THOUGHT FOR TODAY

“If a problem is fixable, if a situation is such that you can do something about it, then there is no need to worry. If it’s not fixable, then there is no help in worrying. There is no benefit in worrying whatsoever.”
— Dalai Lama XIV

ELECTION COUNTDOWN

15 days: First day of absentee voting and in-person voting at county auditors’ offices (Sept. 23).
46 days: Voter registration deadline for general election (Oct. 24).
61 days: Election Day (Nov. 8).

PIERRE GOVERNORS SPORTS ROUNDUP

This week’s schedules:
— THURSDAY
Cross country: at Aberdeen Central invitational, 3 p.m.
Girls soccer: at Harrisburg, 5 p.m.
Boys soccer: at Harrisburg, 7 p.m.
— FRIDAY
Boys golf: at Yankton invitational, 9 a.m.
Volleyball: at Sturgis, 7 p.m.
— SATURDAY
Girls tennis: at Huron quadrangular (vs. Brookings, 9 a.m.; vs. Watertown, 11:30 a.m.; vs. Huron, 2 p.m.).
Girls soccer: home vs. Brandon Valley, noon.
Boys soccer: home vs. Brandon Valley, 2 p.m.
Volleyball: at Spearfish, 2 p.m.
Football: home vs. Mitchell, 7 p.m.
— MONDAY
Boys golf: at Brookings invitational, 10 a.m.
— TUESDAY
Volleyball: home vs. Sioux Falls Washington, 7 p.m.

Girls soccer (5-2): The Governors were down 3-0 but scored four times in the last 19 minutes to beat Mitchell, 4-3. The first goal came off Grace Richter’s foot, then off the bodies of Ryann Barry and Lexie Hillmer. Barry scored to cut the deficit to 3-2, Bria Sargent tied it up at 3-3, and a Barry goal from Gracelyn Taylor put Pierre in the lead inside the final two minutes.

Boys soccer (4-2-1): The Governor boys dominated Mitchell to the tune of 8-1. Cesar Ramirez scored the first goal, and the halftime score was 1-1, but in the second half Rylen Derry had a hat trick, Ashton Griese scored two, and Elias Gilk and Brady Miller each scored once.

Football (2-0): The Pierre offense operated smoothly as it always does, but the defense shared the spotlight at SDSU’s stadium as the Governors rolled Brookings, 48-0. The defense held the Bobcats to a total of 68 yards. Lincoln Kienholz connected with Jett Zabel on a 17-yard touchdown on a third-and-16 play for the first score. After a Gavin Stotts interception the Govs capitalized when Kienholz ran it in from six yards away. Spencer Easland intercepted a pass, setting up two more Pierre touchdowns that were nullified by penalties. In the second quarter with Pierre already ahead 14-0, Kienholz scored on a 15-yard TD run, Brock Moser plunged in from the seven, and Kienholz powered ahead from a yard away for a 34-0 halftime advantage. Andrew Campea had added on four extra-point kicks by that time. In the third quarter a Kienholz-to-Jack Merkwan 27-yard touchdown made it 41-0, and Kienholz found Cade Kaiser down the left sideline on a 45-yard scoring play that ended the scoring. The rest of the game was played with a running clock. Pierre’s opportunistic offense connected on seven of nine third-down chances in the first half alone.

Cheer/dance: At their home invitational the Governors’ cheer team placed ninth. The dance team, however, was the team champion overall and placed first in both pom and hip hop.

Girls tennis (11-3): The Governor girls are off to an 11-3 start in duals this season. In the past week Pierre edged Mitchell, 5-4; lost to Yankton, 6-3; whitewashed Madison, 9-0; swept Aberdeen Roncalli, 9-0, and did the same to Rapid City Central, 9-0. In the Mitchell dual Kara Weiss, Sydney Tedrow, Ella Fisk and Kourtney Walti won in singles, and the Weiss/Tedrow doubles team also won. In the Yankton loss the Pierre points were achieved by Marlee Shorter and Walti in singles and the Shorter/Walti doubles pair. On Tuesday in the home triangular with Roncalli and Central, Caitlin Ott had an amazing advantage of 40-1 in points over her two singles opponents in rolling to a pair of 10-0 sweeps.

