How daredevil Steve-O is showing a softer side
When Steve-O called me on a Monday morning from his ranch in Tennessee, I did not meet an absurd stuntman who nailed a fire-breathing backflip that made CNN News; who was willingly towed by a racehorse; who burned his skin off on a dry ice slip-n-slide and once swallowed feces while catapulting himself in a bungeed Port-a-Potty.
Don’t look that one up.
I met the charming Stephen Glover that day: a 50-year-old comedian, author, producer, devout recovering addict and an honest man with a scratchy voice and a scratchy laugh that alone made him adorable.
He was soft-spoken and cheery to the extreme that I never would have known his teeth are fake and he’s had at least a dozen broken bones and “a bunch of” screws to fuse his ankle and collarbone back together (of which he’s since removed so he can put them on display).
But he also fasts till 2 p.m., meditates every morning, bikes 13 miles a day, jogs for another 3 and then ends his day with a “completely psycho” sauna and cold plunge regimen that lulls him into a cozy sleep.
This man doesn’t even walk with a limp. He felt like a friend, not a hazard on display.
“I live a double life, man,” Glover said. “I’m making a really big deal out of this battle against Father Time outside of all the highly self-destructive, ridiculous stuff I do professionally as Steve-O.”
He won’t eat sugar or processed foods but would probably choke on feces again if you asked him to.
You can see the superhuman for yourself on Aug. 11 at the Washington Pavilion − if you dare.
The attention matters more than the stunt itself
Maybe you know Steve-O as Johnny Knoxville and Bam Margera’s sidekick within the "Jackass" franchise. There were three seasons on MTV (originally airing in 2000), four feature films that altogether grossed half a billion dollars and many outlandish spin-offs.
He was shocked, jailed, ruthless, concussed, fined, hospitalized, stung, gagged, trapped and nearly eaten.
But we kept gawking in hysteria, and that’s exactly what he wanted.
“For whatever reason, every fiber of my being cries out to be loved and to do whatever I can to entertain people so that maybe they’ll love me,” Glover said. “But if my desire to provide entertainment in hopes I’ll be loved translates to me actually being lovable, then I’ll keep going.”
Keep them engaged, he said to himself even as a child on a skateboard. Watch what I do next, he implied, peril upon peril. He begged for our attention until we were bewitched, like the funny kid who intentionally trips himself down the bleachers in the high school gymnasium.
And now he still has our mouths gaping, but does he know that?
“I have a really over-developed concern for the opinions of others,” Glover said. “You wouldn’t think of Steve-O as ultra-sensitive, but it is definitely my weakness.”
Glover might be self-deprecating and egregious and the butt of all his jokes, but a vulnerable insecurity hides underneath all of that.
He can’t read negative comments on the internet – “that one is a daily struggle” – he speaks candidly about mental health as an omnipresent work in progress, and he’s distraught about his golden birthday.
“It’s a real party foul to be old,” he said. “It’s almost just a straight-up comedy of errors trying to outdo myself now, to raise the bar yet again but now with the limitations of being Steve-O at 50 years old. Candidly, I can’t keep it up.”
Growth on and off the stage
But he’s sober now, since March 10, 2008, and that alone has bought him a few more years. It was never the pratfalls to worry about. The addictions would have defeated him first.
“I categorically was not funnier or more creative when I was on drugs,” he says. “The reality is that everything to do with me became really sad and tragic. I would not have been able to do standup or anything at all if I wasn’t sober.”
Glover has what he calls an addictive personality. He knows no moderation, be it in health or risk. So when he commits to something, he will see it through with fingernails clawing toward the finish line.
He even fought general anesthesia and beat it for well over 2 minutes.
He is strong-willed and persevering, and he will never give up on himself to see an effort through.
“It’s a tall-ass order, but the biggest challenge is finding peace within,” he said. “In 12 Steps (of Recovery in Alcoholics Anonymous), there’s so much emphasis on honesty and accountability, and I’m really grateful that I’ve made that my way of life.”
Glover has been engaged to set producer Lux Wright since 2018 and says much of his growth is attributed to her.
“I have been doing the work to become the man that the love of my life deserves,” he said. “It’s a really big deal to do the right thing when nobody’s watching, and my relationship with my fiancée is always an opportunity to express myself as the guy I want to be. It’s rad.”
Even off camera, he seemingly dazzles.
Steve-OH NO!
Drew Ferreira is the stage manager at the Washington Pavilion, but he’s also a tremendous fan of Steve-O.
“I lit up when I saw the calendar,” he said of the upcoming show. “I grew up with him, and he’s kind of a cult classic now.”
Ferreira said he never really connected to Steve-O’s rebellion as a kid but appreciates his platform now.
“I’ve really enjoyed his journey and the full circle of it," he said.
Steve-O makes it clear that his comedy tour is indeed “an evolution” of his art and is proud of the multimedia experience fans can expect next weekend. There will be never-before-seen stunt footage that “would be completely unacceptable for YouTube or even Jackass,” as well as slap-stick storytelling to accommodate the illustrations and videos.
“It would be great to just be like, ‘Hey, let me get up there and tell you some funny stories,’ ” Glover said. “But I feel like I need to make every sacrifice I can realistically make to provide the most unforgettable experience for you.”
Steve-O first came to Sioux Falls in 2022, bringing his “Bucket List” tour to a sold-out show at The District.
“He was his true self,” venue manager Shawn Larson said, adding an audience member got sick while watching a stunt and had to leave the room. “You can only imagine what we saw.”
Officials with the Pavilion aren’t worried though. Gina Ruhberg, the director of performances, said the venue is used to a crass show. They’ve brought in stand-up comedy tours with Ron White, Matt Rife and Tracy Morgan, and are looking forward to Steve-O’s own reckless raunch.
