Prairie Village News 05/21/2013
By Stan Rauch
Prairie Village Manager
The consignment auction on Saturday was the largest we have ever had and overall it was a huge success. The 103 individual consigners was a record number as the previous high was 70. They brought in an exceptionally large number of items including tractors and other farm machinery, cars, vehicles, boats, ATVs, snowmobiles, trailers of various styles, industrial items, construction materials, the list goes on and on. There was a record high 375 bid card holders in attendance compared to 354 in 2012 and 266 in 2011. There were over a thousand separate sales.
It appeared that we had lots of happy sellers and buyers. The auction is getting bigger every year and we certainly do appreciate everyone’s participation and overall support of it. This annual event is an important fund raiser for us as it helps significantly with our continued preservation of the historic buildings at the village.
With the Memorial Day weekend about upon us, it’s a good time to again point out that we have excellent camping facilities here at Prairie Village. There are 234 sites with electricity at $17 per night and non-electrical at $14. Folks are often surprised to learn that reservations are not normally required due to our large number of electrical sites. However, if you are a multiple RV group and want to camp together just give us a call at 256-3644 and we will put reserved signs on adjacent camp sites for you.
We hosted a large number of school tour students the past several days and we will continue this week. It’s a hectic time for us but enjoyable also. This year the school that came the longest distance to provide its elementary students with the Prairie Village experience was Kimball, coming about 120 miles. We will have periodic school tours into the summer as there are various educational entities that operate during the summer months.
Prairie Village News 05/14/2013
By Stan Rauch
Our annual consignment auction is coming right up this Saturday starting at 10:30. A large number of items have been consigned and we are anticipating an excellent auction. We have tractors and other farm machinery, vehicles, boats, industrial and shop equipment, and many, many other items.
A complete list of the items that will be at the sale can be seen on the Prairie Village website at prairievillage.org/auction. The list is updated daily, usually within an hour of when the consignment is called in or arrives at the village. Consigning items is easy, just contact me at 256-3644 or at my cell 860-8887. We will continue to take consignments the remainder of the week and encourage you to consign as soon as possible if you are intending to.
Our much appreciated volunteer auctioneers are once again Wayne Bessman, Rick Becker and Mike Corcoran (Huron). Year after year Wayne and Rick have volunteered their services and they are a big part of what has made the Prairie Village consignment auction be so successful. All of the proceeds go to the upkeep of the historic buildings.
Speaking of upkeep of buildings, a major project to be undertaken this year is the continued preservation of the library, which was the first chartered library in Dakota Territory (1886), and was at one time the Howard City Hall. A $5,000 grant that has been received from the Mary Chilton DAR Foundation will assist signficantly in accomplishing the preservation work which will include new siding and windows.
In addition to our up to date website at prairievillage.org, we are on Facebook at Historic Prairie Village. Just this past weekend we received our 700th “Like”. Follow us on Facebook for all kinds of interesting and informative postings relating to the village.
Prairie Village News 05/07/2013
By Stan Rauch
With all of the great events coming up this year you may want to consider purchasing a season pass at $25 for adults and $7 for ages 6-12. The passes are a big money saver as they are worth over $67 in purchase power because they are good for an unlimited number of daily admissions, a train ride, and admission to all Prairie Village sponsored/conducted events, including the three-day Steam Threshing Jamboree which features International Harvester this year.
We also offer Prairie Historical Society Associate Memberships at $55 which includes two Prairie Village season passes that are transferable to anyone, and a suitable for framing recognition certificate. Because the Associate Membership season passes are transferable they are quite popular as they can be loaned out to employees, family members, friends, etc.
So far 124 businesses and individuals have come on board as 2013 Associate Members of the Prairie Historical Society. Season passes and Associate Memberships can be obtained through the mail at Prairie Village, PO Box 256, Madison, SD 57042, or at our gift shop.
We continue to take consignments for our annual consignment auction that will be held Saturday, May 18 starting at 10:30 a.m. We already have a bunch of excellent items for the sale including tractors and other farm machinery, vehicles, and a wide variety of equipment and other items. Just give me a call at 256-3644 to consign.
The complete list of consigned items is updated daily and can be seen at prairievillage.org/auction.
All mothers ride the train free on Mothers Days so bring Mom out this Sunday to enjoy the village and ride the train at 2:00 p.m.
Prairie Village News 4/30/2013
By Stan Rauch, Manager
We are about to be off and running with the 2013 season at Prairie Village and we anticipate that it will be another exceptionally good one.
This Sunday is opening day at the village. Our operating hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday. The lingering winter resulted in a late start for camping throughout the area, but the season is now upon us and we look forward to hosting campers.
Next Monday morning we start our school tours with 116 students plus accompanying adults. During the month of May we will have a large number of eager elementary school students with us to learn about and obtain an appreciation for how eastern South Dakota rural residents lived many years ago. They will also have fun riding the train and carousel. School tours time is always fun for us as well as for the students. Seeing all the enthusiasm in the kids is a great way to kick off our season. We have been conducting the school tours program since 1968 and it’s alway nice to hear from adults that tell us that they were at the village as part of a school tour when they were in elementary school.
Our May 4 Consignment Auction has been rescheduled for May 18 due to weather related factors. We have a number of nice items already consigned such as tractors, farm equipment and vehicles and we will continue consigning items up until 9:00 a.m.the day of the auction although we prefer that all items be at the village by the evening prior to the sale. A complete list of consigned items can be seen on the Prairie Village website at prairievillage.org/auction and we update the list daily as items are consigned. The auction is a great opportunity to be a buyer or a seller. Last year we had a record high 354 bid card holders at the event which is an important fund raiser, the proceeds from which go to the preservation of the historic buildings.
The 2013 Prairie Historical Society board of directors includes George Lee, president (Madison), Tim Ramstad, vice president (Colton), Laura Palmer, secretary (Madison), Kelli Wollmann, treasurer, (Madison), Mark Bakker (Sioux Falls), Jeff Hansen (Lake Wilson, MN), Mickie Kreidler (Madison), Kent Petersen (Madison) and Jim Wallace (Clark). This season’s gift shop employees are Tracy Kierzek, Somer Kierzek and Paige Gaikowski. Maintenance is headed up by Bill Lutter with Cade Weeldreyer as assistant. Finance officer Ann Orman and myself as manager are the village’s two year-round employees.
We all look forward to making the upcoming season at the village be an exceptionally fine one.
