When I was growing up, Big Stone Lake included camping in the trees at Hartford Beach, lying on the beach, floating on inner-tubes, visiting Lil’s store, heading off to the “haunted house” and chasing the park rangers. Alternatively, it involved staying at a friend’s relative’s old cabin off a sleepy overgrown gravel road barely visible from the surrounding endless fields. Like it was yesterday, I remember lying on the rickety dock with my gal pals talking about the boys we liked while the Beatles tune “Hey Jude” played on the transistor radio. I am sure there were many boats on the lake back then but the only one I remember was Pete Giessinger’s. He headed out every morning and, if you made arrangements with him, you could enjoy a few hours jigging for perch and listening to his fish stories. He was a congenial guy which was a good thing when one of the Allen boys and I accidently skidded into his Sears truck with a snowmobile one winter. Yikes!
Since that time Big Stone Lake has been discovered and today it has a different vibe. Although the quality of the lake and lack of commercialism deter some, others are drawn to it for good fishing and isolation relative to other area lakes. I am not so fond of the loud jet skis but thankfully it is a large lake. Regional population growth and prosperity are probably the biggest contributors to growth and development along the lake which includes many more year round residents and an expanded second home market. The trend toward larger homes has also changed the complexion of many lake areas, at least on the South Dakota side. They say three hours is the maximum folks are willing to drive for a weekend so the lake is a doable distance for many South Dakota and Minnesota residents who make up the weekend market. A significant number of year round, or nearly year round, residents include retirees like us. Unexpected and to our delight, we have quickly befriended four separate couples who have much in common with each other and with us. This includes retired and still active fellow professionals (educators and health care peers), gardeners (an iris pollinator), farmers, artists, crafters, boaters, fishermen and wildlife/bird enthusiasts. I think my husband, Paul, is the only chef amongst us which made for some great entertaining as we got to know our neighbors last summer. He has just returned from cooking school in Italy which should add to his culinary and our gastronomic adventures this summer. All this and we have only ventured out several houses on each side of us. From what I can see there appears to be a large diverse community out here so stay tuned as I continue my “coming home” adventures along Hwy 109. 2017