Our Condolences and Prayers for Carol Bork and Doug Voss

Our condolences, thoughts, and prayers go out to Carol Bork on the loss of her father, Les.

The complete obituary can be found at http://www.rudesfuneralhome.com/sitemaker/sites/RudesF1/obit.cgi?user=611575Bork. 

LaVerne Leslie Bork, 90, of Brookings, SD, passed away Friday, April 20, 2012 at Brookview Manor, Brookings, SD. Memorial Services have been set for 11:00am, Wednesday, May 2, 2012 at Rude’s Funeral Home. Visitation will be one hour prior to the Memorial Services at Rude’s Funeral Home.

Laverne Leslie Bork was born October 12th, 1921, to Laverne L. and Mable (Woodman) Bork in Aberdeen, SD. They later divorced when he was five years old. He spent his growing up years in Utah and Watertown, SD where he graduated from Watertown High School.
He spent one year at Northern State College in Aberdeen, before joining the U.S Navy during WWII. He spent most of his service years in the Pacific arena as a Naval Photographer. When the war ended he returned to South Dakota and resumed his education at Northern State College.
After graduation he spent a year running a photography business in Henderson, NV. He then returned to Aberdeen to work for his friend Herb Clinton at Clinton Farm Implement. There he met Bonney Anderson an R.N. at St. Luke’s Hospital. They were united in marriage on September 22nd, 1949 in Dupree, SD. They had a daughter Carol who was born on November 12, 1950.
Les returned to Northern State College to further his education, when he finished he and the family moved to Clear Lake, SD where he taught Math and Science. He also served as the Assistant Coach in various sporting activities. He also refereed many area sports.
They had a son, Robert J. who was born February 15, 1952. In the spring of 1952, Les was offered a position in the photo lab at SDSU. That gave him the opportunity to pursue his masters degree in education. He also worked toward his PH. D. at Stanford.
The family then made the move to Brookings, where they have resided since. Les became director of Audio-Visual Services and taught related courses. He was very instrumental to bring educational television into the school room. Their son Colin was born in 1958.
Les enjoyed his work, his family, his coffee and golfing group, winters spent in Edinburgh, TX, their lake cabin near Detroit Lakes where he loved hearing the Loons. He took the family to every state on summer vacations, often connected to Audio and Visual meetings, during their growing years. He was a collector of cameras coins, post cards and stamps. He also enjoyed being a 3rd grade mentor at Hillcrest Elementary School.
Les is survived by his wife, Bonney, of Brookings, SD; his daughter, Carol Johnson and her daughter, Shauna of San Jose, CA; two sons, Bob (Linda) Bork of Sioux Falls, SD and Colin and his daughters, Brianna and Sydney of Fargo, ND and one sister Lila Long of Eau Claire, WI.
He is preceded in death by his parents and one sister Betty Poston.

In lieu of flowers the family suggests memorials be directed to the Volunteer Service Bank, Brookview Manor, Brookings VFW or the Elks Club Youth Programs.

In reading over his legacy, a couple of items stood out.  He worked for a year in Henderson, NV.  At that time, Henderson must have been rather small.  My niece lives in Las Vegas.  Her husband's parents live in Henderson.  Las Vegas has grown exponentially since she moved there 30 years ago.  Also, Carol is five days older than I am. 

In the elementary years, I knew Carol only from catechism classes.  She attended Hillcrest, which, for me, was a long ways from Central.  When we went to Jr. High, she was in the same class section. Except for gym and perhaps chorus, we had the same classes together all day.  I don't recall much about Carol, excpet that she was, and still is, very intelligent.  The only class in which  I really remember her was Mrs. Olson's history class, probably because she sat near me. 

Her brother Bob was on my little league team one year.  If memory serves me correctly, he made a great catch in the outfield to win a game one time.  Her younger brother Colin was about eight years younger than Carol.  He was an outstanding golfer in high school. 

