Opinion column: How leadership events empower our community
Our community is ripe with a sense of empowerment. If you are here, don’t plan to stagnate. Here, we grow, and we’re just getting started.
The Sioux Falls Development Foundation, StartUp Sioux Falls, Leadership Sioux Falls, the Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation, Forward Sioux Falls and many other local hubs exist to invest in businesses and community leaders who can helm change and inspire us to feel good about what’s next. These organizations foster inclusion for overlooked minorities in our community so we can all feel equally capable to drive this community forward.
Here, we are forever young. Cough cough goes the contagious gusto in the room.
In our local financial landscape, Brooke Fitts, with First International Bank and Trust, is breaking through and getting noticed (as is often the case with our banking and healthcare leaders in Sioux Falls).
After 20 years in FinTech, Fitts was selected to join the RiseUp Academy, a global leadership cohort of women in finance who will network and build relationships with one another during Money 20/20, a global financial conference in Las Vegas. She will head out there next month to connect with like-minded, emerging female leaders.
RiseUp is a yearlong cohort but an infinite network Fitts can continue to learn from and gauge how her team here is performing compared to others in the global space. With this program, she can be the messenger, bringing to Sioux Falls ideas on how to keep up in banking.
Fitts has worked with many FinTech startups for over the past 20 years—FinTech being a use of technology in banking. She is now head of payment products and strategy for Kotapay, a payments division within FIBT that serves more than 2.5 million employees worldwide. At Money 20/20, she will also help to launch a new platform affording banks to mitigate oversight more accordingly.
A path to growth is never linear, and trailblazers must know this.
Brooke has always pushed the boundaries in the financial industry. She says her career path is “close to her heart” after humble beginnings issuing prepaid cards to underserved communities over 20 years ago. “Every dollar matters,” she says. “This means that our financial health is right there next to the importance of healthcare.”
Because of this awareness both in our community and worldwide, Brooke is unafraid and eager to introduce a tech presence within an industry that was otherwise operating under archaic manual products. If financial wellbeing is paramount to living well, then we need to keep up. She is a pioneer in this mindset.
Like many of our powerhouses in Sioux Falls, Brooke’s work inspires a willingness to grow, a mindset of adaptation that is not scary but liberating. There is no fear to be felt, she urges, only an excitement of what’s to come. Brooke’s work and presence—both in banking and in our community—can make you feel like anything is possible, and that we’re all going to make it. Forge ahead, her quick-paced demeanor says. We have work to do!
“I am someone who thrives on being responsible for innovation and being on the cutting edge of what FinTechs are bringing into the space,” she says. “(The RiseUp program) is an opportunity to connect with people who are creating that kind of real impact.”
If you are going to lead, you must mentor, too. Brooke is not just in the office—or in Las Vegas meeting people for us—she mentors female professionals on behalf of EmBe’s Women’s Leadership Program, she participates in Power Lunches at local middle schools and serves at Call to Freedom, safe housing and counseling for victims of trafficking.
The biggest need she sees? Mentees want a guide to navigate their career landscapes and tools to build their confidence. They want to be like their mentor and participate in our growing community.
“Sioux Falls is an underrated gem when it comes to a community that wants to lift people up,” Fitts says. “I am blessed to be part of a community that wants to elevate one another.”
How do you rise up your fellow community members?
Let’s get out there.
Originally published in the Argus Leader in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
My first column: Let’s get out there to support community
I was 22 years old when I first had a desk at the Argus Leader, joining the night desk as a copy editor.
It was May of 2005, but I quickly learned I had to always dress like it was January. I’m pretty sure every newsroom is cold.
I had just graduated from college — as in the leftover slices from my graduation cake were still in the fridge — and my desk had a fish on it named Emmie Dash. I was so thrilled to be there, so proud and eager, and that is how I feel as I return today.
Back then, the newsroom was so crowded, I had to squeeze into a corner of the night desk, near Pat and Nathaniel, Tim and Melissa and Todd.
These were the ones who pulled out menus from their desk drawers every Saturday night to enjoy take-out together in the conference room (which also had the sink and the microwave and where they often hosted surprise wedding showers and baby showers and, less often, farewells).
On the Fourth of July, we would sneak onto the roof to watch the fireworks, and on most weeknights, we’d take turns hosting poker nights after we read through first run around 11:30 p.m.
It was an absolute heyday, having a byline and incredibly talented editors and a seat in most afternoon meetings. What an honor it is to be a journalist.
