......STRAIGHT FROM THE HORSES MOUTH

Duane A. Lienemann,

UNL Extension Educator,

Webster County

November 3, 2011 Edition

Agriculture has actually had some good news come its way this past couple of weeks. I am always a little reserved when it comes to these things, because it seems that just when you think you may have a little sunshine it seems that the another hammer comes down in some fashion. You get to the point that you just hope for little victories instead of counting on winning the battles.
The first little victory is definitely the harvest. I cannot in my 50 years of agriculture awareness remember a better year for harvest, both from a climate point of view and especially a yield stand point. Almost everyone that I have talked to has experienced one of their best yield years in most every crop. In many cases, the dryland crops were probably the best surprises of all. You could see it all growing season. There weren’t even the usual calls concerning insects and disease and very little – “What is wrong with my beans (corn, milo, etc.)” this year. That is not to say there weren’t some concerns. Take for instance the extremely hot weather during pollination. I fully expected some negative effects from that. It turns out that the high humidity that I, and many others, were cussing at that time, probably saved our corn.
We not only have great yields, we have decent prices to go along with those yields. I know a lot of farmers have pinched themselves to make sure they aren’t dreaming. I fully understand, along with the producers, that inputs are also high and we must not lose sight of that. Input costs are those things that we cannot really control. One thing is for sure, it is a given that prices for grain will come down, but I can tell you that it takes a lot longer for those input costs to come down. We also know that this current set of events is not the norm, and again I know that a lot of farmers are waiting for the hammer to fall. We certainly will take what the Lord and the economy is willing to give us now. These past years have gone along ways to healing up some of the wounds that farmers had in low prices, high input costs and shrinking income potential. I know a lot of farmers who, in order to continue with their farming enterprise, needed this reprieve.
Another little victory was the EPA recent announcement that it is planning to retain the existing EPA dust standards rather than adopt new ones. I have been concerned for a couple of years that a revision of the current law which would evolve into a more stringent “dust or particulates law” which was likely to be wrote into stone, at dire consequences felt by Nebraska’s ag base. While that is indeed good news, I will have to admit that I am a little disappointed that our Congress hasn’t been a little more demanding. I know full well that in five short years, EPA will likely be in review again of the “particulate matter standards” and with the pressures that are likely to continually come from environmentalists and anti-ag groups, it could likely lower that standard again, and most likely as high as twice as stringent as the current standard.
I, for one, am disappointed that Congress has not yet passed the Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act of 2011. The last I heard it was scheduled for a hearing on October 25 with the House Subcommittee on Energy and Power. The bill was introduced originally in the House by South Dakota Representative Kristi Noem, and by Nebraska Senator, Mike Johanns. I do think that the threat of this legislation probably convinced the EPA director Jackson that she probably shouldn’t go forward with the revision, as I am pretty sure they were contemplating. It would not hurt if all of us worried about EPA over-regulation would contact our Congressmen and Senators to encourage them to pass this bill and give us some peace.
I also learned today that we may have another little victory. The Senate passed the 2012 Ag Appropriations bill without any riders prohibiting humane horse processing! If you are not aware, the Humane Society of the U.S. and other radical animal rights groups several years ago used a back door strategy to dupe Congress into denying the horse industry the legislative process and full hearings on the horse processing issue. They then lobbied successfully to deny people that have horses, a market for unneeded, rank or old horses. It denied the process of slaughtering horses in all states, forcing a long, grueling ride to Mexico or Canada and even worse fates. I could spend several pages talking about the negative things that came from this ill-conceived and counter-productive policy that actually decreases the welfare of horses and at the same time unfairly destroys an entire sector of animal agriculture. Here again is proof that HSUS thinks they can do a better job of managing livestock and forced the issue with their lawyers, slick ads, lobbying, and their television and internet videos and in actuality make things worse, not better for horses and their owners. Go to http://www.united-horsemen.org/
Now the Ag Appropriation bill moves to Conference Committee to reconcile the differences between the pro-horse industry Senate bill, and the House bill (H.R. 2122) which still includes the annual riders that have been included at HSUS' behest since 2007 that prohibits USDA from providing inspection to ensure humane handling and food safety in the United States. We need to convince the House to follow suit with the Senate. So if you love horses and want to go back to a sane, common sense, and fair means of handling your unwanted horses, then contact your Congressmen to encourage that the conference committee reconcile the bills, and come out on the side of horse slaughter and processing. What we now have is unfair and damaging, to not only the people that raise and use the horses for productive purposes, but in actuality is dreadful for their horses. Encourage our legislators to come back to the side of reason and common “horse sense”.
The preceding information comes from the research and personal observations of the writer which may or may not reflect the views of UNL or UNL Extension. For more further information on these or other topics contact D. A. Lienemann, UNL Extension Educator for Webster County in Red Cloud, (402) 746-3417 or email to: dlienemann2@unl.edu or go to the website at: http://www.webster.unl.edu/me

