Culture

​The Onion Calendar: A New Year Tradition

January 20th, 2022

By Sabrina Hornung

sabrina@hpr1.com

Photo by Sabrina Hornung

.The onion calendar is an old German folk tradition that predicts the levels of moisture each month throughout the year using salt, an onion, and a little bit of patience.

According to Ashley North Dakota residents Donna and Delbert (Del) Eszlinger, you take a nice round onion, cut it in half and peel apart the layers. Each layer is indicative of one of the 12 months. You then take a teaspoon of salt and put that in each of the…

Read more...


​Christmas memories in German Russia Country

December 15th, 2021

By Michael M. Miller 

michael.miller@ndsu.edu

Theresa Meier Eissinger of Napoleon, N.D., writes, “Christmas Eve at the Meier farm (between Linton and Napoleon) was the most exciting time of the year. Chores were done early; supper was early, and then my mother gave each of us a large soup bowl of goodies. We got a handful of peanuts, a few mixed nuts, an orange, store-bought cookies which were a treat especially…

Read more...


Falcon Gott: Film, Photography and a New Leadership Role

November 19th, 2021

By Olivia Slyter

oslyter@cord.edu

Falcon Gott, Sapotaweyak Cree Nation member and filmmaker/photographer, was recently named North Dakota Human Rights Film Festival Native American Programs Director, and has many projects in store for the upcoming months.

In high school, Gott began his career as a filmmaker, shooting short videos of his friends at the skatepark. He would then go on to attend Minnesota State University Moorhead (MSUM), while furthering his love for filmmaking. Gott expands…

Read more...


​In Touch With Prairie Living, October 2021

October 16th, 2021

By Michael M. Miller 

michael.miller@ndsu.edu

Germans from Russia Heritage Collection, NDSU Libraries, Fargo, ND

Debra Marquart, a native of Napoleon, ND, has authored a delightful new book, “The Night We Landed on the Moon: Essays Between Exile & Belonging”, recently published by the NDSU Press.

From the book flap: “Debra Marquart was born into a family of land-loving…

Read more...


​Posthumous Memoir Relays ND Pioneer Experience

September 15th, 2021

By Michael M. Miller

michael.miller@ndsu.edu

Larry Kruckenberg of Cheyenne, WY, a native of Hazen, ND, has authored a new book, “Big Bend Country: A Journey of Good Times, Hard Times, and Hope,” available from GRHC.

Kruckenberg shares memories of his German-Russian mother, Lorraine Guenthner Kruckenberg. He brings the travails of working a prairie farm into sharp focus. It was a good life, but a hard life, filled with work and family.

Through his mother’s words, Kruckenberg details…

Read more...


The Lehr Tabernacle

June 15th, 2021

By Michael M. Miller

michael.miller@ndsu.edu

17 June 2021

The Lehr Tabernacle near Lehr, N.D., celebrates its 100th Centennial with events on June 18-20, 2021.

The Tabernacle, also known as Prairie Bible Camp, was featured in an article in North Dakota Horizons, Spring 2017, “Lehr Tabernacle on the Prairie,” written by Ronald Vossler, native of Wishek, N.D. “During a half century and beyond, evangelical farm families, mostly Dakota Germans, crowded the Tabernacle, which was built to…

Read more...


​Christmas in German Russia country

December 17th, 2020

By Michael M. Miller

michael.miller@ndsu.edu

The late Mary Lynn Axtman, native of Rugby, ND, who dedicated many hours for GRHC, shared this message about ornaments from Joseph S. Height’s section on Christmas in his book, “Paradise on the Steppe.” “About Christmas trees – the reason is simply that no evergreen trees of any kind could be found on the grassy steppes of South Russia. [And probably the same on the grassy prairies of the USA and Canada.] However, on Christmas Eve of…

Read more...


​Shawnee Kaseman: Miss North Dakota in the age of COVID

November 14th, 2020

Shawnee Kaseman of Wishek, ND was awarded the title of Miss North Dakota for America 2020 this past September, but instead of preparing to hit the stage in a glittering gown under sparkling lights,she addressed pageant judges from her home via Zoom, a video conference system. Even though her interview was at home she prepared the same way she would have despite the pandemic. Her gowns were altered to a perfect fit and of course her hair and makeup were flawless.

“On a typical pageant…

Read more...


