DONNA Hunt FIVE THINGS ABOUT

1. Donna’s favorite Christmas memory is from her childhood, when she received a cherished gift. She wanted a Magic Skin Doll. The 1940s era dolls were made of a latex/rubber material meant to give each doll a more realistic feel. Donna’s family had moved to Rapid City and had very little, yet her parents got her a Magic Skin Doll for Christmas. “I was beyond happy,” Donna remembers. She recalls the day she left her doll in the family’s screened-in back porch, where the doll sat too long in the sun and got a “tan” by accident. “I still have her. She’s in bad shape but I can’t part with her,” Donna said.

2. After nearly drowning two or three times as a child, Donna became a lifeguard. “I didn’t want (drowning) to happen again,” she said. “I decided to become a good swimmer.” She became certified as a life guard after graduating from high school. While a student at the University of South Dakota, Donna became one of The Dolphins — a synchronized water ballet team. “That was really quite fun,” Donna said. “I absolutely love swimming. I love the water.”

3. Donna counts movie stars as some of the people she’s been blessed to meet. “It’s just something a lot of people haven’t gotten to experience,” she said. E.C. “Ping” Murray, who owned land where Donna boarded her horses, was part of a group that promoted the Black Hills to the film industry. “When a movie crew came into the area to make a movie, Ping was in on that. He had a beautiful home on Rapid Creek so they would have a lot of those private parties out there,” Donna said. “On more than on occasion, Ping would call and tell me to get over to his house, that there were some people he thought I’d like to meet. I’d run over and there were movie stars there. What a surprise. Filming movies in our beautiful Black Hills was happening. As a result, through the years I got to meet Rock Hudson, Jack Oakie, Van Heflin, Charleton Heston, Yvonne

DeCarlo, Susan Cabot and others I can’t recall. I have their autographs. … Rex Allen — what a gentleman he was. These people had such big names and yet they were so kind and nice.”

4. Donna is extremely proud of her family’s military service. Donna is member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, a service organization for women who can trace their lineage back to someone who served in or supported the American Revolution. “I bleed red, white and blue,” Donna said. “My brothers and … brother-in-law all served in the military. I am most grateful and thankful for this. My ancestors fought in the American Revolution. These gentlemen helped to give us the freedom we have today. I love this country.” She’s proud of her husband, Jim, who is a veteran, and Jim’s grandsons, one of whom recently completed his Air Force service and the other who is in the Army.

5. A Maltese named Sugar is one of the great joys of Donna’s life. A lifelong animal lover, she didn’t have pets growing up but knew she would have pets when she got married. “We always had cats and dogs,” Donna said. Over the years, her menagerie included a Yorkie named Ethyl. “She was high-energy dog, a high-octane so I named her Ethyl,” Donna said. When Ethyl died, Jim didn’t want any more pets, but Donna had other ideas. She researched dog breeds online and found a couple who had a Maltese. Jim accompanied Donna to Mitchell to pick up the dog and stopped along the way to buy a “grocery cart overflowing with toys.” “Guess whose dog she is now?” Donna chuckled. Sugar has been with Jim and Donna for about four years. “She’s a little ray of sunshine. At our point in life, I just felt like I needed young new life. I have to have joy in my life and that’s what my daughters and my little Sugar give me.”