John A. Den Boer, 75, of Dell Rapids passed away unexpectedly at his home Monday, July 10, 2017. Funeral services will begin at 10:30 AM Friday, July 14, 2017 at Reformed Church in Dell Rapids. Burial will be in Logan Reformed Church Cemetery, rural Dell Rapids. Visitation with the family present will be from 5:00 to 7:00 PM with a Prayer service at 7:00 PM Thursday, July 13, 2017 at Minnehaha Funeral Home in Dell Rapids. John was preceded in death by his wife, Eldine; parents and a brother-in-law, Loren Wiese. He is survived by his daughter, Barb (Terry) Kriens of Dell Rapids; daughter, Laura (John) Vortherms of Dell Rapids; son, Kevin (Helene) Den Boer of Hendersonville, North Carolina; 5 grandchildren, Janilyn Klein, Macey Kriens, Derrick Vortherms, Kaitlyn Vortherms and Vega Den Boer; great-grandchildren, Terryn and Korbin Klein. He is also survived by brothers, Willis (Kathy) Den Boer, Darold (Joanne) Den Boer and Peter (Arlyce) Den Boer; sisters, Judy Wiese and Jean (Randy) Zomer and brothers and sisters-in-law Roger (Hilaine) Kempema and Norman (Deb) Kempema. minnehahafuneralhome.com
Dell Rapids Youth Baseball Places Well in MinnDak Tourneys
Four of nine Dell Rapids teams took home first or second place in the 2017 MinnDak “End-of-the-Year” tournaments Friday, July 7th, through Sunday, July 9th. The Midget tournament was held in Humboldt, and the Pee Wee tournament was held in Colton.
Dell Rapids had three Pee Wee teams play in the Gold Bracket and three teams play in the Bronze Bracket. Dell Rapids T&C and Dell Rapids ERC competed in a very exciting back-and-forth championship game in Colton. The game ended with T&C taking first place and ERC finishing second. The Dells Nursing and Rehab Center team placed first in the Bronze Bracket also in Colton.
Dell Rapids youth baseball had one Midget team play in the Gold Bracket and two teams play in the Silver Bracket. Dell Rapids Jody’s Collision played their way to a second place finish in Humboldt.
Dell Rapids had three teams play in Midgets (ages 11-12), six teams play in Pee Wees (ages 9-10), four teams in the Transition League (ages 7-8), and five teams play in Coach Pitch (ages 6&U) in the 2017 baseball season. The MinnDak League consists of teams from Baltic, Crooks/Colton, Dell Rapids, Flandreau, Garretson, Hills/Beaver Creek, and Humboldt.
Joyce Wigton
Joyce Carroll Wigton died unexpectedly Wednesday, July 5, 2017, at her residence in Marshall. On-line condolences may be left at the Rehkamp Horvath Funeral Home website.
Joyce was born Feb. 20, 1941, in Hope Township, Lincoln County, to Clarence and Mabel (Peterson) Wigton. As a young child, she suffered through Polio. She lived in a variety of communities including Faribault, St. Peter and Willmar before moving to Marshall in 1979. She lived at REM Fairview and worked for Advance Opportunities. Joyce was always smiling. She enjoyed wearing hats and looking good. She also enjoyed playing cards, singing, and going for car rides, especially if they involved going over bumps or enjoying views of water or the railroad.
She is survived by her siblings Clarissa Breyfogle of Garretson, S.D., Jean (and Vernon) Popowski of Staples, Jerry Wigton of Mesa, Ariz., Betty Wigton of Dell Rapids, S.D., Clarence (and Lynn) Wigton of Tracy; nieces, nephews, many friends, housemates at REM and co-workers at Advance Opportunities. She was preceded in death by her parents, brothers Louis and Lee and brother-in-law James Breyfogle.
Bathhouse in Dell Rapids Could See Updates
Could the Gina Smith Campbell Bathhouse at City Park in Dell Rapids see preserving and restoring updates? It could according to Dell Rapids Mayor Tom Earley.
