ELECTION COUNTDOWN

15 days till absentee voting and in-person voting begin (Sept. 18).
26 days till first presidential candidates debate, Cleveland (Sept. 29).
34 days till vice presidential candidates debate, Salt Lake City (Oct. 7).
42 days till second presidential candidates debate, Miami (Oct. 15).
46 days till voter registration deadline for general election (Oct. 19).
49 days till third presidential candidates debate, Nashville (Oct. 22).
62 days till Election Day (Nov. 3).
139 days till Inauguration Day (Jan. 20).

PIERRE GOVERNORS SPORTS ROUNDUP

This week’s schedules:
— THURSDAY
* Volleyball: at Mitchell, 7 p.m.
— FRIDAY
* Girls tennis: at Mitchell invitational, 11 a.m.
* Girls soccer: home vs. Rapid City Stevens, 4 p.m.
* Boys soccer: home vs. Rapid City Stevens, 6 p.m.
* Cross country: at Augustana twilight meet, Sioux Falls, 6:30 p.m.
* Football: home vs. West Central, 7 p.m.
— SATURDAY
* Girls soccer: home vs. Rapid City Central, 9 a.m.
* Boys soccer: home vs. Rapid City Central, 11 a.m.
* Girls tennis: at Madison, 10 a.m.
* Cheer/dance: home for Pierre invitational, 11 a.m.
— TUESDAY
* Girls tennis: home triangular, 10 a.m.

Cross country: Jessica Lutmer won the girls’ varsity race at the Pierre Invitational in 16:09. Rachel Nemec placed 13th. In the boys’ race Hayden Shaffer placed fourth at 14:06 and Jared Lutmer fifth at 14:26. Isaac Polak placed 22nd, Levi McKinley 26th and Blake Jones 30th.

Football: The Governors scored a season-opening 37-0 shutout win at Sturgis. Sophomore quarterback Lincoln Kienholz connected with Aaron Booth on an 18-yard touchdown pass near the end of the first quarter. After that Maguire Raske had touchdown plunges of one, two, four and six yards as he carried 19 times for 114 yards. Kienholz completed 15 of 25 passes for 178 total yards. Five of the passes were caught by Regan Bollweg for 98 yards, but seven others also caught Kienholz passes. Gunnar Gehring and Preston Taylor paced the Governor defense which kept the Scoopers stymied all night.

Girls soccer: Pierre lost at Harrisburg, 6-1, Saturday to drop to 0-4. Pierre has been outscored 17-4 in those first four matches.

Boys soccer: The Governors found victory for the first time this season in a big way Saturday at Harrisburg, trouncing the Tigers, 7-0. Pierre had been outscored 9-1 in its first three games, all losses, until finding the nets at Harrisburg.

Volleyball: The Governor girls swept Rapid City, winning at Central, 3-1, and winning at Stevens, 3-1. The game scores against the Cobblers were 20-25, 25-21, 25-18 and 25-8. Against the Raiders the game scores were 25-21, 27-25, 22-25 and 25-21.

Girls tennis: In dual matches Pierre lost to Brandon Valley, 8-1; lost to Rapid City Stevens, 8-1, and lost to Rapid City Christian, 5-4. The Pierre point against Brandon Valley came from the doubles team of Jocelyn Corrales and Caitlin Ott. In the Stevens match the Pierre point was scored in Corrales’ singles match. In the Rapid City Invitational, Pierre placed fifth with 75.5 points, following champion Stevens, Mitchell, Brandon Valley and Rapid City Christian and finishing ahead of St. Thomas More, Spearfish and Rapid City Central. In singles play #1 Kara Weiss placed sixth, #2 Sydney Tedrow placed fifth, #3 Marlee Shorter was third, #4 Corrales was fifth, #5 Kourltney Walti was fourth, #6 Gracie Zeeb was third, #7 Carissa Ott placed seventh and #8 Caitlin Ott was fourth. In doubles Pierre’s #1 team of Weiss/Tedrow placed fifth, the #2 team of Carissa Ott/Shorter was sixth, the #3 team of Caitlin Ott/Corrales was third, and the #4 team of Zeeb/Walti placed fourth.

