Hillcrest Origins

In January of 1953, the Brookings school district bought 10 acres of land east of Hillcrest Park.  According to the Brookings Register, this area would be a new residential section.  There were no immediate plans to build a new school on this site.  So why did the school purchase this land?

Note that in the article above, "...future needs of the city's school system are being surveyed by the University of Minnesota..."

Further action by the school board resulted in a change of plans.  Instead of the land east of the park, the school district will be deeded land on the southern edge of the park. (The blue date below is incorrect; as one can see, the paper is dated March 4, 1953.  Is dementia creeping in already?) This land "will allow the board to assure itself of a building site on the east side of town if and when the need and desirability for school building in that section is decided upon."

That survey recommended not only a new grade school, but also an addition to the high school (the future annex).   The price tag was estimated at $475,000 for both projects:  $250,000 for the grade school; $200,000 for the annex addition to the high school, plus $25,000 for remodeling.  

Shortly thereafter, "(A) $425,000 bond issue was sold at a meeting of the board of education of Brookings independent school district..."  This rate was considered to be excellent, according to W. R. McCann, president of the school board.  "Other recent school bond sales in South Dakota have had rates as high as 2.6 percent..."  Construction on both projects is expected to get underway as early as June 1, when plans are approved and bids will have been let.  

 

In June, "(B)ids totaling $240,449 were accepted Tuesday evening (June 1 or 8?) by the Brookings school board for the addition to be constructed at the central site."  (The central site refers to the high school, as the high school, the elementary, and primary school were all located next to each other).  Additional bids "would be opened this summer for the new elementary school to be constructed in the east part of the city."

In late July, 1954, the board accepted the bids totaling $198,487 for Hillcrest Grade School.  The general contractor was H. E. Mills.  (He also helped develop and build many of the homes in East Acres and Indian Hills)  Work would start immediately, with a finishing date in 300 days, giving the staff ample time to prepare the school for the 1955-56 school year.  The picture below views the school from the corner of 3rd St. and 15th Ave. looking northeast.

A somewhat larger picture of the same:  

Within a month much progress had been made at Hillcrest.  The picture below appears as if it was taken on 3rd St. a little past 15th Ave, and looking northwest along 15th Avenue.   This looks to be the entrance on 15th Ave. The swimming pool would be off to the right.  

Since Hillcrest grade school would open for the 1955-56 school, how would the school board determine which school students would attend?  Medary Avenue seemed to be the logical boundary.  "In this connection, Supt. Horrigan announced that those students whose parents reside on the east side of Medary avenue as well as all those whose homes are east of Medary will attend the new Hillcrest grade school if they are in kindergarten, first, second or third grades... IF, and Horrigan stressed that 'if,' there is overcrowding, adjustments will be made after the first day of school."

That article from the Brookings Register of August 8, 1955,  entitled "Changes to Mark Opening Of City Schools on Sept. 6" was too big to scan for this post.  Some of the changes include a new superintendent, a new junior high school principal, and new principals for both Central Elementary and Hillcrest Elementary.  

Mr. D. L. (Doc) Horrigan was promoted from high school principal to become the new superintendent.  He replaced J. E. Martin, who had been superintendent for many years.  "Doc" taught for about three years (Elkton?) before coming to Brookings in 1929, where he was a science teacher and assistant coach.  Virgil Bell, high school science teacher and assistant coach, would replace Mr. Horrigan as high school principal.   Floyd A. (Lefty) Johnson, also science teacher and assistant coach, was the junior high school principal, replacing Miss Lillian Schiefelbein.  She had served about 25 years.  The new Central principal was Charles Stewart (he would be the principal when we were in grade school).  His signature on our report cards was neatly written as Charles S. Stewart.  Some of us wondered what the S. stood for.  We, not very wisely, thought it was "Strawberry."  The first principal at Hillcrest Element-

ary was Mary Greenwood.  She had been an elementary teacher for a few years before becoming principal.  At the time, she lived about two blocks from me near the corner of 2nd St. and 8th Ave. at 807 2nd St. (we lived at the corner of 2nd St. and 6th Ave.). She later moved to 628 13th Avenue, according to some old phone books. 

