THOUGHT FOR THIS WEEK

“The spring wakes us, nurtures us and revitalizes us. How often does your spring come? If you are a prisoner of the calendar, it comes once a year. If you are creating authentic power, it comes frequently.”
— Gary Zukav

BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTS

Girls state championship game scores:
— AA: Sioux Falls Washington 43, Rapid City Stevens 26
— A: Aberdeen Roncalli 48, Hamlin 31
— B: White River 57, Castlewood 37

Boys state tournament quarterfinal pairings Thursday:

— AA at Rapid City (televised on SDPB3; Mountain Time):
12:00, Sioux Falls Washington vs. Aberdeen Central
2:00, Sioux Falls O’Gorman vs. Harrisburg
5:00, Yankton vs. Mitchell
7:00, Sioux Falls Roosevelt vs. Brandon Valley

— A at Sioux Falls (televised on SDPB2):
12:00, Vermillion vs. Dell Rapids
2:30, Sioux Falls Christian vs. Rapid City St. Thomas More
5:00, Dakota Valley vs. Winner
7:30, Sioux Valley vs. Chamberlain

— B at Aberdeen (televised on SDPB1):
12:00, De Smet vs. Lower Brule
2:15, Viborg-Hurley vs. Lyman
5:00, Canistota vs. Aberdeen Christian
7:45, White River vs. Dell Rapids St. Mary

NCAA Division I women’s tournament: Both USD (as the Summit League tournament champion) and SDSU (as an at-large entry and the regular-season champion)) will play in the NCAA Tournament, which begins this weekend in the San Antonio area. Each of the four regions of the bracket has been named for a major point-of-interest in San Antonio:
— Alamo Region: USD (19-5) is the #11 seed in this region and will play #6 Oregon (13-8) on the North Court inside the Alamodome at 9 p.m. CDT Monday on ESPN2. The winner of that game would next play on Wednesday against the winner of #3 Georgia-#14 Drexel. Four of the five Coyote losses were to NCAA tournament qualifiers—to #1 overall seed South Carolina, to Gonzaga, and twice during the regular season to SDSU in Brookings—and the other to Oklahoma, one of the first four teams out of the tournament selection. USD also has a win over Bradley, which is also in the tournament. The other games on the USD-Oregon side of the Alamo Region bracket are #7 Northwestern-#10 Central Florida and #2 Louisville-#15 Marist.
— Riverwalk Region: SDSU (25-3) is the #9 seed in this region and will play #8 Syracuse (14-8) in Austin at the University of Texas’ Frank Erwin Center at 4:30 p.m. Sunday on ESPN2. The winner of that game would next play on Tuesday against the winner of #1 UConn-#16 High Point. The Jackrabbits lost only three times all season—to Kansas State and Northern Iowa during the regular season and to bottom-seed Omaha in the quarterfinals of the Summit League tournament. None of the three teams to whom SDSU lost made it into the NCAA Tournament. The other games on the SDSU-Syracuse side of the Riverwalk Region bracket are #5 Iowa-#12 Central Michigan and #4 Kentucky-#13 Idaho State.

COUNTDOWN

2 days: First day of spring (March 20).
8 days: All-State Band concerts, Mitchell (March 26-27).
14 days: Minnesota Twins season opener, Milwaukee (April 1).
15 days: Pierre high school baseball openers, Rapid City (April 2-3).
15 days: NCAA Div. I women’s basketball Final Four, San Antonio (April 2, 4).
16 days: NCAA Div. I men’s basketball Final Four, Indianapolis (April 3, 5).
17 days: Easter (April 4).
17 days: Screen Actors Guild awards, TBS (April 4).
21 days: The Masters golf tournament, Augusta, Ga. (April 8-11).
21 days: NCAA Div. I men’s hockey Frozen Four, Pittsburgh (April 8, 10).
26 days: Fort Pierre city election (April 13).
29 days: Minnesota United FC season opener, Seattle (April 16).
32 days: All-State Orchestra, Sioux Falls (April 19-20).
38 days: The Oscars, ABC (April 25).
43 days: Pierre Players’ “Radium Girls” (April 30-May 2, May 6-8).

