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Annual River Cleanup Continues in Dell Rapids

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DellRapidsCleanUpDay1What started as a community project after frustrations over garbage and trash at the dam area in Dell Rapids has led to an annual event.  The “4th Annual River Cleanup Day” was held on Saturday, May 22nd

Kiley Stone organized the annual event in 2018 and has asked the community to join in the cleanup day to keep the local parks of Dell Rapids clean over the last four years.  This year’s event brought 10 volunteers to help clean up different areas around the river.

“This year I went to look at the areas along the river that needed cleanup the most. To my delight, the area by the dam that we’ve done every year since starting was almost completely litter free. Most of this is due to the construction of the bike path, but it still shows that the yearly cleanup seems to be working!” said Stone.  “We decided to expand to different areas, so we started at the tail end of the Rock Run stream and headed south. We covered the areas along the bike path starting at the 115 bridge all the way over to the pedestrian bridge. Again, there was not a lot of trash to be found until we ended up at the trail that cuts down along the river from the pedestrian bridge west to the highway. We came across a huge tarp that has been there for years. A few of the volunteers worked on removing that for quite some time.”

Stone also issued a huge thank you to everyone that volunteered and helped spread the word!

Teachers of the Year Awarded for 2020-2021

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Both Dell Rapids St Mary and Dell Rapids schools had a “Teacher of the Year” awarded recently.  The award is presented by First National Bank.

The Dell Rapids St Mary “Teacher of the Year” was announced during the graduation ceremonies on Friday, May 14th.  The 2020-2021 St Mary “Teacher of the Year” was Peggy Maxwell.

The Dell Rapids “Teacher of the Year” was announced on Monday, May 24th.  The 2020-2021 Dell Rapids “Teacher of the Year” was Robert Michalscheck.

Phase 2 of SE Infrastructure Project to Begin Soon

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The second phase of the SE Infrastructure Project in Dell Rapids will be starting soon.  During the Dell Rapids City Council regular meeting on Monday, May 17th, it was reported to the council that a pre-construction meeting was to be held on Wednesday, May 19th.

Once the finalized project schedule is completed, it will be shared with the affected property owners.

The plan is to start right away with Iowa Avenue and 6th Street in the coming weeks.  The 5th Street portion of the project will be held until sometime in July.   The city is anticipating that tree removal should occur within the next week and the demolition of 6th Street will start to occur prior to June 1st.

One of Two Open School Board Positions Remains Unfilled

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The Dell Rapids School Board still has one position open on the board.  This announcement came during the board’s regular meeting on Monday, May 10th.

Two school board members will have their terms come to an end this summer.  Those members are Troy Randall and Jacque LeBrun.  Business Manager Barb Littel reported that only one petition was returned for those two school board vacancies.  The one petition was filed by Randall.  He will be sworn in for another three-year term at the July meeting.

That still leaves one school board position open.  The board will have to make a one-year appointment for the vacancy.  Information about how to apply for the appointment will be posted to the schools website.

Events Happening All Summer Long in Dell Rapids

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Dell Rapids will be home to several events throughout the months of June and July this summer.

Things will get started with the 100th Anniversary of Cootie Days.  This year’s Cootie Days will be adding an extra day and will be held June 11th, 12th, and 13th.  Thomas Carnival will be providing the midway entertainment for this year’s event.

Just two short weeks later, the Dell Rapids Chamber of Commerce will be hosting their annual Quarry Days celebration June 25th, 26th, and 27th.  They are planning for all of the fun activities of years past including the golf tournament, parade, street dance, vendors in the park, car show, and more.

Norby’s will be celebrating 20 years of business, and they are having three separate celebration events in July.  Their first event will be an outdoor dance on July 10th.  They will be hosting a Poker Run fundraiser in conjunction with Corduroy and Pixie Dust to raise funds for Ellie Joy’s Closet on July 17th.  That event will feature a DJ.  The third event will be another outdoor dance held on July 31st.  All three events will have food catered by Cricket’s Catering.

Wenzel Officially Joins Dell Rapids City Council

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Newly elected council member Marlana Wenzel officially joined the Dell Rapids City Council as the new council was called to order on Monday, May 3rd.

Wenzel was the only new member of the council that was elected during the April 13th election.  She replaces Robert Mier in Ward 4.  The current members of the council are Gary Haak and Bill Schmidt from Ward 1, Mark Crisp and Barry Berg from Ward 2, Mike Geraets and Chad Ronshaugen from Ward 3, and James Borchert and Marlana Wenzel from Ward 4.

Haak was nominated and elected as the President of the council.  Schmidt was nominated and elected as the Vice President.  Committee appointments are as follows:

  • Finance and Utilities Committee:  Berg, Crisp, Haak, Ronshaugen
  • Policy and Procedure Committee:  Borchert, Schmidt, Wenzel
  • Surplus Property Appraisal Committee:  Entire Council
  • Sioux Metro Growth Alliance (SMGA):  Ronshaugen
  • Dell Rapids Economic Development Corporation:   Geraets
  • Library Board Liaison:  Wenzel
  • Dell Rapids Chamber of Commerce Board Liaison:  Mayor Earley

Corduroy & Pixie Dust Holds Annual Fashion and Flick Event

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Corduroy & Pixie Dust held their annual “Fashion and Flick” fundraiser event on Saturday, May 1st at the Dells Theatre in downtown Dell Rapids.

The event, which had proceeds go to Ellie Joy’s Closet and Ellie’s Pageant Fundraising for Big Brother/Big Sister, was slightly different than it has been in the past.  This year, to continue to keep everyone safe and healthy, the fashion show was recorded as a movie and shown on the big screen prior to the showing of the movie “Sing”.  The models, showing off styles from Corduroy & Pixie Dust, were photographed or recorded and then put into their own movie.  Everyone enjoyed seeing the movie on the big screen at the theater.

