THE MOOD OF CHRISTMAS by Howard Thurman

When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among people,
To make music in the heart.

PIERRE GOVERNORS SPORTS ROUNDUP

This week’s schedules:
Wrestling—Tuesday, at Brookings, 7 p.m.
Gymnastics—Friday, home meet, 4 p.m.
Girls basketball—Friday, home vs. Watertown, 6:15 p.m.; Saturday, home vs. Brookings, 3 p.m.; Tuesday, at Sioux Falls O’Gorman, 7 p.m.
Boys basketball—Friday, home vs. Watertown, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, home vs. Brookings, 4:15 p.m.; Tuesday, home vs. Sioux Falls O’Gorman, 7 p.m.

Girls basketball: The Governors swept a pair of home games against Black Hills opponents, beating Sturgis, 55-37, and Spearfish, 57-8.

Boys basketball: Pierre has lost its first three games, each of them by seven or fewer points. In a 57-53 loss at Douglas, the Govs were led by Grey Zabel with 17 points, Grant Judson with 12 and Lincoln Kienholz with 10. In a 72-68 loss at Spearfish Zabel scored 24 and Paul Adam 13.

Gymnastics: At the Mitchell invitational Pierre was fifth with 134.200 points. Mitchell won the team title. Micah Moser was seventh in the all-around at 35.175 and Meg Erwin ninth at 34.050.

Wrestling: The Governors dominated Aberdeen Central in a dual, 54-11. Among the winners were Blake Judson, Jack Van Camp, Jacob Larson and Preston Taylor with pins. Cade Hinkle by tech fall, Kahlor Hindman by major decision, and Deegan Houska, Jayden Wiebe, Daniel Tafoya and Regan Bollweg by decision and Gavin Stotts by forfeit. At the Elk Point-Jefferson invitational the Governors were second with 193 points, behind Canton’s 233 and ahead of third-place Omaha Millard North’s 146. Judson, Hinkle, Van Camp and Taylor all reached their championship matches before placing second. Trey Lewis, Johnson and Bollweg placed third; Larson placed fourth; Houska and Wiebe were fifth; Hindman and Tafoya placed sixth.

STANLEY COUNTY BUFFALOES SPORTS ROUNDUP

This week’s schedules:
Wrestling—Thursday, at Winner, 6 p.m.
Gymnastics—Saturday, at Hot Springs.
Girls basketball—Thursday, home vs. Kadoka Area, 3:30 p.m.; Saturday, home vs. Herreid-Selby Area, 3 p.m.; Tuesday, at Highmore-Harrold, 4 p.m.
Boys basketball—Thursday, home vs. Potter County, 6:30 p.m.; Saturday, home vs. Herreid-Selby Area, 3 p.m.; Tuesday, at Highmore-Harrold, 5:15 p.m.

Gymnastics: The Buffalo girls were fourth in their home invitational with 103.400 points. Hot Springs was the team champion. Allison Schlomer was seventh in the all-around standings and Elena Hebb eighth.

Wrestling: In duals the Buffaloes lost to Redfield, 66-9, and defeated Faulkton Area, 39-33. At the Mount Vernon-Plankinton invitational, SCHS was seventh of 19 teams with 87 team points. McCook Central-Montrose was the team champion. Buffalo placers: Dylan Endres, third at 185 pounds; Chase Hanson, fourth at 106; Trey Frost, fourth at 126; Reid Wieczorek, fourth at 170; Sydney Tubbs, sixth at 220.

Boys basketball: The Buffaloes defeated Philip, 71-34, and lost to Chamberlain, 68-53. Their record after three games was 1-2.

Girls basketball: The SCHS girls lost to Philip, 61-26, to fall to 0-3 to start the season.

SULLY BUTTES CHARGERS SPORTS ROUNDUP

This week’s schedules:
Wrestling—Next meet Jan. 11 at Miller invitational.
Girls basketball—Saturday, home vs. Mobridge-Pollock, 1 p.m.
Boys basketball—Friday, at Wall, 3:30 p.m. MST; Saturday, home vs. Mobridge-Pollock, 1 p.m.

Wrestling: The Charger wrestlers placed 18th at the Mount Vernon-Plankinton invitational.

Boys basketball: The Chargers, after losing their opener to Lyman, rebounded with a 45-39 win over Class “A”-ranked Winner. Nick Wittler scored 26. The Sully Buttes game at the Parkston Classic against Viborg-Hurley was postponed by the past weekend’s blizzard and will be played on Jan. 18.

Girls basketball: Winner, the top-ranked team among Class “A” girls, defeated the Chargers, 68-36. Kendra Kleven scored 19 for SBHS. The girls’ game against Viborg-Hurley at the Parkston Classic was postponed until Jan. 18.

A THOUGHT FOR THE NEW YEAR

“People often say, with pride, ‘I’m not interested in politics.’ They might as well say, ‘I’m not interested in my standard of living, my health, my job, my rights, my freedoms, my future or any future.’ . . . If we mean to keep any control over our world and lives, we must be interested in politics.”

— Martha Gellhorn

2020 ELECTION DETAILS

State and county offices up for election this year:
— U.S. Senator, 6-year term (the seat now held by Sen. Mike Rounds).
— U.S. Representative, 2-year term (the seat now held by Rep. Dusty Johnson).
— All 105 state legislators, 2-year terms.
— County commissioners, 4-year terms.
— County state’s attorneys, 4-year terms.
— County coroners, 4-year terms.
— County treasurers/finance officers, 4-year terms.
— Public Utilities Commissioner, 6-year term.
— Delegates and alternates to national party conventions.
— An amendment to the S.D. Constitution to legalize, regulate and tax marijuana and to require the Legislature to pass laws regarding hemp as well as laws ensuring access to marijuana for medical use.

Important election-related dates:
— March 31: Petition filing deadline for primary election candidates.
— April 17: Absentee voting for primary election begins.
— April 28: Petition filing deadline for independent candidates.
— May 18: Voter registration deadline for primary election.
— June 2: Primary election.
— Sept. 18: Absentee voting for general election begins.
— Oct. 19: Voter registration deadline for general election.
— Nov. 3: General election.

