THOUGHT FOR TODAY

“Man is the most insane species. He worships an invisible God and destroys a visible Nature, unaware that this Nature he’s destroying is this God he’s worshipping.”
— Hubert Reeves

STATE SOCCER PLAYOFFS UPDATE

Class “AA’ boys quarterfinals:
Sioux Falls Lincoln 4, Aberdeen Central 1.
Sioux Falls Jefferson 1, Yankton 0.
Sioux Falls O’Gorman 4, Sturgis 0.
Rapid City Stevens 2, Spearfish 1.
Semifinals:
Sioux Falls Lincoln 1, Sioux Falls Jefferson 0.
Sioux Falls O’Gorman 4, Rapid City Stevens 0.
Championship games Saturday in Brandon: “A”, Sioux Falls Christian vs. Tea Area, 1 p.m.; “AA”, Lincoln vs. O’Gorman, 7 p.m.

Class “AA” girls quarterfinals:
Mitchell 5, Pierre 1.
Aberdeen Central 1, Spearfish 0.
Harrisburg 2, Sioux Falls O’Gorman 0.
Sioux Falls Lincoln 2, Rapid City Central 1.
Semifinals:
Mitchell 3, Aberdeen Central 2 (shootout).
Harrisburg 4, Sioux Falls Lincoln 0.
Championship games Saturday in Brandon: “A”, Tea Area vs. Groton Area, 11 a.m.; “AA”, Mitchell vs. Harrisburg, 5 p.m.

PIERRE GOVERNORS SPORTS ROUNDUP

Girls soccer: After last week’s victory in the first round of the playoffs, the Governors had to go to Mitchell to face the top-seeded Kernels in the quarterfinal round. Down 2-0 at halftime, the Governors got the deficit to 2-1 on a Grace Engbrecht goal but eventually lost to Mitchell, 5-1. The season ended with a record of 9-5-1. The only seniors to be lost via graduation from this team will be Ryann Barry and Brianne Sargent.

Cheer/dance: At Mitchell’s invitational meet the Pierre cheer team placed seventh with a 193 score, and the competitive dance team placed sixth at 236.5. The dance team was third in pom at 240 and fifth in hip hop at 233.

Cross country: At the ESD conference meet Pierre’s Jared Lutmer brought home an individual conference championship, winning the 5,000-meter race in 15:19.9. Caleb Morris was sixth in 16:12.4, Haeden Wheelhouse 26th in 17:13.0, Ian Rounds 45th in 17:46.0, Mason Ward-Zeller 41st in 17:48.0 and Jayden Brandt 42nd in 17:55.4. In the girls’ race Mason Berg placed 17th in 19:42.2, Jayne Lees 18th in 19:47.6, Gwen Richter 25th in 20:24.4, Harper Shaffer 27th in 20:26.2 and Jazzlyn Rombough 28th in 20:45.0.

Football: The Governors dominated Huron, 35-0, to improve to 6-1 and still perfect against Class 11AA teams. An 18-play, 94-yard drive on the first possession after the defense had stopped Huron inside the 10-yard line culminated in a Brock Moser touchdown run from three yards out. Then Cade Kaiser passed to Jett Zabel for an 83-yard TD play that put Pierre up by 14-0. Trey Lewis scored on an 18-yard touchdown run, then returned a punt 74 yards for another score. A Kaiser-to-Zabel touchdown covering 19 yards in the third quarter started a running clock. Kaiser finished with 159 passing yards on 10 of 16 passes, and Zab el had four receptions for 113 yards. The Pierre offense had 368 yards on the ground and 170 through the air. Spencer Skjonsberg had an interception for the Govs.

This week’s schedules:
— THURSDAY
Cross country: at Huron invitational, 4 p.m. — canceled —
Cheer/dance: at ESD conference meet, Aberdeen, 5 p.m.
Volleyball: at Yankton, 7 p.m.
— FRIDAY
Football: at Tea Area, 7 p.m.
— TUESDAY
Volleyball: home vs. Huron, 7 p.m.

Volleyball: In their only match of the past week the Governor girls lost to Harrisburg, 3-0, on game scores of 26-28, 20-25, 13-25. Top-ranked Harrisburg remains unbeaten with a 17-0 record. Campbell Boddicker had 11 kills for Pierre whose record is now 8-6.

