Archives 2025

by Tre w/ the HOA

Hello friends, Valleyans, and countrymen! For those of you that don’t know, Valley Meadows is a mobile home covenant community just outside Valley City. I am the HOA president, and I’m trying to whip this place into shape, but it’s a tall task. Halloween is crazy around here, and I wanna give y’all a recap of what all happened this year.

The wonderful residents of Valley Meadows love Halloween. They decorate much more for Halloween than Christmas unfortunately. More people miss rent payments in November than in January if that tells you something. This year was crazy again. These people really stress me out! I remind everyone on our Facebook group to behave each year, but it doesn’t work.

People come from all over The Valley to see the Halloween decorations in Valley Meadows, so we always have a lot of traffic. That gives our teenagers ample opportunities to scare people in their vehicles. This year, we had multiple instances of teens in scary costumes jumping on the hoods of vehicles trying to scare motorists. Luckily, no one was hurt, but multiple people got out of their vehicles ready to throw hands. The teens just run off and hide.

Most people stay in their vehicles because you never know what might happen if you get out. Some brave people trick or treated in our neighborhood. We had 5 or 6 kids walking around dressed as zombies. I received a report that one small child was almost scared to death. He was scared so badly that he started hyperventilating, and he had to use his inhaler.

Additionally, we had multiple instances of young girls being scared to death by a male teen walking around with a fake knife sticking in his neck. The poor girls came running and screaming back to their vehicle banging on the doors to be let in. They were hysterical, so I doubt they’ll be back next year.

Also, I caught a couple 11 year old boys vaping at the gazebo. It was dark around the gazebo, and I guess they thought no one was around to catch them. I threw their vapes away, and I told their moms about it. I doubt anything happens; I’m sure they got them from their parents. It could be worse; at least they weren’t smoking pot.

Other than the things above, it was a pretty uneventful evening. Hopefully, we can tone it down a bit next year, because things have gotten a little out of hand. I think I’m going to request a law enforcement presence next year. I’ll send out emails and put out a post on our Facebook page, but I doubt anything will change. This job is making me old real quick.

by Carl “Bull” Crapper

The United States is a great country, and I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. But, there are some bad things that have occurred throughout our history, and slavery and the treatment of Native Americans are at the top of the list. Of course, there is nothing we can do about those atrocities now, but we can definitely learn from them and make sure they never happen again.

A new trend called land acknowledgements has started in the past few years where speakers at public events or gatherings acknowledge the event is on stolen land that was once owned and occupied by Native Americans. This has generally happened in big cities, at universities, and more liberal areas of the country. I’ve never heard a land acknowledgement, and I don’t know anyone else in The Valley that has heard or experienced one until this week.

Valley Tech is an online college located in Valley City, and they host a Fall Festival at their campus each year. It’s a very popular event that Valleyans and their kids look forward to each year. They have games, jump houses, candy and more. Things were going well until new Valley Tech Chancellor, Bernie Jeffries-Cortez, addressed the crowd. Jeffries-Cortez is from California, and he was an Assistant Admissions Director at San Francisco Community College before becoming the Valley Tech Chancellor this summer.

Jeffries-Cortez introduced himself and thanked the crowd for coming, and then he did the land acknowledgement. He stated that the event was being held on stolen land from the Six Town Band of Choctaw Indians, and the Native Americans were treated very badly. After he finished the land acknowledgement, the crowd immediately started booing him. There were reports that a few items were even thrown at Jeffries-Cortez.

One attendee said, “I’ve heard of land acknowledgements, but I’ve never actually heard one myself. I was shocked this guy did one. Thattaway to endear yourself to the community! This is not California or New York man. People were not happy about it, and those poor kids heard some pretty bad words. I bet that’ll be the last land acknowledgement at Valley Tech.”

One Valley Tech employee who wanted to remain anonymous said, “I think Bernie has done a pretty good job so far, but he really screwed up with this land acknowledgement. No one knew he was going to do it. I wish he would’ve ran it by somebody. He got the heck out of there real quick; he didn’t want to talk with anyone. You’re not in San Francisco anymore Bernie!”

