An optimist is the human personification of spring.

Spring 2016
Welcome, spring!
It was great to see so many of you at the Open House. Thanks for encouraging new people
to attend, as this resulted in more people in our First Class Club and more chances to travel.
Join me in giving a warm welcome to our new members! I hope you enjoy traveling with
us and making new friendships plus banking with First Bank & Trust.
Cathy from Star Destinations certainly inspires us to include longer trips on our agenda! On
a side note, the group from Brookings had a wonderful trip to Cuba traveling with Cathy as
their hostess. We will soon be utilizing her services with the Utah trip. Everything for Utah
is confirmed, and it looks like a great trip.
Iceland! We are in the discussion stage with Star Destinations to host this trip for us also.
I think you will be pleasantly surprised with this trip and what it has to offer. We are looking
to go about a year from now—yes, 2017, but that is how far out we plan for these trips to
get all the details down and to ensure the best hotels and seats we can get.
DATES TO REMEMBER
April
15
24 –
May 2
Schmeckfest &
The Music Man
 Freeman, SD
Utah Trip
May
30
Memorial Day
 Bank closed
June
30
Mystery Trip
An optimist
is the human
personification
of spring.
–Susan J. Bissonette
We have a busy year ahead, and I hope the upcoming trips are of your interest. If there is
one that you don’t want to miss, please call to sign up. It doesn’t commit you, but it does
give me an idea if I need more seats, and I will save one for you!
See you on the bus!
Gayle Koll
First Class Club Coordinator
Milbank, Toronto, & Stockholm
Schmeckfest & The Music Man
Freeman, SD
Thursday, April 15
Cost: $85
Schmeckfest is a family-style meal serving German food that has been an ongoing event
for 58 years in the community of Freeman to support the Freeman Academy, a private
school that offers a Christian education. There will be some shopping opportunities for
German food, and following the meal we have tickets for The Music Man! Each year the
community also puts on a play along with the meal. It will be a late night, but you can sleep
on the bus, and the weather should be fine after we get home. We will leave Milbank at
12:30 p.m. and pick up in Clear Lake at 1:15 p.m., with a short break in Sioux Falls.
If you are interested, please call Gayle at 605-438-1891 to see if there are seats available
yet.
Mystery Trip
Thursday, June 30
Cost: $95
We are off on another Mystery Trip! This is popular with the men and the
ladies, as I try to have something of interest for everyone.
I could say so much about this trip…however, it is educational, interesting, and entertaining
this year! Take some money along, as you may also want to purchase something, and it
will not be from a regular store! That evening we will be dining at a fun place, not the usual
sit-down dinner. Following dinner, we’ll have more entertainment! This trip will also
interest the less-active traveler; however, some of you may want to stretch your legs after
the evening meal.
Included in the cost of $95 is the coach, driver’s tip, events, evening meal, and the evening
entertainment.
NOTE: Noon meal at a fast-food restaurant will be on your own.
The Church Basement Ladies (MEN)
Plymouth Playhouse
Thursday, September 22
Cost: $85
The men have invaded the Church
Basement Ladies in Rise Up, O Men. This
performance is at the Plymouth Playhouse in Plymouth,
MN. It should be as entertaining as always with their
hilarious antics! Their show is always a crowd-pleaser for
sure.
We will leave Milbank at 7 a.m. with a pickup in Ortonville.
A coffee/breakfast break will be on your own.
Included in the cost of $85 will be the Church Basement
meal and show at the Plymouth Theater, coach, and all
gratuities.
Branson in the Fall
October 22–26
Cost: $825 each for double
occupancy; $900 for single
IT’S NOT TOO SOON TO SIGN UP!
A $75 deposit will hold your seat! This trip is shared with
our Brookings First Class Club, and their seats are already
filled!
I can’t express enough how important it is to get your $75
deposit in for this trip ASAP! On August 1 our seats will be
released to those on the wait list in Brookings!
Included in the cost are 12 meals, 7 shows (The Bacon’s
Sunday Gospel Jubilee, Down Home Country, Six, All Hands
on Deck, Show Boat Branson Belle, Baldknobbers Jamboree
Show, and the Million Dollar Quartet, which is the story of
Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Elvis
Presley), a tour of the College of the Ozarks plus a jeep ride
through the Fantastic Caverns, 4 nights’ lodging, coach, and
gratuities.
Please, if you are interested, get a deposit down on this
trip! Enjoy the beautiful colors of fall and the excitement
of Branson!
“Cathedral on the Prairie” Christmas at Hoven
Sunday, December 4
Cost: $90
We have enjoyed the Sioux Falls
Cathedral’s Christmas productions,
and now we are headed west to
Hoven, SD’s “Cathedral on the
Prairie” for their production. Those
of you who get the South Dakota
Magazine have read about this
beautiful gem of a cathedral seated in
the little town of Hoven. Their parishioners are so proud
of the cathedral, and this is a way for them to continue the
restoration and maintenance of it.
We have toured the
Cathedral on the Prairie
before, but now is your
chance to sit and enjoy
Christmas music performed
there by the SD Symphony
and Northern State College,
plus guest appearances. I have the tickets for the
performance already, as it sells out early. We will also
make a stop in Aberdeen on our way for a Sunday brunch.
More details will follow as the time gets closer.
I encourage you to sign up for this trip even if you may need
to cancel. No deposits are required at this time.
Weather at this time of year is always a concern, but don’t
let that stop you from taking the chance of seeing this
wonderful performance and the cathedral. If the weather
is bad and we can’t make it, we will reimburse you.
NEW PHONE NUMBER!
If you would like to contact me for any of
these trips, please call my new direct phone
number at First Bank & Trust.
Gayle: 605-438-1891