The Franklin Middle School and Lincoln High School orchestras will perform their annual Christmas concert on Monday, Dec. 16 at 7:30 p.m. in the Lincoln High School Auditorium. Admission is $6 for adults, and $4 for students and seniors.
The Franklin Middle School Sixth Grade Orchestra will perform first, performing songs from their book. Holiday Special is a short medley of “Chanukah, oh Chanukah,” “Jolly Old Saint Nicholas,” and “Jingle Bells.” They will then demonstrate their knowledge of fiddling with the folk song Liza Jane. “The Ukrainian Bell Carol” is a string arrangement of the popular “Carol of the Bells.” They will end with a medley of Christmas songs labeled “Carols for Strings.”

Fighting for position, Thief River Falls’ Josh Bernier (right) and Perham’s Ben Nelson battled at 120 pounds during Friday’s double-dual high school wrestling meet hosted by the Prowlers. Bemidji was the third party in the event, which served as the Prowlers’ 2013-14 season opener.

Thief River Falls wrestlers opened the 2013-14 dual meet season with a pair of losses Friday night, falling 40-30 to Perham and 46-25 to Bemidji.
The Prowlers are a unique team with a contrasting mix of experience and inexperience. On Friday, it was inexperience that led to a close loss to Section 8AA rival Perham.
“We are a mix of inexperienced and experienced kids. Our juniors and seniors need to help lead by example,” said Thief River Falls coach Kenny Geiser. 
The Yellowjackets led 8-0 after winning the first two matches over seventh graders. Dylan Fudge won by 20-5 technical fall at 106 and Patrick Johnson topped Cade Lundeen 9-4 at 113.

In 2008, Santa held baby Stetsen, infant great-grandchild of Ted and Darlene Koropatnicki, on Christmas Eve. Also pictured are Wyatt and Ethan. (Submitted)

Santa Claus recently retired his glasses. They are over 100 years old and have served him well. They have helped Santa Claus see a lot ... see the faces of children of all ages at public appearances ...  see who’s naughty and who’s nice ... and see that each child on the nice list gets the appropriate Christmas gifts for Christmas.
They have rested on Santa’s nose and ears as he brought families closer, brought joy to children on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and gave hope to people when they needed it most.
For the last 30 years, Santa’s glasses have been worn by Pat Gaffaney of Thief River Falls. The wire-rimmed glasses originally belonged to his grandfather, but the lenses have been updated to fit his current prescription.
First-time Santa
Gaffaney first portrayed Santa at Valley Home in December 1983. He never intended to don the Santa suit, but fate intervened.
Jerry Jenkins, a truck driver and friend of Gaffaney, was supposed be Santa Claus at Valley Home that year. That changed when Jenkins was called out on the road. Jenkins knew that Gaffaney would fit the role to a T and convinced his friend to fill in. The rental Santa suit came from Pamida and Gaffaney said the outfit wasn’t very believable.

Thief River Falls fielded its first girls high school hockey team in 1999-2000. The first opponent was Warroad. The Prowlers lost 6-1. They also lost every subsequent match-up with their northern rival – 26 games over the next 14 years – until Tuesday when the streak finally ended with a 4-2 Thief River Falls victory at the Ralph Engelstad Arena.
The Prowlers won by scoring twice in a 69-second span near the midway point of the third period to shatter a 2-2 tie.
Results extended Thief River Falls’ season-opening winning streak to 11 games while dropping five-time defending Section 8A champion Warroad to 3-5-1.
“It feels good,” said Thief River Falls assistant coach Blair Lund, who is keeping the Prowlers going in the right direction as head coach Corey Poole sits out due to medical reasons. “We’ve been waiting for this for a long time.” 

