LRHT next production a “tale as old as time”
The Little Red Hen Theatre invites audiences of all ages to be their guest for a spectacular production of Disney’s Broadway musical Beauty & The Beast. The dazzling show features a cast and crew of nearly 60 individuals from throughout Northeast Nebraska bringing the timeless classic to life, who will enchant audiences with wonderful singing, inventive costuming, clever choreography, and incredible storytelling.
Disney's Beauty and the Beast is an international sensation that has been produced in 37 countries worldwide and is based on the Academy Award-winning animated feature. The stage version includes all the wonderful songs from the film along with fantastic new ones. The Little Red Hen Theatre production started rehearsals in late May, and actors and the creative team have been working hard since to bring the magical show to life. “Actors began dancing and singing at our very first rehearsal, and haven’t stopped since” says Director T. Adam Goos, “. . . the amount of talent in the show is incredible and I can’t wait for audiences to the amazing work of our cast and crew. They will be blown away”!
The cast, one features both Little Red Hen Theatre regulars and those making their Little Red Hen debut. Featured performers include Brooklyn Bierbower as Belle, RJ Liska as The Beast, Katelyn Pommer as Lumiere, Mike Pommer as Coggsworth, Natalie Markworth as Mrs. Potts, Meg Engel as Babette, Beau Fleming as Gaston, Sawyer Brudigam as LeFou, Brian Johnson as Maurice, and Kennedy Fischer and Myka Metzler as Chip. The show is directed by T. Adam Goos with assistance from Scott Mead, Musical Direction by Daniel Oldenkamp, Choreography by Lexie Kapanka, Stage Management be Abby Weiss, and specialist design and costume construction by Eve Gilmore.
Beauty and the Beast will be presented over seven performances, July 19, 20, 25, 26 & 27 at 7PM, and July 21 and 28 at 2PM. Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for seniors and students and can be purchased online at www.littleredhentheatre.com or by calling the theatre at (402) 287-2818. Tickets for the production are going fast and audiences are encouraged to reserve tickets early, as the show is expected to sell out.
Beauty and the Beast is appropriate for audiences of all ages but recommended for ages 5+. The Little Red Hen Theatre production of Beauty and the Beast is sponsored in part by the Dixon County Convention & Visitors Bureau, Wayne County Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Nebraska Arts Council and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment, and 2024 Patrons of The Little Red Hen Theatre.
Interim pastor Holthus enjoying his time in Emerson and WSC
By Roxy Ekberg
Republican Staff
Pastor Jim Holthus of Minnesota entered into an interim position at Saint Luke’s and Saint Paul’s Lutheran Churches.
Holthus is also serving as the Wayne State College Lutheran campus pastor. He began both positions in January.
Holthus has served as a pastor for 41 years with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Holthus served as a pastor for 15 years in northern Minnesota, which was his last full time position before he retired and began contracting for part time.
Holthus estimated that Emerson is his eighth interim position; he has worked for churches in and around Omaha, served at a church in South Dakota for a year and a half, and has now returned to Nebraska.
Holthus also worked as the Omaha Metro campus pastor from 2017 to 2022, working with Lutheran students at Creighton University, University of Nebraska at Omaha, and the metro colleges. This position gave him connections to the previous campus pastor at Wayne State.
Holthus said once COVID-19 hit, everything went online, and Wayne State lost a large portion of its students who used the campus church services.
“It’s like trying to move a parked car,” he said. “You start out kind of just getting in first gear, and then you try to get to second gear. We’re doing our best to get some momentum and inertia.”
His previous position in South Dakota ended on January 1, and Holthus said he wanted to come back to the Cornhusker State to be near his cousins in Omaha.
“I really enjoy campus ministry, and Wayne State was available and could use somebody to come in and help work with the college students,” Holthus said. “So I have, in some ways, the best of both worlds — halftime working with college students and halftime working with two nice little churches that appreciate each other and seem to appreciate the gifts that I bring.”
Holthus described St. Paul’s and St. Luke’s as very interesting and very unique. He said the demographics of the two churches are more balanced than some of those he has helped in Omaha.
