Green Line Equipment has expanded its product base for customers with the addition of Valley Irrigation.
After the 2016 purchase of Tri Valley Electric in Neligh, Green Line Equipment became the Valley Irrigation dealer in Neligh. Brad Detlefsen, a technician with Valley Irrigation at Green Line Equipment, said the merger has allowed Green Line to better serve its customers due to the additional resources available. In addition to Neligh, Green Line has locations that service Valley Irrigation products in Norfolk, Albion, Spalding and Plainview. “With all of our service techs in all of our stores, we have over 70 years of combined experience,” Detlefsen said. He said their service inspection program allows Valley certified technicians to analyze pivots and check over all of the mechanical and electrical systems before they are used in the field. “We go through and inspect every tower for electrical, oil levels, air pressure and check fuses and everything else before they start running in the spring,” Detlefsen said. In January of 2019, Valley Irrigation released its newest management software called Valley Scheduling. “With this, farmers will have an app at their fingertips letting them know when they need to water,” he said. “The weather station in the field will give them physical measurements for their field with real-time data. They will also get the weather forecast with the app.” Valley Scheduling works by first entering farm information, field data and preferences. Industry-leading software then analyzes the data and provides a precise irrigation forecast, showing how much water the crops need and when they need it. Farmers can then decide a schedule for “smart irrigation application.” Valley Scheduling allows farmers to make informed irrigation decisions using data about soil, crop type, stage of development and automatically updated weather information. They can stay informed from anywhere through a simple dashboard that can be accessed from a mobile phone, tablet or desktop device. The full range of irrigation management features help farmers eliminate guesswork and improve efficiency. The software will help increase yield potential and profitability, using fewer resources by watering and fertigating the right amount in the right places at the right times. It will also improve crop health and reduce disease by monitoring potential crop stress due to over- or under-watering, and increase production and yield quality. Detlefsen said the trained technicians will offer a support team to train farmers and offer recommendations based on their data and results. Green Line Equipment, Neligh’s Valley dealer, is located at 1000 E. Hwy. 275 and can be reached by calling 402-887-5665. Having a local independent insurance agent may be most beneficial during some of the most disastrous times.
Dane Nielsen, who has operated Nielsen Insurance in Neligh for nearly 15 years, said he’s proud to offer local service from companies that have his same local perspective. While national companies may drop customers after an auto or personal claim, Nielsen said he can contact the companies he works with and fight to keep the customer who has been loyal. “A local independent agent can go to bat for you,” Nielsen said. “While other national companies may drop someone after an accident, we will stand up for you and try to keep your insurance.” Nielsen said while few things change from year to year in the insurance industry, the weather remains one of the biggest unknowns year after year, especially with customers from all over. “We haven’t had a real bad hail storm here in Neligh since about 2014, but all summer, every summer, we have hail claims,” Nielsen said. “Whether it’s someone driving in a hail storm in Omaha or a field this way or that way from town, we’re constantly dealing with weather.” Nielsen Insurance may close early on Fridays, but it’s not uncommon for phone calls in the evenings and on weekends because someone buys a new car or is in an accident. Nielsen said he always picks up the phone to help his customers. “That’s why people choose a local agent and not someone nationally. They want to be able to pick up the phone and talk to someone who understands,” Nielsen said. “We’re local and are proud to be.” Nielsen’s team provides all types of loss coverage, including auto, home, business, crop, recreation, farm, home and more. He also has people in the office for health insurance. “We can do about anything that people would like us to do, and we pride ourselves on the service we can offer everybody,” he said. An Antelope County Commissioner is facing a Class II misdemeanor charge stemming from an incident that occurred between Jan. 1-31, 2019.
According to a complaint filed with the Antelope County Court, special prosecutor Joseph M. Smith filed a complaint of theft by unlawful taking or disposition against Eli Jacob, 65 of Clearwater, on Feb. 22. The complaint is for property valued at $500 or less. Jacob will appear in Antelope County Court on March 6 at 9:30 a.m. before Judge Donna Taylor. Students from more than a dozen schools competed in the Niobrara Valley Conference Speech Meet in Verdigre on Monday.
