South Dakota
Annual Chanukah celebration provides new spin on traditions
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – Tradition and symbolism of freedom, peace and hope carry the holiday known as the Festival of Lights.
For Rabbi Mendel Alperowitz of the Chabad Jewish Center of South Dakota, Chanukah has always been a joyous time.
“The best memories I have as a child growing up are of Chanukah, lighting those candles, those colorful candles, spinning that dreidel,” recalled Alperowitz.
The eight-day celebration is observed annually to remember the rededication of the Jewish temple following an important battle between the Assyrian Greeks and the Maccabees. It’s often called the Maccabean Revolt, which took the temple back for the Jewish people, and the word Chanukah means “dedication.”
Every year, the Jewish community of South Dakota holds an event to celebrate together. Notably, the biggest change of this year’s celebration event was the new location to accommodate a growing Jewish community in South Dakota. Last year was hosted at the Empire Mall, but this year was hosted at the South Dakota Military Heritage Alliance.
They were grateful for local leadership who they believed helped to foster the growth of the community and partnering with different faiths. The Chabad Jewish Center of South Dakota brought in Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken to help light the menorah.
“I think it’s very important when we can have events like this just to remember how different we are, but how alike we are at the same time and to be able to come out and just publicly express that we are one Sioux Falls,” TenHaken explained. “I use that term all the time whether it’s our Jewish community, our Muslim community, our Christian community or people who practice no religion at all. We’re all part of one community. We coexist together.”
The menorah was one of many fun touches to this year’s gathering. The gelt drop, where chocolate coins are dropped for children, was done with assistance from Sioux Falls Fire Rescue. The seven-foot menorah itself was made out of Legos by children of the South Dakota Jewish community.
“It was exciting to watch them build it and it’s going to be very exciting to light it this evening,” Alprerowitz said.
For Rabbi Alperowitz, there was an emphasis on creating something for the whole family and involving youth in their longstanding traditions of the Jewish faith.
“Like so much of Judaism, Chanukah is really all about the children,” described Alperowitz. “It’s a time for families and children especially to gather, to learn the traditions, learn the sacred ideas of our heritage and our faith and to keep that going for the next generation. ”
Copyright 2024 Dakota News Now. All rights reserved.
Jefferson’s Makenzie Bierman discusses semifinal win over Lincoln
Makenzie Bierman drove in a team-high three runs in Jefferson’s semifinal victory over Lincoln.
The 2026 South Dakota High School Activities Association (SDHSAA) softball season is underway, and teams all across the state will be vying for the state championship title over the next two-plus months.
Here’s a rundown of each of the three classes and which teams can win the state championship, broken down into three tiers — defending champion, contenders and dark horses.
Class AA
Defending Champion: Sioux Falls Jefferson
Jefferson broke through in 2025 as the No. 4 seed, beating two-time state champion Sioux Falls Lincoln in the semis before shutting out Sioux Falls Washington in the championship game.
The Cavaliers’ pitching led the way last season, but Whitney Portner graduated, leaving Tya Devericks projected to hold down the circle the most. The now-junior pitcher recorded a 2.96 ERA with 28 strikeouts in 26 innings a season ago.
Devericks, Macy Bryant and Brooklyn Herrera form a three-headed monster at the top of Jefferson’s lineup that can compete with nearly any in the state.
Portner is a massive loss for a breakthrough Jefferson team, but the Cavaliers appear to have the pieces in place to repeat if things fall right.
Contenders: Sioux Falls Lincoln, Harrisburg, Sioux Falls Washington, Brandon Valley
Sure, this list includes the rest of the top five seeds from last year’s state tournament, but there’s a reason for all of them to be included.
Lincoln and Harrisburg are both off to 0-1 starts, but they have the track record to give some level of confidence they’ll be near the top of the state come postseason time. Lincoln lost a bunch of seniors from last year’s team, but won the first two SDHSAA state championships and has been the top seed all three years. Harrisburg has dealt with a little less roster turnover this year and was the No. 2 seed all three years, even if it only ended in one second-place finish.
Washington finished second last season with a relatively young roster, and it feels like the program has been ascending, even if the seeds have been relatively the same.
Brandon Valley has to replace nearly 100% of its innings pitched from last year, but most of the offense returns and the Lynx could very well slug their way to contention and their first state title since softball was officially sponsored by the SDHSAA in 2023.
Dark Horses: Tea Area, Sioux Falls Roosevelt, Rapid City Stevens, Brookings
There’s very few dark horses in Class AA, given there are only 17 teams, but all three have a case to break out this season.
Tea Area already has a win over Lincoln this season after finishing with a 6-11 record a season ago. The Titans’ early win can be great for confidence and propel them back to the top of the state after making back-to-back Class A state title games in 2023 and 2024.
Sioux Falls Roosevelt is returning lots of production from a young team in 2025. The Rough Riders didn’t get off to the best 2026 start with a big loss to Brandon Valley, but they have the potential to improve a ton throughout the season and make a leap into the upper tier of Class AA.