Mr. Karnes mentioned to us during our school days that he and Mr. Bell were encouraged to apply for the principal's job when Mr. Horrigan was named superintendent.  Mr. Karnes preferred to remain in the classroom, so he did not even apply for the position.

Another change was also somewhat eventful.  "Miss Stella Ericson, formerly the elementary principal for many years, will now serve as elementary supervisor for all six grades at both the central and Hillcrest Schools."  In 1963, our family moved a block away to the corner of 3rd St. and 6th Ave. (602 3rd St.)  Miss Ericson was our next door neighbor at 604 3rd St. She and Miss Agnes Schlender had lived there for a number of years.  Miss Schlender was the secretary to the superintendent.  In days gone by, single female teachers frequently lived in a rented room in a house near the school.  Our house at 3rd St., for example, had a back entrance with a stairway leading upstairs.  The house at 604 3rd St. had a similar arrangement.  This enabled a renter, often a teacher, to enter her room without disturbing the occupants.  In fact, we rented out a room to Dr. R. H. Whalen, genetics professor at SDSU when he first moved to Brookings.  I even had him for a class when I was at SDSU.  Miss Malmstrom, according to some old phonebooks, lived on 5th St,, just across from the old high school.

When Miss Ericson and Miss Schlender moved to a smaller residence in retirement in the mid-1970's, one of my older brothers wanted to buy their house.  Since I was ready to invest in a house, I bought it instead.  My brother was kind enough to lend me some money to make the purchase.  I resided there until my mother died in 2003, when I moved into her house at the suggestion of another brother, who actually owned the house where I currently dwell.   Coincidentally, while doing some housecleaning  recently, I found an old Bible that belonged to Miss Ericson.  

One memory of Miss Ericson remains fixed in my mind.  As elementary supervisor, she would often visit classrooms and comment on our cursive handwriting.  As the above photo indicates, her cursive was very stylistic and artful.  She even gave us little notecards that had the cursive letters for us to use as a reference.  They were smaller versions of the letters that teachers used to display above the chalkboard.   

When Hillcrest opened in 1955, the schools were expecting record enrollment.  While the first day of classes was Tuesday, Sept. 6, kindergarten did not start until Wednesday the 7th.  Four of those classes would be held at Central, while two would be held at Hillcrest.  Hillcrest would eventually expand a few times to accommodate the growing population on that side of town.   There would be no hot lunch at Hillcrest, while hot lunch would be served for Central and the Jr.-Sr. Hi students in the new annex multi-purpose room.  

Times have definitely changed (have the changes in curricula improved the quality of the schools now?).  Whereas school started after Labor Day in the past, school has started as early as August 20th in some years.  The school day starts earlier, also.  Instead of 9 to 4 (unless one had an 8 o'clock in the old, crowded Jr.-Sr. Hi), it's more like 8:15-3:15 today.  

  

  

"Sing A Song To Light My Fire, Remember Jim That Way...Jimmie touched us with that song"

50 years ago, the Righteous Brothers released the  song "Rock and Roll Heaven" (https://genius.com/The-righteous-brothers-rock-and-roll-heaven-lyrics; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_and_Roll_Heaven).  The verse "Sing a song to light my fire, remember Jim that way; They've all found another place, another place to stay" is a reference to Jim Morrison of the Doors.  Might we believe that this verse could also include Jim Wright in that "other place," the heaven of rock and roll? 

Originally, "Rock and Roll Heaven" was recorded by the band Climax (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climax_(band)), whose lead singer was Sonny Geraci (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonny_Geraci).  It seems strange that this band "descended from the 1960's hit band The Outsiders (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Outsiders_(American_band)).  I believe that was the original name of the band for which Jim was the drummer.  However,  "Time Won't Let Me" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Won%27t_Let_Me) by The Outsiders from Cleveland, Ohio, rose to number five on the US charts in April, 1966, prompting a name change for Jim Wright's band.  Was this the band that became Military Pickle?

