Memorial services for Ruby Graham age 77 formerly of Springview, Neb., will be held on Saturday, July 10 at 10:30 a.m. at United Methodist Church, Springview, NE. Burial will follow in Mt Hope Cemetery.
Ruby passed away at the University Medical Center in Omaha, Neb., on July 1, 2021.
Mary Jane (Lang) Putnam, 85, passed away in
her sleep Dec. 19, 2020 in Cathedral City, CA.
Burial for Mary Jane will be at St. John Catholic Church cemetery, Paxton, SD, on Thursday, July 8, 2021, at 11 am.
Mary Jane was born in Gehring, Neb., on Oct. 20, 1935, to Irvin and Dolly Lang. Tragedy struck the young family when Mary Jane was diagnosed with spinal meningitis, a typically fatal disease for that time. Mary Jane often told the story of how she and her mother were quarantined alone in their house, and her father and siblings would just be able to talk through the window. No medicine was available locally, especially with the war effort on. Her father and uncle drove to Denver to pick up the medicine, and Mary Jane survived the deadly disease. Her mother tirelessly worked her legs so she could walk.
The family moved to Dallas, SD in 1945,
where they farmed. Mary Jane attended
Dallas High School, and was a member of the last graduating class, as the
school burned down her senior year.
After graduation, Mary Jane attended
Southern State Teachers College in Springfield, SD and obtained her teaching
certificate. She also worked part time
in her aunt and uncle’s restaurant in Dallas, which is where she met her future
husband, Robert (Bob) Putnam. Mary Jane
taught grades 1-8 in a one room schoolhouse during her courtship with Bob, and
they celebrated their nuptials on June 8, 1955.
After her marriage, Mary Jane moved to
Bristol, SD with her husband. Bob got in
BIG trouble after he traded their house in town for a farm west of town without
discussing the move with Mary Jane. By
this time, the family had 5 children and Bob wanted his kids to grow up on a
farm like he did.
Mary Jane became an amazing cook and baker
after her husband “accidentally” dropped the first pie she ever made him. Family meals included her homemade bread,
delicious desserts and home-grown beef. She was even known to make lefse and
have a lutefisk party or two at her house. As the family grew, so did the
amount of land she and Bob farmed. Their
children did most of the farming, as Bob still worked in town at the local
Cenex.
Mary Jane spent her free time enjoying arts
and crafts. She spent many hours
embroidering, which always brought beautiful memories of her mother, who taught
her how to embroider when she was sick as a child. She enjoyed ceramics, cake decorating,
macrame and quilting. She also worked
part time as a substitute teacher for the Groton School District. She also enjoyed politics, and was very
active in the SD Democratic party.
Mary Jane was an avid fan of music., a
trait passed down to her from her grandfather, who used to entertain the family
with his fiddle, and her parents, who loved going to dances. Her farmhouse was filled with tunes from
Frank Sinatra to Wayne Newton to Bing Crosby.
She had a lovely voice and often broke in to song. She loved going to Las Vegas to see the live
shows of her favorite stars.
Bob and Mary Jane sold their farm after
twenty years of farming, and moved to California. While in California, Mary Jane went back to
school and obtained her degree in early childhood education, and taught pre-K
until she retired. After Bob retired,
they moved to Arizona and lived there until Bob passed away in 2015. Their years in Arizona were filled with golf
and good friends.
Mary moved to Palm Springs, near her son
Steven, and spent her final years singing and dancing through her last years of
her life. Dementia robbed her of many
things in her final years, but it never stopped her singing. Mary Jane serenaded all she met with her
beautiful songs, and brought a smile to many.
Mary Jane is proceeded in death by her
husband, Robert Putnam, her parents Irvin and Dolly Lang, and her brother
Donald Lang.