COUNTDOWN

2 days: NFL playoffs begin (Jan. 4-5).
3 days: Golden Globe awards, NBC (Jan. 5).
11 days: College football national championship game (Jan. 13).
24 days: Grammy awards, CBS (Jan. 26).
31 days: Super Bowl LIV (Feb. 2).
32 days: Iowa caucuses (Feb. 3).
33 days: State of the Union address (Feb. 4).
35 days: State one-act play festival, Sioux Falls (Feb. 6-8).
40 days: New Hampshire primary (Feb. 11).
43 days: State gymnastics meet, Aberdeen (Feb. 14-15).

COLLEGE SPORTS ROUNDUP

Minnesota State-Mankato football (Brevin Kaiser): Your Update editor regrets we did not know that Riggs High graduate Brevin Kaiser has been playing football at Mankato this fall. He was a sophomore quarterback eligibility-wise this fall after spending his freshman year at USD. Brevin played in all 12 Maverick games. In passing he completed 23 of 33 attempts for 327 yards and two touchdowns. The longest pass was for 45 yards and a touchdown against Minnesota-Crookston. Kaiser carried 22 times for 136 yards, the longest run going for 50 yards against Wayne State. He also rushed in five two-point point-after attempts and scored all five times for 10 points. MSU-Mankato took an unbeaten record all the way to the Division II national championship game where the Mavericks lost to West Florida, 48-40.

Lindenwood men’s hockey (Coleman Varty): The Lions have been idle over the holidays. Their next games are Jan. 10-11 vs. Missouri State.

Texas A&M-International (Nate Vogel): The Dustdevil women are now 7-4, holding a three-game win streak. Their latest victories were 80-42 over Western New Mexico and 80-70 over Texas-Permian Basin. The Dustdevils play at Texas Woman’s tonight and at Tarleton Saturday.

Augustana women’s basketball (Aislinn Duffy, Katie Bourk): The Vikings lost a league game to Wayne State, 77-67. Aislinn has earned a starter’s role and went 8-of-18 in field goals (1-of-3 in three-pointers) and 1-of-1 in free throws for 18 points with nine rebounds, a block and two steals. Now 6-4, Augustana is home Friday vs. Southwest Minnesota State and Saturday vs. USF.

Augustana wrestling (Jebben Keyes): The Vikings won a pair of duals, 20-15 over Parkside and 25-12 over Nebraska-Kearney. Jebben did not wrestle in either match. Now 2-2 in duals, Augie is home tonight vs. Western Colorado and on the road to the Viking-Warrior Open at Fremont, Neb., Saturday.

Mary wrestling (Lincoln Turman): The Marauders have been idle over the holidays. They return to the mats at the Division II national duals at Louisville, Ky., Jan. 10-11.

Northern men’s basketball (Lincoln Jordre): The Wolves whipped MSU-Moorhead, 95-64. Lincoln did not see action that night. Now 9-3, NSU is home Friday vs. Upper Iowa and Saturday vs. Winona State.

Black Hills State women’s basketball (Racquel Wientjes): The Yellow Jackets have been on a holiday break. They return to the court at home Friday vs. Western Colorado and Saturday vs. Colorado-Mesa.

Black Hills State track/field (Allan McDonnell, Kelsey Van Den Hemel, Frank Becker): The Yellow Jackets return to the indoor season Jan. 18 at the Chadron State meet.

S.D. Mines track/field (Theron Singleton, Erik Colman): The Hardrockers return from their holiday break Jan. 18 at Chadron State’s meet.

South Dakota track/field (Maddy McClure): The Coyotes return from their holiday break for the NDSU meet Jan. 18.

South Dakota State track/field (Addy Eisenbeisz): The Jacks resume the indoor season at NDSU’s meet Jan. 18.

South Dakota State swimming (Caleb Huizenga, Ashley Theobald): SDSU has been idle since last month. The season resumes Jan. 18 with a dual at St. Cloud State.

South Dakota State wrestling (Aric Williams): The Jacks lost a 22-10 dual to Minnesota. At the South Beach Duals in Florida this past weekend, SDSU went 3-1, losing to Cornell of the Ivy League, 18-16, but winning over Duke, 41-3; over Michigan State, 19-17, and over Old Dominion, 29-8. Aric did not wrestle in any of these duals. SDSU, now 4-3 in duals, goes to Northern Iowa Jan. 10.

Augustana track/field (Elizabeth Schaefer): The Vikings have been on holiday break. Their next meet is Jan. 17 at Minnesota State-Mankato.

Tennessee women’s basketball (Caleb Currier): The Lady Vols lost to Stanford, 78-51, but defeated Portland State, 88-61, and Howard, 88-38. Now 10-2, it’s time for the SEC regular season, and the Vols host Missouri tonight (Thursday) and go to Kentucky Sunday.

Dakota Wesleyan men’s basketball (Bradley Dean): Brad did not play in the Tigers’ last three games. Now 13-2, DWU lost to Keiser in Florida, 82-75, but won over Ave Maria there, 78-56, and defeated Trinity International in the Hoop City Classic at home, 81-61. DWU, after playing Dakota State last night, goes to Morningside Saturday and to Northwestern (Iowa) next Wednesday.

Northern track/field (Rachel Guthmiller): The Wolves return from their holiday break Jan. 18 at Jamestown.

USD women’s basketball (Chloe Lamb, Ciara Duffy): At #5 South Carolina in the last non-league game, the Coyotes lost by 73-60. Ciara had 20 points, five rebounds, one assist and a steal, and Chloe had 13 points and four boards. In the Summit League opener on the road, USD whipped Western Illinois, 96-65. Chloe was 7-of-11 (3 of 3 in threes) and 3 of 4 in free throws for 20 points, a rebound and two assists. Ciara was 4-of-10 (0-of-3 in threes) and 5-of-5 at the stripe for 13 points, 12 rebounds five assists and two steals. On New Year’s Day USD completed the dreaded eastern trip with a 62-41 win at Purdue-Fort Wayne. Ciara was 9-of-19 (0-of-2) and 1-of-1 for 19 points with six rebounds, five assists and four steals. Chloe was 3-of-8 (0-for-1) and 2-of-2 for eight points with four rebounds, two assists and three steals. USD starts Summit League play 2-0 and is 13-2 overall. The Coyotes are home vs. Denver at 1 p.m. Sunday.

BIRTHDAYS/ANNIVERSARIES

Thursday, Jan. 2:
Zoe (Donahue) Jones, Patty Millar, D.T. Meyer, Will Corcoran, Mike Fugitt, Sara (Lakner) Johnson, Dennis Eisnach, Steve Parker.
— 4th anniversary, Greg/Shelly (Monnens) Campbell.
— Anniversary, Bryce/Tennile (Asmussen) Lindskov.

