PIERRE ATHLETICS POSTPONEMENTS

Due to the presence of five active COVID-19 cases among students, these Pierre sports events have been postponed:
— Thursday: Pierre boys and girls soccer at Sioux Falls Roosevelt postponed.
— Friday: Pierre football at Tea Area postponed.
— Friday: Pierre volleyball vs. Yankton postponed.
— Saturday: Pierre volleyball vs. Douglas postponed.

ELECTION UPDATE

It’s time to vote: In South Dakota at least, this Friday is the first day for absentee ballot voting and for in-person voting at county auditor’s offices. Remember that when you vote in-person, you must have proof of who you are—a driver’s license, for example.

• To apply for an absentee ballot, go to the South Dakota secretary of state’s website and find the link to apply for a ballot. When the application arrives, fill it out, be careful to sign in the proper places and return it as soon as possible by mail or in person to your county auditor’s office.
• When the ballot itself arrives, vote as soon as possible. Deliver it in person to your county auditor’s office or mail it back but do so in plenty of time so it arrives there before Election Day Important reminder: Mailing the ballot back requires TWO first-class postage stamps, not one.
• If you have already applied for an absentee ballot (or if last spring you indicated on your application that you wanted ballots for all elections mailed to you), you should watch for your ballot beginning this weekend. Requested ballots will be mailed starting this Friday.
• Attention, Pierre voters: You don’t have to mail your ballot back to the county auditor. There will be a dropbox for ballots placed on the north side of the Hughes County Courthouse near the dumpster.

Are you registered where you are now? This is especially important for college students who may be registered voters at their campus city or who are at school but are registered as a voter back home. Find out now where you are a registered voter and apply for an absentee ballot if you are not going to be able to vote in-person on Election Day.

Voter registration deadline: It’s only a month until the voter registration deadline in South Dakota, which is Oct. 19. If you don’t even know where you are registered to vote or if you are registered at all, call your county auditor’s office. Or you can go to the secretary of state’s website and look for the link that will show you where or if you are a registered voter now.

This year’s ballot issues: All South Dakota voters will have three issues on which to vote. They are as follows:

• Initiated Measure 26: This legalizes medical use, delivery, manufacture and cultivation of marijuana and marijuana-based products to treat or alleviate debilitating medical conditions certified by the patients’ doctors. Restrictions exist in the measure regarding the amount of marijuana, caregivers and the legalization of some substances that remain felony controlled substances under current state law.
• Constitutional Amendment A: This legalizes the possession, use, transport and distribution of marijuana and marijuana paraphernalia by people age 21 and older. The amendment authorizes the Department of Revenue to issue licenses for commercial cultivators and manufacturers, testing facilities, wholesalers and retailers. It also requires the Legislature to pass laws regarding medical use of marijuana and imposes a 15% tax on marijuana sales.
• Constitutional Amendment B: This amendment authorizes the Legislature to include wagering on sporting events as a type of gaming in Deadwood in addition to those types of gaming already allowed. Such sports wagering would also be allowed at tribal casinos on the reservations.

The candidates on the ballot: Everyone statewide in South Dakota can vote on these races:

• President: Joe Biden (D), Donald Trump (R).
• U.S. Senate: Dan Ahlers (D), Mike Rounds (R).
• U.S. House of Representatives: Randy Luallia (L), Dusty Johnson (R).

In District 24 (Hughes, Stanley and Sully counties) voters will select two House of Representatives members from among Amanda Bachmann (D), Will Mortenson (R) and Mike Weisgram (R). The District 24 member of the state Senate, Mary Duvall (R), is unopposed.

Only in Hughes County voters will choose two at-large members of the county commission from among Vicky Wilkey (D), Tom Rounds (R) and Randy Brown (R).

Election campaign countdown:
1 day till absentee and in-person voting begins (Sept. 18).
12 days till first presidential candidates debate, Cleveland (Sept. 23).
20 days till vice presidential candidates debate, Salt Lake City (Oct. 7).
28 days till second presidential candidates debate, Miami (Oct. 15).
32 days till South Dakota voter registration deadline (Oct. 19).
35 days till third presidential candidates debate, Nashville (Oct. 22).
48 days till Election Day (Nov. 3).
125 days till Inauguration Day (Jan. 20).

The first presidential candidates debate: The first of three debates between President Trump and former Vice President Biden will be on Tuesday, Sept. 29, at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, from 8 to 9:30 p.m. CDT on all the major networks, C-SPAN, PBS and the cable news channels. The moderator will be Chris Wallace, anchor of “Fox News Sunday.”

ZESTO SHERBET SCHEDULE

Thursday: almond.
Friday-Sunday: tutti fruitti.
Monday-Tuesday: pineapple.
Wednesday-Thursday: raspberry.

PIERRE GOVERNORS SPORTS ROUNDUP

This week’s schedules:
— THURSDAY
* Girls soccer: at Sioux Falls Roosevelt, 6 p.m. POSTPONED
* Boys soccer: at Sioux Falls Roosevelt, 4 p.m. POSTPONED
— FRIDAY
* Boys golf: at Mitchell invitational, 10:30 a.m.
* Football: at Tea Area, 7 p.m. POSTPONED
* Volleyball: home vs. Yankton, 7 p.m. POSTPONED
— SATURDAY
* Cross country: at Huron invitational, 9 a.m.
* Girls tennis: at Aberdeen Central invitational, 9 a.m.
* Cheer/dance: at Brookings invitational, 11 a.m.
* Volleyball: home vs. Douglas, 1:30 p.m. POSTPONED
— SUNDAY
* Softball: home vs. Madison, 11 a.m.; 4th game of quadrupleheader vs. Baltic.
— TUESDAY
* Boys golf: at Watertown invitational, 10 a.m.
* Cheer/dance: at Huron invitational, 5 p.m.

Athletes of the Week: The Pierre Athletic Coaches Association selected Miah Kienholz of the volleyball team and Maguire Raske of the football team as its Athletes of the Week last week.

Fine Arts Student of the Week: The honored student last week was Braeden Cunningham of the marching and jazz bands. This week’s honoree is Jacob Larson of the chamber choir.

Girls tennis: At the Huron quadrangular the Governors whipped Brookings, 9-0, and beat Huron, 8-1, and lost to Watertown, 5-4. Pierre girls won 22 of 27 matches played at the meet.

