South Dakota or Bust!

Break Away From The Ordinary

Archive for 2007/04


Welcome to a Fellow Editor

A few weeks ago we got an email from Buck Lovell, who moved to Sturgis six months ago from California to become the editor of two national motorcycle magazines, one which he says is the fastest growing motorcycle magazine in the world, American Bagger Magazine. Both are published from an office in Spearfish.
Lovell [...]

He Started At The City Dump

Jim Aplan is organizing a lifetime’s collection of antiques and collectibles, readying for what will surely be some of the West’s most unique auctions in many years. The first round will be May 26-27 at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center in Rapid.
Our retired editor Jerry Wilson visited with Jim in 2003 at the store he [...]

The Old Gov?s Mansion

Have you wondered what became of the old governor’s mansion, which was wheeled away to make room for the new one on Capitol Lake? Some Rapid City historian/entrepreneurs moved it to Rapid Valley. There’s a story in today’s Rapid City Journal about their progress. Dennis Wagner has a great quote in the article when [...]

The Outer Limits of Geo. McGovern

One of the greatest insults to George McGovern is the way some parties have tried to make his very name synonymous with extremism and failed politics. Agree or disagree with his politics, he has lived an exemplary life, always trying to better a troubled world. He flew 35 combat missions in WWII, and then refused [...]

The Farm Bill Is Killing Us?

For a brief time, I worked for U.S. Rep. Frank Denholm and in 1974 he was heavily involved in crafting the farm bill. In fact, I remember one occasion when Tip O’Neill poked his head in our office door and asked, “How’s Frank coming with that farm bill?” Farm bills are big deals in rural [...]

Best Thing Next To Sugar?

From this week’s Wessington Springs True Dakotan classified page: Horse Pluck! Like fine wine and gourmet cheese, we have genuine delicately aged and composted horse manure for sale. Great for gardens! Best thing to put on your rhubarb, next to sugar! Can load and even deliver. Call Hub or Laura evenings at 539-1941.
I’ll wager a [...]

On The Air

Watch for Susie Ross, a farm girl from Wessington Springs, on a new show called “Cattlemen to Cattlemen” on the RFD channel. It airs Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m.
Around ‘Springs, they still remember when she played the lead in a high school musical, “Calamity Jane” in 1985, he senior year.
She studied at the University of [...]

Chicago Poet at Augie

On Saturday I visited with Augustana College poet/professor Patrick Hicks at the Center for Western Studies’ annual Dakota Conference, and he asked us to spread the word that Richard Jones of Chicago, a celebrated American poet, will read at Augustana College on Wednesday, April 25, at 7 p.m. in Kresge Recital Hall. Jones is the [...]

Where?s ?Mainsheet Annie?

It was a rainy Sunday so I was reading a book (”Adrift”) by the legendary sailor Tristan Jones, and about halfway through he writes about a 20-something-year old young woman whom he met in 1975 while sailing a charter boat in the Virgin Islands. She came aboard as his cook for awhile and must [...]

Travel: The House of Mary Shrine

Visitors to Lewis and Clark Lake, west of Yankton, see three tall crosses atop the bluffs that border the lake. They were raised Nov. 22, 1971, as the first step in what has become the House of Mary Shrine.
Local people still talk of that day. As each 50-foot cross was erected, a beautiful, colorful light [...]

Ray Kelly: Salesman & Artist

Lots of good artists are bad salespeople, although that’s changing. Ray Kelly has always been the exception: he’s equally adept at painting and schmoozing, and in fact his PR skills are so good that he’s become a regular in the world of celebrity fundraising events. We ran into Ray and his wife, Joanie, at the [...]

International Award Winner – Aerial Photography

Photo by Dave Tunge
Yankton aerial photographer Dave Tunge, whose photos we like to feature on this site and in the magazine, was awarded Best of Show, People’s Choice, and Judge’s Choice at the Professional Aerial Photographer’s Association International Conference in March. He named his winning photo (above) “Abandoned Dreams.” He told us a [...]

Yankton: Still the Capital

Kloefkorn will be at the
South Dakota Book Festival
in Deadwood this September.
Yankton lost the territorial capitol a few years back, but we are still the cultural capitol of all the rivers and lands north of St. Louis – and so last night two visiting dignitaries made an appearance. William Kloefkorn and David Lee, past poet laureates [...]

Spring Scene at Custer State Park

Photo by Brenda Hall-Coy
As rangeland manager for Custer State Park, Brenda Hall-Coy is accustomed to seeing stunning landscapes and wildlife daily. But a unique spring frost caught her attention. The thick frost coated everything but the wild turkeys. She shot the photo about 11 a.m. on a foggy April morning.

The Finns

Our May/June issue of South Dakota Magazine has a big spread on the Finnish people who immigrated to the Black Hills and worked at Homestake Gold Mine. A big group of them decided to leave Homestake and take their chances as homesteaders in Harding County.
One of the Finns, Axel Sacrison, became a self-taught artist. [...]