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The Scotland, South Dakota chapter of the Future Farmers of America (FFA) is an active organization dedicated to promoting agricultural education and leadership among high school students. Established in the mid-20th century, the chapter has a long-standing tradition of excellence in FFA judging competitions, community service, and student leadership development. Under the guidance of dedicated advisors, the Scotland FFA has produced numerous state contest winners and alumni who have gone on to leadership roles in agricultural education and industry. The chapter remains a vital part of the Scotland School District and continues to participate in local, state, and national FFA programs.

The Freemasons. Grand Lodge of the State of South Dakota is the governing body for Freemasonry in South Dakota. Established shortly after South Dakota achieved statehood in 1889, the Grand Lodge oversees the activities of local Masonic lodges across the state, setting regulations, granting charters, and organizing statewide events and communications. Freemasonry, a fraternal organization with historical roots in medieval stonemason guilds, emphasizes moral and spiritual development, brotherhood, charity, and civic responsibility.

In South Dakota, the Grand Lodge publishes materials such as proceedings of annual communications, newsletters, ritual guides, and historical summaries, which document the administrative and ceremonial activities of Masons in the state. These publications also often include member directories, lodge reports, and commemorative content related to Masonic anniversaries and public service. The Grand Lodge has historically played a role in community leadership and philanthropy throughout South Dakota.

In the fall of 1952, a group of faculty members, with the support of the South Dakota State College administration, organized a private stock corporation to address the growing need for faculty housing. The corporation aimed to acquire property and construct apartment buildings primarily for faculty rental, with assistance from the Federal Housing Administration. It developed and owned two six-unit apartment buildings located north of Sixth Street between 16th and 17th Avenues, across from Hillcrest Park. The Faculty Housing Company operated until January 21, 1963, when stockholders voted to dissolve the corporation at a special meeting.

The F. O. Butler Foundation was established as a trust associated with South Dakota State University to manage and administer assets derived from the estate and property of F. O. Butler. A formal trust agreement was carried out in 1968, providing a legal framework for its operation. The foundation held interests in the F. O. Butler Ranch, Inc., commonly known as the 7-11 Ranch, and these holdings were used in connection with its financial and administrative activities. The foundation was involved in institutional development and planning at the university during the late 1960s and 1970s.

F. O. Butler was a Chicago-based businessman in the paper industry who later developed agricultural operations in South Dakota, where he raised polo ponies and Hereford cattle on multiple ranches, including the 7-11 Ranch. Following the establishment of the foundation, its assets supported projects connected to South Dakota State University, including the development of Butler Plaza between 1977 and 1980. The foundation functioned as the administrative entity through which Butler’s property and related assets were managed in support of the university.

David Allan Evans was born in 1940 in Sioux City, Iowa, and began his undergraduate studies on a football scholarship at Morningside College in his hometown. During college, he discovered a passion for writing and began producing poetry and short stories. He went on to earn additional degrees from the University of Iowa and the University of Arkansas, where he completed his MFA in Creative Writing.

Evans moved to Brookings, South Dakota in 1968, where he became Professor of English and Writer-in-Residence at South Dakota State University. A prolific author, he has published five volumes of poetry and contributed to or edited seven other books.

In 1974, Evans became the first South Dakotan to receive a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) fellowship in creative writing. He has also received writing grants from the Bush Artist Foundation in St. Paul, Minnesota, and the South Dakota Arts Council. His poetry, fiction, and essays have appeared in numerous literary magazines and journals, as well as more than 60 anthologies, including Best Poems of 1969 (The Borestone Awards), Heartland II: Poets of the Midwest, The Norton Book of Sports, The Sporting Life, Imaging Home, Poetspeak, Motion: American Sports Poems, and Fathers.

His poetry—particularly his sports-themed writing—has been widely reprinted in anthologies and K–12 educational textbooks. Evans has served as a Fulbright Scholar to China twice, with appointments in Nanjing and Guangzhou. Over the span of more than 25 years, he has held writing residencies with the South Dakota, Iowa, and Wyoming Arts Councils.

Evans is featured in several major biographical directories, including Contemporary Authors, International Authors and Writers Who’s Who, and Who’s Who in America.

The Ethical Culture Club / Forum was organized in Brookings, South Dakota in January 1906. It was then called the Ethical Culture Club; according to one of its historians. It held its original meetings on Sunday and "was to be a substitute on a basis of liberal theology for church going". These early days notwithstanding, the Forum, as it became known after October 14, 1910, was essentially a meeting for the free discussion of any topic of interest. Topics included, child labor laws, the establishment of a public library, promotion of a league to enforce peace, and the use of metric measures. Many of these topics, particularly the building of a library, actually became calls to action.

The Forum was made up of members of both the college and the town with the majority being drawn from all parts of the College. According to William Powers, Forum historian, the outside membership has been distributed among different professions, including clergymen. Membership seems to have only been limited to men, with the added provision that all members were expected at some time to present a paper.

Governance of the organization was made up of a president, vice president and secretary treasurer who made up the executive committee. There were also two standing committees for programs and for membership.

Established in 1955, the Eastern South Dakota Science and Engineering Fair (ESDSEF) has served as a regional showcase for student research at South Dakota State University. Held each spring, the fair invites students in grades 6 through 12 to present independent scientific investigations across a wide range of disciplines. As an affiliated regional event of the International Science and Engineering Fair, projects are evaluated according to established scientific review, safety, and ethical standards, with top competitors advancing to national and international levels of competition.

Administered by a Fair Director and committee in collaboration with the SDSU chapter of Sigma Xi, the fair reflects a longstanding partnership between the university and the broader scientific community. Sponsorship has included Sigma Xi, South Dakota State University, the Division of Continuing Education, the Greater State Fund, and the SDSU Foundation. Over time, the event has been hosted in various campus venues, including Club 71 at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium, accommodating hundreds of student participants and judges.

Through medals, trophies, scholarships, and sponsored awards, the fair promotes STEM education and encourages young scholars to pursue scientific inquiry. For more than half a century, it has functioned as both an academic competition and a significant outreach initiative, strengthening connections between SDSU and schools across eastern South Dakota while fostering the next generation of researchers and innovators.

Anthony S. Dylla was born on December 21, 1924, in Andover, South Dakota, to Julius and Lucy Dylla. Raised on a farm, he entered the U.S. Army in 1946 and served in Japan until 1948. Following his military service, Dylla attended South Dakota State University in Brookings, where he earned both a bachelor's and a master's degree in agricultural engineering. From 1959 to 1982, he worked as an agricultural engineer with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, conducting irrigation research in Reno, Nevada; Morris, Minnesota; and Columbus, Ohio. He retired in 1982 and settled in Pueblo, Colorado. Dylla married Colette Lathrop of Sioux Falls in 1955. He passed away on January 7, 2006, in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Poet David Dwyer grew up just north of New York City and commuted to Manhattan for high school. He later settled in Lemmon, South Dakota, with his wife, writer Kathleen Norris, after she inherited her maternal grandparents’ farm.

Dwyer’s debut poetry collection, Ariana Olisvos: Her Last Works and Days, received the Juniper Prize and was published in 1976 by the University of Massachusetts Press. His second collection, Other Men and Other Women, was supported by a $20,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and published in 1988 by Sandhills Press in Ord, Nebraska. His work also appeared in leading literary journals and anthologies, including The New York Quarterly, The Agni Review, and The Virginia Quarterly Review.

David Dwyer died in 2003 at the age of 57 after a long illness, leaving a legacy of reflective and evocative poetry.