Volume 125, Number 3            Wednesday, February 20th, 2008

Royalty reigns at Maddock Memorial Home
The Maddock Memorial Home held its annual Valentine's Day party February 14. It began with names being drawn for this year's king and queen. Pictured are Queen Ruth Sorenson and King Ansel Haukness. Residents were served steak, twice-baked potato and coleslaw on China plates. Many were attired in red or pink for the day. The afternoon party also consisted of a variety of word games and several games that required blindfolds -- one with whipped cream.

Minot place to be for Eagles fans Feb. 29
Twenty-five years ago a group of young women from Esmond and their loyal fans went to Minot with one goal in mind -- to bring home the ND Class B girls' basketball state championship trophy.
At the end of day three, with a win over Napoleon and a record-setting 78 points scored in the win over Wildrose, the Eagles were on the court with the only team standing in the way of their goal, Washburn. Following is an account of the tournament from the November 23, 1983 issue of the Benson County Farmers Press:
Region 4 titleist, the Esmond Eagles were defeated by Region 6 champions, the Washburn Cardin-als 63-52 for the state title in the North Dakota Class B High School Girls Basketball Tournament Saturday night at Minot. Esmond ended its season 22-3.
The taller Washburn's rebounding & shooting abilities were the main factors in Esmond's loss. Washburn outrebounded Esmond almost by twice as much on a 53-28 advantage. Washburn hit 25 of 41 from the court compared to Esmond's 20 of 72. From the line Esmond connected on 13 of 25 & Washburn sank 13 of 24.
Esmond fell behind Washburn 10-1 in the first 90 seconds of the game, but the Eagles came back to score 5 consecutive buckets to take the lead at the end of the first quarter 14-13. Both teams committed 7 turnovers in the first 8 minutes.
Washburn outscored Esmond 15-6 & 23-11 in the second & third quarters. In the middle of the third period Esmond came within 7 points of Washburn 34-27. In the final quarter Esmond outscored Washburn 21-12.
Washburn finished with 31 turnovers while Esmond had 12. The hardworking Esmond Eagles tiered 11 3-pointers & only 1 was scored. Scoring by quarters it was Esmond 14-13, Washburn 28-20 & 51-31.
Esmond: Jola Streifel 13, Tammy Wolfe 18, Nona Volk 3, Jody Schwab 14, Gina Hoffner 2, Lisa Vetter 2. Washburn: Walker 14, Jenson 10, Shilhanek 15, Ogden 23, Schulz 1.
In the semifinals Friday night Esmond defeated Region 7 titleist Wildrose 78-50.
The Eagles forced 16 Wildrose turnovers in the first half with their tough man-to-man defense. In the second half Wildrose committed 9 turnovers in the third quarter & 8 in the fourth for a 33-game total.
Esmond committed only 7 turnovers in the first half & 17 in the second half. Six of the 11 turnovers in the fourth quarter came in the last 4 minutes after Esmond's substituted came in.
Jody Schwab shot 1.000 from the field in the first quarter, hitting a 3-pointer & 3 field goals for 9 of her 21 points. Schwab added an additional 8 points in the second period.
In the second half Wolfe netted 11 points, Volk 6 of 12 & Hoffner netted a 3-pointer & 2 free throws to stretch Esmond's margin. Volk commanded the boards for 10 of Esmond's 30 rebounds. Wildrose collected 41 rebounds.
Esmond was better from the field for 30 of 62 field goals & from the line for 20 of 26 free throws. Wildrose netted 20 of 46 field goals & 10 of 20 free throws.
The Eagles broke Lidgerwood's record for most points in any game during the state tournament with the 78 total. The record was broken by 5-7 freshman center Gail Goetz. The reserve made 2 free throws to give Esmond the record-breaker. Esmond led at all period stops 21-18, 39-26 & 57-38.
Esmond: Streifel 7, Wolfe 11, Volk 12, Schwab 21, Gina Hoffner 11, Denise Randle 8, Rena Binfet 2, Lisa Vetter 5, Gail Goetz 2.
Wildrose: Solem 21, J. Fortier 2, Ferm 10, Sovik 8, B. Fortier 2, Nygaard 3, Burtman 2, Vatne 2.
Esmond won its opening game of the state event by slapping Napoleon 56-40 Thursday night.
After 9 & one-half minutes of play Esmond had a 17-4 lead & became more effective in the late stages of the game. The Eagles never trailed in the opener.
The match was plagued with 59 turnovers, 40 of which were committed by Napoleon.
At one point in the first half Esmond had a 21-8 lead. Napoleon narrowed the margin to 21-19 in the first 1 & one-half minutes of the third quarter but fell back to within 6 points when the third quarter ended.
Napoleon outrebounded Esmond 36-28 & shot .447 percent from the field. Esmond sank 22 of 52 field shots for .423 percent.
Junior guard Jody Schwab scored 22 points, 7 above her average & senior forward Tammy Wolfe finished with 13 points, 9 in the second half.
Esmond's quarter advantages were 8-4, 21-15 & 35-29.
Esmond: Streifel 7, Wolfe 13, Volk 5, Schwab 22, Gina Hoffner 5, Randle 4.
Napoleon: Piatz 4, L. Schloss 20, Moser 5, Jacob 6, Doll 5.
Though the goal wasn't met, the experience was a memorable one for the team and fans. The 2008 tournament committee is helping bring back the memories by honoring the team on Friday, Feb. 29 prior to the last game of the evening.
The live broadcast will feature the members and coaches in attendance from the two teams that played for the state championship 50 and 25 years ago.
Leigh Wolfe Kaeding contacted the Farmers Press about this honor.
Kaeding and her sister, Tammy Wolfe Epps have arranged for the team and fans to gather after the recognition in room 108 in the southwest corner of court level at the Minot State University Dome, the location of this year's state tournament.
So get out your Esmond Eagles sweatshirts, T-shirts, caps, jackets and jerseys and head to Minot on February 29. The Eagles will soar again and their fans will be there cheering them on.

