Monday August 14, 2017, 8 Red Hat ladies left to go to Good Earth State Park. James Henning, park manger, took us down the Vista Loop trail telling us how Blood Run National Historic Landmark was established in 1970 in recognition of the large American Indian trade center and ceremonial site that flourished there between 1500-1700 A.D. At the end of the trail at the overlook we could see Iowa. When we got back to the lodge we had a movie on the history of the park and saw articles collected from that area. The park was designated South Dakota’s 13th State Park in 2013. After that we went to Jacky’s Restuarant in Sioux Falls on 10th St. for our lunch which was enjoyed by all. Those that went and enjoyed the day were, Margie Martens, Mary Dorsman, Mary's cousin, Gevena Skorr, Dorothy Sorenson, Julie Hight, Bernice Semmen, and Marg Maschino. – Submitted by Julie Hight

News for 8-24-17

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At the top floor party room of Family Floors and Furniture on Thursday, August 10, Marissa Wollman and Marcia Gnadt hosted book signing and reading with Sandra Cheskey Chrans. Cheskey is the sole survivor of the 1973 Gitchie Manitou murders. The book, Gitchie Girl, is her personal account of that night and the aftermath of the events.

Marissa Wollman introduced Cheskey to the gathered crowd and then began the evening by reading a half dozen excerpts from the book. Then she gave the floor to Cheskey who fielded questions from the audience about her book and her experiences. Because we want to give readers the opportunity to read the book, mostly spoiler free, we’ll only outline the basics. The 13 year old Sandra Cheskey was out with her boyfriend Roger and two other friends for a campfire and some guitar music at the Gitchie Manitou State Park. They were then stalked and attacked. Cheskey only survived because of luck and because one of her attackers spared her because he believed she’d been intimidated into silence. But she did come forward to the investigating Sheriff, and with her help they were able to locate, arrest, bring to trial and incarcerate the perpetrators.

Aside from the devastation of losing her first love, being raped and nearly murdered; for years she had a stigma attached to her name. “Most people didn’t seem to care that I was raped and nearly murdered, and could only watch as two friends and the man who I would have married were murdered,” said Cheskey. “All they cared about was that a thirteen year old girl was out alone at a campground with three boys. Well, I was a virgin. Roger was good as gold to me, and I’d have gone with him anywhere. We were just kids out having fun, enjoying a campfire and singing and playing music. But that I was out there at all was more scandalous to some people than the actual murders, and people whispered that I must have had something to do with the murders, or that I deserved it for going out there in the first place. Those kind of hurtful things is what kept me silent for so many years. But the Sheriff never believed any of that for a minute, I trusted him and told him everything, and he came though, and never failed me.”

“I think we can speak for everybody here, Sandra, that we all support you, and have nothing but sympathy and love for you, and pride at how brave you were to see it through,” said Wollman. This sentiment was echoed by all present.

There was much more said and talked about at the event. Much of it was quite chilling. Patrons left horrified to know that such evil can lurk and spring forth without warning upon the innocent. Obviously, if you want the whole story straight from the source, you should buy the book, Gitchie Girl, which is available locally or on Amazon.com.

News for 8-17-17

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The 6th Annual Garretson Tractor Ride left Kibble Equipment John Deere just shy of 9 a.m. on Friday, August 11.

"We had a great turnout this year, twenty seven tractors in all,” said organizer Loren Konda. “We headed out on the south driveway onto gravel from Kibble. We made a stop at Raven Industries for a quick tour. We then stopped for tours at Gibson Family Memorials and Northern Trucking. Then we stopped at the Safari Bar and Grill for lunch. Coming back to Garretson, we all parked on Main Ave. and came right here to the Museum for rootbeer floats and treats.” “We had guys and gals from all over the tri-state area, Hurley Iowa, Orange City, Sioux City, Luverne, Minnesota and of course folks from the Garretson/Sherman area too, just to name a few. Many of the guys made donations to our local museum. And thank you to them for being excellent hosts!”

News for 8-17-17

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Not your typical Friday afternoon crowd in downtown Garretson, 27 tractors were parked on Main Ave at the conclusion of the 2017 Garretson Area Tractor Ride

Emily Malsom, GHS student and local FFA Chapter member rides her orange Allis-Chalmers.

Kids rarely like the idea of going to school in the summertime, but with programs like Reading Bridge, that perception may change for the better.

“Reading Bridge was something that was originally started in the Sioux Falls Area School Districts as a summer reading program to eliminate the slippage that can happen during the summer if students don’t keep reading,” said Amie Reker, 8th grade math teacher in Sioux Falls and parent of two Garretson School Students. “It’s a residence based learning

program that combines story reading with learning projects and learning games using staff and parent volunteers.”

