Big Sioux Media Sports Network
Your first stop for southeast South Dakota sports!
Students from Dell Rapids participated in a community service day during the afternoon of
Friday, May 18th. Students were bused out into the community and then picked up trash as they walked back towards the school. Some students also helped do landscaping projects around the Dell Rapids High School building.
A large number of trash bags were filled from the community clean-up.
Students also painted inside of the train car in the park and played bingo at the nursing home.
As the school year comes to a close, the summer ball season has begun. After weeks of trying to battle snow storms and wet fields, the youth baseball and softball teams have begun playing games and fans can be heard cheering for their teams every night on the Dell Rapids ball fields.
The Dell Rapids 15/16 Teener team began their season on Monday, May 21st with a close loss to Volga 11-12 . Two Dell Rapids 13/14 teams, Dells-J and Dells-N, have already played a few games this season. Dells-J is currently 1-1 on the season, and Dells-N is 0-1. The Dell Rapids Legion team will begin their season in early June. Dell Rapids PBR and the Dell Rapids Mudcats amateur baseball teams have also started their 2018 season.
The Dell Rapids 12U and 10U baseball teams are in their second week of games. Dell Rapids has four 12U teams and six 10U teams this year that can be found on the diamonds every Monday and Wednesday night. The 8U baseball teams began their season on Tuesday, May 22nd, and they play Tuesdays and Thursdays. The 6U teams began their season on Monday, May 21st and play Mondays and Wednesdays with some games being played at Dells Nursing and Rehab Center. The Dell Rapids 12U, 10U, 8U, and 6U softball teams began their season on Tuesday, May 22nd. Their games on are Tuesday and Thursday nights.
One new feature has been added to one of the youth fields for this summer. Eagle Scout Jack Prasek put together a manual scoreboard and installed it on Field F for the Dell Rapids Baseball and Softball leagues as part of his Eagle Scout project. The new scoreboard has been a great addition to the field.
Diamonds will be full of baseball games and softball games almost every night of the week through the early part of July. Head down to the fields and catch some exciting games all summer long!
Brittany Moeller, the Library Director at the Dell Rapids Carnegie Public Library, recently gave a report to the Dell Rapids City Council that showed continued growth at the library.
Moeller reported that 21,580 people visited the library in 2017. She also noted that 55% of residents within the city limits of Dell Rapids, as well as the rural Dell Rapids residents, have a library card. The library also saw 2,333 children and teens attend library programs in 2017.
“We had a really awesome year in 2017. We’re hoping to continue that,” said Moeller.
Moeller also reported that since 2017 the library has added 500 new patrons and has seen an internal circulation of in-house items increase by 5,000 items as well.
Library staff is now preparing for the 2018 summer reading program. Registration for the program opened on May 14th. The reading portion as well as the programming and activities will start the first week of June and will run for eight weeks through July. There will be activities and programming for preschool aged all the way through teens and adults.
“We appreciate the work you do at the library and the rest of the staff. It pleases me to no end to see the use and increases, and particularly the children. I think that’s just fantastic. It’s a wonderful, great thing,” said Dell Rapids Mayor Tom Earley during Moeller’s report on Monday, May 7th.
The Dell Rapids School Board recognized the Dell Rapids fifth grade students and teachers for the work that they did at the Living History Fair on Friday, March 23rd. Ms. Eggers, Ms. Gruneich, Joshua Fletcher, Mylie Anderson, and Gavin Benson attended the school board meeting on Monday, May 14th to represent the fifth grade class.
The students were given an historical figure to portray during the event. They researched their person putting together a report, creating a costume, and creating a visual board about their historical figure. The student had coin cans at their stations, and when visitors put coins in the jars, the students “came to life” and acted out their report about the life of the person they were portraying.
The fifth grade class raised $1,000 during the event. The students decided to donate all of those funds to the local food pantry in Dell Rapids. For that act of generosity, the school board recognized the fifth grade class.
“That’s awesome. Thanks for doing that. We just wanted to recognize your hard work and thank you for doing it,” said School Board President Matthew Weiland
SOUTH DAKOTA SOIL HEALTH COALITION (SDSHC), Pierre, S.D. May 20, 2018: A Soil Health Road Show has been scheduled for June 12-13, with events being held in four different locations throughout central and eastern South Dakota. Each event will feature nationally recognized soil health speaker Ray Archuleta as well as additional soil health specialists from the state and region. Archuleta is a farmer from Seymour, MO who teaches Biomimicry Strategies and Agroecology principles for improving soil health nationwide. He has over 30 years of work experience as a Soil Conservationist, Water Quality Specialist, and Conservation Agronomist with the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Next month’s road show begins on June 12, with a bus tour in Moody County from 9:30 AM to 3:00 PM. Stops will be made in Dell Rapids, SD and Pipestone, MN with soil and equipment demonstrations to be included as well as lunch and a producer panel. Beginning at 5:00 PM the same day will be an event at the Spink County 4-H Facility. This event will include a meal followed by a presentation by Archuleta which will cover topics such as soil biology, the benefits of diverse crop rotations and cover crops. The first event the following day, June 13, will be held at Dakota Lakes Research Farm and feature a farm tour and speakers Dr. Dwayne Beck, Dr. Cody Zilverberg, Dr. Jose Guzman and Ray Archuleta. Topics covered during the farm tour will include the importance of proper crop rotation techniques and their benefits, phosphate fertility associated with long-term use of no-till, the importance of understanding the carbon to nitrogen ratios in crop and cover crop selections, as well livestock integration into cropland.