Using Serial Opera to Tell Similar Stories, Centuries Apart

October 7th, 2020

by John Showalter

john.d.showalter@gmail.com

The lives of countless people and the fortunes of numerous industries have been turned upside-down over the course of 2020 due to the full-blown global pandemic that is COVID-19. One of the areas that have been drastically affected is the performing arts. Concerts and live performances dragged almost to a standstill, being postponed or outright cancelled in droves. These are daunting circumstances for live performers and promoters. However,…

Read more...


The Winners in Rural Broadband - the Customers

March 18th, 2020

photo courtesy of Debra Ruh

by Sonja Thompson

Debra Ruh is the CEO and Founder of Ruh Global IMPACT, a consulting firm that strives to help clients amplify their impact and become disability inclusion leaders. She also serves as the Chair of the United Nations' G3ict EmployAbility Task Force, which supports information and communication assistive technologies in over 100 countries. Her advocacy for people with disabilities has changed the way technology companies interface with their customers; and she has…

Read more...


Tracker Pixel for Entry WurstDowntown Tracker Pixel for Entry Bismarck1 Tracker Pixel for Entry Nicholes Tracker Pixel for Entry EmpireAUG2021 Tracker Pixel for Entry FPL Tracker Pixel for Entry WestFargoEvents

Recently in:

By Laura Simmonslaurasimmons2025@u.northwestern.edu Dr. Stephen McDonough researched why North Dakota had the highest COVID death rate and cases in the fall of 2020. His investigation accumulated into a 1,000-plus page book titled…

By Michael M. Miller michael.miller@ndsu.eduOne of the most important books published about the Germans from Russia in North Dakota is “Along the Trails of Yesterday: A Story of McIntosh County” by Nina Farley Wishek, published…

photo credit: Jessica GavinSeptemberOktoberfest: Now-October 3Wurst Bier HallStein-holding competition, happy hour Mon-Fri from 4-6, wear your dirndl or lederhosen, German music.https://wurstfargo.com/Papa’s Pumpkin…

By John Strandjas@hpr1.comOur Opinion: Thank you, Reader readers, for 29 fulfilling yearsChugging along, The Little Newspaper That Could commences its 30th volume and year with this issue. Simply getting here speaks volumes. Just…

By Ed Raymondfargogadfly@gmail.comIs Cruelty a Part of Nature—or Is It Just Part of Human Nature?Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman has been my economics guru for many years for his pithy columns in The New York Times. In…

We are looking for 55-gallon plastic food grade barrels, do you have ideas or connections?We use these barrels to teach our resilient yard workshop series including Make Your Own Rain Barrel and Make Your Own Compost Tumbler. If…

By Rick Gionrickgion@gmail.comMy new venture as a master’s degree student has got me thinking…again about food. Although I’m in an online program with the University of North Dakota, I thought it would be handy to list and…

By John Showalterjohn.d.showalter@gmail.comThe Melvins formed in 1983 Montesano, Washington, founded by singer/guitar player Buzz Osborne. The group is known for its heavy sound mixed with a dose of punk, forming its own subgenre.…

By Greg Carlsongregcarlson1@gmail.comAs reactions and reviews of Wes Anderson’s return to the world of Roald Dahl attest, the quartet of short story adaptations undoubtedly would have been better experienced as a theatrical…

By HPR Staffsubmit@hpr1.comThe Fargo Moorhead Visual Artists’ much-lauded neighbor lovin’ Studio Crawl is just around the corner – October 7 and 8, noon to 6pm. During the free event, the people who add culture and vibrancy…

By Eric Dallmanericd@hpr1.comWe recently watched “The PROM” at Chanhassen Dinner Theatre, and it was an experience that left a lasting impact on us. The story, a heartwarming yet familiar one, follows a group of Broadway stars…

By Annie Prafckeannieprafcke@gmail.com AUSTIN, Texas – As a Chinese-American, connecting to my culture through food is essential, and no dish brings me back to my mother’s kitchen quite like hotdish. Yes, you heard me right –…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comNew Jamestown Brewery Serves up Local FlavorThere’s something delicious brewing out here on the prairie and it just so happens to be the newest brewery west of the Red River and east of the…

By John Showalter  john.d.showalter@gmail.comThey sell fentanyl test strips and kits to harm-reduction organizations and…

JANUARY 19, 1967– MARCH 8, 2023 Brittney Leigh Goodman, 56, of Fargo, N.D., passed away unexpectedly at her home on March 8, 2023. Brittney was born January 19, 1967, to Ruth Wilson Pollock and Donald Ray Goodman, in Hardinsburg,…

By Faye Seidlerfayeseidler@gmail.com On the first day of the month I ask people to thank a journalist they know or someone who contributes to papers in some meaningful way. When I grew up, my best friend's father was a journalist…