This fall a 10 person committee met to make selections to the 2024-2025
class of the Winner Hall of Fame.
The committee made the selection of the 1981 Winner Warrior football team.
The honor will take place in the fall of 2025. The school will find a home
football game to try and get as many of the football members to a game to be
recognized. Brian Naasz will spearhead the event.
In 1981, Winner won the first South Dakota state football championship
with a 31-21 victory over Vermillion.
The Warriors were coached by Harvey Naasz and that year ended the season
12-0.
Submitted photo Chosen for all-state cheer are three Winner High School girls. Pictured from left are Cora Moss, Lilly Barfuss and Gracie Root. State competitive cheer was Oct. 25 in Rapid City. The Winner team placed fourth overall.
This year will mark the 20th anniversary of the Parade of Lights in
Winner. The event will be held on Nov. 30 at 6:30 p.m. on Main Street.
The parade marshals will be John and Barb Meyer.
The parade will lineup at the fire hall and proceed south on Main Street.
It will be broadcast on KWYR again this year.
Persons or organizations interested in having a float in the parade are to
contact the Winner Area Chamber of Commerce at 605-842-1533.
Mike Scott, executive director of the Chamber, says so far there are 20
floats signed up and he expects more.
The Parade of Lights was started 20 years ago by Kaye Eckerman and
Donnette Hansen. They wanted to bring a wonderful holiday tradition to Winner.
In the peak years of the parade there have been 80 floats and the low end
has seen 14-15 floats. In recent years the number of floats has stayed
consistent in the high 20’s.
An addition to the parade was the naming of a parade marshal.
“This has become such a Winner holiday tradition that we hope people will
continue to support it,” said Scott.
There have been 20 years of Christmas magic with the parade sponsored by
the Winner Area Chamber of Commerce.
The parade of lights is the culmination of
full afternoon of holiday fun.
Santa Day will be from 1-4 p.m. on Nov. 30 in front of the American
Legion. There will be reindeer, wagon rides, face painting and hot chocolate.
The Winner Volunteer Fire Department will be helping with S’mores.
Santa will be visiting inside the Legion from 1-3 p.m. Kids are encouraged
to come and visit with Santa and last year Santa had a record number of
visitors.
There will a free movie at the Pix Theater at 4 p.m. on Nov. 30. “How the
Grinch Stole Christmas” will be the free movie.
Scott says the Chamber appreciates all sponsors for the various Santa Day
events.
Nov. 30 is also Small Business Saturday this is a good time to get out and
support our business community.
Dr. William Manke will be the guest speaker at the Veterans Day program in
Winner on Monday, Nov. 11 at 10 a.m. in the Winner Armory.
The public is encouraged to attend.
The program is sponsored by the Winner High School and Winner Middle
School student councils.
Veterans will have the opportunity to introduce themselves and there will
be a slide show of local veterans throughout the program.
The WHS band and choir will perform.
WHS student council members will have a presentation of the missing man
table and flag folding ceremony.
Winner Middle School student council will be handing out patriotic pins to
veterans as they introduce themselves.
The winners of the Voice of Democracy and Patriot Pen will be announced
and the first place winners will have an opportunity to read their essays.
WHS student council president Gus Bartels and vice president Roper Moore
will the MC’s for the program.
Following the program, some members of the WHS student council will have a
brief program at Winner Regional Long Term Care Center.
The Winner American Legion Auxiliary and the Winner VFW Auxiliary will
have a soup and sandwich luncheon for veterans and spouses from 11:30 a.m. to 1
p.m. at the Winner Legion on Veterans Day.
Yvonne (Vonnie) Leetch
86, of Winner, SD, passed away on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024 at the Lake Andes
Health Care Center in Lake Andes, SD after a hard battle with dementia.
Funeral services will
take place on Wednesday Nov. 6 at 11 am.
The funeral service will be held at the Trinity Lutheran Church with a
burial to follow in the Winner Cemetery.
Yvonne was born May 8,
1938 in Colome, SD, to Charlie and Olga (Foyert) Rice. Growing up the family
lived on many different farms. They would have card parties on Saturday nights.
Yvonne married William
Leech on April 15, 1957. They were not
blessed with children, but they were certainly blessed with a very large
extended family of siblings, nieces, nephews, in-laws, and numerous friends!
Like her siblings,
Vonnie enjoyed spending time visiting, play cards, and dining with her family
and friends. In the summer she loved to go camping and fishing. She loved her
trips with her brothers and sisters to the casino.
