Maude Brockelsby, wife of Reptile Gardens founder Earl Brockelsby, died on 11 December 2011 at the age of 95.

Maude (Wagner) Brockelsby was born Nov. 2, 1916, in Lake Andes, S.D., the granddaughter of immigrants from Germany and Ireland.  Her family lived in the Lake Andes area until 1929 when they moved to Wood, S.D.  These were the dust-bowl days of the Great Depression, and times were hard – Maude often said she didn’t like to think about the “old days”!

After graduating from Wood High School, Maude moved to Rapid City where she met an ambitious young entrepreneur named Earl Brockelsby who, in 1937, had the crazy idea of starting a tourist attraction showcasing reptiles. Maude and Earl were married in 1940.

In the early days of the Reptile Gardens, Maude made rockwork souvenirs, but she played an important part in the success of the business in another way.  After Earl returned from World War II, he was spread thin by the several very different businesses he owned. It was Maude who encouraged him to devote his energies to the Reptile Gardens.  Earl always gave her credit for helping him to focus his efforts on that business, which became one of the leading tourist attractions in the Midwest.

Maude was known, to all who knew her, for her kindness and generosity. She loved to take care of her large extended family. Her chocolate chip cookies were arguably the best ever. For many years, Maude served as the “Goodwill Ambassador” for the Reptile Gardens. Up until the end she was always interested in how things were going at the Reptile Gardens and never failed to ask how business was when any one of us stopped for a visit.

Reptile Gardens Mourns the Loss of Maude Brockelsby is a post from: Scales & Tales

If you still have some gift shopping to do but don’t know where to start, try the gift shop at Reptile Gardens where you’ll find a wide range of items from t-shirts to New Guinea artifacts.

Everyone knows that person who is impossible to shop for. They are into “unusual” things and you never know what to get them. Reptile Gardens has plenty of unique gifts, especially for animal, art and history lovers.

The unusual gifts are true collector’s items. They have been hand picked by Reptile Gardens’ CEO, Joe Maierhauser, and brought back to share with South Dakotans.

You can find interesting pieces like New Guinea tribal masks, primitive weapons and colorful collages filled with farmed butterfly specimens. How about a stunning large photograph taken in New Guinea by Joe Maierhauser? All these items would be a wonderful addition to any art collection. They could also be used to decorate any wall in your house.

More traditional gifts are also available. There is an entire collection of intricate and beautiful hand woven scarves. These fashionable scarves come in every shade and color and will keep you warm all winter long. There is a large assortment of beads for the beader on your list; or beautiful and collectible fossils and mineral specimens.

The gift shop has many other various items like toys, stuffed animals, books and apparel that children love. The books are educational and fun to read.

Some of our gifts are available online. To view our full inventory and find your perfect holiday gift, stop by Reptile Gardens – they are located just south of Rapid City on Hwy. 16.

The park is closed for winter hours. However, the gift shop will remain open through Christmas for shoppers who need to take care of their last minute purchases. The new holiday hours are daily from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.

You can view our online offerings at www.reptilegardens.com/gift-store/  Or our online selection of New Guinea art at either www.jungleoutpost.com  or www.newguineaart.com

Unique holiday gift shopping at Reptile Gardens is a post from: Scales & Tales

Reptile Gardens just lost its last link to the past, Marv Basham (1917-2011). Until yesterday, Marv was the last person still around who was here on opening day in June of 1937. He had helped build our original buildings and did a lot of other things back in the day when the crew consisted of just a handful of people and everyone did whatever was needed.

Even though they were considered a bit old, when World War 2 started Earl Brockelsby and Marv Basham immediately enlisted – Marv in the Navy and Earl in the Army. Upon returning from the war the men set about getting the Reptile Gardens back into shape and better than ever. This included a greatly expanded main building and a reptile house, all covered in native stone – designed by Earl with Marv as working foreman.

As Marv’s family grew he knew he needed a bit more income than a budding reptile zoo could offer so left to work at Coast-to-Coast Hardware in Rapid City. When we began our move to our current location due to the relocation of Highway 16, the first person Earl thought of was Marv. His tremendous skills and knowledge about building, machinery, and tools would be invaluable to the now growing facility. So, in 1964, Marv returned to his roots.

Marv always made sure everything was working: heat and air conditioning in all our buildings, our wells and pumps, lighting, plumbing, restaurant equipment, and more. He never for a moment hesitated to come out late at night or on his day off or both, in blizzards and heat waves, to fix some critical piece of equipment. His only concern was that our animals would not be at risk and our Guests would be comfortable.

Over the years, Marv repaired pretty much everything on the property, built countless animal enclosures and gift shop display cases, oversaw and did much of the work on new areas and buildings. Back when we picked up the crews for each shift, Marv drove the crew car for the early shift every morning (sometimes arriving at someone’s door a bit earlier than they might have liked especially after a long night, as college kids on summer vacation are wont to do).

At one point, Marv and his wife Hazel (who also worked at the Gardens for many years) decided to retire and move to Oregon. Shortly after they got out there Marv knew where his heart was and they promptly returned to Rapid City. Marv once again took up his post at the Reptile Gardens.

Although he slowly backed off the more strenuous tasks over the years, Marv showed up at work every day until just a couple years ago. Even at 90 he was here every day of the week to do whatever he could, which up until his late 80’s included things like climbing ladders to replace burned out ballasts in the fluorescent light fixtures.

Marv is already missed by all of us who knew him. The Reptile Gardens would not be what it is today without Marv’s dedication and skills. Rest in Peace dear friend.

Marv Basham is a post from: Scales & Tales

Ray Pawley in his younger days.

Next year, 2012, Reptile Gardens will be celebrating its 75th anniversary. You know what that means? We are planning a fun staff reunion to celebrate this momentous anniversary.

