Erin Go Bragh

 One of the most likable and enjoyable teachers most of us boys had during our elementary days was Mr. Francis "Franny" Dolan (did he teach girls in PE?).  Not only was he an elementary PE teacher (he even taught math and/or science in some years) and Jr. Hi. basketball and track field coach, our supervisor for flag football in 5th, 6th, and 7th grades, he was also very proud of his Irish heritage (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ncmuhNEUxg).  His wife was also an educator, an art teacher whom many of us may have had when we were in high school.  

Many of us boys probably could recall many instances in which Mr. Dolan had a big influence in our lives.  I personally benefited from his tutelage and mentorship while a college student.  He asked me to help out with the elementary intramural programs in the early 70's.  That allowed me to become somewhat acquainted with a few of the teachers in the school system.  When a couple of openings occurred in the spring of 1973, he encouraged me to apply.  Did his lobbying help me get one of the positions?  I am sure he had more than just a little input.  He was also the assistant principal to "Lefty" Johnson at the middle school for my first few years, and helped me with some classroom management difficulties.  

Fran's two daughters were a little older than we were.  Kay Frances was in the class of 1966, while Kelly was a year ahead of us.  (She was in my chemistry class in 1967-68).  Some questions were directed to us a few weeks ago about Mr. Dolan's tenure in Brookings, so they were able to supply us with the following brief summation of his career:  

Francis “Franny” Dolan : General Beadle State Teachers College(now Dakota State University)

(BS), SDSU (MEd)

38 years in Brookings as a teacher, coach and administrator (1944-1983). Taught math,

science and health, as well as P.E.

26 years coaching basketball, track and football in South Dakota (1943-1968); Brookings

(1944-1968)

Received lifetime award from the SD Coaches Association (1968)

Assistant coach of BHS football, basketball & track (1944-? ; until the 1950’s teachers were not

paid for coaching, often had practices on Saturdays and drove the “Red Rocket” bus to away

games)

Assistant coach of 1944 Madison High School basketball team - won the Class B State

Championship

Assistant coach of 1946 BHS basketball team - won Brookings’ first Class A State

Championship

25 years Freshman/Jr. High Coach (basketball, track, football)

Basketball - 6 undefeated seasons, never a losing season, winning 83% of games

Champions of the state YMCA basketball tournament in 1963

Track - Frequently had 75-100 boys out for track. Co-Coach of the S.D. team which

competed in the National Junior Champ Track and Field Tournament in Minneapolis (1964),

sponsored by the Jaycees and broadcast on national television

After retiring from coaching, Franny scouted other teams for BHS coaches, kept stats, manned

the scoring table, recruited volunteers, whatever was needed to support BHS athletics.

Other

Founding member of the Brookings Education Association (BEA) which negotiated pay for

coaching and other duties beyond the teaching day

Developed the intra-mural program for grades 5-8 that involved 75-80% of all boys in those

grades

Organized the local Punt, Pass & Kick competition and coached numerous Brookings

participants in the Regional Punt, Pass & Kick competitions in Minneapolis

Host of “Coaches Corner” on KBRK radio (during the 60’s) where he interviewed BHS coaches

and players

City park was named Francis Dolan Park upon his retirement as Principal of Central Elementary

School in 1983. His memorial fund purchased new playground equipment for the park.

Francis Dolan loved sports, but he loved supporting students more. He was the first

professional coach for many of the BHS Hall of Fame athletes of his era. He excelled at

teaching the basics and encouraging each student athlete to be the best they could be. He

also helped standout athletes develop their talents and mentored them to continue in sports.

Mr. Dolan's last year of coaching was in 1967-68.  Notice that his last name is misspelled.

Appropriately, his last basketball team was undefeated.

In 1976, he and his wife were still employed in the school system.  The Brookings Register featured an excellent tribute to their decades-long career as educators.  This article encapsulates their lives better than anything yours truly can compose.  Reading it may bring back many memories.

I believe that when Medary Elementary opened, Mr. Dolan became principal at Central Elementary, and served there until his retirement in 1983.  The playground at Central was named "Francis Dolan Park" in his honor.  Central has now been converted into the Children's Museum of South Dakota (https://prairieplay.org/)

While visiting his daughter Kelly in Arizona a few years later, he unexpectedly passed away.  

