Brookings, South Dakota High School Class of 1969, Home of the Bobcats: Turn! Turn! Turn!

It seems rather appropriate that during most of December, 1965, this song (Turn! Turn! Turn!) by the Byrds (https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=turn+turn+turn+by+the+byrds&qpvt=turn+turn+turn+by+the+byrds&FORM=VDRE) was number one on the Billboard charts. As the introductory lyrics indicate:

                            To everything (turn, turn, turn)
                            There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
                             And a time to every purpose, under heaven

                             A time to be born, a time to die
                             A time to plant, a time to reap
                             A time to kill, a time to heal
                             A time to laugh, a time to weep

52 years later, these ancient words from the Book of Ecclesiastes (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turn!_Turn!_Turn!), written perhaps 2800 years ago, still remain timeless and prophetic. Christmas is a time for many of us to gather around with family members and celebrate the birth of Christ according to one's traditions. When we were younger, we usually thought of receiving gifts; as we have matured, we more likely are thinking of returning the favor and giving gifts to our spouses, children, grandchildren, and those most dear to us. Nature, however, sometimes throws us a curveball, and injects some sadness into this glorious season.

This Christmas, some of our class members have experienced this sadness personally. A previous post has recalled the passing of James Vincent, father of Gary. Recently, two other classmates have also been affected by the death of a parent. Marilyn (Allison) Gisi recently lost her step-mother, while Brian Johnson lost his mother. Our condolences to both of these classmates on their losses.

It was wonderful visiting with Marilyn. Since high school graduation, we had only seen each other at the 20th class reunion in 1989. She has retired after teaching kindergarten for some 22 years in Topeka, Kansas. When many of us were that young age, we did not even have kindergarten, particularly those who attended the one-room country schools, as Marilyn had.

My memories of half-day kindergarten are playing in the sandbox, fingerpainting, taking naps on the little rugs we had, milk-breaks, recess, listening to Miss O'Toole read stories, learning our numbers and letters, and putting away the tinkertoys after playtime. There was one boy in our class who was somewhat of a smart-aleck. He would often correct Miss O'Toole when she was reading a story about Native Americans and their wigwams. He would shout out "tepee" when she said "wigwam." She was gracious enough to accept the correction for the first few times. After that, however, it was easy to tell that she was getting a little irritated at his grandstanding. This same boy showed off by trying to drink his milk faster than everyone else. One day, he drank it too fast. As they were lining up to go out for recess, he was standing behind Bill Sherman, who was first in line. He asked Bill if he could go first instead. Bill kindly let him. Not two seconds later, the boy vomited. Miss O'Toole then sent him home, which was only two blocks away. That does not seem to be the procedure that would have to be followed today.

Now, kindergarten seems much more geared to academics, as the students begin to read and do simple arithmetic problems. Is that a good thing? To the best of my memory, we were not pushed like that, and our class did not fare too badly academically.

Was also able to have a good conversation with Marilyn's brother, who was two years older. Their family was one of the early ones to settle in Bookings county. There was an Allison land office at one time on the corner of Main and 3rd., across from the old Montgomery Ward's Store (according to today's Register of Dec. 30, 2017, the Montgomery Ward's store went out of business 50 years ago). There was also an historic Allison house located a couple of blocks east on 3rd street (kitty-corner from our house). It was removed a number of years ago to make room for the new public library. Adjacent to that house was a small wooded area that served as a fort and playground for us boys who lived in the neighborhood during the 50's. This "forest" was cleared perhaps in the early 60's, becoming a vacant lot for a few years, and providing a temporary field for impromptu football and baseball games. In the mid-60's, it was graveled over and became a parking lot. During that time, there was an old green army bus parked there for a few days. That bus later became the infamous "Yellow Submarine" that some BHS athletic teams used to transport them to their games. It made its last trip to Pipestone during our junior year. The boys on that bus can tell that story much better than I can.

Below is a picture of the Allison house and the land office. The grey area on the right of the house looks to be a flaw in the film. The Allison name in the bottom picture is difficult to see, and appears under the words "FOR SALE" and above the word "LAND." According to the website https://www.sdstate.edu/sites/default/files/sdsuarchives/collections/upload/Brookings-Businesses-Avenues.pdf , this building was the land office for Andy and William Allison from 18880-1925. Other additional businesses were also located on the premises. An A. B. Allison is listed as having Sioux Valley Land and Loan company there in 1901. In 1917-18, A. B. Chase had a real estate office there. Any relation to Cheryl Crase of our class? Some other notable business located there were Cook's Café (1950-54), which later moved to 407 Main, and Austin Food Store (1954-58), which later relocated to 813 Medary Ave. The Cook's legacy is still to be found across the street, as a small eatery called Cook's Kitchen is a regular gathering place for a number of local celebrities. Max Austin, owner of the Austin Food Store, was about the age of my father. Every once in a while, we would get milk there because it was cheaper than Spies. Austin's price was three half-gallons for $1.00, while at Spies it was $0.40 for a half gallon. However, we could walk to Spies in about a minute, whereas Austin's was a long ways for an 8-yar old.

When we were in first grade, the building had outlived its usefulness, and was replaced by a brick building. This new building had basements apartments, commonly referred to as the Duff apartments. Near the alley behind this building, Mr. Duff had a long-time tire shop. I believe he worked up to his nineties, and was the owner of the property. The bottom part of the caption for the land office photo states the picture was from 1914, and "The fifth and sixth buildings on the block are still standing on Main and are now..." The rest of the caption was on the next page, and read "Jim's Tap and George's Pizza."

Some of us may have been students of Brian's mother, Lorraine Johnson. My recollection is that she taught at Central when we were in grade school, and later moved to Hillcrest. Before moving to Sunnyview in the early 60's, the family lived on Second Street between Medary and 11th Avenue. I can recall playing over there one time. In the summer of 1963, Brian was on our little league baseball team. We had a really good team with Jim Kortan, Lonnie Herron, Rick Wahlstrom, Jim Egeberg, and some others whose names escape me. When we began the play-offs, be played the Pirates, who also had very good team. We were defeating them quite soundly and had a big lead when it began to rain just as Jim Kortan was coming to bat with the bases loaded. The game was called and had to start over again the next day. We lost 1-0. Afterwards, Mrs. Wahlstrom scolded me for being such a poor sport and a poor loser. She was right, and I slowly started to mend my ways. It took a few years, as Craig Derscheid's dad reminded again the next year. Some people are just slow learners. I should have listened to Miss O'Toole back in kindergarten. (I was the bratty one who blurted out when she was reading to us, and also the one who drank his milk too fast)