PIERRE GOVERNORS SPORTS ROUNDUP

Athletes of the Week: Last week the Pierre Athletic Coaches Association named Kenzie Gronlund from girls basketball and Lincoln Kienholz from boys basketball as Athletes of the Week.

All-conference wrestling: The ESD Conference released its all-conference team for girls wrestling this week. Included are three Governor wrestlers, including sophomore Marlee Shorter, freshman Sydney Uhrig and eighth grader Ciara McFarling.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

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

Clues:
— ACROSS:
(1) Summer getaway for kids.
(5) Follow closely behind.
(6) Long-ago radio show, “My Friend —-.”
(7) Biofuel company headquartered in South Dakota.
— DOWN:
(1) Joanna Gaines’ partner on HGTV.
(2) Prefix involving the air.
(3) Virally transmitted image.
(4) To make a map of an area.

Puzzle answer at the bottom of this Update.

WEDDING DAYS

May 1: Dan Nielsen/Kim Borbely.
June 18: Chris Rumrill/Katya Vakshteyn.
July 31: Jack Carpenter/Leesa Johnson.
Oct. 2: Jordan Lamb/Abbey Fjeldheim.

ZESTO SHERBET SCHEDULE

Thursday: Lime.
Friday-Sunday: Blackberry.
Monday-Tuesday: Orange.
Wednesday-Thursday: Almond.

HOCKEY UPDATE

State boys tournament: The Oahe Capitals finished fourth in the state tournament at Sioux Falls, winning in the quarterfinals over Huron, 8-2; losing to Rushmore, 5-4, in double overtime in the semifinals, and losing to Sioux Falls #2 in the third-place game, 7-6. The team’s final record for the winter was 18-3-0-2. Seniors to be lost via graduation include Elliot Leif, Andy Gordon, Isaac Polak, Raef Briggs, Cord Ellis and Chris Schultz. Against Huron on the first day the Caps found themselves down 1-0 after one period but regained the advantage with goals in the second period by Briggs, Jonathan Lyons and Keenan Howard. Third-period goals by Gordon, Howard, Dre Berndt, Briggs and Devin Dodson put the game out of reach. Schultz made 16 saves in goal. Oahe outshot Huron 40-18. In a classic semifinal against Rushmore the Capitals took a 2-1 lead in the first period on goals by Leif and Gordon. Down 3-2 entering the third, Leif tied the game and Gordon put Oahe ahead 4-3. At the 16:38 mark the Thunder tied the game. It stayed 4-4 through the first overtime, but 40 seconds into the second extra period Rushmore got the game-ending score. The Caps had 24 shots on goal to Rushmore’ 33. Kieran Duffy made 28 saves in the net. In the battle for third place the Capitals led 1-0, 2-1, 3-2, 4-3, 5-3 and 6-5 but still lost when the Flyers got a tying goal at 6-6 in the third period and scored the game-winner at 15:53. Oahe was outshot 35-22, and Schultz made 28 saves in goal. The Oahe goals came from Leif, Berndt, Polak, Ashton Griese, Briggs, and Gordon. Brookings won the state title with a 5-0 shutout of Rushmore in the championship contest.

Oahe Capitals boys hockey: Elliot Leif of the Capitals was named first-team All-State at the end of the SDAHA season and with good reason. He had 31 assists and 58 points this season, both of which statistics are best in the state. He also scored 27 goals, second-best in the state. Raef Briggs was placed on the All-State second team. He accumulated 44 points, third-highest in the state, scored 24 goals and had 20 assists. The Sanderson Award for seniors with at least three years of hockey experience and grade-point averages of at least 3.5 went to Raef Briggs, Isaac Polak, Cord Ellis, Chris Schultz and Andy Gordon. The Oahe recipient of the Hobey Baker Character Award for commitment, persistence, selflessness and academic excellence was Andy Gordon.

Aberdeen Wings: The Wings swept St. Cloud, 5-1 and 4-1, last weekend. After a game at home vs. Minot last night, the Wings play Friday and Saturday at Minot.