Recently, another student and athlete of Mr. Dolan's was in town, so we went over the family burial plot in Elkton, South Dakota.

Much more could be said about Mr. Dolan.  If you have a compelling story concerning him, please feel free to comment below.  

"The Day The Music Died"?

 For those of us who may have played a musical instrument in school, our first lessons may have come from Mr. Erling Engstrom.  He was the instrumental music director in the Junior High and Middle School (elementary, too?) from 1957-1989.  

It seems that those taking lessons from Mr. Engstrom would be excused from class for about 20 minutes to practice in the band room.  So that the students would not be excused from the same class for their lessons, they would miss part of a different class each week.  Planning for these lessons also had to take into account school-sponsored activities, such as athletic contests or field trips.  Scheduling these lessons must have been a nightmare, yet Mr. Engstrom managed to pull it off masterfully.  If a student inconveniently "forgot" that a lesson was schedule, Mr. Engstrom might come into a classroom to frequently remind said student about the scheduled lesson.  

Our careers overlapped by about 15 years, so I became better acquainted with him in the 70's and 80's.    When grades were due, he evaluated each student rather carefully.  Those musical words were rather foreign to me, as I had very little music knowledge or talent.

The annuals from our Jr. Hi. days show three bands:  regular band, orchestra, and pep band.  According to the 1966 annual, "The band and orchestra, under the direction of Erling Engstrom, climaxed the year with the annual spring concert.  Another important spring event was the Madison Music contest.  The eight-two participants received fifty-seven superior and twenty-four excellent ratings."  57 + 24 =81.  Who did not receive either a superior or excellent?

Did the pep band play at some of the Jr. Hi. basketball games?  It seems that they were seated on the stage at the Central Elementary gym.  Wasn't the Jr. Hi. school song played to the tune of "Minnesota Rouser" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kyIYVNC0-4)?  Anyone recall the lyrics?  An old program we found under the bleachers had these words (or something similar; if anyone has a more definitive version, let us know):

You rah rah for our Junior High (Or was it ...for old Junior High?)

Red and white our colors are flying

So we'll show that team 

Some of our fight

We're behind you

All the way

So you rah for Junior High

When the Jr. Hi. became a middle school, the last line became "So you rah for Middle School."

When Title IX (giving girls the opportunity to play athletics) was implemented, pep band died out.  There were very few students to form a band anymore, as most of them were playing a sport.  

These last few years Mr. Engstrom seemed to be a daily visitor to the library, where he could read the daily papers and catch up on the latest news.  There were times he would arrive before the library even opened, and he could be seen walking around the block or waiting patiently in his car.  

Mr. Engstrom definitely touched numerous young lives and left his mark upon them (https://www.rudesfuneralhome.com/obituary/erling-engstrom).  If you scroll down to the guestbook entries (https://www.rudesfuneralhome.com/guestbook/erling-engstrom), you can readily see the influence he had on so many students and colleagues.  

Our condolences to his daughters Elaine and Nancy, on the loss of their father.  

Does any one recognize the reading from the book of Ecclesiastes?  It's the basis for the 1965 song "Turn, Turn, Turn" by the Byrds (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVOJla2vYx8), although it was originally written by Pete Seeger in 1959  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turn!_Turn!_Turn!).  His version is on this site--https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbPl91kTFro, but a version by The Limeliters was released earlier (according to Wikipedia:  "The song was first released by the folk group the Limeliters on their 1962 album Folk Matinee, under the title "To Everything There Is a Season".^[2][10] The Limeliters' version predated the release of Seeger's own version by several months. One of the Limeliters' backing musicians at this time was Jim McGuinn (aka Roger McGuinn), who would later record the song with his band the Byrds and, prior to that, arrange the song for folk singer Judy Collins on her 1963 album, Judy Collins 3.^[2] Collins' recording of the song was retitled as "Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)", a title that would be retained by the Byrds, though it was shortened to "Turn! Turn! Turn!" on the front cover of the album of the same name and the song became generally known by the shorter version, appearing as such on most later Byrds compilations.^[11] " Another version has him accompanying Judy Collins--(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qURAnrk30ng).  Again Wikipedia states, "Since Ecclesiastes is traditionally ascribed to King Solomon in the 10th century BC, the Byrds' 1965 recording of the song holds the distinction in the U.S. of being the number 1 hit with the oldest lyrics."

