Cally Peterson

“There’s this culture of being tough and having to suck it up, and that is why you have such a high burnout rate,” she says.

She speaks from experience. In 1991, Thompson moved to Steele from Wisconsin. A new neighbor asked her if she wanted to join the ambulance squad. She agreed. The neighbor handed her a pager, and just like that, she was on call.

Four hours later, the pager went off.

“I had no training whatsoever, no orientation. I didn’t even know the crew. And I was just told to show up to the ambulance hall,” she recalls.

She, like many engaged in the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), supported women’s right to vote, about as much as she favored prohibition. It was due, in part, to both these lesser-known suffragists and suffragist leaders in North Dakota – Dr. Cora Smith Eaton, Elizabeth Preston Anderson, Clara L. Darrow and Linda Slaughter – that the state Legislature swiftly passed the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, giving women the right to vote upon ratification Aug. 18, 1920.

“You can’t sit around here and do nothing, or you’re going to be crazy,” she told Dixie.

The tight-knit Keene community encouraged Dixie to open the café, knowing she had worked in restaurants since her teen years.

“My biggest fear was I didn’t know how to make soup, or omelets,” she recalls, knowing that soup-and-omelet making would be required by the job.

SUPPLY CHAIN DISRUPTIONS
Disruptions in the supply chain and slaughter capacity limitations from temporary closures or reduced workforce have caused frustration for ranchers and consumers alike.

“That limitation has caused an impact by backing up the supply,” Ellingson says. “I’ve heard from many producers that have been unable to obtain a bid – they have fed cattle ready to go – not just a low bid, but no bid, for weeks on end because there hasn’t been an outlet for them to deliver it to.”

Many factors outside of Thompson’s control will determine if she can oblige Mundt’s request. Price. Supply. Distribution. Allocation. Add the increased price tag to obtain lower volumes of goods and higher transportation costs to rural areas, and the shelf price of gingersnaps might be more than Mundt or other customers are willing to pay. The options dim. Sell the cookies at a loss or don’t get the gingersnaps at all?

This conundrum speaks to a much larger issue – one that has been given a platform by a worldwide pandemic.

While their stories intersect today because of their jobs in a worldwide pandemic, there is clear distinction between the two. For him, it is governing and leading North Dakota through a big – uneasy and uncertain – moment in history. For her, it’s using this new platform (that she never asked for and certainly would give back) to create awareness and turn hearts toward inclusion.

“Social media can cause conflict and be viewed in a bad light, but this project has brought so much joy,” she says. “Some of these photos have reached their families thousands of miles away.”
“The smiles are so genuine, laid back and easy,” she says.

Since starting her Front Porch Project, Mueller estimates that she has photographed around 100 families, with more in the works.

“As people heard what we were doing, the response has just been immense,” she says. “I am still just shocked how willing and happy everyone was to participate.”

“It’s so relaxing. Having a view of the water is one of the greatest things,” he says. “Living on the lake, your scenery is changing all the time. When we lived in town, all you see is snowpiles in the winter, where at the lake, even in wintertime, every time you look out, something has changed.”

That’s because gelato is made with more milk than cream, compared to regular ice cream, and has about half the butterfat content. Gelato is also churned slower and warmer, Murphy explains, and incorporates less air, helping to keep it dense, fluid and creamy.

The daughter of dairy farmers from the Netherlands, Murphy’s heart was for dairy, but she didn’t want to be the farmer. She dreamt of a value-added agriculture enterprise.

Today’s gamechanger is quite different – the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. It has spread across the globe, forcing temporary closures of school buildings and brick-and-mortar businesses. The changes have been rapid, the virus’ reach all-encompassing.

“I knew that (COVID-19) was going to move, and it was going to move pretty quickly,” Pretzer recalls thinking when the World Health Organization (WHO) shared news of the newly discovered coronavirus disease in early January. “We needed to start planning.”