Family of the YearHonorees

Jack the Jackrabbit wasn’t in the delivery room when Dave and Elaine Gullickson’s three children were born, but that was about the only time they weren’t surrounded by a Yellow and Blue influence.

Between going to sporting events, watching the Hobo Day parade, visiting the Dairy Bar and climbing Coughlin Campanile, the Gullickson children were frequently experiencing South Dakota State University. So, when it came time for Michele, Lori and Jeff to choose a college, it’s not surprising they stayed in Brookings and chose Jackrabbits for spouses. 

Fast forward a generation and eight of Dave and Elaine’s grandchildren also have become SDSU graduates or are attending SDSU.

That’s why when it came time for the SDSU Alumni Association to choose its 2025 Family of the Year, the Gullickson’s nomination was impossible to ignore. The family will be honored at a March 1 awards luncheon at the Alumni Center and then at the women’s basketball game versus St. Thomas that afternoon.

Dave Gullickson wasn’t thinking about that in 1956 when he enrolled in the South Dakota School of Agriculture, aka “Aggie School,” which offered four years of high school learning from October to late March on the South Dakota State College campus.

Gullickson had gone to Flandreau High School his freshman year, but older brother Don went to Aggie School and brought back rave reports. Alvin, another older brother, and Dave both decided to enroll as well. Jim, a younger brother, followed a year later. So, at one point, four of the six Gullickson brothers were enrolled. (There were also six Gullickson sisters.)

While most of the 60 Aggie students roomed at East Men’s Hall, the Gullickson’s commuted from their farm 11 miles south of Brookings so they could do chores before and after school.

Little I date began the Gullickson legacy

While at Aggie School, Dave was on the basketball team that played Class B schools, learned to weld and competed in Little International, where he had his first date with Elaine.

They already knew each other, and Elaine, who lived in Brookings, showed up to watch Dave compete in the beef fitting (grooming) contest. Dave bested college contestants to take first place, but that wasn’t the only trophy he brought home. The Gullickson’s were married two years later and made their home in Brookings, where they continue to live.

Within 10 years, they became a family of five. Family time often was defined as watching basketball in the venerable Barn, which served as the SDSU gymnasium from 1918 to 1973. If it was October, family time was finding a spot to watch the Hobo Day parade, even it meant wearing a snow suit. “There was never a discussion if we should go,” daughter Lori Mohs recalled.

Just like his family, Gullickson said his enthusiasm for the Yellow and Blue has grown through the years. Through the decades, he has attended countless games, including all three trips to the national championship in Frisco, Texas. He also was part of the Back of Bus gang in the Division II days.

Choral concerts and productions by the State University Theatre and Prairie Repertory Theatre also are on the Gullickson calendar.

There’s no day like Hobo Day

But the date that is marked in red is Hobo Day. In addition to the parade and football game, the Gullickson’s have been among the hosts for Bum-a-Meal for several years. The tradition dates back decades when State students would knock on doors and ask for a meal from Brookings homemakers.

Now the tradition is a bit more refined with the university organizing meal providers and participants.

In 2024, the Gullicksons, who now live at the Reserve housing complex in Brookings, used the facility’s community room to host 25 SDSU nursing students. When the Gullickson grandchildren were at SDSU, they hosted the meal at their home with the grandchildren and their friends. While faces changed through the years, the soup and sloppy joe recipes didn’t.

Family still returns for October holiday

The lure of Hobo Day hasn’t faded for the children and grandchildren. Two live in Brookings, so it is an easy commitment. But Michele and Jeff Lewandowski live in Walnut Creek, California. Their children, Cassandra, Brooke and Amanda, no longer live in South Dakota. However, they frequently return to Brookings for Hobo Day. 

Lori and Jim Mohs have four children. Allyson, Joshua and Abigail attended SDSU while Christopher resides at Advance in Brookings. Abigail, the youngest of the Gullickson grandchildren, is an SDSU freshman. In October, her elder siblings joined her for Hobo Day.

Jeff and Heidi (Hoffmann) Gullickson’s children, Kayla and Carson, stayed in Brookings after college graduation. Kayla served as an SDSU academic adviser for two years. Carson has been a fixture at SDSU sporting events, serving as a ball boy in his early years and now is with Jackrabbit Sports Properties. His wife, Amelia is from Indianapolis, but has earned her SDSU connection by working on campus since 2022. 

Dave and Elaine Gullickson said they never pressured their children to attend SDSU, and all three said they never considered going elsewhere.

Californians make SDSU home

Cassandra Pecenka, who was raised in California, did initially attend California Lutheran University. But at Christmas break she told her parents that the school wasn’t a good fit. Since her interest was nursing, they encouraged her to consider SDSU but wanted her to taste a South Dakota winter before making the commitment. 

A quick early January trip didn’t faze her, and by spring semester 2011 she was enrolled at SDSU, where she met her spouse, Jacob Pecenka. Her younger sisters, Brooke and Amanda, didn’t think about any other school. 

Brooke’s husband, Tim Elsberry, knew becoming a Jackrabbit was part of the requirement for joining the family. He has shown his Jackrabbit pride by attending two of the national championship football games in Frisco and can be found cheering for the Jacks on TV from their home in Oceanside, California.

Allyson Mohs was a community assistant in the dorms and met her spouse, Roger Sager, at SDSU.  

Kayla Gullickson was thinking about Augustana. In fact, she was prepared to enroll but made a last-minute decision to go to SDSU. “It was a one of the best decisions she ever made,” Jeff Gullickson said. She was the first student to enroll in the leadership and management of nonprofit organizations program and in 2020 became its first graduate.  

Three of the Gullickson grandchildren became SDSU orientation leaders as did one of the grandchildren’s spouses, Jacob Pecenka. “The grandchildren are all tried and true Jackrabbits,” Michele Lewandowski quipped.

The grandchildren knew they were Jackrabbits long before they enrolled. Lori Mohs tells a story about her son Josh. When he was young, Josh complained on a cold winter day when getting out of the car at a Jackrabbit basketball game. He said “Uffda, it’s cold". His father chided, “Are you a Norwegian?” Josh responded, “No, I’m a Jackrabbit.”

Family business also backs the Jacks

Several Gullickson families also support SDSU financially as does the family business, Farmers Implement and Irrigation in Brookings.

Dave started working there in 1972 and gained ownership in 1980. He bought season tickets for football and basketball. Within a few years, Farmers Implement and other New Holland dealerships began advertising on sports broadcasts. In his Jackrabbits-themed TV room, the game ball from SDSU’s first Division I Dakota Marker football game is proudly displayed.

The dealership’s showroom also includes the Jackrabbits logo. Farmers Implement also provides tractors to pull the Hobo Day floats, and it has donated utility terrain vehicles for various university uses.

Michele Lewandowski said all 24 family members will be present for the Family of the Year events. “We feel extremely honored to be able to represent SDSU in this way and honor my dad, who started it all. It is a great way to show gratitude to our parents,” she said.