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This has certainly been a surreal spring, but there are some bright spots from time to time. And literally hats off to the high school seniors around the area and state. But here too there have been unique experiences to remember including in Ipswich a once postponed prom grand march postponed to last Friday evening due to weather. Then Edmunds Central had its unique soggy drive-through honoring its Class of 2020 Saturday morning. Followed by Ipswich's senior parade around the streets of Ipswich on Sunday afternoon, postponed from Saturday’s r...
South Dakota turtles have never had it so good. Believe it or not, May 23 has been designated as World Turtle Day! That's according to free lance writer Tom Emery of Carlinville, Ill. But it's probably slow for this exciting announcement to sink in through their thick skins. That might not happen until the next day May 24 at the earliest. And if they do want to risk danger and stick their heads out just a wee bit, somebody might get the wrong idea. People can and do have them for pets and they also can even appear on a restaurant menu (neither...
To the Editor: I encourage every farmer and rancher to contact the US Senators and Congressman that represent us in Washington DC. Below are points that I recently made when I emailed our delegation. I am writing to express concern regarding the current situation regarding cattle prices. Our ranchers are being taken advantage of by the meat packers and there is nothing that the ranchers can do at this point except: (A) Continue on as they have been and watch as the financial ruin of their operation grows nearer with each passing day. (B)...
No April rains. But May is making up for it. It finally rained. It was certainly getting dry in the top soil even though it had been still fairly wet in the subsoil. It’s wet all over in varying amounts, I would suspect. Now if we don’t get any of that possible frost that has been mentioned we should be good to go for awhile. Plenty of May flowers, but you might have to cover them to avoid the cold....
Well, we have received a few rain showers here and there and now and then, but those daily winds dry things back up pretty quickly. I did see our first dandelion, though and no doubt there will be a lot more. Because of social distancing, we've all had more time than usual for yard work and I even managed to get the lawn mower started after being idle and in cold storage during the late fall and winter months. And there are still some end of the 2019-20 school year related events planned in some form or another, due to the coronavirus...
March is traditionally a kite flying month, because of all the wind. And now we're well into April and it has even been windier than ever lately, including dust devils, as they used to call whirlwinds in these parts. Dust devils form as a swirling updraft under sunny conditions during fair weather, rarely coming close to the intensity of a tornado, according to Wikipedia. But their wind speed can reach as high as 75 mph or even more so on rare occasions where people and property can actually be endangered. Dust devils do indeed mostly form...
Dear Editor, Our U.S. Constitution is a brilliant document that has stood the test of time for 233 years to be exact. It is the longest surviving governing document of any other nation. Sadly there are national organizations who are working to tinker with our Constitution by opening it up at a national convention to make changes, or perhaps come up with a new constitution. Would such a convention weaken our Second Amendment? Would they eliminate the Electoral College and replace it with nationally controlled elections like Speaker Pelosi tried...
Playing Second Fiddle by TMG Many years ago DEG would include family tidbits in “Fiddlin’ Around.” Stories about his nephews and niece. It is hard to believe, but these youngsters have grown up to become adults. The oldest, Zach graduated from SDSU and now works in the construction business. He and his fiancè Tristan, a recent nursing graduate, have been planning their wedding for more than a year. And as Paul Harvey would say - you know the rest of the story. No wedding celebrations allowed — no fancy dresses, big cakes or wedding parties....
PANDEMIC PRAIRIE PEDIGREE Most likely, like mine, your family has a story to tell of the most recent past pandemic that occurred in 1917 and stretched into 1919. The influenza, or Spanish Flu, as it was mistakenly called, is thought to have originated in the World War I military training camp outside Fort Riley, Kansas known as Camp Funston. Having spent time at Camp Funston during a hot, humid summer training in preparation for an overseas deployment in 2006, I understand the virology of how men from small farms and large cities packed...
Editor’s Note: I asked Father Timothy Smith to write an Easter message for Easter. Usually we have a schedule of Easter services, but not this year due to the coronavirus outbreak. Father Smith is the pastor of Holy Cross Catholic Church in Ipswich, Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Leola and Saint Thomas the Apostle in Roscoe. by Father Timothy Smith “Something strange is happening—there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness.” These words from an ancient sermon in the early centuries of Christian faith describe our exp...
No more sports to write about in this column for awhile now, as it appears, due to the corona virus. But we could mention that our area conferences, the LRC and the YTC, were well represented in the Class B Boys All-State basketball team that was recently announced. There were first-teamers Andrew Rohrbach of Aberdeen Christian and Zech Clemens of Northwestern from the LRC and Rohrbach's team qualified for what would have been their first-ever State B appearance right at home in Aberdeen. Meanwhile, the YTC featured Nick Wittler on the first...
As the United States faces the worst public health crisis in a generation, we want you to know we are here for you — and with you. Whatever happens, whenever it happens, your newspaper will be there for you. We’ll be there to let you know how our community is managing through this crisis — from business to government to the health care system and schools to the impact on individuals and families. And we’ll be there to let you know about the good and extraordinary things happening in the midst of this crisis. Amidst the sadness and anxiety...
In times like these, everybody could use a good laugh, especially if you fall for somebody's fib on April Fools Day. The publication date for this edition is indeed April 1, otherwise known as April Fools Day. I guess according to my research that April Fools pranks, practical jokes and various goofs and the day itself are a tradition that goes back several centuries. Some indeed name it All Fools' Day, especially if you are somebody that has actually gotten fooled. But at any rate several historians believe that April Fools Day traces its...