Ben Gross of Roseau has a goal and a deadline. His goal is to raise enough money – $2,400 a month – to fund a mission trip to southeast Asia where he will work as a Bible translator for Wycliffe Ministries. His self-imposed deadline is to meet the lofty fundraising goal by January.
“It’s been going really well. I’m trying to get everything together by the end of the month. Normally it takes a lot longer but I’m trying to do it in two months.”
The roots of Gross’ mission date back to April 2012. He was at a Tibetan evangelism conference in the Twin Cities, when he met a man from Tibet who did not have access to a Bible in his own language.
Gross is a 2009 home school graduate who ran track and cross country for Roseau in high school. He attended Northwestern College in St. Paul, following his high school graduation and, in 2012, he graduated with a degree in Biblical and Theological Studies and a minor in ancient and classical languages.
“I was actually planning on being a professor of systematic theology,” Gross said.

Shelby Holthusen, 5, did a word search on an iPad on Tuesday, Dec. 10 at the Thief River Falls Public Library. Nearby, Maizey Ziegler “painted” as part of another game with her mom, Tiffany Ziegler. The Northwest Regional Library System recently replaced the two children’s computers with two iPads. Friends of the Thief River Falls Public Library provided an additional two iPads at that library. The NWRL System will also provide an iPad for each of the other NWRL?System libraries and the two LINK sites.

The Northwest Regional Library System is providing iPads at each of its NWRL libraries and LINK sites. The iPads are to be used by children ages 0 to 10.
One iPad will be placed at the libraries in Greenbush, Hallock, Karlstad, Red Lake Falls, Roseau, Warren and Warroad. The LINK sites in Karlstad and Grygla will also each receive an iPad. The system provided two iPads to the Thief River Falls Public Library since that library initially had two children’s computers. It also received an additional two iPads from Friends of the Thief River Falls Public Library.

An offensive show kept the scoreboard operator busy Friday night as Northland out-scored Minnesota West 103-100 in a match-up of Minnesota College Athletic Conference women’s basketball teams.
“It was a crazy game,” acknowledged Northland coach Shannon Nelson. “Definitely not a defensive battle.”
Jenna Lundon, a 5-6 Northland sophomore guard from Waubun, tied and won the game with 3-pointers at the end of regulation time and overtime.
Trailing by three with 20 seconds remaining in regulation time, the Pioneers set up a play for Lundon, who came through with a deep three to send the game into overtime tied at 91-91.
It was still deadlocked 100-100 when the Pioneers took the ball out of bounds under their own basket with 3.5 seconds left in overtime and just one second on the shot clock. Again, the ball ended up in Lundon’s hands and she beat the buzzer with another long trey for the victory.
“There were some dramatics to be sure,” said Nelson.

Flying to Minneapolis out of the Thief River Falls Regional Airport has become a hit or miss proposition.
New FAA regulations that require first officers (co-pilots) to have at least 1,500 hours of airtime took effect in August. The new regulations created a pilot shortage that has forced Great Lakes Aviation to sporadically cancel flights.
On July 31 and prior, pilots needed a commercial rating and just 250 air hours to be air transport pilot (ATP) certified. Because of the shortage, larger carriers have hired pilots away from smaller airlines.
Great Lakes Aviation, the Essential Air Service airline that flies out of Thief River Falls, was able to maintain its usual flight schedule in August and September, said Joe Hedrick, manager of the Thief River Falls Regional Airport. That changed in October and November as larger carriers began luring pilots from smaller regional carriers.
“It made pilots with ATP become more desirable for larger carriers,” Hedrick said. “We got a lot of two-week notices.”  
Hedrick added that a 2009 crash in New York led the FAA to look at modifying requirements. The end result was the Airline Safety and FAA Extension Act, which was passed by Congress in 2010. 
“They claim it’s a safety issue,” Hedrick said. “They claim that the rule went into effect to improve safety.”

Faye and Richard Dicken are third-generation owners of Northland Produce in Thief River Falls. The company has survived more than 50 years of service to the community by adjusting to the needs of its customers.

Small, family businesses must endure many challenges to survive. Over the years, that includes evolving to meet changing needs of its customers.
Richard Dicken of Northland Produce of Thief River Falls, said a business has to evolve. “It has to keep one step ahead. It’s the only way a small business can stay around.”
Dicken and Northland Produce are members of a special group of retailers - third-generation businesses.
According to the Family Business Institute, only about 30 percent of family businesses survive into the second generation, 12 percent are still viable into the third generation and only about 3 percent of all family businesses operate into the fourth generation or beyond.

