The Garretson Gazette

Lady Dragons to enter the Play-offs tonight, face Baltic

Carrie Moritz

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November 5, 2020

Lady Dragons to enter the Play-offs tonight, face Baltic

The Garretson Blue Dragons capped off an impressive regular season with an 18-4 record but are now entering the postseason 0-0. They will be facing Baltic tonight (Thursday) at 7:00 p.m. in the Dragon's Lair.

GHS Volleyball — *Kennedy Buckneberg on a dig. The GHS volleyball team will begin its post-season play tonight against Baltic in the Dragon's Lair at 7:00 p.m. Photo by Angela Bly*

The Blue Dragons rounded out their last week of regular season play with three matches, all at home in the Dragons' Lair: Sioux Valley on Monday, Colman-Egan on Tuesday, Dell Rapids St. Mary on Friday.

Garretson took down the Cossacks in three straight sets, a nice win after almost a week between competitions.

The Blue Dragons put up 6 aces (Lily Ranschau - 2, Jaelyn Benson - 2), 40 assists (Peyton Hove - 19, Benson - 9), 40 kills (Kennedy Buckneberg - 11, Ranschau - 9, Logan Bly - 6), and 44 digs (Buckneberg - 9, Ranschau - 9, Lexi Gawarecki - 9) against Sioux Valley.

The Tuesday night matchup against the Hawks was just as exciting as it should have been.

Going into the game, Garretson and Colman-Egan had mirrored their seasons, each with three losses, a few impressive wins over ranked opponents, and teams that both set up similarly when looking at heavy hitters, defense, and serving aggressiveness.

Coming off the emotions of the senior presentations to begin the night, the Blue Dragons were flat, making some costly errors in the beginning of the first set. This carried into the second set as the visiting Hawks took the early 2-0 lead with 25-19 and 25-18 wins.

However, the Blue Dragons showed off their grit bouncing back in the third and fourth sets. Finding holes in Colman-Egan's defense and keeping the ball in play, Garretson evened up the score 2-2 with 25-18 victories in sets three and four.

Looking at the parallel tracks the two teams have taken to get to this point in the season, no one should have been surprised that it went to a decisive fifth set.

Garretson started with the serve, but as had been the case all night, it didn't make a difference because these two evenly matched teams traded up for the first third of the game, neither team able to separate themselves by a point or more.

That was, until the Hawks put down three straight to go up 8-11. Coach Northrup called a timeout, hoping for a refocus of his troops. It worked, as the Blue Dragons were able to close the gap and tie up the game 13-13. Despite the momentum shift, Garretson was unable to close the deal after hitting one in the net and then having their block be used, thus dropping the fifth set 13-15.

"As frustrating as the ending of that game was, I give the girls credit. They didn't give up and pushed a really great team to a fifth set. That shows they can compete. They can hang with anyone. And on any other day, I'd say those last two points could look a little different," said assistant coach Kelsey Buchholz.

The Blue Dragons came away with 51 kills, 43 assists, 9 blocks, and 91 digs. Lily Ranschau, Kennedy Buckneberg, and Logan Bly led the offensive attack with 14, 13, 11 kills, respectively. Peyton Hove (25) and Jaelyn Benson (14) paced their hitters with 39 assists on the night. Lizzie Olson had 2 solo blocks and 4 block assists on the defensive side and Ranschau, Lexi Gawarecki, and Buckneberg held up the back row with 20, 20, and 17 digs.

Garretson had the chance to get back in the win column Friday night after their original game against the Dell Rapids St. Mary Cardinals was postponed from earlier this month.

Despite their .500 record, the Cardinals gave the Blue Dragons a run with their tough defense. However, Garretson was able to prevail in three straight sets: 25-14, 25-19, 27-25.

"That last set was a nice win for our girls," said Buchholz. "It was good for them to see they could come out on the right end of a close match, especially after what happened earlier in the week."

Statistical leaders for the Blue Dragons on the offensive attack were Buckneberg - 11, Ranschau - 5, and Anna Jones - 5. Putting up the assists were Benson with 13 and Hove with 9. Hove also led the team with 13 digs, followed by 10 digs apiece by Bly and Ranschau.