Volleyball (6-0): There were three 3-0 sweeps for the Governors this week. In a win over Douglas the game scores were 25-15, 25-16, 25-8. Avyrie Kaiser had 13 kills, Lily Sanchez nine kills and Reese Terwilliger six service aces. As Pierre swept Aberdeen Central on game scores of 25-18, 25-22, 28-26, Kaiser had 10 kills, Sanchez nine kills, and Campbell Boddicker seven kills. On Tuesday in a win over Mitchell on scores of 25-22, 25-19, 25-15, Kaiser had 19 kills and Boddicker six.

STANLEY COUNTY BUFFALOES SPORTS ROUNDUP

This week’s schedules:
— THURSDAY
Volleyball: at Philip, 6:30 p.m.
— SATURDAY
Cross country: at Ipswich invitational, 10 a.m.
Volleyball: at Mobridge-Pollock tournament, 10 a.m.

Volleyball: In a home triangular the Buffalo girls lost to White River in a tight 3-2 match and swept Little Wound 3-0. The game scores against White River were 25-21, 25-22, 23-25, 23-25, 4-15. In the win the game scores were 25-8, 25-16, 25-10.

Football (1-2): The Buffaloes outscored Dupree, 42-29, for their first win in three games. Brock Zeeb threw two touchdown passes to Barrett Schweitzer and one to Chase Hanson. Colton Brady ran in two touchdowns.

SULLY BUTTES CHARGERS SPORTS ROUNDUP

This week’s schedules:
— FRIDAY
Football: home vs. Sunshine Bible, 7 p.m.
— SATURDAY
Cross country: at Ipswich invitational, 10 a.m.
Volleyball: at Philip tournament, 10 a.m.

Football (3-0): The surprising Chargers soared to a 3-0 record with a 52-16 win at faraway Langford Area. Touchdown scampers by Thomas Farries from one and 61 yards out, a Landon Hepker touchdown pass to Trever Marshall covering five yards, and a TD pass from Hepker to Gavin Barber covering 50 yards made it 30-8 in Sully Buttes’ favor by halftime. Farries scored two more times on TD runs of 11 and 20 yards. SBHS accumulated 317 yards on the ground and 141 through the air. Langford had only 160 total yards of offense.

Volleyball (3-5): The Charger girls lost to Miller, 3-0, by game scores of 19-25, 10-25, 10-25, and Lydia Hill had seven kills. In a 3-1 loss to Ipswich the game scores were 26-24, 15-25, 16-25, 20-25. The season’s record in duals is 3-5.

ZESTO SHERBET SCHEDULE

Thursday: coconut.
Friday-Sunday: tutti fruitti.
Monday-Wednesday: blackberry.
Thursday: lime.

COLLEGE SPORTS ROUNDUP

Northern State football (Jacob Howard): The Wolves rolled Upper Iowa, 30-0, in the season opener at home. Jacob is a starter on the offensive line for Northern, and he was named one of the four team captains, too. NSU takes its 1-0 record to Wayne State in Nebraska for a 6 p.m. kickoff Saturday.

Augustana football (Jett Lamb, Colton Hartford): The Vikings won their season opener at Concordia-St. Paul, 28-14. Jett played on the defensive line and was credited with one quarterback hit. Colton played in the defensive backfield and had one assisted tackle. Now 1-0, Augie has its home opener against Bemidji State at 1 p.m. Saturday. This game and all Augie home games can be seen at 1 p.m. CDT on KELOXTRA.

Black Hills State football (Josh Breske): Josh’s Yellowjacket team won their season opener at Dickinson State in North Dakota, 17-2. A relief quarterback came off the bench in the second half to throw for 210 yards and two scores. Now 1-0, BHSU is home Saturday vs. William Jewell (Mo.).

University of Sioux Falls cross country (Jessica Lutmer): At the Augustana twilight meet Jessica placed 65th out of 313 runners with a time of 19:31.93. The USF women placed ninth in team standings. The USF runners go to the SDSU Classic on Friday.

Northwestern (Iowa) football (Morris Hofer): In a season-opening clash between two of the best NAIA teams in the nation, Northwestern lost to Morningside in Sioux City, 30-29. Morningside went ahead by nine with 11:03 left, and when Northwestern scored with 4:02 left, the Raiders were still a point behind. Mo was credited with one solo tackle and three assisted tackles. Now 0-1, Northwestern hosts Dakota Wesleyan at 1 p.m. Saturday in Orange City.