Football: For the first time after an 18-game winning streak dating back to the 2018 season, Pierre lost a football game. Yankton prevailed on its home field, 52-29, after an incredibly exciting first half that ended in a 29-29 tie. Quarterback Lincoln Kienholz completed 17 of 39 passes for 250 yards, two touchdowns and four interceptions. Zach Letellier set a school record of 222 receiving yards with six catches and one TD. Maguire Raske carried 21 times for 97 yards and two scores. A 64-yard, 10-play opening drive put Pierre on top 7-0, the score coming on a 19-yard scamper by Raske. Yankton capitalized on a successful fake punt that resulted in a 45-yard gain to the 2-yard line from where the Bucks scored and went ahead, 8-7. It was the first time a Governor team trailed in a game since 2018. Pierre’s third possession resulted in a missed field goal, and Yankton answered with a score from the 5-yard line, going up 15-7. After a turnover the Bucks went into the end zone again for a 22-7 lead. But Kienholz hit a streaking Letellier racing toward the west end zone on a 79-yard touchdown play to make it 22-14. An interception set up the Govs in good position, and Letellier scored on a pass reception for a 22-22 tie after Letellier also ran in the two-point conversion. Yankton scored on a 76-yard pass play for a 29-22 lead, but Raske’s score ended a quick five-play drive that tied the game less than a minute later. Pierre scored in the final minute of the first half, but that Raske TD was nullified by a blocking penalty. Early in the second half a bad snap on a punt attempt resulted in a yardage loss and set up the Bucks at the Pierre 32 from where they quickly scored to lead 36-29, and they never trailed after that. It was 49-29 after three quarters. The Governors had to keep throwing the ball in an attempt to crawl back into the game, and three second-half interceptions gave the Bucks good field position. A 33-yard field goal was the final score of the game.

Volleyball: Unbeaten Aberdeen Central actually lost a set to the Governors, but the Eagles won the match, 3-1, on set scores of 19-25, 25-21, 12-25, 11-25. That second set is the only one Aberdeen has lost so far in its season. Ayvrie Kaiser had three service aces and 11 kills for Pierre.

Girls soccer: Pierre dominated Huron, 7-0, as Alexis Campea scored two goals and Avery Davis, Brianna Sargent, Gracelyn Taylor, Caytee Williams and Jenna Gehring one goal each. The Governors fired 50 shots on goal, and Huron got off not a single shot. On Tuesday the girls were on the other end of a shutout, losing at Mitchell, 1-0, despite outshooting the Kernels, 21-10. Pierre’s record is 1-6-1 with four games remaining.

Boys soccer: It was a double-winning week for the Governors. Pierre defeated Huron, 2-1. Nathan Leiferman scored off Rylann Derry’s assist for a 1-0 lead. Then Paul Deth scored the game-winner midway through the second half. Cam Ahartz made seven saves. On Tuesday the Govs outshot Mitchell, 33-3, and Leiferman scored all four goals in a 4-0 Pierre triumph. Ahartz had to make only one save, and he did.

Softball: The Pierre varsity lost both games on the road last Sunday. Tea Area avenged an early-season loss to Pierre by winning by 10-1. Five Pierre miscues helped Tea score eight of its 10 runs. Kenzie Gronlund drove in the lone Pierre run. In a 6-0 loss to West Centra, Kayleigh Dueis had the lone Pierre basehit.

STANLEY COUNTY BUFFALOES SPORTS ROUNDUP

This week’s schedules:
— THURSDAY
* Cross country: at Big Dakota Conference meet, Chamberlain.
* Volleyball: at Jones County.
— FRIDAY
* Football: home vs. Miller/Highmore-Harrold.
— SATURDAY
* Volleyball: home tournament.
— WEDNESDAY
* Cross country: at Faulkton invitational.

Volleyball: The Buffalo girls stand at 2-6. They lost to Philip, 3-1, on game scores of 25-22, 11-25, 12-25, 19-25. At the Mobridge triangular SCHS lost to Mobridge-Pollock, 3-0, on set scores of 9-025, 11-25, 10-25, but they beat McLaughlin, 3-0, on set scores of 25-10, 25-9, 25-7.

Football: The Buffaloes’ record evened out at 2-2 with a 27-6 loss to Woonsocket/Wessington Springs/Sanborn Central.

SULLY BUTTES CHARGERS SPORTS ROUNDUP

This week’s schedules:
— THURSDAY
* Volleyball: home vs. Lyman
— SATURDAY
* Cross country: at Battler invitational, Gettysburg.
— TUESDAY
* Volleyball: at North Central (in Roscoe).
— WEDNESDAY
* Cross country: at Faulkton invitational.

Football: Sully Buttes stands at 0-4 halfway through the season and has a bye this week. Last Friday at Herreid the Chargers led 8-0 early and 8-6 at halftime but lost to Herreid-Selby Area, 22-8.

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 row 1, 5, 6 and 7 from top to bottom.

Clues:
ACROSS—
(1) “M*A*S*H” star Alan
(5) ABC anchorman David
(6) Resident of Sesame Street
(7) Winter toy
DOWN—
(1) Home of Iowa State
(2) A quiet period
(3) Ten cents
(4) What they call Alex Rodriguez

Puzzle answer at the bottom of this Update.

COUNTDOWN

1 day: Absentee and in-person voting for general election begins (Sept. 18).
2 days: “M” Day at School of Mines (Sept. 19).
4 days: Riggs High homecoming coronation (Sept. 21).
5 days: Riggs High homecoming parade (Sept. 22).
8 days: Riggs High homecoming day (Sept. 25).
8 days: Custer State Park buffalo roundup (Sept. 25).
9 days: Blue & White Day at Dakota Wesleyan (Sept. 26).
12 days: First presidential candidates debate, Cleveland (Sept. 29).
15 days: Pierre Players’ “Two on the Aisle, Three in a Van” (Oct. 2-4, 8-10).
15 days: Sully Buttes High homecoming day (Oct. 2).
16 days: The Preakness, Baltimore (Oct. 3).
18 days: State boys golf tournament, AA Sioux Falls, A Hot Springs (Oct. 5-6).
20 days: Vice presidential candidates debate, Salt Lake City (Oct. 7).
21 days: State girls tennis tournament, AA Rapid City (Oct. 8-9).
28 days: Second presidential candidates debate, Miami (Oct. 15).
30 days: State soccer championship games, Huron (Oct. 17).
32 days: Voter registration deadline for general election (Oct. 19).
33 days: World Series begins (Oct. 20).
35 days: Third presidential candidates debate, Nashville (Oct. 22).
37 days: State cheer/dance tournament, Rapid City (Oct. 24).
37 days: State cross country meet, Rapid City (Oct. 24).

