News: North Dakota

Nodak Flickertails
State Club
By Helen Evans

The June 2011 campout was held in Napoleon, ND, a small town with under 1,000 people. Napoleon is the hometown of Adam Leier, the club's past president. The community is friendly and welcomed us for the weekend. Upon arrival, club members received a packet of information about Napoleon from the Logan County Economic Development. The packet contained information that would acquaint us with the town. The post card in the packet described Napoleon as, "The Best Kept Secret in ND." The weekend was spent at the private campground belonging to John and Sharon Engelhardt. The Engelhardts had also provided their Quonset for gatherings, meals, and the business meeting.

Nodak Flickertails arriving early Friday had time to visit Schmitt Locker, a meat processing and homemade products store that the owner opened just for us. The town's newspaper visited the club and published an article in the paper.

After breakfast Saturday, a small group drove to Strasburg, ND, the boyhood home of Lawrence Welk, the "champagne music maker," which was not too far away. Their tour included a sod house, granary, blacksmith shop, and more. Members staying back took the opportunity to visit the Logan County Historical Society Museum. We were able to see how our ancestors lived and how it used to be and being satisfied with our way of living now. The little church is the latest addition to the community and Lawrence Welk memorabilia was available for us to view. After the tours, there was still time to visit Nita's Attic for pie, coffee, and time to look over the second-hand store. The supper buffet was at Reuben's Restaurant.

Sunday was the time to wrap up the weekend with breakfast and the business meeting. Eleanor DeMers opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance. The August campout was discussed as well as suggestions for next year. Our special guests visiting were Marshall and Juanita Couch. They were the Flickertails first WIT Western Area Reps. They are always welcome to come and spend some time with us. It was a terrific weekend.

Winnebago-Itasca Travelers