As mainline churches across America struggle with declining membership, rural churches often face an additional problem: The difficulty of calling and keeping a pastor. Cost is a significant concern, but making the math work is just part of the challenge.
Two Army privates, who were in the same company and grew up 20 miles away from each other in northeast South Dakota, found out they have a memorable plane crash in common.
Several organizations in the James River Valley have recognized the benefits of thinking regionally, and have stretched their traditional boundaries to do economic development work that benefits a larger area.
This year is Larry aka “Santa Claus” Baumgarn’s last Christmas. The longtime Webster insurance agent and Santa will hang up his suit after close to 30 years making holiday visits that have meant so much to so many.
Cities may be fertile ground for new ideas, but rural places provide changes for interaction with the land itself—sparking ideas that are rooted in the harsh and beautiful reality of the world we inhabit.
Few houses are being built or in the rural areas of the state where depopulation is happening, according to Sid Goss of the S.D. School of Mines.
While many rural libraries are struggling nationwide, most in the Dakotas are doing quite well—they enjoy strong community support as they welcome more patrons through the doors.
We may be in a drought now, but the damage from two years of flooding lives on.
We want a Postcard from you—a short, evocative story about an event, person or place, written as if you were telling the story to a friend.
Dakota Roots is a good program that could be better for the rural areas of the state if it looked beyond job openings to considering marketplace opportunities.