This is a production of SDPB.

It's just great to be able to see that, you know.. and wanting to raise a family, where they grew up or, you know, maybe even where their job takes them.

Small town South Dakota there's no drawbacks.

Every time you have a need people come through.

People come through.

Join our crew as we meet the people who are growing, loving, riding, and playing in Britton.

Greetings from Britton.

Greetings from Britton.

Greetings from Britton.

Greetings from Britton.

Greetings from Britton.

Greetings from Britton.

Greetings from Britton.

Greetings from Britton.

Greetings from Britton.

Greetings from Britton.

Greetings from Britton, South Dakota.

Dakota Life greetings from Britton is supported with your membership in the friends of SDBD.

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Friends of SDPB appreciates their support of this program.

I'm Tim Davison with SDPB, and we're here today in the beautiful town of Britton and I want to introduce you to my new friend Clyde.

It's been a little bit.

Yes, yes it has.

Last time I saw you gave us a little tour of town.

Could you tell us what you like about flying?

Well, what do I like about flying...

So a half mile a road will take you anywhere.

[...Laughter...] [...Laughter...] Going up like we did and flying around and seeing the scenery from a differe..

When you're driving along and you see.

You see the sloughs here, you know, the little potholes and you see all the cattails and stuff like that.

That's what you're seeing from here when you're up in the air.

There's a lot of water.

There's a lot of water.

You don't realize how how wet it is and how much water there is.

So we have a lot of tourism, in the lakes, obviously.

You know, we have a beautiful golf course that we have here, the events center we have in town, you know, all of the hunting, all of the fishing.

You know, it's just no matter the season, there's always something to do around here.

It's a beautiful town, You worked with jigs.

I kept on hearing jigs over and over and over.

Tell us a little bit more about what you did professionally.

Okay.

Professionally.

My background started out as a young man buildi.. We ended up building a very small shop, and we were building some of the roof trusses that grew and grew exponentially and beyond what we could have envisioned back then.

Once you set up to do a size of truss, if you did a 30ft house for a roof truss, you'd build 20 or 30 of them all the same shape, and it got to where there were more and more custom houses.

Consequently, you were building fewer of one set up.

Got to the point where we started looking for some automated ..

There were a couple of them on the market, but they all had some serious drawbacks.

So we set about designing our own.

We got a patent on that and we started selling those all over the US and Canada.

How did you get into being mayor?

Oh, they asked for volunteers, and I wasn't smart enough to step back with everyone else.

And that was the one left.

The last man standing.

Ha!

Last man standing.

No, actually, I felt like something that I needed to do to give back to the community and maybe give a little bit of my experience to to help keep the town moving and growing.

So I did volunteer for that.

And then a couple of years later, I was yeah, I was elected mayor.

So how did you get into the Hall of Fame?

How did they approach you and say, “Hey, Mr. Fredrickson say, we need you in the hall.

Its purpose is to try to help, encourage other people, you know, no matter what it is that you do, excel at it and be good at it.

And that will influence other people, too.

There, again, just to expand their, you know, what they're capable of and to let people know that small town South Dakota is there's no drawbacks.

You know, you could do a lot, but, you know, it doesn't matter.

You don't have to move away to the big city in order to do good things.

Producer Greg Beesley and our crew caught up with one who left Britton, only to come back and fall in love.

[low chatting] [Narrator] Ed and Maggie Jerde have known each other for a long time.

First grade Maggie remembers our meeting more than I do because yeah, it was back in first grade.

He helped me take my rain boots off.

The two star crossed lovers would graduate from Britton high school, with Ed staying in his hometown and Maggie out to see the world.

I was already signed up to go to Saint John's School of Nursing in Huron, and after passing out in the operating room three times, I decided that was not my career choice.

So I quit and joined the Army and was very fortunate that I scored high on the language test that they give you.

Amongst the other bevy of tests, and I had a choice of Mandarin, Korean or Russian.

I chose Russian and learned Russian and then was stationed in West Berlin for five years.

During the Cold War.

So hundred and 110 miles, whatever it is, I don't remember behind the Iron Curtain and then bounced around the world.

Colorado Springs and San Francisco and Anchorage and ended up 22 years in Phoenix.

That's when Maggie in touch with her history.

I had been having some memories of a gentleman that lived across the street from me when I was in preschool age and didn't know much about him, and wanted to learn more about him.

So I asked a friend that I was coming to stay with how I find out about this guy named John, and she said, ask the town historian.

And I said, well, who is the town historian?

And she said, Ed, After that meeting, chemistry was back again.

41 years later.

I'd always liked Maggie and remember her from school pretty well, and she would stop at my office when I was working at John Deere and so she had a bit of a place in my heart.

