When the Harding County newspaper arrived yesterday, I couldn’t believe the headline. Our old friends in the remote, northwest corner of South Dakota had approved a $5 million bond issue for a new K – 12 school.
That may seem ho-hum to you, but the county’s population is only 1,353, which means if you spread the citizen of that vast high-grass prairie evenly across its 2,678 square miles, every single person would have 1,280 acres of elbow room. Those 1,353 people, none of whom live extravagantly and all of whom work hard to eek out a living in untamed and beautiful semi-wilderness, passed a $5 million dollar bond issue.
The new school will cost considerably more than that. But because the proposal passed, the project will receive $5 million federal dollars, thanks to the stimulus package. A sizable amount in their school improvement fund whittled the amount down further, but $5 million is still a sizable amount for the tax payers in Harding County.
Of course, their only other option was to pass a bond for $6.5 million to repair and renovate the old school. Apparently, the fine folks in that county did the math and voted for the cheaper option. Even so, the vote was remarkable. 58% of voters went to the polls and passed the bond issue with an 84% majority. I’m proud to report that our old friends in the small town where we once lived, Camp Crook, voted 76-13 (85%) in favor of the bond issue.
The superintendent of schools said she was surprised the vote passed on the first try. Maybe she wasn’t familiar with the big-hearted generosity of the independent, tough-as-nails townsfolk and ranchers who live so close to the McFarthest Spot in the United States. But Hiram and I are. After Allen was born in 1982, the residents of Camp Crook had a fund raiser for us and raised over $1,500 in one night.
So I wasn’t surprised when the bond issue passed. But I am bursting with pride for a county full of people willing to put the needs of the next generation ahead of their own wants and desires. I’m kinda hoping their attitude is as contagious than the H1N1 virus and spreads all over the country. Our children and their children could use a little of that kind of medicine.