Football season ends for Bobcats.

The 2011 Football season for the Blue Hill Bobcats ended tonight as the Kearney Catholic Stars came to Blue Hill and overwhelmed the Bobcats 47 to 7.  The Blue Hill touch down was a Dakota Hoyt score in the third Quarter.  

New addition to the Skrdlant family

Cola Jo Skrdlant
was born to Riley & Debbie Skrdlant on October 24, 2011.
She was born at 10:59 am, 5 lbs. 13 oz and 19 inches long.
Her big brother, Lanham, is so excited she has finally arrived and loves her dearly. Cola's grandparents are: Kelly Skrdlant of Bladen, Doug & Patty Johnson of Ong and Deb Skrdlant of Blue Hill. Her Great Grandparents are: Bob & Wilma L'Heureux of Campbell and Dale & JoAnn Johnson of Edgar.

November Birthdays

 November 1, 1989 Charles Toms IV
 November 2 Cheryl Carper
November 3 Zora Yoder
 November 2 Tonna Gilbert
 November 4, 1994 Garret Sharp
November 4 Gladys Lampman
 November 5 Lori Derby
 November 6 Annette Spencer
November 6 Duane Arterburn
November 8 Kerry Whipple
November 9 Donna Rose
 November 10 Nina Garner
 November 11 Jim Hoffman
Noveber 14, 1996 Kevin Williams
November 13 Esther Wademan
November 13 Margaret Kuhn
November 13 Heather Skarin
November 14 Gerry Skarin
November 14 Peggy Kerr
November 15 Josh Henderson
November 15 1977 Jacob Tenhoff
November 15 Leslie Frazier
 November 15 Pat Myers
November 15 Heath Arterburn
November 16 1988 Molly Coffey
November 18 Sue Magrin
 November 19 Sandi Bostock
 November 21 Rocky Zimmerman
November 21 Ray Mazour
 November 22 Paul Wormuth
November 22 Adam Kort
November 23 George Mohlman
 November 23,1923 Clayton Heinrich
 November 24, Joshua Lowe
November 24, 1983 Katie Brenn
 November 24, 1983 Stephanie Curtis
November 24 Leanne Ensign
November 26, 1968 Donna Kort
November 26 Sonja Krueger
November 26 Eldon Kearney
November 27 Tammy Maupin Alber
November 27, 1962 Mark Stanley Petska
November 27 Bill Zimmerman
 November 28, 1965 Vicki Alber
November 30, 1926 Ruby Stevens
 November 30, 1964 Darren Gaede
 November 30 1971 Henry A. Seeman

