Around the State: August 12, 2024

The counties and cities within the state of North Dakota hold many interesting news stories.

Here are just a few of the feature stories that others are reading in communities around the state.

Sharon man's legacy living through a spice blend

One family with ties to Steele County is helping people add a little bit of spice to their lives.

Jim Kloster loved to make his special seasoning salt to share with friends and family. After his death last year, his children banded together and started the Kloster Salt Company.

Jim was born and raised on a farm in Sharon, N.D. A third generation farmer, Jim always loved to cook and create his own recipes. His son Ryan said that he began making his hand-crafted seasoning salt over 25 years ago.

"He would mix his secret recipe in large batches, pour into bottles, and even had his own label that was designed by a family friend," said Ryan.

"He gave Kloster Salt away to his family and friends. He always joked about how he should sell it, but he was never too serious about trying that venture. He laughed and would say 'pretty good then,' which was his signature phrase."

As Jim grew older, he handed the recipe down to his son, Ryan, and they would work together to mix the batches.

"After my dad passed away our family gathered and made a large batch of Kloster Salt. We knew he was looking down with pride as we worked together. Shortly after the four of us kids started discussing a family business in his memory."

Several months later, in January 2024, Jim's four children aligned to be co-owners of Kloster Salt Company.

Ryan said the company works with a spice company to mix, bottle and label the product. It is then up to the Kloster family to market the product to get it onto store shelves.

"We are busy reaching out to businesses to stock our salt on their shelves. We also sell our product off the website, klostersalt.com, and other social media outlets."

(Story by Lisa Saxberg, the Steele County Press)

Outlaws' Bar & Grill to be featured on America's Best Restaurants

On July 26, filming occured at Outlaws' Bar & Grill on Main Street in Watford City for an episode of America's Best Restaurants (ABR).

Outlaws' Bar & Grill is a member of the Six Shooters' LLC, and a press release states, "America's Best Restaurants, a national media and marketing company focusing on bringing attention to local, independently-owned restaurants, will bring its ABR Roadshow to the restaurant on July 26. Popular dishes will be highlighted, along with an extensive on-camera interview with key staff about the restaurant's special place in the community. The episode will be aired extensively on social media channels at a later date."

(Story by Kristen Jones, the McKenzie County Farmer)

Area daycares face long waiting lists

Statewide challenges in child care, including staffing shortages, long wait times for openings and high costs for enrollment, are impacting every facet of the industry in both urban and rural communities.

According to the most recent Census data estimates, there were around 170 children under 5 years old living in Divide County in 2022, 166 children ages 5 to 19 and 87 children ages 10 to 14. Of those 423 children, 247 of them were living in Crosby.

Now with only two licensed daycares in Crosby, and both operating at their current maximum number of enrolled children, the balance between caregivers' and families' needs can be difficult to manage.

Crosby Kids Daycare has 29 children on its waiting list with zero current openings, according to director Carissa Smith.

"To run at full capacity, I need like 16 full-time staff members and I have seven," she said.

"For summertime our staffing was great. Once school starts, that's going to look completely different for us," said Smith as high school staff will be returning to school.

Annemarie Throntveit said she has almost the opposite problem, a lack of space.

"I do it from my home, so I don't know if I want any more kids," she said.

With other daycares in the region and statewide facing similar problems, solutions to address them have been at the forefront of many state officials' minds.

As the state continues to face the need for more workers and more daycares, in a rural community like Crosby, child care remains a necessity for parents and providers alike.

(Story by Jordan Rusche, the Journal, Crosby)

Kenmare chosen as one of the hosts for the 2024 CaNDak Tour

A 'biker gang' rolled into Kenmare on August 7, hanging around town, camping out and departing the next morning.

No, this isn't a group of motorcycles headed to Sturgis, but it is a group of about 60 bicyclists traveling on the 7th annual CaNDak tour.

CaNDak, which stands for Cycling around North Dakota, is a cycling tour brought together by a group of high school coaches, teachers, administrators and volunteers from across the state.

The mission of this nonprofit organization is to provide a great bicycle touring experience and use the proceeds from each tour to help fund the activities of local participating schools and clubs.

"The CaNDak tour is a ride, not a race," stated tour director, James Anderson of Velva. "The cyclists are on a leisure ride, but good conditioning is still important because you get the most out of it if you are in good riding shape."

This year's eight day CaNDak adventure is a scenic tour of 371 miles of North Dakota's landscape. The 2024 'Back to Our Roots' tour will begin and end in Garrison.

In the past this ride has mapped out a daily mileage from 35 to 70 miles and rest stops every 10-20 miles along the route, according to the organization's website.

The cyclists participating in this year's CaNDak tour range in age from 13 to 81 years old. They hail from all over the United States and some from Canada.

The states and provinces represented are North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington, California, Nevada, Colorado, Texas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Maryland, Georgia, Tennessee, Missouri, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. There are 60 cyclists registered for the full tour.

(Story by Tracey Houck, the Kenmare News)