Horsing Around With "Freckles"

 While waiting to get a haircut recently, I picked up a copy of South Dakota Magazine, which features articles that have South Dakota connections.  One of the articles in this edition (July August/September 2020) was written by Chuck Cecil, whose wife Mary is the older sister of the late Cathy (Wilber) Madson of our class.  Cathy's husband Tom was also in our class.  As an aside, one of my sisters was good friends with Mary Wilber in high school, and registered the guests at Chuck and Mary's wedding.

Mr. Cecil had a long career editing and writing for several daily and weekly newspaper in addition to working at SDSU for 23 years.  While at State, he met Bill McCone, father of Jean McCone, also of our class.  Mr. McCone told Mr. Cecil the story of a horse called Freckles, who, in the 1930's, went from the Spink County farm of the McCone family to the stables of Hollywood legend Gene Autry.  Mr. Cecil has written numerous books about life in South Dakota, with a special emphasis on the Brookings area.   His latest book is number 24 and is called Grandpa's Horses, and includes this amazing story about Freckles.  

Thanks to the barbershop for letting me borrow this copy of the magazine.  Hope there are no problems resulting from posting this article.

Another one of the Good Guys leaves us

 Yet another teacher and coach from Brookings High School of the 1960s has died. Ken Thury, passing through our teenage lives from 1967 through 1969, died in the Twin Cities on December 13, 2020, at the age of 89. Here is the obituary:

  https://www.startribune.com/obituaries/detail/0000377415/

Mr. Thury was able to attend various reunions in Brookings in recent years.  He was pleased when greeted by both team members AND classroom students, remarking that "Even my classroom teaching seems to be well-remembered." A reading  of his obituary condolences in the Minneapolis Star Tribune shows that his later teaching years at Lakeville High School in Minnesota brought out the same comments from students there. In fact, if you read through all 20+ of his obituary condolences, the entirety of his years of teaching and coaching was filled with praise. What a wonderful life he lived! The world could use about a million more Ken Thurys born every generation.

As I told my championship-team friends a few weeks ago, Mr. Thury's enthusiasm for life, young people, coaching and teaching reminds us that we were blessed when he stopped by Brookings for a couple of years.

Join me in honoring him with this suggestion he made just before leaving us:

...try to make everyone smile and be happy.

Raise your next rum and coke as a toast to Ken Thury.