Today, a lot has changed for me and for you. This community now has veteran journalists – many of whom are dear former colleagues I was privileged to work with – who have commenced many other news platforms for our community, while my new Argus Leader colleagues continue to be proudly among these gallant publications.
From what I see in this quaint office that still looks and smells like any newsroom would – there’s got to be take-out menus here somewhere – these reporters work harder than ever before and support one another in ways only a small team can do.
No matter the hustle, they show up, and I’m inspired by this young team.
I would like to say this loudly: The Argus Leader is still here, and I feel honored to have joined a family who is honored to maintain dedication to its readership and investment in its community.
For my beat, I intend to cover events, culture, and trending activities in our Sioux Falls community, and I hope to use this weekly column as a space to not only encourage you to get out and enjoy those things, but to share why I think that matters and to immerse myself into a thriving culture as much as I want you to.
I’ll start with this weekend, when the Barb Iverson Skate Park is alas opening, Palisades State Park will open 77 new campsites, there is still a new lion at the zoo, there will be a tribute to Queen at the Pav, and downtown will host a walking tour on the history and best restaurants to support.
I find it encouraging that a local skate park will welcome professional skaters while a local state park has more than tripled in size for families to keep hiking and roasting marshmallows. Must you need any other type of weekend to validate how splendid and flourishing is your home?
I am a romantic, and there are always pain points of course, but our culture here just keeps getting better, because we work together to make it so.
What a treasure we have here. Keep going!
I am so proud to return to local journalism, and I am grateful for the newsroom family who first inspired me 20 years ago. Just as news is a constant for every community, so, too, is a journalist’s unabated fervor to cover it.
Let’s get out there.
Originally published in the Argus Leader in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Opinion column: ‘Bluey’ is an emotional ride for families
My family and I sold our home this past spring.
We’re now enduring the whole bit – building a new one, moving to a new town, the kids starting a new school and the parents starting new jobs. I’m surprised there’s not a second dog in the mix here.
My two boys are ages 7 and 10, still childlike enough that I naively didn’t think this big shake would haunt them as much as it did.
I thought maybe my older one would have a difficult time leaving friends – and he still does – but it was my younger one who took such an emotional blow.
Parenthood is like that, mocking you for thinking you have the kids all figured out.
I had heard there was a new “Bluey” episode around the time we were moving – not another 7-minute episode like most the others, but a 28-minute season finale that had both parents and children needing a Kleenex.
Family time! A nice distraction from stress! I swooned.
We did the baths and put on the pajamas and popped the popcorn and then hopped into bed to watch yet another fantastic episode with Bluey and Bingo, Bandit and Chilli. But was it?
“Bluey” is an Australian-based animated TV show that follows a young blue heeler pup and her family. It began in 2018, has released three darling seasons thus far, and all can be streamed in the U.S. on Disney+.
Parents commend the show for its pomp of tenderness, the thoughtful dialogue and showcase of admirable, unstructured play we all long to see in our living rooms.
The light and heavy are essentially treated as one and the same in the themes, and the show can make you feel as if the responsibility to be a parent is a privilege, not a burden.
A couple years ago, “Bluey” creators began a theatrical adaptation of the television series to continue its squeeze on families’ hearts around the world. Just like the show, “Bluey’s Big Play” touches beautifully on imagination, quality family time and the creative spirit within the child. The tour will return to the Washington Pavilion on July 23-24.
Sioux Falls first welcomed the Bluey puppets last summer to a sold-out audience. Gina Ruhberg, the Pavilion’s director of performances, says that family-friendly shows always do well here and that booking them is so critical to the success of diversifying entertainment for the city but also for the children in our community.
“Once you get them hooked at a young age, those are your future ticket buyers,” she says.
The “Bluey” performances next week keenly reflect the many opportunities local families have in Sioux Falls to connect with one another and enjoy an adventure right at home.
The Pavilion has brought in Blippi and Dora the Explorer, and a magic show is coming soon. The Orpheum presented “Finding Nemo,” “Alice in Wonderland,” “The Lion King” and many others this year alone and is selling tickets now for “The Wizard of Oz” and “Freaky Friday” before years’ end.
For many families, theater will win out in the choice to either take a vacation or see a show, the evening itself a magical adventure still providing the closeness any beach would afford.
Gina says when tours come to town, they often comment on the friendliness of our community and how much there is to see and do.
“Sioux Falls is the best kept secret for family culture,” she says.
