Despite the efforts of my friend and Burleigh County commissioner Mark Armstrong, the city tore down the former Wilton train depot, known for the past twenty-plus years as the Meriwether's building. It also doubled as the ticket office and souvenir for the various incarnations of riverboat which docked thereby. One interesting feature in the area was the sign you see above, which the Big Muddy decided to relocate far south during its flooding rampage last year.
It was Mark, in fact, who tipped me off to this sign last year already. Obviously it's taken me quite a while to find the time to get down there and see it up close for myself. I finally did, however, while taking my little boys on a sandy walk to throw rocks into the water and enjoy a warm sunset. Someone apparently found this sign, which had been washed from the vicinity of the Grant Marsh bridge to a sandy stretch well south of the Memorial Bridge, and decided it to stick it into the ground. It's stayed there ever since, a testament to its resilience.
As far as the plight of the Meriwether's building goes, I can't say I have any feelings one way or the other about it. The last restaurant I remember in the building was driven out of business by the closure of River Road when a section slid, and I can't remember anything ever taking its place. The building is a pretty remote location for a business in all but the warmest few months, so I'm not sure it would have been a good candidate for business even if it had been restored.
I was on board one hundred percent when Phil and Mark were the super-duo on KFYR AM 550 radio and they set about preserving the Provident Life Weather Beacon. That's a piece of history well known to thousands of people, one which many of us still consult when we want a snapshot of what the weather forecast holds in store. The old depot down by the river? I'm not sorry to say that I doubt many people held the same attachment to it. Sure, there were parts of it that were pretty cool...but one of the best of those has found itself a home about a mile down the river.
[ add comment ] ( 4 views ) | permalink | Click a dot to rate this entry:
( 3.1 / 144 )Surprise: Abortion groups put FOUR HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS in blood money against Measure 3. UPDATE: It's now being reported as $700,000.
Measure Three, on the ballot this primary season, is sometimes referred to as the Religious Liberty Restoration Amendment. The key word in this title is "Restoration" as the measure seeks to restore protections for people of faith that have been slowly stripped away by the federal government. Similar measures have been passed in twenty-seven states,
Opponents of the measure claim it's going to legalize wife beating, denial of medical care, and all sorts of other things that it will not do. They clearly have a vested interest in limiting religious freedom in North Dakota. Who's the group who has the most to lose from strong religious protections in North Dakota? Easy: the abortionists.
If you click on this link on the Secretary of State's Office website, you'll be able to find a list of who's bankrolling the opposition. It's exclusively "Planned Parenthood" (wow, what a sterile misnomer) groups from North Dakota and elsewhere.
You can also download the PDF here (I'm hosting a copy on this blog) to examine it for yourself.
If you haven't paid close attention to the Measure 3 debate, let this one fact smack you square between the eyes: the ones spending the huge money opposing it are people who support killing children. That single fact should be enough to convince you to vote in support of this measure in the June primary.
UPDATE: According to this article, the amount now is around $700,000. That's a lot of blood money! They want to stop the only barrier remaining to their infanticidal death cult.
[ 1 comment ] ( 17 views ) | permalink | Click a dot to rate this entry:
( 3.1 / 146 )
In a controlled burn last night the House of Brides, a local feature for as long as I can remember, was taken down in spectacular fashion. I was among the dozens of spectators who observed from a distance, mostly because I wanted to demonstrate to my little boys how fire can consume a house and give a little fire-safety pep talk.
It wasn't just that, however. I lived south of Mandan for many years and remember this home well. In fact, it's just east and downhill from Greenwood Cemetery, one of Mandan's better kept secrets. I think the property has sat unoccupied for quite some time, and it met its demise last night. The brick silo is still intact at this time, the property's most attractive feature.
Thanks to my friend Tad for the close-up photos. I, of course, didn't have a camera with me. I always see things like this when I leave the cameras at home...you'd think I would have learned my lesson by now!
[ add comment ] ( 3 views ) | permalink | Click a dot to rate this entry:
( 3.1 / 148 )
I came upon this sign on Friday, one which presents two separate quandaries depending on your interpretation. First: a sign saying no signing? Gotta love the sweet irony of that one! Second: do they have a problem with the hearing impaired? After all, how are they going to communicate? I find this sign horribly discriminatory against people with disabilities in that regard. Signs are often a great source of humor, and this one provides multiple opportunities.
I just thought of something *gasp* - what if it's also a typo, and they really don't like singing?
[ add comment ] ( 2 views ) | permalink | Click a dot to rate this entry:
( 3.1 / 134 )Looking back at one of the most memorable Memorial Day addresses I've heard UPDATE: Now with text of his address available for download
Let's not forget that Memorial Day is about one thing: honoring fallen heroes who died defending our freedom. I typically attend the ceremony held for such purpose at the Veterans' Memorial Cemetery each year, the most memorable of which was in 2010. It was during that ceremony that I witnessed a stirring address by C. Emerson Murry, former Major General of the ND National Guard. He was the keynote speaker of the event, and a very memorable one at that.
The words that struck me the most from his keynote address are best paraphrased as follows: "To be born free is an accident. To live free is a responsibility. To die free is an absolute obligation." That made me set my camera in the grass and hastily type it into my phone so I wouldn't forget it. Maj Gen Murry fulfilled that obligation, and it's due to such men and women of our armed forces that we enjoy the freedoms we take for granted.
The National Guard provided me with the text of his remarks in PDF format from an issue of the Guardian magazine, and I'm pleased to be able to provide you a link to that PDF: (Click Here)
It was the last chance I had to hear him speak; Maj Gen Murry passed away in September of that year. You ought to take the time to read about the life of this remarkable man by clicking here.
[ add comment ] ( 2 views ) | permalink | Click a dot to rate this entry:
( 3 / 119 )
Calendar