Jeffries-Cortez couldn’t be reached for comment. Valley Tech put out a statement on Facebook apologizing for the land acknowledgement and thanking Valleyans for another successful Fall Festival. The comments on the post were not very nice and forgiving, however. We’ll see if there’s additional fallout from the land acknowledgement.

by Emma Embellischer

Data centers are being built across the U.S. to create computing capacity for the AI boom. There was a recent announcement that one was going to be built in Brandon, and now there are plans to build one in Valley County. These data centers are huge facilities that occupy many acres of land, and they also require massive amounts of energy and water. Many people are excited about the AI centers and the jobs they’ll create, but many people are not happy about the data centers. Most of the detractors are local residents that are concerned that their power and water bills will increase substantially because of the data centers.

Now, you can add another group of people that is not happy about the data center coming to Valley County- hunters. The data center in Valley County will be built on land off Hwy. 31 that is adjacent to the Riverbend Hunting Club. The proposed data center will occupy approximately 150 acres in total. There will be an estimated 900 construction related jobs during the building phase, and there will be an estimated 50 permanent jobs once the data center is completed.

Riverbend Hunting Club and their members are incensed about the new data center. Club President, Buck Tynes said, “Our club has been here since 1958, and we have prime deer and turkey hunting habitat. This data center is going to permanently alter our land and wildlife, and we’re not going to sit back and let it happen. We organized a protest on Tuesday at the Valley County Courthouse at 3:00 pm, and we had a huge crowd. We had around 500 Valleyans show up to let their voices be heard, and we hope BoomAI and our county leaders were listening. It wasn’t just hunters; we had people from all walks of life that voiced their concerns.”

BoomAI, the new data center owner, is excited about the data center, and they’re excited about the construction jobs and permanent jobs that it will create. Spokesperson Algoh Rhithm said, “We strategically selected The Valley to build this data center, and we’re excited about the jobs that it will create for Valleyans. I know there are some concerns, but we feel the pros will far outweigh the cons in the long run.”

I attended the protest, and I spoke to multiple protesters. One hunter said, “Look, I’m all about progress and creating jobs, but don’t mess with my hunting land. This is prime hunting land along the river, and they’re gonna totally screw it up forever. I’m mad at BoomAI, but I’m really ticked at our county leaders. One of them is in our hunting club, and he’s acting like it’s no big deal. I bet he’s getting paid off; he has to be. We’re not happy, and we’re gonna fight this tooth and nail.”

Another protester said, “I’m ticked about the fact that my power and water bills will probably more than double. That’s a bunch of crap, but I can deal with it. But look, don’t screw around with us hunters. I’m more ticked about the how this is going to affect our hunting club. We can forget about any deer and turkeys being on the west side of our land now; they’re gonna be gone. It’s a real slap in the face to our way of life. Couldn’t they find somewhere else in Valley County to build this monstrosity? We’re gonna fight it and fight it hard.”

The protesters that I spoke with said they are not backing down. They’re planning another protest this coming Tuesday at the same time and place. They’re expecting even more people to attend this one. Construction on the new data center is expected to start within the next 4 weeks. Will these protests be enough to sway the minds of county leaders to halt the project? We shall see.

by “Stretch” DeTrooth

According to multiple recent studies, umpires at all levels are getting worse. Some say it’s because of climate change, and some say it’s because they don’t care and they just want a paycheck. Others say it’s because of the constant yelling and berating by parents, grandparents, and fans, but we don’t truly know the root cause of the issue. Fall ball is in full swing now, and there’s been multiple incidents between parents and/or grandparents and umpires in and around The Valley. Hopefully, this is going to stop because of a new idea (yell boxes) that’s started appearing at tournaments.

Johnny Dewright has worked for the county for years, and he’s always managed The Valley Ball Complex. The complex has been hosting travel/select balls tournaments for around 10 years now. Dewright can run one of these tournaments in his sleep now. Dewright said, “We love having folks come in on the weekends for these tournaments. It’s great for our county, and it’s great for the ball complex. We make a lot of money, and I make a lot of money. But, the umpires keep getting worse, and the parents and grandparents keep getting crazier. I felt I had to do something about it.”

Dewright came up with the idea of the “yell box” (patent pending). It’s just a 4’x4′ portable box on wheels made of 2x4s and plywood; it’s almost like a mini shooting house. Angry parents or grandparents can pay $3 for up to 1 minute to yell and vent as much as they want. So far, the yell box has been a hit.

