North Dakota
North Dakota Skydiving legend's legacy lives on in the sky
WEST FARGO — When the weather is clear, you’ll likely see the majestic sight of skydivers soaring over West Fargo. It’s all thanks to one man, Donald Solberg, and his passion for growing the sport in North Dakota.
As the propellers turn at the West Fargo Airport, a group of thrill seekers prepare to do something many refuse to do.
“He felt like everybody should have an opportunity to skydive if they wanted to. And I think if he was standing here today, he’d be so proud of what his legacy is bringing,” said Megean Solberg.
These brave souls are taking advantage of a vision from Donald Solberg.
“Thirty years ago, he was one of the founding members. He also was just extremely into skydiving. He thought everybody should be able to do a skydive. Just super passionate about the whole skydiving in the skydiving community,” said President of Skydive Fargo Craig Graf.
Donald Solberg passed away earlier this year after a battle with vascular Parkinson’s. That’s when his daughter created a legacy foundation in his honor, granting one person a year the opportunity to feel the thrill he felt thousands of times. The first recipient was an anxious Lindsey Larsen.
“I was really nervous once I started driving down the gravel road and my heart started to pound. So, I’m extremely nervous,” she said.
It’s a bucket list opportunity for Lindsey, who grew up just down the road from the airport. Her unique encounter with Don Solberg, and a gold-plated Mickey Mouse Watch decades ago, made this opportunity so much sweeter.
“And Don was literally walking the ditches and into the field like just constant back and forth. So I stopped to ask him what he was doing, and he said he had lost a watch while skydiving, so I stopped to assist, to try to look for this watch in a field. I remembered who he was, because I remember that day really, really well,” said Larsen.
The watch was never found. But, after a bout with Mother Nature, they think Don Solberg may have had something to do with the skies clearing at dusk.
“When you’re at 10,000 to 12,000 feet and, you know, you’re getting ready to jump out or you look out, it doesn’t really look real, you know? It’s just, you can’t really pick out individual cars or anything. You can see the city of Fargo. You can see Mapleton. It’s really a peaceful thing,” Graf said.
As Larsen soars through the air, a lasting memory is created in honor of Don Solberg.
“That was actually incredible,” Larsen said after landing.
The Donald J. Solberg North Dakota Legacy Skydiving Foundation takes applications in April for their annual skydive. More information can be found on the Skydive Fargo
website.
North Dakota
North Dakota voters to decide single-subject requirement for future constitutional amendments on June 9
BRECKENRIDGE — Coaches, teammates, friends and family gathered in the south parking lot of Breckenridge High School for another state tournament sendoff.
Corbin Abner Lee / Wahpeton Daily News
This year, it was Troy Berndt taking the ceremonial convertible ride. He is headed to St. Michael-Albertville High School for the Minnesota Class A State Track and Field Meet on June 4-6.
Corbin Abner Lee / Wahpeton Daily News
He will be running in the third heat of the 400-meter prelims, scheduled for 4:52 p.m. June 4. There are seven athletes in each heat, 21 total, and nine will advance to the finals at 6:20 p.m. June 5.
The top two finishers in each heat advance, along with the next three best times. Berndt’s personal best time of 50.67 has him seeded 13th, but the 10th-, 11th- and 12th-seeded runners are less than five hundredths of a second ahead of him. The eighth- and ninth-seeded runners are also close, at 50.33 and 50.39, respectively.
Berndt dropped nearly seven-tenths of a second from his previous personal best at the Section 6A West Subsection Meet on May 21, running 51.35, and shaved another 0.68 seconds off at the Section 6A Championships on May 28 with a time of 50.67. If he keeps lowering his time, he will have a shot at reaching the podium against the best runners in Class A.
Corbin Abner Lee / Wahpeton Daily News
Results and photos will be available online immediately following the race June 4 and in the June 10 print edition of the Wahpeton Daily News.
Corbin Lee is a sports reporter for the Wahpeton Daily News and Richland County News-Monitor. Corbin can be reached by calling (701) 291-3551 or emailing corbin.lee@wahpetondailynews.com.
On this day in 1971, Rugby repeated as North Dakota’s high school sand greens golf champion behind medalist Dwight Stempson’s winning performance.
Here is the complete story as it appeared in the paper that day:
Rugby Repeats As Sand Greens Golf Champion
RUGBY, N. D. — Rugby repeated as North Dakota high school sand greens golf champion here Wednesday, posting a four-man total of 293 strokes for 18 holes.
Led by medalist Dwight Stempson’s medalist 36-35 — 71, the Panthers were eight strokes ahead of runnerup Stanley, which had a 301. Following were Garrison 311, Beulah 315, Leeds 322, Ashley 323, Bottineau 328, Pembina 329, Tioga 332, Parshall 341 and Hettinger 342.
Stempson and teammate Bruce Carlson each had one-under par 71s, but Carlson was unable to be at the regional and wasn’t qualified for individual honors.
Rounding out the Rugby totals were Delwin Wilson 40-37 — 77 and Dennett Hutchinson 35-39 — 74. Gary Kirchoffner, 41-39 — 80, was Rugby’s fifth entrant with the best four-of-five scores counted.
Runnerup Stanley was led by Steve Springan’s 34-38 — 72 and Joe Springan’s 36-38 — 74. Their two-man total of 146 strokes was good enough for the doubles title. Two strokes back with a 148 was the duo of Stempson and Wilson. Stan Saathoff and Mike Stepina of Garrison each had 76s for a 152 total and the Ashley combo of Steve Maier (76) and Dave Kretschmar (78) was fourth with a 154.
Stempson was the driving contest winner with a distance of 280 yards. Chris Knutson of Garrison headed the pitch and putt competition.
Kate Almquist is the social media manager for InForum. After working as an intern, she joined The Forum full time starting in January 2022. Readers can reach her at kalmquist@forumcomm.com.
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