“I mean, he needs to not set the place on fire, but we book whatever is selling well on tour and whomever wants to come to our place,” she said. “We can’t wait.”
No matter what you might expect, you’ll be surprised.
“I’m committed to putting this show together and pushing myself harder than ever before,” Glover said.
Steve-O has more than 25 million followers on social media, 7 million subscribers on YouTube and “tens of millions” of stem cells injected into his spine to treat his degenerative disc disease.
But perhaps, most of all, he’s kind of just like us.
The Nora Store Christmas tradition gets national attention
As originally published in the USA Today.
On the nearly invisible corner of 307th Street and 475th Avenue in the middle of Union County, South Dakota, where farmland hugs you from everywhere and the topography begins to roll, I found Father Christmas.
Yes, he had the bellowing laugh and the twinkling eyes and the type of generosity in which you waited for him to pull a candy cane out of his pocket.
But this was not our Santa Claus. Even more than the jolly old elf, he is the humble and charming Mike Pedersen of Nora, South Dakota: a gentleman who plays a restored pipe organ in the middle of nowhere and invites all to come on in, enjoy a Styrofoam cup of warm apple cider and sing carols with him every Christmas.
“I just want people to leave feeling blessed and refreshed,” Pedersen said. “I never dreamed it could have turned into something like this.”
Come Monday morning, Pedersen will be the featured segment of “Beg-Knows America,” a CBS News series that highlights inspiring stories of everyday heroes and is hosted by CBS news correspondent David Begnaud.
“They say people from maybe even all around the world could hear about Nora,” Pedersen said. “Can you believe it?”
From world-renowned Begnaud himself, it’s a resounding yes.
“This is a perfect story at Christmastime,” Begnaud said. “I think the story of a defunct general store coming alive once a year thanks to one man and a restored organ is the slice-of-life, heart-of-America tale I want to tell.”
You can watch him do so at 8 a.m. Monday on CBS.
How a house painter came to Christmas carols
Nora is an unincorporated town in southeast South Dakota with a population of two: Pedersen and his neighbor, Luke Lyle.
But it’s at least an established community.
There first was the Ronning General Store in the late 1800s, next to a creamery where farmers brought in their milk every Tuesday and Friday and became well known for its Sunshine butter brand, Pedersen said.
After that closed in 1906, the Nora Store opened on the same corner promptly in 1907, notably selling vinegar for farming and flour sacks for handmade clothing.
After the Nora general store closed in 1962, it wouldn’t be until a decade later Pedersen settled in.
By then, many mice and cats had beat him to it, nesting into the corners of the Nora Store and in the dilapidated kitchen in the back. But for the next 13 years, Pedersen tidied it and warmed it, and this would become his home.
“My goal was actually to be a farmer,” said Pedersen, who during the rest of the year paints nearby houses, barns and chicken coops. “I got to pay for all this somehow.”
But after his grandparents died, who raised a family farm in the Beresford area, he felt no need to return. Instead, he spent time in California and then Arizona, before a centennial celebration at his mother’s old church, Roseni Lutheran in Beresford, called him back to the Nora area for good.
How a hobby became so much more
Even still, hosting sing-a-longs every holiday was never his intent.
It was happenstance.
In 1986, he bought a few acres to move out of the Nora Store and into the home next door (Someone had to keep up those population numbers).
Shortly thereafter, he began collecting parts of an old pipe organ stored at the University of South Dakota’s National Music Museum in Vermillion.
“Oh, music has always been just a hobby,” said Pedersen, who once took piano lessons “from an old neighbor lady” while living in Los Angeles and otherwise plays music and sings for Roseni Lutheran “just up the hill.”
But, by the fall of 1989, he and a few buddies started piecing the ol’ organ back together enough that “the Lord’s plan” made itself clear.
This hobby would become a life.
“I was awestruck to sit in front of such a thing,” he told the crowd of the organ this week, during a sing-a-long on a blustery Tuesday morning. “I thought, ‘Oh, what a blessing!’ I didn’t deserve it, but I had to hear what it sounded like, so this is what I heard.”
Then he turned his back from the crowd and into the black-and-white haven of his keys, and he played the first song he would ever play on it:
Jesus loves me, this I knowFor the Bible tells me soLittle ones to him belongThey are weak, but he is strong
There were about 20 guests that morning, singing along already and calling out their favorite classics to play next. They arrived in a caravan at about 10 a.m. for a private sing-a-long, from the Trinity Lutheran Church in Tea.
“You can tell we’re Lutheran because no one is sitting in the front row,” said Dick Gors, president of their 55-and-older church group that gathers monthly and attends the Nora Store Christmas as their December activity each year.
“We’ve been coming here for five years now,” said Linda Dannen, of Tea, as she and her husband, Leo, sat in the back row and shared a hymnal. “Mike is a joy, and he makes it a good day.”
Together, they all tapped their feet while Pedersen commanded his organ like a switchboard and they sang, “Away in a Manger,” “Silent Night” and “Oh Come, All Ye Faithful.” Another couple in the back embraced each other as they all sang, “O Holy Night.”
Pedersen took off his shoes around song three to better feel the music and encouraged everyone to ring the jingle bells he placed in each row.
He said guests will sing solos, offer to play their own instruments and even bring cookies for the crowd. Like any place of worship, visitors found an infectious feeling of hope in the room.
“I can remember my husband, Ric, and I coming down here a time or two, and there were people standing outside on the porch and even in the back of the building, so we just stood outside and listened for a while,” said Julie Morren, a fellow pianist from Beresford who has come to accompany Pedersen for many years. “People just hang from the rafters here.”
'Is this my last hurrah?'
Overwhelmingly enough that 73-year-old Pedersen has considered his finale, after 35 years.
