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V. J. Smith News Articles

We found an assortment of articles written about VJ. Most articles concern sports, primarily baseball. However, you will read articles about his graduation from high school and college, stint as SDSU student body president, participation in class plays, speeches, and his nomination for SDSU distinguished alumni award. News articles only provide one part of the story, which is normally a distilled and a dull accounting of the total story. What follows are my recollections about some of these same events.

One article mentions VJ’s participation in the State ‘Teener’ Baseball Tournament in Custer. We watched the games in Custer, but I don't recall if Eureka won any games. However, they may have beat Custer in one of the games. In Eureka’s last game VJ pointed his bat to center field before the pitcher threw the ball. VJ struck out anyway. Later that evening Dad drove us to the motel where the team was staying. Some of the adults were drinking beer and whiskey. Dad had a couple of drinks and then we piled into his car to find a restaurant. A block away we saw a Custer police car, and Dad turned into the street. Next thing we heard was a siren, and I could see a cop car behind us. The police officer complained how Dad’s car pulled out in front of the him. Dad just said 'yes sir' or 'no sir' every time the cop asked him questions. We asked Dad why he did not argue with the cop, and Dad said he was not going to do that since he had been drinking. Dad figured the cops were still upset that Eureka beat Custer, the home town team.

The Legion game was not the most memorable event that weekend. For many years dad would take the boys out on a week long ‘rock-collecting’ trip. During a break from the games we went out to Teepee Canyon just west of Custer. Teepee Canyon is home to an agate with the same name. On this trip Dad and the boys (VJ, Terry, Steve and Tim) climbed one of the mountains and proceeded to dig and collect agates. Even for Black Hills standards, it was a hot, hot day. Dad got a little overheated and removed his pants and shirt. Here was this middle aged man wandering around Teepee Canyon in his “tighty whitey” underwear, 'wife beater' t-shirt, black socks with black dress shoes. I think he was also wearing a large straw hat. Things were fine until a pickup truck drove up the trail. Dad scampered and hid behind a large boulder. The boulder was too small to hide Dad’s large frame. Fortunate for us the truck drove on past.

The fastest I ever saw Dad run was during one of our rock-collecting outings in Lusk, Wyoming. While looking for rocks Dad spotted a rattle snake by his feet and ran the other way along a rocky lake bed. However, this is a story for a later time.

Several articles mention VJ’s stint as Student Body President at South Dakota State University in Brookings, SD. I don't recall VJ's activities as Student Body President as we was elected after my own SDSU graduation. However, the greatest thing he may have accomplished in his tenure was setting up the first annual South Dakota Croquet Tournament! VJ and his buddies played croquet all the time, including games held during the dead of winter. As I recall, VJ set up this tournament at the same time as the Brookings Summer Art Festival. One of the Sioux Falls television stations sent a reporter to this event.

VJ held several positions while employed with SDSU, among them assistant athletic director and alumni director. In 2008 VJ was nominated for SDSU’s Distinguished Alumni Award. As we all know, VJ left SDSU employment to pursue a career in public speaking.

Another article mentions VJ’s name as cast member in the Eureka Junior Class play, which appeared to be a melodrama I did not see this play. However, I did see VJ perform in his Freshman class play, The Hound of the Baskervilles. Freshmen normally presented no class plays but VJ's class was no ordinary class. The star of the play was Wayne Frey as Dr. Watson, a German-accented buffoon. Can anyone say 'hoondt'? Farce? Silly? Pointless? Irreverent? This play was all of the above but funny as hell and still memorable after all these years.

The Aberdeen newspaper reported local hospital admissions and releases. One article dated March 1965 shows VJ released from the Eureka Hospital. This is another memorable ’VJ event’. I still recall the day VJ complained about this pain in his belly. He told Dad and Mom he was not feeling well. Dad (or Mom) first thought he was playing hooky from school. Someone asked VJ if he had a test that day. Mom was poking her finger in VJ’s belly and finally decided to take him to the doctor. Dad drove VJ to the hospital. Dr. McIntosh (Doc Mac) did some tests and determined he had Appendicitis. Later Doc Mac told our parents that either VJ’s appendix had just burst or was ready to burst. Either way, VJ came to the hospital at the right time.