Rapid City Rush: A three-game weekend sweep over Kansas City gave the Rush a five-game winning streak. Rapid City won 3-1, 3-2 in overtime and 4-3 in a shootout. The Rush are home Friday and Saturday vs. Utah.

Sioux Falls Stampede: After a 9-4 loss to Lincoln and losses by 5-1 and 5-4 in a shootout to Des Moines, the Stampede beat Lincoln, 8-4. The team plays at Tri-City Friday and Saturday and at Omaha Sunday.

Minnesota Wild: It was a great week for the Wild, which has now won eight straight home games. This week they beat Vegas, 4-3, and Arizona three times, 4-0, 4-1 and 3-0. Minnesota in the tight divisional race for four playoff spots plays at Colorado Thursday and Saturday and at home vs. Anaheim Monday and Wednesday.

BASKETBALL UPDATE

Minnesota Timberwolves: The Wolves beat New Orleans, 135-105; split with Portland, losing 125-121 and winning 114-112, and lost to the Los Angeles Lakers, 137-121. Minnesota plays at Phoenix Thursday and Friday and at home vs. Oklahoma City Monday and Dallas next Wednesday.

BASEBALL UPDATE

Minnesota Twins schedule:
Friday—at Atlanta, 12:05 p.m., FSN.
Saturday—Tampa Bay, 12:05 p.m., FSN.
Sunday—Baltimore, 12:05 p.m.
Monday—Atlanta, 12:05 p.m., FSN.
Tuesday—Pittsburgh, 12:05 p.m.
Wednesday—at Tampa Bay, 12:05 p.m., FSN.
Thursday—at Boston, 5:05 p.m.

Minnesota Twins this past week:
W Tampa Bay 6-2
L Boston 5-4
L Atlanta 8-5
W Tampa Bay 1-0
T Boston 5-5
L Atlanta 5-1
L Pittsburgh 4-2
L Boston 9-1

FOOTBALL UPDATE

Missouri Valley Football Conference standings: UND 4-0, NDSU 3-1, SDSU 3-1, Southern Illinois 3-1, Missouri State 2-1, Northern Iowa 2-2, USD 1-2, Illinois State 0-3, Western Illinois 0-3, Youngstown State 0-4.

MVFC games this Saturday: USD at Youngstown State (11 a.m., MyUTV in East-River, CW-of-the-Black-Hills in West River), SDSU at Southern Illinois, UND at NDSU (2:30 p.m., Midco Sports Network), Missouri State at Northern Iowa, Western Illinois at Illinois State.

GOLF UPDATE

PGA Champions Tour (Tom Byrum): The next tournament on the Champions Tour will be the Chubb Classic in Naples, Fla., April 16-18.

