Last week, several members of the Britton community and beyond gathered at the Event Center in town for a ‘conversation.’ This gathering was the first formal step in Britton’s move to the small screen. The town and the surrounding area’s will be featured on an episode of South Dakota Public Broadcasting’s series “Dakota Life.”
For over 25 years, “Dakota Life,” SDPB’s magazine television show, has celebrated all of the stories that make South Dakota unique, one community at a time. Now, with a new framework and a special emphasis on individual towns in each episode, community members are sharing their stories with SDPB staff and producers at community conversations.
On Thursday, dozens of people visited with three members of the SDPB’s team for Britton’s conversation. The event was come-and-go but operated like a casual chat among friends. Locals told the staff of all the great things Britton has to offer. They shared historical stories, points of interest, demographic information, info about local hot spots and celebrities and more. By the end of the conversation, the SDPB folks joked that they too would soon be moving to Britton considering all the highlights of the area.
Britton is just one of many communities that will be featured on this season of “Dakota Life.” Other towns on the schedule include McLaughlin, Garretson, Burke, Pine Ridge, Box Elder, Faith, Wessington Springs, and Elk Point.
According to Nathan Hofer, SDPB’s Director of Community Impact, the Community Conversations held with each town will conclude at the end of April. Next steps will include conversations with SDPB staff to organize the season of the program and lay out the show order. During the summer, the team will begin to reach out to individuals to be featured on the program to set up interviews, film locations around the community, and more.
The show will then be produced. Finally, the SDPB team will come back to town and share the film as a premiere event for the community of Britton before it ever airs on TV or Digital.