Due to the generosity of a respected teammate, I had the privilege on Saturday, June 22, of attending the visitation for Jim, sister of Georgia of our class.  

Some of Jim's and Georgia's classmates, as well as a number of people from Brookings, were there to express their condolences to the family.  One of Jim's classmates with whom I had the pleasure to meet was someone I had not seen in many years.  He is a good friend of our family, and knows some of my older brothers rather well.  

Not only was it a sad day for Jim's family, but it was also sad because there had been some abnormally heavy rains recently, and the flooding in Sioux Falls and surrounding areas was massive.  When we drove by Lincoln High School, which is near the Big Sioux River, the football field was under about six feet of water.  Nearby was Yankton Trails Park, which has numerous soccer fields and hosts many competitions and tournaments throughout the summer.  Important cross-country races are also held there in the fall.  However, it looked as if a water ski competition or Olympic rowing events could have been held there.  The area was one big lake.  The Brookings Register's lead story for today, June 26, 2024, had this headline:  "Rain threatens to add to Midwest floods'' (https://brookingsregister.com/stories/rain-threatens-to-add-to-midwest-floods,87604). The losses to property, infrastructure, corn fields, bean fields, and other farmland, have been massive and devastating.  It is heartbreaking to witness such a cataclysmic event and its results.  We can hope and pray that recovery and help is on the way.    

The Loss of A Hall of Famer

 On Tuesday, June 18, 2024, Willie Mays, a member of baseball's hall of fame passed away (https://www.mlb.com/news/hall-of-famer-willie-mays-passes-away-at-93).  He is considered one of the best baseball players of all time.

One day previously, on June 17, 2024, another member of a hall of fame, and a brother of one of our class members, also passed away.  Jim Wright, brother of our classmate Georgia, "passed away surrounded by family."  (https://www.heritagesfsd.com/obituary/jimmie-wright)

As the obituary indicates, Jim had a love for music.  His future wife Nancy Engstrom was the daughter of Erling Engstrom (https://www.rudesfuneralhome.com/obituary/erling-engstrom), the instrumental music instructor in the Brookings Junior High School, which later became the Brookings Middle School when we moved into the "new" high school.  During his high school days, Jim was in the select choir all three years. Additionally, he was involved in the monogram club for two years, having earned letters in football his junior and senior years.  He was also in student council his junior year, and participated in track and field and wrestling.  Jim was definitely a well-rounded student. 

It's interesting that he married Nancy on June 6, 1981.  June 6, 1944, was D-Day:  "On June 6, 1944, nearly 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline, to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France. More than 5,000 Ships and 13,000 aircraft supported the D-Day invasion, and by day's end, the Allies gained a foot-hold in Continental Europe."  Was that day chosen to honor Jim's service in the army and the national guard?

Ten years ago, Jim and the band Ride were inducted into the South Dakota Rock and Roll Music Association (https://www.southdakotarockandrollmusicassociation.com/inductee?id=85#Ride).  Most people refer it to the South Dakota Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but because of copyright laws, "Hall of Fame" refers to that museum in Cleveland (https://rockhall.com/).

Can you identify Jim in this colorful photograph?  

This appears to be an earlier version of the band.

Two years later, Jim was again honored as a member of "Military Pickle."  Some of us were privileged to be in attendance for their induction.  (https://www.southdakotarockandrollmusicassociation.com/inductee?id=191#Military-Pickle)

I seem to recall that at the festivities that night, Jim indicated that one of his early bands (perhaps even his first band) was called "The Outsiders."  However, around that time, a popular song called "Time Won't Let Me" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS1sYR7xky8;  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Won%27t_Let_Me) was soaring up the charts.  This band was named "The Outsiders."  I don't know if  Jim changed the band's name because he was threatened with a lawsuit or if he wisely wanted to avoid one. 

The Brookings Register article below highlights Military Pickle's selection.

Were they the house band at Horatio's?

Were they taking a break from their military duties?

Was it prom night somewhere?

Jim and Dave Adamson meeting the crowd before their induction.  Dave's sister Glenda was also in our class.   