...................STRAIGHT FROM THE HORSES MOUTH

Duane A. Lienemann,

UNL Extension Educator,

Webster County

October 27, 2011 Edition

It seems that I am always finding things to worry about --and this week is no different. This one however could have huge impacts on crop production and a cheap, safe and effective tool that we use to fight weeds in our crops. I have been telling about the attack on Atrazine for a couple of years now in my private pesticide applicator training classes. I have delivered presentations on how the EPA was once again looking at pulling the license on Atrazine and taking it off the market. I have written previously about the environmentalist campaign against Atrazine and other agro-chemicals, citing supporting material which include thousands of studies, including lengthy reviews by EPA scientific advisory panels itself. All of which have rejected -as spurious- the environmentalists' charges against Atrazine. But that doesn’t seem to matter.
I really didn’t know why the EPA keeps revisiting this issue, but have stumbled on to it this past week. Perhaps some of you have already heard about this particular environmental movement, “Save the Frogs” and how it is working to prevent the looming "amphibian extinction crisis" that they claim is the result of evil pesticide - most notably, Atrazine. They even have National “Save the Frog Day” on April 28, 2012 to help. You can find their group at: http://www.savethefrogs.com/
These groups took their anti-chemical, anti-pesticide message directly to the steps of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last year and delivered 10,012 petition signatures received from “Save the Frogs” supporters, and over 50,000 emails from supporters and other groups. This in turn forced a public comment period that started in September and will end November 14, 2011. This to me is ironic, given the fact that the EPA specifically supported the safety of Atrazine on numerous occasions and further, the World Health Organization (WHO) and other international scientific bodies have all supported the safety of Atrazine. In fact, the WHO recently increased the tolerable limit of Atrazine in water from 2 parts per billion to 100 ppb. But none of these scientific facts has stopped the conspiracy of anti-pesticide activists and big-business organic marketers from spreading their anti-chemical fiction. The “Save the Frogs” campaign has taken its cause one step further by advising people to choose organic foods and has even linked to a website demonstrating the benefits of eating organic produce. It is called "Frog TV," a YouTube-and-web-based series of videos whose purpose is to show "how chemical pesticides are threatening our health." Aimed in cartoon form at impressionable children, the show features "Triball," a three-eyed mutant frog who raises their fears about "strange things happening in our bodies" due to pesticides. If you don’t believe me go to: http://www.frogtv.com/home/ I think the flavor of the day when I last got on the side was “Mushy Corn” which GMO scientists have created claiming it is a self-digesting corn, a GMO corn that actually eats itself created to make ethanol and could cross pollinate with the corn we like to eat. But the underlying premise is the evils of all agriculture chemicals. Where do they come up with this stuff?
After first terrifying mothers and their kids about pesticides on food, hormones and GMOs the website tells them to do the following: "Flex your financial muscle and choose organic for the best personal and planetary health possible. Why is organic best? No harmful pesticides." It then gives a link to a web site touting the benefits of organic food and blasting commercial farming. If you dig a little deeper, it you find that the Organic Valley Cooperative, one of the largest organic farmer cooperative businesses in the U.S., is responsible for creating the site. Environmentalism or economics, I wonder? I don’t have any problem with organic foods or the people that raise organic, but I do have problems with them tearing down those that use traditional or what I call conventional food production practices and using false science or no science at all to try to eliminate a staple and inexpensive pesticide that is the most tested pesticide on record that still passes all the tests. It’s interesting to note that according to real biologists, the loss of frog species is actually caused by the global spread of a virulent and highly transmissible fungus, which results in the lethal amphibian disease Chytridiomycosis. A major 2007 scientific study on the issue concluded: “In the absence of supportive evidence for alternative theories despite decades of research, it is important for the scientific community and conservation agencies to recognize and manage the threat of Chytridiomycosis to remaining species of frogs.” That is science based, but is never mentioned in the web sites, videos or any of their material. That to me is just wrong. They are blaming agriculture for something that is not even remotely connected to farming or farming practices. Instead of focusing on the real problem leading to frog population decline, these ‘environmental’ groups are promoting their anti-pesticide agendas. Atrazine is one of the most widely used, important crop protection chemicals around and is an extremely valuable herbicide used to increase crop yields dramatically, especially corn. To this day, there have been no reported cases of adverse health effects in humans, animals or the environment as a result of Atrazine use. So I have to say…Give us a break! What can a farmer do? Well, there is something you can do….
The US Environmental Protection Agency is now seeking public comments regarding a potential ban on Atrazine, one of safest and most widely used herbicides in the United States. The call for comments appeared in the September 14th, 2011 Federal Register. You can go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!submitComment;D=EPA-HQ-OPP-2011-0586-0001 and make comments in support of Atrazine or contact me for another method of supplying your comment. The commenting period ends November 14th, 2011 so please don't delay. Believe me “Save the Frogs” is busy commenting. Ribbit!
The preceding information comes from the research and personal observations of the writer which may or may not reflect the views of UNL or UNL Extension. For more further information on these or other topics contact D. A. Lienemann, UNL Extension Educator for Webster County in Red Cloud, (402) 746-3417 or email to: dlienemann2@unl.edu or go to the website at: http://www.webster.unl.edu/me

