Tag: turner county

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The Mood of Deep Winter

By Christian Begeman

One of my favorite songwriters, Patty Griffin, penned a line in her song Cold As It Gets that could easily describe the mood of deep winter in South Dakota:

“I know a cold, as cold as it gets, I know a darkness that’s darker than cold. A wind that blows as cold as it gets, blew out the light of my soul.”

The long nights, howling wind and frigid temperatures can easily get a man down this time of year — especially when cold and flu season attacks your body on top of the tough weather. I know, because I just spent the weekend in bed suffering through a really nasty cold. By Sunday evening, I was finally feeling strong enough to go out and do a little photo hunting. It was Super Bowl Sunday, though, and if I went I’d miss at least the first half of the game. Crazy as it sounds, I didn’t hesitate. I hit the road and was shooting a particularly nice sunset scene east of Centerville about the time Baltimore scored their first touchdown.

As I look back over the photos of winter scenes that accompany this column, I’m reminded of a little of that same craziness for”getting the shot” in almost every photo. Take the photo at Palisades State Park, for example. If anybody was watching that evening, they’d have had a good laugh. Here was this clumsy, full-grown man slipping and sliding amongst the rocks at the bottom of Split Rock Creek only to end up lying spread eagle with his nose up against a camera on the edge of the ice for ten minutes straight. Yep, that was me.

Or how about the photo of Zion Lutheran Church with the cows in the foreground? That evening as I left work I could tell it was going to be a nice sunset. The problem was a bone-chilling wind was blowing from the northwest. So there I am standing on top of a hardened snow drift on the far side of the ditch of a county road, teeth chattering, eyes watering, all while framing up a shot of the church with cows in the foreground. I think it took a good hour to finally get warmed back up.

The rest of the photos have similar stories. I spent more time on my belly below Fort Randall Dam as well, and worked to get the sunlight to hit just right on the white, round heads of some roadside weeds up near Montrose. I dirtied the ice of Grass Lake during a January thaw to get some brilliant sunset colors over ice formations. The guy tracking ankle-deep mud all over the ice? Yeah, that was me.

So why do I keep chasing the photos? Good question. Part of it is the challenge. It’s not easy to find beauty in our harshest of seasons, but then again, you’d be surprised. The sunlight is lower in the sky so the golden hour seems to last longer. The snow and ice has a cooling effect on a scene and if you can capture the warmth of the sunset against that cool blue, you can stumble across photographic magic. I think the other part of why I keep going out is that I get to see such amazing sights when the conditions are right. To be honest, there aren’t a lot of things I’d rather do at this point in my life than chase a South Dakota sunset. Yep, that’s pretty much me.

Christian Begeman grew up in Isabel and now lives in Sioux Falls. When he’s not working at Midcontinent Communications he is often on the road photographing our prettiest spots around the state. Follow Begeman on his blog.



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Our Office Lutefisk Party

By Ruth Steil

The brown-jacketed deliveryman brought a package to our office door and said,”I think it’s lutefisk. Do you want me to set it outside?” That’s when we knew we were in for an adventure.

Although our staff always enjoys exploring the culinary culture of South Dakota, back in 2006 we realized that many of us at South Dakota Magazine had never tried one of our state’s most infamous holiday dishes. That’s especially surprising because our most senior staffer, Alma Korslund, is an experienced lutefisk chef.

Lutefisk is air-dried codfish that has been rehydrated by a soaking in lye and water, hence the name, lute (lye), fisk (fish), or”lyefish.” Whether lutefisk originated in Norway or Sweden is apparently a fishbone of contention. With all the bad press, it’s a mystery why either country wants to claim it. According to an old Norwegian-American saying,”Half the Norwegians who immigrated to America came in order to escape the hated lutefisk, and the other half came to spread the gospel of lutefisk’s wonderfulness.”

Alma grew up in a Danish household (the Hansens) in the Irene/Viborg area. Her grandparents were Danish immigrants.”We’re Danes, not Norwegians, but we like lutefisk,” she says,”I guess we made it for the Norwegian in-laws.” She was eight when she first tried lutefisk. Her sister didn’t care for the taste, but Alma liked it immediately.”I think it had something to do with all the butter we used,” she admits today.

The Hansens enjoyed lutefisk every Thanksgiving. As the rest of the holiday feast was being set out, the lutefisk was finally put on the stove to boil. Melted butter and the fish were the last things brought to the table.

Lutefisk is traditionally served with mashed potatoes, green beans or creamed peas, lefse and butter — ≠lots of butter. Swedish meatballs were often added to the menu for the faint of stomach.

Although lutefisk can be made in the microwave or oven, Alma still cooks it on the stove, just the way her mother taught her. Here’s how the Hansens did it:

  • Cut large lutefisk filets into portion-sized pieces.
  • Soak in salt water for a few hours before cooking.
  • Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil.
  • Drop fish pieces into boiling water.
  • Wait for water to come back to a boil.
  • Poke with fork — fish will slide off easily when ready.