“I was having a bad hip and a bad attitude,” Pedersen said, thinking maybe he’d forego the weekend open houses and just host a few private groups instead, like the folks from Trinity Lutheran and the students from Missouri Valley Christian Academy, who were on the schedule the next day.
But then press started rolling in.
A USD student ran an article in The Volante, South Dakota Magazine featured a story last month on Nora Store Christmas without him even knowing, and Begnaud from CBS News called him out of the blue.
Pedersen at least needed to give us one more year, and now Nora might need more parking.
“My hope is that when you see our stories, you see the best among us,” Begnaud said.
He’s been to South Dakota before, covering the pandemic in 2020 and then featuring a Sioux Falls artist earlier this year.
“I hope you see the ordinary doing the extraordinary,” Begnaud said. “It is ordinary to restore an organ. It is ordinary to want to bring people together. But it is extraordinary to attract people from Nebraska and Minnesota and Iowa and across South Dakota, and to do it for more than 30 years. That is extraordinary.”
Pedersen walked gingerly with a cane, and took a break from the organ while Morren continued to play her piano in the corner. He wondered aloud if it’s soon time to, “play music in heaven?”
“Nora has been my life ministry, but is this my last hurrah?” he said after the show. “Me and fame? I don’t need any of that. I’m just trying to be a servant and bless you this Christmas.”
Magic for your Christmas
There is a magic in little Nora, in that century-old country store on the corner transformed into a nostalgic wonderland. But it’s not the trinkets on the wall, a guestbook the size of an encyclopedia, the baby Christmas tree twinkling in the corner or the faux Poinsettia adorning his organ that charms.
It’s Mike, indeed.
“Oh, there’s no place like Nora for the holidays,” Pedersen improvised as he sang, “for the holidays you can’t beat home sweet home!”
Visitors stood and finished together with “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” before Pedersen gave hugs and kindly bid everyone farewell and a happy holiday.
To put a bow on the magic of the hour, Pedersen escorted us to the door and hanged his arm out to wave, the way Father Christmas departs in his sleigh, and do you know what?
It started to snow.
South Dakota filmmaker rises to national fame with his latest work
South Dakota filmmaker Andrew Kightlinger brings a little Midwest Nice to Hollywood.
Co-workers say he’s kind to the actors, he respects the staff and he brings a sort of optimism to set that would make any other work feel unsettling.
Movie-goers can sense the warmth themselves in his latest film, “Lost on a Mountain in Maine,” a PG-rated, family adventure film open now in cinemas nationwide and at the West Mall 7 in Sioux Falls. It will premiere at The Sioux Falls State Theatre downtown Nov. 15.
“You can be nice, you can be kind, you can be a leader who’s holistic,” said Kightlinger, 38, who grew up in Pierre. “You can surround yourself with people who are better than you and still make beautiful art. You don’t need to be a tyrant to be a director.”
And this is how his home state has gotten to know Kightlinger.
He hit the big screen with his first feature film, “Dust of War,” in 2011, a movie he said he’s proud of. Then, he directed “Tator Tot and Patton” in 2017, an emotional epic filmed entirely in South Dakota (Peep the airport in Pierre and Fernson’s Lion’s Paw Lager).
In between his claims to fame, he was greeting customers, sweeping up popcorn and talking nonstop about movies as the assistant manager for his hometown’s cinema, Theater 123.
“You could always tell the passion Andrew had in this,” said Dick Peterson, who owns Theatre 123 in Pierre and runs the State Theatre Co. in Brookings.
Peterson employed Kightlinger for much of his teenage years, in which he started out behind concessions, then the box office and then handling actual reels in the projection booth until he went on to help run the show in his 20s, because he knew too much.
“It was my dream job,” Kightlinger said.
How a Midwest filmmaker came to honor a national legacy
Despite growing with up with parents who were both scientists, Kightlinger has been relentlessly pursuing film since childhood.
And his parents obliged. They pushed him down their own STEM path, yet they never missed one of their only son’s musicals or one of the movie columns he wrote for his high school newspaper. They also gifted him his own video camera.
“We didn’t have a movie theater in Madagascar,” said his dad, Lon Kightlinger, a former state epidemiologist and now retired volunteer for the Peace Corps. His mother, Mynna Kightlinger, died in 2007. “But we were able to get a few videos and bring out a little TV at home to watch them over and over again on Saturday nights.”
Andrew liked to watch Jim Carrey’s “The Mask,” adventure film “The Black Stallion” and “Homeward Bound,” “the one where Sally Field was the cat,” Lon said.
And how fitting. The story of family pets finding their way back home not only reflects Andrew’s desire to build a career around inspirational storytelling, it’s similar to the plot of “Lost on a Mountain in Maine.” The universal movie is based on the true story of a 12-year-old boy named Donn Fendler, who got lost on Maine’s Mt. Katahdin in the summer of 1939 and survived alone in the wilderness for 10 days.
“Donn’s story is part of our history,” said producer Ryan Cook, who grew up in Maine and developed a close kinship with Fendler in hopes of sharing his story one day.
Fendler later wrote a book chronicling his fateful feat and spent the rest of his career speaking to schools, churches, Boy Scouts and even to rangers back on Mt. Katahdin, leaving a mark Cook wanted to memorialize.
Fendler died in 2016 at 90 years old.
“Andrew really respected Donn’s legacy,” Cook said. “He went above and beyond in collaborating with us through the whole process. It was always apparent we could trust him.”
Persistence can pay off, Dad says
“Lost on a Mountain in Maine” is produced by Balboa, a film production company led by Sylvester Stallone. Andrew said the “Rocky” actor, who was pretty hands off during the 18 days of filming in 2022, likes to seek work that “highlights human resilience,” the two of them tugging at similar heart strings.