Rapid City Stevens went 16-4 a season ago and didn’t lose a ton of production, but the No. 6 seed in 2025 will seemingly always face an uphill battle with the travel required to get in games against Class AA competition.
Brookings had a dominant team in 2023 that fell just short and has lost in the SoDak 16 each of the last two years. The Bobcats had a stable of freshmen last year who can make a leap and bring Brookings softball back to the precipice of state title contention.
Class A
Defending Champion: West Central
West Central has been in each of the first three Class A state championship games, and the Trojans should be extremely strong again with a large senior class.
West Central has already dropped a 17-15 game to Madison to open the season, but a few losses crept into the regular season last year. The Trojans went 22-0 and won a state championship in 2023, and went 22-1 and dropped the state title game to Tea Area in 2024 before a 21-3 run to the state title a year ago.
This year’s crop of Class A softball appears to be even better than the past, and the Trojans will need to dig deep and pull out some tough games to repeat and win their third Class A state championship.
Contenders: Tri-Valley, Madison, Elk Point-Jefferson, Dell Rapids, Dakota Valley
This list essentially comprises the rest of the year in, year out contenders in Class A. All five teams consistently show up in the state tournament and beat each other as West Central mows down its opposition en route to the state championship game.
Tri-Valley was last year’s No. 2 seed and runner-up, and is already off to a 3-0 start in 2026. The Mustangs have most of the same roster as last year and will be able to plug in most of their holes with 2025 backups.
Madison has the aforementioned win over West Central already, but has taken a loss to Tri-Valley. The Bulldogs have consistently had an offense in the top third of Class A, but things can change quickly if the big-game run prevention shows up.
Elk Point-Jefferson, like Tri-Valley, is off to a 3-0 start. The difference is the Huskies haven’t quite faced the level of competition as the Mustangs. Elk Point-Jefferson has dispatched of that opposition accordingly, and early-season momentum is never a bad thing.
Dell Rapids has finished third each of the last three seasons, and lots of young talent returning can help the Lady Quarriers break through the barrier. Dell Rapids’ seed has gotten worse over the last three years, so there’s also the chance there’s another dip.
Dakota Valley has been the most up-and-down of the teams in this tier, bouncing from the third seed to seven seed year to year. The Panthers have a difficult early-season schedule, where a lot will be learned about this group.
Dark Horses: Beresford, Sioux Valley
This is a short list with the top contenders in Class A being so stable, but each team has a reason for being listed.
Beresford is off to a 2-0 start and has clubbed Class B’s Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy and Castlewood. The Watchdogs’ next two games are against Madison and Dakota Valley, so their long-term viability in this race will be determined soon.
Sioux Valley is looking to build off a 16-8 2025 season with only two seniors to replace. The Cossacks have already lost a 6-2 game to Tri-Valley, but they need just a couple big wins to break through into the upper tier of the class.
Class B
Defending Champion: Deuel
This is the first defending champ who doesn’t have a clear path to a repeat due to the graduation of pitcher Katrina Hagberg. A strong pitcher can be overwhelming, especially at smaller schools, and losing that weapon can pose serious problems for a team that surrendered 43 runs in 24 games.
Also, Deuel only scored five runs in the last two state tournament games, fully relying on pitching and defense to beat elite competition.
Counting out the defending champs is never a good idea, especially with so much of the team coming back, but this feels like a year for the Cardinals to reset and find a new way to win games.
Contenders: Castlewood, Flandreau, Gayville-Volin, Florence/Henry, Bon Homme
The theme here is teams that didn’t lose their star pitcher or lots of seniors from last year, as pitching is at a premium in Class B.
Castlewood has lots of roster continuity, while also coming off a 16-6 season and a sixth-place finish in the state tournament. The Warriors won the 2023 championship and were second in 2024, and have a few tough tests against Class A teams lined up to determine how strong they really are.
Flandreau could technically be considered a dark horse given they weren’t in the state tournament a season ago, but the Fliers are off to a dominant 2-0 start with 32 runs scored. Flandreau could make a leap from a SoDak 16 appearance to a run in the Class B state tournament.
Gayville-Volin is also 2-0 this season, and the Raiders have won in a low-scoring game and had the offense go for 16 runs. The Raiders made a run to the state championship game as the No. 6 seed, and this could be the year they bump up a step and win it all.
Florence/Henry is another example of a team that went to the state tournament and has a lot of roster continuity. The Watchdog Classic on May 9, will determine a lot about how the Falcons will fare this season, with Beresford, Dell Rapids, Tri-Valley and West Central all set to test Florence/Henry.
Bon Homme was the No. 2 seed in 2025 and had a dynamic offense, scoring 27 runs in three games at the state tournament. The Cavaliers’ offense remains mostly intact and hasn’t gotten on the field yet, but appears to be the best in Class B.
Dark Horses: Scotland/Menno, Chester, Clark/Willow Lake
There’s a few teams that can break into the Class B state championship picture, but they all have different ways of doing it.
Scotland/Menno is already 2-1 on this young season, and the Trappers have dominated their two inferior opponents this year. Scotland/Menno made the state tournament in 2024 and could be returning in 2026.
