Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

Winner, South Dakota

November 14, 2022

What a great name for a town! I'm disappointed that the high school teams are known as the Warriors. While the alliteration is nice, there's got to be a better name.

What do you call someone from Winner, South Dakota? I assume a Winner!

The town is filled with men in hunting attire -- apparently it is pheasant season and Winner is the world capital of that "sport.". I did not know that.

From Wikipedia:

Winner is a city in central Tripp County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 2,921 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Tripp County. Winner also serves as the administrative center of neighboring Todd County, which does not have its own county seat. The nearest airport is Winner Regional Airport.

Winner was laid out in 1909, and named for the fact the town had emerged the "winner" as the county's most successful trading point.

Description

Jim Palmer, Hall of Fame pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles, played for a college league team in Winner in the summer of 1963. He said "There are 2,500 people in Winner...There are four girls in town, two restaurants, one movie, no TV, no air-conditioning, and the temperature is always about a hundred."

Demographics

Historical population

Census Pop. %±

1920 2,000 —

1930 2,220 11.0%

1940 2,426 9.3%

1950 3,252 34.0%

1960 3,705 13.9%

1970 3,789 2.3%

1980 3,472 −8.4%

1990 3,354 −3.4%

2000 3,137 −6.5%

2010 2,897 −7.7%

2020 2,921 0.8%

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 2,897 people, 1,328 households, and 717 families living in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 82.1% White, 0.2% African American, 14.0% Native American, 0.3% Asian, 0.3% from other races, and 3.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.4% of the population.

There were 1,328 households, of which 24.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.5% were married couples living together, 10.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.5% had a male householder with no wife present, and 46.0% were non-families. 42.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 22.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.08 and the average family size was 2.85.

The median age in the city was 45.6 years. 21.4% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.5% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 20.2% were from 25 to 44; 26.2% were from 45 to 64; and 24.6% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47.4% male and 52.6% female.

Notable people

Frank Leahy, the Notre Dame coach who took the Fighting Irish to several national championships

Delores Taylor, the co-creator and star (as Jean) of the Billy Jack films, was born and raised in Winner and the Billy Jack films were due in part to the poor treatment Native Americans received by some of the residents of Winner.

Nicolle Galyon, singer/songwriter