A Lady Ram has just taken a shot at the Warroad goal in the first period of game.. 

         In a game that could have easily gone the other way, the Warroad Lady Warriors eked out an overtime win at home against rival Roseau on Saturday evening, January 3rd. The game was played in spite of a winter storm that dumped nearly a foot of snow on the area. Though an earlier basketball game in Warroad was cancelled, the snowfall ended in time for the hockey game to commence.

A faceoff in the Warroad zone

                The game was scoreless for much of the play. Roseau scored first, in the third period, but Warroad tied it up to bring on a sudden death overtime period. Play was up and down the ice throughout the game.

             While Warroad had the edge in shots on goal, at times the lady Warriors had difficulty  clearing the puck from their zone against the Rams, leading to good scoring opportunities for the visitors.

Play in the Roseau zone as Chelsey Froseth tries to keep track of the puck.

 
                Warroad goalie Shelby Amsley-Benzie had to work for the win as the Lady Rams had several good flurries on goal. Kylie Lane scored unassisted for Roseau at 1:58 of the third period. Brook Storey answered for Warroad at 6:30 of the period to tie it up. To win the game, Karlie Sylvester , assisted by Brook Storey and Lisa Marvin, scored at 6:51 of the 8 minute overtime to end the game.  Shots on goal were 29 for Warroad and 20 for Roseau.
             

            The teams meet again on January 20th. Expect another exciting game.

Little (Out) Houses in The Woods          

By Ms Toyota

When ya gotta go, ya gotta go… Kathy checks out another outhouse.

                Morning! I love mornings, everyday is another new adventure.  In the fall of the year I operate a small trapline that requires daily maintenance.  I’ve been trapping coyotes, fox, numerous other fur bearing animals and, of course, the unwanted skunk.

                On this particular cold, brisk morning I asked my friend, Kathy to ride along.  We bundled up warm, filled our go cups with coffee and ventured off into the unknown.  My trap line is off the beaten path, meaning we have a very rough, adventurous ride. I drove my Toyota pickup through a hay field and across a creek which had just frozen over; still a little slushy but we made it.  Needless to say, my Toyota inspires confidence. Up ahead I see movement, look at Kathy and say, “we have a skunk.”  After taking care of the situation, we venture on. The next set was at an old homestead site. We got there to find the trap had been snapped, no game so I get out, reset it, make it pretty and continue on.

By now I’m thinking to myself that up the road I need to stop, use the neighbor’s indoor facilities and fill up my coffee cup. All of a sudden Kathy became excited, saying, “Look, there is an old outhouse.” Suddenly intrigued, I stopped the Toy. We slithered out and trudged through the snow and brush to get to this unique looking little building.  I cautioned her that skunks and porcupines like to live in little empty buildings, she didn’t care.  Once we arrived, we found the door wouldn’t open. It was obvious it hadn’t been opened for many years.  Kathy started taking pictures as she wanted ideas. She is in the process of making the bathroom in her house look like an old outhouse. After a bit, we continued on but now we began looking for outhouses!

It was quite interesting since a lot of homesteads have an outhouse. Usually they are back in the woods, unnoticed and unused.  Most of them are leaning with the door ajar but many do not have a door. Some of the doors have a moon shape cut out in them.  What is the moon for?  Is it to let the moonlight in?  The variety of sizes and shapes was interesting, no two alike.  They come in all colors.  There was one with a cute little picket fence built around it.  Some were built very poorly, others stood as tall and proud as the day they were built.  Many roofs had a problem with the rotting issue.  Most of them had one hole, a few with two.  They sat empty, not used for storage of any type.  Maybe kept available for use if needed.  We come across one farm where the house is still used; it was decorated and painted fancy.

A collage of six of the outhouses found on the morning exploration

As we explored the houses, I pondered a few things like how did they heat these little houses and what did they do for light to see?  I didn’t see any magazine racks so where did they keep the Sears and Roebuck catalog? Did they sit and read the catalog or did they use it instead of Charmin?  Did they even have Charmin back then?  Do you suppose their trips in and out were quite quick in Minnesota’s beautiful winters? Who shoveled or mowed the path?

We found 15 outhouses in about a three mile radius and took many pictures.  I don’t think Kathy will need to buy an outhouse wallpaper border for her rustic looking room since she can print out dozens of her own pictures for a border.

             Later, I learned that the moon on the door is a gender thing. The moon represents feminine power, the mother goddess, Queen of Heaven.  The sun or sunburst represents masculinity.  In colonial times only a fraction of the population could read or write so  the symbols helped determine which house to use. In the two holers, one of the holes was usually cut smaller for the children.

On the way home we stopped at a convenience store for gas and it so happened the restroom was out of order.  We drove by a church and there was another outhouse!  Despite the advancements of modern technology, the old outhouse did not fail us in time of need.

(Ms Toyota is also known as LaRae Roseen)