“Exemplary” is the level of excellence once again attained by the Wessington Springs Elementary School preschool program through the School Administrators of South Dakota (SASD) “Preschool Levels of Excellence.” 

Hard work, millions of miles, love and above all, trust, frame the last six decades for Paul and Ina Mae Kopfmann, who celebrate 61 years of marriage on March 27, 2021.  

Efficiency, predictability, and above all, simplicity have proven to be the keys to longevity  for John Christensen’s Simmental herd — validated this week as Friday, March 19 marks the 50th Annual 3C Christensen Ranch Production Sale. “There’s a lot of trial and error over the last 50 years …

As JV Boys Basketball Coach Will Walker weighs in on the season, satisfaction and pride are evident when it comes to taking a closer look at the development of this year’s team.   

A lifelong love of history paired with a desire to continue a local legacy steered Wessington Springs native Michelle Tong to purchase one of the oldest businesses in town, Jerauld County Title Company, formerly known as Jerauld County Abstract. 

Every year, third graders at Wessington Springs Elementary School read a book about a police officer and his canine partner titled Aero and Officer Mike: Police Partners written by Joan Plummer Russell. 

Wessington Springs High School senior Spencer Titze invites the community to an event he’s hosting as part of his senior project to benefit the Blue Bag Program. Slated for February 19 during the double header basketball game, the event will feature a bake sale, silent auction items donated …

Although Jay Kannenberg’s cancer journey is far from over, a benefit event in Wessington Springs gave the Wessington Springs man and Jerauld County highway department employee a big boost for what comes next in his battle with esophageal cancer. 

January 30 marks the big day for a cancer benefit planned by friends, family and coworkers for Jerauld County Highway Department employee Jay Kannenberg, of Wessington Springs, SD.  Kannenberg  was diagnosed with stage 2 esophageal cancer on October 23, 2020. 

KRISTI HINE / TRUE DAKOTAN 

Happiness is truly found in helping others   

WS Area Chamber & Development Local Business Spotlight

WS Area Chamber & Development Local Business SpotlightHeather Larson has a simple answer when asked why she puts so much time and dedication into Sweet Grass, her bakery/eatery located on Main Street in Wessington Springs: “Because I love it.”

Long before Shayla Polanchek received the gift of a lifesaving heart transplant, she was fully aware of the bittersweet reality of organ donation — and continuously prayed for her donor and her donor’s family.  “I pray for my donor’s family and for my donor,” Shayla explained to the True Dak…

WS Area Chamber & Development Local Business Spotlight

As Mike Easter reflects on his calling as not only the new pastor at Immanuel Baptist Church in Wessington Springs, but also his initial path to ministry in his hometown of Roseville, California, he reveals that he never expected, or even wanted to be a pastor. 

With traditional, door-to-door trick-or-treating an uncertainty in the era of COVID-19, Wessington Springs Area Chamber and Development and local business owners served up a fun event last Friday  to help give kids a Halloween they won’t soon forget. 

SD introduces new Precision Ag and Conservation Specialist for Pheasants Forever

AP interview with Dr. Dean catapults Jerauld Co. onto national stage 

Wessington Springs rancher  Elton Kaus is featured in a powerful, moving collection of 170 portraits of Americans and their handwritten statements about what the American dream means to them. Shot by Canadian photographer Ian Brown over twelve years, fifty states, and eighty thousand miles, …

As Wessington Springs resident Eileen Schooler rounded the corner of Third Street and  College Avenue during a Sunday afternoon walk, she couldn’t help but notice Freddy Bacher pedaling north on his self-supported, long-distance touring bicycle equipped with 50 pounds of gear. In search of S…

Soft clouds of dust dance in the sunlight as quiet hoof beats hit deep sand in perfect rhythm.  The smell of sweat-lathered horses and buttery, soft leather fill the air of Amy Schimke and Brett Borkowski's training facility.  In this Jerauld County barn, quiet hours of constant preparation …

Wagons pulled by a twenty-mule hitch traversing across rugged terrain flanked by horse-mounted cowboys doesn’t immediately conjure up images of America in the late 1960s — but was in fact the reality of Wessington Springs resident Kenneth (Tiny) Gohring during a fantastic adventure documente…

The clickety-clack of horse teams pulling wagons met folks in town aiming to greet riders on the 2020 Kyle Evans Memorial Wagon Train. After a two-day ride celebrating the western way of life and the memory of Kyle Evans, riders and teams made their way from camp at Crow Lake toward their fi…

At the end of a dusty road, tucked between rolling prairie hills sits a pretty little ranch that’s become a familiar path for many a cattleman. 

Community gathers for bean bag tournament and meal to help send off local solders for deployment  

The 21st Annual Relay For Life of Jerauld/Sanborn County, this Thursday in Wessington Springs, will look a little different from the norm. But then nearly everything does this year. With the theme “Cruisin’ for Cancer,” the event will begin at 6:30 p.m. with a cruise down Main Street. Driver…

“Cruisin’ for Cancer” Aug. 20

The Springs Area Community Club Consignment Store in Wessington Springs will reopen on Wednesday, August 12.  The store  has been closed since March due to coronavirus concerns.

Thousands of would-be auction items collected over the course of more than six decades perched expectantly on various trailers positioned throughout Kraft Repair, awaiting a new owner who would take them home for the highest bid. Lloyd Kraft’s fingers graced the neatly organized collector’s …

With two packets of seeds — radishes and cosmos — a passion for gardening bloomed early on for Maggie Higgins as a seven-year-old girl in England. 

Communication and teamwork prove to be important pieces of the puzzle for Alpena Co-Op’s success 

After moving to curbside service and delivery for the past several months due to the coronavirus, Wessington Springs Carnegie Library announced that starting this week, patrons are welcomed inside with CDC and state library precautionary guidelines in place. 

Although Mike Huether may be well known to many South Dakotans for serving eight years as former mayor of Sioux Falls and current television host on KELOLAND, Jerauld Conservation District Manager Lisa Sall describes Huether as her “longtime, most enthusiastic conservation customer.” 

Wessington Springs grandparents follow their “calling” during pandemic 

The True Dakotan brought home 11 news/editorial and advertising awards from South Dakota Newspaper Association’s annual contest. The contest spotlights some of the best work done by newspapers across the state.

The Weskota Foundation of Wessington Springs recently donated $1000 to assist Wessington Springs Area Chamber & Development’s (WSACD) mission to place hand sanitizer stations in local businesses. With the assistance of the Wessington Springs Area Community Foundation, the funds will be s…

On March 27, 2020 President Trump and Congress enacted legislation that created a $349 billion Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for small businesses thrown into a tailspin by the coronavirus. The premise of the program relied on banks to get the money flowing quickly to their customers. Ope…

As she watched more and more friends and acquaintances cancel their spring weddings due to restrictions around the coronavirus, Paige (Jacomet) Clover couldn’t imagine putting off her own nuptials that she had been planning since last fall — or waiting any longer to tie the knot with fiance …

Springs Inn Cafe owners celebrate 40 years of dishing up comfort

“One for the record books,” may be a term synonymous to 2020 as a whole, and certainly applies to last weekend’s Easter celebration in Jerauld County. 

Starting last week, a new sign alerted visitors to stop before entering Spring Valley Colony in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus into the colony community.