"Along Comes Mary"

 The previous post concerned two of our esteemed teaches who taught us math and Spanish.  Miss Helland taught numerous math classes (geometry, trigonometry, senior math, etc.), while Miss Malmstrom taught math and Spanish.  Another teacher who taught math (Algebra) and a foreign language (Latin) was Mary Briscoe (in the 1956 annual, she is listed as teaching social science and world history, as well as Latin).  In her own way, she was very dedicated to her profession.  Those of us who were her students may recall that she would sharpen red pencils to distribute to us when we corrected our algebra homework in class.  When we were done with correcting our papers, we would return those pencils.  Unfortunately, some of those would have the tips broken off, forcing her to re-sharpen them for the next class.  Looking back, we can see how disrespectful we may have been to her.  

She could be very meticulous.  In algebra class, we were expected to keep all of our equal signs in a column when we solved our problems.  We also had to identify what the unknowns stood for, and then  set up an equation.  These steps may have been tedious and seen as unnecessary for us, but when I taught algebra, I finally began to see the wisdom of following these steps.  An example follows below (I don't know if the arrangement will change when this is published.  Will the = signs remain aligned?).  

Problem:  A father is four times as old as his son. If their ages equal 40, what is the age of each?

           Let X = the son's age

       Then 4X = the father's age

Then X + 4X = 40

                5X = 40

             5X/5 = 40/5

                   X= 8

The son is 8 years old, and the father is 8x4, or 32 years old.  

Miss Briscoe suffered a fall when we were in 7th grade (1963-64).  It seems like it may have been in February.  Anyway, to facilitate her recovery, our health class with Mrs. Pedersen (sp?)was moved to her room on the second floor (our class was previously on the first floor on the east side.  Miss LaChance's room was in the southeast corner, and the health class was next door on the north.  Mr. Kabrud's was next, followed by 7th grade English {we had Mrs. Alcott just after lunch}, and then the 8th grade history room with Mrs. Etta Olson. (Do you recall going up a short flight of stairs to those last three rooms?)

Miss Briscoe retired after our junior year, the first year at the "new" high school.  They were able to find a replacement for her (Mrs. Gail Hannon), but she may have stayed for only a year or two, as interest in Latin seemed to be declining rather rapidly.  Latin was difficult, requiring much memorization, but it was extremely helpful in improving one's knowledge of English grammar.  

In the historical section in the Brookings Public Library are located many annuals from both BHS and SDSU (although the 1969 BHS annual is one of those that are missing.  Anyone have an extra one to donate?).  One of those BHS annuals (1964 or 1965) was donated by Miss Briscoe.  The student who signed it was very appreciative of Miss Briscoe's tutelage in both algebra and Latin.  

Again, curiosity caused me to wonder what happened to Miss Briscoe after her retirement.  She lived in Brookings for a time (was her apartment above the old clinic on 7th Avenue and Main?), and eventually moved back to her home in Gettysburg, SD, where she passed away.  Fortunately, her obituary did appear in the Brookings Register, and can be found below.

There are many interesting aspects of her life.  She was 90 years old when she passed away, and lived during some significant times, such as the two world wars and the great depression.  Although many of us thought she may have been a little weird (students said that about me, too), she appears to have been highly educated and respected by her peers.    

"Good Golly Miss Molly"

 Our BHS class of 1969 dedicated our yearbook to "Those of Supreme Dedication," namely two long-time BHS teachers Miss Frances "Molly" Malmstrom and Miss Ruth Helland.

Many of us likely had one or both of these fine instructors for at least one class during our "illustrious" high school years.  We also may have thought, since we dedicated this annual to them, that they were retiring after almost 30 years of teaching math and Spanish to hundreds of students.  However, they remained on the staff for one more year, and retired after the 1970 school year.  