Augustana men’s golf (Bennett Geraets): For his first college tournament Bennett earned a spot among Augustana’s top four golfers, and those four men played at the NSIC fall preview tournament at Winona, Minn., Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. The team finished 14th among 14 teams. Individual score totals were not immediately available, but Bennett did have four birdies in his two rounds. Next on the fall schedule will be Bemidji State’s invitational Sept. 12-13.

South Dakota women’s soccer (Joana Zanin, Janaina Zanin): The Coyotes couldn’t find any offense on a trip west, losing at Southern Utah, 2-0, and at Utah Tech, 5-0. In the latter match Joana had one shot on goal. Now 1-5-1, USD hosts Drake tonight and plays at Iowa State Sunday.

Dakota Wesleyan cross country (Morgan Oedekoven Carr): Morgan didn’t run with the Tigers at the Augustana twilight meet since she was busy last weekend getting married. The DWU runners compete in Madison Saturday at the Herb Blakely Invitational.

Dakota Wesleyan football (Evan Nordstrom): The Tigers lost at Jamestown College, 34-30, as the Jimmies scored a touchdown with 1:38 left to take the lead. Now 0-2, DWU plays at Northwestern College Saturday.

Charleston volleyball (Jaxin Melby): The Charleston volleyballers in West Virginia split four matches last weekend. Jaxin played in one set in a 3-2 win over Spring Hill; played in one set and had a kill and two digs in a 3-2 win over Rollins; played in one set and had two kills and a dig in a 3-0 loss to Barry, and played in a set in a 3-1 loss to Florida Tech. Now 6-2, Charleston is home Friday and Saturday with matches against Salem University, Bloomsburg, Virginia State and Belmont Abbey.

Dakota State football (Collin Brueggeman, Nathan Cook, Jaden Flor): The Trojans lost at Wisconsin-La Crosse, 42-7. Now 1-1, DSU is off until a Sept. 17 league game at Waldorf.

North Dakota State football (Grey Zabel): The Bison roared past Drake, 56-14, to open the season. NDSU is home again Saturday against North Carolina A&T.

Missouri Baptist football (Shawn Schnabel): MBU won over Iowa Wesleyan in the fourth overtime, 25-23. Now 1-1, Missouri Baptist plays Saturday at Madonna University in Michigan.

Gallaudet football (Kyle Albertson): Gallaudet lost its season opener to Waynesburg (Pa.), 52-14, but Kyle, only a freshman, got into the game. Gallaudet is home in Washington, D.C., Saturday vs. Greensboro.

South Dakota State football (Regan Bollweg): It was 3-3 at halftime, and the Jackrabbits gave Iowa a battle before falling 7-3. The Hawkeye points came on a field goal and two safeties as the defenses were the big stars of the game. Now 0-1, SDSU is home at 6 p.m. Saturday against Cal-Davis on Midco Sports Network.

St. Thomas women’s soccer (Molly Knoblauch): The Tommies shut down two opponents this week, tying Idaho 0-0 and beating Northern Iowa 3-0. Now 3-1-1, St. Thomas hosts Marquette Thursday.

Lafayette men’s soccer (Eric Axtman): The Leopards defeated Mt. St. Mary’s of Maryland, 2-1, and defeated Drexel, 2-0. Now 3-1, Lafayette goes to Temple Friday and to St. Francis in Brooklyn Tuesday.

St. Joseph’s men’s soccer (John Axtman): John has a starting role as a forward for the Hawks, who this week had a pair of 1-1 ties against Boston University and Delaware. Now 0-1-2, St. Joe’s is home vs. Cornell Saturday and goes to Drexel Tuesday.

COUNTDOWN

1 day: South Dakota Hall of Fame induction events, Chamberlain (Sept. 9-10).
1 day: Badlands Sabres hockey season opener, Rapid City (Sept. 9).
3 days: Minnesota Vikings season opener vs. Green Bay (Sept. 11).
4 days: Sanford International golf tournament events, Sioux Falls (Sept. 12-18).
4 days: Riggs High homecoming coronation (Sept. 12).
5 days: Stanley County High homecoming coronation (Sept. 13).
7 days: Riggs High homecoming parade (Sept. 15).
8 days: Riggs High homecoming day (Sept. 16).
8 days: South Dakota Film Festival, Aberdeen (Sept. 16-18).
15 days: South Dakota Festival of Books, Brookings (Sept. 23-25).
15 days: Stanley County High homecoming day (Sept. 23).
15 days: First day of absentee voting for general election (Sept. 23).
16 days: Trojan Day at Dakota State (Sept. 24).
16 days: Cougar Day at USF (Sept. 24).
16 days: “M” Day at School of Mines (Sept. 24).
16 days: Swarm Day at Black Hills State (Sept. 24).
17 days: South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame inductions, Sioux Falls (Sept. 25).
22 days: Smith-Noem gubernatorial candidates debate, Rapid City (Sept. 30).
22 days: Custer State Park buffalo roundup (Sept. 30).
23 days: Homecoming at Northwestern (Iowa) (Oct. 1).
23 days: Homecoming at North Dakota State (Oct. 1).
23 days: Homecoming at Minnesota (Oct. 1).
23 days: Homecoming at Nebraska (Oct. 1).