PARKER’S PERSONAL NOTES

• In Iowa’s Class 2A of boys basketball two schools which are located within a half-mile of each other in the town of Hull in northwest Iowa both reached the state championship game against each other in Des Moines. The parochial school, Western Christian, defeated the public school, Boyden-Hull.
• The place to be this Saturday afternoon would be the Fargodome where perennial national power NDSU will face the surprise of the Missouri Valley Football Conference, UND, which is off to a 4-0 start in its first year in the league. You can watch it starting at 2:30 p.m. CDT on Midco Sports Network.
• It is interesting to note that USD and SDSU teams in the past have defeated the schools against whom they will play in the NCAA Tournament this weekend. USD’s women overwhelmed Oregon in Vermillion in the semifinals of the WNIT tournament in 2016, an event which the Coyotes won. SDSU beat Syracuse on its home court the last time they played each other in the NCAA Tournament’s first round two years ago this month.
• Because there are far more high schools east of the river where the population is greater, it’s common sense that more state tournament teams would come from that part of the state. But isn’t it interesting that three schools within an hour of each other west of the river have all made it to the state “B” starting in Aberdeen today. Lyman and Lower Brule are in the same county, and White River is just down the road a bit. Lyman used to make regular trips to the “B”, but this is the first time a Raider team has made it since 25 years ago this month in 1996. On the other hand White River is literally there every year. The Tigers have qualified for the boys state “B” for the 16th straight year.
• KCCR’s sports guy, Jon Winkler, noted yesterday that during the Oahe Capitals-Rushmore semifinal game at the state boys hockey tournament, nearly 3,000 people were watching the video feed. Jon and cohorts from two other stations broadcast all 22 games of the state boys and girls hockey tournaments.
  That reminds me of the good old days when every game of the “B” and “A” boys tournaments were broadcast on a network of stations across the state. And then when Danny Olson was at KSOO, they always broadcast the entire tournaments. Nowadays try to find a state tournament game on the radio if a local team is not involved! We do have KGFX in this region, however, so all of the games played by Lyman, Lower Brule and White River at the “B” and Chamberlain at the “A” will be broadcast live on the radio locally. Brian Oakland tells me all the Chamberlain games will be on KPLO-FM regardless of game times. The three “B” schools will have all their games on KPLO-FM as well except when one of them conflicts with Chamberlain games, in which case the “B” tourney game will switch over to KGFX-AM. The first instance of that will come Thursday night when White River plays at the “B” and Chamberlain at the “A” at the same time. Brian will be at the microphone for the “B” while Darren Boyle covers Chamberlain at the “A” tournament for two days and David Burrall there on Saturday.

COLLEGE SPORTS ROUNDUP

Rochester Community & Technical College baseball (Cade Hinkle): Cade and his teammates return to action Friday and Saturday this weekend with two games against Rainy River Community College in the Vikings’ US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, then two more against the same team in Mauston, Wis.

South Dakota State baseball (Landon Badger, Garrett Stout, Brady Hawkins): The Jackrabbits completed their spring-break trip south with a 10-0 loss at Kansas State last Wednesday. Neither Landon nor Garrett played in that game. SDSU’s three scheduled games at Creighton over the weekend were canceled. Now 5-7, SDSU is scheduled to open Summit League play at Omaha Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Colorado Mines women’s basketball (Liz Holter): The Orediggers, the #1 seed in the regional tournament at Grand Junction, had to step out of the tournament due to COVID-19 problems within their program. Earlier last week Liz was named to the honorable mention list of the RMAC all-conference team.

Black Hills State women’s basketball (Racquel Wientjes): The Yellowjackets’ season ended in the first round of the regional tournament at Grand Junction, Colo., Friday in a 74-65 loss to Westminster (Utah). Racquel’s final collegiate game saw her go 9-of-23 in field goals (1-of-4 in three-pointers) and 4-of-4 at the free-throw line for 23 points with two rebounds, one assist and a steal. BHSU finished its season with a 14-9 record.

Augustana track-field (Elizabeth Schaefer): At the Division II national indoor championships at Birmingham, Ala., Elizabeth placed eighth in the pentathlon, earning herself All-America honors. She posted a total of 3,682 points in the five-event pentathlon. In individual events Elizabeth was eighth in the 60-meter hurdles in 8.91 seconds, sixth in the high jump at 5’4 1/2″, fifth in the shot put at 34’1 1/4″, ninth in the long jump at 17’2 3/4″ and sixth in the 800-meter run in 2:25.43, a personal-best time.

South Dakota women’s soccer (Joana Zanin, Janaina Zanin, Emily Mikkelsen): The Coyotes beat Western Illinois 4-2 and 1-0 last weekend. In the latter game USD got the game’s only score at 79:38. Now 3-5, USD plays at SDSU Friday and Sunday.

North Dakota State football (Grey Zabel): Grey got into the game for the second straight week as the Bison defeated Illinois State, 21-13. Now 4-1 overall and 3-1 in this spring’s conference season, NDSU is home against unbeaten UND at 2:30 p.m. Saturday on Midco Sports Network.