The win secured a first round bye in region play for the Blue Dragons, finishing second in their region, behind Sioux Falls Christian.

"We've had a great season so far and I'm really proud of what the girls have accomplished," stated Buchholz. "But this is where it counts. All teams are 0-0 and it's win or go home. We have to take care of business and especially just focus on what we can control, our side of the court."

First round play happened on Tuesday night with Baltic hosting Dell Rapids and Tri-Valley hosting West Central. The winners went on to round two on Thursday night, games hosted by Sioux Falls Christian (v. Tri-Valley) and Garretson (v. Baltic).

News for 11-5-20

Carrie Moritz

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November 4, 2020

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Local spikes in community spread of COVID-19 has impacted Garretson's nursing home, with at least one confirmed death due to the virus. Garretson has a lot going for it though, as its economic development climbs. The election on Tuesday saw record turnout in absentee voting and a higher-than-normal turnout in in-person voting. Plus, the girls' volleyball team ended its regular season and moves into the playoffs this week, playing against Baltic on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. in the Dragon's Lair, and more!

There's a lot going on in our community. Keep up with all of it with the Community Events Calendar on page 4 in the on-line or paper version. With your on-line subscription, you can download it here and have it easy to hand!

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Election Results: Minnehaha County & Statewide

Carrie Moritz

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November 4, 2020

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Election Results: Minnehaha County & Statewide

South Dakota, similarly to the rest of the United States, had a large turnout for the 2020 election. Absentee voting in South Dakota was over double what it was in 2016.

In Minnehaha County, over 40,000 absentee ballots had to be counted. Minnehaha County Auditor Bob Litz had absentee ballot counts scheduled to begin at 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday morning, after workers had stayed until 1:30 a.m. to process all in-person votes. Of the three ballot-counting machines, two were offline as recently as last Thursday, with one requiring upgrades and one requiring new parts; however, both were brought back on-line prior to the election.

Overall, of the 578,655 registered voters in South Dakota, over 65% voted in the 2020 election. Even before absentee ballots were counted, the SD Secretary of State website reported that 51.888 ballots had been cast in Minnehaha County.

Results:

Title	Elected Result	Statewide %	County %
Nationwide President-Elect:	Joseph Biden/Kamala Harris	36%	44%
South Dakota Presidential electors:	Donald J Trump/Michael Pence	62%	53%
United States Senator:	Mike Rounds	66%	58%
United States Representative:	Dusty Johnson	81%	77%
Public Utilities Commissioner:	Gary Hanson	68%	63%
SD Supreme Court Judge Steven Jensen:	Retained	81%	79%
Constitutional Amendment A (recreational marijuana):	Passed	59%	60%
Constitutional Amendment B (sports betting in Deadwood):	Passed	66%	62%
Initiated Measure 26 (medical marijuana):	Passed	75%	76%
District 25 Senate:	Marsha Symens		59%
District 25 House:	Tom Pischke Jon Hansen		33% 33%
Minnehaha County Treasurer:	Kris Swanson		58%
Minnehaha County Commission:	Jean Bender Gene Karsky		32% 29%

Results recorded at 8:00 p.m. Wednesday, Nov 4, 2020

Update:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 5, 2020
Sioux Falls, SD – This morning Minnehaha County Auditor Bob Litz announced he has tested positive for COVID-19 following a rapid response test. Auditor’s staff has been notified. Election workers are in the process of being notified.
Ballot counting for the 2020 General Election is substantially complete with the exception of provisional ballots which will be processed today and are not impacted by the test result. Auditor Litz has been in conversation with the SD Secretary of State’s Office regarding the election canvas that will still stake place on Friday afternoon at 1:30pm. The election canvas will proceed as scheduled.
Continuity of Auditor’s office operations will continue with Auditor’s staff working in the office and remotely. Staff who are symptomatic have been advised to seek medical care and advice regarding testing and quarantine procedures if they become symptomatic.
-30-

Update 11/11/20: Results by vote numbers and precinct added.

