Matthews Opera House

Author Talks: Robyn VanDersys
2022-03-15 12:30 - 13:30 (America/Denver)
Author Talks take place in the Matthews Fireplace Room every Tuesday at 12:30.
Join us on Tuesday, March 15 at 12:30 pm for our next makeSPACE at the Matthews Author Talk with Robyn VanDersys. Author Talks will take place in the Matthews Fireplace Room.
We will also be broadcasting Author Talks on ZOOM for those who prefer attending virtually.
Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3793973264?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 379 397 3264
Passcode: [REDACTED]
About the Author
Robyn VanDerSys was born in Washington State, which is where her love for the great outdoors was born. She has lived in several different states and in 2015 settled in the Black Hills of South Dakota with her husband and kids.
Her life has consisted of one adventure to the next, including racing monster trucks in her early twenties, raising three strong children, riding around Mexico on her four wheeler while living out of a backpack, and volunteering on a chase team while her husband raced the Baja 1000.
She spends her free time off-roading and hiking the many trails of the Black Hills, and also enjoys traveling and having as many adventures as humanly possible.
Are you interested in presenting an Author Talk? Contact us at 605-717-6967 or engage@matthewsopera.com

Open Makerspace Hours
2022-03-22 10:00 - 12:00, 2022-03-29 10:00 - 12:00, 2022-04-05 10:00 - 12:00, 2022-04-12 10:00 - 12:00, 2022-04-19 10:00 - 12:00, 2022-04-26 10:00 - 12:00, 2022-05-03 10:00 - 12:00, 2022-05-10 10:00 - 12:00 and 3 more dates
All people should have the opportunity to be creative. Our makerspace has lots of supplies to craft, build, experiment, and discover art!
Open makerspace hours are every Tuesday from 10 am to noon in the backroom of the Matthews Opera House gallery. A donation of any amount is suggested.

Author Talks: Pennie Hunt
2022-04-12 12:30 - 13:30
Author Talks take place in the Matthews Fireplace Room every Tuesday at 12:30.
Join us on Tuesdays at 12:30 pm for our next makeSPACE at the Matthews Author Talk with Pennie Hunt.
Author Talks will take place in the Matthews Fireplace Room.
About the Author
Pennie Hunt is an inspirational, entertaining, and high-content speaker. She is a member of the National Speakers Association, Women’s Speakers Association and the President and founder of Journey Through, LLC. Her weekly blog, Writings from the Corner of Spirit & Brave is read worldwide. She is the author of two books, Love Your Life–No Matter What: 76 Tips to Live Life with Love and Gratitude and Love Your Life — No Matter What: 76 Tips to Journey Through Grief and Loss. Her newspaper column runs in several newspapers including the Wyoming Tribune Eagle and the South Dakota Rapid City Journal.
After a series of life-changing events, including the death of her child, Pennie left her career as Executive Director of a healthcare organization where she spoke locally and nationally on healthcare recruitment. She now writes and speaks about how to change, heal and empower your life! Pennie’s personal successes and challenges have shaped her grateful-for-it-all viewpoint. She has married her own life lessons with her gift of communication to follow her passion of helping others Journey Through this life with spirit, courage, and compassion.

CANCELED: Author Talks: Doug Hoff
2022-05-17 12:30 - 13:30
We regret that this week’s Author Talks with Doug Hoff has been canceled. We hope to reschedule at a later date.
Author Talks take place in the Matthews Fireplace Room every Tuesday at 12:30.
Join us on Tuesday, May 17 at 12:30 pm for our next makeSPACE at the Matthews Author Talk with Doug Hoff. Author Talks will take place in the Matthews Fireplace Room.
We will also be broadcasting Author Talks on ZOOM for those who prefer attending virtually.
About the Author
Douglas Henry Hoff was born in 1948 and graduated as valedictorian of his high school class in 1966. He attended and was an honor student at Black Hills State University and the SD School of Mines and Technology. He and Marlene (Molly) were married in 1968 while attending SDSMT. When his parents considered the sale of the family farm Doug and Molly decided to give ranching a try and later bought the farm, which they eventually tripled in size. While there they started a herd of world-renowned registered Angus cattle, a cattle genetics and research company that they later sold to Cargill, and had two children, Brian and Andrea.
While ranching Doug received The National Ralston Purina Youth of the Year award, The SD Young Farmer of the Year award, The North American Beef Improvement Federation Seedstock Producer of the Year award, and The 2000 US Livestock Man of the Year award. He graduated from the SD Agriculture and Rural Development program. He and Molly enjoyed and lived a robust ranching career, selling semen, embryos, and cattle around the globe, with cattle from their cowherd dispersal going to five continents. Doug brought his expertise and in-depth agricultural experience to this book, helping to produce a unique perspective of the demands of agriculture and living on the prairie.
Are you interested in presenting an Author Talk? Contact us at 605-717-6967 or engage@matthewsopera.com

Author Talks: Marsha Mittman
2022-05-24 12:30 - 13:30
Author Talks take place in the Matthews Fireplace Room every Tuesday at 12:30.
Join us on Tuesday, May 24 at 12:30 pm for our next makeSPACE at the Matthews Author Talk with Marsha Mittman. Author Talks will take place in the Matthews Fireplace Room.
About the Author
Marsha Warren Mittman always has one foot in a suitcase ready to roam; a computer at hand ready to write; and her head in the clouds ready to meditate. A humorous memoir, “You Know You Moved to South Dakota from New York City WHEN…,” was published by Scurfpea Publishing. Her poetry, essays, and short stories have been widely published in American, British, Australian, and German literary journals, magazines, and anthologies, including six “Chicken Soup for the Soul” tales. Select poems from her chapbook, “Patriarchal Chronicles: Women’s Worldwide Tears,” are being crafted into a readers’ theater production. “Message from a Goldfish: A Guide to Awareness” was used in meditation programs presented in twelve states. Mittman’s received numerous poetry and prose distinctions in the US and Ireland, and was awarded a Writer’s Residency at the Fairhope Center for the Writing Arts in Fairhope, AL. Her poem, “The Seed,” appeared in Amazon’s #1 bestselling poetry anthology “Pain and Removal.” An avid traveller, she’s visited over 125 countries/islands on six continents, and forty-six US states. For the past twenty years South Dakota’s beautiful Black Hills have been home base.
Are you interested in presenting an Author Talk? Contact us at 605-717-6967 or engage@matthewsopera.com

Author Talks: Troy Dobyns
2022-05-31 12:30 - 13:30
Author Talks take place in the Matthews Fireplace Room every Tuesday at 12:30.
Join us on Tuesday, May 31 at 12:30 pm for our next makeSPACE at the Matthews Author Talk with Troy Dobyns.
About the Author
At two weeks old, Troy started traveling with his family due to his father’s Naval career. He and his family lived in many places but always came home to the Black Hills for vacations. When their father retired, they knew this would be their permanent home.
In the spring of 1972, the family moved to Rapid City just in time to live through the Rapid City flood. Troy’s story is intertwined with several others from the maternal side of his family who also fought the waters of that horrible night in June 1972. These stories are revealed through several accounts of the family but mostly through the eyes of the then-eight-year-old author. The story covers the day of the flood, the night of the flood, survivorship, the aftermath, and the recovery.
Are you interested in presenting an Author Talk? Contact us at 605-717-6967 or engage@matthewsopera.com

