14 minute read
BUZZ
Students at Wolfpack Family
Jiujitsu practice martial art and self-defense moves.
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Wolfpack Family Jiujitsu Welcomes Youth And Adult Martial Art Students
Susan and Joshua Citrak opened the gym this past January.
When Susan and Joshua Citrak knew they were moving to Aberdeen, the first thing they did was Google local jiujitsu schools.
“When we realized there wasn’t one here we could join, that evening we decided, ‘Well, it looks like we’re starting a gym!’” Joshua said.
In January 2021, they did exactly that, opening Wolfpack Family Jiujitsu at 424 South Main Street. To date, they serve over 50 (and counting) youth and adult jiujitsu students.
Jiujitsu is a martial art and selfdefense practice with no striking. Susan said a class is one of the best workouts you can get, but everyone can do jiujitsu. You don’t have to feel intimidated about your age or athletic abilities to try it out. Case in point? She and Joshua didn’t start learning the sport until they were 39 and 41, and they have students as young as six years old.
“We have the word ‘family’ in our name for a reason,” Joshua said. “Anyone can come here. They don’t have to know anyone else or have any experience in this, and by the end of class, they’ll be chatting with the group.”
Susan said for her, teaching the women’s self-defense class on Saturdays is especially meaningful. “One of the best parts has been watching the women and girls grow in that confidence and learn how to defend themselves if they should ever have to.”
Keeping with their family roots, the Citraks have youth and adults classes scheduled back-to-back so families can come to the gym together. Their lounge area gives kids a place to hang out while their parents participate in adult classes and vice versa.
The Citraks both work full time during the day, then lead their jiujitsu classes in the evenings and on weekends. They said they never imagined having their own gym when they first fell in love with the sport and are thankful for the opportunity to bring jiujitsu with them to Aberdeen. // - Jenny Roth To find out more about Wolfpack Family Jiujitsu, or to sign up for a free week of classes, check out www.wolfpackfamilybjj.com.
Costumed characters from Brown County’s past will share historical accounts at the Dacotah Prairie Museum’s History
Alive event in June. Pictured are curator of exhibits, Marianne
Marttila-Klipfel (left), and her mother, Annikki Marttila.
Relive Aberdeen’s History Through Live Storytelling
Who was Howard W. Cole, and why was he elected sheriff in 1902? What was the crowd like when President Taft arrived in the Hub City by train in 1911? How did Dakota Territory suffragists help women achieve the right to vote?
As people, we have always learned about where we come from through stories that get passed down through generations. So what better way to understand the history of our region than by hearing from the people who were there? While we can’t go back in time and do exactly this, History Alive at the Centennial Village offers the next best thing!
At History Alive, costumed characters representing people from Aberdeen’s early days will share information, stories, and personal accounts of local historical events. Guests will walk the boardwalk at Centennial village, interacting with each character and listening to their tales of life in Brown County over 100 years ago. This live-action history event will represent the fur trade era through the women’s suffrage movement.
Hosted by the Dacotah Prairie Museum, History Alive is happening June 12 from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM at Centennial Village. It’s open to all ages, and admission is free. The day promises to be a fully-immersed, livinghistory experience. // - Jenny Roth For more details on History Alive, contact the Dacotah Prairie Museum at 605-626-7117.
Malchow Plaza Officially Opens Downtown
Expect a hub of activity coming soon to the
Malchow Plaza! The retail location, event center, farmers market, and restaurant/coffee shop will be open this summer.
The long-awaited Malchow Plaza will be open this summer, bringing an encouraging, cheerful feel to the spot where the Malchow’s furniture store and apartments burned down in October 2019.
The Plaza is a retail location, coffee shop, restaurant, events center, gathering space, site for offices, and so much more. Everything offered, from the coffee and sandwiches served to the apparel available for sale, is as local as possible, making it a one-stopshop for all things Aberdeen.
Something new you can expect happening at the Plaza this summer is their farmers market, held under the string lights on the Plaza’s Main Street-facing side. This same stretch of concrete will also offer opportunities for food trucks, concerts, and other downtown happenings.
On the Plaza’s second floor is an event space available to rent for anything from graduation parties to baby showers, with seating for up to 45 people. Plus, paninis and other cold-cut sandwiches, as well as local beer, wine, and cheese, will be on the menu at The Market on the Plaza for lunch and dinner.
The Malchow Plaza also provides a new home for a few familiar faces. Among them are the Aberdeen Development Corporation, the Small Business Development Center, the Aberdeen Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, and Dakota Broadcasting.
