True Dakotan photo/Duke Wenzel -- The "contraption" that has provided the free ride up the sledding hill (looking downward... note the panoramic scene overlooking the prairie) for a couple of generations.

BY CRAIG WENZEL

TRUE DAKOTAN EDITOR

Remember this? Back in the 1950′s –when I was just a kid, REALLY– there was a local guy who did excavating and digging, building roads, earthen dams, and whatever else needed to be done. A.J. Gebhardt was a bit of a genius, actually, able to fabricate about anything you –or he– could imagine. So the Wessington Springs city park had this big hill that kids used for sledding in the wintertime, but A.J. –and probably some of the town council members– decided a rope lift would be good. And they were right. Once A.J. set his mind to it the rope lift would carry us kids back up the hill for another run.

 BY CRAIG WENZEL – TRUE DAKOTAN EDITOR

I’ve always been ready for a sled ride down the big hill in the Springs city park, at least in the winter when there is sufficient snow on the ground. The Christmas blizzard that we had over the holiday was a tough one, but it did provide the basic needs for a fast ride on an aerodynamically designed piece of plastic.

Our three-and-a-half year old grandson Layne and his nine-month old baby sister, Londyn, stayed with us overnight after their parents, Matt and Amber, went back to Pierre.

Which do you think? Was Duke out taking pictures of this beautiful frosty area in Jerauld County at 7:45 a.m. or 5:10 p.m. last week?