Verdigre won the team sweeps and Stuart was runner up. Antelope County competitors brought home nine medals from the tough contest. Emma Bixler earned second place in persuasive speaking for Neligh-Oakdale. Representing Clearwater/Orchard, Jackie Olivan picked up the second place medal in entertainment speaking. The bulk of the local medals were awarded to Elgin Public with Grace Rittscher second in entertainment speaking; Kira Widger fourth in serious prose; and the OID team of Rittscher, Widger, Adam Dreger, Hunter Reestman and Theanna Dunn earning fourth. Terri Hergert’s voice quivered and the tears fell when she spoke Monday night.
Earlier in the night the longtime Orchard school board member voted against consolidating Orchard, Ewing and Clearwater, but before adjourning, Hergert’s words were met with applause — from both the crowd and board members from the other schools — when she picked up the microphone and said she would work positively on the merger. “Over 20 years ago on the Unified (Board) I had to vote to close the Royal school. Never ever did I think I’d be in a position to close the Orchard school,” Hergert said. “However, now that the motion has been made and passed, I will work on this project positively and do everything I can.” After decades of merger talks between the three schools — and plenty of tension in recent years — the three boards met Monday in the Ewing gym and approved consolidation, contingent upon the passage of a bond issue to build a new school. Many details remain unknown from the timeline on a vote to the location of the school, but there are two certainties — the stakeholders of the three districts will make the final decision on consolidation, not the boards, and the three schools will co-op most activities beginning in the fall. There were three key items on the agenda, all of which passed, but only the final one was unanimous by those board members in attendance. Clearwater board member Regina Krebs was absent. Decided on Monday were the following: • create a co-op for volleyball, basketball, wrestling, golf and track for the 2019-20 season. Not included were speech, play production, music or football. Football is currently in the middle of a two-year cycle and cannot be changed. • consolidate the schools, contingent upon the passage of bond votes in all three communities, beginning June 4, 2020. The unification between Orchard, Clearwater and Verdigre will end June 1, 2020. • approve KSB Law Firm to proceed with a request for proposal for an architect and construction management at-risk company, along with directing the three schools’ administration to begin selecting a financial agent. The vote to consolidate was a unanimous 6-0 for Ewing and 5-0 for Clearwater. Orchard, however, passed by a narrow 4-2 margin when Hergert and Terra Williby both voted no. There was little time wasted in the meeting before Robert Johnston of Clearwater asked for the survey results from last Wednesday’s community meeting when stakeholders were asked to share if they were in favor of or against consolidation. Orchard Principal Cathy Cooper said 128 people responded to the informal survey with 85 against pursuing the consolidation and 43 were in favor. Board President Candice Hoke said out of more than 700 voters, less than 17 percent responded to the survey. Several people, including Ewing resident and Clearwater graduate Mark Walton, said the consolidation should have happened years ago. “This discussion was had in the ‘70s when I was in high school, and it didn’t go anywhere. It should have,” he said. “Everybody’s afraid to lose their school. I understand that. But if we don’t do something, we’re going to lose more than our school.” He added, “The problem isn’t the kids. The problem is the people in the stands. I’m not blaming any one person, but we’ve got to figure it out.” Ewing board member Ed Nordby said consolidation was “on the table in the ’60s, ’70s and ’90s.” “It’s time to stop being afraid of what could be or what we could be losing, and I think it’s time to move forward and reach out for those good things that can happen if we come together,” Nordby said. Looking at the financial aspect during last week’s community meeting, Nebraska Unified Superintendent Dale Martin showed the audience that Orchard’s levy would be nearly the same no matter if it consolidated or was alone, ranging from .49 to .52. But Clearwater and Ewing would see dramatic differences in their levies without Orchard. However, if Orchard unified with Verdigre, the levy would increase to .68 Projected general levies (not including the bond for a new school) are as follows: • Clearwater-Orchard consolidated: .5040 • Orchard-Ewing consolidated: .4938 • Clearwater-Ewing consolidated: .6103 • Clearwater-Ewing-Orchard consolidated: .5102 • Orchard-Verdigre Unified: .6860 • Orchard Alone: .52 A new building could add up to 17 cents on the levy, which would make it .68 for Orchard-Clearwater-Ewing. Both Orchard and Clearwater currently have a levy of .64, so a new school could raise their current levy four cents with 2018 valuations. Several Orchard patrons talked about the number of students for class sizes and athletic classification. With a three-school merger, the new school would likely be Class C2 but not have more than 40 students per class, which Rachael Cheatum said isn’t as big as some may think. Cheatum attended Page through junior high and Orchard in high school, graduating in 1996. “Our three schools together are going to be what Orchard was 30 years ago when we were all in school, and none of us thought Orchard was very big. I know you all thought Page was really little, and I had 13 kids in my class,” she said. “I think that might be our biggest class here now. Looking at that way now, I didn’t think Orchard was big, and we had 23 maybe in my graduating class here….We’re talking about having classes of up to 40 kids. That’s going to be what we all went to school with.” Athletic directors from the three schools were expected to meet immediately to start working on athletic schedules for the fall season. Effective June 4, 2020, and contingent on the successful passage of a bond, Orchard, Clearwater and Ewing will consolidate into one school district.
