fun seeing the amount of field work being done.  From a kid who worked on farms sixty years ago and my Dad in the implement business, I can’t get over the size of the equipment!
• This week, take a little time to call “a couple folks” and let them know you are thinking of them.
• Valley City High School (VCHS) and Valley City State University (VCSU) have a great partnership providing VCHS Students to earn dual credits through VCSU.  “VCHS Students will have completed 817 credits in dual credit courses by the end of 2024-2025. For each college credit taken through dual credit, our students save $213.31.”  Kudos to everyone who makes these things happen, thank you.
• Help keep Valley City clean.  Avoid throwing cigarette butts, cans and other garbage on the streets; please contain said items in your vehicle and properly dispose later. 
• “If you do something nice and get caught, it doesn’t count.”
• Valley City’s Young Professionals Network (YPN) is partnering with VCSU to host a “Speed Networking Event”.  There will be about sixty students and twenty community professionals participating.  The professionals will be at individual stations with small groups of students rotating through and having conversations with them.  For further information see: www.developvcbc.com
• Roger Maris of Fargo was ranked by Sports Illustrated as North Dakota’s #1 Greatest Sports Figure from years 1900 to 2000.
• “May Day” is associated with numerous traditional celebrations with one being “May Day Baskets”. The May Day Basket tradition involves anonymously delivering small baskets of treats to friends, neighbors, or loved ones on May 1st.  The gifter leaves the basket, knocks on the door, yells “May basket!” and runs away, adding to the secretive and playful nature of the tradition. 
• Thank you to all who provide and proof material for this column.
• “Speak up, even if your voice shakes.” ~ Catholic Medical Mission Board

        Blessings, Pray, be Respectful and Grateful,

Dave

Dave Carlsrud

NEWS & NOTES

4/21/2025

        Hello Everybody,

• It is feeling like spring, YES!  Golf courses are opening, kids are out playing and will soon be involved with a plethora of activities offered by our Valley City Parks and Recreation Department.  To research available programs for the children and adults in your family, please see: https://www.vcparks.com/
• The spring season also brings “construction” so please respect signage and the speed zones for your safety.  Many accidents in construction zones result in injuries and deaths to the vehicle drivers.  Be safe, it only takes a few more minutes.
• This week’s trivia is Brad Gjermundson who is noted by Sports Illustrated as North Dakota’s 12th Greatest Sports Figure from years 1900 to 2000.  Brad was Four-time world champion saddle bronc rider (1981, ’83, ’84 & ’85) and qualified for the National Finals Rodeo nine times.
• Are you seeing loose styrofoam, papers, plastics cups and the like around your garbage container after pickup?  A way to stop it is to put said items in a grocery bag type container and tie so it all carries into the truck. Give it a try.
• April is “Alcohol Awareness Month”.  It’s an opportunity for all to update knowledge about alcohol use disorder (AUD) and the adverse impact of alcohol misuse on health and society.  Alcohol-related problems continue to take a heavy toll on individuals, families, and communities. Feel free to check it out.
• Clean-up Week is scheduled for May 19-23 with the Transfer Station being open all week.  Please be respectful of directions in the following link and call if you have questions.   https://www.valleycity.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Clean-up-week-2025.pdf  Thank you.
• Sue and I are grateful for a small family gathering at our home Easter Sunday.  We celebrated Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, great food and quite a bit of “bonding”.
• Thank you to all who provide and proof material for this column.
• “Stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight.”       ~ Gordon B. Hinckley

        Blessings, Pray, be Respectful and Grateful,

Dave

Dave Carlsrud

Greetings,

• This weekend Easter and Passover will be celebrated.  Passover is a story of miracles and redemption of the Jewish People while Easter is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
• As culmination of City Government Week, Treyson Brant will serve as “Mayor for a Day” and will be presiding over our City Commission Meeting Tuesday.  We are very grateful to our local Dairy Queen, Fire Department and Police Department for their event sponsorships.  Thank you.
• Spring is a soothing time in the upper Midwest with flowers peeking out, trees budding and grasses trending towards green, beautiful.
• For a small town like of Valley City, we are very fortunate to have two ambulances.  Recently there were simultaneous incidents where lives were likely saved because we had two.  A person involved with the aforementioned said, “If you have a prominent house entrance from the alley, be sure to have a house number visible from the alley”.  Thank you, Julie & First Responders.
• THE MASTERS TOURNAMENT SUNDAY was CRAZY!  I don’t think one needs to be a golf fan to appreciate the competitive highs and lows of the day ………. hope you saw it.
• The North Dakota Legislators are in a sprint to the finish of the 69th Legislative session.  With numerous bills being debated and fewer funds being projected, our legislature will need to work diligently for an on-time conclusion of the session.  Thank you for serving.
• From last week’s Missouri River Energy Services (MRES) Board Meeting, generation continues to be monumentally challenging as energy demands are growing faster than generation and transmission.
• Supposedly, Yogi Berra collided with a guy carrying a vintage Grandfather Clock, ruining said clock.  The man angrily said, “Why don’t you watch where you are going?”, with Yogi replying, “Why don’t you wear a wristwatch like everyone else?”.  Hehehe!
• Thank you to all who provide and proof material for this column.
• “If you tell the truth, you don’t need to remember anything.”       ~ Mark Twain

        Blessings, Pray, be Respectful and Grateful,

Dave

Dave Carlsrud