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Welcome to Window On Winner, SD (WOW)

Window on Winner is an unofficial site not affiliated with Winner government or local agencies. Remember WOW for quick links, phone numbers, photos, etc for Winner, Tripp County and Area.

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Mathis Implement Free Lunch and Bullnanza

Winner South Dakota offered Bullnanza at the Tripp County 4-H grounds today, Friday Feb 10, 2012.  Compared to a few days ago, today was a bit on the chilly and windy side.  More than a few area farmers and ranchers dropped into Mathis Implement for some good steak sandwiches.  It was a free lunch.  A rarity around this area and it attracted a good crowd.

 

This is the crowd after another hour of eaters made it through the line.  By the time I got there with a camera, the crowd had shrunk.  There are fast talkers and fast eaters. The steak hotpan was starting to run on empty.  Down to the last of the 200 to 300 steaks and hoagie buns.   Some guys ate a couple of them, so the steak numbers are only an estimate of the number of eager eaters. The air was filled with smoke . Probably from broiling the steak, cooking the beans, and heating the tater tots.

 

  Click on images for larger versions. 

  Like many of these dinners, it gave friends and neighbors a chance to talk and socialize a bit.

 It also gave the Mathis family a chance to talk to some of their customers.  James Mathis and a customer were in a deep discussion when I was fishing the ladle out of the beans and heading for the cake and softdrinks.

This year Mathis Implement has been selling farm equipment here for about 53 years in Winner.  They started off in Yankton, SD for a few years and then got out west.

Equipment has changed a lot in that time.  Just as has farming and ranching.  Single bulls at Bullnanza probably sold for more than a quarter of land 53 years ago.   Combines were a lot smaller then too.  My father bought an Allis Chalmers with a big wide five foot wide header and a 22 bushel grain tank.  Farm ground was available in Clay County South Dakota for around eighty dollars an acre then.  

That was then, this is now.  Below is one of the tractors and loaders and some other equipment on the Mathis lotl

The Mathis business building has been expanded over the years.  It now has a larger shop area which today served as a lunchroom and two separate truck areas and buildings.  Below is the front of the business.  From the image, it looks like the business phone numbers  are 605-842-3110 and 800-658-3494.

 And a bit of a disclaimer:  James Mathis and Mathis Bros. have been renting some of our farmland for several years, so even if you enjoyed the food and conversation today, I won't be too offended if you don't take all of this too seriously.

 

*** Probably best corn in Tripp County History

Country Pride Coop is building a new facility on the  east side of Winner, SD. on part of the economic development area.  But, it looks like the local Tripp County corn crop got a headstart on them.  The photo below was taken from a hill nearly 2 miles away.  I don't know how many bushels for sure by the time you read this, but, on Nov 11, 3011 comments suggest something like 1.2 Million bushels of corn om the piles.

I have lived in this area for about 40 years.  I don't think I have ever seen corn crops like this before in Tripp County

Click on image for a larger view.

--- Doug Wiken

** Snow on Winner and a new local blog from the Winner Suburbs

Anybody looking out a car or house window here in Winner will know we have had snow this winter.   A good bit remains and a lot has already been melted.  The piles have shrunk.  Despite repeated storms on the weekends mostly, the City of Winner has been doing a reasonable job of clearing streets this year.   It is still my belief that a few pickup trucks with blades and blowers should start moving as soon as snow starts falling instead of waiting until the last flake has fallen and then blading on snow mostly already converted to ice or something close to it.

But, onto something more interesting.  John J. Simpson, a lawyer around these parts for a good many years, and now residing in the rurul Hamill, SD area, is also an author.  He has finally gotten around to posting some information on his books and stories on a blog. 

If you are from this area, you may want to take a look.  If you know you may have had ancestors in the area, you may want to look at the index of his book WEST RIVER.  It is mostly a list of names.

Take a  look at Dakota Yesterday if you are interested in a part of the history of  South Central South Dakota including Winner and Tripp County.

 

 

Check the first of the WOW "pages"

In the right column is a new feature, the WOW Pages.  The first is a convenient phone list of semi-categorized businesses of Winner, SD in a useful single page format.  Download the version for Open Office Writer or for Adobe Acrobat Reader.  Both should print out to the correct size to slip into the plastic sleeves distributed with ad covers for the Winner regional phone directory.  Hope you find it useful and also that I can find some more ideas for other fixed useful pages.

---- Doug Wiken

Pamida, a retail store in Winner Photo added

Another Winner building photo. Check the album on Winner buildings in list to left.  Pamida started in a small building perhaps as Gibson's in those days about 40 years ago.  Then was in a building now used for Chamber of Commerce, Economic Development, and Insurance business  in downtown.  The building in the photo is on the east side of Winner with a large parking lot.

From my perspective, Pamida usually competes reasonably well with other merchandisers such as Shopko, Target, and Walmart based on the ads I see. 

Pamida has one product I like better than some of the name and highly advertised brands of snack foods. See image to right.  These "Kettle Creek" cheesy treats are the kind you want under lock and key with a mechanism to meter them out slooooowwwwwlllllly.

I do wish Pamida would merchandise a full lineup of fragrance free products.  I keep suggesting that without much result.   I know there is a significant part of the population that is allergic to many perfumes and scents that are crammed into soaps, laundry products, fabric softeners, etc.  Maybe you too detest the overpowering stench of some products and can drop a suggestion into Pamida.

If you are out of the local mailing area, you can view the weekly sales brochures at

Pamida Your Hometown Store

This is not an endorsement of Pamida and this is not a paid ad.  Just the first in a series on business buildings in the Winner area.

Slow setup and addition of Winner-related LINKS

Slowly adding links related to Winner, SD and will soon have photos from around the area.  I may change the links format, but for now, check the links list in the left column.  Some interesting information can be found there.  But, for tonight, Don't let the bedbugs bite.  Check back, there will be more.