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Let the blogging begin!

Hey everyone. I’d like to introduce myself. My name is George Milos; I am the Director of the Deadwood Chamber & Visitors Bureau…the organization that hosts this web site. Before I get started on my blog I want to thank Dustin Floyd and the hard work he’s done with Dustin’s Deadwood Diary. He is a great guy, an excellent story teller and I thank him for letting us into his world every month.

Since I work at the chamber we figured it might be a good idea to have a blog from “inside” the organization to talk about all the things that are happening in and around Deadwood. I was born in Deadwood and graduated from Lead High School and like many young, wide-eyed people moved away in my 20’s but found my way back in just a few short years. If you ask anyone from the area, once you’ve lived in the Black Hills it’s impossible to not long for the mountains that surround you.

I started working for the Deadwood Chamber in 1998 answering phones but soon moved into the marketing department. I became the Event Coordinator in 2000 and held that position until 2004 when I became Director. Ok. Enough about me, let’s talk about some of the fun things happening in Deadwood in June.

The Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon takes place June 2 & 3 and has become the largest event of its kind in South Dakota. Over 1,700 athletes will be running the gorgeous Mickelson Trail this year. It really is a great event with all kinds of people participating….and when I say all kinds I mean that. I remember three years ago watching a man about ½ mile from the finish line running while smoking a cigarette. Although there are many world class athletes, we still have room for the little known “smoker athlete. Only in Deadwood.

One of my favorite events of the year is Wild Bill Days over Father’s Day weekend. This event started out as Charlie Utter Days in celebration of the man that brought many of the prostitutes and cats to town back in 1876. How do you not celebrate someone who loves hookers and cats? Anyway, we changed the name to Wild Bill Days a few years ago (prior to the HBO series) because enough people didn’t know who the heck Charlie Utter was.

As event coordinator, my first Wild Bill Days was quite an experience. We had a man riding a buffalo up Main Street with no protection whatsoever, I got in a shouting match with a re-enactor and the headline musician (who I won’t name) demanded 80, 1,000 watt lights for a 2pm show. She walked out on stage and about 30 seconds into the first song stopped and asked if those hot lights could be turned off. Being employed at the chamber for 10 years and working on so many events, these are just a few of the many stories I have to tell…..and I will, in upcoming blogs. If you want more information on this year’s Wild Bill Days just click here………………………..to go directly to our WB Days page.

Hope you enjoyed my first blog, I had fun writing it and I hope you all make it to Deadwood soon.

George