“My goal is, when the credits roll, for people to say, ‘You know what? I should call my parents,’ or, ‘I should call my kid,’ ” Andrew said. “I want everybody feeling some sort of joy or sense of hope. I want them to say, ‘I’ll be better tomorrow.’ That’s what great art does.”
Andrew’s father called it an earnestness to entertain people.
“He’s taught me persistence,” Lon said, who got to be on set while his son filmed “Tator Tot and Patton” around Pierre. While church ladies showed up to feed the film crew every day, Lon let them sleep in his home and made them pancakes every morning.
Lon said he read the “Maine” script with Andrew before he was even hired to direct it, and Andrew would later send him editing snippets and ask for his advice.
“I’m just someone frank who’s not in the industry,” Lon said.
He talked begrudgingly about the whole movie bit, but one can see, there is no greater fan of Andrew than his father.
“He’s been to all my screenings. He’s watched all of my films multiple times,” Andrew said. “And he is definitely my biggest supporter.”
'A simple message' for families or anyone who enjoys movies
Andrew said he reminded himself often while filming on Mt. Katahdin – and also in the Catskills, seeking out homes built in the 1930s for authenticity – that he was making a unique film for kids. While lost, 12-year-old Donn foraged for berries alongside bears, lost his pants in the river and had bugs crawling up his nose, but there was an innocent perseverance that any child may relate to and swell with emotion when faced with it.
“This is a simple message,” Andrew said. “There is so much noise around us, but your family and your friends are your home. That is where your heart is.”
Even though the Great Depression had just ended and World War II was “on the doorstep,” Cook said this is still a relatable story about a family going through hardship. Andrew said the mother is compassionate in the film (played by Caitlin FitzGerald) while the father (Paul Sparks) “kind of goes through a reckoning of his own parenting style.”
“It will make you want to hug your kid,” Cook said.
And if you do, then Andrew has made tangible a dream that everyone around him has seen swirling all along: a special movie maker well on his way.
“Andrew has pursued his dream, and it has come true,” said Peterson, who Andrew credited for first fostering his film education at a small theater not that long ago. “And this is just the start. There was once a young Steven Spielberg who started off making independent films, and look where he is today.”
South Dakota author lands publishing deal with HarperCollins
As originally published in the USA Today.
Ah, finally.
The weather is chilly. It’s dark before dinner, the fire is crackling and it’s about time to settle into a long winter’s nap with your lover.
Or, better yet, let’s settle in with a steamy book about lovers. And just grab an entire series of romance novels while you’re out holiday shopping this year.
Sioux Falls author Amy Daws has written – and self-published – more than 20 books in 10 years’ time, all adult contemporary romance. Or, let’s just call it what Daws does: “smut” writing. It’s the type of meet-cute tropes that never tire, that leave readers swooning, and that they read with gluttony. When will they kiss already?
Daws said she has mastered the “dangling of the carrot” for her readers, but now she’s caught the attention of an international publisher as well. After a decade of marketing all her work on her own, she has signed a contract with HarperCollins, a publishing company well known among writers and readers as one of the “Big 5.” (Others being Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette and MacMillan.)
You sign with a Big 5, you are on your way.
“We love all of her work so much,” said John Jacobson, her editor with Canary Street Press, which is an imprint under HarperCollins.
The company will be releasing her newest book in her latest series next year, while also re-releasing a few of her existing books with new covers, in paperback, e-book and audio.
“There is something special about seeing your books in retail stores like Target and Barnes & Noble, and we’re so excited to bring that to Amy,” Jacobson said. “There will be readers discovering her work for the first time.”
'The master of girl talk'
But Daws is not new to this.
Before she found an agent, and before a publisher found her, she was single-handedly managing a seven-figure career and charming video reels for more than 110,000 followers on Instagram and more than 150,000 followers on TikTok.
She’s produced all her own audiobooks, became a No. 1 best-selling author on Amazon, sold nearly 350,000 copies of one book alone. She's even had a movie spun out of another, all from her kitchen.
“I’m not just a writer,” said Daws, 41 and living in South Dakota’s largest city with her husband and 12-year-old daughter. “I’m an entrepreneur. With success comes more responsibility, so I’ve been doing the marketing, advertising, writing, cover work and creative control. You want to stay relevant as an indie (independent) author. It definitely feels competitive out there, so I need to have a hand in everything.”
That includes relationship building with her readers. Like a suitor in her books, she’s unabashedly loyal to them.
“Readers will line up all day long to wait for a picture with her and to have her sign their books,” said Tricia Derbyshire, a reader from Chicago who met Daws at a book convention in 2022 and has read her entire backlist since. “They’ll even bring her gifts. If there’s anything Amy does especially well, it’s drawing in new readers with her personality and humor.”
I met Daws for the first time last month, during an author fair at Siouxland Library’s downtown location, and Derbyshire is right. Like you do when you’re enchanted by someone new, many in the room were clamoring to be near her.
Jill Degen, a reader who recently attended a book club in town with Daws, said Daws’ book characters feel like best friends.
“The quick-wit humor and romance in her books make them so addicting,” Degen said. “She’s the master of girl talk.”
Daws’ editor, Jacobson, said they had been following her for quite some time and were immediately drawn to her humor as well.
“It’s difficult to make somebody laugh out loud, and Amy can do that really well,” Jacobson said.
But Daws also shares a depth to her characters that is just as enticing.
“Amy is incredibly complex underneath all the fun, often addressing personal, challenging topics,” said Jacobson, who impulsively emailed Daws earlier this year to see if she had signed with a publisher yet.
Jacobson was courting her more than she was courting the publisher.
“You always want that palpable connection between two characters – that excitement you seek – and Amy has it,” Jacobson said. “I think readers will find themselves moved by Amy no matter what.”
