Author Archives: Rita Pravecek

Ilene Hickey, 88

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A prayer service for Ilene Hickey, 88, Burke, formerly of Iona, was held July 29 at Kotrba-Smith Funeral Home, Gregory. A private burial will take place at a later date.

Ilene Marie Konop Hickey was born Oct. 21, 1931 in rural Dixon, SD, the third of five children born to Chas (Charlie) and Marie Feyereisen Konop. The family lived on a farmstead north of Gregory. She attended the rural Washington School and Gregory High School, graduating on May 14, 1948, in only three years and as the salutatorian of her class.

She then received her teacher’s certificate and taught for two years in a country school. She was smaller and almost the same age as some of her students.

Ilene met and later married the love of her life, Claude Hickey, on Aug. 28, 1950, in Pierre, SD. She and her younger sister Alvena Joy (Jody) lived together in Winner while their husbands were in the service. Ilene later moved to California to live with her mother to be closer to Claude, who was stationed at Camp Pendleton. After Claude finished his military duty, the couple lived west of Iona, SD on his parent’s farm, then in the Iona Hotel before purchasing their farm north of Iona, where they made their home for many years.

They worked side by side raising hogs and cattle, milking cows, and farming the land. To this union were born four children, Karen, Marvin, Darla, and Claudia. The couple also provided a home for her dad for many years.

Ilene, also known as Ikie to her friends, worked for a brief period of time sewing collars on shirts in a factory in Reliance, SD. Civic responsibility was important to Ikie as she served the community as an election worker in Lyman County about 25 years and as the Iona Township Treasurer for 40 years.

After the couple retired from farming, they moved to Burke, SD to a house on Main Street and later on to an apartment in Parkview Manor. After Claude’s death, she continued to live at the apartments until a series of strokes required the move to Butte Senior Living in Butte, NE in December of 2019. She resided there until her death.

She was a favorite of the nursing home staff because of her sweet and gentle personality and quick wit. Ikie’s skill for cooking became well known, and there was always room for one more at the family table. Liver and onions was a favorite meal served to her loved ones. Sheloved to bake and share homemade goodies, such as caramel cinnamon rolls, angel food cakes, raised and glazed donuts and pumpkin pies. Another specialty was making homemade candy, especially peanut brittle.

Ikie was an avid seamstress, making clothes for her children and grandchildren. She even put in an “all-nighter” sewing a Halloween costume for one of her granddaughters. She enjoyed gardening and in her later years she spent hours reading and following her beloved Chicago Cubs. She was thrilled when the Cubbies won the World Series in 2016.

She is survived by daughter Claudia (Glenn) Smith of Ainsworth,NE; daughter Darla Viereck of Sioux Falls, SD; and daughter Karen (Marvin) McIntosh of Iona, SD. She is survived by many grand and great-grandchildren; sister Jody (Jerald) Tagtow of Kandiyohi, MN; many nieces, nephews, and other relatives. She was preceded in death by her infant sister, Mary Ann Konop in 1939; parents Charlie in 1988 and Marie in 2004; husbandClaude in 2013; son Marvin in 2011; sister Betty Jean Rice in 1990, and brother Chuck Konop in 1986.

WHS outstanding athletes

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Submitted photo
Outstanding Winner High School athletes for the 2019-2020 school year have been
chosen. Due to COVID-19 there was no athletic awards ceremony this year.
Pictured from left are Morgan Hammerbeck, female outstanding athlete; Saige
Schuyler, most inspirational; Phillip Jorgensen, most inspirational and Trevor
Peters, outstanding male athlete.

Colome school plan

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The Colome Consolidated School Board has put on first reading a plan for the safe return to school for all students and staff in the district. The board has had two meetings to discuss and make changes. Each time the board has met there has been some tweaks to the plan.

By Dan Bechtold/ Editor

The tentative passage of the plan is set for the Aug. 10 board meeting. School in the Colome district will start on Aug. 18. There are three levels to the plan which takes into consideration if there are any cases of COVID-19 in the school.

Level one is green which allows school to be open as normal as possible with precautions in place. There will be hand sanitizers, signs posted to wash hands and adjust lunch time if needed. Social distancing measures will be increased.