BASEBALL UPDATE

Minnesota Twins:
Thursday—at Chicago White Sox, 1:10 p.m., FSN, MLBN.
Friday—at Chicago Cubs, 7:15 p.m., FSN, MLBN.
Saturday—at Chicago Cubs, 7:15 p.m., FSN.
Sunday—at Chicago Cubs, 6:08 p.m., ESPN.
Tuesday—Detroit, 6:40 p.m., FSN.
Wednesday—Detroit, 6:40 p.m., FSN.

Colorado Rockies:
Thursday—Los Angeles Dodgers, 6:40 p.m.
Friday—Los Angeles Dodgers, 6:10 p.m.
Saturday—Los Angeles Dodgers, 6:10 p.m.
Sunday—Los Angeles Dodgers, 1:10 p.m.
Monday—at San Francisco, 7:45 p.m., MLBN.
Tuesday—at San Francisco, 7:45 p.m.
Wednesday—at San Francisco, 7:45 p.m.
Thursday—at San Francisco, 1:45 p.m., MLBN.

Baseball playoffs: The postseason begins a week from Tuesday in major league baseball, and weather permitting, it’s going to happen fast and furiously. This year there are eight playoff teams in each league—the three division winners, the three division runners-up, and the next-best two teams at large. The three champs will be seeded 1, 2 and 3 based on their records; the three runners-up will be the fourth, fifth and sixth seeds, and the two at-large teams will be the seventh and eighth seeds. So 8 plays at 1, 7 plays at 2, 6 plays at 3 and 5 plays at 4 in each league in the best-of-3 first-round series, and all games will be in the home park of the higher seed on successive days. After those series are over, four teams will remain in each league, and nobody will play at home from that point on. In the National League the two NLDS division series will be played in American League parks, one in Arlington, Texas, and one in Houston. In the American League the two ALDS division series will be played in National League parks, one in San Diego and one in Los Angeles. Those are best-of-5 series. The best-of-7 championship series will be played in the Rangers’ park in Arlington for the National League and in San Diego for the American League. The World Series will be played in Arlington, starting Oct. 20, and it will have the usual days off after Game 2 and Game 5.

Sioux Falls Canaries: The Birds were in deep trouble, down three games to none in the American Association’s championship series through Tuesday’s third game. Sioux Falls lost to Milwaukee on the road, 11-6 and 2-0, then lost Game #3 at home by a 10-5 count. Game #4 was to be played last night.

SOCCER UPDATE

Minnesota United FC: The Loons defeated FC Dallas, 3-2, but lost to Sporting Kansas City, 1-0. Minnesota plays at Houston Saturday and at Columbus next Wednesday.

BASKETBALL UPDATE

Minnesota Lynx: The Lynx lost to Las Vegas, 104-89, and defeated Indiana, 98-86, ending the regular season with a 14-8 record. Minnesota is the #4 seed in the WNBA playoffs and will play tonight (Thursday) in a single-elimination second-round game against Phoenix.

FOOTBALL UPDATE

NFL games on local TV this weekend (subject to change by the networks):
* Thursday, 7:20 p.m.: Cincinnati at Cleveland, NFL Network.
* Sunday, noon: Minnesota at Indianapolis, Fox.
* Sunday, noon: Denver at Pittsburgh, CBS.
* Sunday, 3:25 p.m.: Kansas City at Los Angeles Chargers, CBS.
* Sunday, 7:20 p.m.: New England at Seattle, NBC.
* Monday, 7:15 p.m.: New Orleans at Las Vegas, ESPN.

Midco Sports Network live games this weekend:
* Friday, 6 p.m.: Sioux Falls O’Gorman vs. Sioux Falls Lincoln.
* Tuesday, 7 p.m.: Volleyball, Sioux Falls Washington vs. Sioux Falls O’Gorman.

Checking on our Pierre/Fort Pierre natives coaching elsewhere:
* Brandon Valley (Jason Bisbee) beat Aberdeen Central, 40-6, and is 2-1. The Lynx host Rapid City Central next.
* Hot Springs (Ben Kramer) lost a 6-0 slugfest at Lead-Deadwood and is now 1-2. Hot Springs plays this week at Belle Fourche.
* Harvey/Wells County, N.D. (Scott Raue) lost to Carrington, 24-6, and is 2-2. The team plays Langdon this week.
* Wyndmere-Lidgerwood, N.D. (Mikal Kern) lost to LaMoure-Litchville/Marion, 30-0, and is 2-2. Next opponent is Larimore.
* Waverly-South Shore (J.J. Iverson) defeated Great Plains Lutheran, 29-0, and is now 1-2. Hitchcock-Tulare is this week’s opponent.

Class 11AA standings: Brookings 3-0, Mitchell 3-0, Yankton 3-0, Pierre 2-1, Huron 2-1, Douglas 1-2, Spearfish 0-3, Sturgis 0-3. This week’s games: Madison at Brookings, Canton at Huron, Sturgis at Douglas, St. Thomas More at Spearfish, Yankton at Vermillion, Mitchell at Dell Rapids. (Pierre at Tea Area postponed)

Minnesota Vikings (0-1): The Vikings lost their season opener to Green Bay, 43-34. Minnesota plays at Indianapolis at noon Sunday on Fox.

Denver Broncos (0-1): The Broncos lost on a last-minute field goal to Tennessee, 16-14. Denver goes to Pittsburgh at noon Sunday on CBS.

THE WEEK’S BEST POST ON FACEBOOK

“I’m not turning my clock back an hour on Nov. 1 because seriously none of us need an extra hour of 2020.”

