Sunday, March 17, 2013

Flashbacks

The state basketball tournaments have just been completed.  The Bobcats were one of the better teams in the state this season, and were seeded number three in the tournament.  Unfortunately, they lost to Sioux Falls Lincoln (whom we defeated 45 years ago for the championship) in the first game.  However, they came back to win their next two games, defeating Rapid City Central (who defeated us for the championship our senior year) and Huron to win the consolation championship.  History was made in the Rapid City game, as reserve Konner Beste came off the bench and had an unbelievable game.  He scored 40 points by making six two-point field goals, eight three-pointers, and four free throws.  He was on fire.  As far as we know, this is the school record.  The previous high was 38, set by Lee Colburn at Pierre during the last regular season game of our senior year.  In looking at old newspapers, he also had two other regular season games in which he scored thirty or more points.  Both came against Huron.  He had 34 when we played there (and suffered our only conference loss by two points), and followed that up with a 30 point effort when Huron came to our gym.  Lee's offensive prowess continued during the post-season tournaments.  He had 33 in the section championship against Madison, and then had 30 in the semi-final game with Belle Fourche. 

It was intriguing to view all of those old newspaper articles.  Basketball and wrestling (the wrestlers were state champs that year) may have received a great deal of attention, but there were so many other articles that highlighted the talents our classmates and others of the student body.  The debaters had an outstanding season, as they were also state champions.  There were numerous articles that showcased the contributions we made to the community.  Job's Daughters, Demolay, music, and community service are just a few that stand out.  During the Christmas season, Spies Super Valu had an ad with the pictures of all of their workers.  Included were six seniors:  Nanette Schroeder, Tom Salonen, Dave Helfinstine, Bill Ramey, Greg Koenders, and Diane Sturdevant.  For our 20th reunion, someone (Mark Kratochvil?) put a number of these articles on tagboard.  Might it be a good idea to expand this collection?  It would be time consuming, but I have some free time available for the next few months to pursue such a project.  It might be fun to scan the papers from the time we entered school through our senior year.  There could be articles and stories from Little League to 4-H to church that would make for interesting reading and conversation at our next reunion.  Any thoughts and suggestions would be appreciated. 

Monday, March 11, 2013

Mike Marshall's Sister Passes Away

Received the latest issue of the SDSU alumni magazine today.  Noticed that during the past year, a Virginia R. (Marshall) Sattler passed away.  Was this Mike Marshall's sister?  An internet search found this obituary http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/fdlreporter/obituary.aspx?pid=156915513#fbLoggedOut
She was indeed Mike's sister. 


It seems that many in our class had older siblings that also graduated in 1967.  Perhaps some may have been cousins, but these siblings appear to be Elizabeth Ahlers (sister of Jackie), Duane Allison (brother of Marilyn?), Dennis Baker (Kayla's brother), Joyce Berge (David's sister), Mary Ann Berkland (Arlo and Arlys?), Phil Bjordahl (Joan), Tom Boggs (Larry), Ralph Bortnem (Mark), Dave Bozied (Tom), Richard Brown (Danny?), Dave Cavanaugh (Sue?), Bonnie Christie (Peggy?), Brian Darnall (Sharon), Brad Hamilton (Kim), Peter Hauff (Barb), Barb Hendricks (Nancy?), Ruth Herrig (Jim), Chuch Hoekman (Kay), Steve Holm (Dan), Dexter Johnson (Brian), Mary Ellen Josephson (Nancy?--she must have moved before graduating), Beth Kallemeyn (Bob), Tony Koenders (Greg), Lee Kratochvil (Mark), Jay Leibel (Alan), Terry Liebing (Dan), Catherine Linder (Barb), Linda Mehegan (Patty), JoAnn Person (Janette), Steve Quincey (Pat?), Jan Roberts (Gawain), Susan Robish (Pat?), Tom Simmons (Brenda), Anita Sloat (Donna), Jim Steen (Susan?), Bob Sterud (Martha?), Bob and Bill Sturdevant (Diane), Ron Thompson (Rick?), Ann Thysell (Karen), Brian Walsh (Jackie), Bob Wakeman (Jim), Jim Wright (Georgia).  If there are any other additions or corrections, please let me know. 

During the second semester of our junior year, my part-time job was working at the post office.  The postmaster at the time was Tom Lyons, father of Kris.  At first, my hours were only from 5:30 AM -8:00AM on Saturdays mornings.  After a while, Tuesdays during the same time slot were added.  Eventually Thursdays were also on the schedule. (Maybe that is why it was difficult to stay awak in some classes on those days). One of the part-time employees was Oran Sattler, a student and a gymnast at SDSU.  He was quite helpful in teaching me the procedures at the post office, and eventually married Mike's sister Ginny. 

The father of Mike and Ginny was Dr. Stan Marshall, the Athletic Director at SDSU.  I believe he was appointed to that position in 1965.  The 1967 Bobcat notes that Ginny Marshall transferred from Dearborn, Michigan.  If memory is right, Dr. Marshall received his doctorate from Wayne State University in Michigan.  For a number of years in the 70's and 80's, Mrs. Marshall was a secretary and aide at the high school.


Our belated thoughts and prayers go out to Mike and his family.