Friday, Jan. 3:
George Bock, Dorothy Massey, Ali (Bailey) Maurice, Jennifer McGruder, Kelsey Glynn, Rick Newman, Nathan Perli, Joie (Schuetzle) Jockheck, Bryan Harter, Bethany Jochim, Brent Lindbloom.
— 5th anniversary, Josiah/Heather Severson.
— 16th anniversary, Paul/Teresa Soers.
— 16th anniversary, Reid/Leah LeBeau.

Saturday, Jan. 4:
John Sterling, Jack Baker, Joanie (Flottmeyer) Blair, Josh Joy,

Sunday, Jan. 5:
Bowen Goehring, Mary (Hight) Wire, Maren Formanek, Mike Shoup, Jeff Schlekeway, Debi Englehart.

Monday, Jan. 6:
Nancy McKenney, Scott Lovald, Dan Currier, Bradley Dean, Brad Englund, Stephanie (Ellenbecker) Vandel, Patrick Baker, Deneen Clausen, Riley Hausmann, Crystal Ortbahn.

Tuesday, Jan. 7:
Hannah (Waack) Carda, Amber (Russell) Lockwood, Alisa (DeMers) Bousa, Ellen (Gormley) Hopper, Jordan LaBrie, Eileen Briggs, Lucy Bradley, J.D. Pohlman, Bryan Beck, Kim de Hueck, Peter Mickelson.

Wednesday, Jan. 8:
Hudson Jarecke, Schelle Fuchs, Sigrid Wald, Erik Osterkamp, William Coolidge, Drew Garry, Keaton Schneider, Perry Job, Grayson Hunsley, Bruce Pearson.

Thursday, Jan. 9:
Mabel Kusler (#85), Dan Rounds, Phil Howard, Aaron Chittum, Dan Rasmussen, Amy (Tate) Mancuso, Jamie (Jaeger) Spaid, Barry LeBeau, Earl Lindell, Gavin Picchietti, Melissa Foss, Katie Douglas, Cheri (McComsey) Wittler, Susan Pietrus, Deb (Marshall) Harkless, Carol Uecker, Chiles Heien.
— 10th anniversary, Merlin/Nicole (Mikkelsen) Schwinder.

FOOTBALL UPDATE

IOWA 2020 SCHEDULE
Sept. 5: Northern Iowa.
Sept. 12: Iowa State.
Sept. 18: at Minnesota.
Sept. 26: Northern Illinois.
Oct. 3: Michigan State.
Oct. 10: at Ohio State.
Oct. 17: at Penn State.
Oct. 24: Northwestern.
Nov. 7: at Illinois.
Nov. 14: Nebraska.
Nov. 21: at Purdue.
Nov. 28: Wisconsin.

NOTRE DAME 2020 SCHEDULE
Aug. 29: Navy (at Dublin).
Sept. 12: Arkansas.
Sept. 19: Western Michigan.
Sept. 26: Wake Forest (at Charlotte).
Oct. 3: Wisconsin (at Green Bay).
Oct. 10: Stanford.
Oct. 17: at Pittsburgh.
Oct. 31: Duke.
Nov. 7: Clemson.
Nov. 14: Georgia Tech (at Atlanta).
Nov. 21: Louisville.
Nov. 28: at USC.

College football update:
— NDSU 15-0: Beat Montana State 42-14 in FCS semifinal; plays for national FCS championship vs. #2 James Madison at Frisco, Texas, Jan. 11 at 11 a.m. on ABC.
— Minnesota 11-2: Beat Auburn 31-24 in Outback Bowl.
— Iowa 10-3: Beat USC 49-24 in Holiday Bowl.
— Iowa State 7-6: Lost to Notre Dame 33-9 in Camping World Bowl.
— Wyoming 8-5: Beat Georgia State 38-17 in Arizona Bowl.

Minnesota Vikings: Falling flat in their final two regular-season games, the Vikings lost at home to both Green Bay 23-10, and Chicago, 21-19. Finishing 10-6 but still garnering the #6 seed in the NFC playoffs, Minnesota plays in the wild-card round at New Orleans at noon Sunday on Fox.

Denver Broncos: Denver beat Detroit, 27-17, and edged Oakland, 16-15, to finish the regular season at 7-9.

NFL playoffs on TV this weekend:
Saturday—AFC, #5 Buffalo at #4 Houston, 3:35 p.m., ABC and ESPN.
Saturday—AFC, #6 Tennessee at #3 New England, 7:15 p.m., CBS.
Sunday—NFC, #6 Minnesota at #3 New Orleans, 12:05 p.m., Fox.
Sunday—NFC, #5 Seattle at #4 Philadelphia, 3:40 p.m., NBC.

Next year’s schedules, based on the NFL’s long-range rotation scheduling plan and this season’s final standings:
— VIKINGS: Home games, Green Bay, Detroit, Chicago, Dallas, Carolina, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Tennessee. Away games, Green Bay, Detroit, Chicago, Seattle, New Orleans, Tampa Bay, Indianapolis, Houston.
— BRONCOS: Home games, Kansas City, Los Angeles Chargers, Las Vegas, Buffalo, Miami, Tennessee, New Orleans, Tampa Bay. Away games, Kansas City, Los Angeles Chargers, Las Vegas, New England, New York Jets, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Carolina.

HOCKEY UPDATE

Aberdeen Wings: The first-place Wings have a 20-4-4-2 record and an eight-point lead over second-place Bismarck. The latest wins were over St. Cloud, 5-2 and 3-1. Aberdeen is home Friday and Saturday vs. Minnesota.

Rapid City Rush: The Rush lost two games at Allen, 5-2 and 5-2, but won two at home over Wichita, 4-3 and 2-0. Rapid City is at Utah Friday, Saturday and Sunday and home vs. Cincinnati next Wednesday.

Sioux Falls Stampede: The Herd lost to Omaha, 4-1 and 4-2, and lost to Des Moines, 4-1, to fall to 9-14-3-0 and last place in the eight-team Western Conference of the USHL. The Stampede is home Friday and Saturday against the U17s national team.

