We were at the Band Concert where the Junior High and High School bands presented their fall concert. Brett Williams and his wife Lisa Vande Berg took seats next to us. They were at the concert to see and listen to their daughter Jordyn play the saxophone in the program. Although I had seen Brett in church many times, (Lisa is completing two successful years as Congregation President) I had not spoken with him.
During intermission I asked him what he did for work. He replied that he is a Headhunter.
Although I had heard of Headhunters, I did not know what they do. I met with Brett and found that he works for a $30 million-dollar nationwide company, GPAC, that finds employees to fill jobs in many different areas. Because most jobs that are filled are for individuals or small numbers of people, GPAC specializes on those hires.
Brett had previously worked for Service Master, but he has worked for GPAC for thirteen years now and loves his job.
The first year of work was the most difficult because he had to learn how to evaluate and judge individuals who were applying for jobs. Their work records must be reviewed, how many years had they been in a previous job, why were they changing jobs, and how the person impresses the evaluator. Changing jobs very frequently is not a good sign.
Working for GPAC is strictly a commission job. If a person takes a job as a result of the work done by the CPAC representative, the hiring company pays GPAC a sum equal to one third of the amount of salary the worker receives. The GPAC representative receives a portion of that amount. An example of this would have the hiring Company pay the worker $60,000. The Company would then pay GPAC $20,000 and the representative would be paid a portion of that.
It is obviously very important that a GPAC representative (Brett) be very good at evaluating a worker to make sure they are a good fit for the hiring company and would benefit that company.
Brett laid out a scenario involving a company (not in Garretson) that used sprayer equipment to apply chemicals on farm fields. The sprayers are very expensive, and the chemicals they apply are expensive. They must be applied carefully, following specific directions. It would not be advisable to hire someone to operate a sprayer who just comes in the door and claims to be qualified. Another way to hire a person and be sure they are qualified would be to engage GPAC to select a person who is qualified based
on their screening and researching of their work record.
There are many companies throughout the U.S. who routinely hire one worker or workers in small numbers and can do so with the assurance they will have good workers if they use the hiring method outlined above. Brett Williams has a very good future to accompany his past good record.
The second part of 2019 flew by in a flash; between the summer road construction, the fall flooding, and great Halloween and Christmas celebrations, the community stayed busy!
Blue Dragon Academy Moving Day June 2019
June started with moving day for Blue Dragon Academy, which opened in its new facility. Prior to that, it had been operating in two buildings, which it had outgrown. The facility opened with 100 out of its 103 openings filled, and they had the capacity to be able to take drop-ins and smaller part-time spots, which was a relief for a business that had had a year-long waiting list for the past several years.
At the same time, the street construction project on 3rd & Main got underway for the new season. It had originally been slated to begin in March of 2019, but between weather and issues with the contractor, the project was delayed. By the end of the summer, the issues had not been alleviated, and at the beginning of September, the City Council voted to terminate its contract with Haarsma Construction. The construction project then went to the bondholder, who will be working with Sayre Associates to finish Main and the truck route in 2020. Haarsma Construction was allowed to finish 3rd Street, which was finally completed on September 8.
However, June also had Jesse James Days, which was a success, and the city council heard from its new code enforcement officer, a new position which has been a contentious decision between the council and the community. The goal of the code enforcement officer is to ensure the community keeps its ordinances, but it has been hard on people who weren’t aware they were in violation, or knew they were, but hadn’t had any consequences prior to 2019.
Summer of 2019 also saw the city moving forward with a housing development that had been organized first by Grow Garretson starting in 2015, then by the new non-profit Economic Development Foundation. A developer had purchased the land, and worked with the city to install infrastructure and ensure his plans fit community planning and zoning.
On July 6, the Henry G Fix Post #23 American Legion celebrated 100 years, and the Gazette had a story about its namesake written by Marty Luebke, and finished our yearlong run on the history of the post, which was written by Owen Wiese (who retired in 2019 after 50 years as post historian).
The Gazette was also able to feature a former Zion Lutheran pastor’s pilgrimages in Spain, a visiting family that hailed from France, and the Bench Dedication ceremony, which celebrated an effort by the Garretson Parks Advisory Committee and Grow Garretson that places over 20 new benches around the community.
The Garretson baseball and softball teams also had great seasons, with the 14U and 16U teams each placing 3rd at State, and the Blue Jays (Garretson’s amateur team) and the girls’ softball team each taking runner up at State tournaments.
