Just My Opinion - By Mary Kilen
Rib Riot Returns
The sixth annual Rib Riot returns to Stanley this Saturday at the Prairie Rose Golf Course.
Teams will start cooking early in the day with serving to the public starting at 4:00 p.m. There will be inflatable bounces houses and a huge slide for the kids to play on, as well as free sno-cones.
The annual event has become very popular over the last five years with teams coming out looking to claim the best ribs. In addition to baby back ribs, there will be sides served along with dutch oven dishes and desserts.
I’ll be back again this year running the judges for that portion of the competition. John Woodbury has trusted me with that throughout the event with the exception of the year that I had a family trip planned for Medora at the same time. I was in charge of the judges for several years with the rib cook-off at the Fair Building. Mine is the easy job. I line up the judges and then make sure the teams have everything they need as they get close to turn in time. The judges then have the hard work of deciding who made the best ribs. Again, I get the easy job as I get to help announce the winners.
The Rib Riot started in the summer of 2020 as people were looking for a way to have fun and get together during covid, thus the name. It has grown over the years. It has changed locations from the park to the golf course. That happened in 2024 when the pool was under construction and the park space was limited.
One thing has remained the same, though. It is always a good time and the food is always great. If you have the chance, come on out to the golf course on Saturday and help support the cause. Funds raised go to the Stanley Fire Department.
It Was A Busy Week
Life is always busy around our house and the office over the July 4th holiday. We always have friends and family visiting and this year was no different.
We took Carter back to his parents on Sunday, June 29. Dale’s brother Ron and his wife Ila arrived on Monday afternoon. His sister Linda and her husband Steve arrived on Wednesday, along with their daughter Stefanie and their grandson Alex.
Needless to say, there was a lot of visiting and good food shared around the table. There may also have been several visits to Dakota Drug for Whirla-Whips.
It was really a blessing to have Stef among the visitors. She is a veterinarian and along with her husband is a partner in two veterinary clinics in Denver. When our Buddy broke his leg, we turned to her for an honest opinion about whether or not surgery might be a viable option. She was pretty sure there was a good chance for success, so we moved forward to have surgery to repair his back leg.
Any time we had questions, she was quick to answer and give us advice. I’m pretty sure she had become just as invested in his recovery as we were. On Wednesday, she was checking on how he was doing. On Thursday, Ron and Dale took Buddy back to the vet in Williston for x-rays and an update. He got the staples out and the splint removed. He is making great progress.
Although Stef was leaving on Thursday to go back to Denver with Alex, she made a point to stop by to check on her “patient”. She was happy with the way he was healing and followed up with us on his medications and medication schedule. She was also as determined as our vet that he try to stay calm. That means no jumping, playing or otherwise acting like a normal mini aussie for about another six weeks. At least he was cleared for more movement and he really seems to be appreciating that.
Friday was very busy around the house as Dale and I, Ila, Steve and Linda made our way to the front of the Promoter for the July 4 parades. Ron was on the float with his classmates as they celebrated their 60th reunion.
After the parade, we were back at our house for the afternoon and early evening supper with Dale manning the Blackstone. We spent part of the evening visiting before everyone else headed back to the hotel for the night.
Steve and Linda left Saturday morning. Ron and Ila came back in the early afternoon before Ron was off to more reunion activities. Ila hung out at the house and did some laundry before Ron came back to pick her and Dale up. Ila went back to the hotel while Ron and Dale went to the Sibyl Center.
Ron and Ila headed back to Fargo on Sunday morning to spend a few days visiting her family before they fly back to Virginia later this week.
Time with family becomes even more special the older we get. There was lots of memories shared, time together and laughter. There weren’t very many pictures taken, but there were some. The pictures will remind us of the time spent together, but the memories will last longer.
Seeing Dale with his siblings in the home they were raised in put a big smile on my face. I know that I missed plenty of those moments because duty called at the office, but I know they had a great time together. I hope we get to do it again soon. Steve and Linda usually make their way back to North Dakota each summer and we are blessed to be able to see them each time. It’s a little more of a trek for Ron and Ila from Virginia, but they make it every few years.
Up next will be Jozie. She’s coming to spend part of her week at the State Fair. With family camping plans for the last weekend of the fair, she will likely come mid-week next week. Dale and I are figuring out how to make the most of her time here. We’ll likely be asking for a puppy-sitter one day so we can all go to the fair together. Then there’s a better than average chance that each of us will take her one afternoon. She deliberately chose fair week to come this year. I’m pretty sure she’s going to get fair week next year too to make up for some of the things we won’t be able to do all together this year.