CAPITOLETTER

June 17, 2024

The drought lives on, and so do the grasshoppers, at Capitol and on Tie Creek. We had hoped for a little rain, on Sunday morning, after the 100 degrees on Saturday, but even with no moisture, the cooling off was a great relief. Buffalo had gotten some hail, and we were wishing some of that hail had landed on our grasshoppers, but no luck.

Dick Albert was picked up for a fishing trip, on Tuesday, by a friend and his son. It was a good trip but the fishing was not very good. Erma had a physical therapy appointment on Wednesday. The Catholic Church was celebrating St. Anthony, this week, and on Thursday they had a special Feast Day celebration, that Erma attended. Then, on Friday, she had gone to the Senior Citizens’ dinner, when Dick got back home. There had been a big group at the Senior Citizens’, and the food was gone before Dick got home from the fishing trip. They both went to church on Sunday, and had lunch at Saloon Number Three, with Father Brian and the Erk family.

Grasshoppers are prevalent at Alvin and Marlee Cordell’s, too. The Cordells are now just finishing up spring work. On Saturday, the went to the Owen reunion in Belle Fourche, and enjoyed a great day with Marlee’s family. On Sunday morning, Marlee went to church in Camp Crook. Alvin decided his Father’s Day gift would be to go fishing, so they spent a beautiful cool afternoon fishing.

Bruce and Lynn Gustafson must be doing something right, because they don’t have grasshoppers. It seems they are the only ones around that are not a part of the plague. Maybe it’s the gumbo that has kept the grasshoppers away. On Monday, Lynn and Linda Matthews went to Bowman for hair appointments. Bruce and Lynn went to church at the Little Missouri Church in the morning. Then on Sunday afternoon, Lynn went to Camp Crook’s Methodist Church to decorate for the youth tea party that the Diligent Doers will have on Monday. Lynn and Karen discussed past tea parties that included long white gloves, hats, and beautiful ruffles on long dresses, and 12 piece place settings at each spot at the table. Maybe they will build up the event to something like that in the future.

Julia Davis went to work at Buffalo for three days. Doug and Morgan Buck went in to Camp Crook, on Monday, to help with the fairgrounds clean-up. On Wednesday night, Doug and Julia got to see Kellan Davis’s boys’ baseball game, in Belle Fourche against a Spearfish team. Julia had to take her car to town for a recall repair, so she picked up a few things in town, but hurried home, because she was not feeling well. She was finally feeling better by Sunday evening. Saturday was so hot that it was a good day to stay home anyway, but she would still have preferred skipping the illness.

Junior, Shirley, Ernie, Rachel and Tommy Melum had company from California, this week. Harold Morgan, David and Beth came to visit for a few days. Ernie, Rachel and Tommy went to Spearfish for the concert at the Western Heritage Center by some of the Potter family. Then Junior and Shirley’s daughter, Bertha Molenda, two children and the daughter’s fiance came for a couple of days visit. It was a good week for company. Ernie’s family went to church in Baker, on Sunday morning. Then, after church, they all had a Fathers’ Day picnic at the lake.

This week, Dorothy Padden’s daughter, Lorraine Chin, came up from Texas for a visit. She picked Dorothy up on Wednesday, and they made a trip to Belle Fourche. On Friday, Dorothy went to Ekalaka for the Southeast Electric Coop meeting and barbecue. Dean Jardee provided some music for everyone. Dorothy went in to Camp Crook on Sunday afternoon to help decorate for the young ladies tea, the next day.

Karen Odell talked to her brothers in Ohio, and all her kids, this week. She got lots of mowing done, and might have mowed thousands of grasshoppers, but they all seemed to get away. She found a leak in water leading to her washer. Ernie and Tommy Melum came over to find a cracked line and fix it for her. Her washer is still not filling right, so she will have to continue her problem search. On Sunday, Karen went to church in Camp Crook, and played piano for the hymns. Then she went to church on YouTube at Marietta, Georgia. Her brother Ron Evans called to visit in the afternoon. Mollie and Kyia Smith had visited antique stores, and found a few treasures that Mollie could refinish. Jeff and Amanda Odell have a very nice garden growing in Iowa. Kellan Odell is on a mission trip with church members. Micki, Jesse, Rowan and Murphy Hinds have a new pup that is getting used to the ocean in Washington. Saturday was very hot and reached near 100 degrees, but things cooled down for Sunday, and the day was beautiful.

The indecision of ‘Riding the fence’ is like standing in the middle of the road. You get knocked down from both directions.