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<title>The Work of the Rapid City House</title>
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<p class=MsoNormal><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><font size=2
face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-weight:bold;mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>The Work of the </span></font></b><st1:City><st1:place><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-weight:bold;mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Rapid City</span></b></st1:place></st1:City><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><span style='font-weight:bold;mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> House<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-weight:bold;
mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>A success and a failure<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><span
style='mso-tab-count:1'> </span></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><font size=2
face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-weight:bold;mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>The Failure?<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><span
style='mso-tab-count:1'> </span>It was the “Golding of America,” and
we worked hard to get the first “Town Meeting” set up in Spearfish, SD. The
local Lions Club was the sponsor, the Pizza Hut promised enough to feed 500
people. The local paint store gave us red, white and blue <u>permanent paint</u>
to use on the TM stencils for the four corners of the </span></font><st1:Street><st1:address>Main
Street</st1:address></st1:Street> in town. The newspaper supported the
project. </p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><span
style='mso-tab-count:1'> </span>Unexpectedly, the Spearfish John Birch
Society decided this was the work of communists and started a publicity
campaign against our efforts. We tried personal telephone calls and helpful
publicity.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><span
style='mso-tab-count:1'> </span>On the night of the event, there was
an attendance of about 30 people; one or two of them were Birchers. The event
went on as planned and we completed the Song, Story and Symbol exercises and
decided on a project. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><span
style='mso-tab-count:1'> </span>When it came time to eat, I
collected pizza for 500! (The House froze about half of them to enjoy!)<span
style='mso-tab-count:1'> </span></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><span
style='mso-tab-count:1'> </span>The end result was that the Birches
complained to the State Bi-Centennial Committee who rescinded our certificate
of participation in </span></font><st1:State><st1:place>South Dakota</st1:place></st1:State>.
</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><span
style='mso-tab-count:1'> </span>The only self-justification is that
when you visit Spearfish today, you’ll still see the corners painted in
red-white-blue Town Meeting symbols. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=2
face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>30</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=2
face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><font size=2
face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-weight:bold;mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>The Success!<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><font size=2
face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-weight:bold;mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><span style='mso-tab-count:1'> </span></span></font></b>Our
work with the community in North Rapid was going well. The <st1:place><st1:PlaceName>Indian</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType>Community Center</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> and the Anglican
Episcopal Church (mostly serving the Sioux Indians) carried the ball to earn
acceptance with the City of <st1:City><st1:place>Rapid</st1:place></st1:City>.
We held several organizational meetings and built a strong plan and set the
date for a symbolic start. </p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><span
style='mso-tab-count:1'> </span>The Anglican priest suggested we tie
this event to their mid-night New Year’s services. We’d serve a dinner before
the Mass, and then about one o’clock we'd go to the Howard Johnson motel and
take a symbolic jump off the diving board with the theme, “Taking the Plunge
for North Rapid!” </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><span
style='mso-tab-count:1'> </span>I was assigned to contact the motel.
In September, I visited the motel management who agreed for this to happen
around </span></font><st1:time Hour="1" Minute="0">1 a.m.</st1:time> on New
Year’s morning. “After all,” the manager observed, “This is a low time for the
motel business, and this is one way we can support this effort.” I was
delighted. </p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><span
style='mso-tab-count:1'> </span>On a dark, cold, windy and snowy
event night, the dinner and Midnight Mass was crowded with about 75 people. At </span></font><st1:time
Hour="13" Minute="0">1 p.m.</st1:time> we went over to the Howard Johnson and
walked down to the swimming pool to change cloths to swimming suits. THE DOORS
WERE LOCKED.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><span
style='mso-tab-count:1'> </span>On behalf of all, I went to the desk
and asked the Desk Clerk for the key to the swimming pool. She replied, “You
can’t have them as there are guests in most of the rooms surrounding the pool.”
I argued, “This event was planned in September and permission was given then.”
She argued that this was not possible.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><span
style='mso-tab-count:1'> </span>I brazenly demanded (as a sexist),
“I want to speak to the manager!” </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><span
style='mso-tab-count:1'> </span>She brazenly replied, “I AM THE
MANAGER.”</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><span
style='mso-tab-count:1'> </span>In the mean time, our 13 year old
son Wesley, took it upon himself to explore how to get into the pool. He went
outside to discover that the pool was both an indoor and outdoor facility. There
was an unlocked outside door. He opened the pool for all 75 people who had
changed into their swimming suits and were gaily having a ball. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><span
style='mso-tab-count:1'> </span>Back at the Front desk, the
telephone switch board lit up like a New Year’s fireworks explosion, and my
friendly manager began to speak to irate motel guests. She ordered me to follow
her and off we ran to the swimming pool. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><span
style='mso-tab-count:1'> </span>An amazing assortment of pajama-clad
people were standing on the balcony surrounding the pool wondering what the
hell was going on. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><span
style='mso-tab-count:1'> </span>The manager asked all of us to get
out of the pool.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><span
style='mso-tab-count:1'> </span>I requested she allow one local
resident to, ‘Take the Symbolic Dive’ on our behalf. She accepted this
arrangement and graciously extended an invitation for all to return later in
the afternoon for a free swim. Many of us did just that.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><span
style='mso-tab-count:1'> </span>And so it began. . . </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=2
face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>30</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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