There was also two silent auction baskets as well as a free will donation raffle basket as part of the event.

After the fashion show movie was complete, everyone in attendance was treated to the movie “Sing”.  The children that participated in the fashion movie were given a copy of the movie and those who attended the event at the theater received a goodie bag.

Corduroy & Pixie Dust is open Tuesdays 10:00 to 5:00, Wednesdays 10:00 to 1:00, Thursdays 10:00 to 5:00, Fridays 10:00 to 5:00, and Saturdays 9:00 to 2:00.  They are located at 413 E 4th St in Dell Rapids.  Their website is https://www.corduroynpixiedust.com/.

St Mary and Dell Rapids Students Show Acting Skills

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Students from Dell Rapids St Mary and Dell Rapids schools showed their acting skills with public performances of plays.

Photo used with permission from St Mary Facebook page

Dell Rapids St Mary performed the comedic plays, Check Please and Check Please: Take 2, as two acts on Saturday, April 24th and Sunday, April 25th.  It was about two people that go on a string of dates, in hopes of finding a girl/boyfriend, but they find out that dating is a lot harder than they anticipated. Every date the main characters go on have some crazy quirk. By the end of the first act, the two main characters go on date (later it’s implied that they do become a couple). Then, at the beginning of the second act we find out that they have broken up, and then they are back to dating. By the end of the play, they run into each other again and decide to at least hang out as friends.

Play director Jennifer Riegel said, “It was so much fun working with the students! As a teacher in the classroom, you see them in one light, so it was so fun to see them a new light—and literally take on new personas!”.

Seventh graders through seniors at Dell Rapids school performed the musical The Little Mermaid.  They put on four shows over the course of three days on Friday, April 23rd through Sunday, April 25th.  Sharon Mitchell and Robert Michalscheck directed the musical.

“So many people put hours of work into a successful production. It was great to see 60 plus students from grades 7-12 come together for this show. I appreciated (and I know they did) the large support they got from their community shown by the record numbers of audience members in attendance. A great time was had by all!” said Mitchell.

Both plays received nothing but great reviews from the public!

Local Student, Rylee Rinehart, Elected State FCCLA President

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Photo submitted

Dell Rapids student Rylee Rinehart was recently named the South Dakota FCCLA president and was installed in that position during the closing ceremony of the state’s FCCLA Leadership Conference recently held in Sioux Falls.

Not only was Rinehart named the president for the 2021-2022 year, she was also recognized for completing all five modules of the “Power of One” national program and will be representing South Dakota in Nashville at the FCCLA Nationals in June. 

“I have been in FCCLA for five years now and never would I have guessed to be president. When I first joined and saw the president at the time out on stage, I looked up to them and thought how smart they must be and would never have imagined what my future would hold. I ran for Region V President this year and was so unbelievably proud of myself and couldn’t wait for state FCCLA. When I ran for president of the state, the other candidates were so nice and friendly.  I was so happy to be part of their team.  When I went in for my interview, I went in confident because I knew no matter what position I got I would be happy! Then they announced my name for president, and I was in shock that I would be president for the whole state. FCCLA has changed my life in such an amazing way, and I’m so honored to be your 2021-2022 FCCLA State President!” said Rinehart.

Rinehart was not the only Dell Rapids student recognized at the South Dakota FCCLA Leadership Conference.  Faithe Larson just ended her term as the state’s vice president and also qualified for the national competition in her STAR Event category of Fashion Construction.  Kyra Wajer received a gold rating and top superior in the Repurpose and Redesign category.  Veronica Vanderloo received a silver rating in the Food Innovation category and was one of two individuals from across the state to receive the Presidential Award.

The Dell Rapids chapter received a gold rating for the Merit Chapter Award for their overall accomplishments of projects and activities during the year.

Community Members Visit De Smet Community Center

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**Check out this week’s (April 16th, 2021) Dells City Journal for this story**

This past Monday, April 12th, members of the Dell Rapids Community Center Committee, along with members of the Dell Rapids community, made the 80-mile trip to De Smet, South Dakota to tour their event and wellness center.

The De Smet Events & Wellness Center features a large exhibit hall, theater, walking track, wellness center, meeting rooms, commercial kitchen, lockers, showers and separate rest rooms, recreation office, and reception area.

Rita Anderson of the De Smet Development Cooperation showed the Dell Rapids group around the facility.

“The older generation are some of our busiest users,” Anderson explained. “Our older retired community members are constantly walking every day. We have the walking track that is free to use every day and have 30-40 walkers a day if not more.”

More than just exercise takes place at the De Smet Event & Wellness Center. “It has been neat with retired people looking for things to do. They started classes and all sorts of activities,” Anderson said. Mystery dinner theaters, speakers, cards, and several other events are held at the center. On average 50 events are held in January and February alone.

“The De Smet Event & Wellness Center also hosts a concert series on Sunday afternoons where the older population takes part,” Anderson added. “There are just so many uses. Memorial services, lunches, the list goes on and on.”

When asked if the De Smet community is happy with the facility, Anderson said “wholeheartedly. It does my heart good when I hear the comments from people asking, what did we do before we had this building and this facility? When I see the skeptics that are up there using it now is great. There are very few naysayers about it now.  Everybody uses it.  There is always something going on in the community giving them a reason to use it.”

The Dells City Journal will continue to follow the process of the project. To show your support for the community center, reach out to your Alderman for your designated ward or express your support at upcoming council meetings. If you would like to become a member of the committee advocating for the community center please email your name and contact information to DRCommunitycenter@gmail.com and a member of the committee will contact you. With community support, this plan can become a reality.

Tammy Chamley | Editor – Dells City Journal
tchamley@ncppub.com

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