Herb and Jan Conn inducted into South Dakota Hall of Fame

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Congratulations to Herb and Jan Conn who were recently inducted to the South Dakota Hall of Fame.


http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/fourte ... 002e0.html

[DirtDoc]

This was quite an honor and those of you who know Herb and Jan realize that they just don't fit into a tuxedo-clad group of honorees standing before South Dakota's most important folks at the Induction Ceremonies.

I have a copy of the official program and their citation read:

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Herb and Jan Conn transplanted to South Dakota in 1947 from the east coast, because in the Needles of Custer State Park they felt they had found a climbing paradise. They lived simply and sustained themselves with odd jobs during the coldest months, so they could spend their summers on the rocks. They climbed over 200 virgin summits.

Then in 1959 Dwight Deal invited them to explore Jewel Cave, and they were seized by a second passion. For the next 21 years, they explored and mapped over 60 miles of previously unknown passages. Because of their discoveries, the National Park Service has opened a new scenic tour to enable visitors to enjoy a more attractive part of the cave.

They have mapped both the Needles and Jewel Cave, and the names they gave to those areas are now permanently recorded on maps and literature.

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Some of you have had the pleasure of seeing and hearing Jan perform on the guitar as she describes some of the adventures she and Herb have shared. She usually ends singing and yodeling a story that finishes with the hero plunging underwater. Jan continues to yodel as she plunges her head into a bowl of water, and finishes yodeling from beneath the surface. This she did before that august crowd in South Dakota. I have a picture of those final moments, and the guy in the suit holding the mike for her not only had an incredulous expression on his face, he nearly dropped the mic!

The whole performance was greatly appreciated by the audience, and so well summed up the character of Herb and Jan. Caving with them was a LOT of fun.

DirtDoc

[boreholio]

That's hilarious! Surely somebody has a video!

[DirtDoc]

Herb and Jan Conn - Images

I think I have figured out how to post images, so here are some from the Induction Ceremony as well as a couple of more historic ones. Fourteen people were inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame in September, 2011. Herb and Jan were the only couple. The rest were political, community, business, and scientific leaders.

To return to Cave Chat point where you enlarged the image, click on your back arrow and give your browser a moment to recover your place.

DirtDoc

1- Cover of the 2011 Honors Ceremony program.


2- The Citation for Herb and Jan Conn.


3- Jan Conn performing when it is her turn to speak, singing to accept the award.


4- Jan's finale, yodeling underwater.


5- Climbing with Herb and Jan. Atop an unnamed summit in the Needles in 1959. Photo by Dwight Deal. This was the July before I took them into Jewel Cave for the first time in September.


6- Herb has a certain nose for his work. Cleaning Mt. Rushmore 1962


7- The Adventure Climbs of Herb and Jan Conn.


8. Jan Conn measuring old water lines between Track Nine and the Car Barn, Jewel Cave, 1959. Photo by Dwight Deal. This was the cover photo on the August, 1962 NSS NEWS.


9. Jan Conn crawling through Janny's Cranny, Jewel Cave, 1959. Photo by Dwight Deal.


10. Jan Conn for scale, sitting on silicified cave fill over calcite spar, West Eerie Boulevard, Jewel Cave, 1960. Note the gap between the cemented fill and the spar, and the loose, uncemented clay on top of the silica-cemented fill. Photo by Dwight Deal.