August and September saw the start of a new school year, a new grand opening for the Davis (formerly Motel, now Short & Long-term Stay), and successful rides for Team Tayden and the annual tractor ride.
City Maintenance Supervisor Craig Nussbaum crosses the Crappie bridge north of the dam at Splitrock Park on Thursday, Sept. 12.
Water levels at approximately 3:30 pm Sept 12
Just across the Moody County border north of Sherman, near the intersection of SD 11 & 486th Ave. 486th was completely submerged.
Water levels the morning of Friday, Sept 13
Looking south toward Sherman
486th Ave north of Sherman on Sept 12
Hwy 11 north of Sherman on Sept 12
SD Hwy 11 bridge just north of Corson Sept 12
Hwy 11 near Palisade Street south of Garretson
SD Highway 11 bridge between Garretson and Corson SD. Minutes after this photo was taken, the road was closed for the evening.
258th Street looking east to Highway 11
Campsite 2 in Splitrock Park at around 11:00 am Sept 12
Campsite 2 in Splitrock Park at approximately 3:30 pm on Sept 12
However, September also saw record flooding, when between 6 and 11 inches of rain fell around the area in a 5-day period. The ground had already been saturated from a wet spring and summer, and water moved fast and high. Brandon only had one route in and out of town; luckily, only one house in Garretson needed sandbagging efforts. Splitrock Park’s well-known rock bridge near the dam was completely submerged. The flooding was one more thing on top of an already hard season for the local farmers.
Fall sports ramped up as soccer, volleyball, and cross country started racking up the wins. By the end of the season, soccer made it to the State A Quarterfinals; volleyball made it to the State A Semifinals; and cross country girls placed 2nd at Regions. Football had a hard season, with a young team that had trouble competing against more experienced teams, but were still able to make it to the playoffs.
October was a calmer month, with Homecoming at the beginning of the month and the Spooky Trail at the end. By all measures, the Spooky Trail was a success, with the Jesse James Players scaring more than 1400 people in its two-weekend and Halloween day run. The Gazette also ran a photo collage of all the new construction that is happening in the community; between beautification, new industry, and housing, Garretson is growing.
In November, we honored those who served our country with two programs for Veteran’s Day in Garretson; first at the school, then at the Legion. The All-School Veteran’s Day program featured calls to the ideals of Americans; the ideas of liberty, freedom, kindness, and diversity. Elementary students recorded quotes from prior presidents, including John F Kennedy, George H.W. Bush, Franklin D Roosevelt, and Barack Obama, and after each quote, gave a short speech on what those quotes and ideals meant.
The city council wrestled with the issue of dogs barking, with a proposal to limit the number of pets even more substantially, but after feedback from the community, they opted to work with the Minnehaha County Sheriff to place more emphasis behind noise enforcement.
After Thanksgiving, the holiday season got off to a start with Light the Park, an event spearheaded by the Garretson Parks Advisory Committee and Grow Garretson. Along with that popular event, Hometown Christmas also had a great turnout, despite extra-cold weather canceling some of the outdoor events. The Gazette again ran its 6th grade Drawing Contest and 2nd grade Letters to Santa, and added some fun comments from Kindergarten and 1st grades as well.
Here’s to a great 2020, with hopes of continued success for the community! We know, with the hard work of all who contribute, that Garretson will continue to be its awesome self. We at the Gazette will do our best to continue bringing you the news of our community and the county, and items from around the state that also impact us all.
On Sunday, January 5, Bob Jacobson held a retirement party and a meet and greet at the Legion. Past and present customers were encouraged to come and meet Tim and Mona Ness, who will be assuming bookkeeping duties as Jacobson retires from his longtime downtown business.
In the photos, Jacobson (right) poses with his family (L to R), daughter Jessica Robinson, granddaughter Ana Robinson, grandson Vaughn Robinson (bolero tie courtesy of Dwayne “Jake” Jacobson), wife Michele (who accompanied Bob in the office until four years ago), and granddaughter Ava Robinson. In the next photo, Michele greets John and Marilyn Doppenberg from Yankton.
an editorial by Dave Baumeister County Correspondent
WOW! It is probably never a good thing when a newspaper is at a loss for words, but “WOW!” is the first thing that comes to mind.
Again, this year, the Minnehaha County Commission voted unanimously to name four newspapers as their “official publications.” Why is this such a big deal? The county has gone beyond state requirements, which say a county doesn’t have to name more than three newspapers as “legal publications.”
So once again this year, the Garretson Gazette will be publishing all county public notices for our readers (as will the Brandon-Valley Journal, Minnehaha Messenger and the Sioux Falls Argus Leader).