Deaths due to COVID in nursing homes rise after local spikes (Subscribers)

Carrie Moritz

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November 4, 2020

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Deaths due to COVID in nursing homes rise after local spikes (Subscribers)

by Carrie Moritz, Gazette

Despite attempts by nursing homes and care facilities to reduce spread, COVID cases among residents and staff have been rising after a steady decrease had been maintained. After reaching a low of 5,920 cases among U.S. nursing homes in mid-September, by October 18, that had risen to 7,563 cases.

Dr. David Grabowski, professor of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School recently stated, “The strongest predictor of whether or not we’ll see cases in [a particular setting] is community spread.”

Cases in South Dakota have been on an exponential rise since the middle of August, with October being the worst month since the pandemic had begun. While specific case numbers for Garretson cannot be verified, community spread is substantial within Minnehaha County, which saw its active case rate quintuple since the beginning of October, from 660 active cases on October 1 to 3,659 active cases on October 31.

This community spread has impacted nursing homes around the state and in Garretson. Palisades Healthcare had its first confirmed death due to COVID-19 last week. Though there have been four total deaths among Palisades Healthcare residents in the past three weeks, the Gazette has been unable to glean whether those deaths were from COVID. It has been difficult to learn the active case numbers within the local nursing home as requests by the Gazette to Palisades Healthcare for comment have gone unanswered, and the State of South Dakota has not been releasing information by ZIP code. Using data from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, ProPublica listed 4 COVID-19 cases at Palisades Health Care since May 8.

EmpRes, the parent company of Palisades Healthcare, states on its website that it has been working hard to mitigate spread within its facilities. Per the site, they screen employees at every shift, have limited outside contact from family, friends, and volunteers and have limited group activities, use testing as available, and have staff wear personal protective equipment and engage in proper health hygiene. To avoid loneliness, they state they have implemented the use of video calls and window visits.

Across the state, it has been those age 80 and above who have been most terminally impacted by COVID. As of Tuesday, 243 South Dakotans in that age group had died due to the virus. While that age group has seen the second-fewest number of cases (after age 0-9), it has the lowest rate of recovery. The number of nursing home residents within that age cohort has not been released by the SD Dept of Health, but over 50 South Dakota nursing homes have experienced at least one case of COVID, according to ProPublica. Total deaths among nursing home residents have higher than normal since the beginning of the pandemic, with some of those losses attributed to loneliness and isolation between residents as well as the virus.

The virus spreads rapidly among close-knit communities and workplaces, which places nursing homes at high risk.

“Recent data released by Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) show that with the recent spike in new COVID cases in the general U.S. population, weekly nursing home cases are also on the rise,” stated a press release by the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living. “According to Johns Hopkins University, weekly new COVID cases in the general U.S. population rose by 61 percent to 391,527 new cases the week of October 18. A correlating uptick in new cases in nursing homes occurred when cases in the surrounding community started rising back in mid-September.”

Data released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services show that as of October 18, cases in the Midwest region accounted for 43% of all nursing home COVID cases and was on the rise.

“As we feared, the sheer volume of rising cases in communities across the U.S., combined with the asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic spread of this virus, has unfortunately led to an increase in new COVID cases in nursing homes,” stated Mark Parkinson, President and CEO of AHCA/NCAL. “It is incredibly frustrating as we had made tremendous progress to reduce COVID rates in nursing homes after the spike this summer in Sun Belt states. If everybody would wear a mask and social distance to reduce the level of COVID in the community, we know we would dramatically reduce these rates in long term care facilities.”

Downtown redevelopment, business expansion, destination events help grow Garretson

Carrie Moritz

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November 4, 2020

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Downtown redevelopment, business expansion, destination events help grow Garretson

This story is reprinted with permission from the Minnehaha County Economic Development Association.

There’s a lot of history in Garretson, and Norm deWit is doing his part to preserve part of it for future residents.

DeWit, who is a longtime resident just outside the Minnehaha County community along Split Rock Creek, helps Garretson with economic development.