ZESTO SHERBET SCHEDULE

Thursday: coffee.
Friday-Sunday: cherry.
Monday-Thursday: pumpkin.

STANLEY COUNTY BUFFALOES SPORTS ROUNDUP

Volleyball: The Buffaloes swept Colome, 3-0, on game scores of 25-23, 25-11, 25-18.

Football: The Buffaloes, having their best season in years, are 6-1 after dominating Lemmon-McIntosh on homecoming night, 45-16. Broch Zeeb passed to Barrett Schweitzer on a 39-yard touchdown play, and Colton Brady scored on the ground for a 16-0 lead. Zeeb connected with Paxton Deal on a 45-yard TD play for a 24-6 halftime advantage. In the second half Ehran Cantu scored once and Brady twice as the Buffs pulled away.

This week’s schedules:
— THURSDAY
Volleyball: at Dupree.
Cross country: at regional meet, Chamberlain, 2 p.m.
— FRIDAY
Football: at Faith, 7 p.m.
— TUESDAY
Volleyball: at Kadoka triangular.

Volleyball: The Buffaloes are now 15-5 after winning three times this week. They defeated Todd County, 3-0, on game scores of 25-14, 25-9, 25-13, and did the same to Cheyenne-Eagle Butte, 3-0, on game scores of 25-8, 25-19, 25-17. On Tuesday the girls defeated Sully Buttes, 3-1, on game scores of 26-24 25-19, 24-26, 25-19. Brylee Kafka had nne kills and Cadence Hand seven kills.

SULLY BUTTES CHARGERS SPORTS ROUNDUP

Football: After a 14-14 first half the Chargers broke away from Lyman and won by 50-20. Gavin Barber scored five touchdowns, accumulating 211 yards rushing. Wesley Wittler passed for two touchdowns to Landon Severson, each of them covering five yards. SBHS is now 3-4.

This week’s schedules:
— THURSDAY
Volleyball: home vs. Mobridge-Pollock.
— FRIDAY
Football: at Corsica-Stickney (in Corsica), 7 p.m
— SATURDAY
Volleyball: at Miller invitational.
— TUESDAY
Volleyball: at Herreid-Selby Area.

Volleyball: The Charger girls lost to Stanley County, 3-1, on game scores of 24-26, 19-25, 26-24, 19-25, and their record is now 11-11. Trichelle White had seven kills, Payge Bakker five kills and Madison Bradberry five kills.

WORDS OF WISDOM

May you never know the fear of having your human rights challenged every time there is an election. And may you never know the pain of watching loved ones vote against your right to exist fully, equally and authentically.

BASEBALL UPDATE

Minnesota Twins: After the glow of last week’s two-game sweep over Toronto in the wild-card series wore off a bit, the Twins lost Game #1 of the Division Series at Houston, 6-4. They rallied to win Game #2 in Houston, however, 6-2. In Game #3 at Target Field the Twins were down 4-0 before they ever got up to bat and lost 9-1. Last night in Game #4 with their season on the line, the Twins lost by 3-2, ending the season.

BASKETBALL UPDATE

Sioux Falls Skyforce: The G League of the NBA is still in the offseason. The Force opens against Indiana Nov. 11.

Minnesota Timberwolves: In two games played on the other side of the world in Abu Dhabi, the Wolves beat Dallas twice, 111-99 and 104-96. The preseason continues at New York Saturday on NBA-TV and Tuesday at home against Maccabi Ra’anena on Bally Sports North.

SOCCER UPDATE

Minnesota United FC: The Loons lost to Los Angeles FC, 5-1, and beat Los Angeles Galaxy, 5-2. The regular season in the MLS ends with a game at Kansas City on Oct. 21.

HOCKEY UPDATE

Augustana: The first-ever games by the first-ever Division I men’s hockey team in South Dakota resulted in shutout losses for the Augustana team. The Vikings lost at Wisconsin, 4-0 and 3-0. Augie opens its home schedule with Saturday (6 p.m.) and Sunday (5 p.m.) games against Bowling Green (Ohio) at the Denny Sanford Premier Center. Home games will be played at the Premier Center this fall until the new on-campus hockey arena is ready in January.

Aberdeen Wings: The Wings split with Minot, losing 3-2 and winning 2-1. Aberdeen is home Friday and Saturday vs. Austin.

