Article from South Dakota Magazine

I came across this article from March of 2005 entitled "SDSU Honors Nachtigals, including Renegade Ralph".

South Dakota Magazine Filed by Bernie Hunhoff at 8:23 am

S.D. State University in Brookings honored the Nachtigals of South Dakota as its Family of the Year. We know lots of Nachtigals, and in our book they deserve the honors. They're all nice people who love South Dakota and most have stayed right here.

Emil Nachtigal went to SDSU in 1915. Six of his ten kids and about 14 of his grandchildren have graduated now. They're teachers, businessmen, veterinarians ... and then there's Ralph, the renegade journalist in Platte. After graduating from SDSU, Ralph landed a dream job on the sports staff of the big Argus Leader in Sioux Falls. But soon after he started, the paper's corporate fathers instituted a new dress policy that required a jacket and tie. Ralph said he just didn't want to wear a tie. They said he had to. He said he wouldn't. So he left.

He went home to Platte, where the local editor said he could do a little writing to help out. Within a week or two, the editor sold the paper to Ralph. He must have thought he looked okay without a tie. The Argus Leader editor called about a month later and basically admitted they couldn't find anybody good who would wear a tie, so they would amend the dress policy. Ralph said not to bother. He ran the Platte Enterprise for many years, and it became one of South Dakota's great weeklies. His "Bottom of the Barrel" column, which he still writes though he sold the paper to an employee, is a huge hit throughout the region.

Congrats to Ralph and all the Nachtigals.