Author Talks at the Matthews
2022-09-06 12:30 - 13:30
Author Talks at the Matthews returns this fall with a new lineup of local writers ready to dive into their stories, their methods, and their inspirations. Join us in the fireplace room every Tuesday at 12:30 for an hour with some of the best authors in the Black Hills area!
Are you interested in presenting an Author Talk? Contact us at 605-717-6967 or engage@matthewsopera.com
Featured author…
September 6: Michael Harris
Michael Harris lives in the Black Hills near Deadwood South Dakota. He is a husband and a father. His first novel “Outlaw Blood” is a Post Apocalyptic Western, set some time in the near future after a global economic crash has devastated the world’s countries.
Michael enjoys shooting, hiking, reading, writing, and hunting. He has ranched and worked cattle, served in the U.S. Army for eight years, been a Law Enforcement Officer, survived 17 years as Mr. Mom, and is now an author.
Coming Soon…
September 13: Bruce Junek
Bruce B. Junek is an explorer, author, photographer and speaker. In 1987 he and his wife, Tass Thacker, created Images of the World, a series of slide programs of their adventures. Over the last 23 years 1.6 million students have seen their programs. Bruce and Tass bicycled around the world from 1984-86. They have also bicycled on different journeys through Central America, South America, southern Africa and the mideast. They just bicycled through China in 2011.
He is the author of Andes to the Amazon: Seven Journeys in Mexico, Central and South America; The Road of Dreams: A Two-Year Bicycling and Hiking Adventure Around the World and a fantasy fiction trilogy, A Bright One Chronicles.
September 20: Phoenix Piazzisi
Phoenix Rayne, a.k.a. “The Paper Therapist,” is a South Dakota native and Californian by heart. She recently graduated as a valedictorian candidate with her Bachelor of Fine Arts in creative writing at Sierra Nevada University in Incline Village, Nevada. As a Humanities Department Scholar, she also won an award for Outstanding Achievement in Poetry and Excellence in Journalism. She graduated in the spring of 2020 from Sierra College in Rocklin, CA with her associate degree in English.
When she was five years old, she picked up her first Shel Silverstein book and instantly fell in love with poetry, dreaming to be a published author one day. Her first poem, “Winter’s Bliss,” was published in 2001 with several poems following. In May of 2021, her first piece of literature, “I am one with the lake,” was published. Her most recent piece titled “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” is about her diagnosis with bipolar disorder. “Living with a Monster” is her first book of poetry about living with a mental illness.
Writing has always been her way of expressing deep emotions and a way to bring the human experience to life with the written word. With a high value on honest, transparent, and empathetic writing, it is her hope to help transform the world one piece of writing at a time.
September 27: Pennie Hunt
Pennie Hunt is an inspirational, entertaining, and high-content speaker. She is a member of the National Speakers Association, Women’s Speakers Association and the President and founder of Journey Through, LLC. Her weekly blog, Writings from the Corner of Spirit & Brave is read worldwide. She is the author of two books, Love Your Life–No Matter What: 76 Tips to Live Life with Love and Gratitude and Love Your Life — No Matter What: 76 Tips to Journey Through Grief and Loss. Her newspaper column runs in several newspapers including the Wyoming Tribune Eagle and the South Dakota Rapid City Journal.
After a series of life-changing events, including the death of her child, Pennie left her career as Executive Director of a healthcare organization where she spoke locally and nationally on healthcare recruitment. She now writes and speaks about how to change, heal and empower your life! Pennie’s personal successes and challenges have shaped her grateful-for-it-all viewpoint. She has married her own life lessons with her gift of communication to follow her passion of helping others Journey Through this life with spirit, courage, and compassion.
October 4: Gerrie Gutwein
Information about the author coming soon!
October 11: Christian Leigh
Information about the author coming soon!
October 18 & 25: Evelyn Leite
Children in families that keep secrets learn early in life to project a brave front, to avoid letting the outside world peek behind the mask, to cope alone with feelings of guilt, anger, fear and confusion.
Rapid City counselor and author Evelyn Leite grew up in such a family, struggling to understand her emotions, uncertain how she could love her parents and siblings so deeply but hate their words and actions. In her latest book “Just Fine, Thank You,” Leite explores the jumble of feelings and emotions she experienced in her early years in a closed family. She describes what it does to a young girl when the family doesn’t talk about a father who stays late at the local bar and a mother who expects her daughter to be a perfect young lady without explaining what that involves. She also shares what it does to a young child in a “no-talk’’ family as she tries to make sense of sometimes crazy, senseless behavior from people she loves.
“Just Fine, Thank You” is one of four books in a series titled Blood, Sex and Tears. She says of the series, “It’s my desire that you can find hope for yourself or a loved one based on my story of redemption.’’
Leite has had a successful, 35-year career as a professional counselor and author whose focus is on drug and alcohol problems and mental health issues. Among her best-known works are “Women: What Do We Want?” and “A Fix for the Family Rift Caused by Addiction.” She is a graduate of Black Hills State University with a composite major in Social Science. She holds a master’s degree from Oklahoma University and has presented addiction and mental health workshops in Oregon, Texas, Minneapolis, Montana, Colorado and Arizona. She has also held frequent workshops on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and is currently conducting workshops for the Miskwaki Tribe in Tama, Iowa. She is the author of 14 published works including manuals for The Family Restoration Program and many newspaper and magazine articles. She’s a 2008 inductee into the South Dakota Hall of Fame.
November 1: Bill Bosch
William Bosch grew up on a farm in Emmons County, east of Linton, North Dakota. Both sides of his family had German-Russian backgrounds. His mother’s family (Dockter) cam from Neudorf and Kassel, and his father’s family (Bosch) from Rosental in Crimea. After graduating from Linton High School, he attended North Dakota State University where he earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in mathematics education. He taught in the mathematics department at Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota from 1963-65. He then studied at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, where he obtained a Ph.D. in mathematics in 1970. His working years were spent teaching mathematics at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colorado. That is where he met and married his wife Margaret. They moved to Spearfish, SD in 2005. They have a daughter, Julie, who still lives in Colorado. William is a member of the Black Hills Chapter of the Germans from Russia Heritage Society and a member of the Center of the Nation Chapter of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia. William is the author of The German-Russians in Words and Pictures.
November 8: Doug Hoff
Douglas Henry Hoff was born in 1948 and graduated as valedictorian of his high school class in 1966. He attended and was an honor student at Black Hills State University and the SD School of Mines and Technology. He and Marlene (Molly) were married in 1968 while attending SDSMT. When his parents considered the sale of the family farm Doug and Molly decided to give ranching a try and later bought the farm, which they eventually tripled in size. While there they started a herd of world-renowned registered Angus cattle, a cattle genetics and research company that they later sold to Cargill, and had two children, Brian and Andrea.
While ranching Doug received The National Ralston Purina Youth of the Year award, The SD Young Farmer of the Year award, The North American Beef Improvement Federation Seedstock Producer of the Year award, and The 2000 US Livestock Man of the Year award. He graduated from the SD Agriculture and Rural Development program. He and Molly enjoyed and lived a robust ranching career, selling semen, embryos, and cattle around the globe, with cattle from their cowherd dispersal going to five continents. Doug brought his expertise and in-depth agricultural experience to this book, helping to produce a unique perspective of the demands of agriculture and living on the prairie.
November 15: Courtney Huse-Wika & BHSU Writing Class
Courtney Huse-Wika believes in the art of collection: overheard quotes, forgotten stories, and sometimes animals. She is the author of Perch, a chapbook of nature poetry from Anchor and Plume Press, and was named a finalist for the 2021 James Hearst Poetry Prize from North American Review, and a 2020 Honorable Mention for the New Millennium Writing Awards. Her creative work has appeared widely, including CALYX, The Halcyone, New Ohio Review, South Dakota Review, Kindred, South Dakota Magazine, South Dakota in Poems, Midwestern Gothic, Scissors and Spackle, Backwards City Review, and the MacGuffin. She received her BA in philosophy and English from Augustana University, her MA and PhD in English with a specialization in creative writing from the University of South Dakota, and is currently an Associate Professor of English and Distinguished Faculty at Black Hills State University.
December 13: Robyn VanDersys
Robyn VanDerSys was born in Washington State, which is where her love for the great outdoors was born. She has lived in several different states and in 2015 settled in the Black Hills of South Dakota with her husband and kids.
Her life has consisted of one adventure to the next, including racing monster trucks in her early twenties, raising three strong children, riding around Mexico on her four wheeler while living out of a backpack, and volunteering on a chase team while her husband raced the Baja 1000.
She spends her free time off-roading and hiking the many trails of the Black Hills, and also enjoys traveling and having as many adventures as humanly possible.

Author Talks at the Matthews
2022-09-13 12:30 - 13:30
Author Talks at the Matthews returns this fall with a new lineup of local writers ready to dive into their stories, their methods, and their inspirations. Join us in the fireplace room every Tuesday at 12:30 for an hour with some of the best authors in the Black Hills area!
Are you interested in presenting an Author Talk? Contact us at 605-717-6967 or engage@matthewsopera.com
Featured author…
September 13: Bruce Junek
Bruce Burgess Junek will present A Writer’s Life of Adventure – Fact and Fiction, a fascinating slide program highlighting how the author’s travels and bicycling journeys with his wife, Tass Thacker, through 54 countries led to a career as a writer, explorer, photographer, speaker, film-maker, and above all else, storyteller. Bruce has written two travel narratives, The Road of Dreams and Andes to the Amazon, a rock climbing guidebook, and also the recently published 4-book, adult and YA fantasy series, A Bright One Chronicles, which was greatly influenced by his many expeditions around the world.

