Author Archives: Colton Hall

By Dan Bechtold, Editor

Melvin Harter of Witten was a member of the 1960 baseball team at Black Hills State University.

This year that team will be inducted into the Yellow Jack Hall of Fame during BHSU homecoming Sept. 28-29.

The team will be recognized during a banquet on Sept 28 and they will ride in the Swarm Day parade in Spearfish on Sept. 29 and that afternoon will be recognized at the football game.

The 1960 baseball team won 13 games and lost four and was invited to the NAIA national tournament. Harter believes the 1960 team in the only baseball team that played in a national tournament. The national tournament was in Omaha and BHSU lost the first game.

Also playing on that team were Dennis Harter, Witten, a cousin of Melvin; Rocky Jones who was from Winner at that time and Bob Johnson of Gregory.

The baseball team at that time boosted one of the best pitching staffs in the Midwest led by Mike West, Jim Lawton, Dan Badger, Duane Baer and Neil Doeden.

Melvin Harter was a catcher on the team and when Doeden pitched he only wanted Melvin as the catcher.

West and Doeden went on to play in the Basin League. Winner was one of the towns fortunate to have a Basin League team.

The BSHU team was coached by Cliff Papik.

Harter says he is looking forward to the reunion and induction into the college hall of fame.

“I don’t know where a lot of them are and it will be nice to see them,” he said.

Harter graduated from BHSU with a degree in math and a minor in physical education.

After graduating from college he taught one year in Gregory from 1961-1962.

In 1963, he went to California and worked for Pacific Gas and Electric. It was in California that he met his wife, Wilma.

In 1967, Harter started work with the engineer division of the South Dakota Department of Transportation in Kadoka where worked for four years.

In 1971, the family moved to Garland, Texas, where he worked with his uncle, Lester Aeschbacher in TV repair.

Then, Harter moved back to Winner and worked at Custom TV with Ray Totton. While working in Winner, Harter also helped his father on the farm in Witten. Eventually, Harter took over the farm.

He has been on the farm for 51 years.

Baseball has been a big part of Harter’s life. Harter played on the Witten amateur baseball team that went to state in 1960 in Watertown. For Witten, Harter played third base.

The Harters have three children, 8 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren.

Sally Kingsbury recently attended the state VFW Auxiliary convention in Sioux Falls. She was accompanied by her husband, Gary and daughter, Dawn Boerner.

During the convention, Kingsbury was honored by a color guard escort to the president’s station where it was announced she was the state hospital volunteer of the year.

State president Carrie Alm presented Kingsbury with an eagle statue which was engraved with her name and the award.

Leanne Payne, state hospital chairman, told the audience of the many accomplishments Kingsbury made by helping the veteran and the number of hours she has invested in serving veterans who reside in local facilities.

National representative Jean Hamil, serving as national conductress, spoke about the importance of letting the veteran know they are not forgotten. She praised Kingsbury for her devotion to the veteran. Hamil presented Kingsbury with a citation from the national president.

National Rural Letter Carriers held its annual convention in Grand Rapids, MI at the DeVos Place Convention Center. These meetings took place from Aug.13-17.

For opening session of the meetings, Shannon Duffy, Winner, as president of the National Rural Letter Carriers Junior Auxiliary gave her speech to nearly 2000 individuals which included Megan Brennan, USPS Postmaster General/CEO and Marcia L. Fudge, Representative, U.S. Congress (D-OH). After opening session the NRLCA Jr. Auxiliary went the first of two excursions planned by Shannon while visiting for a planning session in March.

During the first business meeting for the Jr. Auxiliary, Shannon was presented with a display box containing the gavel for her to use during her meetings. Since the project of support was Folds of Honor, the display box was in the shape of a folded flag. The gavel and box were made by an NRLCA association member and were presented to Shannon by Cindy Keyes, a Past National Officer for the NRLCA Auxiliary.