Softball: The Pierre girls varsity stands at 4-0 after the first two weekends of the fall season. Pierre whipped Tri-Valley, 13-0, in a game that ended after three innings. Shelby Roman struck out four and allowed no hits to get the pitching win. Megan Switzer slugged a home run, and Teyah Lewis, Kayleigh Deuis and Kara Weiss each had two hits. In Sunday’s second game Pierre defeated Vermillion, 5-1, as Kenzie Gronlund was winning pitcher, striking out nine, walking none and allowing only three hits. Khalan Smart had two hits and two RBIs, Deuis two hits and three RBIs, Lewis two hits and Camrie Leimbach two hits. The girls have no games this coming weekend.

Boys golf: At the Sturgis tournament Monday Carter Gordon placed fourth with an 80, and the team was fourth of five schools with a 401 score. On Tuesday at Aberdeen’s invitational Pierre was the second-place team with a 43-over score. Luke Olson carded an 8-over 80, Nick Bothum 81, Jack Bartlett 85 and Sawyer Sonnenschein 85.

Cheer/dance: At the Aberdeen Central invitational the dance team placed third of seven teams in the jazz division and fourth in hip-hop. Overall Pierre placed sixth. At Watertown’s meet Tuesday the dance team was eighth of 12 teams and the cheer team 12th. In dance Pierre placed fifth in jazz and sixth in hip-hop.

STANLEY COUNTY BUFFALOES SPORTS ROUNDUP

This week’s schedules:
— FRIDAY
* Football, home vs. Bennett County, 7 p.m.
— SATURDAY
* Volleyball: home vs. White River and Timber Lake, 1 p.m.

Football: The Buffaloes evened their record at 1-1 with a 14-0 shutout victory over Chamberlain.

Volleyball: At a home triangular the Buffaloes defeated Bennett County, 3-1 (25-22, 25-13, 24-26, 25-19) and lost to Wall, 3-2 (25-19, 19-25, 25-17 23-25, 9-15). On Tuesday SCHS lost to Chamberlain, 3-1, on game scores of 11-25, 25-22, 13-25, 13-25.

SULLY BUTTES CHARGERS SPORTS ROUNDUP

This week’s schedules:
— THURSDAY
* Cross country: at Redfield invitational.
* Volleyball: at Miller.
— FRIDAY
* Football: home vs. Potter County, 7 p.m.
— TUESDAY
* Volleyball: at Ipswich.
— WEDNESDAY
* Cross country: at Potter County invitational, Hoven.

Football: The Chargers remained scoreless for the season as they lost in their home opener to Wall, 22-0, to fall to 0-2. Sully Buttes committed six turnovers in 11 of its offensive drives. Wall threw for 147 yards to the Chargers’ 28 although the home team had 131 rushing yards to Wall’s 99.

Volleyball: The Chargers lost to No. 2-ranked Faulkton Area, 3-0, on game scores of 16-25, 7-25, 12-25.

ZESTO SHERBET SCHEDULE

Thursday: coffee.
Friday-Sunday: strawberry butter.
Monday-Tuesday: root beer.
Wednesday-Thursday: lime.

COLLEGE SPORTS ROUNDUP

Dakota State volleyball (Nicole Sarringar): The Trojan women open their season in Salina, Kan., with matches Saturday against McPherson and Sterling and Sunday against Kansas Wesleyan and Friends University.

Dakota Wesleyan volleyball (Elena Svingen): The Tigers tip off their season Saturday in Valley City, N.D., with matches against Mayville State and Valley City State. Then DWU goes to Presentation Tuesday and to Dordt College in Iowa for the GPAC opener Wednesday.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

Directions: Draw a box of 16 squares, 4×4. Number the boxes in your top row 1, 2, 3 and 4 from left to right. Number the boxes in your left-hand row 1, 5, 6 and 7 from top to bottom.

