11 Broadcaster Press November 5, 2019 www.broadcasteronline.com SDHCA Dakota MasterWorks Art Show Local Winners (SIOUX FALLS, SD) The SDHCA Dakota MasterWorks Art Show held its 23rd annual exhibition on October 24 -25, 2019, at the Good Samaritan Society National Campus in Sioux Falls. The show featured art created by South Dakota residents age 60 and older. This year’s show included more than 130 entries, making it one of the largest Dakota MasterWorks ever. Professional judges awarded prizes for First, Second, and Third place in each of seven categories and two age groups, as well as Honorable Mentions and Best of Show winners. People’s Choice designations were awarded based on the votes of those attending the show. Artists this year ranged in age from 60 to 97 years old! “The SDHCA Dakota Masterworks Art Show is about highlighting the remarkable artistic accomplishments by older South Dakotans,” said SDHCA Dakota MasterWorks Art Show Coordinator, LuAnn Severson. “Aging does not mean giving up our creativity, inspiration, and talent.” Categories included watercolor painting, oil painting, acrylic painting, drawing/pastels/ scratchboard, photography, mixed media and wood carving. Age categories for the competition were divided into ages 60 - 79 and 80 years of age and older. The show has been recognized by the National Mature Media Awards as an outstanding community involvement project. First, Second, Third, Best of Show and People’s Choice will be on exhibit at the Ramkota Hotel in Pierre during the SDHCA Legislative Reception on January 28, 2020. The South Dakota Health Care Association sponsors and coordinates the SDHCA Dakota MasterWorks Art Show. In addition, the show is supported by platinum level sponsors Legacy, Great Western Bank, KELOLAND Television; gold level sponsors EmpRes and Tealwood Senior Living, Good Samaritan Society; silver level sponsors Clarkson Health Care, Westhills Village Retirement Community, Tieszen Memorial Home, Dow Rummel Village, Bethany, Grand Living at Lake Lorraine, The Inn on Westport, and Fischer Rounds and Associates; and bronze level sponsors, Jenkins Living Center, Sisson Printing and Imagery Photography. Visit www.sdhca.org to view this year’s winning entries. PRAIRIE DOC® PERSPECTIVES This Science-Based Guy Believes in Spirits BY RICHARD P. HOLM, MD I am a physician who believes in evidence-based science. I am also old, approaching my own “last chapter” from pancreatic RICHARD HOLM cancer. I share this, not to engender pity . . . none. Rather, I share this in order to give you a sense of my potential bias as I write about the question; do we have a spirit or soul that is more than a brainchemical reaction that will go away at death? Of course, the ultimate answer to that question is, nobody knows. Some archeologists believe that religion first began when someone wondered what happened to the life force or spirit of a young boy after he died. Where did it go? Archeologists speculate that “job one” for the early church (and, for that matter, churches of today) was to reassure and comfort the family after the death of a dear one. However, just because it reassures us, doesn’t prove the soul exists, but there are other experiences that do. I remember my mother explaining to me one night before prayers that there is so much more going on than we know, so much that cannot be explained by physics and chemistry. She described waking up in the middle of the night in Minneapolis during WWII, filled with dread at the same moment that my dad was landing on some Pacific Island in full combat. That was something about which she could not have known due to radio and mail silence. How DID she know? Do we have spiritual connections we simply don’t understand? During my career, at least three patients described a near-deathexperience with all its typical raiment including an out-of-body experience, a warm and comforting light, a life-review (like a movie) and reassurance that there is nothing to fear about dying. A recent meta-survey indicated that this happens in 17 percent of people who are resuscitated and in equal percentages throughout all cultures and religions. It is also amazing to learn that the warm light is seen even by people blind from birth. Even as a stubborn science-based guy, together with years of experience as a geriatric internist and hospice director, I truly find a community faith with a loving and inclusionary church very reassuring. I have reason to believe that there is a spirit within us that connects us all and that doesn’t die with our bodies. I have been at the bedsides of many dying people, while their spirits lift from the body and pass through the porthole of South Dakota NAEP Scores Hold Steady PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota scores on the 2019 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), known as the Nation’s Report Card, are