PARKER’S PERSONAL NOTES

• Good grief, what next? The Battle 4 Atlantis is an annual eight-team men’s college basketball tournament played at that famous hotel and resort in the Bahamas, out there in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. For some reason it is not going to be played there. I wonder why! So where might they bring eight prominent college teams to play that tournament? To wide-open South Dakota, of course, and the Sanford Pentagon is more than happy to host them with a “small number of fans” in attendance and “social distancing protocols in place.” Can you believe Duke, West Virginia, Memphis, Ohio State, Texas A&M, Utah, Creighton and Wichita State would risk bringing their teams here? We will see. The dates won’t be determined until the NCAA decides when—or if—men’s basketball will be played at all. Usually the Battle 4 Atlantis takes place in November at or before Thanksgiving time.
• The Christmas festival at St. Olaf College in Minnesota is a traditional event broadcast nationally by PBS a year after it occurs. So there will probably be a telecast this holiday season, but the event itself won’t be held as an in-person event on the campus in Northfield this winter due of course to the coronavirus situation. Hundreds of students participate in the festival as members of several choirs and an orchestra. For that matter I’ve been wondering what the SDHSAA will do about All-State Chorus and Orchestra right here in our state. Twenty-five of us can’t sing in a choir in church right now. How will 1,000 singers in close quarters be managed?
• President Trump says the NFL is “boring” this year. I wonder how he knows since he has said he isn’t watching the NFL any more because of the anthem kneeling, but I suspect it’s also because of the athletes’ speaking out and their messages on T-shirts. How dare they exercise their freedom of speech!
• TRIVIA TIME: No cheating, Googling or map research, OK? Name 15 towns in South Dakota which are also people’s names. We will see how many of the towns on my list are named by our readers and which ones are missed. Send your 15 to parkerhome16@hotmail.com. There are at least 56 of them and probably more.
• Persons with other health conditions that make them seriously at risk for contracting COVID-19 have undergone an especially trying six months. One of those is our dear friend, Ann Thompson, formerly of Pierre, who mentioned on Facebook the other day how frustrating it has been not to be able to be out and about and unable to see family members and friends regularly. She has minded her doctors’ strict orders not to put herself in a precarious situation, so she has stayed home. If you would like to send a note to Ann, her address is 2229 Tower Court Rd., Rapid City SD 57701. If you would prefer calling her, send me a note at parkerhome16@hotmail.com, and if I am sure you are a friend of Ann, I will provide you with her telephone number.
• For most of the past two months since baseball started, it appeared the Twins would certainly be in the playoffs, and they still will. It also appeared that we would finally avoid having to start the playoffs against the Yankees. Well, what do you know! Here we go again. If the playoffs started today, the Twins’ first-round opponent would be—who else?—the Yanks. Shall we just stop now or finish out the schedule?
• Twenty years ago the Pierre Governors football season of 2000 had some fantastic moments, even though the team didn’t reach the Dome that year. In next week’s Update, just in time for Pierre’s 2020 homecoming, we will reprint a story I wrote for the Capital Journal following that fall’s homecoming game. If you have guys in your family who played football that fall of 2000, let them know they should read the Update next week. (Of course, they should read it every week, but most of them don’t, I know.)

GOLF UPDATE

PGA Champions Tour (Tom Byrum): At the Sanford International in Sioux Falls, Tom tied for 54th place with a 2-over-par weekend of 72-66-72=210. He earned $3,960 there. Last month Tom took home $131,250 for a 12-under tie for fifth place at the Charles Schwab Series at Bass Pro Shops at Big Cedar Lodge and $2,370 for tying for 70th place with an even-par round at the Charles Schwab Series at Ozark National. This weekend the Champions Tour plays at Pebble Beach, Calif., in the PURE Insurance Championships.

THOUGHT FOR ELECTION TIME

“Reading furnishes the mind only with material for knowledge. It is thinking that makes what we read ours.”

— John Locke

COLLEGE SPORTS ROUNDUP

Bemidji State fishing (Coulton Lentz, Braeden Peery): The two Sully Buttes alumni won first place in the first in-school fishing derby of the fall. Because of COVID-19 restrictions, the BSU bass fishermen are competing among themselves in weekly tournaments. Last week on Lake Bemidji, Braeden from Blunt (SBHS ’19) and Coulton from Onida (SBHS ’18) caught 14.23 pounds of fish to take top prize. The BSU fishing team includes 33 students. This weekend’s tournament will take place on Turtle Lake.

Dakota State volleyball (Nicole Sarringar): After a home match against Bellevue last night, the Trojans host Morningside Friday and go to St. Mary in Omaha Saturday. Next Wednesday DSU plays at Briar Cliff.

North Dakota State football (Grey Zabel): The Bison continue fall drills to prepare for their one-game season Oct. 3 vs. Central Arkansas.

Black Hills State football (Josh Breske, Gage Gehring, Josh Rowe): The Yellowjackets are in pre-season drills to get ready for a five-game season beginning at Mines Oct. 10.

South Dakota Mines football (Matt Heilman): The Hardrockers will open their five-game season at home Oct. 10 vs. Black Hills State.

Dakota Wesleyan volleyball (Elena Svingen): The Tigers lost a 3-0 conference match against Dordt on set scores of 17-25, 22-25, 19-25. DWU rebounded to beat Briar Cliff, 3-2, on game scores of 25-22, 19-25, 25-23, 22-25, 15-10. Elena did not play in either dual. Now 4-1, DWU plays at Northwestern Friday and at Morningside Saturday.

Presentation football (Michael Lyons): The Saints lost their season and conference opener to Valley City State, 21-3. PC is home Saturday at Swisher Field at 7 p.m. against Dakota State.

Northwestern (Iowa) football (Morris Hofer): The Red Raiders’ opening-night opponent was the nation’s top-ranked team, Morningside, and Northwestern gave the Mustangs a good game before losing by 45-31 in Sioux City. The game was tied at 24-24 with 6:42 left in the third quarter, and NWC had a lead of 31-24 two minutes later. Morris was credited with one assisted tackle. NWC passed for 447 yards and Morningside for 364 yards. Now 0-1, Northwestern hosts Dakota Wesleyan at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Dakota Wesleyan football (Cobey Carr, Isaac Cliff): The Tigers opened the season at Hastings College and lost 45-7 after trailing at halftime by 28-7. Cobey was credited with one assisted tackle in his first college game. Now 0-1, DWU has another tough assignment this Saturday at Northwestern (Iowa) at 1 p.m. in Orange City.

FOOTBALL CONTEST #5

Thanks to Iowa State, the Vikings and the 49ers, nobody had a chance to get a perfect score last week. The best anyone could muster was 7-3 for 10 points each, and they are Nathan Vetter, Eric Lusk and Jon Boer. At 6-4 for nine points each were Kyle Richards, Thomas Voeltz, Beth Rinehart and Greg Dean. At 5-5 for eight points apiece were Levi Neuharth, David Ludwig and Lauren Gilsrud.

Note to contestants: Since there is a good chance some games, especially college games, could be postponed at the last minute, we will from now on list more than 10 games. If a game is postponed, we will count Game #11 in our contest. If two games are postponed, we will count Games #11 and #12, etc.