Clues:
ACROSS—
(1) agreement; covenant.
(5) Sandusky, Akron and Elyria are there.
(6) oodles; scads.
(7) “The —- of Texas are upon you.”
DOWN—
(1) foul —- is really fair.
(2) Chips —- cookies.
(3) to summon to court.
(4) to pitch or fling.

COUNTDOWN

1 day: PGA Tour championship, Atlanta (Sept. 4-7).
2 days: Kentucky Derby (Sept. 5).
4 days: Sanford International golf tournament and events, Sioux Falls (Sept. 7-13).
7 days: NFL season opener, Houston vs. Kansas City (Sept. 10).
8 days: Stratobowl Historic Hot Air Balloon Launch, Black Hills (Sept. 11-13).
10 days: Minnesota Vikings season opener (Sept. 13).
14 days: U.S. Open golf tournament, Mamaroneck, N.Y. (Sept. 17-20).
14 days: South Dakota Film Festival, Aberdeen (Sept. 17-26).
15 days: Absentee and in-person voting begins (Sept. 18).
22 days: Custer State Park buffalo roundup (Sept. 25).
23 days: Brule’ concert at Crazy Horse Memorial (Sept. 26).
26 days: First presidential candidates debate (Sept. 29).
29 days: Pierre Players’ “Two on the Aisle, Three in a Van” (Oct. 2-4, 8-10).
30 days: The Preakness (Oct. 3).
32 days: State boys golf tournaments, AA Sioux Falls, A Hot Springs (Oct. 5-6).
34 days: Vice presidential candidates debate (Oct. 7).
35 days: State girls tennis AA tournament, Rapid City (Oct. 8-9).
42 days: Second presidential candidates debate (Oct. 15).
44 days: State soccer championship games, Huron (Oct. 17).
46 days: Voter registration deadline (Oct. 19).
49 days: Third presidential candidates debate (Oct. 22).
51 days: State cross country meet, Rapid City (Oct. 24).
51 days: State cheer/dance tournament, Rapid City (Oct. 24).
58 days: All-State Chorus/Orchestra, Sioux Falls (Oct. 31).

BASEBALL UPDATE

Legion baseball: Two members of the Pierre Post 8 team, Andrew Coverdale and Garrett Stout, were among the players voted by coaches to the Legion baseball All-State team.

Sioux Falls Canaries: The Birds lost to St. Paul, 14-2, then beat St. Paul, 12-4 and 3-2. On Tuesday they lost to Fargo-Moorhead, 7-3. Sioux Falls finishes the season at Fargo tonight, home against Chicago Friday through Sunday at at Chicago next Tuesday through Thursday.

Minnesota Twins:
— Thursday: at Detroit, 6:10 (FSN).
— Friday, at Detroit, 6:10 (FSN).
— Saturday: at Detroit, 5:10 (FSN, MLBN).
— Sunday: at Detroit, 12:10 (FSN).
— Monday: Chicago White Sox, 7:10 (FSN).
— Tuesday: Chicago White Sox, 7:10 (FSN).
— Wednesday: Chicago White Sox, 7:10 (FSN).

Colorado Rockies:
— Thursday: at Arizona, 4:10.
— Friday: San Diego, 6:40.
— Saturday: San Diego, 6:10.
— Sunday: San Diego, 1:10.
— Monday: San Diego, 7:40.
— Tuesday: San Francisco, 6:40.
— Wednesday: San Francisco, 1:10.

BASKETBALL UPDATE

Minnesota Lynx: In the WNBA the Lynx beat Atlanta, 88-79, and lost to Phoenix, 83-79, in the bubble at Bradenton, Fla. Minnesota plays Dallas Friday, Seattle Sunday and Washington Tuesday.

SOCCER UPDATE

Minnesota United FC: The Loons lost to FC Dallas, 3-1. After a game at Houston last night, the Loons are home vs. Real Salt Lake Sunday (7 p.m. FSN) and FC Dallas next Wednesday.

