PIONEER PBS Est. 1966 • pioneer.org • Granite Falls, MN
IMPACT STORY Pioneer PBS & Legacy Funding Amplify Veterans’ Voices
Legacy funding for Pioneer PBS elevates our role as trusted and valued communicators for the small towns and farming communities of western Minnesota. Pioneer PBS’ Postcards had 17 of their stories nominated for Upper Midwest Regional Emmy® Awards, with two receiving the award. These stories share regional histories and showcase rural artists, tribal members, small business owners, and veterans. The Pioneer PBS broadcast signal reaches 26 Minnesota counties, where residents can receive our programming for free with antennas. Streaming continues to grow for audiences of Pioneer PBS, with the Legacy content viewed 1,753,088 times in this fiscal year.
Charles and Royal Hettling in front of their museum in Minneota.
We attended a powwow for the first time. I saw the Cuban-type musical group Malamanya after seeing it on public TV. I got involved in local politics, gained much respect for native Minnesotans, took Scandinavian art classes through community ed, took grandkids to Granite Falls to see the ‘oldest rocks in the world.’ - Viewer
Royal and Charles Hettling, brothers from Minneota, served in the Vietnam War. They decided to open a museum in their hometown to share the story of a complicated and tragic war. The documentary we made with them has been shared at events, deepening the conversation surrounding Vietnam veterans.
When ‘Vietnam Brotherhood’ was shown at my unit’s reunion, the guys were extremely happy with the program. The message given was “our story is finally being told.” Many wives commented that they felt like they understood their husbands’ experience better having seen the program. – Royal Hettling
AREAS OF IMPACT
CELEBRATING A LOVE OF ARTS
SHARING VETERAN VOICES
RECLAIMING CULTURE
Pioneer PBS’ veteran page on YouTube has garnered over 630,000 views in the past year. We recognize the importance of this platform for veterans to find their voice. Reaching out recently to a veteran who had expressed interest in sharing their story, we learned he had passed away. This is a driving force for Pioneer PBS, as we recognize we don’t have much time left to capture these memories. This veteran’s story will now, unfortunately, go untold. We want to make sure we share as many as we can before they are lost forever.
Jonathan Thunder takes back his cultural heritage in surrealist paintings and animations. Jammie Niemeyer dives into a study of people important to Black history in America and uses art to help her discover her own identity.
Our veteran stories allow veterans to share their unique perspectives, and are being used to set up classroom visits that can then leave students prepared to ask intelligent questions and deepen the impact of the veteran’s visit to schools and community events.
Postcards provides a platform for artists of Minnesota to showcase their passion and explore a wide range of artistic approaches.
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MPTA | PIONEER PBS
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