Home is where the heart is
March 7th, 2008 by 
Alica
Recently, two Brandon natives returned to this fine city to start new careers here. Kim Cerwick, a 1998 Brandon Valley High School alumna, is the new Brandon Valley Area Chamber of Commerce executive director. And Corey DeVille, a 1993 BVHS alumnus, is the new owner of the D&D Bar on Main Avenue. Both Cerwick and DeVille have said they made a point of moving back to Brandon because of their love for the city.
Brandon was once called a bedroom community. Not any more. There are families here who can trace their Brandon roots back to homesteader days, and now those Brandon natives are in their fifth generations as residents.
Even people who moved here toward the beginning of Brandon’s population boom have now been here 20 years or more. And their children are establishing their own homes in the town in which they grew up.
Brandon is “home.”
Do you have a story of growing up in Brandon, moving away and then moving back? Or did you grow up here and just kept on living here? What were your reasons?
Posted in Uncategorized | 
March 7th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Not to be nit picky Alica, but Cory graduated in 1993, not 1983!
March 7th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
Thanks, Jill. I’m checking up on that and the spelling of his name, too, since your spelling doesn’t match mine.
Once I confirm both things, I’ll post them here.
March 7th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
The 1993 Brandon Valley High School yearbook shows Corey DeVille as a senior, so you are right, Jill. We’ll prepare a correction for the March 12 Brandon Valley Challenger.
The 1993 and the 1992 yearbooks both show the spelling of his name as Corey. He isn’t listed in yearbooks prior to that.
Thanks for your keen eye and for letting us know about the error.
March 7th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
You might want to re-read your artical about Kim and the date that she graduated this is from the artical that You wrote “Both Cerwick and her husband, Matt, graduated from Brandon Valley High School in 1998″
March 7th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
1998 is correct, and thank you for pointing that out. Kim and her husband were both in my son’s graduating class, which was 1998. But my daughter graduated in 1996, and so I guess I had 96 on the brain when I made the blog topic.
I have made the appropriate corrections to the blog.
March 7th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
I’m not a native but went to high school in Brandon, graduated in 1980, and moved back in 2003 because of a job opportunity in Sioux Falls. It was easy for my family to pick Brandon for a home when we came back to this area, because of great schools and sensible city growth. My wife and I are part of the ‘bedroom community’, but we love it here.
March 8th, 2008 at 8:34 am
I go back just a “few” years of living in Brandon. I remember when you only had to dial 4 numbers to call someone. I worked at the grocery store when it was owned by Arlen Surdez and it was located in the plaza where Pizza Ranch is now. There has been a lot of good changes to our city. The plaza use to have a bakery, jewelry store, flower shop and a pharmacy (don’t remember much about that pharmacy, but do remember the penny candy). We live in a city with history. How much do you know about this city?
March 8th, 2008 at 9:03 am
#1″Jill Says:
March 7th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Not to be nit picky Alica, but Cory graduated in 1993, not 1983!”
Jill - nice to see you posting under your name for once instead of City Surveyor! Looks like there must be some sort of professional confilct between you and Alica but I think you have crossed the line by putting it in writing. Professional curtesy would of been to call her or send her an email about the misspelling/dates. Jill, you need to really check the same in your stories. You are biased in your reporting and fail to report negative things about our council.
Alica your correctings show your commitment to your profession.
March 8th, 2008 at 10:05 am
#8 Your words are cruel and inappropriate for a public forum. I believe it would have nicer to privately e-mail “Jill” your thoughts.
Both Alica and Jill Meyers (???? #1) do a great job for our newspapers.
March 8th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
The person who posted as Jill above entered an e-mail address of a different name. When I read her comment about the wrong year, I called Jill Meier. She was surprised to hear the date was wrong, because she had 1983 in her notes. While we were on the phone together, she looked through the yearbooks and confirmed Corey’s name and graduation year, and she said she would take care of putting a correction in the March 12 Brandon Valley Challenger.
I corrected the date in the blog and asked our editor, Corrine Olson, to make the correction in the online story on www.brandoninfo.com.
I don’t know who Jill/melinda is.
#8 and #9, thank you for the kind words.
March 9th, 2008 at 9:20 pm
I moved to Brandon in 1988 (the 3rd grade) and I really loved the town. I graduated from BVHS in 1998 and I’m very excited to say that my children will attend the BV school district as well. We don’t live in Brandon right now, but we do have plans to move back in the next few years. I agree with Alica, it’s HOME.
March 10th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
#8 Justme-You need to get a grip… I simply read the story and knew Corey graduated with my brother in 93 not in 83! Geez! It is posters like you who try to put a negative spin on every subject on these blogs! Guess I will keep my input to myself next time. I had no idea using the screen name “Jill” would cause such a stir!
March 10th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
I have lived here my whole life, I remember the Drug store, you went there to get the penny candy with the change you got out of the couch. LOL!
I also remember it being a small town and I guess I still think it is, I let my 11 year old run just like I was able to when I was a kid (unfortunetly I don’t think twice about it sometimes) But my husband likes to keep me in check and remind me that it isn’t the 80’s anymore. LOL!
I started school in brandon and graduated from brandon. I am proud of that, and I am proud my children will do the same.
This town has came along way, and I am excited to see what the future holds for us.
March 11th, 2008 at 8:18 am
Alica, do you think it is wise to post a blogger’s email address, as you did in #10? I thought your policy was not to post?
March 11th, 2008 at 9:45 am
To #14: You are right. I removed it.
March 11th, 2008 at 10:05 am
Thank you Alica! Sorry for causing any problems! No harm was intended! It just takes one “JustMe” to stir the pot I guess!