Sioux Falls Stampede: The Herd defeated Waterloo, 7-4, and beat Tri-City, 3-2. They still have not lost after the first five games of the new season. Sioux Falls is home Friday vs. Tri-City and Tuesday vs. Sioux City.

Minnesota Wild: The Wild finished the preseason slate with a 3-2 shootout win over Chicago and a 4-0 win over Dallas. The regular season gets going tonight vs. Florida (7 p.m BSN), Saturday at Toronto (6 p.m. BSN) and Tuesday at Montreal (6 p.m. BSN).

Rapid City Rush: The Rush open their season Oct. 19-20 at Iowa.

Badlands Sabres: The Sabres split with Sheridan, winning 5-4 in overtime and losing 6-5 after a shootout. The team is on the road to Great Falls Thursday and to Butte Friday and Saturday.

COUNTDOWN

1 day: Riggs High band at Groton marching festival (Oct. 13).
2 days: Hobo Day at SDSU (Oct. 14).
2 days: Riggs High band at Yankton marching festival (Oct. 14).
4 days: Riggs High choir concert (Oct. 16).
7 days: 9-man and 11B football playoff openers (Oct. 19).
7 days: Pierre Concert Series: Dallas and Starr Chief Eagle (Oct. 19).
9 days: State cheer/dance meet, Sioux Falls (Oct. 21).
9 days: State cross country meet, Sioux Falls (Oct. 21).
14 days: Football playoff quarterfinals (Oct. 26).
15 days: World Series begins (Oct. 27-Nov. 4).
16 days: All-State Chorus/Orchestra concert, Rapid City (Oct. 28).
16 days: Homecoming at Nebraska (Oct. 28).
22 days: Football playoff semifinals (Nov. 3).
22 days: NBA in-season tournament begins (Nov. 3-Dec. 9).
24 days: Daylight Saving Time ends (Nov. 5).
26 days: Volleyball SoDak 16 games (Nov. 7).
26 days: Pierre Concert Series: “Yesterday Once More” (Nov. 7).
27 days: Country Music Association awards, ABC-TV (Nov. 8).
28 days: Football state championship games, Vermillion (Nov. 9-11).
29 days: Pierre Players’ “All Is Calm” (Nov. 10-12, 16-18).
35 days; State volleyball tournaments, Rapid City (Nov. 16-18).
42 days: Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 23).

FOOTBALL UPDATE

Other college football besides those in College Sports Roundup below:
— Northern (2-4): Beat Minot State, 46-9.
This week: at Southwest Minnesota State, 4 p.m. Saturday.
— SDSU (5-0): Beat Illinois State, 40-21.
This week: home vs. Northern Iowa, 2 p.m. Saturday on Hobo Day on Midco Sports Two.
— USD (4-1); Beat Murray State, 38-7.
This week: home vs. Youngstown State, 1 p.m. Saturday.
— Mount Marty (2-5): Lost to Jamestown, 24-13.
This week: at Midland, 1 p.m. Saturday.
— UND (3-2: Beat Western Illinois, 49-10.
This week: home vs. NDSU, 1 p.m. Saturday on Midco Sports Network and ESPN+.
— Minnesota (3-3): Lost to Michigan, 52-10.
This week: idle; next game Oct. 21 at Iowa.
— Nebraska (3-3): Beat Illinois, 20-7.
This week: idle; next game Oct. 21 vs. Northwestern.

Minnesota Vikings: The Vikings are 1-4 after a 27-20 home loss to Kansas City. Minnesota plays the Bears in Chicago at noon Sunday on Fox.

Denver Broncos: The Broncos are also 1-4 after losing at home to the New York Jets, 31-21. Denver has to play at Kansas City some time, so it might as well be tonight on Prime Video.

Class 11AA update:
— Overall records: Pierre 6-1, Yankton 6-1, Tea Area 5-2, Watertown 5-2, Spearfish 4-3, Aberdeen Central 4-3, Sturgis 4-3, Huron 3-4, Douglas 1-6, Mitchell 1-6, Brookings 1-6.
— This week’s games: Pierre at Tea Area, Yankton at Aberdeen Central, Harrisburg at Brookings, Sturgis at Douglas, Watertown at Spearfish, Mitchell at Huron.

