Adkins, Mattas, Mize Family History

The Magic of Mitchell

Post card sent to my grandmother, Helen Adkins. Circa, 1918

 Mitchell always had an allure for folks from surrounding small towns and farms. In 1917, my great aunt and uncle, Martha and Adelbert Adkins decided to retire there after living on a farm for many years. According to the Parkston Advance, they bought an exquisite house at 400 Fourth Avenue West. It was in the Lawler’s First Addition. 

L-r: Ida Keene, Martha, Adelbert Adkins, Jessie and Elton Keene on the porch, Fourth Ave. West. Circa, 1918

Relatives were invited to visit them and see the magnificent buildings and Corn Palace. Great Aunt Martha sent this invitation postcard to my Grandmother, Helen Adkins.

Circa, 1921

Many years later, Mitchell was still a magnet for our family. It was the “big” city to us! Day trips from Parkston were always an adventure, so much to see and experience as a child in the 1950s and 60s. Main Street was a big part of that, we looked in the store windows with wonderment. My sister, Gloria (Adkins) Leonard was captured by the Daily Republic.

Photo courtesy of Carnegie Resource Center. Circa, 1950s

Our favorite stores were the “dime” stores, at Woolworth’s you could get just about anything – hair spray, head bands, hit records, housewares, house paints and even a hot lunch. A cousin, Beth (Howell) Stirling worked at Woolworth’s in the 50s. She sold hair nets! 

Ads  from the Mitchell Daily Repulic, 1961

My cousin Lynette Rauscher remembers the taste of gooey caramel apples, the smell of roasting nuts as you entered Woolworth’s is what I remember. You could get a little paper bag of those warm treats for a dime, a caramel apple would cost you the same!

Photo courtesy of the Carnegie Resource Center. Circa, 1960s

If you needed something for your aquarium you had to go to Newberry’s. A splendid array of tanks filled an area of the store. A trick for busy shopping mothers was to park their children in front of the tanks. Occasionally, Newberry’s would give away goldfish, you just had to buy the little container of fish food flecks. 

One year, they gave away baby turtles and I got one. Nestled in a plastic bag with water, I carefully held it on the car ride back to Parkston. It was little, not bigger than my palm. I played with it when I got home, watching it crawl around on the couch. Unfortunately, the fish and the turtles never lasted long. I think it may have been the Parkston water!

The dime store also had a “photo” both. You and your friend could squeeze in, pull the curtain and pose. For a quarter, magically out came a strip of photos. 

Gloria (Adkins) Leonard and her friend, Sharon (Idema) Heisinger from a strip of photos. Circa, 1960s

Newberry's photo courtesy of the Carnegie Resource Center.

Main street was bustling in the 1960s. On the far right of this photo was our family’s favorite restaurant, Frisco’s. 

Photo courtesy of the Carnegie Resource Center.

Owned by George and Anna Georgopoulous - Greek immigrants - it had been there since 1927. Perhaps my Great Aunt Martha Adkins introduced it to the family.  

To me, it felt like going into an “exotic” place where you could hear the owners conversing in Greek. Its specialty was “Coney Islands.” I had no idea that Coney Island was a place, I just knew that Frisco’s Coney Islands were the best hot dogs I ever tasted, whether it was the sauce or just actually being in a restaurant, I have yet to taste a better hot dog.

Main Street was not the only magnet that drew us to Mitchell! There was no swimming pool in Parkston when we were young. My sister Gloria (Adkins) Leonard (at left) and I had outgrown our “pool,” so we begged Daddy (Pete Adkins) to take us to Lake Mitchell and Sandy Beach. What an experience! To us it was a huge lake, to Gloria it had “crashing” waves.