Contest #5 games (send your winners to parkerhome16@hotmail.com by Friday afternoon):
(1) Pierre at Tea Area
(2) Miller/Highmore-Harrold at Stanley County
(3) College: Miami at Louisville
(4) USF at Notre Dame
(5) UCF at Georgia Tech
(6) NFL: Buffalo at Miami
(7) NFL: Baltimore at Houston
(8) NFL: Denver at Pittsburgh
(9) NFL: Minnesota at Indianapolis
(10) NFL: Atlanta at Dallas
(11) NFL: Carolina at Tampa Bay
(12) NFL: New York Giants at Chicago
(13) NFL: Kansas City at Los Angeles Chargers

BIRTHDAYS/ANNIVERSARIES

Thursday, Sept. 17:
Meredith Jones, Bret Culey, Dayson Carroll, Levi Clark, Coleman Varty, Jess Burchill, Lori Wilbur, Niki (Cowan) Jaworski, Tim Steece, Kaydee Neuharth, Dusty Bergeson, Kallee (Hewlett) Rydland.
— 4th anniversary, Sam/Chrystal (Bauer) Koenecke.
— 4th anniversary, Danny/Marilyn Salter.
— 4th anniversary, Isaac/Chelsea (Stahl) LaLonde.
— 16th anniversary, Slade/Amy (Hofer) Weller.
— 15th anniversary, Wayne/Alyssa Schaefbauer.

Friday, Sept. 18:
David Patten, Luna Patten, Courtney Freng, Kathy (Willingham) Tartaglia, Amanda Beck, Carter McCoy, Jocelyn (Newman) Frohm, Jackie Putzier, Troy Sogaard, Ben Chittenden, Shirley Javurek, Mandy (Jung) Moisan.
— 11th anniversary, Brent/Cindy (Ryan) Reilly.
— 16th anniversary, James/Keri (Fargen) Sivage.
— 16th anniversary, Chad/Laurie (Koehn) Gilman.
— 10th anniversary, Ryan/Jenni Nuttall.
— 10th anniversary, Lonnie/Sarah (Peterson) Dozier.
— 10th anniversary, Cody/Jessica (Melvin) Moore.

Saturday, Sept. 19:
Laura Howard, Charles Jones, Trevor Botts, Carson Eisenbeisz, Stephanie (Mutschler) Pierson, D.J. Prue, Brett Fergen, Adley Lucas, Hunter Johnson.
— 5th anniversary, Calvin/Holly (Bilbrey Hostler) Frederick.
— 17th anniversary, Brad/Brandy Johnston.

Sunday, Sept. 20:
Noah Ann Newman, Brenden Kruckenberg, Bob Fuller, Sue (Ludwig) Stotz, Tiffany (Tate) Stoeser, Taylor Crawford, Samantha Mitchell, Brian Long, Parker McKittrick, Rob Gull, Ryan Weaver, George Vandel, Claire Martin, Eric Lusk, Dave Gordon, Chad Kiel, Steve Baker.
— 6th anniversary, Jess/Cherissa (Nielsen) Wright.
— 7th anniversary, Tony/Meghan Parker.

Monday, Sept. 21:
Willie Welch, Lance Fravel, Jason Noyes, Terry Hofer, John Potts, Knox Hollingsworth, Carl Eichstadt, Abbie Waitman, Kim (Kindle) Nachreiner, Patty Hofer, Ken Barber, Mark Wixon, Jessie (Stewart) McEntaffer, Alex Smith.
— 1st anniversary, Casey/Annie (Schaefer) Buechler.
— 7th anniversary, Kyle/Loryn (Schuetzle) Lichty.
— 7th anniversary, Sid/Bethany (Goeden) Intorn.
— 4th anniversary, Jacob/Katie Parsons.

Tuesday, Sept. 22:
Rob Dvorak, James Sivage, Bridgette Wernke, Paige (Wilbur) Bock, Troy Rus, Connie Pierce, Charlie Maurice, Krista (Lovald) Miller, Aimee (Vogel) Van Houten.
— 8th anniversary, Zach/Ellie Word.

Wednesday, Sept. 23:
Matthew Kenyon, Jeremy Engbrecht, Kim Sutton, Mary Livermont, Clay Cudmore, Nora Mangan, Nate Grueb, Travis Tipton, Brett Durick, Mike Boring, Vern Armstrong, Dick Howard, Autumn Tipton, Justin Garrigan.
— 14th anniversary, Tyson/Danae Paxton.
— 3rd anniversary, Cooper/Candace (Volmer) Waln.
— 3rd anniversary, Dayton/Rylae (Wientjes) Jensen.
— 15th anniversary, Brett/Julie Oakland.
— 9th anniversary, Ross/Andrea Wright.
— 31st anniversary, Mark/Beth Dutt.

Thursday, Sept. 24:
Mikayla Mikkelsen, Emmett Becker, Mary Lynne Swanstrom, Bridger Tobin, Jessi (Huber) Herrscher, Ryan Olson, Lilndsey (Tilberg) Jennewein, Alicia (Ripley) Schoenhard, Kirion Vogel, Nicole Smith, Tabitha Smith, Blake Paxton, Kolten Withers, Kolten Haag.
— 9th anniversary, Justin/Kelly (Kindle) Hipple.
— 37th anniversary, Jeff/Staci Holden.
— 14th anniversary, Adam/Shawna (Miller) Lizotte.
— 4th anniversary, Jalen/Tiera (Feller) Lamb.
— 4th anniversary, Miles/Shelby (Stadel) Schock.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

“Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey toward it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us.”

— Samuel Smiles

SOUTH DAKOTA COVID-19 UPS AND DOWNS

1. The state reported 230 new positive cases Saturday with six more deaths and 109 hospitalizations. There were 201 more new cases Sunday, 163 more Monday, 193 more Tuesday and 297 more Wednesday. The number of hospitalizations as of Tuesday reached 133, a new single-day high for the state. As of Wednesday there were 2,442 reported active cases in the state. South Dakota keeps going with major crowd events, however—this weekend Deadwood Cool Jams; next week the buffalo roundup.
2. The School of Mines instructed its students last week that no guests are now allowed in dormitories due to an increase in on-campus positive cases.
3. The Rapid City Area Schools reported 22 active cases (14 students and eight staff) as of Friday with 94 others in quarantine status. Meanwhile, the school board gave second reading to its mask policy, mandating masks be worn by staff, students and visitors in buildings. The policy would take effect if the board approves it at its Sept. 28 meeting.
4. The South Dakota Film Festival, which begins today and runs for 10 days at Aberdeen, will actually be taking place totally online this year. You can watch the films at your convenience on-demand from home. For details go to www.southdakotafilmfest.org.
5. The Mitchell school district has a mask mandate that applies to all of its buildings. When a member of the public attending a school board meeting refused to put on a mask, he was escorted out of the meeting by police.
6. Burke became the first district in the state to close after opening this fall. The Burke school will be closed all of this week due to a large number of positive cases of coronavirus among staff members.
7. At Brown High School in Sturgis activities director Todd Palmer said their soccer and volleyball programs are suspended for the rest of this week, and scheduled matches will be rescheduled.
8. The school district at Wagner has mandated masks starting yesterday for everyone on school grounds.