All three school boards passed the motion to consolidate during Monday’s joint meeting at Ewing High School. Ewing voted 6-0, Clearwater 5-0 (Regina Krebs absent) and Orchard 4-2 (Terra Williby and Terri Hergert no). This story will be updated. The resemblance was almost uncanny Saturday morning as Tyler and Sonya Legate slipped into the folding chairs in the corner of Mat 5 at the CHI Health Center in Omaha.
They sat on the edge of the metal chairs, elbows resting on their knees as they yelled both instructions and encouragement to Pierce 160-pounder Brett Tinker. While Tyler and Sonya are no strangers to wrestling, the weekend marked the first time the brother and sister duo coached together on Nebraska’s biggest high school stage. “This is her first year helping me, and I was never hesitant about it,” said Tyler, head coach at Pierce and 2007 graduate of Neligh-Oakdale. “The kids really like her, and she’s done a great job." While it’s not common to see a female coaching wrestling at state — or on any high school mat for that matter — 25-year-old Sonya, who graduated from Elkhorn Valley in 2012, looked as comfortable coaching as she said she felt. Like any good wrestler, Sonya’s working her way around the mat, waiting for the right time to take her shot. “For me, I want to coach girls’ wrestling, but right now, I have to be coaching boys,” Sonya said minutes before Tinker took the mat for the Class C fifth-place match. “It’s about coaching. Just coaching,” Tyler added. Roger and Rosemary Legate’s three children were raised on the wrestling mat in their Neligh basement. Tyler and Colby Legate are the only brothers to ever win state titles at Neligh-Oakdale with Tyler winning 189 in 2007 and Colby at 171 in 2009. They are also the last Warriors to strike gold at the state meet. But Sonya didn’t wrestle competitively. She practiced, but Tyler said their parents never allowed her wrestle in matches. Against two state champions at home, one could argue she was forced to be competitive every time she stepped on the mat in the basement. “My ears are ripped from them. They ripped the earrings off while wrestling,” Sonya said while grabbing her ear lobes. Tyler added with a laugh, “That sounds weird to people because she’s a girl, but we always treated her like a brother. She’s tough because we beat on her.” Sonya took that toughness to Waldorf University, where she wrestled for four years. Located 120 miles south of Minneapolis, it was an opportunity for the volleyball and basketball standout to compete in freestyle wrestling rather than the more common folkstyle, which is what is utilized at the youth and high school level in Nebraska. Sonya wrestled collegiately while earning her bachelor’s degree from Waldorf in 2017. She’s now wrapping up her teaching certification from Wayne State College and will student teach in the fall, following in her family footsteps as an elementary teacher. Besides Tyler being at Pierce, Rosemary is a preschool teacher at Elkhorn Valley. Tyler said they talked many times about Sonya joining his staff as an assistant coach, and having her freestyle background has helped his wrestlers tremendously with footwork and hand placement. He’s adamant that Sonya isn’t on his staff because she’s his sister or because he’s pushing female wrestling. Her coaching and knowledge, he said, are impeccable. “Freestyle is a different style. You have to be good on your feet, and she’s learned different stuff,” he said. “I hope I get that message out here. We’re not trying to break a trend. It’s because she’s a good coach. She’s been good with the guys, and the guys have accepted her as just a coach.” Sonya’s goal is to coach female wrestling, and both believe it will happen soon. Female wrestling at the high school level has been a hot topic in Nebraska for several years and is gaining more momentum annually. “Women’s wrestling is the fastest growing sport in the nation. It’ll be sanctioned soon in Nebraska,” Tyler said. “It’s passed four of the six districts, so maybe next year or two years for sure. If I can get a girls’ team in Pierce, I’d love to see her build a program there.” Both Tyler and Sonya said they’ve enjoyed coaching together, especially seeing each other on a daily basis after so many years apart. Sonya was in seventh grade when Tyler graduated from Neligh-Oakdale. A football standout, he led Class C2 with 2,051 yards rushing and 29 touchdowns. Having spent his first year