A lifetime of Easter Sunrise Services: paying tribute

 

This is the final installment of a seven-part series exploring the rich history of the Easter sunrise service at Mount Rushmore National Memorial, as the tradition will celebrate its 75th year on April 9.

 

In 1947, the year of the first Easter Sunrise Service to be held on the grounds of Mount Rushmore, Rev. Virgil Selix said, “some day this Sunrise Service at the memorial may be a famous tradition. Wouldn’t it be fine to have been present at its inception?”

This year that tradition at Mount Rushmore National Memorial will celebrate its 75th year.

Although the first sunrise service was held in 1945,  due to construction and COVID-19, 2023 marks the 75th anniversary of the first service.

Celebrating 75 years is a big deal, and in honor of the event, First Congregational Church of Keystone historian Eileen Roggenthen will present her historical perspective of the service at the church at 4 p.m. April 8. The presentation will be followed by a church supper and an opportunity to meet the descendants of Rev. Carl H Loock, the pastor most associated with the beginnings of the Easter sunrise tradition.

The Easter service itself begins at 7 a.m. April 9. The Reverend’s three grandchildren, Cal Loock, Vicki Loock Veris and Christine Loock will attend the service along with their spouses, children and other close family members.

The 75th service will begin with a special tribute to Lois Halley, a name synonymous with music and the sunrise service.

Lois Pennel Halley played “God Bless America” for the first time at the 1947 service. Halley, and the song, have become a tradition at the service ever since.

Lois last sang the song at Mount Rushmore publicly in 2018. Privately, however, on Easter morning in 2021, the Halley family including Lois, went up to the terrace at Mount Rushmore and sang “Because He Lives” and “God Bless America” a capella.

“We just wanted to do it because there wasn’t a sunrise service that year. There were only a handful of people there; they seemed to enjoy and appreciate it. We mainly sang for an audience of one that day, our Lord Jesus,” says Lois’ daughter Judy Dalton.

This year, however, Lois will not sing, but will be honored. Lois will be recognized for her love for music, which she handed down to multiple generations of family, but more importantly for “the legacy of her faith and living out her faith by being committed to her family, her church and her community,” says Becki Groven, Lois’ granddaughter.

The Halley family will play the song, “Old Rugged Cross,” with likely five generations in attendance including Becki, her husband Jarod and their three sons, Austin, Cody and Kyle.

The family will  also lead the congregation in singing “God Bless America.” 

Tracy Spaans, whose grandmother Joyce Metz was a part of the 1947 sunrise service singing in the combined church choir, will lead the introductions for the service and introducing Carl Dietrich Friesen. Friesen is the great-grandson of Rev. Loock, to whom he will pay tribute.

Pastor Rodney Veldhuizen will lead the call to worship as well as the service message, “When Jesus Calls Your Name.”

Special music will be contributed by the Sunrise Choir under the direction of Heidi Long-Lind.

John Esposti will read Badger Clark’s “A Cowboy’s Prayer.” Clark, South Dakota’s first Poet Laureate, gave the Easter Sunrise sermon at the memorial in 1951.

All gifts received during the service  will be donated to local missions and charities such as Operation Black Hills Cabin, a retreat for combat-wounded veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts and the missions giving program.

Anyone wishing to help with snow removal for the service if needed can contact the First Congregational Church of Keystone at 605-666-4627 or check out its Facebook page. It is yet another way to be a part of the history of the Easter Sunrise Service at Mount Rushmore National Memorial.

To paraphrase what Rev. Virgil Selix said so long ago, this Easter Sunrise Service at Mount Rushmore National Memorial is now a famous tradition. Wouldn’t it be fine to be present at its 75th anniversary?

A special thanks to Historian Eileen Roggenthen from the First Congregational Church of Keystone for the historical preservation and collection of documents, pictures and stories that made this series possible.