NEWS OF PEOPLE AND EVENTS

Joyce Papendick, 90, died Sept. 9 at Monument Health Hospice House in Rapid City. She and her husband, Herbert, lived in Pierre from 1958 to 1971 while he worked for the Department of Transportation. Herb died in 2008. Joyce is survived by three children, Randy Papendick of Rapid City, Steve Papendick of Hot Springs and Eileen Armstrong of Omaha; three grandchildren; two great-grandchildren, and a sister, Betty Harlow of Perham, Minn.

Next week is homecoming week at Riggs High School. The coronation ceremony will be held Monday night and the parade Tuesday evening.

Hughes County auditor Jane Naylor told me earlier this week that her office has 2,400 absentee ballots going into the mail Friday.

Riggs High senior Jessica Lutmer announced she will be attending the University of Sioux Falls next fall and participating in the cross country program there.

The Governor’s Awards to recognize contributions toward the rehabilitation and employment of persons with disabilities were presented this week. Chris Peterson of Fort Pierre was honored as Outstanding Employee with a Disability.

Marvin Begeman, 88, Parker, died Sept. 14 at Pioneer Memorial Nursing Home in Viborg. His funeral service will be at 2 p.m. Friday at Hofmeister-Jones Funeral Home in Parker. Mr. Begeman graduated from Parker High School in 1949 and served with the U.S. Army in Korea during the Korean War. He is survived by his wife, Ramona; his four children, Mike Begeman and his wife Gale of Sioux Falls, Jeff Begeman and his wife Monica of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., Rochelle Hyde and her husband Shane of Pierre, and Scott Begeman of Viborg; seven grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, and his sister, Helen Dykstra.

Several former Pierre people posted Facebook comments and photos during the numerous wildfires burning in the West Coast states. Abby Javurek said they were safe in the part of Portland where they live since most of the fires burning in Oregon were east and south of there. “The air quality is awful, the sky is a weird shade of yellow, orange and grey, sometimes it is so thick with smoke you can’t make out where the sun is,” she said. Multiple air filters were running in her home to keep the air in the house safe. On the west side of Portland Lowell Gordon said they were safe there and showed a photo of smoke darkening the skies at noon. Linda Ott reported that she has a cousin who lost a lakeside home in the fire that spread across the town of Detroit Lake, Ore., and that cousin’s son also lost a home in the blaze that destroyed 95% of the town. Evan Roth posted a photo from San Francisco showing the view toward Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill with streetlights on at 10:20 a.m. with a reddish overcast in the sky. A photo of the Golden Gate Bridge showed cars with headlights on at noon Wednesday and the towers of the bridge not visible due to the smoke. Susie Fuller up in Medford, Ore., said her side of the city of 80,000 was on alert to evacuate Wednesday night, but they were OK and did not have to leave.

Amy Fridley, 86, died Sept. 10 at Avera Oahe Manor in Gettysburg. Her funeral service was held Monday at Lutheran Memorial Church. Amy graduated from high school at Willow Lake in 1952. She married Leonard Keene Fridley in 1957. They lived in Newport News, Va., and Huron, then settled in Pierre. Amy operated an in-home day care service. After her own children were raised, she worked for 15 years at the Department of Public Safety and Motor Vehicles and five years at the Bureau of Administration. Survivors include six children, Kirk Fridley of Pierre, Kevin Fridley and his wife LInda of Pierre, Kristen Hazeltine of Black Hawk, Kim Livermont and her husband Steve of Pierre, Kara Dougherty and her husband Bob of Sioux Falls and Karla Statema and her husband Dan of Sioux Falls; 12 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

Kim Hipple, who has become a pastor and is serving her first church at Beach United Methodist Church in Howard, performed her first wedding as a pastor last week.

Seventy-two runners and walkers participated in the third annual Run with the Govs, raising funds for the Trail of Governors Foundation. Carl Morris was the top male with a time of 23:51. Right behind him by only one second was Carter Schiefelbein, the top boy 12U runner in 23:52. This was Carter’s second year in a row winning his division. In her first race ever Alli Glodt was the first girl 12U runner across the finish line in 39:40. Stacy Ludwig of Spencer, Neb., who is a cross country coach, left home at 5 a.m. Saturday to get to Pierre, and she was the top female runner in 26:07.

What is it like to teach this fall? Many of our readers know only too well. Kelly Neiles-Brindza, who is an assistant professor at St. Mary’s College in Maryland near Washington, D.C., showed a photo of how her general chemistry lab works these days. Each in-person student in the lab works with two remote students via Zoom. One of those two is running a virtual lab that replicates the in-person procedure, and the other is the project manager responsible for recording data and observations, submitting assignments on behalf of the three-person group. Each week the in-person student and the project manager switches roles, but the virtual lab techies are full-time remote students. Kelly said that headphones to hear partners and phones on swivel necks to capture work are now a normal part of everyday lab equipment. “Real science is happening here,” she said.

Haley Dorschner, who is now a registered nurse, will begin work Sept. 22 as a labor and delivery/nursery nurse at Avera St. Mary’s Hospital.

WORDS OF WISDOM

“Ah, hope! What would life be, stripped of thy encouraging smiles, that teach us to look behind the dark clouds of today for the golden beams that are to gild the morrow.”

