Preservation Thursday: History, Mystery, and more! Stories and Tales of the Frawley Ranch and Spearfish
DEADWOOD – Deadwood History, Inc. and the Deadwood Historic Preservation Commission will host a presentation by Alan Maas and JR Hamblet on Thursday, April 11, 2024, at 12:00 p.m. at the Homestake Adams Research and Cultural Center (HARCC), 150 Sherman Street, Deadwood. The event is free for members and $5 for non-members. Please feel free to bring your lunch. To become a member and take advantage of many more opportunities, memberships can be purchased at DeadwoodHistory.com or by calling 605-722-4800. Every form of support, whether it is an individual membership or a donation, is deeply appreciated.
Alan Maas and JR Hamblet will give a presentation on the history of the Frawley Ranch and their experiences with Hank Frawley prior to his passing. Maas will also cover the mystery of the Thoen stone and how it shaped his writing of The Kind Whisper.
Alan Maas has been a farmer, a forester, a builder, a teacher, and a billboard rancher. He became interested in software when he built the first digital billboard network in the nation. The software interest led Maas to create Nexus USA. Nexus USA was a biometric payment system before its time. When his dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and was unable to use his computer, Maas sought out a solution which has evolved into a software download that allows biometric access to the computer and its applications with the touch of a finger.
The Kind Whisper is a combination of stories Maas has gathered over many years wrapped
together with the true history of why our ancestors ventured into the American west and what
happened to them or didn’t happen to them, there lies the mystery. The story is based around the discovery of the Thoen Stone.
JR Hamblet is a Northern Black Hills native. During college he chased his dream of playing golf. After college, he pursued the professional ranks for several years before making the decision to pursue the ranks of golf professionals rather than that of professional golf. Hamblet became a PGA Member in 1997 and today is a Life Member of the Association. After spending eight seasons as the Head Golf Professional at Meadowbrook Golf Course in Rapid City, he was hired as the Head Golf Professional at Elkhorn Ridge which lies in the northwest corner of the five-thousand acre ranch. He fell in love with the vastness and incredible history that spanned the ranch. His mentor and teacher was Mr. Henry “Hank” Frawley. Frawley provided Hamblet with an in-depth education of the history and lore of what was, the Frawley Ranch.
In 2016, Hamblet became the Operations Manager over the entire Frawley Ranch overseeing a Top-100 RV Resort, a Championship Golf Course and of course, two housing developments and the additional three-thousand acres of stunning beauty that so many people know and love as the Frawley Ranch.
Preservation Thursday is made possible by the Deadwood Historic Preservation Commission, Adams-Mastrovich Family Foundation, Deadwood Alive, Deadwood Chamber & Visitors Bureau, Deadwood History, Inc., Deadwood Mountain Grand, and the Black Hills Pioneer.
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Deadwood History, Inc. preserves and presents the history of Deadwood and the Black Hills through exceptional places, interactive exhibits, and engaging events.
Adams Museum, Days of ’76 Museum, Historic Adams House, Homestake Adams Research and Cultural Center (HARCC), The Brothel Deadwood, and the Fassbender Photographic Collection.