Minnesota Wild: The Wild beat Arizona, 8-5; lost to Winnipeg, 6-0; beat Calgary, 3-0; beat Colorado, 6-4; lost to the New York Islanders, 3-1, and lost to Toronto, 4-1. Minnesota is home vs. Winnipeg at 1 p.m. Saturday and vs. Calgary at 6 p.m. Sunday.

How about next New Year’s weekend in Minneapolis/St. Paul? The Wild will be host team for the NHL’s 2021 Winter Classic game OUTDOORS at Target Field on Jan. 1, 2021.

North Dakota: The Fighting Hawks defeated the U.S. U18 team in Michigan, 3-1. UND is home Friday and Saturday vs. Alabama-Huntsville.

Oahe Capitals girls varsity: The girls lost to Aberdeen, 13-0. Abigail Stewart-Fromm made 39 saves. The Dec. 28 game vs. Brookings was postponed due to the blizzard. The girls play at Watertown at 1:30 p.m. Sunday.

Oahe Capitals boys varsity: The Caps lost to Huron, 5-4, in a game that was tied 4-4 after regulation time. Spencer Wedin scored three goals, including two in the third period to tie the game. Elliot Leif scored the other Oahe goal, and Kieran Duffy made 38 saves in goal. The games last weekend against Rushmore and Sioux Falls #1 were postponed to later dates. The Capitals go to Watertown at 8:30 p.m. Saturday and to Brookings at 1:45 p.m. Sunday.

PONDER THIS

The 3 C’s of Life—choices, chances, changes.
You must make the choice to take a chance if you want anything to change.

— EminentlyQuotable.com

BASKETBALL UPDATE

Minnesota Timberwolves: The Wolves don’t win very often, but when they do, it’s exciting. Minnesota ended a 10-game losing streak with losses to New Orleans, Denver, Portland and even Golden State. They broke the skein with a double-overtime 105-104 win at Sacramento, then lost to Cleveland before beating Brooklyn in overtime, 122-115, Monday. After a home game vs. Milwaukee yesterday, Minnesota is home tonight vs. Golden State, at Cleveland Sunday and at Memphis Tuesday.

MIDCO SPORTS NETWORK LIVE GAMES

Thursday: women’s basketball, Western Illinois at NDSU, 5 p.m.
Thursday: women’s basketball, Oral Roberts at SDSU, 6 p.m. (MSN2).
Thursday: men’s basketball, Western Illinois at NDSU, 8 p.m.
Thursday: men’s basketball, Oral Roberts at SDSU, 8:15 p.m. (MSN2).
Friday: men’s hockey, Alabama-Huntsville at UND, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday: women’s basketball, Western Illinois at SDSU, 2 p.m.
Saturday: men’s basketball, Western Illinois at SDSU, 4:15 p.m.
Saturday: men’s hockey, Alabama-Huntsville at UND, 7 p.m.
Sunday: women’s basketball, Purdue-Fort Wayne at UND, 2 p.m.
Sunday: men’s basketball, Purdue-Fort Wayne at UND, 4:30 p.m.
Wednesday: men’s basketball, Omaha at UND, 7 p.m.

GOLF UPDATE

PGA Champions Tour (Tom Byrum): The 2020 Champions Tour tees off Jan. 16-18 at the Mitsubishi Electric Championships at Ka’upulehn-Kona, Hawaii.

THOUGHT FOR THESE TIMES

“We must especially beware of that small group of selfish men who would clip the wings of the American eagle in order to feather their own nests.”

— President Franklin D. Roosevelt

PARKER’S PERSONAL NOTES

• It is interesting to note and to look ahead to these facts about 2020: Valentine’s Day is on a Friday. The Fourth of July is on a Saturday. Halloween is on a Saturday. Christmas Day is on a Friday, meaning Christmas Eve on a Thursday will lead into a three-day weekend. The same will be true of next New Year’s Day on a Friday with New Year’s Eve on Thursday leading into another three-day weekend.
• Steve Baldwin lives down in Custer where he has been involved in that county’s search-and-rescue operation. The other day he posted an interesting message on Facebook, something he probably copied from somebody else, just as I am copying it from him:
  “It’s 2020. I’m over 70 years old and nearly worn out, and I still have so many unanswered questions. I haven’t found out who let the dogs out, where the beef is, how to get to Sesame Street, why Dora doesn’t just use Google maps, why all flavors of Fruit Loops taste exactly the same, how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop, why eggs are packaged in a flimsy carton but batteries are secured in plastic that is tough as nails, what the fox says, why “abbreviated” is such a long word, why there is a “D” in “fridge” but not in “refrigerator,” why lemon juice is made with artificial flavor yet dish washing liquid is made with real lemons, why they sterilize the needle for lethal injections, why you have to put in your two-cents’ worth but it’s only a penny for your thoughts, why the alphabet song and “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” have the same tune, what exactly Victoria’s secret is, where Waldo is, and whether you can hear me now. I’m not really this witty. I got this from a friend who stole it from her brother’s girlfriend’s uncle’s cousin who lived next door to an old classmate’s mailman.”
• Last week the high school marching bands from two schools less than an hour apart along I-90—the Brandon Valley band and the Worthington, Minn., band—were both bound for Florida. The Lynx band was headed to the Citrus Bowl in Orlando and the Trojan band to the Peach Bowl in Atlanta, both using buses from the same charter company based in Sioux Falls. When one of the Brandon Valley buses developed mechanical problems en route, the Worthington band, which had been traveling in four buses, compacted itself (people and equipment and all) into three buses so that their fourth bus could be used by the Brandon Valley band so they wouldn’t fall off schedule on their long trip. The charter company sent a “rescue bus” to catch up with the bands so the Worthington kids could again expand to four buses instead of three.
• This post whose author is unknown might be a lesson to consider for the new year:
  ” While much of America seems to be getting more and more divisive, I’m going to be holding doors for strangers, letting people cut in front of me in traffic, greeting all ( meet, exercising patience with others and smiling at strangers. I’ll do this as often as I have the opportunity. I will not stand idly by and let children live in a word where unconditional love is invisible and being rude is acceptable. Join me in showing love and respect to others. Love must begin somewhere, and love will overcome hate. Imagine the difference if we each purposefully love a little more.”
• If you pay attention to high school football, you know Trevor Zuehlke is the Britton-Hecla quarterback who was critically injured in a game and hospitalized in Sioux Falls. For more than a month now he has been at a rehab hospital in Lincoln. A post on CaringBridge by his father says that, while progress is painfully slow, it is more obvious week to week than it is day to day. He says they read every piece of mail, including those from total strangers who have continued to support the young man. If you care to drop a note to Trevor, rest assured it will be read and shared. We will repeat the mail address:
  Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital; 5401 South St.; Trevor Zuehlke L57; Lincoln NE 68506.
• Speaking of the city of Lincoln, our readers down there should know their city is gaining a fantastic musician in the person of Paul Robinson, who has been music director at First Presbyterian Church in Rapid City for the past five years or so as well as a star of community theater musicals. He is beginning January as the director of music at First United Methodist Church in Lincoln. Our loss; your gain.
• I have a personal project for 2020. So do several dozen others at the church I attend. The project inspired by our new pastor, Barry Whipkey, is reading a little bit of the Bible each day in 2020 so that, by Dec. 31, each of us will have read the entire Bible. It should be easier than you might think. It’s not as if we are opening the Bible to Genesis and reading each book in the order in which they come. The book we are using, “The One-Year Bible,” has divided all the books of the Bible into 365 segments—each day’s assigned segment has a bit of the Old Testament, a bit of the New Testament, a bit of Psalms and a bit of Proverbs. Pastor Barry thinks the project will require about 15 minutes each day. My goal is to do my reading first thing in the morning before I turn on the radio, the TV and the Internet. No reason to spoil the day that early!
• I had a long list of addresses in my hotmail account on my computer. You noticed the past-tense verb “had”? I discovered one day this past fall that the list of addresses was no longer where it should be. Either the laptop itself of its own accord or I accidentally had deleted it. Thus when it came time to send Christmas letters, I had to wait to receive cards from others before I could send mine to them! The same thing happened to my obituary. I wrote one several years back. I discovered that that piece of literature, too, had vanished. So the other day I wrote a new one. I don’t think it’s as good as the first one was! And because newspapers charge outrageous prices to print obituaries these days, the only paper where it likely will appear is the good old Onida Watchman. Hopefully it won’t show up there any time soon, but at my age, you never know!
• Somebody took a poll the other day to determine the most annoying words or phrases from 2019. The “winner” as most annoying is the expression “Whatever!” Second place went to “No offense, but . . .” Third was “dude,” and fourth was “literally.” The fifth-place most-annoying phrase is “Please wait; I’ll be right with you.” You may not care, especially if none of these words or phrases ever cross your lips, but, well, whatever.
• My grandson Parker and I have watched television to see the ball drop in Times Square on New Year’s Eve for several years. Not to brag or anything (OK, I’m bragging), but I swear he’s the only third grader in Rapid City who knew in advance of Tuesday night that the Times Square ball drops not at midnight Mountain Time but rather 10 o’clock.