— Susanna Moodie

DAY BY DAY

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10
A reader of the Update made my week today when he sent a message to the effect that “I miss your daily personal chronicles.” You may not have even noticed that the “Day by Day” section has been missing the last two weeks. But now that I have been supported by ONE reader, I figure he offsets the comment from somebody else three weeks ago that political comments have no place in this publication. Therefore, for this week at least, I am back with my cranky comments on this and that. Nobody pays for this, and nobody is forced to ever click on the link that brings into your circle. If you want to find comments with which you agree, there is always Fox News Channel.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11
When my grandson plays a sport, I naturally want to see him play as much as possible. The oldest of my grandsons is a sophomore at Stevens High School and is the punter for the Raiders football team. So it’s a mixed bag of emotions. To see a punter get as much action as possible means our team’s offense has to fail more often. Unfortunately when six of the nine games on the schedule are against the Metro teams—Lincoln, Washington, O’Gorman, Roosevelt, Harrisburg and Brandon Valley—the chances of the offense having to punt are quite good. Tonight Dylan saw more playing time than usual as the Raiders played Harrisburg, and more often than not he was doing his punting with his heels on the back line of the end zone. So far in three games he has gotten his kicks away without being blasted to smithereens by men twice his size. This week’s opponent is No. 1 Roosevelt. I think I may offer up an even stronger silent prayer for Dylan prior to kickoff. I am thankful almost every school now shows its football games online so I can watch Dylan and the Raiders play, even if I can’t attend their games in person. The school district’s policy here, so far at least, is to limit attendance by giving two passes to each player, so those rightfully go to Dylan’s parents.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12
This must be a banner year for roofing businesses in Rapid City and surrounding area. Somewhere nearby in the neighborhood there are guys up on another roof today, banging away, removing shingles, getting ready to apply new ones with what sound like stapling guns. Back a few weeks in the midst of the midsummer heat when storms boiled up out of Wyoming and came across the Black Hills seemingly every afternoon, we had a stretch of nasty hail storms. They must have done a number on rooftops because in our little neighborhood of about 30 homes, I’m sure every other house has had a roof job in August or September.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 13
Since March the only time I had been at church was on the July 4 weekend when I had to be part of a piano-organ duet during the service. Today I ventured forth, mask in place, and went to our 9 a.m. service, the one where the praise band provides the music. (There is no choir, of course, so there is no reason for me to go at 11:00 any more.) Everyone in the congregation wore a mask. People sat in every third row; otherwise the pews were blocked off by tape. My pew contained me and a lady at the other end, probably 20 feet away. On our side of the center aisle there were probably 15 people at the most. After the service no one was allowed in the foyer where we entered. Instead we exited through exterior doors on both sides of the altar. I’m not sure when or even if things will return to that “normal” we keep hearing people say they want. In the meantime both of our services are livestreamed, and people seem to be watching them from home. I may not return for awhile. For 60-some years I have been an organist or pianist at churches, so even at my age, I find it uncomfortable to sit in the congregation at church. These days we’re told not to sing the hymns, and there is no passing the offering plate or greeting our neighbors. Actually there is nothing to do but sit there. I can do that at home in my bathrobe, coffee cup in hand, while I watch the service on my laptop. My monthly financial contribution to the church is done electronically anyway, so there is no difference to the church whether I am there or not.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14
All kinds of miscellaneous things to get off my chest today: . . . . . It bugs me no end that my phone, when I type a text message that includes the name of my grandson’s high school (Stevens), refuses to write it any way except Steven’s with an apostrophe. . . . . . There won’t be any Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade with those large balloons and all on the streets of New York this fall. (You mean Kristi Noem hasn’t yet invited them to have it in South Dakota?) The big balloons, instead of being guided down the streets by people, will be tethered to stationary vehicles, and the people will come to them instead of vice versa. But there will still be a television show. . . . . . I’m sure it has been dry where you are. A day-long rain on Labor Day was our first rainfall in a very long time, and the cool temperatures that followed, dusting us with a slight coating of snow, ended briefly our experience with grasshoppers. Alas, they are back. Behind our house there is a 40-feet-wide drainage ditch that carries overflow water from somewhere whenever there is a heavy rainfall. It is mowed by the county only twice a year, so the growth of weeds there is a perfect breeding ground for grasshoppers. They filter over into our yards, too, so whenever I walk along the fence at the back of our property the hoppers fly every which way. We have even found a few inside the house from time to time. I thought the freeze on last Monday and Tuesday nights might have ended their presence, but no such luck. . . . . . Even though autumn does not officially begin until next week, to me it is fall, and that means pumpkin everything. I did not know that there is such a product as pumpkin pie ice cream sandwiches available, but I shall purchase some whenever they show up in my grocery store’s freezers. In the meantime my mouth waters. . . . . . One of my favorite and most intelligent readers back in Pierre, Karen Stein, asks, “When did ‘gonna’ replace ‘going to’ in journalism? I see it frequently.” Good question! The violation of the English language that bothered me most this week came on the noontime newscast when the TV anchorwoman, who probably wrote her own news copy, explained how “the cost of living has rose.” . . . . . Nobody said pro basketball players have to be smart to be rich. But I ask you why it ever happens that a guy shooting a three-point basket is fouled. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Let the guy shoot the ball. If it goes in, it is no more serious than his making the three free throws he always makes when you foul him. Stupid! . . . . . It boggles my mind that it was 50 years ago this month that the student bodies of Onida and Blunt high schools were becoming one as the new Sully Buttes High School and, for the most part, getting along with each other. A half-century ago? Impossible! So that means that this month’s Olympian Days homecoming will be the 51st such event up there. That means that those seniors who were crowned emperor and empress (Tim Zebroski and Nancy Lamb) now have to be 68 or 69 years old. What???!!!!! And that means that I must be—well, let’s change the subject. . . . . . LSU says it will allow only 25% capacity at home football games, which means about 25,000 people in the stadium down there in Baton Rouge. The school says “guidelines will be followed.” Sure they will.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15
Every community seems to have at least one. Here we have a whole passel of them. You know, those people who are against everything, who have an opinion on every issue and who delight in stirring the pot. One such woman said at the Rapid City school board meeting last night, as one of her reasons why the schools should immediately open up and have every student in school every day, that she hasn’t seen “anybody dying in the halls yet.” I am quite confident that the school personnel from the highest administrator to the classroom teachers to the non-certified employees in single school buildings who do the dirty work are abused verbally on a daily basis. Today when my daughter-in-law was called by my grandson’s elementary school nurse to come get him because he was not feeling well, the nurse remarked that she was thankful Allison was not mad at her (the nurse). “You have no idea how many times I’m yelled at every day,” the nurse said. If you are one of such parents whose Public School Babysitting Service is not serving you as you would like right now, shame on you. The school people have a lot rougher time of it than you whiny mothers and fathers.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16
More mundane thoughts on mundane subjects, most of which will likely sour to you toward ever reading this section again. . . . . . I saw a suggestion on Facebook the other day from a guy with whom I would like to agree. However, he and I both realize his idea will never happen. He says we, in the next three election cycles, should vote out every incumbent from Congress and the White House (and thus that would take care of the federal offices, too). If we did that, after the next three elections, there would be an entirely new Congress. Wouldn’t that be refreshing! Of course people vote for incumbents either because they belong to their party or they can get you something you want. Great idea. Never happen. Too often once you’re in Congress, you’re there for life. . . . . . So you’re not watching NFL games this season? I know. You want those athletes to stick to sports. Well, fine. Each to his own. But if you don’t watch the NFL, you know what that means. No Super Bowl parties for you! . . . . . The departure of 90- and 100-degree days—I hope!—means I can do my diligence and return to my morning walks along whichever one of the eight neighborhood walking routes I choose on that particular day. I wonder as I pass some of these places, however, how people can stand to live amid such junk. Stuff everywhere from abandoned cars in their yards to piles of weeds and just plain trash. Funny how the status of their yards matches the rest of the locale. I suspect the interior of the house is nothing to write home about either. Don’t tell me it’s a matter of wealth or the lack of it. It doesn’t take riches to pick up around your place and make it look as if you care about where you live. . . . . . With the delayed sports seasons of hockey and basketball due to the pandemic and the continuing baseball season and the newly arrived football season, there are days when all four major sports are going on at the same time. It makes for keeping the remote control device very warm. For awhile on Sunday I had the Patriots’ game on TV, the Twins game on my laptop, and the Cubs’ no-hitter on radio through my computer while checking the Golden Knights-Stars hockey score regularly scrolling across the bottom of the TV screen. . . . . . I wonder why almost every NBA announcer is tempted to tell me the difference in seconds between the shot clock and the game clock, especially since the screen already shows both. The shot clock always has fewer seconds on it than the game clock; otherwise, the shot clock wouldn’t be on at all! I don’t get what point the announcer is trying to make. Perhaps he is trying to point out that the team without the ball will still have so many seconds left with which to do something after the current possession ends. But it bugs me nevertheless as most things do these days. . . . . . In these days of protests, racial and otherwise, I wonder sometimes if people start tuning out the Pledge of Allegiance after they get to the “under God” part. Those who decry people exercising their constitutional rights to protest and offer free speech seem to forget the last six words of the Pledge. . . . . . Some of the legislative candidates in my district have a thing for fancy, glossy brochures sent through the mail. The one that came in today’s mail broadcast loudly the candidates’ endorsement by the NRA and a 100% rating from Right to Life. Photos of fetuses and assault rifles side by side seem a bit hypocritical to me and lead me straight from the mailbox to the dumpster to get rid of such candidates’ materials. I realize, however, that these issues bind the majority of South Dakotans to their candidates and that the candidates probably can’t win without support from those two groups. As those people tell me way too often, “If you don’t like it here, leave.” Such a Christian sentiment!

