Broadcaster Press 5 July 31, 2018 www.broadcasteronline.com 1815 Miscellaneous Seniors & Disabled GET HELP NOW! One Button Medical Alert. We will be there when falls, fires & emergencies happen. 24/7 Protection. Low Monthly Cost with Free Shipping and Free Activation. Call 1-844-646-5592 Today for more information. (MCN) Spectrum Triple Play! TV, Internet & Voice for $29.99 ea. 60 MB per second speed No contract or commitment. More Channels. Faster Internet. Unlimited Voice. Call 1-855-5777502 (MCN) Community Gardens Bring Hope To Pine Ridge Indian Reservation By Lura Roti, for SDSU Extension/iGrow Weeding after dark isn't easy. Neither is fighting STEEL CULVERTS FOR cravings to stay sober. SALE: New, All sizes. 605-6615050 or 605-387-5660. Ulmer And, working in the garden Farm Service, Menno, SD. was the one thing that got Struggling with DRUGS or her through the cravings. ALCHOHOL? Addicted to So, that's just what Jackie PILLS? Talk to someone who Solano did - if cravings hit cares. Call The Addiction Hope & Help Line for a free assess- at midnight, she would grab a flashlight and walk ment. 1-855-635-4246 (MCN) Want to purchase minerals to the community garand other oil/gas interests. den and weed until they Send details to: P.O. Box passed. 13557, Denver CO 80201 "The garden saved (MCN) me. When I go there, I am 1820 Give Aways at peace with myself," explains Solano, who was Get an iPhone 8 or Samsung Galaxy8 for $34/month. Call addicted to meth, but has AT&T Wireless today to learn been clean for 18 months how to get a new phone. Call now. "I like to be in the garwhile supplies last. 1-844-290den because it makes me 8275 (MCN) happy to build something 1850 Agriculture and watch it grow." Even today, now that WE HAVE SEVERAL CREWS Solano is free from cravOF BEAN WALKERS. We do any type of farm work including ings and is focused on cutting cedar trees. Put up rebuilding a sober life with fence and tear down fence. her husband and their son, 24 years' experience. For more information call 712-943-2084, the garden continues to Cell 712-251-3277. bring her joy. "Gardening keeps me 1870 Ag Equipment busy and the food we grow 3 pt. 8' blade heavy duty. 300 there helps feed families gallon water tank on trailer. 4' who don't have enough to x12' 2-wheel trailer. 250 gallon eat," Solano says. sprayer with gas engine. 3pt. The garden Solano Single bale carrier. A Westendorf running gear, a 100-gallon credits with helping her portable fuel tank with pump. remain drug-free, is one of 402-640-8387. nine community gardens Hesston 520 windrower, hySDSU Extension developed drostat with 16' drapper head. Canvas, excellent condition, together with members runs good, always shedded, of the Oglala Lakota tribe 402-841-8054. through the SDSU ExtenWanted: Wire hog mesh and sion Native American a 12' wide x 20' to 24' long Beginning Farmer Rancher building with good structure. Program and SupplemenCall 402-640-8387. tal Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAPEd). Get your ad in the.. Designed to address food insecurity, the program looks different Classifieds today than it did when it was first introduced to the Pine Ridge community. Originally, the thought was that vegetable producCALL tion could provide much 624-4429 needed income to commu••• nity members. However, it soon FAX became clear that selling 624-2696 fresh produce to some, ••• while other family and community members EMAIL could not afford to buy classifieds@plaintalk.net food was not a model the ••• Lakota people were comONLINE fortable with, explained Jason Schoch, SDSU ExtenBroadcasterOnline.com sion Tribal Local Foods ••• Associate. DROP BY "As we listened to 201 W. Cherry, Vermillion community members, two Today! things became apparent; people are uncomfortable selling food, when so many are hungry and don't have the resources to buy food, and there is nearly no access to land for large-scale farming, whether that is vegetable farming or what we typically think of as commercial agriculture," Schoch said. Schoch explained that due to the fractionated nature of land, a family may have for example 300 acres, however, those 300 acres could potentially be co-owned by dozens, if not hundreds of individuals. Access to capital is also a big challenge. The average income for a resident of Pine Ridge is $7,500 a year. "We are really trying to empower the majority of tribal members to become involved in agriculture not traditional crops and cattle - because the majority don't have the land or capital to make that work. We're working with community members, helping them develop community gardens, small acreage and micro-sized farms, as well