| Summary: | served on the board of directors and in other capacities were P. O. Mandt, serving as secretary-treasurer for 33 years, and P. O. Holt, manager and lineman for 28 years. Time marches on and life and ways of life do change! It is now 1983 and we update our way of life in Avon Township. Our soil is a rich, somewhat sandy loam, which must be farmed and guarded carefully. Many acres of shelter belts have aided in controlling wind erosion and they have also added to the beauty of our countryside and provided a haven for wild life as well. A drainage ditch in the northwest part of the township is being used to drain some of the lower land and channel the water on to the Little Goose River. Farmers of today are using a large amount of fertilizer and herbicides on the land, thus producing larger crop yields. They are raising large crops of wheat, barley, sunflowers, several varieties of beans, and some corn and potatoes. It is an area of rich abundance. All of the original rural schools have gone except Avon #36 which is still being used as a township meeting hall. Many farmsteads have also disappeared from the scene and the land has become a part of larger farming enterprises. 80% of Avon Township is farmed by someone living outside the township. A fine improvement was when the telephone company buried the telephone lines and provided each patron with his own private telephone service. All but one mile of sectionline has been graded and is either graveled or black-topped. The Grand Forks and Traill County Water Line provides much of the area with running water and several wells and a filtering plant are in the township for this water system. The summers of 1982 and 1983 saw the railroad line rebuilt between Larimore and Mayville. Some of our grain will continue to be carried by rail as well as by the large semi trucks being used today. Kempton, which once boasted five elevator companies, is now reduced to one and Multi-Foods Corporation owns it. Our farmers are facing the problem of low prices for farm commodities and high expenses in operating. Beaver Creek Township First School of Kempton Village 1902-Andreas Tosterud on the first binder The first settlers who came westward settled along the Goose River where there was water, wood, and shelter, but little by little it became crowded along the river and it became necessary to move farther west and thus many of the old pioneers found their way into Beaver Creek or Norway township as it was called then. The first ones settled in 1877. The land westward was hilly and rugged, and anyone living there was referred to by the Norwegians as living "vest i Mounta". A special township election was held in school house No. 4 on the 6th of May, 1886, for the purpose of organizing the township and to elect officers for Norway Township. Knut Johnson, Nels Maystad, and Knut Heskin conducted the meeting. Elected were: Alexander Falconer, chairman; Daniel Bjerke, supervisor; Peter J. Ostmo, supervisor; K. H. Brunsdale, clerk; E. A. Johnson, treasurer; Knut Johnson, assessor; Ole Brunsvold, Justice of the Peace; Nels Mays- tad, Justice; Lars Martinson, constable; Jens Tenold, constable; Ole Dahl, overseer of the poor; Jens Berge, pond-master. Road overseers elected were: District No. 1 Jens Berge; District No. 2 C. C. Christianson; District No. 3 Jacob A. Nelson; District No. 4 Ed A. Johnson. All township officers and overseers were paid $1.50 per day or for each meeting. The assessed valuation of the township on June 28, 1886, was real estate $36,820, personal property $19,701. At the annual township meeting the 21st of March, 1905, a vote was effected to change the name of the township from Norway to Beaver Creek township. The officers at that time were Ed O. Norgaard, chairman; A. E. Tosterud, supervisor; Ed E. Bjerke, supervisor; K. A. Walsvik, treasurer; O. H. Windloss, assessor; M. Brumwell, Justice; H. K. Walsvick, constable. Four schoolhouses were built and school began in 1885. The term included two months in the fall and three months in the spring. Carpenters who built the schools were Daniel Bjerke, the Coltoms, and A. E. Tosterud. 209 Scanned with a Zeutschel Zeta book scanner at 300 dpi. Edited with Multi-Page TIFF Editor.
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