The fourth and final event of the Soil Health Road Show will begin at 6:00 PM in Tripp County at St. Mary’s Hall. Speakers Bryan Jorgensen and Ray Archuleta will present sessions on the benefits of diverse crop rotations and cover crops as well as a discussion on carbon to nitrogen ratios. Attend an event near you to learn how you can work to improve your soil health this season and for years to come!
For full event details and flyers for each event please visit our website www.sdsoilhealthcoalition.org/events. or contact Cindy Zenk, SDSHC Coordinator, at (605) 280-4190 or sdsoilhealth@gmail.com.
The Dell Rapids School Board approved free meals for the final days of school during their regular meeting on Monday, May 14th. The free meals on May 18th through May 23rd will be the reimbursable student breakfast meals and reimbursable student lunch meals. A la carte items and seconds will still be charged at the usual price. Students must have money in their accounts or pay cash for those items. Staff meals will also be charged.
Swimming lesson sign-up at the Dell Rapids Swimming Pool will be held on Wednesday, May 23rd, and Thursday, May 24th, from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm at the swimming pool. Registration will be open until classes are filled. Lessons will be held Monday-Friday for a two week period per session. There will be two different sessions available.
The first session will be held June 18th-22nd/June 25th-June 29th. The second session will be held July 9th-13th/July 16th-20th. Swimming lessons are offered on a first-come, first-served basis as sessions and specific classes fill. A third session may be offered based on demand of the first and second sessions. No refunds will be offered for swimming lessons.
Swimming lessons are $30.00 per student per lesson. Passes can also be purchased for an additional cost – $30.00 for a single season pass, $75.00 for an immediate family pass.
More information about the swimming lessons can be found by clicking here.
Session 1 June 18th – 24th / June 25th – June 29th
10:00 10:30 11:00 11:30 5:00 5:30
level 2 level 1 Pre Pre Pre Pre
level 3 level 2 level 1 level 1 level 1 level 1
level 4 level 3 level 2 level 2 level 2 level 3
level 6 level 5 level 4 level 3 level 5/6 level 4
Session 2 July 9th – 13th / July 16th – 20th
10:00 10:30 11:00 11:30 5:00 5:30
level 2 level 1 Pre Pre Pre Pre
level 3 level 2 level 1 level 1 level 1 level 1
level 4 level 3 level 2 level 2 level 2 level 3
level 6 level 5 level 4 level 3 level 5/6 level 4
Pierre, SD – The South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) announces L.G. Everist, Inc. wastewater treatment system in the recipient of the 2017 Operation and Maintenance Wastewater Treatment Award. This award is for outstanding operation of the wastewater system and environmental compliance with its state surface water discharge permit during the past year.
The award was presented during the 2018 South Dakota Water and Wastewater Association Wastewater Operators Seminar held April 11th and 12th at the Clubhouse Hotel & Suites in Pierre.
“Wastewater treatment is vitally important to our quality of life because it removes harmful pollutants that can spread disease and provides safe water for use by all those downstream,” said DENR Secretary Steve Pirner. “The winners of DENR’s Surface Water Discharge Permit Awards are to be thanked because they collect, treat, and maintain their wastewater treatment systems at the highest levels.”
Qualifications for the Operation and Maintenance Wastewater Treatment Award are based on a system’s compliance with state environmental requirements, the quality of the treated and discharged wastewater, monitoring reports, state inspections, and proper operation and maintenance of the wastewater treatment facility.
The Dell Rapids High School Post Prom Committee would like to thank the following individuals and organizations for their generous donations which were used to provide a safe, fun night for students on April 29, 2018.
The new Dell Rapids City Council was called to order on Monday, May 7th with one new councilman taking position. Chad Ronshaugen was the only candidate that filed a petition for the open seat in Ward 3 left by Mike Sterud. Councilmen Bill Schmidt, Barry Berg, and Bob Mier ran unopposed as incumbents in their wards and will join Ronshaugen for another term on the Dell Rapids City Council.
Prior the the new council being called to order, the old council had to adjourn. Prior to that happening, Dell Rapids Mayor Tom Earley shared some comments about Sterud. 
“It is my honor to be able to recognize Mike Sterud for his service to the community. Mike, it’s been a pleasure having you on here,” Mayor Earley said.
After the new councilmen were sworn to office, the council elected new officers and committee members. Councilman Mark Crisp was elected the President. Councilman Mike Geraets was elected as Vice President.
Committee appointments are as follows: