Brad spent much of his childhood actually living near Mt. Rushmore ~ he spent a few years in Hill City and a few more years in Rapid City. When Brad was in early elementary school, a year after a family vacationed to the Black Hills area, his parents decided to leave their jobs and with another family, open a gift shop on Main Street of Hill City. Now we’re not sure exactly which shop was their's as the storefronts have changed (it was called Tara Teepee at the time), but it was one of these stores.
The
first few weeks, the family lived in the back of the store and Brad (and his
brother Brian) walked a block down the street to school:
Eventually
Brad’s parents purchased a single-wide trailer and lived about five miles out
of town. Although the trailer is no
longer there, the spot remains……….
One
of Brad’s endearing stories of his childhood was his bus driver, Benny (who also owned the trailer park). Seems
like the best seat on Benny’s bus was behind the driver, since that’s where he
kept his shotguns, to kill deer to- and from- school. (Slightly different times
these days, wouldn’t you say!) Brad remembers that as a child, it was with
great excitement if Benny was late, as that meant he got a deer, and it would
be strapped over the hood of the bus.
This
was the corner all the kids watched, waiting to see Benny’s kill:
After
a few years, Brad’s parents sold their half of the shop to their friends and
move to “the big city” ~ Rapid City.
Here they purchased a house:
Brad skated on this pond in the winter
And
they lived here until moving back to Iowa
when Brad was in high school and his brother Brian (Can you say “Brad’s brother
Brian” three times fast?) graduated.
So
that’s the story of Brad’s childhood! :-)
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Escapees RV Club
Commercial Member #693
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