Get Together, Pull Together, Stick Together (Part I)

Thirty-nine people paid two-bits apiece to become a member of the Govert, South Dakota, Parent Teacher Association (P.T.A.). Charles Laflin, the editor of the Govert Advance, would mark this bright enthusiasm as an unqualified success for the rural crossroads town of Govert. Mr. Laflin was not ready to admit the town of Govert, his town, the town into which he invested every watt of his own enthusiasm, was already beyond the glory days as a crossroads town, Depression or no Depression. The year was 1935. The month was February.

To learn of a thriving P.T.A. flourishing here within reach of the shadow of the Slim Buttes might have surprised the census taker for Govert township in 1930, when he wrote names on only 40 of the 50 lines of a single page of the official government census form. Govert township had 11 households in 1930. By 1935 only four of those families would have children of school age. But the census taker was a woman, June Laflin Knight, Charles Laflin's sister, and June understood the heart of Govert.

Just how important could the P.T.A. have been in Govert, South Dakota, that rural community in southeast Harding County? Thirty-nine adults supporting a mere handful of children is an eye-popping example of civic involvement by a small rural community. With the amusing entertainments and the excellent food, the P.T.A. served the important social function of drawing the community together in cooperative spirit. If the Govert P.T.A. had a motto, the message could have been "get together, pull together, stick together".

How could you not look forward to a P.T.A. night when laughter and friendly voices drifted from the schoolhouse to cover the prairie? The minutes prepared by P.T.A. secretary, Mrs. Gee, will speak for her, for the 39 members of the P.T.A., and for every other hanger-on who attended the meeting on February 22, 1935. The minutes were printed in the Govert Advance on 14 March 1935, published 79 years ago. Mrs. Gee wrote:

"The P.T.A. met in regular session Feb. 22nd.

"Reversing the usual order of procedure, the Program Committee took immediate charge and rendered a very entertaining, original and jolly program.

"Following the program, the business was opened by the Pres., who gave the object of the P.T.A. organization. The following were added to membership: Mrs. C.D. Calkins, Gust Toble, Bert Ellis, Howard Nichols. This makes a total of 39 members. Minutes were read by Sec'y.

"Nominations for committee then in order. Motion made by Adelaide Calkins, seconded by Mrs. Scofield that Mrs. W.B. Gee act as chairman of next program committee. Motion made by Mrs. Gee, seconded by Lillian Hafner that Margaret Wammen act on committee. Motion made by Dale Horton, seconded by Herb Scofield that Gust Toble act on committee. Nominations were then closed.

"John Donohue, Mr. Scofield and Lillian [Hafner] were nominated to act on supper committee. Nominations were then closed.

"Motion made by Mrs. Gee, seconded by Adelaide Calkins, that a program committee be elected for the April program, thus giving them ample time to make their arrangements. The following were elected on the committee of three. Lillian Hafner, chairman, Mrs. Joe Grandpre, Mrs. Herb Scofield.

"Mrs. Gee then reported that the March committee had been very fortunate in making arrangements with Prof. Taft of Newell High school to give a talk on Educational subject. He plans to be accompanied by members of his male quartet.

"The meeting then adjourned and the supper committee took charge and served a bona fide oyster supper to a large crowd. [signed] Mrs. W.B. Gee, Sec'y

The program Mrs. Gee mentioned in her minutes turned out to be, quite frankly, a product of creative genius. From Charles Laflin, the editor of the Govert Advance, we learn, "The get together, pull together, stick together spirit was evidenced by the response of each and everyone called upon in a novel, impromptu program put on by the entertainment committee, Miss Adelaide Calkins, Mrs. Wesley Horton and Frederic Laflin."

A "novel, impromptu program" ... now that is a P.T.A. program with promise, isn't it? The program was, without a doubt, "novel", but the "impromptu" part took buckets and buckets of planning and imagination. As evidence of an evening of unparalleled entertainment, please note the membership will increase by 10 to 49 by the March 1935 meeting of the P.T.A. The next time we meet here on the blog, we will look at February's "novel, impromptu program". For now, based on the coverage in the Govert Advance, we can gauge the cast of characters for the February 1935 P.T.A. meeting and program.

Mollie Brucker Calkins, age 58, wife of Clifford Delbert Calkins; in 1929 C.D. and Mollie Calkins traded Govert Van der Boom and Emma Vogt Van der Boom the Calkins house in Spearfish for the Govert store and residence.

Adelaide Christina Calkins, age 36, current schoolmarm, daughter of C.D. and Mollie Calkins; formerly married to "Odd Socks" Esler, a man said to be a small-time cattle rustler; she was well-loved by the children she taught.

John Donohue, age 25, single, rancher, brother to William.

William Donohue, age 20, single, rancher, brother to John.

Bert Ellis, age 50, rancher; Bert and his wife, Lottie, had no children but were loved by every child they ever met; they lived in the township west of Govert township.

Lydia Vogt Gee, age 48, homesteader in her own right in Meade County in her youth, now wife to Walter Benson Gee, mother to Melvin Gee and Russell Gee, who earlier attended Govert School; former schoolteacher, community organizer; sister to Emma Vogt VanderBoom, wife of Govert Van der Boom, founder of Govert.

Joseph Leo Grandpre, age 41, rancher, and his wife, Amanda Bekken Grandpre, age 44, who was born in Norway.

Delore Grandpre, age 16, son of Joseph and Amanda Grandpre.

Lilian Gudmunson Hafner, age 28, former schoolmarm, married to George Hafner, who was the son of Govert pioneers.

Dorothy Horton, age 9, and her brother, Rayford Horton, age 6, children of John Raymond Horton and Alva Oline Bekken Horton, sister of Amanda Bekken Grandpre.

Evelyn Marie Horton, age 12, and her brother, Dale Vernon Horton, age 10, children of Ida Wendt Horton, age 33, and Wesley Horton, age 42, brother of John Raymond Horton.

Waldon Jerome Jorgenson, age 15, raised by his Uncle Gust I. Jorgenson and Aunt Bessie Eugenia Holt Jorgenson, on the Jorgenson ranch.

John Govert Kulisich, age 13, named after the town where he was born, and his brother, Anton M. Kulisich, age 15, children of Mitchell "Mitch" Kulisich and Nikla Mijas Kulisich; Mitch and Nikla were born in what is now Croatia and were Govert pioneers.

Charles Eugene Laflin, age 61, owner, publisher, editor and distributor of the Govert Advance, president of the P.T.A., unofficial mayor of Govert, South Dakota; lived in the township to the north of Govert township; a Govert pioneer.

Frederic Orr Laflin, age 22, single, farmhand, son of Charles Laflin and Mary Zee Campbell Laflin; lived in the township to the north of Govert township.

William A. "Billy" Lale, age 8, and his sister, Elsie Lale, age 13, children of Nick Lale and Pauline Guka Lale. Nick and Pauline were born in what is now Croatia and were Govert pioneers; Nick Lale is a cousin to Mitch Kulisich.

Walden C. Lemm, age 24, single, rancher.

Howard Nichols, a man of singular mystery.

Herbert Leroy Scofield, age 38, and his wife, Signey Adela Bekken, age 32, sister of Alva Oline Bekken Horton and Amanda Bekken Grandpre.

Gustave Herman Toble, age 57, who immigrated from Krummenflies, Flatow, West Prussia, as a child; rancher, coal miner, and widower, uncle of Lydia Vogt Gee and Emma Vogt Van der Boom.

Margaret Wammen, age 22, single, schoolmarm at the Govert School beginning September 1935.

Who else beyond those mentioned in the Govert Advance would squeeze into the schoolhouse that night in February 1935 ... brothers and sisters, parents, bachelors and spinsters, neighbors old and young, from Govert township and from beyond the township boundaries. Consider this ... if Anton and John Kulisich were part of the P.T.A. program, their mother and father and little sister, Marie, who would start school in September 1936 with Margaret Wammen as her teacher, would have been there, too. Little Marie Kulisich would not have missed a P.T.A. meeting for a world of presents.