In good company among spicy romance authors
She’ll fit right in when her books pile up for national retailers.
Markell Boysen, manager at Barnes & Noble in Sioux Falls, said spicy romance fiction has “taken off” in their store and that some of their top-selling, national authors are fellow contemporary romance writers.
Boysen listed writers like Penelope Douglas, Lauren Asher and Elle Kennedy – a fellow best-selling author who also writes under an imprint of HarperCollins – sell equally steamy books with an equally voracious readership, never writing fast enough to keep them satiated for more.
“I have to read Amy’s books as soon as they come out,” said Tiara Cobillas, a prolific reader from Kansas City who has traveled to book conventions just to meet Daws. “She’s an easy author to pick up and read, and I can’t get enough. Her humor is so unique and relatable.”
Even though Daws said she has fellow authors who “publish five books in a year,” she needn’t rush. With a publisher to support her now and a readership that adores her, she has more grace to give herself as she commences the next chapter of her career.
“It’s been such a big journey,” Daws said.
Ironically, her first-ever published book was an emotional memoir about enduring recurrent pregnancy loss before her daughter was born.
“It’s exciting that I keep going up, but I’m also content being where I am," Daws said. "It’s been a dream job to help me enjoy the one thing I’ve wanted most in my life, which is to be a mom.”
Many of Daws’ books take place in London, “one of my favorite places,” she said, but Sioux Falls is home.
“We’re happy here, our family is here,” she said with the forethought that an even bigger readership is on the way.
Boysen said Daws’ latest book will hit their shelves in March.
“For a long time, the Midwest has been considered fly-over and that talent had to leave to find success,” said Sioux Falls reader Degen, who calls Daws’ work “a literary treat.” “Amy has helped to break that narrative with her success. Talent lives here, and her success is inspiring to me as a reader but also for other writers striving for similar success.”
National Penguin Project honors young actors of all abilities
Originally published in the Argus Leader in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
A few months ago, 12-year-old Nate Sheppard said bravely to his mother, Julie Sheppard, “I want to go to rehearsal, Mom. It’s where I belong.”
He hasn’t left the stage since.
Nate is among 50 other young actors participating in The Penguin Project, an all-abilities performance program for ages 10 to 25 that will bring “The Wizard of Oz” to the Orpheum Theater this weekend.
More than 400,000 patrons annually attend events at The Washington Pavilion, and more than 155,000 combined tickets have been sold to both Pavilion and Orpheum performances within the past year. The Pavilion’s production last year of “Disney’s Aladdin” alone generated more than $1 million in revenue. Childrens’ plays abound, families return again and again.
But have they seen the Penguins?
What is The Penguin Project? Learn more about the national program named after penguins because they are different than other birds but still thrive.
“This program is our weekly motivation,” said Oliver Mayes, managing artistic director at The Premiere Playhouse. “You will get see so many students on stage with an overwhelming amount of joy and talent that doesn’t normally get to be expressed.
“Seeing them in their true happy place is very moving and an incomparable experience.”
The Premiere Playhouse in Sioux Falls (formerly known as the Sioux Empire Community Theater) started the first and only South Dakota chapter of the national Penguin Project in 2021. Since, they have hosted three plays, about 40 to 50 students on stage, and a full staff that works to provide an inclusive and accessible theater experience.
“We curate the show more so for the kids,” said Alex Newcomb Weiland, manager of the production and education departments at the Playhouse. “Our stage is their classroom, and we pride ourselves on having a safe and fun environment for them.”
Mentorship fosters friendship
The Penguin Project produces modified, theatrical productions for differently abled actors who are paired with a peer mentor on stage to guide them.
“We’re still friends with Emily’s mentor from her first year,” said Darla Groeneveld, the mother of the 18-year-old student who’s performed with the penguins all three years.
She also participates in the United Wolf Pack Special Olympics Team in town.
“We hang out together, and these interactions are good for both sides. It shows our kids that they are just like everybody else," Groeneveld said. "They want to be just like everybody else and have the same childhood experiences. With their mentor, they get to do that.”
Among mentors and castmates, the experience helps to enhance social interaction, communication skills, self-confidence and self-esteem.
Most importantly to the cast, it fosters friendship. Some of them are new to one another, while others have met in school or at Special Olympics events. They become fast friends either way.
“Everyone here is so creative,” said Sara Newitt, a 14-year-old student who is playing the Wicked Witch of the West and also performed in “Seussical” last year. “There’s a lot of, like, inspiration going around the room. This year is more of building individual characters, but that is almost more powerful when we bring it all together as a team.”
There are lots of hugs on stage, and singing voices so loud and proud, as supportive parents and families watch from their auditorium seats.
“You just cheer for everybody up there,” said one of the moms, Jeanette Ross. “It’s good tears.”
Castmates 'are divas now'
Nate says it’s scary at first. His sister, Laura, is also in the play, taking on the lead role of Dorothy, and his older brother, Kainan, will be there, too. He gets a kick out of the part where he gets to throw apples at Nate, who’s playing the scarecrow this weekend.
“But then when I’m done with it, it just feels like a big relief,” Nate said shyly.
Castmate Hunter Ross, a 17-year-old senior at Washington High School who performed with the penguins last year as well, said he still gets nervous, but “that’s a good thing.”
“We have to play three nights in a row, but when I was done with ‘Annie’ last year, I was so much in tears because I did it,” he said. "It was so fun.”
His mom, Jeanette Ross, breaks a smile and nods.
Sara’s mom, Barb Newitt, describes her daughter’s growth throughout the season as learning life skills and figuring out her true talents. Mayes agreed the growth in their students is tremendous.
“The ones that have been with us every year, we joke they are divas now,” he said. “They’ve gotten so confident, they know how good they are, and it’s just a riot.”
