Mildred L. Madigan, Age 107, longtime resident of Northville MI, passed away on January 19, 2020. She was born on November 15, 1912 in Rockham, South Dakota, daughter of Charles and Lorinda (nee Keller) Logeman. She was united in marriage to William P. Madigan on October 23, 1935, they spent 44 loving years together until his death in 1980.
Mildred graduated from Garretson High School in South Dakota; class of 1929. Following graduation, she attended Eastern South Dakota State and received a teaching certificate. In the 1970’s she attended Eastern Michigan University and earned a bachelor’s degree. Mildred began her teaching career in a rural one room schoolhouse in South Dakota. After moving to Michigan and raising her family, Mildred started the Northville Cooperative Nursery School which is still in operation today. She later taught at Detroit Cerebral Palsy Center in Farmington for many years. She began teaching at Our Lady of Victory School in the late 1960’s and retired from teaching in the late 1970’s.
Mildred was the oldest member of Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church in Northville. Active with the church, she sang in the Resurrection Choir and served as a senior money counter until age 102. She was very faithful and devoted; she believed the good Lord would take care of everything, no matter the circumstance. It was a mantra that got her through both good times and the most tragic of situations.
Mildred was a beautiful swimmer; she swam at the Schoolcraft Community College pool until age 99. She liked to be on the go and travelled extensively with a group of widows nicknamed “The Grandma Gang.” She loved spending time up north in her cabin in the upper peninsula. Mildred was very artistic; she made handcrafted baskets, detailed artwork, and had perfect cursive handwriting. She was quite the pool player and enjoyed playing cards, especially euchre. Mildred was truly loved by all who knew her; she exuded kindness and was the epitome of how to age gracefully.
Mildred is survived by her loving children, Patricia VanBonn, Dennis Madigan, and Kerry Madigan; 14 grandchildren, 35 great grandchildren, and 2 great great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, her sons Michael Madigan and William Madigan, her parents, 3 brothers, and 1 sister.
The visitation will be held Thursday, January 23, 2020 from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. with a Rosary at 7:00 p.m. at Casterline Funeral Home, 122 W. Dunlap, Northville. The Funeral Mass will be held Friday, January 24, 2020 at 12:30 p.m., in state at Noon, at Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church, 133 Orchard Dr., Northville. Father Denis Theroux will officiate the service. She will be laid to rest at Rural Hill Cemetery in Northville.
In lieu of flowers the family would appreciate memorial contributions to Our Lady of Victory School, 133 Orchard Dr., Northville, MI 48167.
The Henry G. Fix Post 23 meeting was held on February 6th with 24 members present. The meeting was opened by Commander Brian Siemonsma. Special guests were Jim Frerk, Jayden Clark, Tana Clark, Ruth Sarar, and Carrie Moritz. The minutes of the previous meeting were presented and approved. The routine reports were presented and approved. Bills were approved for payment.
Jayden Clark presented her District winning oratorical contest speech. The speech was on the Constitution and the freedoms and privileges granted, and also about the obligations we have as citizens. Jayden will compete at the State level on February 23rd. Jayden’s mother Tana and her former teacher Ruth Sarar also listened in on the speech. Carrie Moritz spoke on the Garretson City Park Bench Project.
twenty-eight benches have been sponsored. Legion members discussed where one of these benchs would be placed on our dugout grounds.
Jon Schmidt, the Service Officer, reported that a card was sent to the families of Norm Benson and Nels Benson, both of whom recently passed away. A get-well card was sent to Harlow Sundem and Ronald Lyngen. Nancy Grady reported that the membership goal is the same as last year at 220. We now have 220 paid memberships, putting us at 100% of our goal. Congratulations to our members and GoGetter staff for reaching this goal so quickly this year!
Americanism Officer Bob Bennett reported that seven high school juniors have expressed interest in Boy’s State this year. This is great news, since last year we did not send any boys to Boy’s State. Paul Evenson gave the Legislative Report. Legion Legislative Day will be February 10th. The Boy’s and Girl’s State Governors will attend and meet with the Governor and Senate and House Chambers. For the Baseball Report Mark Williamson reported that Cody Linneweber will move up to coach the 15 to 16 year old team.