Masks will be available and it will be parent/student choice if they wear a mask. Masks will not be mandated. Some staff members may make the choice to wear a mask during the school day.

The school emphasized there will be no bullying tolerated of students who choose to wear a mask.

Level 2 is yellow and includes more precautions as suggested by the South Dakota Department of Health and the state Department of Education. This level will require the wearing of mask and clear plexiglass dividers in certain areas .More custodians will be hired for additional cleaning, if needed.

If needed in level 2 there will be a modified schedule such as staggered arrival and release time and bus routes may be changed. There may be a combination of face to face and online learning using Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams for a limited time. With the online learning the students would be at home and not in the classroom.

Level 3 red is the most serious and would mean school cannot be operated as usual and all learning will be online. The school may consider full distance learning.

The Department of Health and the department of education will work with the school district leadership to determine if a shut down is needed. This would happen if there were multiple cases of COVID-19 in the school. The school plan is very fluid as things change day to day with COVID-19.

Supt. Dr. Debbie O’Doan said the plan is to open the schools in the best way possible keeping everyone as safe as possible. O’Doan noted the school will be flexible enough to make changes as needed in accordance with the local COVID-19 case data.

Water bottles will be highly encouraged to avoid sharing water fountains. Hand sanitizers have been installed in every classroom plus multiple places in hallways and common areas. With COVID-19 there will need to be extra cleaning by the custodial staff. Rooms and hallways will be disinfected two times weekly. Temperature checks of students will happen in the main office and Title I room. Temperature checks will be taken if a student shows signs of illness. Students with a fever will be required to put on a mask and will wait in the isolation room until parents come to pick them up.

Parents are expected to monitor their children and keep them home if they are sick.

For sports and extracurricular activities the school will follow South Dakota High School Activities Association guidelines. At the present time all fall sports are a go and have been approved by the SDHSAA with restrictions. O’Doan noted if the school reaches the red level and in order to avoid becoming the next hot spot the school will move to full distant learning for a limited period of time. O’Doan says communication is a key as the school year starts and students and staff work their way through a pandemic.

Defending Those Who Defend America

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By Sen. John Thune

The Senate recently completed consideration of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) – annual legislation to authorize funding for our military and national defense. Like the last two NDAAs, this year’s bill focuses on restoring military readiness and ensuring that our nation is prepared to meet threats posed by major powers like Russia and China.

A lot of people tend to take it for granted that we have the strongest military in the world. But the truth is, years of underfunding and budgetary uncertainty, combined with heavy operational demands, left our military under-equipped, under-manned, and under-prepared to meet the threats of the 21st century.

In November 2018, the bipartisan National Defense Strategy Commission released a report warning that our readiness had eroded to the point where we might struggle to win a war against a major power like Russia or China. And the commission noted that we would be especially vulnerable if we were ever called on to fight a war on two fronts. Over the past two years, we’ve made real progress on restoring military readiness. But we still have more work to do.

This year’s NDAA continues our investment in ensuring that our military is prepared to meet current and future threats – in any domain. In particular, it focuses on implementing the National Defense Strategy by building on the work we’ve done to ensure our country is prepared to counter the threat posed by great powers.

Most notably, the bill establishes the Pacific Deterrence Initiative, which will act as a check on Chinese aggression in the Pacific region. It will help ensure that American troops are better prepared to meet threats in that area of the world. And it will send a clear message to China that America is committed to the security of our allies in the Pacific and keeping global waterways open and free.

No matter what weapons or ships or technology we have, our greatest resource will always be the men and women of the United States military. And we have an obligation to them – and to their families – to ensure that they have all the resources they need to meet the threats we ask them to face. We also need to make sure that we are supporting a high quality of life for our military members and their families.

This year’s NDAA supports a 3 percent pay raise for our troops. It also builds on previous measures to improve military health care and housing. And it contains measures to support families in areas like child care and professional development for military spouses. Recognizing that our obligation to the men and women in uniform continues beyond their service, it also expands presumptive coverage for Agent Orange exposure.

