Category: editor-notebook

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Walk On Water in Yankton

By Bernie Hunhoff

Now the historic bridge will be a pathway for joggers and walkers, baby carriages, bicyclists, skateboarders and the like. It is the longest pedestrian bridge in the USA that connects two states over a major river. The Newport Bridge, an 1896 railroad bridge that links Kentucky and Cincinnati, had that distinction until today. It is 2,670 feet long, and was redone for foot traffic about a decade ago. The Meridian easily surpasses it at 3,013 feet. The third longest is a new structure, the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge, built to connect Omaha with Council Bluffs, Iowa. It measures 2,224 feet.
Today at 3 p.m. the Meridian Bridge will be re-opened to the public after being closed for three years. But the bridge will never see another 18-wheeler … and it isn’t even likely to carry a compact car.

Eventually, Yanktonians and Nebraskans hope that walking/biking paths will connect the Meridian Bridge to the bridge over Gavins Point Dam, about four miles to the west. A path already exists on the South Dakota side, and Nebraska officials are making plans for theirs. The 12-mile loop would instantly become one of the most unique trails in the USA, taking hikers and bikers past eagle roosts, quaint restaurants, a sailing marina, small farms and forested river bottom. City officials in Yankton also hope to design and build an attractive plaza at the foot of the bridge.

The Meridian is one of the very few double-decker bridges in the nation. It took its name from the Meridian Highway (US Hwy 81) that cuts through the Americas from Winnipeg to Panama City. Yankton citizens took it upon themselves to fund and build the bridge in 1924 because they thought state officials were too slow in getting the project started. They paid for it with tolls until the debt was retired in 1953.

The bottom deck was intended for rail traffic, but a north-south train route to Yankton never materialized, so officials sent northbound traffic on the top and southbound traffic below. Its classic towers were designed with hydraulic lifts to allow ships to pass underneath. However, ships have been as rare as trains.

Cars and trucks traveled the bridge to the tune of 5,000 or more a day until a new bridge was completed in 2008. Historians on both sides of the river objected to having the old bridge destroyed. In fact, local leaders agreed that they would settle for a plain design on the new bridge so long as the savings were directed to preserving the Meridian as a footbridge.

So beginning this Thanksgiving week, after a very long wait and $4 million or more of your tax dollars, the old Meridian will once again carry traffic. Now you can walk on the Missouri without getting your feet wet.

We hope to see you there.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Sioux Falls Without a Shovel

By Bernie Hunhoff

One of my brothers recently moved with his wife to Sioux Falls to live in a townhouse on South Tomar Road, and I’m worried about him.

I went to see him last week and he showed me the beautiful home with its secret closets and cathedral ceilings. It is wonderful. But then he told me that “they” do all the yard work and scoop the sidewalks. He sold his snowblower and his shovels. He’s even going to trade in his four-wheel drive SUV.

He’s a tough guy. He once outran terrorists in Libya. He knows Judo (or Karate, I can’t remember which). And he can shoot the eyes off a potato at 200 yards. But is he going to be prepared for January?

Surviving winter is all mental. We’ve learned that at South Dakota Magazine from the hardiest survivors of our state. You stockpile all the sweaters, gloves, boots, hand-warmers and hats that can be found. You have enough machinery to clear the airport, or you drink beer with someone who does. And you have access to a vehicle that looks like those contraptions in the Antarctica sci/fi movies.

Then you get it in your head that you can dig and drive your way out of whatever comes.

My favorite story (we’ve told it a 100 times, so just shut up and laugh) is about the North Dakota farmer who lived on the state line. One autumn, the state transportation department came to his door and told him he didn’t live in North Dakota, according to a new survey just completed. “Your land is actually in South Dakota.”

“That’s good,” he replied. “I don’t think I could take another North Dakota winter.”

That man had lost his mental edge. He was probably playing pinochle in a trailer in Texas by the following November.

Don’t worry about my brother. “They’ll” take care of his sidewalk, and we’ll keep an eye out for him, too. But I sorta wish he would have moved to Nebraska if he’s going to go soft.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Empty Bowls is Quite Fulfilling

By Bernie Hunhoff

Brookings folks gathered at the United Church of Christ on 8th Street last night for the eighth annual Empty Bowls banquet. They invited me to come and say a few words about hunger and South Dakota’s food culture. Considering the fact that words like POOR and POVERTY make us very uncomfortable in this state, it was inspiring to gather with several hundred folks who are not only willing to talk about such disturbing words but actually want to do something about it.

In a few hours, the crowd raised $7,300 for Heifer International. I sat by a farm couple from Sinai. They make donations to Heifer International annually to honor the memory of their son, who died five years ago. The motivations were many, but the cause was one.

