Last year brought joys and sorrows, accomplishment and challenges to our communities
Riva Sharples | Editor
It’s hard to believe that another year has come and gone. For area residents, the year 2025 was filled with athletic achievements, major weather incidents, community progress and change, town celebrations, joy and sorrow, and much more. Here, we look back at 2025, the year that was. Read Part 1, highlighting the news from January to June, this week and read Part 2, covering July through December, in next week’s edition.
January 2025
A major news story in January 2025 was the Alcester Housing & Redevelopment Commission completing a Governor’s Home at 205 Broad Street. The house, which was put on the market that month, was one of four new homes being built on the west side of town.
In sports news in January 2025, the Beresford community enjoyed watching the Watchdog boys basketball team win.
After starting the season with three losses, the 2024-2025 Beresford Watchdog boys cruised to eight straight wins, beginning December 31, 2024, and ending Jan. 28, 2025.
In less fun news in January 2025, officials at the Beresford, Alcester, and Hudson libraries were concerned about legislation pending in Pierre that would have decreased the state library budget by two-thirds.
Community members rallied behind the libraries, and after a few months of debate and discussion, a revised bill was passed that cut about $825,000 in the state library’s budget but kept most programs and services, including access to databases and interlibrary loans, which local librarians were extremely worried about.
February 2025
In February 2025, Hudson’s Brian Sohl was awarded the Pospishil Memorial Award from the South Dakota Association of Rural Water Systems, recognizing his four decades of serving the Town of Hudson. This prestigious award recognizes individuals demonstrating outstanding leadership, professionalism, and dedication to small water systems.
On Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, the 26th annual Frostbite Four and the 20th Mayor’s Mile event was held in Beresford.
With a few inches of fresh snow on the ground, the event was authentically cold and wintery. A total of 280 runners came out for the 4K, and approximately 100 young athletes took part in the Mayor’s Mile.
“The snow certainly added to the ‘Frostbite’ theme, creating a true winter race experience,” said Beresford Mayor Eli Seeley after the event. “It presented a few challenges, but our volunteers did an excellent job ensuring the course remained safe, and participants embraced the conditions with great enthusiasm.”
In other news in February 2025, the newly re-formed Beresford Chamber of Commerce was busy planning their first activity: a mixer to take place in March.
Meanwhile, BHS senior Laney Andrews set a new record at the State American Legion Oratory Contest, winning the competition for the third year in a row.
Andrews represented District 7 and competed against five other students from throughout the state to win the competition on Feb. 16. She went on to represent South Dakota at the National Finals held in May at Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Michigan, where she took third in the nation.
March 2025
In March, 2025, the City of Alcester received a $522,000 grant for a walking path project
along 301st Street. It was announced that the path would originate in front of the Alcester City Hall offices on Dakota Street and travel east along 301st Street, across Highway 11, join up with the sidewalk in the Herb Anderson Memorial Park, continue on down the street past the school, and then pass across 301st Street to the football field.
This month, planning was also underway for a major fundraiser to take place in April to benefit the Alcester Park Revitalization Project
Another major news story in March happened in Beresford, where it was announced that the Beresford Blues Amateur baseball team would be starting again this year, after an eight-year hiatus.
Said Brandon Ruud, manager of the team, about those who had signed up at that point in March: “A majority of the players currently live in Beresford, graduated high school from Beresford, or live in surrounding towns. We do have some representation from Sioux Falls as well with a few 40+ players and a couple of pickups. The age range is between 22-48 years old with a variety in between.”
A major event held in March was the Beresford Fire Department’s annual fund drive, held on March 30.
“The annual fund drive is our biggest push for donations,” explained Beresford Fire Department Chief Andrew Boden about the event and the need to support the department. “We cover around 380 square miles and a total of 23 miles of interstate in three counties which puts BFD in a unique position for calls we get. We are grateful for anything that residents are willing to donate to us. Of course, regardless of whether you can donate or not, we are always here to help.”
April 2025
In April, students at Alcester-Hudson presented their spring musical, “Shout!” During the show, the five characters in the cast belted out 26 songs from the 1960s and 70s as their lives onstage unfolded and they sought advice from Gwendolyn Holmes, an advice columnist, through the latest editions of fashion magazines.
The cast included Anna Oberg as Red, Olivia Moore as Orange, Katelyn Patrick as Yellow, Michaela Kingma as Green, and Cornelia Hathcoat as Blue. Natalie Moore was the off-stage voice of Gwendolyn Holmes, and student Lauren Meier served as an understudy.
In other news in April, seven Beresford High School students headed to the State Visual Arts competition in Aberdeen. The students included: Amber Dann, Lexy Dobney, McKenzie Hebert, Kate Hoesing, Max Josko, Ashlynn Rozeboom, and Kindra Sveeggen.
In political news, there was a 22% voter turnout for the April 8 Ward 1 Beresford City Council election. In the election, challenger Kayla Bullis defeated incumbent Arthur Schott with a 66-27 margin.
Bullis took her seat on the council on May 5, joining other city council members Eli Seeley (Mayor); Patrick Bickett (Ward 1); Michael Tiedeman and William Roelke (Ward 2); and Larry Rohrer and Sarah Antonson (Ward 3).
May 2025
The big news of May 2025 was graduation, of course. Both Alcester-Hudson and Beresford High Schools held graduation exercises May 10. There were many proud moments and lots of tears as 59 students crossed the stage in Beresford and 24 students graduated in Alcester-Hudson.
A big event in Beresford in May was the annual Watchdog Day of Caring, during which hundreds of Watchdog students took to the streets to give back to the community. Students in grades 6 through 11 participated in 26 community service projects throughout the town on the special day.
“In the morning, all students in grades 6 through 11 participated in a service project,” explained Kristin Schmeling, Beresford music teacher and one of the coordinators of the Day of Caring project. “They were sent out to 19 places in the morning, and there were quite a number of projects that took all day. In the afternoon, the high school students continued the projects and had a few afternoon-only projects as well.”
Of course, in late May, Memorial Day was celebrated in all three communities with special programs, meals, and events.
By the end of the month, farmers markets were in full swing in all three communities. A Farmers Market was held every Tuesday in Alcester beginning in May and running until the fall Beresford’s Farmers Market got going right at the beginning of June, happening on Wednesdays in conjunction with the Beresford Area Arts’ free Rock Wall concerts. Hudson’s markets were also on Wednesdays and ran throughout the summer into fall.
June 2025
A major news story in Beresford in early June was the closing of Set Free Church after 15 years of serving the community. The church, located in the old bowling alley on Main Street, was closed due to low attendance and other personal reasons, said Pastor David Lindsay.
Of course, June marked the start of summer fun. The paper was filled with photographs of ball games and information about area town celebrations. Locally, the 155th Midsommar at Dalesburg occurred on June 20 with fantastic fiddles, barbershop harmonies and food to usher in the summer solstice.
In Alcester, finishing touches were made to the pool after it was closed all of the 2024 season, and in late June 2025, it was finally able to open, adding a lot of fun and joy to the summer for area children.
At Brooklyn Evangelical Free Church in Beresford, meanwhile, members of the congregation met in late June to form an assembly line to package 27,000 meals to benefit people in Haiti.
Read Part 2 of The Republic’s Year in Review in next week’s edition, when we explore the news of July – December, 2025.