Wessington Springs firemen fighting the prairie fire

Alpena fire truck swishes through the frame as Duke Wenzel shot a picture of the fire

 The fire burned past the old Frank Hensley place and on over the hill to the east. Fire departments from Plankinton, Woonsocket and Alpena were also

Plankinton fire department came to help -- Duke Wenzel

called in and soon over a dozen fire trucks and tankers were on the scene. The fire was under control after about an hour with the springs crew staying to mop up the hot spots. The firemen were back in the shop around sundown. The fire covered around 180 acres and involved only grassland belonging to Dennis Beckman and Schroeder Ranch, Inc. Several area farmers also came to the fire with tractors and disks to help out if needed.

Wessington Springs firemen and area farmers tend to the huge fire (below). An Alpena fire truck zoomed into the frame as a picture was being taken of the billowing smoke (above right). A fire truck from Plankinton tends to the fire (right). Smoke from the fire could be smelled 45 miles away in Huron.

The firemen had a busy week. Aside from the prairie fire and Springs Auto fire, they were called to put out a blaze a few miles south of Lane.

A cow on a Jerauld County farm enjoys a lunch of corn stalks during perfectly gorgeous winter weather recently - DUKE WENZEL/TRUE DAKOTAN

TRUE DAKOTAN/DUKE WENZEL

The home of Dr. Jack and Joyce Krueger, on College Avenue in Wessington Springs,  is being remodeled to accomodate Jack’s return.

The longtime Wessington Springs dentist suffered a stroke in December, and although showing good signs of recovery, still has some work to be done.

The work shown above, according to Joyce Krueger, is being done by Total Construction, 

Workers at the Jack and Joyce Krueger home in Wessington Springs, are preparing the house so Jack can come home to the basement after suffering a stroke in December-2011. He is a longtime Wessington Springs dentist.

Inc., of  Wessington Springs, saying: “They have been working right through the cold in order to get the work done so Jack can come home!”

It’s great, living in a small town!

The sun goes down behind the 100-tower wind farm southwest of Wessington Springs. /Frozen water is seen in the foreground. Duke Wenzel/True Dakotan

TRUE DAKOTAN PHOTO/DUKE WENZEL --City employees, from left, Clint Jost, James Brodkorb, Joel Sorben, Larry Keeton and Roger Larson put their collective heads together to figure out the rope path through the ski lift pulley system last week. The contraption was built by local contractor, the late A.J. Gebhart in the 1950s and it has served generations of Springs area kids over the past six decades. The slope has been mowed, a new rope is installed on the lift.... bring on the snow?

TRUE DAKOTAN PHOTO/DUKE WENZEL --THIS HERD OF REINDEER can be found in front of the James and Darleen Brodkorb home in Wessington Springs. The couple give their kids a lot of the credit for putting them up, along with several other features around the yard.

TRUE DAKOTAN PHOTO/DUKE WENZEL — SALEEN JOHNSON, Springs second grader, places a decoration on the Jerauld County Christmas tree last Tuesday, December 7, 2011. The second graders have been decorating the main lobby tree for around 30 years. their teacher is Kim Orth.TRUE DAKOTAN PHOTO/DUKE WENZEL — Bryce Kopfmann gets a lift to the top of the Jerauld County Christmas tree from Gene Fastnacht.

TRUE DAKOTAN PHOTO/DUKE WENZEL --JERAULD COUNTY SHERIFF Jason Weber and deputy Shane Mentzer were in the Christmas spirit on Wednesday, December 7, as they added lighted garland and a wreath to the two light poles outside the west entrance of the courthouse. They also added some lights to the cedar bushes at right. The outdoor decorations are a nice addition to the ones already up on the inside.

TRUE DAKOTAN PHOTO/DUKE -- A BIT UNUSUAL…this display in front of the home of Dustin and Carmen Weber is just having a little fun. The Weber’s are all avid deer hunters and nothing is more fun than having a big buck tagged and hanging. The display features a lighted buck and yes, red lights representing a stream of blood. Remember, it’s all in good fun and a little fun has never hurt any of us.

Gold-lined clouds sit on the horizon with a silhouette of the century-old Spring Valley School in a photograph taken last week. The school is about two miles north/northeast of Wessington Springs. The school was in use for many decades, beginning well over 100 years ago. The school operated under different names over the years, first Shryock, then Sheppard. It eventually was called Spring Valley, named after a valley southwest of the school which has a spring-fed creek running through it.

There were 62 country schools in the county in 1925. By the end of the Dirty 30’s, in 1939, there were only 45 country schools.

When re-districting began in the late 1960’s, there were fewer than 10 schools in the country. And then there were none…. the sun had set on the storied history of county schools.

Spring Valley Colony School, in western Jerauld County, is now the only rural school in the Wessington Springs district.

Read more about the history of Jerauld County rural schools in the book, “The Making of a Community – A history of Jerauld County to 1980″ (page 238) where Evelyn Weaver’s chapter completes the story.