Good evening District 27. It has been another whirlwind weekend on the campaign trail. On Friday, I attended two fundraisers. I had a delicious roast beef dinner at the Dixie Heathershaw fundraiser to support her on her trip to the Indian National Final Rodeo (INFR). Dixie has been crowned Miss Oglala Nation Rodeo Queen for 2024-2025 and will be representing the Oglala Sioux Tribe at the INFR in Las Vegas, Nevada this week (October 21-26, 2024). As a substitute teacher at the Martin Grade School, I remember teaching Dixie when she was a second grader in Mrs. Gail Winter's class. She was a shy little girl, but now she is all grown up and is a junior at Bennett County High School. I can tell her family is proud of her accomplishment and will proudly represent the Oglala Sioux Tribe and Bennett County at the INFR. Congratulations Dixie!
After attending the roast beef dinner fundraiser, I drove to Tuthill, east of Martin, to attend the smoker at the fire hall. A big crowd of people gathered to support the local volunteer fire department. If you didn’t get enough to eat, then that was your own fault as there was plenty of food and beverages. I appreciate meeting several voters from the Tuthill area and discussing some of the local issues that will help me be a more informed candidate. A big shout out to all who prepared the meal and to our local volunteer fire department in the Tuthill area who are on high alert because of the extreme fire danger.
On Saturday, I put into motion all of the preparatory work from this summer with the rollout of the final phase of my campaign strategy. Some of you will see the results of this work, others will not. I am hoping the behind-the-scenes work pays off with a victory in November. I also got some more backyard raking done and was able to take the raked leaves out to the compost pile at the city dump south of town during regular business hours.
Today, I was up early to attend the 8:00 AM mass at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church. I had to cantor at this morning’s mass. I have been a cantor since 1989 when I attended the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology and cantored at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Cathedral in Rapid City. Since then, I have earned my basic cantor certification in 2011 and have led the congregation in singing the liturgical movements throughout the mass, specifically the psalm response. During the Covid-19 pandemic, I had the honor of cantoring at several masses here in Martin presided by Fr. Tyler Dennis when most churches were shut down throughout the country. It was a great honor and privilege that I will never forget. It is something that I enjoy doing and is part of how I tithe back to the church.
Finally, after mass, I took one of my campaign volunteers and supporters Irene Saunders with me to go to the Prairie Pumpkin Patch located off Allen Road in West Bennett County to check out Paul and Gail Winter’s corn maze and to meet the people. I thought this would be a great weekend to go since next weekend will be the final weekend that the Prairie Pumpkin Patch will be open before Halloween.
We got there at noon and had so much fun riding on the peddle go-carts, checking out the corn maze, and shooting basketballs into the hoop that was mounted to a gravity box grain cart which would feed the balls back to you. I also met plenty of people gathered on this beautiful fall afternoon. Gail and Paul have done an exceptional job of facilitating this Bennett County event. I have worked with Gail in the classroom as a substitute teacher and I can see her creative fun side throughout the Prairie Pumpkin Patch outdoor venue. I applaud her and Paul for supporting this family fun-filled outdoor tradition. Kids of all ages were enjoying a great afternoon in the autumn sun. Like Gail and Paul who have done their part in creating a fun-filled outdoor weekend event for families, if elected your state senator, I will support and sponsor legislation that enhances and uplifts the cultural values of South Dakota families. Have a great weekend. God bless.
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