Coming Soon…
September 20: Phoenix Piazzisi
Phoenix Rayne, a.k.a. “The Paper Therapist,” is a South Dakota native and Californian by heart. She recently graduated as a valedictorian candidate with her Bachelor of Fine Arts in creative writing at Sierra Nevada University in Incline Village, Nevada. As a Humanities Department Scholar, she also won an award for Outstanding Achievement in Poetry and Excellence in Journalism. She graduated in the spring of 2020 from Sierra College in Rocklin, CA with her associate degree in English.
When she was five years old, she picked up her first Shel Silverstein book and instantly fell in love with poetry, dreaming to be a published author one day. Her first poem, “Winter’s Bliss,” was published in 2001 with several poems following. In May of 2021, her first piece of literature, “I am one with the lake,” was published. Her most recent piece titled “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” is about her diagnosis with bipolar disorder. “Living with a Monster” is her first book of poetry about living with a mental illness.
Writing has always been her way of expressing deep emotions and a way to bring the human experience to life with the written word. With a high value on honest, transparent, and empathetic writing, it is her hope to help transform the world one piece of writing at a time.
September 27: Pennie Hunt
Pennie Hunt is an inspirational, entertaining, and high-content speaker. She is a member of the National Speakers Association, Women’s Speakers Association and the President and founder of Journey Through, LLC. Her weekly blog, Writings from the Corner of Spirit & Brave is read worldwide. She is the author of two books, Love Your Life–No Matter What: 76 Tips to Live Life with Love and Gratitude and Love Your Life — No Matter What: 76 Tips to Journey Through Grief and Loss. Her newspaper column runs in several newspapers including the Wyoming Tribune Eagle and the South Dakota Rapid City Journal.
After a series of life-changing events, including the death of her child, Pennie left her career as Executive Director of a healthcare organization where she spoke locally and nationally on healthcare recruitment. She now writes and speaks about how to change, heal and empower your life! Pennie’s personal successes and challenges have shaped her grateful-for-it-all viewpoint. She has married her own life lessons with her gift of communication to follow her passion of helping others Journey Through this life with spirit, courage, and compassion.
October 4: Gerrie Gutwein
Information about the author coming soon!
October 11: Christian Leigh
Information about the author coming soon!
October 18 & 25: Evelyn Leite
Children in families that keep secrets learn early in life to project a brave front, to avoid letting the outside world peek behind the mask, to cope alone with feelings of guilt, anger, fear and confusion.
Rapid City counselor and author Evelyn Leite grew up in such a family, struggling to understand her emotions, uncertain how she could love her parents and siblings so deeply but hate their words and actions. In her latest book “Just Fine, Thank You,” Leite explores the jumble of feelings and emotions she experienced in her early years in a closed family. She describes what it does to a young girl when the family doesn’t talk about a father who stays late at the local bar and a mother who expects her daughter to be a perfect young lady without explaining what that involves. She also shares what it does to a young child in a “no-talk’’ family as she tries to make sense of sometimes crazy, senseless behavior from people she loves.
“Just Fine, Thank You” is one of four books in a series titled Blood, Sex and Tears. She says of the series, “It’s my desire that you can find hope for yourself or a loved one based on my story of redemption.’’
Leite has had a successful, 35-year career as a professional counselor and author whose focus is on drug and alcohol problems and mental health issues. Among her best-known works are “Women: What Do We Want?” and “A Fix for the Family Rift Caused by Addiction.” She is a graduate of Black Hills State University with a composite major in Social Science. She holds a master’s degree from Oklahoma University and has presented addiction and mental health workshops in Oregon, Texas, Minneapolis, Montana, Colorado and Arizona. She has also held frequent workshops on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and is currently conducting workshops for the Miskwaki Tribe in Tama, Iowa. She is the author of 14 published works including manuals for The Family Restoration Program and many newspaper and magazine articles. She’s a 2008 inductee into the South Dakota Hall of Fame.
November 1: Bill Bosch
William Bosch grew up on a farm in Emmons County, east of Linton, North Dakota. Both sides of his family had German-Russian backgrounds. His mother’s family (Dockter) cam from Neudorf and Kassel, and his father’s family (Bosch) from Rosental in Crimea. After graduating from Linton High School, he attended North Dakota State University where he earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in mathematics education. He taught in the mathematics department at Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota from 1963-65. He then studied at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, where he obtained a Ph.D. in mathematics in 1970. His working years were spent teaching mathematics at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colorado. That is where he met and married his wife Margaret. They moved to Spearfish, SD in 2005. They have a daughter, Julie, who still lives in Colorado. William is a member of the Black Hills Chapter of the Germans from Russia Heritage Society and a member of the Center of the Nation Chapter of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia. William is the author of The German-Russians in Words and Pictures.
November 8: Doug Hoff
Douglas Henry Hoff was born in 1948 and graduated as valedictorian of his high school class in 1966. He attended and was an honor student at Black Hills State University and the SD School of Mines and Technology. He and Marlene (Molly) were married in 1968 while attending SDSMT. When his parents considered the sale of the family farm Doug and Molly decided to give ranching a try and later bought the farm, which they eventually tripled in size. While there they started a herd of world-renowned registered Angus cattle, a cattle genetics and research company that they later sold to Cargill, and had two children, Brian and Andrea.
While ranching Doug received The National Ralston Purina Youth of the Year award, The SD Young Farmer of the Year award, The North American Beef Improvement Federation Seedstock Producer of the Year award, and The 2000 US Livestock Man of the Year award. He graduated from the SD Agriculture and Rural Development program. He and Molly enjoyed and lived a robust ranching career, selling semen, embryos, and cattle around the globe, with cattle from their cowherd dispersal going to five continents. Doug brought his expertise and in-depth agricultural experience to this book, helping to produce a unique perspective of the demands of agriculture and living on the prairie.
November 15: Courtney Huse-Wika & BHSU Writing Class
Courtney Huse-Wika believes in the art of collection: overheard quotes, forgotten stories, and sometimes animals. She is the author of Perch, a chapbook of nature poetry from Anchor and Plume Press, and was named a finalist for the 2021 James Hearst Poetry Prize from North American Review, and a 2020 Honorable Mention for the New Millennium Writing Awards. Her creative work has appeared widely, including CALYX, The Halcyone, New Ohio Review, South Dakota Review, Kindred, South Dakota Magazine, South Dakota in Poems, Midwestern Gothic, Scissors and Spackle, Backwards City Review, and the MacGuffin. She received her BA in philosophy and English from Augustana University, her MA and PhD in English with a specialization in creative writing from the University of South Dakota, and is currently an Associate Professor of English and Distinguished Faculty at Black Hills State University.
December 13: Robyn VanDersys
Robyn VanDerSys was born in Washington State, which is where her love for the great outdoors was born. She has lived in several different states and in 2015 settled in the Black Hills of South Dakota with her husband and kids.
Her life has consisted of one adventure to the next, including racing monster trucks in her early twenties, raising three strong children, riding around Mexico on her four wheeler while living out of a backpack, and volunteering on a chase team while her husband raced the Baja 1000.
She spends her free time off-roading and hiking the many trails of the Black Hills, and also enjoys traveling and having as many adventures as humanly possible.

Author Talks at the Matthews
2022-09-20 12:30 - 13:30
Author Talks at the Matthews returns this fall with a new lineup of local writers ready to dive into their stories, their methods, and their inspirations. Join us in the fireplace room every Tuesday at 12:30 for an hour with some of the best authors in the Black Hills area!
Are you interested in presenting an Author Talk? Contact us at 605-717-6967 or engage@matthewsopera.com
Featured author…
September 20: Phoenix Piazzisi
Phoenix Rayne, a.k.a. “The Paper Therapist,” is a South Dakota native and Californian by heart. She recently graduated as a valedictorian candidate with her Bachelor of Fine Arts in creative writing at Sierra Nevada University in Incline Village, Nevada. As a Humanities Department Scholar, she also won an award for Outstanding Achievement in Poetry and Excellence in Journalism. She graduated in the spring of 2020 from Sierra College in Rocklin, CA with her associate degree in English.
When she was five years old, she picked up her first Shel Silverstein book and instantly fell in love with poetry, dreaming to be a published author one day. Her first poem, “Winter’s Bliss,” was published in 2001 with several poems following. In May of 2021, her first piece of literature, “I am one with the lake,” was published. Her most recent piece titled “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” is about her diagnosis with bipolar disorder. “Living with a Monster” is her first book of poetry about living with a mental illness.
Writing has always been her way of expressing deep emotions and a way to bring the human experience to life with the written word. With a high value on honest, transparent, and empathetic writing, it is her hope to help transform the world one piece of writing at a time.
Coming Soon…
September 27: Pennie Hunt
Pennie Hunt is an inspirational, entertaining, and high-content speaker. She is a member of the National Speakers Association, Women’s Speakers Association and the President and founder of Journey Through, LLC. Her weekly blog, Writings from the Corner of Spirit & Brave is read worldwide. She is the author of two books, Love Your Life–No Matter What: 76 Tips to Live Life with Love and Gratitude and Love Your Life — No Matter What: 76 Tips to Journey Through Grief and Loss. Her newspaper column runs in several newspapers including the Wyoming Tribune Eagle and the South Dakota Rapid City Journal.
After a series of life-changing events, including the death of her child, Pennie left her career as Executive Director of a healthcare organization where she spoke locally and nationally on healthcare recruitment. She now writes and speaks about how to change, heal and empower your life! Pennie’s personal successes and challenges have shaped her grateful-for-it-all viewpoint. She has married her own life lessons with her gift of communication to follow her passion of helping others Journey Through this life with spirit, courage, and compassion.
October 4: Geri Gutwein
Geri Mendoza Gutwein, Ph.D., professor emerita of English at HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College where she taught English, creative writing, and Native American Literature for many years. A Pushcart Prize nominee, her work has appeared in literary journals such as the Connecticut Review, The Wildwood Journal, Roots, Trunk, Sky Anthology published by the International Women’s Writing Guild, and La Libreta, an online poetry journal. She is the author of three chapbooks of poetry: Every Orbit of the Circle, The Story She Told, and An Utterance of Small Truths. Her Lakota, Mexican-American culture and family are major influences in her work. She is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, and currently lives in Spearfish, South Dakota with her husband. For more information visit her website at www.gerigutwein.com.
October 11: Christian Leigh
Information about the author coming soon!
October 18 & 25: Evelyn Leite
Children in families that keep secrets learn early in life to project a brave front, to avoid letting the outside world peek behind the mask, to cope alone with feelings of guilt, anger, fear and confusion.
Rapid City counselor and author Evelyn Leite grew up in such a family, struggling to understand her emotions, uncertain how she could love her parents and siblings so deeply but hate their words and actions. In her latest book “Just Fine, Thank You,” Leite explores the jumble of feelings and emotions she experienced in her early years in a closed family. She describes what it does to a young girl when the family doesn’t talk about a father who stays late at the local bar and a mother who expects her daughter to be a perfect young lady without explaining what that involves. She also shares what it does to a young child in a “no-talk’’ family as she tries to make sense of sometimes crazy, senseless behavior from people she loves.
“Just Fine, Thank You” is one of four books in a series titled Blood, Sex and Tears. She says of the series, “It’s my desire that you can find hope for yourself or a loved one based on my story of redemption.’’
Leite has had a successful, 35-year career as a professional counselor and author whose focus is on drug and alcohol problems and mental health issues. Among her best-known works are “Women: What Do We Want?” and “A Fix for the Family Rift Caused by Addiction.” She is a graduate of Black Hills State University with a composite major in Social Science. She holds a master’s degree from Oklahoma University and has presented addiction and mental health workshops in Oregon, Texas, Minneapolis, Montana, Colorado and Arizona. She has also held frequent workshops on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and is currently conducting workshops for the Miskwaki Tribe in Tama, Iowa. She is the author of 14 published works including manuals for The Family Restoration Program and many newspaper and magazine articles. She’s a 2008 inductee into the South Dakota Hall of Fame.
November 1: Bill Bosch
William Bosch grew up on a farm in Emmons County, east of Linton, North Dakota. Both sides of his family had German-Russian backgrounds. His mother’s family (Dockter) cam from Neudorf and Kassel, and his father’s family (Bosch) from Rosental in Crimea. After graduating from Linton High School, he attended North Dakota State University where he earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in mathematics education. He taught in the mathematics department at Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota from 1963-65. He then studied at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, where he obtained a Ph.D. in mathematics in 1970. His working years were spent teaching mathematics at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colorado. That is where he met and married his wife Margaret. They moved to Spearfish, SD in 2005. They have a daughter, Julie, who still lives in Colorado. William is a member of the Black Hills Chapter of the Germans from Russia Heritage Society and a member of the Center of the Nation Chapter of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia. William is the author of The German-Russians in Words and Pictures.
November 8: Doug Hoff
Douglas Henry Hoff was born in 1948 and graduated as valedictorian of his high school class in 1966. He attended and was an honor student at Black Hills State University and the SD School of Mines and Technology. He and Marlene (Molly) were married in 1968 while attending SDSMT. When his parents considered the sale of the family farm Doug and Molly decided to give ranching a try and later bought the farm, which they eventually tripled in size. While there they started a herd of world-renowned registered Angus cattle, a cattle genetics and research company that they later sold to Cargill, and had two children, Brian and Andrea.
While ranching Doug received The National Ralston Purina Youth of the Year award, The SD Young Farmer of the Year award, The North American Beef Improvement Federation Seedstock Producer of the Year award, and The 2000 US Livestock Man of the Year award. He graduated from the SD Agriculture and Rural Development program. He and Molly enjoyed and lived a robust ranching career, selling semen, embryos, and cattle around the globe, with cattle from their cowherd dispersal going to five continents. Doug brought his expertise and in-depth agricultural experience to this book, helping to produce a unique perspective of the demands of agriculture and living on the prairie.
November 15: Courtney Huse-Wika & BHSU Writing Class
Courtney Huse-Wika believes in the art of collection: overheard quotes, forgotten stories, and sometimes animals. She is the author of Perch, a chapbook of nature poetry from Anchor and Plume Press, and was named a finalist for the 2021 James Hearst Poetry Prize from North American Review, and a 2020 Honorable Mention for the New Millennium Writing Awards. Her creative work has appeared widely, including CALYX, The Halcyone, New Ohio Review, South Dakota Review, Kindred, South Dakota Magazine, South Dakota in Poems, Midwestern Gothic, Scissors and Spackle, Backwards City Review, and the MacGuffin. She received her BA in philosophy and English from Augustana University, her MA and PhD in English with a specialization in creative writing from the University of South Dakota, and is currently an Associate Professor of English and Distinguished Faculty at Black Hills State University.
December 13: Robyn VanDersys
Robyn VanDerSys was born in Washington State, which is where her love for the great outdoors was born. She has lived in several different states and in 2015 settled in the Black Hills of South Dakota with her husband and kids.
Her life has consisted of one adventure to the next, including racing monster trucks in her early twenties, raising three strong children, riding around Mexico on her four wheeler while living out of a backpack, and volunteering on a chase team while her husband raced the Baja 1000.
She spends her free time off-roading and hiking the many trails of the Black Hills, and also enjoys traveling and having as many adventures as humanly possible.