He says, hey, you want to go out to the lakes?

And I said, sure, but I'd rather go to the cemetery.

So our first date since we reconnected was walking the cemetery, and he was talking about the town's history as we walked the cemetery after a couple of years apart.

Maggie and Ed married and continue to walk and drive around town, celebrating their love of history and each other.

“# #### #####” [Speaking in Russian] I love you.

I hope that's what she said.

Britton is beautiful.

It’s nestled in a landscape dotted with lakes.

And not just any lakes.

Glacial lakes.

The lakes are what remains from a glacier that crept right up to town limits, stopping just five miles away before receding.

If you look to the horizon, you'll see a skyline shaped by that glacier.

The block of ice also left a five degree temperature difference in its wake that you can still feel to this day.

In 1884, when Britton was founded, its residents did not plan on going at a glacial pace.

In a three month span.

The settlement went from one claim to 41 buildings.

That's quite a building boom In the late 1800s.

The town was known for its merchants and businesses.

A resident could find just about everything that they needed, and then some.

It's about the same today.

there's a lot of current day Britton that has roots placed solidly in the past.

That's because Britton's history is something its people are proud of.

There’s the Prayer Rock Museum of Marshall County.

Which is completely ran on donations by volunteers, and houses thousands of historic items, including military uniforms worn by Britton’s citizens The museum is named after a rock that was discovered by a rancher just outside of town.

The rock's face is layered with handprints from history.

The people who left them were saying, we are here.

We are here.

It's a tradition that the people of Britton have continued, including filmmaker and theater owner Ivan Besse.

His lens captured everyday footage of Britton's citizens in the 1930s.

The result reels and reels and reels of history.

Scenes from the past.

For you to see now in your present.

but more on that later.

First, we're going to learn about the Buckhorn Rodeo and the original ten.

Plus, we'll meet the current residents Who are working to preserve their legacy by focusing on a history you can't experience just walking on the street.

They're focused on a more wild town tradition.

Producer Kate Lundahl takes us there now.

[Announcer] It's a beautiful night for all you in God's country.

This is coming from a child's perspective.

Okay?

This is my dad's place.

I was only 12 or so at the time when it first started.

Keep in mind, I was seven.

My dad and Kay’s dad, Ed, were super good friends, so he came out here with him one time and saw this area down in here and said that would be a beautiful place for a natural bowl arena.

And I remember coming up over that hill and seeing the posts going in the ground and thinking, this is really cool.

In 1972, the arena was brought to life and the hillside seating was packed for the first Buckhorn Rodeo.

Thanks to a group remembered as the original ten.

They were just ten guys that some loved horses in rodeo, and others just had money they were willing to help with.

So that's how they all came together and built this whole place.

Some of my best family memories come from getting ready for rodeo.

Back when I was a kid, everything was done by hand.

We have a lot of our signs painted still by hand.

Now, and it was hours and hours of just family time spent together.

Listen to the radio.

You know, it was awesome.

That handiwork is still seen at the rodeo today in the signs covering the fence, new construction, and even the Buckhorn Rodeo flag itself sewn by Susan's mom, Carolyn Andrews.

The flag symbolizes something special about this rodeo, and it's become an important part of a growing tradition.

My dad passed in 1997, so at 1998, rodeo is when the Buckhorn Flag was first put up on top of the all in memory of him.

And then we've just continued to do it every year for anyone that we lose.

And then when my brother died, he was a rodeo clown and our bull fighter.

So we put the clown car up there.

I didn't know it was going to get put up there.

I was very surprised when they put it up there, but it was a very good memorial because he would go to parades and stuff, as a clown and and drive that goofy car.

The rodeo brings families together, work.. til the last trailer leaves and every helping hand is needed.

When I was little, we used to sell pop outside of the concession stand and you'd get a ticket.

And so, friends and I would take tickets for the po..

I got older and I started running the kids events.

They don't really realize how big the arena is until they get in there, and they love to be out there and part of the rodeo, and that's just fun to see.

So from little to big, real quick, it's feels like.

I've never known anything different other than rodeo, and it's my favorite thing in the world.

So I try to put everything into it that I absolute can.

We grow up around, doing it.

Parents do it.

Our grandparents were the, we're the third generation, and I've got a little daughter.

So we look for mainly why we're doing it.

For me, anyway, I like the keep it going for my family and our all the families that put all this time into it.

There's pride in it.

There is satisfaction seeing it all come..

It's definitely a big part of my life.

It's a part of me.

I don't know if I would know what.. every year.

The Buckhorn Rodeo always begins with a moment to pause and reflect on the memory of people who have made their mark on this arena.

In 2024, the association mourned the loss of three members.