The Junior Auxiliary consists of NRLCA member children and grandchildren between the ages of 6-20. Their first excursion, the Junior Auxiliary went to the Public Museum which houses an IMAX theater, an authentic 1920’s carousel they could ride on as well as many interactive displays. Later in the week they then went to a rope course to test their balance and zip line abilities. During the rest of the week Shannon presided over business meetings, caucuses and elections. The week concluded with contest and scholarship winner announcements and installation of new officers. Macie Ferwerda placed third in the 18-20 year old contest category and Shannon Duffy received one of the scholarships.

Attending the convention with Shannon were her parents Brad and Judy Duffy, her sister Allison from Chamberlain and her grandmothers Delores Duffy from Clearfield and Barb Lundquist from Sioux Falls.

Winner Area cheer and dance team both took third place at the Winner Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 8.

The dance team has to perform three dances to place. Winner competed in hip hop, pom and kick.

“I was very pleased with the overall performance and it was great to have the home crowd support,” said dance coach Cyndy DeMers.

“We honored our seniors and their parents, she added.

There were 9 team in the cheer portion of the invitational.

Coach Val Ewing said she was super impressed with the cheer girls results. “We are improving every time and that’s what we as coaches want. We have some pretty elite stunts, we have two groups putting girls up in full extensions and with only one base under them,” said Ewing.

“I am super proud of how hard they are working and where they will go from here.”

Ewing and coach Samantha Novonty appreciate the Winner community for coming out and supporting the cheer and dance girls. “It means a lot when we can put fans in the stands,” said Ewing.

On Monday, Sept, 10, the cheer and dance competed in Spearfish.

They will provide the halftime entertainment for the homecoming football game on Sept. 21.

PIERRE, S.D. – According to the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks (GFP), this year’s pheasant brood survey shows a 47 percent increase over last year. The 2018 statewide pheasants-per-mile (PPM) index is 2.47, up from the 2017 index of 1.68.

“A substantial increase in the pheasants-per-mile index is an exciting prospect for South Dakota’s 100th pheasant hunting season this fall,” stated Kelly Hepler, GFP Secretary. “Weather conditions continue to play a significant role when it comes to bird numbers and better weather helped this year with the average pheasant brood size increasing 22 percent over last year.”

From late July through mid-August, GFP surveyed 110, thirty-mile routes across the state’s pheasant range to estimate pheasant production and calculate the PPM index. The survey is not a population estimate, but rather compares the number of pheasants observed on the routes and establishes trend information. Statewide, 85 of the 110 survey routes had a higher PPM than 2017.

“We are pleased to see pheasant numbers improve across the state; particularly in the far eastern part of the state where hunters will have more opportunities to harvest birds than in recent years,” stated Hepler. “The full report provides an overview of upland habitat; which remains a concern for all wildlife across the state. Just as changes in landscape-level habitat conditions have produced peaks and valleys in the pheasant population for 100 years, habitat will again be the key to preserving pheasant hunting for another century.”

The Walk-in Area (WIA) program added 39,000 new acres in addition to 8,000 new acres last year. With 1.1 million acres of public hunting land within the heart of South Dakota’s pheasant range, great opportunities remain for public access to pheasant hunting. Hepler said hunters should notice far fewer disturbed CRP fields compared to last year when emergency haying and grazing was authorized in response to severe drought conditions.

The annual hunting atlas and a web-based interactive map of public lands and private lands leased for public hunting can be found at https://gfp.sd.gov/hunting-areas/. In addition to printed and interactive maps, hunters can utilize GPS downloads and smartphone applications to locate public hunting lands throughout the state. Hunters are again asked to hunt safely and ethically, respect private landowners and those public hunting areas scattered across the state.

“Challenges exist to maintain habitat, desirable pheasant population levels, and to recruit a new generation of hunters to preserve this truly special sport of pheasant hunting. Take time this fall to celebrate the hunt, the sense of community and comradery while appreciating how deeply rooted the tradition of pheasant hunting has been for the last 100 years,” concluded Hepler.  

South Dakota’s traditional statewide pheasant hunting season opens on Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018, and runs through Jan. 6, 2019.