Commission outlines America 250 events, seeks volunteers to staff a National Mall pavilion

The South Dakota State Historical Society Commission reviewed a slate of events tied to the national America 250 commemoration and asked for volunteers and staffing ideas for a 30-by-30-foot state pavilion on the National Mall.

The chair recapped recent outreach events and media coverage, including a presentation at the legislature that recreated an 18th-century speaker and multiple flag-reveal ceremonies in Lenox and Tyndall. The commission said local papers and broadcasters covered those flag events and encouraged towns across the state to host similar reveals.

The commission flagged several upcoming activities and dates: a tentative Liberty Tree planting on May 22; a "Grit and Glory" educators' conference planned June 1–3 in Fort Pierre pending NEH grant approval; a July 1 ribbon-cutting for the first three exhibits at the state museum; July 3 fireworks at Mount Rushmore National Memorial with lottery ticketing through rec.gov; and a July 5 community "America's potluck" that local neighborhoods and churches are being encouraged to host.

For the National Mall, the chair said South Dakota has been allocated a 30-by-30-foot pavilion that will be part of a larger series of state pavilions running June 23–July 10. "They want at least two people there from the hours of 10 till 9 on weekdays and from 10 till 11 on weekends," the chair said, outlining a need for roughly five or six volunteers to cover shifts across the pavilion's run. The commission asked partners—tourism, museums and commission staff—to propose exhibits, lending objects and people to staff the pavilion.

Other promotional ideas discussed included recorded 30-second radio spots to air at the Sioux Falls air show and possible participation by partners such as the USS South Dakota Memorial and Museum in Sioux Falls. The chair said the poem produced by the press will be released publicly on March 10 and that the press and commission staff are coordinating statewide outreach.

The commission set a tentative meeting cadence—weekly on Wednesdays through July—to manage planning and noted five days' notice requirements for any additional meetings needed to vote on spending. No formal spending decisions were made at this agenda item.