A THOUGHT FOR AN ELECTION YEAR

“I dream of a world where the truth is what shapes people’s politics rather than politics shaping what people think is true.”

— Neil DeGrasse Tyson

FOOTBALL CONTEST #24

We have some catching up to do. In Contest #20, Jason Noyes went 9-1 for 10 points, missing only SMU’s bowl loss to Florida Atlantic. Jon Boer, Mike Yackley and Eric James were 8-2 for 9 points each, and Debra Bollinger and Nathan Vetter went 7-3 for 8 points apiece.

In Contest #21, Kyle Richards, Jon Boer, Brian Hunhoff and Jason Noyes all got 10 ponts each with 9-1 records. Kyle and Jon missed only BYU’s loss to Hawaii, and Brian and Jason missed only Miami’s loss to Louisiana Tech. At 8-2 for 9 points was Seb Axtman. At 7-3 for 8 points each were David Thoreson, Levi Neuharth, Beth Rinehart, Eric James, Greg Dean and Nathan Vetter.

In Contest #22, which involved the two national college semifinals and eight NFL games Sunday, Jason Noyes, Greg Dean, Seb Axtman and Brian Hunhoff earned 10 points each with 8-2 records. At 7-3 for 9 points each were David Ludwig and Levi Neuharth. At 6-4 for 8 points each were Randy Pool, Laurie Johnson, Kyle Richards, Jon Boer, Jeff Adel, Debra Bollinger, Eric James, Nathan Vetter, Brad Cruse and Beth Rinehart.

In Contest #23, which covered 10 bowl games Monday through yesterday, Nathan Vetter had Minnesota and Oregon correct, among others, and wins with an 8-2 mark and 10 points. At 7-3 for 9 points each were Greg Dean, Jason Noyes and Levi Neuharth. At 6-4 for 8 points each were Mikal Kern, Chuck Libby, Randy Pool, Seb Axtman, Kyle Richards, David Ludwig, Brian Hunhoff and Beth Rinehart.

Contest #24 is currently under way. Contest #25 will be posted on the Parker Knox Facebook page Sunday night as soon as the NFL games are over, and it will appear right here in the Update next Thursday.

WORDS OF WISDOM

“Life should be lived so vividly and so intensely that thoughts of another life or of a longer life are not necessary.”

— Marjory Stoneman Douglas

NEWS OF PEOPLE AND EVENTS

Jay Vogt, director of the South Dakota State Historical Society, is being appointed to the President’s Council on Historic Preservation.

The Pierre Governors 2019 football team has been honored as Prep Boys Team of the Year for the past year by the South Dakota Sportswriters Association among their annual year-end awards.

The Christmas letter from Tom and Barb Sogaard reveals that sometimes Barb has to drag Tom “kicking and screaming” away from Pierre’s winter wonderland, but nevertheless the Sogaards celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 2019. They spent Christmas in Billings, Mont., with Brent’s family along with Jenni’s parents. Brent’s family includes daughter Brynn, 12; son Troy, 10; son Clark, 7, and golden retriever Scarlet, 4 1/2.

Jackie Flowers, who began her career as an engineer with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Pierre, received one of the distinguished alumni awards from South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. She earned a civil engineering degree from Mines in 1992. After leaving Pierre, she went to Sheridan, Wyo., as public works director. In 2006 she went on to Idaho Falls to lead Idaho Falls Power. She is now director and CEO of Tacoma Public Utilities, one of the largest public power utilities in the country.

A Christmas letter from former Pierre residents Jerry and Myra Duba revealed that they both attended 50-year high school reunions in 2019, Jerry had a hip replacement, and Myra is still doing upholstery projects as she did in Pierre. Their daughter, Jessica, and her husband, Ross Castelli, live in Denver. Their other daughter, Jennifer Erlandson, and her husbanbd C.J. and their son, Solomon, live in Rapid City. Jennifer has started pursuing a new degree in computer engineering at the School of Mines.