Blue Hill Advances in Playoffs

Blue  Hill Bobcats defeated  the Ravenna Bluejays on the Ravenna field during the first game of play offs.  The Bobcats under Head Coach Scott Porter scored 14 points against 7  points scored by the Blue Jays.. Earlier in the season the Ravenna team had defeated the Bobcats by the score of 21 to 8.
.   Blue Hill's first score came with a touch down carried across the goal line by sophmore Mitchell Ruybalid after a hand off from Dakota Hoyt.  The second touch down came as Shane Faimon fell across the goal line with the ball.  A number of penalties plagued the team but the final penalty of the game was against Ravenna.
Blue Hill  has earned the right to play Kearney Catholic stars,  who defeated Thayer Central, next Wednesday November 2nd for a chance to advance further in the state playoffs. 
The Kearney team defeated the Bobcats in regular season play so the team will be anxious to avenge the loss in Wednesdays game.

Lucille Emma Fergus April 17, 1923 to October 25, 2011

Hastings resident, Lucille Emma Fergus, 88, passed away Tuesday, October 25, 2011 at Perkins Pavilion Good Samaritan Society-Hastings Village, Hastings, Nebraska.
Services will be Saturday, October 29, 2011; 10:00 A.M. at Butler Volland Chapel, Hastings with Father Andrew Heaslip officiating. Burial will be in Parkview Cemetery, Hastings, Nebraska. There will be no visitation or viewing. There will be a book signing Friday, October 28, 2011; 9:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M. and one hour prior to service at the funeral home. Memorials may be given to the family.
Lucille was born April 17, 1923 in Webster County southeast of Blue Hill, Nebraska to Frank & Clara (Huppert) Arterburn. She graduated from Cowles High School in 1941. Lucille married Ralph Fergus on November 7, 1943 in Belleville, Kansas; he preceded her in death in 1987. She worked at Sunnyside, Midland Lodge, and in the housekeeping department for Mary Lanning Memorial Hospital and was a member of T.O.P.S.
Lucille was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Ralph Fergus; son, Stephen Fergus; infant daughter; two grandchildren, Michelle Fergus and Nicholas Fergus; two sisters, Mrs. Dorothy Schutte and Clara Marie Smidt; and brothers, Lawrence Arterburn, Howard Arterburn, and Gilbert Arterburn.
Survivors include:
Sons: David Fergus – Lawrence, NE
Jerald Fergus – Hastings, NE
Richard Fergus – Hastings, NE
Bryan Fergus – Hastings, NE
Daughters: Mrs. Susan (Stan) Blincow – Hastings, NE
Katherine Fergus – Hastings, NE
Sisters & Brothers: Mrs. Mary Ann Toepher – Blue Hill, NE
Mrs. Norma Forst – Grand Island, NE
Fredrick Arterburn - GA
Grandchildren: 6
Great-Grandchildren: 4
Great-Great-Grandson: 1

Nebraska to Hold Special Session Regarding Oil Pipelines

Gov. Heineman and Unicameral to Seek Solution on Pipeline Siting
(Lincoln, Neb.)  Gov. Dave Heineman announced that he will be calling the Nebraska Unicameral into Special Session to determine if siting legislation can be crafted and passed for pipeline routing in Nebraska. The purpose of the Special Session will be to find a legal and constitutional solution to the siting of oil pipelines within the state.
“The key decision for current pipeline discussions is the permitting decision that will be made by the Obama Administration, which is why I have urged President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton to deny the permit,” said Gov. Heineman. “However, I believe Nebraskans are expecting our best efforts to determine if alternatives exist. Therefore, I will be calling a special session of the Nebraska Legislature to have a thoughtful and thorough public discussion about alternative solutions that could impact the route of the pipeline in a legal and constitutional manner.”
Gov. Heineman worked with State Senator Mike Flood of Norfolk, Speaker of the Legislature, to set the starting date of the Special Session for Nov. 1.

ADVISORY: NELSON TO TALK JOBS, ECONOMY AND SENIOR ISSUES IN HASTINGS SUNDAY

October 21, 2011 – Nebraska's Senator Ben Nelson will visit Hastings Sunday afternoon to meet with officials at Chief Ethanol regarding jobs and recently approved trade agreements. He will also visit with officials at Hastings Utilities regarding EPA regulations that may increase electric rates. Senator Nelson also plans to stop by Good Samaritan Village to talk with senior citizens.

