STURGIS - Hazel Baumberger believes the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally has the staying power to make it to its 100^th anniversary.

Baumberger knows a thing or two about longevity. The Pierre woman, who is 108 years old, is the oldest living South Dakotan.

And she loves the Rally.

“I like the noise and most of them (rallygoers) seem so happy,” Baumberger recalled from the comfort of a recliner in her apartment at Peaceful Pines Senior Livine in Fort Pierre recently. “Some come in there grouchy, but once they are there, they can’t help but be happy.”

It wasn’t just happenstance that brought Baumberger to Sturgis, it was her nephew, Jim Bush, who served as the Sturgis Police Chief for more than 25 years. She has high praise for her nephew.

“He built that rally into what it is now, you know,” Baumberger said. His approach was to listen to what the bikers had to say. Let them talk. And, you know, by the time they got done talking, they were talking a lot nicer. Yeah, so instead of being antagonistic, pay them some respect.”

Baumberger’s favorite part of the Rally is the people watching. Baumberger often attended the Rally with her sister, Rose.  

“We’d love to walk downtown, then eat our dinner down there. Then, we would come back up and we were ready to head home,” she said.

But on one occasion, her nephew stopped along the route in his squad car to give the gals a ride. 

“He put us in the back seat, and all these people were watching. I’ll bet they called home to their mother or somebody and said, “we saw the cops put two old women in the back seat of the cop car. I don't know what they got them for, but they picked them up,” she said. 

Baumberger jokes that she hoped the rumor mill characterized the two as drunk and disorderly. 

“I made sure to give the people watching a wave as we drove away,” she said.

Bush said there is no doubt his aunt Hazel is a character and embraced a little adventure during her lifetime. 

“I remember one year when she was here, she was stuttering because she was so excited,” Jim Bush said. 

Aunt Hazel has always had some sage advice for her nephew. 

“You be careful out there Jimmy, she would say,” Bush said.

It’s been a while since Hazel has been to the Rally, but she still dons some of the many Rally T-shirts she gathered over the years, and she has Harley-Davidson stickers embellishing her walker.

She received the stickers from her nephew Rod and his wife, Sharon Baumberger, who lived in Sturgis for many years and recently moved to McIntosh.

Sharon Baumberger said Hazel had been living in an apartment in Pierre and at the urging of her family moved into an independent living center there. 

The management company at the center requested that residents get themselves a walker to use so they wouldn’t fall and risk breaking their bones, Baumberger said. 

Hazel obliged, but when the Baumbergers went to visit they realized it was difficult for residents to determine which walker was theirs because they all looked the same. Hazel had her walker taken by other residents on more than one occasion. 

Sharon Baumberger encouraged Aunt Hazel to put her name on the walker. Instead, Hazel insisted she wanted something more flashy – a Harley-Davidson sticker.

“I went down to the Sturgis Harley-Davidson shop, and I found as many blingy sticky things as I could, and I took it up and we slapped them on her walker. And you know, no one has taken it since,” Sharon Baumberger said.

Hazel and her husband, Art, had no children, so their nieces and nephews held a special place in their hearts. 

Hazel’s niece Sandra Griese of Pierre said her aunt’s visits to Sturgis have always been a part of Hazel’s life story.

Like the time she rode with a great nephew, Thad Smith of Pierre. Riding by the courthouse, Hazel recalls hearing that her niece, Jeannie Weischedel, who worked at the courthouse at the time, saw her from afar and exclaimed, “My God, I think that’s my Aunt Hazel riding on the back of a motorcycle!” Janie is a sister to Jim Bush.

As time went on, Hazel became something of a celebrity among the bikers attending the rally. “It was so thrilling. People honked their horns and waved at me. They took pictures. Some because they knew me from over the years and others because of the sight of an old woman riding on the back of a motorcycle down main street Sturgis during the rally,” she told KBHB radio.

So, are there any more Sturgis rallies in Hazel’s future? 

“No, I don't think so,” she said. “If somebody'd ask me to go, I'd go, but it would be pretty hard.”

Last month, the South Dakota Health Care Association’s Century Club, along with KELOLAND Media Group, announced that Baumberger had been named the 2024 South Dakota Centenarian of the Year.

Born in January of 1916, Baumberger is the current oldest member of the Century Club^SM! 

Baumberger grew up in central South Dakota, spending much of her life on a farm in rural Onida. She attended a country school and spent much of her time helping out with the many tasks on the farm. 

During her younger years she attended various socials and outings, and at a dance in Okobojo (a town near Onida in Sully County) she chanced to meet Art Baumberger, the man she would go on to marry. The nuptials occurred on Dec. 31, 1936, in Gettysburg. They would remain married until Art’s passing, nearly 30 years later.

Art Baumberger also came from a farming background, and Hazel would join him on the farm and become his partner in fixing fence, working cattle, and doing all manner of other farm labor. She savored the vigorous activity of farm life, which has contributed to her longevity. She continued to be active on the farm all the way to age 80.

Baumberger’s father lived about a half-mile away from Hazel, and she bicycled back and forth between their residences several times a day to keep tabs on him. The sight of Hazel riding the bicycle was noted by several of her family members when asked to share their favorite memories of her.

Another common memory of Baumberger is her organizing an annual family picnic that would bring together family from all over each year on the Sunday after Father’s Day, a tradition she carried on for 89 years. Others recalled that she kept and maintained a family history with information on marriages, deaths, weddings, births, and photographs. 

Later in life, Baumberger moved into Pierre, and currently resides at Peaceful Pines Senior Living in Fort Pierre. She continues to be an inspiration for her family members who still often visit. They describe her as “a blessing” and say that, even at age 108, her wits remain as sharp as ever. 

When asked what factors contribute to her long life, Hazel refers to her many years of regular exercise, her good diet, and her optimism about life that is rooted in her faith in God. 

Hazel Baumberger, at 108 years of age, is the oldest living South Dakotan

Hazel Baumberger's walker is adorned with Harley-Davidson stickers

Hazel Baumberger with her niece, Sandra Griese