Susie Rilling, a 1992 graduate of Sully Buttes High School who is now an elementary teacher and assistant girls basketball coach at her alma mater, was inducted into the Onida/Sully Buttes Athletic Hall of Fame on Dec. 17. While in grades 8-12 at Sully Buttes, Susie lettered in basketball, volleyball and track for five years. She led her volleyball team to four state tournament appearances, and she was an All-Stater in that sport. In basketball one of her teams went to the state tournament, and she was all-conference twice. She was a three-time participant at the state track meet. Susie played basketball for two years each at McCook College (Neb.) and Black Hills State where she earned her education degree. Susie taught in Alaska for12 years, including 11 at Shishmaref where her girls basketball team qualified for the state tournament for three consecutive years. She was Alaska Basketball Coach of the Year in 2013. For the last six years she has been back home in Onida as a teacher and coach.

Earning recent Athlete of the Week recognition from the Pierre Athletic Coaches Association were Meg Erwin of the gymnastics team and Noah Williams of the wrestling team.

From Mike and Jean Denton’s Christmas letter we learned that, while Jean has no intention of returning to full-time teaching after a semester of retirement, she is going back to work, at least part-time. She will be working as a committee secretary during the legislative session this month. Since finishing her 43rd year as a teacher last spring, she has volunteered at the Helmsley Center and at St. Joseph School. Mike still works full-time, but the letter says he is beginning to think of “an exit plan.” Aaron and his family still live in southern California, Tom in Pierre and Anne in Denver, but Paul and his family are coming closer to home, relocating from the East Coast to the Kansas City area.

Shawn and Sara Ludemann moved into a new home in 2019 and are loving living in the country near Rapid City, except of course when they lose power as they did during the Thanksgiving weekend blizzard. The Ludemanns traveled to South Carolina and to Vail, Colo., during the old year. Shawn is a loan officer at First National Bank in Rapid City, and Sara works at Black Hills Surgical Hospital.

The Missouri River Roundtable is a new series open to the public and sponsored by the League of Women Voters and the Pierre Area Chamber of Commerce. Each quarter of the year the roundtable will focus on a different level of government, involving three to five expert guests to help citizens learn more about their government bodies and procedures that affect their lives. The first meeting will be from 11 a.m. to noon this Saturday, Jan. 4, at the Chamber of Commerce community room.

According to their Christmas greeting post on Facebook, the daughters of Jeff and Robyn (Starks) Holcomb of Sioux Falls are all busy with school. Laurel, 22, is at the University of Sioux Falls, working on her degree in communication studies and theater with an art minor. Elise, 20, has been at USF, majoring in elementary education with a coaching endorsement. She is transferring to SDSU for the second semester. Lily, 17, is a junior at Roosevelt High School.

Mat and Bre Ripperger and family are still in Sioux Falls and celebrated 10 years of marriage in 2019. They go camping a lot and follow the SDSU football team. Their children are son Parker, 8, who plays football, baseball and wrestling, and daughter Haylie, 5, who does gymnastics and attends pre-kindergarten.

The Sioux Falls Argus Leader has revealed its eight nominees in each fall sport for its year-end Argus Sports Awards to be bestowed in the spring. One of the eight nominees for football is Pierre’s Garrett Stout.

Riggs High alumnus (’01) Brandon Cruse of Rapid City has officiated some big college football games, including bowl games, in his career. But on New Year’s Day he reached what so far is the pinnacle of his officiating—working the Rose Bowl game in Pasadena, Calif., as the “white hat” referee among his Big 12 Conference crew. Brandon was live on world-wide television as he introduced the Tournament of Roses grand marshals and the chair of the Tournament of Roses committee and conducted the coin toss. Of course he was also live every time he reported a penalty.

Jeannette Beemer’s Christmas note revealed that she still attends PEO and church and plays bridge. About the time she was celebrating her 101st birthday last month, she moved from ParkWood in Pierre to the Edgewood Assisted Living facility on Fourth Street in the bustling northeast corner of town. (Your Update editor had the chance to visit Jeannette’s daughter and son-in-law, Kathy and Mike Cruse, when they were in Rapid City for a concert just before Christmas.)

The Phi Kappa Phi honor society at SDSU has inducted a new group of undergraduate and graduate students into its membership, and two of them are Pierre women. From the undergraduate ranks is Haley Dorschner, a College of Nursing student. Among the graduate students so honored is Sarah Speck, also a College of Nursing student.

Dr. Kay (Herting) Wahl, who spent 23 years with the Pierre school district as a teacher and a counselor, died at the age of 76 in Pierre on Dec. 24 after a seven-year battle with lung cancer. A celebration of her life took place Dec. 31 at Ss. Peter & Paul Catholic Church. After leaving her teaching position in Pierre, Mrs. Wahl earned her Ph.D. at USD. Then she taught for two years at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and three years at Minnesota State-Mankato, She then became director of school counseling in the educational psychology department at the University of Minnesota. Among her survivors are her former husband and also a retired former Pierre teacher, Stan Wahl of Pierre; their four children, Steve Wahl and his wife Becky of Sioux Falls, Dr. Annette Comes and her husband Kevan of Lewistown, Mont., Dr. Bonnie Nowak and her husband Jason of Fort Collins, Colo., and Dr. Beth Beemer and her husband Pat of Yankton, and eight grandchildren.

Among the graduates of Black Hills State University at winter commencement was Kaitlynn Kelly, who graduated cum laude with her bachelor of science degree in political science.

Among the news learned from Dennis and Shirley Eisnach’s Christmas card is that they had their first great-grandchild this past fall when their grandson, Taylor Becker, and his wife LaTora of Sioux Falls became parents of Maleah Joy Becker on Oct. 15. The Eisnachs celebrated their 65-year high school reunion in 2019 but unfortunately had some health issues. Shirley says Dennis, whose cancer is stable, is doing well as caregiver for her, who had surgery for stomach cancer in October. Among their accomplished grandchildren in three families, the Eisnachs saw grandson Frank Becker graduate from Riggs High in 2019 and granddaughter Frannie Nesler studied abroad in Spain.