I seem to recall that Mr. Bork was a very avid sports fan.  He knew many of us because of our success on the basketball court.  He always seemed to have a camera strapped around his neck. Carol's mother was a nurse.  It seems that there was an article about her in the Brookings paper when she retired from that profession.  Did she work in the maternity ward and help to deliver most of the babies born in Brookings during her time there?  Perhaps some of you are more informed about this than I am.  If so, don't hesitate to chime in. 

Our thoughts and prayers also go out to Doug Voss, who has just lost a sister-in-law.  Jeanette Langland passed away on April 12, 2012 after a battling cancer.  She was a year behind us in school.  I seem to recall seeing them at church on Sundays when we were younger.  Her complete obituary can be found at http://www.brookingsregister.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&story_id=14291&page=80

Mike Kohl's Mother Passes Away

Our thoughts, prayers, and condolences go out to Mike Kohl on the recent passing of his mother.  The complete obituary can be found at http://www.albertleatribune.com/2012/03/25/sylvia-kohl-90-albert-lea/  If memory serves me right, Mike was one of the numerous bright people in our class .  My yearbooks are not handy, but I seem to recall him in Latin with Miss Briscoe our freshman year.  Was he also in German I with Fraulein Huwe our sophomore year?   I also believe he was involved in debate and declam.  Wasn't our debate team our senior year quite talented, in part due to Mike's efforts?   Didn't Dan Scanlan also live with the Kohls around our sophomore year?  Dan was quite a talented athlete.  He was a fine football player, as I recall.  I believe he played basketball, and I know he ran track.  I thought they lived near Lincoln Lane and Elmwood.  Jim Kessler lived nearby on Lincoln Lane.  I would often ride my bike up to his house, and then we would go over to Hillcrest to shoot baskets. 

If you remember Miss Briscoe, she was quite serious all the time.  Do you recall how she would pass her red pencils out when we had to correct our papers?  One time in Latin class, she scolded us for writing some smart-aleck answer on a test when we didn't have any idea what the correct answer was.   She had asked a question like "Why did so-and-so become a shepherd?"  One student, who shall remain nameless, replied "Because business was bad in the coal mines."  She didn't like that answer very well. 

My school year is coming to a close.  Perhaps in the summer I can spend more time posting, but I could use some help.  If you have any ideas, stories, or news items that should be on here, do not hesitate to let me know. 

1967

The article about the 1962 basketbal team brought to mind the year 1967.  One connection is the Central Gymnasium.  That 1962 team practiced in the Central Gym, yet played their games at the fieldhouse (the "barn") at SDSU.  1967 was the last year the Bobcats practiced in Central Gym.  We were sophomores that year, and we would practice there after the varsity.  Mr. Hauschild had us run up and down those bleacher stairs 10 times after virtually every practice.  Many other memories of the Central gym are memorable, but we can save them for other posts. 


1967 was the last year in the old high school building.  One of the members of that graduating class was Laurie Klinkel.  That name may not mean much to most of us, but after graduating from the University of Nebraska-Omaha, she began working for Sen. James Abourezk (D-SD).  Also working for Sen. Abourezk was Tom Daschle from Aberdeen, whom she subsequently married.  He himself was elected to the House of Representatives in 1978, and then to the Senate in 1986.  He was chosen Senate minority leader in 1994, and for two brief weeks in January, 2001, was Senate majority leader.  He then returned to Senate minority leader.   However, in the unpredictable world of politics, in June of that year, he again became Senate majority leader, a position he would hold until the elections of 2002. Laurie worked for her husband until 1981.  Unfortunately, the marriage did not last, and they divorced in 1983 (http://www.allgov.com/ViewNews/Ambassador_to_Denmark__Who_is_Laurie_Fulton_90709; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Daschle).

Recently, the Brookings Register had an article on Laurie's return to Brookings (http://www.brookingsregister.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&page=79&story_id=14044). 



This looks to be a fairly recent picture. 