His most recent endeavor is an early 1900s quartzite building in downtown Garretson, which most recently housed the senior citizens center and Jesse James Art Players.

apartment interior — **An interior shot of the new apartments being built on Main Ave. & 3rd.** Photo provided courtesy of SiouxFalls.Business and MCEDA/LCEDA

The building had some roof issues, old windows and uneven floors. The two stories will contain seven loft-style apartments, and a building next to it will hold four additional apartments above a heated indoor parking area.

“If you lose these old buildings, the town has no historical character anymore,” deWit said. “So we took on the challenge, and it’s going pretty well so far.”

DeWit, a mechanical engineer by trade, has worked on several projects like this in downtown Sioux Falls. For this one, he teamed with a carpenter, Ryan Rozeboom, who he knew was looking for a project.

A couple of ways they’re keeping the character of the original building are to leave some exposed quartzite walls in the kitchen and living room areas, along with leaving ceiling trusses exposed. A couple of apartments have 18-foot ceilings and will have mezzanines with wood staircases, deWit said. Four apartments sit on the upper floor; the main floor has three apartments along with storage spaces.

They’re currently in the painting phase and hope to have the historic building finished by Jan. 1. Then this winter, they’ll start selective demolition of the building that’s next door, which will tell them whether it can be renovated or if it’s too deteriorated and will require a new structure. DeWit hopes to have that new building ready for tenants by late next summer. He also owns some four- and seven-plexes in Garretson.

“Garretson is a bedroom community, but whenever you have more bedrooms, you have a need for other things,” deWit said. “So you have a need for more classrooms, you have a need for more gas stations, you have a need for more restaurants. All these things go together.”

A lot of things are coming together in Garretson, which has seen solid business activity this year despite the pandemic.

Dakota Stained Glass, which relocated from Sioux Falls, opened in the community earlier this year, and “O” So Good restaurant received a visit this summer from TV food celebrity Guy Fieri during filming for his show “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.” Rae’s Greenhouse, which sells flowering annuals, hanging baskets, select garden vegetables and herb plants, also opened in the past year.

Growth doesn’t mean losing the small-town charm, though.

“I feel like there’s a balance that we can achieve there with growing and keeping it a small community,” said Chad Hanisch, who lives near Garretson and is involved with the town’s economic development through the efforts of the Grow Garretson group.

Garretson’s residents – more than 1,000 – have a lot to enjoy and to look forward to, from holiday events and popular parks to new housing and potential projects.

Kayaking split rock — *Split Rock Park kayakers. Photo provided courtesy of SiouxFalls.Business and MCEDA/LCEDA*

The Hike of Horrors has returned to haunt Garretson this year, bringing visitors from around the region to town for a scary stroll starting at the city’s football complex. It’s a longer, more spaced out hike this year recommended for those 10 and older with a fee of $15. It runs from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Put on by the Jesse James Art Players, the Hike of Horrors is “hugely successful,” Hanisch said. His kids were among those who had repeat visits last year.

And Split Rock Park will host the kid-friendly Spooky Trail Trunk or Treat, sponsored by Garretson’s Commercial Club, from 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday.

For the holiday season, the second annual Light the Park will invite people to Split Rock Park on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings from Nov. 26 to Jan. 3 to enjoy Christmas season lights.

“There just always seems to be something happening these days,” Hanisch said.

Grow Garretson aims to help fulfill residents’ desires for their community. The group formed several years ago in response to a school opt-out raising property taxes, Hanisch said, to help encourage growth as a return on community members’ opt-out “investment.”

Child care needs have since been addressed, for example, and the group has focused on marketing and advertising that spotlights Garretson’s benefits. A new housing development is being built on the south side of town – the first in some time, Hanisch said.

The town’s parks help make Garretson stand out, he added. They helped attract him and his wife, both originally from small towns, to live there 15 years ago. Palisades State Park, with its quartzite cliffs hugging Split Rock Creek, is just down the road from Garretson.

