Marilyn Hagerty: It seems we've survived another North Dakota winter

Dear Dave McFarlane,

Greetings from the land where the sky is blue and the snow is gone. The birds are coming back, and St. Patrick will have his day on Wednesday – although the Masonic lodge already held their 13th annual parade downtown on Saturday.

Yeah, yeah. We know how nice it is in Florida where you live now. But I always tell myself I am braver and stronger for weathering the winters in North Dakota.

We have come to the time of year for hockey and basketball playoffs. And the UND Fighting Hawks are in the race. Basketball tournaments have been running full blast. I love this time of year. And of all things, we have UND football, too. The team is doing well and heading down to Fargo Saturday.

You probably have heard the old brick stadium at UND is on its way out. I guess they have their reasons for demolishing it. But there are all those memories of football games – some in freezing days. And you wonder if watching the Sertoma Club’s fireworks display on the Fourth of the July will ever be the same. In days of yore, the stadium was the place for state track meets and other competition.

Well, I guess life moves on and takes changes with it.

This Wednesday – on St. Patrick’s Day – former Mayor Mike Brown and his wife Ann will be celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary. They chose March 17 of 1986. At the time they both were medical students. She was studying at UND and he was in residence in Dayton, Ohio.

Ann Diepholder of German descent and Mike Brown with roots in England were married in St. Michael’s Catholic Church here. Quite fittingly, they chose the late Irish tenor William O’Toole who sang at the end of the service following traditional music of the ceremony.

Here in Grand Forks, the Boy Scouts of America are holding their 34th annual spring food drive. Scouts and other volunteers have been delivering informational door hangers around Grand Forks, and they will be around early Saturday – after 9 a.m. – to collect food donations.

The food collected here goes to St. Joseph’s Social Care and the Salvation Army. And across the river, it goes to the East Grand Forks Food Cupboard. In nearby communities, it goes to rural food cupboards.

The Scouts also have arrangements with Hugo’s stores and the Gate City Bank for sharing the food.

I hope you have Boy Scouts around in Florida. And I hope you still are careful about masks and distancing. The war is not over, but I think we are making progress in the battle against coronavirus.

Your friend, Marilyn, still hanging in there with the Herald.

Reach Marilyn Hagerty at mhagerty@gra.midco.net or by telephone at 701-772-1055.