PARKER’S PERSONAL NOTES

• The live high school games on Midco Sports Network this week: Friday, 6 p.m., Harrisburg vs. Washington; Saturday, 6 p.m., Lincoln vs. Roosevelt.
• Without any live SDSU football games to broadcast, Tyler Merriam and the principal station of the Jackrabbit Sports Network, WNAX 570 AM at Yankton, will air games from out of the past, starting this Saturday at noon CDT with the 2015 SDSU win over Kansas. The broadcasts are also available through the Jackrabbit App or at GoJacks.com/Watch.

BIRTHDAYS/ANNIVERSARIES

Thursday, Oct. 3:
Tina (Geary) Vermeulen, Sarah (Kringel) Hibbits, Dylan Stader, Kyle Villa, Austin Schneider, Brian Pendergast, Dylan Gordon, Jordan Shangreaux, Rona (Todd) Boettcher, Lance Nielsen, Doyle Holden, Sean Billet, Nate White, Beckett Hangebrauck, Benjamin Oehlerking, Alexandria Allison.
— 4th anniversary, Jason/Sarah (Jeffries) McHenry.
— 4th anniversary, Tyrel/Kallie (Dresbach) Hall.
— 4th anniversary, Stephen/Katie Bollinger.
— 16th anniversary, Levi/Rose (Beckwith) Briggs.
— 15th anniversary, Terry/Amie Miller.
— 15th anniversary, Dusty/Amanda (Nystrom) Van Balen.
— 15th anniversary, Sean/Megan Tousley.
— 26th anniversary, Tom/Gini Grannes.
— 15th anniversary, David/Robyn (Clausen) Bauer.
— 14th anniversary, Jake/Chandra Miller.

Friday, Sept. 4:
Emma Mangan, Laurie (Bonrud) Gronlund, Harper Juhala, Julia Disburg, Taman Eggers, Kara Brandlee, Lindsey Marshall, Paige Burkett, Ryan Johnson, Lucas Jeanotte, Alecia (Johnson) Bowers.
— 16th anniversary, Paul/Jamie (Rasmussen) Walter.
— 9th anniversary, Jake/Liz Mortenson.
— 9th anniversary, Justin/Kellie (Parker) Tollefson.
— 10th anniversary, Brett/McKenna Ripley.
— 16th anniversary, Ryan/Patricia Scarborough.
— 16th anniversary, Darin/Lynsey (Meyer) Anderson.
— 10th anniversary, Brett/Jenny Durick.
— 16th anniversary, Cory/Sara (Prunty) Tennant.

Saturday, Sept. 5:
Scott Cichos, Amy Petersen-Kolb, Wyatt Mersinger, Jeff Mammenga, Kirsten Libby, Danielle (Clark) High Bear.
— 11th anniversary, Scott/Melissa (Stevens) Gibson.
— 11th anniversary, Josh/Sam (Lytle) Irvine.
— 17th anniversary, Shad/Brandy (Beastrom) Ludemann.
— 5th anniversary, Perry/Maggie (Nielson) Job.
— 56th anniversary, Bob/Mickey Miller.
— 56th anniversary, Dave/Connie (Doyle) Nighswonger.
— 5th anniversary, John/Erin (Ryan) Bush.

Sunday, Sept. 6:
Jared Thomas, Andy McKay Jr., Annette (Rawstern) Severson, Garrett James, Eli Pope, Mary (Marshall) Scruggs, Michael Richards.
— 17th anniversary, Scott/Dawn Kennedy.
— 6th anniversary, Dalton/Mackenzie Dalton.
— 6th anniversary, Patrick/Ashleigh (Baker) Ludwig.
— 1st anniversary, Chris/Nino Iverson.
— Anniversary, John/Andrea Wellhouse.
We fondly remember Caleb Hauschild on his birthday.