The 1967 annual has a similar picture.  I couldn't copy that photo, but the annual can be found on this link:  http://www.classmates.com/yearbooks/Brookings-High-School/24964?dsource=pub5856promotion1542115613&hitwiseSegment=free&checkCookie=1335120903104.
Her picture is on page 21.  Underneath the word "Yearbook" are forward and backward scroll signs.  You can also use the scroll bar at the right.  Coincidentally, Bob Kallemeyn's sister Beth and Mark Kratochvil's brother Lee can also be seen, while right below is Alan Leibel's brother Jay.  Beth Kallemeyn was my German tutor for a week in the fall of 1966.  Three weeks after school started, I dropped out of Miss Briscoe's Latin II class to take German I.  Since I was behind, I needed to catch up quickly.  Every day for a week, we met in the back room of the library and I tried to learn a few German basics, and nothing else.

Also that year, some of us had Nancy Webbenhurst's sister Joan for English.  She was Mrs. Donaldson to us.  I know Ed Dimit was in our class, and maybe Iris Clauson, Janice Briggs, and Mike Kohl.  Mrs. Donaldson would frequently scold Ed, as he sat next to me and never seemed to quit talking.  We had some skills on parliamentary procedure early in the year.  I was elected class treasurer.  When it came time to give the first treasurer's report, I just made up some figures.  The next week, there was less money in the treasurey, so someone (Iris?) wanted me impeached because I was losing money.  But someone came to my defense (Janice?), saying something like "Since we started with nothing, we're not doing too badly."  We also had to give speeches that first quarter.  One of our talks concerned Bobcat Day and homecoming.   It happened that Bobcat day fell on the same day as the conference cross-country meet.  I was not involved in a fall sport that year, and really had not gotten interested in running, so I poked fun at the cross-country runners.  The speech began by stating that it was a rare happening, so it is not even worth talking about.  There was something in there about the band playing at half-time, but some of the musicians (again, maybe Iris?) are behind about three or four notes, so the music doesn't sound very good.

Mrs. Donaldson's student teacher was Mrs. Gerberding.  She lived in Estellline at the time, but a few years later (mid 70's?), she would move to Brookings and  become one of the sophomore English teachers at the high school.  She truly did an excellent job in the theater department there.  She was a magnificent director of the fall and spring plays and musicals.  Her productions were almost grandiose.  She would choose plays that needed a large cast, and then recruit ordinary students, in addition to those that were exceptionally gifted, to be involved in those plays, whether in the cast, the crew, the designs, choreography, lighting, or the promoting and marketing.   People came from all over to see her productions. 

She had a couple of children, Tom and Julie.  If the name Julie Gerberding sounds familiar, it may be because she was director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from 2002-2009  (http://www.notablebiographies.com/news/Ge-La/Gerberding-Julie.html). 

 
There are many other memorable tales concerning Central Gym, but those can wait for another time.  Feel free to comment if you have some good ones.

50 Years ago

Fifty years ago, we were in the fifth grade.  Do you remember who your teacher was?  Some of had Miss Neubauer.  I believe Lee Colburn, Bob Kallemeyn, Janice Briggs, Barb Hauff, Kim Hamilton, and Emmett Earley were in the same class.  They were the ones that sat near me, so they stick out in my mind.  Another classmate was a girl by the name of Kathy (Cathy?) Ahrendt.  She had an older brother that was on Mr. Dolan's freshman basketball team.  They were only here a short time.  Some of us were rather mean to her.  It seems that we treated her quite cruelly at Valentine's Day, and Miss Neubauer gave us a scolding. 

That was also the year we started the SRA reading program.  Anybody remember that?  The difficulty levels were color-coded.  We took a pre-test, and then started at the appropriate level.  We then worked our way up the color ladder.  Did we have this program for part of the year up through the 8th grade?  Also that year,for the first time since 1952, the Bobcats won the state "A" basketball tournament.

The 1962 team after they won the championship

Front:  13--Jim Nelson  43--Gary Schutjer  31--Bill Iverson  5--Henry Nelson  45--Ron Otterness

Back:  Mr. Hauschild, Dave Sogn (Mgr.)  21--Reed Sanderson   Dave Brust  35--Bill Gamble   Doug Lakman   Don Dahl (glasses)   John Murphy   Bruce(?) Milfs (Mgr.)  Head Coach Dal Eisenbraun

It looks to me that the players who did not play in that game still have on their warm-up shirts (they are black with a big red B).  When we were in 8th grade, we wore old Bobcat uniforms from the 1950's.  I think we were also given these same warm-up shirts for that season.