Midco Sports Network live games this week:
— Friday: Football, Brandon Valley vs. Sioux Falls Jefferson, 5 p.m. (MS2).
— Friday: Men’s hockey, UND vs. Army, 7 p.m.
— Friday: Football, Sioux Falls Lincoln vs. Sioux Falls Washington, 8 p.m. (MS2).
— Saturday: Football, UND vs. NDSU, 1 p.m.
— Saturday: Football, SDSU vs. Northern Iowa, 2 p.m. (MS2).
— Saturday: Men’s hockey, Augustana vs. Bowling Green, 6 p.m. (MS2).
— Saturday: Men’s hockey, UND vs. Wisconsin, 6 p.m.
— Sunday: Men’s hockey, Augustana vs. Bowling Green, 5 p.m.

NFL games on live local TV this weekend (games on local stations subject to change by the networks):
— Thursday: Denver at Kansas City, 7:15 p.m., Prime Video.
— Sunday: Baltimore vs. Tennessee (in London), 8:30 a.m., NFL Network.
— Sunday: Minnesota at Chicago, noon, Fox.
— Sunday: Seattle at Cincinnati, noon, CBS.
— Sunday: Philadelphia at New York Jets, 3:25 p.m., Fox.
— Sunday: New York Giants at Buffalo, 7:20 p.m., NBC.
— Monday: Dallas at Los Angeles Chargers, 7:15 p.m., ABC, ESPN.

FOOTBALL COACHES UPDATE

Justin Briese, Aberdeen Central: After a 13-0 win over Brookings, Justin’s Eagles are 4-3 with two tough games ahead to finish the regular season. This Friday they take on Yankton (6-1).

Ben Kramer, Hot Springs: The Bison beat Rapid City Christian, 23-13, and are now 6-1. With their bye week coming up next week, the Bison face Hill City at home this Friday in their last regular-season game.

Mikal Kern, Wyndmere-Lidgerwood (N.D.): Idle last week, the 6-1 Warbirds return to the field this Friday against LaMoure/Litchville-Marion (6-2).

Scott Raue, Harvey/Wells County (N.D.): Harvey/WC lost to Cavalier, 26-14, and is now 5-3. The team plays at Central Cass (6-1) this Friday.

FOOTBALL CONTEST #9

Last week David Ludwig missed only Notre Dame’s loss to Louisville, so his 9-1 record earned him 10 points in our season-long competition. At 8-2 for 9 points each were Mikal Kern, Levi Neuharth, Eric James, Beth Rinehart, Randy Pool and Jason Noyes. At 7-3 for 8 points each were Kyle Richards, Jon Boer, Terry Tousley and Debra Bollinger. Everyone is welcome to participate, so here you go for this week:

This week’s games (send your 10 winners to parkerhome16@hotmail.com by Saturday morning):
(1) Oregon at Washington.
(2) Louisville at Pittsburgh.
(3) Miami at North Carolina.
(4) Iowa State at Cincinnati.
(5) USC at Notre Dame.
(6) Northern Iowa at South Dakota State.
(7) Texas A&M at Tennessee.
(8) NFL: San Francisco at Cleveland.
(9) NFL: Minnesota at Chicago.
(10) NFL: Detroit at Tampa Bay.

PARKER’S PERSONAL NOTES

• If you are not making the long trek to Tea for the Governors’ game Friday night, I see that the Pierre-Tea Area game will be livestreamed at www.keloland.com
• I see via their website that the Harlem Globetrotters will be coming to Brookings on April 3.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“We cannot and should not turn away from politics. Quite the opposite actually. Look at what happens when good people don’t want to talk or engage or listen. In fact, we’ve got to get better at talking about it in a way that we can all feel safe, heard and validated.”
— Maria Shriver

ONE YEAR AGO IN THE MIDWEEK UPDATE

October 13, 2022: The Vikings’ Greg Joseph kicked five field goals, the last of them with 0:21 left, to beat New Orleans in London. The Saints’ last-second field goal try to tie the game doinked off the upright and the crossbar.

COLLEGE SPORTS ROUNDUP

Gallaudet football (Kyle Albertson): Winning its first game of the season, Gallaudet defeated Hilbert, 34-20, and is now 1-4. The next game is Saturday at Castleton College in Vermont.

USF football (Jack Merkwan, Christian Busch, Jayden Wiebe): The Cougars outscored Concordia-St. Paul, 35-28, to even their record at 3-3. USF plays at noon Saturday at MSU-Moorhead.

