Xtra! Xtra! State Parade kicks up newsworthy splash
From the left are the grand marshals of the North Dakota State Parade, Jill Schramm and Eloise Ogden. Ogden and Schramm are the editor and associate editor, respectively, of The Minot Daily News. Kristian Streitz of Dakota Cruisers Club is owner and driver of the Ford Mustang. Photos by Audin Rhodes/MDN
Veterans with Western North Dakota Honor Flight wave to people gathered along Burdick Expressway during the North Dakota State Parade Saturday. N.D. Honor Flight is a program taking veterans to Washington, D.C., to visit landmarks and memorials. Photos by Ben Pifher/MDN
Abel and Iva Lerum watch the North Dakota State Parade with awe and excitement on Saturday. Abel has his arm around his little sister as he tells her to look at the horses. Photos by Audin Rhodes/MDN
From the left are the grand marshals of the North Dakota State Parade, Jill Schramm and Eloise Ogden. Ogden and Schramm are the editor and associate editor, respectively, of The Minot Daily News. Kristian Streitz of Dakota Cruisers Club is owner and driver of the Ford Mustang. Photos by Audin Rhodes/MDN
Veterans with Western North Dakota Honor Flight wave to people gathered along Burdick Expressway during the North Dakota State Parade Saturday. N.D. Honor Flight is a program taking veterans to Washington, D.C., to visit landmarks and memorials. Photos by Ben Pifher/MDN
Abel and Iva Lerum watch the North Dakota State Parade with awe and excitement on Saturday. Abel has his arm around his little sister as he tells her to look at the horses. Photos by Audin Rhodes/MDN
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Minot locals, North Dakotans and beyond gathered Saturday for the 42nd annual North Dakota State Parade. The parade's theme was "Xtra! Xtra! North Dakota Hot News!" and was a newsworthy celebration of journalism, community and people.
The co-grand marshals for the parade were Eloise Ogden, editor of The Minot Daily News, and Jill Schramm, associate editor. Ogden and Schramm have been staples of local journalism and continue to serve their community at The Minot Daily News.
Parade floats celebrating the theme incorporated newspapers as decorative flair and children dressed as mid-19th century newsboys, who were passing out candy instead of papers.
Jim Boley, a retired Air Force veteran and former history teacher at Minot High School Magic City Campus, reads the paper every day and has been doing so nearly his entire life.
"When I was teaching high school history I required my students to read the paper," Boley said. Boley believes it is important to keep students up to date on current events and local news.
Boley has lived in Minot for 50 years and has attended every single North Dakota State Parade. Boley was in the parade himself on three different occasions, twice with the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, and once with the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). The VFW float escorted Gov. John Hoeven and Hoeven's wife, Mikey, that year.
Jackie Schneider has been attending the state parade for more than 30 years. Her favorite thing about the parade is hearing the bands play and seeing all the different horses. She also loves seeing friends and family and her nieces who were in the parade this year.
"We get to see them enjoy it because it just goes generation to generation to generation," Schneider said.
Lynn Meine and her grandchildren were among the generations of people enjoying the parade. Meine has been coming to the parade for years and has been reading the paper for nearly as long, having been a subscriber to The Minot Daily News for 30-some years.
"My mom says I have to keep getting it. I have to support it and I have to listen to my mom," Meine said. Meine's mother also reads the paper daily and attends the parade annually.
Meine's grandkids were excited for the parade candy and they weren't the only ones.
Heather Huighe came to the parade with her husband, Keith, and four of their five children.
In 2010, Heather and Keith moved to Minot from the St. Louis, Missouri, area due to military station orders. They decided to stay and make Minot their new home.
"It's a great place to raise a family," said Huighe. Huighe and her family have been attending the North Dakota State Parade for around eight years, ever since their son was in the parade one year.
"I just love seeing everybody. It's nice now that we've been here long enough. We're in the community. We know people in the parade. I love that," Huighe said.
Huighe teaches at Erik Ramstad Middle School and said she follows The Minot Daily News online.
"I think things go in cycles. So right now (people) are really into consuming news virtually. But I think we're seeing a lot of problems with that, especially with AI (artificial intelligence)," she said. "People can't really figure out real life news sources."
Huighe and her husband believe printed news will always remain a popular staple because of its reliability.