We are all so eager to simply enjoy time together, and that’s exactly all I wanted when we snuggled up with the kids on a Friday night to watch the “Bluey” finale.
Have you seen the episode that aired in April? I spoil it for you here, but it threw me. Oddly, it was about the charming dog family selling their home, nearly a risky prank I was playing out on my kids. I only knew that the episode was an emotional one, not that it was this close to home.
My husband and I shared many panicked glances, but then I thought around 14 minutes in, Hey, what a great opportunity for the boys to see that other families sell their home, too!
“Bluey” is so clever, so universal like that.
Except this wasn’t that special moment. The decision to leave their home was so agonizing that the mum and dad decided to remove the For Sale sign from their yard and stay put. What!
Of course, my younger son expected this from us at once as well. “Everything will turn out the way it’s supposed to,” Bluey’s cousin Calypso says toward the end of the episode.
My son did not buy it. Many gentle conversations followed as well as some nights holding each other feeling tender but honored to endure as a family.
Bluey gave us the context we needed to meet each other in the vulnerable space that’s always waiting for families, if we are so willing to lean.
I encourage you to take your kids out to dinner, buy them the popcorn and the unnecessary tour merch and enjoy this beautiful show at the Pavilion, and the many others that unite us.
Let’s get out there.
Originally published in the Argus Leader in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
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.”
Column: Homecoming season unites families, community
School spirit is not so much in the mascot or the pep rally or the fight song.
It’s about who shows up to the games.
Other than looking for parents in the stands, our high school athletes are also scanning the crowd for friends, neighbors, teachers, boyfriends and girlfriends, grandparents and cousins or that classmate in Algebra I. For any athlete on any team, it’s an emotional boost to see a familiar face showing up.
What a sight to see the bleachers full.
What music the clapping makes.
Homecoming is the pinnacle of this support. For weeks—even before the start of the school year—staff, coaches, students and parents prepare for a dedicated week that honors longtime traditions and deepens pride for the school communities we call home.
Families unite here. Teachers build careers here. Students dream here. High school is paramount in self-discovery and ambition, why wouldn’t we stand by any teenager’s side to sing their fight song along with them?
“High school athletics are all about camaraderie. ”
“High school athletics and activities are all about camaraderie,” said Jefferson High School football coach Vince Benedetto.
The Cavaliers will host their homecoming week Sept. 30 through Oct. 4. The Lincoln Patriots will, too.
Jefferson is newer to the Sioux Falls School District, and Benedetto said they are still working to build community. It’s like the first day of school for a long time: Acclimating in the hallways, getting to know staff and breaking in football turf.
Homecoming enriches all of that.
Benedetto said teachers and students enjoy their dress-up days for homecoming week and decorate classroom doors based on themes. He said his football team is establishing a new tradition called the Parent Sticker Ceremony, where Mom and Dad or grandparents or guardians or a friend who’s been by the quarterback’s side since day one come to the first scrimmage of the season to put the stickers on their athlete’s helmet.
“That has a lot of meaning for us,” Benedetto said.
Those are traditions alumni will pass down someday.
Traditionally, homecoming week for high schools in the U.S. is an opportunity every fall to “welcome home” alumni. These are advocates for a school that was once theirs, who still show up today because they are proud of where they came from. Maybe they want to uphold traditions. Maybe they want to hang on to a strong sense of identity. Maybe their own kids are there now.
Maybe they know what it feels like to see you waving in the stands.
Washington, the centenarian of public high schools in our community, will be the first to kick off homecoming next week, with powderpuff football on Sept. 17, volleyball on Sept. 18 and the football game on Sept. 20. The Warriors will play RC Stevens at Howard Wood Field, and the homecoming dance will be afterward.
Of course, among Washington and Jefferson, Lincoln and the Roosevelt Rough Riders, homecoming royalty will be crowned during coronations, a longtime tradition for the senior class. You’ll get to see the winning king and queen at all four football games on their respective Friday night games. Stick around to watch them wave from the middle of the field. Stand and clap when they are announced. What an honor for a 17-year-old in our community.
There is so much pomp and legacy in our school district. Listen quietly on Friday nights this fall, I bet you’ll hear the band. Get on the edge of town, I bet you’ll see our Friday Night Lights.
Better yet, be there. Enjoy the hot dog. Thank the boosters. Stay till the end. A school thrives best when its community is present, united and rallies for one another. It’s not just a football team or a school band or cross-country runners every fall. It’s one jersey. It’s one corner of Sioux Falls with the same colors on. Wear yours!
