CAPITOLETTER

Some of Dick and Erma Albert’s family will be going to Hawaii, next week, for their granddaughter’s wedding, but Dick and Erma are not venturing that far. Their new grandson-in-law is from Hawaii, so it will be a great place for a wedding. Erma went to physical therapy in Buffalo, on Tuesday. Then, that afternoon, she and Fern went to visit Greta Turbiville’s, where they enjoyed the afternoon playing a few card games. On Wednesday, Erma had a dentist appointment in Belle Fourche. Dick and Erma went to the Senior Citizen chicken dinner on Friday, and Erma stayed to play cards afterward. On Sunday, they went to the Catholic Church, and then had lunch at Saloon Number Three with the Helms and Erk families, and Father Brian.

Bruce and Lynn Gustafson went to the Hills for eye appointments this week. On Thursday, they went to a church council meeting at the Little Missouri Church. They got about a quarter of an inch of rain, and one day, they had a big lot of wind. On Sunday, they went to church at Little Missouri Church.

Doug Davis and Morgan Buck hauled sheep to St. Onge on Thursday. Julia took her car down to be serviced at Wareing Motors in Belle Fourche. Then, Doug and Julia had fun this weekend with their grand-kids. The Alabama kids came on Friday, and Doug and Julia met them in Deadwood. The grown-ups went to a wedding, so Doug and Julia got to have an evening with the kids. Seeing each other on Facetime is a good interaction, letting the kids feel at home with Grandma and Grandpa. Not sure which age group got more worn out, but it was lots of fun.

Shirley and Junior Melum will soon be great-grandparents. Bertha’s daughter, who is studying to be a police dispatcher, will soon have a baby, so she will be quite busy. John Ovitz came, on Tuesday, to visit and bring Shirley some of his home-grown apples. Shirley is known for her apple pies, and keeps her freezer in supply with lots of frozen pies just ready for eating.

On Monday, Ronda Cordell made a trip to Fruit Service for new rear tires on the car. She had lunch at the Wagon Wheel before getting the tires mounted. Jack and Kay Ovitz came for a tour to view the Fall colors on Tuesday. They couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day. They Can-Am’ed to the Buck Ranch to take minerals to cows in the School Section. The cows were not to be seen, but a little yelling, brought them out of the pine draws on the run for their treat of cubes. They drove into the Gap, where they startled a cow and calf elk that were grazing in the open. They detoured into the Long Pines to see if the trees had turned colors up there. The aspen hadn’t changed colors, so their yellow and golds will extend the Fall colors when they do turn. Ronda made another trip to Ekalaka, on Thursday, stopping by Marion Kerr’s to leave a picture. She was glad they’d toured the day before, because the ash trees were shedding their leaves with the chilly wind a-blowing.

On Saturday, Ronda stopped by Lisa Koranda’s. Lisa had come to Camp Crook for the weekend. She and Ronda went over to the Fireman’s Barbecue at the Camp Crook Community Center. Chad, Debby and Roudy Zolnoski had come from Gillette, and Clint, Denise, Gabby and Abby Zolnoski were there also. Ronda was at Clint and Denise’s early, on Sunday. Clint and Ronda rode with Chad’s family to Bowman, to watch Carsen Zolnoski, Curt and Krista’s son, ride in the cycle racing being held there. They drove in dense fog from east of Camp Crook, all the way to Bowman. The fog hung in at the races until mid-afternoon. It was so thick at times it was nearly mist. Neither fog, nor the watered-down, muddy track discouraged any of those bikers. They all enjoyed dinner in town between heats. Carsen ran two heats and won both of them, so he was a mighty happy guy as they headed back to Rapid City. Denise yelled, “supper’s ready,” as they pulled into their drive, but Ronda declined because her two doggies were needing out. Denise and the girls had spent the afternoon at a birthday party in Buffalo.

Helen Stevens and Dawn Padden decided to make another trip to the Charles M Russell Reserve, where there was an Elk View Area at Slippery Ann. The Reserve is north of Lewistown, so they left early on Tuesday morning. They saw some elk that afternoon, and more again the next day. There were many visitors viewing the elk, and some with expensive, professional looking camera lenses. They had lunch at Malta, and decided to spend some more of the afternoon looking for elk. That caused them to get back home at two in the morning, so it had been a very long day. There were a couple of days of preg testing in there somewhere, and a trip to Rapid City to get new glasses.

On Thursday, Bryce, Dawn and Dorothy Padden went to Buffalo for the high school volleyball game against Faith. All the games were quite close and exciting. On Friday the three went to Bison, where the football team played Wall. It was Bison’s homecoming celebration this week. Dawn got some of the sports pictures processed and on Facebook. Bryce, Dawn and Dorothy were at the Camp Crook Firemen’s supper, on Saturday night, too. They had not come together, this time, but all three enjoyed the evening of visiting with friends.

Karen Odell did some artwork this week. She visited with two of her high school classmates this week, too. Bill Foulkes and Mary Ann Balser, each called her from Ohio. They are always interesting, kindred spirits. She also talked to her cousin, and good friend, Ralph Anderson, in Indiana, and got the home news from her eldest brother, Ron Evans. Karen got some mowing done on Thursday. While she was mowing, she heard her dog barking, but paid little attention, until she saw him spitting and galloping down the hill. It had been a skunk, so he stayed on the porch that night. She got a good rain early on Friday. That evening, she got to watch her grandson, Kellan Odell, play football for Mitchell. The game was on YouTube, and it was a great game against Spearfish. Mitchell’s smart defense kept Spearfish at bay, and their offense stepped-up their action to win the game.

On Saturday, she got to see granddaughter, Kyia Smith, sing the national anthem for the soccer game at her school at St Paul, Minnesota. Kyia is a musical fourth grader, and Kellan is an athletic junior. Karen joined the people who had a great meal at the Camp Crook Fireman’s supper, on Saturday evening, and she had a good visit with neighbors and friends, who were enjoying the evening together. Karen discovered that others had had skunk trouble, too. She was warned that a freeze was predicted soon, so things will have to be battened down for the winter. On Sunday, Karen went to church at the First Presbyterian Church in Marietta, Georgia, and then, she wrote some music in the afternoon.

We wish a happy birthday to Madlon Brence this week. Thank you Madlon for the many years that you wrote the Mill Iron News, and hope you have a great special day.

Why does ‘singing in the rain’ seem more romantic than ‘singing in the blizzard?’