It was my idea to put the cross on the hill and my son made that, and then he put a prayer on it and it means a lot to me.

That'll be surrounded by American flags in memory of the three we've lost this year, and it will stay up there forever.

It really describes how we live our life around rodeo.

We thank God every day that we can get to enjoy this sport.

We get to do it every year.

You just can't replace people.

So we have to do what we can to remember them and honor them.

We take the flags and things down every year but the clown car on the cross and stay up there for eternity.

As cowboys, Lord, we don't ask for any special favo.. We ask only that you let us compete in this arena.

As in life's arena.

[Auctioneer] Auction starts here... Alright... We’ve got 50, now 60...

I got 60 over here now.

70.

70 when you give me 71.

I got 70 now.

80.

My husband had grown up with pie every weekend.

I continued that tradition.

And for our all of our married life, he had pie every weekend.

And the day he died, we knew what time he died.

I was gone because his pie was still sitting on the table by his chair.

But anyway, that's how I got into pie.

[Narrator] When most people think of pie, they think, mmmm... good.

But pies that do good?

Only here in Marshall County.

[Auctioneer] Oh, yes!

Now we got a sour cream and raisin pie made a Carol Jones.

220?

You're going to go at 220.

Got gotta go now 30, not 40, now 50, now 60, now 70.

This is fun!

Now 80!

Sold!

in the back.

$270 - 34 buys.

Give ‘em a hand.... Patty Roehr with the Britton Area Foundation is Team Leader of Archie's Turtles, which puts on ...

I am just one part of it, of a team of, you know, 12 or 13 people that put this thing together.

So it's it certainly isn't all about me.

a lot of the setup and all of that is done by Todd's Tavern itself.

and there's a lot of people that donate not just pies, pies, bars, baked items, but there's some farm toys and just other things that people want to bid on.

They just plan for it and they do it year after year after year.

thank you so much for coming.

South Dakota Public TV.

Thanks for being here I might not be a pro like Carol, but I cooked up something for .. Oh, It's an apple pie.

All right, heard you give me 35, 40, 45.

The auctioneer His name is Scott Bush, and Scott.. now 21 time 221 time.

Tim, I'm telling you what your next telethon You should be selling your pies.

He will make this so much fun.

And if things start to drag, he has a way to speed it up.

And that's kind of what it's all about, because we have a lot of item trucks and in a short amount of time Sold it Todd!

Your way.

Five hundred dollars.

[Applause...] Thank you, Tim.

The money goes to the American Cancer Society for the purpose of cancer research.

Every family is touched by cancer.

My daughter got cancer when she was a freshman in college.

She we took her to the doctor and he said he was sure she had Hodgkin's disease.

She lives in Rochester.

Lucky for her.

She was a disc jockey, did the early mo.. and she got involved with Relay for Life down there.

She kept saying, you should do this in Britton, Mom, you should do this in Britton.

And I said, we just don't have the per capita people.

She said it would work.

So my friend Cleo [Symens] and I started it 25 years ago last year, and we raised over $1 million out of this little community.

It was a big endeavor.

It was something that never been done [Narrator] But once it had bee.. Marshall County Relay For Life inspired other fundraisers throughout the year and throughout the county, including the Amherst Pie Auction.

People come and bid, and that is their contribution to fight cancer.

Like all relays, we pass the baton and the race keeps going.

Two years ago, Carol and Cleo officially passed theirs to Cyndy and Marie.

Now, producer Jonathan Rouse and our crew showcase another Britton institution whose baton has been passed for over 100 years.

In the heart of Britton, South Dakota stands a landmark that has been a silent witness to the stories of the townspeople for over a century.

Built in 1915, the Strand Theatre has been a place for the community to come together, grab a popcorn and drink, and escape into the magic of the silver screen.

And expand the Strand Theatre, because that was a chain of theaters at that time, and it was built as a dual purpose theater and also vaudeville shows.

Piano would go down in the basement, and then they'd have the piano there for the social club that was in the basement at the time.

This theater has a pretty rich history, and it really became very important when the films that Ivan Besse, he was the projectionist here for many years, he had been asked by the first owners, the Bakers, to do a gimmick, something to get people to come in to the theater during the depression.

And that was 16 millimeter film clips.

So Ivan would go up and down the town and he'd get people walking up and down the street, football games, corn husking tournaments, buildings getting moved, people swimming at swimming pools, the whole thing, and was done to get people to come to the theater to see if they were going to be on the big screen that night.

And, and the number of ladies going, down the street when he came with the camera, they'd go like this to hide him.

And, you know, they didn't want to be a part of the screened at all.

But it's kind of funny, actually.

Not many theaters can say they've got that kind of history.

