Jul 14th, 2010
by Craig Wenzel.
TEXT AND PHOTO/DUKE WENZEL -
BEST BUY AUTO owner Duane Jensen has done other things during his working career, but he keeps returning to the used car business. Jensen started his Alpena-based business earlier this year and has around 37 years experience in car sales. The business buys and sells all types of vehicles, including cars, vans, SUV’s and pickups. Jensen (shown above) was born near the small town of Oldham, SD. “I just love it (car business),” he said. “If I don’t have the vehicle you want, I can get it for you,” he continued. Jensen likes the corner he purchased just west of Jack Links, Inc., along the Alpena road. The lots were filled with many types of vehicles last week and it fills a niche for area residents and plant workers.
Apr 15th, 2010
by Craig Wenzel.
75 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK – “Black Sunday” -April 14, 1935
DUST TO DUST
April 14, 1935, dawned clear, but by afternoon the worst dust storm of he “Dirty Thirties” struck across the Great Plains. “It rolled, it didn’t just dust,” Arthur Leonard of Dodge City, Kansas, will later remember. “It was coal black and it was terrible.”
The result of prolonged drought and the removal of erosion-stopping sod from the prairies by over-plowing, “Black Sunday” removed an estimated 300,000 tons of topsoil from the area afterward known as the Dust Bowl.
By 1940, dust storm devastation will force hundreds of thousands of people to relocate.
Apr 13th, 2010
by Craig Wenzel.
True Dakotan photo/Duke Wenzel --- This photograph is exclusive to truedakotan.com and did not appear in the newspaper. Enjoy
South Dakota’s official flower, the pasque has heralded the annual arrival of springtime from the early days of the pioneers up to the present. The fuzzy purple plant is a joy to see each spring.
Feb 15th, 2010
by Craig Wenzel.
Weskota Manor Avera volunteer helps former teacher stay in touch with students
FORMER SCHOOL TEACHER KAREN (HEEZEN) FASTNACHT (center) is back in the education business, thanks to the generous assistance of a Weskota Manor Avera activity volunteer. When Karen’s teaching career ended due to injuries sustained in an automobile accident on August 14, 2007, she eventually became a resident at the local nursing home. Manor activity volunteer Loretta Couch (right) helped devise a project where the former school teacher corrects papers from the local elementary school. Corrected papers are completed with a sticker. When school is in session a “Mrs. Fastnacht’s Room” (front/left) completes the theme. When she is not doing volunteer work at the Manor, Loretta also works part time in the activities department. Also shown in the photo are Karen’s daughter, Michaela (left) and her husband Mike Fastnacht. Loretta and her husband, Rick Couch, a Springs-area native, moved here in 2008.
Jan 13th, 2010
by Craig Wenzel.
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.
Jan 13th, 2010
by Craig Wenzel.
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.
Nov 16th, 2009
by Craig Wenzel.
TRUE DAKOTAN PHOTO/DUKE
G. Marvin Powell, Wessington Springs, was one of the South Dakota veterans to fly to Washington, D.C. with the SouthDakota Honor Flight to see the national World War II Veterans’ Memorial. He was accompanied by his daughter, Nadene, Sioux Falls. They are shown above in a photo taken from television coverage of the event. G. Marvin, a resident at Weskota Manor Avera in Wessington Springs, also enjoyed a Veterans Day program at the manor that was presented by the local VFW post.
Nov 16th, 2009
by Craig Wenzel.
TRUE DAKOTAN PHOTO/DUKE
THESE FOUR WORLD WAR II veterans were in attendance at the Veteran’s Day program at WSHS. They are among a dwindling number of that war. They are pictured, from left: Harold Mettler, Pete Bult, Russell Hanson, and Eldon Beckman. It’s not known how many WWII Vets still live in the county. There were veterans from several other wars at the gathering including Korea, Vietnam and the war in the Middle East.
Nov 16th, 2009
by Craig Wenzel.
Better late than never
BY DUKE WENZEL – TRUE DAKOTAN EDITOR
