CAPITOLETTER

Things are sort of quiet around Capitol and Tie Creek this week. The weather has been very hot. Alvin Cordell saw a temperature of 104 degrees on Monday, and 101, again on Tuesday. The hay fields are mostly full of grasshoppers, but some to the south haven’t had the influx of hoppers like those up on Tie Creek.

Even though Dick and Erma Albert’s house blew away, and they are now over at Buffalo, they still feel a part of the Capitol News. Erma had physical therapy, twice this week, and they went to the Hills for shopping, on Wednesday. They saw a few motorcycles (with the Rally right around the corner). On Sunday, they saw some motorcyclists stop, possibly to get rain gear on, but with the high humidity, being rained on might be better than being enclosed in waterproof gear.

Erma picked up Delores Sperle for the Senior Citizen chicken dinner, on Friday. Dick rode over on the four-wheeler. The chicken is always delicious, and there was a crowd to eat it. It was John Helms’s birthday, and they all celebrated together. Jacie Teller, who is an accomplished baker, made the special cake. Erma and Delores stayed to play cards until nearly five o’clock. When Erma took Delores home, she stayed there to visit, too, until nearly dark. On Sunday, Dick and Erma went to church at the Catholic Church, and Erma stayed for the Altar Society meeting afterward. The Altar Society will provide food for the 4-H rodeo. Then, they went to Saloon Number Three, for lunch with the Helms and Erk families.

Keaton and Kellan Davis spent the week with their grandparents, Doug and Julia Davis. It was a fun week. The boys love being outside, and they helped with the work. They helped Grandpa and Morgan Buck with lots of chores. One day, Julia and Kellan went into Camp Crook to pick up some food that Julia had ordered from Alison’s Pantry, and they got to visit Aunt Lori Buck while they were there. The boys stayed until Friday.

On Sunday, Julia Davis had gone to Ekalaka to have Laurice cut her hair, and on the way home, there was a little rain, as she left the Ekalaka Hills. It began to rain well, by the time she reached the Capitol bridge, and then as she came up out of the crossing, she saw the wind bringing the rain in sheets.

She wanted to take a picture of the downpour, but knew a picture would never show the amount of water being dumped at that one place. She had to stop, and wait out the downpour. She thought she had seen lights ahead, but wasn’t sure. After things let up a little, she discovered that Jane Teigen had also stopped to wait out the deluge, as she was on her way home, going the other way. There were lots of puddles and mud left behind, and they were not sure how big an area had gotten the downpour of rain. Julia’s rain gauge had six-tenths, when she got home, but there may have been more along the river.

Alvin and Ryan Cordell are officially done haying. Ryan had taken the machinery up to the Horton place, because the grasshoppers had taken the hay at the Yates place. The hay was a little better up in the Sheep Mountains. Keith and Matt Hendrickson had been up to the Horton place to level a place where Cordells were planning to build a calving shed. Wade and Gavin Pearson came out on Friday, to get a bum calf, and check cattle on Cottonwood. Ronda Cordell came over to Alvin’s on Saturday, to get some little square bales. Jay Cordell came out for the weekend, and joined Alvin and Marlee for supper at the Corner Bar on Saturday evening. There has been some pink-eye and foot-rot in cattle around Alzada, and a little around here, too.

Shirley and Junior Melum were thrilled to have an overnight guest, this week, when Jill Melum stopped for a visit. It was so good to see her, and they enjoyed the time together. Ernie, Rachel and Tommy visited, too. On Sunday, Shirley got a call from their daughter, Bertha, and that was another good visit. They got the downpour on Sunday evening, and saw puddles standing outside.

Karen Odell has spent her weeks trying to catch up. On Friday, Karen and Hywel took a trip into the Black Hills. She met Cody, Kylie, Kellan, Kenna and Carson Odell near Pringle, South Dakota and stayed overnight with them. The Hills were cool and beautiful, and the soft breeze was singing in the tops of the tall trees. Hywel even made some new dog friends when he was there. Kylie is always great at having things planned ahead. Cody barbecued steaks in the evening, and Kylie had a full English breakfast for us in the morning.

Cody took us on a wildlife tour of the hills, and we saw a variety of wildlife; even a badger that had flattened himself into a carpet, and was patiently, and motionlessly waiting beside a prairie dog hole. It was a relaxing and reviving short vacation. On the way home, Karen was lucky to miss some huge craters in the Norwegian Cut Off, somewhere near the Arledge Ranch. They are very dangerous, so don’t let your mind wander, and forget about them.

Here is a little more Capitol history. This time it is from Ernie Melum’s writings. The Capitol Hall is still standing, and it was built in 1929. It was complete with a stage for performances. The basement kitchen had a convenient walk-around serving counter. After the stock market crash, some of the money pledged for the new hall could not be paid. The debt fell to those who could keep their word, and help with the costs of the community hall.

Karen Odell remembers washing dishes all day long during the community Lutefisk Dinner, when she was first married. The dinner attracted so many people that she had to wash dishes all day to keep a supply of dishes ready for the next group of lutefisk eaters, and those people came from Rapid City, and far beyond, for this special dinner in the fall. A hose was run across the road from Bernie Melum’s house to the hall, to provide water for cooking. She also remembers playing women’s basketball in the Capitol Hall, even though the stage took up one end of the floor, with the wood stove at one side.