Dr. Brian Hermanson and his fiancee, Paige Ferguson, will be married Saturday in Scottsdale, Ariz. Brian operates his endodontic practice in Pierre, and Paige works for the Department of Transportation. Their home includes three dogs and two cats, and Brian helps coach in the Oahe Capitals hockeiy program of which he is an alumnus. From the newsy Christmas letter from Brian’s mom and stepdad, Susan and Brad Urbach, we also learned that Brian’s sister, Jessica Luhman, and her husband Mark in Sioux Falls are expecting a “prince” in June. They have a daughter, Delainey, a second grader. Jessica is a speech/language pathologist in the West Central school district at Hartford, and Mark manages the parts department at Billion Auto. Brian’s and Jessica’s sister, Rachel Knutson, and her husband, Jesse, continue to farm with his family at Toronto north of Brookings. Rachel is a nurse at a clinic in Watertown. Their family includes Isabel, a fourth grader; Emma, a first grader, and Owen, soon to be 4. Todd Unterbrunner is a credit analyst at Black Hills Community Bank in Rapid City, and his wife, Polly, is the deputy director and program instructor of Starbase South Dakota. Their son, Aidan, is a freshman at Stevens High School; Ashton is a seventh grader; Liam is a fourth grader, and Landon is a first grader. Jonathan Urbach still works for Exxon Mobil in the Twin Cities, and his wife Andrea (Viken) continues her optometry practice. Their daughter, Anna, is a junior at Farmington High School where she is on the swim team and in the wind ensemble. Daughter Olivia is a freshman dance-team member, and son Nathan, a fifth grader, does baseball, hockey and Boy Scouts. Jennifer Urbach and her children are still in Denver where son Cody is a freshman at Englewood High School and a varsity cross-country runner and daughter Lexi is a fifth grader. Jennifer works at an assisted living center.

Brad and Susan Urbach did some traveling during 2019, but the big news occurred at home where Susan was named nurse manager of the Pierre VA Clinic last April 1. Among their trips were those to Nebraska football games in Lincoln and Minneapolis and to Arlington, Va., in early December. They are in Arizona this week for son Brian Hermanson’s wedding but in July will go to Europe to tour Budapest, Bratislava, Prague, Nurnberg, Rothenburg, Heidelberg, Neuschwanstein Castle and Oberammergau. At the latter site they will see a performance of the Passion Play, which has been performed there every 10 years since 1634.

Tim Westphal of Davis, S.D., died at age 69 Dec. 23. Services are being held this (Thursday) morning at 11 .m. at Heritage Funeral Home in Sioux Falls. After graduating from Onida High School in 1968, Tim received an early discharge from the Army due to the death of his mother. He married Sheila Thompson in Pierre in 1972. Tim worked in packing plants in eastern South Dakota and finished his career as a cabinet maker. He retired in 2012. He is survived by his wife, Sheila Westphal of Davis; his son, Richard Westphal; his daughter, Timberly Keller; nine grandchildren; his brothers, Tom, Sam and Gary Westphal, and his sister, Sally Westphal.

At the Lakota Nation Invitational’s art show in Rapid City, Riggs High’s art department had three first-place entries—Vick Becker in three-dimensional, Emily Hughes in acrylic painting and Peyton Buffalo in digital photography. In the LNI Knowledge Bowl the Pierre students who won their categories of competition were Weston Gravatt in advanced math, Max Sevier in American government, Sam Sevier in Grammar II, Addison Gruis in Algebra II and Oliver Smith in geometry.

Jack Donahue, who spent 13 years in Onida as a teacher, coach and superintendent in the 1950s and early 1960s and who was superintendent at Murdo for 18 years, died Dec. 14 at the age of 94. A memorial service will be held in Sturgis in June. Jack was a native of the Winner area but grew up in Yankton and excelled in athletics in high school and college there. He was a B-29 navigator in World War II. He taught and coached at Pickstown before going to Onida and then Murdo. After retirement he and his wife made their home at Silver City in the Black Hills. He was an inductee into the Yankton and Onida high school athletic halls of fame. He is survived by his wife, Arlene; his son, Bill Donahue and his wife Victoria; his daughters, Patsy Brunskill and her husband John and June Wagner; seven grandchildren and many great-grandchildren. Among those who preceded him in death were his sister- and brother-in-law, the late Bonnie and Jack Robinson of Pierre.

There is no one else we know who has seen 107 Christmases, but Alma Buechler is one of them. Kyle Richards posted on Facebook a photo of some of her grandchildren with Alma, who will be 108 in May. Alma, whose daughter Daphne is Kyle’s mother, lives at Maryhouse in Pierre.

Paul Inman died at the age of 92 at Avera Maryhouse Dec. 19. His funeral was held Dec. 27 at Lutheran Memorial Church. Paul and his siblings were raised by grandparents after the deaths of their parents. He graduated from high school at Spearfish in 1945 and served in the U.S. Army Transport Corps. He and the former Ruth Bergeson were married for 64 years. Starting in 1955 they adopted their children through Lutheran Social Services. They owned Culligan’s or Inman’s Water Conditioning for more than 50 years. Paul served as a city commissioner, as chief of the South Dakota Senate from 1966 to 1992, and as a school board member. He also served on the original steering committee of the Oahe YMCA, worked with Lutheran Social Services and was an active member in all phases of his church. He is survived by his children, Julie Darger and her husband Dana of Rapid City, Roger Inman and his wife Cathy of Pierre, and Randy Inman and his wife Dianne of Rapid City; five grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren, and two sisters, Alice Hamed and Esther Binkley.

Kirby Welch is retiring from 23 years of work with the city of Pierre. A retirement party is being held at the Fieldhouse this Friday night, Jan. 3.

The University of Sioux Falls dean’s list for the fall semester includes Elise Holcomb and Laurel Holcomb of Sioux Falls and Peyton Forney of Rapid City. Elise is an elementary education major, Laurel is a communications studies and theater major, and Peyton is a biology and chemistry major.

Riggs High graduate Tanya Manus continues as a prominent writer in Rapid City. She had four feature articles in the latest issue of Black Hills Lifestyle magazine.

Phyllis Bauske, 75, died at Avera Maryhouse on Dec. 18. Her funeral service took place Dec. 30 at Southeast United Methodist Church. The former Phyllis King graduated from Riggs High School in 1962. She and Larry Bauske were married and lived in Omaha and Jamestown before coming to Pierre in 1967. Phyllis operated a daycare in her home for more than 20 years. After her children finished high school, she worked for BankWest until retiring in 2010. She is survived by three children, Lance Bauske and his wife Lynn of Valley Springs, LaRae Koenig and her husband Gedeon of Reno, Nev., and Lonita Taylor and her husband Jason of Fort Pierre; six grandchildren; one great-grandchild, and a sister, Mavis Board of Woodinville, Wash.

