Melvin James Orel, 90

Melvin James Orel, age 90, from Winner, South Dakota, passed away on Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024.

Services will be held on his 91st birthday, Friday, May 31, 2024,at 10:30 a.m. at Mason Funeral Home in Winner.

 Melvin James Orel was born on May 31, 1933, to Joseph Orel and Anna (Dvorak) Orel at the family farm near Hamill, SD. Melvin loved farm life from an early age proven by the pictures of him feeding the chickens, playing with cats, and surrounded by puppies. Melvin was joined by twin brothers, Darrel and Donald, a few years later, and then the fun began.

 Melvin attended country school a short distance from his home. He told stories of having to carry coal to keep the stove going for warmth, which was essential as many students walked or road horses to school. It was here that Melvin met one of his life-long friends, Leo Beranek. Melvin only completed the eighth grade as he was needed on the farm, but he never stopped learning. He liked to read about world happenings, politics, and local news. And if you asked him anything about making purchases – whether it was a car, a house, or what not – his famous phrase was, “Well, I’ll have to pencil that out.” He liked to “tinker” a lot too: fixing old televisions would pass the cold winter evenings, as well as building a motorcycle in the basement (and then wondering how on Earth it was going to get upstairs), and later in life he loved creating things in his garage with various shapes and sizes of wood.

 As he, his brothers, and friends became older, shenanigans were always involved. He told stories about his friends and the tricks they would play on each other and on their girlfriends. On one such occasion, Melvin met his future wife, Agnes Klima.    

 In 1954, Melvin joined the United States Army. After basic training, he loaded up on a ship that carried him and soon-to-be many Army friends to Japan. He was stationed there for two years, where he met his life-long best friend, LeRoy Oleson. One memory that Melvin shared was when they returned to the US, he and two of his friends scrounged every pocket they had to scrape up enough change to try something they had never heard of before: a hot fudge sundae. How could you put hot fudge on ice cream and not have a melted mess? They eventually found enough money to buy one sundae (5 cents!) and three spoons, and it was the most delicious thing they had ever tasted!!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Melvin and his brother, Darrell, lived and loved the farm life. Hours and hours were spent tending cattle, hauling them to and from Sioux City in the Orel semi, planting corn and winter wheat, harvesting the crops, and one of Melvin’s most favorite farm scents – mowing the alfalfa, and more. Some of the best memories were made taking lunches out to the field so they could continue on with the farming. On days they were not in the field, coffee breaks at Grandpa and Grandmas were a ritual that nobody wanted to miss.

 Melvin loved to tell stories of flying his airplane with his brother, Donald, by his side. Together they would chase those pesky coyotes out of their hiding places and shoot them from the air. He also told of one of the airplanes landing in a dam near Hamill, although he never said how that came about.

 Although summers were a busy time around the farm, Melvin also found time for vacationing. Some of the most memorable were: a trip to Pennsylvania, annual trips to Colorado to visit his aunt, Tina, and bring back a motorhome full of fresh Colorado peaches, a trip to the Royal Gorge Bridge where he walked across the bridge without a fear in the world, several trips to the Black Hills, and the annual Labor Day trip to Fremont, NE to spend time with his friends Leo and Bob. On a vacation in Mexico, he even went parasailing over the Pacific Ocean.

 Fall was another important time for Melvin. Not only did it mean harvest time, but it also meant he would be able to spend time with the Minnesota pheasant hunters who had become a part of the Orel family.

 Melvin and Agnes made their home on the farm where they raised their three daughters, Elaine, Eileen, and Lori. In 1993, they moved to Winner. Agnes passed away in June of 2020, and Melvin continued to live at their home until March of 2022 when he moved to Golden Prairie Manor. Here, he made many new friends and was reacquainted with special friends from his past. Lori will especially miss his morning, noon, and evening hugs that were a part of their routine since moving into the Manor.

 Melvin was preceded in death by his parents, Joe & Anna, his in-laws, Joe & Anna Klima, his brothers, Darrell & Donald, his brother-in-law, Frankie, his wife, Agnes, and several aunts, uncles, and cousins, as well as his best friend, LeRoy.

 Melvin is survived by his three daughters, Elaine Boes (Brad) of Rapid City, South Dakota, Eileen Larson (Russ Oesterling) of Pima, Arizona, and Lori McCarty (Keith) of Colome, South Dakota; his grandchildren, Teresa Jones (Mike), Kim Selle (Dustan), Brock Songer (Tinley), Angie Frichten (Aaron), Casey Larson (Brooke), Mallori Winter (Scott), Cole McCarty, Maggie McCarty (Mason Schuyler), 15 great grandchildren, and 5 great, great grandchildren, as well as a host of nieces, nephews, and friends.

 We love you forever, Dad. We’ll miss you until we meet again!