We boys looked up to many of those players.  Promininet were Ron Otterness, Henry Nelson, Gary Schutjer, Jim Nelson, Bill Gamble, and Reed Sanderson.  Other members were John Murphy, Don Dahl, and Doug Lakman.  Otterness was a big guy, about 6" 7'.  He also had big feet, about size 16.  Word was that from the age of six through sixteen, his shoe size matched his age.  I believe he was a second team all-state selection.   He played at SDSU when Jim Marking was coaching.  Coach Marking told us that he was criticized by the SDSU students so much that he played poorly at home when he started.  Thus, he was a substitute at home.  When they played out of town, however, he was much more relaxed, so he was given a starting position.  Bill Gamble also played some at SDSU, but was not as successful on the court as he was in the classroom.  I believe he was really smart.  His father was an electrical engineering professor on campus.  Both of them were juniors that year.  They returned next year to earn second place.  Henry Nelson probably would have scored four or five points more each game if the three-point shot were in effect back then.  He could shoot from way out there.  He was also a fine baseball player for the Legion team.  Jim Nelson was the other junior that started.  When we were on the JV basketball team in 67-68, Skip Webster, our coach, would sometimes bring in alumni for us to practice against.  Jim came in one time, and Skip had me guard him.  He was almost quick as Tom Osterberg.  I did a terrible job defending him.  Gary Schutjer is still around town.  He could really jump.  If memory serves correctley, he was first team all-state.  Reed Sanderson was the oldest of the Sanderson brothers.  Laun was a year ahead of us, and Jan was a year behind us.  Mr. Hauschild once told us that Reed had been struggling with his free throws, so they altered his technique.  It came in handy, as he made 7 out of 7 in that championship game, which the Cats won by three, 42-39.  John Murphy was also a talented musician.  He played with The Talismen, who were inducted into the South Dakota Rock and Roll Music Hall of Fame a few years ago.  Kevin O'Connell's brother Pat was the drummer for that group.  Don Dahl's brother Doug was couple of years ahead of us.  Perhaps our association with him came from Little League baseball.  Doug Lakman (pronounced lake-man) was my family's next-door neighbor.  His nickname was skin-head because he had short hair.  Her sister Patty was a year ahead of us in school.  Doug's dad and my dad worked together.  At suppertime, Mr. Lakman would generally come outside and whistle very loudly, signaling Doug and Patty to get home and eat.  Mrs. Lakman was very instrumental in preserving the old high school a number of years ago.  Some developers wanted to raze the building, but she and others believed it should be saved and used for commercial purposes.  An election was held, and since the building is still standing, you can figure out the results.  Our own Mark Kratochvil has his office in what used to be the 9th grade science room of Mr. Rykhus.  When the school system hired me in 1973, my first room was the former sophomore biology room.



The players on that 1962 team were role-models in a way for some of us boys.  We wanted to do the same thing when we were seniors.  Fortunately, we were able to achieve that goal a year earlier.  Unfortunately, we were unable to duplicate that feat as seniors.  Nevertheless, we had a wonderful time and provided some entertainment for the students and fans. 

The Brookings Register had a nice article on this 1962 team.  http://www.brookingsregister.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&page=77&story_id=14249
The two members that were missing from the reunion in Las Vegas were junior Dave Brust and senior Tim O'Connor.  One of my brothers married a girl in Dave Brust's class.  She thought he was very handsome.  When they had a reunion in 1987, she said he still was as handsom as ever.  Tim O'Connor had a brother John, who was  a senior when we were sophomores.  The first basketball game for us that year was at Huron.  John was one of the better players on that team, but they only won a couple of games all season.  We won a close game with the Huron sophomores, but the varsity was soundly beeaten.  Since we got on the bus first, we decided that the best thing we could do was to console them and tell them that they played hard.  I think Lee inparticular singled out John for his performance.  His older brother Tim seldom played for that 1962 team.  He never seemed to get relaxed out on the court.  He was quite small, but quick.  He's not in the picture after they won the championship.  Was he bitter about something?  We also scrimmaged against him our JV year, and he ran circles around me.  He was much better than I remember him from six years earlier. 

