BELLE FOURCHE, S.D. — Postponed due to COVID, the Olympics is being held this year – as opposed to 2020 – and a group of kids is getting in on the action.
Every third Sunday of the month, the Tri-State Museum and Visitor Center in Belle Fourche holds a “Family Fun Day” – and it draws families from all over.
“We draw kids for Family Fun Days from not just Belle Fourche, but also from Spearfish, Sturgis, occasionally from Rapid City, and we also draw from Wyoming, because of course, this is the tri-state area. And so we do get kids typically from all of those different places, from kindergarten to eighth grade,” said Kristi Thielen, director of the Tri-State Museum and Visitor Center.”
There are always new activities, but this month, organizers chose an Olympic event for families. Kids could participate in several different games to win a gold, silver, or bronze medal.
And it was certainly a hit – especially for children with Olympic-sized dreams.
Reporter: “Were you having fun doing the Olympics?”
Joyce Keating: “Yeah.”
Reporter: “What game did you play so far?”
Joyce: “You know, the tossing ring game.”
Reporter: “How did you do?”
Joyce: “You know, I just went two times.”
Reporter: “You went two times?”
Joyce: “Yeah.”
Reporter: “Did you have to do a lot of training before you came out here?”
Joyce: “Yeah, I was just warming up.”
Reporter: “You were just warming up?”
Joyce: “Yeah, so I can get better when I grow up.”
Reporter: “Did you do a lot of preparation before you came out here?”
Clifford Torberson: “Uh, I stretched.”
It was also an opportunity to just be kind.
One double gold medalist gave one of his medals to one of the younger participants.
“She’s younger, and she just doesn’t have the physical ability of the older kids like number 16 and 8, and she still tried hard, so I was gonna give it to here. I already had one,” Clifford said.
A few kids had ideas for what they might change next year. For Clifford, it was his shirt.
“Because I really like this one. I have shirts that aren’t as nice. Maybe I would wear goggles so I could see,” Clifford said.
And others were just glad to have sweets.
“I think a Family Fun Day is kinda great that it has cookies and cupcakes and juice boxes,” Joyce said.
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