GRANITE FALLS, Minnesota, September 8, 2025—The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Upper Midwest Chapter announced that Pioneer PBS has been nominated for 22 Emmy® Awards, featuring our local shows, specials, and staff. Long-running Pioneer PBS programs Postcards and Prairie Sportsman snagged nominations, as well as our teams dedicated to sharing veteran and Minnesota history stories.
Pioneer PBS’s arts, culture, and history program Postcards received 16 nominations.
Postcards is produced by Dana Conroy, with videography and editing by Ben Dempcy and Kristofor Gieske. This year’s nominations also feature additional editing by Mike Scholtz and Justin Streichman.
The nominated stories and specials for the Postcards program, which feature interviews with and profiles of people from communities in the extensive Pioneer PBS viewing area:
- Runge Cars - Lifestyle Short
- Korma Aguh-Stuckmayer (Afrocontigbo) - Arts/Entertainment Long
- Samuel Kapsner - Entertainment Long
- Janel Guertin - Arts/Entertainment Short
- A'ja Nauden - Arts/Entertainment Short
- Anna Spickelmier- Arts/Entertainment Short
- Zak Jahn - Arts/Entertainment Short
- Alec Majerus – Documentary - Topical
- Knit With Love - Documentary - Cultural
- Sheila Tabaka - Informational/Instructional
- Ryan Rumpca - Environment/Science
- Del Thielke – Historical/Cultural/Nostalgia Long
- Nordic Echoes - Special Event Coverage
- Ross Sutter - Informational/Instructional
- Jacob Pavek - Entertainment Short
Pioneer PBS’s outdoor sporting, recreation, and conservation program Prairie Sportsman received five nominations.
The Prairie Sportsman crew is comprised of Bret Amundson, host, producer, videographer, and editor; Cindy Dorn, writer and producer; and Dan Amundson, videographer, photographer, and editor. This year’s nominations also feature additional editing by Bradley Keely and motion graphics by Mickey Reed.
The nominated stories for the Prairie Sportsman program, which feature interviews from and profiles of people from communities in the extensive Pioneer PBS viewing area:
- So You Sunk - Business Consumer
- 10,000 Youth Ice Anglers Project – Education/School/Youth;A Superior Threat - Environment/Science
- Mounting A Memory - Lifestyle Long
- A Superior Threat - Environment/Science
- 21 Roots - Writer
Pioneer PBS Specials also received two nominations within the Documentary – Historical category. Steel, Salt, Crash and Salvage, and producer, videographer, editor Tyler Gastecki, with additional videography from Dylan Curfman and Esmeralda Ziemer, received a nod for their story about Navy Veteran Carla Hernandez, who shares her journey aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln during the Iraq War. And Held in Minnesota: Untold WWII POW Stories, produced by Susan Marks, with additional videography from Matt Ehling and graphics from Matt Johnson, also received a nod for their story about the forgotten history of twenty-one POW labor camps in Minnesota during WWII, by way of a major POW camp in Algona, Iowa.
Watch all nominated stories, past and present, online at pioneer.org/emmys.
The award winners will be announced at the 2025 Upper Midwest Emmys® event hosted by The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Upper Midwest Chapter on Saturday, October 18. The event will also be available to stream live online on the Midwest Emmys YouTube channel.
About Pioneer PBS
Established in 1966, Pioneer PBS is an award-winning, viewer-supported television station dedicated to sharing stories from rural Minnesota with the world. Pioneer PBS is headquartered in Granite Falls, Minnesota, with towers in Appleton, Worthington, and Fergus Falls. Pioneer PBS reaches more than a million people in rural areas and small towns in western Minnesota, the eastern Dakotas, and northern Iowa. Pioneer PBS is honored to be your television station—the only station in western Minnesota telling your stories and raising your voices into the media landscape. Our members help make programs like this possible with their generous support. For more information about Pioneer PBS or how you can help us make these stories a reality, visit pioneer.org/donate or call 800-726-3178.
About Postcards
Postcards is an award-winning art, culture, and history program. It is made possible by contributions from the voters of Minnesota through a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. The 2025 season is made possible by funding from Shalom Hill Farm, Explore Alexandria Tourism, Lake Region Arts Council, KRAM 96.7, Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies, and members of Pioneer PBS.
About Prairie Sportsman
Prairie Sportsman is an Emmy-awarded series that celebrates the love of the outdoors by featuring topics on hunting, fishing, and recreation while promoting environmental stewardship. The 2025 season is made possible by funding from the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund, Shalom Hill Farm, Live Wide Open, Western Minnesota Prairie Waters, and members of Pioneer PBS. If you enjoy Prairie Sportsman, become a friend of Prairie Sportsman by filling out a Google Form.