CAPITOLETTER

September 4, 2023

It has been an unusually hot week for the beginning of September. The kids have already had two weeks of school in this terrible heat.

Dick and Erma Albert were so glad to have their daughter, Heather, visiting on Monday. She went to Spearfish with them for their doctor’s appointment. After a week’s visit, Heather and her husband headed home on Tuesday. Erma had a chiropractor’s appointment in Buffalo on Wednesday. Then she went to physical therapy on Thursday.

On Friday, they went to Senior Citizen’s for the meatloaf dinner, and Erma stayed to play cards afterward. After the card games, she took Delores Sperle home, and stayed to visit until evening. On Sunday, they went to the Catholic Church for the services. Then they had lunch at Saloon Number Three with the Erks. There was a huge crowd there and a big waiting line.

The Labor Day rodeo had started, and the place was packed. A tour bus had also stopped there on their way through town. They finally got a table inside out of the hundred degree heat. They got to visit with David Douglas and his wife and daughter. David has become the pastor at the Gospel Tabernacle, and has moved into his house in Buffalo. They also got to talk with Milton and Karen Douglas who had been here to help David’s family move, and maybe spoil the little granddaughter a little. Many people will stay in town for tomorrow’s parade, car show, free barbecue and rodeo, too.

Bruce and Lynn Gustafson have been staying close to home. Their car is in the body shop, so their travel has been limited. They got into Camp Crook to have pie and coffee with Pete Anderson and Dixie Garr. Lynn got to Camp Crook again on Wednesday for the Diligent Doers meeting. They did some sewing at Yvonne Yoder’s, and then met at the church, in preparation for the Extension Club Fall Council that they will host soon.

Morgan Buck has been helping Doug Davis move cows, and do some more haying, this week. Doug had a pasture that had been flooded when he got three inches of rain, and he now is able to get another cutting off of that. They have gotten some fencing done, so their week has been busy. Doug needed to go to town for parts on Saturday, so Julia thought that was a good time to stop to visit the grand kids. The heat became a problem, though, and they had to head on home and miss getting to see the kids. Sunday was even hotter, so Julie had to just stay home and recover.

Junior and Shirley Melum are also ready for some cooler weather. Their house is cool, so they just stay inside during the hot hours of the day. Ernie, Rachel and Tommy got to spend some time at Trails End during the Labor Day weekend.

Karen Odell had a great time watching the Harding County Volleyball teams play on Monday evening. She hitched a ride with Bryce, Dawn and Dorothy Padden, to the five matches going on at Buffalo against Newell. The elementary school played in the old gym and the three high school matches were in the new gym. The last game of the varsity match was the most exciting of all, and both teams played wonderful volleyball. Kanyn stood in line for Dorothy and Karen, and brought them some popcorn, completing the perfect evening.

On Thursday, Karen went over to Chancey Odell, and Megan’s for a great pork-chop supper. Karen headed out to Sturgis on Friday, to see her grandson, Kellan, play football on the Mitchell team. She met Cody at the Sturgis stadium on a very warm evening. They found a spot with partial shade, and it cooled slowly as the game progressed. They visited with Stuart Johnson, and discovered lots to talk about. Although Mitchell lost, Kellan had had some good plays for his grandma to be proud of, and he came over to the sidelines, to get his picture with his Grandma. Before leaving with the team, for home.

After the game Cody and Karen found that a couple of Carter County cars were parked right nearby hers. Then Cody saw Dave Williams, and knew that they had come down to see their grandson play, too. It was good to see them again. Cody stayed to visit with JD and Michelle, awhile, but followed Karen after she headed north for home. On Saturday, Cody cleared some dead limbs from a tree over the house. Hywell went with him to haul the limbs away. Then Cody went bow hunting for a while. Karen went to check on Murphy and Jenna at Chancey’s, and after Cody got back, he came to help her. Karen checked on the dogs again on Sunday, and Cody hauled some gravel. Soon Cody was headed back to Mitchell, for other Labor Day weekend sports events. Karen went to church on YouTube, and watched her favorite Marietta Georgia First Presbyterian Church service.

Keep in mind that a lone amateur built the ‘Ark,’ and a large group of professionals built the ‘Titanic.