The Pierre Fine Arts Booster Club’s recent Performer of the Week honors went to Isiah Hand of the choir.

Matt Blake, who won election to the office this past fall, has been sworn in as a member of the city council in Urbandale, Iowa.

Among the inductees into the South Dakota High School Basketball Hall of Fame on March 28 at the Ramkota in Sioux Falls will be Dr. Dave Thomas of Sioux Falls. As the center on Onida’s unbeaten 1969 state “B” championship team, Thomas averaged 22 points per game. He went on to play basketball for South Dakota State where he was a two-time all-conference player, most valuable player in the North Central Conference in 1973, and a member of two Jackrabbit conference championship teams.

Dorothy (Schilling) Doud, 85, Pierre, died Dec. 23 at Avera St. Mary’s Hospital. Services were held Dec. 28 at New Life Assembly of God. Dorothy grew up in the Capa/Midland area. She and Edward Doud were married in 1953 and eventually settled in Fort Pierre. She fostered more than 100 children over the years while raising her own four children. She later worked for 24 years at Buhl’s Laundry, then ran her own home daycare for 15 years. Survivors include three daughters, Ida Styles, Marliss Dean and Laura Rolf, all of Pierre; seven grandchildren; 14 great-grandchildren, and a brother, William Schilling of Remsen, Iowa. Among those who preceded her in death was her son, LeRoy Doud.

Congratulations to Pierre native Katherine (Kat) Van Gerpen and her fiance, William Cedeno Torres, who became engaged this week. Will, who is principal flutist with the South Dakota Symphony, proposed on La Jolla Beach in San Diego.

Riggs High alumni Alex Hillestad and Abraham Kanz moved to Stillwater, Okla., this week. Abe just graduated from USD with his master’s degree in biology. He has accepted a position in a Ph.D. program at Oklahoma State in the natural resources and ecological management department. As for Alex, she will be working as a registered nurse at Stillwater Medical Center, a 130-bed facility, on the medical unit. They plan to live in Stillwater for about three years while Abe finishes his Ph.D.

Ben Gloe’s 2020 will include a nine-month rotation to Korea. Ben, his wife Alyssa and their 10-year-old daughter live in Junction City, Kan., near Fort Riley.

Mary Jane (Bad Moccasin) Morin, 66, Pierre, died Christmas Day at Avera St. Mary’s Hospital. She attended elementary school and part of junior high in Pierre, then graduated from high school at Immaculate Conception in Stephan. She married Curtis Morin. Mary Jane is survived by her daughters, Terri Morin, Geli Alumbaugh and Marlis Morin, all of Pierre, and Corrina Byrum of Sioux Falls; her adopted daughter, Rory Ann Ziegler of Fort Thompson; three grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; her sister, Brenda Morin of Pierre, and her brothers, Bruce Bad Moccasin of Aberdeen and Paul Bad Moccasin of Pierre.

Patrick Wellner posted his statistics for 2019, including hitting 1,026 miles in combined paddling and running. Pat earned trophies at three paddling events last year.

A THOUGHT IN CLOSING

From the lyrics of “The Secret of Christmas”:

May I suggest the secret of Christmas
Is not the things you do at Christmastime
But the Christmas things you do all year through.

PARKER’S COLUMN

No Parkie Awards this year

When 2019 began a year ago yesterday with a long train float near the end of the Rose Parade breaking down, catching fire and being enveloped in smoke, causing a band from Sweden and two floats behind it to miss being covered on national TV networks, I said to myself, “It’s going to be that kind of year?”

And it was. On Monday of Holy Week a devastating fire destroyed the roof and spire of Notre Dame in Paris, a blaze that threatened the very stability of that iconic structure, and there remains a question yet today whether the cathedral can be saved.

Weather-wise, it was a horrible year in which seemingly every inch of farmland in South Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa was under water. I imagine nothing in 2019 was more frustrating than trying to farm.

Except, of course, for the Orange Tweeter. I no longer watch the news because of him.

It is immaterial to you and the world, but there won’t be any Parkie Awards this year. You who have stayed with this publication for more than two decades know that at the start of a new year we “award” the Parkies to those who deserve them for their actions or statements from the previous year. In most cases getting a Parkie is not a compliment. This year Trump, his cronies and his lapdogs would sweep the honors, so we will let them (the awards, not the Trumpsters) die a quiet death.

If the awards were to be given, the career politicians who take office to stay there for life, to become rich and to advance to higher office and those who refuse to show some fortitude once by taking a stand against their party would get such a recognition.

So would State Farm’s Aaron Rodgers commercials. Does that grump ever crack a smile?

Another recipient would be anyone who starts a sentence with “Me.” How dumb you sound when you say “Me and my team did this” or “Me and my wife did that.”

Other Parkie Award recipients would be the Chiefs’, Braves’ and Seminoles’ Indian chants. So would football players who make tackles (is that their job or not?) and then run 50 yards down the field to pound their chests and stare into the crowd with their arms crossed. So would Steve Harvey. (I can’t stand him either.) So would the Yankees, for no reason other than the fact that they continue to exist and keep getting richer.

Another recipient would be every single Rapid City driver—and there are hundreds of them—who switch from one lane to the other and back and then back and then back again.

Winning a major award would be the NBA, its 7-foot geeks, its slam-dunkers, James Harden and his falling into defenders to draw fouls, its constant time-outs after every play in the last couple minutes of a game, and its officials who don’t call traveling.

You are correct if you are thinking I have turned into a crabby 80-year-old curmudgeon. The only thing that keeps me sane is sports, and I spew forth quite a bit of hatred in that area as well. You already know that characteristic of mine if you and I are “Facebook friends.” But in lieu of the Parkie Awards for 2019, I am going to share my own personal sports highlights from the year that just ended, and there were some glorious moments. You will find those highlights as my column at the bottom of The Midweek Update next week.

I ran across the following on Facebook this week. I fear it applies to me:

“If you love someone, set him free.
If you dislike someone, set him free.
Basically set everyone free and get a dog.
People are annoying.”

That being said, happy new year to the dogs out there. And the people, too.