A Christmas Story

By John Andrews We’ve told plenty of Christmas stories in nearly 40 years of publishing South Dakota Magazine, but one of our favorites was written by Marian Cramer, of the Bryant/De Smet area. In the early years of the magazine, Cramer interviewed Hilda McKnight Bjordahl. She and her husband, Herschel McKnight, were hired as the first administrators of the Charles Mix County Home for the Poor near Academy in 1933. It was surely a setting for many sad stories, but one of her fondest memories was about a 14-year-old girl named Carol, and it truly epitomizes the Christmas spirit.

Soon after she arrived, Carol befriended the McKnights and offered to help in the laundry and sewing room. The McKnights strived to provide clothing so the kids wouldn’t look out of place at school, but one day Carol told Hilda, “I know how hard you and Mr. Mac worked to get us nice clothes. It really doesn’t matter, I guess. I have this lovely skirt and they still call us ‘poor house kids’ at school.” For more on this story and many more please purchase a copy of the Sisseton Courier on news stands now or purchase a copy of the E-edtion on this website.