“You are discovering aspects of yourself you didn’t notice before,” teenage artist Sara added. She squeezes a rainbow sensory squishy as she chats. “I am getting excited more, because I know that, if I’ve prepared, all that’s left to do is just step on the stage and feel wonderful.”
Sara was not too keen on being cast as the wicked witch.
“She’s cruel," she said.
But it’s another learning opportunity.
“I’m really trying to understand why there’s such a role in the world,” Sara said. “But she represents a paradox in a way, like she’s trying to be understood. She’s trying to seek attention, but she’s doing it in all the wrong ways!”
Mission of inclusivity and accessibility honored
Mayes said The Penguin Project has helped the Playhouse achieve productivity in their mission faster than they would have with any other project. He said some guests arrive at the show and don’t even realize what they are going to experience but leave verklempt, moved, even proud. It’s also changing the staff.
“I’m so grateful this has come into my life,” Newcomb Weiland says. “It’s a passion I never knew I would love more than anything else and is my favorite project we do all year.”
Perhaps it will be for patrons, too.
Why a South Dakota mother leaves state for prenatal care
Danielle Campoamor drives 86 miles a week to visit her obstetrician in Minnesota.
At 32 weeks pregnant, the South Dakota mother of two is new to the anti-abortion state in which she is not comfortable giving birth.
In the face of Amendment G, which puts abortion access in the hands of state voters next week, Campoamor is choosing to speak out.
“This is a way to feel some semblance of control for my future and my family’s future,” she said.
So she drives 43 miles east on Highway 34, visits a new OBGYN at the Pipestone Medical Center and drives 43 miles back home to Madison. She will continue to do this weekly for the next two months, until she is home safely with a healthy baby girl by Christmas.
“South Dakota used to be my safe, happy place,” said Campoamor, 37, who recently left Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and children to serve as a needed caregiver for her 88-year-old grandfather.
He was diagnosed last year with Alzheimer’s and has since had two bad falls.
But, much of her family is here, and she fondly remembers visiting South Dakota every summer growing up. “I loved going to the farm, smelling the cows, chasing after frogs and pheasant hunting,” she said. “But now as a pregnant mother of two, I have to ask myself, ‘Is this really a safe place anymore?’ ”
Pregnancy-related deaths on the rise in South Dakota
Since her childhood visits to South Dakota, women’s reproductive rights have changed. Although South Dakota’s current abortion ban is intended to preserve the lives of children, the state’s infant mortality rate continues to lead the nation.
According to the South Dakota Department of Health, out of every 1,000 live births in 2022, 7.8 babies died within the first four weeks of delivery.
Pregnant mothers like Campoamor have been at risk, too.
The Child Death Review and the Maternal Mortality Review committees also reports that, out of 24 pregnancy-related deaths in 2022, 20 were preventable.
This is why Campoamor drives.
“Chances are this will be a healthy birth,” she said. “But the only thing we know for sure about pregnancy is that it’s completely unpredictable.”
Ten years ago, Campoamor lost a twin 20 weeks into her first pregnancy and was in the hospital with a blood infection. A few months later, she delivered her first-born son along with the remains of his sibling. She asks: What would’ve happened if she was enduring that loss today?
“I don’t know if my body will let me down as it has before,” she wrote for The Nation Magazine last month. Campoamor covers female reproductive rights for national outlets and is a former NBC and Today reporter. “But now I am one severe pregnancy complication away from landing in a South Dakota emergency room, where a doctor is too afraid to help me because of the state’s anti-abortion policies.”
She combats her worry with a plan. Campoamor said she has neighbors and cousins lined up if she goes into labor when her husband is out of town for work, and she’s enlisting drivers if she can’t make the 43-mile drive on her own. She also communicates regularly with her doctor and has discussed with her where to go and who to reach out to in Sioux Falls if she needs immediate care in a larger community.
“These are the concerns that overwhelm my mind," she said.
What would Amendment G mean for South Dakota?
On Nov. 5, voters will decide whether abortion will be legal again in South Dakota.
A vote to adopt Amendment G would legalize abortion in the first trimester.
“We want to live in a world where everyone who is pregnant and having a baby is having a wanted pregnancy, a wanted birth … and a positive future to look forward to,” said Samantha Chapman, ACLU’s advocacy manager in South Dakota, who recently pointed out how Gov. Kristi Noem has touted high birth rates in South Dakota while excluding the state’s national leading statistic in infant mortality.
A vote not to adopt the measure would leave the Constitution as it is: A vague definition of prohibiting all abortions except to preserve the life of a pregnant woman.
“Numerous South Dakota medical professionals agree: We need to (continue to) prohibit late-term abortions, protect mothers from unsafe, unregulated abortions, and protect babies,” said Leslie Unruh and Jon Hansen, co-chairs of Life Defense Fund, a nonprofit opposing Amendment G.
Earlier this year, Campoamor interviewed Rick and Adam Weiland, co-founders of Dakotans for Health who feel confident that Amendment G can pass next Tuesday, Election Day.
“(Opponents) are looking for anything they can to deny the voters the right to decide,” Rick Weiland told Campoamor for British online newspaper The Independent.
According to a statewide poll co-sponsored by South Dakota News Watch last month, the outcome may be too close to call, with 50% of voters in support of the measure and 47% opposing it. As of two weeks ago, 3% were still undecided.
“We’ve been saying from the very beginning of this campaign that the more people learn about how extreme Amendment G really is, the more they will reject it,” said Caroline Woods, a spokesperson for Life Defense Fund, last week.
'I just want a healthy baby'
But Campoamor said she simply wants to introduce another great-grandchild to her grandfather and wants to continue to live a healthy life, even if she has to be in South Dakota with her family right now.
