Many thanks to Butler Machinery for a wildly successful and entertaining Open House and breakfast last weekend! Naturally I was there with my little towheads to enjoy the food and lots of big machinery on display in a heated setting.
Big machines ranging from generators to excavators, construction equipment and farm implements were all available for big kids and little kids to explore and enjoy. Fun packets were given to the kids, which include really cool little foam bulldozers! Vroom.
What better way to start your day than at the controls of giant yellow machines, just imagining the enormous sandbox you'd need to play with them. These machines seem big to me, so they must be enormous to five year olds!
Pancakes, eggs, sausage, juice, served with smiles. The lines were long but moved quickly. Of course I ate first before stopping back to take a quick photo. A man's got to have priorities, and after a good long session lifting my boys in and out of various machines' cabs, food was at the top of our list.
These tables were packed with guests when I arrived, one more sign of the event's success. Once we had our breakfast, it was off to explore more big machines before sneaking a quick photo before the end of the Open House.
The staff I've talked to are very excited about their enormous expansion, which hopefully will be done very soon. I imagine business is good with all the construction going on in our state, and it's wise to grow along with it. Even better is the hospitality shown to the community, and the resulting smiles on all those kids' faces! Thanks again for a breakfast experience that will be tough to beat.
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( 3 / 83 )
It was a nail-biter, but sadly the Shiloh Skyhawks girls' basketball team did not come away with the overtime win tonight. It was a packed house at good ol' Mandan High, and enthusiasm was running high on all sides.
Part of that high energy was the cheer team for the Shiloh ladies: these dudes. I don't really know what to say about them other than that they took team spirit to the max, and offered ample support to the girls on the court tonight!
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( 3.2 / 133 )
This is STILL the world record for single-site snow angels.
I found out today that Duluth tried, quite unsuccessfully, to top our record for the most snow angels made in a single location at a single event. Nice try, but North Dakota tops Minnesota in all the good ways. :)
You may remember a while back when I posted that Canadians had made over 15,000 snow angels for a new record - but they were at multiple sites across a wide area, so it is NOT the same record as ours.
Fear not, NoDaks...we're still undefeated.
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( 3 / 127 )
Super Bowl XXXVI had a special significance outside the football realm: it was the first after the terrorist attacks only a few short months before. Concerns about security ran high, as the nation was traumatized by the events of September 11th and worried whether more such attacks on civilians were in store. Thanks to President Bush, we have not been hit since, but some healing was in order. Who best to deliver a halftime show to help along the way than U2?
The YouTube video I'm going to link to below contains the second half of the show. I have a copy of the full show, raw as it was sent from the truck to the network, but I don't have permission to put it online. The first song they play, Beautiful Day, is also on YouTube; just search for "U2 Super Bowl Halftime" and you'll find it. But the part that had me standing, jumping, and cheering that day was the second song, perhaps their most famous: Where the Streets Have No Name.
When Bono is walking with the microphone before he begins to sing, he quotes Psalm 51:15 – "O Lord, open thou my lips, and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise." In an episode of VH1's Behind the Music, U2’s manager tells the story of how, in the band’s early days, he’d find them in the bus after their shows reading the Bible instead of out partying it up. Apparently they're Christians of some sort. According to the program, they almost called it quits when all the fame took hold because they didn’t know what it might do to them. They didn’t break up, however, although Bono has since jumped the shark. I like their music and choose to remember where they supposedly came from.
Tonight's halftime show was predictably garbage - half dressed "dancers" writhing around without a musician among them - so I tuned it out. In fact, I didn't even get to begin watching the game until the start of the second half, which turns out to be the best part of the game. I kept a thumb on the remote button to switch away from any of the racy commercials, caught the Dodge Ram "Farmer" ad (easily the highlight of the night), and kept my family's eyes safe from whatever assault Big Media had prepared for them.
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( 3.1 / 137 )
If I could summarize 2012 in one year it would be: busy. If you've followed this website for more than the past year you know that I'm a prolific poster when given the opportunity, and other responsibilities have kept me from taking a whole lot of photos and/or sharing them with you. Here's an attempt at playing catch-up.
"Pancakes and Planes" is the local aviation counterpart to Buggies & Blues. If it's lesser known, that's too bad; it's a great time of hospitality, fellowship, and cool displays. Here's a tour of what you may have missed last June, and an exhortation to support this event in the future.
The main hangar is set up with plenty of tables and chairs to hang out and have breakfast, catch up with acquaintances who've flown in for the day, and take in various informational displays. In the event of rain it's also a good place to duck inside and stay dry while the weather passes. June is unpredictable, after all.
Out on the tarmac and surrounding area is where you can spot a number of fascinating aircraft. These two "powered parachutes" are capable of flying slowly over the terrain and coasting in case of engine trouble. My best friend has a two-seater that would be phenomenal for an airborne photo trip, but I'm afraid of flying on anything other than a motorcycle.
Aviation has its hot rods, too. This P-51 Mustang was a show stealer. I've got video of them running some tests on it, as the hydraulically adjusted prop was oiling itself a little bit upon arrival. Here you can see that the shroud has been removed from the front so it can be inspected. Aviation is all about safety, so looking things over thoroughly is as common as tying your shoes.
I'm quite open about the fact that I'm a law enforcement fanboy. They were on hand as well, showing some airborne capabilities. In the past helicopters from the National Guard and Border Patrol have been present as well. Their availability obviously depends on other factors, since they have important jobs to do. This is the FLIR camera system. The acronym commonly stands for Forward Looking Infra-Red, but this is also a brand-name.
I'm no aviation expert, but I believe this is a Long-EZ. Its most notorious owner would be John Denver, who crashed his many years ago, but these planes have also flown around the world . Wikipedia has a photo of one of these belonging to NOAA. I just think it looks cool and is probably a blast to fly.
Speaking of flying, you can try your hand at that...virtually. Several flight simulators were brought over from the aviation program for people to try. In addition to several tabletop units there's also a cockpit-style simulator.
My little guys are still too young to grasp the theory of flying an airplane, but they did have a blast rubbing the belly of their virtual craft along the ground and watching the horizon jump. Maybe in a few years they'll be ready, but for now they'll just shoot balloons on our Nintendo Wii.
There was a fun game for the little ones, though: build a balsa airplane (which were being distributed for free) and try to land it as close as you can to the X. One of my little guys is a perfectionist and wanted to do this all afternoon until getting it right.
One last note: remember I mentioned breakfast? Well, it was PHENOMENTAL, and it was provided free of charge by A&B Pizza. If you attended this event, please remember to thank 'em next time you're in the restaurant. I keep forgetting to do this. If you weren't there, you missed out on some amazing sausage, pancakes, and eggs. Thanks again to A&B Pizza for their hospitality.
The Mandan Airport is getting some major improvements this year, so I don't know if it will be available for a Pancakes and Planes event this year. Hopefully it won't have to take a year off; however, as June approaches and everyone starts talking about Buggies & Blues and other summer events, remember to watch out for Pancakes and Planes. I know I will, and will be posting a reminder here.
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( 3.1 / 117 )
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