The 1962 team at their Las Vegas reunion

Front: Bill Iverson, Ron Otterness, Bill Gamble, Gary Schutjer, Doug Lakman

Back: Don Dahl, Jim Nelson, John Murphy, Henry Nelson, Reed Sanderson and coach Dal Eisenbraun

If you read the article, they had a 25-year reunion in 1987. That was also the last year that the Brookings boys team won the state tournament.  I was fortunate to have coached them when they were 8th graders.  The juniors on that team made me look like a good basketball coach.  We only lost one game that season.  Had I not made a coaching blunder, it may have been even better. 

A key member of that championship team of 1987 was a boy named Pete Leiferman.  At 6"8', he was a force.  Not only was he big, but he was strong.  Working on the farm will do that.  This Pete was the nephew of  Pete Leiferman, who was a few years younger than we were, and whose family farmed near Aurora.  His mother was Kathy Leiferman, a year behind us in school.  His father was our Joe Jensen.  Pete had gone to school in Elkton, but transferred to Brookings in the fall of 1986 for his junior year. Thus, Pete only attended school in Brookings for two years, just as his father did.  An interesting sidelight to that 1986-87 season is that, because of scheduling changes, the team was playing one less game than it was allowed.  To make up for that lost game, an alumni game was scheduled.  Younger alumni would play the varsity, while older alumni would play the JV team.  Tom Osterberg and Bernie Hendricks returned from our team.  Bill Gibbons' son Bill played, as did Wayne VandenBerg.  They were in their late 20's, were part of some strong Bobcat teams in mid-70s, had size to match up with Pete, and had respectable college careers.  The alumni won.  Even though Tom was past his prime, he put on a dazzling display of quickness, speed, agility, dribbling, and passing.  He impressed everyone  in attendance, especially the high school players.  They were in awe that someone "that old" could display so much athletic ability.

This story brings to mind many tales of our elementary years.  Do you remember all of your teachers at Hillcrest or Central?  How about the principals?  Did you ever get sent to the office?  Did anybody faint during music concerts?  Anyone ever get hurt seriously during gym class or at recess?  As always, feel free to inform the rest of us.

BHS News

The Register webpage has a couple of  nice articles on BHS.  The debate coach is retiring after 32 years.  I didn't get to know her very well during my tenure at the school.  Our paths rarely crossed, as she was at the high school and I was at the middle school.  She had phenomenal success.  Debate has always been strong at BHS.  Didn't our class have a rather strong showing as seniors?  Here is the link to the article:  http://www.brookingsregister.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&story_id=14241&page=76

The other story concerns the new lunchroom.  In my last two years in the system, I would frequently make it out to the high school around noon.  The lunchroom was the same one as we had in our days there.  It was crowded enough that students were allowed to eat out in the halls.  They would just sit on the floor in the main hall or wherever there was an open space.  Seemed rather strange to me.  With the remodeling that took place in the last year, it appears that the new lunchroom is a big success.  There is not enought time at the present to recall some good lunchroom tales.  If anyone has some to pass on, feel free to do so.  The lunchroom article can be found with this link:  http://www.brookingsregister.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&page=76&story_id=14239

In a couple of years, maybe we can take a walk through and see how much different it is compared to the early years.

Mistakes Have Been Made

Do you know that the 1967 Brookings High School annual is on the web? http://www.classmates.com/yearbooks/Brookings-High-School/24964?dsource=pub5856promotion1542115613 In a way, it does seem appropriate, as that was the last year that building was a high school. Every page has been photocopied, including the autographs. It may be rather easy to identify the owner of this yearbook. Anyway, I have made some errors in the post below. There was a Barb Johnston at BHS, but she was in the class ahead of us. The girl I was thinking of is Patricia (Patty?) Johnson. Is this an indication of Alzheimer's ?

