CAPITOLETTER

March 25, 2024

Palm Sunday usually brings spring, but at Capitol and on Tie Creek, it brought the most snow of the winter.

Dick and Erma Albert made a trip to the Hills, on Wednesday, for an oil change and shopping. They picked up some medicine for Bobbie Wahlfelt, while they were there. They got back soon enough for Erma to get to her massage appointment in Buffalo.

On Friday, they both went to the Senior Citizen dinner at the Senior Center. Bobbie served ham and beans and fish. Sunday was a snowy day, but Dick and Erma got to church for the Palm Sunday service. The outside snow kept the congregation inside, but many paraded in at the beginning of the service brandishing their palm branches. It was a nice and special service. Afterward, Dick and Erma had lunch at Saloon Number Three with the Erk and Helms families.

On Sunday evening, Erma enjoyed and long-distance phone Bible study together with her friend. They have been using, ‘Enjoying Peace in His Presence by Sarah Young,’ and ‘Walking in Grace’ by Guideposts.

Calving is going strong for Ryan and Tawni Cordell. With their new shed at the Horton place, they can do most of the work up in the Sheep Mountains. Alvin Cordell and Charlie Casteel are doing the work with the three-year-olds at the home place. By Sunday, the snow was getting deeper, and they were wondering about the chances of getting kids to school on Monday. Alvin had gotten to Buffalo for supplies, on Thursday, before the snow started.

Bruce and Lynn Gustafson have been staying close to home. They went to Camp Crook on Saturday, for the Charlotte Ottmo funeral at the community center. The Little Missouri Church service was canceled on Sunday, and the snow continued all day.

Julia Davis got to work at Buffalo each day, until Thursday. Doug had an FSA committee meeting in Belle Fourche on Wednesday, and he stopped to visit his mother, Alfreda, before coming home. It was a very windy and snowy day on Saturday, for Charlotte Ottmo’s funeral. Doug went in to Camp Crook for the funeral.

By Sunday, it was still snowing, and church was canceled. Doug and Julia got a text picture of grandsons, Rory and Oliver, sitting with the Easter Bunny. Rory had left a huge space between him and the Easter bunny, but Oliver was happy to sit on the bunny’s lap for the picture. As soon as he looked up to see the huge bunny head above him, he decided he didn’t like it any more. Doug has officially started calving, and they already have a nice set of twins. They got the cow in the calving shed in time to deliver the first calf. Then they went inside for a while. When they came back she had had another littler calf, and they were both doing fine. Guess she didn’t need their attention at all.

Ernie, Rachel, Tommy, Junior and Shirley Melum made a trip to Spearfish on Tuesday. Junior and Shirley had doctor’s appointments, and they did some shopping. Ernie, Rachel and Tommy went to the Charlotte Ottmo funeral on Saturday. They enjoyed visiting with friends from far and near and were glad to talk to Roger and Judy Bonefield again. They are busy with calving, and the snow, on Saturday and Sunday, has kept them busy. The Cantata that was scheduled for the Coffeehouse, had been postponed until later in April. Junior will have another birthday on Monday.

Last week, Brett Padden came to take Dorothy Padden to Laurel for a visit. She got to see Jess Padden and his family, and visit with Stephanie and her son. It was a fun trip. They had already started tomato and pepper plants in their grow box. Dorothy fears that she won’t get potatoes planted on Easter, this year. She really doesn’t want to dig through the snow to find the dirt. Some of the grandchildren went to the Queen City Classic basketball tournament, on Saturday, so the basketball season is still not over.

Ronda Cordell went to Ekalaka to get letters out on the mail going west, on Monday. She had lunch at the Wagon Wheel. After returning home she called the Belle Fourche Vet Clinic to ask about the new Swiss heifer who had edema worse than she’d ever seen in a heifer before. The advice was to begin milking her twice a day, in spite of the fact that she hadn’t calved. So, she became a milk cow ahead of having her first calf. It’s good to learn something new such as that. The edema did begin going away when Ronda began milking her. Ronda’s heifers have begun calving right along this week.

Diane Wear stopped briefly on Friday, before going on to Buffalo to get her grandson, Ryker Douglas. They came back to spend the night. Ronda, Diane and Ryler went to the Charlotte Ottmo memorial service on Saturday. Diane helped stack some lumber in the new barn and did other chores. Ryker enjoyed seeing Doe-Doe, the pet cow, again. He didn’t know what to think of the rooster’s quick moves when Diane grabbed a hen to get her back into the pen.

Kim Secrest, Denise, Darby and Abby Zolnoski came to Ronda’s on Sunday afternoon to help guard gates, and feed pairs in pens. With the nasty weather, chores, feeding and watching calvers seems to take longer. The watching part is both a day and night job, so it’s good to get things done with extra help and take a break. Ronda hopes the sun comes out, and spring showers brighten our days to bring the grass.

Karen Odell spent much of her week with her H & R Block tax program. That kept her fairly busy. She is ready to start planting seedlings for her garden. She talked to her brother, Ron Evans, and sister-in-law, Patsy, and discovered that there had been many tornadoes in Ohio. One had been seen very close to his place. The number of tornadoes on that day, and in that area, was astounding. Karen’s high school friend, Bill Foulkes sent some text messages and pictures. Grandson, Murphy Hinds, had been to the Easter egg hunt on their beach at Tacoma. Granddaughter, Kyia Smith, had participated in a swim meet in Minnesota.

The snow here made Karen shiver to think of them swimming and searching in the sand. Karen got to watch online as grandson, Kellan Odell, was inducted into the Honor Society in Mitchell. Chancey Odell stopped by on Saturday, for a short visit, and to bring Karen some groceries. The wind on Saturday became fierce, and it snowed for two days. On Sunday, Karen watched church on YouTube, and was glad she could stay inside.

If miracles don’t happen, where did the word come from?