NEWELL—The Newell community was treated to the premiere of the latest episode of the South Dakota Public Broadcasting series Dakota Life, titled“Greetings from Newell.” The celebration of the finished project was held at the Newell City Hall on the evening of October 2.
Prior to the beginning of the show, the audience was surprised with another preview of an unaired clip for the show, South Dakota Focus. “We’re going to actually show a short clip here tonight from our EMS episode which has a little bit about Newell and its EMS services in it! It’s a two part episode, so the first part aired in September and then the second part will air at the end of October,” explained Brittany Neiles, Coordinator for West River Community Impact.
And with that, the lights went down and the room went silent as the shows began to play on a large screen in the front of the room. For the next thirty-five minutes the audience got to learn all about their little town! Starting with the clip from SD Focus which featured Sherry Hocking, Newell Ambulance Director speaking about the area’s Emergency Medical Services.
After that, the premier of the October episode of ‘Greetings from Newell” began. It started with different scenes of the area that included drone and video footage. The episode began with the history of the irrigation system, led by the knowledge of historian Ken Wetz, the story of the town beginnings unfolded.
The show went on to highlight the importance of sheep and wool to community and the value of the experimental farm in its history. The artifacts housed at the Newell Museum were discussed as was the hydroponic farm, Prairie Lane Farm. Other stories were told, but you will have to tune in to the episode on Thursday, October 9 on SDPB-TV at 7 p.m. to see them all.
Dakota Life airs new episodes on the second Thursday of each month from September through June. “This is our second show for this season, next month we have Eureka and then we skip December, and then January and February we have Centerville and Edgemont,” said Neiles.
South Dakota Focus is also a once a month program and can be found on the last Thursday of the month at 7 p.m. from September through May.
The SDPB team made a trip to Newell on April 16, 2025 and held a Community Conversation event with the citizens of the town. The intention of the meeting was to glean ideas from the local population as to what is important about Newell. The team returned again a few months later to film the interviews and footage.
Refreshments and cookies were served and a swag bag full of SDPB merchandise was given away to one lucky attendee. Neiles wrapped up the evening with a plea for their fundraising campaign. “As you are probably aware South Dakota did face $2.3 million funding loss when Congress cut the Corporation for Public Broadcasting money, and so we’re going through a pretty big effort to fill that hole right now. Our goal is $2 million. We’re at about $1.6 million. It’s called our Bison Campaign, because bison—they turn into the storm, and face the storm.”
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