Winner Advocate

Winner Advocate Covering Tripp County since 1910

Laura Brown-Advertising/General Manager
Dan Bechtold-Editor
Elisabeth Gregg- Graphic Artist
Jennifer Duffy- Office Manager
Rita Pravecek- Social Media/ Website
Charley & Norma Najacht-Owners
Charley Najacht-Publisher

06/17/2026

Some government offices in
Winner will be closed on June
19 in honor of the national
Juneteenth holiday.
The Tripp County courthouse
will be closed as well as the
county library.
All state and federal offices in
Winner will be closed on June
19.
The Winner Post Office will be
closed and there will be no mail
delivery.

The Winner city office will be
open on June 19.
First Fidelity Banks of Winner
and Colome will not be open for
business on June 19. Also
closed on the holiday will be
BankWest and Sentinel Federal
Credit Union.
There will be a meal served on
Friday at the Winner Senior
Center.
Southern Plains Behavioral
Health Services will be closed
on June 19.

Harter and Bakely Memorial By Dan BechtoldEditorA new memorial sits at Leahy Bowl honoring the memory of Reed Harter and...
06/17/2026

Harter and Bakely Memorial
By Dan Bechtold
Editor
A new memorial sits at Leahy Bowl honoring the memory of Reed Harter and Chandler Bakley who were killed in a car accident on Jan. 16. Both were members of the Winner/Colome Pheasants baseball team.
Work on the brick structure was done on Friday.
Wyatt Kayser of Alexandria was in the car when the accident happened on the interstate that cold January day.
“My two best friends died in that accident,” said Kayser in an interview at Leahy Bowl Friday afternoon as work continued on the memorial.
Kayser played baseball at Dakota Wesleyan University with Reed and Chandler. Kayser later in college transferred to USD but stayed really close with his two buddies.
Kayser is a teacher at Hanson Middle School were he teaches history, reading and English. Wyatt said his dad, Phil Kayser was the mastermind behind this project. “After the funerals he said something needs to be done to honor Reed and Chandler,” said Wyatt.
His father is a master bricklayer with J & D Masonry in Alexandria and did the brick work for this memorial.
Josh Oltmanns, superintendent of the Hanson School District, engraved the stone.
Wyatt explained Oltmanns donated his time and money for the stone and the brick was donated by Phil Kayser’s company, J & D Masonry.
Phil is close friends with the Harter family and would spend time deer hunting with them in the fall.
“Leahy Bowl is perfect for this and it is exactly where it needs to be. We wanted to get it done before Winner’s 16U tournament that was held June 13-14 and the Father’s Day 14U tournament which is this weekend.”
Wyatt explained at Hanson High School has a similar memorial for a football player who was killed in Iraq. “We modeled this one after the Hanson model with some modifications,” said Wyatt.
The young teacher called his friend in Winner Trent Olson and asked if there would be anyone around on Friday to help put the memorial together. The Olsons were willing to help with the project.
“I think it looks awesome. It turned out perfect, better than expected and we appreciated the help from the Olson family,” Wyatt said.
“You know,” he said pointing to the area of the scoreboard, “I think they are going to put Reed’s baseball number is one of those baseballs.”
Wyatt said Friday was an incredible and healing day. “Thank you so much to the Winner Baseball Association for allowing this meaningful tribute for two great dudes at the entrance of their beautiful ball park. Also, a big thanks to J&D Masonry for the supplies and Josh Oltmanns for engraving the stone. None of this could have been possible without all that support,” said Wyatt.
And so with love and admiration for his two best friends Wyatt, his dad and others finished a project to honor the memory of Reed and Chandler. They are champions for life.

Dan Bechtold/Winner Advocate Photo Wendy Nagel and her husband, Rhett, are the owners of Winners Athletic Club LLC, 541 ...
06/12/2026