Mayor Earley gave an update to the Dell Rapids City Council during their regular meeting on Monday, July 3rd, about a meeting he had with South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard and Linda Daugaard. The Daugaards and Mayor Earley met earlier in the day on July 3rd. It was indicated to Mayor Earley that the Duagaards have some interest in providing support to preserve and/or partially restore the bathhouse. Some of the ideas that were reported to the council were to put together a working group to assess the building and provide some basic options that could make the facility usable again. To help on costs of a project like this, the hope is that some of the people in the working group might be able to donate materials and do in-kind-service work on the building. Funding for some of this type of work could come money provided by the city, monetary or work-in-kind donations from interested community members, and potentially a matching donation by Governor Daugaard. The facility should also be eligible for grant dollars given out by the Deadwood Historic Preservation Commission’s Outside of Deadwood Grant Program. Application deadlines for those grant dollars are January 2nd, 2018, and June 2nd, 2018.
The Gina Smith Campbell Bathhouse was dedicated on July 4th, 1934 after being built by the Dell Rapids Park Board and the Dell Rapids City Council in coordination with the Civil Works Administration. The bathhouse was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 10th, 1986.
The ideas of projects to restore and preserve the bathhouse are in the very early stages of talks. However, there does seem to be interest in making the bathhouse usable again.
Mary Gilmore
Mary Alice Gilmore was born November 28, 1920 in Walt Hill, NE to parents John L. and Blanche P. (Tuttle) Irby. She passed away July 1, 2017 at the Centerville Care and Rehab Center at the age of 96 years.
Mary received her elementary education in Walt Hill, Nebraska, graduated from high school in Staples, MN, and graduated in 1939 from the Interstate Business College in Fargo, ND. She married Lewis Gilmore on May 29, 1940 in Staples, MN. The couple eventually moved to Centerville, SD where Mary has resided until the present time.
Mary worked in medical, legal and retail offices and was employed by Nervig Travel for 28 years, retiring in 1987. She was a travel agent and tour escort. She had visited 90 different locales during her career and visited Hawaii over 30 times. She was a member of Scandia Lutheran Church where she was active in the Ladies Aid and was a Cancer Care volunteer at Our Saviors Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls. Mary was fond of quoting “If the Lord is with me, who can be against me?” She will be dearly missed by her family and all those who knew her. God bless her memory.
Her survivors include four children, Jan (Bob) Steadman, Centerville, SD, Barbara (Chuck) King, Winchester, TN, Michael (Jean) Gilmore, Dell Rapids, SD and Susan (Jerry) Foster, Rapid City, SD; 14 grandchildren, 21 great grandchildren, 1 great, great grandchild and many relatives and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, daughter Sheree Deaderick, son Douglas Gilmore, 4 brothers and 3 sisters.
Memorial services will be held 1:00 PM, Friday, July 7, 2017 at Scandia Lutheran Church, Centerville, SD. On-line condolences may be left at the Wass Funeral Home website.
Dell Rapids Legion Baseball Goes 5-1 in 5 Day Stretch
The Dell Rapids Legion baseball team played six games in a five day stretch and finished with a 5-1 record over that time. The six games included a home game against Hartford/Humboldt, and away game at McCook/Montrose, and then four games at the Milt Simons Tournament at Harmodon Park in Sioux Falls.
Dell Rapids started the string of games with a 13-3 win over Hartford/Humboldt at Rickeman Field on Wednesday, June 28th. Prior to the game, the team hosted the first ever “Veteran’s Day at the Ballpark”. On the next night, Dell Rapids traveled to McCook/Montrose and earned a 7-3 victory. The win ended a 15-game winning streak for McCook/Montrose.
Dell Rapids then took their 12-0 record to Sioux Falls for the Milt Simons Tournament on Friday, June 30th, through Sunday, July 2nd. Dell Rapids picked up a 2-0 win on Friday in the opening round of pool play against Sioux Falls Post 15 West. They followed that with another pool-play win against Winner/Colome by a score of 6-1 on Saturday. Dell Rapids also won their third pool play game to finish with a 3-0 record. The final win came against Aberdeen by a score of 19-12 on Saturday. The 3-0 pool play record put Dell Rapids into the semifinals on Sunday morning. West Central handed Dell Rapids their first loss of the season by a score of 6-3.
Dell Rapids (14-1) will host Tabor in a double-header on Monday, July 3rd, at Rickeman Field.
Dell Rapids Legion Baseball Team Hosts Veteran’s Night at the Ballpark
The Dell Rapids Legion baseball team hosted the first ever Veteran’s Night at the Ballpark prior to their game against Hartford/Humboldt on Wednesday, June 28th, at Rickeman Field in Dell Rapids.
