These are the people I have to work with. Seriously, they aren’t as bad as they look. Above (left to right) are Barb Hanson, Alma Korslund, Ruth Steil, Katie Hunhoff and Liz Gellerman. Below is Heidi Marsh (salt) and Andrea Maibaum (pepper). I don’t know why all the guys took the day off? Oh, [...]
We all know South Dakota’s population is aging. It’s happening especially fast in rural communities. This morning I read the social news columns in the Wessington Springs True Dakotan. Here are some of the items (I’ll omit last names):
Juanita received word that her brother, Cortiss, passed away Sunday …
Buck and Doris have moved to the [...]
South Dakota has some amazing buildings. Here’s a shot of a wonderful structure that will hopefully be undergoing some renovation in the very near future. Be the first to guess the name of the building and the town where it’s located and we’ll give you a one-year subscription to South Dakota Magazine (or renew your [...]
Each fall as the holidays get closer we inevitably get several inquiries here at the magazine about where to find star quilts for gifts. While there are a couple of options, we would like to recommend buying one from the Sioux YMCA on the Cheyenne River Reservation.
The Sioux YMCA, founded in 1897, is one [...]
Since the gardening season is just about over, lots of South Dakotans have tomatoes that won’t have a chance to ripen. Try baking a green tomato pie. We did last week. The flavor is tart like rhubarb, but sweet and cinnamony like an apple pie. Served warm with a dollop of ice cream, it’s delicious. [...]
Guess who gets to build the fourth-biggest baseball scoreboard in America? It will be part of the new Minnesota Twins stadium, now under construction. The name of the company won’t come as a huge surprise to most South Dakotans, but we’ll leave you guessing …..
Bird-watching is becoming one of Americans’ most popular pastimes, and of course the internet is enabling birders to share tips on where to go and what to see. There’s a neat little web site called South Dakota Birding where you can post and read about sightings in the state.
Several posters reported rare sightings of [...]
Last winter I climbed Harney Peak and took some photographs that we’ll show in our Jan/Feb 2009 issue. This week I visited with David Pickford, a ranger with the Black Hills National Forest to collect some information for the story.
He told me that about 41,000 people climb our tallest mountain every year, but the vast [...]
Our South Dakota Magazine headquarters is near the river, just a few blocks from the old Meridian Bridge that officially was forever closed to traffic this week.
The new bridge was constructed in record time, and completed under budget. Its planning and construction was expedited in part because transportation and historic preservation officials in both South [...]
Normally we don’t look for really mushy stories. I prefer articles to have some humor, adventure, irreverence or drama. But sometimes mushy works, too, and we’ve come to the conclusion that there are some uniquely South Dakota stories that revolve around our biggest annual holiday, The Pheasant Opener.
So if you know of any really sappy [...]
The little bank in Mansfield, S.D., suffered through tumultous times in the 1930s, and in our Sept/Oct 1992 issue we wrote about how the banker dealt with the crisis. Mansfield is a pretty little town with an old dance hall that — like most dance halls of its era — once hosted Lawrence Welk and [...]
Today comes the news that the Bush administration is considering whether the federal government should buy ownership of our failing banks. We live in interesting times.
It reminds me of the story we once printed about Alfred Anderson, who was the owner of a bank in Okaton, S.D., during the Great Depression. Alfred was a staunch [...]
A lot of interesting people stop to visit our magazine office, but few have stories like Paul Kappel of Green Bay, Wisc., who came by last week. The tall, distinguished fellow is a WWII veteran who was raised near Lesterville. He has been a regular reader, and has even written a few stories for us.
He [...]
Some of us are meeting again tonight to talk about developing wind energy for our region, and one of the topics we’ll discuss is the impact of turbines and towers on wildlife. Of course, it’s no surprise that the endangered whooping cranes make their annual migration direclty through the heart of South Dakota. But in [...]
Fat cattle prices have dipped a dime a pound in the last few days, your mutual funds aren’t worth what they were and while the county assessor still claims your land is worth $1,000 an acre, you’re wondering if anyone will actually write a check for that amount anymore.
Take heart. Here in South Dakota we [...]