She is survived by a
sister, Connie Luther and a brother, Gene (Twila) Rice, both of Winner, SD; one
stepdaughter Lil (Joe) Cardona of Goleta, CA; a step granddaughter Alex of
Goleta, CA; and numerous nephews and nieces who she loved dearly, as well as a
very special friend Lori Gebhardt of Rapid City, SD.
She was preceded in
death by her husband, William Leetch, five sisters, Julia Johnson, Claradean
Rice, Josephene Rice, Lilly Long, and Sylvia Horton; two brothers, Clyde Rice
and John Rice; four brothers in law, Gaylord Long, Teddy Fisher, Maynord Johnson,
and Don Luther; two sisters in law, Betty Rice, and Grace (Shorty) Rice; a
niece, Linda Fisher; and her parents Charles and Olga Rice.
May she now rest in eternal sunshine and
perfect love with our Lord. May she now be forever young.
The Tripp County Commissioners invite organizations, clubs and groups to
put up a Christmas tree in the courthouse.
Trees need to be put up from Nov. 22 to Dec. 9.
Persons can call the Tripp County assessor office to make a reservation
for a tree. Call 605-842-2300 or email christmas@trippcounty.us The reservation deadline is Nov. 15.
An open house will be held Dec. 12 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
The trees will need to be removed between Jan. 6-10.
Roger Allen Best, 87 years old, of Brandon, South Dakota, passed away on
Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, at the Bethany Home of Brandon.
Family and friends gathered for a
Celebration of Life at Emmanuel Baptist
Church (1600 East Twelfth Street, Sioux Falls, South Dakota), on Friday, Sept.
20. The interment of ashes took place at
Hills of Rest Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, memorials in honor of Roger may be made to Emmanuel
Baptist Church for donation to the Camp Judson Capital Campaign for a new Roger
Williams Lodge or directly to the Alzheimer’s Association of South Dakota.
Visit www.georgeboom.com
Roger was born on Nov. 26, 1936, to Elmer and Leona (Burtz) Best. He grew up on the family farm in the Keyapaha
Valley in Tripp County, South Dakota, graduating from Winner High School. (He identified himself as a graduate of the
“School of Hard Knocks.”) Roger married Fern Arlene Moore of Kennebec, South
Dakota, on Dec. 5, 1959. The couple
lived in various West and East River communities in South Dakota, spending
their longest and final residence in Brandon.
Roger and Fern’s marriage lasted 63 years before they were parted by
Fern’s death in August 2023.
Roger worked for the Metz Baking Company for more than three decades,
rising from route salesman to the manager of the Watertown sweet roll
plant. After the baking business, Roger
sold furniture at the South Dakota Furniture Company, then managed a car wash
in Brandon with an above-and-beyond devotion to duty so typical of his work
ethic.
Roger had a dry sense of humor that would land zingers with precision as
well as being quite a hand at telling a story.
Despite the challenges of Alzheimer’s disease, he would occasionally
surprise you and make you laugh with a witty comment. This is no doubt part of the reason nursing
staff members liked having him on their floors.
On many occasions he gave knowledgeable assistance with motor
vehicles. In younger days, he enjoyed
hunting. In older days, he thoroughly
enjoyed his grandchildren and great grandchildren, indulging their whims and
being a seemingly limitless source of gum.
As a youth Roger received believer’s baptism and was a member of Emmanuel
Baptist Church in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where he served the Savior in many
ways, including as our moderator. The
church’s S.A.G.E. group took fall excursions to our regional camp in the Black
Hills of South Dakota (Camp Judson) with Roger as their driver. Those were good times.
Roger is survived by his three children Brett (wife Kary) Best, Lisa
Dawley, and Brian Best, beloved nieces and nephews, and sister-in-law Mary
Best. Roger and Fern’s family has been
blessed by the addition of eleven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
He is predeceased by his parents, brother Eugene, sister Audrey (husband
Leonard) Hajek, and maternal parents Lewie and Leola Moore.
Early voting for the November general election started on Friday, Sept.
20.
To cast an early ballot voters should first make sure they are registered.
To vote early in person voters can go to the county auditor’s office with
acceptable photo identification.
Persons can vote at the auditor’s office in the Tripp County courthouse
from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
To vote early by mail voters may request an absentee ballot application
from the county auditor. The auditor will provide a paper absentee ballot to
the voter. The voter then completes the ballot and mails it to the auditor.
Dan Bechtold/Winner Advocate Photo Main Gate Counseling and T4 Foundation had an open house on Sept. 19 in observance of National Addiction Awareness Day. Pictured from left are Andrea Kindt, Cathy Mayes and Baleigh Cerv. They were asking visitors to join forces to spread awareness for addiction. The open house featured door prizes, education, snacks and refreshments.
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