SCOUTING YESTERDAY: Spirit of Six tragedy sends shockwaves through South Dakota

This week in South Dakota history: March 16-20

Mar 20, 2023

∙ Paid

Members of the varsity cheer squad before leaving Rapid City. From Left: Shirley Landstrom, Kay McNutt, Terry Blanton, Jan Glaze, Mary Landstrom, Gail Flohr, Dorothy Lloyd, Diana McCluskey and Ivan Landstrom. (South Dakota Magazine)

The Spirit of Six Award is a South Dakota hallmark remembering the lives of those lost in a tragic accident following the state high school boys basketball tournament on March 17, 1968.

On Tuesday, March 12, 1968, Rapid City High School students were dismissed early to attend a pep rally for the Cobbler boys basketball team that would be playing later that week in the State Boys Class A tournament in Sioux Falls. According to South Dakota Magazine the pep rally was a lively event where drama students performed a skit, the cheer squad put on a show and the boys were sent off to bring back a championship.

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