Linton, ND

The University of North Dakota Clinical Education program held two human rights workshops in Linton on Wednesday, April 2. The first workshop was presented at Linton High School to the Senior Class. Thirty-five students and faculty attended. The second workshop was open to the public and was held at the KEM Building. Twenty-two community members attended. Both audiences were highly involved in the workshop discussions, which focused on the importance of international and local human rights issues.

Both workshops explained what Human Rights mean internationally, across the United States and here, in North Dakota. First, Human Rights are universal rights. This means that time, place and circumstances do not matter; the rights belong to every human as an individual. Some of these rights are benefits that the government has a duty to provide, such as the right to education. Other rights relate to circumstances that the government has a duty to prevent, such as freedom from discrimination. According to the United Nations, “human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, whatever our nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, language, or any other status. We are all equally entitled to our human rights without discrimination. These rights are all interrelated, interdependent and indivisible.”

During the workshop, it was explained that the United Nations is the main international body associated with Human Rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948 to promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all persons in all countries of the world. This Declaration expresses 30 distinctive Human Rights, including the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association and right to life, liberty and security of person.

While there are many Human Rights violations occurring throughout the world, many violations are happening around the United States, and even in North Dakota. If you believe you have faced discrimination or civil rights violations, you can contact the North Dakota Department of Labor Human Rights Division at 1-800-582-8032. The best way to protect the Human Rights of all is to understand what your rights are, stand up for yourself or others when those rights have been violated, and educate community members about Human Rights. For more information, you can contact the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition at (701)239-9323 or http://www.ndhrc.org/ (click on link). The NDHRC works to effect change so that all people in North Dakota enjoy full human rights.

Presenting the information to us was Justin Keppinger, Sarah Schaar (formerly of Linton), Johnny Palsgraaf and Tali Best.

Hague will be 100 years old! Much is planned for the upcoming event. Emmons County Farmers Union President Andrew Vetter and the board of directors have joined in this great event by organizing fun entertainment for children at the Hague Centennial (pronounced hag). The Farmers Union board of directors has asked Emmons County Farm Bureau to partner together to share labor and expenses. Both organizations are looking forward to joining in the celebration and being a part of this great gathering in Emmons County. Hague’s Centennial is set for the 4th of July weekend 2008.

A small group of Linton Residents met to discuss the beautification process of the city of Linton and also the two parks within the community.  Many ideas have been tossed around in an effort to get the ball rolling on this project.  A future meeting will be held with collaborators to secure designs for the community and the hope is that a theme will evolve for the community to follow.  This is a high priority to the residents of Linton and its exciting to see new developments with this project.  Stay tuned for further progress on this exciting venture!

The Linton Senior Center Members have been on the move raising funds for their new building project.  In the short time they have been fund raising, they have managed to secure over $25,000.00 to put towards the project.  This does not take into consideration the time, effort, and supplies that have been donated to the project.  A meeting has been planned to include the youth of the community in the decision making to come up with new and innovative ideas for the center.  A tour has also been planned to a neighboring community for ideas and advice on how to run the center.  Other developments on the project are in the works, so stay posted for future updates!  If you would like to help out with this project, feel free to contact the Emmons County Extension Service for more information.

Linton Lion President Virgil Hulm presents Linton Park-board member Ken Schneider with a $2,000 check as part of the club’s pledge toward the swimming pool improvement fund. The Lions run a variety of projects raising money for many causes in the community. Last year the pool was redone, and the new water slide will be open this spring.

It’s Easter Time will be held at the Linton Community Center on Saturday, March 22 for ages 10 and under. Register for a chance to win an Easter Basket from 10 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Have fun Face Painting and Body Stamping. Sponsored by Linton Chamber of Commerce and Linton Lions Club.

The Emmons County Ministerial Association is again hosting the Easter Cantatas on Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday.

The Easter (March 23) presentation will be at Sts. Peter & Paul Catholic Church in Strasburg and will begin at 7:00 p.m.

Offering will be for a mission work called, “Faith Comes by Hearing.”

The Rev. Lane Keister will be directing the Cantata this year.

Grandma’s Kuchen of Westfield, ND was featured on the 12/12/2007 airing of New Morning with Kimberly Whitfield (Hallmark Channel). This video is the segment of the show about Grandma’s Kuchen and Westfield.

Update on 03/08/2008: One of the men in the video, Jerry Van Beek, passed away just recently. His wife, Marilyn, has now moved away. With that, Westfield lost a big chunk of its population and has only two or three permanent residents left. I was going to describe Jerry as the one with the cowboy hat, dark glasses, and deep voice - but it’s easier to say he is the only man speaking throughout the video segment.

The 2008 Livestock Judging Season is underway!  Judgers have already competed in two contests, with one to go and then it’s on to State!  The youth have been doing well.  Highlights include a 1^st place individual finish in the junior division and a 4^th place individual finish in the senior division at the Little International held in Fargo.  Judging teaches youth life skills that they will use forever!  Communication, Memorization, Organization, and Visual Evaluation are all skills being sharpened by the judgers.  If you or your children have an interest for livestock agriculture, get them involved by contacting your local Extension Office or FFA advisor!  Judging kids typically go on to be leaders in the industry and take active roles in their communities because of the skills they have learned as youngsters.  Be a part of forming our future community leaders and enroll them in the judging program today!

Meidinger was nominated for the award by students, colleagues and administrators at LHS and Great Western ITV. She has built a wonderful Spanish program for the Linton School. She initiated and continues to handle a foreign language essay program. She’s taken Linton students and several from other schools on trips to Mexico and Spain.