Circle of Friends Humane Society

The Rydell Car & Bike Show returns for its 15th year at the Rydell Auto Group in Grand Forks! We're proud to put on the premier community auto show in Grand Forks that has raised over $800,000 for charity since its inception. The show is an opportunity for families and members of the community to show off their prized automobiles, motorcycles, bicycles, and yes, even tricycles. We welcome participants of all ages, all types of transportation, and we also welcome just about any donation for the charity auction. All proceeds raised at the 2021 Rydell Car and Bike Show Charity Event will go towards the Grand Forks Police Department IMPACT Academy. more From our "Family" at Rydell to Yours Image via Flickr by Nan Fry CC BY 2.0 The reason why we put on the car show is to give back to the community in the best way that we can: With a car show! This is one of the most popular annual events in Grand Forks, and our "family" of employees who work for Rydell prepare to make the show an unforgettable event every year. At Rydell, we appreciate the community of Grand Forks and the surrounding area. The community helps make us successful, and we want to give back in the form of an auto show that's open to all no matter how young or old they are. Each year, our employees vote on a local charity to be the beneficiary of our auto show in Grand Forks. The Rydell Group provides a matching benefit of up to $40,000 as well as paying for the cost of putting on the show. We never take money out of the donations for any reason, ever. The benefiting charity gets all of the funds that were raised by the event. 2021's Selected Charity: IMPACT Academy The police department of Grand Forks, North Dakota, has a summer program for middle school students known as the GFPD IMPACT Academy. IMPACT is an acronym for: Integrity Maturity Partnership Accountability Community Tenacity In 2019, Cpl. Jessica Thorlacius and Officer Jay Farmer created the program for middle school students to help them stay active and occupied during the summer months.  The focus of the program is to create future role models and leaders in the community through the building of skills that help kids become successful adults. Participants learn these skills by partaking in activities that include volunteering, bike riding, swimming, lessons in safety, and a trip to the Character Challenge Course in Park Rapids, Minnesota, at the end of the program. Cities Area Transit provides all students with a bus pass that they can use all summer. The program also has a selection of bicycles and helmets provided by Safe Kids for students who don't have one or the other. Students get a program-related shirt provided by Gemini Custom Brands to help complete their look. The program is open to all kids of middle-school age. Parents of interested students can connect with the program through their student's School Resource Officer, or contact Officer Farmer and Cpl. Thorlacius by phone or email. We Welcome All Participants and Vehicles At Rydell Auto Group, when we say we're here for the community, we mean it. The auto show isn't only for cars of all eras, it's also about motorcycles, SUVs, trucks, and even bicycles and tricycles. Bring your restomod, your true-to-the-original rebuild, monster trucks, and vehicles that shouldn't be running, but do. We encourage everyone to bring their favorite vehicle or bike to show it off and have a grand old time doing so. You're never too young or too old to participate with your transportation of choice at the Rydell Car Show. Bring Your Donations for the Charity Auction Do you have stuff hanging around the house, shed, garage, or barn that you don't want anymore? Does it still have use or value? Instead of throwing it away, bring it to our dealership for donation. We'll take anything that you don't want and put it in the auction to raise money for the IMPACT charity no matter what it is, how big or small, useful or not. All money raised from items sold in the auction goes directly to the charity. We are thankful and appreciative for what you bring to us for the auction. Make Sure to Register in Advance In order to guarantee your inclusion at the car show, you need to register your vehicle before the show in September. You can find our registration form on our website for printing out and submitting. Fill in the required information, let us know if you would like a car show t-shirt, and enclose a check for the registration fee of $40. Mail your check and completed registration form to the address on the form. If you would like to make an in-kind donation, please send the donation to the address listed on the form. Volunteers and Business Sponsorships are Welcome We encourage you to volunteer, and welcome support from local businesses. Our employees can use all the help they can get when it comes to running the events of the day! All volunteers are welcome. If you want to volunteer and have a skill or talent that can help us with portions of our event, please let us know, and we'll put you to work. Are you a local business who would like to help out with sponsorship? Get in touch with us at Rydell Auto Group to find out how you can help us raise money for charity. Local businesses who want to sponsor the event will get their logo on the event website and inclusion in our displays. We make it a point to recognize local businesses who want to help us help the community. We at Rydell Auto Group want to thank everyone who comes to help, gives a donation, volunteers, and supports our annual auto event in Grand Forks. We appreciate our community and the Rydell Car Show is our way of saying thanks to you.

