Newspaper for Lane, Alpena, and Wessington Springs SD
THE CITY OF WESSINGTON SPRINGS crew took advantage of good weather to begin puttingup the Main Street Christmas Lights on Monday, Novemb er 14. They are shown above near the United Methodist Church on the West end of the downtown area.Christmas at the Consignment Store
“There are lots of blue jays here in Harmony township,” Cindy Eilers told the True Dakotan in an email last week. Blue jays and other birds are “packing their bags” in preparation for their southern journey as winter approaches.
Scatters it with ancient bison skulls
Dozens of ancient buffalo skulls were found on the surface of a new island that was formed on the Missouri River near Pierre during the historic flooding that hit the river during the summer of 2011. The island was created from material that was washed out of the Oahe Dam Stilling Basin Channel during the flood and was deposited just downstream of the mouth of the channel on the river. This was previously a shallow area. Now the island is 3-5 acres with high point approximately three feet above the water at 35,000 cfs flow. The skulls were collected from the island by the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish & Parks, and are perhaps hundreds of years old.
HUNDREDS OF CROWS were gathering in Logan Township last week for their migration to “we don’t know where.” A few of them are pictured above a half mile west of the Crow Lake Cemetery. Loud, rambunctious, and very intelligent, crows are either loved or hated by humans. Farmers consider crows pests that damage crops by eating their seedlings. Their black feathers made many people fear them throughout history, often associating them with death. Crows are in the corvidae family which includes ravens, magpies, and blue jays. The ubiquitous crow is loved by many for its sharp intelligence. A group of crows is called a “murder.” This name came about because a group of crows will sometimes kill a dying crow.
Who are they? The Wessington Springs High School Class of 1928 had 29 members, which are un-named on their official class portrait. Joel Sorben, Wessington Springs, has the original and features his mother (third from left in the second from top row). Go ahead and send us the names of those you can identify.
Here’s a hint: Wessington Springs High School Class of 1928
Caption: WSADC Board President John Paulson presents Jerry Jr. and Maggie Higgins with a Springs Pride certificate for the beauty they have created in their yard. Maggie and Jerry say they worked with the lay of the land to create a scenic view with as little disturbance of the rolling hills as possible. They have created many gardens over the years, but this one has been a challenge due to the high humidity and rainy seasons we have experienced over the last couple years. However, their love for learning has allowed them to place the “right” plants in the ground for the area!
TRUE DAKOTAN PHOTOGRAPH/DUKE WENZEL THE WSHS FUTURE FARMERS of America Ag Class volunteered their Sunday afternoon to help out at the Dakota Running Irons Cowboy Mounted Shooting Club’s competition held last weekend. The students filled target balloons and then ran them out to the poles between shoots. The Ag Classes at WSHS volunteer for several good causes around the community each year including helping to clean up the Shakespeare Gardens each fall. Left to Right: Katie Lutter, Taylor Sinkie, Dillon Garfve, Chelsey Schroeder, Culley Tobin, Bethany Schroeder, Trevor Kennobie, Corwin Miller, Shelby Sandmann, Eric Kurth, Bailey Willman, Daniel Jackson, Dillon Oschner, Jevon Hohn, and Terrick Butterfield.
91-year old rancher pays tribute to Kyle by taking part in Memorial Trail Ride
SUBMITTED
The Kyle Evans Memorial Trail Ride was recently held in the area. Among the riders was Harold Dean, officially the oldest rider, at 91 years old. A long time area rancher, Mr. Dean has long been comfortable on the back of the horse. Although he doesn’t ride as much as he used to, or as much as he would like to, he felt quite comfortable atop Duke as he made his way from Gann Valley to Crow Lake on Friday morning.
Top: Gladys Fagerhaug Ray Kolousek, Richard Muth, Kyle Fagerhaug, Glenda Grohs; bottom: Bob Grohs, Allen Fagerhaug, Dick Kolousek, Ron Grohs, Donny Muth.
It is a delight to see all the old school photos in the paper each week — please keep them coming! I would like to submit one of the 9 students (4 families) and our fabulous teacher from our country school, Central School, for the school year 1956-57.
Central School was a mile from our farm, the Wilfred Grohs farm, and the location for community gatherings. I especially recall the plays and music programs we would put on as well as the huge grounds for playing outside.