Everyone is welcome to stop by the Plaza the next time you’re out and about! // - Kaylyn Deiter For details on the farmers market or renting the second-floor event space, contact The Market on the Plaza at www.themarketontheplaza.com.
➼ Is your business celebrating an anniversary in July or August? Are you hosting a big event or holding a big sale? Let us know so we can include you in the next issue! Email us at troy@mcquillencreative.com or julie.aberdeenmag@gmail.com.
*Editorial inclusion not guaranteed. Sertoma Club members working to provide Portable InfoLoop hearing assistant devices are, front: Elizabeth Schwab, middle:
Eileen Anderson and Miko Brandner, and back: Scott Noeldner.
Aberdeen’s Sertoma Club Launches Hearing Loss Service Project
For people who are hard of hearing, communicating through plexiglass shields and face masks has added a new layer of challenges. And if you own a business or work with the public, assisting someone one-on-one who is hearing impaired can pose difficulties even without COVID precautions and extra barriers in place.
Starting in May, Aberdeen’s Sertoma Club will kick off a summer-long project to help.
The club will be distributing Portable InfoLoops for various businesses around town to try out. A Portable InfoLoop is a device that amplifies one voice to another. For example, it can take the receptionist’s voice from one side of the plexiglass and deliver it to the customer who is hard of hearing on the other, without anyone having to shout to be heard. If a business tries the Portable InfoLoop and finds it helpful, the Sertoma Club will work with them to obtain one of their own.
Aberdeen’s Sertoma Club is known locally for its work at Storybook Land. But on a national level, the club’s mission is to serve those impacted by hearing loss. In honor of Better Speech and Hearing Month in May, the Aberdeen club is joining over 40 other Sertoma groups across the country to support those who are hard of hearing, and the businesses that serve them, to better communicate one-on-one in public settings.
Keep your eyes open for the Portable InfoLoops as they make their way around several locations in Aberdeen throughout the coming months. // - Jenny Roth For more information on Portable InfoLoops, reach out to the Aberdeen Sertoma Club at www.facebook.com/ AberdeenSertoma.
This building rendering shows what the future C-Express at 711 North Second
Street will look like after completing an extensive remodel this year. Palm Garden Thai Cuisine is open for dine-in or takeout, featuring a menu of authentic Thai food devised by owner Saw Jack (pictured right).
The C-Express at 711 North Second Street in Aberdeen will have a brand-new look and more food goods on their shelves by the end of this year.
A fully-restored building will replace the current convenience store at this address. Owner Mike Carrels said the renovation will allow them to offer more for their customers, most notably, a small footprint of grocery items, such as fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats.
The updated C-Express will also have a wider selection from their deli department, similar to what you see at their Sixth and Roosevelt location. Delivery will be available for Godfather’s Pizza orders placed here as well, and they plan to include this service for all store items (except alcohol and tobacco products) in the near future.
Along with the convenience store additions, Carrels said they’re revamping the attached casino and corner pub. Upgrades here will be a new lounge and menu with pub-style food. Extra parking will be put in to tie it all together.
Carrels said he is happy to partner with other local businesses, such as Ken’s SuperFair Foods and The Junction, to bring more groceries to this neighborhood in Aberdeen.
“This location services a needed market for items that go beyond the typical convenience store stop.” // - Jenny Roth To keep up with the Second Street C-Express remodel, head to www.facebook.com/CExpressSD.
Palm Garden Thai Cuisine Serves Fresh Flavors at a Neighborhood Favorite
Thanks to a global pandemic that shut down much of indoor dining for a time, new restaurants in town were hard to come by this past year. Not to mention, some popular dining hubs, such as the Palm Garden, closed their doors for good during 2020.
The silver lining? Another restaurant has moved into the friendly yellow building on Sixth Avenue. Palm Garden Thai Cuisine opened its doors in late March, bringing all-new flavors while keeping part of the name Aberdonians have grown to love. Owner Saw Jack is excited to be the first person to open a Thai restaurant in town.
“We’ve been pretty busy so far,” he said. “There are a lot of people that like Thai food in Aberdeen.”
Though the first part of the restaurant’s name might ring a bell, the cuisine served is completely unique. The whole menu consists of authentic Thai food straight from Jack’s Thai heritage, including pad thai, curry, spring rolls, and various flavors of mochi for dessert.
Dine-in is now available for restaurant go-ers, along with an option to order online if takeout is more your jam. Jack said he’s happy to be bringing Thai food to Aberdeen and the surrounding area, and given the buzz about the new restaurant, it seems Aberdonians would agree a Thai restaurant is just what we ordered after the past year. // - Kaylyn Deiter Palm Garden Thai Cuisine is open Monday through Saturday from 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM (9:30 on the weekends). To order online, visit www.palmgardenthaicuisine.com.
