In the heart of Sioux Falls, there exists a vibrant hub of culture, commerce, and community\u2014downtown Sioux Falls. Amidst the bustling streets and businesses is\u00a0Martin Dill\u00a0<\/strong>and his team of red shirts known as the\u00a0Downtown Sioux Falls Ambassadors<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe do everything that makes downtown Sioux Falls safe, sanitary, interesting, and beautiful,\u201d stated Dill, operations manager for\u00a0Downtown Sioux Falls, Inc.\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Block by Block<\/strong>.<\/p>\n From watering flowers to chatting with visitors and locals alike, the ambassadors help make downtown a desirable place to visit.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to be engaging, ask people how they\u2019re doing, and help direct them to where they want to go,\u201d explained Dill.<\/p>\n The outreach of the Ambassadors extends beyond tourists and residents, to businesses and shop owners as well.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want our business owners to know that we\u2019re not only here to help, but that we\u2019re accessible,\u201d shared Dill. \u201cIf something outside of their storefront needs attention, they can let us know.\u201d<\/p>\n Though some days, their duties aren\u2019t glamorous. It comes with cleaning up trash, dog waste, and occasionally graffiti.<\/p>\n \u201cWe do a little bit of everything,\u201d added Dill.<\/p>\n The Ambassadors also help those in need, such as the unhoused, by connecting them to resources in town.<\/p>\n \u201cAs far as our outreach goes, it has changed since I started two and a half years ago,\u201d said Dill. \u201cWe now have a couple of options to help the unhoused receive the help they need.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cour staff is trained for the safety of their well-being.\u201d -martin dill<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Dill and his team have previously transported residents to\u00a0Bishop Dudley Hospitality House\u00a0<\/strong>or\u00a0The Link<\/strong>. In more dire cases, the ambassadors call for medical assistance to aid their efforts.<\/p>\n In other cases, Dill found that a simple conversation could be just as beneficial.<\/p>\n \u201cI always encourage my employees to sit down and talk to the unhoused individuals,\u201d stated Dill. \u201cFind out who they are, where they\u2019re from, see how their day is going, just talk to them. Sometimes that\u2019s all they need.\u201d<\/p>\n Safety for everyone in the community is at the forefront of an Ambassador\u2019s role. Safety Ambassadors patrol bike trails along the river, underneath bridges, Falls Park<\/strong>, and Phillips Avenue.<\/p>\n \u201cThis past summer, one of my employees brought a case of water to the unhoused under the bridge when it was over The Ambassadors are always there to lend a hand and enhance downtown for any occasion.<\/p>\n As the winter season approaches, Dill and his team are gearing up to wrap downtown Sioux Falls in holiday cheer.<\/p>\n Twinkling lights and garland will decorate Phillips Avenue. Dill and his team work in a hydraulic lift to wrap the vintage light poles and trees along the bustling street.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s something so cheerful about the lights,\u201d said Dill. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot of fun to set up and it\u2019s more fun seeing how excited people get about the Christmas lights, because it really is.\u201d<\/p>\n A fan-favorite attraction will also reappear this holiday season.<\/p>\n \u201cWe set up a photo opportunity that\u2019s great for kids, filled with light-up candy canes, presents, and a snowman photo stand-in,\u201d said Dill. \u201cWe got a ton of play out of it. The second it was up, people were immediately interested.\u201d<\/p>\n He added that the Sioux Falls community should stay tuned as a new light display will be featured this year that is unlike anything else in South Dakota.<\/p>\n For years, strolling through downtown to view the lights has become a tradition for visitors and residents. Dill and his team have become an important asset to their traditions.<\/p>\n \u201cI love being a part of their traditions, but my favorite part of being an asset to their tradition would be the hydraulic lift,\u201d Dill said with a chuckle.<\/p>\n For the full article from 605 Magazine, click here.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n October 31, 2023<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 605 Spotlight \/\/ Martin Dill written by Gabby Sudenga + photos by Cailyn Patterson Part of this article has been shared from 605 Magazine. Click here for the full article.\u00a0 In the heart of Sioux Falls, there exists a vibrant hub of culture, commerce, and community\u2014downtown Sioux Falls. Amidst the bustling streets and businesses is\u00a0Martin …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":4413,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blockbyblock.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blockbyblock.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blockbyblock.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blockbyblock.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blockbyblock.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4410"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.blockbyblock.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4410\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4426,"href":"https:\/\/www.blockbyblock.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4410\/revisions\/4426"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blockbyblock.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blockbyblock.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blockbyblock.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blockbyblock.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/605magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/DSC_2035-683x1024.jpg\")
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\n100 degrees out. That\u2019s what we do,\u201d reminisced Dill. \u201cOur goal is to always approach them in a non-adversarial way.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/605magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/DSC_2067-683x1024.jpg\")
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