The town itself contains Devil’s Gulch, famous for the tale of outlaw Jesse James leaping a chasm on horseback to escape capture. Split Rock Park also has trails and offers camping.

hike of horrors — *Photo provided courtesy of SiouxFalls.Business and MCEDA/LCEDA*

“If you ever visit Split Rock Park and throw a kayak in and start kayaking upstream, it’s got the same types of views as Palisades with the quartzite rock outcroppings. Very scenic,” Hanisch said.

Since Grow Garretson formed, the city has added a parks department and cleaned up brush in its parks, Hanisch said. And Garretson is trying to work toward connecting with a trail to Palisades, which Hanisch considers a priority, especially since the state plans to move the main entrance of the state park to the west side.

“We kind of lose the roadway connection to Garretson, so we at least want to have a trail connection and get people who are at Palisades coming to town,” he said.

Garretson is starting a conversation about another new potential enhancement too. The town needs a city hall, Hanisch said, but residents and organizations are being surveyed to see if they’d find some kind of community center or even an events center beneficial to the community as well.

“We have these different events that people really participate in,” he said. “It’s that participation that makes it feel like a smaller community.”

Around Town: New Split Rock Park Sign; Main Ave Ribbon Cutting

Carrie Moritz

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November 4, 2020

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Around Town: New Split Rock Park Sign; Main Ave Ribbon Cutting

On Thursday, October 29, a new sign was placed near the entrance of Split Rock Park. Made by King Skull Metalworks, a business located just outside of Garretson, the 4 foot-by-7 foot steel sign consists of four 150-pound sheets of metal that were powder-coated. The v-shaped sign, which was installed along the rock wall to the east of the entrance, is visible from east, west, and south along 5th Street and Main Avenue. The former Split Rock Park sign will be designated as surplus by the City at a future date.

Pictured above are City employees Jordan Doane, Ryan Nussbaum, and Zach Uhl as they lift two 150- pound sheets onto the wooden posts. They were able to enlist the help of the SD DOT, which drilled the holes and installed the posts earlier in the day.

Main Ave Ribbon Cutting

The City of Garretson celebrated the reopening of Main Ave. from 3rds Street to 5th Street on Friday, Oct. 30 by hosting a ribbon cutting. City Council member Greg Franka gave a short speech to local residents and business owners. The event was organized by Tom Godbey of the Garretson City Council.

Record absentee ballots lead to high voter turnout in 2020 election

Carrie Moritz

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November 4, 2020

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Record absentee ballots lead to high voter turnout in 2020 election

Garretson polling — ***American Legion Post #23 saw 1,035 voters on Election day.***

Per Secretary of State Steve Barnett, 40,000 absentee ballots had been cast in Minnehaha County as of early Tuesday morning. Statewide, 205,000 ballots had already been received, more than double the 102,000 absentee ballots that were cast in 2016. Absentee ballots had to be requested by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, November 2, and received by the county auditor on election day prior to polls closing.

In South Dakota, absentee ballots are not counted until the day after polls close. Minnehaha County Auditor Bob Litz has said that his staff would begin putting those ballots through the machines at 8:00 a.m. Wednesday morning. This means the results on Tuesday evening after polls closed were very preliminary.

absentee voters — On the morning of Monday, Nov. 2, over 150 people were lined up around the Minnehaha County Election Center to cast a General Election ballot on the last day of in-person absentee voting. The line to vote went from inside the Election Center, around the parking lot and down 6th Street, well past the Old Courthouse Museum. According to Minnehaha county Auditor Bob Litz, workers would start opening absentee ballots at 7 a.m. on Nov. 3, work all day to organize them, and then they would be run through ballot counting machines starting at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 4. (Photo by Dave Baumeister)

In 2016, 370,093 total votes were cast in South Dakota, and there were 544,428 registered voters. As of Tuesday morning, 578,666 people in South Dakota were registered to vote, which meant that 35% of all registered voters, and more than 55% of the total number of votes cast in 2016, had already turned in a ballot.

“The people running things there [at the polls] were worried, but they had a good system going this morning,” said Garretson Mayor Greg Beaner on Tuesday. When the polls opened in Garretson at 7:00 a.m., there was a line stretching to Sander’s Printing on Main Avenue, but few people had to wait longer than a half hour to vote. By the time the polls closed at 7:00 p.m., 1,035 had voted in person in Garretson.