The fork test is important.”When it slides right off the fork, it has to come out of the water and to the table,” insists Alma. Overcooking lutefisk produces a quivering gelatinous mass, something akin to fish jello.

Lutefisker Alma Korslund in the kitchen.

The lutefisk that arrived via our deliveryman came from Olsen Fish Company of Minneapolis, the world’s largest processor of lutefisk. They produce over half a million pounds of the fragrant fish a year. Approximately 25 tons of that comes directly to South Dakota. Olsen’s even has a Lutefisk Hotline (800-882-0212) to call if you don’t understand the fork poke.

Lutefisk can be purchased fresh or frozen, with skin or without. We received it frozen skinless or kettle ready.”This is a very nice piece of fish,” Alma said,”Sometimes you have to remove the skin.”

When Alma prepared the lutefisk for our magazine staff, the meal was met with some trepidation; the fish doesn’t come without a reputation, after all. But everyone tried it.”They were all good sports,” Alma said. Comments from the diners ranged from, “How do you say ‘ugh’ in Norwegian?” to”Way better than I expected, it reminds me of artificial crabmeat.” Even our editor’s dog, Yeller, ate some. But, he also chews on whatever he finds in the backyard.

Alma concedes that lutefisk may be a dying tradition.”My children can do without it, but they will try it,” she says.”My grandchildren don’t like it at all.” So she often prepares it just for her husband, Dale, and herself — their own little Danish feast.

Editor’s Note: This story is revised from the November/December 2006 issue of South Dakota Magazine. To order a copy or to subscribe, call 800-456-5117.

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The Day Davis Nearly Disappeared

By John Andrews

In the last 15 years, powerful tornadoes completely destroyed the town of Manchester in Kingsbury County, and nearly wiped Spencer off the map. In 1928, the town of Davis in Turner County almost met the same fate.

Tom Firney of Scotland sent us a photo showing the aftermath of the late summer storm. He found it while combing through old family photographs and planned to simply throw it away, but something about the compelling image made him hold onto it. I invited him to send it to our Yankton office.

The photo shows three people sitting on a curb, surrounded by piles of debris. Townspeople (presumably) are in the frame, surveying the damage. A note written on the back says,”Mamma and Dad were over Sept. 14, and said it was a pitiful sight.”

That day — September 13, 1928 — the town of Davis fell victim to a tornado outbreak in southeastern South Dakota and northeastern Nebraska that killed eight people and caused over $1 million in damages. At the time, 250 people lived in Davis. Almost half of them were injured.

Much of the damage occurred just across the Missouri River in Nebraska, where a twister demolished four country schools as it headed toward Sioux City. At the first schoolhouse, a nearby farmer who was watching the storm ran to the school and helped the teacher herd the children into an adjacent storm cave. Everyone survived, but the children at the next school were not as fortunate. There, the teacher told students to lie on the floor and hold hands as the powerful tornado lifted the schoolhouse and swept it away. Two students were killed. At another school, a farmer loaded his car with children and drove them to safety. He offered to take the teacher, but she refused. Her body was found after the storm with the doorknob of the schoolhouse in her hand.

The twister stopped just short of Sioux City. To many people, that justified an old Indian legend that the city is naturally protected from tornadoes because three rivers — the Missouri, the Big Sioux and the Floyd — converge there.

The event was surreal for those who lived through it. One survivor said the day”was like a person experiences when taking ether.” Those who lived through the Manchester and Spencer twisters would agree.

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The Chislic Circle

By Rich Preheim

Editor’s Note: This story is revised from the July/August 2005 issue of South Dakota Magazine. To order a copy or to subscribe, call 800-456-5117.

“A lot of people don’t even ask what the specials are; they just want chislic,” said Melissa Svartoein. Svartoein worked at Papa’s Restaurant in Freeman when she was a student at the University of South Dakota.

Open a map of South Dakota, place the point of a protractor on Freeman, on U.S. Highway 81 a couple of inches north of Yankton, and draw a circle with a radius representing about 30 miles. That is the Chislic Circle, the home of a culinary curiosity.

If you live there —- maybe in Marion or Menno, Parker or Parkston —- you probably are acquainted with chislic, a simple dish of bite-sized chunks of sheep meat on wooden skewers, deep-fat fried or grilled. Other parts of the world may have their kebabs of mutton and other meats, but chislic seems distinctive to southeastern South Dakota.

For decades a mainstay at cafes, bars, fairs and celebrations, it historically has been enhanced only by salt or garlic salt and served with saltines and, if you are so inclined, washed down with a cold beer. Recent years have seen the introduction of chislic in various marinades and with various sauces.

However it’s prepared, chislic sells. Papa’s Restaurant in Freeman serves up to 3,000 chislic sticks a week. Rachel Svartoein, whose grandfather sold chislic at a corner store south of Freeman for many years, provided 1,200 sticks for her high school graduation reception. At Marion’s 125th anniversary, the Jaycees sold 4,000 sticks on the first night. The chislic stand at the Turner County Fair in Parker sold 40,000 in 2004.

