Category: Uncategorized

By Laura Johnson

Ok, maybe it’s too early for flowers — even our own delightful pasque — but with the geese honking overhead and the lovely weekend weather, aren’t you feeling ready for a little more green in the landscape? Perhaps you’re feeling the gardening itch. Karl Schmidt of Sustainable Dakota Digest recently wrote about starting seeds indoors, and he already has a few little green shoots to show for his efforts.

Ice skating season is coming to an end. The Yankton Area Ice Association is hosting its spring figure skating show”Skating Through Time” at the 4H Pine Acres Kiwanis Ice Arena this Saturday at 5:30 p.m. A lot of hard work and planning goes into events like this, and I have a great admiration for the organizers.

Banjos will be ringing out at the March Unplugged Music Performance Showcase (or MUMPS for short) at the Dahl Arts Center in Rapid City this weekend. Acoustic and bluegrass musicians are performing to raise money for the Black Hills Bluegrass Festival in June.

Mitchell’s Dakota Discovery Museum will be hosting”Poetry for All People” on Saturday, featuring readings by Bruce Roseland of Seneca and Suzanne Sunshower of Scotland, plus open mike time for poets in the audience.

The South Dakota Home Cooking group on Facebook is a good place to share recipes and ask for advice. Perhaps I should consult with them about the tavern problem I’ve been having.

by Laura Johnson

It’s a great night for art lovers in the Sioux Falls area. Twenty-five artists will be participating in the First Friday Art & Wine Walk tonight at various locations in downtown Sioux Falls. I hear that there’ll be flying objects at the exhibit at Rug & Relic.

I’m looking forward to taking in the opening of the Ipso Gallery’s “In Passing” exhibit, featuring works that celebrate the human form by Anna Youngers and Luke Gorder.

Last month, our photography columnist Chad Coppess told us about how his photos were being used as backdrops for an online racing game. Recently, a few more of his South Dakota landscapes were transformed.

The more I read about Black Hills rock climbing and spelunking legends Herb and Jan Conn, the more fascinated I am. Daryl Stisser of the Sylvan Rocks Climbing School and Hollis Marriot recently posted tributes to the couple after Herb’s death at age 91.

Mardi Gras, also known as Fat Tuesday, is February 21 this year, but Deadwood is celebrating early with a whole weekend of pre-Lenten excitement. The fun starts tonight with a parade, followed by the coronation of the Mardi Gras King and Queen and live zydeco music.

There won’t be much snow for the Custer State Park Lover’s Leap Snowshoe Hike on Saturday, but a regular hike is just as romantic, right?

Chocolate and alcohol seem like the perfect Valentine’s Day combination. Dale Miskimins of the SoDak Beer blog recently reviewed two chocolate ales for couples to enjoy.

Jill at the Wild Idea Buffalo Company has a luscious-sounding recipe for Mousse au Chocolate that would make a sweet ending to a special supper.

Smart lovers keep the romance going all year ’round. Nothing says lovin’ like a hot summer night at an old-time drive-in movie theater. It was recently announced that Wild Water West in Sioux Falls hopes to bring back the once-popular summer entertainment, opening its outdoor theater in the spring of 2013. Doug Lund reflects on his drive in experiences. Don’t worry, his account is work-safe.

Nobody throws a party like the people of Deadwood. This weekend, they’re hosting South Dakota’s largest tailgate party with beer, brats and a 24-foot television on Main Street, chili cook-off, football toss contest, performance from the Deadwood Cowboy Cheerleaders and more. All proceeds from the festivities will benefit the American Cancer Society.

Those of us who are not sports fans tend to think the best part of football parties is the food. Annie at Phoo-d recently shared her football-friendly food ideas, including this recipe for smoky black bean and butternut squash chili.

Do you know how to play Hohu Yourmonpi? The folks at the South Dakota Art Museum can teach you the ancient whirling bones game. It’s part of their new exhibit that pairs Oscar Howe’s artwork of Native American games with the actual game pieces.

For something that requires a little less dexterity (and fewer sinews), try out this Mount Rushmore jigsaw puzzle. You can choose to digitally put together a 16, 49 or 81-piece version of the famous faces.

Black Hills landmarks are the backdrop for an online racing game, thanks to the photography and photoshopping skills of Chad Coppess. His digitally-created panoramas are bringing South Dakota’s scenery to a whole new audience.

South Dakota poets Charles Luden, Steve Boint, Bruce Roseland, Rosemary Dunn Moeller and Alex Hagen will be at Zandbroz Variety in Sioux Falls tonight at 7 pm to read selections from the anthology”The Last New Year’s Eve at the Pomp Room.”

Final Frontier Friday at Rapid City’s Journey Museum probes”The Secrets of the Sun” with a film, computer-driven tour of the universe and family-friendly hands-on activities.

Phantom Balance & The Scaletippers will be dabbling in the”Black Market Arts“, an all-ages hop hop show, at the Museum of Visual Materials in Sioux Falls tonight at 8 pm.

The Black Hills Roundhouse in Lead is showing a rare film from 1915 — the first to link Wild Bill and Calamity Jane romantically.

$5 will get you a weekend of role-playing, war gaming and board game action at Vermincon, the Midwest Area Gaming Enthusiasts’ annual convention in Vermillion. Word on the street is the Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots competition gets pretty intense.

Eradicating juvenile diabetes is a cause near and dear to our hearts, so we’re participating in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s Walk for the Cure at the Empire Mall on Saturday. If you see The Joeys there, wave hello!