Dewright said, “There’s always a line at the yell box. Parents and grandparents are loving it. We have a person there collecting money, and they also have a timer. If our worker is under age 18, we require they wear ear muffs to drown out any obscenities and/or vulgar language. The yell box is always placed away from the concession stand and far away from the bleachers and dugouts. Most of the time, it’s setup in the parking lot and away from the fields. The yell box is insulated, but you can still hear people if you’re close to it. We also tell parents not to let their kids come within 50 feet of it, because you never know what you’re going to hear. It’s been great, and it’s helped raise a lot of money.”

Dewright plans to build more yell boxes to rent out to other ball parks and/or ball organizations. So, if you haven’t seen one yet, you’ll see one soon at a tournament. I was able to talk to multiple people that have used yell boxes. One mom said, “I love the yell box! I get fired up, and it gives me an outlet to let out my frustrations. I wish we had one a long time ago. Since, we got the yell box, my husband actually sits by me at games, and I haven’t gotten kicked out of a game either.”

One grandparent said, “Most of the time, I stand up and walk around and try to avoid the crazies. Now, I spend a good bit of time close to the yell box for entertainment. It is hilarious. Don’t tell anyone, but I’ve recorded a few of them, and they are absolute gold. The moms are the best.”

Dewright added that confrontations between parents and/or grandparents and umpires and coaches have been reduced drastically since adding the yell box. We all need to vent sometimes, and the yell box has allowed people to do that. Dewright needs to start building more yell boxes as soon as possible to help the travel ball community. The yell box could go down as one the greatest inventions in human history.

by Emma Embellischer

There has never been a better time throughout human history to be alive than right now. We have every modern convenience imaginable. You can order an item on a small handheld computer/phone/camera in less than 30 seconds, and it’ll show up on your doorstep 2 days later. You and your family want to have movie night; you don’t even have to get off the couch. You can pick a movie among thousands available on your smart tv and watch it for free. In the past, you’d have to drive to Blockbuster and actually rent a physical tape or disc to watch a movie. It’s mind-blowing when you stop and think about how great things actually are for us now. However, not everything is hunky dory.

Many people are yearning for the good ole days especially when it comes to our food. Our food is a problem. We’re very busy these days which means we don’t have time to cook fresh food. So, many people eat out or eat processed food all the time. It’s not good for us, and it’s causing a myriad of health problems. Plus, most fresh food has been grown with pesticides, and additives and harmful preservatives are added to many foods. You’ve started to see people take matters into their own hands in the past few years. More people are growing their own food, keeping chickens for eggs, having cows for milk, and more.

Let’s Homestead, LLC has started developing a unique neighborhood outside of Valley City. This neighborhood is being built around a farm instead of a golf course. The neighborhood will be called Nostalgia Farms, and ground was broken on it last week. Let’s Homestead, LLC President John Farmer said, “We’re excited to bring this new concept to The Valley. We’ll have 50 lots in this development, and they’ll surround a 25 acre farm. The farm will have multiple barns for livestock, and it will have a nice large chicken coup. There will also be a sizable pond on the back of the property. We expect a ton of interest in the lots when we put them on the market.”

Residents of Nostalgia Farms will have to sign an agreement and agree to certain terms to live there. Everyone will have to work on the farm to grow and tend to the fruits and vegetables, and they will also have to tend to the animals. Noncompliance could result in expulsion from the neighborhood. Farmer said, “We’re working on ironing out the requirements for the residents, but everyone will be required to work and do their share to live there.”

Also, pesticides and herbicides will not be allowed in Nostalgia Farms, and only classic and regenerative farming practices will be allowed. Residents will enjoy fresh organic fruits and vegetables, fresh farm-raised eggs, raw milk, and more. Also, 5G will not be allowed in the neighborhood because of its potential harmful effects. It will be heaven on earth for some, but some aren’t crazy about the idea.

One Valleyan said, “I don’t know about this new neighborhood; I’m pretty leery of it. I heard they were going to build wall around it. Is this supposed to be utopia for a bunch of hippies and granola people? This could turn into a compound for a crazy cult, and I don’t like it. I hope law enforcement keeps an eye on these people.”