The “banquet” consisted of a bowl of soup and a bun, served in beautiful bowls handcrafted by South Dakota’s favorite potter, Dave Huebner of nearby Bushnell. There was music and prayers and a little nonsense from me.

For example, I told the story of the Wertz brothers from Bancroft, S.D., in Kingsbury County. The young brothers loved to farm, but in the 1930s it didn’t even pay to plant so they decided to start a cereal factory. They knew they needed a “gun” to puff the wheat, so they made one from the parts of an old threshing machine. Having no engineering training, they made sure it was plenty big.

They rented a building in Bancroft, set up the big gun and fired it off. KABOOOOM! They nearly blew down the building. It was a bit too powerful.

So they went back to the threshing machine and found a smaller auger, and they downsized the gun. They found another building in Bancroft, and soon they were selling New Deal Puffed Wheat far and wide for 10 cents a bag.

Why can’t you buy New Deal Puffed Wheat in your local grocery store today? There’s a very simple reason.

The Wertz brothers were farmers. As soon as it rained, they closed the factory and went back to the land.

We are a farming people in South Dakota. We grow food. If anybody should care about poverty and hunger, it’s us. Last night it was a treat to gather with 200 who care very deeply.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

First Lady Charms South Dakotans

By Bernie Hunhoff

Laura Bush gave the keynote address at Wednesday night’s 30th annual Law Enforcement Banquet in Sioux Falls, and she charmed the 1,700 South Dakotans in attendance.

The annual banquet was started 30 years ago by longtime Sioux Falls businessman and politician Gene Abdallah. His first event had just 53 in attendance, but the popularity has steadily grown and today the tickets are in high demand. Law enforcement officers, politicians, business leaders and others from throughout South Dakota gather to dine on antelope goulash, pheasant and other such delicacies. Abdallah and his volunteer team have raised over $1.5 million for children’s charities in the three decades.

I’ve only been to a few of the events, but I’ve not seen a speaker set a better tone than the former first lady of the United States. A lifelong lover of books, she said Laura Ingalls Wilder’s stories on South Dakota made a lasting impression on her and she hopes to return someday to see the Ingalls homestead and haunts, which of course are in De Smet. She gave updates on the Bush family, and joshed that she has had to teach George to pick up his socks now that he’s a private citizen in Dallas, Texas. She spoke with great fondness and humor about her mother-in-law, the irascible Barbara Bush.

And she quieted the crowd with her remembrances of September 11, 2011, when she happened to be with Senator Ted Kennedy on Capitol Hill as news of the tragedy unfolded. She said Kennedy chatted with her to help calm her nerves. Later, she rejoined the president in the spartan bunker below the White House. They retired to their regular bedroom, but were awoken in the middle of the night when another suspicious plane was spotted in the air. It was a false alarm.

The event was also a sweet and funny farewell to Abdallah’s tenure as founder and leader. Abdallah plays the chump in the state legislature, but he’s a power to be reckoned with. He has experience and savvy that is hard to match. And nobody takes him for granted because he has an independent streak as wide as his trademark grin. A few years ago when a few of us were trying to gather bi-partisan support for a proposal to stop South Dakota from investing in companies that supported the genocidal regime in Sudan, Gene Abdallah was the first in his party to stand up and say that there is a social responsibility that comes with investing hundreds of millions of dollars. He has never been too cautious to break away from the herd.

Gene’s longtime buddy Bill Mickelson and his son, Scott, will now lead what has become known as the Wild Game Feed. But nobody’s going to replace Abdallah. He’ll still be the star attraction.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Fishing Report from Pickstown

By Bernie Hunhoff


The salmon of the Dakotas are migrating southward, thanks to the big flood of 2011 in the Missouri River valley. Katie and I stopped for breakfast last Friday at Fort Randall Bait and Tackle in Pickstown (very fine omelets, by the way). Of course, you can’t eat at a bait shop without asking about the fishing.

The waitress gave us a thorough report. The walleye are still biting, and boats are thick below the dam. Plus she said a few anglers have even caught salmon. Now that’s a new development for Gregory and Charles Mix counties in South Dakota.

Chinook salmon from the West Coast have been released into the Fort Peck and Oahe reservoirs for a number of years with good results. The waters in those lakes run deep and cold, and the salmon seem to thrive — though they don’t grow as big as they do in the Pacific Northwest.

Adult salmon instinctively try to migrate back to the place where they were hatched and released to spawn. In the Dakotas, that would be a government fish hatchery. The cycle is actually completed, because hatchery workers capture some of the salmon and collect the eggs in autumn.

