By John Andrews

Our current issue mentions Marcia Dunsmore and Mollie O. Krafka, better known around Rapid City as the Shady Ladies. They make Black Hills history fun by staging humorous performances about various topics. The duo presented regularly at the Journey Museum through the winter, and we recently learned they are making themselves available to perform for parties and other gatherings.

Their repertoire includes six shows, ranging from 30 to 55 minutes. Choose from Calamity Bill and Wild Jane, Deadwood: Soiled Doves and Miners, Fools and Gold (1875-1885), "Wretched" (aka "Rapid") City (1885-1895), Mount Rushmore: We Don't Take It 4 Granite, and A Wacked Out Christmas.

E-mail them at shadyladies@rushmore.com for more information.

By Rebecca Johnson

Hello! I’m Rebecca and I am the new Editorial Assistant at South Dakota Magazine. I am a Yankton native and reside here with my husband, Jeremy, and our yellow lab, Tula. I’m excited to become more involved with the magazine as well as writing to you on our Editor’s Notebook.

Spring is finally here and with that comes spring road race season. Jeremy and I are training for Yankton’s first half marathon to be held on April 24^th and as part of our training for the race we were scheduled to run 12-13 miles this past weekend. We also had plans to run the Shamrock Run, the annual 5k put on by O’Gorman High School in Sioux Falls, so we decided to go up early before the race to run 9 miles on the Sioux Falls bike trails.

Before I set out on long runs like this, I sometimes wonder why we have this extreme hobby that compels us to get up before sunrise only to subject ourselves to an activity that creates a lot of sore muscles, angry blisters and sometimes even lost toenails. As we set out on this long run winding along the Big Sioux River, it didn’t take long for me to remember why we enjoy it so much. After a long winter of treadmill running, it was wonderful to finally get outside to take pleasure in some sunlight and scenery. Several other runners were also out enjoying the weather, as well as a kayaker and quite a few geese. We arrived back from our long run more than warmed up for the 5k.

If you too are ready to get out and stretch your legs, South Dakota is host to several road races and fun run/walks in April-

April 3: Missouri Valley Christian Academy 10k run, 5k run, and 5k walk, Yankton.
April 10: Run For Your Life Charity 5k Run/Walk, Vermillion.
April 17: SDSU Pre-Professional Science Club’s Partners in Health 5k/10k, Brookings.
April 17: Annual Community Center Triathlon, Madison.
April 24: RiverRat Marathon, Half Marathon, 5k and Cyclocross Bike Ride, Yankton.
April 25: I’m Ready for Summer Mini Triathlon, Brookings.

For more information or to sign up for these events, visit www.allsportcentral.com.

We are admirers of Valentine McGillycuddy, the physician and Pine Ridge Reservation agent who attended to Crazy Horse when the chief was on his deathbed, and who later became a key figure in the early days of Rapid City.

Thus we've also been interested in the preservation of his residence, which sits just off Mount Rushmore Drive. Unfortunately, one of South Dakota's most historic residences is a muddled mess. But according to this RC Journal article, there is some renewed interest in preserving the house.

By John Andrews

The Pumps at Crandall hasn't filled a single car with gas in nearly 40 years, but thanks to Dave Swain, hundreds of people still stop there every year.

Swain bought the historic gas station in 2005 and turned it into a tribute to the tiny town of Crandall (7 miles east of Conde) and early automobile travel. He also stages concerts featuring local musicians the last Sunday in June and again in September.

Crandall was founded in 1906, and the station opened in 1934 as a grocery store, post office and poker hall. Featuring Standard Oil products, it was the last gas station in the country to use gravity pumps. It closed in 1971.

Swain is an Aberdeen photographer who enjoys traveling the country's back roads. He passed through Crandall one day and asked the elderly caretaker if he was interested in selling. The man initially declined, but a few months later decided he was tired of mowing the lawn and sold it.

Swain opens The Pumps on Sundays and offers motorists a "full service station without the gas." Inside are old photos and items commemorating the town of Crandall's history. The Standard Oil sign and the gas pumps are original. And on concert days Swain sells hot dogs, soft drinks and ice cream while area country and bluegrass bands play. With all of that, who needs the gas?