Thousands gathered in downtown Thief River Falls Monday night for the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train. Decked out with thousands of lights and cheerful entertainers, the event brought holiday spirit and much needed financial assistance to the Area Food Shelf. CP donated $6,000 to the Area Food Shelf. Representatives of the Area Food Shelf were also collecting food items and donations from residents attending the event. The total amount raised was not immediately available.

Bill and Connie Stock have embarked on the next adventure in their life together.
“This is another adventure, but we feel we’re coming full circle,” Connie said.
Both Stocks retired May 31 from Lincoln High School in Thief River Falls –?Connie as a communications teacher and Bill as a counselor. Bill was rehired June 2 to provide help during several transitions at LHS. He is uncertain whether that arrangement will continue beyond his current one-year contract.
The Stocks began working at LHS in the 1980s. Their life together began more than 10 years earlier. They met at a hockey game while she was attending Concordia College and he was attending North Dakota State University. They were married in 1973.
The couple moved to Arizona a year later once Connie had obtained an undergraduate degree in English and Bill had obtained a graduate degree in counseling and guidance. Connie’s parents, Robert and Mavis Hillyer, were suffering from health issues and had moved there earlier.

To the Editor:
The following is the faculty response to President Temte’s reasoning for suspending the football program at NCTC:
We think the decision to suspend the football program at Northland is hasty and ill-advised. We have to wonder why there has been no dialogue with faculty, staff and students on this issue. Also, our opinion of the rationale points that have been listed for “suspending” the program are not accurate in some cases and are incomplete and vague in many others. We are especially confused by the following citations in your written announcement:

Defense played by Christian Hedstrom of Detroit Lakes made it tough for Thief River Falls’ Dominic Kruse to get off a shot during Tuesday’s Section 8AAA boys high school basketball game.

A Thief River Falls offense that averaged 76 points per game in a 4-1 start to the 2013-14 boys high school basketball season hit a wall Tuesday in a 63-48 home court loss to Detroit Lakes.
The Prowlers mustered just 19 first half points while   struggling with 33 percent 7-for-21 shooting.
First basket of the night was a drive off a steal by Thief River Falls guard Jacob Joppru. But that was the only lead of the night for the Prowlers, who played with head coach Joe Wasfaret in the stands instead of on the bench.    
Wasfaret was serving a Minnesota State High School League-mandated penalty stemming from three bench fouls called on the coaching staff in the final moments of a Thursday loss at East Grand Forks. Assistant coach Justin Skjerven took over in Wasfaret’s absence.

Challenger Preschool student Maryana Aarestad gave Santa Claus a big hug Thursday morning when the man from the North Pole made an appearance at Challenger. Santa helped Dairy Queen employees deliver Dilly Bars. Santa will also be making an appearance at Dairy Queen from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday.

Farmers Union Oil plans to open a diesel and gasoline fuel station along U.S. Highway 59 on the south side of Thief River Falls.
Farmers Union Oil, which currently operates two Cenex gas stations in Thief River Falls, acquired property that previously belonged to Home Lumber during an auction in fall 2013.
Scott Bergland, general manager, said Farmers Union previously studied the possibility of constructing a diesel station south of its fertilizer plant near Arctic Cat. That site would have posed some problems with access. The construction of the railroad underpass and the availability of property along Highway 59 made the choice to build in the southeast part of town a no brainer.

Ian Lund of Thief River Falls moved the puck while being pursued by Will Mix of Achiever Academy during the tenth annual Ralph Engelstad Arena Classic boys high school hockey games. Isak Bergland of the Prowlers and Austin Parrish of the Aces looked on. Thief River Falls won the game 7-1.