Election results for Minnehaha County will be posted as soon as they are available. As of 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, November 4, 41% of the vote in Minnehaha County had been reported.

Garretson celebrates Halloween with activities

Carrie Moritz

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November 4, 2020

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Garretson celebrates Halloween with activities

On Saturday, the Garretson Commercial Club hosted a Trunk or Treat “Spooky Trail” at Split Rock Park, and the Jesse James Players held their final night of the Hike of Horrors.

The trunk or treat had a good turnout, with costumed children able to run from campsite to campsite to obtain treats. The final treat at the event was a petting zoo put together by the Garretson FFA with the help of Howe Dairy, the Scholl/Houghton family, Cheryl Scholl, and the Kringen Family. Kibble Equipment also contributed by loaning a tractor to be placed on display at the petting zoo. Commercial Club President John Brinkman said that more than 200 kids came to the event.

The Jesse James Players Hike of Horrors also had a large turnout. The first weekend was slower, especially with a winter storm hitting on Oct. 24^th. However, Jesse James Player and co-organizer Marissa Wollmann reported to the Gazette that 700 people walked the trail over the Halloween weekend.

“It was so awesome,” she said. “The towns that supported the hike this weekend were Pipestone, Watertown, Bon Homme, Yankton, Hills, Madison, Brandon, Dell Rapids, Baltic, Worthington, Sioux City, Spencer Iowa, and many more. The B Squad Dog Rescue team came on Halloween night and really added some fun and intensity! We were down quite a few actors so they really saved the day. The Jesse James players will be making a donation to them!”

Lady Dragons volleyball ends regular season, starts region play-offs

Carrie Moritz

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November 4, 2020

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Lady Dragons volleyball ends regular season, starts region play-offs

by Peyton Hove, GHS Blue Ink and staff reporting

The Garretson Blue Dragon volleyball team’s upcoming postseason is putting everyone on the edge of their seat. The Blue Dragon’s last regular season game was last Friday against the Dell Rapids St. Mary Cardinals, who were 9-7 prior to game time. The past week, Garretson also played the Sioux Valley Cossacks and Colman-Egan Hawks at home.

This season is by far one of the best seasons GHS has had in a while, with the Lady Dragons currently 18-4 (43.364 points). As of right now the Blue Dragons are second in their region, falling between Sioux Falls Christian (23-1, 46.667 points) and Baltic (14-6, 42.350). The Dragons’ goal was to keep the second seed to get a first-round bye, then they would host the winner of Baltic and Dell Rapids. The Lady Dragons were victorious, and the semi-final game was set for 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 5 in the Dragon’s Lair. After that is the SoDak 16, where last year the Blue Dragons played MCM and fell short on their ticket to state.

Tuesday, October 20, Garretson had their last regular season away game against the West Central Trojans. The visitors started on a high note, winning the first two sets 25-19 and 25-22; however, they fell short of a clean sweep and lost the third set, 17-25. Garretson stayed on its game and won the fourth set 25-15, but lost the play-off set 13-15. But Garretson came right back and won the fourth set 25-15. The team ended the night with 80 digs, 53 kills, 52 assists, and seven aces.

Leaders

Digs- Kennedy Buckneberg: 28, Lexi Gawarecki: 20, Peyton Hove & Lily Ranschau: 9
Kills- Buckneberg: 19, Ranschau: 13, Logan Bly: 6, Anna Jones: 5
Assists- Peyton Hove: 23, Jaelyn Benson: 18

With almost a week “break” the Dragons played on Monday October, 26 against the Sioux Valley Cossacks (now 11-15) in the Dragons’ Lair. The “C” team and JV started off the night strong, both winning their games. Carrying the momentum onto the varsity court, the Lady Dragons were focused and in high spirits starting off the game with a 5-1 run. Even though it wasn’t their best game, the Blue Dragons won 3-0: 25-15, 25-20, 25-19. Rounding out the night, the Blue Dragons tallied up 44 digs, 40 kills, 40 assists, and six aces.

