Monthly Archives: July 2018

By Dan Bechtold, Editor

Dewey never felt better.

The dog owned by Lisa and Jason Jankauskas had an oatmeal shampoo, conditioner, flea and tick protection, plus a nice blow dry. And to top it off he got a treat.

What more can you ask for. And Lisa J. did not have the mess in the house of washing the dog.

Lisa J. and her sister, Carrie Kuil along with Dewey stopped by the brand new T Bones Pet Wash during its open house on July 17.

The pet washing station is owned by Tom Mathis who also owns T Bones Tree House.

In 2003, Mathis opened the tree house which is used by hunters and is also available to rent for birthdays, anniversaries and Christmas parties. In 2009, Mathis added the clubhouse.

The pet wash station is at a convenient location on Third Street just east of the Winner light plant. The pet washing station is easy to see from the highway and is convenient to get to as it is along Winner’s bike trail.

Mathis explained how the idea started for the pet wash. “I was dreaming one night that we need something for dogs in town and for all the hunters who have dogs,” he said.

One day he was in Sioux Falls visiting his high school buddy Mark Schramm when Mark took him to see a pet washing station. “When we getting ready to leave I looked back and people were eight deep waiting to get in,” he said.

When he got back to Winner, Mathis was not able to find the information he wanted on the internet.

On a trip to Mitchell with the kids, one his son’s pointed out there was a pet wash in Mitchell.

Mathis called the company in Chicago and got more specific information.

In the meantime, Mathis was looking for a lot in Winner to put the pet wash station.

He knew he wanted this pet wash so he purchased it without having a lot at the time.

Eventually, Mathis purchased a lot from Cody Moore.

“It all worked out perfectly. The dog wash station was coming and now I had a lot.”

The pet wash is open 24 hours a day seven day a week. It is lighted, handicap accessible and heated and air conditioned.

The cost is $10 for 12 minutes to wash the dog.

Persons can also use a credit or debit card. On a push button panel, persons have variety of options like an oatmeal shampoo, tearless shampoo for the eyes and ears, conditioner, flea and tick protection, deodorizer and rinse. Persons can vacuum the dog and use a blow dryer.

When there is a minute left the machine beeps to allow you to disinfect the tub so the next person can use it.

For $1 you can purchase a bag of treats for your dog.

The pet wash has been open for 19 days and it has been busy. Mathis estimates there about four washes a day.

He says the washing station is for the whole community not just hunters with dogs. He noted persons from other towns traveling through Winner can make a quick stop to wash their dog.

Mathis has received a lot of feedback since it opened on June 27. Some persons have said it is tremendous since they do not have the mess at home. Others have said it is a more convenient atmosphere.

Mathis says in the future there are other opportunities that can spin off from the washing station. He noted maybe in the future his boys can pick up a person’s dog and wash it and bring t back to the owner. During hunting season, one of the boys could wash a dog if the hunter does not have the time.

And so what does Dewey think. Well, for sure he is going to be back for a return trip, maybe several.

By Dan Bechtold, Editor

There was fresh produce, baked goods, canned goods and handcrafted items at the first Colome Area Farmers Market held Thursday afternoon in the Colome City Park.

The farmers market will be held every Thursday through Oct. 18 from 4:30 to 7 p.m.

There were eight vendors at Thursday’s farmers market.

Shelly Weiler said the idea for a farmers market started “because I thought we needed it. We needed a place where people could buy things they do not have time to make themselves and people who like to make the items have a place to sell their goods,” she said.

There will be fun things planned throughout the summer. There will be a kids night where there will be freeze pops for the kids and a painted rock scavenger hunt.

Musical guests to present live entertainment are also planned.

Weiler said the organizers had a goal in starting the farmers market. “We wanted people coming back to Colome. Everyone goes out of town for things. People are busy with school and work and we wanted to keep things in Colome. We want to show we have fun things here too and it is a fun place to shop,” she said.

Weiler hopes it keeps going well. “I hope the eagerness of the vendors and the shoppers continue,” Weiler added.

The next farmers market will be July 26.

The USA High School Clay Target league held its first ever National Championship Tournament in Mason, Mich., on July 12-15.