Author Talks at the Matthews
2022-09-27 12:30 - 13:30
Author Talks at the Matthews returns this fall with a new lineup of local writers ready to dive into their stories, their methods, and their inspirations. Join us in the fireplace room every Tuesday at 12:30 for an hour with some of the best authors in the Black Hills area!
Are you interested in presenting an Author Talk? Contact us at 605-717-6967 or engage@matthewsopera.com
Featured author…
September 27: Pennie Hunt
Pennie Hunt is an inspirational, entertaining, and high-content speaker. She is a member of the National Speakers Association, Women’s Speakers Association and the President and founder of Journey Through, LLC. Her weekly blog, Writings from the Corner of Spirit & Brave is read worldwide. She is the author of two books, Love Your Life–No Matter What: 76 Tips to Live Life with Love and Gratitude and Love Your Life — No Matter What: 76 Tips to Journey Through Grief and Loss. Her newspaper column runs in several newspapers including the Wyoming Tribune Eagle and the South Dakota Rapid City Journal.
After a series of life-changing events, including the death of her child, Pennie left her career as Executive Director of a healthcare organization where she spoke locally and nationally on healthcare recruitment. She now writes and speaks about how to change, heal and empower your life! Pennie’s personal successes and challenges have shaped her grateful-for-it-all viewpoint. She has married her own life lessons with her gift of communication to follow her passion of helping others Journey Through this life with spirit, courage, and compassion.
Coming Soon…
October 4: Geri Gutwein
Geri Mendoza Gutwein, Ph.D., professor emerita of English at HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College where she taught English, creative writing, and Native American Literature for many years. A Pushcart Prize nominee, her work has appeared in literary journals such as the Connecticut Review, The Wildwood Journal, Roots, Trunk, Sky Anthology published by the International Women’s Writing Guild, and La Libreta, an online poetry journal. She is the author of three chapbooks of poetry: Every Orbit of the Circle, The Story She Told, and An Utterance of Small Truths. Her Lakota, Mexican-American culture and family are major influences in her work. She is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, and currently lives in Spearfish, South Dakota with her husband. For more information visit her website at www.gerigutwein.com.
October 11: Annie Christain
Annie Christain is a professor of composition and ESOL at SUNY Cobleskill and a former artist resident of the Shanghai Swatch Art Peace Hotel and the Arctic Circle Art and Science Expedition. Her poems have appeared in Seneca Review, Oxford Poetry, Prelude, and The Lifted Brow, among others. She was a first-place winner of the Driftwood Press In-House Poem Contest and received the grand prize of the Hart Crane Memorial Poetry Contest, the Greg Grummer Poetry Award, the Oakland School of the Arts Enizagam Poetry Award, and the Neil Shepard Prize in Poetry. Her books include Tall As You Are Tall Between Them (C&R Press 2016) and The Vanguards of Holography (Headmistress Press 2021), selected for Sappho’s Prize in Poetry.
October 18 & 25: Evelyn Leite
Children in families that keep secrets learn early in life to project a brave front, to avoid letting the outside world peek behind the mask, to cope alone with feelings of guilt, anger, fear and confusion.
Rapid City counselor and author Evelyn Leite grew up in such a family, struggling to understand her emotions, uncertain how she could love her parents and siblings so deeply but hate their words and actions. In her latest book “Just Fine, Thank You,” Leite explores the jumble of feelings and emotions she experienced in her early years in a closed family. She describes what it does to a young girl when the family doesn’t talk about a father who stays late at the local bar and a mother who expects her daughter to be a perfect young lady without explaining what that involves. She also shares what it does to a young child in a “no-talk’’ family as she tries to make sense of sometimes crazy, senseless behavior from people she loves.
“Just Fine, Thank You” is one of four books in a series titled Blood, Sex and Tears. She says of the series, “It’s my desire that you can find hope for yourself or a loved one based on my story of redemption.’’
Leite has had a successful, 35-year career as a professional counselor and author whose focus is on drug and alcohol problems and mental health issues. Among her best-known works are “Women: What Do We Want?” and “A Fix for the Family Rift Caused by Addiction.” She is a graduate of Black Hills State University with a composite major in Social Science. She holds a master’s degree from Oklahoma University and has presented addiction and mental health workshops in Oregon, Texas, Minneapolis, Montana, Colorado and Arizona. She has also held frequent workshops on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and is currently conducting workshops for the Miskwaki Tribe in Tama, Iowa. She is the author of 14 published works including manuals for The Family Restoration Program and many newspaper and magazine articles. She’s a 2008 inductee into the South Dakota Hall of Fame.
November 1: Bill Bosch
William Bosch grew up on a farm in Emmons County, east of Linton, North Dakota. Both sides of his family had German-Russian backgrounds. His mother’s family (Dockter) cam from Neudorf and Kassel, and his father’s family (Bosch) from Rosental in Crimea. After graduating from Linton High School, he attended North Dakota State University where he earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in mathematics education. He taught in the mathematics department at Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota from 1963-65. He then studied at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, where he obtained a Ph.D. in mathematics in 1970. His working years were spent teaching mathematics at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colorado. That is where he met and married his wife Margaret. They moved to Spearfish, SD in 2005. They have a daughter, Julie, who still lives in Colorado. William is a member of the Black Hills Chapter of the Germans from Russia Heritage Society and a member of the Center of the Nation Chapter of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia. William is the author of The German-Russians in Words and Pictures.
November 8: Doug Hoff
Douglas Henry Hoff was born in 1948 and graduated as valedictorian of his high school class in 1966. He attended and was an honor student at Black Hills State University and the SD School of Mines and Technology. He and Marlene (Molly) were married in 1968 while attending SDSMT. When his parents considered the sale of the family farm Doug and Molly decided to give ranching a try and later bought the farm, which they eventually tripled in size. While there they started a herd of world-renowned registered Angus cattle, a cattle genetics and research company that they later sold to Cargill, and had two children, Brian and Andrea.
While ranching Doug received The National Ralston Purina Youth of the Year award, The SD Young Farmer of the Year award, The North American Beef Improvement Federation Seedstock Producer of the Year award, and The 2000 US Livestock Man of the Year award. He graduated from the SD Agriculture and Rural Development program. He and Molly enjoyed and lived a robust ranching career, selling semen, embryos, and cattle around the globe, with cattle from their cowherd dispersal going to five continents. Doug brought his expertise and in-depth agricultural experience to this book, helping to produce a unique perspective of the demands of agriculture and living on the prairie.
November 15: Courtney Huse-Wika & BHSU Writing Class
Courtney Huse-Wika believes in the art of collection: overheard quotes, forgotten stories, and sometimes animals. She is the author of Perch, a chapbook of nature poetry from Anchor and Plume Press, and was named a finalist for the 2021 James Hearst Poetry Prize from North American Review, and a 2020 Honorable Mention for the New Millennium Writing Awards. Her creative work has appeared widely, including CALYX, The Halcyone, New Ohio Review, South Dakota Review, Kindred, South Dakota Magazine, South Dakota in Poems, Midwestern Gothic, Scissors and Spackle, Backwards City Review, and the MacGuffin. She received her BA in philosophy and English from Augustana University, her MA and PhD in English with a specialization in creative writing from the University of South Dakota, and is currently an Associate Professor of English and Distinguished Faculty at Black Hills State University.
December 13: Robyn VanDersys
Robyn VanDerSys was born in Washington State, which is where her love for the great outdoors was born. She has lived in several different states and in 2015 settled in the Black Hills of South Dakota with her husband and kids.
Her life has consisted of one adventure to the next, including racing monster trucks in her early twenties, raising three strong children, riding around Mexico on her four wheeler while living out of a backpack, and volunteering on a chase team while her husband raced the Baja 1000.
She spends her free time off-roading and hiking the many trails of the Black Hills, and also enjoys traveling and having as many adventures as humanly possible.

