Turtle Mountain Star July 5, 2021: Page 1

July 5, 2021 Turtle Mountain Star
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{\ :13: ##25 cmmfm WWW “ALL FOR ABC 980 “an IU sages; gasses 92? W RAiLROAB AVE SFELTON, WA 93584—3847 258 Sheena Azure shoots for the green on hole No. 2 at Rolla Golf Course. She and her husband, Chris, far left, are part of the Turtle Mountain Walking Golf League sponsored by the Turtle Moun- tain Tribal Diabetes Program. The Azures make the weekly event a family outing with their children Katlynn and Madilyn. Friends turn favorite activity into a community fight agai By Jason Nordmark Of The Star V As a young woman, Paula Bel— garde watched diabetes take its toll on her parents. _ . “They struggled with diabetes for the last 15 years of their lives,” Bel- garde said. “My dad had'double am- putations and my mom was on dialysis three times a week for 12 years. My dad did the same for seven years. That had a big impact on my life.” The disease ultimately played a role in their deaths and today Paula’s brothers are also dealing with it. So far, Belgarde has avoided the afﬂiction which kills almost 200 peo- ple in North Dakota each year. As with other Native Americans, how— ever, the likelihood that diabetes will catch her is higher than average. One of Belgarde’s primary goals is to not let diabetes catch her and this summer she’s using a‘ popular sport to keep it at bay. She is one of around 35 members of the Turtle Mountain Walking Golf League who play at the Rolla Golf Course every Monday. “I’m free of (diabetes) right now, but I still watch my routines, what I eat and I exercise,” Belgarde said. “Every Monday I set my watch to calculate calories and miles and walking up those hills takes a lot of strength. I burn an average of 1,500 calories on Mondays so I know I’m getting a really good workout.” An idea among golfing buddies What started as three friends play- ' ing a sport they love turned into a full-blown summer league that not only features prizes but also battles the life—altering disease. It began with a decision by We- ston Poitra, Chris Azure and Jacob DeCoteau to play the Rolla Golf Course and walk instead of the much more. popular option of riding in a cart. “It was Weston’s idea. He wanted '\ From left to right are friends Chris Azure,/Jacob DeCoteaukand nst diabetes Weston Poitra. The three turned a weekly golf outing into an op- portunity for everyone to get exercise as a tool to fight and pre- vent diabetes. to get out and try it,” Azure said. “We were just talking and throwing around ideas.” Out of that discussion came the Turtle Mountain Walking Golf League. The summer—long competi— tion is sponsored by the Turtle Mountain Diabetes Program. “It was an' awesome idea,” said Eric Dionne, coordinator of the program. “It’s ex- actly what we look for, something that keeps people active, prdmotes physical activity and good healt .” The tribal program offers weekly prize incentives for participants and grand prizes at the end of the season as well as sponsoring a year—end tournament. Dionne said there are currently 1,313 diagnosed diabetics utilizing Belcourt’s Indian Health Services. Not only is the disease heredi- tary, American Indian/Alaska Na- tive adults are almost three times more likely than other race to be di— agnosed with diabetes and the death rate is nearly two-and-a—halftimes higher. . 5 'Both Poitra and DeCoteau are dealing with the disease, as is Azure’s FORE Health (continued on Page 8) ~ ~77 V7 T v wv-‘w V-‘ ((0 See Pages 9, 10 and 11 Turtle Mwmai _ Must-see in The Star Pushinglimits .... ..... .. .... ..Page3 The real tburney'winner....Page 4 State‘drawing new lines ...Page Business changes hands Page 6 Power line safety a 'key ....Page 7 July 5, 2021 a Water situation still a concern in area By Jason Nordmark Of The Star While the city of Rolla is still urging residents to mod- erate their use of water, Turtle Mountain Public Utilities Commission (TMPUC) relaxed its water conservation . order on June 25, but is still promoting close guardianship of the resource. V . Ken Azure, director of TMPUC, said the rainfall in the ~‘._, A Ragtop moment The 2021 Ragtop was a hot one with temperatures reaching into the 90’s for most of the weekend. Despite the high temps, Rolla was the place to be with games for kids and adults, giv- ing everyone in the family an opportunity to experience some summer fun'in the sun. area during the past few weeks “helped a lot,” but other infrastructure issues remain. “We had one well ﬁeld down and we’re working on it,” Azure said. As TMPUC persOnnel do repair work, Azure said all Water (Continued on Page 3) ﬁg St. John students got colored up during the final day of summer school last week. Around 110 students were enrolled in the program. Summer classes .try toy-address potential learning gaps while having some fun By Jason Nordmark Of The Star Colored shirts and even some colored hair highlighted the end of the summer school session in St. John. Summer classes kicked off on May 25 and concluded . last week. All total, kids were in school for 18 days over a six-week stretch. An average of 110 students enrolled in the summer programs, which were funded exclusively with Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Funds (GEER). St. John Superintendent Paul Frydenlund described the summer school program as a success, but added the full impact won’t be known until students return to regular school this fall. “It’s hard to tell after this last year because we started with a hybrid learning model but then we got hit by “They do a really good job see- ing where the learning gaps are and how best to correct them.” Paul Frydenlund, St. John superintendent on the work of the school’s three principals COVID and we had to shut down and go distance learn- ing in November and December,” Frydenlund said. f‘We came back and had some hybrid learning and then in late Summer School (Continued on Page 8) , \ ‘ t\\\\\ I ' Volume 134 — Number 36 r Two Sections — $1 \ Rolla, North Dakota 58367 ‘