The World's ONLY Corn Palace

 One of South Dakota's 'claim to fame' and unusual tourist attractions is the Corn Palace in Mitchell, just off I-90. I was in Mitchell for another reason but did drive by the Corn Palace to see the display for 2026. 

According to Corn Palace website: 

Eight years before the turn of the 20th century, in 1892 (when Mitchell, South Dakota was a small, 12-year-old city of 3,000 inhabitants) the World's Only Corn Palace was established on the city’s Main Street. The palace was conceived as a gathering place where city residents and their rural neighbors could enjoy a fall festival with extraordinary stage entertainment - a celebration to climax a crop-growing season and harvest. This tradition continues today with the annual Corn Palace Festival held in late August each year.

By 1905 the success of the Corn Palace had been assured and a new Palace was to be built, but this building soon became too small. In 1919, the decision to build a third Corn Palace was made. This one was to be permanent and more purposeful than its predecessors. The present building was completed in 1921, just in time for the Corn Palace Festivities. That winter Mitchell hosted its first boy’s state basketball tournament. The building was considered to have the finest basketball arena in the upper Midwest area.

In the 1930’s, steps were taken to recapture the artistic decorative features of the building and minarets and kiosks of Moorish design were added restoring the appearance of early day Corn Palace.

Ear by ear the corn is nailed to the Corn Palace to create a scene. The decorating process usually starts in late May with the removal of the rye and dock. The corn murals are stripped at the end of August and the new ones are completed by the first of October. Just like South Dakota Agriculture, growing condition can affect production of our decorating materials and may delay the decorating process.

The Palace is redecorated each year with naturally colored corn and other grains and native grasses to make it “the agricultural show-place of the world”. We currently use 12 different colors or shades of corn to decorate the Corn Palace: red, brown, black, blue, white, orange, calico, yellow and now we have green corn! 

A different theme is chosen each year, and murals are designed to reflect that theme. 

Mural designs are created by Dakota Wesleyan University students enrolled in Digital Media and Design courses under the guidance of Associate Professor, Kyle Herges.   This partnership began with murals designed in 2019. www.dwu.edu

Some 500,000 tourists come from around the nation each year to see the uniquely designed corn murals. 

People from New Jersey were taking photos when we stopped to take our photos.

The city’s first Corn Palace was built as a way to prove to the world that South Dakota had a healthy agricultural climate.

Today, the Corn Palace is more than the home of the festival or a point of interest of tourists. It is a practical structure adaptable to many purposes. Included among its many uses are industrial exhibits, dances, stage shows, meetings, banquets, proms, graduations arena for Mitchell High School and Dakota Wesleyan University as well as district, regional and state basketball tournaments. 

St. Peter's Church in St. George, Bermuda

 In early September, we took a 5-day cruise from New York City to Bermuda. The weather for the cruise was very good; no storms in the Atlantic. However, it rained on the second day we were docked in Bermuda, so we didn't leave the ship that day.

We took the ferry from the Naval Dockyard to St. George on the northern end of the islands. The temperature in St. George was 90º and the humidity was 90%. Needless to say, Hubby and I did not do a whole lot of exploring. We did spend a bit of time at St. Peter's Church because there was a geocache in the graveyard.

St. Peter's was established in 1612

St. Peter's is the oldest Anglican church outside the British Isles, and the oldest Protestant church in continuous use in the New World.

doors to the pews

the Pulpit made of Bermuda cedar in 1660

the candle chandelier

The Baptismal font of Purdeck stone dates from 1450 and is believed to have been brought to Bermuda from England by the early settlers. The chair on the right is the Bishop's chair made in 1826 for the Bishop's visit. The chair on the left is the Ceremonial Chair used by Prince Charles on 21" October 1970 to deliver the throne speech opening a special session of Bermuda's Parliament on the occasion of the 350th anniversary of its establishment.

the Black Cemetery

The surrounding historic graveyard (behind the church) is the last resting place for generations of gentry and commoners, governors and slaves, privateers and statemen, some of whom are remembered in the memorials in the Church.

The tree hosted the geocache container,

some of the flowers in the graveyard

Through the centuries St. Peter's Church has witnessed much change and withstood many storms, including hurricanes, standing firm as a sacred sentinel over the little island. 

In 1612 the first settlers to colonize Bermuda arrived from Plymouth, England arboard the 'Plough.' A temporary post and thatch church was erected in the new Town of St. George with a communion table made of Bermuda cedar. (The communion table is on display in the church.)

