Latest news with #KELOLANDTV
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Vietnam War film ignites conversation among veterans
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — It has been 50 years since the end of the Vietnam War. To honor the soldiers who served there, this weekend, KELOLAND TV will air Nexstar's latest special, 'Vietnam War: A Lost Generation.' A group of Vietnam veterans got to watch an early screening of the film Wednesday afternoon at the Military Heritage Alliance in Sioux Falls. Afterward, KELOLAND's Don Jorgensen hosted a panel discussion with four veterans who detailed what they faced while serving in the war. As a room full of Vietnam veterans and their loved ones watched the 45-minute special, memories of the war started flooding back. What's in South Dakota's settlement with the NCAA 'I look at this film, and some of the things came back really quick,' Vietnam veteran Gene Murphy said. They say it painted a good picture of what happened there. 'As they said in the film, everything we did wasn't necessarily shown back in the United States the way it really was. It was based on what the media wanted to show, so this was very much realistic of what we saw. They did a great job putting this film together,' Vietnam veteran David Rowe said. During the panel discussion following the film, Hawk Mayer got a little emotional while talking about the seven South Dakota Vietnam veterans who are still unaccounted for. Tommy Callies of Howard is one of the seven. 'Six years ago, when we had the wall here, his mother came down from Howard. She turned 90, and two years ago, she passed away, and all she said that day was, 'I want to know what happened to my son,'' Mayer said. There were also veterans who opened up about how difficult it is to process what they experienced during the war. 'Like everybody else, I never talked about it when I got home,' Rowe said. So it's important for them to find someone who knows exactly what they're going through. 'You find that if you want to talk about Vietnam, you have to find somebody that served there because anybody else doesn't have a clue of what you're talking about,' Rowe said. 'That keeps you going. It's the camaraderie,' Mayer said. Many Vietnam vets were not thanked for their service when they came home, but they're grateful for that attitude shift. 'When we travel the country, or even when I'm out and I go into the supermarket, I have people that will come up and tap me on the shoulder because of this hat and say, 'Thank you for your service,'' Mayer said. Along with Mayer, the four-person panel also included Gene Murphy, David Rowe and Bill McGinnis. The special they discussed on Wednesday will air this Saturday on KELO-TV at 7 p.m. You can also watch a special Inside KELOLAND, where we introduce you to local Vietnam veterans and show you KELOLAND's trip to Vietnam in 1988. It airs on Saturday at 9 a.m. and Sunday at 10:30 p.m. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Captain 11 Day in Sioux Falls
SIOUX FALLS, SD (KELO) — Seventy years ago, young KELOLAND viewers first cast their gaze upon the man who possessed the wisdom of Solomon and the strength of Atlas. It was March 7th, 1955, when the very first Captain 11 show aired on KELOLAND TV. The program ran until 1996, making it the longest-running children's show in the world. Gov. Rhoden has signed 64 bills, including baby box bill We here at KELOLAND Media Group celebrated the Captain's milestone anniversary Friday. It included a proclamation from the mayor, who was also a longtime viewer of the Captain. 'Captain 11 began on March 7, 1955,' Mayor Paul TenHaken said. A salute to Captain 11 from the mayor of Sioux Falls. 'Do hearby proclaim today, March 7th, 2025 as Captain 11 Day in our great city of Sioux Falls,' TenHaken said. Mayor Paul TenHaken was a part of the Captain's crew as a boy growing up in Worthington, MN. 'I think I was on the show one time and it was a huge deal when we were on the show,' TenHaken said. Generations of kids saw Captain 11 as their hero and role model. 'It was a simpler time. When I think about Captain 11 it was like before we had all the chaos of what kids go through now,' TenHaken. The Captain also traveled the outer galaxies beyond our TV studio. 'He was in every parade, every town's centennial: there was Captain 11. New store openings: there was Captain 11. He was everywhere in our area,' KELOLAND Media Group Director of Marketing & Creative Services Paul Farmer said. KELOLAND Media Group employees paid tribute to the Captain by wearing his yellow crew member t-shirts. But the celebrating doesn't end after today. 'This is a year-long celebration as we celebrate the legacy of Captain 11. So all through 2025, we're going to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Captain 11 in different ways,' Farmer said. After all, one day is far too brief a period to honor the 70 year legacy of the man who was given the power to control time. 'How's my crew today?''Fine!!!' We will be airing a marathon of Captain 11 shows on KELOXTRA this Sunday March 9th from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and then back again from 7-10 p.m. If you've picked up the KELOLAND+ app for Roku, FireTV, and Apple TV, be sure to watch this Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Central Time. Plus, there are three full episodes that you can watch on demand right now. Just page down in the app to the Captain 11 section. A special Inside KELOLAND features the history of the Captain 11 Show. It airs on KELOLAND TV Saturday at 9 a.m. and again Sunday at 10:30 p.m. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Old TV provides clear picture of KELOLAND's past
SIOUX FALLS, A new appliance at our KELOLAND Media Group studio in downtown Sioux Falls will help us celebrate this year's 70th anniversary of the Captain 11 show. A retired Lutheran minister has restored a TV dating back to 1950, a full three years before we even went on the air! We retrace the TV's journey from a 1950s-era living room to our front lobby in 2025. An old TV that was kept in storage for years at KELOLAND TV has now come full circle. 'First, when I go to light it up, I think is it going to light up? I hope it does. And when it does, it's kind of a feeling of… ahhh. Yes! Thank you,' Jerry Merkouris said. Jerry Merkouris can breathe easy now that he's given new life to this 1950 RCA Victor. He performed a complete overhaul of the set at his workshop in Valley Springs. 'Took everything out. The picture tube, the old chassis and then started to do a cleanup and build kind of a wooden floor in there for framing,' Merkouris said. An early viewer donated the old set to KELOLAND TV decades ago. 'So we went out to their house, grabbed it, brought it back to the station, it sat in the engineering shop for years and years and years,' KELOLAND Media Group Marketing and Creative Services Director Paul Farmer said. The TV sold for $199 when it was brand-new. It had a lived-in look by the time Merkouris started working on it. Rapid City burglary suspect arrested 'There was a big stain on the front. One of your people suggested coffee. I think it was something a little stronger than that,' Merkouris said. So Merkouris reupholstered the front of the TV. He also replaced the cigarette smoke-stained knobs. He even retrofitted the set to play DVD's of old KELOLAND programming. 'This is special for us here at KELOLAND. To have this television restored so we can display it in the lobby and people can enjoy a little bit of history of television,' Farmer said. This is how our early viewers of KELOLAND watched TV back in the early 1950's. Families from throughout the neighborhood would huddle around the 13-inch screen to see what was on. 'If you had the first television on the block, maybe in your town, people would come. Popular events would be like boxing on Friday nights, wrestling was a big thing when I grew up,' Merkouris said. Merkouris did all the work for free. And now he's sharing this labor of love with our viewers. 'KELO is the birthplace of television in South Dakota. I think it's appropriate to have your old unit playing right here in public,' Merkouris said. Merkouris said this TV was a little more difficult to work with than other TV's he's restored because of its narrow width. We first introduced you to Merkouris in December when he showed us his collection of vintage TVs that were part of an open house he was hosting on New Year's Day. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