I think it was in the 1950s.

I even actually bought the movie theater And so he had it all these years.

From 1958, I think 57, 58 until, you know, I came along in the 80s and bought it.

Tom Farber has been the owner of the Strand Theatre since 1988.

Over the last few decades, he and his team have worked to preserve the theater and keep its legacy alive.

It's ended up being largely a preservation type of, deal.

This town needs a theater.

If for no other reason than to try to keep some kids from going to Aberdeen to see movies or get in trouble and that type of thing, and I've said this before, to having a movie theater is a sign of community health, that if you can keep this open, tells you that you got support from the public.

While trying to preserve the historic feel of the theater.

Tom says there is also the challenge of keeping up with the times.

Technology is the main reason that we've had to make the changes to keep up, sound and everything now is huge for these pictures.

You know, people want to be comfortable and I think for the most part, we give them a very comfortable atmosphere.

Today, the Strand Theater is more than just a building to watch movies with the films of Ivan Besse and the continued dedication from the community, it's become a storyteller all its own.

This is like a walk back in time in some respects, because it's an old building, and a lot of these old theaters have totally been torn down or converted into something else.

You know, it's almost like this is a mini museum because there's so much tied into this building and that you don't find in every town, even if it's in an older theater in another town, they probably don't have as rich history as the Strand Theatre does.

The community is so supportive in our school and in our school district.

You try and remember things that happened in high school, but football seems to be what just kind of sticks, you know, with people.

It's interesting to see just how much it's grown there, how much the fans love, you know, going out on Friday nights in the fall.

Britton might be a small town, but that hasn't stopped its athletes from reaching for greatness.

Dallas Goedert graduated from Britton Hecla and walked on at SDSU and played for the Jackrabbits and then was drafted by the the Philadelphia Eagles.

Fires to the end zone.

And it's caught by Dallas Goedert.

While there have been many memorable athletes in Britton’s history, the impact of one recent grad has been profound.

[Announcer] And he didn’t make it.

And it's a fumble is recovered by the Braves.

The ball game's over.

The Braves have won it on the fumble at the goal line.

[Cheering...] It just seems like it was, you know, yesterday.

And then it seems like it was a long time ago.

All in the same, you know, all in the same thought.

It was, it was, it was just a crazy, accident that happened.

[Narrator] The junior quarterback took a hit while throwing a touchdown pass.

And after the two point conversion, he returned to the sideline and collapsed.

I was at that game and we could tell something was something was wrong.

[Narrator] Trevor was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury, only to spend the next five months in the hospital.

[Announcer]...almost as if this is a tribute to their teammate.

And I think you're absolutely right.

as you see Trevor Zuehlke helmet and uniform there.

They're remembering him.

And I think the coaches got together to do .. [Narrator] After the state championship.

Longtime head coach Pat Renner would resign.

The following season, Jacob Skogstad took the helm.

Yeah, right.

it's a truly special game.

the emotion, the passion, the hard work.

Football does a great job of emulating life, there's ups and downs in every football game, just like there's ups and downs in everyone's life.

And the goal of a successful football team is to stay even keeled during those.

I immediately knew the impact that Trevor had on the community and on the football team.

I came up here for my interview driving down Main Street, and the number ten is plastered on all of the businesses on the windows.

And, I remember watching that championship game and kind of being taken aback by the support for him and and his family during that time, still having his jersey on the sidelines.

And, then when I got to meet Trevor and see the kids around Trevor that were his age and younger, you could just really tell the kind of kid that Trevor was.

Trevor is such a sports person, and, loved kid.. the family started their, you hashtag for Trevor.

program.

you know, bring awareness to, you TBIs and just injuries that happen.

It's it's just been great for our, our community.

[Announcer] ...taking a deep shot for Goedert...

He's open.

He's got it.

And he's got a touchdown.

[crowd goes wild] Dallas Goedert!

What a drive.

When they saw the work that he was going through in the struggles that he was going through, it really just cemented home that everybody can do more than what they think they can do.

This, past year.

Coach Skogstad and I talked about, you know, what could we do with with Trevor passing away, you know, this year?

all of our boys helmets had, a little football with a number ten on it.

So we decided every team that we played, to give them a sticker if they wanted to wear it.

our football team still.. instilled on them when they were in fourth and fifth grade.

They were watching Trevor, and he was like, they're superhero on the football team.

Just like they're in that position now for our young kids.

And Britton it really impacted our football team because everybody is trying to do just a little bit more to better themselves, to better their team, watch a little bit more film, get two more reps in the weight room, a couple more sprints after practice just to really empty the tank and leave it all out there.

[Announcer] And it's a fumble is recovered by the Braves!

The ball game's over!