Author Talks at the Matthews
2022-10-04 12:30 - 13:30
Author Talks at the Matthews returns this fall with a new lineup of local writers ready to dive into their stories, their methods, and their inspirations. Join us in the fireplace room every Tuesday at 12:30 for an hour with some of the best authors in the Black Hills area!
Are you interested in presenting an Author Talk? Contact us at 605-717-6967 or engage@matthewsopera.com
Featured author…
October 4: Geri Gutwein
Geri Mendoza Gutwein, Ph.D., professor emerita of English at HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College where she taught English, creative writing, and Native American Literature for many years. A Pushcart Prize nominee, her work has appeared in literary journals such as the Connecticut Review, The Wildwood Journal, Roots, Trunk, Sky Anthology published by the International Women’s Writing Guild, and La Libreta, an online poetry journal. She is the author of three chapbooks of poetry: Every Orbit of the Circle, The Story She Told, and An Utterance of Small Truths. Her Lakota, Mexican-American culture and family are major influences in her work. She is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, and currently lives in Spearfish, South Dakota with her husband. For more information visit her website at www.gerigutwein.com.
Coming Soon…
October 11: Annie Christain
Annie Christain is a professor of composition and ESOL at SUNY Cobleskill and a former artist resident of the Shanghai Swatch Art Peace Hotel and the Arctic Circle Art and Science Expedition. Her poems have appeared in Seneca Review, Oxford Poetry, Prelude, and The Lifted Brow, among others. She was a first-place winner of the Driftwood Press In-House Poem Contest and received the grand prize of the Hart Crane Memorial Poetry Contest, the Greg Grummer Poetry Award, the Oakland School of the Arts Enizagam Poetry Award, and the Neil Shepard Prize in Poetry. Her books include Tall As You Are Tall Between Them (C&R Press 2016) and The Vanguards of Holography (Headmistress Press 2021), selected for Sappho’s Prize in Poetry.
October 18 & 25: Evelyn Leite
Children in families that keep secrets learn early in life to project a brave front, to avoid letting the outside world peek behind the mask, to cope alone with feelings of guilt, anger, fear and confusion.
Rapid City counselor and author Evelyn Leite grew up in such a family, struggling to understand her emotions, uncertain how she could love her parents and siblings so deeply but hate their words and actions. In her latest book “Just Fine, Thank You,” Leite explores the jumble of feelings and emotions she experienced in her early years in a closed family. She describes what it does to a young girl when the family doesn’t talk about a father who stays late at the local bar and a mother who expects her daughter to be a perfect young lady without explaining what that involves. She also shares what it does to a young child in a “no-talk’’ family as she tries to make sense of sometimes crazy, senseless behavior from people she loves.
“Just Fine, Thank You” is one of four books in a series titled Blood, Sex and Tears. She says of the series, “It’s my desire that you can find hope for yourself or a loved one based on my story of redemption.’’
Leite has had a successful, 35-year career as a professional counselor and author whose focus is on drug and alcohol problems and mental health issues. Among her best-known works are “Women: What Do We Want?” and “A Fix for the Family Rift Caused by Addiction.” She is a graduate of Black Hills State University with a composite major in Social Science. She holds a master’s degree from Oklahoma University and has presented addiction and mental health workshops in Oregon, Texas, Minneapolis, Montana, Colorado and Arizona. She has also held frequent workshops on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and is currently conducting workshops for the Miskwaki Tribe in Tama, Iowa. She is the author of 14 published works including manuals for The Family Restoration Program and many newspaper and magazine articles. She’s a 2008 inductee into the South Dakota Hall of Fame.
November 1: Bill Bosch
William Bosch grew up on a farm in Emmons County, east of Linton, North Dakota. Both sides of his family had German-Russian backgrounds. His mother’s family (Dockter) cam from Neudorf and Kassel, and his father’s family (Bosch) from Rosental in Crimea. After graduating from Linton High School, he attended North Dakota State University where he earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in mathematics education. He taught in the mathematics department at Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota from 1963-65. He then studied at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, where he obtained a Ph.D. in mathematics in 1970. His working years were spent teaching mathematics at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colorado. That is where he met and married his wife Margaret. They moved to Spearfish, SD in 2005. They have a daughter, Julie, who still lives in Colorado. William is a member of the Black Hills Chapter of the Germans from Russia Heritage Society and a member of the Center of the Nation Chapter of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia. William is the author of The German-Russians in Words and Pictures.
November 8: Doug Hoff
Douglas Henry Hoff was born in 1948 and graduated as valedictorian of his high school class in 1966. He attended and was an honor student at Black Hills State University and the SD School of Mines and Technology. He and Marlene (Molly) were married in 1968 while attending SDSMT. When his parents considered the sale of the family farm Doug and Molly decided to give ranching a try and later bought the farm, which they eventually tripled in size. While there they started a herd of world-renowned registered Angus cattle, a cattle genetics and research company that they later sold to Cargill, and had two children, Brian and Andrea.
While ranching Doug received The National Ralston Purina Youth of the Year award, The SD Young Farmer of the Year award, The North American Beef Improvement Federation Seedstock Producer of the Year award, and The 2000 US Livestock Man of the Year award. He graduated from the SD Agriculture and Rural Development program. He and Molly enjoyed and lived a robust ranching career, selling semen, embryos, and cattle around the globe, with cattle from their cowherd dispersal going to five continents. Doug brought his expertise and in-depth agricultural experience to this book, helping to produce a unique perspective of the demands of agriculture and living on the prairie.
November 15: Courtney Huse-Wika & BHSU Writing Class
Courtney Huse-Wika believes in the art of collection: overheard quotes, forgotten stories, and sometimes animals. She is the author of Perch, a chapbook of nature poetry from Anchor and Plume Press, and was named a finalist for the 2021 James Hearst Poetry Prize from North American Review, and a 2020 Honorable Mention for the New Millennium Writing Awards. Her creative work has appeared widely, including CALYX, The Halcyone, New Ohio Review, South Dakota Review, Kindred, South Dakota Magazine, South Dakota in Poems, Midwestern Gothic, Scissors and Spackle, Backwards City Review, and the MacGuffin. She received her BA in philosophy and English from Augustana University, her MA and PhD in English with a specialization in creative writing from the University of South Dakota, and is currently an Associate Professor of English and Distinguished Faculty at Black Hills State University.
December 13: Robyn VanDersys
Robyn VanDerSys was born in Washington State, which is where her love for the great outdoors was born. She has lived in several different states and in 2015 settled in the Black Hills of South Dakota with her husband and kids.
Her life has consisted of one adventure to the next, including racing monster trucks in her early twenties, raising three strong children, riding around Mexico on her four wheeler while living out of a backpack, and volunteering on a chase team while her husband raced the Baja 1000.
She spends her free time off-roading and hiking the many trails of the Black Hills, and also enjoys traveling and having as many adventures as humanly possible.

