I like Dave Snyder, even though he's a Republican.
Not only did he help advance the Mickelson Trail concept, he has been a tireless promoter of the Lead area having sold his hog operation to build a mansion from a pole shed in the Dumont/Nahant area south of town for a woman who broke his heart immediately thereafter. My guess is that she realized South Dakota was collapsing long before I did and ran screaming into the night searching for bluer pastures.
I contracted the drywall finish there some ten years ago and lobbied him on the ice climbing park.
Mark VanGerpen wrote a nice, albeit futile piece in the Black Hills Pioneer about the latest Lead (re)revitalization plan based on a pending SDDoT highway project:
Unfortunately (or not), Lead doesn't have a pot to piss in because the bulk of its taxpayers are lining up with their walkers or lying on gurneys awaiting their turns for the various cemeteries splattered throughout town.
Except for Stan, the rest are obese, white retirees from somewhere else who fled cultural diversity in their own States taking advantage of South Dakota's regressive tax structure and are now packing their RVs preparing to flee the advancing strings of 40 below-zero days.
Too many Lead residents are local high school dropouts who married their sisters, are strung out on meth somewhere and are only paying taxes through video loottery, Mickey's malt liquor, cigarettes and fuel.
So: sorry, Dave. I'm holding out for the Yellowstone supervolcano to fix Lead...maybe you should, too.
Not only did he help advance the Mickelson Trail concept, he has been a tireless promoter of the Lead area having sold his hog operation to build a mansion from a pole shed in the Dumont/Nahant area south of town for a woman who broke his heart immediately thereafter. My guess is that she realized South Dakota was collapsing long before I did and ran screaming into the night searching for bluer pastures.
I contracted the drywall finish there some ten years ago and lobbied him on the ice climbing park.
Mark VanGerpen wrote a nice, albeit futile piece in the Black Hills Pioneer about the latest Lead (re)revitalization plan based on a pending SDDoT highway project:
Snyder said the main objective of the three options is to create a pedestrian-friendly environment, where people can easily access the downtown area's businesses and events. Doing so would hopefully increase tax revenue for the city and both economically and aesthetically revitalize the downtown area.Note the word 'hopefully' in Mr. VanGerpen's story.
Unfortunately (or not), Lead doesn't have a pot to piss in because the bulk of its taxpayers are lining up with their walkers or lying on gurneys awaiting their turns for the various cemeteries splattered throughout town.
Except for Stan, the rest are obese, white retirees from somewhere else who fled cultural diversity in their own States taking advantage of South Dakota's regressive tax structure and are now packing their RVs preparing to flee the advancing strings of 40 below-zero days.
Too many Lead residents are local high school dropouts who married their sisters, are strung out on meth somewhere and are only paying taxes through video loottery, Mickey's malt liquor, cigarettes and fuel.
So: sorry, Dave. I'm holding out for the Yellowstone supervolcano to fix Lead...maybe you should, too.
true . . . but cold, man, really cold . . .
ReplyDeleteDuff: it's always great to have you. Where the hell have you been?
ReplyDeleteChillin . . .
ReplyDeleteI see you, Corey, and Fleming are still stokin the fire. My hat is off to you gentlemen. Seriously.
Crazy shit goin 'round eh?
Fleming just barely tolerates me. He and Troy Jones are still letting Stace Nelson bestialize them over at DWC and giving those Republican pricks clicks they don't deserve.
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear from you. Stop by anytime.
Hey Larry:
ReplyDeleteWell, you're right, I am not obese! I do know at least one other "skinny kid" here in Lead, though.
Interestingly, we escape much of the bitter cold up here in the winter. Inversions often give us temperatures in the teens or 20s when Rapid City, Sturgis, and Spearfish endure -15ºF to -25ºF torment. We don't get much wind up here in Lead either.
We sure do get the snow, though! A couple of years ago I think we topped 250 inches for the season. A few years ago we had 60 inches in 48 hours.
As for the pedestrian-friendliness of Lead, I think it's okay just the way it is, except it sure would be nice if everyone would keep the walks salted so I didn't have to worry about going through another year nursing a ripped rotator cuff.
With the apparent demise of the Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory (DUSEL) project, and hope for its future waning by the day, I really wonder whether or not I ought to think about shipping out of here.
The fact that I have five different book projects going right now keeps me from going off on any really severe cockamamie tangents.
I still like this place, all told. Beats the heck out of Miami or Los Angeles, where I spent a few years. But that was then and this is now.