Dakota Life: Greetings From Freeman

Join SDPB for an all-new Dakota Life, launching from this month’s featured town of Freeman.

Just over one thousand folks strong, Freeman graces Highway 81 in Hutchinson County. Freeman offers a swimming pool, public library, and golf course. Since 1959, Freeman has hosted the popular German celebration Schmeckfest and recently added the South Dakota Chislic Festival to its summer roster.

Freeman History

Learn the history of Freeman, which begins with the still-unsettled question of its naming, and meet Freeman’s earliest settlers, including some of the Mennonite Germans from Russia who immigrated to the area seeking religious and social freedoms they didn’t have in their home country. Immigrants from northern Europe also established enclaves in and around Freeman, and the story of how those diverse ethnic and religious groups learned to work together, while still maintaining their cultural identities, defines the character of Freeman today.

Sky Dancing

A growing dance style and very acrobatic in nature, aerial dancing incorporates apparatus like hoops or scarves attached to a ceiling. Visit Sky Dancing Aerial Studio in Rapid City to meet performers of all ages whose feet rarely touch the ground.

Local News Legacy

Jon Hunter is a third-generation South Dakota newspaper publisher. Venture to Madison to see how Hunter’s paper, the Madison Daily Leader goes from blank pages to newsstands, including a look at how local expertise makes all the difference in journalism.

Spin Doctor

Lift off with SDPB’s Brian Gevik from the Tea Airport with gyroplane pilot Dan Todd. When COVID stalled most elective surgeries, ear, nose and throat surgeon Todd took the flying lessons that had long been on his bucket list. Intrigued by the gyroplane, Todd learned how to fly the hobby aircraft and soon purchased one of his own. “It’s exactly what I wanted,” says Todd. “You fly around like a bird and you don’t stall. It’s so fun.”

Tune in for an all-new episode of Dakota Life, Thursday, February 4, 8pm (7 MT) on SDPB1 and SDPB.org. Rebroadcasts Sunday, February 7, at 1pm (Noon MT).