Dakota Wesleyan football (Evan Nordstrom): The Tigers were idle last weekend. They are home vs. Morningside this Saturday.

Augustana football (Jett Lamb, Colton Hartford): A 38-6 win over Southwest Minnesota State leaves the Vikings still unbeaten at 6-0 and in the NSIC 5-0. Jett had two solo tackles and one assisted tackle while Colton had one solo and two assisted tackles. Augustana plays at Winona State at 2 p.m. Saturday.

North Dakota State football (Grey Zabel): Rebounding from their loss to USD a week earlier, the Bison pounded Missouri State, 38-10, compiling 550 yards of total offense. Now 4-1, NDSU plays at UND at 1 p.m. Saturday on Midco Sports Network and ESPN+.

South Dakota State cross country (Jessica Lutmer): The Jackrabbit women as a team were fifth at Briar Cliff’s invitational at North Sioux City. Jessica did not run at that meet. SDSU sends runners Friday to either Ashland, Neb., or College Station, Texas.

Grand View men’s soccer (Rylan Derry): Grand View won over Clarke, 4-1, and lost to Central Methodist, 5-3. Now 6-5-1, GVU played Graceland last night and is home vs. Baker (Kan.) Saturday.

Dakota State football (Nathan Scott, Collin Brueggeman): The Trojans remained winless at 0-6 after a 40-14 loss at Dickinson State. DSU is home at 4 p.m. Saturday vs. Waldorf.

Ohio State football (Lincoln Kienholz): The Buckeyes struggled in the first half but poured it on unbeaten Maryland in the second half in a 37-17 win. Now 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the Big 10, Ohio State plays at Purdue at 11 a.m. Saturday.

Northwestern (Iowa) football (Morris Hofer): The Red Raiders are unbeaten at 6-0 overall and 5-0 in the GPAC after a 45-7 domination of Hastings. Northwestern goes to Sioux City to play Briar Cliff at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Minnesota State-Mankato women’s soccer (Mackenzie Rath): The Mavericks defeated Southwest Minnesota State, 3-0, and tied Winona State, 0-0, as Mackenzie played all 90 minutes in both games and again allowed not a single goal to get past her into the net. She had six saves against SMSU and two saves against Winona. Now 21-4, the Mavericks are home Friday vs. USF and Sunday vs. Wayne State.

South Dakota women’s soccer (Janaina Zanin): The Coyotes tied Omaha, 0-0, and lost to Denver, 3-1. Now 6-4-4, USD is home Sunday vs. NDSU.

Black Hills State football (Josh Breske): The Yellowjackets won their Swarm Day game over New Mexico Highlands, 34-24. Now 4-2, BHSU goes to Western Colorado for a 1 p.m. kickoff Saturday.

BIRTHDAYS/ANNIVERSARIES

Thursday, October 12:
Sam Leidholt, Aaron Hanson, Erin Brown, Laura (Schoen) Carbonneau, Chelsea Steffen, Kerri Morris, Coulton Lentz, Tina (Peterson) Ottenbacher, Amanda (Huck) Stoeser, Jordan Hoover, Dena Farlee, Megan (Ulmen) Fravel, Levi Froke, Howard Mark Weischedel, Bennett Palmer.
— 21st anniversary, Josh/Alice Ley.
— 21st anniversary, Cory/Jessica (Evenstad) Haeder.

Friday, October 13:
Amy Sutton Muller, Brett Oakland, Brian Oakland, Peggy (Shoup) Barber, Connie Holm, Brady Neiles, Braxtyn Mitchell, Jim Wedin, Jean Denton, Heather Kleinsasser.
— 39th anniversary, Paul/Dawn Marso.
— 16th anniversary, Aaron/Carin (Glover) Kietzmann.
— 11th anniversary, Jordan/Maari (Sweetman) LaBrie.
— Anniversary, Daniel/Crystal (Byrum) Frost.

Saturday, October 14:
Becky (Jungman) Diischer, Rene (Dilley) Stolsmark, Laurel Sharp, Amanda Hammer, Kirby Shaw, Adam Riley, Mandy Thomas, Rachel Wegman, Jessica (Mehlhaff) Jones, Patricia Monson, Kelan Harris, Clayton LaBrie, Tyler Sutton, Samantha Stahlecker, Deanna Anderson, Jason Zeigler, Bonnie Brady.
— 6th anniversary, Parker/Maddy (Keeler) McKittrick.
— 6th anniversary, Chris/Alana (Arnold) Schmidt.
— 5th anniversary, Jesse/April Beesley.