The main reunion event will be held on Saturday, 30 June 2012 at the Rushmore Plaza Holiday Inn from 5PM to 12AM. Along with that, there will be things going on all weekend at the Reptile Gardens. Details to follow as we get them planned. We have 50 rooms blocked out at the Rushmore Plaza for any out-of-towners who would like to stay there.

One of our 1960's talent shows

There are so many hundreds of you out there. We know who you are and have contacts for many of you. However, there are so many we don’t have any contact info for. So please get in touch with us via the reunion form below or any other way. If you know any former RG staffers, please let them know about this and have them get in touch.

Please contact Virginia with any questions or suggestions you have. You can call her at the Reptile Gardens, 605-342-5873 or email her via our web site using this special reunion link:

http://www.reptilegardens.com/reunion/

By the way, we will need to know who is coming so please RSVP to Virginia by 1 May of 2012.

A day in the Badlands for John, Marshall, and Francie

75 YEARS AND GOING STRONG! CALLING ALL FORMER & CURRENT REPTILE GARDENS STAFF MEMBERS is a post from: Scales & Tales

*Propping open the mouth of a dead alligator with the Sunday newspaper inside & setting it outside a friend’s  home…a friend who also happened to be the publisher of the Rapid City Journal.

*Mixing mealworms in a spaghetti dinner or dropping tadpoles in his sister’s fresh-squeezed lemonade. (She never forgave him for ruining her hard work.)

*Dropping frozen rattlesnakes in the snow in a Colorado park for the alarm it would cause when the snow melted.

*Draping a dead 20-foot python in a tree in a Tucson, Arizona park.

*Switching the keys on a friend’s typewriter.

*Covering all the windows of his gift shop manager’s house with tarpaper during the night so it stayed dark in the house, then chewing him out for being late to work the next morning.

…and many many more

Earl was, in turn, the victim at times as well. Four friends, who had been on the receiving end of many of Earl’s jokes, were determined to get him back. Just before first light one morning in the early 1950’s they trucked a three-ton limestone boulder to Earl’s newly constructed home on Jackson Blvd.

The original plan had been to drop the rock square in the center of the driveway while the concrete was still wet so it would sink in and not only block entrance to the garage but also necessitate tearing out the entire driveway.

The men’s wives absolutely would not allow a joke they considered too mean so the rock was dumped in the driveway after the concrete had cured. And it did prevent Earl from getting to work on time that morning. The rock stayed in the yard next to the driveway until the house, later a golf course clubhouse, was demolished in 2002. It was brought to Reptile Gardens at that time and can be seen on here on the grounds.

Gift Shop Manager, Joe Maierhauser Sr (left) and artist Lee Logan put in place the finishing touch - a commemorative sign.

Practical Jokes at Reptile Gardens is a post from: Scales & Tales

With all this work going on in the Dome I was reminded of when it was built and of the big tree that is still the centerpiece. This is an article that ran in the Rapid City Journal in 1964.

Back When the Sky Dome was New is a post from: Scales & Tales

But that isn’t all we do there. Come visit us in room 130 at the Riverpark Inn where we will be offering hundreds of New Guinea artifacts. The room will be stuffed with masks, figures, jewelry, weapons, and more. The show opens on the 29^th of January and runs though the 10^th of February.

And come out and visit us in April when we open for the season. Get first pick of all the great stuff we bring back, along with a new shipment of New Guinea art, new T-shirt designs, plush animals, and other great gifts. Don’t forget to get your season pass at that time as well. It is free with your paid admission and with it you can visit the park for free until the end of the year.

Rocks, Fossils, Jewelry, and New Guinea Art! is a post from: Scales & Tales

Western Diamondback Rattlesnake

The other day National Geographic contacted regarding the veracity of the rattlesnake scenes in the new movie, True Grit. Terry’s interview is posted on the National Geographic blog.

As you know, we like to present the truth about reptiles and Terry doesn’t pull any punches on this one, even if it is a good movie. Visit the link below to read the interview.

http://blogs.ngm.com/blog_central/2011/01/not-so-true-snake-lore-in-true-grit.html

True Grit Rattlesnakes – How True is it? is a post from: Scales & Tales

Potential park visitors can see a map and tour of our grounds along with hours, rates, and a coupon for discounted admission. You can meet our staff, read our blog, see historic photos, and photos of our plants and animals.

We are especially proud of the work we did on the reference section about our animals and about reptiles in general. You can find detailed information on the reptiles and amphibians of South Dakota. There is an easy way to contact our curatorial staff with questions about snakes or bugs or plants. And for all those people searching for information on the world’s deadliest snakes, we think we have given them the ultimate resource. I will be posting more about that section of our site in the next few days.

Of course it isn’t finished, and probably never will be so check back now and then to see what is new at the Gardens and what new pages have been added.

New Year, New Web Site! is a post from: Scales & Tales

Santa will be here from 10AM to 3PM daily. There is no charge to see Santa or take your photos with him. The Reptile Gardens is open from 9AM to 3PM daily so if you are looking for something to do with your visiting relatives, come to the tropics.

Still some shopping days left to get totally unique gifts for those tough-to-shop-for people on your list. If you think all we carry are souvenirs, think again. Reptile Gardens’ gift store and the Jungle Outpost Gallery are filled with many great gift ideas. Get a stunning amethyst geode, an artistic-looking fossil, a beautiful malachite box and more in our Rock Department. The Jungle Outpost Gallery has Tibetan singing bowls, Huichol Indian beaded masks and figures, a wide variety of popular jewelry, and the largest offering of New Guinea Tribal art in the United States. A tribal mask under the tree will certainly be the most unique package opened on Christmas morning!

Visit Santa This Week At Reptile Gardens is a post from: Scales & Tales