Smokey takes over

Hill City has a new resident, and he’s kind of famous, too.

That’s right. On the corner of Main Street at Dahls Chainsaw Art, a Smokey Bear has been built by a team of carvers.

“It is the Hill City mascot,” said Jordan Dahl, who owns Dahls’ Chainsaw Art. “So we just thought that we would do a Smokey Bear for them.”

The sculpture is sponsored in part by Vic and Sherryl Alexander Enterprises, Iron Horse Properties and the Hill City Super 8 Motel.

Dahl said they wanted to do something large as an attraction, and they decided to go with Smokey.

And it’s already working to bring foot traffic down to that part of town. On a recent evening, people were walking by and taking pictures of the giant Smokey Bear.

Hill City’s history with Smokey Bear is rich. As Dahl said, Hill City is the only school that is permitted by the U.S. Forest Service to use Smokey Bear as its mascot. According to the Hill City School District, this goes back to July 10, 1939 when one of the worst forest fires in the history of the Black Hills started 10 miles north of Hill City. By the next morning, the fire had spread and was within three miles of Hill City.

All of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) workers were put on the fire, and forest rangers called for more help. One of the first crews to respond was a group of about 25 school boys from Hill City consisting of the entire basketball team, one eighth grader and several boys who had recently attended or were graduated. The foreman was Charles Hare, who was the president of the board of education.

The fire continued on into the third day, and over 4,000 firefighters worked to bring the blaze under control. On that third day, the blaze was brought under control. The squad of school boys from Hill City were at the fire every day, and they were recognized by the forest service as one of the best crews.

The name Rangers was given to the school’s athletics teams because of the good service of this crew. Later that year, Hill City schools were given permission to use Smokey Bear as its mascot and remains the only school in the nation allowed to do so.

In order to construct Smokey, Dahl had to get permission from the school district due to the copyright on Smokey Bear. The school district happily agreed.

“We have been planning and organizing for the last few months,” Dahl said. “A team of us joined up together. Some other professional carvers and carpenters joined up and we got it all done within probably 10 days of actual physical work.”

From the bottom of Smokey to his head he’s about 30 feet tall, Dahl said, and from end to end he’s about 25 feet long.

While the crew of sculptors switched up ideas as they went along, the construction pretty much went as planned, Dahl said.

There was a team of seven working on the sculpture who came from across the country — from Alaska to North Carolina — to work on the sculpture. Dahl was also assisted by his brother, Jarrett.

While he’s not for sale, Dahl said he and a crew could build someone a similar sculpture.

It was a lot of fun building, Smokey, Dahl said.

“The camaraderie of all the guys getting together and coming up with different ideas and strategies, it was a lot of fun,” Dahl said.

Those who helped:

Jordan Dahl and Jarrett Dahl of Dahls Chainsaw Art

Kyle Thomas, Raleigh, N.C., professional carver since 2014

Shane Thompson, Big Bear, Cali., professional carver for “about a year”

Michael Koeppel, Whitefish Bay, Wisc., professional carver for four years

Scott Hanson, Alaska, professional carver for 31 years

Abby Peterson, Kentucky, professional carver for 10 years