Chester already has a huge win after being upset in the SoDak 16 a season ago. The Flyers have five seniors and five players who are freshmen or younger, so they could have some ups and downs and get hot at the right time.
Clark/Willow Lake has started 1-2, but played a couple very close, low-scoring games against Avon and Elk Point-Jefferson. The Cyclones have a very young team and could also cause problems if things come together throughout the season.
South Dakota is separated from Central Europe by about 4,000 miles. On the outside, it seems the two have little to nothing in common, but longstanding partnerships known as “sister cities” have forged a deep bond between the Mount Rushmore State and the country of Germany.
It makes sense as approximately 34% of South Dakotans identify with German heritage. But these connections go far beyond just family trees.
From the Black Hills to the banks of the Big Sioux River, here are the four South Dakota communities that have found their ‘twins’ across the Atlantic Ocean.
Credit: Canva
Sioux Falls, South Dakota – Sister City: Potsdam, Germany
Credit: Canva
Sioux Falls and Potsdam have been ‘Sister Cities’ since 1990. That year stands out as it was just one year prior when the Berlin Wall fell, uniting East and West Germany after nearly 45 years of being apart. Potsdam is located in the former East Germany and has a similar population to that of Sioux Falls, at around 184,000 residents. It’s famous for its Sanssouci Palace and for being the spot of the legendary ‘Potsdam Conference’ of 1945, in which the allied powers of the United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union decided on Post-WW2 order.
Other sister cities include Rapid City and Apolda, Germany. This partnership began in 1994 and contrasts the ‘City of Bells’ (Apolda) with the ‘City of Presidents’ (Rapid City). Both towns have a great respect for public art and historic landmarks.
There are also the sister cities of Vermillion and Ratingen. Established in 1969, this is by far the oldest partnership of all the cities on the list. The two have traded students in an exchange program for decades and have also shown their friendship in other ways. In Ratingen, the Vermillionring and the South Dakota Bridge were built to honor the partnership. In Vermillion, Ratingen Square was inaugurated back in 2010.
Finally, much like Sioux Falls and Potsdam, the cities of Brookings and Schwanewede began their partnership back in 1990. The two have one big thing in common, too, as they’re both college towns. It has since become a very active exchange, particularly focusing on student programs and cultural visits that highlight their shared agricultural and university-town identities.
Even more surprising, Potsdam isn’t Sioux Falls only sister city. The other is found in Northern Ireland, and you can read all about it in this article.
10 Smallest Towns in South Dakota
Some ghost towns in the United States used to be popular hotspots along Route 66, the “Mother Road” that extended thousands of miles from Illinois to California. Others, like the once-thriving prairie town of Okaton, South Dakota, were established along historic railroads. Now largely abandoned, the eerie ghost town makes an interesting detour on the way to one of America’s best road trip destinations, Badlands National Park.
Located in south-central South Dakota, about a 45-minute drive east of the national park, Okaton was founded in the early 1900s on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad. According to Legends of America, the town was thriving in the years immediately after it was built, home to a farming community as well as a number of railroad workers. However, most of those workers didn’t stick around as the railroad expanded westward, and the town grew quieter. The remaining residents were primarily farmers and homesteaders — and many of them ultimately left, too, in search of employment during the Great Depression. Decades later, in the 1980s, the train tracks fell out of use, and few people stayed there.
Around the same time, one enterprising couple from Illinois, the Westlakes, tried to turn Okaton into a tourist attraction. Signs on the I-90 highway nearby advertised “Westlake’s Ghost Town,” bringing in visitors to enjoy a stroll around the abandoned prairie town (and newly installed features, including a petting zoo and a rock shop). Their venture was moderately successful, but after the owners passed away, their tourist site became a thing of the past. Just like Vinton, Ohio, another abandoned railroad community, Okaton is a ghost town that visitors can still explore today.
Discover the eerie ghost town of Okaton
To get to Okaton, take Exit 183 off I-90, west of Murdo. In the abandoned prairie town, there are a handful of original streets with some buildings still standing. These include several dilapidated houses and shacks, a wooden grain elevator, a general store with gas pumps, and a crumbling old school. Also on view are Okaton’s deteriorated railroad tracks, and out on the fields, visitors can spot rusty farm equipment once used by the region’s cattle ranchers and grain farmers.
Atlas Obscura writes that the ghost town is “a very creepy place to visit, even in the middle of the day, but amazingly photogenic.” Many past visitors echoed the same sentiment, mentioning that it’s a great spot for photographs. As one traveler commented on Instagram, the once-thriving town “felt exactly how I imagined — quiet, worn down, and slowly being reclaimed by time.”
Keep in mind that the ghost town may still have a few residents, even if you don’t see anyone around. The place is no longer a managed tourist attraction — Okaton’s ramshackle buildings are privately owned, and visitors should not attempt to go inside. Luckily, past visitors say that you can take great photos of the crumbling buildings without even getting out of your car. If you love discovering abandoned towns, find out more about visiting Rhyolite, one of the best-preserved and most photographed ghost towns in the country.
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