Latest news with #ChrisThesenvitz
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Saturday Boredom Busters: March 8th
SIOUX FALLS, SD (KELO) — A pair of fundraisers are taking place to help a member of the South Dakota Air National Guard who's battling a rare form of bone cancer. All 8 Taco John's locations in Sioux Fall will donate 50-percent of breakfast sales to Chris Thesenvitz, who's served in the air guard for more than 20 years. The benefit goes from 7-11 a.m. The South Dakota Military Heritage Alliance is also hosting a fundraiser for Thesenvitz from 5 to 11 p.m. Activities include a silent auction, a shooting range event, a 50-50 raffle and a taco bar. The cost is $20. Children 10 and under are free. Enjoy semi-final action at the Summit League Basketball Championships in Sioux women's semi's tip off at noon at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center. The men's games start at 7 p.m. Enjoy professional rodeo action at the Huron PRCA Championship. Doors open at 6 p.m. at The DEX on the South Dakota State Fairgrounds. The show begins at 7 p.m. Tickets are $20 for adults, $5 for youth. The group Fun & Friends is hosting a March Meetup at Robert Bennis Elementary School in Brandon, SD. The free event is open to children up through 12 years old with a disability, rare disease or who are neuro-divergent. There will be a selection of games and equipment to play in the school gym from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. No registration is needed. Siblings are welcome, guardians are required. The Nyberg's ACE Kids Club is inviting children to their store at 41st and Minnesota to make free leprechaun hats. The Kids Club meets from 2-3 p.m. Registration is recommended to make sure they have enough supplies. Sip, savor and vote in the Mash Madness drink competition in downtown Sioux Falls. Categories include craft beers, cocktails and non-alcoholic beverage creations at 29 participating businesses. Mash Madness runs through the end of the month. Movies playing at the historic State Theater in downtown Sioux Falls include Grumpy Old Men, The Red Shoes and Madagascar. The Wells Fargo CineDome & Sweetman Planetarium at the Washington Pavilion features T-Rex, Mars: The Ultimate Voyage and 3-2-1 Liftoff. The movie releases playing at a theater near you include Rule Breakers, rated PG and Mickey 17, rated R. The Palace Theatre in Luverne, MN presents Twist on Taylor, a cover band performing the songs of Taylor Swift. The performance is at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $40. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Benefit to assist SD Air Guard member's cancer journey
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Chris Thesenvitz has dedicated more than 20 years of service to the South Dakota Air National Guard. In 2022, he received a challenging diagnosis that changed the way he lived his life. 'When he came home from a deployment in '21, he was having some problems. After some PT and some various other things that they tried, they found the cancer,' Chris's wife Laura Thesenvitz said. DTSF offering free rides to Summit League Tournament Chris was diagnosed with chondrosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. Medical costs and treatments would become part of a journey unlike anything his family or friends had imagined. Today, Chris uses a wheelchair full-time. 'By watching him or hearing about the news and watching him kind of battle through it himself, it's hard to see it on him,' Chris's friend and colleague Ryan Bak said. 'He wears a smile pretty well.' 'We worked a lot of night flying, worked every day very closely together, a lot of direct contact. We just became really good friends over the years,' fabrication superintendent Caitlyn Vanderlugt said. That's why his 'guard' family knew they needed to do something. 'The military family is a pretty close knit unit. All of us wives and spouses are at the deployment homecomings and send offs. So it doesn't take very long to become more like a family than just people who work together,' Alyssa Cheeseman said. Live entertainment, a silent auction, and a shooting range event are a few things happening this Saturday at the Military Heritage Alliance to support Chris and his family. Money raised at the event will help with medical expenses and ongoing care. 'We are needing to make some major renovations with our home with the changes in mobility to be able to make it more accessible and adapt to those changes,' Laura said. Chris has dedicated several years of service to the South Dakota Air National Guard. But this weekend, his friends are dedicating their support to him. 'I just hope we can raise enough funds as possible to help them out as much as possible because they truly are a guard family,' Chris's friend and colleague Timothy Cheeseman said. A shooting range event is from 1 to 4 p.m. this Saturday at the Military Heritage Alliance in Sioux Falls. Live music and a silent auction will begin at 5 p.m. Tickets are $20 per person, and can be purchased at the door or here. Kids 10 years and younger are free. Donations are also welcome. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