If these Goverites have names you've seen before, you can influence the direction of my next posting. Leave a comment or write to me at thruprairiegrass@gmail.com.

Listening to the wind blowing through the prairie grass. Kate

[Based on an article published in the Govert Advance, March 14, 1935, entitled "P.T.A."]

What’s Happening in Govert, South Dakota: Thursday, 5 December 1940

In preparation for Christmas, 73 years ago today, the Govert Advance published the instructions for Santa’s helpers to craft a four poster doll bed. All a mommy or daddy needed were a cigar box, four wooden clothes pins, four wooden thread spools, scraps of fabric to make a pad, pillow, and bedding, and a bit of paint. This, together with a late night of gluing, sewing, and painting, might be the best a Goverite could offer a young daughter for Christmas after struggling through 11 years of the Great Depression. The good news: only one more year of the Depression. The bad news: America would join the war.

Reading beyond the cigar box doll bed that Thursday night in 1940, a Govert family might have been comforted by their decision to choose a home on the Harding County prairie, 1800 miles from the east coast, far away from the bright lights and the crowding in the cities, and far, far away from the political wrangling.

That Thursday night in Govert, farmers and ranchers shook the creases out of the Govert Advance and read that New Yorkers were now being warned to be alert for suspicious packages. The abandoned box, bag, valise, or satchel might be a bomb positioned by “subversive and destructive elements” in America. "Thank goodness we don't have to worry about THAT," Goverites echoed across the prairie. Why in the world would any subversive, or any foreign spy, waste their time traveling to a place where the two-legged population was far outnumbered by the four-legged variety?

Continuing through the newspaper, they read about the destruction left by Nazi bombs in England. And then the Govert Advance reported a survey conducted by the United States Employment Service revealing 215,000 people registered with employment offices throughout the United States for jobs in defense industries ... should they be needed.

In December 1940 the folks in Govert are less worried about an abandoned valise or satchel left in a place where a bomb might be calculated to cause maximum damage to resources or morale, and they are more worried about Christmas. So what happened in Govert, South Dakota, the first week in December in 1940? You saw it first in the Govert Advance:

• "Herman West and Archie Cornella are hauling hay from the Primm place to the JX Ranch for Howard Sheridan. Howard will winter a band of sheep at the ranch."
• "Chester Phillips has been quite ill with pneumonia and was taken to the Buffalo hospital."
• "Mr. and Mrs. F.F. West, of the West General Store at Govert, were shopping in Belle Fourche, Friday."
• "Ann, Anton and John Kulisich were in Newell Friday, visiting the dentist."
• "Guests at the Bert Ellis home Thanksgiving were Mr. and Mrs. Paul Ellis, daughter, Nona, and son, Harold, Mr. and Mrs. Harry Class, Mr. and Mrs. Mitch Kulisich, daughters, Ann and Marie, sons, Anton and John, and Leonard West."
• "Wesley Horton and wife spent several days with relatives at Whitewood."
• "Nick and Pete Lale took their dressed turkeys to Lead and received very satisfactory prices."
• "Alice Mae West spent the weekend with Marie Kulisich."
• "Mrs. Westley Horton is visiting her daughter, Evelyn, at Custer. Evelyn is taking a Beauty course at Custer and making her home with Mrs. Horton’s sister."
• "Mr. and Mrs. Nick Lale entertained friends Thanksgiving Day."
• "Mr. and Mrs. Louie Frandsen were in Belle Fourche Wednesday to get his pick up repaired. Mr. Frandsen slipped off the grade and turned over causing some little damage."

Life goes on. War may be raging in Europe but, in Govert, you do what you always have done. You tend to the work in front of you. You laugh when the opportunity presents itself, and you create as many of those pleasant opportunities as possible. On Thursdays you read the Govert Advance. And, in December, you might make a gift from an empty cigar box and scraps of fabric. Life goes on.

Listening to the wind blowing through the prairie grass. Kate

[Based on the news reported in the 5 December 1940 edition of the Govert Advance]