Author Talks at the Matthews
2022-10-11 12:30 - 13:30
Author Talks at the Matthews returns this fall with a new lineup of local writers ready to dive into their stories, their methods, and their inspirations. Join us in the fireplace room every Tuesday at 12:30 for an hour with some of the best authors in the Black Hills area!
Are you interested in presenting an Author Talk? Contact us at 605-717-6967 or engage@matthewsopera.com
Featured author…
October 11: Annie Christain
Annie Christain is a professor of composition and ESOL at SUNY Cobleskill and a former artist resident of the Shanghai Swatch Art Peace Hotel and the Arctic Circle Art and Science Expedition. Her poems have appeared in Seneca Review, Oxford Poetry, Prelude, and The Lifted Brow, among others. She was a first-place winner of the Driftwood Press In-House Poem Contest and received the grand prize of the Hart Crane Memorial Poetry Contest, the Greg Grummer Poetry Award, the Oakland School of the Arts Enizagam Poetry Award, and the Neil Shepard Prize in Poetry. Her books include Tall As You Are Tall Between Them (C&R Press 2016) and The Vanguards of Holography (Headmistress Press 2021), selected for Sappho’s Prize in Poetry.
Coming Soon…
October 18 & 25: Evelyn Leite
Children in families that keep secrets learn early in life to project a brave front, to avoid letting the outside world peek behind the mask, to cope alone with feelings of guilt, anger, fear and confusion.
Rapid City counselor and author Evelyn Leite grew up in such a family, struggling to understand her emotions, uncertain how she could love her parents and siblings so deeply but hate their words and actions. In her latest book “Just Fine, Thank You,” Leite explores the jumble of feelings and emotions she experienced in her early years in a closed family. She describes what it does to a young girl when the family doesn’t talk about a father who stays late at the local bar and a mother who expects her daughter to be a perfect young lady without explaining what that involves. She also shares what it does to a young child in a “no-talk’’ family as she tries to make sense of sometimes crazy, senseless behavior from people she loves.
“Just Fine, Thank You” is one of four books in a series titled Blood, Sex and Tears. She says of the series, “It’s my desire that you can find hope for yourself or a loved one based on my story of redemption.’’
Leite has had a successful, 35-year career as a professional counselor and author whose focus is on drug and alcohol problems and mental health issues. Among her best-known works are “Women: What Do We Want?” and “A Fix for the Family Rift Caused by Addiction.” She is a graduate of Black Hills State University with a composite major in Social Science. She holds a master’s degree from Oklahoma University and has presented addiction and mental health workshops in Oregon, Texas, Minneapolis, Montana, Colorado and Arizona. She has also held frequent workshops on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and is currently conducting workshops for the Miskwaki Tribe in Tama, Iowa. She is the author of 14 published works including manuals for The Family Restoration Program and many newspaper and magazine articles. She’s a 2008 inductee into the South Dakota Hall of Fame.
November 1: Bill Bosch
William Bosch grew up on a farm in Emmons County, east of Linton, North Dakota. Both sides of his family had German-Russian backgrounds. His mother’s family (Dockter) cam from Neudorf and Kassel, and his father’s family (Bosch) from Rosental in Crimea. After graduating from Linton High School, he attended North Dakota State University where he earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in mathematics education. He taught in the mathematics department at Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota from 1963-65. He then studied at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, where he obtained a Ph.D. in mathematics in 1970. His working years were spent teaching mathematics at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colorado. That is where he met and married his wife Margaret. They moved to Spearfish, SD in 2005. They have a daughter, Julie, who still lives in Colorado. William is a member of the Black Hills Chapter of the Germans from Russia Heritage Society and a member of the Center of the Nation Chapter of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia. William is the author of The German-Russians in Words and Pictures.
November 8: Doug Hoff
Douglas Henry Hoff was born in 1948 and graduated as valedictorian of his high school class in 1966. He attended and was an honor student at Black Hills State University and the SD School of Mines and Technology. He and Marlene (Molly) were married in 1968 while attending SDSMT. When his parents considered the sale of the family farm Doug and Molly decided to give ranching a try and later bought the farm, which they eventually tripled in size. While there they started a herd of world-renowned registered Angus cattle, a cattle genetics and research company that they later sold to Cargill, and had two children, Brian and Andrea.
While ranching Doug received The National Ralston Purina Youth of the Year award, The SD Young Farmer of the Year award, The North American Beef Improvement Federation Seedstock Producer of the Year award, and The 2000 US Livestock Man of the Year award. He graduated from the SD Agriculture and Rural Development program. He and Molly enjoyed and lived a robust ranching career, selling semen, embryos, and cattle around the globe, with cattle from their cowherd dispersal going to five continents. Doug brought his expertise and in-depth agricultural experience to this book, helping to produce a unique perspective of the demands of agriculture and living on the prairie.
November 15: Courtney Huse-Wika & BHSU Writing Class
Courtney Huse-Wika believes in the art of collection: overheard quotes, forgotten stories, and sometimes animals. She is the author of Perch, a chapbook of nature poetry from Anchor and Plume Press, and was named a finalist for the 2021 James Hearst Poetry Prize from North American Review, and a 2020 Honorable Mention for the New Millennium Writing Awards. Her creative work has appeared widely, including CALYX, The Halcyone, New Ohio Review, South Dakota Review, Kindred, South Dakota Magazine, South Dakota in Poems, Midwestern Gothic, Scissors and Spackle, Backwards City Review, and the MacGuffin. She received her BA in philosophy and English from Augustana University, her MA and PhD in English with a specialization in creative writing from the University of South Dakota, and is currently an Associate Professor of English and Distinguished Faculty at Black Hills State University.
December 13: Robyn VanDersys
Robyn VanDerSys was born in Washington State, which is where her love for the great outdoors was born. She has lived in several different states and in 2015 settled in the Black Hills of South Dakota with her husband and kids.
Her life has consisted of one adventure to the next, including racing monster trucks in her early twenties, raising three strong children, riding around Mexico on her four wheeler while living out of a backpack, and volunteering on a chase team while her husband raced the Baja 1000.
She spends her free time off-roading and hiking the many trails of the Black Hills, and also enjoys traveling and having as many adventures as humanly possible.

Author Talks at the Matthews
2022-10-18 12:30 - 13:30, 2022-10-25 12:30 - 13:30
Author Talks at the Matthews returns this fall with a new lineup of local writers ready to dive into their stories, their methods, and their inspirations. Join us in the fireplace room every Tuesday at 12:30 for an hour with some of the best authors in the Black Hills area!
Are you interested in presenting an Author Talk? Contact us at 605-717-6967 or engage@matthewsopera.com
Featured author…
October 18 & 25: Evelyn Leite
A two-part series
Children in families that keep secrets learn early in life to project a brave front, to avoid letting the outside world peek behind the mask, to cope alone with feelings of guilt, anger, fear and confusion.
Rapid City counselor and author Evelyn Leite grew up in such a family, struggling to understand her emotions, uncertain how she could love her parents and siblings so deeply but hate their words and actions. In her latest book “Just Fine, Thank You,” Leite explores the jumble of feelings and emotions she experienced in her early years in a closed family. She describes what it does to a young girl when the family doesn’t talk about a father who stays late at the local bar and a mother who expects her daughter to be a perfect young lady without explaining what that involves. She also shares what it does to a young child in a “no-talk’’ family as she tries to make sense of sometimes crazy, senseless behavior from people she loves.
“Just Fine, Thank You” is one of four books in a series titled Blood, Sex and Tears. She says of the series, “It’s my desire that you can find hope for yourself or a loved one based on my story of redemption.’’
Leite has had a successful, 35-year career as a professional counselor and author whose focus is on drug and alcohol problems and mental health issues. Among her best-known works are “Women: What Do We Want?” and “A Fix for the Family Rift Caused by Addiction.” She is a graduate of Black Hills State University with a composite major in Social Science. She holds a master’s degree from Oklahoma University and has presented addiction and mental health workshops in Oregon, Texas, Minneapolis, Montana, Colorado and Arizona. She has also held frequent workshops on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and is currently conducting workshops for the Miskwaki Tribe in Tama, Iowa. She is the author of 14 published works including manuals for The Family Restoration Program and many newspaper and magazine articles. She’s a 2008 inductee into the South Dakota Hall of Fame.
Coming Soon…
November 1: Bill Bosch
William Bosch grew up on a farm in Emmons County, east of Linton, North Dakota. Both sides of his family had German-Russian backgrounds. His mother’s family (Dockter) cam from Neudorf and Kassel, and his father’s family (Bosch) from Rosental in Crimea. After graduating from Linton High School, he attended North Dakota State University where he earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in mathematics education. He taught in the mathematics department at Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota from 1963-65. He then studied at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, where he obtained a Ph.D. in mathematics in 1970. His working years were spent teaching mathematics at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colorado. That is where he met and married his wife Margaret. They moved to Spearfish, SD in 2005. They have a daughter, Julie, who still lives in Colorado. William is a member of the Black Hills Chapter of the Germans from Russia Heritage Society and a member of the Center of the Nation Chapter of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia. William is the author of The German-Russians in Words and Pictures.
November 8: Doug Hoff
Douglas Henry Hoff was born in 1948 and graduated as valedictorian of his high school class in 1966. He attended and was an honor student at Black Hills State University and the SD School of Mines and Technology. He and Marlene (Molly) were married in 1968 while attending SDSMT. When his parents considered the sale of the family farm Doug and Molly decided to give ranching a try and later bought the farm, which they eventually tripled in size. While there they started a herd of world-renowned registered Angus cattle, a cattle genetics and research company that they later sold to Cargill, and had two children, Brian and Andrea.
While ranching Doug received The National Ralston Purina Youth of the Year award, The SD Young Farmer of the Year award, The North American Beef Improvement Federation Seedstock Producer of the Year award, and The 2000 US Livestock Man of the Year award. He graduated from the SD Agriculture and Rural Development program. He and Molly enjoyed and lived a robust ranching career, selling semen, embryos, and cattle around the globe, with cattle from their cowherd dispersal going to five continents. Doug brought his expertise and in-depth agricultural experience to this book, helping to produce a unique perspective of the demands of agriculture and living on the prairie.
November 15: Courtney Huse-Wika & BHSU Writing Class
Courtney Huse-Wika believes in the art of collection: overheard quotes, forgotten stories, and sometimes animals. She is the author of Perch, a chapbook of nature poetry from Anchor and Plume Press, and was named a finalist for the 2021 James Hearst Poetry Prize from North American Review, and a 2020 Honorable Mention for the New Millennium Writing Awards. Her creative work has appeared widely, including CALYX, The Halcyone, New Ohio Review, South Dakota Review, Kindred, South Dakota Magazine, South Dakota in Poems, Midwestern Gothic, Scissors and Spackle, Backwards City Review, and the MacGuffin. She received her BA in philosophy and English from Augustana University, her MA and PhD in English with a specialization in creative writing from the University of South Dakota, and is currently an Associate Professor of English and Distinguished Faculty at Black Hills State University.
December 13: Robyn VanDersys
Robyn VanDerSys was born in Washington State, which is where her love for the great outdoors was born. She has lived in several different states and in 2015 settled in the Black Hills of South Dakota with her husband and kids.
Her life has consisted of one adventure to the next, including racing monster trucks in her early twenties, raising three strong children, riding around Mexico on her four wheeler while living out of a backpack, and volunteering on a chase team while her husband raced the Baja 1000.
She spends her free time off-roading and hiking the many trails of the Black Hills, and also enjoys traveling and having as many adventures as humanly possible.