The 1983-1984 Esmond Eagles girls basketball team took second place at the state Class B tournament 25 years ago and will be honored with the championship team, the Washburn Cardinals at the 2008 ND State Class B Girls Basketball Tournament in Minot on Friday, Feb. 29.
Members of the Eagles team are, bottom row, left to right, statisticians Kathy Grossman, Barb Fix, Michelle Arnold and Sonja Leier. Middle row: Gina Hoffner, Lisa Vetter, Jola Streifel, Darla Wack, Tammy Wolfe, Jody Schwab and Leigh Wolfe. Top row: Coach Gary Schauer, Denise Randle, Nona Volk, Rena Binfet, Gail Goetz, Lisa Hoffner and Coach Robert Bjornson.

Penny collectors
Leeds Elementary students donated 100 pennies each in celebration of the 100th day of school. A total of $128 was collected and donated to Leeds sophomore, Hannah Anderson. Mrs. Pavek and her second grade class are shown presenting a check to Hannah. Left to right are Dani Schwanke, Garrett Johnson, Braydon Follman, Ryan Wangler, Rochelle Hanson and Arnikka Thompson. In the back are Hannah Anderson and Mrs. Pavek.

A few of the elementary students pose with the pennies collected.
Front row, left to right, are Arnikka Thompson, Garrett Johnson, Braydon Follman, Ryan Wangler, Dani Schwanke and Rochelle Hanson. Back row: Gary Redetzke, Taylee Cavanaugh and Katelyn Bingham.

Tournament teams
Three Maddock Bobcats girls' basketball players were named to the District 7 All-District team at the tournament held in Fort Totten February 8, 11 and 12. Left to right are Alisha Knutson, Jessie Schwanke and Courtney Foss. Schwanke was also a finalist for senior athlete of the year. (Photos are courtesy of Eric Gjovik of the New Rockford Transcript.)

The all-tournament team for District 7 is shown. Front row, left to right, Courtney Anderson of Lakota, Ashley Hetle of Carrington, Jessie Schwanke of Maddock and Ashley Sundre of Lakota. Back row: Marleigh Kuchar of Lakota, Cortney Feickert of Harvey, Justene Engels of New Rockford-Sheyenne, Emily Huseth of Harvey, Jessica Hale of Four Winds-Warwick and Maggie Lorenz of Harvey.

Donation for home
Farmers Union Oil Company of Maddock donated $500 to the Maddock Memorial Home for the facelift to the entry of the home. The walls were retextured and painted and new carpet and furniture were put in. As part of its commitment to rural communities, Land O' Lakes Foundation matched the donation with an additional $500 for the project. Presenting the check to Memorial Home administrator Beth Olson is Farmers Union Oil board president Tom Gilbertson.

Pomeroy visits 191st
North Dakota Congressman Earl Pomeroy recently visited troops from the ND Army National Guard 191st Military Police Company at Fort Dix, NJ. The company departed Fargo January 20 for its mobilization station at Fort Dix, where they will spend 45 to 60 days before deploying to Iraq for an 11-month tour of duty.
The 191st is comprised of 187 members from the headquarters unit in Fargo, Detachment 1 from Mayville and Detachment 2 from Bismarck. They will provide security and other support operations in Iraq. Among the soldiers pictured is Raymond Cavanaugh of Fort Totten. The Four Winds school board member is the first person on the left in the second row from the bottom.