The first wooden structure on this site was built in 1619. After a devastating hurricane in 1713, the church was rebuilt and enlarged, using the wood of the previous building and with new stone walls. There were several repairs and additions through the years. In 1953 extensive repairs were carried out. 

Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth in her Diamond Jubilee year (2012) and for the church's 400th anniversary, honored it with the title 'Their Majesties Chappell.'

Information is taken from a brochure taken from our church visit.

Catching Up on Miss W's Accomplishments

 Since May, Miss W has continued to participate in Spotlight Theatre productions and continued with chorus activities. Here is a summary of those months.

she had a supporting role in Pippin

helping Felix with his mic

This has a background story. Felix is the grandson of our neighbors when we lived in Watertown. OFS and a couple of his high school basketball teammates were 'hired' to serve a Sweet Sixteen birthday party for Felix's mom back in the late 1990s. Our granddaughter was in the same theatre production as their grandson. This time Miss W was helping Felix like her dad 'helped' his mom.

On Sunday, July 19th Miss W was one of the fifteen Lincoln High School Chorus members selected to participate in the SD Honor's Choir week-long camp at Black Hills State College in Spearfish.

Chorus members from across the state auditioned and were selected for the 2026 Honors Choir.

We attended their chorus concert on Friday evening in Rapid City.

LHS Concert Choir members

The LHS Concert Choir sang the National Anthem and America the Beautiful at the September 9, 2026 Naturalization Ceremony at the Washington Pavilion.

The naturalization ceremony in Sioux Falls, South Dakota welcomed 138 new U.S. citizens from 48 different countries who now live across 33 communities in the state. 

LHS Homecoming October 3rd

another SpotLight theatre production

She was a member of the cast.

What I don't have is a photo of Miss W and the vehicle she is driving since she got her driver's license in May. I did find the photo from when we bought it in April 2023.

It gets much more use now than it did when we had it! Hard to believe there is a teenage driver in the family!

Flowers

 I had two hibiscus plants on the deck all summer. It is one of the flower plants I usually have very good luck growing. This summer, for the first time, both hibiscus plants had a bug infestation. I bought spray that worked on one of the plants, but the other was too infected. I cut it back to about six inches and watched it grow all summer. No flowers, but also no more bugs. 

Finally, now that it is near the end of the season for flowering plants, it is blooming! In fact, it has several buds! I'm not sure they will open before the plant gets tossed. The forecast is rain for the next 5 days, but no freezing nighttime temperatures.

It did suffer from the low temps last week.

This is the other hibiscus that had two different colored flowers in the same planter.

I have learned the trick to growing Hibiscus: water from the roots. Mine rest in a pail of water.

I wasn't going to buy a mum this fall because they do not look very good after a week or two. I bought this one the first weekend in October. The photo was taken on Halloween. This year, it is also resting in a pot of water. I guess mums like to be watered from the bottom up. 

I find it very hard to throw out the flowers when they are still blooming. I will just wait for the first hard frost and let Mother Nature make the decision for me.

Catching Up on McBe's Accomplishments

 Since the last post in May, McBe has had a couple of personal accomplishments worthy of noting.

At the 8th Grade Awards Ceremony at Edison Middle School, he received the Presidential Award for Educational Excellence.

one of 45 on his 8th grade team

the end of 8th grade

In early June he tested and passed the (first) Black Belt level 

in Tae Kwan Do

the Awards Ceremony

Since then, he has tested and passed to the next Black Belt level. We attended the testing, but he was on a marching band trip when the ceremony was scheduled. So, no solid Black Belt photo.

McBe joined the Lincoln Marching Band. His summer was weekly drum lessons, marching band practice, and a 3-week marching band camp, 8 to 5, Monday through Friday.

262 Lincoln High School students

first performance for the parents before school started

yard sign

McBe is a percussionist and part of the Marching Band Ensemble group. This is the number of percussion instruments used by the Ensemble group for each performance. (The red shirts are the parent volunteers who help the band set up for each performance, including the out-of-town weekend contests. There were four contests this season.)

playing the gong

wearing their show uniforms

I counted 7 percussion instruments that he played during their show performance. There may have been one or two that I missed. He and the guy on the left were responsible for those instruments on their end of the Ensemble line.

A whole new experience for us grandparents and for the parents. Word is McBe enjoyed the experience and plans to continue in Lincoln High School Marching Band. The season is officially over for now.