'Landmarks' nominated for Emmy
Among the impressive 18 nominations Pioneer PBS programs received for Upper Midwest Emmy Awards recently was its new program entitled "Landmarks: Keeping History Alive" about old churches, barns and schools of western and southwestern Minnesota.
One of the churches presented in the program was the 124-year-old Spring Creek Lutheran Church of Clarkfield, which burned to the ground in 2007. The cause of the fire was never determined. Lightning was ruled out because the fire occurred on a cloudless day.
And an electrical fire was also ruled out since electricity to the church has been shut off several years before. The church's story and subsequent fire were featured in a Mascot story on Nov. 16, 2016.
The church was located on what is now 210th Avenue, one-quarter mile east of Highway 59. The church closed in 1997 due to declining numbers of members. A stone marker, metal covered directory/registry, and large steel cross memorializing the former church sits in a fenced-in area where the church one stood next to the cemetery.
The PBS Landmarks historical documentary was hosted by photographer and historian Doug Ohman of New Hope.
A pre-screening was first held in the Madison movie theater last February, and then aired on PBS last March. Ross and Kayann Riecke of rural Clarkfield, along with several family members, have been instrumental in keeping the memory alive of the church built in 1883. Ohman heard about the church and its history and wanted to include it in the Landmarks program.
"I knew about that church even before it burned down," he said. "It had such a long history and an interesting story." Ohman met the Rieckes in August of 2018. "(Ohman) wanted to know what we could tell him about Spring Creek Church and our connection to it," Kayann explained.
Doug and (producer) Tim Bakken then came out in early September 2018 to film the segment. "My mom (Kathleen Jacobson), Ross and I were in the filming which took two to three hours. They used a drone to film cemetery and site which is in the final cut. Ross didn't make it to the final cut, but by mom and my part is about 2 1/2 minutes."
The 18 regional Emmy nomination for Pioneer's local productions is the most in its 53-year history of the station.
The Emmy Awards will be presented to the winners at the 20th Annual Upper Midwest Regional Gala on Oct. 5 in Prior Lake.
The Rieckes will not be able to attend the awards banquet, though, as their daughter is getting married on that day. Among the other nominations were 10 stories created and aired this past year by Pioneer PBS' Postcards production team of Dana Conroy, Ben Dempcy and Kristofor Gieske.
Those stories feature interviews with artists, photographers, Dakota teachers, a veteran and a historic collector from communities in the extensive Pioneer PBS viewing area.
Five other nominated segments were created by Pioneer PBS' "Prairie Sportsman" production team of Cindy Dorn, Bret Amundson, Dylan Curfman and Max Grabow.
Those stories include dog mushers, decoy artists, T.U.N.E. Camp for Youth, pollinator-friendly solar and the National Eagle Center in Wabasha. Amundson was also nominated in the Program Host category and Dorn was nominated in the Writer category.
"We saw the Landmarks program for the first time when it premiered on Pioneer TV in March," said Kayann Riecke.
"I guess we were nervous about how we were going to appear on screen, but they didn't use any extreme close-ups. Most people probably wouldn't even know it was us if you didn't read the names on the bottom of the screen."
The Rieckes were thrilled when they discovered the program that included Spring Creek Church was nominated for an Emmy Award. "I saw it (Aug. 10) when Doug's wife posed the news release on Facebook," Kayann noted. "I immediately shared it and posted my own pictures and comments."
"It's great that Doug and Tim are getting the nominations. They work hard and have a wonderful way of telling the stories about our lives and the history of rural Minnesota." During the film of the Spring Creek Church portion of the program, Ohman walked around the cemetery while Bakken filmed.
The Rieckes also gave Ohman several old photos and documents about the church to use in the segment. As they stood beside the memorial, Ohman asked the ladies what they felt standing in the spot where the church once sat. "This is holy ground," said Kayann. "Even though the church isn't here anymore, it is still a sacred place."
Ohman said it wasn't hard to determine which schools, churches and barns to use in his program. "I knew enough good people that I thought would be good on camera," he said.
"And I chose locations that I thought would be interesting." And each of his segments were not only interesting, but also heart-warming.