Author Talks at the Matthews
2022-11-01 12:30 - 13:30
Author Talks at the Matthews returns this fall with a new lineup of local writers ready to dive into their stories, their methods, and their inspirations. Join us in the fireplace room every Tuesday at 12:30 for an hour with some of the best authors in the Black Hills area!
Are you interested in presenting an Author Talk? Contact us at 605-717-6967 or engage@matthewsopera.com
Featured author…
November 1: Bill Bosch
Bill Bosch grew up east of Linton, ND in an area populated mainly by German-Russians. His grandparents all grew up in what is now Ukraine and Crimea. And so did their parents and so on. But when they emigrated to the Dakotas in the late 1880s they came not as Russians or Ukrainians but as ethnic Germans. Bill has written three books about his heritage. The first, published in 2014, is titled The German Russians in Words and Pictures. Next came Russian Agriculture in the 1880s. Then last year he published a historical novel with the title The Land Seekers. He will briefly discuss the first two and then discuss, with the audience, some of the mistakes he made in writing his novel. Perhaps that can help others avoid the same mistakes while inspiring them to publish their own novel.
Coming Soon…
November 8: Doug Hoff
Douglas Henry Hoff was born in 1948 and graduated as valedictorian of his high school class in 1966. He attended and was an honor student at Black Hills State University and the SD School of Mines and Technology. He and Marlene (Molly) were married in 1968 while attending SDSMT. When his parents considered the sale of the family farm Doug and Molly decided to give ranching a try and later bought the farm, which they eventually tripled in size. While there they started a herd of world-renowned registered Angus cattle, a cattle genetics and research company that they later sold to Cargill, and had two children, Brian and Andrea.
While ranching Doug received The National Ralston Purina Youth of the Year award, The SD Young Farmer of the Year award, The North American Beef Improvement Federation Seedstock Producer of the Year award, and The 2000 US Livestock Man of the Year award. He graduated from the SD Agriculture and Rural Development program. He and Molly enjoyed and lived a robust ranching career, selling semen, embryos, and cattle around the globe, with cattle from their cowherd dispersal going to five continents. Doug brought his expertise and in-depth agricultural experience to this book, helping to produce a unique perspective of the demands of agriculture and living on the prairie.
November 15: Courtney Huse-Wika & BHSU Writing Class
Courtney Huse-Wika believes in the art of collection: overheard quotes, forgotten stories, and sometimes animals. She is the author of Perch, a chapbook of nature poetry from Anchor and Plume Press, and was named a finalist for the 2021 James Hearst Poetry Prize from North American Review, and a 2020 Honorable Mention for the New Millennium Writing Awards. Her creative work has appeared widely, including CALYX, The Halcyone, New Ohio Review, South Dakota Review, Kindred, South Dakota Magazine, South Dakota in Poems, Midwestern Gothic, Scissors and Spackle, Backwards City Review, and the MacGuffin. She received her BA in philosophy and English from Augustana University, her MA and PhD in English with a specialization in creative writing from the University of South Dakota, and is currently an Associate Professor of English and Distinguished Faculty at Black Hills State University.
November 29: Michael Harris
Michael Harris lives in the Black Hills near Deadwood South Dakota. He is a husband and a father. His first novel “Outlaw Blood” is a Post Apocalyptic Western, set sometime in the near future after a global economic crash has devastated the world’s countries.
Michael enjoys shooting, hiking, reading, writing, and hunting. He has ranched and worked cattle, served in the U.S. Army for eight years, been a Law Enforcement Officer, survived 17 years as Mr. Mom, and is now an author.
December 6: Troy Dobyns
At two weeks old, Troy started traveling with his family due to his father’s Naval career. He and his family lived in many places but always came home to the Black Hills for vacations. When their father retired, they knew this would be their permanent home.
In the spring of 1972, the family moved to Rapid City just in time to live through the Rapid City flood. Troy’s story is intertwined with several others from the maternal side of his family who also fought the waters of that horrible night in June 1972. These stories are revealed through several accounts of the family but mostly through the eyes of the then-eight-year-old author. The story covers the day of the flood, the night of the flood, survivorship, the aftermath, and the recovery.
December 13: Robyn VanDersys
Robyn VanDerSys was born in Washington State, which is where her love for the great outdoors was born. She has lived in several different states and in 2015 settled in the Black Hills of South Dakota with her husband and kids.
Her life has consisted of one adventure to the next, including racing monster trucks in her early twenties, raising three strong children, riding around Mexico on her four wheeler while living out of a backpack, and volunteering on a chase team while her husband raced the Baja 1000.
She spends her free time off-roading and hiking the many trails of the Black Hills, and also enjoys traveling and having as many adventures as humanly possible.

Author Talks at the Matthews
2022-11-08 12:30 - 13:30
Author Talks at the Matthews returns this fall with a new lineup of local writers ready to dive into their stories, their methods, and their inspirations. Join us in the fireplace room every Tuesday at 12:30 for an hour with some of the best authors in the Black Hills area!
Are you interested in presenting an Author Talk? Contact us at 605-717-6967 or engage@matthewsopera.com
Featured author…
November 8: Doug Hoff
Douglas Henry Hoff was born in 1948 and graduated as valedictorian of his high school class in 1966. He attended and was an honor student at Black Hills State University and the SD School of Mines and Technology. He and Marlene (Molly) were married in 1968 while attending SDSMT. When his parents considered the sale of the family farm Doug and Molly decided to give ranching a try and later bought the farm, which they eventually tripled in size. While there they started a herd of world-renowned registered Angus cattle, a cattle genetics and research company that they later sold to Cargill, and had two children, Brian and Andrea.
While ranching Doug received The National Ralston Purina Youth of the Year award, The SD Young Farmer of the Year award, The North American Beef Improvement Federation Seedstock Producer of the Year award, and The 2000 US Livestock Man of the Year award. He graduated from the SD Agriculture and Rural Development program. He and Molly enjoyed and lived a robust ranching career, selling semen, embryos, and cattle around the globe, with cattle from their cowherd dispersal going to five continents. Doug brought his expertise and in-depth agricultural experience to this book, helping to produce a unique perspective of the demands of agriculture and living on the prairie.
Coming Soon…
November 15: Courtney Huse-Wika & BHSU Writing Class
Courtney Huse-Wika believes in the art of collection: overheard quotes, forgotten stories, and sometimes animals. She is the author of Perch, a chapbook of nature poetry from Anchor and Plume Press, and was named a finalist for the 2021 James Hearst Poetry Prize from North American Review, and a 2020 Honorable Mention for the New Millennium Writing Awards. Her creative work has appeared widely, including CALYX, The Halcyone, New Ohio Review, South Dakota Review, Kindred, South Dakota Magazine, South Dakota in Poems, Midwestern Gothic, Scissors and Spackle, Backwards City Review, and the MacGuffin. She received her BA in philosophy and English from Augustana University, her MA and PhD in English with a specialization in creative writing from the University of South Dakota, and is currently an Associate Professor of English and Distinguished Faculty at Black Hills State University.
November 29: Michael Harris
Michael Harris lives in the Black Hills near Deadwood South Dakota. He is a husband and a father. His first novel “Outlaw Blood” is a Post Apocalyptic Western, set sometime in the near future after a global economic crash has devastated the world’s countries.
Michael enjoys shooting, hiking, reading, writing, and hunting. He has ranched and worked cattle, served in the U.S. Army for eight years, been a Law Enforcement Officer, survived 17 years as Mr. Mom, and is now an author.
December 6: Troy Dobyns
At two weeks old, Troy started traveling with his family due to his father’s Naval career. He and his family lived in many places but always came home to the Black Hills for vacations. When their father retired, they knew this would be their permanent home.
In the spring of 1972, the family moved to Rapid City just in time to live through the Rapid City flood. Troy’s story is intertwined with several others from the maternal side of his family who also fought the waters of that horrible night in June 1972. These stories are revealed through several accounts of the family but mostly through the eyes of the then-eight-year-old author. The story covers the day of the flood, the night of the flood, survivorship, the aftermath, and the recovery.
December 13: Robyn VanDersys
Robyn VanDerSys was born in Washington State, which is where her love for the great outdoors was born. She has lived in several different states and in 2015 settled in the Black Hills of South Dakota with her husband and kids.
Her life has consisted of one adventure to the next, including racing monster trucks in her early twenties, raising three strong children, riding around Mexico on her four wheeler while living out of a backpack, and volunteering on a chase team while her husband raced the Baja 1000.
She spends her free time off-roading and hiking the many trails of the Black Hills, and also enjoys traveling and having as many adventures as humanly possible.

