After five years of apartment living, Victor and Allison Pugh and their daughter Consuelo, are living in their own home. The Pugh's have been working the past few years to reach a financial position where they could purchase a home. This was no easy task with their partially fixed income.

Last year, they contacted USDA Rural Development and began learning about the 502 single family housing loan program with subsidized interest as low as one percent.

Gene Hansen, 71 of Winner, SD, who owned and operated Hansen Community Drug in Winner until 2005, passed away Saturday, August 30, 2008, at the Winner Regional Healthcare Center in Winner.

Funeral services will be held on Thursday, September 4, at 11:00 a.m. CT at the First Christian Church in Winner.

Burial will be in the Winner Cemetery.

Visitation will begin on Wednesday, September 3, from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Mason Funeral Home in Winner with a prayer service at 5:30 p.m.

Eugene "Gene" Anthony Stoeser, 80, of Hayes/Midland, died Monday, August 25, 2008, at St. Mary's TCU in Pierre

Mass of Christian burial was celebrated Saturday, August 30, at St. John's Catholic Church, Ft. Pierre with Father Brian Christensen officiating

Interment was at Scotty Philip Cemetery, Ft. Pierre.

Gene was born April 3, 1928 in Ft. Pierre to Albert and Hatta (Wiseman) Stoeser. He grew up in Hayes where he attended Sansarc School, Sansarc, SD and St. Liborious Catholic School, Polo, SD. He graduated from Gilboa High School in Fowler, IN, in 1948.

The Philip Volunteer Fire Department sponsored its annual mud bog fundraiser on Saturday, August 30, at O'Connell Construction, Sand and Gravel west of Philip.

"It was an excellent mud bog," said Fire Chief Marty Hansen. "It was a really good show. None of the contestants got stuck, though one was stopped when their battery came out of its box and yanked out some wiring."

Though the day's temperatures neared 100 degrees, the action was fast and furious over the traditional mud course.

In their first football match of the 2008 season on August 29, the Philip High School Scotties defeated the Kadoka Area Kougars at the Kadoka field. The final score was Scotties - 28, Kougars - 20.

The first score of the game came when Kadoka's Michael Herber received a 67 yard touchdown pass from Chris Byrd. The extra point attempt failed. The rest of the first quarter remained scoreless. In the second quarter, Philip was back in the game when Jeff O'Connell caught a three yard touchdown pass from Jeb Stewart.

The first game of the season for the Lady Scotties volleyball team was in White River on Saturday, August 30.

Requiring all five games to determine the best of five, the Tigers narrowly defeated the Scotties. With four close games and one game somewhat easily taken by Philip, the total points for the evening were 107 for Philip and 104 for White River. The final scores were 22-25, 21-25, 25-16, 25-22 and 14-16.

The winner of each game is the first to reach 25 points with at least a two point lead over their opponents.

The third annual Philip-Murdo Ryder Cup Golf Tournament was held Sunday, August 24, at the Murdo Golf Course. The annual event is a 27-hole competition, combining a match play, scramble and alternate shot. This event is meant to build camaraderie and gives a chance for the host team to show the visitors their improvements on the golf course. Each nine holes pairs different players together to get to know one another. This year was a tight match between the two teams, but Philip retains the cup with a 36-24 victory.

The next blood drive in Philip will be from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, September 16, at the Bad River Senior Citizens Center.

The Knights of Columbus, under the coordination of Rick Palecek, are sponsoring the event. To schedule a donation appointment, contact Miranda Huber or call United Blood Services in Rapid City at 1-800-834-8525.

Out of every 100 people needing blood, more that 50 percent will use Type-O. "That's the reason we are trying to sign up more O-positive and O-negative donors for our upcoming drive," said Palecek.

by Del Bartels

Tanner Handcock is the newest insurance agent at Crew Agency.

Handcock has passed his South Dakota testing requirements for crop insurance and started working full time for the agency on August 1. He is a 1999 graduate of Kadoka High School and earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Black Hills State University.

"I've actually always wanted to get into the insurance business," said Handcock.

Two new road graders from Butler Machinery Co., Rapid City, will be purchased in 2009 by the Haakon County Commissioners, as decided at their September 2, 2008, meeting.

Butler Machinery was the sole bidder for the graders. Alex Kulesza, sales representative, outlined the bid for the Haakon County Commissioners. The price, as bid per advertised specifications was $216,530 per grader. The specifications included a ripper and a scarifier, a five-year/5,000 hour warranty and a buyback option.