On Monday, January 27th, at the annual meeting of the Garretson Area Historical Society, the board of directors elected and entrusted me, Jakob Etrheim, to be their next President. Thank you to outgoing President Bruce Brown for his years of leadership and thank you for him continuing to serve on the board.
Though I am no stranger to the historical society and Garretson, it has been several years since I’ve lived in town, and I thought I should introduce myself. I was raised in Garretson, the son of Keith Etrheim and Mary (Engebretson) and Todd Tilberg, and a 2011 GHS graduate. I’m a proud third-generation GHS graduate! I attribute my love of history to two sources: Mr. Bob Bennett, my middle school history teacher, and my grandfather Dean Engebretson. I also have to give an honorable mention to Mr. Kevin Steckler, who helped expand my love of history in high school. Despite the fact that he always said he didn’t like history, I used to love asking and talking to my Grandpa Dean about Garretson from his life. He was born, raised, worked, retired, and passed away in Garretson his entire 94-year life (though technically, the Engebretson farm address was Sherman), outside of time in the military during World War II.
As a kid, I always loved visiting the Garretson Heritage Museum, particularly during Hometown Christmas. I still have great memories of visiting the museum for popcorn and cider and then going to Jacobson Law Office next door to look at the train village display in their front window. My involvement with the historical society board first started when I was a senior at GHS in 2010. The historical society worked with the Garretson FFA to build its new Agriculture Exhibit in the lower level of the museum. Shortly thereafter, I reached out to Sharon Kringen and Lorraine Butrum about attending board meetings, and I started regularly joining in October 2010. I started the Facebook page for the historical society, which has been super fun, showing the museum and history of the town.
After high school, I attended SD State University in Brookings for History and Museum Studies. During college, I worked part-time at the Siouxland Heritage Museums (the organization that runs the Old Courthouse Museum & Pettigrew Home and Museum) in Sioux Falls and at the SD Agricultural State Heritage Museum in Brookings during the school year. Though I couldn’t always attend the board meetings, I still remained active with the Garretson Area Historical Society as much as I could. This included being involved with Garretson’s 125th Anniversary celebration and All School Reunion in 2014.
After college, I worked in Willmar, MN, at their county historical society for a contract position inventorying artifacts and then found a job closer to home in Murray County, MN, running End-O-Line Railroad Park and Museum in Currie, MN, near Lake Shetek. After doing that for four years, I applied for my supervisor’s position upon her retirement and became County Museums Director. In addition to overseeing End-O-Line Museum, my new position also oversaw our county historical museum and our historic home museum called the Dinehart-Holt Home, both located in Slayton, MN.
As much as I love the museum field, it is stressful, and I was ready for a change. That, combined with a new love interest in my life, led me to move back to South Dakota to Sioux Falls. Though I looked for museum employment in Sioux Falls with limited options, I found a similar job with the University of South Dakota’s Sanford School of Medicine. My position is a Grants, Finance, and Events Coordinator for three divisions in the med school: the Center for Rural Health Improvement, SD Area Health Education Center, and SD HOSA, which is a career/technical education organization, similar to FFA but for health careers rather than agriculture.
Though I’m no longer working in the field, I couldn’t keep away from it for too long. I reached out to my friends at the Siouxland Heritage Museums and was invited to join their Siouxland Heritage Alliance Board of Directors. I have also volunteered at the Pettigrew Home. During COVID and the proceeding years, my involvement with the Garretson Area Historical Society became limited, but I still offered my services and helped with the Facebook page when I could. Since moving back to SD, I started attending historical society meetings and events again. Garretson history has always been a big passion and my favorite topic of history, and I’m excited to help lead this great organization.
As we look to the future, some of our initiatives at the Garretson Area Historical Society primarily include the upkeep of our historic building. One of our focuses is the second floor of the building, which at one time housed the town’s telephone switchboard office, law office, and apartments. Since the historical society took over the building in the 1980s, the top floor has remained vacant. It currently doesn’t have climate control and up-to-date electricity. There has also been the discussion of accessibility, and our board has deliberated on building an elevator. We would love to hear the public’s input on any thoughts they have about the Museum. As a public non-profit supported by memberships and donations, I consider this YOUR community museum. And don’t forget that our name is the Garretson AREA Historical Society. Our museum includes the history of Sherman, Booge, and our surrounding townships and agricultural areas as well as Garretson.
To end, I would love to encourage you all to come visit our museum. Just because you visited once doesn’t mean you’ve seen everything. We have moved exhibits around and added new artifacts over the years. Even I, having been to the museum hundreds of times, find something new frequently. We are open on Saturdays during the summer or by appointment. Don’t be shy to call one of the phone numbers on our museum door to visit. Our admission is free, though donations make a great impact. And if you want to extend your support of area history, please consider a historical society membership. A simple $15 for a single or $25 for a family/business yearly membership helps our society immensely. The bonus is that you get our quarterly newsletter in your mailbox.
UPDATE 2/7/25: Updated misspelling of Jakob Etrheim's name.
