When Sanborn Central senior Cooper Goldammer decided to continue the Parade of Lights tradition that Brady Larson started last year as his senior project, he had no idea the attention it would get. From a feature story in the Mitchell Republic newspaper to a story on KELOLand TV news, the event was noticed all over the eastern side of the state, and, with social media coverage, quite possibly beyond the South Dakota borders. 

Goldammer said that he decided to do this project because he thought it was a great thing for the community of Letcher, and he is hoping it will continue as a tradition. This year’s parade drew 34 entries, which is pretty steady with the numbers from last year, so it appears the interest is going to continue. Goldammer stated, “I think it was a great success because it grew from last year, and we had more floats. Hopefully someone continues it on and keeps it growing.”

One way the event grew is with participation from the Town and Kountry Kids 4-H Blue group. They setup a s’mores stand and collected food and monetary donations for the Sanborn County Food Pantry. Plans are to make the nicely sized donation to the pantry this Thursday to help with getting food to people through Christmas and the winter months. Make sure to keep an eye out for the presentation in next week’s issue of the Sanborn Weekly Journal.

After the parade, the Letcher Hawks Teener Baseball team served a baked potato/nacho bar in the Letcher Community Center. With everyone from the community of Letcher and many from the surrounding area taking part in this festive Christmas season event, it seems perfectly fitting for Goldammer to name the event “A Hometown Holiday.”

…See many pictures from the parade in this week’s issue of the Sanborn Weekly Journal!

Mason Moody finished his final week of July with outstanding performances over a five-day spread. 

On Wednesday, July 26, he placed second with a score of 81.5 at the Garfield County Extreme Bulls in Rifle, Colo. He then traveled to Preston, Idaho on July 27, and scored an 87 for a third-place finish. On the following day, he was back in South Dakota riding in the Days of ‘76 Rodeo in Deadwood, where he won the event with a 79-point performance on Friday night. With that performance, he finished in the top 10 riders at the Days of ‘76 Rodeo, which is a five-day event, but the final results were not out at press time. To end the week, he traveled to Gordon, Neb. for the Sheridan County Fair and Rodeo and won that rodeo with a score of 82.5. His final performance for the month of July was on Monday night in Mitchell, Neb., but results were not available before the paper went to the printer.

Moody doesn’t get much rest as his next scheduled performances are on Thursday (today) at Dalhart, Texas, Friday, Aug. 4, in Castle Rock, Colo., and Saturday, Aug. 5, in Watertown. He could possibly be competing on Sunday, Aug. 6, in Ashley, N.D., and then he is in Missoula, Mont., on Wednesday, Aug. 9. 

…See a picture in this week’s issue of the Sanborn Weekly Journal!