Iowa Western Community College baseball (Peyton Zabel): Four games against Mott Community College were canceled last weekend, but a quick change in the schedule brought Coffeyville Community College of Kansas to Council Bluffs for two games. The Reivers won the opener, 2-1, as Peyton as the starting pitcher went 4 1/3 innings of shutout ball, giving up four hits and six strikeouts. Iowa Western scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh, so the relief pitcher got the pitching win. Iowa Western won the second game of the weekend 13-2 and stood at 9-2 heading into two games yesterday vs. Northeast Nebraska. This weekend the Reivers are home against Ellsworth Community College.

Tennessee women’s basketball (Caleb Currier): Caleb’s tenure as a graduate student manager for the Lady Vols has at least one more game to run. Tennessee was assigned the #3 seed in the Riverwalk Region of the NCAA Tournament in San Antonio and will play in-state Middle Tennessee State, the #14 seed, at 1 p.m. CDT Sunday on ABC. The winner of that game would play next against the winner of #5 Michigan-#11 Florida Gulf Coast. This is the 39th consecutive year that the Lady Vols have been in the NCAA Tournament, and that is every single one of the tournaments since the women’s tournament began in 1982.

Dakota Wesleyan baseball (Bradley Dean): The Tigers (5-5) have not played in the past week, and Tuesday’s doubleheader against Dakota State was canceled because of the snowstorm. DWU is scheduled to begin conference play Friday at home vs. Dordt in a twinbill, provided all the snow on the field in Mitchell somehow melts by that time. Also on the slate are a conference doubleheader at Briar Cliff Sunday and a home non-league pair against Mayville State Tuesday.

BIRTHDAYS/ANNIVERSARIES

Thursday, March 18:
Asher Yackley, Ryker Schumacher, Jamey Howard, Jane Brehe, Jamie Karber, Nash Hogan, Nickolas Rabern, Daniel Mayer, John Palmer, Travis Benbow, Kendall Light, Madeleine Lindberg.
— We fondly remember Kathy Valnes, who passed away six years ago today.

Friday, March 19:
Hadley Bryant, Heather Forney, Craig Long, Mary Welsh, Donald Tassler, Brenda Badger, Betty Garrett, Layndon Dewell, Darlene Neiles, Sarah Yackley-Ploeger, Calvin Wagner, Stacy (Hull) Cottrell.
— 2nd anniversary, Dan/Lacy Johnson.
— 38th anniversary, Chuck/Dawnita Forell.

Saturday, March 20:
Rachel Beck, Jayde Englund, Scott Jones, Jessica (Wood) Steele, Beth (Cruse) Dokken, Samantha (Lytle) Irvine, Debby Wagner, Ben Johnson, Misty Burton, Max Huber.

Sunday, March 21:
Mark Hardwick, Diana Vogel, Jacob Tschetter, Gerald Johnson (#90), Loni McQuistion, Ben Gilmore, Wanda Meyer, Matthew Heintz, Bentley Frost, Ben Brown, River Fischer, Grant Wosick, Kara (Knadle) Schumacher, Linda Knox.
— 23rd anniversary, Dan/Lora (Den Ouden) Moore.
— 6th anniversary, Zach/Ashley Parsons.

Monday, March 22:
Eric Gednalske, Betty Eddy, Sharla McCaskell, Olivia Smith, Travis Fitzke, Dane Dodson, Serena Norman, Nicole Ogan, Wendy Birhanzel, Oaklie Cruse, Josephine Karim, Nellie Holsten, Leo Schmidt, George Ford.

Tuesday, March 23:
Livia Neuberger, Keatobn Durkin, Darcy Weber, Ashlynn Lizotte, Hadley Shoup, Soraya Karim, Sienna Karim, Jason Person, Amy Wire, McKayla Marso-McDonough, Kelsey McKay, Brian Hytlle, Toby Bryant, Brittani Snow.

Wednesday, March 24:
Adam Korkow, Tyler Sarringar, Smith Schneider, Bretta (Schumacher) Olson, Jeff Post, Jeff Sampson, Theresa Hanson, Brandon Sieck, Jon Horning, Ashley (Dunwoody) Dugstad, Dan Zebroski, Casey Templeton, Tyrel Hall, Allison Knox.
— 9th anniversary, Neil/Molly Eichstadt.
— Anniversary, Andy/Jamie (Gannaway) Heymans.

