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Summer is vacation time, and our Brandon Valley neighbors get a real kick out of seeing where people visited. When you go out of town, take your Challenger along and take a “Challenger on the Road” picture.

Have you ever sent in a picture in the past? I have four times over the years. One was in Winnipeg, Canada. One was in front of the Argusville, N.D. city sign. I thought that one was fun because I work at the Argus Leader. One was at my friend’s 50th birthday party in Rapid City. And one was with a 15-foot-tall puppet at a puppet convention.

I always enjoy pictures where the background really tells you where the person is. I remember seeing one from Atlanta when the Olympics were there. I remember one in front of the Eiffel Tower.

I also enjoy pictures where the people are creative in the composition of the picture. I remember one where about seven people were lying on the floor in a circle, with their heads all up against what they said what the geographic center of Montana. There was a star painted on the floor of the hotel where the exact center was. That was fun.

Where will you be going this year? Will you take along your Challenger? Which “Challenger on the Road” pictures do you remember from the past that struck you in particular?

A blogger, on another thread, made this statement: “The people of Brandon should focus on education and positive things for our children to do as they grow up.”

That’s an interesting statement. I wonder what sorts of positive things for our children to do he or she has in mind.

I’m always in favor of chores for kids. Chores are very positive. They teach kids skills and responsibility and give them a sense of accomplishment.

Sometimes when I hear people talk about things for kids to do, they seem to be referring to forms of entertainment. They talk about movie theaters and skateboard parks and such like.

What kinds of things do you consider to be positive things for kids to do? Is it possible to get too much of a good thing? Is it in children’s best interest to make everything in their lives a positive experience? Can any of us appreciate the light if we’ve never seen the dark? Does going without, sometimes, build character?

How do you feel about the entrances to Brandon? A couple of bloggers brought up the topic on another thread, so let’s talk about it.

As you come into Brandon from the north on Interstate 90, you have a restaurant, hotel, gas station/convenience store, and some other businesses. You also have industry to the north and to the south, then apartments, residential and churches until you get to Holly Boulevard.

As you come into Brandon from the east on Aspen Boulevard, you basically are in the country and then come to Bethany Meadows. Farther on, there is residential, then the golf course and a park before you get to Splitrock Boulevard.
As you come into Brandon from the south on Highway 11, it’s unclear where the city border is. But the first sights you see that indicate you’re in (or near) a town are Oak Ridge Nursery and Huset’s Speedway.

As you come into Brandon from the west on Holly Boulevard, you first encounter The Bluffs, where there is residential and apartments. Farther on, you cross the river and there are storage units and a Casey’s store.

What do you think of these entrances to town? Following the theory that anything, no matter how nice it is, can be improved, how would you upgrade these entrances? A blogger on another thread suggested a brick sign saying “Brandon” with flowers planted around it.

At Christmastime, there is a lighted sign across Holly Boulevard at Sioux Boulevard. Maybe there could be a banner or lights there year ’round.

I’ll be happy after the 2010 census when the population signs can be updated. Right now they say Brandon’s population is 5,693. We know that right now, the population is closer to 8,000.

What are your thoughts?

Do you golf? Do you swim? Do you play ball? Picnic? Bicycle?

Which, if any, of the city amenities do you use?

I have to admit, I do not golf. I’ve been to functions at the Brandon Municipal Golf Course clubhouse, but the only time I’ve been down on the greens is to photograph golfers for the newspaper.

Of course not all people use all the amenities the city offers. But which do you use? There is the swimming pool, the ball park, the bike trail, and several city parks. At McHardy Park, there is a fishing pier, picnic area, sledding hill and playground equipment.

Which park is your favorite? How often do you ride the bike path? How much use do you get out of city amenities? What other amenities would you like to see the city add?

The Argus Leader has begun a regular series that allows readers to salute people who have helped them out in ways large and small.

If you would like to thank someone who has done a good deed, send an e-mail to reporter Jill Callison at jcalliso@argusleader.com or write her at Box 50934, sioux Falls 57117.

You also are encouraged to post good deeds here on this blog. What a great way to thank someone publicly for going out of their way to help.

What good deeds have you spotted recently?

Is Friday the 13th unlucky for you? In my family, this supposedly unlucky day is a breeze. It’s Thursday the 12th we watch out for.

I lost two fingertips in a power saw accident on a Thursday the 12th. My mother crushed her leg in a snowmobile accident on a Thursday the 12th. My father died on a Thursday the 12th.

Yesterday, I tripped over a forklift while photographing construction at the high school. Now I have black and blue knees. It didn’t even occur to me until much later in the day that it was Thursday the 12th. So I e-mailed my sister to tell her. She said she had tripped on the sidewalk and fallen too, and her hand was swollen.

It’s just too weird.

Do you believe in an unlucky day? Have you ever had a malady on a Friday the 13th?

It’s time for the new bar-grill-casino, 212 Degrees – The Boiling Point, to open.

The former Sneakers is open with a new name and a new look, in a new location in Splitrock Square. Family Floors & Furniture is going to expand into the old Sneakers spot in the Brandon Plaza.

The zoning of the new location was controversial, with several neighbors objecting to a bar locating close to their homes. But now that it’s opening, will you patronize the new eatery? Did you patronize Sneakers?

After more than a year of sitting empty, a new owner has taken over the Cedar Street apartments and is fixing them up. They should be ready to occupy within a few weeks and will rent for market value (as opposed to subsidized rent).

It’s always good when properties are occupied and kept up. Do you think the Cedar Street apartments are now getting the care they deserve? Will you recommend them to anyone who is looking for a place to live?

With the apartments refurbished and updated, they’ll surely contribute to a nice look in the neighborhood. Do you think the neighbors will appreciate that? What about the auto body shop and the repair shop across the street from the apartments? Will the new apartments blend with their end of the block?

Kids can fish in two events next week.

On June 8, South Dakota Walleyes Unlimited will host a kids’ fishing clinic at the Brandon Materials pond on Aspen Boulevard.

On June 14, teams of kids and adults will fish Splitrock Creek at McHardy Park in the 11th Annual Youth Fishing Derby.

Will your kids participate in either one of these events?

I remember fishing for bullheads just south of the Big Sioux River bridge on Holly Boulevard. This was back in the 1960s. I never did like bullheads, but it was fun to snag one and reel it in. My brother loves to fish, and he used to take my kids fishing when they were little.

My dad built a pontoon boat when I was a kid, and we took it to a lake and fished over the side. One time my mother caught a fish. She got so excited she started jumping up and down, and the fish slid back into the water.

You definitely have to be quiet and still when you’re fishing.

What are your angling memories?

Did you go to Summer Rec in Brandon when you were a kid? Do your kids go now?

Summer Rec is free and is at the tiled gym in Brandon Elementary. Kids can come and go as they please. While they’re there, they can play games such as foosball, ping pong or board games. They can make crafts. They can just hang out and visit with their friends.

In addition, Summer Rec takes a few field trips each summer.

The city (meaning the taxpayers) pay the summer rec staff and cover other expenses. Sometimes there are small user fees, depending on the activity.

Do you think Summer Rec is a good idea? What memories do you have of it, if you went? What have your kids said about it? Do you think some people use it as a cheap or free babysitter for their kids?

What do you think about developer Mike Schultz’s plan to put bigger businesses on the northeast corner of Sioux and Holly boulevards? He already built three strip malls along that stretch of road and now asked the city council for rezoning to make his corner parcel bigger for B-2 commercial.

Several residents opposed the move, saying they didn’t want businesses near their houses because of noise or garbage. They said extra traffic would make walking to school more dangerous for their children.

The corner will bring more money to the city as commercial property, as it will generate sales tax. It will bring more money to the school district too, as commercial property pays property tax but doesn’t put any children into the school system. At Monday’s city council meeting, Alderman Brett Karber said his opinion is that that whole intersection will be commercial eventually.

Do you agree with that prediction? Will Holly Boulevard eventually be like, for example, Minnesota Avenue? At first, existing homes will change to small businesses, then eventually be torn down and replaced with commercial buildings.

Do you think now is a good time to start that process? What kinds of businesses would you like to see go into that corner? Schultz said he doesn’t have any firm prospects for that space, but perhaps a family restaurant would be a good fit, he said.

Permitted businesses in a B-2 zoning include retail sales, medical-type clinics, offices, theaters, restaurants, banks, funeral homes, radio or tv stations, and civic or municipal buildings.

B-2 zoning permits some conditional uses also, but there would have to be a public hearing if any of the following wanted to locate there: car wash, auto sales, wholesale, warehouse, service or repair, veterinarian, kennel, food lockers, laundry, dry cleaning, bowling alley, roller rink, bar, hotel, filling station, nursery (the plant kind), lumberyard or crematorium.
What are your thoughts?

The polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., so go vote.

Whether you are Republican or Democrat, your voice needs to be heard. Go to the polls today.

Have you voted already, by chance? If so, are you still as firm in your choice as you were when you marked your absentee ballot?

Please post on this blog any stories you see or hear on election day. How busy were the polls when you went there? Did you have to wait in line long? What number was your vote? Did you see any candidates out and about during the day?

Keep us posted. Thanks.

For months, my friend and I have been planning to go to a theater festival in Winnipeg this summer. But now, with gas prices nearing $4 a gallon, we’re seriously reconsidering. We’re checking the community event schedule in Omaha, for example.

What are your summer vacation plans? Will you stick close to home? Have gas prices altered your vacation plans in any way?

A company that promises 150 new jobs will start dirt work in the Corson Industrial Park in June.

Broadwind Energy, Inc., announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Tower Tech Systems, will expand its wind tower manufacturing operations to Brandon. Dennis Olson, Brandon city administrator, said the company builds the posts that the big wind turbine blades sit atop.

Once it’s up and running, the company would slide into the top five employers in the city. The company will need for supervisors, quality technicians and maintenance technicians, welders, assemblers and technicians, and some skilled laborers.

Do you think the company will provide employment opportunities for people who already live in Brandon, or do you think people will move here to work there? Are you interested in working for this company?

Do you think this kind of business will help Brandon’s economy? Why or why not?

School lunch prices will go up a dime a meal this fall.

Elementary students will pay $2 per meal while meals for middle and high school students will go to $2.30. Adult meal prices will be $2.80.

About 15 percent of the student body is on free and reduced price lunches.

Do you think the new prices are fair? Do your children take hot lunch at school? Do they stick to the regular lunch, or do they buy additional items a la carte? Or do your children take their own lunch to school?

The sign at either end of Maureen Drive says it is a drive. But on the city map in the most recent copy of the Brandon phone book, it is called a street.

Maureen isn’t the only street that has an identity crisis. Heatherwood is either a drive or a street also, depending on who you ask. And there are other addresses in town with the same confusion. Do you live on one of these streets? Do you really know if you live on a drive or a street? Have you had any problems because of the confusion?

Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will visit the Sunshine Foods store in Brandon Friday, but she’s not the first in her family to visit the city.

President Bill Clinton also campaigned in Brandon during his presidential bid?

What do you remember from that visit? Were you there?

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?