We still have 100th Anniversary books available for sale at the Treasure Chest or by contacting Owen Wiese or Marty Luebke. Raffle tickets are out and need to be turned back in no later than the March meeting. Please help support our major fundraiser by buying or several raffle tickets! We appreciate your donation.
Next post meeting will be March 5th, with the meeting at 7 pm. This is our Past Commander / Post History night. A light meal will be served after the history and comments. The next Legion breakfast is April 5th from 9 am to 1 pm serving french toast with biscuits and gravy. The next county meeting will be February 25rd in Hartford.
The next District meeting will be April 3rd in Baltic. The 2020 State Mid-Winter Conference is February 21-23 at Ocoma, SD. The Garretson High School will have Military Appreciation night on February 18th during the double header game. The Color Guard will present the Colors around 6:15 pm prior to the Girls Varsity game. The Honor Guard welcomes new member Charlie Agnew. The Commander presented Honor Guard pins to all members. Post 23 received a thank you note from the Blue Dragon Academy for the 2019 donation of $2,000.
The Post received a thank you note from the Garretson Food Pantry for last month’s $1500 donation. Our post is proud to support the local community. The daycare will be hosting a fundraiser at the Legion on Saturday, March 21st and will be serving sausages and pancakes. Legion volunteers were needed. Tara Hough, Gary Lyngen, Andy Lyngen, Tony Grandy, and Nancy Grandy volunteered. Rave Uhlich will be presenting his senior project to the Legion membership during the April meeting. Rave is doing his project related to raising money for Veterans.
The raffle drawing was held. Winners this month for $150 were: Ryan Danforth, Lance Gibson, Lyle Van Hoven, and Ward Denning. The meeting was closed by the usual closing ceremony at 8:57 pm.
There are several young men from Garretson who have joined military units and are serving their country. These men deserve to be recognized and be given publicity for their service.
Brendon Harris
The first person to be written about has been in the South Dakota Air Guard for two years. Brendon Harris enlisted in the Air National Guard soon after graduating from Garretson High School in 2018. He is now an E-4 Airman and is a Machinist. His job makes him a part of the crew who keeps the F-16 in good and safe flying condition. This is obviously an important job because the 114th Air National Guard Unit is one of the most effective and well-known units in the Air Force. Parts of it have been deployed to different parts of the world and have very good accident free deployments. The F-16s from the unit are a familiar sight in this area as they conduct operations from their home field in Sioux Falls.
Brendon plans to follow in the footsteps of his dad, Chad Harris, who is approaching the end of a 29-year career in the Air National Guard. After being in the Harris family for so long, Brendon is well acquainted with the many benefits of serving in the Air Force and being a part of the important role it has in the defense of the US.
Brendon resides in Colton.
Ben Konechne
The second young man who has just completed Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training (AIT) at Ft. Leonard Wood, MO is E-2 ART Ben Konechne. Ben graduated from Garretson High School in 2019 and enlisted in The South Dakota Army National shortly afterward. Ben is the son of Jeff and Leah Konechne. He is a member of the National Guard unit in Flandreau, which is a Transportation Unit.
While in AIT, Ben was trained as a driver of two different types of truck. He was trained in only most basic type of maintenance of the vehicles. Even something as simple as
replacement of a fan belt must be completed by an Ordnance Unit. Completion of AIT qualifies Ben to receive a CDL if he chooses to drive a civilian truck.
Ben had no problems adjusting to military living. In Basic Training the soldiers were quartered in large barracks with a large number of men. When advanced to AIT they lived in dormitory type buildings with three men to a room.
Ben strongly recommends that any young person would be well advised to join the military. There is a monthly pay and the benefits such as the medical care are very substantial. Enlisting is a four-year obligation with a two-year Reserve time completing the enlistment. There is monthly weekend drill and a two-week summer AT.
