KX Summer Road Trip Recap in Esmond
KX News hit the road on Friday for Part 4 of our Summer Road Trip – to Esmond!
Nicholas Quallich, Becky Farr, Tom Schrader and Adeena Balthazor made the trip to the 5pm and 6pm TV news to bring you the news live on site.
And just in case you missed it, here’s a recap of the stories we’ve shared from Esmond:
Visit a must-see in the city, the Esmond Café
One of the city’s must-see stops is the Cafe Esmond, and he’s been there since the city was created.
Manager Diane Streifel said this cafe is more than a place for coffee and a bite to eat, it has always been the heart of the city.
“It’s so nice because it’s been the center of the community,” Streifel said. “People come from all over the place, they have breakfast, sometimes they stay for lunch, they keep coming back to make people really appreciate it. It’s a nice feeling. “
Streifel and his whole family worked at the café at some point in their lives. She said they did everything from serving daily meals to catering to weddings.
For the full story, Click here.
The team of volunteers is Esmond’s rapid response unit
Imagine living in an area where the nearest ambulance service is 40 minutes away. This is what the people of Esmond and the surrounding area have been faced with for a few years. Now, thanks to the volunteers, they have a rapid response unit.
“So a lot of us are EMRs, emergency medical responders, we do the basic care, so we do all the blood pressure, the pulse rate, the respiratory rate and do all of that basic care.” , said Jayla Smith, chair of the QRU board of directors. “And then if they need first aid, we can do all the very, very basic first aid. We can load them up and lift them with the ambulance arriving on the scene in the other ambulance, then we leave in sort of places from there. “
The unit has 10 volunteers who are stationed throughout its coverage area, which is 30 miles away. EMR Bethann Gale says they are providing services until an ambulance arrives on the scene.
In a rural area, having such a service is vital in saving lives.
Like other first-responder volunteer teams, QRU volunteers give up whatever they are doing when the call comes.
For the full story, Click here.
Esmond residents remember the city’s long history
The City of Esmond is celebrating in style this week. Founded in 1901, this year marks the city’s 120th anniversary.
Most of the community was born and raised in Esmond and they said they remembered in the 1900s how booming it was. They said the city was where everyone hung out on weekends.
“The children went to shows and probably go to the cafe and have breakfast afterwards, ”said Pat Wolfe, originally from Esmond. “It was remarkable, you saw everyone and anyone on the weekend, it was a big night.”
They say that even though the population is slowly declining, the pride of the city is still as strong as it was over 100 years ago. And this pride will be fully displayed in the coming days during the weekend celebration.
For the full story, Click here.
Muralist helps restore mural in town of Esmond
In 2001, the Esmond city mural was produced by the Solway family. After fighting the elements of North Dakota for 20 years, muralist Tracy Taylor decided to give back to the community where her father grew up.
The original mural had seven elevators that once stood in Esmond and contours of buildings on Main Street. Once she saw the condition of the walls, she knew it would be a restoration project, not just repainting the mural.
Bonnie Johnson contributed to the original mural 20 years ago and says she jumped at the chance to be able to help restore it to its beauty.
“I think it’s amazing when people take pride in their community and help restore the sense of community and closeness that small towns have,” Johnson said.
In addition to restoring the original mural, Taylor and volunteers like Nancy Roble Gardenhire and Joan Glennen have added new features like the Flower and the State Bird.
“This is the evergreen city, we have to add an evergreen tree. So she added this wonderful Evergreen to the corner and I think the highlight of it all for me is Evergreen, ”Glennen said.
Taylor said that as a muralist, keeping history alive in a small town is so important, but also shows how the city has evolved over the years.
For the full story, Click here.
Re-dedication of Esmond Park to Randy Marthe
Originally dedicated in 1973, Randy Marthe Memorial Park was inaugurated after Marthe lost her life in the Vietnam War.
Marthe was a well-known person in the city and when he lost her life. His classmates named the park after him.
“People really think it’s wonderful that we named him after Randy and I think it’s also because he was such a nice young man,” said Alice Wack.
The dedication of the park will take place on Saturday afternoon once the parade is over.
For the full story, Click here.
Former students of Esmond high school celebrate 20 years of reunion
There are so many events going on this weekend, in part thanks to the Esmond Eagles Alumni Association.
For the past 20 years, they have organized school meetings. This year it’s a reunion of all schools for every graduating class of Esmond High School.
Association members say that while many alum still live in Esmond, these weekends allow those who have moved to come back and remember high school and their friends.
“You can just sit with anyone, it doesn’t have to be your age. They can be 20 years older, younger, whatever. It’s so nice. They knew our parents and they will tell us stories about things they did when they were in school. It’s just gratifying, “said Co-Chairs Diane Peyerl and Cindy Wilhelm.
Peyerl says that without the generous donations from Eagles alumni, they couldn’t hold reunions every year.
For the full story, Click here.
KX Conversation: Cindy Rieger Wilhelm, Esmond Alumni Committee Member, On Events Over The Weekend
Now if you’re wondering where Esmond is, it’s about 20 minutes from Rugby – which as we know is the geographic center of North Dakota.
We were joined by Cindy Rieger Wilhelm, a member of the alumni committee who helped prepare for this weekend’s events.
We featured the city all week before our 5pm and 6pm shows. We spoke with Rieger Wilhelm about what makes Esmond so special, the effort and time put into preparing for this weekend and the events to come.
For the full story, Click here.
