All who love Christmastime and trains should rendezvous in Hill City this holiday season. (Anyone who doesn’t love Christmastime and trains might plan to see a doctor.) The South Dakota State Railroad Museum is fun any season of the year, but the locomotives and train exhibits truly shine during the holidays when Rick Mills and his crew add tinsel, holly and lights. The museum’s annual Trees & Trains exhibit is open December weekends and Christmas Eve day. It’s alongside South Dakota’s 1880 Train, which transforms into the Holiday Express every December. Families make lasting memories on the two-hour journey, steaming through the Black Hills in winter. The 1880 crew has implemented many COVID-19 policies to keep you and your family safe. All aboard! Several of Hill City’s favorite restaurants are open year-round, including the beautifully decorated Alpine Inn, a Black Hills staple, and a new place, Pizzeria Mangiamo, that features artisan wood-fire pizzas — one of South Dakota’s very few new restaurants to open during the pandemic.
Tag: family fun
Music at the Meridian
Yanktonians now gather on Thursday nights in summer at the base of the circa 1924 Meridian Bridge for music, food and festivities. The event, now in its second year, is attracting ever-larger crowds who mingle by the banks of the Missouri River. Photos by Bernie Hunhoff.
More from Fair Thee Well
Our July/August issue includes a feature on the oddities, curiosities and fun traditions at our state and county fairs. Our founder and editor-at-large Bernie Hunhoff has photographed several of them in years past. Here are some of the shots that didn’t make the magazine.
Butterflies and Fluttering Fish
Photographer Scott Korsten and his wife Marilyn recently brought visiting family to the Butterfly House & Marine Cove in Sioux Falls. “It was a great experience for the kids who were mesmerized by the hundreds of different free-flying butterflies found throughout the tropical conservatory,” Korsten says. “Before making our way in to the butterfly area, we spent time in the Marine Cove where we saw vibrant fish and corals.” The Cove boasts more than 10,000 gallons of aquariums and a popular pop-up dome aquarium, where kids get a unique view from “inside” the aquarium. There is also a shark and stingray touch pool and a Pacific tide pool.
Busy Bees
Elementary school students in Brookings are learning about the life cycle of bees through a new video game developed by a team of young entrepreneurs.
“Buzz Whizz: Bees” allows children to play the roles of queen and worker bees while learning how the insects survive and benefit the ecosystem.
The game is the 
first project of Mantis Digital Arts, a small game design studio run by Coy Yonce. Kids begin as the queen 
bee digging out of hibernation. They build a hive and slowly transition to worker bees that fly in search of pollen, water and nectar and defend the hive against attackers. The game ends when the queen dies and the life cycle is complete.
Yonce and his staff have relied on input from teachers and parents in Brookings 
to create a game suited for children ages 4 to 10.
“We have people on staff tasked with making sure every part of the game is educational and others who are making sure it’s fun, so kids actually want to play it,” he says.
Yonce is working
 on another game 
with South Dakota State University professor Carter Johnson that shows how Johnson is transitioning a local farm from cropland back to native grasses.
Yonce plans to make the games available through the App Store for Android, iPhone and tablets.
Editor’s Note: This story is revised from the September/October 2014 issue of South Dakota Magazine. To order a copy or to subscribe, call (800) 456-5117.
Nora Store Christmas
Mike Pedersen, of Nora, has always liked Christmas. When he set up an old pipe organ in the town’s former country store in 1989, he decided to throw a big party. People have been joining him for holiday sing-alongs ever since.
Nora, southwest of Alcester in the middle of Union County, was never a big town. Today the population is five according to the town sign. The Nora store closed in 1962. It’s now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and Pedersen accepts free will donations at the sing-alongs for upkeep and restoration. He has festively decorated the charming shop with toys and gifts from past sing-along guests. An old pot bellied stove warms the room, neighbor women bring cookies and Pedersen makes the coffee and cider. Guests shout requests and Pedersen plays them on a beautifully restored organ. When his fingers get tired he makes room for somebody else. A young man named Nick, blind since birth, shared a few solos with the welcoming crowd last weekend. Other young guests later accompanied the organ with flute and trumpet.
Pedersen has extended this season’s open house for two more days. Guests are invited to enjoy this unique holiday experience Friday, Dec. 18, and Saturday, Dec. 19, at 6:30 p.m. Nora Store is 4 miles east of Union Grove State Park at 30707 475th Avenue. Call Pedersen at 605-670-1455 with questions.
Photos by Rebecca Johnson. To see a short video from last Sunday, click here.
State Fair Fun
South Dakota Magazine finished its 2015″Fair Tour” with a Labor Day weekend visit to the South Dakota State Fair in Huron. We met all sorts of interesting people. Here are just a few of them. Photos by Bernie Hunhoff.
Graffiti Under the Sea
South Dakota Magazine’s Katie Hunhoff spearheaded a paint-a-fish extravaganza in downtown Yankton Wednesday night, bringing the city’s RiverWalk sculpture organization and Yankton Area Arts Association to team up on a project for kids. Photos by Bernie Hunhoff.
Fair Fun
We spent the day at South Dakota’s oldest county fair and found lots of happy people. The Turner County Fair in Parker is celebrating its 135th year August 17-20. Photos by Bernie Hunhoff.
Trees and Trains
“Trees and Trains” are always popular in South Dakota, but they take on a real luster this year at the South Dakota State Railroad Museum in Hill City. The exhibit can still be enjoyed Dec. 26 and 27 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and noon to 4 p.m. on Dec. 28. Photos by Bernie Hunhoff.
