Spring 2009

Cover Story – Overseeing Otho: Dallas Dietrich Meets the Need

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Welcome to beautiful downtown Otho, South Dakota, population: three humans, 29 cats, and 3 9/10 horses.

“The cats and the horses are Mary’s projects,” says Dallas Dietrich, Otho’s self-appointed mayor, historian, and jack-of-all-trades. He points out the window at a very pregnant mare in a wooden stall below their barn-turned-home. “She’s expecting sometime...

Carol LeBau: Belly Dancing 101

The plan was that FACES publishers Beth Palmer and Ann Henrichsen (otherwise known as “the Swisher sisters”) would participate in a two hour belly-dancing lesson, Mike Wolforth would take photos, and I would come along to make everyone uncomfortable by sitting there and not talking. Essentially, my job as art director is to visualize the finished story in all its four-color glossy splendor, and to make suggestions to the photographer. Among other things, I look for angles that...

Sandi Haskell and Paula Marsh: Sister Act

When you join Sandi Haskell and her sister Paula Marsh at their favorite coffee hangout inside Borders in Rapid City, you are in for an education on how to get the delicious brew for almost nothing. Valuable information, for sure.

They have their routine—a certain window, certain magazines to browse through, and a project or several projects to work on. Sandi uses a walker to get from the van to the sunny table near the window in the coffee shop. Paula parks the van and...

Ruth Brennan: The Smarts behind the Arts

For most of us, the phrase “the arts” suggests a painter daubing at a canvas or an actor making his stage debut. But what we don’t think about are things like: who writes grants for funding, who makes sure the art center’s heat bill is paid, or who sits in committee meetings with city and state officials. For many years, Ruth Brennan rarely got to sit back and enjoy a concert, play or art exhibit opening because she was busy making sure everything behind the scenes was on...

Christy Remington: Dancing with Miss Christy

Christy Remington doesn’t merely teach little girls how to pirouette and plié. She imparts passion and poise to the faces reflected in the mirrored walls of her west Rapid City dance studio.

“These kids learn so much more than dance,” said the 29-year-old owner and director of Prima School of Dancing.

“Miss Christy,” as her young charges call her, is proud of her students’ success on the dance floor. But outward accomplishment means little if they haven’t...

Wylleen May: Custer’s Cross-Country Commuter

Sure, the Custer area offers some spectacular scenery along with the amenities of country living, but is calling it home worth a 2,000-mile commute to work? Wylleen May thinks so. She works in Los Angeles, California, as the executive in charge of production for television’s American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance series as well as the NAACP Image Awards specials. Born in Rock Rapids, Iowa, some 30 miles from Sioux Falls, Wylleen bought land west of Custer eight years ago...

Jack Redden: An Old Country for Young Men

Jack pulls a cigar from a newly opened package and chomps on the end.

Nineteen Forty-seven was the first year I chewed on a cigar,”he comments, sticking it in his mouth. “I was rough-necking in the Elk Basin oil field up near Powell, Wyoming. On Sunday afternoons we played baseball and I was catching a game when someone stuck one in my mouth. I chewed on it until the 6th inning when I got a bit sick. He takes the cigar out of his mouth; looks at it for a moment then sticks...

Becky Svalstad: Friends in High Places

When animal lover Becky Svalstad was growing up along Spring Creek southeast of Rapid City there was always a menagerie of pets—dogs, cats, hamsters—but never anything with feathers.

“My mom would not let us have birds as pets,” the 28 year old recalls.

Although Becky was sure she would grow up and pursue a career related to her love of horses and cattle, birds began to capture her heart when she started working in the bird department at Reptile Gardens in high...

Spring 2009

Cover Story – Overseeing Otho: Dallas Dietrich Meets the Need

Carol LeBau: Belly Dancing 101

Sandi Haskell and Paula Marsh: Sister Act

Ruth Brennan: The Smarts behind the Arts

Christy Remington: Dancing with Miss Christy

Wylleen May: Custer’s Cross-Country Commuter

Jack Redden: An Old Country for Young Men

Becky Svalstad: Friends in High Places

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