Jim is on the left, while on the right is John Behrend, Jim's classmate.  Who is the man in the middle?

Bob Adams is getting reacquainted with the band, as he was also involved with both instrumental and vocal music when they were all in high school.  

Below, Bob seems to be having an intense conversation with classmate Rob Dimit. Rob's younger brother Beatty (Ed) was also in our class.  Thus, three of our classmates had brothers in this renowned band.  

Jim was a wonderful person.  It was just a year ago that his father-in-law passed away.  Some of us were able to visit a little with Jim on that sad day. 

As we come to grips with reality, we realize that we are no longer the active and energetic teenagers we were back in the 1960's.  Unfortunately, death will conquer all of us.  While we are still alive, let us follow Jim's example and make the most of our lives. 

I expect to pass through this world but once;

any good thing therefore that I can do, or any

kindness that I can show to any fellow-creature,

let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect it,

for I shall not pass this way again.    Stephen Grellet

 

“I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.”

― Edward Everett Hale 

Our prayers and condolences go out to Georgia at this difficult time.

The Not-So-Merry Month Of May

The format for posting on this blog has changed, so there may be some glitches that need to be worked out.  After a few tries, it seems that the bugs have been eliminated.

 About 1880, the song "Fountain In The Park" (https://www.bethsnotesplus.com/2016/02/fountain-in-the-park.html) was composed. This May of 2024 was not so merry for some of us. On May 21, we lost Jim Connelly (https://www.rudesfuneralhome.com/obituary/james-connelly), older brother of Robyn of our class.

Does anybody recall the big tree house mentioned in the obituary? Building tree houses seemed to be a worthwhile project that summer, as there was at least one other tree house undergoing construction then, and the "contractors" just happened to be Jim's classmates. Since the funeral was held the day after Memorial Day, not as many people were able to attend as would have liked. Although the priest did not personally know Jim (he was rather new to the parish), he did a nice job at the Mass, and had some kind words to say about Jim, his friends, and his faith. Our condolences and prayers go out to Robyn and Jim at this time. 

Just eight days later, another unexpected death occurred with the passing of Dan Lamp (https://www.eidsnessfuneralhome.com/obituary/daniel-lamp).

Dan was a year ahead of us in school, and married Dawne Seas, who was a year behind us. Their two children, Brady and Kali, were students of mine when they were in the 8th grade. Since our house is on the 4th of July parade route, Dan and his family would often watch from our boulevard. One of the parade entries a few years ago was an 8-door Pontiac station wagon. The vehicle was about as long as a bus!  The one in the parade was white, but looked just like this one shown below.

My niece asked me what year it was. I thought it was a 1965 model, but Dan corrected me and said it was a 1966. His brother Scott lives one house from my niece's family. Our paths have crossed a few times, and have resulted in some interesting and memorable conversations. Our condolences and prayers go out to Dan's family at this time. 

Earlier, on May 14, Beau Thomas Bielfeldt succumbed to Osteogenesis Imperfecta, or brittle bone disease.

His father, Daniel Bielfeldt, was a former student and athlete of mine. Daniel ran on our cross-country and track and field teams, but was better known as a musician and a top-notch student. If memory serves me correctly, he played the tuba. His father Dennis is a Lutheran minister, and was a philosophy-religion professor when Daniel was in middle and high school. He then helped to found the Institute of Lutheran Theology, and is the current president (https://ilt.edu/about-ilt/staff/; https://ilt.edu/). ILT is located on the former property of St. Thomas More Catholic Church (rather ironic, isn't it?). I believe Dr. Bielfeldt has also invested in some properties in the area, and has helped increased the number of lodging facilities in Brookings. 

Sadly, we were recently informed about another sudden loss on March 12, 2024, of the passing of Patricia Hegstrom, sister of Mary of our class.

(https://www.thepublicopinion.com/obituaries/pabd0762579) Thank you to whoever forwarded this email to us. Our prayers and condolences go out to Mary and her family at this time.

 Preparations are winding down for the big reunions this summer. Name tags have been made, and final preparations should be finalized in a few weeks. We will get out that information as soon as possible.