Download a photo of the Postcards team of Ben Dempcy, Kris (Big Bird) Gieske and Dana Conroy.
Download a photo of Prairie Sportsman host Bret Amundson.
GRANITE FALLS, Minn. — Pioneer PBS’s locally produced programs have received a record six regional Emmy® awards from the Upper Midwest Chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences during a special online gala held November 14. This is the eighth year in a row that Pioneer has received Upper Midwest Emmys® for its local programs, for a total of 18 Emmys since 2013.
Bret Amundson received an Emmy award in the “Talent - Program Host/Moderator” category for his role as the public face of Prairie Sportsman — the most widely distributed Pioneer PBS program. Amundson lives in Chippewa County and he has been serving as the host of Prairie Sportsman since 2017.
Prairie Sportsman also received an award for Living With Wolves, a story featuring the life and work of wildlife scientist Dave Mech, a world-renowned wolf expert and founder of the International Wolf Center in Ely. The program was written and produced by Cindy Dorn with editors/videographers Dylan Curfman and Max Grabow and assistant producer Bret Amundson.
Four Emmys were received by the Pioneer PBS Postcards team of producer Dana Conroy with videographers/editors Ben Dempcy and Kristofor Gieske. Since 2013, stories created by this Postcards production team have received 15 Upper Midwest Emmys.
The story, History in Miniature: Max’s Dioramas about Max Grabow of Gaylord, explores his hobby as a maker of dioramas, many of them inspired by the Fagen Fighters WWII Museum.
Moment of Action is a story about artist John Sterner who teaches K-12 art classes at Lakeview High School in Cottonwood and has served on the faculty at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall.
Player Piano Man is a story about Nate Otto and his passion for restoring player pianos. Nate was interviewed for this story at his family's cabin near Richmond.
From War to Dance: The Carlyle Larsen Story is about Madison’s Carlyle Larsen, a 95-year-old Morse code radio operator who survived Japanese bombing raids in WWII. Larsen returned to western Minnesota to play trumpet in thousands of gigs and he has performed taps at more than 200 military funerals since 1996.
The award-winning productions were made possible by Pioneer PBS members, with funding from the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources, the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, SafeBasements of Minnesota and other sponsors.
About Pioneer PBS
Pioneer PBS is an award-winning, viewer-supported television station dedicated to sharing local stories of the region with the world. For more information, visit www.pioneer.org or call 1-800-726-3178.
