Alphons “Alfie” M. Offermann, 79, Kindred, died on Wednesday, May 20, 2009 at Villa Maria, Fargo.  The funeral was Tuesday, May 26 in Fredrikson Funeral Chapel, Kindred.  

Nancy Jo (Miller) Ganjo, 52, Kingman, Ariz., formerly Page, died May 22, 2009.

Dr. Brian Sauter, medical director for the Rural Cass County Ambulance and Rescue Association (RCCARA), was named Medical Director of the Year at the North Dakota Emergency Medical Services Association (NDEMSA) awards ceremony in Bismarck on April 4. Sauter was nominated by the RCCARA. 

“We were very pleased that Dr. Sauter got this award,” said Ken Habiger, Casselton EMS volunteer. “Everyone in the county really appreciates all that he does.”

Sauter, an emergency medicine physician at Innovis Health in Fargo, has been the medical director for the RCCARA since 2003. He serves as the medical director to the Casselton, Kindred, Hunter and Page ambulance services and the Buffalo and Leonard Quick Response Units (QRU). 

To operate an ambulance service or QRU in North Dakota, there must be a medical director who operates under the protocols established by the state health department. As a medical director, Dr. Sauter works with the services on training programs and reviews runs and serves as advisor in major disasters such as the recent flooding and storms. He meets with QRUs as their scheduling permits. 

“He gives valuable insight and input to squad members and has been supportive of each sqaud’s activities and skills,” explained Nancy Satrom, president of the Page ambulance service. “The county responders have appreciated Dr. Sauter’s interest and participation in their continuing education.”

Sauter’s experience in emergency services also includes his time with the U.S. Army in Heidelburg, Germany; Fort Gordon, Ga. and Kosovo. He joined the Emergency Medicine Department of Innovis as a staff physician in 2002. He has also served as a consultant to the F-M Ambulance on protocols and trauma plans. 

In addition to receiving the Medical Director of the Year award, Dr. Sauter was named a fellow by the American College of Emergency Physicians in 2002. 

(To become a Fellow, a physician must be an active, life, honorary, or international member of ACEP for three consecutive years and primarily practice as an emergency physician, exclusive of training. The physician must also be board certified by the American Board of Emergency Medicine, the American Osteopathic Board of Emergency Medicine, or the American Board of Pediatrics in pediatric emergency medicine. Each of these professional boards are member boards of the American Board of Medical Specialties.)

Mapleton Mayor Mark Anderson (left) posed with Gerald Volk, who had a Redmond Linden planted in honor of him, his wife DeLilah and their family. The Volk’s tree was planted in Christensen Park.

By Amanda Gades 

On Monday, May 18, Mapleton held a special event in honor of Arbor Day. 

The annual event took place at the Mapleton Arboretum and was organized by Park Board Chair Rita Schmit. Also involved with the day was Mayor Mark Anderson, Mapleton Elementary fourth graders and Mapleton residents. 

“It’s a great way to get the kids more involved with the trees,” said Schmit. 

The celebration included planting various trees such as Sweet Cherry, Robinson Crab Apple, Sculptured Scotch Pine, Tree Hydrangea, and other bushes and plants including Lilies, Peonies and Spirea.

A tree is also planted each year in honor of a resident. This year that the group planted a Redmond Linden and dedicated it to the Gerald and DeLilah Volk family. 

“Gerry has done volunteer work for the city for over 40 years,” said Mapleton Mayor Mark Anderson. “He has performed countless hours of service and provided equipment. The time is always free. He is a great community citizen that we needed to recognize.” 

Anderson added that he thoroughly enjoyed participated in the event. 

“It’s always a great time,” Anderson explained. “Anything to make the town look a little better.” 

More trees will be planted in Mapleton in June and July, thanks to a beautification grant that the city was awarded, explained Schmit.

By Sarah Sorvaag

Arthur Mercantile Co. has been a prominent business on Main Street in Arthur for many decades. This locally owned business is the oldest farm equipment dealership in North Dakota, at 119 years old, and continues to thrive in popularity.

Although Arthur Mercantile could continue to independently offer quality equipment at reasonable prices, the decision was recently made to have the small town business merge into a Titan Machinery Inc. multi-store complex. 

Arthur Mercantile representatives and Titan Machinery representatives have been discussing the merge since early this year. An agreement was reached in March and the acquisition is expected to close on May 28.