Ben’s future plans are to enroll in an agronomy course at SDSU or at a two-year vocational school.
Steve Lindquist, the new project director for the Minnehaha County Triage Center, and Jeff Griffin, the new president and CEO of the Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce talked to County Commissioners on Tuesday, Feb. 25. Griffin was introduced by Holly Rader (left), who was at the meeting to give a briefing on the Chamber's Agri-Business Division. (Photos by Dave Baumeister)
SIOUX FALLS – At their Tuesday, Feb. 25, meeting, Minnehaha Commissioners were given a briefing by Kevin Hoekman from the Planning and Zoning Department on a 5.6% increase in the cost of building permit fees.
While this marks the first time in five years an increase in these fees is being considered, according to Hoekman, it also marks a change in the way permits will be issued.
He said that in the past, more of a “flat fee” was charged for permits, but now the costs will vary, depending on the type of structure being built.
So, while some projects will see an increase, permit costs to others may decrease.
However, overall, the requested increase will be an average of $65 or 5.6%.
What Hoekman reported on this week was just giving a “heads-up” to commissioners, as the formal hearing for the rate change will not be held until Tuesday, March 10.
County residents with questions or concerns about this will be able to speak about it then.
There was also a good deal of information presented about two other areas of concern to the county.
Frist, Steve Lindquist talked about work being done toward the Community Triage Project.
Lindquist, the former director of Avera Behavioral Health and a former administrator at the Mickelson Center for the Neurosciences (Human Services Center) in Yankton, is now the project director for the triage facility.
He explained that the triage project will mainly be for people in need of services who don’t know where else to go.
On Friday, Feb. 21, Lindquist said they put out a request for proposals to build the center, and that they hope “to get the doors open” by this fall.
Commissioner Dean Karsky acts as the liaison for the triage project.
Also, Holly Rader of the Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce Agri-Business Division discussed their main events for the year.
A successful 67th annual Livestock Show was held at the W.H. Lyon Fairgrounds in January, and plans are already on the books to be back at the Sioux Empire Fair on Aug. 5 for Ag Appreciation Day.
For that event, the chamber gets sponsorships from area ag-related businesses and puts on the yearly complimentary lunch for about 3,500 producers.
After talking about the Ag Committee, Rader introduced the new president and CEO of the Chamber, Jeff Griffin, who said he was happy to be attending his first county commission meeting.
Because Commissioners Cindy Heiberger and Jeff Barth will be attending a national conference in Washington, D.C. next week and only three commissioners will be present, it is expected that business at that meeting will be light.
Even still, the meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 3, in the commission chambers on the second floor of the Minnehaha County Administration Building at 6th and Minnesota in Sioux Falls.
And, as always, there will be an opportunity for any comments from the public.
The Blue Light Podcast, hosted
by Tyler Ramsbey, has been a way to help promote Garretson, its people, and its
businesses since its inception. It has been popular enough that he has now
expanded it to Dell Rapids and Pipestone. The podcast is streamed live each
week on Facebook, with Tyler interviewing his featured guest for approximately
15-20 minutes.
Mayor Greg Beaner was a guest on the Blue Light Podcast on Wednesday, February 19. This is part two of the transcript of the podcast. Part one can be found in the February 27 issue of the Gazette. This interview transcript has been modified for length and clarity. The interviews in full may always be found by searching for the Blue Light Podcast on Facebook, and the full interview can be watched above. (Part Two begins at approximately 9 minutes in.)
Tyler: Well let’s talk about some
more negative slash positive long-term-type stuff. You mentioned the street
project, that’s probably been the biggest conversation over the past year, is
the street project, for good or for bad. Can you provide us with any updates on
this entire project, what went wrong, what is the city doing to find a
solution?
Greg: So right now, the solution is
to complete the project.
Tyler: That’s a great solution to
have.
Greg: Right. The bond company has
two bids, Hulstein Excavating and First Rate Excavating. It’s my understanding
that First Rate is the low bid. The bond company is working with them, trying
to figure a few things out, and the plan is to start this spring.
