shop online at www.missourivalleyshopper.com December 12, 2017 • Page 11 Mead Update PHOTO: DTM The workers are getting the Mead ready for the Masquerade Ball on Dec. 31. This week, Paul Hursell (pictured above) and project director Joe James worked on the lights on the second floor. It has been a labor of love with the lights as they require stripping paint and restoring them. It’s going to be exciting to see things PHOTO: DTM come together over the next few weeks. The second A look inside this vintage rural outhouse, built in the 1930s, located on the grounds of the Dakota Territorial Mu- floor parlors are going to look great for the big event and you don’t want to miss out this New Year’s Eve — seum. food, drink, magic, dancing. Do you have your tickets Museum Pieces yet for the Mead Masquerade Ball! This is the premiere event at the new facility with money raised going towards exhibit design. Tickets are $100 each and still available at the museum – stop by or give us a call. You don’t want to miss this event. Reminder: The Mead Project is still $350,000 shy of our $4.7 million goal. It’s not too late to make your contribution today - please conBY CRYSTAL NELSON tact the Dakota Territorial Museum at 610 Summit Street upon arrival or simply designate an dug, the toilets were placed over it, (in Westside Park), on Facebook, visit us online at www. Dakota Territorial Museum area for that kind of business. Natuand then the building constructed. dakotaterritorialmuseum.org or www.meadbuilding.org, rally, the outhouse would be away Although many design variations or call us at 605-665-3898. Snow has finally arrived, and staff Outtakes On Outhouses at the museum is working hard on planning the move of our eight historic buildings to the new Heritage Park campus west of the Mead Cultural Education Center. As we were inventorying and surveying the outhouse historic structure and the wind picked up and began to snow, I got to thinking about the days when indoor plumbing was nonexistent … for privy purposes anyway. No doubt, many of you are wondering how I would know about wood sheds and concrete toilets, but in fact as a child, my cousins and I were required to use the outhouse during the day while at our grandparents’ farm. They had indoor plumbing when I was a child (installed circa 1972) but they were still of the mindset that it was a waste of resources to use the indoor bathroom during the day when there was a perfectly good outhouse to use. Nonetheless, as the days get colder, it is nice to know that when you gotta go, you have something fairly warm to sit your bum on. But, there is more to know about an outhouse than just a non-insulated bathroom outside of the house. The outhouse, as we know it, originated in Europe more than 500 years ago. The finest inns of the time offered gender-specific outhouse options. A sun was carved into the door for men and a moon for women, so even the illiterate knew which one was theirs. Early settlers to the Dakota Territory would dig privies for themselves from the house, but many didn’t take a survey of fresh ground water sources before digging. This oversight had many digging holes just above their drinking water sources. In these cases, disease would soon follow, with little understanding of what caused it. Not until 1900 did scientists and doctors finally make the connection between typhoid, and many other diseases, and unsanitary conditions — which started a push for better conditions … including where and how to build an outhouse. This “movement” didn’t arrive in the rural areas of America until the 1930s when President Franklin Roosevelt was looking for a way to pull Americans out of the Great Depression. Through the Works Projects Administration (WPA), Roosevelt created outhouse building crews to upgrade sanitation conditions across the country. A basic outhouse design (like the outhouse now at the Dakota Territorial Museum) was created by the American Red Cross and sported an odorless and vermin-resistant commode. The museum’s outhouse was built in the 1930s on a Yankton County farm. Its design features an enclosed, vented pit for the waste and provided a high standard of cleanliness and sanitation. The building has a concrete floor and a carpentered wooden seat with a close fitting lid to keep the flies out. The concrete floors for these buildings were precast, and once the hole for waste was have been noted, the two basic designs were single or double seat. If you wanted to get fancy and had a large family of many children, you could request one tall toilet and one short to accommodate diverse sizes. However, the most common was a single or double with the same height. Think of all the oneon-one time you could have with your spouse or child while using the double-toilet privy together. Historically, old newspapers and catalogs from retailers specializing in mail order purchases, such as the Montgomery Ward or Sears Roebuck catalog, were common