CREATING MEMORIES
Although I still feel relatively young, the best aspect about aging in North Dakota are the fond memories of the North Dakota people.
As a teenager, I started a sheep shearing business. What began as a small venture quickly grew into a journey that carried me from farm to farm, reaching every corner of the state. Each day brought new introductions, lasting friendships and a deeper appreciation for the diversity and character of North Dakota and its communities.
CLOSE TO HOME
Support your store. Sure, they don’t have large quantities, but it is better than driving far away to get groceries. If customers don’t support the small-town stores, they close, and there goes the store. And you know the owners. You don’t have to drive that far.
Allen Eberle
KEM Electric Cooperative
UNFORGETTABLE MEMORIES
I have so many memories of the past. I only had 19 years with my dad, but they were the best years.
He was a hugger with a heart of gold who gave the biggest bearhugs. I didn’t know time was of the essence when I was growing up on the farm with him. There were many nights of carrying 5-gallon pails of water to the barn to help feed the calves, loading and stacking square bales and picking rocks in the fields.
TRIBULATIONS OF 1996-97
Halfway through the winter of 1996-97, I found myself questioning my family’s decision to make North Dakota our home.
Blizzard after blizzard often stranded us at home, making it impossible to get to work and school.
Our teenage son was quickly inducted into the unofficial defensive winter driving club. I am grateful for the many people who pulled him out of deep snowdrifts and ditches.
BRIGHT LIGHTS
My favorite Christmas tradition is when we light my grandpa’s Christmas lights for the first time. Someone pushes the button to light the backyard lights, and someone pushes the button for the lights in the front.
Every inch of space is lit with millions of lightbulbs. It is the most magical thing ever!
Paige Ahmann, age 13
Capital Electric Cooperative
CARING FOR COMMUNITIES
As someone who works with multiple youth organizations, I know a thing or two about different places to go to get volunteer power or monetary donations. I almost always go to a cooperative first. They are happy to help, because they want the same thing I do: caring communities! The greatest benefit of being a member is feeling the sense of pride of the entire group and the ability to ask and receive much-needed help.
Aspen Lenning
Adams County Extension agent, agricultural and natural resources
GOING OUT WITH A BANG
My mother was a hard worker who helped on the neighbor’s farm when I was little. Fast-forward about 40 years. It was the last year my husband and I farmed and the last harvest. Back then, our equipment was on its last legs. We gave my mother the job of driving truck.
We had about half the field left to combine and we hear a BANG! She hopped out of the truck and over those windrows so fast! She thought she had wrecked the truck, but one of the inside dual tires blew. I don’t think I had ever seen my mother move that fast.
HUNTER PINKE
Hunter Pinke is a North Dakota athlete from Wishek who inspires me! He was a star University of North Dakota football player when his life changed in a moment.
He came to our school and did a presentation about how a skiing accident in Colorado changed his life. As he was skiing, he collided with another skier and hit a tree. Because of that accident, he is now paralyzed from his chest down.
REUNITING WITH HISTORY
My favorite part of North Dakota’s history is the present. Two years ago, I saw a book, “Fly in the Buttermilk: One Black Man’s Odyssey,” by Robert L. Polk at a bookstore in Minot. It was published in 2022.
I immediately called a friend who had been a fellow camper in 1947 at the North Dakota Congregational Bible Camp at Lake Metigoshe. It was there we met Polk, who was on the summer staff.