Thursday, March 25:
Allison Mickelson, Jude Steece, Kinley Rumpca, Evelyn Bowers, Jamie Dvorak, Adriana Uecker, Angie Gross, Janelle Toman.

NEWS OF PEOPLE AND EVENTS

Jessica (Callahan) Carr has been named by Dakota Wesleyan University as the coordinator of the school’s Learn and Earn program in Pierre.

Gavin Colson, a seventh grader in the Sully Buttes district, bowled a perfect 300 game at Lariat Lanes March 1. He is a league bowler who averages 195. Gavin is also a terror on the golf course. (News courtesy of The Onida Watchman)

One of Pierre’s most prominent and most beloved citizens, Jeannette Beemer, passed away March 11 at the age of 102. Visitation took place Tuesday, followed by a family graveside service at Black Hills National Cemetery. A celebration of her life will be held in June. Born in Aberdeen, Jeannette grew up in Highmore. She graduated in 1940 from Huron College where she had met Melvin Beemer. They were married in 1942 and spent the World War II years in Chicago while he was in military service and she worked for the Navy Radio Training School. The couple moved to Lake Andes where they owned Beemer Clothing, a thriving business during the days Fort Randall Dam was being built nearby. In 1957 they bought the Derby Cafe in Chamberlain. In 1967 Mr. Beemer joined the state Department of Vocational Education in Pierre, and Jeannette taught music in all of the elementary schools. Later she served as director of the music program in the Pierre public schools until she retired. Jeannette directed the choir at First Congregational United Church of Christ for more than 30 years. She was a co-founder of the Capital City Children’s Chorus, was active in P.E.O. and volunteered at the Cultural Heritage Center and the State Archives. In 2017 she was a recipient of the Governor’s Award for Outstanding Support of the Arts. For decades there was not a concert, play or fine arts event in Pierre at which Jeannette was not in the audience. She is survived by her six children, Joel Beemer of Spearfish, Jack Beemer and his wife Lexie of Bend, Ore., Diane Steckelberg and her husband Dob of Yankton, Doug Beemer and his wife Janice of Fort Pierre, Kathy Cruse and her husband Mike of Fort Pierre, and Suzy Beemer and her husband Steven of San Francisco; 14 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren.

Adam and Megan (Linn) Bertsch celebrated their 100,000th customer at the Fieldhouse, their bar/grill in northeast Pierre.

The things dads do for their daughters! Dr. Jon Schaack of Rapid City had the job (and privilege) of driving the St. Thomas More cheerleaders from Rapid City through last Wednesday’s blizzard to Watertown to get them there for the state “A” girls basketball tournament. Then on the way home Saturday night they had to beat the next storm oncoming from the west.

The Sioux Falls JV boys hockey team coached by Pierre native Curtis Egan placed second in the state JV tournament played in Fort Pierre two weekends ago.

Aldon Wayne Schenefeld, 70, Tripp, died March 10. In addition to his wife, his daughter, two grandchildren and two step-grandchildren, he is survived by two sisters, including Marilyn Bernhard and her husband Todd of Fort Pierre.

Gerald Johnson, who lived for many years in Blunt, will celebrate his 90th birthday this Sunday, March 21. Greetings can be sent to him at 1051 W. Capitol Ave., Pierre SD 57501.

Ella Peterson, granddaughter of Sandy Peterson of Rapid City and the late Terry Peterson, was a member of the Rapid City Stevens girls basketball team that reached the state tournament championship game in Sioux Falls last weekend. Ella was a senior guard on the Raiders team.

Rita (Vetter) Linn, 74, died March 7 at Avera Maryhouse. A memorial service was held Tuesday night at Isburg Funeral Chapel. Rita grew up at Salem where she graduated from St. Mary High School. She attended the Pierre School of Practical Nursing and later New York University for post-graduate courses in physical rehabilitation. She took additional studies in Los Angeles. Rita married Jon Linn in 1968 in Las Vegas, and they became the parents of two sons, Jim and J.J., before moving back to South Dakota. Rita enjoyed a 40-year real estate career, eventually becoming owner/broker of Linn Real Estate. She is survived by her sons, Jim Linn and his wife JoAnn of Brandon and J.J. Linn and his wife Jill of Pierre; six grandchildren, and her siblings, Larry Vetter, Ramona Bihlmeyer, Kathleen Hintgen, Mike Vetter, Teresa Kief and Mary Cotton.