BASEBALL UPDATE

Minnesota Twins schedule:
— Thursday, at New York Yankees, 6:05 p.m.
— Friday, Cleveland, 7:10 p.m.
— Saturday, Cleveland, 6:15 p.m.
— Sunday, Cleveland, 1:10 p.m.
— Tuesday, Kansas City, 6:40 p.m.
— Wednesday, Kansas City, 6:40 p.m.
— Thursday, Kansas City, 6:40 p.m.

Sioux Falls Canaries: The last series of the season resulted in three losses in four games to Winnipeg, concluding with a 10-1 defeat on Labor Day. The Canaries ended the season with a 33-67 record.

WORDS OF WISDOM

“History and common sense tell us that opportunity, liberty and justice for all are most likely to come to pass in a democracy. Our task is to make our nation free and fair, just and strong, noble and whole. We just need to remember who we are. We are the United States of America.”
— President Joe Biden in Philadelphia, 9/1/22

FOOTBALL UPDATE

Where is Brandon Cruse? You can find out which NFL game he and his crew will be working by going to www.footballzebras.com starting today (Thursday) when the Week #1 assignments are posted. Brandon is part of the Carl Cheffers crew.

Midco Sports Network live games this weekend:
— Thursday: Volleyball, North Dakota vs. Montana State, 7 p.m.
— Friday: High school football, Wahpeton vs. Fargo North, 7 p.m. (MSN2).
— Saturday: College football, USD vs. Montana, 2:30 p.m.
— Saturday: High school football, Sioux Falls Washington vs. Sioux Falls Roosevelt, 3:30 p.m. (MSN2).
— Saturday: High school football, Sioux Falls Jefferson vs. Sioux Falls Lincoln, 7 p.m. (MSN2).
— Saturday: College football, SDSU vs. UC-Davis, 6 p.m.

Hot Springs High School football (Ben Kramer): Coach Ben’s Bison clobbered Lakota Tech, 54-0, to improve to 2-1 for the season. Hot Springs plays all the way across the state at Dell Rapids this Friday.

Aberdeen Central High School football (Justin Briese): The schedule makers at the SDHSAA did no favors for Justin’s Golden Eagles in his first year as head coach. After having to face Pierre and then Tea Area, to whom they lost 35-0 last week, Aberdeen gets a game in which it has a chance. The Eagles play at Sturgis this week.

Minnesota Vikings: A season with much hope in the air begins at home at 3:25 p.m. Sunday against Green Bay on Fox.

Denver Broncos: The Broncos with former Seahawk Russell Wilson as quarterback go to Seattle for the season opener at 7:20 p.m. Monday on ESPN.

NFL games on live local TV this week:
— Thursday: Buffalo at Los Angeles Rams, 7:20 p.m., NBC.
— Sunday: San Francisco at Chicago, noon, Fox.
— Sunday: Pittsburgh at Cincinnati, noon, CBS.
— Sunday: Green Bay at Minnesota, 3:25 p.m., Fox.
— Sunday: Kansas City at Arizona, 3:25 p.m., CBS.
— Sunday: Tampa Bay at Dallas, 7:20 p.m., NBC.
— Monday: Denver at Seattle, 7:15 p.m., ESPN.
(NOTE: The games the NFL sends to our area are always subject to change at the whim of the networks and the league, so consider these listings tentative at best. Also the local stations have not yet posted their NFL coverage schedules as they have in the past.)

