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ARNEGARD The little gym in the Old School Bed and Breakfast in Arnegard will be filled with activity once more as owner Milt Hanson tonight inaugurates a series of events.

Musical group Merrill Piepkorn and his Radio Stars will strike up the band today at 7 p.m., Hanson said.

"Merrill plays a combination of country, gospel and bluegrass music," Hanson said. "There is a lot of audience interaction, too."

Williston-area musicians Tim Ritter and Laura Enerson will open for the Radio Stars. A Williston High School group will sell concessions.

Tickets, which are $10.50, are available at the door or at First International Bank an Trust in Watford City, or the EconoMart branch in Williston. For reservations, call 586-3595.

Hanson, who has operated the bed and breakfast since Mothers Day in 2004 in the historic school, said, "The exterior still looks like a school and each of our four suites has a theme, all centered around schools."

Even the trophies earned by students during its more than 60 years of operation are on display, on loan to the bed and breakfast.

The school was built in 1914, Hanson said, with additions made to it in 1936 and 1954. Grades 1 through 12 were housed there through 1963, when it became an elementary school only. In 1976, when a new school was built, the Arnegard school closed.

"Classrooms weren't used much through 1998 when I got it, although the big gym was used as a roller rink in the 1980s," Hanson said.

Hanson and his fiancee, Vicky Wentworth, who plan their wedding reception at the Old School Bed and Breakfast this fall, noted the school is available for anniversary and wedding receptions and other events.

"We stay busy," Hanson said. "Oil field business in this area really helps. We have a good relationship with some area motels who refer people to us when they run out of space. We only serve breakfasts, plus we can make box lunches for guests, including hikers who visit Theodore Roosevelt National Park nearby, or birders who love this area and our oil field guys."

Hanson, who grew up in the Arnegard area south of Williston, also operates Uncle Milty's Band Instrument Repair from the bed and breakfast. A former music teacher, he later studied instrument repair. After spending 20 years in Georgia and South Carolina, he made his way back to the Arnegard area.

"We hope to have monthly concerts here," he said. "Merrill Piepkorn's group is sure to delight everyone, and we have some good prospects for later this fall, too."