In a time when so many people think the only news is what they find on the Internet, and in a time when people are learning that much of what they see on the Internet can fall into the category of “fake news,” our
county commissioners are leading the way in seeing that Minnehaha citizens are kept informed.
In the Gazette, readers will find the exact minutes of the meetings, learn about land and surplus property auctions, legal disputes, and more.
As a case in point, at the Jan. 7 Minnehaha County meeting, commissioners were asked to become the “official” government entity on record so a group at Wall Lake could start applying for grants in the hopes of building a walking/biking trail around the lake.
A person from that area spoke up about work she had done to show that 47 Wall Lake area residents were totally against the trail, and she claimed that at least one of those people had never heard anything about the proposal.
If this is true, that person only had to look as far as his local newspaper, the Minnehaha Messenger in Harford, to read the two extensive articles written about the project and see the photograph showing the area being looked at for the trail.
People hearing from a person against the project would just have the thoughts of that person on which to base their own conclusions. And only looking at an issue from one side usually leads to poor decisions.
Now, we are not writing in favor or against a bike trail on the other side of the county, but what we are talking about is how local newspapers give people the chance to be informed about what is going on in their communities.
And by their recent vote in naming legal newspapers, the Minnehaha County Commission is encouraging the same thing.
So, today, when so many people are looking at governing bodies and scratching their heads, we get to look at the Minnehaha Commissioners and, again, say, “WOW”!
Addendum from the editor, Garrick Moritz
Yes, and thank you Dave for your work for us and the other communities of Minnehaha County outside Sioux Falls city limits.
I was very pleased that the Commissioners voted to renew all the locally owned newspapers in the county again this year, and as I said at the meeting, it speaks well of them as public servants and their commitment to ideals of American democracy and their support of a free press.
This also helps us to keep Dave as our correspondent. Dave is a long-experienced and award-winning journalist who is at every meeting, and presents our readers with the highlights of county issues that may affect them. (He actually had better attendance at the meetings than a few of the commissioners this past year.)
By SD Law they must publish their minutes and legal notices in three newspapers in the county, but they went above and beyond for the second year in a row and named 4! These newspapers must meet the qualifica
tions of a legal newspaper under state law, with a minimum number of subscribers, etc. Traditionally, only the largest papers get this designation. Larger media companies have bought up, shut down, or edged out smaller mom and pop outfits like me; to get a bigger slice of the pie for ad sales and legal notices for a region.
So the commissioners actively making sure that the smaller, more rural communities of the county are designated as official newspapers is a pretty big deal. It shows that they want to include the most people possible in local self-governance and that they recognize that the folks in the Garretson area vote, and want to be informed.
I’m also very heartened that we are not the only Minnehaha County community to benefit. The advent of the Brandon Valley Journal and the Dell Rapids City Journal, brand new small town papers that didn’t exist when I started here, shows that the SD citizen is hungry for good local news sources.
The Garretson Commercial Club is proud to announce that Sara Rogich and family have won the Holiday Lights contest. Rogich’s house is located on 4th Street, and was lit up with candy canes, nutcrackers, and even Santa in a tree.
In years past, the award went toward the best-lighted street/block, but the Commercial Club opted to choose just one house for 2019. The Rogich family will be receiving $100 in Garretson bucks.
A bean bag tournament, silent auction, raffle, and pork loin meal will be at the Henry G Fix Post #23 Legion building this Saturday, January 11 starting at 1:00 p.m. All proceeds will go toward Dwana Eslinger, who was diagnosed with cancer last July.
The tournament will have registration from 1:00-1:30, with bags throwing starting at 1:30. Cost is $20 per person.
The meal starts at 4:00 p.m. It will consist of pork loin sandwiches, chips, and potato salad, and will be available for $5.
There will also be a silent auction, raffle, bake sale, and koozies for sale, and DJ Bandit Music Machine will provide entertainment.
Monetary donations can also be made at First Bank & Trust in Garretson.
I have co-authored a book with Phil and Sandy Hamman, authors of Gitchie Girl.
Duct Tape Killer will go on sale on January 14, 2020 and will be available at the Treasure Chest in Garretson, several locations in Sioux Falls, and on-line. The authors will sign books at Barnes and Noble on January 18. Long will sign books at Reach Literacy in Sioux Falls on January 23 and January 27.
-Larry Long
DUCT TAPE KILLER
On August 27, l994 Larisa Dumansky, a young mother of two, clocked out of work from John Morrell’s about one a.m., walked to her car in the parking lot and was never seen again. The Sioux Falls Police Department spent hundreds of hours searching for her but found nothing.