Winners of the flower raffle

Casey Heenan, left and Chad Duffy, center, were the winners of a bouquet of flowers given away at the basketball game on Friday. Winner High School student council sponsored the raffle for the flowers. The proceeds from the money raised goes to the Children’s Miracle Network. Student council members from left are Ava Craven, Preslie Petersek and Livvy Audiss.

Warriors 5th at state duals

Ashley Robbins Photography Photo
This is the team picture of the Winner wrestling team at Watertown in the state duals. The Warriors placed fifth.

Winner wrestling team placed 5th at the Class B state dual tournament in Watertown on Saturday.

In the first round Saturday morning, Custer got by Winner 36-33.

Then Winner defeated Kimball/White Lake/Platte/Geddes 32-25. In the third round Winner defeated Miller/Highmore-Harrold 37-26 and took fifth place.

Canton won the Class B dual title.

Custer defeated Winner Area 36-33

  • 106 – Rylan Robbins (Winner Area) over Ayden Dooley (Custer) Maj 17-3
  • 113 – Tyler Trant (Custer) over Roukyn Robbins (Winner Area) Fall 0:57
  • 120 – Tray Weiss (Custer) over Hudson Peters (Winner Area) Fall 2:56
  • 126 – Maxton Brozik (Winner Area) over Ethan O`connor (Custer) TF 19-4
  • 132 – Riley Scott (Custer) over Konner Osborn (Winner Area) Fall 5:39
  • 138 – Karson Keiser (Winner Area) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf
  • 144 – Ryken Orel (Winner Area) over David Lewis (Custer) Fall 1:35
  • 150 – Leighton Sander (Custer) over August Bartels (Winner Area) Dec 7-2
  • 157 – Breven Bolander (Winner Area) over Kai Rusch (Custer) SV-1 9-7
  • 165 – Jude Sargent (Winner Area) over Blaise Arp (Custer) Dec 7-0
  • 175 – Ryder Bailey (Custer) over Kellen Cihak-Brozik (Winner Area) Fall 2:48
  • 190 – Parker Noem (Custer) over Mason Curtis (Winner Area) Fall 1:06
  • 215 – Parker Mathis (Winner Area) over Lane Geisner (Custer) Fall 3:42
  • 285 – Zayne Severyn (Custer) over Stetson Shelbourn (Winner Area) TB-1 1-0

Match #2 Consolation Bracket

Winner Area defeated Kimball/White Lake/Platte-Geddes 32-25

  • 190 – Mason Curtis (Winner Area) over Chris Baas (Kimball/White Lake/Platte-Geddes) Dec 8-2
  • 215 – Dalton Deffenbaugh (Kimball/White Lake/Platte-Geddes) over Parker Mathis (Winner Area) Dec 1-0
  • 285 – Stetson Shelbourn (Winner Area) over Adley Reindl (Kimball/White Lake/Platte-Geddes) Dec 3-2
  • 106 – Rylan Robbins (Winner Area) over Hayes Holter (Kimball/White Lake/Platte-Geddes) Maj 14-3
  • 113 – Roukyn Robbins (Winner Area) over Vincent Lenz (Kimball/White Lake/Platte-Geddes) Dec 4-3
  • 120 – Kasen Konstanz (Kimball/White Lake/Platte-Geddes) over Hudson Peters (Winner Area) Fall 1:49
  • 126 – Maxton Brozik (Winner Area) over Gavin Braun (Kimball/White Lake/Platte-Geddes) Dec 6-2
  • 132 – Johnny Lenz (Kimball/White Lake/Platte-Geddes) over Konner Osborn (Winner Area) UTB 10-9
  • 138 – Karson Keiser (Winner Area) over Jace Soulek (Kimball/White Lake/Platte-Geddes) Fall 4:13
  • 144 – Iden Myers (Kimball/White Lake/Platte-Geddes) over Ryken Orel (Winner Area) Dec 3-2
  • 150 – Carter Konechne (Kimball/White Lake/Platte-Geddes) over August Bartels (Winner Area) Maj 15-5
  • 157 – Jude Sargent (Winner Area) over Kenyon Kuiper (Kimball/White Lake/Platte-Geddes) Fall 5:24
  • 165 – Legend Benedict (Winner Area) over Joseph Skluzak (Kimball/White Lake/Platte-Geddes) Maj 16-3
  • 175 – Lucas Lenz (Kimball/White Lake/Platte-Geddes) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