Sandy Beach, photo courtesy of Carnegie Resource Center. Circa,1950s

On the lake was also Camp Arroya, a special place for Girl Scouts! For many years it provided an opportunity to experience your first time away from home alone. My sister, Gloria, was the first to go from our family, she seemed to have a knack for getting her picture in the Mitchell Daily Republic. Circa, 1958

For several summers some of my Parkston Girl Scout friends and I would spend a week there. I loved it! I never slept in a bunk bed before, nor rowed a boat, or made a campfire. All these became new adventures. We shared chores, candles floating in the night time lake, and silly songs like “I Wish I was a Fishy in the Sea.” It gave me confidence and camaraderie. 

My drawing of Camp Arroya. Circa, 1961

Pete Adkins. Circa, 1960s

One of the greatest adventures was a trip to the Shriner’s Circus. The Shiners gave away tickets. My dad, who was a Mason, would take me, my sisters plus a lucky friend or two to see the show - a three ring extravaganza. There were clowns climbing out of a tiny compact car, women in sequined tights twirling from ropes high in the air, and parading elephants. So many things to see!

My sister, Gloria: “Daddy’s eyes would get just as wide as ours with all the wonderment. He would clap and hoot, we all enjoyed the circus!”

In later years, many more students got to go to the circus. Local business people would sponsor the tickets. My cousin Bill Hoffman, tells of yellow bus loads from Parkston, taking grade schoolers to experience the joy of the circus. They even got the afternoon off from school. 

From the Parkston Advance Newspaper, 1961.

Lake Vue Drive In, Courtesy of the Carnegie Resource Center. Circa, 1960s

Even after grade school, Mitchell was a mecca to those of us from outlying areas. One of the biggest draws was the Lake-Vue, then later, the Starlite Outdoor Theater. 

It was a treat for many teenagers. Cars would line up just after dusk, some with a couple or two in them, others packed with friends. My sister Diane (Adkins) Graber admitted that sometimes even one or two were hiding in the trunk to avoid paying! “Dusk to Dawn” movies were big hits on prom night.


If you were an inexperienced driver, getting just the right distance from the speakers was a challenge. More than a few got bent over the years.

Photo courtesy of the Carnegie Resource Center

Another big draw was the A&W Root Beer stand! What better for teenagers than to remain in their cars and have frosted mugs delivered right to them by car hops? 

But by far and away, sometimes up and high, the biggest allure to Mitchell was Corn Palace Week.


The streets were filled with a merry-go-round, tilt-a-whirl, ponies to ride, a ferris wheel, cotton candy stands, and games of chance.


Bill Hoffman saved the stars embedded in Culhane's and Terrace Park milk cartons to redeem for free tickets to drive the bumper cars. As a young girl, my sister Gloria, accompanied by the Idema Family, to her surprise won a pink stuffed poodle! I remember the “Carnie People” hawking the rides and their games. To me a small-town girl, it was a superbly fascinating yet sometimes scary place. 

 Program saved by Aunt Grace Adkins.

The Corn Palace itself, for many of us, provided a venue to see celebrities, a rarity in South Dakota. Many times, Lawerence Welk was the headliner! In 1964, my friends from Parkston, Terry Grajkowski and David Wudel listened to the melodic sounds of Andy Williams.


In 1968, our family went to see Eddie Arnold. Arnold’s yodeling filled the arena and his country songs touched the heart of my father. He hooted and clapped just like he did at the circus!

Photo from the Mitchell Daily Republic

My cousin LaVae (Rauscher) Marquardt remembers going to Corn Palace Week with her sister, Amie, and their mother, Helen (Mize) Rauscher by train from Parkston. They would spend the afternoon there, a favorite eating stop was, of course, Frisco’s.


All my Mize cousins enjoyed the festival.

L-r: backrow; Lavae and Jim Adkins. Middle row; Diane (Adkins) Graber, Amie (Rauscher) Honermann, Joe Mize, Chuck Mize. Front row; Kay (Adkins) Brown, Jackie Mize, Gloria (Adkins) Leonard, Lynette Rauscher.

Circa, 1950s

Thanks, Mitchell, for the memories!

This month's story is dedicated to my cousin, Amie (Rauscher) Honermann, long time Mitchell resident who passed in March.

1952 Corn Palace. Photo courtesy of the South Dakota Historical Archives.

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