Mary Jane is survived by her sister Beverly Steffan(Vern) and her 6 children, Rodney Putnam of Piedmont, SD, Michael Putnam(DaleAnn) of Peoria, AZ, Randall Putnam(Fanny), of Sioux Falls, Timothy Putnam (Tori) of Visalia, California, Cheryl Putnam (Matt) of Half Moon Bay, CA, and Steven Putnam (Rey) of Palm Springs, CA. Bob and Mary Jane were blessed with many grandchildren,and often joked that being a grandpa or grandma was much more fun than being a mom or dad. Included are Aubrey, Cole, Natalie, Valerie, Bridget, Katelynn, Hannah, Jonathan, Robby, Jake, Zach, and five great grandchildren.
Burial for Mary Jane will be at St. John
Catholic Church cemetery, Paxton, SD, on Thursday, July 8, 2021, at 11 am.
In lieu of flowers, Mary Jane’s family asks
you to put on your favorite Sinatra song, and sing along, and, if you feel like
it, dance a spin or two.
A salute to first responders will be
the theme of the Winner Area Chamber of Commerce summer nights on July 8.
The Black Lab will be the sponsor and
the event will be held in the second block of Main Street from 5:30 to 9 p.m.
Mike Scott, executive director of the
Chamber, said invited to this event are
the Winner Police Department, Tripp County Sheriff’s Office, Tripp Country
Ambulance, Fire departments from Winner, Colome, Witten and Wood , Winner Regional Health and
Avera Medical of Winner.
Featured event will be a first
responders relay trike race.
“This is a great way to show support to
our first responders,” said Scott.
Uncle Roy and the Boys will be the
featured band.
For the kids there will be lots of
inflatables including a bouncy house, slide, obstacle course. There will also
be rock painting.
There will be lots of food vendors.
Any vendor who would like to set up for
the July 8 Summer Nights call the Chamber at 842-1533.
Mark July 8 on your calendar and be
sure and enjoy all the good fun at Winner Summer Nights.
There will be two Summer Night events
held in July. The second one will be the big BBQ competition and classic car
show on July 31 on Main Street.
The classic car show is sponsored by Frontier
Motors. The car show check in is from 3-5 p.m. with the show from 5-7:30 p.m.
Frontier Motors will have root beer and
Coke floats from 6-8:30 p.m. There will be a free will donation with proceeds
going to the Tripp County 4-H building.
Frontier Motors will sponsor a free
movie at 4 p.m.
For the BBQ pit row there is still time
for teams to sign up. Just call the Chamber office at 842-1533.
There will be lots of events going on
the day of the BBQ competition. There will be entertainment from noon to 4 p.m.
There will be a blood mary making
contest at 10 a.m.
A bean bag tournament will start at
noon.
The tasting of the BBQ will start at 7 p.m.
The featured band will be Dustin Evans
playing from 5-9 p.m.
Winner and Colome High School students
have been honored with academic team awards.
Winner teams honored are boys
basketball cheerleaders, boys basketball team, boys track and field team, girls
basketball cheerleaders, girls basketball team, girls golf team, girls track
and field team, one act play, student council, wresting team and year book.
Colome teams honored are: boys basketball cheerleaders, boys basketball team, boys track and field team, girls basketball team and girls track and field.
The South Dakota High School Activities
Association academic team program is designed to recognize varsity athletic
teams and fine arts groups for their academic excellence.
All varsity athletic teams and fine
arts groups that achieve a combined grade point average of 3.0 or higher are
eligible to receive the award.
Submitted photo A rocket workshop was held for Tripp County 4-Hers. The workshop was on putting together a rocket out of a kit and it was taught by John Janecke. Youths will have a chance to launch the rockets during Mid Dakota Fair. Ryken Kaup and Jackson Grossenburg hold their rocket models.
Dan Bechtold/Winner Advocate Photo Jeff Quinn’s Reading Safari magic show was held June 24 at the Winner Community Playhouse. The show was sponsored by the Tripp County Library. Ved Chaudhari and Echo Fenenga help with a card trick.