Holthus’ current project with the churches is to create a new picture directory of the members for when the new pastor arrives.
Holthus said he’s helping the churches prepare for a new pastor, and will hold his position until they find one.
Chuck Chinn serves the town of Emerson 40 years
By Roxy Ekberg
Republican Staff
Emerson Police Chief Chuck Chinn marked four decades with the department.
Chinn has served Emerson’s community since 1984, when he joined the department after graduating from the Law Enforcement Training Center in Grand Island.
Six years later, Chinn was named police chief. Holding the position for 34 years, Chinn said he has been the only officer in town for roughly half of his career.
“I felt I could help people if I became a police officer,” Chinn said. “It’s just kind of a dream I’ve had all my life.”
Chinn said being the only officer means less time away from the job and few days off.
Emerson sits in three different counties — Dakota, Dixon, and Thurston — which, Chinn said, makes the job an everyday challenge. Even with decades of service, Chinn said he still never knows what to expect.
In his career, Chinn has been involved in murder investigations, attempted murder investigations, and said the town of roughly 840 people sees the same crimes as big cities, but not as often.
Chinn said over the years, he received offers to work at other departments, but he rejected them so he could stay with the Emerson community.
“It was more or less looking out for the community,” Chinn said. “If I left, then who else is going to be here? Who’s going to come in here? Are they going to get the same service as what I’ve given? So, yes, I've had several opportunities to go to a larger department or a sheriff's office or something, but I just kind of felt that this was my place.”
Reflecting on his decades of service, a memory that sticks out to Chinn was when he arrested a young kid for driving while intoxicated and received a call from the kid’s father the next day.
To Chinn’s surprise, the father wanted to thank him for getting his son off the roads before he hurt someone.
“It really stuck out in my mind for all these years,” Chinn said. “It's very seldom you get a thank you, but that one really blew me away.”
New scoreboard at Eaton Field records first run...
On Wednesday, June 12th Wakefield’s Legion Post 81 hosted a ballgame with South Sioux City. The game didn’t just represent a big win for Post 81 as they beat SSC 12 to 1 it was also the first time the newly installed scoreboard at Eaton Field was put to use.
In the above picture Post 81’s Cade Johnson, on the left, was the first run tallied on the new scoreboard while Jesse Lundahl, on the right, was the hitter to got the first run batted in.
Metzler and Munter-McAfee play in NEN All-Star Volleyball game
Daveigh Munter-McAfee and Jordan Metzler competed at the 2024 Northeast Nebraska (NEN) All-Star Volleyball Game on Saturday, June 8 in Norfolk.
The duo competed as members of the Light Team at the Cox Activities Center in Norfolk for the prestigious game. To add the cherry-on-top, the duo was coached by head coach of the Lady Trojans Brittany Eisenmann, who was selected as one of the two coaches to lead the Light Team.
As members of the Light Team, the duo competed with the best of the best from Northeast Nebraska, including athletes from Pierce, Clarkson-Leigh, Wynot, Plainview, and GACC.
Both Metzler and Munter-McAfee competed well in the contest, and Eisenmanns gameplan worked to perfection. The trio helped boost the Light Team to a victorious sweep over the Dark Team.
The Light Team defeated the Dark Team 25-9 in set one to set the tone of the contest before winning sets two and three 25-21 to complete the sweep. Both teams also agreed to play an extra set, which the Light Team won 25-19.
With the sweep, both Munter-McAfee and Metzler officially concluded their high school volleyball careers with one last win under their head coach Eisenmann.
Metzler finished the contest with one kill, while Munter-McAfee finished with 11. Munter-McAfee ended the contest with the second-most kills out of everyone on both teams, finishing in second only to Jaya Wachholtz of Pierce, who also competed as a member of the Light Team.
Nate Bausch wins Double S Extreme bullride event
Results from last week’s Double S Extreme bullriding, brought by the Plainview Chamber of Commerce, were released this week, with a contest involving 31 riders from mainly across the Midwest.
With a high score of 168.5 points, Nate Bausch of Allen, Neb. took first-place and the $2,151 payout.
