Tumbleweeds drift into Fairburn

By Journal staff | Thursday, November 15, 2007

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If Fairburn had a town anthem, it might be "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" by the Sons of the Pioneers. At least this week.

The high winds that whipped through the region over the past two days drove hundreds of tumbleweeds into the town about 30 miles south of Rapid City.

Tumbleweeds now fill the basketball court at the Fairburn Elementary School, clog the ditches, cover the side of at least one house, surround vehicles and cover Tammy Shepherd's backyard.

"It's just unbelievable," Shepherd said.

The tumbleweeds rolled in Tuesday afternoon with the wind. "I looked out my windows and I saw my yard was full of tumbleweeds. They were still coming in this morning," Shepherd said Wednesday.

The tumbleweeds nearly cover the propane tank in her backyard.

They now spill out onto the road into Fairburn like a brown snowdrift, she said.

"I have never seen so many tumbleweeds in my life," Shepherd, who has lived in Fairburn for 11 years, said. "I don't know what we're going to do with all the tumbleweeds in the community. It's overwhelming."

Because of the fire danger, they probably can't be burned, she said.

"It's a mess."

About that song.

It was penned in 1934 by Bob Nolan, one of the founding members of the Sons of the Pioneers. Gene Autry sang it in the 1935 movie of the same name, and it was later performed by such noted cowpokes as Diana Ross and the Supremes, Michael Nesmith and the First National Band, Leon Russell, and The Meat Puppets. Jack Palance sang it in "City Slickers," and it was featured in the 1998 film "The Big Lebowski."

If anybody was singing it in Fairburn on Tuesday and Wednesday, the lyrics were probably drowned out by the wind.