Sunday, October 15:
Hope Armstrong, Anthony Rounds, Josh Rogers, Kay Thomas, Ross Anderson, Jenny (Miller) Goehring, Eric Schmidt, Maleah Becker, Eleanor Eichstadt, Sophia Coolidge, Lillian Hight.
— 7th anniversary, Michael/Jessica Fuchs.
— 12th anniversary, Paul/Danielle (Ryan) Schroeder.

Monday, October 16:
Serena (Douglas) Thomas, Evan Lee, Margaret Ellefson, Lincoln James, Brandi Burton, Piper Goodman, Monica Ortbahn, Gail Eichstadt Drew Mickelson, Paula Barber, Paul Sowers, Josh Vogt, Andersen Jastorff-Gillies, Mike Adams, Charlie Moore, Andrew Durbin.
— 19th anniversary, Mitch/Christina (DeYonge) Riley.
— 69th anniversary, Art/Mary Rezac.

Tuesday, October 17:
Marlow Parsons, Gunnar Gates, Oliver Nebelsick, Benjamin Weingart, Jennifer Steece, George Rapp, Alex Lauseng, Josh Nebelsick.

Wednesday, October 18:
Ryan Fromm, Tasha Unkenholz, Misty Scott, Mark Swenson, Tammy Withers, Aubrey (Hunt) Stofferahn, Mackenzie Burger, Michael Putnam, John Burchill III, Sue Schaefer, Troy Heien, Maxwell Pool, Sharon (Harkless) Metzinger.
— 48th anniversary, Gary/Kathy Sarvis.
— 9th anniversary, Wayne/Vanessa (Kinkler) Yackley.

Thursday, October 19:
Mary Jean Lomheim, Lydia Nuttall, Conner Berg, Carol Heintz, Brian Timp, Carrie (Gerber) Norman, Hilary (Woodburn) Hunt, Archer Edelen, Jolynn Riis, Franklin Hansen.
— 11th anniversary, Greg/Kayla (Petersen) Barringer.
— We fondly remember Jack Unkenholz, who passed away 14 years ago today.

NEWS OF PEOPLE AND EVENTS

The Riggs High drama department’s fall play will be performed at 7 p.m. tonight (Thursday), Friday and Saturday.

David Mickelson of Sioux Falls, an alumnus of Riggs High School, will be one of this year’s inductees into the Black Hills State University Athletic Hall of Fame. David was an all-conference football player for three seasons at BHSU and an all-district selection two years. He was an NAIA honorable mention All-American as a defensive tackle after the 1993 season. He started every game at BHSU after the first four games of his freshman year.

At the marching band festival in Menno last week the Riggs High marching band, the Emerald Regiment, placed second.

Long-time Pierre resident Les Traut, who in recent years also lived in Rapid City, died Aug. 20 in Minneapolis after battling health issues for several years. A service is being planned for Oct. 24 in Pierre. He was one of the seven children of Russell and Lorraine Traut. He loved singing in the First United Methodist choirs in Pierre and Rapid City. He is survived by his significant other, Sally Bunt; his siblings, Delores (Jim) Doll, Todd Traut (Dave Nussbaum), and Craig (Maribeth) Traut, and several grandchildren, nephews, nieces and his two church families.

Jim McLain served as an understudy for the role of Prince Eric in “The Little Mermaid” at Premier Playhouse, the community theater in Sioux Falls. They had a pickup dress rehearsal last Wednesday, and the understudies for various roles were allowed to go on in the roles they studied. They could bring in family and friends, so Jim’s mother, brother and niece got to see him in the lead role of Prince Eric for that show. Now with that show in the rear-view mirror, Jim is playing Dick Wilkins and a caroler in “A Christmas Carol” and also playing Brad Majors in a shadow cast of “Rocky Horror Show” at the State Theater in Sioux Falls on Oct. 29.