Tyler: And just for clarity, now
that it’s gone to the bonding company, the city is essentially hands off, is
that correct? You guys no longer choose the bidder, you’re not overseeing the
project in any way, it’s all in the bonding company. The city has no control
over it, is that correct or wrong?
Greg: Our control has gone. We met
with the bonding agent, and with our lawyers, and he was like, who do you want,
who do you not want? Obviously, the company that we’re kicking out is on the
not-want [list]. And he said, other than that, we want companies that can do it
quickly, we’re not going to be able to get subcontractors, we’re not dealing
with that. Obviously the rates are going to go up to have someone come in and
start. And he said, we’re not interested in low bid, we’re going to pick who
can do it properly. I was very assured by what they told us.
Tyler: So if they’re not interested
in low bid, if they pick a higher bidder, who makes up that cost? Do the people
of Garretson make up for that cost?
Greg: No, the contractor pays for
it. Because he defaulted on his bond, he is the one responsible for that cost
difference.
Tyler: Now let’s talk about the
future. Is there a timeline in place? What does this project entail? Is it the
truck route only? What are we talking about for this spring?
Greg: It’s the truck route from
Dows up to the elevator here, and then Main Street from 3rd Street
until just about 5th Street is going to be re-done. The truck route
is really important, we’ve got the fertilizer plant there, the elevator’s
there, it needs to be done quick. And Main Street has to be done quickly.
Tyler: Is there a timeline on that,
as far as a start date and end date?
Greg: We don’t have any of that.
Tyler: I suppose not until they
have the person chosen for the job.
Greg: When they have the bid. In
all honesty, our engineer was like, this is a really rare situation, they’ve
only had it happen with them one other time. I’m assuming that what’s going to
happen is we’re going to have a meeting, sit down with the contractor, go
through what their preliminary plans are. I want to have some input on that to
make sure it’s done right.
Tyler: Is there any other
frequently asked questions you’d like to address right now, or did I get them
all?
Greg: I think you got them all.
Tyler: Well, if I missed anything,
send Greg an email. What is your email?
Greg: It’s thebeaners [AT] alliancecom.net.
Tyler: And unlike 99% of the
population, Greg is a guy who actually responds to his email. We do have one
audience member, Omar, and he’s raising his hand. Omar, what’s your question?
Omar: Any other types of businesses
that are scheduled for Highway 11? Or any other types of projects that are
coming? I can see development of businesses, lands, businesses along highways
tend to happen. Is there anything else foreseen as far as Highway 11?
Greg: The project last summer over
on 5th Street, we put in water and sewer, because the current
industrial development down there was limited. They didn’t have enough water
pressure. Obviously, you build a commercial building, you need to have
sprinkler systems, you need to have all this stuff, so they had to quit putting
lots up for sale because they couldn’t expand. I want to see that get filled
up.
Tyler: So now is it open? The
water, sewer?
Greg: Everything’s open, it’s ready
to go, the for sale sign is up. They can start selling. Besides the State Park
expanding, I don’t know of anything else going along Highway 11. We [the city
council] talked about if we push for another development in the community, the
north end of town would be a really good place to start. Out towards Split Rock
Park, it would have easy highway access. At some point in the future, we’re
going to need another water tower, and it’s going to go out along Hwy 11 on the
north end of town.
Tyler: Is there a timeline on that
as well? Because I know water towers are not cheap.
Greg: Within ten years.
Tyler: Within ten years, so that’ll
be something coming up in the near future.
Greg: New businesses though, I
haven’t heard of anything.
Tyler: That doesn’t mean there
isn’t anything, just not in the foreseeable future.
Greg: With the traffic on Hwy 11,
it would be nice to see them expand Highway 11, make it a little bigger.
Tyler: That would be a great place
to do that. It’s a good spot for a business, because you’re right on the main
road.
Tyler: Let’s talk about a community
center. This is a conversation that came up at one of the city council meetings.