Leaders

Digs- Ranschau, Buckneberg, L. Gawarecki: 9 digs (each)
Kills- Buckneberg: 11, Ranschau: 9, Bly: 6, Jones: 5
Assists- P. Hove: 19, Benson: 9

The following night, the Blue Dragons hosted the Colman-Egan Hawks. Not only was it a big match, it was also senior night. Garretson volleyball seniors consist of Kennedy Buckneberg, Mattea Fiegen, Lauren Heesch, Peyton Hove, Madden Lardy, and Lizzie Olson. Although it wasn’t technically their last home game, “C” team had their last game and capped off their season perfectly, winning all 17 games. JV fought hard, but ended the night losing 0-2, which was their second loss of the season.

After the JV game, the senior night ceremony took place, then warmups, and finally game time. With emotions running high and heads not entirely in the game, the Blue Dragons fell short the first two sets: 19-25, 18-25. However, after Garretson decided to step up and fight back, they won the next two: 25-18, 25-18.

With momentum clearly on the Blue Dragons’ side, they were ready to get that fifth set. Winning the coin toss, the Dragons served the first ball and battled back and forth (no team getting more than a two-point lead) until the home team went down 8-11. Coach Northrup called a timeout to talk to his team, and following that the Blue Dragons scored two consecutive points causing Colman-Egan to call a timeout themselves. Soon after, the game was all tied up, 13-13.

Unfortunately, Garretson fell short 13-15 and walked away with their fourth loss of the season and first loss at home. In all, the Hawks outscored the Blue Dragons by just one point on the night. Garretson ended the night with 91 digs, 51 kills, 43 assists, and six aces.

Friday was the Blue Dragons’ last regular season game against Dell Rapids St Mary’s, which was a rescheduled game. DRSM had to postpone the Oct 6 game due to COVID. The Lady Dragons walked away victorious, winning in three sets with a score of 25-14, 25-19, 27-25.

This week playoffs began; everyone’s record is the same: 0-0.

When asked how they are preparing for the postseason, Buckneberg replied, “We are getting mentally prepared and focused with having great practices beforehand.”

Ranschau added, “I will be working hard in practice and practice like I would in a game, so I will be prepared come game time.”

While everyone’s goal is to make it to state, sophomore Anna Jones expressed, “I hope to make it to state, but we are going to focus one game at a time.” State A volleyball will be October 19-21 at the Watertown Civic Center.

Update 11/4/20: The by-line in the print edition was incorrect and has been corrected for the on-line edition.

News for 11-5-20 (Subscribers)

Online Edition

Carrie Moritz

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November 4, 2020

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This Week's Issue

Click this link to download and read Issue #45 Full Version

Local spikes in community spread of COVID-19 has impacted Garretson's nursing home, with at least one confirmed death due to the virus. Garretson has a lot going for it though, as its economic development climbs. The election on Tuesday saw record turnout in absentee voting and a higher-than-normal turnout in in-person voting. Plus, the girls' volleyball team ended its regular season and moves into the playoffs this week, playing against Baltic on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. in the Dragon's Lair, and more!

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Lady Dragons to enter the Play-offs tonight, face Baltic

News for 11-5-20

Spotlight Articles

Blue Dragon Academy celebrates retirement of Donna Larson

Garretson and Sherman city clean-up this week

County Burn Ban lifted as of April 28th

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Election Results: Minnehaha County & Statewide

Results:

Update:

Deaths due to COVID in nursing homes rise after local spikes (Subscribers)

Downtown redevelopment, business expansion, destination events help grow Garretson

Around Town: New Split Rock Park Sign; Main Ave Ribbon Cutting

Main Ave Ribbon Cutting

Record absentee ballots lead to high voter turnout in 2020 election

Garretson celebrates Halloween with activities

Lady Dragons volleyball ends regular season, starts region play-offs

News for 11-5-20 (Subscribers)

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Blue Dragon Academy celebrates retirement of Donna Larson

Garretson and Sherman city clean-up this week

County Burn Ban lifted as of April 28th

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