It is fun for me to get out and meet with members of our community and learn the history of our towns. I had lunch with Loy Hamm, Marilyn Gartner and Terry Lester who shared some fun stories with me about Interior, with Bobby Crawford sending in some information to be shared. I had never heard of Washbaugh County in SD, where is that? Well Washbaugh was established in 1883, and was an unorganized county up until the time it merged with Jackson County in 1983, which is where Interior is a part of. They shared with me stories of the 3rd largest rodeo days, that started in 1913 and continues today, Interior Frontier Rodeo Days. Interior is home to the biggest and best fireworks around each year, they have a potluck, and a parade and that is when the class reunions generally take place today. The reunions used to be at the Old Settlers picnic on Father’s Day weekend. Marilyn remembered in around 2000 when a helicopter came over the Rodeo and landed, and Ronnie Gartner got out and rode his horse around the arena with an American flag; what a sight it was. The school that still stands today and is used for grades K-8, was built in 1939. The largest class to graduate from the Interior School was in 1960 with 14 students. The high school closed in 1969. Loy told the story of Superindent, Harold Morris, taking the front of the stage off in the gym and setting it up for a shooting gallery where they had shooting practice, I can assure you that wouldn’t happen today. Marilyn remembers Prom in 1960 when the gym ceiling was completely covered with streamers, Wayne Sampson fell from the ladder putting those streamers up - he was OK. A fire destroyed a portion of the school in 1950, Loy recalled when she went to get her transcripts, they told her she would have to tell them what grades she had, and they would recreate the transcript as those records were destroyed in the fire.
Loy shared with me that the year of her senior prom, five schools went together for prom. The superintendent came to the girls and asked them if he set up a phonograph if the girls would teach the boys how to dance - they did. Come time for the prom, she remembers there were dance cards that were filled out as to who the girls would dance with, that way no one was left out. They all remembered stories about the Peace Pipe, Ma (Mrs Abrams) ran this establishment. They would go in and hangout at the lunch counter, have a little ice cream, read comic books and dance to the music from the juke box. Now Ma didn’t allow smoking in the Peace Pipe, but they remember sharing cigarettes in the back room when she wasn’t looking. She had a pet racoon, Eddie, and they could remember that coon stealing donuts out of the donut jar. Street dances were popular, where Buddy Meredith and a gentleman by the name of Eddie Kodet from Belevidere had a band, and they would come out and play for the dances. Bobby recalls that most kids, growing up spent a lot of time climbing and playing on Town Butte, a Badland peak on the edge of town.
The town of Interior has a community backbone that most little towns dream of. Today they have 3 churches, a nice park, a grocery store, a bar and grill, a school, a convenience store and a volunteer fire hall that is the envy of all little communities. They are seated just off of I-90 nestled in the Badlands of South Dakota. If you are passing by and have a few extra minutes stop in and take a look and be sure to read the story of Interior on the sign welcoming travelers to Interior.
cooperative connections • S ep t em b er 2016 11