I read about it in the minutes of the newspaper, and then I reached out to a
few different people to try to get some details on this. I spoke to some other
people who have been in the community longer than I have, and it sounds like
the idea of a community center was proposed back in the day, maybe back when
you were on city council, and there was the idea of having a pool, and
eventually that didn’t come to fruition. Now there’s another conversation about
having a community center, so let me kind of boil this down to a few different
questions. Number one, why does Garretson need a community center?
Greg: A couple of things. One, is
our city hall has gotten to the point where it’s too small.
Tyler: City Hall is tiny, it really
is.
Greg: It’s tiny. The employees have
done a great job of making it work, the building is just getting really old.
It’s getting outdated. It’s really expensive to heat, the windows are rotting
out. This is the second or third time we’ve replaced them, and it needs to be
done again. What I would like to do, and this is just a long-term plan, is do
something- like, put several things together that we need in our community. One
is a City Hall, because it’s too small to have city council meetings there
anymore-
Tyler: ‘Cause you guys are meeting
at the Legion now.
Greg: We’re meeting at the Legion
right now. The reason I did that is, when I started as Mayor, you would go into
City Hall and people are just cramped in there, and it’s tiny. I want people to
come to the meetings. I want public input. So, we moved it to the Legion. It’s
more convenient, people can come in, you don’t have to climb all over a bunch
of people to get in and get out when you’re done saying your piece. The other
thing is, when my daughter got married, this got me thinking. There’s nowhere
to have a reception in town. We had Ron Luke do the catering for the reception.
We actually had it in Crooks, at their community center. Ron leaned over to me,
he said, “You know, Garretson needs one of these. This would be awesome for our
community.” That kind of sparked me thinking, if people had receptions here,
they would be using local catering, they’d be buying local gas, all of that.
That started it, but I didn’t realize how many other people would be interested
in using something like that. Reunions, community get-togethers, all of that
stuff. There was a little bit of discussion about the Senior Citizens’ Center,
because the current owner didn’t really want to keep it anymore, and they were
looking at giving it to the city. So, we were investigating that. In the
meantime, that’s been bought by a private person, and so what I want to do is
what we’re discussing at city council. It’s called an RFP, a Request for
Performance. We want to talk with architects, hey, what can you do for our
city? What can we have here? I think, the first community center, the plan was
kind of to do something like Luverne, where it’s a pool, an aqua center, and I
think the price was too much. I don’t want to have our community “house poor.”
You don’t want to buy a house that’s so expensive you can’t afford to do
anything else. I’ve talked to Anna, because she’s the one who does the
finances, and I’m like, 5th Street’s going to have to be fixed at
one point, Dows has to be fixed at some point, we talked about a water tower,
we may need to do something with natural gas at some point. I want to be able
to build something that will accommodate what we need as a community but still
allow us to keep fixing our infrastructure and keep growing things.
Tyler: And where are we at in that
conversation? Is the community center a for-sure thing that’s going to happen,
or is it still in the investigative stages?
Greg: It’s still in the
investigative stages. At our meeting in March, we’re going to vote, because
Richelle Hofer wasn’t there- she was on the phone- but, we’re going to talk,
probably, one last time and probably request RFP’s. That was my feeling from
city council. Once we’re going to do that, we’ll send out a bunch of letters to
architectural companies and construction firms, saying, hey, this is what we’re
looking at, and they will make presentations to us. One of the things I want
is, if we’re going to do this, we’re going to do it right. So, I want to have
meetings with public input. I talked with Marcia of the Jesse James Players. What
do you need to be able to do your plays in the community center? What do you
need if you’re going to have 4-H groups here, what do we need to be able to do
city council meetings, stuff like that.
Tyler: Is there any type of timeline
for when you would hope that would come to fruition? So not saying it’s not
going to come to fruition, but if you could paint a timeline, what would that
look like?
Greg: If everything goes well, and
everything’s put together, you start with that request, and then you need to
have an architect draw plans, and then you need to get construction bids. It
would probably be two years.