After graduation, we lost track of many of our classmates and our teachers.  Curiosity led me to search for their lives after 1970.  An obituary was found for Miss Malmstrom, but none could be found for Miss Helland.  If anyone has information for Miss Helland, please let us know.  

It appears that she remained in Brookings after retiring from teaching in the district for 27 years.  Her birth date of January 1, 1903 is interesting.  She was born before the Wright brothers made their first flight (https://www.history.com/topics/inventions/wright-brothers).

Think of all the other history that occurred during her lifetime.  She lived during the first and second world wars and the "Dirty 30's"; in fact, she came to Brookings shortly after the United States entered WWII.  During her lifetime, air travel went from the 852 foot flight of the Wright brothers to the round trip of Apollo 11 to the moon (https://www.history.com/topics/1960s/moon-landing-1969).

While we may not think of Miss Malmstrom or Miss Helland very often, their pedagogy likely has influenced in subtle ways.  

1968 and "Those Were The Days;" "My Guy," "Dedicated To The One I Love"

Many of us may remember that  1968 song "Those Were The Days" by Mary Hopkin (https://www.songfacts.com/facts/mary-hopkin/those-were-the-days).  Recent visits with classmates this past week recalled some of those memories.  

Prairie Reportory Theater of SDSU (https://www.sdstate.edu/prairie-repertory-theatre) recently performed the musical Oklahoma.  Since that was the musical that BHS performed 55 years when the "new" high school opened, 

it seemed fitting that some of us in the area should enjoy it again. 

One of the members of the cast in 1968 commented that they had omitted some of the scenes back then.  As performed by Prairie Rep, the production lasted about three hours, considerably longer than when BHS performed it back in that spring of 1968.  The cast, crew, and directors at Prairie Rep displayed much talent.  Word was that each performance was sold out.  If you went to the Prairie Rep link above, you may have noticed that one of the PRT staff and faculty is Melissa Hauschild-Mork.  Yes, that is the sister of Pat Hauschild of our class, and the daughter of one of our esteemed teachers and coaches, Wayne "Hoss" Hauschild.

We may recall "My Guy" (https://www.songfacts.com/facts/mary-wells/my-guy) as a number one song from May of 1964, just as the "British Invasion" began dominating the charts.  In fact, this link states "This was the song that broke up The Beatles famous monopoly on the Top 5 US chart positions in May of 1964."

BHS had its own "Guy."  Some of us knew him as Mr. Karnes, or simply as "Guy O. (what did the O. stand for?  Continue to the end and find out)."  The class of 1968, the first to graduate from the "new" high school, honored him by dedicating (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dedicated_to_the_One_I_Love) the 1968 "Bobcat" yearbook to him.  (Do you get the impression that 1968 is a prominent theme here?)

Mr. Karnes continued to teach part-time as the physics teacher at BHS for a couple of years after 1968, perhaps because a capable replacement could not be found.  His replacement, Paul Wilkens, had been a student teacher for Mr. Karnes.  He was an excellent teacher, and also was a force to be reckoned with on our championship city league basketball team.  However, he found a more lucrative offer working for a scientific company in New York state, I believe.  

What most of us did not know was that Mr. Karnes was an outstanding high school track and field coach before coming to Brookings.  One student who was mentored by Mr. Karnes said that the reason he came to Brookings was that he did not have to coach; he wanted to devote his time to the classroom.  I  lived near the "old" high school, and would often see the lights on in his room in the late evenings when we played on the courthouse lawn. (The article below is from the mid-1950's)

Undoubtedly, many other students owe deep gratitude to Mr. Karnes' guidance.  Who can forget some of his memorable sayings:  "My sainted aunt;" "I'll be a cow kicked into Texas;" "I'll bet dollars to doughnuts...;" "If you don't get the right answer, I'll cut your gizzard out with a dull knife."  To repeat some of those comments today might result in the termination of one's teaching credentials.  

When he finally did retire, Mr. Karnes lived in Brookings for a few years, and provided me with much guidance when my own teaching career started in 1973.   About ten years after we graduated, he and his wife moved to Berlin, Wisconsin, where their daughter Karen lived. 

When time permits, we'll see if "Good Golly Miss Molly" can catch a ride when "Along Comes Mary."

