Tracker Pixel for Entry

​Celebrating ‘choice’

Culture | February 4th, 2015

Friday, Jan. 23, was a delicious night of Choice Desserts, an annual fundraiser for the Red River Women’s Clinic, taking place at the Alumni Center at North Dakota State University. As the only abortion clinic in North Dakota, the RRWC also serves women of northwestern Minnesota and northern South Dakota.

The desserts included lemon bars from Scratch Deli, cupcakes from Bakeology and Love in the Oven Bakery, almond bars from Josie’s Corner Café & Bake Shop, and caramel-apple pie from Perkins. Meanwhile, the silent auction raised a good deal of money for the Women in Need Fund (WIN), which has aided women in paying for reproductive healthcare services since 1999.

Auction items included gift cards, ticket vouchers to local theatres, and handmade items donated by local artists, including crocheted winter hats, beaded bracelets, two paintings, a paper crane mobile, and a framed cross-stitch piece that says “Girls just want to have fundamental human rights.”

Later in the evening, speakers took to the podium, starting with board president Miriam Mara and director Tammi Kromenaker. In addition to sharing news about reproductive rights legislation, both local and national, these women paid tribute to George Tiller, the Kansas physician who was murdered in 2009 for providing late-term abortions.

In the wake of his death, which sparked concerns about clinic security nationwide, Kromenaker was quoted as saying, “As we see what happened with Dr. Tiller, you can have all the security in the world and still not be safe.”

Mara and Kromenaker’s speeches were followed up by volunteers Jen Hoy, Nicole Kolbe, Warren Christensen, and Sarah Palm, who read the personal stories of real patients of the RRWC. These stories included a wide range of experiences, from that of a single mother with insufficient healthcare coverage to a mother of four who needed her uterus surgically removed to save her life.

Judging from these women’s stories, the RRWC seems to have no trouble providing a safe, secure facility where patients can get the medical attention, financial support, and counseling services they need. One woman even expressed her gratitude for the clinic paying for her bus fare and hotel room, as the WIN Fund covers not only abortion costs but also travel expenses for its prospective patients.

Recently in:

By Winona LaDukewinona@winonaladuke.com The business of Indian Hating is a lucrative one. It’s historically been designed to dehumanize Native people so that it’s easier to take their land. ‘Kill the Indian, save the man,”…

By Winona LaDukewinona@winonaladuke.comThere’s not really a word for reconciliation, it's said in our language. There’s a word for making it right. To talk about reconciliation in terms of the relationship between Indigenous…

December 16, 18-20, 12 p.m.Fargo Theatre, 314 Broadway N., FargoDon’t miss an annual Fargo Theatre holiday tradition. The Red River Theatre Organ Society presents (almost) a full week of holiday concerts on the Mighty Wurlitzer…

By Jim Fugliejimfuglie920@gmail.com Okay, so last month I promised you a woman President of the United States. So much for my predictability quotient. Lesson 1: Never promise something you can’t control. And nobody, not even…

By Ed Raymondfargogadfly@gmail.comWill God Ever Text Margaret Back and Answer Her Prayers?More than 50 years ago a young Judy Blume wrote about 13-year-old Margaret Simon in a contemporary realistic novel titled “Are You There,…

By Rick Gionrickgion@gmail.com Holiday wine shopping shouldn’t have to be complicated. But unfortunately it can cause unneeded anxiety due to an overabundance of choices. Don’t fret my friends, we once again have you covered…

By Rick Gionrickgion@gmail.com In this land of hotdish and ham, the knoephla soup of German-Russian heritage seems to reign supreme. In my opinion though, the French have the superior soup. With a cheesy top layer, toasted baguette…

By John Showalterjohn.d.showalter@gmail.com Local band Zero Place has been making quite a name for itself locally and regionally in the last few years. Despite getting its start during a time it seemed the whole world was coming to…

By Greg Carlsongregcarlson1@gmail.com Writer-director Nicole Riegel’s sophomore feature “Dandelion” is now playing in theaters following a world premiere at South by Southwest in March. The movie stars KiKi Layne as the…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comIn 1974, the Jamestown Arts Center started as a small space above a downtown drugstore. It has grown to host multiple classrooms, a gallery, performance studio, ceramic studio and outdoor art park.…

By John Showalterjohn.d.showalter@gmail.comHigh Plains Reader had the opportunity to interview two mysterious new game show hosts named Milt and Bradley Barker about an upcoming event they will be putting on at Brewhalla. What…

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 Josette Ciceronunapologeticallyanxiousme@gmail.com What does it mean to truly live in a community —or should I say, among community? It’s a question I have been wrestling with since I moved to Fargo-Moorhead in February 2022.…

Rynn WillgohsJanuary 25, 1972-October 8, 2024 Rynn Azerial Willgohs, age 52, of Vantaa, Finland, died by suicide on October 8, 2024. Rynn became her true-self March 31, 2020. She immediately became a vocal and involved activist…

By Curtis W. Stofferahn, Ph.D.Curtis.stofferahn@email.und.edu In June, two events markedly contrasted the difference between two different visions of agriculture: precision agriculture and regenerative agriculture. The dedication…