James L. Williams, Arthur Mercantile’s President and Treasurer, has been on Titan Machinery’s board of directors since 2003. He is a strong supporter of Titan Machinery’s long-term growth initiatives and the impressive organization of their local facilities. He stated that the small town business is simply changing management and its appearance, but will continue to provide personal service to area farmers.

“The Arthur Mercantile Company will still own the property. We intend to do major remodeling and possibly an addition and upgrading,” he said.

“I think it’s really the trend in the industry to consolidate large multi-store complexes. It’s what the manufacturers want, though we were not forced to do so,” Williams stated.

Williams expects that the transition from being a privately owned business to a multi-store complex will take some time for customers and employees to adapt.

“I suspect that all the people who work here will be doing things a little bit differently. There will be some new procedures and some changes in personnel roles in the future. For now, everyone who is here will continue to do what they’ve been doing,” he explained.

One of the new personnel features to be added in Arthur is the position of complex manager, which will be filled by Kevin Boeder. He will manage both Casselton and Arthur’s Titan Machinery businesses. Byron Nelson will be Arthur’s site manager.

“We’re very excited. They bring a lot of product support to the customers. It’s common for there to be a complex manager overseeing two stores. Casselton and Arthur have a long-standing relationship and they compliment each other well,” Boeder said.

Williams stated that Titan Machinery’s success will likely be a great asset in the continuation of Arthur’s ability to offer quality farming equipment.

“They have been very successful. With their size, they can take advantage of buying in volume. I like the way they run their stores. They’re managed locally as opposed to being run out of some central location. The local managers have a lot of authority and responsibility. Decisions can be made here as opposed to calling someone at some other location,” Williams stated.

“We will continue to have a dealership here, which is important to our family. It’s important to Titan that our local customers are taken care of,” he added.

  Titan Machinery owns and operates one of the largest networks of full service agricultural and construction equipment stores in North America. Including Arthur Merc., the network consists of 66 dealerships throughout the upper Midwest.

Herbert Luther, 85, Alice, N.D., died Sunday, April 26, 2009 in Bethany Homes, Fargo, N.D., under the care of Hospice of the Red River Valley.

Herbert Ferdinand Luther was born September 2, 1923 on the family farm near Alice, to Fred and Rose (Buschold) Luther. He was raised at Alice and attended rural school. He farmed at Alice until 1980 and from 1980 to 2006 he worked for Camas Sand and Grave of Embden, N.D. On December 25, 1946, he married Glee Lettenmaier in Valley City, N.D. She died in January 2007. Herb entered Bethany Homes in January of this year.

He was a lifetime member of the Alice Volunteer Fire Department and Alice Wildlife Club. He also was a member of the Fargo Eagles Club for many years.

He is survived by two sons, Gary (Denise), Casselton, N.D., Danny (Vicki), Wheatland, N.D.; three daughters, Karen (Keith) Pribbenow, Holly (Rodney) Gapp, both Fargo, N.D., Tracy (Kent) Peterson, of Bismarck, N.D.; sister, Lorraine Hahn, Fargo; fourteen grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Glee, son, Rodney, one brother and five sisters.

Visitation is (today) Wednesday from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. in West Funeral Home, Casselton, N.D., with a prayer service at 7:00 p.m.

Funeral Service is Thursday, April 30, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. in the Mavis Whitting Chapel, Bethany Homes, Fargo.

Burial is in St. John Cemetery, Embden, N.D.

Condolences can be sent online westfuneralhome.com.

Arrangements entrusted to West Funeral Homes, West Fargo and Casselton.

Joy Thompson, 58, Argusville, died on Tuesday, April 21, 2009 in MeritCare Hospital, Fargo. The funeral was held Saturday, April 25 in the Northern Cass High School near Hunter.

Ervin Barfuss, 80, Lisbon, formerly Leonard, died Saturday, April 25, 2009 in St. Catherine’s Living Center, Wahpeton. The funeral is Friday, May 1, at 2:00 p.m. in St. Peter Lutheran Church, Leonard.

Burial is in Watson Cemetery, rural Leonard.

A look at the Davenport elevator from two and a half miles south of the city. While the view appears that a lake is located outside of the town, it is actually flood waters that have taken over farm land and added about six inches of water to the land.