Submitted Photo David Nelson, President/ CEO, First Fidelity Bank in Burke, elected Vice Chair for its 2021-2022 Board of Directors
PIERRE,
S.D.– The South Dakota Bankers Association (SDBA), the professional and trade
association for South Dakota’s financial services industry, elected officers
for its 2021-2022 Board of Directors. The SDBA is honored to have the following
individuals serve as officers:
• Chair: Kristina
Schaefer, General Counsel & Chief Risk Officer, First Bank & Trust,
Sioux Falls
• Chair-Elect: David
Bangasser, Southern Region President, Dacotah Bank, Sioux Falls
• Vice Chair: David
Nelson, President/CEO, First Fidelity Bank, Burke
• Immediate Past Chair:
Steve Bumann, CFO, BankWest, Inc., Pierre
The
official election took place at the SDBA’s Annual Business Meeting held on June
15 in Rapid City. The term for the new officers is effective now through next
year’s Annual Business Meeting.
Vice Chair David Nelson:
David
Nelson is president and CEO of First Fidelity Bank in Burke. Before joining the
bank in 1995, he worked as an investment representative for American Express.
Nelson has a bachelor of science degree in business administration and a master
of business administration from the University of South Dakota and attended the
Graduate School of Banking in Wisconsin. He has Series 7, 63 and 65 national
securities licenses.
Nelson
is a member of the Burke Business Promotion Corporation and the Platte Area
Foundation Board. He is past president of the Platte Development Corporation
and previously served on the Platte Chamber of Commerce Board, St. Peter’s
Catholic Church Council and the Platte Black Panther Booster Club Board. Nelson
is a member of St. Peter’s Catholic Church and the Knights of Columbus.
Nelson
and his wife, Bernadette, have been married for 42 years. They have three grown
daughters and seven grandchildren.
Submitted Photo Participants in a Farmers Union camp included Keegan Feyereisen, Kord Littau, Isabella Bigelow, Kenzie Olson, Emily Connot, Tenlie Rohde, Chord Blotsky, Olivia Bigelow, Braxton Mashek, Kayleigh Olson, Tuvan Klein, Justis Connot, Justin DeNoyer, Chase Blotsky, Brooklynn Olson, Dashia Clark, Madison Thieman and Meadow Thieman.
Tripp County Farmers Union hosted
“Cooperation: Celebrate the Connections” day camp in Colome on June 21.
Youth spent the morning focused on learning more about the history of Farmers Union and cooperatives through fun and engaging activities building strong communication and team building skills. Soil health and composition was the lesson for the year before making a fun tic tac toe game to take home.
Skatetown hosted the event and there
was skating which is always a fun time
and great way to spend time with friends.
Campers received a T-shirt and a ticket to send in for the SD State Fair.
Chaz Blotsky helped with the camp, Retta Mansheim and Audrey Keierleber coordinated the camp, and CHS and Farmers Union Insurance supplied T-shirts
Engineering design is underway for the
proposed Highway 44 Platte-Winner Bridge over the Missouri River.
The South Dakota Department of Transportation (SDDOT) design team is in the process of developing designs for the new bridge and associated new roadway alignment on either side of the river. Starting in May 2021, this design process has included the collection of geologic information about the new alignment. In order to collect information in the river, SDDOT contracted with a barge company to provide access for our drilling equipment on the water. That work on the river was completed in June. Our design team has moved out of the water to collect geologic information for the portions of the project on land. Recognizing that much of the sampling work is set to take place in the Snake Creek Recreation Area, we are trying to limit our work to weekdays and avoiding the July 4th holiday, when recreational activity is at a peak. Current plans are for the sampling to be complete in mid-July.
Overall progress on the project remains on track for completion of environmental studies later this year. When the project’s Environmental Assessment is completed, SDDOT will conduct public meetings to share findings of the study and present related mitigation items such as improvements at the Snake Creek Recreation Area. Construction of the new bridge is still planned to begin in late 2024.
Project documents, including the Corridor
Study, are available for viewing on the project web site www.sd44bridge.com.
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