With many aspects of our daily routine being changed drastically in some cases by the coronavirus it would not be inaccurate to say that this pandemic would even affect this column. You probably just about all know that I usually write about two things, the sports events around the area and the nation and also the weather, especially if it is less than desirable from week to week. But the sports are at a standstill with the spring sports track and field, golf and baseball on hold either having been completely canceled in some instances or...
The effects of the coronavirus have been felt from local sports events being postponed and/or cancelled from small kids events right on up through high school varsity and college and then the NBA. And apparently now MLB, postponed as well! The girls State B in Spearfish was postponed with only the opening days’ action in the scorebook, including our Region 2B reps from Faulkton who sustained a narrow two-possession setback by the reigning champions DeSmet. (That was the Trojans first ever trip to the B and they dropped down into the c...
Normally any more I'm not particularly good at predicting the basketball brackets in March at any level of competition from elementary school tournaments on up through the NCAA Division One drama (which is right around the corner starting with some conference tournaments around the nation where at least the winner is guaranteed a spot in the tourney). The Summit League is our closest NCAA major college division and I was feeling particularly lucky to correctly be able to go out on a huge limb and predict that there will be at least one North...
Congratulations to EC seventh grader Theodore Haerter of Hosmer for being able to advance into the next level of the National Geographic GeoBee South Dakota State Competition Semifinals and good luck on March 27, 2020 at the contest scheduled for Northern State University campus in Aberdeen. (The state champions will advance to the 2020 national championship May 18-21 at the National Geographic head- quarters in Washington, D.C.) What do you think these students should know? Well, here are some sample questions you might find interesting. • Whi...
March, March, March, there are so many things unique to the month, so it's a good thing it has 31 days instead of 30. And it got a late start this year due to there being a February 29. First of all, weather-wise, will March come in like a Lamb? That might very possibly be true this year. And as the old prediction goes, will it then go out leading us into April like a Lion? That's probably a hard question to answer at this point in time, even though longer term forecasts do seem to be quite a bit more accurate than they used to be, thanks to...
The holiday weekend sort of put us behind at the newspaper office, especially with some Tuesday snow flakes in the air. We were indeed in the office on Monday, but Presidents Day still seemed like a holiday of sorts. As you will recall, the weekend started with Valentines Day last Friday and concluded on Monday, Presidents Day. I would imagine that some people went somewhere, during the weekend, because the weather got quite a bit warmer than earlier in the week and the roads weren't all that bad for a change. But Ipswich did have school on...
by Trent R. Osborne ED.S Ipswich Public School District 22-6 Superintendent, Special Services Director It is our hope, that we all recognize the unique roles that school boards play in promoting and advocating for quality education. Our board members serve as advisers, decision-makers, problem solvers and advocates of the Ipswich Public School District. They are elected by the community stakeholders and represent their voice and vision for their public schools. February 17-21 is South Dakota School Board Recognition Week, and we’d like to expre...
How about that moon this past weekend? It seemed like it was so huge that you could almost reach out and touch it. It was definitely amazing, to say the least. And at least we didn't have to spend a whole lot of the weekend shoveling snow that we could have possibly received according to the forecasters. We were apparently right on the edge of it all, so what particular county where you happened to reside made a big difference. And now it has gotten quite a bit colder and possibly windier as well, but hopefully even those conditions aren't...
Apparently the ground hog was too busy watching the Super Bowl or maybe would just like to fill his soup bowl one more time to take the time to see his shadow on Sunday. Somebody mentioned that this was the first-ever Ground Hog Day on Super Sunday, and I definitely believe that could be true. What a coincidence! Most people if they were outdoors over the weekend and even into Monday were blinded by a UFO (otherwise known as the sun). We surely hadn't seen much of that bright yellow orb for several days. But we still had some healthy wind...
DATES TO REMEMBER February 17 — Office Closed President's Day February 28 — CRP General Signup deadline February 29 — Final day to file application for payment for 2019 LIP losses March 15 — NAP sales closing date March 15 — ARC/PLC sign-up deadline for the 2019 crop year March 31 — Deadline to obtain Marketing Assistance Loan on 2019 wheat, oats, barley May 31 — Deadline to obtain Marketing Assistance Loan on 2019 corn, sunflowers, grain sorghum, soybeans June 30 — ARC/PLC sign-up deadline for the 2020 crop year Farm Bill sign-up Producers hav...
Believe it or not, Ground Hog Day is right around the corner and there will probably be about six more weeks of winter regardless of Phil's verdict. For starters there have been memorable major winter storms during some previous post-season tournaments, but we hope that won't prove to be true this year. The post-season varsity sports season indeed starts in February with wrestling and girls basketball action getting the spotlight, though the high school boys basketball teams won't start their regional action until early in March. So good luck...
Just when we thought the weather was finally getting quite tranquil, it threw a curve at us with another weekend blizzard. Many areas of the state were hit harder with more snow than we acquired, but how can you actually measure snow that is blowing sideways that fast. It did create new drifts in various places due to the unusual wind directions and velocity from time to time. But as I said earlier it certainly could have been a lot worse, especially the further south you went. Some area sports events were again put on hold, especially at the...