https://maryfrancismcninch.com/2024/05/09/those-70ish-girls-great-aunt-grace-family-is-everything/

https://maryfrancismcninch.com/2021/04/03/murdo-girl-i-was-on-his-mind/

Those 70ish Girls…Old-timer’s disease

Murdo Girl…Easter is a joyful time

Jim Anderson ’63

At age 10, about 5th grade, I was the smallest, scrawniest boy in the class and may have volunteered for this event because I lived next to the Texico Station and had access to their pile of used tires.

Anyway, I’m at the starting line (in the area where the new school stands) with my tire. (I wonder if the rules said anything about tire size) and standing next to me is a giant by the name of Clifford Kinsley. This is the same guy who just a few days earlier got a big chuckle as his pet hog took a liking to me and who 70 years later loves telling anyone who will listen just how fast Jimmy Anderson got out of that hog yard and by how many feet he cleared the fence getting to safety. Could this be the same rally day where in the morning spelling competition I could not spell the word “above” correctly? My excuse to this day: maybe my hearing was already headed south at age 10, because I had never heard of that word! So, after spelling it “abofs” I was looking for any rock to crawl under. Now I was about to be humiliated a second time by someone I thought was my friend.

When we heard the word “GO” to start the “roll” Clifford planted his size 12 boot on his tire which sent it half way to the finish line, while I just stood there in awe at this flagrant violation of the rules. But the officials let the game continue and the big guy got the blue ribbon (I don’t recall if there were participation ribbons then) while I started looking for that rock.

Some 70 years later, Dr. Kinsley and I discussed this life altering event over coffee. He claims that he was not at the starting line next to me that day because he was a grade ahead of me. The more I think about it, that giant next to me was Paul Thomas who was in the same grade. Man, those country kids were big!!

Jo Anna Poppe Warder ’56

I am not sure of the year, but I think it was 1955 when the Auditorium was built adjacent to the high school. I was a junior then and my class raised enough money to buy the popcorn machine purchased the year of the opening. To raise funds my class members sold magazine subscriptions and Christmas cards and accepted monetary donations. I have been informed that the machine is still being used and is operative after 70 + years. It might have had a few parts replaced and retired, but is basically the same machine.

Aka Valerie Halla

https://maryfrancismcninch.com/2025/09/15/murdo-girl-inside-my-grandmas-trunk-3/

Jim Anderson ’63

The Murdo Auditorium which later would be called the Harold Thune Auditorium, saw its first game in November of 1954. As a result, the grade basketball teams inherited the old gym along with the boys’ and men’s locker rooms. Now anyone who had the opportunity or misfortune to visit or use that locker room or gym came away knowing they had walked on sacred ground where Murdo legends had dressed, showered, and perfected their athletic skills.

Bill Sorensen, classmate 1953-1961

Dingy, dark, and dank is an apt description. A single bench for seating was separated from the tiny dark green wooden lockers by what seemed like a foot and a half wide space. The one exit guaranteed a traffic jam that had kids moving sideways attempting to pass from one end to the other. A couple of light bulbs with very low wattage extending from the ceiling provided poor illumination. The shower at the far end had one dim light and two shower heads. Wooden slats separated your feet from the cement and the water drained into a simple pit. With no ventilation the humidity from sweat, showers, and wet towels combined combined to provide a distinct unpleasant odor. Although it was a perfect petri dish for mold growth, I think the only sickness was caused by inhalation of bacteria and viruses we spread among ourselves. It may not have been optimal, but I don’t recall many complaints. In retrospect, it is fun to reminisce knowing parents today would sue over those conditions we accepted as normal.

Doug Eveleth ’60

My first day of first grade was a really big deal. My brother Chuck was designated to walk me to school; probably not what he wanted to do on his first day of high school. I, on the other hand couldn’t be more excited.

I can still remember the smell of the wood floors in the old elementary school. Mrs. Sandy was my first teacher. The walls were lined with pictures of past Presidents wearing wigs. The American flag stood in the corner. The whole front wall held the big black board. Each of us were assigned our desk. A lot to take in. Then it was time for our first recess with all the older kids. I chose to watch the boys playing baseball. Especially the one at bat. That’s the last thing I remember.

The rest of the story came later from others who told me what happened. Whoever was at bat hit the ball and threw his bat, which hit me in the head knocking me backward toward the swings. Back then, the swing board was about sixteen by twelve inches by two inches thick. Two third graders, Toby Iversen and Duane Brooks, were standing up swinging as hard as possible to get the maximum height. On the downstream they hit me in the back of my head. A teacher woke me up and said I had better walk home, so I did. It was only a block away. Then I had my first seizure. Mom called Elsie Joy, who took us to the Doctor, who put me in the hospital. I remember waking one night. I knew I wasn’t home, but had to go to the bathroom. I got up and saw one light, so I walked there. It was a staircase, so I took it. At the bottom was a door, so I opened it and scared a nurse taking a break. She screamed. I told her I needed to go home. She settled down and said that no, I couldn’t go home, but she would help me. I spent the whole first week of school in the hospital. My Aunt Edith, the very first school teacher in Mellette County, wrote me a card saying that she hoped I would still like school once I got well. No perfect attendance was expected from me for the next twelve years. Duane Brooks came back for an all-class reunion 50 years later and apologized for causing me to stutter. I thanked him but said that I had stuttered from birth.

By Billy Francis ’62

When I was a senior in 1962, Murdo had an outstanding Basketball team. We won the district championship and the regional tournament before going on to the State B in Sioux Falls. Our top 5 players were Obie Brunskill, Willard Bordeaux, Roger Strait, Gordon Niedan, and Chris Anderson.

Our star defensive players and top scorers all year were Obie and Willard. I had the job of guarding Willard in practice and he kept me on my heels. If he wanted to make a basket, he found a way.

We went into our first game with Pine Ridge handicapped. Willard had injured his ankle during the Regionals and it wasn’t doing well. Obie had to take up the slack which was exhausting. Often times, you could count on one of them to steal the ball before the other team made it back down the court. They were good.

Nevertheless, Murdo hung on thanks to Chris, Roger, and Gordon. Though he didn’t score much, Obie had a brilliant defensive game. Murdo managed an 11 point lead at the end of the 3rd quarter. Some of the Pine Ridge fans admitted defeat early and started to leave.

And then Pine Ridge had a 16 point outburst in the 4th quarter. At the end of regulation time, the game was tied 47-47 so it went into overtime. Willard who only made an unheard of 2 points the whole game, fouled out in the 4th quarter. His injury was a huge factor in the overall scheme of things.

Pine Ridge dominated in the overtime. Obie fouled out when our only hope was to send  Pine Ridge to the free throw line in an attempt to get the ball back. He told me he was so exhausted he couldn’t see the difference in the colors of the uniforms and therefore, made some bad passes. It didn’t help that Pine Ridge made 8 of 10 free throws. The game ended Pine Ridge 55 and Murdo 51.

It was a tough loss for the Murdo Coyotes. Pine Ridge went on to win the tournament.