Serving Roseau County for over 100 Years - The Official Roseau County Newspaper
Serving Roseau County for over 100 Years - The Official Roseau County Newspaper
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by Jeff Olsen Not many days go by that Jared and Christy Olafson of Warroad don't feel blessed. They have four great kids - and that includes Knox, a true medical marvel. "They amputated his entire left knee when he was four," said his dad, Jared, speaking by cellphone in early November. Knox is 11, a Warroad fifth grader, and loves to hunt. His mom referred to him as "Dead Eye!" For sure, Lucky is also applicable. He got this terrific deal for a free hunting trip in Texas starting at the...
by Jeff Olsen Start with the soda crackers. Matt is the muncher, at least at that moment that they both saw the buck at almost the same time. That buck didn't stand a chance. It had to be thinking, "Who are these hombres and how come they keep shooting me?" It was Thursday, November 14, and both Matt and Mark Przekwas have big families. So, venison is important for the former Roseau High School graduates now living six miles apart in rural Lancaster. "We did shoot it on state land," Mark said....
Dateline - Sunday morning. It’s just four days before Thanksgiving, which means I can wish those who mean the most to me, "Happy Thanksgiving!" If you end up washing a bathtub of dishes that day, it might not be all that happy. Just call it KP Thursday, and make sure the elderly beggars earn their keep. "It's your turn, Granny. You start with the pots and pans." Thanksgiving Day should also be a day to complain. Take me. I bought a used truck for about 12 grand last spring, and it started d...
by Jeff Olsen How Mr. Olesen ever got to Roseau High School is part of his remarkable journey. He hails from near Copenhagen, Denmark, and he is a jack-of-all trades, a musician, a carpenter, and a delightful character. He came to America in 1988. "I was an exchange Boy Scout leader, and I worked at various Boy Scout bases around America. His future wife was the cook at the Boy Scout base camp in Ely. "And that's how I met her." A good-looking lady? "Oh, absolutely! I married her." He was in...
by Jeff Olsen It started in June and Britt Dahl, the director and curator of the Roseau County Museum, was thinking everything would be completed by August. She was referring to the new shelving being installed at the museum. "We've had two crews so far. The first group of guys came on June 10, and then they were replaced by a three-member crew on June 17. Dahl was speaking in late June and explaining that the present crew is currently installing everything. "We got our last truckload yesterday,...
Which is not my bag. I view everything like a jewel thief. I'm looking for fakes and frauds. The biggest ones are politicians. All last weekend, there were various headlines on Trump and his dream team planning to prosecute certain active duty and/or retired generals by activating them so they can be charged with treason. Treason for what? Sure, 13 American service members died in a terrorist attack when someone blew himself up at the Kabul airport. Trump wants to prosecute them for that. And fo...
by Jeff Olsen On Monday afternoon before the Veterans Day Program kicked off at the Roseau High School gym, kindergartners stood on each side of the hallway waving flags in anticipation of when the veterans would begin marching in. None of them said, "Hey, mister, take my picture!" It's unlikely they will remember this particular day, but it was memorable in many ways. For sure, the older veterans will. Some have never forgotten coming home from overseas and there was no fanfare. On Veterans...
For years, I loved writing this column. It was fun and I had such wonderful characters to cover. Guys like Steve "Dog" Furuseth, Tallahassee Slim, Big Ernie and even goofy politicians. Furuseth was the best. No, he's not dead, but he could cause delightful mischief for everyone! Big Ernie is dead. He was a deer hunter and member of the "Over the Hill Gang" out in the Beltrami Island State Forest, a good sized bloke in his seventies who hailed from the Dilworth area and made very strong drinks. A...
by Jeff Olsen Former President Donald J. Trump won the November 5 General Election in convincing fashion becoming only the second former president to win nonconsecutive terms, which was earlier accomplished by Democrat Grover Cleveland, the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. He had served as president from 1885 to 1889 and 1893 to 1897. Mr. Trump, while not winning in a landslide, won handily and will be the oldest ever to be sworn into office in January. His opponent, Vice President...
In August, Mike Rentfrow, a 1984 Roseau High School graduate, was reached in Texas. We’ve talked in recent years. I had to be honest that I wouldn't live in Texas for the all the money in the world. "And I wouldn't leave. It's been too good to me," he said, and we laughed. He had served overseas in Desert Storm as a combat engineer. "I spent eight or nine months over there with the 650th Terminal Transportation Unit pulling equipment around during and after Desert Storm.” During Mike's ove...
I ran for public office once. Never again. Dogs hated me. Greenbush was the nicest town to campaign in. Never saw any dogs. Maybe they ate them. Won't forget Warroad where I caught one of my opponents removing my 3-cents apiece campaign cards that I had taped to the various residences. He would have made a great politician. He's a Republican although we weren't running on party affiliations. Badger really stood out. One couple, at least in their eighties, opened their front door and didn't...
