Last year brought joys and sorrows, accomplishment and challenges to our communities
Riva Sharples | Editor
RSharples@ncppub.com
It’s one week into the new year, but many area residents are still reflecting on the year that just passed — 2025.
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 is Part 2 of our review of the year that was, highlighting local news and headlines from July through December 2025.
July 2025
In July 2025, Beresford residents gained a new eatery when Chelsea Fitzgerald expanded her bakery business into a sit-down restaurant. Wake and Bake Bakery, which had been housed in one corner of the old Beresford train depot since 2023, expanded in July 2025 to utilize the rest of the depot building, offering a sit-down style restaurant offering breakfast and lunch options.
Another business also began in July, 2025 in Beresford: O’Reilly Auto Parts, located in the renovated Dollar General store building on West Cedar Street.
July also saw celebrations in the area. Beresford’s annual Old Fashioned Weekend took place over five days in late July. Events began July 23 and ran through Sunday, July 27, focusing on old-fashioned fun for families and community members. In Alcester and Union County, meanwhile, area residents attended in large numbers the 95th Union County Fair, which began July 30 and ran through August 2 in Alcester.
Severe weather at the end of July, meanwhile, threw Hudson and area residents into the media spotlight and gave area residents a difficult, temporary mission: clean-up.
August 2025
The first week of August, 2025, was dominated by clean-up efforts in Beresford, Alcester, and Hudson as area residents recovered from a series of weather events that hit the area July 28-30, 2025, including a derecho and tornado-like winds. Damage was so severe in Hudson that SD Governor Larry Rhoden visited. Hundreds of trees came down in the area. Buildings collapsed, and there was just a big mess everywhere.
“I’ve never seen straight-line winds cause so much damage as what Hudson experienced from yesterday’s storms,” he told reporters and area residents on Tuesday, July 29, as clean-up efforts were beginning. “My Administration is at the ready to assist. One thing’s for sure — this community is doing a great job working together to get back on their feet.”
The positive news of August was the tremendous ways that people came together in our communities to help one another in the wake of the storm’s aftermath.
In mid-August, the first-ever Summertime Wonderland Pageant was held in Alcester with four area youth earning the titles of Miss Christmas, Miss Blizzard, Miss Candycane, and Miss Tinsel. Winning the coveted titles were: Raelyn Thompson as Miss Christmas, Reyna Kingma as Miss Blizzard, Hatta Serck as Miss Candycane, and Paislee Wickre as Miss Tinsel.
August also brought a return to school for all students in the Alcester-Hudson and Beresford School Districts. Fall Sports, including football, cross country, volleyball, and golf for Class A, began and activities were in full swing by the end of the month.
September 2025
Hudson residents didn’t let the massive storm damage of the previous month stop them from celebrating in September. On Sept. 6, community members, friends, family, and alumni gathered for the annual Hudson Community Celebration and 2025 Alumni Reunion, which featured a car show and shine, parade, social hour, and alumni banquet.
In September, 2025, it was announced that the City of Alcester had received a $110,600 grant from the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish, and Parks’ Recreational Trails Program for work toward the Herb Anderson Memorial Park revitalization.
In other news, the faith program Fields of Faith was held in Alcester, drawing more than 200 young people.
Meanwhile, in Beresford, students spent the last week of September celebrating Homecoming and hosting the annual Watchdog Marching Band Festival, which brought more than 20 area bands to town to march and compete.
October 2025
October brought many activities in the area, including the observation of Fire Safety Week, hosted by area fire departments, and National Newspaper Week, during which students in Beresford and Alcester-Hudson learned about newspapers and the media.
Pheasant hunting season began Saturday, Oct. 18, with high hopes of a great year. South Dakota’s 2024 season saw 1.3 million pheasants harvested across the state. An additional 380,000 pheasants were harvested on defined shooting preserves. This was the highest harvest in 13 years, and hunters were looking forward to a plentiful harvest in 2025.
In mid-October, Alcester-Hudson celebrated homecoming in conjunction with an all-school reunion that drew more than 350 attendees.
November 2025
On November 11, Veterans Day programs were held in Alcester and Beresford to recognize veterans and the contributions and sacrifices they have made and continue to make for American freedom and life. Programs involving all school children in Alcester-Hudson and Beresford were held at the schools with good attendance in both communities.
In early November, the annual Senior Citizens Thanksgiving meal was served by Alcester-Hudson High School students for senior citizens in the area.
Later in the month in Beresford, the second resurrected community Thanksgiving meal was held on Thanksgiving Day with many people in attendance.
December 2025
In December, 2025, the communities of Hudson, Alcester, and Beresford pulled together to mourn the tragic passing of Hudson resident Camdyn Meester, an 8th grader at Beresford Middle School.
Winter weather throughout the first part of December led to cancellations of basketball games and concerts. Alcester-Hudson was able to find a new date for their concert, held right before school got out on Dec. 18. When re-scheduling proved difficult for Beresford High School, officials did something a little different this year: recording the students performing the band and music concert in their pajamas during one of the final days of school before Christmas break. This recording was available to watch online, and many people enjoyed the concert as part of their family’s holiday celebrations.