Watertown-based fans of Scottish poet Robert Burns will be celebrating his birthday this weekend with haggis, a traditional concoction containing sheep heart, liver, lungs and oatmeal, plus plenty of scotch to wash it down. Dempsey’s Pub will be serving up the notorious Scottish dish as well as less controversial fare this Sunday, January 22 at their Robert Burns dinner. Call for reservations.

The South Dakota Oral History Center is digitizing and cataloguing its collection of nearly 6000 recordings, and posting a few of their findings to their blog. Clips they’ve shared include Leo Olson’s tale of an encounter with Baby Face Nelson, a song by Rose Mae LaPointe of Rosebud, and Christmas in Buffalo Gap.

You may remember the short piece on South Dakota’s stained glass scholar, Dr. Barbara Johnson, in our September/October issue. It was recently announced that Johnson and the colored glass she’s found around South Dakota will be the subject of an hour-long South Dakota Public Broadcasting documentary,”History Through Stained Glass.” Filming will take place in different locations around the state in 2012.

Reptile Gardens announced this week that South Dakota’s favorite tortoise, the late Methuselah, will be memorialized in bronze. Matt Seney and Chris Cammack are creating a life-sized statue for the beloved Galapagos reptile, who died last summer at the age of 130.

Have you ever stood on Thomas Jefferson’s head? Probably not. Few people are allowed the kind of access to Mount Rushmore that the National Park Service’s new site provides. The NPS partnered with CyArk, the Center for Digital Documentation and Visualization and the Kacyra Family Foundation to digitally preserve the monument and allow remote viewers to view the memorial in ways you just can’t do in person.

By Laura Johnson

Corey Vilhauer’s recent musings on the creative urge got me thinking. As an occasional cook and full-time crafter, I know that impulse well. He misses one reason to create, though — the joy of doing something for others. When I’m knitting something, even if it’s a simple garment for the charity box, a lot of love and good wishes for whoever the wearer will be gets knitted in with each stitch.

There’ll be a lot of folks at the Groton Community Center today who know what I’m talking about. Knitters, spinners and crocheters from northern South Dakota will be gathering to celebrate Roc Day. Roc Day, also known as Distaff Day, was traditionally the day that household work resumed after Christmas, but now it’s just a good excuse to craft together. Sioux Falls knitters will have a similar gathering on January 22 at Athena Fibers.

I admire people who can find new uses for items that might otherwise be thrown away. Amy Kirk of Pringle cleverly repurposed her husband’s old shirts and created some flashy aprons.

A coat hanger became a handy-dandy kazoo holder for Flowerman of Rock Garden Tour. Now he’s surely ready for National Kazoo Day on January 28.

If you don’t haven’t found your creative outlet yet, get out and explore! Sioux Falls has a new folk school, the Third Place, offering soapmaking instruction courtesy of Erin of Irish Twins Soap as well as classes in knitting, origami and woodworking. Blacksmith lessons start in February.

How do you express your creative side?

What are you doing New Year’s Eve? If you don’t have plans, don’t feel like you have to mope at home. Consider attending one of the many different events taking place around the state. Delmont has the only New Year’s Parade in the state, and it’s followed by a tasting event featuring South Dakota products. You can swing your partner into 2012 at the New Year’s Eve Barn Dance at Besler’s Cadillac Ranch in St. Onge. There’s a wide variety of music to choose from at different venues in downtown Sioux Falls. Aberdonians can ring in the New Year and raise money for a good cause at the Make a Wish Foundation’s annual fundraiser and dance. They’ll be dropping the ball at the Franklin Hotel in Deadwood tomorrow night, and of course there will be goings-on at Rapid City’s Main Street Square and the Hotel Alex Johnson.

The next question is what you’ll do New Year’s Day. Are you the sort who likes to climb Harney Peak or plunge into a frozen lake, or do you plan to ease gently into 2012? For those of you who wait a day or two to rouse yourselves, keep an eye out for South Dakota locations on television. Pioneer Auto Show and 1880 Town in Murdo are among the spots to be featured on the January 2nd episode of “American Pickers“, a History Channel program.

By Laura Johnson

How are your holiday preparations coming? If you like a fresh Christmas tree, you can still cut your own in the Black Hills National Forest. You’d better stop off at a Black Hills Forest Service office and get a $10 permit first, though.

Then there’s the question of what to put on your tree. The South Dakota Cowgirl decorated hers cowgirl-style. The hat tree-topper is pretty festive — and are those pheasant feathers?

The Christmas at the Capitol always features Christmas trees done up in a variety of styles. This year’s theme is “Starlit Wonderland”. If you can’t make it to Pierre this year, take a look at our Christmas at the Capitol photo galleries from 2008 and 2010.

Personally, I like a tree festooned with homemade ornaments: cranberry and popcorn strings, battered relics from my elementary school crafting days, and the like. One Laura Ingalls Wilder researcher made a series of paper ornaments using pages from the”Little House” books. Those are pretty fancy, but an ornament can be as simple as a string of bottle caps glued to a popsicle stick. Other kid-friendly holiday projects will be available at the Rapid City Journey Museum’s “Christmas Crafts” Family Fun Day this Sunday from 2-4.

Of course, not everyone is preparing for Christmas this month. For Hanukkah, which starts next Tuesday at sundown, the folks at Wild Idea Buffalo Ranch enjoy a traditional recipe with a South Dakota twist — Braised Buffalo Brisket.