We have been given some great information from an unknown poster. However, in looking at this yearbook, there is a student who seems to fit the profile of this individual. We welcome you to this blog; you have certainly educated me. Feel free to share your wealth of information with us. Would you have had a couple of older sisters, one of whom was in our class? Would another have been a senior in this yearbook? I can understand if you would rather not divulge that information. I am fortunate to have had a number of direct and indirect associations with some of your classmates.

Thank you for the link to the businesses. From 1964-66, George's Recreation was located at the address for 303 Main Avenue. George was one of my older brothers, and ran this pool hall for a year. I also had a paper route (Minneapolis Tribune) in this part of town. Seeing what businesses were located on Main back in the 50's-60's brought back many memories. thanks again.

Rambling Thoughts

Leola Lampy
Lorraine Wilson

On the webpage of the Brookings Register, there were a couple of obituaries that caught my eye. The first was Lorraine Wilson, who passed away at the age of 87

(http://www.brookingsregister.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&story_id=14130&page=80) and http://rudesfuneralhome.com/sitemaker/sites/RudesF1/obit.cgi?user=605946Wilson She was married in 1948 to John Johnston, who passed away in 1961. She remarried and lived in Aurora until 1994. She had two children, Barbara and David. There was a Barbara Johnston in our class. Are these Barbaras the same person? Would anyone know where to find the answer to that question?

The second obituary was that of Leola Lampy, aged 96(http://www.brookingsregister.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&story_id=14167&page=80). She and her husband moved to Brookings in 1969. Her husband "Dutch" was the equipment manager at SDSU. I became acquainted with Mrs. Lampy when she was the secretary for Frannie Dolan at Central because our 8th grade basketball teams practiced at the Central Gym. I also believe she helped out as an aide at the Middle School Library. Incidentally, Mrs. Brchan was the Middle School librarian for a number of years. Some of us may have had her for typing class in the old high school. Mrs. Lampy's connection with our class is actually through her daughter Karon. We would have known her as Mrs. Schaack, the English teacher. I seem to recall that some of us had her for sophomore English at the old high school and then for junior English at the new high school. There was a story going around during our sophomore year that one of our better basketball players on the sophomore team, coached by Mr. Hauschild, was in danger of losing his eligibility because of a failing English grade. After Mr. Hauschild had a friendly conversation with Mrs. Schaack, the grade was no longer failing. Some of you may react adversely to that intervention. I think Mr. Hauschild was more concerned with what would happen to that student if he flunked and could no longer play basketball. Experience probably taught him that basketball may have been the student's motivation for staying in school. If he could not play, he could become a drop-out. My older siblings told me a number of stories of kids who were talented athletes that dropped out of school, and then just kind of drifted around the country. What would be in store for this student if he dropped out? What kind of a chance would he have then? Our basketball team was talented enough that if we lost this player, we would still be a respectable team. Mr. Hauschild's concern, I think, was more for this individual than to have a winning basketball team. This student did graduate, and I believe became a parole officer after high school. He even officiated some basketball games in the area.

Anyway, I did not have Mrs. Schaack for either sophomore or junior English (I had Nancy Webebenhurst's sister for sophomore English-she was Mrs. Donaldson then, and Mr. Walder for junior English). He later told me this story. That spring, we had to do a book report, either Book A or Book B. Since some students had different English teachers, they thought they could copy each other's papers and not get caught. Let's say Veronica was in Mrs. Schaack's class, and Betty was in Mr. Walder's, and that Betty copied Veronica. They thought their respective teachers would grade the reports. However, Mr. Walder graded all of the reports on Book A, and Mrs. Schaack did all those on Book B, even though some of those students were not in their classes. Thus, any similarities could be noted. Sure enough, there were enough likenesses in a few reports to indicate that some students copied from each other. Mr. Walder related to me that some students were mature enough to admit that they had copied, while others vehemently professed their innnocence.