Match #3 5th Place Match

Winner Area defeated Miller/Highmore-Harrold 37-26

  • 215 – Parker Mathis (Winner Area) over Colby Harrell (Miller/Highmore-Harrold) Fall 4:00
  • 285 – Stetson Shelbourn (Winner Area) over Mathis Resel (Miller/Highmore-Harrold) Dec 7-3
  • 106 – Rylan Robbins (Winner Area) over Chase Hurd (Miller/Highmore-Harrold) Dec 9-7
  • 113 – Roukyn Robbins (Winner Area) over Jaymin VanDerWerff (Miller/Highmore-Harrold) SV-1 5-3
  • 120 – Talon Ping (Miller/Highmore-Harrold) over Hudson Peters (Winner Area) Maj 11-0
  • 126 – Maxton Brozik (Winner Area) over Kia McCauley (Miller/Highmore-Harrold) Fall 0:47
  • 132 – Jordan Schafer (Miller/Highmore-Harrold) over Konner Osborn (Winner Area) Inj 1:17
  • 138 – Kellan Hurd (Miller/Highmore-Harrold) over Karson Keiser (Winner Area) Dec 3-2
  • 144 – Ryken Orel (Winner Area) over Johnny Alpizar (Miller/Highmore-Harrold) Fall 0:50
  • 150 – Teagan Foreman (Miller/Highmore-Harrold) over August Bartels (Winner Area) Maj 10-2
  • 157 – Ryder Rowland (Miller/Highmore-Harrold) over Breven Bolander (Winner Area) Fall 0:49
  • 165 – Jude Sargent (Winner Area) over Kaleb Sarchet (Miller/Highmore-Harrold) Maj 9-1
  • 175 – Colby Kolda (Miller/Highmore-Harrold) over Kellen Cihak-Brozik (Winner Area) Dec 6-3
  • 190 – Mason Curtis (Winner Area) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

The next action for Winner will be the regional tournament on Feb. 17 in Parkston. Wrestling will start at 10 a.m.

The regional will determine who will wrestling in the state tournament which is Feb. 22, 23 and 24 in Sioux Falls at the Premier Center.

Colome chili cookoff

The annual Colome chili cook-off will be held Feb. 24 at the Colome American Legion.

It will be held from 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Persons can enjoy some chili and vote for their favorite recipe.

Categories are: hottest, best tasting, most unusual and best tasing other soup.

The winners in each category will get to allocate a portion of the donations to the Tripp   County youth organization of their choice.

Persons who would like to compete, contact Jeff Hrabanek (840-4211) or Laura Kahler (840-8537).

Offices close for holiday

Government offices in Winner will be closed on Feb. 19 in honor of Presidents Day.

The Tripp County Courthouse will be closed as well as the library.

The Winner city office will be closed on Monday.

All state and federal offices in Winner will be closed.

The Winner Post Office will be closed and there will be no mail delivery.

First Fidelity Banks of Winner and Colome will be closed as well as BankWest and Sentinel Federal Credit Union.

There will be no noon meal served at the senior  citizens center on Feb. 19.

Southern Plains Behavioral Health Services will not be open for business on Monday.

Chris Haynes was inducted into the Winner School Hall of Fame

Kari Heenan Photo
Chris Haynes was inducted into the Winner School Hall of Fame on Saturday. Making the presentation is Brett Gardner, right. Haynes, who now lives in Yankton, is pictured with his family.

A star basketball player for Winner, Chris Haynes was inducted into the Winner School Hall of Fame on Saturday, Feb. 3.

Haynes graduated from Winner High School in 2002. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Dakota Wesleyan University and master’s degree from University of South Dakota.

At WHS, Haynes was a three sport athlete participating in basketball, football and track, lettering nine times.

In basketball, Haynes was first team all state as a senior and third team as a junior. He was a Mr. Basketball finalist and Argus Leader all second team.

In 2001 the Warriors finished as consolation champions in the state tournament.

Haynes went on to play four years as a starting point guard for the DWU Tigers. He was named team captain as a  junior and senior.

In football, Haynes was a two year starting quarterback and defensive back, earning all-state honors as a senior.

In track, he medaled eight times at the state meet, five times in relays and three times in open events.

Haynes is currently teaching and coaching at Yankton High School. He is Yankton’s all-time winningest boys  basketball coach. During his 11 year tenure he has led the Bucks to seven state tournaments including state championships in 2018 and 2023.

He and his wife, Ashley, have been married since 2011 and together have three children, Cooper, Connor and Ally.

Winner Community Playhouse will present a spring production

Winner Community Playhouse will present a spring production Feb. 23, 24, Feb. 29, March 1 and 2.

“The Hitchin Post” by Pat Cook is the play that has been chosen.

The cast includes Barb DeSersa, Doug Nelson, Cassie Shutt, Hayden McMurtrey, Mary Backus, Ken Teger, Ron High Rock, Emily Moser, Dan Patmore, Keith DeMers, Linda Nelson and Sandra York.

Ron High Rock is the director with Dan Patmore as the technical director.

The action in “Hitchin’ Post” centers around a general store in Flat Rock, Texas. It is a hilarious slice of life outside a Texas town.

Cracker Barrel in Winner

Persons who want to learn the latest legislative news should attend the cracker barrel in Winner on Saturday, Feb. 10. The event will be held at 4 p.m. at the Winner American Legion. Winner Legion Auxiliary will host the event.

Attending will be Dist. 21 lawmakers—Sen. Erin Tobin of Winner; Rep. Rocky Blare of Winner and Rep. Marty Overweg, New Holland.