Chislic is simply an unquestioned thread in certain community fabrics; yet it remains a mystery meal, its origins unsure. Even theories and myths are difficult to find.”I know there are sheep in other places, so why chislic is popular here and not there, I don’t know,” said Papa’s co-owner Susan Letcher.

Even some sheep producers outside the area know little about chislic.”Ask people in Aberdeen, they’ve never heard of it,” said Bill Aeschlimann, a Hurley farmer who is active in national and regional sheep associations.”Ask people in Rapid City, they don’t have a clue.” Attempts to sell chislic have flopped at the Sturgis bike rally because nobody knew what it was.

Scant historical accounts suggest that chislic was introduced in Freeman at least 100 years ago by Russian immigrant businessman John Hoellwarth. But that’s about all anyone knows.”All I can tell you is my dad tells the story how his father, on a day for celebration would buy a couple of young lambs for 50 cents a piece and make chislic,” said grandson Robert Hoellwarth, a retired physician in Vallejo, Calif.

The Hoellwarths arrived in Hutchinson County in the 1870s from the Crimea of southern Russia, a region where”shashlyk,” cubes of skewered beef, lamb or pork, were grilled over an open fire. Chislic probably evolved from shashlyk, according to Darra Goldstein, editor of Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture and food editor of Russian Life magazine. But she and other food experts are not familiar with the South Dakota version.

Whatever its origin, chislic is a distinguishing feature of southeastern South Dakota. Aeschlimann, who has sold it at the Turner County Fair for 20 years, had his first chislic stand at Hurley’s centennial in 1983.”We knew there would be lots of people coming back,” he said.”And what would they think of from their childhood? Chislic.”

Jake Huber ran a chislic stand in Freeman on summer Saturday nights during the 1930s and’40s, days when farm families came to town for shopping and socializing.”There was such a tremendous amount of people in town on Saturday nights, it didn’t take long to sell out,” said his daughter Nita Engbrecht of Marion.

The whole family prepared the chislic and cleaned up late Saturday night. Engbrecht’s job, which the health department might frown upon today, was collecting the used skewers, which her father fashioned from bamboo.”Those sticks had to be boiled, dried out and used again and again,” she said.

Among Huber’s patrons was Bill Gering, then a teenaged farm boy. But chislic was not new to him. Several farmers owned a threshing machine together, and when harvest was done, everybody gathered to celebrate.”The men figured out who owed who,” Gering said. Then everybody ate chislic and homemade ice cream.

In Freeman, residents bring out-of-town guests to Papa’s to introduce them to chislic.”Most people like it,” Letcher said.”If they’re here a second night, they come back and have it again.” Papa’s serves five varieties: original, barbecue, lemon pepper, garlic and even one marinated in olive oil, lemon juice and soy sauce. But the original recipe remains most popular, Letcher said. But regardless of how it’s cooked, mutton on a stick remains popular in the Chislic Circle.

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Running with Parkinson’s

By Rebecca Johnson

Gary Pauley runs in his home town of Parker, SD.

Gary Pauley ran the Sioux Falls Half Marathon in September of 2010 in two hours and 10 minutes. A good race time for any 48-year-old, but Pauley has Parkinson’s Disease. Despite a 20-year Army career including multiple deployments to hostile areas, the Parker resident’s greatest challenge came at age 46 when he was diagnosed with the brain disorder. His symptoms included movement problems, shakiness and impaired balance. Pauley began a rigorous regimen of running and biking to help maintain his health.

As his condition worsened, exercise became harder and Pauley considered stopping running altogether.”I realized I needed to continue to exercise as long as possible in order to keep my quality of life,” says Pauley. He decided to have a deep brain stimulation (DBS) device implanted to help manage some of the disabling motor symptoms of his disease.”It offered me the best chance to reach a ‘new normal,'” he says.

The device was implanted in April of 2010 and activated in May. And his symptoms are not as noticeable as before.”I like when people who don’t know that I have Parkinson’s look at me and say I would have never guessed anything was wrong,” says Pauley.

After his surgery, Pauley came up with a”bucket list” of things he wanted to do. Running the half marathon was first on the list and his next big run is the Medtronic Twin Cities 10 mile on October 2nd in Minneapolis-St. Paul. He was chosen as one of this year’s 25 Medtronic Global Heroes – runners with implanted medical devices who continue to pursue their passions with the help of medical technology.

“I have pressed on through the progression of the disease and have managed to continue to do the activities I have always enjoyed,” says Pauley. I asked him if there is a race he is preparing for after the Twin Cities race.”There are a couple of short road races I am thinking about running in, but actually I am just trying to stay in good shape ’til high school basketball season starts,” he says. He officiates boys and girls basketball during the winter.”That’s primarily my workout for December through February.”