BrandonInfo.com

When I was a kid, we used to ice skate at a makeshift rink over by the high school. That spot is now part of the parking lot, and there is a better rink nearby. But that rink might get paved over too. The school wants to extend a driveway through where the rink is now. Problem is, the city has a lease on that spot.

The school asked the city to get out of the lease. The city said no.

What’s the school to do? Wait until the lease ends? Offer to pay for moving the rink so the city doesn’t have a reason to refuse any more? The school did offer to pay half the cost of moving the rink, after the city requested it.

Do you ice skate? Have you skated on the rink in question? Is it a pretty good rink, or just so-so? If you skate elsewhere, how come?

Do you think the rink should be paved over and that’s the end of it? Or do you think the rink should be relocated? (McHardy Park is the proposed new location.) Or do you think the rink should stay where it is for a few more years?

If you think the rink should be moved, who do you think should pay for that?

Can you think of a win-win-type solution the school or city hasn’t thought of? If so, what is it?

Baccalaureate will be held Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center at the high school. If you have a graduating senior, will he or she go?

Baccalaureate is a religious service sponsored by the Brandon Valley Ministerial Association. Students will participate in the service by reading scripture and providing music. Several of the student speakers are the same ones who will speak at commencement on Sunday.

When I graduated from Brandon Valley High School in 1975, I never considered skipping baccalaureate. I don’t remember anyone ever telling my class that it was optional, but I suppose it was, even back then. I do remember a couple of choir kids not singing certain songs at the Christmas concert because of their religious beliefs. Maybe those same people didn’t come to baccalaureate. I don’t know.

Do you think baccalaureate is a good tradition?

Have you noticed a white car driving very slowly (30 mph) on Rice Street on your way to work lately? Do you follow slowly or do you pass the car? There aren’t too many places to pass on the curvy road to Sioux Falls.

Have you compensated by leaving earlier for work? Have you passed in a no-passing zone? Have you called local law enforcement?

It’s frustrating to get stuck behind a slow moving vehicle when you’re on a schedule. I’m lucky in that I travel to work at times other than the rush hour. But I did encounter this white car once on my way home from work in the late afternoon/early evening.

The speed limit along Rice Street is 45 mph except for one stretch that is 55 mph. Is it a safety hazard to be driving along at 55 mph and then come around a curve and quickly have to slow to 30 mph to avoid rear-ending another vehicle?

Did you see either of the Democratic presidential hopefuls during their stops in Sioux Falls recently?

If so, what did you think of what they had to say? Did their stops here influence your choice for president?

If you didn’t go, why not?

There will be no school election this spring. Todd Egge was the only person to hand in a petition for the three-year term, so he gets the school board seat by default. He’ll replace Mike Klumpp, who did not run for re-election after two terms on the board.

Why only one candidate? Are people so satisfied with the job the school board is doing that they don’t feel the need to serve? Is it apathy on the public’s part?

Perhaps people are not willing to make the time commitment it takes to serve on the board.

With no election, there will be no campaining, and no issues will be discussed. How do you feel about that?

Anybody need a water tower? The city has an extra one that’s up for sale.

The city will open bids Thursday for the water tower that’s on the east side of town, near the golf course.

What’s a water tower worth, I wonder? What would someone do with it? What if nobody bids on it? What will the city do with it? Is it worth it to tear down just for the scrap metal?

The city is asking Brandon residents to voluntarily restrict their lawn watering this season. The city is asking people who live at even-numbered addresses to water only on even-numbered days, and likewise with odd-numbered addresses.

This policy is more liberal than the policy in Sioux Falls, where water restrictions will be enforced year-round.

At my house, we don’t water our lawn at all. Our reasoning is that the more lush the lawn is, the more work it creates. And we prefer leisure time over yard work. Well, that’s not entirely accurate. It seems like there is always a long list of household chores to do, and making a point of adding one more chore to the list, especially a self-perpetuating one, seems counterproductive.

Do you water your lawn? If so, will you follow the odd-even system?

There is an article in today’s Argus Leader (page 7A) that says Congress is trying to bring back the steel-made pennis of World War II and may be using steel for nickels too.

Why? Because it costs more than a penny – 1.26 cents – to make a penny. And it costs 7.5 cents to make a nickel. Every time the government makes these coins, it loses money.

Yet, I know many people who have a jar of pennies in their house.

Get those pennies back in circulation. Use them when you make purchases. Or just take them to the bank and have them replaced with folding money. If everyone kept pennies in circulation, the government would not have to consider making them out of steel. If everyone kept pennis in circulation, the government even might not have to make any more pennies.

Do you keep pennies or other coins in a jar, box, bowl, etc.?

Monday night, the city council went against a planning and zoning commission recommendation and granted a variance for a garage on property where there is not yet a house.

On several occasions in recent months, the council has gone against planning and zoning recommendations. We expect our elected officials, and our appointed ones as well, to do proper research before they make decisions that affect the future of our community. But when two city panels disagree with one another, how can citizens be confident the city is looking out for their best interests? Who is correct on these issues? The commission? Or the council?

We can’t just assume that the panel that gives the applicant what he wants is the right one. Certainly there are exceptions to every rule, and that’s why variances and conditional use permits exist. But city law has specific criteria for granting these exceptions. How can both panels follow the law and come up with opposite conclusions?

