1 10 1 https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/46614/archive/files/92204cef234d1c0a3223f6655fb22676.mp3?Expires=1790208000&Signature=RXVPdp9QoYv1vZMvx1dLbhRLsXWRo7YS39sjqNbmVWznoW6%7EXTpIhZl86VlMXc5iKZcGZKlN4IYrsH47qVBTXou6LvHaaL7C82xdWy8ZyM%7EjfLoy0%7ELgIfqRae63TI5WLpniYVNPclyN7CQLFsG1dFMJ8tp5qmAKY9BOUQ%7EhfSCbKps-rC1d%7E7J2uSUHv3iv4rMGWSso6eJRZAmLC8ssNkeMPMNSPYMiaGpk6iSaGftNyX1eR%7EJQR13TyV%7E0lLPo0PAtlhggG-DKSJ5twxfcIH4qoUxmFVYgNnUVuH0lpwFfVBSpOMwRHyKoZnjDiqb9MSHjW9rqgKFEarIqgqzjZg__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM df6fc51742d8924f45334fa53eefb933 https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/46614/archive/files/d8fa3c65514aa5bde76ba1b777e17432.pdf?Expires=1790208000&Signature=Qox5PHwaPtA%7E1HFEtR6YnL%7EDaJcSOOQfjhlygIzXTCblCF-51%7EKAmD62Riw6MhhFo0BcWZJKdBKKRhiZBMuJpPTCt-B1z2XIfm3vPVz8SXgerngFNmULfwJirgMEtXzpqJMmaDDcLv2Eqi9WifWhsYuSg2lFqez7TiUaImVTKfMokq3uYj0vSDUPXpOw%7EJj3iiBzpDvWD0flt-iia489jIcU0UtzFSUx32QrbG49oFNrejRqxJVZjvP6iW2xEmeX9Ywrci8Vliom0huvGphAoQ1vfdYXm1Ot3vBfFN5CfWRxuVinsUQqy0u8bViRyvim3%7ETDUCNpJUzw6U8eg9F-GA__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM a7d7295d48f962b04b9d166c746c3e79 PDF Text Text SEAN: Hello, this is Sean Collins with Jennifer Williams, and we're here interviewing Ailsa Snyder on Wednesday, May 25, 2016, for the Rapid City Oral History Project. Hi, Ailsa, how are you doing today? AILSA: Fine, thank you. SEAN: When did you move to the area, and what brought you here? AILSA: I first visited in 1978, the summer after I was married, and then we moved here to live in 1989 when we returned from England where my husband was stationed. He was in the U.S. Navy, and he retired at that time. SEAN: What's your favorite thing about living in western South Dakota? The hiking or the weather or family? AILSA: Well, family came from here. I do like the area. It was a smaller town. It's getting bigger all the time, and I would rather it become a small English village, but that's not going to happen. SEAN: Do you take advantage of the outdoorsy stuff that we have? AILSA: Yes, but probably not as much as I should. SEAN: That's what everybody says. Were you here for Winter Storm Atlas? AILSA: Yes. SEAN: Can you describe how that affected you? AILSA: Well, it was a lot of snow and, where I come from during my growing up in the village, we very rarely got snow. We didn't get enough snow to make a snowball, let alone a snowman. The weather is changing, and they have had a heavy snowfall recently, so my memories of Atlas are the tree falling in my backyard, hitting my apple tree and making my shed into a flat-roof shed. We were 24 hours without power. I do have an open fireplace, so I was cooking soup and making toast on an open fire. We just didn't shower for 24 hours. SEAN: Can you describe the changes you've seen in the area since you moved here? AILSA: Yes, it is getting bigger. I remember on Mount Rushmore Road they used to have a big triple arch, and that got pulled down and moved further south out of town. They built a Holiday Inn Express. It just changed hands, and it's been there about 20 years, I think. They had the mall when I came here, and now we have Rushmore Crossing. All the homes and buildings are moving farther and farther out, so it's getting bigger. Traffic is getting interesting. SEAN: You miss the smaller version of Rapid City? �AILSA: I miss my village which is, obviously, a lot smaller than this, but it's close enough to a big town. I like living in a small area with access to a bigger place for the things you need: hospitals, shopping, stuff like that. SEAN: Did you or anyone close to you serve in the military? Of course, your husband. What do you remember about that time? AILSA: The answer to that is yes. Both my husband and I. I myself served four years in the British Navy as a member of the Women's Royal Naval Service. My husband is a 21year Vietnam vet. We met when we were both serving in Naples, Italy. He was on the U.S.S. Little Rock, and I served with _______ Forces, Southern Europe. We were married in 1978, so I've been married a while while he was in the service. Then he got out after 21 years, and that's when we moved here in 1989. He started working at the Civic Center. A little while later, I started working here at the library. JENNIFER: What would you say is your favorite part of living out here, aside from being close to family? My favorite thing is being able to see hills, not mountains but hills. AILSA: Whether you're downtown and whether there are buildings or not, you can look out and see countryside no matter where you are. It's not just skyscrapers as it must be in New York or places like that. I do like that. I like being able to see green trees, grass, plants. I like the fact that you don't have to go very far to get out into the hills, near the lakes, go for walks and stuff like that. There are a lot of very small, interesting places. When my children were little, we did circles round and round, gradually fanning out through South Dakota. Some of the things, like Yellowstone, obviously and things like that. But some of the smaller places have such interesting little nuggets of information. JENNIFER: Did your kids have a favorite place? AILSA: They liked Yellowstone where the hot pools are. It looks like a desolate place, but they liked that. When we were in England, they liked the Tower of London. They weren't interested in the Queen's jewelry. They wanted to go to the torture chambers. That's just little boys, I guess. They were interested in dinosaurs and things. Part of what I like about living here is that there is a long history back. There are dinosaurs and mammoths. If you come a little further forward, you have all the Native American history. If you come a little further forward, you've got all the pioneer history. Considering all the terrible stuff that's happening in the world, it's a reasonably safe place to live right now. We all have shelter, most of us. We all have food. SEAN: Yes, it's pretty comfortable. Well, thank you very much. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Interviews Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rapid City Public Library Description An account of the resource Oral Histories recorded for the Rapid City Oral History Project by Rapid City Public Library Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Ailsa Snyder Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Sean Collins and Jennifer Williams Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 6:26 Location The location of the interview Rapid City Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Interview: Ailsa Snyder Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2016-05-13 Subject The topic of the resource Rapid City Public Library, South Dakota, Rapid City, Local History, Oral History, England Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Yes Description An account of the resource Ailsa Snyder became a part of the Rapid City Community in 1989 after her husband finished his 21 years of service in the U.S. Navy. Ailsa was born and raised in Crofton, England. She served in the British Navy and was stationed in Naples, where she met her husband. She also works at the Rapid City Public Library. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 343507 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rapid City Oral History Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Rapid City Public Library England Local History Oral History Rapid City Rapid City Public Library South Dakota