When most people think of the best things about North Dakota, the state’s fertile soil, rollicking grasslands, and proud frontier history at once spring to mind. Few would point out its copious snowfall as its star attraction, however. Fortunately Steve Koep is standing by to make the stuff only a passing inconvenience. His company Fargo Snow has grown by leaps and bounds since he founded it after returning from his service in Iraq, and with that mounting success Fargo Snow is able to offer more and more to their community.
Skydive Fargo
“My greatest jump in the Army? OK,” said Hans Nielsen, board member at Skydive Fargo. “It was an early morning dive, just south of Mount Kenya. Our plane had slowed down to 130 knots, and I and the 62 other men in my unit were all jumping out, one by one. While we were in midair, a herd of about 100 zebra, spooked by our plane’s shadow, all charged across our landing zone. They were long gone by the time we hit the ground, but I’ll never forget the sight of them as we floated down from the sky.”
Pink It Forward
According to the American Cancer Society, there were an estimated 310,260 new cases of breast cancer diagnosed among men and women in 2017. Pink It Forward – a local nonprofit whose mission is to provide hope and empowerment by enriching the lives of all those affected by breast cancer – is continuing to do what they can to make a difference in the lives of each and every one of those individuals.
Chuck’s Custom Rods
When I first reached out to Chuck Deremer of Chuck’s Custom Rods for an interview, I made the mistake of trying to schedule one on a summer weekend.
Scoop N Dough Candy Co.
I am a worldly man. I have toured the medieval sandstone caves of Nottingham. I have been kicked out of a Japanese karaoke bar for singing “Livin’ on a Prayer” three times in a row (and I believe nothing else). I once drank Johnny Walker Blue Label from a coffee mug.
Fargo Stuff
Artists have always held a certain fondness for the cities they’ve called home. Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre-Dame is as much his love letter to Paris as it is Quasimodo’s story. Federico Fellini’s movie Roma encapsulates everything about the ancient capital, from its food to its frescoes to its nightmarish traffic. Even Gotham, Bob Kane’s grimdark Batman setting, is in its own way an ode to New York City (albeit to its seedier facets). In this tradition a great many of Fargo’s artists find they need look no further than their hometown for inspiration and beauty.