The events are open to the news media. The schedule is as follows:

SUNDAY OCTOBER 23, 2011
2:00PM-2:30PM CT  CHIEF ETHANOL
4225 EAST SOUTH STREET
HASTINGS, NEBRASKA
Discussion on jobs, energy, and new trade agreements

2:30PM-2:45PM CT MEDIA AVAILABILITY

3PM- 3:20PM CT HASTINGS UTILITIES
4520 EAST SOUTH STREET
HASTINGS, NEBRASKA

Topic: expenses caused by EPA rules on electricity costs
3:20PM- 3:30PM CT MEDIA AVAILABILITY

3:50PM-4:20PM CT MEETING AT GOOD SAMARITAN SENIOR CENTER
926 EAST E STREET
HASTINGS, NEBRASKA
Topic: Social Security and Medicare

Johanns Opposes Tax Increases, State Bailout

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.)  voted against another bailout for irresponsible state governments. The bill, which failed with bipartisan opposition, was originally part of the President's so-called jobs bill that would have increased taxes to pay for a state government bailout purportedly for teachers and first responders.
"Of course safety, education and jobs are a priority, but there's no evidence the President's new stimulus bill will actually create jobs," said Johanns. "This bill represents a fundamental misunderstanding of how our economy works. What we need to be doing is freeing up job creators' abilities to expand and grow, not weighing them down with more taxes and government spending.
"Treasury department statistics show nearly 80 percent of those who would pay higher taxes under President Obama's new plan are our small businesses – the very folks who create the majority of new jobs in America. Now is not the time to impose permanent tax increases on our job creators to pay for temporary spending programs that failed to work before."

Bobcats fall to the Stars 14 - 0

Blue Hill Bobcats lost to Kearney Catholic Stars tonight by a score of 14 to 0. Kearney Catholic scored in the first quarter and then was held from scoring again in the game.  Garett Sharp was credited with 13 carries and 34 yards.  Dakota Hoyt completed 5 of 19 passes. Faimon completed 1 of 2 passes. 
One of the most crucial plays of the game was probably a pass interception that Hoyt threw that the stars carried for a 64 yard return seting up one of their two scoring events of the game. The Bobcats finish their regular season with a 5 - 3 record.
 Blue Hill will be facing Ravenna on the Ravenna field in the first game of playoffs  Wednesday, November 2nd. Thursday, October 27th! at 7 pm.

http://www.nsaahome.org/textfile/fbl/c2bracket.pdf.

Glen Matthew and Gage Duane Schrawyer

Glen Matthew and Gage Duane Schrawyer, triplet brothers were born Ocober 8, 2011 at the Mary Lanning Memorial HealthCare Hospital in Hastings, Nebraska. Glen died October 8th, and Gage departed this life October 9th.

Funeral services will be held Monday, October 24, 2011 with interment at the Greenwood Cemetery in Franklin, Nebraska with the Rev. Joel Rathbun officiating.
Surviving are their parents, Matthew and Melissa Schrawyer of Blue Hill, Nebraska; their triplet brother, Weston; grandparents, Keith and Mary Ann Schrawyer of Red Cloud; Salley McDougal of Irving, Texas and Lavetta and Galyn Johnson of Rising City, Nebraska; and their great grandparents, Arlie Schrawyer of Red Cloud, and Phyllis Stoetzel of Joplin, Missouri.
Williams Funeral Home
241 West 4th Avenue
Red Cloud, Nebraska 68970