Dan Bechtold/Winner Advocate Photo
Wendy Nagel and her husband, Rhett, are the owners of Winners Athletic Club LLC, 541 S. Main St. Memberships are now being sold to use the facility.
By Dan Bechtold
Editor
A building that many people pass by each day on Main Street has new owners and a new look.
Winners Athletic Club LLC is located at 541 S. Main St. and the new owners are Rhett and Wendy Nagel.
The facility has a load of diverse options for everyone at any level looking to improve their health and wellness. This includes free weights, universal weight machine, power rack, treadmills, ellipticals, stair stepper, shake and vibration plates, men & women’s locker room with showers, lockers to keep personal belongings, dry sauna plus a hardwood court that can be used for racquet ball, pickle ball, basketball, dodge all or volleyball.
“There are a ton of options to get you moving in the way that works best for you,” said Wendy Nagel.
Membership is $30 per month for a single person and $50 a month for a couple.
There is 24/7 access to the building with the use of a keycard.
Persons who would like a membership can text message Nagel at 605-208-6058 or message her via the page.
Nagel will be happy to set up a time for you to come and look at the facility.
An open house was held a couple of weeks ago on a Saturday and Sunday afternoon.
The building was built in the last 1970’s when racquet ball was the rage. Back then Winner was host to some big racquetball tournaments.
Nagel said she has used the facility for about a decade as it was very convenient for her. The opportunity came up to take it over and she and her husband purchased the building and did renovations.
“I love the facility because it holds so many unique features. It offers something that anyone could benefit,” she said.
Wendy Nagel works part-time for the Winner Police Department and full time in the parts department at Frontier Motors.
Health and wellness have been a huge part of her life and this is a passion of mine she explained as she gave a reporter a tour of the facility.
Her goal is to get people active. “I think it has been forgotten and was hidden on Main Street. I wanted to bring it back to life and encourage people who would like a membership to contact me,” she said.

Submitted Photo Winner High School students who were named all state in high school trap are from left Easton Shippy, Ry...
06/12/2026

Submitted Photo

Winner High School students who were named all state in high school trap are from left Easton Shippy, Ryan VanDerWerff, Ryken Kaup, Oren Sargent, Payton Sargent and Noah Manke.

Women luncheon is June 18 An Inspire women's luncheon will be held June 18 at St. Mary's Hall in Winner from 11 a.m. to ...
06/12/2026

Women luncheon is June 18

An Inspire women's luncheon will be held June 18 at St. Mary's Hall in Winner from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The event is sponsored by the Winner Area Chamber of Commerce.
The keynote speakers will be Jared (Cappie) Capp and his step daughter Alex Headley from the TV program Building Outside the Lines which can be seen on the Magnola channel. The program is a hit design and renovation series. The duo transforms everyday, unassuming objects—like shipping containers, concrete culverts and truck mixers into unique, functional fantasy retreats and backyard spaces.
The pair are from Spearfish and Alex recently graduated from Spearfish High School.
Mike Scott, executive director of the Chamber,says Winner is fortunate to have them come and speak.
The luncheon will also feature three local women who will tell of their business adventures. The speakers will be: Ruth Novotny, owner of the Hobby Shoppe; Erin Tobin, owner or Rejuve and Sarah Myers.
Lunch will be served by Antler Ridge Lodge.
Tickets are still available and persons can contact the Chamber office at 605-842-1533 for tickets.
Scott says the luncheon is open to all women.

Submitted Photo The Grossenburg Family Winner Regional Hospital fund has presented a grant in the amount of $36,000 to t...
06/11/2026

Submitted Photo
The Grossenburg Family Winner Regional Hospital fund has presented a grant in the amount of $36,000 to the Winner Regional Healthcare Center. Pictured from left are Lori Osborne, RN at Winner Regional Clinic, Rhonda Schroeder, billing manager for Winner Regional, Barry Grossenburg, representing the Grossenburg family and is also a board member of the Tripp County Community Foundation, Dr. Niel Burns of WRHC and Laura Windsperger, human resources director at Winner Regional.

06/10/2026

Petition filed for commissioner recount

Steve Novotny has filed a petition for a recount in Tripp County commissioner District 3. Novotny filed the petition on June 9.
In the primary election, there was one vote difference separating Mike Novotny and Steve Novotny. Mike Novotny received 157 votes and Steve Novotny received156 votes.
The date for the recount has not yet been set.

06/10/2026

Primary election results

Local legislators and county
officials were re-elected in the
Tripp County Republican
primary on June 2.
In the Dist. 21 Senate race,
Mykala Voita received 59
percent of the vote over Erin
Tobin. Voita, the current senator
received 3,273 votes to 2,271
for Tobin in the district wide
voting.
Voita will now face Democrat
Dan Andersson of Burke in the

general election in November.
In Tripp County, Voita was the
winner with 888 votes to 714 for
Tobin.
In the Dist. 21 race for state
representative, incumbents Jim
Halverson and Marty Overweg
were the winners. Overweg
received 3,221 votes and
Halverson, 2,761. This was a
four person race with the two
other candidates John Harter,
2,053 votes and Wyatt DeJong.
1,147 votes.
In Tripp County, the two top
winners for state representative
were Jim Halverson with 914
votes and John Harter, 668.

