Keystone marked 50 years as an official South Dakota town

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) -The city of Keystone marked 50 years as an official South Dakota town ... an accomplishment just one day before the flood of 1972 devastated communities across the Black Hills.

Friday, the Keystone community held a parade to celebrate the historic milestone ... while also remembering the ten lives that were lost in the tragedy that immediately followed. This is the first time Keystone has held a parade in the middle of the tourism season because the parade is usually organized around the fall seasons like September or December.

Keystone finance officer Cassandra Otts says, this year is special because it marks 50 years since the devastating flood that rushed through Keystone ...just a day after it became a city on June 8, 1972.

Otts states “The parade is mostly a celebration of being here for 50 years and surviving the flood and rebuilding. It is called the holy tear of celebration and that has had times that it did not happen, but most years it does happen. This is an extra special year because we do turn 50 years old and we turn 50 the day before a pretty catastrophic flood, so it is especially poignant for us this year.”

The parade was followed up by an awards ceremony honoring the businesses that stayed in Keystone after the flood along with a cookout and carnival at Watson Park.