When rain washes away tradition, community steps in

Humm-Dinger gives seniors a new canvas for Homecoming

  • Jerrytt Culver and Zachary Kruse were among the Wessington Springs High School seniors who filled the Humm-Dinger storefront windows with names and Homecoming messages Tuesday after rain washed away their traditional Sunday night street whitewashing. Store Manager Ellen Tobin offered the windows to the students after learning Mother Nature had erased their handiwor
    Jerrytt Culver and Zachary Kruse were among the Wessington Springs High School seniors who filled the Humm-Dinger storefront windows with names and Homecoming messages Tuesday after rain washed away their traditional Sunday night street whitewashing. Store Manager Ellen Tobin offered the windows to the students after learning Mother Nature had erased their handiwor
  • WSHS seniors brave the rain Sunday evening to continue the generations-old tradition of whitewashing streets to kick off Homecoming week. By Monday, the rain had washed away virtually every trace of their work.(PHOTO COURTESY SARA THOMPSON)
    WSHS seniors brave the rain Sunday evening to continue the generations-old tradition of whitewashing streets to kick off Homecoming week. By Monday, the rain had washed away virtually every trace of their work.(PHOTO COURTESY SARA THOMPSON)

    For generations, Wessington Springs High School seniors have kicked off Homecoming week by leaving their mark on the community, quite literally.

    Sunday evening, members of the Class of 2027 gathered for the longstanding tradition of whitewashing streets on Main Street and near the high school and elementary school.

    They gave it a valiant effort, but Mother Nature had other plans.

    Rain Sunday and Monday washed away virtually every sign that the seniors had been there. But the tradition wasn’t going to disappear quite that easily.

    When Humm-Dinger Store Manager Ellen Tobin heard what had happened, she offered the convenience store’s front windows as a new canvas. On Tuesday, seniors gathered at the storefront, markers in hand, to write Homecoming messages, sign their names and leave their mark on Wessington Springs after all.

    “I always decorate the windows during Homecoming week, but when whitewashing didn’t go as planned this year, I reached out to the school and here we are,” Tobin said. “It looks great, and the seniors were able to take part in this longstanding tradition in Springs.”

    The result may look a little different than generations of whitewashed streets, but thanks to a local business willing to step in, this year’s seniors still got their chance to make their mark on Homecoming week.

     

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