Legend of the Fall

Not a lot changes from year-to-year in the small community of Sherwood, North Dakota.

The International Memorial Day Service is always the town's big event, drawing several thousand visitors from around the region. The annual "Big Buck Contest" will be the highlight of the month of November, and the results can be found in the school district's weekly newsletter. And most of Sherwood's 300 citizens will go to work everyday in the fields surrounding the community as the agriculture and oil industries feed the local economy.

That's why it was big news to everybody when a figure that had been a constant at the local high school's football games for 45 years stepped aside this year.

Orlin Hanson had served as Sherwood high school's public address announcer for football since 1959, remaining the voice of the community when the towns of Mohall and Sherwood combined their teams in 1998.

"My voice started to go a little bit and people in the stands were having a tough time hearing me," Hanson said. "So I went ahead and decided to let somebody else do it."

"I think the kids from Sherwood recognized the significance a little more than the kids from Mohall," Mohall/Sherwood head coach Robby Voigt said. "But he was supportive of kids in both towns and the team. His voice always came across as sincere for the kids that he was supporting."

Sherwood is located just two miles from the North Dakota-Canadian border, and from the press box, the level landscape provides a view that runs for miles.

"I can stand in the Hawk's Nest and see all the way into Canada," Hanson said. "That is pretty unique."

It's location on the border is not the only thing unique about the area. The communities of Mohall and Sherwood are located 19 miles from each other, and because there weren't enough students to field an 11-man football team, the schools formed a cooperative squad in 1998. That arrangement has extended to all extracurricular activities seven years later.

"I think football has helped the consolidation process," Voigt said. "When you are sitting next to somebody and cheering for the same kids, it has helped in melding together these communities."

Among Hanson's fondest memory of his years in the box may be Sherwood's 1982 team, which captured the state title.

"It's always interesting the things that he remembers," Voigt said. "I know one of the things that he enjoys talking about is the 1982 state championship team. But he also remembers the way that kids performed on non-champion teams."

Hanson, a veteran of the Korean War, is still a busy man and a prominent citizen in the city of Sherwood, remaining active in the State Historical Society of North Dakota, the local American Legion chapter, and helping to promote tourism in the area.