The George A. Fitzgerald American Legion Post 65 is hosting its’ 2019 Cootie Days Celebration in the Dell Rapids City Park on Friday June 7th from 3:00 pm to 10:30 pm, and on Saturday June 8th from 1:00 pm to 10:30 pm. Activities include a Carnival Midway, fun rides, bingo games, raffle drawings and fantastic food from the Dell Rapids Legion Auxiliary. You can receive advance ride tickets at a discount from T&C’s & T&C’s Other Place. Come one, Come all, bring the whole family and enjoy the festivities.
New City Council Called at Regular Meeting
Even though no election was needed to fill the four open seats on the Dell Rapids City Council, a new council had to be called to order on Monday, May 6th. All the members of each ward are the same and the council members are Gary Haak, Bill Schmidt, Mark Crisp, Barry Berg, Mike Geraets, Chad Ronshaugen, James Borchert, Bob Mier, and Mayor Tom Earley. Some of the council positions have changed from last year.
Councilman Crisp was elected the President once again. Councilman Ronshaugen will be the new Vice President. Committee appointments are as follows:
- Finance and Public Works Committee: Crisp, Schmidt, Haak
- Policy and Procedure Committee: Borchert, Ronshaugen, Berg
- Surplus Property Appraisal Committee: Entire Council
- Minnehaha County Economic Development Association: Ronshaugen
- Dell Rapids Economic Development Corporation: Geraets
- Library Board Liaison: Mier
- Dell Rapids Chamber of Commerce Board Liaison: Mayor Earley
South Dakota Retailers Celebrate Small Business Week, May 5-11
The South Dakota Retailers Association (SDRA) is celebrating all small businesses in South Dakota during National Small Business Week, May 5th-11th. Governor Kristi Noem has proclaimed it “Small Business Week” in South Dakota to recognize the efforts small business owners make to create jobs and support their communities.
“As we kick off Small Business Week, we encourage everyone to take advantage of the unique commerce opportunities in your community,” said SDRA Executive Director Nathan Sanderson. “Small businesses are the heartbeat of our towns, and when you patronize a mom-and-pop business, you’re supporting your entire community as well.”
Small business owners work hard to grown their businesses and recognize that being an active part of the community is critical to their success. From local engagement on public service projects, to sponsorships and public-private partnerships, small business owners strive to make a difference.
“Look at the businesses that support the little league team, get active in 4-H, or help in the schools,” Sanderson continued. “It is small, local businesses. They are regularly asked for support, and willingly give it!”
Small Business Week seeks to acknowledge the hard work of these businesses in cities and towns across South Dakota. All citizens are encouraged to say thank you to those who own and operate the local service station, grocery store, bakery, flower shop, and thousands of other small businesses that drive our communities.
Dell Rapids ESA Raises Money for DRAMA and St Jude’s
![ESADonationToDRAMA](https://bigsiouxmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/ESADonationToDRAMA-300x235.jpeg)
Pastor Jeff Sorenson accepts the DRAMA donation from ESA members, Lori Morris, Glenda Siemonsma and Diana Jones. Photo submitted and used with permission by Lori Morris
The Dell Rapids Chapter of ESA recently held a wine/beer tasting fundraiser to benefit the Dell Rapids Area Ministerial Association (DRAMA) and St. Jude’s, which is ESA’s national project. The fundraiser allowed the ESA chapter to donate $5500 between DRAMA and St. Jude’s. This was the third year “Uncork and Unwind” was held in Dell Rapids. Beer tastes were added to this year’s event as well as light hors d’oeuvres. Papa’s Pub and Eatery provided the location for the event. Local business sponsors were LG Everist, 1st National Bank, Direct Automation, Mark Crisp Construction & C/R Realtors, Hegg Realtors/Spruce Glenn, and BXCC/Dells Materials.
Attendees purchased a ticket for $40. With that purchase they were able to enjoy six wine or beer tastes and sample a variety of gourmet cheeses and chocolates. Papa’s Pub also prepared crostini, marinara meatballs, and chips and salsa.
ESA members assembled 12 raffle baskets that were available ranging in value from $80 to $400. Attendees could purchase tickets at a cost of one for $5 or five tickets for $20 for their chance to win the baskets. Many of the baskets included donations from local businesses. There was also an additional travel-themed raffle basked which included a weekend at The Lodge in Deadwood valued at $500. Chances to win the weekend basket were made available in the form of a cork pull. Fifty corks were numbered and available to purchase for $20.
Dell Rapids ESA member Lori Morris said, “Our guests opened their hearts and wallets in support of our recipients. We are thankful to live in such a supportive community!”
New School Board Member to Join in July
The Dell Rapids School Board will have a new member join in July. The school board held an election on Tuesday, April 9th for two open positions. Three cadidates, incumbent Matthew Weiland, Lee Bollock, and Denise Cavigielli, petitioned to fill the two open spots.
Weiland unofficially finished with 127 votes and will return the school board for another term. Bollock will join the board after compiling 117 votes. Cavigielli finished with 78 votes.
Bollock will take over for current member Jody Schumaker, whose term expires in July.
Big Sioux River Expected to Rise Again in Dell Rapids
The City of Dell Rapids may not have seen the last of the flooding issues this spring. The National Weather Service’s Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service website is predicting the river to rise above 15′ again by Thursday, April 18th and potentially reach a level of 15.5′ by Saturday, April 20th.
