Happy Thanksgiving

Things have been quite busy at school out here and have not had time to post any items. Just want to wish everyone a happy and safe Thanksgiving. October was rather sad for us, as we lost two faculty members to sudden heart attacks. A student was struck by a car, but suffered only a broken collarbone when he smashed into the windshield. It's a miracle he wasn't hurt more severely.
Just read the web edition of the Brookings Register. The leading article was about a young college student who hit a bridge on the S-curve south of town after coming back from a school assignment in Sioux Falls. I wasn't aware of this accident, which happened about a year ago. I know him very well, as he is a former student and athlete at BHS. He has made an amazing recovery, it appears.
On a more somber note, do any of you remember Donna Holzkamp? She was two years ahead of us. If girls would have had the sports opportunities then that they do now, she may have been all-American. She was quite talented athletically. Her sister Jean was a year behind us, and was also very athletic. Jean, I believe, is coaching at Kadoka. She may have been the only female to coach a boys high school basketball team in this state. Donna passed away recently, leaving behind twin daughters Dana and Darcy. They are both former students of mine. There was an older brother Doug. He and I coached a teener baseball team one summer in the early 70's.
Also passing away recently was Lynn Emmett. He was a year behind us. Condolences may be sent to the family through rudesfuneralhome.com.
If anyone who reads this will be in Brookings during Christmas, perhaps you will want to get together with fellow classmates. I am going to visit a niece for Christmas, but will be in Brookings from about Dec. 29-Jan 7.

Bob Ishmael's Sister Passes Away

Our prayers and thoughts go out to Bob Ishmael, whose sister passed away recently. She was a few years ahead of us in school. I actually had her daughter as a student when she was in the 6th grade. Formerly, I could copy the obituary from the newspaper, but I am unable to do that on the computer where I am presently attending school. Condolonces may be sent to the family through www.rudesfuneralhome.com. The complete obituary can be found at www.rudesfuneralhome.com/index.php?option=com_obituary&task=details&oid=778

Children's Museum Set To Open

The conversion of Central Elementary to a first-class children's museum is complete. This link will direct you to a recently published article on the Brookings Register webpage. http://www.brookingsregister.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&story_id=9100&page=76

The Changing Neighborhood Of Central Elementary

The Carnegie Library was just across the street south of Central. It was turned into a Cultural Community Center when the new library was built on the south end of the block in the 70's. Ignore the date on the picture; I was borrowing the camera and I did not know if this whole project would even turn out as planned. Thankfully, it was not too bad.

As an old building, it needs to be refurbished periodically. Our own Ron Kruse is in the boom.

This phot is similar to the one in our 1967 yearbook. The band was sitting/standing in the area behind the flagpole.

A closer view of the previous shot.

This is the view looking east down Fourth Street from in front of the old high school. The Presbyterian Church is on the left.

The building now houses offices and apartments, and is called "The 1921" because it was built in that year. The annex was demolished when the remodeling began in the early 2000's. Mark Kratochvil, as a deputy states attorney, works here.

Our beloved(?) Central Elementary School. The halls and rooms seemed so big when we first entered 50 some years ago.

The lawn appears to have been well taken care of. In reality, this sod was only put in a week or so ago. The playground of our kindergarten days is no longer there.

This edifice is the main addition to the exterior. It is adjacent to the classroom of Miss Neubauer, one of our fifth grade teachers. Notice the large swallowtail butterfly in the middle window.

This is the view from home plate of the baseball field in the southwest corner.

This picture was taken about where third base would have been.

As you can see, much landscaping has taken place. This is the west side of the gym. The outdoor basketball courts were in this area.

This photo was taken from the home plate area of the northwest ballfield (right across the street from the First National Bank). The whole area is now encircled by a gate. On the left, one of the posts sneaked into the picture.

Here is a gazebo with Tyrannosaurus Rex nearby. Those workmen might satisfy her voracious appetite.

This view is looking toward the north and is what Robyn would see if she were standing on her porch.

Here is another look at Mrs. Tyrannosaurus Rex. Her baby is supposed to arrive in a few weeks. A good articel can be found at http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/dinosaur/2010/08/10/super-sized-tyrannosaurus-comes-to-south-dakota/

This is what we would have seen if we were playing on the old swings and monkey bars.