...................STRAIGHT FROM THE HORSES MOUTH

Duane A. Lienemann

 UNL Extension Educator,

 Webster County

October 20, 2011 Edition
Oh my goodness, where do I start this week. There is so much going on. I think it prudent to start with wishing all of the kids, wearing the good old Blue and Gold, the very best as they attend the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana. I believe this is the 84th National FFA Convention, and they expect more than 55,000 people to be in attendance. I looked at the program and it is, like usual, an outstanding array of speakers, workshops, tours, career booths and everything that makes for a great opportunity for these young people that have an interest in agriculture. It is nice to see that they now provide live streaming and television coverage of the convention. The televised convention is accessible real time via computers, iPads, iPhones, Android and BlackBerry mobile devices by going directly to: http://www.ihigh.com/. A schedule for both internet and RFD-TV coverage can be found by going to the following site: https://www.ffa.org/Events/NationalFFAConvention/Highlights/Pages/default.aspx.
I always looked forward to taking my students to National Convention even with all the work and responsibility that it brought. I still hear from former students how they enjoyed the experience and how they remembered those trips and the camaraderie with fellow students from not only their school but from across the state and nation. All but the last two National Conventions that I attended, as an FFA member myself or as an advisor, were in Kansas City - and what great memories those were! I see that the theme for this year’s convention is “I Believe”. I think that is very fitting as one of the first things my freshmen did each year was to learn and recite the FFA Creed, which of course started out with “I believe”, and in today’s world we have to believe, and even more importantly that our young people believe - that the future is bright in agriculture, and in fact it is probably brighter than it has ever been. But we have some challenges.
As I regress to a former time in my life, I think back to the power of the words in that FFA Creed. Let me throw out some of the key phrases as I remember them. “I believe in the future of agriculture, with a faith born not of words but of deeds, achievements won by the present and past generations of agriculturists; in the promise of better days through better ways, even as the better things we now enjoy have come to us from the struggles of former years.--- I know the joys and discomforts of agricultural life and hold an inborn fondness for those associations which, even in hours of discouragement, I cannot deny.--- I believe in leadership from ourselves and respect from others. I believe in my own ability to work efficiently and think clearly, with such knowledge and skill as I can secure, and in the ability of progressive agriculturists to serve our own and the public interest in producing and marketing the product of our toil.---In being happy myself and playing square with those whose happiness depends upon me.---I believe that American agriculture can and will hold true to the best traditions of our national life and that I can exert an influence in my home and community which will stand solid for my part in that inspiring task.” We have always been based on tradition in producing and marketing the product of our toil. We are the original environmentalists. We are the original care takers. We efficiently feed the world.
I think this is part of the reason that I am so concerned about outside influences who think they know better how to care for our animals and how to work our land then we do. They try to intimidate and govern people to do their bidding and to adhere to their agenda--and not to the traditions and best management practices that are innately instilled in all of the young people that I had the opportunity to work with. Those young people are now influential and productive members of society, many of them working in the agriculture industry in some form or other. In my years of teaching, I always encouraged my students to speak out, to stand up for what they thought was right, to utilize their upbringing and stand on their integrity. They knew what was fundamentally right and wrong, and knew the values of hard work and husbandry of the land and the animals upon that land. I really believe that those students embodied the very words and intent of that FFA Creed.
It initially angered and then saddened me to see that one of our state’s farm based organizations invited the Humane Society of the United States to come to our state and help enable this animal rights group, whose full intent is to cripple or destroy the animal agriculture industry. HSUS has done this by getting their foot in the door in other states, especially those that have a ballot initiative – which Nebraska does have. They have had profound negative effects on animal agriculture in those states that have succumbed to the HSUS lobbying, bullying, and intimidation, all in the quest to force their agenda on those that do not believe in their way, which is a Vegan life style. Unfortunately the Nebraska Farmers Union is the vehicle by which this extreme group has pushed its “well financed” foot in the door, even if many of their members don’t agree.
Wayne Pacelle, CEO of HSUS, has said that “HSUS doesn’t have, at this time, an animal agriculture ballot initiative designed for Nebraska.” I don’t trust him or the HSUS, but maybe he isn’t lying….he now has lackeys right here in Nebraska that seem intent to do his bidding. This has worried me for several years, ever since I have been watching them and what they are doing in our fellow agricultural states. That worry is coming to fruition. I firmly believe that the “fox is now being welcomed into the chicken house” – by our own people. Now more than ever we have to be proactive and be ready to defend those “best traditions of our national life, and then exert a positive influence in our homes and communities which will stand solid for our part for the inspiring task of protecting our livelihood and the very life blood of our state.
The preceding information comes from the research and personal observations of the writer which may or may not reflect the views of UNL or UNL Extension. For more further information on these or other topics contact D. A. Lienemann, UNL Extension Educator for Webster County in Red Cloud, (402) 746-3417 or email to: dlienemann2@unl.edu or go to the website at: http://www.webster.unl.edu/me

Quote of the Day

‎"There's a great deal of talk about loyalty from the bottom to the top. Loyalty from the top down is even more necessary and is much less prevalent. One of the most frequently noted characteristics of great men who have remained great is loyalty to their subordinates."

