During our involuntary hiatus Barrack Obama was elected President of the United States. Time Magazine thinks that is all it takes to be a person of the year. We disagree! Our person of the year had a difficult election cycle. He even had our own courageous, dynamic Publisher doubting his ability to do the job he has been elected to do. Then came an appearance in Java City at DWU. He appeared slow and sluggish, but was greeted with a standing ovation by a rather enthusiastic crowd of people. He spoke slowly, choosing words deliberately, and even employing a certain amount of self deprecation humor towards himself and the political stereotype. His best quote, "A politician who doesn't say much. I should win by a landslide for that reason alone". Reelection was not a sure thing, but he defied all logic, and the odds, to come out ahead on Election Day. Our Person of the Year has shown us all what being courageous and dynamic, while keeping his humility, is all about. The Holabird Advocate Person of the Year for 2008 is SENATOR TIM JOHNSON!

Life and Time of Dorothy Zilverberg (1921 - 2008)
Dorothy Zilverberg, 87, of Highmore, passed away Tuesday, December 2, 2008 at the Highmore Healthcare Center.
Mass of Christian Burial was held at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, December 6, 2008 at St. Mary's Catholic Church, Highmore with Father Kevin Zilverberg officiating. Burial was in St. Mary's Cemetery, Highmore, directed by Luze Funeral Home of Highmore. Visitation was held 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., Friday, December 5, 2008 with a 7:00 p.m. wake service at the church. Dorothy Catherine Boehmer was born February 23, 1921 in Hughes County to August and Elizabeth (Schmidt) Boehmer. After graduating from high school in Harrold, SD she went on to Notre Dame Junior College in Mitchell, SD where she earned a teaching certificate. During her teaching career, she taught at Grey Goose, Canning, and south of Harrold. She then met John Zilverberg and they married February 17, 1945 in Highmore during military leave while John was in the Marines. Military service took them to Klamath Falls, Oregon where she continued to teach 6th grade. The couple was transferred to San Francisco until the war ended October, 1945.
After the war, John and Dorothy moved to their ranch north of Holabird where they started a family of four children. Dorothy was a faithful, loving partner and wife for 63 years. She loved her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, and would do anything for them. She also loved birds, flowers, traveling and being an active volunteer. Her volunteer activities included holding state office with SD Extension Homemakers and serving on the state and county boards. She held local offices in Cattle women, Catholic Daughters, Altar Society, Historical Society and belonged to the Retired Teachers Organization. In 1976 she represented Hyde County as Mother of the Year in the state competition. In 2003 she was honored to be inducted into the South Dakota 4-H Hall of Fame for 20 years of service as a 4-H leader. In 1989 John and Dorothy retired from the ranch and moved to Highmore.
Dorothy is survived by her husband, John Zilverberg, two daughters and two sons, Marcia (Mike) Wiedebush of Aberdeen, Donald (Peg) Zilverberg of Holabird, Karen (Ray) Geditz of Ipswich, and Gary (April) Zilverberg of Holabird, 12 grandchildren, 3 great grandchildren, and a sister, Marcella Auch.
She was preceded in death by her parents, twin brothers who died at birth, a brother Vincent Bollweg, and a sister Evelyn Reding.

Last week, I was at a 25th wedding anniversary for an average normal couple, if there is such a thing. He's a schoolteacher, she's a sales clerk. These are two careers where you don't take business trips. That means that at the end of every day, you both go home. You have to respect that. This is a marriage with no time off. Compare that to the scenario where the man and the woman are both senior executives in a large corporation. They travel all the time. In 25 years of marriage, they're really only together about four years. We need to differentiate between these types of marriages. It's not how many years you're married, it's how many days and, more importantly nights, you've spent together. Now obviously we don't want to discount the accomplishment of a 25-year marriage, regardless of the reduced years of active service, but I think you have the right to calibrate your gift based on the degree of difficulty. The traveling business couple should get flowers and a card, the stay-at-home working couple deserves something better. I suggest a gift of separate holidays for each of them or a large bottle of an expensive beverage with a significant alcohol content.