Class 11AA roundup:
— Last week’s scores:
Pierre 48, Brookings 0.
Tea Area 35 Aberdeen Central 0.
Watertown 34, Huron 19.
Yankton 38, Spearfish 0.
Mitchell 36, Sturgis 22.
Rapid City Stevens 66, Douglas 8.
— This week’s games:
Mitchell at Pierre (Saturday).
Douglas at Spearfish.
Brookings at Huron.
Watertown at Yankton.
Aberdeen Central at Sturgis.
Sioux Falls O’Gorman at Tea Area.
— Records against 11AA teams:
2-0: Pierre, Yankton Tea Area.
1-1: Brookings, MItchell, Watertown.
0-0: Douglas.
0-1: Sturgis, Spearfish.
0-2: Aberdeen Central, Huron.

FOOTBALL CONTEST #4

Last week there were far too few upsets as the “big boys” of football, for the most part, won big over their opponents. But the LSU loss to Florida State and in a few cases the losses by Utah and Notre Dame messed up some of our contestants’ entries. Nevertheless, the games I picked were obviously too easy. Mikal Kern, Nathan Vetter and Jake Bartels rang the bell with 9-1 records for 10 points each. At 8-2 for nine points each were Dawn Magee, Jon Boer, David Ludwig, Thomas Voeltz, Brad Cruse, Seb Axtman, Kyle Richards, Levi Neuharth and Jason Noyes. At 7-3 for eight points each were Beth Rinehart and Randy Pool.

Contest #4 (everyone welcome; send your 10 winners to parkerhome16@hotmail.com by Saturday morning):
(1) Tennessee at Pittsburgh.
(2) Iowa State at Iowa.
(3) Baylor at BYU.
(4) Georgia Southern at Nebraska.
(5) UC-Davis at SDSU.
(6) Washington State at Wisconsin.
(7) USC at Stanford.
(8) NFL: San Francisco at Chicago.
(9) NFL: Green Bay at Minnesota;
(10) NFL: Tampa Bay at Dallas.

SOCCER UPDATE

Minnesota United FC: The Loons’ strong drive toward the playoffs took a pair of wrong turns last week in 3-0 losses to Real Salt Lake and Dallas. Minnesota plays at Portland at 8 p.m. Saturday.

GOLF UPDATE

PGA Champions Tour (Tom Byrum): The Sioux Falls stop on the Champions Tour is only two weeks away. After being idle over the holiday weekend, the Tour goes to St. Louis for the Ascension Classic this Friday through Sunday.

HOCKEY UPDATE

Badlands Sabres (Mason Martin): Rapid City’s team in the NA3HL league opens its second season at home against Helena Friday and Saturday at 7:05 p.m. Mason is the son of Pierre native Stuart Martin.

PARKER’S PERSONAL NOTES

• Our own Tim Schmidt (Riggs ’92) is a member of the National Lutheran Choir, but I suspect not even he can imagine being part of a concert like the one which will observe the 151st anniversary of the legendary choir director F. Melius Christiansen at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis on Nov. 20 at 2 and 6:30 p.m. Joining the National Lutheran Choir will be the elite choirs from these Minnesota schools—Augsburg, Concordia-Moorhead, Concordia-St. Paul, Gustavus Adolphus and St. Olaf. Each choir will appear as a solo ensemble, but all of them will join for a commissioned finale. For ticket information go to www.minnesotaorchestra.org/FMC151.
• This has been one of those weeks when, upon leaving the supermarket where the air conditioning has the temperature down into what seems like the 40-degree range, it feels great to get outside to get warm again.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“I don’t know what word in the English language—I can’t find one—that applies to people who are willing to sacrifice the literal existence of organized human life so they can put a few more dollars into highly overstuffed pockets. The word ‘evil’ doesn’t begin to approach it.”
— Noam Chomsky

BIRTHDAYS/ANNIVERSARIES

Thursday, Sept. 8:
Charley Grace Crawford, Chase Blair, Mary Askren, Stuart Martin, Ashley (Iverson) Feyereisen, Jessica Bucholz, Ryan Lauseng, Cindy Bahe, Pam Durkin, Demaris Axthelm.
— 4th anniversary, Mitch/Rachelle (Schmidt) Likness.
— 4th anniversary, Rick/Krista (Oehlerking Morris) Miller.
— 10th anniversary, Mark/Jessica Hardwick.
— 16th anniversary, Allen/Lindsay (Lower) Uecker.
— 15th anniversary, John/Ashley (Roemen) Keyes.
— 15th anniversary, David/Kaishia (Bernard) Anderson.
— 10th anniversary, Jason/Codi Kinsman.
— 15th anniversary, Andrew/Maggie (Moisan) Eickbush.
— 4th anniversary, Josh/Kelsy Vogt.
— 15th anniversary, Aaron/Ashley Denton.