By Amanda Gades 

    Two and a half miles south of Davenport, fields that once grew corn are now flooded with at least six inches of water. On the outskirts of Kindred, County Road 46 on the south side has gone under and farm land looks like lakes. Walcott is also overwhelmed by water which has washed out Richland County Road 26. Sandbags guard homes west of Davenport and around homes along the Sheyenne River. Indeed, portions of rural Cass County are still wading through the water and hoping that the Sheyenne River continues to recede. But, this area is not yet ready to wrap up flood efforts. 

On alert

Davenport firefighters have focused their time for the past month on keeping the water from overtaking homes and property. 

“We’ve laid 60,000 sandbags,” said Matt Palluck, assistant fire chief and communications coordinator for the flood fight. “Everything went as good if not better than anticipated. Neighbors are helping neighbors.”  

Davenport Fire Chief and incident commander Jeff Korol has taken vacation from work and so has Palluck, along with other firefighters. Something that they were willing to do to ensure the safety of their town. 

    “It’s amazing how well people have worked together,” Korol said.

Palluck added that the situation is looking good overall right now. 

“The dikes are holding and all the sandbags around farmsteads are holding,” Palluck said. “Everything we’ve done is doing what it’s supposed to do.”  

    But, the work is not over quite yet.

    “We are just waiting for the water to go down,” Korol said. “Then, we will be removing the dikes and sandbags. I’m not sure on a timeline for that yet.” 

One place that they sandbagged was a fellow Davenport firefighter Wayne Flom, who lives just south of Davenport. While Flom does not raise crops, he does have horses, and to ensure their safety had them temporary moved to a friends in the Leonard area. 

Monitoring the roads

   Cass County Deputy Jeff Arth is going into his second month of the flood fight. Typically at the Cass County Jail, Arth was activated for duty on March 24. 

    “Sheriff Laney already had teams set up to fight the flood if deputies would be needed,” Arth said. 

    Arth has been on patrol throughout the county, including in the Kindred and Davenport area. 

     “Road conditions change on a daily basis,” Arth said. 

   Many residents in that area have stepped up and sandbagged for neighbors and businesses, some of which are in areas that have not seen flood waters before. 

“The way the overland flooding has been this year, no one knows what direction it is going to take,” Arth said. 

Speeding over the cornstalks     

    The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was called for assistance on March 23 by the Cass County Sheriff’s Office. 

Their work in the area spanned throughout Cass County and consisted of assisting the sheriff’s office with search and rescue, welfare checks, delivery of supplies and assisting with evacuations of residents who wished to leave their home, explained U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service refuge officer Clay Ronnish. 

Last week, three of their air boats were docked on farmland two and a half miles south of Davenport off of Highway 27. 

“I thought the work went very well,” Ronish said. “We worked with the other federal partners very effectively.” 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife staff who answered the call for assistance during the past month are based out of several states, including Wisconsin, Minnesota, Montana, South Dakota, Kansas and North Dakota.  

The staff left the area on April 19, according to Ronish. 

Along with the farm land and homes, one thing that can be seen from the waters is a crane near the railroad. 

“One of the culverts is starting to erode where the railroad track crosses drain 34,” said Rich Seig, Cass County Highway Superintendent. “A sheet pile dam has been created to control water flowing east of Davenport. We want to make sure that the water stays west of Davenport in the protected area.” 

Bruce Bowersox (right) talks to residents (left going clockwise) Francis Follis, Dorothy Murch, Lorraine Ramstad and Alice Larson during their lunch of sausage and sauerkraut. Bowersox’s main goal as administrator is to get to know everyone and assure the residents that they are cared about.

By Amanda Gades 

Bruce Bowersox feels at home at the Good Samaritan Center in Arthur. In his second month on the job, he knows that he made the right choice. 

“The mission of the Good Samaritan Society matches my personal philosophy of caring for others,” Bowersox said.  

It’s pretty neat to be at the original Good Samaritan Center site, he added. 

“The original building (built in 1922) is in the backyard on a foundation,” Bowersox said.  

A wide range of experience 

Bowersox wasn’t always planning to be a healthcare administrator. 

