Nov. 30, 2022

This paid piece is sponsored by Knife River South Dakota.

Most holiday memories start with someone stepping up to do something special – and these are no exception.

For Brig Schilling, it started with a question in a leadership meeting.

“Someone had asked me if we were ever doing the Parade of Lights again because they worked on it five years ago and enjoyed it,” said Schilling, the equipment general manager at Knife River Sioux Falls.

“So I asked if we were ever going to do a float again, and Clark (Meyer) said, ‘That’s a great idea, why don’t you head that up?’ I didn’t mind at all. But my busiest week of the year then turned into my two busiest weeks.”

Schilling also helps coordinate Knife River’s maintenance shop as it turns into a distribution center for Feeding South Dakota Thanksgiving dinners.

“He’s our holiday guy this year,” Knife River South Dakota president Clark Meyer said. “He’s taken the lead, and it’s been a lot of fun to see our team come together to make this a meaningful and memorable time of year.”

This year, as soon as Thanksgiving meals were handed out to more than 1,000 people, Schilling shifted to overseeing work on the Knife River float, which participated in both the downtown Sioux Falls Parade of Lights and the parade in Brandon the following day.

“I’d never been to the parade – we were always out of town – so I watched a bunch of videos about what floats entailed and put out an email to the company to send suggestions, and we came up with a theme,” he said.

Their quarry-inspired “Rocking the Christmas Tree” float involved candy-striping a dump truck and stringing it with lights.

“I put out another email and said I need volunteers to decorate, and I had to shut it off because I was getting so many,” Schilling said. “And we had so many families with kids that wanted to ride in the parade we didn’t have a big enough float.”

And that was just the start of Knife River’s holiday-spirit-filled weekend.

After parades Friday and Saturday, Sunday brought the return of the Ellis & Eastern Santa Train.

The popular train brought Santa to towns more than two decades ago – and Eric Berning stepped up to help bring it back.

Photo by Sandy Wood

“We did it 20 or so years ago in Sioux Falls, and my wife thought it would be cool to bring it back and go from town to town, so Clark said yes, and we started it back up last year,” said Berning, supervisor of track maintenance.

The Santa Train makes four stops in Minnesota: Rushmore, Adrian, Magnolia and Luverne.

“These are our communities,” Berning said. “And it went great. We had a better turnout this year, and it was really a good time.”

He starts preparing a month ahead, lighting up the train’s railing, borrowing a big sleigh, putting in trees and planning to distribute hot cocoa and cookies.

“Santa arrives at 11 a.m., but our train crews started at 6 a.m. to get ready for Santa,” said Ryan Hunsaid, manager of train operations.

“It was amazing to see the response, all very positive. We had the kids go up on the locomotive and take pictures, and most people have never been that up close, so the kids and parents thought it was really cool. I just think it’s a great thing for the kids and the community to associate something good like this with the railroad. It’s a way for us to give back to the community.”

Kids get to visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus, share letters and holiday wish lists.

“We’re going to continue to get better every year,” Hunsaid said. “We learned a ton last year and this year, and if the weather cooperates, we’ll be even bigger and better next year.”

And if you’re wondering: Could the train ever return to Sioux Falls?

“We’ve talked about seeing if we can get something back in Sioux Falls again,” Berning said. “Nothing is set yet, but it would be neat.”

Watching the Knife River team come together to deliver holiday memories to thousands reflects what the company is all about, Meyer said.

“There were a lot of volunteer hours and a lot of families who spent part of their holiday weekend to make this happen,” he said. “I’m proud we’re able to give back to our communities in so many meaningful ways.”

From maintenance shop to meal distribution, partnership brings Thanksgiving to thousands