“We’ve got spirit, yes, we do! We’ve got spirit, how ’bout you?”
Let’s get out there.
Children’s choir singer in wheelchair denied access to stage
On Wednesday night at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center, the Sioux Falls Children’s Choir stood upon risers to perform alongside rock band Foreigner for 9,000 people in a nearly sold-out concert.
But 12-year-old singer, Halle Bauman, who is in a wheelchair and has been performing with the choir for two years now, stayed home that night because she was denied access to the stage.
“This was brought to our attention a few hours before the show that there were safety concerns with getting (Halle) on stage,” said Jim Johnson, assistant general manager at the Denny Sanford Premier Center.
Even though the PREMIER Center is the host, it is the band and tour managers who are responsible for the set and equipment. And it was Foreigner’s team who decided not to invite Halle on stage after all, despite knowing since May that the Sioux Falls Children’s Choir had a student who uses a wheelchair and would need to be accommodated.
“We spoke to personnel and offered absolutely anything we could do to still make it happen, but that was ultimately a decision we couldn’t make,” Johnson said. “It was very frustrating on our end.”
Halle’s mother, Christa Bauman, said her family has attended events at the PREMIER Center before, and the officials have always been accommodating. She said she and choir director Kaela Schuiteman had spoken for months with the events center to “avoid this issue.”
“Then we were told while driving on our way to the show that they had changed their minds and that Halle’s wheelchair was a hazard onstage,” said Bauman, who said they turned around and went home after receiving the call from Katie Kirkland at the PREMIER Center. Bauman’s phone was on speaker. Halle heard the upsetting news at the same time Bauman did.
“This isn’t about us. Halle is just one person who uses a wheelchair, but everyday people in wheelchairs are discriminated against and put on a shelf or turned away. Until if affects your own life, people don’t notice the burden.”
“Halle was rightfully hurt and confused and devastated,” she said.
Johnson said that Foreigner and their team provide this kind of opportunity for local choirs often, asking kids to audition and then come up to sing a song with the band.
But Schuiteman said one of the tour managers’ “excuses” was that the pyrotechnics being used for the show were not safe for Halle, and, without a ramp that was ultimately not built as part of the stage set, Halle would not be able to exit the stage promptly if needed.
A representative of the band could not be reached for comment.
“When the band is dealing with a big production, I understand there are legalities,” Bauman said. "But you also are creative and can figure out a solution if you wanted to. They were lazy and didn’t want to deal with it.”
Schuiteman said she and her board members on Wednesday night were “still trying to figure something out” for Halle, even as the concert itself had already begun. The board had suggested to Halle’s mother that, if Halle couldn’t perform, no one was going onstage that night, but Bauman refused to upset the other kids and insisted they enjoy the show.
“She was so brave,” Schuiteman said. “Christa just said to try to let it go and have fun.”
Potential ADA violations
Molly O’Connor, executive director of REACH Literacy in Sioux Falls and a loyal advocate for accessibility and inclusion in the community, says this exclusion “is gut wrenching” and goes against the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“The ADA requires that public accommodations—including concert venues—provide equal access to their facilities for people with disabilities,” she said. “This, of course, would include performers who use mobility devices and require access to the stage.”
Bauman, who said Halle was diagnosed with spina bifida at birth, said she is exploring a dispute of this potential ADA violation.
“This isn’t about us,” she said. “Halle is just one person who uses a wheelchair, but everyday people in wheelchairs are discriminated against and put on a shelf or turned away. Until if affects your own life, people don’t notice the burden.”
That night, at about 9 p.m., the rest of the Sioux Falls Children’s Choir stood on stage and proudly sang, “I Want to Know What Love Is” as part of the encore with Foreigner.
“This mountain I must climb, feels like a world upon my shoulders,” they sang. “Through the clouds, I see love shine, keeps me warm as life grows colder.”
Even with what might feel like “the world” on Bauman’s shoulders, she said she persists in advocating for her daughter, as does Halle’s choir director, who said her board is considering adding a special concert to the end of their season so Halle can be celebrated. This was also Halle’s last season as part of the choir, which is for children in grades three through six. Halle is a seventh grader at Sioux Falls Christian and intends to sing for their choir as well.
“God gives us assignments,” Bauman said. “I didn’t want this assignment either, but that is the life we’ve been given. And along with it, comes opportunities to advocate.
“I also know that Halle is watching and listening to all of this,” she said. “This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for her. We have to do what we can to force change.”
