vTHROUGH THE LENS continued from page 29 hard to tell what it once was. Just around the corner to the next gravel road sat another home completely intact and the Perkins church all fenced off with “No Trespassing” signs. This is all that remains for the village of Perkins, SD. About a year later an old friend of ours, Jeff Staples had reached out to us that his dad owned the section of land that a house and the Perkins church sat on and we were welcomed to come photograph it as they were cleaning out the abandoned home and cutting down trees and clearing out all the over growth of vegetation on the property. Ryan and I were elated and of course took him up on his offer. We met Jeff and his dad at the church and as we walked through the church we listened to them tell us the history of the church and why they had to put up the “No Trespassing “signs as his dad was working to get the church put on the National Register of Historic Places and had had vandals throw rocks breaking out some of the windows. This I will never understand as even in my youth did I nor my friends find enjoyment in being destructive to property even old or abandoned structures as a form of entertainment. Even now for Ryan and I and many other photographers throughout our country who tour and photograph abandoned locations there is a code and you adhere to it. We don’t damage anything, we don’t break into buildings, we never remove items and we never deface a location. We’re there to preserve a record of the unseen history decomposing before our eyes. Capturing the spaces humans leave behind. Jeff ’s dad explained what it would take to accomplish getting what needed to be done to the church to make the National Register of Historic Places. And just recently they made this happen. According to the South Dakota State Historical Society, the Perkins Congregational Church near Springfield was recently added to the vTHROUGH THE LENS continued on page 31 Willcockson Eye Associates, P .C. Quality Eye Care, Close To Home • Quality medical and surgical eye care for you and your family • State of the art cataract surgery • Expert treatment of diseases such as glaucoma, eye complications from diabetes, and macular degeneration • Extensive selection of frames, styles and lens options at The Spectacle Shop, LLC. The Spectacle Shop, L.L.C. 415 W. 3rd, Yankton • Call 605-665-9638 30vHERVOICEvSEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 Karen E Dickes, D.O. Board Certified Ophthalmologist Medical and Surgical Eye Care Gregory A Kouri, O.D. Optometrist Medical Eye Care