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LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Continued from Page 13
cent a gallon tax increase on gaso-
line had already been signed into
law.
The insinuation that, if he is
reelected, Rep. Qualm would re-
peal the sales tax increase funding
the teacher pay raise is a puzzling
fiction. Lee Qualm would never
consider such a thing. Could one
representative in a South Dakota
legislature of 105 members possi-
bly accomplish that feat? The leg-
islation has passed. Now, it is time
to see that the money goes where it
was intended. As you know, teach-
ers' salaries are not determined by
the legislature but at the local level.
Governor Daugaard's 74% ap-
proval rating (highest in the coun-
try) is commendable, but, more
importantly, Baron's listed South
Dakota as the "Best Run State in
America." Woohoo!!! That is the
result of the governor and the legis-
lature working together in a fiscally
conservative manner, in my view.
In summary, if your core values
and beliefs are diametrically op-
posed to those of Rep.Qualm, by all
means, vote for the candidate who
most closely shares your views.
However, if you decide to withhold
your vote from Lee Qualm based
on the mistaken idea that that he
is against teachers, you will be do-
ing yourself, your district, and your
state a profound disservice by not
returning him to the South Dakota
House of Representatives in District
21.
Respectfully,
Vivian Tipton
The Editor
To the Editor:
After reading a letter to the edi-
tor last week written by Erik Person,
we felt we needed to respond. We
have known Lee Qualm for almost
30 years and we didn't feel we
could sit back while his character
was being maligned claiming his
political arguments are "slippery"
and "change just enough to help him
get his way." Honestly, we couldn't
tell you what statements Lee Qualm
has or has not made. We are not
aware of everything Representative
Lee Qualm has done politically. So
we will focus on what we do know.
Lee has high moral and ethical stan-
dards. He is a man of great char-
acter, and honesty is of great value
to him. Lee Qualm puts God first,
then family and then state/country.
When acting as representative you
can be sure he has the best interests
of our state at heart. He is a man
with great Christian values and I
personally know he calls on God in
prayer before making decisions .....
all decisions. Raising the teacher's
salaries has been a very emotional
topic and understandably those in
education took his vote very person-
ally. We do not doubt that voting
against it was very difficult for Lee.
He was not against raising the sala-
ries. He felt money needed to be
found another way other than rais-
ing taxes. He had to have known it
would not be popular to vote against
it. But he was sticking to his stan-
dards for reasons he can explain, but
it seems he isn't being heard. We
respect him for that. It would be a
mistake to rule Lee Qualm out. Per-
sonally, we like having someone in
office who is honest and trustwor-
thy.., someone who is in politics to
truly make South Dakota great and
not in it for power and greed. It's
a rarity and rather refreshing these
days. Many feel there are no good
choices in the presidential race, but
you can be sure you have a great
choice in voting for Lee Qualm.
Rod and Beverly Graesser
Dallas, SD
The Editor
To the editor:
Over the past five years, I have
been fortunate to attend legislative
sessions as well as meet with leg-
islative candidates. As a teacher as
well as a mother of two children, I
have been active in local education
issues. It is important for me to urge
our elected officials to take a stance
in favor of our students.
I have been fortunate to meet
with local candidate, Gary Burrus.
He believes in public education as
well as providing the opportunity
for all children to be successful in
their academic careers regardless
of their background. All children
should be given the opportunity to
attend excellent schools and be pro-
vided the resources necessary to ex-
cel.
State legislators who support
punishing schools, do not reflect the
interests, concerns or desires of the
people they represent.
Our students cannot afford for
these issues to be ignored. As our
state enters another election cycle
it's imperative that we elect legisla-
tors who support public education.
Gary is an avid supporter of public
education. We need to ensure that
we continue to focus on education
as the students are the future to our
state. I encourage everyone to be
voters that strive for candidates that
believe and vote for the children of
our state.
Robin Curtis
Former Dallas
Man
!
Rapid City businessman recent-
ly donated 100,000 books to the
Western South Dakota Community
Action Agency, a gift with an esti-
mated weight of over 22 tons. The
Western South Dakota Community
Action Agency is a nonprofit orga-
nization that provides programs and
services to low-income citizens of
all ages in the Black Hills.
Don attended Fairview Country
School five miles south and Melrose
Country School three miles south of
Dallas, SD. In those days, Andrew
Carnegie headed up the American
Legion and SD School District
reading programs. Don received
many medals, badges and certifi-
cates for reading so many books
per month. Not only did he get to
read and live in another world, but
he was rewarded at the same time.
Two teachers influenced him, Mrs.
Gorsuch and Robert Travenchek.
The downside was never getting to
keep the books from the library so
he could read them again. He at-
tended High School in Custer and
the school library was limited and
the city library was in a small office.
In the Navy, he had very limited ac-
cess to books, the exception being
training books and books for col-
lege courses. His first major book
purchase took place at the Univer-
sity of Chicago and were the Great
Books. He still has those books, 45
years later and has finished about
two-thirds of them and hopes to
read them all. His collection began
to grow, taking over extra room in
the garage, then a storage unit, then
a studio and his office, and in 2001
he opened a bookstore called Roots
Bookstore, where proceeds were
donated back to the Cornerstone
Rescue Mission. In 2008 he closed
the bookstore, putting the books in
storage, but continued to purchase
books for donations to the Penning-
ton County Jail, St. Martins, Can-
yon Lake Senior Citizens, the Boys
Club and many other charitable
groups.