Friday, Sept. 9:
Katie Hiemstra, Lilian Cruse, Chase Hight, Taylor Flannery, John Moisan, Chandler Bartholomew, Heather (Juhala) Maxwell, Bobbi (Martin) Drewes, Michael Ahlers, Megan Johnson, Linda (Fjelstad) Schumacher, Samantha (Merrill) Pietz, Aubree Withers.
— 5th anniversary, Charlie/Carrie (Erickson) Kaufman.
— 5th anniversary, Mic/Nicole (Madden) Stulken.
— 16th anniversary, Matt/Sara (Schneider) Odden.
— 16th anniversary, Dustin/Joanne (Berg) Hight.
— 17th anniversary, Chad/Jenny (Riis) Babcock.

Saturday, Sept. 10:
Jessica Simons, Laurie Feiler, Morgan Hanmson, Carrie (Rounds) Larson, Shelbi (Hostler) Schimpf, Deb Bumann, Tom Ellefson, Dan Brummer, Chris Eich, Kathy (Goc) Hoisington.
— 1st anniversary, Kyle/Amanda Kurth.
— 11th anniversary, Ron/Nerissa (Gallagher) Strait.
— 11th anniversary, Daris/Kelsey (Dunwoody) Kampfe.
— 11th anniversary, Mikal/Myriah Kern.
— 11th anniversary, Travis/June (Stewart) Kelly.

Sunday, Sept. 11:
Nancy Gonsor, Bob Gill, Jason Young, Bennett Eisenbeisz, Dawn Marso, Joan Likness, Gail Lyngstad, Jamie Van Winsen, Tim Marshall, Jason Nowak.
— 57th anniversary, Dick/Joy Christoffer.

Monday, Sept. 12:
Brittney Kirkpatrick, Noah Sprenkle, John Keyes, Lois Fuller, Erin Harmon, William Maurice, Brittany (Guindon) Meiners, Randy McKee, Samantha Harris, Jen de Hueck.
— 7th anniversary, Nick/Ally (Kraemer) Formanek.
— 24th anniversary, Ryan/Lisa (Ries) Kramer.
— 14th anniversary, Guy/Mikayla (Mikkelsen) Frick.
— 13th anniversary, Jason/Sarah Sass.
— 7th anniversary, Aaron/Kelsey (Wilson) Trimble.
— 13th anniversary, Drew/Catherine Sweetman.
— 25th anniversary, Tom/Molly Valentine.

Tuesday, Sept. 13:
Joe Tetzlaff, Jonalyn Beastrom, Katie Ludemann, Bauer Bollinger, Andrew Smith, Kevin Tveidt, Nancy (Pottratz) Kennedy, Jean Lakner, Emma Wylie, Cody Richter, Denise (Lamb) Wilkins, Ryan Grandpre, Laura (Joachim) Hansen.
— 8th anniversary, Ryan/Dani Tobin.
— 59th anniversary, Dick/Mary Carter.

Wednesday, Sept. 14:
Cora Stahl, Sam Ellefson, Levi Neuharth, Elle Marie Smith, Kaitlyn Bruns, Luke Deal, Lisa Forest, Finn Mancuso, Barry Massey, Mark Mancuso.
— 15th anniversary, Jeff/Brianne (Barnett) Roby.
— 20th anniversary, Matt/Kim Brakke.
— 9th anniversary Torey/Christina (Ahrendt) Garrett.
— 9th anniversary, Mitch/Stephanie (Dvorak) Delvo.
— 9th anniversary, Jordan/Shelby (Badger) Heckenlaible.
— We remember Robert Disburg on his birthday.

Thursday, Sept. 15:
Austin Munyon, Dan Swenson, Emily Coolidge, Brie Mikkelsen, Rondell LeBeau, Steven Long, Louisa Corbin, Amber Gloe, Heather Stoeser.
— 10th anniversary, Dustin/Justine (Berven) Drew.
— 10th anniversary, Allan/Krista (Wilson) Rounds.
— 15th anniversary, Jimmy/Sandy (Krom) Bauer.
— We remember Donna Fjelstad on her birthday.

NEWS OF PEOPLE AND EVENTS

Shelby Guthrie has begun her first of two years of graduate school at UMass-Lowell in Lowell, Mass. Meanwhile, Karissa Guthrie has gone back to Chicago for her last nine months of dental school.