Tyler: Cool. Another hot button
topic I’d like to jump to, and you mentioned, is the future of the Senior
Citizen’s Center/Opera House. The fact is that they had a bad leak, and there’s
a lot of mold damage inside that building. So, the Jesse James Players haven’t
had a good place to meet. I know they’ve used the Legion, but they’re still
kind of looking for a regular place to meet, which is why they have an interest
in the community center. I heard a rumor, and I think it’s just a rumor, that
the building is condemned and is for sure being torn down. But you just
mentioned it was sold to a private person. So just give us an update on the
status of that building, what its future looks like.
Greg: I honestly don’t know. The
building behind the Senior Citizen’s Center, there were some safety concerns,
because the floor had fallen out on the first floor, stuff like that. I believe
that was also sold with the Senior Citizen’s Center. Here’s what we talked
about as a city council- if we were going to fix that building up, what would
we do? Purchasing the building on the back, you would probably put a brand-new
addition on the back, and make that parking. And obviously, you need to have
ADA stuff if you have two floors, so you’d have to have an elevator that would
go in the new part. Then, you could fix up the old part.
Tyler: Gotcha. But it’s outside the
city’s hands now with a private person-
Greg: That would be our dream, if
it was like, here’s the Senior Citizen’s Center, fix it up, that’s what we
would’ve done with it.
Tyler: So it’s not going to be torn
down, at least not in the foreseeable future, not that you know.
Greg: I’m assuming the plan is to
fix it up.
Tyler: If you’re watching this, and
you own that building, I would love to do a podcast with you about your plans.
Send me a message and we can sit down and talk about what that looks like.
We are past the time, but I just
have a few more questions.
In addition to all the other
political news in our national news, which I won’t even bring up- it may make
the podcast get more views if I ask about them but I won’t do that- there are
elections coming up for local city offices. From your perspective, why’s it so
important for the people of Garretson to be involved with local politics?
Greg: We have an awesome city
council right now, and I want to keep that going. If you have questions,
comments, concerns, don’t put them on Facebook, because some people will read
them and take it with a grain of salt, some people don’t read them at all.
Tyler: There’s always more to the
story, right?
Greg: Right. Call me, email me, or
call your city council member. Tell them about how you feel about something.
And maybe they’ll explain to you, or tell you why we’re doing this, or what’s
going on. Or, maybe they’ll be like, we don’t have an answer. Maybe that’s
something we need to fix, make better, that’s how things get changed.
Tyler: I’ve heard it said, the most
important politics are your local politics. Would you agree with that, and why?
Greg: Yep. It doesn’t matter your
political party, it doesn’t matter what your viewpoints are, you need roads to
drive on, you need your snow removed, you need water, you need sewer, you need
natural gas. Politics is about working together, and getting things done for
your community. It’s not about impeaching, and fighting, it’s about electing
people that can do a good job. Or have done a good job, and having them work
for your community.
Tyler: So with local politics, you
actually know the people, and you see things either getting done or not getting
done. And if they’re not getting done, you have the power as a citizen to make
a change when it comes to voting.
Greg: And, you go to coffee, and
when somebody doesn’t like something, you’re going to hear about it. And that’s
the way it should be. Because, you’re personally held accountable for what
you’re doing. If you’re doing something, and you can’t explain yourself, you
probably shouldn’t be doing it. Like, if I want to pass a law, or if I want to
push the council to do something, and I can’t explain myself, that’s not right.
Tyler: You should be held
accountable
Greg: I should be able to defend
myself, and explain what we’re doing, and why.
Tyler: Do you know off the top of
your head, what the average voter turnout is for local elections? I know it’s
always lower than what we think it would be.
Greg: It’s always bigger on
presidential election terms. But that’s the thing too- people need to get out
and vote. What was the last election? It was ten votes? A ten-vote difference.
And I’m not picking on any candidates- but that’s how important your votes are.
Your vote counts.