of college at the University of South Dakota, Tyler then walked on at the University of Nebraska and eventually earned a scholarship as the starting fullback. He graduated from UNL the same year Sonya graduated from Elkhorn Valley, which meant he watched a few basketball games but missed every volleyball match due to his own football career. They’re making up for lost time now and enjoying every minute. While reflecting on their closeness, Tyler said everything becomes a life lesson, just like those learned on the wrestling mat. Of course, now he has a familiar — and quite similar — face teaching those lessons. “At the end of day, the real game is life. I hope I can teach these kids that,” Tyler said. “This is life. You’re going to get tripped up in life, and I’m trying to teach them that. Sonya is right there, too, teaching. We’ve all had our ups and downs in life, and she’s teaching these lessons, too.” After serving Neligh and Elgin congregations for 24 years, Pastor David Kuhfal will give his final sermons on Easter Sunday.
Kuhfal and his wife Tami have made the “very difficult decision” to move as he accepts a new calling. Pastor Kuhfal will leave Grace Lutheran in Neligh and Trinity Lutheran in Elgin after April 21 to lead the congregation at Our Saviour Lutheran Church in Des Moines, Iowa—the same church his daughter and her husband, Christy and Matt Graves, attend. “The decision to accept the call was very difficult, because of how much I love the congregations, community, and type of ministry where I currently serve,” he said. In addition, Pastor Kuhfal said he has been very active among the Lutheran clergy in the area during his time here. “Leaving these relationships will be very difficult,” he said. “Also, leaving a church where I have been able to train 13 future pastors (vicars), which I especially enjoy, made the decision difficult. And Tami loves teaching at Orchard Public School, and especially her relationship with Janna Wilhelm and the staff. These, and much more, were pulls making us want to stay.” While weighing their choices, Pastor Kuhfal said he and Tami liked the fact that they would be living in the same town as their daughter Christy and be nearer their younger daughter Rebekah and her husband Jonathan of Joplin, Missouri (4.5 hours versus 9 hours from Neligh). “A new challenge and start, a congregation that could use my gifts, a slower pace, and the opportunity for Tami to use her master’s degree in special education were some of the many pulls toward Des Moines,” he said. “And visiting the people of Our Saviour, we saw a people that love being Lutheran, love to sing, and love to study God’s Word.” Pastor Kuhfal said Our Saviour Lutheran Church does not have a parsonage, so he and Tami will be buying a house, following in the steps of their daughters. Christy and Matt bought a house last March and Rebekah and Jonathan bought one this past January. “The past few weeks have been a difficult mix of sadness of leaving a wonderful familiar place, and excitement of a new start in an unknown new place,” he said. Before moving to Neligh, Pastor Kuhfal grew up in La Mesa, a suburb of San Diego, and then went on to earn a degree in history from San Diego State University in 1987. He attended Concordia Seminary in St. Louis from 1988-1992 and was ordained into the ministry in June 1992. His first assignment was to Trinity Lutheran Church in Denver where he served as pastor of youth and christian education from 1992-1995. In 1995, Pastor Kuhfal was called to serve at Grace Lutheran in Neligh and started serving Trinity Lutheran in Elgin shortly after his arrival. He currently serves as the third vice president of the Nebraska District, representing Region C, a quarter of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod Churches in Nebraska, since 2015; and has been the president of the Neligh Ministerial Association since 1995. Pastor Kuhfal previously served as circuit visitor of the Plainview Circuit of the Nebraska District (2003-2015); advisor for the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League, Plainview Zone; member of the District Nominations Committee (2003-2005); and was a presenter for various conferences. Pastor Kuhfal learned that a call was coming to Our Saviour Lutheran Church in Des Moines on January 24, the night before Grace Lutheran’s annual soup supper. “However, I couldn’t say anything until announcing it publicly in church on Sunday, January 