Your weekend, simplified: Sept. 20, 2024

Happy Friday! Megan here.

First things first: This issue is brought to you by Live on Stage.

Live on Stage has been bringing world-class music to Sioux Falls at an affordable price for nearly a century. Learn more about the organization here, and get your tickets now for the first concert of the season on Sept. 27, featuring "100 Hits of Stage and Screen" with pianist Jason Lyle Black.

Weather check: Cooling off a bit this weekend

🚨Last chance to win: I'm looking for your feedback to help make this smarter, easier local news outlet even smarter and easier to read. To that end, I've got a quick lil survey to learn a bit more about you and your information needs.

Bonus: if you fill out the survey, you also have a chance to win a $25 gift card to the local coffee shop of your choice AND a Sioux Falls Simplified tote bag, which you could use to look cool af carrying your things around while sipping some coffee.

Yeah, what else am I gonna do right now, work??

A quick correction: I'm 0 for 2 on trying to share details for the Harmodon Park Touch-a-Truck event...in last week's event guide, I had the wrong date, and somehow managed to get it wrong again in my second attempt this week. The event is tonight (Friday) at Harmodon Park from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

This week, I've got a round-up of where to find fun this fall in the Sioux Falls area. Plus, meet a woman bringing a new alcohol-free hangout to downtown. And catch a ton of Super Simplified Stories.

And now, news:

COMMUNITY

Where to find fall fun in the Sioux Falls area

Simplified: From apple picking to pumpkin patches to corn mazes, there's a lot of fall fun to be had in the Sioux Falls area. Here's your simplified guide to what's happening.

Photo by Jonathan Talbert / Unsplash

Let's talk pumpkin and apple pickin'

There are a number of places to get pumpkins in the area, and while you're at it, you can find fun for the whole family.

Riverview Christmas Tree Farm hosts a pumpkin festival on the weekends starting Sept. 28. You can take a hayride to the pumpkin patch, check out a variety of family games from giant checkers to inflatables, see live music, grab a beer, see the Great Pumpkin Weigh-Off and even get a family photo. Get the details here.
Country Apple Orchard also has U-Pick apples and pumpkins and a fall festival every weekend through the end of October. Admission includes access to more than 20 family activities including a petting zoo, tractor train rides and an apple cannon range. More details here.
Cherry Rock Farms also has a pumpkin patch with great deals, local products, hay rides and baby animals. Find them here.

What about corn mazes, fall leaves and good ol' fashioned spooks?

SIMPLIFIED PRESENTS

Meet the woman bringing a new 'third place' to Sioux Falls

This is a paid piece from Good NAtured.

Simplified: Sioux Falls entrepreneur Shannon Ward has a new downtown location she hopes will be a space where people can gather, create community and connect without the presence or pressure of drinking alcohol. Here's what you need to know about Good NAtured.

Why it matters

Alcohol has a very prominent presence in Sioux Falls' social scene, but increasingly, people are joining the "sober-curious" movement.
- Ward – who's drawing on her own personal experience of recovering from an unhealthy relationship with drinking – is looking to create a space where people can socialize without worrying about being around alcohol.

"I’m not going to be preaching at you about drinking or not drinking," Ward said. "I believe there’s a sobriety spectrum, and there's so many reasons people make the choice not to drink today. I want to hold space for the possibility that you can come somewhere and not drink."

She also hopes Good NAtured can become "our third place" for people in Sioux Falls to spend time and build community outside of their homes and workplaces. The store will create space for people to share their talents, sell their wares and host their events.

Tell me more

TL;DR

Super Simplified Stories

The legal fight over legals. Sioux Falls Live reports that a trial date has been set to settle the beef between Argus Leader Media and the City of Sioux Falls over who should publish the legal notices. Earlier this year, the City Council voted to designate The Dakota Scout as the newspaper of record, but the Argus Leader parent company, Gannett, was like, 'not so fast.'
Satellite retirement. The Landsat 7 – a satellite that's been orbiting earth and taking pictures (that are then stored at the EROS Center in Sioux Falls) – is officially retired after 25 years. The Landsats 8 and 9 are currently in orbit, and the U.S. Geological Survey is looking to what's next with "Landsat Next." Learn more here.
Drop off your leaves. The city's free drop-off sites for leaves and branches will open Saturday. The two sites are located at North Lyon Boulevard, near the Sioux Empire Fairgrounds, and Chambers Street, near the City’s Household Hazardous Waste Facility. Both sites are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 12 noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

What I'm falling for this weekend:

ICYMI

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Thank you

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Oh, by the way

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Special thanks to Live on Stage!

Don't miss pianist Jason Lyle Black, who will perform at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 27 at the Washington Pavilion. Tickets available here.