Dancing into the past

Folks came to learn more about the historic Tretheway Pavilion. What they got was that and a lot more, as writer Paul Higbee teamed up with musician Gary Mule Deer for a rare evening of history and music last night (1/5/10) at the Spearfish Senior Citizen’s Center.

Some 50 people braved freezing temperatures and light snow to attend the January meeting of the Spearfish Area Historical Society.

Spearfish native Paul Higbee – who has presented many society programs over the years – was back to talk about the old Spearfish Park Pavilion, known these days as the Tretheway Pavilion.

Last year, the building was one of the first inductees into the South Dakota Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame.

“I didn’t know that buildings could be members of Halls of Fame,” Higbee quipped, “but it is – along with another building, the Arkota Ballroom in Sioux Falls,”

But the history of the Spearfish Park Pavilion pre-dates even its legendary rock ‘n roll era. Likely built in the 1920’s, the pavilion was a center of much activity – from roller skating to boxing. Of course, it was dancing that increasingly dominated the scene, especially after movies replaced much of the dancing in the old Matthews Opera House.

When Higbee asked how many in the audience had actually gone to dances at the pavilion – about half the crowd raised their hands. One lady volunteered that she’d danced there in the 1930s to Henry Phillips and the Ambassadors, a Lead group that was one of the more popular area bands.

But by the late ‘50s and into the ‘60s, it was rock ‘n roll that launched a new era for the pavilion. Artists like the Everly Brothers (at right), the Shirelles, Chubby Checker, Seals & Croft, Jerry Lee Lewis, and many others, scheduled shows at the pavilion – usually when they were on their way from one city to another, like Denver or Cheyenne to Minneapolis.

“This was music with an edge,” said Higbee, “and it was connected to booze, and fights, and cigarettes, and – yes, sex.” He noted that Gary Mule Deer once told him, while discussing the Spearfish park pavilion, that “rock and roll was about being defiant, and parents hated it!”

For kids growing up in that era, nighttime radio in western North America was dominated by the 50,000-watt powerhouse, “KOMA in Oklahoma.” The Oklahoma City station, at 1520 on the AM dial, would often mention the performers and dances scheduled throughout their wide listening area – including those at the “Spearfish Park Pavilion.” For most KOMA listeners, it was probably the first time they’d ever heard of the little town in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

By the 1970s, the pavilion happened upon hard times. Heating was becoming a big problem for the old white clapboard building, and by the 1980s there was even talk of tearing it down.

That’s when Mayor Wilbur Tretheway helped save the building. A generation earlier, Tretheway had been a member of the Henry Phillips band that played in the pavilion. The mayor helped lead a successful campaign to save and refurbish the building. Today, it carries his name.

Another fellow who’s no stranger to the pavilion is Gary Mule Deer. A surprise addition to the January program, Mule Deer spent nearly an hour singing and sharing anecdotes about the Spearfish Park Pavilion and the rock ‘n roll era.

Both Mule Deer and the Tretheway Pavilion were named to the South Dakota Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame last year. Higbee noted that another Spearfish resident – Larry Bell – is slated for induction into the Hall of Fame this year.

Our Spearfish History Gallery shares a bit more information and a few additional photos from the Tretheway Pavilion presentation.

Next month, history about Lookout Mountain will be shared by long-time resident Paul Dingeman. That program set for 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, February 2nd. As always, the public is invited, and there’ll be refreshments served after the program.

Tretheway Pavilion...quite a history!

“The Pavilion has always been a popular gathering site for weddings, dances, auctions, and other community events.”

So reads the City of Spearfish description of the Wilbur S. Tretheway Pavilion, located in the main city park in Spearfish, South Dakota. And while that short sentence suggests the array of social events that have taken place in the park building, there is much more to the story.

And it’s a story that will unfold Tuesday evening, January 5, 2010, when writer Paul Higbee presents a fresh perspective of the historic Tretheway Pavilion for the January program of the Spearfish Area Historical Society. His presentation begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Senior Citizens Center at 1306 Tenth Street in Spearfish.

Last year, the pavilion – named for one-time Mayor Wilbur Tretheway – was named to the South Dakota Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame.

Built in the early 20th century, the pavilion was the site for big band dances, roller skating, boxing, scouting activities, weddings, bingo, and a wide variety of school functions.

“Lots of people know about the big dances that drew thousands of young people to Spearfish in the early 1960s,” says Higbee, “but not everyone knows how major the performers were: the Everly Brothers, the Crickets, Jerry Lee Lewis, the Ronettes, Seals and Croft, Chubby Checker, and before they went country-western, Conway Twitty and Waylon Jennings.”

