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Sports broadcaster to share ‘Legendary Sport Stories’ at Cultural Heritage Center

The man behind one of the most familiar voices in South Dakota sports broadcasting will be at the Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre on April 10.

Mike Henriksen has interviewed many people in the 40 years he has been a radio sports broadcaster in South Dakota. He hosts the radio show Sportsmax and has been a voice of state high school sports events for South Dakota Public Broadcasting.

Henriksen has put 15 of the stories as told to him into print in “First Person: Legendary Sports Stories.” He will talk about the book at 7 p.m. CDT on Tuesday, April 10, at the Cultural Heritage Center as part of the History and Heritage Book Club sponsored by the South Dakota Historical Society Foundation.

The program is free and everyone is welcome to attend.

“Mike has preserved an important part of South Dakota history by putting these interviews into print,” said foundation President Catherine Forsch. “Those who tell their stories in the book include athletes, coaches, sportscasters and more who made an impact on sports in the state.”

Henriksen’s goal for the book was that it would include a mixture of cultures, geographic areas of the state, involvement in sports, and the well-known and lesser-known.

Subjects include Jim Thompson, who describes how the De Smet Farm Mutual ads came into being; American Indian basketball player turned musician Frank Waln; and former Rapid City Journal sports editor Roger Toland.

Henriksen will tell about his career in broadcasting, how the book came about and what was memorable about the people included in the book during his program at the Cultural Heritage Center.

“First Person: Legendary Sports Stories” is sold at the Heritage Stores at the Cultural Heritage Center and the Capitol.

Please call 605-773-6006 for more information about the program.

About the South Dakota State Historical Society
The South Dakota State Historical Society is a division of the Department of Education. The State Historical Society, an Affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, is headquartered at the South Dakota Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre. The center houses the society’s world-class museum, the archives, and the historic preservation, publishing and administrative/development offices. Call 605-773-3458 or visit www.history.sd.gov for more information. The society also has an archaeology office in Rapid City; call 605-394-1936 for more information.

About the South Dakota Historical Society Foundation
South Dakota Historical Society Foundation is a private charitable nonprofit that seeks funding to assist the South Dakota State Historical Society in programming and projects to preserve South Dakota’s history and heritage for future generations.