“Tonight is a special night as we honor our veterans with our first Veteran’s Night at the Ballpark,” said Dane Stone.
Prior to the game, veterans were treated to a free meal of hamburgers or brats. There was also a table of veteran resources available provided by 211 Helpline Center. Steve Enos from Community Action for Veterans was also present and shared with the veterans. The veterans were then honored with a short program prior to the start of the game and received free admission to the game.
Dell Rapids went on to defeat Hartford/Humboldt 13-3.
30th Annual Quarry Days a Big Hit in Dell Rapids
With blue skies and near perfect temperatures in the lower 70s all weekend, the 30th Annual Dell Rapids Quarry Days was a huge success for the Dell Rapids Chamber of Commerce. Some of the comments around town and on social media have praised the chamber for an outstanding weekend.
“Best Quarry Days in the 22 years we’ve lived here. Well done!,” said one comment on Facebook. 
Another comment on Facebook said, “A huge shout out to the Chamber. This year’s Quarry Days was as close to perfect as it gets!”
The Dell Rapids Chamber had a mix of classic Quarry Day events along with some new events for the 30th annual celebration. The celebration started on Friday, June 23rd with the Quarry Days Golf Tournament. Other classic events over the weekend included the ESA 5k Run/Walk, parade, 3-on-3 basketball tournament, vendors in the park, L.G. Everist train rides, fishing derby, “Blast from the Past” car show, and the fireworks display to close out the event on Sunday, June 25th.
Some of the newer events this year included an Ag Olympics put on by the Dell Rapids FFA, co-ed sand volleyball tournament, Dell Rapids firefighters obstacle course and smokehouse, Champions Forever Crevier basketball spectacular, and Dueling Duo. 
This year’s street dance also featured two bands. The Brandon Jones Band opened the street dance at 7:00 p.m., and then Judd Hoos rocked the crowed late into the night on Saturday, June 24th. There was a near-record attendance of over 1,200 at this year’s street dance.
Dell Rapids Chamber board members have said that this year’s celebration may have been the most well-attended in recent years throughout the entire weekend of events.
Dell Rapids Community Blood Drive Scheduled July 6th
Dell Rapids, SD- Avera Dells Area Health Center and Community Blood Bank will host a community blood drive on Thursday, July 6 from 7:00am to 11:00am and 12:30pm to 2:30pm at Avera Dells Area Health Center.
“The first few weeks of summer have been difficult keeping up with demands. We have been on the edge of a critical needs appeal and are in need of all blood types to keep up the supply,” states Rita Nelson, Donor Consultant, Community Blood Bank. “As more people travel on the road and water ways throughout the summer, unexpected situations that require blood transfusions occur more frequently. Maintaining healthy blood supply levels ensures quick response to those needs within the community and allows for seasonal upswings in blood usage.”
The only way Community Blood Bank can meet the needs of the hospitals it serves is through volunteer blood donors donating blood at blood drives. Community Blood Bank uses 550 unit of blood per week to service 34 local hospitals including Avera Dells Area Health Center, Sanford Medical Center, Avera McKennan Hospital, VA Medical Center and Avera Heart Hospital.
Donors must be at least 17 years of age (16 years old with a signed parent consent form), weigh 110 lbs or more and be in good general health. Please bring an ID with you. It is recommended that donors eat and drink plenty of fluid prior to donating blood.
The donation process only takes 25 – 30 minutes on the bloodmobile. For appointments or more information call 428-5431 or log onto www.cbblifeblood.org. Walk-ins are welcome.
Anne “Annie” Getty
Anne M. “Annie” Getty, 77, died Fri., June 23, 2017. Her funeral service will be 11 AM Tue., June 27 at George Boom Funeral Chapel in Brandon. Visitation begins at 5 PM Mon., June 26 at the funeral chapel in Brandon, where the family will greet friends from 5-7 PM. On-line condolences may be left at the George Boom Funeral Home website.
Survivors include 3 children, Amanda (Lee) Thedens, Sioux Falls, Adam Getty, Brandon, Connie (Chris) Noe, Tecumseh, KS; 5 grandsons, Dustin Lickteig, Sioux Falls, Nick (Abbie) Lickteig, Dell Rapids, SD, Derrick Getty, Parker, SD, Christopher Noe II, Topeka, KS, Maxwell Noe, Tecumseh, KS; and 1 great-grandson, Blake Getty, Parker, SD.