Monday, Sept. 7:
Jerid Maskovich, Kim (Sargent) Forney, Josh Anderson, Kathy (Huse) Wika, Finnley Oehlerking, Mark Schlekeway, Sam Willard, John Burchill Jr., Ivy Flottmeyer, Brock Hyde, Jaxon Yackley, Connie Tveidt, Tate Gabriel.
— 14th anniversary, Jordan/Jenni (Sprenkle) Terveen.
— 13th anniversary, Bryan/Amanda (Crompton) Treloar.
— 7th anniversary, Judd/Jessica (Durkin) Heinzmann.
— 7th anniversary, Andrew/BryAnn (Becker) Knecht.
— 7th anniversary, Paul/Jenny Denton.

Tuesday, Sept. 8:
Charley Grace Crawford, Stuart Martin, Mary Askren, Ashley (Iverson) Feyereisen, Pam Durkin, Chase Blair, Jessica Bucholz, Ryan Lauseng, Demaris Axthelm, Cindy Bahe.
— 2nd anniversary Mitch/Rachelle (Schmidt) Likness.
— 2nd anniversary, Rick/Krista (Oehlerking) Morris.
— 8th anniversary, Mark/Jessica Hardwick.
— 14th anniversary, Allen/Lindsay (Lower) Uecker.
— 13th anniversary, Aaron/Ashley Denton.
— 2nd anniversary Josh/Kelsy Vogt.
— 13th anniversary, Andrew/Maggie (Moisan) Eickbush.
— 8th anniversary, Jason/Codi Kinsman.
— 13th anniversary, David/Kaishia (Bernard) Anderson.
— 13th anniversary, John/Ashlee (Roemen) Keyes.

Wednesday, Sept. 9:
Katie Hiemstra, Lilian Cruse, Chase Hight, James Moisan, John Moisan, Taylor Flannery, Chandler Bartholomew, Heather (Juhala) Maxwell, Bobbi (Martin) Drewes, Michael Ahlers, Aubree Withers, Samantha (Merrill) Pietz, Linda (Fjelstad) Schumacher, Megan Johnson.
— 14th anniversary, Dustin/Joanne (Berg) Hight.
— 15th anniversary, Chad/Jenny (Riis) Babcock.
— 14th anniversary, Matt/Sara (Schneider) Odden.
— 3rd anniversary, Mic/Nicole (Madden) Stulken.
— 3rd anniversary, Charlie/Carrie (Erickson) Kaufman.

Thursday, Sept. 10:
Jessica Simons, Laurie Feiler, Morgan Hanson, Carrie (Rounds) Larson, Shelbi (Hostler) Schimpf, Deb Bumann, Tom Ellefson, Dan Brummer, Chris Eich, Kathy (Goc) Hoisington.
— 9th anniversary, Ron/Nerissa (Gallagher) Strait.
— 9th anniversary, Daris (Kelsey (Dunwoody) Kampfe.
— 9th anniversary, Mikal/Myriah Kern.
— 9th anniversary, Travis/June (Stewart) Kelly.

FOOTBALL CONTEST #3

Last week Jon Boer, Greg Dean, Lauren Gilsrud and Kyle Richards each went 9-1 for 10 points apiece in our season-long competition. At 8-2 for nine points each were Beth Rinehart, Erick Lusk and Randy Pool. At 7-3 for eight points each were David Ludwig, Levi Neuharth and Thomas Voeltz.

This week’s games (send your 10 winners to parkerhome16@hotmail.com by Friday afternoon):
(1) Potter County at Sully Buttes
(2) Sioux Falls O’Gorman at Brandon Valley
(3) West Central at Pierre
(4) Sioux Falls Christian at Mitchell
(5) Bennett County at Stanley County
(6) Dakota Valley at Yankton
(7) Brookings at Lennox
(8) College: BYU at Navy
(9) College: SMU at Texas State
(10) College: Arkansas State at Memphis

NEWS OF PEOPLE AND EVENTS

One current Pierre resident and one former resident are two of the 2020 inductees into the Transportation Hall of Fame. Ben Orsbon of Pierre has been the federal funding specialist for the Department of Transportation since 2005. He has been with the DOT since moving over from the State Planning Bureau in 1984. Myron Rau of Sioux Falls is executive director of the South Dakota Trucking Association and the South Dakota Auto Dealers Association. He spent 26 years with the South Dakota Highway Patrol as a trooper, rising from sergeant to captain in the motor carrier division.