“I’m not looking to terminate my pregnancy in South Dakota,” she said. “This is an extremely wanted pregnancy. But I am already a mom to two boys and would like to keep living my life. Here it seems the only time my life would matter is if I were dangerously close to losing it. Do I want to roll that dice? How close to death am I willing to be?”
If enshrined in the state Constitution, Amendment G would supersede the state’s 2005 trigger ban that went into effect when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The South Dakota Attorney General’s office has stated that, since it is a constitutional amendment, the state legislature cannot alter the measure if it is enacted.
Local gym coaches compete on NBC’s ‘American Ninja Warrior’
I have a 10-year-old son. He has 10-year-old friends. I know how this one goes.
These kids spend an inordinate amount of time gawking at the YouTube videos. They record trick shots in the backyard. They back flip off the diving board, they back flip off the trampoline, they climb the roof to see if they can shoot a basket into the neighbor’s driveway hoop. (And they actually make it.)
Then they watch NBC’s “American Ninja Warrior” in their living rooms with their parents on a Monday night, and they say to themselves, I want to be like that! My son commenced the dream just last week, mesmerized by the talent on the TV screen.
Drew Nester was 12 years old when he first saw the show and hence started practicing ninja on his own.
In a backyard in Iowa, he was the neighbor kid tying ropes onto trees to catapult from and perfecting cliffhangers underneath his deck. Then he trained with cannonballs and nun-chucks while stationed in Qatar as a combat medic for the U.S. Army. Now on Monday, you can watch it all payoff for him in the semi-finals of “American Ninja Warrior.”
“I always wanted to compete in a sport, but I was the smallest kid. But then I would watch ‘Ninja Warrior’ and all the athletes were maybe 5-foot-7, 140 pounds. Then when I started going to the gym, I saw I was good at it, too. Ninja is my safe space.”
“I know it sounds ridiculous,” Nester says, now 23 and coaching at 605 Ninja in the Western Mall. “I tell my mom when I’m 13 years old that we need to build a ninja warrior course at our house because I was going to be on this show. But I was already doing parkour and free running at that age. I knew I was going to do this.”
“American Ninja Warrior” is a reality TV show that began in 2009, a competition in which athletes attempt four courses to win a $1 million prize. The sport has evolved tremendously over time, with competitions worldwide and applications nearing 100,000 per season for the reality TV show alone. Might we even see ninja as a sport in the Olympics someday?
But, for now, Nester has local competition. Lincoln High School senior Josh Miller is also competing on season 16 of “American Ninja Warrior,” and we could see both athletes on upcoming episodes.
“My story is a bit simpler,” says Miller, who grew up in Sioux Falls with equally supportive parents and a similar course in his backyard. He, too, coaches at 605 Ninja today. “It goes back to fifth grade, when friends were swinging on the monkey bars at school and looking cool. I just wanted to keep up with them.”
He ran cross country and track in high school and tried football and soccer but says no other sport compares to ninja.
“Not even close,” he says. “Ninja is my safe place.”
What is ninja?
Safe is an ironic word.
Ninja training involves ropes, rings, laché bars, parkour, free climbing, leaps and this thing called a salmon ladder, an obstacle in which two vertical posts hold a series of rungs and a horizontal bar. The goal is to leap toward the top rung and back down again. You’d first need to knock out a few dozen pullups to even attempt the ladder. I mean, good luck.
Parkour sounds even more reckless – an acrobatic discipline in which athletes try to get from point A to B in the fastest way possible, like a villain being chased in the city. Watching both parkour and ninja – watching the show – is like a gaping what did I just see? moment. It seems even the athlete himself is impressed.
“With the show, I’m kind of surprised I did as well as I could, actually,” says Miller, who got accepted onto the show the first time he applied. “But I was just happy to run the course.”
To compete in ninja involves raw upper body strength, speed, technique, focus, stamina, and, above all, the courage to believe you can do it.
“I always wanted to compete in a sport,” says Nester, who also competed on season 14 of ANW, “but I was always the smallest kid. When I got into high school, I wasn’t even five feet tall yet. But then I would watch ‘Ninja Warrior’ and all the athletes were maybe 5-foot-7, 140 pounds. Then when I started going to the gym, I saw I was good at it, too, and it also was a ton of fun.”
As for 18-year-old Miller, his demeanor will fool you. He is quiet, reserved, kind and has few words. But then he flies along the courses at such a superhero’s pace, you wonder just how much beast is inside the boy.
“Josh leads by example by being humble,” says fellow 605 coach Boston VanDonselaar, “while Drew leads by example in his confidence. He shows kids and adults that it’s ok to be nervous but to go out on the course and use that for a confident mindset.”
You see brawn on the show, but ninja is a mental game, and that’s where Nester’s vivacious determination and Miller’s humility triumphs. It empowers many.
“The thing that sold us was how great the coaches are with kids,” says local mother Catherine Newman, who’s 8-year-old son, Henry, attends classes at 605 Ninja. “They are so encouraging and know how to build kids up at their age levels. It’s phenomenal.”
Overcoming fear to have fun
605 Ninja owner Jason Steinberg admits his business is less gymnasium and power and more sanctuary and support.
“What has helped us here is the culture we’ve built,” he says. “We have a strong belief that the people who work for us are going to be influential role models for the kids.”
Steinberg, a former personal trainer, and his wife, Lacy, a former cheerleading coach, opened the gym in 2018, one of the first and only ninja training facilities in the state. There are classes and summer camps and open gyms for all ages – it’s a riot for families – but the facility is also an environment for ninja warriors like Nester and Miller and 8-year-old Henry to test themselves.
“Ninja is 90 percent failure and 10 percent success,” says Steinberg, who also competed on “ANW” on season nine. “So we focus on building good character, confidence, problem-solving techniques and respect.
“They’re becoming stronger, healthier and happier kids.”