Katie Carter’s daughter, Ev Cordts, has begun her senior year in high school in Bemidji, Minn. Katie continues her career on the air at PBS stations KAXE and KBXE in Bemidji and Grand Rapids.

Tanner Kromarek, 31, Sioux Falls, formerly of Pierre, died unexpectedly of complications from diabetes. Services were held Wednesday at Lutheran Memorial Church in Pierre. Tanner graduated from Riggs High School in 2010. He attended SDSU, Southeast Tech and Nebraska-Kearney, earning a degree in astronomy from the latter school in 2018. Survivors include his daughter, Kennedy Herman of Sioux Falls; his parents, Twyla (Todd) Hanson and Scott (Deni) Kromarek, all of Pierre; his brothers, Tyree Millin of Pierre, James Blackmore of Volga and Nic Blackmore of Volga; his sister Justine (Cody) Garber of Kadoka, and his grandmothers, Donna Kromarek of Hastings, Minn., and Lynn Schul of Emily, Minn. He was preceded in death by grandparents George and Darleen Millin, Rew and Joyce Hanson, Allan Kromarek and Larry Schul.

Cobey Carr and Morgan Oedekoven were married Saturday, Sept. 3. The two Riggs High alumni are both students at Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell.

Seth Benson, Iowa linebacker wearing #44 who played against SDSU last Saturday, is the son of former Sully Buttes coach Chuck Benson of Sioux Falls. His dad, his mother (the former JoElle Byre), his brother and his sister were all athletes at SDSU in their own college days.

Tyler Yach is a senior, and McKenna Yach a sophomore at White Bear Lake High School in the northern St. Paul suburbs. They are the children of Joe and Julia (Guhin) Yach.

Seniors selected as members of the Riggs High School homecoming royalty were these young women—Madilyn Brakke, Autumn Iverson, Sarah Mohr, Remi Price, Kendra Rounds, Lily Sanchez, Gianna Stangeland—and these young men—Hudson Allen, Kasey Broers, Deegan Houska, Jacob Mayer, Brecken Krueger, Gavin Stotts, Jayden Wiebe.

Raymond McDorman, 87, died Aug. 31 at Highmore Healthcare. A private family service will be held at a later date. He graduated from Watertown High School in 1954 and married Betty Englund in 1956. They had two children, Jeff “Mabes” McDorman and Kristi Berheim. The family moved to Pierre in 1957. Raymond worked at the bridge division of the Department of Transportation but also worked part-time at State Theater and Thompson/Isburg Funeral Home. He retired from the state as acting state engineer in 1995. Raymond was also a pilot and frequently flew the governor and other state employees. He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Betty McDorman; his daughter, Kristi (John) Berheim; two grandsons; his brother-in-law, Randy Englund, and three nephews and two nieces.

Joan Likness’ 90th birthday comes up this Sunday, Sept. 11. Friends can send her greetings at 407 N. Harrison, Pierre SD 57501.

The South Dakota death toll from COVID-19 has surpassed the 3,000 mark. This week’s announcement of COVID-related deaths in the state since the pandemic began now stands at 3,002.

Josh and Heather (Clausen) Redetzke live in Eagan, Minn., in the southwest Minneapolis suburbs. Their kids in school are Macy, a high school junior, and Trey, a seventh grader. Heather is a transportation engineer with Isthmus Engineering.

Since the Jesse Ahlers family moved to Minnesota earlier this year, the start of the school year Tuesday meant new schools and new friends for his and Megan’s children. Son Brayden is in sixth grade, son Carter is in fourth grade and daughter Cortlyn is in second grade. The Ahlers family live in Minnetrista, a far western Minneapolis suburb on the western shore of Lake Minnetonka as Jesse continues his long career with 3M.

Rodney Frazier, 81, died unexpectedly at home Sept. 1. Services were held Tuesday at the Isburg Funeral Chapel. He attended a rural school near Miller until his family moved to Pierre. He was part of the first graduating class from Riggs High School in 1959. He served in the U.S. Army until his discharge in 1965. Rodney married Margaret Schilling in 1965. A 35-year career with the Department of Transportation ended with his retirement in 1999. Survivors include his son Richard (Debbie) Frazier of Winner; his daughters, Brenda (Tim) Big Eagle of Sioux Falls and Susan Frazier of Pierre; his brother, Donald Frazier; his brother-in-law, William Schilling; six grandchildren and a great-grandchild.

