What started as a pickup ride to get out of the house during the pandemic turned into a mission to spread joy and inspire.
Lonnette Kelley is a resident of Sioux Falls, retired nurse, photographer, author and filmmaker. The last three titles didn’t come until she reached her mid 70s.
Those experiences came during and after the COVID-19 pandemic caused Kelley to retire from being a nurse after 55 years. While in isolation, she and a friend got an idea to get out of the house: a road trip. Kelley wanted to explore the small towns within a 50-mile radius around Sioux Falls.
Kelley and her companion, whom she said did not want to be named, shared the experience together.
"He went to heaven almost two years ago now," Kelley said. "It was something we did together. When we finished the last trip and we knew we were done, it was hard for both of us. We didn't want to quit."
Kelley asked him what he took away from the adventure.
"He said, 'Gratitude, so much deep, deep gratitude.' And I said, 'That's amazing, because that's the same way I feel.' We both finished the trip with this huge gratitude in our hearts," Kelley said.
They traveled more than 4,000 miles over a five-month period. Kelley documented the communities and farmland by taking more than 1,600 photos.
Some of the photos of southeast South Dakota Lonnette Kelley took of rural communities during her travel around the region. (Photo: Lonnette Kelley)
She later turned the photos and small bits of history she collected into a book. "Joy in the Heartland: Life-Changing Road Trips Through God’s Healing Fields of South Dakota" was published in 2022.
Now, a few months out from her 80th birthday, Kelley will premiere a documentary of the same name this week that she produced from the experience. The film uses her photos and drone footage to highlight the small communities throughout southeastern South Dakota she visited.
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The story unfolds across 10 mapped regional trails, including the Old West Trail, Ageless Prairie Trail and Sioux Valley Trail. The documentary also features the "51 Hearts Initiative." Kelley gifted a physical, red-colored, wooden heart to 51 different towns within that 50-mile radius of Sioux Falls. Local community leaders placed these hearts on historical landmarks, town buildings or public trees.
“I decided to call somebody in each community and ask if they would be keeper of the heart. So I'm sitting going through the computer and just finding businesses and shops and people, and I would ask them that question," Kelley said. "And I thought, ‘Certainly they're going to hang up on me. They think I'm crazy.’ But they were very intrigued.”
'It’s never too late'
Kelley hopes people feel inspired after watching her film. She took an 18-month author program on writing and publishing when she decided to make her adventure a book.
"I developed (the book) so that people could find joy. My idea was joy is everywhere," Kelley said. "And all we need to do is look for it. It's right in our own backyard. Wherever we decide to look, we can find joy."
“It doesn't matter what age you are. If you have a vision and if you want to go back to school and you're 80, go back to school, you know?” Kelley said.
Nursing home use
Kelley hopes the book and documentary will be helpful not just in spreading joy, but in practical ways too. While doing public speaking engagements to promote her book, nurses would often buy the book, she said.
“They said, ‘All the residents are so excited, they want to read it and see it,’ because they grew up in a lot of these communities,” Kelley said.
“These are homes and places they used to drive through or be a part of,” she added. “And so I'm hoping that that will touch many of the individuals, too, and bring them some comfort and some joy also.”
“Joy in the Heartland” will premiere at Sage Wynn restaurant in Sioux Falls at Lake Lorraine on Tuesday, Aug. 11, from 2-4:30 p.m. and Wednesday, Aug. 12, from 6-8:30 p.m. It will be available for free on Aug. 13 at www.joyintheheartland.com.
South Dakota News Watch is an independent nonprofit. Read, subscribe for free and donate at sdnewswatch.org. Contact reporter Emily DeCock: emily.decock@sdnewswatch.org.
