Merrill Piepkorn

4/4/2009: Changing the name of an institution of higher learning is nothing new in North Dakota.

4/3/2009: Today's story is just a quick glimpse into the life of North Dakota homesteading woman, Adeline Elizabeth Iverson Aplin. In her later years, she wrote down her life's story as best she could recall, because she wanted her sons to enjoy and relive her early years, in Dakota especially.

3/29/2009: This year, all across America, people are celebrating the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth. Perhaps Lincoln's greatest influence on North Dakota was his signing of the Homestead Act in 1862, which brought thousands of settlers to the state with the promise of free land.

3/25/2009: The following is a print ad for Van Camp's Pork and Beans found in the March 25, 1908, issue of the Fargo Forum. It's a "comparison" ad, comparing YOUR WAY, (as in your home kitchen), and OUR WAY, (as in our modern Van Camp's factory). Listen closely. You'll enjoy the comparisons!

3/23/2009: Delivery of health care services has always been a challenge in North Dakota. Keeping small town hospitals and clinics open, along with attracting and retaining health care professionals like doctors and nurses are ongoing concerns. Well, according to his paid advertisement in the March 23rd , 1907 edition of the Dickinson Press, Fargo-based Dr. Charest was doing his best to deliver health care to western North Dakota.

3/20/2009: The War in Iraq began on March 20th, 2003.

3/13/2009: Two things people in North Dakota can count on this time of the year: blizzards and high school basketball tournaments. Almost anyone who's traveled to a March tournament has a storm story to go along with it. The 2009 Girls Class B tournament is in the books. The Class A boys and girls are playing this weekend in Fargo, (travelers to that tournament just missed having their own storm story to tell).

3/12/2009: Pembina is the Chippewa word for highbush cranberry, whose berries lend their flaming color to the woods in autumn. It is also the name of North Dakota's most northeastern town. Pembina is also considered the site of the first trading post in what is now North Dakota, built by Alexander Henry, the younger, for the North West Company.

3/11/2009: There's no mistaking the familiar opening notes of the Lawrence Welk television show theme song. This world famous musician, band leader and showman was born on this date, March 11, 1903, near Strasburg, North Dakota. Much has been written about Lawrence himself ... but what about his parents? There wouldn't have been a Lawrence had it not been for the generations of Welks that preceded him.

6/28/2007: The city of Granville is celebrating its centennial this weekend, with a full slate of activities, including a parade, classic car show , concerts, a wagon train and several trays of Lucille Loftesness’ delicious centennial long johns!