by Jeff Olsen For Army Vietnam veteran David Vacura, it was almost like being in Heaven. He didn't have to shine his shoes, polish his brass, or even pull latrine duty. Quite possibly, the Badger native now knows what it’s like to be an Army four star general. Three from Roseau County were on the Veterans Honor Flights in late September - Mr. Vacura, Elroy Britten, and Lloyd Fugleberg. Next, meet LeRoy Vigen, one of the veterans from Thief River Falls. LeRoy has Roseau ties through his daughter,... Full story
by Jeff Olsen Trekker Homstad is a Roseau 7th grader, an experienced deer hunter, and missing the Kids' Opener on October 19 would be like skipping his birthday party. But his dad Ross did encourage his son to sleep some more. "We were north of Lancaster and we had hauled the Ice Castle to use as a deer camp." They slept there overnight. "I got up at 5 a.m. to make breakfast and I felt his forehead to wake him up and he felt just hot to the touch." Luckily, Ross, who is a physical therapist at L... Full story
by Jeff Olsen In early October, Scott Hostvedt, the owner of Scott's True Value in Roseau, was witnessing the end of a career at his hardware store on Main Avenue. It will be a big change. Anyone who owns a hardware store is never in a bind when they need something at two in the morning for a leaky faucet and the wife wants it fixed right now. Luckily, Scott is a bachelor, so no troubles there. For the personable businessman, it has been tough making a living in a town with numerous hardware...
by Jeff Olsen It's some mural! Classy and also intriguing. Sinnamon Krings, the Promotions Director for the Roseau Civic & Commerce and the Visitors Bureau, put it all in perspective. All it took was an explanation. "Letter R stands for the Roseau County Fair; O is for hockey and it is important here. The Number 7 is on that wall, too. Neal Broten wore that number; S is for the sunflowers for farmers. We wanted to incorporate it into the painting somehow and our beautiful sunsets. Letter E is...
by Jeff Olsen For Shelly Hlucny, now 52, December 15, 2015, wasn't the best birthday she's ever had. "It was probably the worst. I was 43," she said, admitting that there had been some alarm signals. "It started like there was a little pinching in my armpit, actually like somebody was grabbing your skin with their fingernails." She'd be watching TV or doing anything, and there would be that unusual sensation. "I probably waited six months before going to the doctor. I felt the lump and had the p...
by Jeff Olsen On the final Wednesday in September, Leif Eidsmoe, who led a group of sophomores, faculty members and DNR foresters to the Roseau School Forest, was impressed. "It was awesome, it was hot, and it was good," he said with a chuckle. There are some years that the weather is absolutely lousy and bitterly cold or damp. Not this time. By noon, it was about 80 degrees. "That's better than rain," he said, mentioning that it was mostly the same forestry crew. "Except we had three younger...
by Jeff Olsen When school ended in early June, numerous kids might have thought, "Beautiful! No more reading." Well, they were wrong. At the Roseau Public Library, librarians Stacey Rusek and Tessa Zimney had some of these same kids excited about reading. "From ages up to 17, we had them sign up at the very beginning of the summer and each received a prize, a little bag of goodies, and information about our summer reading," said Stacey. She added that they did something different this summer.... Full story
by Jeff Olsen Darlene Danielson and her teammates did it again as they raised considerable money for further medical research. Darlene isn't exactly a spring chicken, but nobody does it better in lassoing in the donations for a great cause. Somewhere out in the universe, St. Jude, the patron saint of impossible causes, is smiling down on an old gal like Darlene, who's not some dainty lass but a manure-stepping, unflappable promoter for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. "This was the 25th...
On Saturday afternoon, it was a good bet that a gathering of middle-aged wrestlers would include some take downs by the 1996 wrestling squad. Two of their teammates, Dr. Chad Anderson and Dr. Joel Fugleberg, were available to do back, neck and knee manipulations if their chiropractic services were required. None was needed. Everyone seemed content to remember old memories even if they could easily have shot a takedown on a teammate and then the fun would begin. The most likely chap to start it...
by Jeff Olsen Scotie Bellefy smiled when asked the correct spelling of his name after mentioning he grew up in Bagley, Minnesota. "That's the name my mom gave me." He's 56 and in late September he was a "short-timer" as they say in the military about a guy preparing to return to civilian life and no longer having to salute, pull KP, and pick up cigarette butts when some NCO or officer decides to make life even more miserable. Scotie has always been a civilian at heart even as a federal... Full story
by Jeff Olsen Shelby Eitenmiller laughed when told she has an unusual name. She is relatively new to Roseau, having moved here about 17 months ago for a position at Polaris. "I'm their marketing and recruitment specialist in their H.R. Department," she said. Her voice sounded familiar. Are you the voice that WILD 102 listeners hear on the radio? "That's me." She smiled. "I write our radio ads and go up to WILD 102 and Craig records them." She laughed when it was noted that she has a young voice...
I'm getting so much religion from this newspaper lately between the letters-to-the-editor from all over creation - meaning not from around here - and a regular reporter that I could almost feel religious. Spare me, Oh Lord! Am I opposed to abortion? No, and I've never been pregnant, raped, or knocked up by some cheap politician. Some days, I wish I had been aborted, but my mother suffered three miscarriages in the 1930s and she had wanted four kids, at least that's how it turned out - with me...
by Jeff Olsen In their own words, the four candidates prepared their résumés for City of Roseau voters. These profiles appear in the order in which they arrived at the Roseau Times-Region. OLIVER ULLMAN I am 44 years young. I grew up in Roseau and purchased my first home in 2004. I am married to a stellar woman named Joanna! We have four outgoing children, Launa (15), Meryk (13), Fynn (9), and Joy (8). My main hobbies include the three G's: Grilling, Golfing, and Giving a helping hand w...
by Jeff Olsen The busier the better is Orlando Peralta's motto. "Welcome to Dahlia's Coffee Co., where your coffee experience is anything but ordinary. Nestled in the heart of Roseau, our shop offers more than just a place to grab a cup of coffee. It's a destination where community, comfort, and craftsmanship blend seemlessly," said Orlando, an established local businessman. He and his wife, Chantel, have owned the Dairy Queen going on nine years, but the Thief River Falls native is not some...