Area News

Fundraising for the Sanborn County “Raise the Roof” 4-H Building Addition has had great success over the past three years, raising a total of $364,000 to date. The fundraising goal has been updated a few times as construction costs changed, and then most recently when items like new tables, chairs and racks were added to the total, making the current goal $470,000, with $100,000 of that total committed by the Sanborn County Commissioners. 

The addition was completed in February and has played host to various 4-H and community events.

A very successful part of the fundraising has been the “Shoot the 4 of Clubs” activity.  Each week tickets were sold for a Monday night drawing, usually hosted at Jake’s Lounge in Letcher. The drawing was shared via Facebook Live and participants did not need to be present to win.  The lucky winner of the weekly drawing picked a sealed and numbered envelope from a group of 54, each containing a card from a deck of cards.  The goal of the drawing winner was to pick the envelope containing the four of clubs, which meant they would win 50 percent of the Shoot the 4 of Clubs “cumulative pot.” If they did not pick the envelope with the 4 of Clubs, the lucky winner still received 10 percent of the weekly ticket sales. The remainder of the ticket sales went towards the cumulative pot. The tickets from the weekly sales were then discarded and sales for the next week began.  

…Read on and see a picture in this week’s issue of the Sanborn Weekly Journal!

Pictured is 241st Street in Sanborn County. It is straight east of the Letcher corner on SD Highway 37. The culvert got washed out due to the excessive rains received in the area last week.

Like Luke Bryan says in his popular country hit, “Rain is a Good Thing,” most South Dakotans hate to complain about getting a few inches of rain this time of year, but too much is too much, as was determined by most of the area after nearly nine inches fell in some areas and even more in others. 

Sanborn County was inundated with rain starting on Monday, June 17, which canceled most activities on Tuesday morning. The weather took a break on Wednesday and then poured most of the day on Thursday and, once again, canceled activities until Friday. By the end of the week, there were reports of basements flooding, sump pumps not being able to keep up, roads closed and crops destroyed. 

…Read on and see an additional picture in this week’s issue of the Sanborn Weekly Journal!

YANKTON – Sister Carol Jean VanDenHemel, OSB, celebrated her 25th jubilee of monastic profession on June 15 at Sacred Heart Monastery, Yankton. S. Carol Jean is the oldest of three daughters born to Jim and Shirley VanDenHemel of Woonsocket. She attended Mount Marty University for one year before transferring to Northern State University in Aberdeen, where she earned a degree in English Education with minors in Speech and Theater in 1997. In 2010, S. Carol Jean earned a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from Marquette University. Attending many youth retreats, experiencing a prayer partner while at MMU, learning about the Oblate program, and participating in a summer “Learn and Earn” program at the monastery helped in her discernment. 

“My call to religious life has consistently been a call to community. I’ve had the opportunity to live in [communities] not only at the Monastery but also in smaller convent communities wherever we have ministered to the faithful. In all these communities, my sisters have been there to encourage, console, and celebrate with their prayer and presence.” 

S. Carol Jean made her first vows at Sacred Heart Monastery in August 1999 and final vows in 2003. 

Beginning her teaching ministry at Cedar Catholic Junior High in Hartington, Neb., S. Carol Jean then taught at O’Gorman High School in Sioux Falls, Nativity Jesuit Academy in Milwaukee, Wis., and is currently in her 13th year at Mount Michael Benedictine High School in Elkhorn, Neb., where she teaches freshman and junior Theology.

“The opportunity to share our Benedictine charism, values, and stories as a part of teaching theology has been a joy. I love teaching at MM, building community at our all-boys school.”

A lifelong learner, S. Carol Jean’s service has included the Central Forensics Conference (while at O’Gorman), the Accreditation Committee at Mount Michael, the Monastery Council, and the Mount Marty University Board of Trustees. She is also a member of the monastery’s Public Relations Committee. 

There will be a celebration for VanDenHemel during 8:30 a.m. Mass at St. Wilfrid Church in Woonsocket on Sunday, June 23, with a reception to follow.

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

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