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Columbus Fire Dept.
adds new truck to fleet

By Teresa Roering

The Columbus Fire Department has added a brand new Rosenbauer truck to their fleet.

The new truck arrived the first week of May and has already been put to good use.
While the fire department was training on the new equipment, they got called to a fire and brought the new truck to help respond.

The new truck comes equipped with water and foam, and holds 1000 gallons of water at a time; the truck also holds five firemen.

The new truck adds to their fleet of rescue vehicles.

The Columbus Fire Department recieved an oil impact grant for $180k to help them buy the new truck, along with a $15k grant to buy new equipment for the truck. The department also received $54k in donations from Global and Basin Transload oil companies that work close to Columbus.
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Memorial Day services scheduled

McKINNEY CEMETERY McKinney Cemetery Memorial Day Program will be held on SATURDAY, May 25th at 5:00 p.m. at the Cemetery grounds, rural Tolley. In case of inclement weather, the program will be held at the Tolley City Hall. ANTLER The Rebekah Lodge #91 will host a Memorial Day Service on Monday, May 27th at the Antler Community Center at 3:00 p.m. The service will conclude with taps being played at the Antler Community Cemetery. Following that, everyone will return to the Antler Community Center for a potluck lunch. DONNYBROOK The annual Memorial Day program sponsored by the Clarence McCormack Post #195 American Legion and Auxiliary will be held on Monday, May 27th, 2013, at 11:00 a.m. Guest speaker will be Pastor Christoph Schmidt of the Berthold and Carpio Lutheran Church. The Auxiliary will serve a meal following the services, which will be held in the Donnybrook Community Center. LANSFORD Kenneth L. Renz Post #279 of Lansford will host a Memorial Day Service on Monday, May 27th at 11:00 a.m. at the Lansford Community Center, and then going out to the cemetery, weather permitting. There will be a short program with a guest speaker. Following the services, dinner will be served in the Lansford Cafe. MOHALL There will again be no Memorial Service in Mohall this year. Members of the George T. Taylor American Legion Post #52 will be participating in Sherwood’s 76th annual Memorial Day Service. Everyone is welcome to attend the service in Sherwood on Monday, May 27th, beginning at 10:15 a.m. at the International Border. SHERWOOD Donna, Executive Director of the Canadian Legion, Saskatchewan Command will be the featured speaker at the Memorial Day services in Sherwood on Monday, May 27th. Services will begin at the International Border at 10:15 a.m., followed by the Memorial Day program at the MLS - Sherwood School gymnasium at 11:00 a.m. A parade down Main Street will stop at the Firemen’s Memorial for a brief ceremony. Services will conclude with a ceremony at the Sherwood Cemetery. A lunch will be served at the Sherwood Memorial Hall by the American Legion Auxiliary following all the services. This is the 76th annual event being hosted by the Bothun Peterson Post #213 of Sherwood. More

Local Teen Has High Hopes to Make it BIG!

By Marlena Chaboudy
As parents, we all think our child is the brightest, most talented, and most photogenic child in the bunch. This also stands true for the parents of Westhope School sixth grader, Cassidy Elliot.

One day, while riding along with her parents in the family car, Cassidy was singing along to the radio, something most every kid does. After the song, mom, Tammy, praised her on how good she sings. Cassidy's reply? "Oh mom, you have to say that, you're my mom." After a few minutes of trying to build her daughters confidence that she REALLY was good, Cassidy ended the conversation with "PROVE IT!" Not more than just a few minutes passed by and a commercial came over the Minot radio station 93.7 that they were listening to. It was for iPOP, International Presentation Of Performers, a talent search for young aspiring hopefuls wanting to showcase their talents in the areas of acting, singing, modeling and the like. They were going to be holding auditions in Minot! This was just the opportunity Tammy was looking for.... to "PROVE IT". The radio station provided a phone number to call and that started the ball rolling. The Elliot's received a small script for Cassidy to learn for the audition the same night and Cassidy memorized it with just one read through.
Cassidy has always been shy when it came to singing in front of groups, but as long as mom Tammy can remember, she always enjoyed putting on little skits for people. "All of Cassidy's brothers and sisters are quite a bit older than she is and I remember the times Cassidy and I would spend together making little skits for her to act out for friends and family. She really was good at it and loved performing for others in that way," commented Tammy Elliot. So it just made sense that Cassidy would take up acting for the talent showcase.
The Elliot's needed to build Cassidy's portfolio, head shots, ect. Westhope's own professional photography company, KC Photography, took numerous pictures of Cassidy in a scheduled photo shoot. "I never knew what people meant when they said the camera loves you, now I know, Cassidy could not take a bad picture, every angle and every picture Cassidy took was awesome!" boasted the proud mom. And with the realization that modeling was just Cassidy's "cup of tea", she was a natural beauty and the camera "loved her", Modeling was added to the talent showcase.
Cassidy's father, Mark Elliot, did a lot of research on iPOP hoping that his little girl was not just following a pipe dream. Mark's findings proved to be good news, iPOP is a well credited agency and has an A+ rating. And also found out that iPOP only accepts good students, which is a plus for Cassidy because her talent for memorizing the scripts easily, is mirrored in her school work and she is nearly a straight A student.
Sometime in February, it was time to audition. They were taking 200 people at the Holiday Inn in Minot. After Cassidy's audition, the Elliot's went home and anxiously waited by the phone for a call back, they got it right away. They were to return the next day where Cassidy had a limited amount of time to memorize a skit for a commercial, and once again, Cassidy went behind the curtain for mere minutes and had it down pat. Only 6 performers were to be chosen this time, and Cassidy made it through.
A classroom of sorts was set up at the arena in Minot and Cassidy began a three week acting class, teaching her how to hone and polish her abilities. She also got to enjoy a workshop with actor Daniel Samonos from the hit show Wizards of Waverly Place. Many Disney show actors and actresses were discovered by iPOP.
"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for Cassidy", commented Cassidy's dad, Mark, "It's not only good for her self esteem, and confidence, but within the past few months she got to learn that all the actors and actresses out there are just real people like her, they all started out their careers just like she is doing now."
As with anyone following their dream, things cost money. Cassidy is looking for people to sponsor her for her trip to California at the end of June, where she will have the opportunity to show her talents to judging panels consisting of today's top agents, managers, casting directors, and industry professional. Those who are selected at auditions will perform in a professional showcase at iPOP's Celebration of Success Awards Night on July 5th and 6th, where top international agents will be seeking their next new star, and that just might be Cassidy.
"I really would appreciate your sponsorship so that I can attend this once in a lifetime opportunity. I didn't ask my mom and dad to call the radio station that first day and set up an audition, but they did. Since then I have done three auditions, have taken three weeks of classes, and did a workshop with actor Daniel Samonos. I did all the work in preparation for a special showcase that I would perform in front of the head talent scout for iPOP. A large convention where she would introduce me to talent agents and teach me even more about everything. She picked me right away, it appears I'm really good at acting, so actually it has been an adventure from the very start, and I would really like to see how far I can go. It won't be all fun and games. I will have to work 12 hours a day, audition, and talk to a lot of top agents, and compete against others. This is the great part... at every audition I say my name, age, and where I'm from. It makes me really proud to say that I'm from Westhope, North Dakota. Also, anyone contributing $100 or more will be listed in the iPOP schedule book at www.ipopconvention.com. Thanks, Cassidy Elliot."
A separate bank account has been set up at the Peoples State Bank in Westhope if you wish to sponsor the young and talented Miss Elliot.
Performers from iPOP walk away with a life changing experience and potential contacts to continue developing successful careers. Good Luck Cassidy! Shine like the star you are!

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