((PKG)) KIEF, A FADING TOWN
((Banner: Really Small Town Life))
((Reporter: Iryna Matviichuk))
((Camera: Kostiantyn Golubchyk))
((Adapted by: Philip Alexiou))
((Language Service: VOA Ukrainian))
((Map: Kief, North Dakota))
((Main characters: 2 males; 1 female))
((NATS))
((Richard Helme, Kief Resident))
The reason why they call it a ‘ghost town’ is because there’s no restaurant, there’s no
gas station, there’s no bar. There’s no business places. You notice how this afternoon,
the only people you run into is us.
((NATS))
((Duwayne Hendrickson, North Dakota Resident))
Everything is 20 miles to 50 miles away to get food for your family or gas for your car or
you know and so, that put a big damper on a lot of these small communities. The jobs
that all moved to the larger cities and forgot about small town America.
((NATS))
((Audrey Voloshenko, Kief Resident))
Just the church, the Baptist Church. That’s about it.
((Duwayne Hendrickson, North Dakota Resident))
Population of Kief, seven people.
((Popup Banner:
Kief was named after the Ukrainian Capital, Kyiv, where most of the first settlers came
from.))
((Duwayne Hendrickson, North Dakota Resident))
My name is Duwayne Hendrickson and I’m from Minot, North Dakota, about 50 miles
out of Kief, but my grandparents lived on a farm near Kief prior to 1968 and a small-
town community that everybody knew everybody and everybody helped everybody and
it was just a different atmosphere. A different atmosphere of listening to people who
didn’t speak English and you were trying to figure out what they were saying.
((Popup Banner:
The Homestead Acts, starting in the 1850’s, brought European settles to the area.))
((Popup Banner:
Anton and Christina Bokovoy are believed to have founded the town.))
((Richard Helme, Kief Resident))
My father came from Germany. He’s a Helme from Germany. His dad got on a ship
over at Odessa, Russia and came over here in 1902. And then he homesteaded in
1905. He found some land and he homesteaded. And if they homesteaded, was I
believe 160 acres and if they lived on it for five years, then they got the title.
Yep, the train came out here and this is what they used to call a ‘tank town’. They had a
big water tank for the old steam locomotive. It would stop here and fill up water and
then go again. And that’s where people settled because they were able to ride the train
and the train brought in all the goods. Mainly lumber, mainly lumber so that they could
build houses and stuff and then, passengers stopped riding it. It was back in the 1950s.
((NATS))
((Audrey Voloshenko, Kief Resident))
My folks were born, being born here and stuff. My mom is a German and my Dad is a
Russian or a Ukrainian. A lot of them got old. I mean like Michalenko’s up there. They
had a gas station there. And then Benny Krueger’s, he just passed away a few years
ago. A lot of them got old. I mean like Ischenkos, Shevchenkos, Karpenkos, Dislevys.
((Richard Helme, Kief Resident))
When the grocery store closed, it was like where do you go, you know.
((Annie Helm, Kief Resident))
Okay, the Post Office…..
((Richard Helme, Kief Resident))
And, of course, the Post Office…..
((Annie Helm, Kief Resident))
That was in 2000 when we lost the Post Office. Yeah. It seemed like when the school
closed in 1959, it kind of went down, you know, the population.
((NATS))
((Audrey Voloshenko, Kief Resient))
So it’s, I like it. Ever since my brother bought this place. I call it a village. It’s a village
to me. It’s not really a ‘ghost town’. They just say that.
((NATS))
((Banner: Really Small Town Life))
((Reporter: Iryna Matviichuk))
((Camera: Kostiantyn Golubchyk))
((Adapted by: Philip Alexiou))
((Language Service: VOA Ukrainian))
((Map: Kief, North Dakota))
((Main characters: 2 males; 1 female))
((NATS))
((Richard Helme, Kief Resident))
The reason why they call it a ‘ghost town’ is because there’s no restaurant, there’s no
gas station, there’s no bar. There’s no business places. You notice how this afternoon,
the only people you run into is us.
((NATS))
((Duwayne Hendrickson, North Dakota Resident))
Everything is 20 miles to 50 miles away to get food for your family or gas for your car or
you know and so, that put a big damper on a lot of these small communities. The jobs
that all moved to the larger cities and forgot about small town America.
((NATS))
((Audrey Voloshenko, Kief Resident))
Just the church, the Baptist Church. That’s about it.
((Duwayne Hendrickson, North Dakota Resident))
Population of Kief, seven people.
((Popup Banner:
Kief was named after the Ukrainian Capital, Kyiv, where most of the first settlers came
from.))
((Duwayne Hendrickson, North Dakota Resident))
My name is Duwayne Hendrickson and I’m from Minot, North Dakota, about 50 miles
out of Kief, but my grandparents lived on a farm near Kief prior to 1968 and a small-
town community that everybody knew everybody and everybody helped everybody and
it was just a different atmosphere. A different atmosphere of listening to people who
didn’t speak English and you were trying to figure out what they were saying.
((Popup Banner:
The Homestead Acts, starting in the 1850’s, brought European settles to the area.))
((Popup Banner:
Anton and Christina Bokovoy are believed to have founded the town.))
((Richard Helme, Kief Resident))
My father came from Germany. He’s a Helme from Germany. His dad got on a ship
over at Odessa, Russia and came over here in 1902. And then he homesteaded in
1905. He found some land and he homesteaded. And if they homesteaded, was I
believe 160 acres and if they lived on it for five years, then they got the title.
Yep, the train came out here and this is what they used to call a ‘tank town’. They had a
big water tank for the old steam locomotive. It would stop here and fill up water and
then go again. And that’s where people settled because they were able to ride the train
and the train brought in all the goods. Mainly lumber, mainly lumber so that they could
build houses and stuff and then, passengers stopped riding it. It was back in the 1950s.
((NATS))
((Audrey Voloshenko, Kief Resident))
My folks were born, being born here and stuff. My mom is a German and my Dad is a
Russian or a Ukrainian. A lot of them got old. I mean like Michalenko’s up there. They
had a gas station there. And then Benny Krueger’s, he just passed away a few years
ago. A lot of them got old. I mean like Ischenkos, Shevchenkos, Karpenkos, Dislevys.
((Richard Helme, Kief Resident))
When the grocery store closed, it was like where do you go, you know.
((Annie Helm, Kief Resident))
Okay, the Post Office…..
((Richard Helme, Kief Resident))
And, of course, the Post Office…..
((Annie Helm, Kief Resident))
That was in 2000 when we lost the Post Office. Yeah. It seemed like when the school
closed in 1959, it kind of went down, you know, the population.
((NATS))
((Audrey Voloshenko, Kief Resient))
So it’s, I like it. Ever since my brother bought this place. I call it a village. It’s a village
to me. It’s not really a ‘ghost town’. They just say that.
((NATS))
