80 Years Ago

In 1934, the population of Brookings would have been about 4,700 or so (The census for 1930 was 4,376, and for 1940 it was 5,346, an increase of 22.2%).  Statewide, though, the population decreased 7.2% during that same time, from 692,849 to 642,961.  Among the 4,700 residents of Brookings were 130  students entering their senior year at BHS.  What might  the student population at the college have been?   My meager computer skills were unable to find that figure, but would a good guess be around 500 to 600?

The statewide decrease in population can be attributed to the weather, the dirty 30's, that so many likely heard about as we were growing up (http://truedakotan.com/photos/true-dakotan-photo-gallery/the-worst-day-of-the-dirty-thirties/).  As juniors, we read about the plight of the Joad family as they left Oklahoma in search of a better life (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grapes_of_Wrath).

The 1934-35 Bobcat (http://www.classmates.com/yearbooks/Brookings-High-School/228488?page=0) followed the same format as previous years.  The classes that were taught by the staff of 20 teachers were English, French, music, ag, home ec, science, geometry, Latin, PE, math, history, commercial, and manual training.  On the school board were some prominent citizens of their day who left their mark on the community.  Mr. Bibby was the president, while two of the other five members were Mr. Bartling and Mr. Doner.  Mr. Bibby had the dairy, Mr. Bartling was associated with the furniture store and funeral home, while Mr. Doner was a key figure on campus.  The Doner Auditorium in the Administration Building was named in his honor.

The seniors that may have some connections to those in our class might be Marien Alexander, Avis Bortnem, Robert Lee, William Prussman, Clarice Sterud, Boyd Vick.  A few other seniors who piqued my interest were the three Houglands:  Euneva, Geneva, and Gladys.  There was a Hougland family that was a neighbor of ours for a number of years.  Mrs. Hougland had been a one-room country school teacher, and when consolidation took place in the early 60's, she taught at Central for a number of years.  Both Mr. and Mrs. Hougland have passed away, and the house is now being restored to its original condition by the Fishback family.  There is also listed a Hazel Norton.  Might this be a sister of Bob Norton, who worked many years in the clothing business, as did "Buck" Connelly, Robyn's dad (more on him later)?  He definitely worked at Fergen's, and may also have been employed at Quail's and Wilson's.  There was also a Ruby Pickett.   Roger Pickett was employed at the Post Office for a number of years.  Would there be some kinship between those two?

The next Bobcat annual listed on this website (http://www.classmates.com/places/school/Brookings-High-School/9192?startYear=1965&endYear=1969&type=DisplayChannel&cp=aff&s=80481&a_tid=79648&communityId=9192&hitwiseSegment=free&checkCookie=1416941831688) is for the year 1939.  Some juniors listed in the 1935 Bobcat that may be known to us are Harvey Behrend, Vernon Rude, Omar Otterness, Vivian Ray,  Ernest Steen.

One of Harvey's sons Phil was a year ahead of us in school.  Another son John graduated in 1967.  Was their older sister Janet, who graduated in 1965?  Vernon Rude is from the Rude family having the furniture store and funeral home.  If memory serves correctly, he was also the country coroner for a number of years.  Vivian Ray's father owned Ray's Drugstore.  She, too, became a pharmacist I believe.  She married Walt Distad, and was the mother of Linda (class of '66) and Rod (class of '70).

Mentioned in a previous post were three, and perhaps four, members of the sophomore class of 1935 who were parents of our classmates.  Others who may be of interest are Orville Berkland, Elizabeth Bibby, Arnold deBlonk, John Durland, Kenneth Linn, Doug and James Rosheim, Dorothy Sexauer, Erwin Steen, Judith Vick, Lorran Sterud, and Wayne Waltz. Missing from the sophomore class are Naiem Bozied, father of Tom, and Elsie Clark, father of Emmett Earley, Jr.

Is Arnold deBlonk the father of Arnie deBlonk who was a year ahead of us in school?  He was also in our Cub Scout troop when we were in grade school.  

