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9/21/2005 – News


Volume 122, Number 33             Wednesday, September 21st, 2005



Hunting has been good
These hunters got their limit of five Canadian honkers the last day of the early goose season. Clint Campbell of Whistling Wings Outfitters of Devils Lake, center, was the guide for the hunters from Harford County, Md. Left to right, each holding five honkers are Bernie Michael, Campbell and Steve Martinek. Hunters had very good luck during the season because geese are plentiful in the area.


Leeds nurse helps gather items for Lutheran World Relief
BY SARA J. PLUM
A stop at the gas pump today almost requires a loan. Yet we need fuel to get to work, school, appointments, etc. A daily commute to work in this area is anywhere from 10 miles to 90 miles or more. Now imagine commuting 460 miles one way to get to your job. A Leeds woman does just that.
Ruth Budd is a neonatal nurse practitioner working in Minneapolis, Minn.
Most medical personnel do not work 9 to 5, and Ruth is no different. For five years she has been driving to Minneapolis every month where she works a 24 hours on, 24 hours off rotation for a period of eight to 12 days.
Until a year ago she stayed in a hotel. Now Ruth stays with a fellow nurse and her family where she has her own bedroom in the basement.
Ruth’s shifts are at one of three locations. Her main work location is in a 41-bed neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at the University of Minnesota Children’s Hospital, Fairview, a pediatric teaching and research facility.
Her patients include critical care babies who are referred by other doctors and high risk pregnancies that require complete bed rest and 24 hour care for the mother. The other locations are Fairview Southdale in Edina and Fairview Ridges in Burnsville. These hospitals average 4,000 births a year and each has a 15 bed, Level 2 care NICU.
So why is Ruth working in Minneapolis when North Dakota has major hospitals in Minot, Grand Forks, Bismarck and Fargo? One reason is there weren’t many jobs here for someone with her advanced training and education, and as a minister’s wife and mother of two, she wanted work that would fully use her talents, yet give her the ability to spend quality time with her family.
Another reason is pay. Even with the price of gas and the cost of living in the Minneapolis area, Ruth makes more working there part-time than she would as a full-time floor nurse here.
She has worked at a couple of local nursing homes, as a part-time nursing instructor at Minot State University (MSU) and as an NICU floor nurse at Trinity Hospital in Minot. Then one day she received a postcard from Fairview saying it was in desperate need of nurse practitioners, please call if interested. She called and asked if she could be scheduled for one week a month, approximately 100 hours. The facility accepted her offer.
A nurse practitioner, to put it in simple terms, is a registered nurse with a master’s degree in his/her chosen speciality. Nurse practitioners are qualified to be instructors and have the ability to diagnose, administer treatment and prescribe medications, and must be able to do all three in a split second when a life is on the line and a doctor is not nearby. Ruth received her bachelor’s degree in nursing at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio and her master’s from Ohio State University. She has been a certified nurse practitioner since 1983. The Minneapolis job also required her to be credentialed. This took four months and involved checking her job performance at every nursing position she has ever had.
Besides the Minneapolis job, Ruth also fills in two to three weekends a year at MedCenter One in Bismarck and will be a clinical instructor at Trinity Hospital this semester. She will work with 15 LPN’s from Lake Region State College in Devils Lake and Williston State College, spending seven days with them in the labor and delivery area and one day in the NICU.
As mentioned before, Ruth is a minister’s wife and mother. Her husband of
31 years, Rich Budd, serves the Leeds Lutheran Parish and is an avid ham radio operator. Her son, Nathan works at Trinity Hospital in Minot as a phlebotomist (or as Ruth lovingly puts it, "vampire") and is pursuing a degree in business and IT management at MSU. Daughter Adrienne works in the nursery at a daycare center in Grand Forks.
One of Ruth’s pet projects at church is the layettes the WELCA and quilting ladies put together for Lutheran World Relief (LWR). The layettes consist of two receiving blankets, two gowns, two T-shirts, one sweater, two washcloths, one bar of soap, four cloth diapers and two diaper pins.
Remnants are used to make the receiving blankets, washcloths and diapers.
The rest of the items are donated by the ladies. Ruth loves to attend garage sales and browse through dollar stores, so she is unofficially in charge of finding sweaters and whatever other bargains she can.
Layette and school kits are sent twice a year, May and October. Shirley Young and Mona Jorgenson pack and label boxes for shipment. Jo and Keith Streyle take on the job of delivering, recruiting people and vehicles as needed. They take the kits to Grand Forks or Minot, whichever place has an available semi. From there the boxes go to Minneapolis and then to Baltimore, Maryland where LWR is headquartered. Last year the church provided over 400 layettes which were sent to approximately 55 overseas areas that receive assistance from LWR. Ruth was quick to point out that these results are due to the efforts of many in the church and community.
Ruth loves her work with the babies and talked about wanting to find a way to help those ravaged by HIV/Aids, especially those in African countries where the governments can’t or won’t help. She has spoken to nurses who have volunteered in these countries about the heartache they have seen and experienced. Women infected with the Aids virus are giving their babies a death sentence by feeding them what should be the best nourishment for them
– mother’s milk.
When an infected mother gives birth the baby has a chance of being Aids-free, but at least two things need to happen. First, medication must be given to the mother while she is pregnant, and to the baby right at birth. Second, the baby needs to be put on formula since HIV/Aids can be passed through breast milk. Since there is no medication, formula (liquid or powdered), or bottled water available, these babies do not stand a chance.
When we pull up to the gas pumps, we wonder when the price will go down.
When Ruth Budd pulls up to the pumps, she wonders how the babies are doing in Minneapolis, how many more sweaters, diaper pins, etc. are needed to finish the layettes, and how a simple minister’s wife and mother of two can convince pharmaceutical and baby formula companies to help save a baby’s life.

