Having addressed the City Commission and talked with Keith Hunke of BPW about the matter, I came away satisfied that they’d try to do better in marking areas of gravel on city streets, and I’m happy to say that they’re doing so. I spotted this sign on one of the streets down near Sibley Park the other day. This certainly is one of those areas I’d talked about previously, with no street lights and curves in the road. Thankfully it’s marked with a bright orange sign.
Good job, guys!
There are lots of other engines, planes, and memorabilia to explore at this museum, including a library of aviation books and periodicals. There are plenty of aviation geeks on hand, too. I use the term “geek” in a good sense…there are motorcycle geeks, photography or video geeks, and many other kinds of geeks. We can spot each other a mile away. Geeks tend to know as much about their field of interest as an avid sports fan, and can rattle off airplane facts as if they were quarterback stats.
I’ve wanted to visit this museum forever and never took the opportunity. So, when the TV station I was working for got me a hotel room for an extra night, we ran around Fargo and played for an extra day. Yes, I took my wife with so she could hang out with other TV wives while we were broadcasting college football. That made the weekend into a paid vacation of sorts!
What is a revival meeting? It’s a shot in the arm for Christians, a time of encouragement and a means to recharge and boost spirits. It’s a time to motivate people to get out and reach others for God. A time to revive the passion and enthusiasm of local Christians.
This event is not a membership recruitment drive. It’s not a fundraiser. It’s a time of inspiration and worship. Two visiting missionaries are preaching this week: Joel Logan from Alabama, who’s a pastor of a church there, and Mike Saunders, who has a ministry in the prisons down in Houston, Texas. This is their first time to North Dakota.
Anyone who needs encouragement or wants to hear more from the Bible is invited to attend. There won’t be a lot of fanfare, just Bible study and preachin’. Not only are visitors welcome, they’re also an encouragement. Visit the little church on the corner and see what that means! Tonight at 5, weeknights at 7.
Northern Pacific Railway began construction on this bridge back in 1881, and it’s had a few problems along the way. The east pier has shifted since the bridge’s initial construction, requiring occasional intervention. You can read more about it here if you’re interested. Local history is fun!
Many groups such as the Boy Scouts use events like this to sell homemade items or concessions as a means of fundraising for their organization. A year or two ago, however, the word came down from the Downtowners that nobody could sell pop at this event but the Downtowners themselves. It’s actually in the Food and Vendor Application form available on their website. I asked around to a few of the places that were selling concessions, and none of them were very happy about this arrangement. People at some of the non-profits I talked to admitted that this did affect their fundraising efforts significantly.
The Downtowners allow vendors to sell “brewed coffee, brewed tea, and/or fresh hand squeezed fruit drinks.” I didn’t see anyone running around with much of any of those. I did, however, see a lot of people running around with Coke products sold by the Downtowners.
The Downtowners is the association that whines about parking and a lot of other pet issues they have down there. They actually kept a list of license plate numbers of people who they knew worked downtown so they could complain. When I worked at KFYR-TV, one of our reporters caught wind of that because his vehicle was one that they’d “tagged.”
Apparently some people think that downtown Bismarck is their own little area to regulate as they see fit. It’s just a shame that they’re taking away money from organizations that could really use it. I give the event a big thumbs-up, but the Downtowners Association two thumbs down. Their handling of this part of the Folkfest is a disservice to the community.
Here’s an idea…if they want to monopolize sales of pop so they can protect their deal with Coke, they should allow exemptions for non-profit groups. The exemption could give fundraising organizations the ability to serve fountain pop as long as it’s Coke products. Then the Downtowners could continue to sell the 20 oz bottled drinks exclusively. They could even include a stipulation requiring that soft drinks must be included in a food purchase, such as “Brat & Coke – $4.00” or something. Everybody could do their fundraising, including the Downtowners, and nobody gets cut out. And it would best serve the customer, too…did any of you enjoy waiting in line for a turkey leg, bread bowl, or indian taco, then having to run around to the closest intersection to buy a bottle of Coke?
If you agree with me, click here to email the Downtowners Association and let them know. I bet a few non-profit organizations and their fundraising directors would thank you.
With the releases so high, there aren’t many sandbars remaining. That raises the question of protected habitat for the piping plover and other endangered species that nest on those sandbars. If the Corps could just come up with a decent equitable way of planning the Upper Missouri River management, they wouldn’t compound their problems so badly.
The Rockies have had an eventful fire season this year. Livingston, Montana is currently fighting a fire that’s grown to 29 square miles. My old stompin’ grounds in southwestern Montana is in a similar situation, as are many other areas of the Rocky Mountains right now.
It never fails…when there are large forest fires downwind, we get hazy. Earlier this year it was from Canada, and now from the west. If your allergies have been flaring up, it may be due to the extra stuff kicked into the air by the forest fires, not just smoke from the fires themselves. This can also cause headaches. Great, huh?
I’m a fundamentalist Christian. I read my Bible every day, work to memorize key verses, believe it’s the inspired word of God, and I do my best to live my life accordingly. I’m not a “radical” Christian, although in these days of prosperity preaching and the church growth movement, Christians who actually read their Bible do tend to stand out. But I’m taking my faith at its fundamentals by reading the “instruction manual” that God provided, putting my faith and trust in it, and doing my best to conform my life to God’s teachings in it.
These terrorists are fundamentalist Muslims. They read and memorize the Koran. They believe it’s the inspired words of their god allah and his prophet. They do their best to follow the teachings in it. They are not radical Muslims, they’re just reading the instruction manual that mohammed gave them, and trying to follow it.
How many Christians do you know that are sold out for their faith… witnessing to people, eagerly giving their testimony, and trying to tell others of their need for Jesus Christ as their savior? Certainly not the majority of them. But that’s what God wants us to do: the great commission, as it’s called, is to “go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” While any Christians who do that may stand out in this day and age, they’re the only ones doing what God told them to do.
The same thing pertains to the terrorists. They think a god told them to convert people to their twisted religion, by the sword if necessary. And, while they’re mistaken, they’re doing just what the book they read tells them to do. They might stand out from the millions of peaceful Muslims out there…but if one uses the Koran to judge them, they’re the ones who are really practicing it.
Political correctness will be our undoing. When grandmas are pulled aside and searched while middle Eastern men are given a pass so as not to offend them, then we’re sunk. If we can’t refer to our enemy as what he truly is, then we’ll never defeat him.
Oh, and one more aside; if we figure that these terrorists are just a minority among the nations of Islam, we’re fooling ourselves. Look at all the hate that’s being taught in mosques all around the world, including in our own country. And we’d be naive to think that the peaceful Muslims will make a difference; have you EVER heard a representative of Islam condemn a terrorist act against the West? Never. CAIR is proof that they realize how to beat us over the head with our own politically correct sensitivities. Well, if the “moderate Muslims” here and abroad won’t even speak out against terrorism now, what makes anyone think they’ll make a difference when things get worse?
President Bush: If you really think that it’s a perverted version of Islam that we’re fighting, get better advisors. If you know the truth, please say it. America’s ready to hear it. Take a stand and call on CAIR and other such groups to denounce terrorism… we all know they won’t. Let’s make them show their true colors instead of being afraid to point them out.