Welcome to De Smet

  “We moved to De Smet because we have no trouble finding quality people to work here,” said Sheyenne Dakota, Inc. (SDI) Vice President and Chief Executive Officer Dave Ingalsbe. “Everyone in North Dakota is migrating out to the Bakken fields.”   Ingalsbe works primarily at SDI’s headquarters in Fargo N.D. but splits his time with the new plant in De Smet. He and his brother President and...

  Gov. Dennis Daugaard and his entourage rolled into town May 10 to celebrate DeSmet. “The size of this community belies its dynamism with respect to economic development,” Daugaard said.   He was in town to proclaim De Smet South Dakota’s capital for a day. The honor was conferred upon De Smet in part because of successful efforts by its development corporation to bring new companies like American...

  There were gnomes and Queen Anne’s Lace and power drills May 4 at Jesser’s Greenhouse as Master Gardener Glenda Oakley from Huron demonstrated fairy garden construction.   Muted white light shone through the fabric ceilings and, of course, a fresh floral scent wafted through the structure. A quiet, gray-bearded man and his wife shuffled around in the background helping customers.   Proprieters Master Gardener James Jesser and his wife...

  The lesson was meant to be serious April 24 at the De Smet High School gymnasium.   Thirty students, dressed in black robes with their faces   painted white, sat quietly in chairs facing the bleachers as the rest of the student body filed in to attend a special assembly.   The thirty students represented ghosts of people killed in traffic accidents as a result of someone driving while drinking...

Roger and Barb Jones don’t yet know what their future holds. But they know what it doesn’t hold and that’s the 70-hour weeks they’ve put in for years as owners of Chuck’s Grocery in Lake Preston.   The Joneses announced on Monday that they are selling their store to Maynard’s Food Centers. Their store becomes the 16th store in the Maynard’s organization. All those stores are in...

De Smet Tuesday was named Small Community of the Year at the Governor’s Economic Development Conference in Sioux Falls.   De Smet won the award because in the past year it has attracted three new companies to the community and helped six others expand, creating some 50 new jobs. In addition, the Young Guns organization was formed and that group of some 60 members has taken the...

The News has, at long last, launched a web page. I invite you to go to www.desmetnews.com to check it out.   At the moment, it doesn’t contain everything that it eventually will. We’re still working on some content. But we’re excited about what we already have to offer. And we believe a website is a fine addition to our effort to bring you the most complete...

A new study released last month ranks Kingsbury County as the 5th healthiest in South Dakota.   While that’s good news in itself, the real news is this same study shows Kingsbury County shooting into the top 10 from a ranking of 22 out of 55 South Dakota counties in 2011. The top 10, in order, are Brookings, Hutchinson, Lincoln, Bon Homme, Kingsbury, Hamlin, Clay, Hughes, Edmunds...

    Gloria “Ruth” Beyer recently launched a new business, ReImagine ReMade, from herhome in De Smet.   Beyer creates one-of–a-kind handmade novelty items using mainly recycled materials.   She sells her items both directly and through her website    www.reimagineremade.com.     “One of my goals is to be eco-friendly,” she said. “That’s where the name ReImagine Remade comes from. “I can take something that is done with its first life and use it to  make...