CROSSWORD PUZZLE ANSWER

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PARKER’S COLUMN

Let’s hope for a long fall

Six years ago next week I wrote one of my regular columns for the Custer Chronicle from here in Rapid City with that same headline: “Let’s hope for a long fall.”

A young filmmaker/actor/musician back in Pierre at that time would post on Facebook each morning a question to promote discussion. “What is your favorite thing about fall?” he asked. I wrote at that time there are too many great things about fall to enumerate and then proceeded to do just that. I shall do the same today.

First there’s the cooler weather—days and nights. Throwing an extra quilt on the bed is no problem for me. The big dogs and the fat cat who sometimes sleep alongside or on top of me all enjoy the extra warmth. LIkewise, finding extra T-shirts, sweaters and jackets to wear outdoors is a task I can handle, once I find where I put them last spring.

Then there are the colors of this season—the reds, the oranges, the yellows, the crimsons, the scarlet’s. We ask for several weeks of autumnal beauty this year. We deserve it. Though I seldom venture up into the Hills, I may do so this fall since I haven’t left the city limits of Rapid City since May of 2019!

There is the baseball season. Especially this year with a shortened 60-game season compacted into two frantic months, September means magic numbers and most games with playoff implications. Starting on Sept. 29 there will be three weeks of playoff ball leading up to the World Series, which I will watch religiously unless it’s a Dodgers-Yanks affair, in which case I will take evening walks instead.

Fall also means football although this year it means only via TV for me. Here in Rapid City the attendance at high school games is restricted to a few passes per participating student, and as for college ball the Hardrockers’ season has been reduced to five games in all, three of them at home. I think I can still attend a couple JV games in which my grandson participates without any crowd restrictions in play. Fall does mean participating in pick-the-winner contests with friends from Custer days. And it means my favorite sports show on TV, the Saturday morning “Game Day” on ESPN from a different campus each week. Now that the Big 10 plans to return a month from now there will be more variety than having to watch nothing but games from the South.

Usually this time of year brings the prospect of going downtown to Rapid City Rush hockey games. Not this year—not at least until December.

If the weather stays nice, fall is also nice because of cross country. I don’t have a grand-kid in that sport right now, but the image of kids in various schools’ colors running amid the hues of fall is a spectacular one. And if the SDHSAA follows through, the state meet comes west this year.

This season is the best for non-sports reasons, too. But not this year. The various arts groups usually begin their seasons. The community theater organizations have their fall shows, the symphony provides a reason to dress up on a Saturday night or work as house manager as I usually do, the Broadway series ramps up at the civic center, bringing professional talent to town from far away, and the hometown schools fill our calendars with plays and concerts. But as I said—not this year.

When it comes to fall, is there anything better than the church suppers and bazaars? From chili suppers to turkey dinners to wild game feeds, nobody prepares home-cooked meals like the church ladies. But not this year.

Speaking of churches, one of my personally favorite signs of fall is the return of the choirs for those churches lucky enough to still have enough people willing to commit to such a weekly effort. But not this year.

Fall brings the arrival of the new TV shows. The networks have their fall premieres all in the same week. But not this year. The pandemic limited the ability of producers to get crowds of actors together, so many of the new shows won’t show up until winter.

Autumn means pumpkin this and pumpkin that from latte to cookie dough. At least we still have that this year! It means a pumpkin festival downtown where the college students at Mines rig up devices that catapult pumpkins hundreds of feet in competition with each other. It means spectacular harvest moons and frosty windshields in the mornings and hints of ice in the dogs’ water dishes. It means Halloween, and chances are even the governor will approve of wearing masks that one night. It means the sounds of marching bands reverberating across towns lucky enough to have them in their schools. It means glorious homecoming parades at least at the high schools if not at the colleges where there is no football. It also means another election season, but this year there is barely a human alive who won’t thrill for the morning of Nov. 4 to arrive, hoping it’s all over by that time and that the loser steps aside gracefully.

So what’s great about fall? A lot of things, many of them missing this year but a few of them still around. I’m out of here, headed downtown for a walk along the creek where the first few tinges of fall colors are in evidence.