Dr. Calvin Hofer, a 1980 graduate of Sully Buttes High School and the son of the late Wilbur and Eileen Hofer, after 23 years of teaching at Colorado-Mesa University in Grand Junction as director of bands and 17 years as head of the department of music, is retiring from full-time teaching. He will still teach online courses, direct the Grand Junction Rockestra and assist in the music department’s accreditation process.

Black Hills Playhouse has announced the dates of its 2021 season. The plays this summer will all be held in an outdoor space known as The New Frontier Theatre, weather permitting. The schedule:
* June 18-July 4, “The Marvelous Wonderettes.”
* July 9-25, “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change.”
* July 30-Aug. 15, “Altar Boyz.”

Isaac Schulte, oldest child of Dan and Sarah (Shepherd) Schulte of Brookings, was a member of the Brookings team that won the boys hockey state tournament Sunday. Isaac is 16 and a sophomore at Brookings High School.

Charles Sisk, 89, died at Avera St. Mary’s Hospital in Pierre March 10. Services were held Tuesday at the Isburg Funeral Chapel. Mr. Sisk grew up in Miller and attended USD. He served in the U.S. Army from 1953 to 1955, then moved to Pierre where he worked at the Department of Health and Vital Records. Survivors include his brothers, Frank Sisk in Colorado and Carl Sisk in Minnesota, and many nephews and nieces.

Pat Jolley’s Canistota team qualified for the state “B” tournament for the second straight year (though it wasn’t held last year). Canistota is the #2 seed in the state “B” tourney in Aberdeen starting Thursday. The Hawks had a regular-season record of 18-2 and have won three more games in their postseason play.

Alan Dale, who grew up in Pierre, has been appointed sheriff of Corson County. Alan has a law enforcement science degree from Southeast Technical College in Sioux Falls. He has been a deputy sheriff in Corson County since 2011. He lives in McLaughlin with his wife, Emily, and their two children. (News courtesy of Dakota Radio Group’s “My Daily News.”)

Pierre native Portia (Hurney) Corbin and her husband, Chris, who are both priests in the Episcopal church, have been serving Christ Church Episcopal in Lead. Their last Sunday at that church was last Sunday. They are moving to Wisconsin where Portia will serve St. John’s Episcopal Church in New London and Chris will serve Trinity Episcopal Church in Oshkosh.

John Pellerzi, 70, Sioux Falls, died March 11 at Sanford Hospital after a short cancer battle. A memorial service took place Tuesday at Miller Southside Funeral Chapel. John graduated from Riggs High School in Pierre in 1969. As a teen-ager he worked as a ranchhand on the Rose ranch north of Hayes. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in communications at the University of Maryland. Later John moved to Sioux Falls where he worked as a finance manager, then as a general manager in car sales. He married Chris Albers in 2003. He is survived by his wife; his son, Justin Johansen of Harrisburg; two daughters, Megan Postma and her husband Mike of Lennox and Lindsey Alberts of Orlando, Fla., and six grandchildren. Among those who preceded him in death were his parents, Leo and Betty Pellerzi; a brother, Jon, and a sister, Michelle Dunn.

Seven young men who played high school basketball at Riggs and Sully Buttes high schools in the past decade were honored by Mariah Press/Productions and SDSportsHistory.com on their 2011-20 all-decade teams announced last week. In Class AA Zach Hanson and Lane Severyn, who led Pierre’s 2013 state championship team, and Steven Schaefer of Rapid City Stevens were on the all-decades team with former Governors Brevin Kaiser and Peyton Zabel on the honorable mention list. In Class B basketball Lincoln Jordre of Sully Buttes is on the all-decades team with former Charger Nick Wittler on the honorable mention list.