On November 10, 1994, about nine p.m., Amy Anderson hit a metal object on the road while driving west of Tea. She stopped to examine her badly damaged tire. Two men driving an older maroon Monte Carlo also stopped, Amy believed, to help her change her tire. But, as she opened the trunk of her car, one of the men grabbed her and dragged her toward the ditch. Amy fought back, broke free, and ran down the road into the path of an oncoming car. The two women in that car picked Amy up and they watched the two men jump into the Monte Carlo and speed away into the dark. Amy reported the attempted kidnapping to the local police but no suspects were identified.
Then, shortly before noon on July 29, 1996, Piper Streyle disappeared from her home in rural McCook County and was never seen again. However, her two children, a three year old girl and a two year old boy, were home and saw what happened. The little girl told law enforcement that a “mean man” driving a “black car with black wheels” carried off her mother and “she is not coming back.”
Twenty years after law enforcement caught and convicted Robert Leroy Anderson (no relation to Amy Anderson) and Glen Walker for these horrific crimes, the compelling story is now a book entitled DUCT TAPE KILLER. Phil and Sandy Hamman, authors of “Gitchie Girl” and ‘Gitchie Girl Uncovered” collaborated with former South Dakota Attorney General Larry Long, one of the attorneys who prosecuted Anderson, and together wrote Duct Tape Killer.
The Blue Dragons traveled to Brookings on December 31st, 2019, to participate in the 26th Annual Michael J. Entringer Classic. The Blue Dragons took the court and battled the Elk’s from Elkton/Lake Benton, but unfortunately fell a little short in overtime 54-46.
Coach Heitkamp commented, “This is the 4th game in a row that we have gone into the final stanza with a lead or down just two points, so we need to find the confidence to finish the games moving forward. These young men are working their tails off and deserve to get into the win column…we just need to compete until the final horn sounds.”
Cooper Long led the Blue Dragons with 13 points, while Josef Zahn (13 rebounds) and Lucas Fitzgerald (7 rebounds) knocked down 11 and 10 points each. Dylan Kindt (6 assists) and Jake Schroeder added 5 and 4 points, as Cole Skadsen and Evan Bly (7 rebounds) rounded out the scoring with 2 and 1 points respectively.
Blue Dragons Take Down the Flyers
The Blue Dragons took to the road again on January 3rd, 2020, to take on the Chester Flyers.
The visiting team came out of the locker room and played four solid quarters of team basketball, which led to the first victory of the season 51-31.
“We emphasized to the kids that no matter who they are playing, they need to come out and play fundamental basketball for 32 minutes and when they do that…good things will happen,” stated Coach Heitkamp.
Dylan Kindt (6 rebounds) had a game high 12 points, as Cooper Long (4 assists) hit for 9 points of his own. Trey Buckneberg (5 rebounds) added 7 points, while Lucas Fitzgerald and Josef Zahn (12 rebounds) dented the nets for 6 points each. Jake Schroeder, Hayden Olofson, and Isaiah Gnadt rounded out the scoring with 5, 3, and 3 points.
The Blue Dragons will be back on the court January 9th, 2020, as they take on the Flandreau Fliers in the annual Big East Conference Tournament in Flandreau at 7:30pm.
Triston Rekstad, Cooper Long, Evan Bly, Brady DeBates look to stop Chester’s offensive attack. Photo by Angela Bly
C Team Unable to keep up with the C-Hawks
The Blue Dragon boys’ C team hosted the Canton C-Hawks in their first home contest of the season, coming up short by the score of 37-50.
“Unfortunately, we were shorthanded against a well-rounded Canton team,” stated coach Cory Buchholz. “After being down 17-5 after the 1st quarter, we settled down and started to find our groove to cut it to within 5 at the half. I was really proud of the way we battled back in the first half and never gave up, even after a big deficit. We need to come out ready to play for all 4 quarters of the game like we did in the 2nd quarter of this game and we will win many games this year.”
Leading the way was Eli Reed with 11 and Cadyn Ockenga with 8 points apiece. Isaiah Gnadt had another good game with 7 points and Sam Schleuter dropped down 6 points. Rounding out the scoring was Dylan Jessen with 4 and Drew Peterson 2 points, respectively.
The C team will be in action, along with the girls’ C team, in Luverne on Monday January 13th with a tip-off at 5:30.