Nicole (front) and
Nick Fischer work on a new mural that will go on display at the Malchow Plaza.
Pictured left to right are Dr. David Merxbauer and Dr. Taylor Maier with Merxbauer-Maier Dental. The dental office is ringing in its 15th birthday with gift cards and other prizes from local businesses.
Merxbauer-Maier Dental Celebrates 15 Years With Community Giveaways
Merxbauer-Maier Dental is celebrating its 15th anniversary this May by giving patients a chance to win gift cards for local businesses and other prizes. It’s all in an effort to say thank you to the community that has supported this home-grown dental practice since 2006.
“Starting in May, each month until December, we’re going to feature a different local business that our patients will have a chance to win a gift card or other prize from,” office manager Bonny Merxbauer said. “We’ve been absolutely blessed by the community of Aberdeen and the surrounding areas, and we wanted to do something to celebrate and give back.”
The practice started out in the strip mall in front of the old Shopko back in 2006 with only a handful of employees. It quickly outgrew that space, buying a building across the street and more than tripling its staff. Last September, Dr. Merxbauer’s son-in-law, Dr. Maier, signed on with the team and became a partner. Merxbauer-Maier Dental also has a part-time dentist serving in Britton a couple of times a week.
Despite 2020’s many challenges, Merxbauer said it only made them more grateful for their employees and loyal patients.
“Last year was super challenging,” she said. “There was a time where we only saw emergency patients, but we never shut down. It was a privilege to serve our community in a time of crisis.”
With 2020 in the rearview mirror, the Merxbauer-Maier Dental team is excited to see what the future holds and grateful for what the last 15 years have brought.
“When you start out, and you build something from nothing, it’s amazing to see that you now have this wonderful practice that believes when we take exceptional care of our patients, everything else will take care of itself,” Merxbauer said. “We hope to continue serving Aberdeen and the surrounding areas with exceptional dentistry.” // - Kaylyn Deiter Merxbauer-Maier Dental is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. To learn more, visit www.thebestdentalcenter.com.
Malchow Plaza Mural Sparks Hometown Conversations
Artistic duo Nick and Nicole Fischer are lending their practiced mural-painting hands to a new installation going in at the Malchow Plaza. The couple, who have been working as commissioned artists for the last 19 years together, are bringing a mural distinctly Aberdeen to downtown’s newest hot spot—highlighting the best of the Hub City, both past and present.
The mural, which the Fischers painted and designed off-site on wooden boards, depicts glass jars filled with colorful marbles. It’s a nostalgic picture, but upon closer inspection, each of the marbles reveals a scene from Aberdeen or around the region—from Wylie Park and the Brown County Fair to Twist Cone and the rolling prairie.
“We wanted to create something that highlights the things we love about Aberdeen,” Nicole said. “We’re all a bit out of practice socially with COVID, so we hope that looking at the mural inspires conversation between the people standing there together.”
The mural will be installed on the brick of the new Malchow Plaza building on the wall closest to Main Street, facing north. Just another reason, among many, to hang out downtown and enjoy all things Aberdeen this summer. // - Kaylyn Deiter You can follow along with Nick and Nicole’s artistic endeavors at www.facebook.com/fischersart.
Picante Burrito Express Dishes Up Authentic Mexican Cooking
If you’re looking for a quick weekday lunch or a sit-down dinner with family and friends, stop in at Picante Burrito Express next time you’re feeling hungry.
Owner Luis Tejeda opened this new dining option for Aberdeen at 20 Sixth Avenue Southwest. The restaurant has quickly gained a name for serving Mexican fare in delicious and epic portions.
On the menu are, you guessed it, burritos. You can choose your meat (steak, grilled chicken, chorizo, shrimp, or shredded beef— to name a few options) and pair it with your favorite sides and fixings like rice, beans, veggies, and salsa.
If you’re craving a smaller bite, you might instead opt for the hardshell or softshell tacos, which start at just $2.00. They also serve several other Mexican-inspired dishes, like las pupusas, menudo, tortas, chimichangas, and more. Patrons can stay and dine in or take their meal to-go. // - Jenny Roth Picante Burrito Express is open Tuesday through Saturday from 9:00 AM to 2:30 PM and 4:30 PM to 9:00 PM, and Sundays from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
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LIFE | HEALTH | AUTO | HOMEOWNERS | BUSINESS | FARM Server Milvinn Bermudez (left) presents a sample of authentic
Mexican dishes created by
Picante Burrito Express owner,
Luis Tejeda (right).
Brett, Gary, Becky & George
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