Category: SDL Bismarck

Bismarck’s own Nishu Bowmen Archery Club, which is named after an old Native American word for “straight to the mark,” was first officially recognized in the 1960s. In collaboration with the Bismarck Parks & Recreation District they aim to hone archers’ target shooting, hunting, and competition skills at both their outdoor and indoor ranges, the latter of which is open year round to members.

Up until recently the only ways you could experience escaping from a room were by playing video games or going to prison. Video games are by the far more preferable of the two — I’ll take tapping buttons in the comfort of my living room over two decades of carving a tunnel through solid concrete using nothing but a soup spoon any time.

“My parents used to get mad at me when I was a kid,” recalled Travis Feist of Dakota Kustomz. “As soon as they gave me any new toy, especially a bicycle, the first thing I’d do was take it apart, figure out how it worked, and then put it back together again along with my own improvements.”

Although it had started out as a legitimate sport back in the 1930s, in the decades that followed roller derby gradually devolved into the female equivalent of the WWE. Scripted fights, fishnet stockings, and miniskirts which doubled as scientific studies into how many sequins a square inch of fabric could support before erupting under its own sparkliness took priority over athleticism, and the outcomes of the matches were often predetermined. Roller derby experienced something of a renaissance last decade, however. The showmanship angle with its stockings and sequins has endured, as have the athletes’ funny stage names like “Honey Basher” and “Princess Cut” — but the aggression, and the results of each bout for that matter, are very real indeed.