With Country Christmas event, Stockyards Ag Experience shows what the future could hold

The Stockyards Ag Experience, built on the memories of an industry that shaped Sioux Falls, is positioning itself to make future memories.

It starts Thursday with the first Country Christmas, a family-friendly event featuring wagon rides, cocoa, crafts and visits with Santa.

Where it ends? Well, now that the city of Sioux Falls has released its master plan for Falls Park, where the Stockyards Ag Experience is located, the future seems limitless. But a priority is moving forward with an outdoor plaza, named after Jim Woster, a former Sioux Falls Stockyards employee who first conceived the idea of a place to honor Sioux Falls’ early growth through agriculture and livestock.

Woster envisioned an outdoor plaza saluting the former Sioux Falls Stockyards. That morphed into a year-round agriculture-education destination for visitors to Sioux Falls and its residents. The museum now occupies an old barn at Falls Park that once served as an art gallery.

The outdoor plaza has not been forgotten, however.

“To build and open the plaza, that’s the linchpin of our five-year plan,” said Abby Bischoff, Stockyards Ag Experience director since March 2019. “It also depends on some other pieces of the master plan, how that moves forward. The hope is once the plaza is open we’ll be able to partner with other nonprofits for more activities.”

That could mean after-school programs with nonprofits such as the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Sioux Empire and the YMCA. The warm-weather months are the Stockyards Ag Experience’s busiest time, and the goal is to use the school year as a time to expand programming.

“They could come visit the plaza and learn about agriculture and maybe careers in agriculture, have things to try at home, to grow their own food and building more free ag education into the community,” Bischoff said. “We’ll do that with community partners.”

The city’s release of the Falls Park master plan, which would push parking to the perimeter and move the observation tower among other suggestions, will give the Stockyards Ag Experience new momentum. The master plan envisions a future market shelter serving as a three-season or four-season space.

In 2012, Woster proposed the idea of a tribute to how the stockyards, which had closed three years earlier, had shaped Sioux Falls. Woster and other city leaders knew that the stockyards had been an integral part of Sioux Falls’ growth for decades. It’s important that it isn’t forgotten. It also is crucial that people understand modern agriculture processes.

“As fewer and fewer people grow up on family farms and we are more urban, why agriculture is important from a historical standpoint and a future standpoint needs attention,” Bischoff said.

The ag museum received a boost when it was selected for the Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce’s community appeals campaign, raising $1.4 million. The museum opened in 2017 — then the COVID pandemic in 2020 slowed construction and giving. Other community needs surfaced. The Stockyards Ag Experience board used the time to research what goals it wanted to achieve.

“We know that the stuff we’re doing is getting people excited,” Bischoff said. “We hear from donors and supporters that they really like the direction we’re going. Folks from across the country give us positive feedback. That gets us excited, and we know we’re providing something there’s an appetite for.”

In 2021, philanthropist T. Denny Sanford and First Premier Bank/Premier Bankcard pledged $1.5 million to the Stockyards Ag Experience project, allowing it to name the second-phase interactive outdoor plaza after Woster.

Now, the momentum is back, Bischoff said.

Holly Rader joined the Chamber of Commerce staff just when the community appeals campaign was wrapping up. She has been on the Stockyards Ag Experience board of directors since 2018. Being part of the Falls Park master plan will enhance what can take place in the future, she said.

“It’s a dream come true. We’ve very excited,” she said. Rader is a transplant to Sioux Falls, but early on she developed a passion for the Stockyards Ag Experience and ensuring that the stockyards’ history is not forgotten.

“We don’t want to forget that Sioux Falls wouldn’t be what it is today without the economic interest of the stockyards,” Rader said.

Multiple programming ideas for the plaza are being considered, Rader said. They include a community garden and initiatives in the geographic area, including Smithfield Foods and its employees.

“The programming could be endless. There are a lot of options,” Rader said. “Thursday is a really good glimpse into what is to come.”

The Country Christmas, which runs from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, will feature an activity that Rader has been encouraging since she joined the board. One of her favorite memories is going on a horse-and-carriage ride with her future husband in Omaha. She thinks the horse-drawn wagon rides, provided through McCrossan Boys Ranch, will supply future memories to others.

“I hope this becomes a tradition in our community,” she said.

Country Christmas will add to the magic that transforms Falls Park into a Winter Wonderland of lights and displays, Bischoff said. She considers herself fortunate that she comes to work daily at the city’s most famous park and will be able to watch its transformation.

The Stockyards Ag Experience’s lower level offers a modern farm-to-table exhibit. It offers consumer education through a kitchen that, particularly for children, can spark curiosity about their connection to agriculture.

“Agriculture touches our lives in a lot of ways we don’t think about,” Bischoff said. “I want people to know it doesn’t matter if you grew up on a farm or not, there’s a place for you in ag. I spent my younger years being part of that world, then left. I didn’t think ag would be a part of my career. It’s a wonderful place, and I want more people to experience that.”