Does anybody remember Mike and Pat Durland?  Mike was in our class, while Pat was a year ahead of us.  The lived on a farm south of town, and moved (to Idaho?) around 1966.  Did the building of Interstate 29 take away a good portion of their farmland, causing them to move elsewhere?  In a book on the history of the Catholic Church in Brookings, Jack McClemans, father of Mike (who was also in our Cub Scout troop and a year ahead of us in school), notes that on Sunday afternoons, the priest, Fr. Dooley, would ride his horse and buggy "to the Floyd Durland farm where he spent the night and said Mass and heard confessions on Monday morning...On Monday afternoon, he continued east to my great-grandmother's home, known as the O'Brien homestead.  He spent Monday night with them...On Tuesday he headed north toward Aurora...By the middle of the week, his journey would lead him back to Brookings."  Mike and Pat were in our catechism classes at church, and their uncle Bob was in the ag engineering department on campus.  Bob played football in the early 50's on some fine Jackrabbit teams.  There used to be an alumni football game to start the season; Bob played until he was perhaps 35.

Wayne Waltz would later become the owner of Waltz Construction (http://eidsnessfuneralhome.com/memsol.cgi?user_id=385180) . They have done a number of large projects in Brookings.

Was Kenneth Linn the father of Stew?  Was Judith Vick the aunt of Patty?  Were the Rosheim boys related to the Rosheim triplets (Joe, Mark, and Myron) who were a couple of years behind us in school?

The freshmen that year that may have some connections to our class include Betty and David Alexander, Art Behrend, Meryl Beals, Albert Bortnem, Morrell Connelly, James Finn, June Grommersch, Ray Horn, Mildred Moad, Duane Rude, Delmer Pittenger, Leon Steen, and Grace Wilber.

Art Behrend was the wife of Barb Behrend.  She was the secretary for "Lefty" Johnson for a number of years.  Their children were Patsy, Tom, Don, and Rob.  Robb was quite a bit younger, graduating around 1980, while the others graduated in the early to mid 60's.

Does anybody remember Clara Beals?  She lived in a big old house on 6th Street, a couple of blocks west of the swimming pool.  It wasn't the prettiest house around; we may have even thought it was haunted when we were younger.  Would Meryl Beals any relation?

James Finn (http://www.brookingsregister.com/V2_news_articles.php?heading=0&story_id=3136&page=80) was the father of Jim, John (http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/WISTCROI/2002-09/1031001687), Mary, Dan, and Patti.  Jim and John were a couple of years older than we were.  Patti graduated in 1980, and became one of the outstanding athletes ever at BHS.  She was on some state championship track and field teams, set a number of records in track and field, some of which still stand today, and is a member of the BHS Hall of Fame.  James' wife Marion (http://www.brookingsregister.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&story_id=16363&page=80) was one of our catechism teachers (8th grade?) at church.

Morrell Connelly, better known as "Buck", is the father of Robyn.  His father was the chief of police in Brookings for a number of years.  Buck served his country admirably in WWII, and was richly rewarded for his bravery (http://en.ww2awards.com/person/38625).

June Grommersch, I believe, married Clyde Helsper, and is the mother of Rich Helsper of the BHS class of 1970.  Didn't Mrs. Helsper play the organ at the Catholic Church for a number of years?

Ray Horn (http://www.millerfh.com/memsol.cgi?user_id=780132) was the husband of Jeannette Horn, who taught sophomore English at BHS for about 20 years, from the early 60's to the early 80's (http://classof69bhs.blogspot.com/2014/11/crazy-lady-day-at-bhs.html#comment-form).

One rather striking athletic fact is that the football team played the "State" frosh, only losing 21-6.  Bobcat Day that year was on Saturday, Oct. 13, with the football game taking place at 3:00 at State Field.  After the game, which Flandreau Indians won by a score of 13-7, the Bobcat Day Banquet was held in the basement of the Methodist Church.  In attendance were the Flandreau football team, coach, and principal, as well as BHS students, teachers, and alumni.

Some of the track and field records would still be competitive in many meets today.  Perhaps the most amazing one is the football throw of 196' 6".  That's over 65 yards!  It was interesting, too, that intramural track and field was required for sophomores and freshmen.  When we were sophomores, the 1967 Bobcat had this little item on the varsity track team:  "Is compulsory track the thing for Brookings High School?  We did beat Volga and Clear Lake in a triangular meet but then again we were beaten by Madison and we failed to do well at the Madison Invitational.  Bob Adams set a record in the low hurdles, and Alan C. Parker set one in the 2 mile run, probably because this was the first year for this event.  Bob Adams and Jay Leibel qualified for the State Meet and both placed.  Adams took fourth in the low hurdles and Leibel took fifth in the high jump."