Governor Noem announced she is eliminating the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and merging it with the state Department of Agriculture. The current DENR secretary, Hunter Roberts, will oversee the newly created department. Starting Sept. 8 he will also serve as interim agriculture secretary until the merger is complete.

Hughes County state’s attorney Roxanne Hammond has been named South Dakota Prosecutor of the Year. (News courtesy of “Today’s KCCR” News)

Chuck Raap, 87, Groton, died Aug. 23 at Avantara Groton. Services were held Aug. 29 at a funeral chapel in Groton. Mr. Raap spent 40 years selling cars and trucks for Trail Chevrolet in Groton. Among his survivors are his wife of 65, years, LaVonne Raap; his four children, Kim Raap and his wife Dee Dee of Sioux Falls, Kris Schneider and her husband Bob of Pierre, Kevin Raap and his wife Marcia Hiles of Andover, and Konie Sivers and her husband Seth of Sioux Falls; nine grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren and six siblings.

Dr. Lance Roberts, whose wife is the former Jerilyn Cass, has been named the new provost and vice president for academic affairs at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. Roberts previously headed the school’s Department of Mining Engineering and Management. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Mines and his Ph.D. in 2006 at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Thelma Deffenbaugh, 82, Tripp, died Aug. 27. Among her survivors are a daughter; two sons, including former Pierre resident Mike Deffenbaugh and his wife Jean of Tyndall; a daughter-in-law; 12 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren. Condolences can be sent to P.O. Box 283, Tripp SD 57376.

South Dakota COVID-19 updates:

1. Northern State University has canceled its Gypsy Day parade for next month. NSU’s football season had been canceled earlier.
2. After a “glitch” in state reporting, the state had 343 new cases of COVID-19 Thursday plus 280 previously unreported cases. The numbers just kept rising with a record 425 new cases reported Saturday, 380 more Sunday and 187 more Monday. Governor Noem continues to maintain that the only statistic that is important is the number of hospitalizations.
3. The Douglas school district delayed its start of classes to Sept. 8, and the Lemmon schools closed until Sept. 8.
4. The superintendent at Beresford said Thursday four staff members were in isolation and eight staffers and seven students were in quarantine.
5. Arrowhead Country Club at Rapid City reopened Friday after having closed the previous Tuesday within an hour of a staff member’s testing positive. Masks are now required of all staff and recommended for and provided to guests.
6. USD on Friday ruled that there would be no indoor dining at the Muenster University Center, no visitors in residence halls and the Wellness Center would be completely closed for the following week.
7. Bars and restaurants in Vermillion voluntarily agreed to close at 10 p.m. to help slow the spread of the virus in the community and the USD campus.
8. Monument Health’s system across the Black Hills told its staff doctors and caregivers to prepare for a surge in coronavirus patients. Sixty physicians and caregivers tested positive in August, 44 in the previous week alone. The number of 44 still represents less than 1% of the total Monument workforce.
9. What was billed to be the return of big-time concerts coming to the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls has already been postponed. The Toby Keith concert scheduled for Sept. 19 has been postponed to next May.
10. The Meade schools (Sturgis and their county) will require masks on buses and in buildings wherever social distancing is not possible, starting when school starts Tuesday.
11. For Mitchell’s home football opener Friday a mandatory mask policy is in effect. School district officials said they expect adults to act like adults and respect simple rules so that the season can be completed without interruption. In addition each Mitchell player was given four vouchers to distribute as they wish for the season, and a person must have one of those vouchers in order to buy a ticket into the stadium. The visiting team’s personnel were also sent four vouchers each. Mitchell school students and staff can get in with valid school IDs.

