New addition

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VOLGA – The Brookings County Museum staff will soon roll out the newest museum addition, this covered wagon hand-built by the late Mel Thorne of Brookings as his way of honoring pioneers during South Dakota’s Centennial in 1989.

Thorne and his wife, Arlyce, donated the built-to-specs wagon to the museum last year. The wood for the wagon was harvested and sawed by Thorne from trees along the Big Sioux River.

The wagon will be on display when the museum opens for the season on Memorial Day, and will also be rolled out for the annual Volga Old Timer’s Day celebration on June 10.

Prepping the wagon for summer service are board members Phil Wagner, Brookings, right, Jerry Leslie, Volga, center, with “technical” help from Mrs. Thorne, left. Thorne used oxen on the wagon in Centennial parades, but Volga draft horse enthusiast Mike Strohfus will hitch his team of Percheron up for Volga’s Saturday morning cavalcade.