The year 2020 is going to be one for the history books, with the COVID-19 pandemic affecting everything and everyone. Garretson weathered the storm; and while the pandemic is far from over, the community has been working to keep businesses open and people safe. There were several pieces of news covered by the Gazette this year, but we've managed to parse it down to the top stories and issues that have affected the community.
In January, Garretson rang in the new year with news that a long-time lawyer and public accountant, Bob Jacobson, would be retiring. He set up his office in downtown Garretson in 1975 and served the community for 45 years. Tim and Mona Ness of Ness Tax Services purchased the business, and have set up a branch in the office at 617 N Main.
Other new businesses included Dakota Stained Glass and Rae's Greenhouse. Dakota Stained Glass, which moved to Garretson this past spring after new proprietors Nico and Matt Rogers purchased the business. Prior to that the business had been located in Sioux Falls for 30 years, and was initially owned by Ken Bird and Janet Smith. Rae's Greenhouse was opened by Rachel Hanisch for several weeks during May and June, and sold flowers and vegetables to an excited gardening community.
Jesse James Players' Marcia Gnadt started the ball rolling on a community center when she made an impassioned plea to the Garretson City Council in January for the need for a rehearsal space. The Jesse James Opera House was forced to close after a water leak caused mold in the building that also housed the Senior Center, and while they had found temporary space for practices in the basement of Zion Lutheran, they had no place to perform. The council agreed a new city hall and multi-use community center was needed, and would spend the next few months exploring potential architects. They contracted with ISG, an architecture firm out of Sioux Falls, in August. The exploratory phase is beginning as the company works to find out the community's wants and needs, and to locate where the new facility should be placed.
The Gazette continued its tradition of featuring local community members and those impacting the community, starting with Brett Williams, a headhunter who looks for qualified applicants for specialized jobs and positions. We also covered philanthropist John Garretson of Eagle, Idaho. Garretson, who passed away from cancer in June, had been sponsoring different projects throughout the community and providing small gifts to random residents. While he never visited the community, he was taken by the small town that bore his last name. A cousin, Cindy Garretson Shurtleff, visited the community in October and adored the small town with her maiden name. Other profiles included Laurie Bruggeman of Right at Home, Holly Schleuter of Minnehaha County Health and Human Services, and school teacher Julie Hersom, who taught first grade in Garretson for nearly 40 years. We also learned about the Kuik's, an ATV-loving family whose children were finding success on the quad racing circuit, how a few Garretson residents were faring working from home during the pandemic, and how Devils Gulch came to be a tree farm and local park.
The pandemic hit hard in March, and continued to impact the community throughout the year. Since it had so many unknowns, it closed businesses and schools, and Garretson residents worked together to boost morale by going on a bear hunt.
Several businesses who were initially closed or limited began to re-open with delivery and carry-out options throughout the spring. The Garretson School District followed the recommendations of Governor Kristi Noem and closed through the end of the school year, moving to on-line and distance learning until May. The goal was to flatten the curve and attempt to limit spread of the virus. South Dakota as a whole did well keeping numbers level throughout the summer, but August changed the story. Sturgis, the State Fair, and school re-openings played a hand in causing cases to rise until mid-November, when they peaked at 19,360 active cases. Minnehaha County peaked at 4,729 active cases. As of December 29, 89,314 South Dakotans had been diagnosed positive, 5,605 had been hospitalized at some point, and 1,446 people died as a result of COVID-19. Nation-wide, over 14 million people have been diagnosed positive and 337,000 people have died, and globally, over 1.78 million people have died as a result of the virus.
Federal approval of vaccines brought welcome news to healthcare workers and community leaders in December, and the news that the world may be able to resume a way of life similar to 2019 encouraged many. South Dakota hospital systems were overwhelmed by cases through October, November, and December, causing elective surgeries to be postponed and ill residents to be sent out of state for treatment or hospitalization.
Sioux Falls was hit hard early on, with numbers increasing exponentially until May, but Garretson remained relatively untouched throughout the summer. With the state only reporting cases at a county level, it was difficult to pinpoint how hard the community was being hit without relying on word of mouth. This made it difficult for community officials and leaders to determine how best to handle increasing cases.