By the 1980s, the pavilion was nearly torn down, but Mayor Wilbur Tretheway led a successful campaign to refurbish it. According to Higbee, Tretheway had been a big band era musician who had played there.

“I always thought that was an interesting twist,” says Higbee, who says he hopes his January presentation will help people understand just how central the pavilion has been in the life of the community for some 90 years.

A Spearfish writer whose work frequently appears in South Dakota Magazine, Higbee has written for several national magazines, too. In 2000, he published a book about Spearfish history, which he says spurred his interest in researching the pavilion. Most recently, Higbee teamed up with photographer Les Voorhis in publishing “Bear Butte – Sentinel of the Plains,” just released this month.

Food Pantry campaign update

An onslaught of generous holiday giving has bolstered community contributions for the new Spearfish Community Food Pantry.

Having lost their lease earlier this year for their long-time location on South Colorado Boulevard, the pantry had been exploring possible new locations. Late in the year, discussions with the City of Spearfish resulted in a tentative agreement to move the facility to the Spearfish Aquatics and Recreation Center on North Main Street.

Individual and organizational contributions now total $20,500 toward the goal of $45,000 for necessary renovation, shelving, and other improvements required at the new location.

Once an agreement with the city is finalized and remodeling is completed, the pantry hopes to open the new facility in early 2010. Until that time, the Spearfish Community Food Pantry is operating out of the RamVac building, located across the street from the Walmart store in south Spearfish.

Four tons of food...and counting!

Spearfish area scouts went door-to-door Saturday (12/12/09) collecting more than 8,342 pounds of food during the annual Boy Scout Food Drive for the Spearfish Community Food Pantry.


After enduring some near-record low temperatures earlier in the week, Mother Nature was kind to the Boy Scouts and the Food Pantry, providing a clear and calm day with temperatures "soaring" to about 40 degrees.

“It was a great day and a great turnout,” said Pantry President Evonne Welsh. “It was fun to see the kids and leaders in their scout uniforms.”

Expressing appreciation on behalf of the pantry Board of Directors and the many pantry volunteers, Welsh went on to say, “Every year we have this food drive, it seems the folks of Spearfish hearts get bigger and bigger. What a great place to live!”

The enormous outpouring of support was a great boon to the food pantry, which is housed in a temporary location at 3100 First Avenue (Suite #2) across from the Walmart store in south Spearfish. The pantry lost its lease at its previous location and is in the final throes of finalizing a permanent facility at the Spearfish Recreation Center in north Spearfish.

In addition to the many Boy Scouts canvassing the Spearfish community, dozens of other volunteers -- young and old alike -- pitched in to help make the drive a smashing success.

We snapped a few additional pictures during the receiving and sorting of food at the pantry. Take a peek in our Pantry Gallery.


Of special note is the photograph shown here. Three long-time pantry volunteers -- all members of the Board of Directors -- took a breather at the end of the Boy Scout Food Drive. Shown left-to-right are President Evonne Welsh, Marie Post, and Roberta Engesser. Marie, a Board representative from the United Methodist Church, is stepping down from the Board after 13 years of service to the pantry. Well done, Marie, and thank you!

The Spearfish Community Food Pantry provides nutritional assistance to individuals and families in the Spearfish and St. Onge, South Dakota communities who identify themselves as in need of food to feed themselves and their families. While continuing to provide this valuable assistance, the pantry is in the midst of a fundraising campaign to raise some $45,000 to modify their planned new home at the Spearfish Recreation Center. Thus far, they've raised just over $15,000 towards that goal.

For more information about the Spearfish Community Food Pantry, call 642-0940.

A run for food...

Eleven hardy souls braved the cold late Saturday afternoon (12/5/09) to participate in the Mistletoe Mile Fun Run and Walk in downtown Spearfish and support the Spearfish Community Food Pantry.

Held as part of the Spearfish Downtown Business Association Christmas Stroll, the 11 holiday-clad competitors each contributed at least one non-perishable food item to the Food Pantry, which is in the throes of a drive to raise money for its new quarters at the Recreation Center, while continuing to provide food to needy residents in the Spearfish area.

Entrants gathered at 6th and Main at about 3:30 p.m., hitching a ride to the Spearfish Rec Center, where they donated their food items and hit the starting line for the Mile-Long trek back downtown.

A light wind – blessedly behind them as they ran south toward downtown – the runners were escorted by a squad car of the Spearfish Police Department.