Sage Vance of Lincoln was second with an 84.5 ride and $1,290.60 payout. Mason Collins of Tiffin, Iowa finished with an 83 and third place to take the $860.40 payout.
All said, the total paid out was $4,302.00.
Other riders and hometowns were:
Enos Swartzentruber of Gilman City, Missouri
Mason Collins of Tiffin, Iowa
Merle Yoder, Zearing, Iowa
Daniel Stutzman, Sidney, Iowa
Sam Reilling, Ida Grove, Iowa
Jett Sjekolcha, Hayes Center
Isaac Wegrzyn, Lincoln
Dylan Sheldon, Gretna
Josiah Chism, Louisville
Dalton Silvey, West Plains, Mo.
Alex Kent, Marryville, Mo.
Kale Viniski, Hugo, Okla.
Nash Moreland, Thurman, Iowa
Evan Tierney, Harlan, Iowa
Cade Smith, Clarinda, Iowa
Tucker Marx, Wisner
Hunter Peterson, Ponca
Corey Poppe, Sutton
Brett Hopp, Tulan, Ill.
Dillion Poppe, Sutton
Evan Lang, Hamburg, Iowa
Cade Lundvall, Wapallo, Iowa
Kolby Lauters, Stanton
Tyson Scheidman, Sutton
Landon Scheidman, Sutton
Ryan Pans, Brownville
Nolan Waters, Atlantic, Iowa
Brandon Ellis, Cenerville, S.D.
Double S Bull company of Sidney, Iowa provided the stock – Shad and Vicki Smith; flankman/livestock superintendent was Cash Smith; Tim Hallie Dessell of Cherokee, Iowa was the secretary; production manager was Ryan Skillet of Hallam, Nebr.; judges were Kevin Dessel and Dustin Fletcher; Mason Shelton and Andrew Mellencamp were bullfighters; Tyler Pettigrew was barrelman and Jacob Wallace was the announcer.
Tradition of the Chuck Ellis Tourney continues into its 50th year
The Chuck Ellis Memorial Tournament was held at Eaton Field on June first and second. Two time Nebraska State Class C High School and American Legion State Champion Malcom claiming the title after rolling through O’Neill, Ponca, and Wakefield’s Post 81 teams. Wakefield finished the tournament 2-1 to take second place.
The tradition of selecting an all-tournament team continued with pull overs with a 50th year logo on the sleeve being awarded to each selection. Those honored this year are the following:
O’Neill: Ryder Porkorny, Blake Henn, and Jake Haburchak.
Malcom: Logan McGreer, Maddox Meyer, Mason Wisnieski, Carson Frank, Garrett Egland, as well as assistant coaches Jason Ensrud and Shawn Meyer and head coach Tanner Soderberg.
Ponca: Zain Stark and Bradley Lentz.
Wakefield: Adrian Flores, Timothy Kaufman, Jesse Lundahl, Cade Johnson, Tanner Thompson, and Johnny Birkley.
Coach Paul Eaton, in his 56th season as a coach of Post 81 baseball, gave a brief history of the tournament, of Chuck Ellis’ final season in 1969 which concluded at American Legion Class B State Baseball Championship held at Paul Brown Field in Broken Bow.
The team for Post 81 was very young that year, consisting of 5 players under the age of 16 and one, Kevin Peters, was 14. Chuck Ellis was one of the two 16 year olds on the team. In order to get there Wakefield had to win a district title against a talented group of teams in the tournament held in Wayne and then after fighting their way back from the losers bracket to upset defending Nebraska State High School and American Legion Class B champion Valley. Wakefield handed Valley their first and second loss that year having to play them twice in order to win, which gave Post 81 its first ever trip to the state tournament.
Coach Eaton remembers fondly a play by Ellis that preserved Post 81s run in Class A Area Tournament. “During the tournament held in Lyons a ball was lined at third baseman Rich Klines left shoe” said Eaton. “The ball continued airborne into the glove of shortstop Chuck Ellis, which he promptly threw to first baseman Dan Lueders for the third out and preserved the one run victory. Sadly all three players are no longer with us, and the number of team members from that team now stands at 8.”
That year would be the last baseball games Chuck Ellis would play with his life being tragically cut short in a car accident in April of 1970. The Post 81 team served as the pall bearers at his funeral.
Car submerged in pond south of Wakefield
By Roxy Ekberg
Republican Staff
Local emergency services responded to a report of a submerged vehicle south of town on Sunday, May 26.
At roughly 4 a.m., Wakefield Fire and Rescue was alerted to an accident in which a vehicle was reported as submerged in a pond near the junction of Highway 35 and Highway 16.
The driver of the vehicle was able to self-extricate and was not found on the scene of the accident, according to the fire department.
The Wayne County Sheriff’s Department was in charge at the scene. The Republican contacted the department for information and was told there is no additional information at this time.
The fire department, Wayne County Sheriff’s Department, Dixon County Sheriff’s Office, Wayne County Emergency Management, Yankton County Search and Rescue, and All Hours Touring provided assistance.
Divers from Yankton County Search and Rescue searched the pond and did not find a body.
The fire department said the sheriff’s department established contact with the owner of the vehicle.
Highway 35 was closed briefly for a search and clean-up. The search ended around 9 a.m.
Post 81 drops opener to Oakland in close 2-1 game
Wakefield’s Post 81 Senior Legion baseball team opened the season on Monday night against Oakland, ultimately dropping the game with a final score of 2 to 1 as weather threatened to cut the game short.
Though the game was a loss it marked a strong start for Post 81’s top pitcher, Jesse Lundahl, who took the mound and through 4 innings he had 4 walks and fanned 10 batters. Timothy Kaufman came in the game for the last two innings giving up only 2 hits and a walk.
Offense was the weakness for Post 81 with only a single hit in the game coming from a single by Eliseo Sarmiento, and their single run coming from a wild pitch in the fourth. Defensively Post 81 was strong, holding Oakland scoreless through 5 before giving 2 unearned runs in the sixth inning, a score that held up for the last frame of the ballgame.
Dedication held for Adam’s Field
On Sunday, May 19th a dedication was held at the peewee baseball field in Graves Park, changing the name to Adam’s Field in honor of Adam Keim who was killed in a tragic accident in 1987. Family and friends of Adam were on hand to talk about memories of him, as well as reading some of his other classmates memories by his gradeschool teacher at the time Janelle Eaton. Paul Eaton gave a “brief” presentation on the history of the peewee field as well the improvements made over the years.
Those present at the dedication in the picture above are from (l to r): Paul Eaton, Janelle Eaton, Melany Keim, Tom Keim, Heath Keim, Mason Leonard, Blake Leonard, Mike Rischmueller, Lynn Kratke, Wes Blecke, Andrew Blecke, and Jason Fischer.
Lighting project work continues...
The hard work is just beginning for the City of Wakefield’s downtown lighting project, even after the light posts have been removed. The cement footings that held the old street lights in place for decades were being removed and in the above picture Jon Pretzer stands next to one of the footings taken out of the ground on Main Street.
Work has begun on downtown lighting project
Starting on Tuesday, May 7, work began on the City of Wakefield’s downtown lighting project. Replacement of the old light poles with new efficient ones is underway. The project is expected to take between six and eight weeks. With the east side of Main Street being done first.
The City of Wakefield asks residents to be aware of the ongoing construction and the crew working on Main Street and to keep at least 50 feet away and do not park near a construction zone. “Thank you for your help in keeping our workers safe during this project” said Wakefield City Clerk Pam Vander Veen.
Wakefield Spring Concert sings in springtime
Wakefield Community Schools held their annual Spring Concert on Monday, April 15th. The program consisting of performances by the middle and high school choir and bands performed the following songs.
The middle school choir performed “Cantar!” and “Fly Away Home” followed by the middle school band who performed the songs “Awesome Sauce”, “Starfire March”, and “Brain Stew.”
The high schoolers followed with the men’s choir performing “Riversong” and the women’s choir performing “There Was a Time.” The high school band then performed “Alden Bridge”, “Fidelity March”, and finished their performance with “Music from Aladdin.”
The high school mixed choir was the last to perform with “Like a River in My Soul”, “The Storm Passing Over”, and concluded their performance.
