Hot Springs

[KazinSD]

I lived in Hot Springs from 1974 to 1984 (I live in Spearfish, SD now), and my mother and brother still live there, as well as my wifes parents and other siblings.

HS has a good school system but it faces the challenges many systems do with funding. They are tradition rich in girls volleyball and football, as well as both soccer teams. They may not offer the variety of classes that a larger school might, but the ones they do have are well taught.

Community wise, they face the difficulties many smaller towns have with retail business going up the highway to Rapid city or some other larger community, but as a whole, there are more retail businesses now than there were 3 years ago. As anywhere, there are politics, but common sense usually prevails in a smaller town and things get worked out.

Employment wise, there is the VA medical center (I have 3 family members working there), the Regional clinic, and the State Veterans Home all utilizing RN positions, plus they are trying to open a community hospital as well. There is a good bit of manufacturing in Rapid City, like Merrilat (sp?) cabinet plant who ships all over the country with their fleet - right up your alley it sounds like - and as posted before the drive is generally not too difficult, even in winter.

There isn't a tremendous amount of things to do for the kids - Evans plunge is one, movies (weekends only I think), bowling, so get them involved in as many school activities as you can. Some of my nieces/nephews have had friends that did do much of anything and turned to partying as what they did for fun. Obviously, that's tough to avoid, but if they have other things to keep them occupied, they won't fall into the 'there's nothing to do here' excuse that some kids use in a small town. Spearfish is twice the size and I have had to steer my daughter away from that more than once.

Get involved. Join the chamber - even if its an associate membership. Volunteer on committees. We did that here in Spearfish and I truly feel that helped us assimilate to our new surroundings SO much faster and aided us in forging friendships much easier than had we not. These are GREAT people here in the midwest, so you can't miss by jumping in feet first into everything HS has to offer. I have a brother in law in real estate there and he is also on the tourism board of the chamber and I am sure he would be glad to share anything with you. Let me know if you would like his contact info.

Enjoy your new chapter in life, you picked a great place to write it.

KazinSD

[dadbud]

Thanks again for the valuable info. I am a big believer in keeping the kids involved. I keep our 13 yr old daughter playing fastpitch softball and in other school functions. She has developed into a good player also. Does Hot Springs offer girls fastpitch. This may be a deciding factor in moving to the area for us. Same with our 11 yr old son but usually more sports are offered to boys.

[DannyBanany]

I believe fastpitch is offered in Hot Springs by ASA. Rapid City has a dozen teams or so to choose from. I am sure Hot Spring has a handful too. Many girls in the area are involved in fastpitch and it is a GREAT way to get to know people all across the state.

[KazinSD]

I'm not sure HS is a fast pitch town yet, but if they have they haven't offered it for very long. Here in Spearfish they are just switching - a long time coming. Rapid City has a great fast pitch program if HS doesn't offer it, but I do think most of the communities are switching to fast pitch so any girls that want to play in college have a better chance of making a team.

KazinSD