Last Sunday, August 11 marked the first-ever “Best of the West” county showcase held in Wessington Springs, SD. Thirty-three counties were invited to take part in the event which was patterned off the Sweet 16 in Aberdeen and the Showdown of Champions in Salem. “We wanted to give everyone th…

Despite soggy conditions, the highly-anticipated first-annual celebration of art, food, and the classics during “Foothills Days” went off without a hitch, boosting the town’s population by hundreds over the course of the weekend.

A stunning host to a wide variety of summer events including Music in the Garden (shown above), Shakespeare Garden will provide a beautiful backdrop for the inaugural Arts in the Garden event this weekend.

An unexpected dose of cheer made its way around town this week, thanks to 96 special floral bouquets that Baker’s Design created and delivered with the help of local 4-Hers.

Although country singer and songwriter Lacy J. Dalton enjoys a career that has spanned many decades, was inducted into the North American Country Music Association International Hall of Fame in 2017 and was nominated for a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018, the woman PEOPLE Magazine called …

“Burn the mortgage” celebration held after parade

When Wessington Springs resident Joyce Krueger spotted Ted and Elke Zepter alongside two-well-equipped, packed-to-the-brim bicycles at a restaurant in Mitchell, SD last month, she couldn’t resist the urge to ask them what they were up to.

Field trip channels creativity for school newspaper staff

Since the announcement that six local students earned a place at the Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) National Leadership Conference in Anaheim, CA, they have been working diligently, hosting a wide variety of fundraisers to help pay for the trip to southern California. 

In the early morning light fresh horses are caught.  Worn leather creaks as the chosen steeds are saddled and loaded into stock trailers.  Coffee is sipped on the move while a caravan of vehicles bounce over rough pasture trails with tools, trailers and equipment in tow.   Looked forward to …

As with many other weather-related postponements this wet spring, Shakespeare Garden Society members and volunteers made the best of the situation and put their garden tools and hands to work albeit a day later than originally planned.

Despite being rained out of its scheduled location at Prospect Hill Cemetery, the program organized by American Legion Willman-Fee Post 14 marked Memorial Day by poignant forms of appreciation. 

The graduating class of 2019 tipped and tossed their caps last weekend, celebrating the end of their high school careers with the age-old symbolic gesture during the 108th Wessington Springs High School Annual Commencement. 

Around the country, EMS Week (May 19 - 26, 2019) honors the dedication of those who provide the day-to-day lifesaving services of medicine's front line. 

WSHS students earn dazzling display of awards including Schafer’s Best in Show two years running

Local students, law enforcement, business people, firemen and more will face off in a game show-style fundraising event Sunday evening during a live version of Family Feud: WS Pool Edition.

Second Annual Firemen’s Easter Breakfast draws nearly 300

GOOD FRIDAY — APRIL 19

Friday's show canceled due to weather - Saturday's shows are still on

True to the generous spirit of South Dakotans, area communities rallied around the Garret and Laura Bergeleen family last Saturday at a benefit aimed to help the family navigate costs as Laura undergoes a stem cell transplant. 

Starstruck fans from across South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and even as far away as Michigan filled the American Legion last Thursday to dance, sing and revel in the musical talents of Mollie B and her band Squeezebox, “up on the hill” in Wessington Springs. 

Hard work, determination and ultimately generosity, framed local man Leland Krueger’s life and created a legacy for area organizations well into the future. 

Change of venue to American Legion

"Get tough or go home..." is a deliberation many ranchers have muttered aloud this calving season.  Despite weather forecasts offering the cold hard facts – that it's not going to warm up for awhile and even more snow is on the horizon – agriculturists try their best to plow on the side of o…

Friday, February 22 was the last day to file for candidates seeking to serve on the City of Wessington Springs council. A total of seven petitions were filed for the city election. Voters will go to the polls and decide which individuals will serve the city on election day, April 9, 2019.  

CELEBRATING TIME-TESTED TROUBADOURS

Reminisce with the Company Cowboys and friends this Saturday

Excitement built last week as kids witnessed city crews and the Wessington Springs Fire Department spray the final layers of water into the old swimming pool dugout in city park, making dreams of re-introducing the ice skating pond a reality for opening day last Saturday. 