Another resident said, “I love this idea! I’m not sure I can talk my husband into moving there, but it would be great. Fresh veggies, fresh eggs, raw milk, fresh sourdough bread, and more! We could teach our kids the value of hard work. I’d love to get out of our subdivision and live in this heaven on earth.”

This is definitely a unique concept, and it will be interesting to see how it goes. I could see this concept being a hit, and I could see more of these neighborhoods being built going forward. We’ll be here to cover the progress of Nostalgia Farms.

by “Stretch” DeTrooth

Six Town Hollow High football has been an afterthought for years now. They have made the playoffs only once in the past 10 years, and it’s been 22 years since they last won a playoff game. The small 1A school plays second fiddle to other schools in The Valley like Valley City, Strong River Bend, and Valley Prep. We didn’t even include them in our Valley football preview, but I guess we should have. They have gotten off to a hot 5-0 start, their best since 2007.

Six Town Hollow is coached by Steve Dundee. Dundee is in his first year as a head coach at any level. Dundee is from Melbourne, Australia, and he came to the U.S. 7 years ago to punt at Central MS Tech (CMT). After graduating from CMT, he was a backup punter in the Canadian Football League for 2 years. Dundee married Mary Jane Jones, who hails from The Valley, and they moved back to Six Town Hollow a few years ago. Dundee got into teaching and coaching at Six Town Hollow last year as assistant coach, and he was promoted to head coach this year after their previous coach was let go.

Dundee said, “The administration offered me the job in May, and I had a weak moment and said yes. That night I started thinking that I’d lost my mind. I have no idea what I’m doing, and we just came off a 1-9 season. I started thinking that we had to do something unique and out of the box to gain an advantage on our opponents. I played Australian Rules Football (rugby) growing up, and I started thinking about ways to incorporate rugby into our offense. Well, ChatGPT and I started a dialogue, and I’d created the Aus Toss offense within 30 minutes. It’s crazy when you think about it.”

At first glance, the Aus Toss looks like other modern offenses. They’ll sometimes go empty with 5 wide; at other times, they’ll go 4 wide with one back. On occasion, they’ll even use two back sets. Things start to look differently after the ball is snapped. Dundee said, “We will have at least 2 pitch men on every play to lateral the ball to. Generally, we’ll have one on the left and one the right, but if the play is ran to the sideline, we’ll have two pitch men on either the left or right of the ball carrier depending on which sideline the play is ran toward. If our ball carrier or receiver is getting tackled or about to get tackled, they’re taught to pitch the ball to the nearest pitch man. It took me a while to teach rugby style pitches with spin, but the guys have it down now. Coaches have never seen anything like it before, so it’s been very difficult to stop.”

The Aus Toss even gets the linemen involved in the pitch game. On certain plays, offensive linemen are pitch men and get an opportunity to carry the ball. It’s interesting to see Six Town Hollow’s linemen doing pitch drills in practice; you definitely won’t see that anywhere else. Dundee added, “We’ve gotten a lot of buy-in from our offensive linemen. They love being able to carry the ball and get involved besides just blocking. We work really hard on our conditioning; you have to be in great shape to run this offense. So, we like to reward our big guys when we get a chance.”

Six Town Hollow has won every game this season by at least 21 points, and they wear opponents down in the second half of games. It will be interesting to see how defensive coordinators adjust to the Aus Toss going forward, but up to this point, they’ve had no answers. Some think the Aus Toss will eventually be mentioned among other iconic offenses such as the Wing T, Wishbone, Air Raid, and more. We’ve got a long way to go before that happens, but I bet you’ll see more coaches studying and copying the Aus Toss.

by Ima Phibber

Fall is here! In my humble opinion, it’s the best time of the year. Football, cooler weather, pumpkin spice, and of course mums. Chrysanthemums or mums are a staple flower and decoration in the South and in The Valley during the fall. They are beautiful flowers, but there’s one major issue with mums. They only live for about 3 days. People with the greenest of thumbs have difficulties keeping mums alive. But, a Valley botanist has hopefully solved this issue.

The Verdant Valley Nursery has been a fixture in The Valley for years. People flock to their nursery on Hwy. 81 every spring and fall to buy flowers and plants. The Mumford family established the nursery in 1952, and at least one Mumford has ran it since day one. It is now owned and operated by Bud and Daisy Mumford. Their young daughter, Rose, also works in the business as a botanist. Rose graduated with a degree in botany from MSU 3 years ago.