Weeks ago the prediction service had predicted the river to potentially be down to 12′ by Friday, April 5th, but the Big Sioux River only dropped to just under 13.5′ by that time. The current prediction is indicating the river to stay close to the 14′ mark through Friday, but then drop to about 13′ by early next week. This appears to be just a lull before the river again rises by mid-to-late next week. Dell Rapids saw the Big Sioux River reach the high point of 15.98′ on Sunday, March 24th. The current prediction shows the level to stay under that high point as of now.
Administration with the City of Dell Rapids has urged homeowners to monitor the National Weather Service forecast and again prepare for more rising waters through a message on Facebook. You can monitor the National Weather Service’s water level predictions for the Big Sioux River by clicking this link.
Dell Rapids Adds Built-in Snow Days to 2019-2020 Calendar
The Dell Rapids School Board approved changes to the 2019-2020 calendar during their regular meeting on Monday, April 8th. The changes to the calendar are to have built-in snow days to help alleviate adding more days to the end of the school year.
The school sent out a survey asking parents if they would be in favor of having built-in snow days in the school calendar, and if so, what days would be the best for built-in snow days.
“I have to be honest though, those who are against it are against it. I get it. People want to know what days they have off, staff and parents, but it was an overwhelming majority that did say please look at using built-in student contact days for making up snow days,” said Superintendent Dr. Summer Schultz. She noted that 86% of those that submitted the survey were in favor for built-in snow days.
After a discussion about a plan, school board member Troy Randall made a motion to forgive the first snow day of the year, and then have February 17th, March 19th, and April 13th of 2020 be the built-in make-up days given there is at least one week’s notice prior to needing to use one of those days as a make-up day.
One of the biggest items discussed about the motion was if one week’s time was enough notice for parents when deciding to use one of the built-in snow days.
“We could get a lot of heat. We could get a lot of complaints, and next year at this time we make it two weeks,” said Dr. Schultz.
“I guess we won’t know until we try it,” added school board member Jacque LeBrun in response to Dr. Schultz.
“There could be complaints about this, there could be complains if we have days at the end (of the school year). Inevitably it’s not perfect for everybody,” said school board member Jeff Traill.
Jody Schumaker then seconded the motion, and it was passed unanimously.
Dr. Schultz mentioned during the meeting that this could be tried for the 2019-2020 school calendar and then revisited for the 2020-2021 to determine if it’s worth continuing.
Boy Scouts Hold Pinewood Derby
The Dell Rapids Boy Scouts Pack 53 held their annual Pinewood Derby race on Saturday, March 23rd, at the Dell Rapids Elementary School. Den members spent the last few weeks creating their cars for the race. Family members were also able to enter a race with the specially created cars, and the Girl Scouts were once again invited to build cars and race as part of the event on Saturday.
The top three Boy Scout place winners will advance to race their cars at the Scout-O-Rama in Sioux Falls.
Place winners for the Boy Scouts were 1) Chase Hight, 2) Sean Miller, 3) Levi Anhalt, 4) Tyson Roth, 5) Dylan Aker, 6) Brayden Aker, 7) Behr Peckenpaugh, and 8) Emerson Peckenpaugh. Place winners for the Girls Scouts were 1) Macy Roth, 2) Kaylin Hebert, and 3) Brooklyn Veldkamp. The Open Class winners were 1) Oliver P., 2) Zach Heinemann, and 3)Matt Hollister.
The Dell Rapids Lions Club officiated the event.
Peak Flood Waters Reached in Dell Rapids?
The Big Sioux River in Dell Rapids may have seen the highest levels of flood waters. According to the National Weather Service’s Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service website, the peak of the flood waters of the Big Sioux River in Dell Rapids may have happened on Sunday, March 24th. The river reached a recorded height of 15.98 feet on that day.
About 25 properties have been impacted by the flood waters by the river according to City Administrator Justin Weiland in a report he gave to KELO TV. The community has come together over the last couple of weeks putting together sandbags, helping place those sandbags, and help property owners move possessions in hopes of minimizing the damage from the flood.
The question now is how long the flood waters will remain at the current level. The National Weather Service’s prediction shows the river should remain at about 15.8 feet throughout the remainder of the week. Flood waters should start to recede about Monday, April 1st with the water level dropping to just over 12 feet by Friday, April 5th. Outlooks could change, though, with more snow that has yet to melt in northern South Dakota. According to Jason Gearman of the Minnehaha County Emergency Management the weather forecast has really helped keep the levels below what was predicted for the flooding weeks ago. With the flood waters predicted to stay in the “major flood” stage for another week, it will still take some time to survey all the damage caused by the flood.
You can monitor the National Weather Service’s water level predictions for the Big Sioux River by clicking this link.
City of Dell Rapids Preparing for Flooding
The National Weather Service is predicting the Big Sioux River in Dell Rapids will reach near record flood levels by Monday, March 25th and stay near that level throughout much of next week, and citizens are proactively working to limit the damage as much as possible. The NWS predicts the Big Sioux River will hit 16.3 feet, which is just shy of the 16.5 foot recorded record. Flood stage is at 12.0 feet. The current level of the river is at 13.66 feet.
The City of Dell Rapids has been in coordination with the Emergency Management staff at Minnehaha County. A 24-hour sandbagging site is now open at the Dell Rapids City maintenance shop located at 24680 475th Ave. Sandbags, shovel, and sand is available at the site and will be open 24 hours per day, seven days a week. Residents are urged to be prepared to fill their own sandbags, however, there are efforts to get volunteers to help fill the bags.
If you would like to help volunteer to help fill sandbags, please visit the Dell Rapids Flood Relief and Preparation Facebook group to get more details on how to help, https://www.facebook.com/groups/2005215246440744/