Choir teacher Tiffany Lamprecht conducted the choir accompanied by Jennifer Trenhaile on piano, who also conducted both of the middle school and high school band.
A Touch of Brass play Saturday at LRHT
Touch of Brass will be performing live at the Little Red Hen Theatre of Wakefield, Nebraska on Saturday, April 27th at 2:00 PM. The group will be playing a program that features such favorites as as Hoe Down!, Puttin on the Ritz and Viva La Vida. This varied program includes baroque, Latin, jazz, classical, patriotic and popular music and will showcase the talents of all five guys in the quintet. It is certain to be entertaining for all listeners.
A Touch of Brass is a professional brass quintet that has been operating out of Northeast Nebraska since the 1980’s, presenting a regional concert series each spring. A Touch of Brass features David Bohnert and Kevin McClouth, trumpets; Gary Reeves, horn; Randy Neuharth, trombone and Josh Calkin, tuba.
The program is expected to last about one hour. Reservations are not required and seating is open. Call the Little Red Hen Theatre at(402) 287-2818 with questions.
Getting ready for State
In the above picture Mark Lundahl and Steve Greve work on tearing down the outfield wall around Eaton Field. In the recent City Council meeting the Council voted to replace the aging, and some areas damaged, outfield fence in time for the State Senior Legion Tournament being held in Wakefield this summer.
The outfield fence had served Eaton Field since 2004, being built with a donation of funds from the Gardner family as well as time by many of Wakefields baseball fans and players.
Wakefield Fire responds to blaze south of town
The Wakefield Volunteer Fire Department responded to a mutual aid call to a large fire on Thursday, April 11th at approximately 1:30 p.m. at the Brad Krusemark farm southeast of town approximately 10 miles in Pender.
The fire started when embers from a burn pit were reignited by the high winds, which also hampered efforts by firefighters to control the blaze. One firefighter was treated on scene for smoke inhalation.
On hand were the fire departments of Wakefield, Thurston, Pender, Wayne, Emerson, and Winnebago.
Adam Ulrich, Jake Rahn, Scott Wageman, Brendan Nicholson, James Felt, Lyle Ekberg, and Nick Ekberg responded to the call from Wakefield, taking two water tankers and the department’s equipment truck.
Calie Cockburn elected FFA State VP
At last week’s FFA State Convention, local Emerson-Hubbard FFA President Calie Cockburn made it through multiple rounds of interviews, and was named a State Vice-President to represent the Nebraska FFA program for the coming year.
Each Nebraska Chapter is allowed to submit one name to be considered for a state office, and with 186 Chapters possibly sending in names, the competition is wide and varied.
To be named a State Vice-President, Cockburn had to go through multiple rounds of interviews by the State committee, typically made of up of former State officers, to survive the application phase in February, then move forward to interviews in March and then a host of committee interviews during the FFA State Convention week.
There are 186 FFA Chapters in Nebraska, and each Chapter is allowed to submit just one name each year for consideration to become a state officer.
As a State Vice-President, Cockburn will serve the Nebraska FFA State Chapter by attending leadership training all year, visiting other states to promote FFA, visiting with donors and other special honorees for the State FFA and even possibly traveling to other countries to promote agriculture and FFA.
Other E-H Members that attended and competed in the Career Development Events included:
Hunter Heikes, Farm and Agribusiness Management, blue ribbon
Brianna Novak, Farm and Agribusiness Management, red ribbon
Kaylynn Novak, Farm and Agribusiness Management, red ribbon
Myleah Mackling, Farm and Agribusiness Management
Ashlynn Jacobsen, Agriscience, white ribbon
Jayda Stallbaum, Agriscience
Emily Mitchell, Agriscience
Briley Anderson, Agriscience
Rhyanne Mackling, Ag Issues
Rylinn Mitchell, Ag Issues
Brianna Novak, Ag Issues
Rachael Bousquet, Ag Issues
Emily STamm, Ag Issues
Emelia Harral Ag Issues
Makayla Horak, Ag Issues
Parliamentary Procedure Team: Silver
Extemporaneous Speaking: Codi Olson
Miguel Ibarra to perform on Nebraska Public Media April 21st
A Wakefield speech student will be featured on Nebraska Public Media’s “Speech Best of the Best” program airing on Sunday, April 21.