Bud Mumford said, “We were so glad Rose decided to get a degree in botany and come back and work for us. She’s very sharp. Some say she’s like a mad scientist. She spends a lot of time after work hours working with flowers doing some crazy stuff. She’s been working with mums for months now, and she finally had a breakthrough. We’re so proud of her and what’s she’s accomplished.”

Rose said, “We love our mums in the South, but they just don’t live very long. I set out months ago to solve that problem. I’m not going to bore you with the details, but I’ve created some genetically modified mums that will live much longer than typical mums. My mums are hearty and should live at least 90 days with proper care and in normal conditions. So, if you water them too much, no worries. If you get them too much sun, don’t worry. They should still last at least 30 days with little to no water and/or sunlight.”

People are flocking to the Verdant Valley Nursery to buy Rose’s mums. They thought they would be big sellers, so Rose and the team was able to plant and grow a massive supply. They are also wholesaling the mums to other nurseries and retailers, and that business should boom in the coming years.

One shopper said, “I’ve bought mums for years, but I’d decided this year that I wasn’t going to buy them anymore. I swear they’d be dead by the time I got them home. But, I’m so glad Rose has created these mums, and I bought a slew of them. I’ll be able to enjoy them for at least a month.”

Rose’s mums have been a hit. Her hours of hard work in the lab have paid off for her and the Mumfords. Look for Verdant Valley Nursery to really grow and expand in the coming years because of Rose’s mums which is positive for jobs in The Valley.

by Heeza de Seaver

The Hideaway Eatery is scheduled to open next week in Valley City. Valleyans are excited about the new restaurant. It will have a rustic feel, and it’s something new, fresh, and unique. We don’t have a ton of culinary options around here you know. Not only is the restaurant opening making news, a hiring practice for potential employees is also getting a lot of attention.

All servers and cooks will have to memorize the Cheesecake Factory menu in order to get hired. Owner Paula Stewart said, “We will have a varied and eclectic menu, and our servers and cooks will need to know it like the back of their hand. I occasionally eat at a Cheesecake Factory when I’m out of town, and they’re known for having a large and extensive menu. I recently thought that requiring my servers and cooks to memorize the Cheesecake Factory menu would be a great way to test potential servers and cooks’ ability to memorize and recall information. Our menu will be much smaller than the Cheesecake Factory, but our menu will change pretty often. Some say it’s too tough, but I think it’s a smart business practice.”

Stewart will give her potential servers and cooks 2 days to memorize the Cheesecake Factory menu. She thinks it will eliminate many potential hires that wouldn’t be good workers, and she thinks it show who really wants a job. Stewart said, “We’ll know pretty quick who really wants the job. I’ve had a lot of people just hand the Cheesecake Factory menu back to me when I told them to memorize it and come back to me in a couple days for a quiz. It culls a lot real quick!”

Stewart added, “I’ve even had a couple applicants come back with a parent to try to talk me into them not having to memorize the menu. One mom got irate with me telling me it was an unrealistic ask for their 18 year old to memorize the Cheesecake Factory menu. Needless to say, neither of these applicants were hired. These helicopter parents gotta chill out; your kids gotta grow up.”

There are mixed feelings about the Hideaway Eatery’s hiring practice. One young man said, “I’ve been out of work for a month, and I really need a job. But, there ain’t no way I can memorize that menu. I could probably memorize the Gospel of John before I memorize that thing. Are they gonna ask for our ACT score too? I think it’s so stupid and unnecessary. I guess I’ll move on to the next option.”

A teenage female said, “I memorized the Cheesecake Factory menu in about half a day. It was a piece of cake! I just memorize everything for my tests in school, so it wasn’t that difficult. I was hoping my best friend could get a job here as a server too, but she’s a blonde and she couldn’t memorize the menu. I guess she can be a hostess or dishwasher.”