The NDAA is one of the most important pieces of legislation we pass every year, a sentiment underscored by the fact that our adversaries have been making significant investments in their militaries – making their goals clear to not only challenge the United States and our allies, but intimidate their neighbors and expand their spheres of influence.

Alarmingly, we have seen such aggressive activity include attempting to steal medical data and coronavirus vaccine research, threats that necessitate the expanded investment in cyber capabilities provided in the NDAA.

This NDAA likewise continues our military modernization efforts. I’m honored to represent Ellsworth Air Force Base in the U.S. Senate, and as we look forward with great anticipation to the future B-21 bomber mission, I am committed to helping the base prepare for their arrival. This will not only include investments in base infrastructure, but also working to optimize the Powder River Training Complex airspace to ensure adequate space for realistic combat training.

While the Senate has passed its bill, we have more work ahead of us, and I look forward to working with my colleagues of both parties to advance this NDAA and get our military men and women the resources they need to defend our nation.

Winner Summer Nights for Aug. 1

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A car show will be featured at the Winner Summer Nights on Aug. 1.

Frontier Motors is sponsoring Winner Summer Nights on the second block of Main Street. The car show registration is from 3-5 p.m. with the show from 5-7 p.m. and there is no entry fee.

Two trophies will be awarded per class and one for best of show.

This car show does not replace the Prairie Cruisers car show set for Labor Day weekend at the historical society museum.

Frontier Motors will have an ice cream sundae bar with a free will donation and proceeds going to the Wesson Littau Foundation.

The Tripp County building committee will have a dunk tank from 5-9 p.m.

The band for the night will be West Bound.

Summer nights runs from 5-9 p.m. and this year is combined with the popular Pit Row Barbeque.

Another special event will be a Winner Hot Wing competition. The two contestants will be Chris Doski and Mick Tisone from the radio station.

There will be several rounds featuring eating wings and answering trivia questions. With each new round, the wings will get hotter and the questions will be harder.

Frontier Motors will hold its drawing for the red hot summer promotion it has been running.

Come out and look over the cars, enjoy the music then head over to the BBQ pit row.

Fair opens July 29 with a different look

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Fair opens July 29 with a different look

The first day of the Mid Dakota Fair in Winner will be held July 29.

The theme for the fair is Mid Dakota Fair—Focusing on the Future.

While many counties have canceled a fair and some state’s have canceled their state fair, Tripp County will still have a fair but it will look a lot different due to COVID-19.

Persons attending the fair must follow SDSU social distancing protocol. Everyone must maintain six feet of distance between those outside of their household.

At first SDSU mandated that every one has to wear a mask at the fair but they have relaxed their rule where masks are not mandatory but highly encouraged.

The July 29 event will be the judging of 4-H exhibits. This year there will be no face to face interview with judges.

Families have been given a set time to drop off their exhibits. Only a certain number of people will be allowed in the 4-H center. This judging will be from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The same schedule will be followed on July 30 as 4-He4s will drop off their projecs and then leave,

This year there will be no display of 4H projects for he general public to view.

A schedule as been set for Aug. 3 for 4-Hers to come and pick up their projects.

The fair will run through Aug. 8. 4-Hers will show their animals on set days but there will be no public viewing of the show.
The animal shows will be live streamed on Facebook at Tripp County 4-H Animal Shows livestream.
T

he Tripp County Leaders Association received a grant to purchase eight pens to house the swine for the swine show on Aug. 8.

The grant is from the Tripp County Foundation and the South Dakota Community Foundation.

Trailers that bring animals to the fair can park across from the rodeo arena or in the north lot across from the 4-H Center.
4-Hers can sign up for text alerts to keep track of what class is being judged and the time they need to bring their animal into the arena. For example for the beef show persons can text beef show to 31996. When the show is over they can type “stop” to 31996.

There will be no breakfast or no meals served this year. There will be an outdoor concession stand but no concession stand inside the 4-H Center.

The public speaking finals will be in the afternoon of Aug. 4. Again, each 4-Her is giving a time to give their presentation and there will be no public viewing.

“We realize this is not the ideal fair event, but we appreciate your cooperation so w are allowed to still have this opportunity for our members,” said Laura Kahler, Tripp County 4-H advisor.