My son Timmothy and I have been attending the Tuesday weekly meeting of Minot Toastmasters 636 for a couple of months now. I joined in hopes of improving my speaking on the air for my radio show.  Timmothy joined to to be a better speaker as he gets out there to promote his books.It's amazing to me how many professionals who rely on their  speaking abilities are poor or even horrible speakers. Here are a couple of examples I've experienced.1) I meticulously edit my radio shows. We usually record for 18 minutes to produce a 15 minute interview. Typically it takes me 24 actual hours of editing to get all the "ahhs, umms, and deep breaths" out of the interview and then when I'm done that 18 minute interview usually ends up being 14 minutes long.2) I attend a court session last week and ove... 06/20/2019

Every city has different rules regarding what trees you can plant on your boulevard, after all it's technically it's "their" boulevard. Before you plant a tree you best check with the city forestry department to be sure you can plant a tree there at all. Usually the idea behind this is that they don't want you to plant trees that may interfere with overhead power lines years down the road.The Minot Forestry Department (a department of Minot Parks) is now taking orders for boulevard trees to be planted this spring. Trees are $100.00 and they plant it for you. For an extra $25.00 they will also warranty the tree for one year. There are 12 varieties of trees available this year. You can view the list of trees HERE and visit the Forestry Department website HERE.  05/18/2019

Here is a GREAT idea and a GREAT opportunity, Shredfest!I received the following postcard from AARP. The post card states that it is limited to two boxes but it doesn't say what size of boxes. I plan on bringing old banking records and if there is any room left I will bring some Real Estate records as well. It is my understanding they could use some help unloading boxes at the event if you would like to help.  05/17/2019

If you were to ask me who is Minot's most enterprising woman it would be an impossible task but Val Stadick would be right at the top of the list. Val started Main Street Books with some used books,a loan from her husband, and a lot of determination. Today Main Street books is one of the most popular stores in the City of Minot and I dare say even a draw to Minot ND. Val is an inspiration to anyone who has nothing but a dream and the determination to make that dream come true. Minot Today is broadcast over the air on two Minot radio stations every Friday. You can find it on 106.9 FM at 12:15 (Noonish) and again at 4:45 on 1320 AM. Of course I always post the broadcast as a Podcast here as well as my Podcast site at Pod-O-Matic. 05/17/2019

I'm passing this important message on for folks in the Minot Area.How wonderful would it be if we could defeat the hidous effects of Alzheimer's! I don't know anyone who hasn't been effected by Alzheimers striking a family member or friend. For me it was my Grandma Lydia.Help Us Paint the Town Purple! Did you know that June is Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness Month? To helpspread awareness of this disease, which is the 3rd leading cause of death in North Dakota, the Walk to End Alzheimer's Volunteer Committee is askingfor you help! We want to Paint the Town Purple the week of June 1st through the 7th andwill be stopping by businesses to ask for their support by asking them todisplay purple in their windows and stores. We will supply balloons,streamers, posters and even plan to showcase o... 05/10/2019

Welcome to an interview recorded a couple of days before TODAY'S commencement with MSU President Dr. Steven Shirley Ph. D. Every interview I have had with Dr. Shirley has been fun, light, and lively so I have no doubt you will enjoy this one as well. Welcome to Minot State University! Please explore our website and learn about all that MSU has to offer.Minot State University remains as committed as ever to our core values devoted to teaching and learning with excellence, integrity, and engagement; serving students and others respectfully and responsibly; following high ethical and moral principles; and supporting the values of community and place where all community members are valued and respected.Offering a wide array of undergraduate and graduate programs, high-quality education at M... 05/09/2019

After putting it off for about 45 years I finally made it to Toastmasters.Minot Toastmasters 636 meets every Tuesday at the Grand International Hotel at 6:00 PM in The Board Room.My 17 year old son Timmothy and I attended together.The Toastmasters is much more than I expected. I knew it would be a be a good experience for each of us and for different reasons.Timmothy has a hard time expressing himself verbally, which it ends up was the reason about 50% of the participants were there, and I want to improve my speaking for my on air radio speaking.I won't go into detail about the proceedures of the club but it really is a wonderful group effort in helping each other reach our individual goal to better ourselves when speaking to others.Absolutely everyone there made us feel welcome but I w... 05/02/2019