With this gift to the Western
South Dakota Community Action
Program he hopes to give others the
pleasure of reading as he enjoyed
for so many years. If you asked
Don today about one book and if he
had it, he would tell you it is now
located at the Western SD Commu-
nity Action Agency.
Don still has a garage full of
books plus another storage area.
Some of his rarest collections in-
clude June Culp Zeitner, EJ Hubbel,
Brett Harte (soft back and hard cov-
er 1st editions), Zane Grey 1st edi-
tions and many Louis L'amour. He
also has a large collection involv-
ing local history from the five-state
region including 700 Centennial
books.
School Calendar
Don Herrmann grew up near Upcoming events for the 2016-
Dallas, SD and quickly developed 2017 Burke School District are as
a love for books. The 72-year old follows:
The Burke (SD) Gazette, Wednesday, October 5, 2016 14
The Burke/South Central Volley- will host a Big Camp Out for career
ball team will host Corsica-Stick- exploration on Tuesday, October
ney in Bonesteel on Thursday, Oc- 18th for the following areas-Ag &
tober 6th, Tripp-Delmont/Armour on Natural Resources; Business; Con-
Saturday, October 84, in Burke and struction, Energy & Manufacturing;
Andes Central-Dakota Christian in Health; Public Services & Safety;
Bonesteel on Tuesday, October 114. and Transportation. A Scrubs Camp
The Middle School team will host is scheduled for Tuesday, October
Platte-Geddes on Thursday, Octo- 25
ber 6% in Burke and travel to Cham- Senior Tech Days at LATI will be
berlain on Tuesday, October 114. held on November yd & February
The Burke/South Central Cou-2"d. Junior Tech Day will be held
gars will host Andes Central-Dako- March 304.
ta Christian in Bonesteel on Friday, Southeast Technical Institute will
October 74. The Middle School host Visitation Days on Oct. 28,
team will play their final game of Nov. 17, Jan. 27, Feb. 23 and Jun.
the season on Tuesday, October 8. Tour the campus, stick around
114, in Lake Andes against Andes for wings and pizza and walk away
Central-Dakota Christian. with free Southeast Tech Spiritwear,
Cross Country athletes will travel plus get a shot at winning a $1,000
to Freeman for the Region 3B meet scholarship!
on Wednesday, October 12th. The Southeast Tech also offers sev-
State Cross Country Meet will be eral camps including the Scrubs
held in Huron on Saturday, October Camp on Oct. 7, the Business Expo
22"d- Camp on Oct. 19, and Get In The
Parent/Teacher Conferences are Garage Camp on Apr. 5.
scheduled for Thursday, October 64,
beginning at 3:30 PM. There will
be no school on Friday, October Th, Communitv
for a P-T Comp Day and also Mon-
Memorial
day, October 104, for Columbus ..osg.a,
Day. Building Fund
The following are some impor- Fund Drive Goal $2,000,000
tant dates for students to be aware
of:
Scrubs Camps will be held lo-
cally on October 64 in Yankton, No-
vember 144 in Winner and Novem-
ber 164 in Mitchell.
ACT test date is set for Decem-
ber 104 (register by November 44-
late registration deadline is Novem-
ber 184).
Mitchell Technical Institute is $1,200.000
hosting MyTI (Mighty) Days this
school year. MyTI Days give stu-
dents and instructors the opportu-
nity to visit the campus and explore
different careers. The following
MyTI Days will be held: Energy
Camp & Business Camp-Tuesday,
Oct. 25; Ag & Transportation Camp
& Cyber Camp-Tuesday, Nov.
8; Construction Camp & Scrubs
Camp-Wednesday, Nov. 16; and
Culinary Camp-Tuesday, Mar. 7.
The first Exploration Day at
Mitchell Technical Institute is
Wednesday, November 2nd. At the
end of Exploration Day, there is a
drawing for MTI sweatshirts, t-
shirts, and other door prizes includ-
ing a $500 MTI scholarship! Address your eontribu-
Western Dakota Technical Insti- tions
tute also offers career exploration, to" Community Memorial
the following is the schedule: Con- Hospital Building Fund
struction Camp-Tuesday, Oct. 18; P.O. Box 319
Transportation & Manufacturing
Camp-Tuesday, Nov. 1; and Scrubs Burke, SD 57523
Camp-Tuesday, Nov. 8 & Thursday, Automatic Donations
Apr. 20. Now Available!
Students interested in what West- Donations can be made
ern Dakota Tech has to offer can monthly through direct
visit on Open House Saturdays
Oct. 15, Jan. 28 & Apr. 15 or Open bank transfer. Please con-
House Tuesdays Dec. 13,Mar. 31or tact Mistie Sachtjen at
Jun. 13. 775-2621 for more details.
Lake Area Technical Institute
