Public Invited to Dakota Life Community Conversation Tuesday, April 23

In an exciting announcement made earlier this year, South Dakota Public Broadcasting (SDPB) has selected Wessington Springs as one of the nine towns chosen for the upcoming 27th season of Dakota Life. Touted as SDPB's flagship “magazine” television show, the program features “stories about interesting South Dakota people, places, and things.”

Members of the public are invited to a community conversation with SDPB on Tuesday, April 23 at the Springs Inn Cafe. Community members are encouraged to stop by between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. on the 23rd, as well as between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.

“With Dakota Life, we are going out to the featured communities in order to connect with the individuals within before we ever touch a camera in order to learn more about the community and stories within,” explained Nathan Hofer, Director of Community Impact for South Dakota Public Broadcasting. “We want to hear what makes these communities special from the eyes of the individuals who have chosen to live there or those who grew up there. We want to build relationships with our featured communities at large and simply hear what it means to call it home.”

Hofer explained that thus far, the stories the Dakota Life team has discovered have been wideranging and diverse, ranging from unique places/landmarks to present-day successes, from interesting historical tales to local legends.

“We want to have that same experience this season. Our goal is to connect with members of the community to hear these stories as we do not want to assume we know the tales that each community has to tell,” Hofer explained. “Connecting with members who could share some of the unique stories with our content producers is the first step. The second is actually coming into the featured communities to do interviews, shoot stand-ups and create the show based on the stories our Dakota Life team chooses to produce.”

Hofer explained that once the show is edited and finalized, the Dakota Life team will return to give the community a “firstlook” opportunity in the form of a premiere of the episode before it ever hits the air.

'Telling stories of communities across the state is incredibly important and impactful. As such, we want to make sure our featured communities get to be the first to see what we have created as it is representative of much more than just one person and/or story,” he said.

The towns that will be featured in the 2024-2025 season of Dakota Life are: Pine Ridge, Garretson, Elk Point, Faith, Britton, McLaughlin, Burke, Wessington Springs and Box Elder.

The new season of Dakota Life will begin production this summer and the first episode will air in September.

To view past episodes of Dakota Life, visit https://www.sdpb.org/tv/dakotalife/