Volume 125, Number 1            Wednesday, February 6th, 2008

Olson named Engineer of Year
Minnewaukan native Glenn Olson is the recipient of the City Engineer of the Year Award for 2007 for the state of Minnesota. He is the city engineer at Marshall, Minn., a city of about 12,000, and also serves as interim city administrator. A 1972 graduate of Minnewaukan High School, he is the son of Jimmie and Ally (Melvor) Olson of Hillsboro and Minnewaukan. His wife, Connie, is also a 1972 graduate of Minnewaukan High School and is the daughter of Stanley Johnson of Grand Forks and the late Clele (Newcomb) Johnson. Glenn was city engineer in Devils Lake from 1982 until the early 2000s. The surprise award was presented to him in front of 150 to 200 fellow city engineers.

Chili cook off held
The Annual Chili Cook Off Contest was held at Spirit Lake Casino & Resort Sunday, Feb. 3 to kick off the Super Bowl game. There were 19 entries in the contest. First place winner of $300 was Chris Johnson of St. Michael, center. Taking second place and $200 was Darrel Thumb of Ft. Totten, right, and in third place was Shirlene Feather of Ft. Totten, left, who took home $100.

The panel of judges for the chili cook off is pictured. Left to right are Larry Carson, sous chef at The View fine dining restaurant at the Spirit Lake Casino & Resort; Alan Blumenfeld, executive chef of The View; Louise Oleson, editor of the Devils Lake Journal; Greg Otis, executive director of the Devils Lake Chamber of Commerce; and John Tollefson, food and beverage director at the Spirit Lake Casino & Resort.

In music festival
Two seniors from Leeds High School have been selected from live auditions to participate in the 42nd Annual All-State Music Festival in Bismarck. Lindsay Anderson, left, daughter of Greg and Karen Anderson, will perform in the All-State Band and Amber Bracken, right, daughter of Richard and Melody Bracken, will perform in the All-State Women's Chorus. These two were chosen from hundreds of Class A and Class B students who auditioned for the honor. The girls will rehearse March 27-29 and perform in a concert at the Bismarck Civic Center on March 29.

Show top heifers
Eleven-year-old Andrew Arnold of Minot shows his heifer "Butterscotch," which was the supreme champion Gelbvieh heifer and the overall supreme champion heifer in the Junior Show at the KMOT Ag Expo in Minot January 26. He took home a $500 check. Judge Kris Pederson holds a facsimile of the check.

Ten-year-old Annika Arnold of Minot shows her heifer "Lula Belle," which was the reserve champion Gelbvieh heifer in the show. Andrew and Annika are the children of Rob and Holly (Erickson) Arnold, formerly of Esmond. Grandparents are Louis and Helen Arnold of Esmond and Milton and Darlene Erickson of Maddock. The Arnolds (Rob, Bill and Louis) sell 30 to 40 Gelbvieh and Balancer bulls each year. Their production sale is scheduled for February 10 in Mandan.