Pierre native Jon Rapp has opened a new counseling business in Pierre called Slate Creek Counseling.

Nikky Farnsworth, who graduated from Northwestern College in Iowa this year, married Drew Null in front of family and friends May 30. They “re-did” their ceremony in Glenwood, Iowa, Aug. 8. Nikky and Drew met during their sophomore years at Northwestern.

Cody and Laurie (Johnson) Tibbs of Austin, Texas, revealed that the baby they are expecting is a girl. Laurie is a registered nurse at Ascension Seton Medical Center in Austin.

Jason Bisbee (’97) is one of 12 assistant coaches with the Brandon Valley football team. The Lynx lost to #1 Roosevelt, 23-21, last Saturday. Jason’s son, Tristan, is a sophomore wide receiver/defensive back. Another Pierre alumnus, Mark Schlekeway, is high school principal at Brandon Valley.

A check of our other assistant coaches: Mikal Kern’s Wyndmere-Lidgerwood team in North Dakota lost to Mayville-Portland, 48-42, and is now 1-1. Scott Raue’s Harvey/Wells County team in North Dakota lost to No. 2-rated Velva, 16-6, and is also 1-1 for the season. J.J. Iverson is again an assistant coach at Waverly-South Shore where the team is in a rebuilding stage. His club lost its opener to Britton-Hecla, 36-6.

LaDonna Zellmer has retired after 44 years in education. Her first job began in August 1976. LaDonna has taught and counseled in three states, eight schools and all grades K-12.

Eric and Katherine (Adam) Danforth of Watertown became parents on Aug. 28. Their son, Pierce Karlton Danforth, weighed 7 pounds, 13 ounces, and measured 20 inches in length. Pierce was born on what would have been the 61st wedding anniversary of his great-grandparents, Tom and Pat Adam. He is the first grandchild for Kat’s parents, Karl and Joan Adam of Pierre.

Prominent central South Dakota farmer/entrepreneur/businessman Paul Dean Nelson, 73, Gettysburg, died Sunday evening on S.D. Highway 45 north of Miller while he was driving his motor home and pulling a trailer carrying a sedan. A tornado crossed the highway and caused his vehicle to come detached from the trailer. The RV Nelson was driving was lifted by the storm between 150 and 200 yards off the highway into a field. He was pronounced dead at the scene. A funeral service was held Wednesday at Grace Bible Church in Gettysburg. Nelson graduated from Gettysburg High School in 1965 and USD in 1969. While he was working toward his master’s degree, his father became ill, and Paul chose to return home to the farm. He and the former Cheryl Eggers of Sioux Falls were married in 1971, and they moved to the farm in northeastern Sully County near Gettysburg. He raised cattle and built up a 3,000-head feedlot. In 1992 he began a 30-year building project that resulted in the Paul Nelson Farm becoming a pheasant hunting mecca. In recent years he and Cheryl chose Indio, Calif., as their winter destination. He is survived by his wife; two sons, Ryan Nelson and his wife Carmen of Sioux Falls and Erik Nelson and his wife Tami of Gettysburg; four grandchildren, and a brother, Dwayne Nelson of Longmont, Colo.

Spencer and Christina Yackley of Brookings became parents for the first time this week when their son, Ryker James Yackley, was born. Spencer is a third-grade teacher in the Brookings school district, and Christina is a chiropractor with the MY Chiropractic firm.

Sandra (Novak) Leonard died Aug. 22. A celebration of her life will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 5, at the Griffin Park gazebo. She graduated from high school in Pierre in 1962. After moving to California in 1966 she worked for 31 years at Blue Diamond Almond Growers, retiring in 2000. She moved to Jamestown, N.D., and worked for six years at Cavendish Farms. Returning to Pierre in 2008, Sandra worked at the bakery at Walmart. She is survived by two daughters, Denyse and Laura Olson; two grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

WORDS TO REMEMBER

“Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth—more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as if we are one single tribe.”

— King T’Challa in the movie “Black Panther”

CROSSWORD PUZZLE ANSWER

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