Oahe Dam at 50, Engineers and Scientists Abroad and Sofia Talvik

Dakota Midday - 08/16/2012

On August 17, 1962, President John F. Kennedy came to Pierre to dedicate the Oahe Dam.  Fifty years later, that ceremony is remembered as Pierre residents mark the first half-century in the dam's history with a series of commemorative events.  Joining Dakota Midday is Jamie Damon who, as a 9-year-old girl, wrote a letter to President Kennedy inviting him to see the dam "my father built."  Cecil Staples also joins the program.  Staples worked on a construction surveying crew from 1957 to 1963.  Karl Gehrke also visits with Matt Sutton.  The heart of the Sutton family ranch was flooded after the dam was built.

In June, a group of students from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology were in Egypt to test a portable water purification system in a remote village right around the time of the country's presidential elections.  The students, led by Caine Shagla, are members of Engineers and Scientists Abroad, a non-profit humanitarian group at the School of Mines.  They worked with Dr. Salah Arafa, a physics professor at American University in Cairo and chairman of the Forum of Dialogue and Participation for Development.  As a result of the exchange, Arafa and former state senator Tom Katus are in Vermillion today for meetings at the University of South Dakota and with the South Dakota Nonprofit Association to explore and promote future exchanges.  Arafa, Katus and Shagla join Karl Gehrke in SDPB Radio's Vermillion studio.

Sofia Talvik is a well-established artist in Sweden and has played several festivals in the United States including Lollapalooza and SXSW.  In December she began a two year long tour throughout America.  She's performed over 100 gigs since the tour started seven months ago.  The Swedish musician/singer performs a free show tonight at Latitude 44 in Sioux Falls.  Her fifth album, released in January, is called "The Owls Are Not What They Seem."

 

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