Tanager Place shooting: Neighborhood ‘unsafe’ after fourth homicide in 2024
Officials with the Sioux Falls Police Department have confirmed that a Wednesday night shooting resulted in what is now being investigated as the city's seventh homicide of 2024.
Tanisha Bruguier, 27, died from a gunshot wound to the torso in the incident. Lifesaving measures were unsuccessful, and Bruguier was reported dead at the scene.
Police spokesman Sam Clemens said officers were called at about 11 p.m. to a trailer home in the 6000 block of West Tanager Place for reports of gunshots.
When they arrived, they found a home that had been struck by multiple bullets — the same house, Clemens said, that was shot about 16 times in an incident on Aug. 31. He said investigators believe the house was targeted on both Saturday and Wednesday nights, but it's unclear why it was targeted or who was targeted.
When officers were called to Tanager Place, 44-year-old Michael Spath II answered the door, and was uninjured, Clemens said. But Bruguier was found dying in a back bedroom facing north toward Fifth Street.
Clemens confirmed that Spath II was then arrested at about midnight Wednesday night at the house where Bruguier was found shot. He was charged with two counts of possession of a firearm by a former violent offender and also for maintaining a place where drugs are kept, sold or used, Minnehaha County court documents state. He was also arrested for possession of a controlled substance and paraphernalia, but the state declined to file those charges.
It's unclear whether the victim was a resident of the home or a visitor, but court records list that Spath II lived in the same home where the homicide occurred. A county property tax search shows Spath did not own the home.
Spath II is being held in the Minnehaha County Jail on a $30,000 bond and will have a preliminary hearing Sept. 19. As of Monday morning, Lt. Aaron Nyberg said there had been no new developments in the case they could share as the investigation continues.
Neighbors are 'paranoid'
Garbage day was Friday on Tanager Place. All the cans were lined along the neighborhood awaiting pick-up, lawns were freshly cut, gardens were full, and bikes were in the driveways while shoes sat on the doorsteps.
Students playing recess at Hayward Elementary School one block south could be heard outside.
After a fatal shooting in the neighborhood on Wednesday night, the atmosphere was an attempted return to normal on a sunny day.
“I’m not in fear, but I am concerned,” said Troy Potts, whose home is on the same street the fatality took place.
He has lived in the neighborhood for more than 20 years and said he has otherwise felt safe biking and walking the area on nice days.
Potts said he heard gunshots Wednesday night but not the Saturday before. A few other neighbors also said they never heard gunshots Saturday, just the ones on Wednesday night, when Bruguier was shot.
“So, did they catch him?” Potts asked about the suspect(s) who shot at the home.
Clemens said no arrests in connection with Saturday's or Wednesday's incidents have been made, and police are still asking the public for any information they may have.
A few houses down from Potts, resident Maynor Reyes Uricar said he was asleep in his home with his wife and two young children when he heard gunshots Wednesday night.
“It’s scary now, with my kids in the home,” he said.
Another neighbor, who is also a parent and asked not to be identified for the fear of becoming a target in a potentially already targeted situation in her neighborhood, said they also were in bed when they heard gunshots Wednesday night. Their bedroom faced north toward Fifth Street, just like the side of the house that was shot at multiple times.
“At first I stayed silent when I heard the gunshot,” the neighbor said. “I had my baby with me, and I was home alone. Then, I got a spooky feeling, so I called the non-emergency line to come out here.”
They said they checked the yard and assured safety. They also said police officers knocked on all doors on the street at about 2 a.m., alerting them to stay inside their homes and ask whether they knew anything or saw anything.
“I’m already paranoid and have an extra lock on my screen door,” the neighbor said, who also shared that other neighbors weren't even sure whether anyone was living in the home Bruguier was found dead. “I'm relieved that we’re moving to a new neighborhood at the end of the month."
Another resident on the street, Chris Lipp, also has his house for sale and said he and his wife plan to move soon.
Delayed determination of death
The shooting was originally reported in a press release late Thursday afternoon, confirming Bruguier had died but not specifying whether she had been shot.
Clemens said the delay between the shooting and the determination that the woman's death was homicide was due to the need to perform an autopsy, saying that authorities had wanted to rule out the possibility that Bruguier's cause of death had been a drug overdose.
Police did find drug residue at the home during the investigation, but from what kind of drug was not immediately available, Clemens said. He said the residue may be sent to a state lab for testing, but also clarified no arrests had been made in connection with the unknown substance.
"There used to be no danger here," Reyes Uricar said.