Author Talks at the Matthews
2022-11-15 12:30 - 13:30
Author Talks at the Matthews returns this fall with a new lineup of local writers ready to dive into their stories, their methods, and their inspirations. Join us in the fireplace room every Tuesday at 12:30 for an hour with some of the best authors in the Black Hills area!
Are you interested in presenting an Author Talk? Contact us at 605-717-6967 or engage@matthewsopera.com
Featured author…
November 15: Courtney Huse-Wika & BHSU Writing Class
Courtney Huse-Wika believes in the art of collection: overheard quotes, forgotten stories, and sometimes animals. She is the author of Perch, a chapbook of nature poetry from Anchor and Plume Press, and was named a finalist for the 2021 James Hearst Poetry Prize from North American Review, and a 2020 Honorable Mention for the New Millennium Writing Awards. Her creative work has appeared widely, including CALYX, The Halcyone, New Ohio Review, South Dakota Review, Kindred, South Dakota Magazine, South Dakota in Poems, Midwestern Gothic, Scissors and Spackle, Backwards City Review, and the MacGuffin. She received her BA in philosophy and English from Augustana University, her MA and PhD in English with a specialization in creative writing from the University of South Dakota, and is currently an Associate Professor of English and Distinguished Faculty at Black Hills State University.
Coming Soon…
November 29: Michael Harris
Michael Harris lives in the Black Hills near Deadwood South Dakota. He is a husband and a father. His first novel “Outlaw Blood” is a Post Apocalyptic Western, set sometime in the near future after a global economic crash has devastated the world’s countries.
Michael enjoys shooting, hiking, reading, writing, and hunting. He has ranched and worked cattle, served in the U.S. Army for eight years, been a Law Enforcement Officer, survived 17 years as Mr. Mom, and is now an author.
December 6: Troy Dobyns
At two weeks old, Troy started traveling with his family due to his father’s Naval career. He and his family lived in many places but always came home to the Black Hills for vacations. When their father retired, they knew this would be their permanent home.
In the spring of 1972, the family moved to Rapid City just in time to live through the Rapid City flood. Troy’s story is intertwined with several others from the maternal side of his family who also fought the waters of that horrible night in June 1972. These stories are revealed through several accounts of the family but mostly through the eyes of the then-eight-year-old author. The story covers the day of the flood, the night of the flood, survivorship, the aftermath, and the recovery.
December 13: Robyn VanDersys
Robyn VanDerSys was born in Washington State, which is where her love for the great outdoors was born. She has lived in several different states and in 2015 settled in the Black Hills of South Dakota with her husband and kids.
Her life has consisted of one adventure to the next, including racing monster trucks in her early twenties, raising three strong children, riding around Mexico on her four wheeler while living out of a backpack, and volunteering on a chase team while her husband raced the Baja 1000.
She spends her free time off-roading and hiking the many trails of the Black Hills, and also enjoys traveling and having as many adventures as humanly possible.

Author Talks at the Matthews
2022-11-29 12:30 - 13:30
Author Talks at the Matthews returns this fall with a new lineup of local writers ready to dive into their stories, their methods, and their inspirations. Join us in the fireplace room every Tuesday at 12:30 for an hour with some of the best authors in the Black Hills area!
Are you interested in presenting an Author Talk? Contact us at 605-717-6967 or engage@matthewsopera.com
Featured author…
November 29: Michael Harris
Michael Harris lives in the Black Hills near Deadwood South Dakota. He is a husband and a father. His first novel “Outlaw Blood” is a Post Apocalyptic Western, set sometime in the near future after a global economic crash has devastated the world’s countries.
Michael enjoys shooting, hiking, reading, writing, and hunting. He has ranched and worked cattle, served in the U.S. Army for eight years, been a Law Enforcement Officer, survived 17 years as Mr. Mom, and is now an author.
Coming Soon…
December 6: Troy Dobyns
At two weeks old, Troy started traveling with his family due to his father’s Naval career. He and his family lived in many places but always came home to the Black Hills for vacations. When their father retired, they knew this would be their permanent home.
In the spring of 1972, the family moved to Rapid City just in time to live through the Rapid City flood. Troy’s story is intertwined with several others from the maternal side of his family who also fought the waters of that horrible night in June 1972. These stories are revealed through several accounts of the family but mostly through the eyes of the then-eight-year-old author. The story covers the day of the flood, the night of the flood, survivorship, the aftermath, and the recovery.
December 13: Robyn VanDersys
Robyn VanDerSys was born in Washington State, which is where her love for the great outdoors was born. She has lived in several different states and in 2015 settled in the Black Hills of South Dakota with her husband and kids.
Her life has consisted of one adventure to the next, including racing monster trucks in her early twenties, raising three strong children, riding around Mexico on her four wheeler while living out of a backpack, and volunteering on a chase team while her husband raced the Baja 1000.
She spends her free time off-roading and hiking the many trails of the Black Hills, and also enjoys traveling and having as many adventures as humanly possible.

Author Talks at the Matthews
2022-12-06 12:30 - 13:30
Author Talks at the Matthews returns this fall with a new lineup of local writers ready to dive into their stories, their methods, and their inspirations. Join us in the fireplace room every Tuesday at 12:30 for an hour with some of the best authors in the Black Hills area!
Are you interested in presenting an Author Talk? Contact us at 605-717-6967 or engage@matthewsopera.com
Featured author…
December 6: Troy Dobyns
At two weeks old, Troy started traveling with his family due to his father’s Naval career. He and his family lived in many places but always came home to the Black Hills for vacations. When their father retired, they knew this would be their permanent home.
In the spring of 1972, the family moved to Rapid City just in time to live through the Rapid City flood. Troy’s story is intertwined with several others from the maternal side of his family who also fought the waters of that horrible night in June 1972. These stories are revealed through several accounts of the family but mostly through the eyes of the then-eight-year-old author. The story covers the day of the flood, the night of the flood, survivorship, the aftermath, and the recovery.
Coming Soon…
December 13: Robyn VanDersys
Robyn VanDerSys was born in Washington State, which is where her love for the great outdoors was born. She has lived in several different states and in 2015 settled in the Black Hills of South Dakota with her husband and kids.
Her life has consisted of one adventure to the next, including racing monster trucks in her early twenties, raising three strong children, riding around Mexico on her four wheeler while living out of a backpack, and volunteering on a chase team while her husband raced the Baja 1000.
She spends her free time off-roading and hiking the many trails of the Black Hills, and also enjoys traveling and having as many adventures as humanly possible.

Author Talks at the Matthews
2023-01-10 12:30 - 13:30
Author Talks at the Matthews returns with a new lineup of local writers ready to dive into their stories, their methods, and their inspirations. Join us in the fireplace room every Tuesday at 12:30 for an hour with some of the best authors in the Black Hills area!
Are you interested in presenting an Author Talk? Contact us at 605-717-6967 or engage@matthewsopera.com
Featured author…
January 10: Karen Holzer and Bill Feterl
This week’s Author Talks will feature “Let’s Feed the Fish,” written by Kindra Gordon, Karen Holzer, and Joanna Jones and illustrated by local artist, Bill Feterl. Feterl will discuss the process he used to plan and create his artwork as well as the planning and organization of the pages, how the text was chosen, and the printing process.

The book tells the story of two young boys visiting the D.C. Booth Fish Hatchery in Spearfish. Two excited young boys explore the D.C. Booth, zig zagging through the scenic grounds learning about raceways, touring a museum, visiting the Booth House, and feeding the fish.
Coming Soon…
January 17: South Dakota State Poetry Society
South Dakota State Poetry Society (SDSPS) came into existence in 1926. It has operated continuously publishing two volumes of Pasque Petals annually. SDSPS poets Heidi Moseley, Jean Helmer and others, as weather permits, will share readings from Pasque Petals, and discuss the of writing poetry. Information on membership and on how to submit works for publication will also be provided.
Jean Helmer writes of experiences garnered farming and ranching, and of her careers in classrooms and rural church pulpits. She and husband Gary live near Belle Fourche with their literary pups, Annie
Grabstreak and Ginny Woolf. She is published in Pasque Petals, and in various SD and WY anthologies.
Holly Moseley lives in Camp Crook. She is secretary of the South Dakota State Poetry Society, and belongs to both the Belle Fourche and Bearlodge Writers groups. Her poems have been published in Pasque Petals, several anthologies, and South Dakota Magazine.