C-Hawks “soar” past Blue Dragon JV
The Blue Dragon JV couldn’t get over the hill while falling in a back and forth battle with Canton by the score of 35 – 46.
Coach Buchholz said, “Once again, we came out flat in the 1st and 3rd quarter. I felt that we outplayed Canton 20 of the 24 minutes of the game but coming out not ready to play really hurt us. We also left 10 points off of the board by going 5 of 15 from the charity stripe and this just simply can’t happen. These are things that we will fix and be ready from the first whistle to the last.”
Josef Zahn and Brady DeBates led the scoring attack with 9 and 7 points apiece. Cooper Long, Cadyn Ockenga, and Triston Rekstad each chipped in 5 points and Evan Bly added 4 points of his own.
Blue Dragon JV too much for the Hawks from Colman-Egan
The Blue Dragon JV (2-1) took control from the opening tip and didn’t look back winning by a score of 41-17.
“This was a game where we came out knowing that we were a better team right from the start. Everything was working well and we were flying around the court from start to finish. This is the team that we have been waiting for since the season started and it really showed by outscoring C-E 24-3 in the first half,” said Coach Buchholz. “We still need to clean up our free throws, but overall I was really proud of the effort from everyone from start to finish.”
Leading the way in only 3 quarters of work was Triston Rekstad with 10 points. Cadyn Ockenga had a strong game off of the bench with 8 points and Brady DeBates followed those with 6 of his own. Evan Bly dropped in 5, Josef Zahn 4, and Isaiah Gnadt 3 points. Rounding out the scoring was Dylan Jessen and Sam Schleuter each with 2 points and Eli Reed with 1.
The Blue Dragons traveled to Chester on January 3; scores were not available at press time. In future action, the Blue Dragons will take on the Trojans from West Central on January 16 at 6:00 in the Dragon’s Lair in Garretson.
Blue Dragon JV uses balanced attack to hold off Flyers
The Blue Dragon JV (3-1) was back
on the road Friday, Jan. 3for a Big East Conference battle against
the Chester Flyers, defeating them by a score of 34-30.
“This was a game where we just
couldn’t put together a run to put away a scrappy team like Chester. We would
go up by 4 points just to have the Flyers come back down and make a 3-pointer.
We will need to start doing a better job at recognizing where the shooters are
and closing out with a hand up to make the outside shot more difficult,” said
Coach Cory Buchholz.
It was a well-rounded offensive attack by the Blue Dragons
on the way to the win. Josef Zahn, Cooper Long, and Isaiah Gnadt led the
scoring attack each with 6 points apiece. Brady DeBates and Cadyn Ockenga each
chipped in 5. To round out the scoring was Triston Rekstad and Sam Schleuter
with 4 and 2 points, respectively.
Next up the Blue Dragon JV will host the West Central
Trojans on Thursday Jan. 16 while the Blue Dragon “C” team will be heading to
Luverne, MN, on Monday Jan. 13 for a 5:30 tip-off against the Cardinals.
The annual Blue Dragon Youth Wrestling Tournament was held last Thursday, January 2 with over 200 kids participating. While it is normally an annual event, last year’s tournament had to be canceled due to weather. This may have depressed numbers some, as according to other wrestling parents, the gym is usually even more packed than it was this year.
However, turnout was still nothing to be disappointed in.
Thirty youth aged 5-12 years old from Garretson participated. The Garretson Youth Wrestling Coaches are Cody Linneweber, Colby Pierret, and Vern Miller, and the event was organized by several youth wrestling board members and parents.
Coach Linneweber was pleased with how the tournament went.
“I was very happy with how all the boys wrestled, they worked their tails off in front of a large crowd and that made us coaches very happy,” he wrote to the Gazette. “The coaches are thankful for the effort the wrestlers put in every week, as it is vital in keeping the sport of wrestling prominent in the town of Garretson.”
He also was grateful to all of the helpers.
“I also want to thank all of the volunteers that helped make the Garretson Youth Tourney a success. Whether it was in the food stand, at a table scoring, Refereeing, making brackets, taking money, or helping in other areas they made the tourney run as smoothly as it did.”
Practices are normally on Monday and Wednesday evenings at 6:00 p.m., though that is variable based on game schedules, and most tournaments are on weekends. While there are many tournaments available, the coaches pick just a few to attend officially and allow youth to attend others if they wish.
Coach Linneweber continued, “In an end note, if any other young children in Garretson are interested in wrestling, please feel free to come to a practice or contact a coach to see if it is something that you want to pursue. Our program is headed in the right direction and the future looks bright for Garretson Wrestling.”
