CAPITOLETTER

August 12, 2024

Last Sunday evening, Ronda Cordell was up watching the lightning strikes on the radar map. It was very dry and the fire danger was high. She has finally got to mowing and trying to get the yard in shape. With the hot weather, after several sessions of pushing the mower, it didn’t take long to work up a sweat and need a break. Last Thursday, Clint Zolnoski loaded a two-hundred fifty gallon sprayer pump in a pickup and filled it with water. These ‘during the night’ storms that come rumbling through are pretty scary, after seeing how fast those eight thousand acres burned in Harding County that week. There is very little green in the pastures, and with a little breeze, the vegetation burns like paper dunked in gasoline. Ronda has been keeping in touch with her son, Curt Zolnoski every day. He was in the medical facility at Custer, where he was undergoing therapy two or three times a day. He had surgery last Monday, to repair a ruptured disc in his lower back. He became unable to walk prior to surgery, and still must use a walker and braces. On a slightly overcast and cool Sunday morning, Clint, Denise, Darby, Abby Zolnoski and Ronda moved the yearling heifers down from the Bergstrom place. On Monday, Jack and Kay Ovitz joined Ronda for lunch at Saloon Number Three. Both Ronda and Diane Wear had appointments in Spearfish on Tuesday. They had lunch at Pizza Ranch and visited Walmart. On Friday, Ronda took time out, from some extensive house cleaning, to attend the Ekalaka Fireman’s Barbecue. Clint and Ronda spent much of Saturday moving cattle to fresh pasture in the Long Pines. On Sunday, Ronda went to Ekalaka for the fair parade, and feared the parade might be canceled due to the rain, but the floats were lining up when she got to town, while there was a slow steady rainfall. Umbrellas were saving some people from getting soaked, but Ronda didn’t have one. When she began to get wet, she decided to get under an overhanging roof. No one seemed to mind getting wet. 

The Clint Zolnoski family spent Wednesday night at Gene and Kim Secest’s in Spearfish. Darby was to have her tonsils removed in Rapid City the next day. Clint came home Friday, and Denise and the girls stayed a couple nights with Secrest’s. Curt Zolnoski was dismissed from Custer rehab and able to come home on Thursday. He will be doing therapy for quite some time. He uses a wheel chair for big outings, but can get by with a walker in the house. 

Erma Albert is feeling better after another encounter with the flu and allergies. This week was a busy one, because their daughter and son-in-law came for a week’s visit. They have been very busy painting, refinishing, and rebuilding on the house. It now has a new look with a bright facelift. On Monday, Dick and Erma went to the hills to gather some groceries. That evening their daughter and son-in-law arrived. Dick and Erma went to the Senior Citizen dinner on Friday. There was some delicious cake in honor of Jack Ovitz’s birthday. Dick and Erma went to the Baptist Church in Belle Fourche, on Saturday, for the Homer Collins funeral. They went to church, on Sunday, and then all four went to Saloon Number Three for dinner. It was wonderful that their work got rained out on Sunday. They will hope to get most of the work finished on Monday, before their guests leave for home.

Cody Celting has been helping Alvin Cordell, this week. They worked on a well in Camp Crook, and on another well at the Horton place. On Thursday, Cody put in a culvert for Alvin. Archery antelope season will begin in another week. Alvin and Marlee went to Belle Fourche on Saturday, for the Homer Collins funeral. On Sunday afternoon, they went in to Camp Crook to visit with Cody and Dana Celting and to see their new patio, which had a special stain that brightened and gave elegance to the area. Alvin had measured seven-tenths of an inch of rain on Sunday.

Bruce and Lynn Gustafson had gone to the Ladner Ice Cream Social last Sunday. Lynn made a trip to the Hills on Thursday, and will be getting ready for the Harding County Fair. Bruce had noticed the temperature down to forty-two degrees, during one night this week. That’s mighty low for August.

This week, Karen Odell visited with cousins, Donna Parsons Peters in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Sue Caton Siefker in Vaughnsville, Ohio, and Ralph Anderson in Rimer, Ohio. She talked to her brother Ron Evans in Ada, Ohio, and high school classmate, Bill Foulkes in Vaughnsville, too. The week was much cooler and so comfortable, for the last week of the bike rally. The nights became very cool. On Tuesday, Megan and Chancey Odell took some exciting pictures of the evening lightening, and we were hoping for rain, but only a little sprinkle came through. Karen made a trip to Buffalo, on Saturday. Sunday morning had the look of a possible storm. Karen went to church on the internet at Marietta, Georgia, but the electricity went off during the service. There must have been a storm to the north. Chancey Odell called to say he would find out if the outage had been reported, but soon the electricity was back on again. The church service in Georgia was available on YouTube, so Karen didn’t miss a thing. Jesse and Rowan Hinds had spent a few weeks working and rebuilding on a lighthouse in Alaska. Cody Odell’s family had a good time visiting the Omaha zoo. Karen is still moving tree limbs from the last big storm, and gathering pieces of her storage shed.

When you see the gate ahead is closed, should you slow down, or slow up?