Friends and relatives gathered at the Bonnie Johnson and Dave Dobesh homes in Gregory, SD, for the 4th of July parade and picnic. Attending was the weekend guest Terri Frank of Beresford, SD, as well as Joyce Heath of Winner, SD; and also Kevin and Lorie Wagner of Winner, SD, and their guests, sons Travis and Tyler and kids; Janet Kahler of Rapid City, SD; Heath “Doc” Hitchcock, Lincoln and Emerson, of Newport, NE, and Brent Roggow and family from Mills, NE, were also guests to watch the parade. The Ekroth family were annual parade-watchers also.

The certification deadline for reporting spring planted crops to the South Dakota FSA offices is July 15, 2024. Farmers and ranchers are encouraged to contact the FSA Office in Burke, SD at 775-9122, ext. 2, for an appointment to timely report their crop acreages.

oem The Fourth of July has always been a special day to me. It’s our nation’s birthday, of course.

When Edith Kohl and her sister, Ida Mary, struggled to “prove up” their claim midway between Fort Pierre and Presho, they did not seem to be aware that they were part of a large army of women homesteaders. “Girl Homesteaders,” as they were called at that time have received limited attention from historians and officials.

I wanted to take a moment and express how much our family enjoyed the Independence Day celebrations that took place last week in Gregory. We had a number of relatives visiting from out of state and everyone had a great time.

Dear Editor, I read the latest barrage of fabrications from Dan Anderson in the July 3 Gregory Times-Advocate in which he sneers at me, calls me a liar, dumb, the whole nine yards, pretty much what I expect from a radical Leftist who hates everything I love and everyone I hold in high regard. What is truly shocking and sickening is the utter disregard Mr. Andersson has for unborn babies; indeed, he doubled down and said that they are not people. So I ask, what, then, are they? Kittens? Puppies? Monkeys? Answer: Humans! Each “fertilized embryo” has a DNA sequence, a code, unique to that early-stage child and so is not part of his/her mother’s body like organs such as her heart, lungs, brain, etc. would be. This is an entirely separate person that our Triune Creator God recognizes and acknowledges as such. According to Jeremiah 1:4-5, “Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.’” Oh, but wait, there’s more. From Psalms 139: 13-16, “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. (A metaphor for the womb.) Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.’ You get the idea: even before we were conceived, we were future people, even if we would be placed in suspended animation - literal cold storage - for months or years.