Many events were canceled entirely this year, including the CHS chili feed, the ambulance breakfast, the Veterans Day program, and Jesse James Days, and others were scaled back significantly. The pool opted to open, one of the only few in the area as Sioux Falls, Brandon and Dell Rapids remained closed, and baseball held a truncated season. Graduation for 2020 GHS Seniors was held at the Garretson Athletic Complex after being postponed until June 20.
Outdoor activities proved popular this past summer, with the parks seeing record attendance. Unfortunately, throughout the fall months, increasing numbers of Garretson residents experienced the virus first-hand.
The school remained virus-free until nearly a month of classes were completed, and the nursing home only had one case until October 18, when 12 cases were reported within one week. In December, 30-year old community member Cody Linneweber nearly lost his life to the virus, and the nursing home reported that 10 residents had died due to COVID-19. The city council passed a mask-wearing resolution in November to encourage residents to protect others from the virus.
Throughout the summer, Main Avenue was also impacted by road construction, as 1st Rate Excavate continued the project that had been started by Haarsma Construction in 2018. While Main was completed, the company was unable to finish the truck route, which means the completion of the 3rd Street/Main Ave/Truck Route project will have taken four years.
Prior to that, Railroad Avenue was damaged significantly when a chemical spill occurred at Nachurs Alpine at the beginning of March. A train car spilled 3,000 gallons of liquid fertilizer, which required the use of heavy equipment for clean-up efforts.
In other construction, the new development to the east of Sarah C Street saw foundations dug and poured by Nielsen Construction. Unfortunately, the foundations were placed closer together and closer to the street than city ordinance had allowed for, which caused the council to wrestle with requests for variances after the fact. The second variance request was denied after a tie vote was broken by the Mayor, who noted that the city needs to follow the laws it had set.
The City worked hard on expanding this year, hiring two new full-time employees and one part-time employee and appointing two new building inspectors. The two full-time positions are both maintenance supervisors, as City Maintenance Supervisor Craig Nussbaum will be retiring next year.
In late June, Garretson got to be Flavortown USA as Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives' Guy Fieri visited O So Good. A group of fans waited for the Food Network star to make his appearance in his signature red Camaro, and local car aficionados parked their classic cars across the street, creating an impromptu car show. The episode premiere will be happening on Friday, January 1 at 8:00 p.m.
O So Good, the Treasure Chest, and local volunteers also helped get the Meals on Wheels program back into session in Garretson after the Center for Active Generations held exploratory meetings. The program has been a godsend after a long hiatus, helping local seniors and those with disabilities receive healthy, high quality meals.
This was also an election year, and the pandemic affected elections at both the local and national levels. Elections initially scheduled for April were postponed until June, and absentee voting was very popular. Minnehaha County Auditor Bob Litz attempted to place several drop boxes at libraries in Minnehaha County, but Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken refused to allow them at the libraries in Sioux Falls, which stopped the program county-wide and meant Garretson did not receive a local drop box. Over 40,000 absentee ballots were received by the Minnehaha County auditor's office for the November election. Statewide, 35% of all registered voters opted out of voting in person on election day.
In sports, the Garretson High School wrestling team celebrated 50 years on the mat at its final home match of the season in February. Several alumni members of wrestling and cheer teams, along with inaugural coach Al Bowers, joined together in recognition and celebration.
Unfortunately, many sports were interrupted, shortened, or canceled entirely due to the pandemic.
The Garretson High School sports teams worked and played hard, but dreams of State were often dashed. Two individual wrestlers, Preston Bohl and Jayse Miller, made State in early 2020, and Bohl along with the Girls Cross Country Team made State in Cross Country. The Girls Cross Country team finished 12th in snowy, cold conditions. In the fall, the Girls Volleyball team won 18 out of 22 games, but dreams of State play-offs were dashed at regions when rival Baltic pulled out a win during the 4th play-off set. Winter sports have started, though attendance has been limited due to the pandemic. At this time, the Lady Dragons basketball team is on a winning streak, scoring 6 out of 6 games so far.
When the pandemic hit, it seemed like the world was going to stop spinning, but it kept going. As a community, Garretson pulled together and worked hard to support one another, even with restrictions. With any luck, 2021 will be a year to return to a sense of normal, with a bright future and an eye towards progress.
