Marlo Anderson is living proof there’s reason to celebrate every day. As founder of the National Day Calendar – the official, authoritative source for fun, unusual and unique national days – Anderson has built a wildly popular national brand around celebration.
Anderson’s curiosity popped in 2013, as he searched for information on the internet about the national day dedicated to his favorite snack – popcorn (the movie-theater buttered kind, preferably).
A U.S. Marine Corps veteran with a worldly palate, Jayson Parsons put a pinch of this and a pinch of that into a seasoning jar for an outdoor survival trip, and discovered the recipe for a new business.
Originally from Arizona, Parsons and his family had moved to Hebron, where he and one of his sons explored the outdoors in survivor style.
“Not many people get mad at the guy making coffee,” Travis Helfrich jokes.
It’s hard to imagine anyone being mad at a guy like Helfrich, who not only makes good coffee, but helps make the electricity Americans depend on to power their lives. He’s a coal worker, then a coffee roaster. In that order, for now.
While adjusting to a shiftwork schedule in his mid-20s, Helfrich picked up a coffee-drinking habit.
There’s nothing quite like the sound of a small-town dance hall – the rhythmic twang of a guitar, feet waltzing across the floor and the laughter of family and friends. In towns across North Dakota, dance halls are a place of community. And, for the people of Strasburg, the local dance hall has always held special significance.
Nestled on the prairie 25 miles southeast of Bismarck, the historic Black Leg Ranch’s gem is the Copper Jewell Barn, where Black Leg Brewery crafts microbrews.
Home to six generations of the Doan family, Black Leg Ranch is a working ranch, raising both cattle and bison, since 1882 near McKenzie.
“We are a cattle ranch first and foremost, but we also have over 700 head of bison on our ranch,” Jay Doan says.
As of 2018, the back of the barn is home to Black Leg Brewery, with 14 microbrews made with many local ingredients.
With a mission to be an immersive entertainment hub in Fargo, Drekker Brewing Company taps into its Viking roots, determined to “create experiences and destroy expectations.”
Drekker Brewing Company opened in Fargo in October 2014, with the four founders sharing a passion for craft beer and placemaking.
As the only craft brewery in Devils Lake, the Black Paws Brewing Co. pays homage to the massive, mellow Newfoundland dog. The brewery’s entrance is guarded by a statue of owner Jeb Oehlke’s Newfoundland dog, Riggley, who inspired the brewery’s name and logo.
Black Paws pays tribute to all the Newfoundland dogs the Oehlke family has owned since the early 1990s, when the family acquired their first Newfoundland to use for search-and-rescue missions.
Editor’s note: Property tax is promised to be a hot topic before the state Legislature this year. Republican lawmakers put forth property tax relief proposals in advance of the Jan. 3 start of the legislative session. This story cuts through confusing property tax terminology to help taxpayers understand property tax, how it’s calculated and where it goes. This story originally appeared in the December 2022 issue of the Union Farmer.
