For Edison Baker, it was a long 34 years.
     The retired U.S. Army veteran, who now resides in Hurley, began his enlistment in late 1969. In a matter of weeks, Baker found himself deployed to Vietnam, a place he would call home for the next 18 months.
        Like any proud veteran, Baker’s memories of his time in service remain vivid to this day. One such memory was that of a Native American fellow soldier he befriended while stationed in the war-torn country.
       Aljoe Spotted Elk, a Sioux indian, arrived in Vietnam some eight months after Baker.
        “We just became good friends,” Baker said, whose job was to guard the base’s perimeter alongside Spotted Elk.
        Although the two soldiers had become close, their budding friendship had little time grow, as Spotted Elk left the country mere months after arriving.
         “I had been in Vietnam for about eight months [before the Army deployed Spotted Elk there],” Baker said. “Then, he left about five months before I did.”
         Despite the fact that the new friendship was a mere five months old, the two soldiers often pondered life after Vietnam.
         “We talked about one day visiting each other,” Baker said.
          Over the years, Baker spoke often of Spotted Elk to his wife, Fannie, and daughter, Christy.
          “I talked to them about him quite a bit,” he said.
          But as time went by, the two Army buddies failed to stay in touch. That is, until last year.
           Out of the blue, Baker opened his mailbox just prior to Labor Day to find a letter marked “general delivery.” Baker said it was hard to tell how long the piece of mail -- with no specific address -- had been circulating in the postal system.
          “I don’t know how it found me, but it did,” he said.
          Sure enough, the aimless letter had been mailed by Spotted Elk in an attempt to rekindle a bygone friendship.
           “He just wondered what happened to me,” Baker said.
           Spotted Elk told Baker he settled down on the reservation at Fort Yates, North Dakota, where he works for veterans affairs.
            Not only that, he had a surprise in store for the Baker family. He invited the three of them to attend the 36th Annual United Tribes International Pow Wow on Labor Day weekend.
 

by Cathy St. Clair
News Editor
         (Editor’s Note: The Buchanan County Board of Supervisors meeting was held Monday, the day before North Grundy Supervisor Joe Keene died in a tragic wreck. Remarks by Keene quoted in this story were made at that meeting.)

       Buchanan County taxpayers will have an extra month to come up with their county tax money in the years to come due to action by the board of supervisors Monday to make a permanent change in the tax due date.
       Beginning with the 2006 tax year, Buchanan residents will find their taxes due on January 5, instead of December 5, as has been the due date in the past.
      Board members passed an ordinance making the permanent change in the annual date county taxes will be due following a public hearing, Monday.
        No comments were heard.
       "I don’t believe anybody is against it," said Hurricane Supervisor William P. Harris.
       He then made the motion to change the tax deadline permanently to January 5. North Grundy Supervisor Joe Keene seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous.
       As a result of the decision, county taxpayers will find their 2006 taxes due January 5, 2007.
 

          (Editor’s Note: The Buchanan County Board of Supervisors meeting was held Monday, the day before North Grundy Supervisor Joe Keene died in a tragic wreck. Remarks by Keene quoted in this story were made at that meeting.)      
        
         Amendments to a county public road and bridge policy were tabled again Monday as members of the board of supervisors raised questions about actual application of the policy to the county’s existing road system.
        South Grundy Chairman Roger Rife said a couple of issues needed to be decided before the board adopted the amended policy and he said the board would not take action on it with three of its members absent.
        Garden Supervisor Buddy Fuller and North Grundy Supervisor Joe Keene both had doctor’s appointments and had to leave Monday’s meeting shortly after 4 p.m. Prater Supervisor Eddie Lindsay, who had been present earlier in the day was not present when the board came back from the second of two closed-door sessions held Monday.
        "The question is, if we adopt this . . . those roads that are not in compliance . . . what do we do with them?" Rife asked.
         Board members considered taking the discussion and their questions about the proposed policy behind closed doors, but ultimately decided to discuss it in the open.
       Rife noted there were many roads in the county system which became a part of the road system due to the fact they had been worked by the county for 15 years or longer and in those instances, he said, some roads now classified as in the system do not have deeded rights-of-way on file.
        Later, the county road policy was changed to require deeds and Rife said it was roads taken in after 1990 which became an issue for him.
        Fuller expressed concern before he left about whether roads are still eligible for county road work when the road is no longer the site of multiple residences.
        For instance, he asked, what happened when a road taken into the county system had four homes on it when it was taken in, but through the years, people moved and then there was only one residence. He asked whether that would affect the road’s eligibility to be worked by the county.

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