Tyler: What are two or three things
each person can do to make Garretson a better place to live?
Greg: Well, we talked about one.
Tell people what you think. Tell your elected official.
Tyler: Communication. Not Facebook,
communication.
Greg: And there are so many groups,
and so many people that would love help, would love volunteers, like the Jesse
James Day parade, all of the activities, they are always looking for
volunteers.
Tyler: If you live in this area and
you want to volunteer, but you have no idea who to contact, send us a message at
the Blue Light Podcast page. I’ll get you plugged in to the right person and
we’ll get you plugged into one of those groups. So, communication, volunteers,
what’s the third?
Greg: Just be proud of your
community. This is an awesome community. There’s so many good things here. I
love it when you’re driving down the street, people wave at you, people are
friendly, so many people walk around the community. Our community’s so clean,
it’s nice. I have co-workers from Sioux Falls, they’ll drive to Garretson and
have supper here at O So Good and they’re like, “Wow, what a nice community.”
I’m proud of it.
Tyler: Greg, thank you again for
being on the podcast.
The Blue Light Podcast can be
found each week on Facebook.
FFA Week had a great celebration for future farmers, we bring you part two of the Blue Light Podcast's interview with Mayor Greg Beaner, Girls Basketball is on its way to the semi-finals, and the Wrestling season wraps up with two Garretson wrestlers competing at State, plus legislative news and more!
As an on-line subscriber, you are able to view extra photos, articles, and an issue of this week's paper in a flipbook format! Always feel free to contact us at if you have story ideas, letters to the editor, or questions.
We've got a lot for you this week! The Blue Light Podcast sat down with Mayor Greg Beaner; we profile Holly Schleuter, a Garretson-ite who works for Minnehaha County Human Services; plenty of legislative news; and sports is going strong into the end of their seasons. Two wrestlers made it to State, which is happening this weekend at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center.
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!
On-line subscribers get access to a Subscribers' Welcome Area, and are able to view extra photos, articles, and an issue of this week's paper in both a Flipbook and PDF format.
The neighbor is Holly Schleuter, who works for Minnehaha County Human Services, which provides many services to the people of the county and to Garretson.
Holly, who has a Teaching degree and a degree in Sports Medicine, had been teaching school early in her career in western South Dakota. She and her husband Jay decided that they wanted to live closer to relatives and friends. They moved back to eastern South Dakota. Holly planned to find a teaching position, but instead she accepted a job where she provided case management for kids with special needs. Holly has been employed in the social services field since that time. She became aware of Minnehaha County Human Services, and very quickly made the decision to work for them. She felt that it would give her the opportunity to work in a job that helped people in need.
Some of the services county Human Services provide are; Jail Reentry Services, which are sometimes very difficult to provide, because of the stigma of serving a jail or prison sentence; Safe Home, which is a service to help people secure first housing; and Synergy, which provides Family Case Management. Synergy helps families solve problems that affect their living situations. Holly works for Synergy.
The mission of Synergy is to provide a community-wide collaborative approach to the family with short term financial support and care facilitation to homeless families, empowering them to obtain adequate housing. That is a big mission and it involves many people and many groups. Holly and one other person are Minnehaha County Human Services Synergy Case Managers. Every time a family comes to Minnehaha County Services requiring help with their living situation, they are assigned a Case Manager who finds the help they need.
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Last week we featured a photo of Olivia Olson with SD Speaker of the House Steven Haugaard. Haugaard sponsored her as a House Page during the current legislative session in Pierre. Olson, is a junior at Sioux Falls Christian, and the daughter of Troy and Di Olson of Garretson. This photo was taken on Feb. 19, when Governor Kristi Noem hosted a dinner for the pages at the Governor’s Residence. (Photo by Brock Brown, Office of Governor Kristi Noem.)
The Blue Light Podcast, hosted by Tyler Ramsbey, has been a way to help promote Garretson, its people, and its businesses since its inception. It has been popular enough that he has now expanded it to Dell Rapids and Pipestone. The podcast is streamed live each week on Facebook, with Tyler interviewing his featured guest for approximately 15-20 minutes.