Brian Williams of Sioux Falls, whose wife is the former Anne Burchill, finished his seventh triathlon of the summer at Angostura Reservoir near Hot Springs. The triathlon involves a one-mile swim, a 10K run and a 24-mile bicycle ride.

Entering Coeur d’Alene High School in far northern Idaho for the new school year were the sons of Andy and Joie (Schuetzle) Jockheck. Carter is a sophomore, and Bennett is a freshman.

In the farming community of Rushmore, Minn., Stephanie (Collison) and Ryan Thier have their five kids back in school. Ryker is a ninth grader, Lucy is an eighth grader, Stella is a sixth grader, Hazel is a fourth grader, and Wren is a second grader.

PAWS Animal Rescue will host its annual turkey dinner on a drive-through basis out of First United Methodist Church from 5 to 7 p.m. next Monday, Sept. 12. The cost is a free-will donation.

The six Vandel grandchildren have returned to school. George and Stephanie (Ellenbecker) Vandel’s kids in Sioux Falls include Ayden, a college freshman; Nolan, a high school sophomore, and Makaylah, a seventh grader. The sons of Bret and Ambuer Vandel-Jaacks at Flandreau include Samuel, a ninth grader; Jace, a seventh grader, and Cade, a fifth grader.

Melody (Maher) Hackett, 60, died Sept. 2 at home in Fort Pierre. Services were held Wednesday at St. John’s Catholic Church. The daughter of William J. and IdaBelle (Smith) Maher grew up on a ranch on Grey Goose Road north of Pierre. Melody grew into a true cowgirl, attended an auctioneering school in Texas during high school and participated in all phases of rodeo for many years from 4-H and youth rodeos through high school and college rodeos and on to the WPRA. She was state high school barrel-racing champion. She met three-sport college athlete Mark Hackett, and she became an athlete in sports not involving horses. They were married in 1984, and both played softball for many years as well as transporting their daughters’ traveling teams. Even after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Melody competed in half-marathons. She reveled in her new role as a grandmother. Survivors include her husband, Mark Hackett; her daughters, Lyndsey Hackett and Taylor (Bryce Carpenter) Hackett; her granddaughter, Myken Ann; her sisters, Sherry (Calvin) Taylor and Holly Williams; her brothers, Shawn Maher and Dawayne Maher, and a special “daughter,” Ashley Newcomer Moore.

The candidates for homecoming king at Stanley County High School are Colt Norman, Jackson Robbennolt, Nathaniel Nelson and Max Scott. The queen candidates are Abby Wyly, Olivia Chase, Aleeyah Schilling and Kori Endres.

At Sully Buttes High School the candidates for emperor of Olympian Days LIII are Tyler Marshall, Landon Hepker, Thomas Farries, Reese Voorhees and Marshall Wittler. The empress candidates are Caitlin Birney, Courtney Weinheimer, Lydia Hill, Allyson Wittler and Calleigh Chicoine. Escorting the royalty will be Shane Duffel and Saige Heath.

The South Dakota Retailers Association announced the winners of the annual grocery bagging competition held at the State Fair in Huron. Among 10 contestants Eli Schipper, an employee of Fairway in Harrisburg and a freshman at Augustana University, was the winner. He is the son of Pierre native Jason Schipper and his wife Sandy, and his paternal grandparents are former Pierre residents Lloyd and Jeannette Schipper. Eli won $200 cash and a trip to the national competition in Las Vegas in February. Second place went to Mary Peters of Buche Foods in Wagner, and third went to Natasha Artz of Fair City Foods in Huron. Contestants had to bag identical grocery orders. They were judged on speed, bag-building technique, uniform bag weight and personal attitude and appearance. Eli has worked at Fairway in Harrisburg during high school and is still employed there as he starts college.

Patrick Wellner placed first in the men’s solo division and third overall in the first Mississippi River 48 Paddle Race earlier this summer. The race covered 43 miles in Minnesota from Clearwater to Anoka. Pat’s time was 4 hours, 50 minutes.

PONDER THIS

“I want to be crystal clear about what’s on the ballot this year. Your right to choose is on the ballot this year. The Social Security you paid for from the time you had a job is on the ballot. The safety of our kids from gun violence is on the ballot. The very survival of our planet is on the ballot. Your right to vote is on the ballot. Even democracy.”
— President Joe Biden