Endangered local landmark

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By this time next year, the crews should be nearing completion of the new Liberty Memorial Bridge and figuring out what to do with the old one. I’m as sentimental as the next guy, but I agree that it’s time to replace this local landmark. It’s a sad truth, but a truth nonetheless.

I remember the long treks to Bismarck made by my family when I was a little boy growing up in western Montana. We would come back home to visit family in Bismarck and Dickinson every now and then, and I remember the Memorial Bridge because of its grated deck. I always thought that “the humming bridge” was the coolest, because we could look out the window and see the river below. How cool was that?

Later on, I learned that the grated deck was pretty freaky on a motorcycle…not because I could see through it, but because that grated deck made the tires “swim” back and forth just like it did the car tires! It’s a little more discomforting when you’ve only got two of ’em. Looking down was actually more fun without having to stick my head out a window, and I did eventually get used to the slight weaving sensation. Relaxing and letting it happen was safer than trying to fight it, actually.

Then came the concrete deck. I’m no engineer, but this never seemed like a good idea. If there’s a problem with the bridge, loading it up with tons of new concrete and steel doesn’t seem like the greatest idea! But it was done, the “humming bridge” hummed no more, and the only view of the water below was from the walkway. I suppose it’s easier to say goodbye to the bridge now because we really said goodbye to it nearly twenty years ago. The deck that gave the bridge its character hasn’t been around since the early 1990s.

I had a lady call me a couple of weeks ago looking to purchase a photo of the bridge. She saw a poster-sized print of the bridge photo at the head of this website last year at the Mandan Art Show (it won People’s Choice, by the way!) and wanted to know if it was the Memorial Bridge. Sadly, it’s not…it’s the railroad bridge. But she got me digging through my photos to see what I had of the Memorial Bridge. I’m glad she did, because I really didn’t have much of anything at all! You know that that means: time to scramble and get as many nice photos of the bridge as possible, because soon I won’t be able to do so. The photo above is part of that quest.

It’s getting difficult to photograph the Memorial Bridge already without getting cranes and footings and stuff in the shot. Time’s a-wasting; if you want to have some memories of this bridge, you’d better hurry!

October 8th…the day local television lost a really great guy

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I very tearfully remembered today that it’s been five years since the loss of Mike Holwegner, one of the best friends I ever had in the television business. Mike died of a heart attack on October 8th, 2002 on his way to work his typical 4:30am shift. Mike had been at KFYR-TV 29 years, almost 30. I worked with him for over ten of those, and couldn’t think of anyone in the business who could ever make me laugh like he did.

I have truckloads of fond memories of Mike, as does everyone who got to work with him. For many years it was Mike, Al Gustin, and myself taking care of business at KFYR-TV through the early morning until the rest of the gang started to work their way in during the “normal” hours. Perhaps it was that 4:30am shift that gave Mike his unique sense of humor. I would substitute for him as director for the Country Morning and Noon Report shows, and I couldn’t imagine working at 4:30 every morning! But then again, I was working overnights. That made us quite a pair.

Mike was like a dad to me as well as a friend. I could confide in him through some pretty crazy times, and I still miss him very dearly. Most of the true veterans of television in the Bismarck-Mandan area have since moved on, and many of them have stories of Mike Holwegner that still bring smiles to their faces.

Brenda Scholten and I put together a little good-bye to Mike that we aired during Country Morning in 2002, and I saved a copy. I’ll put a Flash Video version of the video below. Although it’s been five years, I miss him so badly and wish I could hear his jokes or funny made-up songs. Here’s a tribute to Mike Holwegner.


Father-and-son-set

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With mom out of the house for the evening, we two fellas hopped in the truck after dinner and headed for the hills. While we spent lots of time playing in the living room before heading out, and one of us needed a diaper change before departure, we were still fortunate enough to make it to a great vantage point at just the right time.