Guest presenters at the January 15 noon meeting of the Springs Area Community Club (SACC) held at the Springs Inn were Wessington Springs music educator, Julie Fastnacht and twenty-one 6th grade music students who performed on their ukuleles. Each student had a ukulele , and the group sang a…

More than two decades ago, as Nikki VonEye arrived for her first day of work as secretary at the nursing home in Wessington Springs, she never imagined that 22 years later, she’d set foot onto the same property at Weskota Manor Avera in the role of administrator.     

Every winter for the last decade, childhood memories of toting hot chocolate in a thermos, skates in hand, to the ice rink in the Wessington Springs City Park evoked a sense of nostalgia for a local woman — along with a longing to recreate that experience for a new generation. 

A small act of kindness at a children’s hospital in North Dakota sparked a big legacy that continues today: Jessy’s Toy Box. The love-inspired movement gives communities the opportunity to bring joy to hospitalized kids and now spans across seven states, recently arriving in Wessington Sprin…

Amidst the holiday hustle and bustle, Mother Nature gifted the South Dakota plains a fresh and heavy blanket of snow this Christmas.  The blizzard cut short many gatherings and cancelled several plans.  Roads were impassable, visibility was fleeting and temperatures dropped to below zero wit…

As cattle pot after cattle pot lined up against the dark night sky outside of Kimball Livestock Exchange I couldn’t help but think… it is both the end and the beginning for these cattle. It is the end of their story with the person who determined and developed their genetics. It may be the f…

BY CRAIG WENZEL 

Holiday cheer in Jerauld County kicked up a notch last Friday evening as Wessington Springs School District K-12 students took the stage to perform “A Holiday Extravaganza” at the elementary school gymnasium. 

 A dream that began seven years ago has finally come to fruition for Wessington Springs resident Elton Kaus: to bring old-fashioned holiday fun to the families of Jerauld County by way of a Christmas tree farm. 

All across the Wessington Springs business district, resident and visiting shoppers scored big bargains while supporting the local economy during a strong, shop-local kickoff to the holiday season on Small Business Saturday. 

As area families sit down to enjoy their Thanksgiving meal together this Thursday, chances are they'll be savoring a pie made by Wessington Springs High School (WSHS) students, as part of a long-standing local tradition. 

A school-led salute to service honored local service men and women on Veteran’s Day with a program held at Wessington Springs Elementary School Monday morning. 

Students charged with planning school Veterans Day program

Although we haven’t made the official announcement about an increase to the True Dakotan staff, if you’ve been by the newspaper office lately, you may have had a run in with the newest member of the team. 

The 2018 Pheasants Forever banquet was held at the American Legion in Wessington Springs on Friday, October 19. A lively, good-sized crowd was on hand for a meal, catered and provided by Jack Link’s, followed by silent and live auction action that went well into the night.    

My hands shook as HuntSAFE instructor Jason Weber handed me the 20 gauge shotgun, the first time my hands had made contact with the firearm during HuntSAFE classroom instruction. 

Hints of fall foliage framed  Main Street sidewalks that were jam-packed with eager parade spectators waiting on candy and a glimpse of the long-line of homecoming floats. 

The Central Area FFA Land and Range Contest was held in Wessington Springs last Wednesday, September 26. Wessington Springs played host to 200 students from 16 area school FFA chapters who were competing for the right to represent South Dakota at the National contest to be held in 2019 in Ok…

Exotic visitors from the Great Plains Zoo delighted preschool through  sixth grade elementary students last Thursday, as the ZooMobile made a stop in Wessington Springs to deliver an exciting, hands-on educational experience right in the classroom.

A cowboy mounted shoot drew contestants and attendees from across the region for a good cause last weekend, entertaining crowds and raising money to help feed those  in need.  

Hundreds of horse-drawn wagons and riders on horseback united together again this year to make their way along a 25-mile route for the much-loved Kyle Evans Memorial Wagon Train. 

While the South Dakota State Fair in Huron was  filled with live music, games, lights and laughter, the “five days of fun” is so much more to area youth than carnival rides and cotton candy.