27,” he said. “Between that time, Tami and I had already planned to go to Des Moines to visit Christy and Matt for their new house warming on January 26. That morning we were able to see the church building and the area.” They officially visited the church in Des Moines and its congregation on February 10. “Our Saviour is a smaller church than Neligh (120 members and average attendance of 64),” Pastor Kuhfal said. “Demographically, they are similar to the Neligh congregation, except very few children in the congregation. The church was built in the 1950’s, as was much of the neighborhood. Many of the members commute to the church because of its conservative reputation.” He said Tami hasn’t had the opportunity to look for a job much, but she plans to teach. “She is going to look into special ed openings and possibly STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) openings,” Pastor Kuhfal. “She also would be interested in using her experiences with coding, like the coding club she leads.” So what’s next for Grace Lutheran and Trinity Lutheran? “Before I leave, Pastor Terry Huber, the Plainview Circuit Visitor, will meet with Grace and Trinity to work out plans to set up a pastor who will serve during the vacancy,” he said. “Vicar Witmer will continue his service here until the end of July.” Pastor Kuhfal said Nebraska District President Richard Snow will meet with the congregations and explain the call process and Huber will then help the congregations through calling the next pastor. “The process will probably take at least 9 months,” he said. “After calling a pastor, that pastor will then need to decide where God can best use him. Often, it takes two or three calls before a pastor accepts.” Pastor Kuhfal said when he arrived at Grace Lutheran 24 years ago, “the congregation was going through a challenging time.” “The previous Pastor had left under a controversy,” he said. “Fifteen pastors had declined calls to Grace. But, since that time, much healing and progress has happened.” Pastor Kuhfal said the Fellowship Hall was built “mostly with congregational labor, and really brought the members together.” He said starting the vicarage program “has given us yearly excitement,” and starting the After School Care Program 5 years ago “has given us a wonderful opportunity to serve those in our community.” A special joint meeting of the Ewing, Clearwater and Orchard boards will be Monday, Feb. 25, at 7 p.m. at Ewing Public Schools.
Among the items on the agenda are discussion and possible action on OCE sports/activity COOP beginning 2019-2020 school year, discussion and possible action on school consolidation and discussion and possible action to proceed with an RFP for an architect, construction manager at risk company and a financial agent. Antelope County Extension has a new face in its office.
Brittany Spieker, originally from Pierce, started on Feb. 1 as the Food, Nutrition and Health Extension Educator. In addition to Antelope County, Spieker will also be serving in Nance, Boone and Knox Counties. “It’s really exciting to come back, be closer to family,” Spieker said. Spieker has spent the last seven years in Lincoln for her undergraduate and master’s degree studies, both in nutrition and health sciences. Her undergrad was an emphasis in dietetics, while her master’s had an emphasis on community nutrition and health promotion with a minor in leadership studies. Her main focus in her new role will be on kids, “but I will also be working with adults, so my spectrum can be working with about anybody, and so even if I’m working with adults, a lot of those adults do have contact with kids as well,” she said. “Kind of working with the whole community to help lift the whole community up in their health and wellness together.” Spieker said she is “looking forward to partnering with a lot of different organizations around in the communities and potentially doing things with schools.” She is also looking forward to working with libraries doing outreach with the schools and kids, and doing things with the grocery stores in the county like food demonstrations or tours. “I’d be more than happy to partner with anybody that’s looking for activities or looking for continuing education for their students or for other group activities,” Spieker said. Anybody wanting more information can contact Spieker at the Antelope County Extension Office. |
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