The Benefits Of The Oil Field

HERREID, SD –

A town where people lining the streets know and care about each child in a homecoming parade is the type of town Lonny and Tarrah Strid wanted to call home.

That’s what they found in Herreid.

“It’s very hometown feeling. That’s what we liked about it so that’s why we moved here,” Lonny Strid said.

Well, one of the reasons. The oil fields in North Dakota brought Lonny Strid to this part of the country for work a couple years ago.

They used to live in Washington State. Lonny would head back home when he could but the family wanted more time together. So Tarrah and their two kids decided to move closer but didn’t want to be right in the oil fields either.

“I went there a few times to visit my husband and after seeing it, there’s no way,” Tarrah said.

After responding to an internet ad, they found their home more than four hours away in Herreid.

Lonny works a couple weeks in the oil fields then spends a week at home with his family. They’re happy with the choice.

“A little town is safer when dad’s out and working and that kind of thing,” Tarrah said.

“I’m not watching drilling equipment roll through every five minutes. It’s kind of nice you actually talk to people that have nothing to do with the oil fields whatsoever,” Lonny said. “It’s like my way to get away from my work.”

Which is a big reason they came this far east. Having two kids, the Herreid School District is happy too.

“In these small, rural areas where enrollment is an issue, we’re more than happy to see families come to town,” superintendent Jeff Kosters said.

Kindergarten through 12th grade enrollment in the district is right around 120 students. Just a few families moving to town because of the oil fields could make a big difference.

Then you head even farther east to the community of Eureka and that school is seeing oil field benefits too.

“A couple are younger kids that aren’t in school yet but I know we have six kids in town that are a result of the oil fields,” Eureka Superintendent Bo Beck said.

The district wouldn’t mind seeing more. To run more efficiently, Superintendent Bo Beck would like to see classes with about 20 students. Sizes now range anywhere from seven to 17.

“Yeah, if we can fill those classrooms up, that’s definitely a benefit for the tax payers and the students and teachers and everyone involved,” Beck said.

Beck isn’t sure what to expect in the future as far as oil field workers moving in to these South Dakota border towns. Back in Herreid superintendent Jeff Kosters isn’t sure either.

But the Strids could see it happening.

“People ask me ‘how much are you paying for this and that?’ I tell them and they’re like, it’s so much cheaper than it is there,” Lonny said.

Those options exist in small towns closer to the fields as well. But putting hours between him and work on weeks off was an important perk for Lonny, added to the many others he and his family have found here in Herreid.

KELOLAND TV