CAPITOLETTER

It turned into an Indian summer week at Capitol and on Tie Creek. The week began with a little snow, but that has all melted into some mud. It is good weather to keep the dust down in the corrals, but some have found it difficult to get trucks in for shipping.

Dick Albert had a doctor’s appointment in Spearfish, on Wednesday, and Erma got some shopping done while they were in town. The grocery prices have gone sky-high, with less and less produce in the bags and smaller and smaller candy bars. They went to the Senior Citizen chicken dinner on Friday. It was to make up for not having chicken last week, when the icy weather caused them to cancel. The Catholic Church dinner and bazaar was on Sunday at the Buffalo Community Center, and Erma had gotten a supply of food for that on Wednesday. Of course, the dinner was spectacular. It is a dinner no one wants to miss, and the pies are spectacular, too. Some people stayed to play bingo, and at the end they were given pies as prizes. It was a warm day, and even a little rain did not keep the people away.

At Alvin and Marlee Cordell’s, they got the cattle moved home. Ryan Cordell and Wade Pearson moved them with lots of help. Jay Cordell was home, and Rod Bisgaard came out again from Belle Fourche. Ivan and Mary Teigen brought their horses down, and Terry and Tammy Cordell brought theirs, too. Brandon and Ashley Cordell and their family helped, and Clint Zolnoski came from up Tie Creek. Ryan invited everyone to Camp Crook afterward where they all had prime rib for supper. Hunters had come from North Carolina for bow hunting, and each got a deer before leaving to drive back home. The heifer calves were left in the corral for weaning, so there will be complaints all night long from that direction.

Bruce and Lynn Gustafson had a quiet week, but they did have some trick-or-treaters on Halloween. Collin and Elizabeth Wilcox brought their three girls over after they got home that night, and it was fun to see the little ones in costume. Bruce and Lynn went to church, on Sunday, at the Little Missouri Church.

Julia Davis went to work at the courthouse each day this week, and Halloween was a fun day for everyone. The kids came to the courthouse for a treat and a certificate to take to the bank. There were some interesting and creative costumes for everyone to see. Jake, Callie and the boys came out to the ranch on Friday, to help give the cattle fall shots. Jason Latham, Miles Cooper, and Mattie, and Darren Buck came to help, too. They first went to the summer pasture, and were so efficient that they got to the south pasture in the afternoon, and everything was done in one day. Jake’s family went back home, so that Jake could work on the shed that he had started building.

Junior and Shirley Melum were treated to dinner one day. The David Morgan family came, and brought dinner along with them. They are visiting from Santa Maria, California. Harold had not come with them, this time, but Harold Morgan had been in Junior’s high school class at Ekalaka. The Morgans were on their way to visit family in Ekalaka when they left Capitol.

Dorothy Padden had gotten to eat out twice this week on Friday and Saturday nights. Bryce, Dawn and Dorothy had prime rib at Over The Edge on Friday night, and then on Saturday night, Dorothy had steak tips. Allen Marshall and Lester and Marty Oster from Arizona joined them in town, too.

On Sunday morning, Ronda watched David Jeremiah’s sermon on TV, and later had gotten busy mixing up a batch of Fall-colored sugar cookies to bake before shipping. She has also been tending to more ripe tomatoes. She was actually trying to keep busy at least until the same time as she usually went to bed, in hopes that she will stay asleep till 4:30 a.m, because 3:30 a.m. is just a bit too early to get up.

Last Sunday, Ronda’s thermometer read twenty-two degrees in the early morning. Tuesday, it was four below at Clint and Denise Zolnoski’s, and four above at Ronda’s. Sunday was a balmy forty-eight degrees. The crested wheat grass is actually growing right along, in spite of the last week’s winter weather. The cattle are lavishing on the green, plus getting fed hay and cake every day.

On Wednesday, Diane Wear met Ronda at the Highway 323, to ride along to Belle Fourche, where Ronda dropped off Sophie and Boozer at Belle Vet for their rabies shots. Then they went on to Spearfish to stock-up on grocery. They had lunch at the Pizza Ranch.

On Wednesday, Toney and Linda Hannah arrived from Alaska. They will spend time hunting, visiting and working on their house. Linda said that their dog, Annie, began getting very excited as they neared the Tie Creek Road. Annie knows when she comes to Montana that she is safe to do some running and roaming.

On Tuesday, Karen Odell made a trip to Buffalo for business and supplies. There had still been some snow at her house on Monday, but it was nearly gone by Tuesday, and she was glad for the moisture. By Wednesday afternoon, Karen had finished the glider benches that Mollie had sent, for the cemetery. The trouble now, was that the moisture had turned to mud, so she hasn’t delivered them. She talked to her brother, Ron Evans, and cousin, Ralph Anderson, on Wednesday. Then, Carol Smith, Mollie Smith, and Kathy Loehding all called on Thursday, so Karen sent them pictures of the benches.

Linda Stephens called on Friday, for a visit, and Micki Odell called on Saturday, so Karen has had lots of company. Karen and Hywel made a couple of trips to Camp Crook, and on Sunday, Karen did some research for her history books. Her garden boxes needed to be emptied for the winter, and she noticed some really beautiful sunsets, this week. Her cats were the only Halloween trick-or-treaters, but strange-looking grandchildren’s pictures arrived on her phone. Some of the grown-up kids were interesting, too; a disco star, a pumpkin and two scary bees. Sunday went by slower than usual, because Karen forgot the time change. It is good that she went to church on YouTube, where the service is recorded, or she would have been too late.

The high school sports have slowed down, so Karen didn’t see any grandkids’ games online, this week, but she got to see an ‘All Saints Concert’ from Georgia by orchestra and choir, on Sunday afternoon, and that was beautiful.

The Ethnic Supper will be held next week, on Sunday November 12 at the Camp Crook Community Center.

The hardest work of all is being idle. Just ask a kid.