President Trump has promised that fireworks will be returning to Mount Rushmore this year!
Environmental concerns have previously stopped fireworks displays.
“What can burn? It’s stone. Nobody knew why,” Trump said about the lack of fireworks.
I couldn’t help but laugh at his comment.
Mr. President, the monument is surrounded by trees. The Lakota originally called the area “Pahá Sápa” for the rising mountains and their dark appearance due to the trees. The name translates to Black Hills. And those trees are known to burn.
Now, I’m not laughing at the president. I’m laughing because this is the honest reaction that some New Yorkers have of South Dakota.
I had the unique experience of meeting people from all over the country when I attended U.S. Army basic training in 1982.
I was 19 years old and a complete country bumpkin. I was meeting people from all over the country for the very first time.
There were people from New York and all throughout New England, several Mormons from Utah, Hal was from Hazzard County in Kentucky, the Pacific, the Midwest and many from South Atlantic states like North and South Carolina.
Nearly everyone was fascinated with South Dakota. Many of them had never heard of it. Others thought we were 200 years behind the times.
One of the guys from urban New York City asked me, “Do you still ride in covered wagons?”
He was amazed to learn we had cars. He wasn’t joking.
Others asked if we were still fighting “Indians”. They really believed it was still the legendary Wild West out here.
I assured them that we had cars, televisions, indoor bathrooms and every convenience that they also enjoyed.
Jump ahead 15 years.
I was hosting a job candidate from Toledo, Ohio. I was driving him around Sioux Falls to give him a flavor of the community. I took him to Falls Park, the Empire Mall, and the Washington Pavilion among other places.
I saw him rubber-necking as we drove past one of the city’s western stores. This one was near downtown with an old west storefront, wooden sidewalk, horse hitches and the works.
“This is like a frontier town,” he said. He wasn’t joking.
It was hard not to burst out in laughter. Suffice it to say he didn’t get the job.
It's easy for me to cut President Trump some slack for his comment. I've heard much worse.