Newspaper for Lane, Alpena, and Wessington Springs SD
Long Lake School 1951. Pictured: Vernon Schimke, Nyla Christensen, Virginia Schimke. Mary Cooper was teacher. This was the whole school. Note the picture on the wall above the chalkboard was of Christ in the temple. Long Lake school was northwest of Wessington Springs.
A windmill and and REA pole are all that remain standing on an old farmstead between Springs and Alpena.
JERAULD COUNTY’S OWN little red school house sits along the gravel road south of Alpena. The school has been empty for many decades. Its red color comes from the red tile brick used to build it. The school has been pictured in the True Dakotan in the past, but never in color.
CRAIG WENZEL
MEMBERS OF THE WESSINGTON SPRINGS Volunteer Fire Department provided mutual aid at a prairie grass fire southwest of town on Wednesday, March 28. Firemen Ryan Knipfer, Dusty Weber and Michael Brodkorb. are shown above as they battled flames that were pushed by high winds.
Firemen called to prairie blaze southwest of Springs
Firemen from Wessington Springs were called to a prairie fire southwest of town on Tuesday, March 27.
The Springs volunteer fire department provided what is termed “mutual aid” to the Kimball department to help contain a fire that burned approximately 150 acres.
Jerauld County FSA office in Wessington Springs will be closed by USDA -- farmers will have to go elsewhere to conduct their business.
The following item is a news release from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) regarding plans to close several Farm Services Agency (FSA) offices in South Dakota. The Jerauld County office in Wessington Springs is among those planned for closure.
LOCAL WEATHER
BY JERRY VOORHEES & KATHY PAGEL
Wessington Springs area weather forecast can be seen on PAGE THREE.
H L PRE.
M., Feb. 6 42 15 0
T., Feb. 7 45 14 0
W., Feb. 8 21 4 0
T., Feb. 9 33 4 0
F., Feb. 10 43 4 0
S., Feb. 11 7 -6 0
S., Feb. 12 18 -8 0
JERAULD COUNTY HAS ENTERED into a four-county cooperative agreement to provide staffing at the county 4-H office in the co
urthouse. Audra Scheel (right) will be in the office on a part-time basis, providing 4-H services. She also will serve in the same capacity at the offices in Plankinton, Woonsocket and Fr. Thompson. She is shown above with Julie Barber (left), who is a part-time administrative assistant/4-H program assistant at the Jerauld County Courthouse SDSU Extension office. Local hours for Barber are Monday and Wednesdays, from 8:00-5:00 and Thursdays from 8:00-noon. Scheel’s office hours are still being worked out.
TRUE DAKOTAN
While growing up on the family farm, Roger Carlson would hear stories of a 15-year old great uncle who saved the life of his grandmother during the massive blizzard of January 12, 1888.
Carlson and his parents, Merle and Gertrude Carlson lived on the farm west of Wessington Springs, where the heroic story unfolded.
Roger, who is now fighting cancer at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, went to visit the grave of his uncle Guy V. Stearns a few years ago in a small cemetery at Erwin, SD, a little east of DeSmet.
You normally see a car or pickup truck at a body shop, but J&M Specialties in Wessington Springs has also added tractor restoration to its list of service.
The business, owned by Jeff Reider and Mike Brunsen, recently finished the complete restoration of a classic 1957 John Deere 720 diesel tractor. The machine was originally purchased new for around $3,400 by the late Fester Von Eye. The machine is now in the hands of his children, Tom Von Eye and his sister Sandy Von Eye, who farm west of Wessington Springs.
TRUE DAKOTAN PHOTO/DUKE -
The early day Walter and May Grieve homestead in Harmony Township is stilled owned by their descendants. Walter and Mary settled there in 1896 and raised a family of four: Jessie, Zida, Lawrence and Loletta. On June 2, 1926, Lawrence married Jennie Elder and the couple raised a second generation. Their children were Hollis, Alexa, LeRoy, Dennis, Vonna, Verletta, Verald and Marcille. As the family grew, it became necessary to build the big two-story eight room house on the left. The house survived the storm of June 12, 1924 with just a little damage. Several other buildings didn’t do as well. The big barn in the background was built new in 1924 as well as the blacksmith shop and chicken houses. The hog house and granary survived the storm. The old farmstead holds a lot of history including those who were born and raised there, most of them staying in Jerauld County and leading successful lives.