posterior wipes before the toilet paper were widely available. More than a few families split their mail order business between Sears and Montgomery Ward for the sole advantage of having a better supply of toilet paper and something to read, if time allowed. If you weren’t a catalog shopper, you could find resources in corn cobs, leaves or a rag that was washed once a week. When life finally allowed for the luxury of the modern toilet paper, it was often kept in a can or other container to protect it from mice, etc. So, the next time you take a trip to your cozy luxury bathroom, take a moment to appreciate indoor plumbing and be thankful to President Roosevelt for keeping our ancestors safe, healthy and clean out here in the Great Plains. Anglers And Waterfowl Hunters Urged To Use Caution PIERRE, S.D. - A strange beginning to the winter season has officials urging both waterfowl hunters and ice anglers to use caution when venturing out to hunt and fish. “Even with this last blast of cold weather, there is still plenty of open water for duck hunting,” said Joe Keeton, South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks (GFP) boating safety officer. “We often think of having enough life jackets during the summer boating months, but it can easily be forgotten during waterfowl seasons. When you are double checking your waterfowl gear; a lifejacket should be at the top of the list." Keeton also reminds hunters to check their duck boats for weight capacity, as boats used for duck hunting are often smaller in size so they can be launched into a variety of different environments. These smaller boats will then be loaded with gear; all of which add weight to the vessel and can quickly exceed the maximum capacity of the vessel. Overloaded vessels can easily capsize and swamp; especially in rough weather. Ice anglers need to remember that the rule of thumb is it takes at least two inches of ice to support an angler, at least six inches to support an ice shack and over a foot for a vehicle, but that applies to strong, clear ice. Dark or cloudy ice is not as strong as clear ice. If a person is going to venture out, they should also test ice conditions as they proceed. "Just because an angler sees six inches near the shore, doesn’t mean it will be six inches across the lake. Springs, current, wind or ice heaves all impact the formation of ice and can make ice very dangerous," Keeton said. Anglers are reminded to drill test holes to measure the thickness of the ice they are traveling on, have flotation devices available and tell someone where they are going. “Let someone know what your hunting or angling plan is, and stick to your plan. If you don’t return within a certain time, rescue will know where to look for you if you get into trouble,” Keeton concluded. University Of South Dakota Music Students Earn Top Prizes VERMILLION — University of South Dakota music students were among the top prizewinners at two competitions hosted on the USD campus in November. In the South Dakota Music Teacher Association competition, Eldon Warner, a junior vocal performance major, received first place in the junior/senior men and women collegiate voice II division. Emily Vidler, a senior vocal performance major, received second place. Kevin Phillips, a senior vocal performance and music education major, received honorable mention. In the freshman and sophomore division, Abby Beach, a music education major, received second place. Bailey Quade, a vocal performance major, was an honorable mention. Senior music education major Benjamin O’Bryan received first place in collegiate composition. Freshman music education major Steven Bray received second place in collegiate woodwind. Sophomore Katelyn Strock and freshman Kacie Cox were honorable mentions in woodwind. Sophomore piano performance major Elizabeth Heikens received second place in collegiate piano. In the Music Teachers National Association contest, Ana Melissa Oliveira, a graduate piano student, received first place in the young artist in piano competition. Nicole Pierson, a music education major, received first place in young artist in woodwind. In the senior piano division, piano performance major Nicole Pierson received second place. The singers all study with Tracelyn Gesteland. Paul Lombardi teaches composition. The woodwinds are clarinet players studying with Luis Viquez. Susan Keith Gray and Alessandra Feris teach piano. The first place winners in the state MTNA competitions will advance to the West Central regional division at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, in January. Ron’s Auto Glass Home Auto Business Glass Repair & Replacement 605-665-9841 1915 Broadway Street, Yankton www.ronsautoglass.com Now Open Aftermarket Parts Pros Sales and Installation Of Performance Parts and Accessories for Light Trucks, SUVs, Jeeps, Cars, Motorcycles, UTVs, ATVs, Golf Carts, Boats, Anything! 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