CAPITOLETTER

Winter moved in at Capitol and Tie Creek, this week, with snow. Monday was a nice day for working outside. Tuesday was a day of rain, and Karen Odell had three-fourths of an inch, before the snow began, that evening, bringing four or five inches.

Erma Albert was glad that she could go to her chiropractor appointment right in Buffalo, on Wednesday. By Friday, there was enough snow that the Senior Citizen Dinner was canceled for the week. They have scheduled the chicken dinner for next week, instead. Dick and Erma did go out to church on Sunday, and then they went to Saloon Number Three for lunch. Next week the Catholic Church will have their church dinner and bazaar on Sunday. Mass will be at eight in the morning, and their dinner will begin at noon at the Buffalo Community Center.

A couple of archery hunters came to Alvin and Marlee Cordell’s, this week. Ryan and Tawni and their family had a group help trail cattle from the Horton place to the Loken place, on Saturday. They had some a-horseback and a few four-wheelers. Jay Cordell and Rod Bisgaard came out from Belle Fourche to help. Wade Pearson and Ryan will move cattle from the Loken place to home, on Sunday or Monday. Alvin saw the thermometer down to two degrees, on Friday, and he had about four inches of snow.

Lynn Gustafson and Jane Teigen went to Buffalo, on Monday, to visit Elmore Energetics. Laurie Elmore has started a business of Vitaflex oil therapy. The therapy was very refreshing. On Sunday, the roads were snowy, when Bruce and Lynn Gustafson went to the All-Parish Service at Ladner Lutheran Church. The Little Missouri Ethnic Dinner will be on November 12 at the Camp Crook Community Center.

Doug and Julia Davis had about six inches of snow this week. Julia helped Doug lay some pipeline, on Monday. Things went well until afternoon, until Julia’s skidder broke down. Then Doug’s machinery broke down, too, but they got a lot of work done. On Tuesday morning, Doug went over to Clark Blake’s to help him ship calves.

That afternoon, he went into Belle Fourche for a dentist appointment. They got to go to Belle Fourche and stay with the kids on Saturday night. The adults were having a Halloween party, so Jake and Callie brought home lots of pictures of the adults in their creative costumes. The whole family went to church at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Spearfish, on Sunday. It was a special day and Kellan and Keaton had their first communion. Julia also got to visit withTammy Silvernagle, who had been a bridesmaid for her wedding.

Junior and Shirley Melum had about five inches of snow. They had a little short blizzard on Sunday morning, but then things settled down again. Ernie and Tommy have been busy with weaning calves.

Dell Dague came to Ronda Cordell’s, last Sunday, to haul a load of heifer calves home from the Desert. Gene Secrest also came that day, to help with weaning. It had been a beautiful day. Time quickly goes by and weather soon changes, so it’s best to take advantage of all the good days.

Diane Wear came after work, that evening, to stay over, and on Monday, she and Ronda went to Buffalo. Diane treated Ronda to lunch at Blossoms ‘n’ Brew, before heading back to Ekalaka. Ronda got the sprinkler going in the corral where the calves were stirring up the dust. October twenty-third was Abby Zolnoski’s fifth birthday, and Terry Cordell’s fifty-seventh. Ronda joined them at the Corner Bar for a little birthday get-together, before going to the O’Toole’s fish ‘n’ pork barbecue. They spent much of the week making sure all the cows and calves were out of the Forest.

With several days of dense fog, and then the moisture, those mamas were glad to hear their call to the ‘treat wagon’. They literally came running from the pines. There was freezing mist on the first day of the weather change. The pine needles and tall grasses were coated to look like glass. The second day of the change brought five to six inches of unadulterated whiteness, making the scenery in the Long Pines a ‘winter wonderland’. Ronda likes to see the first snow; then hopes it melts before more comes. It was time to winterize everything from water tanks to vehicles, and the sudden drop in temperature came on Thursday night. Tuesday morning was forty-one degrees. Friday was nine degrees at Ronda’s, and lower in other areas.

As the week ended, the cattle were mostly home for shipping and the winter. Ronda thanks Gene and Kim Secrest, Denise, Darby and Abby Zolnoski for giving some extra help to her and Clint. Darby had a snow-day from school, on Thursday, because of icy roads, and Harding County schools don’t have school on Fridays (unless it’s a makeup day). Ronda did go to Camp Crook to mail letters, on Sunday, and she ate dinner at Over The Edge.

Karen Odell got some outside work done on Monday, before the snow began. She has been assembling three glider seats that will be put at the cemetery. There was a half inch of rain in her rain gauge on Tuesday; then another quarter-inch on Wednesday. After that it was snowing, so she is not sure, but the moisture was really needed. She made a trip to Camp Crook on Wednesday, but Thursday and Friday were snow days, and she stayed home to visit with family, by texting birthday greetings to Mollie Smith, Jeff and Cody Odell. They all had birthdays this week. Karen had thought of going to Camp Crook on Saturday night, but the added snow changed her mind.

On Sunday, Karen went to the Methodist Church in Camp Crook. Yvonne Yoder conducted the service, Karen played piano for the hymns, and Lynette Wolfe conducted the children’s sermon. There had been Sunday school for the children and a meeting to discuss a new pastor after church. Karen went to church again in the afternoon on YouTube, and enjoyed the service from Marietta, Georgia. Then she spent the afternoon with lots of music. She had talked to her kids and to Chancey Odell, this week. Karen also talked to her cousin, Ralph Anderson, on Saturday. Ralph was preparing to head south to Florida for the winter. Karen tried to call her brothers, Jim and Ron Evans in Ohio, but didn’t find them home.

When the feud got too serious, Mason told Dixon, “We’ve got to draw the line somewhere.”