This is one of the "back doors" to the school, and the entrance to the gym, Mrs. Petersen's third grade was in the corner to the left. Her husband taught junior high science and shop. I believe he was more affectionately known as "Uncle Petey."

The conversion of Central Elementary into the first children's museum would not have been possible without the generosity of the Larson Family (Vern Olson's employer). The opening date is scheduled for mid-September.

Central Elementary

Central Elementary is no longer an elementary school. It is being converted into a children's museum, which will be the first one in the state of South Dakota. The opening date is ony a few weeks away. Funding for this renovation is being provided by Larson Manufacturing (Vern Olson's employer). Some of the people on staff there are colleagues or former students. They asked me this summer if I had any memorabilia of the old school. I gave them what I could find. If any of you have items of interest, you may contact

Jill Hungerford

Director of Marketing

Children's Museum

521 4th St.

Brookings, SD 57006

or email her at jhungerford@cmosd.org (605-692-6700).

In my search, I came across these two photos from the late 50's, early 60's. The first photo is First Communion at St. Thomas More Catholic Church. The year may have been 1959. I think the fourth row, from the left, consists of Arnie deBlonk, Jerry Martinson, Dan Holm, unknown, Tim Serlet, unknown, John Martinson, Greg Graff, Doug Biggar, and Jim Wakeman. The third row is Rick Thompson, Steve Braley, Mike McClemans, Pat Durland (?), John Iverson, Alan Leibel, Stan Skubic, Jim Herrig (?), unknown, Rocky Watson, and Kevin O'Connell. The boy on the left in the second row looks like Jim Antonides. The only girls I recognize in that row are Cecilia Kellogg in the middle, and perhaps Kathy Howell (from Volga) on the end. In the front row, the second and third girls from the left look like Patsy Bates and Kathy Funk respectively. The two middle girls appear to be Debi Shirley and Robyn Connelly, while the girl on the end seems to be Margaret Pearson. We were not all in the same class; I don't know the reason for that.

The second one is the Cub Scout pack (den?) some of us were in. From the left is Greg Graff (anybody know whatever happened to him? Didn't he move when we were in Jr. Hi?), Jim Egeberg, Jim Wakeman, Arnie deBlonk, Mike McClemans, Lynn Roberts, and John Iverson.

Reminiscing

Finally, some good news. Have been exchanging emails with Janice (Briggs) Remmele. We had the same 5th and 6th grade teachers, and virtually the same schedule in the 7th and 8th grades. We both went to Central, and had Mrs. Walker as our teacher. Another teacher was Miss Joyce Pedersen, whose class is pictured above (how many of these students can you identify?). Does anyone remember who the other 6th grade teacher at Central was? Could it have been Mrs. Travis? If anyone has pictures of our school years that you would not mind posting, you can email them to me and I will try to get them up here.

Former Superintendent Passes Away

Our thoughts, condolences, and prayers go out to the family of Bruce Crosswait, who passed away recently. He became superintendent for the Brookings school district in 1966, succeeding Mr. Horrigan, who had been in Brookings many years as a teacher, principal, and superintendent. The funeral arangements have been made by Kirk Funeral Home in Rapid City. The manager and one of the owners is Ken Kirk, a BHS graduate of 1971. He also had an older sister Kathy, who graduated in 1968.

I became acquainted with Dr. Crosswait when I began teaching at the Brookings Middle School in 1973. His son Mark was in the seventh grade and played on the basketball team that I was coaching. I was promoted to eighth grade basketball coach next year, so I had essentially the same boys again. I was reassigned to the ninth grade coaching spot the following season, thus having the good fortune of teaching the same boys three years in a row. That class graduated in 19979. When they had their class reeunion last summer, they invited a number of their former high school teachers (Mr. Tlustos, Mr. Jostad, Mrs. Fiedler, Mr. Gibbons, Mr. Walder, Mrs. Gerberding {she was our student teacher for sophomore English; Joan Donaldson, Nancy Webbenhurst's sister, was one of the sophomore English teachers}). I was honored that they included me in that elite group.

Thanks to Nancy Webbenhurst for informing me of his passing. Her father, as the business manager for many years at the school, worked very closely with Dr. Crosswait.

The complete obituary can be found at http://www.kirkfuneralhome.com/index.php?option=com_obituary&task=details&oid=1958