Trees and Trains, a Hill City Christmas staple, is returning again this year.
The event kicks off Nov. 29 with free admission after the Hill City Olde Tyme Christmas Parade.
The exhibit, held at the South Dakota State Railroad Museum in Hill City, will be open Nov. 30, Dec. 6-8, Dec. 12, Dec. 14-15 Dec. 21-24 and Dec. 27-28.
Inside the Little White Church in Hill City sits a blessing for many families: the Hill City Food Pantry.
The pantry is run not just by the Little White Church but also the Lighthouse Assembly of God, Community Lutheran Church and St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church.
“Sixty percent of the items here are from Feeding South Dakota,” said Dale Householder, who helps run the food pantry.
Thirty-three adults and 25 kids participated in the Hill City Library’s Read for the Record events held Nov. 7.
Read for the Record is a movement where thousands of libraries and schools from across the country read the same book to as many people as possible on the same day.
This year’s book was “Thank You, Omu!” by Oge Mora.
The ladies of the Hill City Senior Center are once again accepting gently used or new medium to large purses and items with which to fill them to provide holiday gifts to women in need at Cornerstone Women’s Shelter and Women Escaping A Violent Environment (WEAVE).
Victorian Christmas in Keystone will have a twist this year according to MacKenzie Swanson, director of the Keystone Senior Center.
“The twist is mostly in decorating,” Swanson said.
The event features local crafts and vendors from the area.
“We currently have vendors with everything from art to jams and jellies to collectibles,” Swanson said. “There are no rules as to what you can sell at your table.”
The first Boo Bash and Pumpkin Festival was a success, said Janet Wetovick-Bily, executive director of the Hill City Chamber of Commerce.
The weather for the event was great, she said, and the trunk-or-treat participants from Fountain Springs Church and the Gold Dust Chapter of the Veterans Motor Club of America could not have been nicer or more generous, she said.
Throughout the history of the event, the Black Hills Film Festival has been held in the spring.
However, after receiving feedback from attendees last year, Chris VanNess, executive director of the film festival, said the film festival will move to February.
“We had comments in the surveys that it was too busy for both volunteers and patrons when it was held in April and May,” she said. “We found a date in February that was open.”
Substance abuse is a disorder that does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender or where one lives. A meeting was held on Oct. 16 to discuss substance abuse issues in the Hill City area.
“Substance abuse is a big problem all over the nation,” said Jan Humphrey, a recovering addict who helped organize the event. “This little town is doing something about it.”