The post just below, about Phil Peterson's father, has some comments. One poster supplied this link: http://www.sdstate.edu/sdsuarchives/collections/upload/Brookings-Businesses-Avenues.pdf

It lists the names of numerous business that have been in Brookings from 1879-2003. A clarification is listed below. I lived at 205 6th Avenue during elementary school. At one time Kabrud Brothers Insurance Agency was located at that address. There has to be a connection to Harley Kabrud, our 7th grade geography teacher and 8th grade football coach, and father of Chip, who was a year ahead of us in school. When I get some time, I would like to examine this site and see if  I can remember some of these businesses.

Phil Peterson's Father Passes Away

Our condolences, thoghts, and prayers go out to Phil Peterson. His father, Leonard Peterson, passed away on April 1, 2012. His complete obituary can be found at http://www.brookingsregister.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&story_id=14098&page=80
and http://eidsnessfuneralhome.com/sitemaker/sites/Eidsne1/obit.cgi?user=604422Peterson.
I was unaware that he owned Midway Grocery Store. Brookings has one true grocery store today, Hy-Vee. Wal-Mart also has a grocery store in its big complex, so that makes two places to shop for food. There are also the convenience stores at the gas stations, but they don't deserve the name grocery store.

If memory serves me right, there were a number of grocery stores in Brookings when we grew up. The ones that come to mind are (1) Spies, which started at the corner of 3rd St. and 5th Avenue, right across from the John Deere dealership run by Kenny Beckman's father. I believe Tom Bozied's uncle, N. T., lived above the Spies building, and had a store of some kind there before Spies moved in. They then moved to their 6th St. location, perhaps in the early 60's. Isn’t there a picture of David Helfinstine in our yearbook when he worked there? They changed their name to County Market and moved out east past the swimming pool, maybe in the 80's. They ceased operations about ten years ago. Also on 5th Avenue and 5th St. was a (2)Council Oak store, kitty-corner from the playground at Central Elementary. West of there a couple of blocks, at 5th St. and 3rd Ave was a (3)National Tea store. (4)Red Owl at one time was on Main Ave., between 3rd and 4th Streets, before moving to Main and 7th St. There was also a (5)Service Grocery store that delivered to homes. That store, too, sponsored a women's fast-pitch softball team. I only know that because my sister played for them. At one time, they were located in the 300 block of Main, a few doors from the Red Owl store. Close to the softball park where they played on 2nd St. South and Main was another store run by Vern McCord, I believe. I just remember it by the name of the (6) "Little Store" or "South Side Grocery." A comment below does mention a Serve-Well store on the south side. That was the actual name of the store. Across from the swimming pool was (7) Chris's Market. On the college campus, on Medary near 8th St. was (8) Austin's. Our family often would go there because milk was 3 (half-gallons) for one dollar. At Spies, it was 40 cents a half-gallon. When we were in 6th grade (1962-63), Ralph Myers had a store in the old Ford Implement dealership, just east of Beckman's. I had a paper-route at that time, and would often treat myself to their Dolly Madison Boston Creme Pies. They were a dime or maybe even 12 cents, but I thought they were better than Twinkies. Midway, at 6th St. and Medary, makes the ninth grocery store in Brookings in the 50’s. Things have really changed since then, but who would have thought we would pay for a bottle of water, or buy milk and bread at the gas station, instead of gas and oil?

When my mom did her grocery shopping in the 50’s, she would take me and/or my younger brother along. She would have prepared her list so she could get the best prices, and we would walk to the neighborhood stores. Spies, Council Oak, National Tea, and Red Owl were the ones we seemed to frequent most often. We would walk from one to the next (my folks had no car). If our arms grew weary from carrying the grocery bags, we would stop and place the sacks on a fender of a car to let our arms rest. When we were refreshed, we started back on the journey again. If we ran out of milk, she might send my little brother and me to Spies, only two blocks away. We had a metal holder for six one-quart glass milk bottles. That was pretty heavy for two scrawny little kids, so we carried a belt with us. We wrapped the belt around the holder. I held on to one side of the belt, and he held on to the other. We may have had to set it down and rest once in a while, but we never broke one bottle.

Many thanks to the poster below, who provided this link for the businesses listed in the city Brookings from 1879-2003: http://www.sdstate.edu/sdsuarchives/collections/upload/Brookings-Businesses-Avenues.pdf