Nester calls Steinberg a mentor and a good friend. Miller says even before he became a student or a coach at 605 Ninja, he looked up to Steinberg in a way that felt intimidating to be around him. But Steinberg has that presence about him.
“Jason has taught me everything I know,” says Miller, who still trains with both Steinberg and Nester – and many of the other 605 coaches who plan to try out for season 17. “He’s definitely a really big role model for us.”
At 605 Ninja, no one talks about being afraid of such a dangerous sport. It’s just hard work, loud music, moments of thrill and a mission statement on the wall that reads, “Changing Lives One Obstacle at a Time.”
“There are kids here who are going to be better than the both of us in a few years,” Nester says. “And I think a lot of that is because they’ve got guys like us who’ve already done it. We can give them the tools we found and the advice they need to make it.”
“It feels good to give back to the next generation,” Miller adds.
“You did it, bro! Let’s go!” Nester shouts as a student makes it across the course without ever dropping his grip. “Hey, I made it!” responds the sweaty kid with his shoes untied and surprise on his face.
Maybe we’ll see him on TV someday, too.
As is true in any sport, if you do not believe you can make it from point A to point B, you won’t. But our South Dakota boys never even consider whether they can’t.
They patiently wait for when they will.
‘America’s Best Restaurants’ explores local cuisine in Sioux Falls
Honk, honk! “America’s Best Restaurants” made it up and down Interstate 29 this past month to feature some of the area's most beloved independent restaurants in the state. Did you see their van parked in front of your favorite place to eat?
Five regional businesses will be featured in episodes this fall: Carnaval Brazilian Grill in Sioux Falls, Squealer’s Smoke Shack Bar & Grill in Tea, Chud’s Pub and Grub in Iowa, The Lone Pine Grill in Watertown and Prime Time Tavern in Huron.
That’s a lot of local beef, and plentiful prairie to cover.
“We have to drive a lot to get from one restaurant to the next, but the scenery is so beautiful here,” said ABR host Danyel Detomo, who lives in North Carolina and has never spent time in South Dakota before this. “All the menu items were also very impressive.”
Detomo and her film crew interviewed all business owners within a week, bellying up to the table with each one to try at least three different recipes per visit. They’ll be touring North Dakota before the end of the month.
“I definitely loved the roasted pineapple, and the frozen pineapple drink,” Detomo said after her visit to Carnaval Brazilian Grill. “I could have kept going with that one.”
Marcelo Krunizky is the director of operations at the locally-owned restaurant that has been firing up their rotisserie since 2005. He emigrated from Brazil after graduating culinary school to help open the restaurant and has taken pride in Carnaval’s authentic rodizio service ever since.
“In Brazil, when we share a meal with friends and family, it is a time where we connect, take time to eat slowly, eat well and create memories,” he said. “We hope to bring some of that Brazilian hospitality to the audiences watching the show.”
It’s an equally special cultural experience at Squealer’s in Tea. For a decade now, the BBQ restaurant has been serving smoked pork, brisket, homemade sides and “Schwety Ball” wings that customers tout. But it’s the outdoor patio and sand volleyball courts that make for such an intimate community hangout.
Manager Roxie Stanga said 80 teams (nearly 1,000 players) participate in their annual summer league, which includes youth games, and they've nearly filled all spots already for next year.
“People love the atmosphere here,” Stanga said. “We have a tiki bar and music outside, and it’s absolutely the guests who keep enjoying Squealer’s that have gotten us to where we are today. It’s awesome.”
Stanga said the ABR crew was professional and enjoyable to work with when they visited in July. Host Detomo tried a French dip sandwich with prime rib, smoked chicken wings with homemade ranch, and their well-known “Smoke Shack” pulled pork patty with nacho cheese.
“Squealer’s has such a warm BBQ feel,” Detomo said. “It’s all so fun.”
Sioux Falls residents love a good place to eat. The many factors that ABR looks for when choosing to visit a restaurant – good customer reviews, engagement with the community, unique recipes – are also what make Midwestern menus so competitive.
Every spring, restaurants participate in the annual Burger Battle and the Downtown Pork Showdown to outstanding turnouts. Downtown Sioux Falls' events manager Jared Indahl said the competitions have been so successful, surrounding communities like Hartford, Brookings, Madison, Vermillion and others have reached out for advice on how to host similar menu contests. He's had out-of-state interest, too.
"Yes, it's a food competition with a trophy and bragging rights," Indahl, who has been organizing the Burger Battle for the past three years, said. "But our goal with these promotions is to get 'cheeks in seats' and increase foot traffic."
This past year, more than 76,000 burgers were sold downtown for the annual Burger Battle, and participating restaurants reported more than $1.2 million was spent on the featured burgers alone. Indahl said they continue to see both sales and votes increase every season.
"I hear directly from businesses that January is their most profitable month of the year because of Burger Battle, and January is typically a slow time for restaurants!" Indahl said.
“America’s Best Restaurants” anticipates the same success.
As an internet-based roadshow, the goal is to garner publicity for the region and to direct customers to each restaurant's Facebook page. "Fewer people watch the show live anymore," Detomo said. "You just get more views online!"
Then, after an episode has aired, ABR CEO Matt Plapp said many of the featured restaurants report up to a 30% traffic increase to their restaurants.
“Customers just want to come and see what all the excitement is about!” Detomo added.
While filming at Carnaval, the crew was entertaining, restaurant guests in the background were giddy to be a part of the show, and Detomo’s energy created a delightful experience. Krunizky said it was an honor to be chosen.
“We are all so excited right now,” said Carnaval server assistant Cassandra Nelson. She was still training as an employee and expressed her gratitude for Krunizky’s kindness. “It’s just a big family here. It’s been so much fun to be a part of this.”