By BONNIE BARTEL LATINO
Special to Atmore News
Last week Theresa Scott traded the well-known streets of Atmore for touring fun places in South Dakota. First up was the town of Sturgis, a town of under 7,000 souls. Sturgis is known nationally, perhaps even globally among bikers, for its annual Motorcycle Rally in early August. Sturgis swelled to over 239,000 bikers in 2015.
(Just imagine if Atmore welcomed that many visitors – on motorcycles – to Williams Station Day. Mayor Jim Staff would have to spend months picking up street trash on his golf cart.)
Ms. Scott also visited the historical Wild West gold rush town, Deadwood, which remains much the same as in the late 1800s. Wild Bill Hickok was killed there. Both he and Calamity Jane are buried there.
In Custer, Ms. Scott admired the massive 87-foot facial rock carving of Chief Crazy Horse, who was instrumental in beating General George Custer in the Battle of Little Big Horn. Chiseled into the natural landscape, the monument was created in the style of nearby Mount Rushmore, except the memorial to the leader of the Lakota Sioux looms 27 feet higher over its surroundings.
Asked if she had visited Mount Rushmore, Ms. Scott replied, “Not this time, but I have been on previous trips.”
In more modern times, another of the town of Custer’s claim to fame is as the setting of “Dancing with Wolves.” Kevin Costner produced, directed, and starred in the epic Western. The movie, said to have sparked a renewal of interest in the Western genre, earned 12 Academy Award nominations, including for Best Drama.
After her exciting trip to the Wild West, Ms. Scott, a fitness instructor, is back home this week where she is happiest – among her beloved Silver Sneakers and aerobic classes at HealthActions right here in Atmore.