Once in a while the weather guessers get it right. Thankfully they only got it partly right when they said we could/would have up to 6" of snow accumulation between yesterday and today. We have had rain and snow showers all day today but it didn't start accumulating until about 6:00 PM. Here is my nice lawn I mowed on Friday (because of the forecast). 04/28/2019

A few years ago I posted about one of our families favorites zoo exhibits, the Kirks Dik Dik.The exhibit has grown with one new baby born last week. These graceful little creatures are actually of the antilope family. I wrote a post about them a few years back and it said: When talking about BIG attractions there is nothing like our Dik Dik. Hang with the animals in Minot. Visit The Roosevelt Park Zoo and see our Dik Dik this weekend or any day the Zoo is open. Our Dik Dik is only 2' long (average) so it's not the worlds biggest Dik Dik but for many it's the only Dik Dik they may ever see! The Kirk's dik-dik (Madoqua kirkii) is a small antelope native to Eastern Africa and one of four species of dik-dik antelope. For more information on the Kirks Dik Dik visit the Roosevelt Park Zoo in ... 04/28/2019

Okay, you've got just over two weeks to start gathering together all that stuff you never should have collected in the first place.Get it together and get rid of it at the Minot Public Works building on the East side of Minot, 1025 31st Street SE.I know I've got all this paint to get rid of as well as a couple of old batteries, old computers, and lots of cleaning supplies.I've taken advantage of this clean-up day and it's so easy. You just drive into the big maintenance building and they even remove it from your vehicle for you.I'm looking forward to gaining some space in my garage and basement. 04/28/2019

Stephanie Baze is the General Manager of the Clarion Hotel & Convention Center in Minot North Dakota and I learned a lot about my neighbor in this interview. I live about a half a mile from the Clarion and never knew it is the largest convention center in the State of North Dakota that is attached to a hotel. I also learned that I need to get 19 of my friends together and go order prime rib at the Clarion. Here is todays radio broadcast of Minot Today on KHRT AM and FM radio. Minot Today is broadcast over two radio stations every Friday. You can find it on 106.9 FM at 12:15 (Noonish) and again at 4:45 on 1320 AM. Of course I always post the broadcast as a Podcast here as well as my Podcast site at Pod-O-Matic. 04/26/2019

The circus is coming to town. Every one, especially every child, should see the circus at least once. The Shrine Circus is all about children. It's all about bringing some fun and excitement into children's lives (children from 3 to 103 years old). The proceeds from the Shrine Circus also benefit children by supporting the Shriners' Children's Hospitals. I don't remember how old my children were the first time I took them to the Shrine Circus but I remember how excited they were and that I had to spring for an optional picture of them riding on an elephant (wish I could find that pic for you now). Since the original visit I believe they have been there at least two additional times. I believe there are arrangements available for those who can not afford to take their children so if that... 04/25/2019

I knew the day was coming but it's still super disappointing to actually see the buildings of the Ward County Historical Society's Pioneer Village up on blocks and ready to move off of the premises.In my personal and not at all humble opinion this move is a bad move for everyone involved.1) The public: Instead of the convenient location on the State Fair Grounds they will have to visit the Pioneer Village in Burlington ND. The spot in Burlington is on barren land, no comparison to the nice wooded area on the Fair Grounds. Honestly, we only went to the Pioneer Village during the fair so it may be a long time before we visit it in the new location.2) The Ward County Historical Society will certainly loose visitors for all the reasons I stated above. I think the president of the WCHS did a... 04/23/2019

