SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – The success of the Levitt shell in Sioux Falls could spread to other communities in Keloland.
The town of Parkston is hoping to take advantage of funding from the Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation. During the summer, Parkston has what it calls Amphithursdays. Every Thursday, the amphitheater at East Park in Parkston is filled with music.
Bands like Wakefield, Ivory the Hegg Brothers, and Mogen’s Heroes have entertained crowds, bringing fun and excitement to this town of 1500 people.
“There’s a lot of energy, our community all comes out and supports it, I actually have three young children and they look forward to it every single week,” said Lindsay Weber, the CEO of Avera Saint Benedict. Avera is involved because every entrant in the grant program must have a non-profit sponsor.
Parkston is a finalist for a Levitt AMP grant. It would provide $28,000 a year for three years in matching grant money.
” There were over 300 applications for the initial round, and we made it into the top 100, so in a sense, we’ve already beat out 200 communities for an opportunity at this grant. And now being the only one in South Dakota that is in the running for this, we are hoping we can get support from across the state,” said Rob Monson, the Summer Concert Coordinator.
The Parkston group has sought the advice of Levitt staff in Sioux Falls and found the grant opportunity through that relationship.
“We want people to help us win this grant and support small town South Dakota, said Bill Maxwell, President of the Parkston Commercial Club.
To help Parkston, people can go online to levitt.org or use their phone to text the name Parkston to the number on your screen.
“It is one vote per person, said Maxwell. “So we are trying to get as many people on board to just help us out with it and take ten seconds to text a vote for Parkston, and we all would greatly appreciate it.”
Parkston is competing against a hundred communities in other states. The town is among the smallest, if not the smallest, in the competition, so they hope everyone watching will join them in their efforts to win the grant and then come to Parkston to enjoy AmphiThursdays.
The voting runs from September 5th through the 15th. You can go to Levitt-dot-org below or text the name “Parkston” to 877-409-5525.