Ruth is standing next to the May Lutheran World Relief shipment. These boxes will travel from Leeds to places like China, Sudan, the Central African Republic and Mongolia.

The layette set on Ruth Budd’s lap is one of more than 200 put together by the Leeds Lutheran Parish WELCA and quilting ladies. Remnants are used to make the majority of the layettes. When someone finds a deal on a large piece of flannel, Irma Dulmage and Ruth make diapers. There are some babies in this world wearing very colorful diapers right now.



About 80 take water tour
The ND Water Education Foundation conducted a tour of the area Sept. 13.
Among places visited were the Kenner Slough and gardendwellers Farm in Ramsey County and BTR Farmers Co-op, the Devils Lake Basin Joint Board’s experimental irrigation project near Leeds, a lunch and talk by Dr. John Bluemle at Minnewaukan and a tour of the state’s outlet to Devils Lake in Benson County. Some members of the tour look over the outlet’s gravel filter. The outlet is not operating at present because flows in the Sheyenne River are not sufficient to blend with Devils Lake water.

Duane Anderson is shown at the site of the experimental irrigation project near Leeds. In the background are NDSU personnel explaining the studies they will be doing. Because of excessive rainfall in the area the irrigation project has not yet started. It is expected some water will be placed on the land this fall after all the monitoring equipment has been installed in the fields and harvest is completed. Purpose of the project is to use as much water as possible.

Dr. John Bluemle, retired state geologist, gave the approximately 80 tour participants some information about Devils Lake. Bluemle has been studying Devils Lake for many years.

Bob Yri, left, gave a tour of the BTR Farmers Co-op, perhaps the most modern grain elevator in the state. Yri said a rail car could be loaded in four minutes. Visiting with him is Donovan Herman of Devils Lake, formerly of Brinsmade.



Women give funds
Scott Foss of Maddock accepts a check for $1,500 from Joann Bergrud of the Active Women of Maddock for use in the Multi-Purpose Building being constructed west of the Maddock School. The proceeds came from the sale of fireworks by the Active Women of Maddock.

Wanda Terpening accepts a check from Amber Neppl of the Active Women of Maddock for use by Kids on the Block, Inc. The money came from bingo conducted by the Active Women of Maddock.



Leeds candidates
Candidates for homecoming royalty at Leeds are, left to right, back row:
Michael Tofsrud, son of Allan and DeShawn Tofsrud; Cody Biby, son of Darryl and Connie Biby; Miah Masterson, son of Trudie Dyste and the late Ralph Masterson; and George Herman, son of Reg and Eileen Herman. Middle row:
Laura Hausmann, daughter of James and Karen Hausmann; Tiffany Broden, daughter of Curtis and Marcie Broden; Kacy Strand, daughter of Mike and Donna Strand; and Brittnee Tarang, daughter of Larry and Jill Tarang. Front
row: Joshua Bowman, son of Kevin and Alvina Bowman, and Kaylee Lybeck, daughter of Paul and Linda Lybeck.


FFA chapter to raise funds for victims of Hurricane Katrina
The A. S. Gibbens FFA Chapter of Maddock held its first regular meeting of the 2005-2006 school year September 13. The six constitutional officers of the Maddock Chapter include John T. Rice, president; Elisa Buehler, vice president; Renae Slater, secretary; Michelle Olson, treasurer; Kassandra Griffin, reporter; and Heidi Simon, sentinel.
Maddock FFA members were invited to sign up for participation in district leadership events to be held in Rugby October 5. Contests include creed, public speaking, demonstration, quiz and parliamentary procedure.
The Maddock chapter voted to participate in the State FFA Living to Serve Project which will raise funds to help those affected by Hurricane Katrina.
The chapter will have jars at Maddock businesses where the public can deposit change that will be given to the American Red Cross. Also a grain drive will be implemented to help in this cause. Those interested in participating may contact one of the above FFA officers or Gary Wald at the Maddock School (701) 438-2531.

Left to right are officers of the Maddock FFA Chapter: Elisa Buehler, vice president; Heidi Simon, sentinel; Renae Slater, secretary; Kassandra Griffin, reporter; Michelle Olson, treasurer; and John T. Rice, president.



Work underway
Work continues on the Multi-Purpose Building just west of the Maddock School. Most of the preparation work is completed and concrete work will begin this week. A Benson County road grader is shown preparing the site.

Gavin Foss of Maddock was in the process of digging footings for the building when this photo was taken.



Maddock candidates
Maddock High School candidates for homecoming king and queen are, left to right, Amanda Pranke and Tony Brandvold, senior nominees; Rhiannon Johnson and Brad Hermanson, junior nominees; Erin Markestad and Adam Aanderud, sophomore nominees; and Elisa Buehler and Aaron Abrahamson, freshman nominees. Coronation will be in the auditorium Thursday at 12:20 p.m. There will be a wagon float parade in the gym Friday at 2:45 p.m. Any business or organization which would like to make a float may contact Joleen Risovi at 438-2531. All entries are welcome. The pep rally will start at 3 p.m. The public is invited to join in the homecoming activities.



Thrivent matches
Thrivent Financial for Lutherans provided $300 in matching funds for the Minnewaukan 55 Club’s fund-raising lunch at Summerfest in July. Beth Sayler, left, a representative of Thrivent, presented the check to Dorothy Hovden, president of the Minnewaukan 55 Club. Looking on is Thrivent club contact Doris Randle. The lunch and matching funds totaled $828, which will be applied to roof repairs for the Minnewaukan Senior Citizens Community Center.


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