Dr. Steve Hoffbeck

If you were standing on the riverbank in Fargo in the summer of 1882, you could watch thousands of pine logs from Minnesota forests floating north on the Red River toward sawmills in Winnipeg.

For years and years, the biggest tree in North Dakota grew along the Goose River in a pasture on the farm of Arthur Hanson.

Robert “Bob” Bain was born in Minnesota and worked as an insurance agent for 38 years. Beyond his career, he played a major role in developing Bismarck: he promoted hockey, served on the City Park Board and City Commission, and volunteered with the United Way.

When a new baby is born, there’s great anticipation about the name. For Abraham and Minnie Vaupel, the decision was clear. They chose to emphasize the “V” in their last name, Vaupel, by giving each of their children a first name that also began with “V.”

They called him “Satchmo”, or “Mr. Jazz.” His given name was Louis Armstrong, and this world-famous jazz trumpeter and singer came to Fargo in September of 1957, performing at NDSU’s fieldhouse for an “enthusiastic” audience of 3,200 fans.

There was a time when just about everyone in North Dakota knew the name and fame of Arnold Oss, the greatest athlete ever to grow up in Lidgerwood. From 1917 to 1921, Oss made sports headlines across North Dakota and Minnesota. He played football, basketball, baseball, ran track and was a star in them all.

One of North Dakota’s most striking beauties has to be frost, the glistening white that covers tree branches, power lines, street signs, even blades of grass. It would take a lifetime to paint even one acre of trees all white, but Jack Frost does it overnight.

There was a man in Grand Forks named Royal L. Boulter who was an innovator and an inventor. Back in 1896, R.L. “Roy” Boulter secured a patent from the U.S. Patent Office for what he called a “bicycle-boat.”

“Why did the chicken cross the road?” The answer has always been considered humorous in an odd sort of way: “To get to the other side.” This old joke has been amusing folks for nearly 200 years, especially little kids, though maybe not so much for grownups.

Who hasn’t experienced the momentary, magical thrill of seeing a meteor flash across the night sky in the corner of your eye? It vanishes almost instantly yet its vapor trail lingers longer in your imagination.