Rural America’s Marketplace: The Bulletin Board

Bulletin boards at gas stations in South Dakota served as bustling marketplaces, connecting buyers with goods and services from distant communities. In our increasingly virtual world, the simple act of tacking a flyer to a cork wall retains remarkable staying power and offers a window into the essence of rural America. I often paused to read the notices.

At the Sinclair-Alsville Crossing near the town of Lake Norden, a flyer announced the 36th annual Threshing Bee. When I asked the cashier about its purpose, she told me it was a lively harvest celebration of agriculture. It offered a parade, flea market, meals, and an antique tractor pull. The vibrant event lay a hundred and seven miles away in Granite, Iowa. In De Smet, thirty-five miles southwest, a hobby artisan showcased custom handmade rosaries at the general store.

On the announcement wall at the Cenex gas station in Mellette, pheasants, seven-week-old hens, and roosters, awaited potential buyers in Redfield, a twenty-two-mile straight shot south. In Watertown, seventy-eight miles away, family-oriented Ristvedt Trucking sought over-the-road drivers to pull flatbed and step-deck trailers. Closer to home, forty-eight miles away in the Orient/Rockham area, a part-time rural mail carrier position offered flexible hours and a respectable wage of $17.04 per hour after training.

Turner County Bowhunters’ shoot schedule graced the message board of the Sinclair gas station in Parker. Individual memberships cost $40 while family memberships ran $45. The shooting range was just one mile west of town. Kelley’s Bar, a mere twenty-minute walk away, announced updated times for its takeout orders. Despite being outdated, a flyer championed organ donations during “Donate Life Month.”  “A Hard Day’s Night,” claiming to be a well-known Minneapolis-based band, was playing a tribute to the Beatles at Klassix Bar in Beresford, thirty-eight miles southeast. Tickets cost $10 and included street dancing and a car show burn-out contest.