Dickinson – Page 26 – Dustin Monke

Adulthood apparent on holidays like the Fourth of July

My neighbor’s son, Ethan, was all in his glory with his sparklers on the Fourth of July.

Yesterday, I drove 30 miles to my friend’s recently completed home on the edge of the Badlands for an evening of fireworks, steaks and general revelry.

It’s something that our group of friends has done nearly every year since the summer following our final year of high school.

One way or another, and no matter where we are all living at the time, we attempt to get together on or around the Fourth of July to have our own private fireworks show, grill some red meat, have a few adult beverages and soak in the peacefulness of western North Dakota.

Long-standing nicknames and some of our best stories have come out of these gatherings, as they do for most families or groups of friends who celebrate together regularly.

However, one change is becoming very apparent.

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Sweet and “Sunny’ summer: Joe Nichols headlines Roughrider Days concert

Every day this summer has seemed sunny and 75 for Grammy-nominated country star Joe Nichols.

He has one of the top songs of the summer, recently got to spend some time on tour with his wife and two daughters, is with a new and burgeoning record label that specializes in country music, and has a new album dropping this fall.

The singer with such No. 1 singles as “Brokenheartsville,” “Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off” and “Gimme That Girl” will be in Dickinson on Wednesday as the headliner of the Roughrider Days Fair & Expo concert that begins at 8 p.m. with Restless Heart opening for Nichols.

“Honestly, things have been going pretty great for me lately,” Nichols said. “I can’t complain about anything.”

Nichols’ single “Sunny and 75” hasn’t reached the top of the charts but it has held steady with strong radio airplay and has a five-star rating on iTunes, where it is his second-best selling single behind his catchy 2005 hit “Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off.”

“It’s a made-for-summer type of song,” Nichols said via a phone interview while in Oshkosh, Wis. “Hopefully the song is not only connecting this summer but for summers in the future and it’s played throughout every summer.

“It’s the kind of song you love bringing to radio. It’s a tempo thing for the summertime. We need songs like this on the radio. The track feels great, it’s well written. The vocals are beyond what I’ve done before.”

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Families recognized by Medal of Honor recipient at Patriot Guard memorial

Staff Sgt. Clint Romesha ended his speech Saturday afternoon at the seventh annual Patriot Guard Fallen Heroes Memorial and Honor Ride with words that spoke to the heart of everyone in attendance at the Dickinson Recreation Center.

“There’s an old saying that those who stay home serve also,” said Romesha, a U.S. Army veteran and the nation’s most recent Medal of Honor recipient, before receiving a standing ovation.

Romesha, a California native who now calls Minot home, was the guest of honor at the memorial that paid tribute to the families of four North Dakota soldiers who lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Drivers get 77 mpg on Guinness World Record attempt

car — Wayne Gerdes, left, and Bob Winger fuel up their Volkswagen Passat TDI at Frankie’s West Side in Dickinson on Tuesday.

Drivers stopping at or passing by Frankie’s West Side late Tuesday morning got a glimpse of two men trying to set a Guinness World Record.

Wayne Gerdes and Bob Winger spent a couple of hours in Dickinson putting diesel fuel in the white 2013 Volkswagen Passat TDI sedan they have been driving since June 7.

Gerdes and Winger are “co-pilots” on a mission to break a world record for what Guinness calls best fuel economy on a drive through all 48 of the continental United States in a non-hybrid vehicle.

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Graduation a day of celebration, relief and dreams

Today, hundreds of area high school seniors will don gowns and mortarboards with tassels, walk across a stage and receive the diploma they’ve worked toward for 13 years.

It’s a day of celebration and relief for many students as they officially end their high school days and set off for either college, a trade school or the working world.

In my seven years working at The Dickinson Press, I had the pleasure of meeting several of the area’s youth through my prior experiences as sports editor.

This year’s senior class was going into the sixth grade when I first began to meet them.

My, how time flies.

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