Invitations were sent via email to student athletes in tiers according to their season average during the state season. A limit was set to allow 1400 kids to attend the national tournament. There was also a team competition. There are 19 states in the nation with high school trap athletes.

Luke Hennebold and Katie Welker from the Winner/Colome Area Trap team attended the national tournament. Thursday July 12 was registration and a day of practice at the Michigan Trap Association range. On Friday teams from across the country competed to be in the top 80 teams to make it to the finals on Sunday July 15. On Saturday was the individual competition for a spot in the top 400 athletes to shoot in the finals on Sunday. The shooters were assigned random trap ranges and shot on a line with kids from other states. On Saturday Luke shot a 96 out of 100 targets and Katie shot a 95 out of 100 targets. Those scores were good enough to put them into the finals on Sunday. The cut off to be in the finals was a 94 out of 100.

On Sunday Luke shot a 97 out of 100 for a combined score of 193. His final ranking was 133 out of a field of 1400 shooters. Katie shot a 96 on Sunday to give her a combined score of 191. Her final ranking was 198 out of 1400 shooters. Luke and Katie each earned 2 patches for 25 straight targets shot during the tournament. The top 3 shooters in the tournament had perfect 200 targets shot. They went into a shoot off to break the tie between them.

The two local shooters did a fantastic job representing their schools and trap team and felt the tournament was a great experience.

The 100^th anniversary of the Clearfield Hall will be celebrated July 28.

The program will start at 3 p.m. with Yvonne Hollenbeck reading some of her poetry followed by a skit.

At 4 p.m., there will be games outside for kids and adults. Inside there will be bingo.

At 5 p.m. M. J. Waters will have her team of horses for wagon rides.

At 5:15 there will be small town entertainment.

The REA donated two grills they will be auctioned off at 5:45 p.m.

A supper will be held at 6 p.m.

At 7 p.m. Paul Cozane of Chamberlain will play a musical instrument.

At 8 p.m. there will be a drawing for a quilt and a gun raffle.

Nine new windows were purchased by nine families and their names will be on a plaque by each window.

The hall received a $2,000 grant from the Tripp County Community Foundation to help with this project. Steel siding and gutters were placed on the building.

The inside of the hall was repainted.

The town of Clearfield was established in 1909. The first store was owned and operated by homesteaders Mr. and Mrs. Ross Moore and Tommy Reynolds.

The Clearfield Hall was not established until 1918. It was built from donations and stock membership sales. There is a plaque in the hall that shows the charter members. The membership was $5 and that entitled each to a share in the hall. The first hall board president was John Collins and the first secretary was Jay Williams. The first constitution for the hall was dated March 1, 1918.

Many dances were held at the hall. Some of the early bands were Happy Jack O’Malley, Rosebud Kids from WNAX of Yankton and DeVere Stanford Band of Gregory.

A story was told that men had to wear a suit to the dances. There were two brothers and they only owned one suit. One brother would go in and dance with ladies and later he would go out and the other brother would change into the suit and go dance with the ladies.

In 1985, Gen Fast said she hated to see the hall in disrepair so a group of her friends formed the Clearfield Hall Auxiliary and they got busy raising funds to fix up the hall. A grant from Lutheran Aid Association helped with the new roof.

The ladies had soup suppers, rodeo concession stand, farm sale concession stands, made raffle quilts, road signs, a cookbook held talent shows and received memorials and volunteer labor to achieve the improvements.

The hall has been used as a voting place and been used for birthday parties, Christmas programs, family reunions and funeral dinners.

The public is invited to Clearfield on Saturday to celebrate the 100^th anniversary.

George Kraft, who was the minister of the Winner Assembly of God for three years, has moved to Guymon, Okla.

His last service at the Winner church was July 1. He said he has enjoyed his time in Winner.

Guymon is located in the panhandle of Oklahoma and has a population of about 15,000.

Kraft serves as the pastor of First Assembly of God of Guymon. He will also be traveling back and forth to Springfield, Mo., where he is a on the board of directors of a mission program.

Kraft said he will be selling his home in Winner.

Kraft, his wife, Barbara and two sons, Asher and Gilon, have moved to Oklahoma.

Kray Krolikowski of Winner received a bachelor of arts degree in criminal justice from the University of Sioux Falls.