This week’s unlikely JOY: a water ski show. This seemed highly unlikely to me because, well, first of all, South Dakota is not exactly known for its lakes. Plains, prairies, the Badlands, and the Black Hills, but lakes, not so much. So, I was intrigued when John and I were driving along I-90, and we saw a large billboard advertising “Catfish Bay: Greatest Show on H2O!” with letters underneath saying “Water Ski Park”. I knew right then that John and I would be attending this show.
First, I have to explain how there happens to be a lake in Sioux Falls. Apparently, there was a contractor who, in 1992, bought some property with the intent to “raise the interstate system”, whatever that means. The founder of Catfish Bay, Jim Bruns, explains: "So he stuck two large pumps in the ground, pulled the water table down and spent the summer excavating gravel. By the time he turned the pumps off and this lake appeared, that's when we came along… I used the analogy that this guy had 40 acres of land, and when he was done, he was going to have 39.9 acres of water, and he didn't know what he was going to do with it." Bruns bought the property. As he says, "Twenty-two years old. Bought a lake."
On Friday night, John and I headed out to the greatest show on H20. The bleachers were nearly full as we took our seats. The announcer started off by asking us to join him in a prayer. A prayer, ending with “In Jesus’ name we pray”, which pretty much excludes the Jewish population (yes there is a synagogue in Sioux Falls) as well as whatever Muslims or various other religions that might have wanted to join in. Then we stood and sang the Star-Spangled Banner with our hands over our hearts. Let’s just say, South Dakota is different that Minnesota.
On to the show: it really was fantastic. The jumps, the flips, the human pyramids on water skis. But after it was over, John said, “Well, that’s one and done.” Which in fact it was. We enjoyed it – the stunts were impressive. But we don’t need to see it again.
Here was the JOY: sitting outside on a beautiful warm South Dakota night. Chatting with the proud grandpa sitting next to me with his grandkids, cheering on the performers who ambled up the shore of the lake, stood in formation, waved and smiled after every trick. And more: a few of the water skiers were older than me! A few of the skiers were father/daughter teams. And finally, this: one of the water skiers was a dentist by day in Brookings, South Dakota.
So, wonderful summer JOY. A water ski show on a beautiful summer night in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.