Mason Martin, son of Pierre native Stuart Martin, scored the first goal and assisted on the game-winner as his Rushmore Thunder team beat the Oahe Capitals in the semifinals of the state hockey tournament last weekend.

Geraldine Hove, 89, died March 10 at Lake Mills Care Center in Lake Mills, Iowa. A private family service will take place Friday at Trinity Church in Thompson, Iowa. She is survived by her husband; five children, including former Pierre resident Paul Hove of Mason City; 16 grandchildren; 19 great-grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren, and a sister.

Josh and Tessa (Bollinger) Hartmann are expecting their first child in September and have learned it will be a boy. They now live in Washington, D.C. Josh continues to fly helicopters for the U.S. Air Force, and Tessa is an anesthetist at a hospital in nearby Alexandria, Va.

Chad Downs, 43, Spearfish, formerly of Fort Pierre, died March 11 at his parents’ home in Fort Pierre after battling esophageal cancer. A celebration of his life was held Wednesday at the Pat Duffy Community & Youth Involved Center in Fort Pierre. Chad graduated from Stanley County High School in 1996 and attended the School of Mines for a civil engineering degree. He and Sonia Trautmann were married in 2009. Chad worked as a civil engineer for the Department of Transportation and the Department of Game, Fish and Parks in Pierre and for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs at Fort Meade. In 2019 he became a project engineer for the U.S. Forest Service at Spearfish. He is survived by his wife, Sonia Downs of Spearfish; his parents, Dan and Barb Downs of Fort Pierre; his brothers, Shaun Downs and his wife Jenny of Laramie, Wyo., and Jason Downs and his wife Lacey of Pierre; two nieces and a nephew; two great-nieces, and his parents-in-law, Larry and Renee Trautmann of Lemmon.

The McDonald’s restaurant building on West Sioux Avenue bit the dust this week. The building was demolished to make way for a new McDonald’s to be erected at that site.

The death toll from COVID-19 in South Dakota climbed to 1,915 as of yesterday. The Department of Health reported 2,107 active cases in the state, adding that 35% of the population has received one dose of a vaccine and 20.5% have received both doses. Of the 176 new positive tests announced yesterday, only three were of people over age 70. Apparently COVID-19 is not solely an old people’s virus.

Joel Jundt at the Department of Transportation and Kevin Robling at the Department of Game, Fish and Parks, who have been serving as interim secretaries of those departments of state government, this week were made the full-time secretaries in their respective departments.

Molly Weisgram’s book, “The Other Side of Us—A Memoir of Trauma, Truth and Transformation,” is due out in April. Molly revealed this week that, if she can get 100 individuals to purchase her book on a single day—April 1—her book will be categorized as an Amazon best-seller. This will help other people find the book when browsing on Amazon.com in the future. On April 1 Molly will share the link to purchase the book on that particular day on her Facebook page. So if you are already intending to buy her book and read about the year of 2019 she and her family endured when her husband, Chris Maxwell, came down with a previously unheard-of disease requiring out-of-state hospitalization, make a note to do so two weeks from today on April 1. Meanwhile, read Molly’s blog to learn how she prepared for sending off her book and selecting the cover art at this link: http://ow.ly/hgk250E0gOK. (NOTE: When you type the previous link on your computer, be aware that in the sequence of numbers, 250E0, those two circles are zeros, not capital O’s, and the next-to-last letter is indeed a capital “O.”)

Wanda Meyer, who is nearing the end of her 42nd year of teaching in the Agar-Blunt-Onida school district, has been honored as Teacher of the Year in that district. She plans to retire at the end of this school year. Wanda teaches K-4 art at the Blunt elementary school, K-6 art at the Onida elementary school, and art, computer graphics and psychology at Sully Buttes High School. She is also junior class adviser and student council adviser. Wanda is married to D.T. Meyer, radio announcer at KCCR and the radio voice of Sully Buttes athletic teams. (News courtesy of The Onida Watchman)
CROSSWORD PUZZLE ANSWER

C A M P
H E E L
I R M A
P O E T