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On Jan. 23, Brandon people can give their ideas for this year’s American Festival. The 7 p.m. meeting will be held in the Sioux Valley Energy Community Room.

What a great opportunity to brainstorm. What kinds of things do you think the American Festival should include, besides the regular activities like the parade, contests, barn dance and prayer breakfast? Sometimes, the festival includes kite flying or a pet show. Over the years, lots of activities have been part of the festival.

But what about this year? Never mind about what it might take to pull off an idea. Just think big. I can’t wait until the meeting on the 23rd, so here are some ideas to start with:

- Set some kind of record to get into the Guinness Book.
- Have a rock, paper, scissors tournament. The winner could get some (paper) money.
- Hold a May Basket contest, since the American Festival is the first weekend in May. All the baskets entered could then be given to charity.
- A pool tournament at Helping Hand.
- Invite a band or some other group from another town named Brandon to perform.
- The local hot air balloon club could launch from Brandon and give tethered rides.
- Skywriters.
- Fireworks.
- Bowling tournament.
- Health fair.

Does anybody know how Russell Stough is doing? He is the man who was in the hunting accident in December when his dog stepped on his gun and it went off, shooting him in the arm. He had to have part of his arm amputated.

I hope he is recovering quickly. If you know how he is, please let us know. Thanks.

For the last few days, people who have tried to post a comment here have gotten a message asking them to log on. That was a problem with this site and has been fixed. You should be able to post a comment easily on this blog now.

If you have any problems, call 331-2376.

“There oughtta be a law.” We’ve all heard it, or said it. Well, legislators can’t make laws that never occur to them, and they can’t know which laws we want if we never tell them. So we’d better tell them, especially with the 2007 Legislative Session opening Jan. 9. There are bound to be a lot of hot issues, just like any year. Campaign finance reform will probably be a big one, and District 10 Representative Roger Hunt probably will be near the center of that debate, since he refused to divulge the name(s) of the person(s) who donated $750,000 to campaign against abortion in the last election.

Education funding is always on the agenda, and other carry-over topics from last year will probably include the cigarette tax and abortion.

Let your legislators know how you feel about these topics. or whatever topics are important to you. Here’s how to reach them:

Sen. Gene Abdallah, Republican, 4908 S Glenview Road, Sioux Falls, SD 57108-4707. Phone: 338-0544.

Rep. Roger Hunt, Republican, PO Box 827, Brandon, SD 57005-0827. Phone: 582-3865.

Rep. Shantel Krebs, Republican, 8704 E Saddle Creek Road, Sioux Falls, SD 57110. Phone: 351-5916.

To contact a legislator by e-mail, log on at http://legis.state.sd.us/email/LegislatorEmail.aspx.

To learn more about the South Dakota Legislature, including a 2007 session calendar, log on at http://legis.state.sd.us/email/LegislatorEmail.aspx.

On Jan. 8 at 5:30 p.m., head over to the middle school t6 take a gander at the new additions, during the school’s ribbon cutting and open house.

And I know the Holly Boulevard project is all settled, but wouldn’t it have been great if part of the plan was to reroute the main driveway of the school to the east. Yes, that would have created more congestion on Maple Avenue, but that is a road less traveled. Traffic on Holly Boulevard would have been lighter. And vehicles could have gotten to a Maple Avenue entrance from eithe r the north or the south.

In any case, whether you have a student in middle school or not, try to get over there for the open house and see what your tax dollars have bought you.

More best/worst of 2006

Best long-term plan: The Brandon Community Fund, which will provide money to worthy people and groups in Brandon for many years to come.

Best new resident: Prairie Repertory Theatre, which uses the Brandon Valley Performing Arts Center as one of its homes, with performances throughout the summer.

Worst hullabaloo: The public meetings hashing out plans for Holly Boulevard. There’s no plan that will make 8,000 residents, plus all visitors, happy. The final plan might be the best compromise, but it is, let’s say, a stone’s throw from being ideal.

Most unusual visitor: Waylon Dean Miller-Honken, who was born in the Coffee Cup Fuel Stop parking lot in July.