as gardens in their own yards - because this is a model that has proven to work," Schoch said. With this focus, a program that began with only 18 interested tribal members in its first year, has expanded to include more than 736 participants. "SDSU Extension didn't come here and say, here's what you need to know. We began by asking, 'what do you want to know?'" Schoch said. "Our grassroots approach seems to be a good fit for Lakota culture which is very much bottom up. Leadership styles historically were more along the lines of servant-leadership versus top-down leadership." It became apparent to Schoch and his colleague, Patricia Hammond, SDSU Extension Tribal Local Foods Program Assistant, that the act of gardening was being embraced for its therapeutic benefits almost as much as it is for the vegetables, herbs and berries produced. "We aren't traditionally gardeners, but getting out in the sun and reconnecting with nature makes us all feel better because we're able to provide food for ourselves and others," explained Hammond, who grew up on the Pine Ridge Reservation, and spent several years prior to working for SDSU Extension serving the Pine Ridge community through educational gardening programs geared toward teaching science to youth. Focusing on the mental health benefits of gardening, SDSU Extension recently asked a veteran to share his story of how gardening served as therapy to work through Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). "The first day, there were seven attendees. The next day, 49 showed up because those seven went home and told their family and friends that this could help them," Schoch said. "Many in our community are dealing with PTSD from trauma - historic and ongoing," Hammond added. "Gardening helps get through trauma. They find calmness being in nature." Emit King, would agree. King, like Solano, began working in the community garden as a volunteer. Because his mother drank and used drugs when she was pregnant with him, King was born with several challenges and battles major depressive disorder. Couple these conditions with the recent death of an uncle, who was King's father figure, and King says at the time he began volunteering in the garden, he was considering suicide. "Gardening helps me relax, it's therapeutic for me. It's helped me overcome feelings of ending my life," King said. King became connected to the SDSU Extension community gardens through Hammond's daughter, Alex. She got to know King in school and suggested that Hammond ask him to volunteer in the garden. Hammond got to know King, she was impressed with his work ethic and enthusiasm for gardening. He began to open up to Hammond and rely on her for advice beyond gardening. She became his mentor. Brookings Historic Preservation Commission Receives NAPC’s Commission Excellence Award PIERRE, S.D. – The Brookings Historic Preservation Commission (BHPC) has received a Commission Excellence Award from the National Alliance of Preservation Commissions (NAPC). “These awards recognize and honor outstanding efforts and achievements by local preservation, historic district, and landmark commissions and boards of architectural review,” said Jay D. Vogt, director of the South Dakota State Historical Society at the Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre. “We are pleased that a South Dakota commission has been selected to receive this recognition.” The BHPC took the initiative to partner with other organizations to highlight the city’s history and historic buildings and demonstrate shared goals. By partnering with the Brookings Sustainability Council, for example, the Commission has been commission members from across the able to demonstrate how historic country for a week of training, educapreservation is an integral part of the tion and networking. FORUM is held in sustainability movement. The Comdifferent destination cities every two mission members actively seek positions on affiliated committees, such as years and is the only national conferthe Comprehensive Master Plan Com- ence dedicated to the important work of volunteer commission members in mittee and Public Arts Committee. locally-designated historic districts. “This outreach demonstrates a keen understanding that preservationists must be ‘at the table’ if they are to promote historic preservation as an integral part of local public policy,” said Deb Andrews, NAPC awards chair. The Brookings commission members Herd Co, a progressive Feed Yard in received their award Central Nebraska has the following last week at NAPC’s Job Opportunities: FORUM in Des Moines, Iowa. FORUM 2018 brought together over 600 preservation professionals