SUPERHERO TRAITS
This is why my pets are superheroes:
Super-Simba
Simba is a super cat. Why? He was gone for 18 months before our neighbor girl, Sami, found him and brought him to us in February! He braved all the storms and found food for himself, when we thought he had been attacked hunting!
If he was a superhero, I would find him saving the world from being without adorable cats.
He enjoys my father's lap at night, attacking rugs and, of course, catnip.
Super-Buddy!
RECYCLE
Recycling can drink up a lot of funds, but I would like to see the community in which I live (Bowman) recycle many things that we unthinkingly toss in the trash can.
Clean glass, plastic, cardboard and newspapers, if they were separated and recycled, would greatly decrease the quantity being hauled to the landfill. Recycling aluminum cans, which Bowman does, is an awesome beginning, but recycling other items as well would be so rewarding.
Yvonne Stegner
Slope Electric Cooperative
SHARING LUNCH
My mom owns a sandwich shop in Minot, and ever since the COVID-19 and homeschooling started, my mom has been giving kids that need lunch some sandwiches, oranges and apples and some vegetables. Me and my friends have been helping her out so she can get the job done faster.
Paisley Staley
Verendrye Electric Cooperative
OFF THE BEATEN PATH
I was born and raised in North Dakota and nurtured at a young age with a love for all it has to offer. I am always amazed by fellow North Dakotans who have never traveled off the major artery roads. Best-kept secrets can be found off every off-ramp of Interstate 94, county road or highway.
RECYCLING PAYS
Celebrating Earth Day each year has given me the impetus to be very concerned environmentally. It all began, to my best recollection, when I was in the first grade, and there was a war effort due to the start of World War II. We were bringing metal cans, which were washed and labeled. Both ends were removed from the cans, then they were flattened. My family had good times doing this, carrying them and all newspapers to the building behind our school for pickup by the dray line in our small town and transported out of state by train.
TREAT OTHERS WITH KINDNESS
Every New Year’s, resolutions are made and broken at a frantic rate: lose weight, quit smoking, save more money. The list is endless with our good intentions, but the average resolution goes by the wayside in about 30 days, according to studies.
I often wonder what would happen if we all practiced something we were taught as children: Treat others as you want to be treated.
MINOT PARK DISPLAY
The Minot Sertoma Christmas in the Park light display is a must during every holiday season. The already beautiful Oak Park is miraculously turned into a twinkling extravaganza of glowing lights and magical scenes of winter wonderland. Old and young, family and friends, enjoy feelings of joy, peace and hope for all mankind during this seasonal drive.
Eileen Dolan, member of Verendrye Electric Cooperative
LEADING ENERGY INDUSTRY
I believe the new technology involved in fracking our vast amounts of oil has impressed me the most. We were 11th in the nation, with 5,000 wells in 2012, but fracking has now moved us to second place, with 1.44 million barrels a day from thousands of wells.
Other states are now using the technology, too. It has helped increase America's energy supply, something that seemed impossible 15 years ago.
Marlene Kouba, member of Slope Electric Cooperative