mostly steady and remain at or above national scores. Bright spots include state scores in eighth-grade math and fourth-grade reading. A representative sample of students in grades four and eight in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Department of Defense schools take the test every other year. NAEP scores are based on a scale of 0 to 500. The state’s average scale score in eighth-grade math was 287, compared to the national average of H 0 0 k 281. This score was higher than that of 30 other states. In eighth-grade reading, South Dakota’s average scale score was 263, compared to a national average of 262. In fourth-grade reading, South Dakota’s average scale score of 222 was higher than the national average of 219 and higher than that of 20 other states. In South Dakota, the fourth-grade reading score remained steady since the test was last administered in 2017, while the fourth-grade reading score average declined at the national level. South Dakota’s average scale score in fourth-grade math was 241 in 2019, compared to a national average of 240. “South Dakota continues to score above the national average, but we must work to increase our students’ academic successes,” said Secretary of Education Dr. Ben Jones. “Our work to close the Opportunity Gap will focus on students who need additional support. We are working with school districts to implement knowledge-rich curriculum, partnering with communities to support children’s needs, and supporting teachers in their critical work in our classrooms.” Find more information at https://nces.ed.gov/ nationsreportcard/. eternity. Being there has brought me to believe that the soul is more than a brain-chemical reaction that goes away after death. Richard P. Holm, MD is founder of The Prairie Doc® and author of “Life’s Final Season, A Guide for Aging and Dying with Grace” available on Amazon. For free and easy access to the entire Prairie Doc® library, visit www. prairiedoc.org and follow Prairie Doc® on Facebook featuring On Call with the Prairie Doc® a medical Q&A show streaming on Facebook and broadcast on SDPTV most Thursdays at 7 p.m. central. Scholarship Prizes Available For Resource Conservation Speech Contest Winners PIERRE, S.D. – Contestants in the 2020 State Finals of the Resource Conservation Speech contest are eligible to win a total of $2,300 in college scholarships. All South Dakota students in grades 9-12 are eligible to compete for $2,300 in higher education scholarships, which are provided by the East River and Rushmore Electric Power Cooperatives and South Dakota Rural Electric Association. Scholarships are awarded to the top three finalists: first place is $1,100; second place is $750; and third place is $450. The 2020 contest theme is “What Does a Tree Do for Me?” Contests are coordinated by local conservation districts. Local winners advance to area contests held in seven locations. The top area speakers compete at the state finals in Pierre on Saturday, April 25, 2020. The contest is sponsored by the South Dakota Department of Agriculture (SDDA), in cooperation with Touchstone Energy Cooperatives of South Dakota, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and the South Dakota Association of Conservation Districts. An entry form and complete list of rules can be found online at: https://sdda.sd.gov/conservation-forestry/ educational-programs/resource-conservation-speechcontest/PDF/2020%20Speech-Brochure.pdf For more information on the Resource Conservation Speech Contest, contact your local conservation district or call Bailey Gullikson, natural resource specialist for the SDDA, at 605.773.7570. Agriculture is a major contributor to South Dakota’s economy, generating $32.5 billion in annual economic activity and employing over 132,000 South Dakotans. The South Dakota Department of Agriculture's mission is to promote, protect, and preserve South Dakota agriculture for today and tomorrow. Visit us online at sdda.sd.gov or find us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. DPS Announces November Sobriety Checkpoints PIERRE, S.D. – State Department of Public Safety officials say sobriety checkpoints are planned in 18 counties statewide during November. Checkpoints are done monthly in different counties as a way to discourage drivers from drinking and then driving. The checkpoints are funded by the South Dakota Office of Highway Safety and conducted by the South Dakota Highway Patrol with the help of local law enforcement. November checkpoints are planned for the counties of: Aurora, Beadle, Brookings, Brown, Butte, Codington, Davison, Day, Hughes, Lake, Lincoln, Lyman, Meade, Minnehaha, Pennington, Stanley, Walworth and Yankton. Both the Office of Highway Safety and the Highway Patrol are part of the Department of Public Safety. Medicare plans that fit your life and your budget. 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