Where are they now: Carey Story

Carey Story, son of Don and Sheila Story, blends his teaching degree with a love of the outdoors, the agriculture background he embraced, his interest in economics and the home-grown hospitality of Kimball to make the Thunderstik Lodge in Chamberlain S.D., and his story, a success.

Story is the fifth generation of his family born in Kimball. He graduated from Kimball High School and went on to study agriculture education at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a minor in economics.

His choice for education directly reflects to important men in his young life – Dan Acheson, his agriculture teacher and FFA advisor throughout high school and Joel Wiens, a mentor and family friend.

"We had some big influences here," he said. "Dan Acheson was huge in my life. I was a state FFA officer, but that was just the beginning. Joel Wiens with the L Flying W ranch took me everywhere, showing cattle."

Wiens and Acheson, who were both teachers, encouraged Story to think bigger even while he was living the hometown life right here in Kimball.

Story grew up as many young men in Kimball did, with a strong work ethic, knowing no strangers and with a love of the great outdoors, specifically, for him, pheasant hunting.

"We grew up here, we grew up in the outdoors, we grew up hunting and fishing," Story said. "It was always such a big deal. We had family members you wouldn't see at all until opening day of pheasant season."

Following his college graduation Story taught agriculture and owned a summer fishing guide business. Upon retirement from teaching, he made the move to Thunderstik Lodge.

That was 19 years ago, and now he is co-owner and manager of the lodge. Thunderstik Lodge began hosting guests in 1988. The original owners, both attorneys, wanted to share pheasant hunting with their friends, family and clients.

By the mid-90s, the lodge had been expanded three times, and now includes a second lodge, Rooster Ridge.

When Story came on board, the lodge hosted 230-240 guests with two full-time employees. Today, between Thunderstik Lodge and Rooster Ridge, they will host more than 600 guests and the crew has grown to 43 employees with four full-time.

Story manages, and farms for habitat, more than 7,000 acres of land at the world renowned lodge.

"We farm for habitat, we are developing bird habitat, and pheasant hunting there now is what it was like here when I was growing up," he said. "We had no idea in Kimball what a valuable resource we had, because nobody saw any return on their investment for developing habitat. Pheasant hunting brings hundreds of millions of dollars a year to our state, so it is very important."

Recently Story accepted the Brent Wilbur Habitat Award on behalf of the lodge. This award is presented annually to South Dakota landowners in recognition of conservation land management efforts.

For years the governor of South Dakota invites business and political leaders from all over the country to spend some time in the state.

"In the hunting part of the Governor's Hunt, they divide up into teams and go all over the state to hunt," Story explained. "It's a very valuable economic development tool for the state."

The Thunderstik Lodge is a perfect place to highlight the unique opportunities in the state.

"This is the first year that the Governor's office has ever recognized any of us in the business for our contributions to habitat development in South Dakota," Story said.

The late Brent Wilbur was a longtime advocate for building and rebuilding habitat, he also advocated for hunting and youth hunting.

"I knew him really well. He taught me the ropes of lobbying – I do some lobby work for the hunting and lodging industry during legislative session," Story said.

This full-service lodge provides everything: birds, dogs, meals, a trap range and a sporting course as well as transportation. Thunderstik Lodge doubles as an events venue in the off-season, including fishing trips, family reunions and weddings.

Customers come from as nearby as Colorado and Kansas, but the bulk of the customer base is from the southern United States and 80 percent of the customer base lives within 200 miles of an ocean, according to Story.

Chamberlain is an ag-based, community but the second biggest industry is tourism, as the Missouri river runs through town, bringing boaters and fishermen.

Like Kimball, Story said that Chamberlain is a small town and a great place to raise kids, but the experience they have had at the lodge is worldwide. Visitors come from all over the world, South Africa, England, Columbia and Panama.

Because of this, the lodge enjoys a world-wide economy. For instance, he said, as the housing market in Texas grows, the Thunderstik Lodge gains customers.

"We market to the areas that are growing economically," he said "How we grow the business, is happy, satisfied customers. Word of mouth. We do rely on segments of industry that are doing well."

"The hospitality thing, I still think I succeed at what I do because I grew up (in Kimball). I think because I grew up the way I did, I can talk to anybody and I don't have to pretend. We are just down to earth," he said. "If you show up you are welcome, make yourself at home. Our guests are all looking for the same thing – an experience in the heartland of America."