Chuck Libby, 55, died at home in Scandia, Minn., Oct. 8. Celebrations of his life will take place at the Forest Lake Legion in Forest Lake, Minn., from 4 to 7 p.m. this Sunday, Oct. 15, and on Saturday, Nov. 11, in Onida. Chuck came with his parents, Bob and Jeannene Libby, and his sister and brother to Onida in 1976. He graduated from Sully Buttes High School in 1986, joined the South Dakota National Guard and attended Dakota State University. He joined the workforce in St. Paul in 1990, working for the Minnesota Department of Commerce. Later in life he worked in construction trades. Chuck married Cheryl McClain in 1991. They had two children, and Chuck gained two stepchildren as well. He is survived by his children, Jeff and Maggie; his stepchildren, James and Amanda; his sister, Kirsten Libby (Bill Strusinski); his brother, Patrick Libby, and many other relatives. He was preceded in death by his parents and his niece, Libby Jesche.

Shantel Krebs, who has served as interim head of Avera St. Mary’s Hospital since March, has been named the regional president and CEO of the hospital. She spent 10 years as a state legislator, was selected as the state’s top election official, ran for Congress in 2018 and served as administrator of the Avera Academy that she established to train and employ healthcare professionals. She also was volunteer chair of the national Miss America organization, having earlier worn the crown of Miss South Dakota. (News courtesy of The Dakota Scout)

Caleb Gilkerson and Jessica Burchill are the parents of a son, Miles Jack, who was born Oct. 3, weighing 5 pounds, 13 ounces, and measuring 19 inches. He joins brother Morrie, 13, and sister Madi, 2 1/2, in their family.

eXp Realty in Brookings named Alan Hess as its top producer for August for homes sold.

Sharon Nuttall of Sully County says it was the music of Balsam Range that helped her cope with her grief over the loss of her husband, Porter, to Lewy Body Dementia and inspired her to pay it forward to Avera@Home, Countryside Hospice Support and Memory Care, and Alzheimer’s research. After seeing the band perform a concert that benefitted Alzheimer’s research, Sharon has arranged for Balsam Range to perform on Friday, Nov. 3, at 6:30 p.m. at the Riggs theater. Go to the band’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/balsamrange for information on purchasing concert tickets.

“The Lion King—Junior” will be the Georgia Morse Middle School musical with performance dates scheduled for Feb. 27-29. Audra (Meyer) Cardwell will be director with Claire Steffensen the assistant director. Auditions will be Nov. 6, 7 and 10 at 3:30 p.m. in the music department rooms at the middle school.

Pierre native Jesiah Ahlemeier is part of a church group that was to have gone on a two-week trip to Israel and Palestine at the end of October. However, their trip has been canceled for now due to the new war in that region that began last weekend. According to her Facebook page, she is a medical social worker/case manager at the Minneapolis VA Health Care System.

Irene (Becker) LaFurge, 80, died at Avantara in Pierre on Oct. 6. A celebration of her life will be held at Feigum Funeral Home at 2 p.m. this Friday, Oct. 13, preceded by visitation from 1 to 2. Inurnment will be at the Onida cemetery. The daughter of Henry and Katie Becker grew up on the family farm southwest of Onida. She attended grades 7-8 and high school in Onida and finished with a GED. She and Leonard LaFurge were married in October 1960. They were married for 34 years and farmed together. After Leonard’s death in 1995 Irene married Lester Smith in 1997. Irene worked at the Countryside Hospice thrift store in Pierre from 1996 until her health began to fail. She is survived by three sons, Rick (Karen) LaFurge, Robert LaFurge and Ronald LaFurge; her brother, George (Donna) Becker; four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Among those who preceded Irene in death were her parents; her husbands; her son, Douglas LaFurge; her sisters, Evelyn Douglas, Joyce Sheldon and Vivian Wittler, and her brothers, Fred Becker and Jim Becker.

Black Hills Playhouse is now offering season tickets for the 2024 summer season as a Christmas-gift idea. The shows there next year will be “The Play That Goes Wrong” June 9-22, “The Little Mermaid” June 30-July 14, “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” July 21-Aug. 4, and “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime” Aug. 11-17.

Long-time Pierre residents Jon and Carol Garry will observe their golden (50th) wedding anniversary on Saturday, Oct. 21. Their family hope friends will flood their mailbox with congratulatory cards. The Garrys’ address is 2012 Coyote St., Pierre SD 57501.

PONDER THIS

“One day you will wake up and there will be no more time to do things you have always dreamed of. Do them now.”
— Paulo Coelho