It was a little chilly, so we had just enough time to watch the sun creep past the horizon and take a couple of photos of ourselves in the process. Then it was back in the truck to watch an airplane take off at the airport, then home for some pajamas with little feet on ’em. For PJ, that is. I had to share the moment with the world, being the proud daddy and all.

Saturday night’s alright for fighting

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A Dakota Fighting Championship event was held at the Bismarck Civic Center this weekend, and I got to run a camera at the event. I alternated between ringside and top camera with another operator, so we both got to have the fun of being right up next to the action. I have to tease the director and replay guy by pointing out that they didn’t predict the right guy to win out of ANY of the night’s eight matches! It was a pretty interesting evening, to say the least.

This is the only way I’m ever entering the Octagon: with a camera. During the matches I shot through the cage, which is basically just chain link that’s rubber coated. At one point the two ENORMOUS fighters going at it threw each other into the side of the ring hard enough to stretch the side out a few inches, making contact with the lens hood of my video camera! Aside from getting my viewfinder pressed up against my face a little tighter, it wasn’t a big deal. Actually it was pretty cool to be right up in the action!

Lewis and Clark’s Sudsy Adventure

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I hoped the bridges might be fogged in this morning, so I hopped in the truck with some donuts and Dew to investigate. Things weren’t as I had hoped, but I made the best of it. As I pulled out of the Merriweather’s parking lot, however, I noticed something that made me chuckle: the fountain with the Lewis and Clark statues in it was a bit…foamy.

There’s a fine line between vandalism and mischief, but I think this probably falls on the safe side. It appears as though some prankster(s) put dish soap or shampoo in the fountain overnight. Large clumps of suds were blowing around, and there was a pretty good head on the water in the base of the fountain. Clever.

Judging by the water and suds all over the tile and rock here in front of the statues, I bet this was pretty spectacular when it first got off and running! Presumably the water for the fountain is simply replenished if it overflows. I imagine the suds will be gone before long, too. If this was done overnight, I’m surprised they lasted this long. That’s probably because of the weather.

I wouldn’t advise stunts like this, because I’m sure there’s some sort of criminal mischief statue that would cover it! An impish night of fun might turn into more than you bargained for. Trust me, I played my share of pranks back in the day!

So where’s Hutch going? Apparently it’s no secret

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I’m told that KXMB announced last night that meteorologist Hutch Johnson would be leaving, although they declined to say where. Although it was announced last night, it’s been the word in the broadcasting / media community that he’s going to KVLY in Fargo, hired to replace “Too Tall” Tom Szymanski. Since KVLY is owned by the same company as KFYR-TV here in Bismarck, I can see why they’d be reluctant to mention that. Although they apparently mentioned it last night, it’s actually old news. It came up in a conversation with some other TV folks last weekend, actually.

This also brings up an interesting question of mentioning the competition only when it suits them. While I don’t normally see shoplifting stories on KXNet, I did happen to catch this article in which Cliff Naylor Junior was accused of felony shoplifting charges. Perhaps that’s someone in the KX newsroom thumbing their nose at Cliff Naylor and Monica Hannan. I remember KFYR covering stories of Reiten goof-ups, so I suppose it’s all part of the back & forth of competing newsrooms.

Another interesting wrinkle is that KXJB, the Fargo CBS affiliate, is run by the same folks that run KVLY. It’s similar to an arrangement in Bismarck between the FOX and ABC stations. I suppose that limits cooperation between the Fargo CBS affiliate and the ones out west, which are owned by a competitor in this market.

I’m pretty much Switzerland in the whole station vs. station thing, even though I still freelance for the NBC guys sometimes. (I absolutely love the KVLY/KXJB gang, but don’t really know anyone at KXMB.) It might be interesting to watch, but I actually don’t watch much local TV. I’m sure KXMB will work hard to get another meteorologist up to speed to go head to head with Kevin Lawrence (or “K-Lo” as he’s affectionately nicknamed) in time for the winter storm season. Let the competition continue! Oh, and if the industry rumors are true, Hutch…have fun and best wishes in Fargo.