“Originally I wanted to go for pharmacy,” he said. “My first year of school at Concordia College was preparatory for that. Then, my second year I decided that I would stay one more year before I would go to NDSU for their pharmacy program, but I lost interest in the sciences – physics, chemistry. There was a speaker on healthcare administration and I was invited to the presentation. After his talk, I was pretty much decided that I was going to go for the hospital program.” 

In 1975, Bowersox graduated from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn., with a Bachelor of Arts degree in healthcare administration. He accepted his first administrator position at a 64 bed nursing home in Wheaton, Minn., where he worked for five years. 

His next position was at Pelican Valley Health Center in Pelican Rapids, Minn.  This facility has 46 nursing home beds and 13 hospital beds. 

Then, Bowersox served a 23-year tenure at the Hillsboro Medical Center. 

In 2006, after leaving the Hillsboro Medical Center, Bowersox had several part-time positions and then began full-time temporary work at different sites. 

“I got to see a variety of facilities, locations and different types of cultures,” Bowersox explained. 

The four to five month temporary full-time positions included Elgin, Rolette, N.D.;White Sulfur Springs, Mont; Great Falls, Mont. and Atkinson. Neb. 

There was one downside – he was not able to be at his Hillsboro home very often while in Nebraska and Montana. 

Ironically, however, it was while he was working in Atkinson, Nebraska that his interest in working for the Good Samaritan Center peaked. 

The administrator at the Good Samaritan Center down the street from the hospital asked him to fill in when she needed to be gone. 

Bowersox was at the Good Samaritan Center for about six weeks and it was during that time that he began learning about administrator positions open for Good Samaritan Centers in North Dakota. 

Immediately, he wanted to apply and he was thrilled when he was offered the position. 

“It’s nice to be able to work for a company that matches your perspective on things,” Bowersox described. “It makes it much easier to operate.” 

And, of course, it is nice to live from his Hillsboro home with his wife Paulette again. (Paulette works as clerk of court for Traill County.)  

“It’s nice to be able to be at home and sleep in your own bed,” Bowersox said. 

As administrator for the Arthur and Fargo Good Samaritan Centers, Bowersox is responsible for the budget and financial needs, making sure that the care provided meets the standards, overseeing the personnell and setting the direction of the campus. 

“It’s a wide variety of things,” Bowersox added, laughing. 

He refers to shoveling the sidewalks or digging in the dumpster to fish out a resident’s lost hearing aide. 

The Arthur Good Samaritan Center has over 90 employees who care for their 36 skilled care residents, 15 basic care residents, four assisted living apartments. The Center also has nine independent living apartments and a daycare.

The Fargo Good Samaritan Center has about 25 staff members since their residents are only basic care and assisted living. 

Bowersox spends about three and a half days at the Arthur site and one and a half days at the Fargo site. He is also in charge of Casselwood. 

He believes that there is an incredible staff at the sites. 

“We have a really well qualified staff who are committed to their job and are dependable,” Bowersox said. “That is what really makes the Good Samaritan Center stand out. People have these jobs because they are committed.” 

The administrator also works with two advisory boards, one for Fargo and one for Arthur. Each of these boards meet five to six times per year. 

“They help with fundraising and give feedback,” he said. 

Seniors offer a depth of knowledge

His favorite part of the job is interacting with the residents. 

“They have a perspective on things that younger people do not have,” Bowersox explained. 

He enjoys hearing about how the senior citizens’ view on how the world is different from 20 to 30 years ago. 

Bowersox also referred to phrases that were frequently said in the past that senior citizens understand very well, such as ‘I’ll be there with bells on.’  

The phrase dates back to the days when people used a horse and buggy to travel.  If one got stuck then the passerby who assisted in getting them out would receive the bells that were on the horses. 

“A lot of these are things I wouldn’t have learned if I didn’t have the opportunity to work with these people.” 

Personalized care 

Bowersox knows that an administrator position can be viewed as an office job, but he knows that it is much more than that. He interacts daily with the residents and aims to know their names. 

“Personalized care makes such a difference,” Bowersox said. “If you are in a good facility but you don’t have a comfortable feeling, you don’t heal as well.” 

He offers an example to illustrate his point. 

“In New York City you see thousands of people and they don’t even look at you,” Bowersox explained. “In these facilities, the staff looks you in the eye and says hello.”

Bowersox believes this approach to care has a lasting impact on the residents. 

“That helps residents realize that you are for them and are willing to invest in them,” Bowersox added.