Miguel Ibarra from Wakefield Community Schools was chosen by Nebraska Public Media to deliver his Humorous Prose performance to represent Wakefield and Class C1.
According to Speech Coach Donna Johnson, Ibarra has worked hard and is gaining the reward from his dedication to his performances and schooling. “Miguel works hard and isn't afraid to come in early or stay after for practice. In One Act this year, he played Hades. He was given awards at Lewis Conference One Act and C-1 District levels for his portrayal,” said Johnson.
“Miguel has been in speech for 2 years and One Act for 4 years,” said Johnson. “He is also in his 2nd year in NHS. Miguel has been in Wakefield all of his school career, starting in preschool. He is an amazing student and each teacher here at Wakefield is excited to see him shine!”
The “Best of the Best” students will attend a special taping of their speeches in Lincoln on April 10 and the performances on April 21 will be at 2 p.m. on Nebraska Public Media.
From the Nebraska Public Media’s site:
“In March of 2024, students from across Nebraska traveled to Kearney, NE to compete in the NSAA State Speech Championship. From that event, students from each of the 10 categories were selected to present their award-winning speeches for Nebraska Public Media along with a special State Speech Spotlight performance. "Best of the Best" is a showcase of talent and includes interviews with winning students and coaches.”
Ibarra was chosen to represent Class C1 with his performance, and competed at the state level with Katie Hogancamp of Humphrey, Olivia Radney from Tekamah-Herman and Robert Dugan from Neligh-Oakdale. There will be 10 other students performing in the “Best of the Best” event from across the state in at least the other nine state speech categories.
Ibarra will be performing “Graduation” by Jerry Rabushka – a selection summarized with: “Forget those boring end-of-year speeches—graduation reveals exactly what's on the speakers' minds! With three distinct characters for the talented actor: the class valedictorian who reveals the dirt on classmates and teachers; the "popular kid," who spent a lifetime acquiring and manipulating data on who's "in" and who's "out;" and the very sorry principal who's all too happy to see these students graduate—whether they deserve to or not.”
He performs as three main characters: the valedictorian; the popular kid; and the principal.
As the Humorous Prose category allows – the speaker must have one to many characters presented, and a responsive use of the body, as well as appropriate and physical presentation to aid to the audience’s interpretation of the prose.
This years Springfest will feature auction to benefit Johnson family
Wakefield Evangelical Covenant Church will be holding its annual Springfest celebration on Thursday, April 11th, starting at 5:00 p.m. and running through 7:00 p.m.
On the menu for this year’s Springfest is smoked pork loin, cheesey potatoes, baked beans, salad, and desert. There are options for eating in, carry out, or delivery in Wakefield by calling 402-287-2692.
At this year’s Springfest there will always be a silent auction to benefit Couy and Taylor Johnson.
The auction will run from 5:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. and will include nearly 60 items such as the follow: Guns, JBL Bluetooth Speaker, Socket Set, Amazon Echo Dot, boys and girls beach baskets, round of golf at Wayne country club, pounds of hamburger, radio flyer trike, Nebraska Baseball Tickets (5), Red and White Spring Game Football tickets (4), Nebraska Softball Tickets (4), Zekes Auto Detailing Gift Cerfiticate and more.
Solar eclipse happening over Nebraska April 8th
On Monday, April 8th, 2024 there will be something special in the skies above Nebraska starting at 12:40 p.m. when the Earth’s moon will eclipse the sun. Though Nebraska doesn’t get to enjoy the total eclipse that it did during 2017 it will still be approximately 75% blocked during the peak of the eclipse which should take place around 1:53 p.m. Though it’s only been 7 years since the total eclipse over Nebraska the next one won’t take place across North America until August of 2045.
Viewing an eclipse is dangerous to the eyes without protective equipment or specialized glasses. The Republican has such glasses left over from the 2017 eclipse if anyone would like a pair stop by the office and pick some up so you don’t miss it!