DISMALNobody likes to be the bearer of bad news but that one word, dismal, is the way to summarize the Minot Area Chamber of Commerce report labeled "Economy at a Glance" released this month (April 2019).No longer being part of the Minot MLS I could only judge by what I could see around me until I received a copy of this quarters "Economy at a Glance". I recently described our market as sluggish when asked in the Q & A section of the Active Rain Real Estate blogging site. I may have been more accurate to say comatose.There are a few bright spots about the Minot ND economy but Real Estate new construction is not one that I'd describe as bright. Here are some amazing numbers that drive home the point. Keep in mind that Minot is a city of approximately 50,000 people.Building Permits   As R... 04/20/2019

Yesterday morning I interviewed Chad Vogel for my Minot Today radio broadcast (posted right here) and before going on the air Chad said he would like to get into blogging. Please welcome here to Active Rain!He has not had a chance to post yet but if you would "follow" him I'd consider it a personal favor.If you listen to our interview you will see Chad knows his stuff and will be a great source of knowledge for all of us when we have a question about mortgage lending.Thanks in advance for welcoming Chad. 04/18/2019

Incredibly low interest rates and builders who have had two slow years in a row means this is the perfect time to build, renovate, or refi!Chad Vogel, Regional Manager, Sr. Mortgage Banker for Bremer Bank in Minot gives us the BIG picture about todays super low rates. Minot Today is broadcast over two radio stations every Friday. You can find it on 106.9 FM at 12:15 (Noonish) and again at 4:45 on 1320 AM. Of course I always post the broadcast as a Podcast here as well as my Podcast site at Pod-O-Matic.  04/18/2019

The entertainment line-up for North America's largest Scandinavian festival, The Norsk Hostfest, has been announced. This four day festival is a great party even if you are like me (no Scandinavian blood in me that I know of).Many of the people who attend also camp at the ND State Fairgrounds where the event is held.This is a huge event that draws people from all over the world including Scandinavian Royalty.Besides the entertainers to the left there are several free stages with top notch entertainers preforming daily.As you can see the event is still several months away so you have plenty of time to plan a trip to Minot ND and attend the largest Scandinavian Festival in North America and the good news is we rarely have snow at that time (we usually don't have snow until November) and i... 04/16/2019

Last night I attended the play HONEYMOON IN MINOT. This is/was the play produced by Dan Fagan whom I interviewed on Minot Today, my radio broadcast.I attended the third and final night. I believe all 3 nights were sell outs!It was very funny and had my 17 year old son laughing out loud many times which I'm not sure I've ever seen before. I certainly give it a big thumbs up!It had a lot of local content in it so I'm not sure if it will make Broadway but I'm sure it will play around these parts off and on for many years. Dan did a great job of writing and the actors all preformed flawlessly. It was a treat to know one of the actors as well as having gotten to know Dan Fagan through our radio interview. If you would like to hear the 15 minute interview it was posted right here on Active Ra... 04/14/2019

My friend Gene owns The Downtown Mall, a large collectibles shop that is packed full of treasures. He spends a lot of time in TX during the winters and I'm always excited to see what he brings back. Here are a few of the new treasures.  This little peddle car was Gene's favorite purchase. He also scored a firetruck of the same vintage but not in quite as good of shape.    The tall blue vase was a find as was the lamp (I cut off the top).The horn in the middle was worn by fireman walking on patrol and if he saw a fire he would blow it. It could be heard for up to 15 blocks away to call other fire fighters. The brass nozzle on the left was a fire fighting nozzle. Gene scored two of those on this trip.Gene picked up a bundle of unfolded Falstaff boxes. He folded this one up for display. Co... 04/14/2019

I have been meaning to make this blog post for some time as I am very appreciative of the service our local Record Store provides and what better time to do it then on National Record Store Day.Our store, Budget Music & Video is located right downtown in Minot. Easy to find, easy to shop.I myself spend most of my time in the used vinyl area looking for records of my youth. I have owned as many as 2,000 LP's over my lifetime. Regretfully all was lost in 2011 during the flood that destroyed my home but now I am back up to about 300 LP's, 50 tapes, and 100 CD's. Much of my collection has come from Budget Tapes & Music in Minot.Here are a few pictures giving you a view of a bit of what they have. Don't be fooled, they have far more inventory then what you see here.   Although Budget Music i... 04/12/2019