Ever feel like an underdog like your adversaries are so well funded, so well connected, and so powerful that no matter what you might do, you know darn well nothing will change? Well…get over it because we have work to do! So let me lay out this story: Over 100 years ago, Congress was concerned that monopolistic beef packers were forcing farmers and ranchers out of business and citizens were going to be faced with artificially high beef prices or perhaps even food shortages. So, they passed what was called the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921.

A celebration of the holiday season is represented by fireworks filling the sky to honor Independence Day. While it’s a fun opportunity to acknowledge the holiday, the Better Business Bureau encourages consumers to safely navigate the process of securing and lighting off fireworks over the coming days. The Better Business Bureau reminds consumers to consider best practices when buying and using fireworks during the holiday season.

“South Dakota is hiring. As the first state to bounce back from the pandemic, we’ve got one of the nation’s strongest economies – and more jobs than we can fill.” That’s my own line from one of our new nationwide workforce recruitment ads, “Freedom Flows Here.” I’ve been talking about South Dakota’s “growing pains” for a while.

It all started with an ad in the Missouri Gazette & Public Advertiser of St. Louis on Wednesday mor n i n g , Feb. 13, 1822. The big news in St. Louis that week was an ad, signed by William H. Ashley, which had been gossip in the local taverns for the past five months. The ad read: “TO Enterprising Young Men. The subscriber wishes to engage ONE HUNDRED MEN to ascend the river Missouri to its source, there to be employed for one, two, or three years. -- For particulars, enquire of Major Andrew Henry, near the Lead Mines, in the County of Washington (who will ascend with, and command the party) or to the subscriber at St. Louis. William H. Ashley” Major Henry had gone to the mountains as early as 1808. During the next three years, he crossed the continental Divide to the Snake and Columbia rivers. Dissension within the small company and the War of 1812 stopped all trading and trapping in the northwest. If anyone was qualified to re-establish the American fur trade in 1822, it was Henry.

Gregory is known for its Fourth of July celebrations, and this year’s lineup does not disappoint. The following is a rundown of activities scheduled, but because the weather and other factors aren’t always predictable, check the Gregory&Dallas (no spaces) Facebook page for the latest updates.

Twins Marlene Rezac and Marcy Creekmur will be the parade marshals for this year’s Fourth of July parade. The two women are well known throughout both the Gregory and Burke communities for their tireless work fighting against hunger.