Prizes were given for race winners and “Best Dressed” entries for the holiday event. We don’t yet know the names of all the winners – but you’ll see their faces in our Pantry Gallery. They’re all winners in our book…..helping the Spearfish Food Pantry in its continuing effort to provide food to needy residents in the Spearfish area. You can click on this photo to see a larger image of these good folks.

The Food Pantry was located on South Colorado Boulevard for many years, but lost its lease on that building earlier this year – forcing them to relocate. Thanks to the cooperation and support of local businessman Bob Meyer, the Food Pantry has taken up temporary quarters in a building across from the Walmart store in south Spearfish.

The pantry is now in a campaign to raise some $45,000 to remodel space at the Rec Center in north Spearfish. The City of Spearfish has made space available in the facility, but it’s up to the pantry to pay for necessary work in remodeling the northwest corner of the building.

At last report, some $14,545 had been raised. Persons wishing to support this initiative may mail their tax-deductible contribution to the Spearfish Community Food Pantry Building Fund, 3100 First St. - Suite 2, Spearfish, SD 57783, or leave their donation at Pioneer Bank and Trust or at city hall in Spearfish. For further information, call the pantry at 605-642-0940.

Barns of Lawrence County

When it’s a hot topic, even bitter cold weather won’t keep history buffs away! It was standing room only last night (12/1/09) at the Spearfish Senior Citizens Center as more than 75 folks crowded the hall for an incisive look at the images and histories of many “Barns of Lawrence County.”

Long-time SDSU County Extension Agent Leo Orme – now retired – was the speaker for the December meeting of the Spearfish Area Historical Society. Click on any of the photographs shown here, if you'd like to see a larger image.

All 42 barns included in Orme’s research are at least 50 years old. Many, of course, are even older. More than 2,000 photographs were taken as part of a project done about 10 years ago to document barns in Lawrence County. Asked if those barn photographs included any interior shots, Orme noted that most are “so full of stored stuff, that you can’t get any pictures inside.”

“We’d be here all night, if I tried to cover all 42 barns that I’ve researched,” said Orme, who shared the histories of more than a dozen barns among the many scattered across Lawrence County. Orme had worked with Bob and Ann Matheney in assembling an exhibit about the barns back in 2000. It was part of a display at the High Plains Western Heritage Center, which was a local sponsor of a national Smithsonian Institution traveling exhibit about barns.

A native of Colorado, Orme came to South Dakota in 1959 to lead a U.S. Fish and Wildlife project at the McNenny Fish Hatchery west of Spearfish. As a 4-H leader, and later as an SDSU Extension Agent, he became well acquainted with agricultural interests in the region, including many of the barns included in his research.

Orme said he’s hoping to publish a book on the barns of Lawrence County sometime in the future. At right is one of the interesting barns included in his research. It belongs to Ralph and Becky Crago and is located near the Red Water River just north of Spearfish. A few snapshots from this December meeting can be found in our History Gallery.

A more contemporary structure – but one of great popularity these days – is the Tretheway Pavilion in the Spearfish City Park. That’ll be the topic of the January gathering of the Spearfish Area Historical Society, when veteran writer Paul Higbee shares the history of the pavilion. His presentation will be at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, January 5, 2010, and the public is invited to attend.

Homestake - It isn't over

Long an economic powerhouse for the region, Homestake Mine operated for more than 125 years and was the deepest – and most productive – gold mine in North America. It closed its doors in 2002. With the people of South Dakota as new owners and an eye on science, the once prolific gold mine has started a transformation that – if and when completed – promises to make it a top-flight international research laboratory.

“The game isn’t over,” says Dr. Jose Alonso, a nuclear astrophysicist who spent 30 years at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California before heading up the Sanford Underground Laboratory at Homestake. He is now director emeritus.

“One should be aware that the game isn’t over yet. The fine print on the selection was…IF the underground lab is going to be built in the United States, it will be built at Homestake.”

Alonso said the $15 million set aside to prepare a Preliminary Design Report isn’t nearly enough. Some $500 million will be needed to actually build the lab, with about half of that amount going for infrastructure – the rest for experiments. It’ll likely be some three years before we know if Congress will actually appropriate the funds for the project.

But that point didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of a couple of dozen folks who filled a downstairs room at the Adams Museum in Deadwood last Thursday (11/19/09). The museum strutted its stuff by hosting a terrific double-barreled presentation that focused on both the past and the future of Homestake. Author Steven Mitchell and scientist Dr. Jose Alonso teamed up with The Adams, the Deadwood Historic Preservation Commission, and Black Hills State University to present an all-afternoon presentation called “Homestake: Its Past and Its Future.”