- General George S. Patton, Jr

Darlene A. Skrdlant 08/19/1926 to 10/15/ 2011

Blue Hill resident Darlene A. Skrdlant 85, died Saturday October 15, 2011 at Blue Hill Care Center in Blue Hill. 
Services are 10:30am Thursday at the United Methodist Church in Bladen with Rev. Steve Marsh officiating.  Burial will be at Plainview Cemetery , south of Bladen.  Visitation is one hour prior to services at the church.  A memorial has been established.
Darlene Artus Chaplin Haller was born on August 19, 1926 She attended school in Bladen and graduated from high school there.  She began her teaching career the following fall at Harmony and took summer classes, night classes and correspondence courses, as she continued to teach the rural schools in Webster County. 
She married Glen Skrdlant of Bladen, Nebraska on June 8, 1947. They lived on a farm a mile south of Bladen and later moved to the farm three miles south and a half mile west of Bladen where they would spend the rest of their lives. She taught at Five star and Catherton school before she quit teaching when their son Kelly was born in 1951.
Besides her role as a farm wife and mother, she continued her education, eventually received a Bachelors degree and two Masters degrees from Kearney State College.  She returned to teaching in 1962 and taught first and second grades in Bladen and Silver Lake Schools for 31 years.
Darlene loved gardening and tending her flowers.  She was creative and artistic and enjoyed painting, etching, and other art forms.
She and her husband enjoyed traveling to Husker games and made many bowl trips.  Darlene retired from teaching after her husband's death in 1997.  In January of 2002, she moved to the Blue Hill Care Center and spent the remainder of her years in the fog of Alzheimer Disease.
She is survived by one son, Kelly of Bladen, one grandson, Riley and his wife Debbie of Bladen, one granddaughter  Ashley Skrdlant of  Denver Colorado.  one great grandson, Lanham Skrdlant ; three brothers-in-law.
She was preceded in death by her parents and her husband.  

Glen Skrdlant

Friday, Sept. 26, 1997
Rural Bladen resident Glen Skrdlant, 74, died Friday, Sept. 26, 1997, at Community Care of Blue Hill.
Services are 2 p.m. Wednesday at United Methodist Church in Bladen with the Rev. Baldeo Singh officiating. Burial will be in Plainview Cemetery south of Bladen with military rites provided by American Legion Shirley Post No. 176 of Blue Hill. Merten-Butler Mortuary of Blue Hill is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Skrdlant was born July 7, 1923, to Joseph and Stella (Koertner) Skrdlant on a farm west of Bladen. He attended Harmony and Five Star schools in the Bladen area. He graduated from Bladen High School in 1940. He farmed near Bladen. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He became staff sergeant while serving in combat in the European Theater with Company H, 11th Regiment of the Fifth Division from 1944-46. He returned to Bladen. He worked for Hubert's Truck Service. On June 8, 1947, he married Darlene Haller in Bladen and returned to farming.
He was a member of Bladen United Methodist Church. He served on the Bladen Board of Education and Webster County Fair Board.
Survivors are his wife; one son, Kelly of Bladen; two sisters, Clara Skrdlant of Blue Hill and Esther Bartley of Abilene, Kan.; four brothers, Edward of Bladen, Norman of Hastings, Irvin of Doniphan and Harold of San Antonio, Texas; and two grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by two sisters.
A memorial fund has been established.

Rodney E. Hartman 4-18-1938 to 10-17-2011

Rodney E. Hartman

 Rodney E. Hartman, 73, of Blue Hill died Monday, Oct. 17, 2011, at his home.

Services were at 10:30 a.m. Friday at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Blue Hill with the Very Revs. James Schrader and Valerian Bartek officiating. Burial was at Blue Hill Catholic Cemetery.
Rodney was born April 18, 1938, at Blue Hill to Albert and Mildred (Johnson) Hartman.
He graduated from Blue Hill High School in 1956.
 He took basic training at Fort Ord, Calif., and served in the Army National Guard from 1960 to 1965.
September 9, 1958  Rodney Hartman and Doris Witte were married at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Blue Hill.