and Carpentry, Decks, Windows & Doors, Re?nishing, Drywall, & Ceramic Tile Romsdahl’s Now Hiring • Assistant Cattle Manager • Mechanic • Mill Maintenance • Feed Truck Drivers • Nightshift Position Today, King affectionately refers to Hammond as "momma bear." In addition to helping him overcome suicidal thoughts and gain confidence, gardening brings King joy because through gardening, he helps provide food to his community. "Last summer, Jackie and I took a box of vegetables over to the elder center. They loved it and asked us to bring more. It makes me feel wonderful how happy this food makes them." Research-based information, tools and resources Although community and backyard gardens are much smaller than traditional crop farming, gardeners face similar challenges. Too little rain or one hail storm and all they've worked for can be lost. Through the Native American Beginning Farmer Program, SDSU Extension offers workshops in building low-cost, high tunnels, raised beds and drip irrigation. A high tunnel is a hoopshaped structure, covered in strong plastic, which allows for earlier planting and protects crops from weather hazards like frost and hail. By teaming up with partner agencies, like Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), SDSU Extension connects community members with programs that help cover the cost of materials for high tunnels. Over the next three years, NRCS Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the Oglala Sioux Tribal Land Office, will provide 30 high tunnels to Pine Ridge communities, schools and tribal members. SDSU Extension will provide the production education, together with other partners who will help teach tribal members how to build the structures. "It's a team effort amongst partners," Schoch said. "Our approach to gardening is very practical and as low cost as possible." For example, they encourage the pathways in gardens to be at least lawnmower width apart and teach how to build raised beds as well as constructing small scale hoop houses by attaching PVC pipe to the wooden frames, providing some extension to the growing season. Working with community partners, the SDSU Extension team is also helping community members build Walipinis (earth-sheltered coldframes), designed using tires, which draw heat from the earth and, when topped with a high tunnel roof, can allow for yearround growing of some vegetables. "I've been inside these structures when it was 20 below zero outside and 55 degrees inside," Schoch said. Walipinis are one more way SDSU Extension, their tribal non-governmental partners, Oglala Lakota Cultural and Economic Revitalization Initiative (OLCERI) and Re-Member, are working with tribal members to develop sustainable food sources and build food security on the Pine Ridge Reservation. "Building something for future generations is an important tenant of Lakota culture," Schoch said. "Tribal people are still very tied to the land. Historically, Lakota people were not farmers, they were hunter gatherers, however, the younger generation understands that they no longer have the land base to support buffalo, so they need something new." "Gardens and smallacreage farming brings hope in a place where there is so much disparity," Hammond added. To learn more about SDSU Extension's work on Pine Ridge, contact Jason Schoch, SDSU Extension Tribal Local Foods Associate at Jason.Schoch@ sdstate.edu Stories you missed this week because you’re not a Plain Talk subscriber News that the University of South Dakota wasn’t the only place in the Vermillion area visited by Russian agent Maria Butina. Photos from the Vermillion Community Theatre’s production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, staged in the Thomas H. Craig Center for Performing Arts July 20 through July 23. Coverage of Vermillion Legion and amateur baseball action in region tournament play. And if you want to see: A story about what’s planned as the Clay County Fair celebrates its 65th anniversary this year when it kicks off on Aug. 9. A report about initial plans the Vermillion City Council and city staff have to deal with the Emerald Ash Borer. The insect hasn’t been found in Vermillion yet, but local officials say it’s only a matter of time before it arrives and begins affecting trees here. A story and photos about the Irene-Wakonda Garden Project. Pick up this Friday’s Plain Talk! Local news since 1884! Competitive Wages. Excellent Benefits. Here for you yesterday, today and tomorrow. Call: 402-482-5931 For more information Request Brenden or Chad 201 W. Cherry, Vermillion, SD 57069 605-624-2695 Repair & Remodel 19 Years in Business Free Estimates 605-670-2161