Mayor Greg Beaner was a guest on the Blue Light Podcast last Wednesday, February 19. It was his fourth visit to the podcast, and similar to the Fireside Chats done by President Franklin Roosevelt, it has been a good way for the mayor to explain City happenings and respond publicly to questions members of the community may have.
This interview transcript has been modified for length and clarity. The interviews in full may always be found by searching for the Blue Light Podcast on Facebook, and the video can be viewed above.
Tyler: You’re currently in your first term as mayor, do I have that correct?
Greg: Yep.
Tyler: And how long have you been mayor now? Are you coming to the end of that term?
Greg: Yes. This is the end of that two years. I just turned in my petition at the end of last week to run again.
Tyler: Cool. I’m gonna run against you- I’m just kidding. I’m not really going to.
Greg: Go ahead! I think the more people that run, the better, because that gives people the choice. They can pick the best candidates, and that’s just the way it is.
Tyler: So you’re coming to the end of your two-year term, and this was your first term as mayor, but you were on the City Council for a pretty significant amount of time. How long were you on council before you became the mayor?
Greg: About sixteen years.
Tyler: Sixteen years. So you’ve had a lot of experience in that leadership role over our community; I’m sure being a mayor is a little bit different.
Greg: Oh, it was way different.
Tyler: So, what are some of the challenges as the mayor for the past two years that you’ve had to overcome; and then on the positive side, what are some of the joys?
Greg: Honestly, the biggest challenge was the street project.
Tyler: That wasn’t your favorite?
Greg: No, there were so many meetings with lawyers. Yeah, you laugh about it, but it’s not funny. Because, it was so frustrating, like, ‘if you had just done your job, we wouldn’t be at this point.’ And I felt really bad for all the people on Main Street, and all the insecurity, and thinking, ‘this guy is going to tear up our Main street and really hurt our businesses.’ I want what’s best for our community, and like I told [City Finance Supervisor] Anna [Uhl], it’s so frustrating to have to deal with this, but this is an absolute necessary, and we have good lawyers, and we’re going to use them.
Tyler: Love it, and we’ll dig a little more into that whole conversation. Before we get into that, what have been some of your favorite things in the past two years of being the Mayor of Garretson?
Greg: You know, my favorite thing- have you seen the development down on the south end of town? Signing that TIF, knowing that by doing this, you’re going to be expanding our community, you’re going to be bringing more people here. Frontline Ag Solutions, seeing that giant building go in; the new house right on the west end of Split Rock Creek. Seeing stuff grow and expand- that was my goal and that’s what I like to see.
Tyler: And as we talk about that new development, is there any type of timeline where we’re going to have new houses for people to move into?
Greg: Well, I think the weather- the plan was that stuff was going to be ready last fall. But there was so much rain-
Tyler: It was a crazy season for construction in general.
Greg: So, the plan is going to be this spring. They should be ready to go. They’ve got everything laid out, they’ll be surfacing everything, setting up the infrastructure, and that’s it.
Tyler: What does Garretson have in place- not to offend my friends in Brandon, but one of the problems with Brandon is that they grew so rapidly that they’re having infrastructure problems, they’re having water issues-
Greg: Sewer issues-
Tyler: Yeah, so what does Garretson have in place so that doesn’t happen in our community?
Greg: You know, I think that could happen to anybody really easily, if you’re not looking towards the future. Funny story, Bruce Brown and I were in the election. He gave me a book after I won the election, and it was, I believe, “Ten Ways to Ruin Your Community.” And at first I thought, this is kind of a weird book, but then I read it, and everything in there was absolutely incredibly true. If you’re not going to plan for future water usage, future sewer, and future natural gas, you’re just going to stop the growth in your community.
I actually emailed the author after I read the book, because he talked about how competition is good in a city, you should never not block people from coming to your community, because everybody coming makes it a better community. It was a good book.
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