Due to the massive water releases in all six Missouri River dams this summer, some salmon from Fort Peck and Oahe have swam southward into Lake Sharpe and Lake Francis Case. I haven’t heard of any reports of salmon caught in Lewis and Clark Lake.

Next October, the adult salmon will try to swim back to the north to spawn … but they have a giant concrete problem lying ahead of them.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

2011: Our Summer of Geocaching

After spending the summer atop the Coughlin Campanile in Brookings, South Dakota Magazine‘s strategically placed geocache is now back at the magazine’s headquarters in Yankton.

We’re fairly new to geocaching, but it seems our maiden voyage was successful. Between Memorial Day weekend and mid-October, 111 people (plus the SDSU track team) signed our notebook. Some just walked across town. Others came from faraway places, like Honduras and Australia.

Many left little notes. Will and Shirley Dangler ascended the 180 steps on July 7.”Whew!” Shirley said.”AC not working!” Will added. For that we apologize, but perhaps a donation to the SDSU Foundation would solve the problem. Air conditioners are probably on sale now. Maybe a large box fan would suffice.

Chad Coppess, David Anderson and Jolee Thurn visited two days later and discovered the elevator was out of order. Of course, there is no elevator in the Campanile. That would take all the fun out of getting to the top, especially on a hot, humid summer day. Again, feel free to mention it to the Foundation, though they’ll probably think the box fan solution is more cost effective.

Most visitors commented on the view, which is the most spectacular in Brookings. The Campanile, built in 1929, is 165 feet tall, and provides a view of the entire city and surrounding farmsteads. We’re glad you enjoyed it. And we’re certain you’ll enjoy the scenery around next summer’s location.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Corn Maze Provides Fall Fun

Yankton area folks going to Hebda Family Produce to pick their own pumpkins this month will want to study this photo well, as it depicts this year’s corn maze. Dale and Rena Hebda and family got their start in the world of fresh produce in 2002, when their son Steven started growing vegetables for 4-H. As he expanded into farmers’ market sales and weekly home delivery of produce, his interest grew into a family business. In 2006, the Hebdas purchased Garritys’ Prairie Gardens, located north and west of Mission Hill, where their 55 acre farm produces a variety of fruits and vegetables, jams, jellies, salsa and pies, and fun harvest-related activities for the whole family.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Richard and Marge Kleinjan’s Excellent Adventure

Richard Kleinjan called our office first thing Monday morning to order a new copy of our July/August 2011 issue. It seems their issue, which contained our feature on things to see in each of South Dakota’s 66 counties, had become tattered and torn because he and his wife used it as they visited every one of our featured sites.

Other readers have called to tell us they’ve gone to a handful of places, but the Kleinjans are the first — to our knowledge — to have completed the statewide journey.

They began not long after the issue hit the stands in July with a trip to see the Grandfather Rock near Flandreau in Moody County. They finished on Saturday with stops in Jackson and Jones counties and a drive on the Bad River Road into Fort Pierre. Kleinjan told us he was unfamiliar with many of our recommendations, and believes many aren’t locally known, either.”You don’t read about them in any travel brochures,” he says.

The Kleinjans were enjoying breakfast in Edgemont one morning when he asked a local about the hieroglyphics in Red Canyon.”I’ve lived here 20 years and I’ve never heard of it,” he told Kleinjan. And he says many in Brookings County are unaware of Sam Mortimer’s historic cabin, which stands in Oakwood Lakes State Park near Bruce.

Another memorable stop was the Stratobowl in Pennington County. Kleinjan said he and his wife stopped there 53 years ago during their honeymoon, but didn’t venture down into the bowl.”You get a better idea of why they launched there than when you just look down from above,” he says.”It’s well protected, so the wind wouldn’t have any effect on the balloon.”

So after two months of travel, the Kleinjans are back home in Arlington. The next task, he says, is organizing the pictures they snapped at every stop.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Fill ‘er Up With Music

If you like good music, be sure to swing by the Crandall Pumps this weekend. Owner Dave Swain is holding his annual fall music festival there from 2-5 p.m. Sunday afternoon. He’ll have a few light refreshments, like candy bars, coffee and ice cream. But the real treat will be the local musicians, whom you can hear from your lawn chairs just a stone’s throw from the rugged Coteau hills, which pass just to the east of town.

The historic gas station is one of the only remnants of Crandall, which lies about seven miles straight east of Conde. It was a full-service station that catered to drivers passing through on Highway 20 until it closed in 1971. At the time, it was the only station in the country still using gravity pumps. The Standard Oil Company wanted to include them in a museum, but the station owner produced a receipt proving he owned them, so they still stand in front of the tidy white building.