What are your thoughts?

The deadline for filing petitions for school board is Friday. But so far, no one has turned in a petition.

Three people have taken out petitions, though. They are Todd Egge, Holly Hauck and Paul VanDeBerg.

Which of these possible candidates would you support, if any? And why?

Apparently a tornado touched down last night east of Valley Springs.

It was a short outburst, but powerful. Did the storm damage anything where you live? Shingles gone? Trees down? Budding tulips wiped out?

I was at a church function yesterday evening and heard the storm sirens. We all had to go downstairs twice when the sirens blew.

Our Brandon Valley transportation director is retiring. Was Marlet Graue ever your bus driver? Were you on the trip to the USD medical school to see the cadavers? Maybe you were one of the naughty children who was suspended from the bus.

I know her as a self-assured, capable person.
What are your stories of Marlet?

Do you plan to attend the Loyalty Day Parade this Sunday? Have you attended in the past?

I marched in the parade in junior high and all through high school, because I was a band kid. Later, I photographed the parade for quite a few years, for the Brandon Valley Challenger. I even announced the parade for a year or two.

I remember marching band. I really enjoyed that. In fact, to this day, if I’m walking and there’s music, I find myself stepping in time to the music.

What are your Loyalty Day Parade memories?

Have you ridden in a MED-Star ambulance because of a medical emergency? How was your experience? Good, bad, or indifferent? Would you be willing to talk to me a few minutes for a story I am writing for the Brandon Valley Challenger?

Sorry, I can’t use blog posts in the story. Only comments with names.

If you are willing to be in the story, please e-mail me at apthiele@argusleader.com today. I need to finish the story by tonight.

Thank you.

What do you do with all the nature garbage on your lawn in the spring? I’m talking about fallen twigs, the dead grass left from last fall, and stuff like that.

I talked to one man who pays his garbage service more than $100 extra each year to haul it away.

I saw a neighbor yesterday raking her lawn. I know a lot of people do that each spring.

Should the city offer a spring brush day, similar to the fall leaf day, where people can bring their scrub and brush to a dumpster at a designated site? Would it be worth the cost to the city of doing that?

My father never raked in the spring. He said last year’s dead grass was a good insulator of this spring’s new grass as it broke through through the ground. Later, as the grass grew, you couldn’t see the old grass anyway, he said. He also didn’t like messing with leaves and twigs and branches, so he didn’t plant any trees on the property. He did think fir trees were ok. But not leafy trees that shed.

My husband has a mulch mower, so he never does any raking either. All the grass clippings get ground up and scattered on the lawn.

How do you handle things, though?

The first quarter ambulance report is on the agenda of tonight’s City Council meeting. Are you interested in knowing what’s in it?

The council meets at 6 p.m. at the city council chambers, 308 S. Main Ave.

Thursday night, school teachers, administrators and staff paired up with students for a dance competition. It was well attended and the proceeds went to a worthy cause.

What do you think of teachers and students having a social relationship? Do you think it could affect their school relationship?

We are counting down the weeks until the South Dakota Democratic primary. A column in Monday’s Argus Leader said that no matter who wins, Hillary Clinton or Barak Obama, the state will still vote mostly Republican in the general election in November.

That may be true. The republican presidential candidate generally carries South Dakota. But still, the people registered Democrat in this state must make their choice for the Democratic ticket.

Who do you favor? Clinton or Obama? What does each have in their favor? What are the disadvantages of either?

I remember going to my prom in my junior year with a group of girlfriends. We went to Ming Wah for dinner, and then we went to the dance. I don’t recall dancing. We girls had a good time. In my senior year, I stopped in at the prom dance briefly — 15 minutes maybe. Other than that, I don’t have any big prom memories.

However, the kids these days make the day very special. They get fancy clothes, rent limos and basically go all out. There is even an overnight trip to Worlds Of Fun amusement park in Kansas City.

How do you think today’s proms compare to the ones you had when you were in high school? Do you think the event is worth all the expense kids go to? If you were to plan prom, how would you do it differently?

Or do you think prom is a perfect blend of fun and frill, and you wouldn’t change a thing?

Nearly one-third of Brandon Valley students at Brandon Elementary, Robert Bennis Elementary and Brandon Valley Middle School are considered overweight or obese. Yet, that’s a lower percentage than the state as a whole.

Does that mean the parents and schools in Brandon are doing a good job of feeding the kids balanced diets and making sure they get exercise? Or is there still a lot of room for improvement?

Brandon Valley requires one semester of physical education for graduation. That is the minimum required by state law. Sioux Falls School District recently reduced their requirement from three semesters down to one. Is one enough? If you don’t think so, take into consideration all the extracurricular opportunities Brandon Valley students have to keep fit. There are school and league sports, open gyms, recess and other programs. Even with all these opportunities, is it enough?

Who should have the main responsibility for keeping our children fit? The school system? The parents? The children themselves?

What have you done at your house to ensure healthy eating for your family. At our house, we make sure every meal includes a vegetable. One problem is that we don’t eat many meals at home. My husband and I both take vitamin supplements. I know it would be better to get our nutrients through food, though, instead of vitamin pills. At our house, we are making some effort, but there is room for improvement.

What are your thoughts?