DeJong received 647 votes and
Marty Overweg, 498.
In county races, Barb DeSersa
was re-elected county auditor
with 1,165 votes to 395 for
Tanessa Collette.
For sheriff, Shawn Pettit was
the winner with 1,273 votes to
331 for Dave Baker.
In the race for Tripp County
Commissioner in District 3 one
vote separated the two
candidates and there will be a
possible recount of these votes.
Incumbent Mike Novotny
received 157 votes and Steve
Novotny received 156 votes.

In Tripp County Commissioner
District 5, Cody Jorgensen was
re-elected with 126 votes to 101
for Micah Cook.
For U.S. Senator, Mike Rounds
received 1,215 votes to 364 for
Justin McNeal.
For U.S. Representative, Marty
Jackley received 1,237 votes in
Tripp County and James
Bialota, 303.
Gov. Larry Rhoden was the
choice of Tripp County voters
as he received 480 votes.
Second in votin went to Tob
Doeden, 444; Jon Hansen, 416
and Dusty Johnson, 263.

Republican newcomer Doeden
finished first in the state primary
but failed to reach 35 percent.
This has set up a runoff with
Gov. Larry Rhoden which is set
for July 28. Doeden led with 31
percent of the votes followed by
Rhoden with 25 percent.
State law requires a top two
runoff eight weeks later if
nobody reaches 35 percent in a
primary.
On the Tripp County ballot were
races committeemen and
women. In Colome
Consolidated Brian
Beck was the winner 162 to 70 over Brad Bolton

In Ideal Consolidated, Rocky
Blare was the winner over
Malon Burtz, 42-13.
In Lamro Consolidated, the
winner was Brad Assman, 145
to James Halverson 77.
In Winner East 3rd Nathan
Naasz was the winner 88 to 71
for Bill Mann.
For committeewomen in
Colome Consolidated Debra
Kendrick was the winner 136 to
Kay Bolton, 94.
In Lamro Consolidated, Becky
Olson was the winner, 118 to
108 for Cindy Assman.
In Sully Consolidated, Susan
Engel received 37 votes and

Sandra L. Krantz, 15.
The voter turnout in Tripp
County was very good at 66
percent.
There were 303 absentee votes
in Tripp County.

A summer children;s play will be presented June 12 at the Winner Community Playhouse.The first performance will be at 2 ...
06/10/2026

A summer children;s play will be presented June 12 at the Winner Community Playhouse.
The first performance will be at 2 p.m. and the doors will open at 1:30 p.m. and the second performance will be at 5:30 p.m. with doors opening at 5 p.m.
“Everyone Gets Eaten By Sharks” is the play directed by Amanda Edwards. It is presented b the Winner Community Playhouse with Dan Patmore as the technical director.
There are no reservations needed.
The play has a cast of 42. Those in the play are: Tia Farley, Bostyn Lantz, Sibyl Schuyler, Hadlee Novotny, Paxley Ryno, Azlynn Shippy, Briggs Taggart, Madelyn Engel, Kennedy Osberg, Emilia Covey, Sienna Schwandt, Blaze Mead, Loralai Smith, Aubree Blacksmith, Rylee Farley, Raye Schyl4, Ivy Novotny, Kenna Covey, Myla Harris, Charley Fiesterman Lennyx Novotny, Reece Kerner, anna Kartak, Sloane Sharkey, Dale Edwards, Sadie Hoffer, oaklee Hoffer, Jesse Harris, Krue Gesinger, Kya Littau, Lela Swedlund, Lily Fuller, Bailey Ptacek, Alayna Thompson, jacklynn Woods, Brylee Woods, Hallie Curtis, Mathes Fernandes. Not pictured are Nora Farley and Addisyn Myers.

06/05/2026

Regional rodeo set for Winner

The Winner regional high school rodeo will be held June 12, 13 and 14 at the Tripp County fairgrounds.
On Friday, cutting will begin at 1 p.m. Following the cutting, there will be two rounds of reined cow horse.
On Saturday, June 13, the first performance will begin at 1 p.m. On Sunday, the second performance will begin at 10 a.m. There will be cowboy church on the fairgrounds on Sunday.
The week prior to Winner’s regional rodeo, Kadoka will host the first weekend regional rodeo.
The Winner regional rodeo is free to the public. There will be a concession stand.

Address

325 S. Monroe Street, Suite 119
Winner, SD
57580

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 1pm
Tuesday 9am - 1pm
Wednesday 9am - 1pm
Friday 9am - 1pm

Telephone

+16058421481

Website

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