It was a long day for the Union County Board of County Commissioners with a packed agenda Tuesday, Oct. 4.

Ernie Nickels was 14 when the decision was made to tear down the Union County Courthouse and build the current facility. His mother, Wilma Strand, wanted a piece of the history that was being demolished.

Everywhere you look you can see either green, red or yellow farm equipment covered in dust harvesting this year’s crop. The fields are turning bare quickly as the lack of moisture has made it easier for farmers to stay in their fields longer.

It was a great evening for the Homecoming game as the Panthers took on the Lennox Orioles Friday, Sept. 30. Dakota Valley ended the month with a solid victory as they outscored their opponent 47-- 24. Lennox struck first as their quarterback passed to an open man very early in the 1st quarter, but the point after kick was no good. The Panthers answered when Senior Ethan Anema found fellow senior Jaxon Hennies for a completed touchdown pass. Hennies fended off a tackle to push through to the end zone and get the score. The extra point (PAT) kick was good by Ethan Christiansen to put the Panthers up 7-6. Senior Randy Rosenquist ran back a punt in the 1st quarter to score another 6 points for Dakota Valley. Christiansen was once again solid for the PAT and the Panthers were up 14-6. However, the Orioles were able to respond as their quarterback connected with the same receiver from earlier to score again. The PAT was good this time for Lennox and the 1st quarter ended with Dakota Valley leading 14-13. Junior Trae Piel ran in the Panther’s 3rd touchdown of the evening in the 2nd quarter. Piel also recovered a fumble to keep the Panthers in control. The next score for Dakota Valley occurred as Anema headed to the end zone with the ball, but had it knocked out. The fumble was recovered by Owen Hanshaw for another Panther touchdown. A Lennox injury halted the game with 1:40 left in the 1st half. When play resumed, Senior Lake Kistner had a blocked punt to give the Panthers good field position. However, an interception on an Anema to Hennies pass attempt almost caused trouble for the Panthers. But, Anema showed grit and chased down the interceptor to force him out of bounds and end the half with no damage done. The Panthers led 28-13 at half.

Growing up, Pauline Allard (Crevier) remembered seeing the Leader-Courier in her home. After becoming an adult herself, she started subscribing to the paper as well.

Expanding Medicaid in South Dakota is either a prudent use of tax dollars designed to enhance health care coverage or a disaster that will bust the state budget. Those are the arguments offered by backers and opponents of Amendment D, a measure that would expand access to Medicaid in the state.

It was an epic time of homecoming festivities for the Dakota Valley Panthers last week as the theme was “We Got Game” and many got into the homecoming spirit. The week started on Monday, Sept. 26 with “Chutes and Ladders Day” and students came dressed to class as construction workers.

The long distance runners of Dakota Valley travelled to Lennox on Thursday, Sept. 29 to compete. The varsity boys had a great showing to take home 2nd place as a team. The varsity girls ran strong and placed 8th. The junior varsity boys earned 6th place and the junior varsity girls were 7th as a team. It was a great day as the Panthers battled windy conditions. Sophomore Jack Brown led the varsity boys roster with an impressive 5K time of 16:39. Fellow sophomore James Kilcullen also ran strong to garner 12th place with a 16:56. Senior Avery Bradshaw, who also celebrated a birthday on the day of the meet, placed 20th for a medal with a 17:40 run time.

It was another tough competition for the Dakota Valley dance team as they performed alongside many bigger Class AA schools at their Sept. 27 competition at O’Gorman in Sioux Falls. The Panthers took runner-up in both their jazz and pom routines and finished 3rd overall.

NAMM Award: Once again, the Dakota Valley Schools has been recognized as a Best Community for Music Education. This designation is given by the NAMM Foundation and is based on various criteria including student demographics, student/ teacher ratio, and music education participation rates. This is the 5th Year that the Dakota Valley has received this distinction.