Eye on the ball

The Hillsboro Burros, a post-season playoff team last year, held their first practice of the new season Tuesday night at midnight, a tradition with the Mark Rerick-coached HHS squad. Their second practice was later Wednesday morning, the start of two-a-days. The Burros’ first game is Tuesday, Aug. 26 at Thompson. The first home game is Friday, Aug. 29 against Central Valley.

Dream job found in Hillsboro School

Born in Germany, half way around the world, Terry Baesler landed a job in Hillsboro.

By NEIL O. NELSON

Opportunities, all around.

When he was a lineman in Ohio, Terry Baesler dreamed he might have chosen the wrong profession.

He could have been a teacher; many in his family were, including his mother.

Glen Campbell gave linemen a license to dream, right?

After seven years as a lineman with the Dayton, Ohio, Power and Light Company, Terry Baesler decided he wanted to be in education, preferably closer to home.

So, he packed his bags and came home to North Dakota, returning to college, where he earned degrees at Mayville State University and North Dakota State University at Fargo. 

Rahr at Taft keep trucks rolling

The barley harvest this time of the year has trucks jockeying for position on a daily basis at the Rahr Malting Co. at Taft.
The semi-frenzied routine — customary at harvest — returns after the valley’s corn and bean leave the fields.
Kevin Grothmann, independent trucker out of Hillsboro, hauls on a regular basis from the Taft elevator to Rahr’s giant receiving station at Shakopee, Minn., just outside Minneapolis.
Rahr’s own truckers, in addition to the independent drivers, have been going out of their way to accommodate the highway construction currently underway in Hillsboro. The detour back north to the Mayville interchange on I-29 adds a few miles and minutes to the daily run south to Shakopee. 

Barley first crop to come off fields in 2008 harvest

Rahr Malting

By NEIL O. NELSON
Mark Steenson combined his first field of barley Sunday.
Rain Monday stopped the harvest.
Tuesday’s early rain didn’t help matters; barley sprouting in the swaths was suddenly problematic.
Still, Steenson is guessing there’s a “pretty fair crop out there.”
But it’s a long ways from being in the grain bin, he suggests.
All reports suggest the barley crop this year in the Hillsboro area, especially, is better than pretty fair.
No argument from Mark Steenson.
Swathed barley losing quality and weight is cause for nervousness, however.
No argument there from Steenson, either.
“But, we’re still fortunate,” he says. Out west, they don’t have a crop, he added.
“It’s tough out there.”
The farmers along Hwy. 83 and west had input costs, too. When there’s no little or no payback, the issue is more than just problematic, Steenson hints. 

HTC offers community grant program

Halstad Telephone Company recently introduced its Community Co-operation Grant Fund to assist with projects in HTC’s service area.
Projects eligible for the grant program “sustain and enhance life, safety and growth of a community,” according to HTC.
Grants through the program are available to bona fide community organizations for projects of more than $500 for 2008. Projects must primarily benefit people who reside in the towns of HTC’s service area, namely Halstad, Shelly, Nielsville, Climax, Bygland and Fisher in Minnesota and Hillsboro, N.D. 

Forced family fun.

Michelle McLean

In a house with three teenagers, it seems we don’t take the time for all-day family outings like we used to. The kids have all got summer jobs and boyfriends or girlfriends to keep them busy. Outings with old Mom and Dad fall farther down the list of “things to do” than a decade ago when the terrific trio was 8, 7 and 5.
As Mom, I dictated that a fun family outing was mandatory before the summer slipped away — and our oldest departed for college. I reserved last Saturday on everyone’s calendar and scheduled an estimated departure time for 9 a.m. — in the van and pulling out of the driveway. 

Energy challenge locks us in ‘fail-safe’

If the earth holds its breath until the United States takes the lead in tackling the energy crisis, it will die of asphyxiation. As the biggest glutton in the world energy market, the United States will never find it to its economic interest to curb energy consumption.

First, there are political problems. When the pipeline was full and gas was cheap, everybody favored conservation over consumption. That has changed. According to the Pew Research Center, support for more exploration and drilling went up 33 per cent between February and June and support for more conservation and regulation went down 20 per cent. 

Over the Years

60 YEARS AGO
August 13, 1948 — Hillsboro city supt. I.E. Lane reported that there was little difference in the quality of water between the city’s old wells and new ones. Tests conducted by UND labs showed a slighter degree of hardness and more sodium, which creates a greater laxative effect. The water sources will be blended in a new pump house, which was to be constructed as soon as materials were available.
Supt. Lars Grant announced that school in Hillsboro would start Tuesday, Sept. 7. Thirteen teachers were contracted to teach, including two new faculty members, Esther Halvorsen, 4th grade and James Holo, high school music.
50 YEARS AGO 

Borghild Aanderud

Borghild Aanderud, 83, Hillsboro, N.D. died Friday, August 7, 2008 at Hillsboro Medical Center.
Funeral services were Tuesday, August 12 at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Hillsboro. Burial was at Viking Cemetery near Maddock, N.D.
Wildeman Funeral Home of Hillsboro was in charge of arrangements.