Valleyans are very excited about new dining option opening next week, and I’m sure they’ll be glad to know their servers and cooks have very good memorization skills. We hope the hiring practice will allow them to hire good quality employees, because we want the Hideaway Eatery to be around for a long time.

by B. S. Ryter

Select or travel sports has taken off over the past 10 years. Select soccer, baseball, and softball have been popular for years, but select volleyball has really grown in the past few years in The Valley and surrounding areas as well. Many kids are involved in tournaments every weekend, and the first place and second place teams’ players are normally awarded with rings, especially in baseball and softball. So, thousands of rings are being awarded each year, and most of these rings end up collecting dust as time passes. Mom gets tired of these rings over time, and she really doesn’t want to to throw them away. Now, she has something to do with those rings.

Ray’s Ring Recycling (Triple R) can now help Mom out. Ray Ripowski started Triple R four months ago, and his business is doing very well. Ray’s wife, Ramona, got tired of their sons’ rings just sitting around everywhere in their rooms, and she threatened to throw them all away. Ripowski said, “When Ramona said that, a light bulb came on in my head. These rings are everywhere now, and I could start recycling these rings for people. I knew I could create something neat to sell back to the ring owners, and I’m still coming up with ideas for that. But, business is booming. Moms are glad to get rid of the rings.”

Ripowski works as a metal fabricator, and he’s doing the ring recycling on the side right now. But, he eventually hopes to do it full time. Ripowski gets the ring owners to mail or hand deliver the rings to him. After he receives them, he melts them down, and then creates a new customized metal piece for the customers. Currently, he offers just a handful of options including metal name plates, metal pictures, and engraved metal baseballs or softballs. His customers love the metal balls; many parents put their kids’ stats on the balls for keepsakes.

I was able to catch up with some of Triple R’s customers. One mom said, “I was fed up with all my sons’ rings. They kept accumulating, and I was about to throw them away. A friend told me about Triple R, and Ray created really nice engrave metals balls for my boys. I’d recommend Triple R to everybody.”

One dad said, “Look, it’s crazy that a business like Triple R even exists. I still can’t get over all these tournaments handing out second place rings. That wouldn’t have happened back in my day. I make my kids throw their second place rings away. We’ll keep the first place rings, but not the second place rings. But, Ray made some really nice name plates for my kids, and they really like them. If they keep winning rings, we’ll get some engraved balls done too. Ray does great work.”

Triple R has already garnered a reputation for doing great work. With the continued growth of select sports, their business should continue to grow. Ripowski said, “I hope they start handing out third and fourth place rings too. I’m for everyone getting a ring! That’s good for business.”

by Ben BeEssen

The two most used letters in the English language right now are AI. The artificial intelligence (AI) boom, revolution, or whatever you want to call it, is in full swing. AI is becoming a part of the lexicon more and more everyday, and more and more people are using it everyday. Most people are being exposed to AI by using large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, Microsoft’s CoPilot, and more.

These LLMs are making many everyday tasks much easier. You need to write an important email to coworkers- run it through ChatGPT. You need an outline for a Sunday school lesson- just tell CoPilot what you need. You need a 3 day trip itinerary for Atlanta- enter the prompt in Grok. These LLMS are also affecting the journalism field. Many writers and “journalists” are using LLMs to write their stories for them, and it’s very difficult if not impossible to know if AI is used.

Some have accused the SRVO and its writers of using AI to write our stories/articles. We have some of the best writers in the business, and our writers have a ton of journalistic integrity. I have never used AI to write a story, and as far as I know, none of our writers have used it. This is going to be a bigger issue going forward, so the SRVO wanted to get out in front of the issue and let The Valley know our stance on the issue.

All of the SRVO writers have signed a pledge to never use AI to write our stories/articles. Not only have we signed a no AI pledge, our IT department has even blocked access to the LLMs on our network and wifi. So, SRVO readers, you can rest assured our coverage of The Valley’s news will always be authentic and organic.

I was able to get a couple quotes from a couple other SRVO writers. Ima Phibber said, “I’m old, so I don’t even know how to use AI. But, it’s sad these young journalists can’t think for themselves. No one is going to know how to think in the future. What if the internet goes down? People will lose their minds.”

I. B. Lyon said, “I’m so glad we all signed this pledge. I have a couple writer friends at other organizations, and I know they use ChatGPT to write their stories. They have gotten accolades for their work, and it’s a bunch of crap. I work hard on my articles, and I work hard to get good reliable sources. I hope other news organizations will follow our lead.”

Will other news organizations sign a no AI pledge? We’ll see, but I’m not holding my breath.