Reker, with other Garretson School staff members and parent and student volunteers, have been teaching and helping out Garretson students all summer.

“This year was really big for us,” Reker said. “We had forty-eight students in all who were a part of the program.” Reker explains that the students were broken up into small groups of 3-4. They would read stories together as a group, then work on a writing project based on what they read. Spelling contests, skits and games followed, and of course they made library

books available to checkout and take home. Each Tuesday and Thursday since the start of July, they would do this in two, hour long sessions, starting at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. “Today, (Thursday, August 3, 2017) is the last day, and we had some generous community members donate books for the students to take home with them, to help keep them reading until school starts again,” Reker said. “We are very grateful for that donation, and to our volunteers, including my son Alex, who helped shelve books. As you can probably guess we’ve read a lot of books in the past month, and without people helping keep the library organized

we’d have to spend more time shelving, and less time with the students. But we had enough help that we never had to worry about it, and we plan to leave the library in as good a shape as we found it, if not better.”

When asked what some of her favorite parts of the program had been, Reker had this to say…

“Oh gosh, it’s hard to pin down just one thing, it was a blast… I guess I would have to say the skits were a lot of fun. The kids really drove the program, that’s what I like. They found books that interested them and that’s what we did the program with, so it was very self driven, and I liked that. My group had some older kids and so we did a lot of farm and farm animal non-fiction work, and that surprised me and pleased me that they wanted to learn about the real world too, and not just enjoy fiction. As to whether we should do this again, I say definitely yes… and I’ll want to be a part of it.”

Now just down the street, every Thursday there has been another summer reading program going on at the Public Library. When I asked if she thought that kids might have to choose between those two programs, Reker said, absolutely not. “I know we had several students

who did both and that’s great! In fact, they’ve been talking about the upcoming Lego Day, and I hear that the Gazette has something going on up there today.”

News for 8-10-17

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Thomas DeLoera and parent volunteer Andrea Theilen read a book together.

Jacki Liester reading with student Ashley Clark.

Teresa Johnson reads with Delilah Johnson, Cragar Wylie and Gavin Den Herder.

Alyxa Hoefert-Neldhuizen plays a game called Spellominoes with Brenna Reker and Malick Wylie.

Get ready to saddle up and ride your iron plow beast! Garretson’s 6th Annual Tractor Ride is right around the corner! It will be held next Friday, August 11. The ride will launch from Kibble Equipment, the John Deere dealership along Highway 11.

Organizer Loren Konda said that their route this year will take riders to Crooks, SD with two stops including lunch in Renner, S.D.

“Our planned is a route to Crooks,” Konda said. “On the way we’ll stop at the Gibson Family Memorials and then at Northern Truck for a tour. Then we’ll head down to the Safari Bar & Grill for lunch. On our way back we’ll stop at the Garretson Heritage Museum for a tour with cookies and juice. There is no entry fee this year, but if someone would like to make a donation, they certainly can’t will go to the Garretson Area Historical Society and the Heritage Museum.”

The tractor ride is open to any shape, size, age or color; just no dual-wheels. Tractors are required to be able to safely travel at 10 mph and be equipped with slow moving vehicle signs on the back of the tractor. Riders are allowed only with properly mounted seats, and drivers are required to have legal drivers licenses, be responsible for their own insurance and absolutely no alcoholic beverages during the ride. For any questions or concerns, contact Loren Konda at 605-360-0372. (Photos: The tractor ride detoured through Splitrock park last year. The youngest members of last year’s ride making a pit stop at the bathhouse recreation area of the park.)

News for 8-3-17

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This Monday, the work began on the Garretson Pool’s restoration project. Work crews arrived and began unloading their construction supplies. Rhino Industrial is the company that was contracted to install the pool’s liner, and from what these workers told the Gazette, it’s been a busy summer for them.

“We’ve been all over the country,” said Robert Ray. “I’m from Colorado and Chuck and Danny are from Indianapolis. How many pools we work on per year varies from year to year but this year we’ve done twelve so far.”

The Garretson Pool will be their lucky 13. Above, Danny Wavree and Robert Ray unload the industrial adhesives used to seal the pool liner and pool together. Below Ray and Wavree unload a large liner roll handed off from Chuck Mason in the delivery truck.

The Annual Garretson Pool Auction Benefit fundraiser was also this week, on Wednesday at 6 p.m., too late for press time. Look in next week’s issue for more photos on the construction and from the pool auction events!
News for 8-3-17

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