Shooting from the hip…er, truck

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It never fails: the day after I clean and apply Armor All (or any other shiny tire protectant) to the tires of my truck, I find myself out on a gravel road. Do you know what happens then? Yes, I come home with a truck that looks like it’s rolling on 31-inch donuts with dust sprinkles stuck to them. Today was such a day.

There were some redeeming moments to the trip, however, such as the few minutes I spent on north 26th Street where it turns to gravel. That’s where this windmill stood, with some darkish clouds rolling in from the west. That’s where I got tonight’s photo. I did a run-n-gun kind of thing where I didn’t even get out of the truck. I simply rolled down the window, shot away, and moved along. Sometimes I can take an amazingly crisp handheld photo, even with one of the cheaper lenses in my arsenal. This was one of thoes days, too.

I was going to do some sort of sunset thing, but that really didn’t pan out. It’s rare that one can actually plan a photography outing, so we take what we can get. I also found some other neat stuff to photograph. Some I’ll have to go back for, but that’s why I keep a GPS stuck to my camera bag or clipped into the dash of the truck. When the opportunity arises, I’ll be there!

If you haven’t tried 26th Street all the way north, I highly recommend it. Have fun…it goes a LONG ways!

BAGA presents 63rd annual Fall Art Show

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Today marks the start of the Fall Art show at the BAGA gallery in downtown Bismarck. The event kicks off with an artists’ reception at 5. The show will take place from today, October 2nd, through the 27th. I don’t know what day that is, because I just looked up at the catalog in my office and saw that it’s on July. Time flies, doesn’t it?

One place to go for fall foliage …and ice, in a few months

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I took some time after the University of Mary homecoming game today to venture over to the Missouri River Natural Area trail. It’s tucked next to the Interstate in Mandan, near the refinery exit. To get to the trail, however, one must go into Mandan from the east and turn right by the Bonanza restaurant. The road goes east along I-94’s westbound lane, takes a sharp left, and passes some residential neighborhoods before snaking beneath the Interstate. Right after going under the highway, turn right down the short gravel road and you’re at the trailhead. I find this the better end of the trail from which to start, since the other end involves navigating around the Memorial Bridge construction.

Next to the trailhead is a little inlet that looks quite manmade (and quite old). My friend Joe told me that this is one place where people used to drag ice out of the river way back when. It’s hard to see in this pic since I sized it down so much, but there a bunch of aged wooden pilings along the rocks as well as some metalwork and cables protruding from the dirt. I’ll get back to his part later.

I was worried that I was going to miss all the colors, but that hasn’t happened. I had a birthday party to attend today so I barely got into the trail before I had to work my way back out, but here’s a sample of some of the leaves that are turning from green to gold. The red ones I saw all looked pretty ratty, so I hope to get photos of them later on.

Back to the ice ramp. This is a shot from water level at the point where the pilings stick up from the rocks. I’m sure this was a dock of some sort, or perhaps just a platform. Obviously nature didn’t pile all these rocks here, so this area was definitely used for something in the distant past.

Here’s one of the large cables still protruding from the dirt. Oh, if only they could talk! I am going to have to poke around and see what exactly transpired at this place. Either that or I’ll ask someone who knows what they’re doing to find out for me!

There you have it…a great idea if you want a nice walk with fall colors all around you. There will be plenty of birds and deer and stuff, too! But don’t wait too long…it seems that the truly colorful part of autumn lasts about a week here in Bismarck-Mandan!

Well…again

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In my travels around the Bismarck-Mandan area, I have now had two occasions where I’m surprised by a well sticking out of the middle of a wheat field. I’m no farm kid, but it seems a little odd to me. Why would a hand-pump well be sticking out of a seemingly arbitrary spot in the middle of a field? Isn’t it a pain cutting around it? I guess not.

This is a different well from the one I spotted north of Bismarck early this summer. Both are logged in my GPS in case there are some dramatic skies that could benefit from being photographed with a well in the foreground!