After Igloo, On To Hershey

 The previous post related the connection between Igloo, South Dakota, and the Brookings Teeners baseball team of 1965 (https://classof69bhs.blogspot.com/2023/06/igloo-south-dakota.html).  

Winning that competition earned the team the right to participate in the National Teener Tournament to be held in Hershey, Pennsylvania.  

We left Brookings on a chartered Jackrabbit bus. We may recall that "westerns" were rather popular at the time.  TV shows such as "Bonanza" and "Gunsmoke" were some of the most highly-viewed programs.  At the suggestion of Bob Webbenhurst, one of our coaches, we were encouraged to purchase cowboy hats (aas shown in the photo below) to reinforce the belief that we here in South Dakota still lived in the era of the "Old West."  Perhaps those elite easterners still believed we traveled in covered wagons and lived in log cabins or sod huts.

 It seems that the first night we stayed in La Crosse, Wisconsin, while we stayed in Gary, Indiana, the next night, (where we were able to find a ball field and get in a little practice) before arriving in Hershey the following day.  While the bus trip was long, it was not uneventful.  Judd Bergan, the pick-up player from Watertown, brought along his guitar and entertained us with some popular songs.  "I'm Henry the Eighth, I Am" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GisCRxREDkY) by Herman's Hermits was frequently played, while Bob Webbenhurst liked "The M.T.A. Song" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7Jw_v3F_Q0)

Since we made frequent stops for nourishment, the jukeboxes were kept quite busy.  Some of the popular songs of the day were "Catch Us If You Can" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8MCsRXXc8A); "I Got You, Babe" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JxIw58lkHQ); "Baby, The Rain Must Fall" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtvDq1zn4Vg); "Wooly Bully (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5LWa18w-BE); "What's New, Pussycat (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQvIAs-nPSo); and Walter's favorite, "Down In The Boondocks" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4CeR9Mkjs4).  

A few of the fathers came along as chaperones.  Would they have been Mr. Tordoff, Mr. Kabrud, Mr. Buehler, Mr. DeWitt, Mr. Bozied, and who helped to keep us under control? (The article below indicates that only two parents came along, but that is incorrect) Card games were frequent, while some just enjoyed looking out the windows and enjoying the scenery.  It seems that we passed a number of Chrysler auto manufacturing plants. 

Upon arrival in Hershey, we stayed at the Hershey Ballroom.  Nearby was the local swimming pool.  Beneath the ballroom ran a little stream.  A player from one of the other teams rigged up a pin and some string and snagged a fish (carp?) out of there.  Also nearby was Hershey Park, and amusement park with a big roller-coaster.  It provided us with some great entertainment.  

The Phladelphia Eagles had their summer training camp at Hershey.  Pete Retzlaff, who played football at SDSU (then SDSC), was an outstanding player for the Eagles.  He came to talk to us one day, and gave us an autographed picture of himself.  We also visited the Hershey Chocolate factory.  

Since we came to play some baseball, we did have some important business to tend to.  Our string of victories, however, came to an abrupt end.  We played well in our first game, but lost by one run in extra innings.  We then moved into the loser's bracket, and, unfortunately, lost again, thus losing the only two games we played. 

On our trip home, we saw a number of high-school football teams in Pennsylvania and Ohio preparing for the upcoming football season.  Those boys were BIG by our standards.  

 While it may have been a disappointing end, we realized we had had an eventful summer, and owe a great deal of thanks to those who made it possible.  Many of those people are gone:  our parents and coaches, and even some teammates, but our memories will always remain.  

The above picture is our banquet that was held at the VFW later that summer.  In the back row are Tim DeWitt, Jim Arndt, Phil Trautman, Judd Bergan, Lloyd Beneke, Dan Sterud, Walt Osterberg, John Iverson.  In the front are coach Bob Webbenhurst, Tom Bozied, Doug deBoise, Barry Beuhler, Chip Kabrud, Randy Hofer, Don Tordoff, Tom Osterberg, coach Bernie van Essen.  