By John Andrews

The South Dakota Old Time Fiddlers always played a spring concert in Lake Norden. They'd strum and pick and fiddle on the stage of the auditorium for two hours on a Saturday night as a fundraiser for the South Dakota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame. Then a few would walk down Main Street to the Andrews Cafe, which my aunt kept open late especially for them. After a late night meal, they would get out the fiddles again, and my aunt might pull out her accordion, and songs would fill the cafe until well past midnight.

Those are the kinds of memories that Stephanie Taylor wants to preserve. Taylor toured the state as part of the fiddlers during her formative years. Today she is a professor at Middle Tennessee State University and has produced a half-hour documentary called The South Dakota Old Time Fiddlers: Musical Heritage of the Great Plains.

Taylor grew up in Burbank, east of Vermillion, and began taking violin lessons from one of the fiddlers at age 4. A few years later she began performing with them. "I always told people I had 40 sets of grandparents," she told us last week. She returned to South Dakota with three students in 2008 to film performances and do interviews with some longtime fiddlers, including Wilbur Foss of Scotland, who organized the group (informally at a Yankton fiddle contest) in 1973.

The film has been shown in Vermillion, but Taylor is making a few final edits before South Dakota Public Broadcasting airs it sometime in May.

By John Andrews

Do you think you have what it takes to portray Laura Ingalls Wilder? Or Pa, Ma or any of the other characters who lived in De Smet in the late 1800s? If so, then be at the De Smet First Congregational Church on Saturday and organizers of the annual Laura Ingalls Wilder Pageant may cast you in this summer's production.

They are planning two audition sessions, one from 1 to 2:30 and another from 3 to 4:30. Nine major and eight supporting roles will be cast. Rehearsals will start in May, running from 6:30 to 9:30 on Thursday and Friday nights. Pageant dates are July 9-11, 16-18 and 23-25.

Every year De Smet community members stage a play adapted from one of Wilder's children's books about her life growing up on the frontier. It began in 1951 with a reading of Wilder's The Long Winter. As the production grew, the pageant society bought 30 acres of land near the Ingalls homestead where the production is staged today. This year's play is based on the book The First Four Years, which tells of Laura and Almanzo Wilder's early married years.

Thirty-two of South Dakota's top artists have a 100-year-old muse this year; they are getting their inspiration from the bronze and marble and granite seat of government in South Dakota.

The Heritage Fund at the South Dakota State Historical Society has organized a special art show, and asked the artists to contribute photography, paintings or sculptures. Pat Miller, the state's former First Lady and current head of the Heritage Fund, says the show will coincide with the Saturday, June 19th centennial celebration of the grand old building.

Angela Marie Poches did the interior painting shown here. Jon Crane is doing an exterior scene. Proceeds from the sales of their works will go to the Heritage Fund.

Art by the 32 artists will be shown throughout the day on June 19, and then be auctioned late in the afternoon. The day's festivities will also include a free family picnic, historical lectures, tours and maybe even a speech or two. A final schedule is still being created. We'll have a story in our May/June issue -- but we thought we'd tell you now so you can save the date.

(click on the painting to see the full detail)

By Bernie Hunhoff

Yes, a downtown Sioux Falls icon has fallen. Morning news report indicate that a motorist "under the influence" hit the Buck's Mufflers' mascot sometime Wednesday, knocking him to the ground. One Sioux Falls wit has already wondered why the drunk driver wasn't available when the city was trying to topple the Zip Feed Mill a few years ago.

Mr. Bendo is not only an 18-foot icon — more importantly, he stood as a landmark for giving directions. "Take a right at the giant muffler man and go 13 miles and you'll be in Minnesota," they might have told you.

Fortunately, Sioux Falls still has Daisy, the big Holstein cow outside the Land o' Lakes Dairy on Russell Street. Go west past the cow until you hit I-29 and then head north and you'll be in North Dakota. Go south for Nebraska.Go east and you used to see Mr. Bendo — but no more.

Hopefully, he can be resurrected. A city never has enough icons.