Columns

RAMBLES

For Easter I traveled north to my mom and stepdad’s house, and along the way I passed through several areas where the flooding had wreaked havoc.

Thinking the bridge near Uehling was still gone, I drove through Seward and North Bend to get to my brother’s house in Snyder—to pick up my niece and nephew—before heading to Oakland.

Despite the entire town being covered with water, North Bend looked good. Although I didn’t take the time to drive through the entire town, and I’m sure there’s a ton more work to be done, from what I could see driving in to town and heading down Main Street, it looks as if everyone has done a tremendous amount of work.

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BULL

There’s and old saying/ quick phrase out there that goes....“Whoa Nellie.” I can’t remember who started that, but it’s a fitting start to this week’s Bull session as that annual end of the school year stretch is upon us, and it’s about to get crazy busy over the next 4-5 weeks before we gear up for all the summer activities.

This weekend, as all three of our county track teams head to their respective conference track meets, is the annual signal for me as to the “storm” that is about to hit.

Sandy Creek and Sutton head to Milford for the Southern Nebraska Conference meet, which begins at 10 a.m., while the Harvard Cardinals have an easy trip south to Sandy Creek High School, where Lawrence-Nelson will host the Twin Valley Conference junior high and high school track and field meets, slated to begin at 9 a.m.

Last weekend those involved with HART Legacy got together for their first-ever Boots and Blue Jeans Ball in Clay Center.

Typically at these events I’m out front either helping out in some way or taking photos.

This time, however, I was in the back with the kids, and let me tell you how fun that was...not that I don’t have fun with all the adults, because I do.

We had a ton of activities set up for kids to play with, including jump rope, play-doh, orbeez (which starts as a tiny hard ball and grows into a squishy ball after being soaked in water), and several bouncy balls.

We had four kids and man did those kids keep us on our toes. They definitely have 20-times the amount of energy I do.

The kids, and I’ll be honest, the “adults”—four students from Harvard and Hannah—had a ton of fun playing with the orbeez.

Something has come to my attention here in recent weeks that makes me feel like Clay County is “under siege,’ in a way.

Illegal substances, such as methamphetamines, marijuana and other illegal drugs, along with the crime that goes along with drug use, has started to get a grip on our home county, and so many counties around us.

It really hit home for me on April 8 when I witnessed a bust go down just outside the back door of the Clay County News office. That feeling of being invaded, that problems are affecting our communities, our kids, our families, our livelihoods and it has to stop, not only in Clay County, but it has to be brought under control nationally. For these problems affect people that I care about, that have to live with these types of illegal substances near my office, my home, I call on citizens of Clay County to step up and help.

Nebraska’s Press Association Convention is one of my favorite times of the year.

This year’s marked my fifth anniversary of attending, which falls far below the many wonderful veteran newspaper persons from around the state.

This year’s convention also got me out of my comfort zone. I’ve gotten better with my shyness; I engage with people more and I’m not such the fly on the wall at events as I used to be.

However, the challenge given to me was to become the secret Ms. X and shake 100 people’s hands, and it proved to be a bit harder than anticipated, but the challenge was the best thing to happen to me.

When you are selected as Mr. or Mrs./Ms. X, only yourself and the person who nominated you know, and your goal is to shake 100 or more hands, but the 100th person you shake hands with gets $100.

Thinking back to my younger years in the newspaper business, even my junior high and high school days when I would tag along with my parents to the annual Nebraska Press Association’s convention, never in my life did I think I’d become one of the old(er) folks of our associaton.

The crazy thing is, I’m not sure why I never thought I’d never be, shall we call it, a “veteran” newspaper person, but sure enough, this weekend as I attended our 145th convention in Kearney, there were a few moments where I felt like I was one of the members of the association that attended the very first convention.

The NPA is the oldest trade association in the state and for whatever reason this year, it hit me that I’ve hit the ranks of one of those veterans.

But, despite my shocking discovery/feelings, it was a fantastic weekend for our team.