Kelly Elementary Playground Rydell is excited to announce that we will be sponsoring Turkey Bingo Event on Thursday, November 21st from 5:30pm to 8:00pm, at the J Nelson Kelly Elementary School. Proceeds from this event will go to support construction of an ADA compliant playground located on the school premises. Which, will be a gathering place for the community, focusing on accessibility for all children. The J Nelson Kelly Elementary Park is a popular gathering place for children in the area. Much of the existing equipment at the park is over 30 years old, and is in constant need of repair. The current construction of the park is not accessible for all children, and is not ADA compliant. The rebuild of the park will create a safe, accessible gathering space on the South end of Grand Forks for everyone in the Grand Forks Community. The J Nelson Kelly Elementary Park is planned to begin construction in the Summer of 2020. For more information or to donate to this cause please visit https://donate.gffoundation.org/kellyplayground.

Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, North Dakota A Diamond on the Prairie It’s impossible to describe the $104+ million Ralph Engelstad Arena in just a few words, but it is described by many as the “finest facility of its kind in the world.” The 400,000 square foot arena is nothing but first class. All concourse floors are granite, each seat is constructed of leather and cherry wood, and there are 48 full luxury suites, two mini suites, and two enormous club rooms featuring the longest freestanding bars in the state. The training facility features a 10,000 sq. ft. weight room and underwater treadmill, fourteen locker rooms, the extra Olympic Sheet of Ice, and with the addition of the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center for the basketball and volleyball programs, what you have is more than a world-class facility; you have the Ralph Engelstad Arena. The biggest attraction though, and the reason the arena was built, is University of North Dakota Hockey. In its inaugural season (2001-02) in the new Ralph Engelstad Arena, hockey attendance erupted into an all time high. All of the games in this 11,634 capacity hockey arena sold out in just 43 minutes after single game tickets went on sale for the inaugural season. Since opening its doors on October 5, 2001, the Ralph Engelstad Arena has played host to many big attractions, such as Kenny Chesney, Carrie Underwood, Sugarland, the Minnesota Wild, Brad Paisley, Toby Keith, Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick and many other entertainers and professional sport teams. From December 25, 2004 – January 4, 2005, Ralph Engelstad Arena played host to the 2005 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship. This tournament featured the best under-20 hockey players from around the world and put Grand Forks and Ralph Engelstad Arena at center stage in the hockey world for two weeks. It was the biggest event that this region had ever seen. Ralph Engelstad Arena played host to the NCAA Division I Men’s Hockey West Regional Championship March 24-25, 2006 where UND defeated Holy Cross to advance to the NCAA Frozen Four. Ralph Engelstad the Man No dream comes true until you wake up and go to work.” – Ralph Engelstad “The harder I work, the luckier I get” was Ralph Engelstad’s favorite saying and a secret to his success. His determination and dedication to quality work and goals followed him through life up until his death at the age of 72 on November 26, 2002. While Ralph is sadly missed by those whose lives he touched, his legacy lives on in the faces of the players, fans, and staff at Ralph Engelstad Arena. Ralph became a member of the UND hockey team in 1948 and played goalie for two years before leaving for California to play for the San Bernardino Shamrocks and work construction. Realizing the importance of an education, he returned to UND and earned a bachelors degree in commerce. Shortly after his graduation in 1954, Ralph married Betty Stocker of East Grand Forks. While still living in Grand Forks in the 1950s Ralph established Engelstad Construction. However, getting the $2,500 loan he needed to start the business was no easy task. Ralph was turned down by two banks before the late Al Holmquist, President of Valley Bank, finally made Ralph’s decision to begin his own construction company a reality. Years later, in appreciation of Mr. Holmquist’s support, Ralph gifted him with a new Cadillac. In the 1960s, Ralph expanded his horizons, he began constructing housing in Las Vegas, Nevada, and became the owner of the Thunderbird Private Airport. He later sold this property to the legendary Howard Hughes and fulfilled his vision of building an entirely new hotel and casino. The Imperial Palace, one of the largest privately owned hotels in the world, opened in 1979. Ralph Engelstad, thought by Earl Strinden to be “The most outstanding and successful entrepreneur to graduate from UND in its entire history,” continued to build his business empire with a second Imperial Palace hotel-casino in Biloxi, Mississippi and property ownership across the nation. Ralph Engelstad’s legends are endless. Ralph was known and appreciated by many of his friends for his direct, focused and no-nonsense approach to business. A key to his success was the reliability of his word and the integrity he insisted upon in others. Ralph’s competitiveness and desire to win as a Fighting Sioux goalie transcended into his professional success long after his playing days at UND were over. The late Ralph Engelstad and wife Betty are UND’s most generous benefactors. The Ralph Engelstad Arena, one of the finest hockey facilities in the world, is an arena that encompasses Ralph’s vision, loyalty, perseverance, determination, sense of appreciation and strength of character. For more Information: Ralph Engelstad Arena