Hamiel, Woster honored at SDNA convention

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OACOMA — Two Lyman County natives with ties to The Daily Republic were honored for their distinguished journalism careers Friday evening during the South Dakota Newspaper Association’s annual convention.

Noel Hamiel was inducted into the South Dakota Newspaper Hall of Fame, and Terry Woster received the Distinguished Service Award.

Fittingly, the awards were presented at Oacoma’s Cedar Shore Resort, in Lyman County. Both men grew up in rural Lyman County near Reliance and graduated from high school across the Missouri River from Oacoma in Chamberlain.

Hamiel, now of rural Reliance, was most recently the publisher of The Daily Republic before retiring from journalism in 2007. He currently works for the South Dakota Community Foundation, assisting communities statewide in philanthropic development.

Woster, of Pierre, was a longtime reporter and columnist for the Sioux Falls Argus Leader. He retired from that job in 2008 and now writes a twice-weekly column for The Daily Republic.

Friday night’s ceremony included speeches about and by the award winners.

Daily Republic Publisher Korrie Wenzel, who was sports editor and then editor under Hamiel at The Daily Republic, called Hamiel “the perfect inductee” for the newspaper hall of fame.

“From Noel I learned about newspapering and integrity,” Wenzel said. “I learned that debate doesn’t have to mean dislike, and that in journalism, there’s always one more question to ask.”

Wenzel also read a written statement from Steve McLister, who was publisher of The Daily Republic in the early 1990s and brought Hamiel to the newspaper as its editor. McLister is now the vice president of newspapers for Forum Communications Co. of Fargo, N.D., which owns The Daily Republic.

“He taught me that quality journalism wasn’t just for big markets,” McLister wrote of Hamiel. “It could be practiced daily, in communities the size of Mitchell and smaller.”

Hamiel expressed appreciation to the many friends, family members and former colleagues in the room and affirmed his love of the newspaper business.

“It’s the best calling one could ever have,” he said.

Hamiel began his career at the Huron Plainsman. He also worked at the Brookings Register, Argus Leader, The Morning Sun in Pittsburg, Kan., the Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan and the Cincinnati Post.

Woster began his career at the Chamberlain Register. He also worked at the Volga Tribune, The Associated Press, the Pierre and Fort Pierre Times, and the Pierre Capital Journal.

Woster was introduced by SDNA President Lucy Halverson, the publisher of the Lyman County Herald and the Chamberlain/Oacoma Sun, who said Woster had won the hearts of South Dakotans with his personal columns relating stories of growing up on a farm in the 1950s and ’60s. Bob Sutton, president of the South Dakota Community Foundation and emcee of the evening, called Woster “South Dakota’s storyteller.”

Woster said that, as a reporter, he’d “gotten to see 42 to 45 years of South Dakota history in a way most people don’t get to.” “All I ever wanted to be in my life is a reporter,” he said. The two honorees grew up a mile apart, Woster said. Sutton said it was remarkable that such a sparsely populated county had produced two of the night’s award winners. “Lyman County certainly has overachieved,” he said.

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