S.D. 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 ‘smut novel’ author lands publishing deal with HarperCollins
As published in the USA Today on Dec. 20, 2024.
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.”
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.