With an impressive array of incisive historical research and compelling photographic images, Mitchell set the stage with a journey into both the history of the peoples and the geology of the Black Hills region. A life-long resident of the Black Hills, Mitchell holds degrees from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, but he belied his academic training and career as a mining engineer by demonstrating a gift for storytelling based on well-documented facts.

Reaching back to the Treaty of 1851 that sought to settle tribal territorial disputes and stabilize the precarious relations between the American Indians and westward-migrating settlers, Mitchell also shared details about the Great Reconnaissance Act of 1853 to explore the west, primarily in search of routes for expanding rail transportation. With the discovery of gold in the Black Hills in 1874 came an onslaught of entrepreneurs, many of whom became the stuff of legends.

Homestake Mine is the focus of Mitchell’s new book, Nuggets to Neutrinos: The Homestake Story. From early mining claims and extraction techniques to wily business strategies and modern technology, Mitchell seemed to cover all bases right up to the closure of the mine. He discussed several significant reclamation projects that have occurred in recent years, laying the groundwork for development of a deep underground science and engineering laboratory.

After a short intermission, the focus moved from the past to the future. Dr. Jose Alonso talked about the transition of Homestake, providing a chronology of the scientific and political maneuvering that have occurred in the last few years. Once a director of the Sanford Underground Laboratory at Homestake, he remains a champion for the project and serves as emeritus director.

Alonso walked the audience step-by-step through the “bureaucratic” solicitation process that proponents of the underground lab have followed in seeking approval for funding from the National Science Foundation.

In 2006, between the political advocacy of Governor Mike Rounds and a $70 million gift from the deep pockets of T. Denny Sanford, Homestake had “stacked the deck” against its challenger, Henderson Mine in Colorado. Barrick donated the mine – 186 surface acres – to the State of South Dakota, and Homestake had secured a $120 million war chest that could be spent to get things going early. This was an enormous advantage for Homestake – giving them a three or four year head start. It was a very enviable position in the pursuit of a world-class underground laboratory. And Alonso said there was something else that made Homestake more attractive to scientists.

“Henderson is an operating molybdenum mine… and continues to operate…and it’s very clear when you are there, even as a guest, their first interest – bottom line – is mining. So you are really a second class citizen there. You have certain case times, you have certain things you can do, certain things you cannot do. You have little control over schedule, resources, or anything else.”

“Over here (Homestake), science owns the mine. And that is huge.”

By July of 2007, the National Science Foundation endorsed a recommendation from a 22-member independent panel that tapped Homestake as the site for a University of California-Berkeley design proposal for a DUSEL (Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory).

Alonso laid out the NSF timetable for awarding the $500 million to actually build the underground laboratory, noting that much more than $15 million is needed for the preliminary design phase – to be completed next year – probably something on the order of $75 million. With a final approval from NSF expected in May 2011, the $500 million project would have to be funded by Congress, and it would likely be a part of the federal FY 2013 budget request. That would require Congressional approval by about October of 2012.

If the costly and somewhat complicated funding process is a bit confusing – it pales compared to the esoteric but significant science projects on the drawing boards. In fact, early science projects are already being planned or are underway. Dr. Alonso’s animated enthusiasm for the projects may not have been enough to keep a few of us luddites in the audience on the edge of our seats, but many of the late afternoon hangers-on were themselves scientists or budding researchers, anxious to talk science with the dynamic Doctor Alonso.

Even using lay terminology, Alonso’s efforts to shine a light of nuclear astrophysics knowledge into the dark recesses of a few unscientific minds in the audience was probably fruitless. But his unrestricted enthusiasm and lively exchanges with tekkies in the audience was almost mesmerizing. “Fuzzy science” took on a somewhat different meaning as the good doctor covered the scientific landscape all the way from the “Coulomb Barrier” and “Gamow Peak” (which are not remote holiday getaways) all the way to “Neutrino Double Beta Decay!” And we’re still in the dark regarding planned “Dark Matter” experiments.

Nonetheless, this was a rare afternoon of enlightenment – even if much of the scientific gobbledy-gook flew over the head of this History major.

We’d gladly camp out on the doorstep of the Adams Museum for the opportunity to participate in another such session. For Mary Kopco and the folks at The Adams Museum and House, it was another excellent event – helping to inform and inspire area residents about the wealth of history and resources in the Black Hills. Resources that will one day likely include a fully-operational, world class deep underground laboratory.

And then it really won’t be over. It’ll be just the beginning.