Another impressive Thief River Falls offensive showing carried the host Prowlers past Crookston 6-1 Saturday afternoon in the final game of the tenth annual Ralph Engelstad Arena Classic boys high school hockey match-ups.
Earlier in the day, Achiever Academy from Vadnais Heights outlasted Fort Frances, Ont. 7-6 in overtime and Fargo North overwhelmed Siren, Wis. 10-1.
In three REA Classic starts, Thief River Falls out-scored Siren, Achiever Academy and Crookston by a combined 24-5.
After struggling to score goals in a 3-5 start to the 2013-14 season, the now 7-5 Prowlers began their offensive breakout with a 7-0 win at International Falls before jumping into the REA Classic with wins over Siren 11-3 and Achiever Academy 7-1.
Thief River Falls grabbed a 3-1 first period lead and stretched the difference to 5-1 in the second period against the Pirates in a game that also counts as a regular Section 8A contest.
Logan Ose scored twice in the Saturday victory. Isak Bergland, Eli Olson, Landon Sanders and Michael Johnson were single-goal scorers. Zeb Nelson collected three assists.

Lincoln High School graduate Kraig Anderson was recently featured on an episode of “Shipping Wars.” Here, he is pictured with members of his family and Jennifer Brennan from the show. Pictured are (from left) brother Kyle, Jennifer, son Ben, Kraig, son Jack, niece Hannah and dad Adolph.  (Submitted)

Kraig Anderson plays with butterflies for a living. At least that’s how his kids describe his job.
Anderson owns Spineless Wonders, which designs, builds and installs insect exhibits. The business also supplies butterfly adult and pupa from Africa, Asia and Central America. It supplies insects to zoos and museums as well.
Anderson’s interest in insects began at a young age. “I’ve always been interested in biology, the life sciences and things like that,”?said Anderson, a 1987 graduate of Lincoln High School.

Positioned next to West Fargo goalie Morgan Stirling, Thief River Falls forward Kora Torkelson looked for a tip-in opportunity as the Prowlers controlled the puck in the Packers’ zone during Monday girls high school hockey action at the Ralph Engelstad Arena. The Prowlers beat the Packers 6-1.

It took 17 minutes to get the legs going, but once Thief River Falls hit top speed, the outcome was never in doubt Monday as the Prowlers skated to a 6-1 girls high school hockey win over a West Fargo squad ranked among the top teams in North Dakota.
Thief River Falls’ first two shots on net produced an early lead, but the Packers were still within 2-1 at the first intermission.
The rest of the game belonged to the Prowlers, who out-shot West Fargo 32-7  in the second and third periods.
“We looked a little sloppy in the first period,” said Thief River Falls coach ?Corey Poole. “I thought we played better in the second period. We started to take over. It was good to see us move the puck like that.”

Bill Amiot, postal carrier for the United States Postal Service in Thief River Falls, was bundled up against afternoon temperatures in the teens below 0-degrees Fahrenheit on Thursday, Jan. 2. Amiot said even with all the precautions he takes to stay warm on days like this, it was still too cold.

The National Weather Service in Grand Forks, N.D., issued the following statement Thursday afternoon: “Strong southwest winds will help loosen up the current snow-pack on Friday morning before a strong arctic front drops into the region. By mid afternoon Friday, a powerful cold front will drop into the Dakotas and bring another couple of inches to the region. Winds along and behind the front will quickly increase from the northwest, gusting from 30 to 40 mph across portions of northeastern North Dakota and the northern valley. The high winds, in combination with a loosened snow pack and fresh snow, will result in near blizzard conditions. These conditions will spread southward and impact all of eastern North Dakota and the Red River Valley by Friday evening. This will result in extremely hazardous travel conditions from Friday evening through early Saturday morning. Furthermore, the cold arctic air will pour into the valley during the day Saturday. Life threatening wind chills of 50 below to 60 below zero are quite possible late Saturday through Monday.”

Polaris has filed a lawsuit against Arctic Cat, claiming that the latter company has infringed on its patent for side-by-side all-terrain vehicles.
In mid-December, Polaris filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court. In court documents, Polaris claims that Arctic Cat’s Wildcat side-by-side ATVs infringe on its patent for the RANGER RZR, which was introduced in 2007.