Igloo, South Dakota

 This past winter, South Dakota Public Television aired a program about Igloo, South Dakota (https://www.sdpb.org/blogs/arts-and-culture/igloo-south-dakota-the-utopia-that-war-built/).  In brief, Igloo was the site of the Black Hills Ordnance Depot (BHOD).  It was "filled with danger," as bombs, grenades and rockets were housed there in large, concrete bunkers covered with earth.  From a distance, these bunkers resembled round igloos, hence the name of the town.  Construction of these 802 "igloos" began in 1942, shortly after the United States entered into World War II.  After 25 years of activity, Igloo was abandoned in 1967.   Incredibly, there are between 30 and 40 full-time residents still living there.  But they do not live in houses, as most of them were moved to the nearby Pine Ridge Indian Reservation; they live in the abandoned concrete bunkers.  They have taken advantage of modern technology to have the conveniences of a normal home.  Electricity is supplied by solar power and/or portable generators.  Some have dug wells, while others have access to wells provided by a developer (https://www.coldwartourist.com/black-hills-ordnance-depot).  Some notable residents have lived in Igloo, including Tom Brokaw (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hills_Ordnance_Depot) and a former teacher at BHS, Leon Friend (https://classof69bhs.blogspot.com/2018/10/a-friend-indeed.html).

Igloo also has a special significance for a few of us.  For the 1965 Brookings Teener Baseball team,

 it was the penultimate stop before the team entered the National Teener Tournament to be held in the chocolate capital of the United States, Hershey, Pennsylvania.  The initial stages of that journey were in the regional tournament held here in Brookings.  The other teams in our region were Watertown, Milbank, and Sisseton.  The championship game against Watertown went into extra innings.  In the bottom of the tenth, we had a runner on third.  Everyone knew the batter was going to bunt.  The third baseman was only about 30 feet from the batter, while the center fielder replaced at the normal third base position to keep the runner from getting too big of a lead.  The pitcher had a good fastball.  One of his pitches was high fastball.  The batter just lifted his arms to avoid being hit by the pitch.  However, he did not lift them quite high enough, and was struck in the elbow.  It's an unwritten rule not to rub the spot where you were hit, but the batter was in a great deal of pain, and thrashed his arm about rather wildly, creating some laughter from some of the fans. 

With runners on first and third, our coaches, Bob Webbbenhurst and Bernie Van Essen,  used a special strategy to entice the pitcher to balk.  As soon as the pitcher started his wind-up, the runner on first took off for second.  This sudden movement was supposed to startle the pitcher, and interrupt his motion.  The strategy worked; the pitcher balked, the runner on third walked home for the winning run. 

As the articles above indicate, winning this tournament advanced us to the state tournament that was held in Madison.  Under Teener rules, a team is allowed to pick up two players from other teams in its region.  Since Watertown had an outstanding pitcher named Judd Bergan, Brookings picked him up, along with his catcher, Joe Snow.  We won the state tournament, thus earning the trip to the area tournament to be held in Igloo, South Dakota. 

National Teener rules mandated that a team could have no more than 15 players.  Since Brookings added two players for the state tournament, making its roster 17, that meant that two players now had to be dropped.  Since Brookings already had a fine catcher in Dan Sterud, backed by Bernie Hendricks, there really was no need to have the third catcher, Joe Snow, from Watertown.  It was vital to keep Judd Bergan, however, (as noted above in the Register articles, he won two games as a pitcher) so one of the seldom-used players had to be left off the official roster.  However, he was able to remain with the team as the batboy.  

At Igloo, the team stayed in some former military barracks.  Since the town had not yet been abandoned, there was still a semblance of a small town.  There was the swimming pool and the movie theater.  Of course, there were still some baseball games to be played.  Since very few teams in the area were eligible for this teener tournament, the only other teams at Igloo were from Miller, South Dakota, and nearby Crawford, Nebraska.  Miller was the class "B" teener champion in South Dakota, and had a very talented team. Three years later, they would be in the class "A" ranks, making it to the state basketball tournament.  Many of us may remember Al Nissen, their all-state player, who later played at Nebraska.  However, the Bobcats again proved to be somewhat more talented, again winning the state tournament. 

The Register articles below summarize the games better than any of my recollections.  

Now it was on to the national tournament in Hershey, Pennsylvania.  More on that later.