From 1957 to 1977, he worked as a lineman and foreman for South Central Public Power in the Blue Hill and Nelson area. From 1977 to 1994, he was employed as a serviceman for Glenwood Telephone Co.
He was an avid outdoorsman, gardener and poker player. He also had been a boxing coach and gun safety instructor.
He was preceded in death by his parents and a brother, Lonnie.
Survivors include his wife; daughters, Judy Mullen and her husband, Sean, of Kearney and Susan Danehey of Blue Hill; sons, Douglas of Omaha and Tim and his wife, Elysha, of Kearney; brother, Richard Hartman and his wife, Jo, of Blue Hill; sister, Kathy Donscheski and her husband, Dallas, of Elba; brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, Mary Witte and Walt and Lavera Witte, all of Blue Hill, Joan and Ed Rempe of Superior, Laura Witte, Richard and Pam Witte, Marie and Russ Paulsen and Robert Witte, all of Hastings, and Al and Kathy Witte of Champaign, Ill.; nine grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.
Memorials are suggested to Republican Valley Trap Club or Mary Lanning Hospice.

Quote of the Day

“A man can be as great as he wants to be. If you believe in yourself and have the courage, the determination, the dedication, the competitive drive and if you are willing to sacrifice the little things in life and pay the price for the things that are worthwhile, it can be done.”


Vince Lombardi quotes (American Football Coach, national symbol of single-minded determination to win.1913-1970)

On 10/14/11 ASAAP (The Area Substance & Alcohol Abuse Prevention) presented a stipend check to Blue Hill Schools for drug and alcohol prevention. Pictured are Mr. Joe'l Ruybalid Blue Hill Schools Superintendent receiving the check from Pam Schwab ASAAP'S Webster County Coordinator.

Blue Hill 8 Ravenna 21

The Blue Hill Bobcat put up a good fight but went down to the Ravenna Blue jays team by a score of 21 to 8 on the Blue Hill home field Friday night.
Shane Faimon led Blue Hill with 110 yards on 19 carries.  Dakota Hoyt was 10 for 24 passing for 75 yards.  Blake Bunner had 12 tackles.
 Blue Hill has a 5-2 record now.   Next week Blue Hill will play at Kearney Central Catholic.

....STRAIGHT FROM THE HORSES MOUTH

Duane A. Lienemann,

UNL Extension Educator,

Webster County

October 14, 2011 Edition

One cannot help but notice the noon this week. I have heard several people comment on how beautiful it is – yet alone the weather. I overheard a couple of people commenting on this must be the Harvest Moon. Now I don’t even pretend to be an expert on the moon, or signs of the moon and I never could do the moon walk, but I was pretty certain that the Harvest Moon was last month. Now it makes perfect sense since we are right in the heart of harvest season, but those that know me will know that I had to go look it up to make certain. I don’t often say – I told you so---but in this case I was right.

The beautiful bright fall night brought to you compliments of Mother Nature is actually called “Hunter’s Moon”. I haven’t been hunting in several years, but I think it isn’t too far from the beginning of hunting season. The Hunter's Moon was so named many years ago because it provided plenty of moonlight which was ideal for hunters shooting migrating birds in Northern and Western Europe. That makes sense since a lot of our ancestors in this part of the country came from there.
The name is also said to have been used by Native Americans as they tracked and killed their prey by autumn moonlight, stockpiling food for the winter ahead. Given the history of the Pawnee and Sioux tribes that frequented our land this explanation works for me too. I cannot help but let my mind picture a small band of warriors, with bows and arrows in hand, sneaking up on some deer which are highlighted by this Hunters moon. Gosh, with all of these deer running through the country it wouldn’t hurt to bring back some of that history.
I know that this moon seems extra bright and to have rather different characteristics than usual. Some think the Hunter’s and Harvest Moons are the biggest full moons of the year. But not so with this week’s Hunter’s Moon, which is actually the smallest and farthest full moon of 2011. Interesting to me is that the farthest and closest full moons recur in regular cycles. The closest full moon comes seven lunar months – or the seventh full moon – after this farthest full moon (Hunter’s Moon). Then the farthest full moon comes seven lunar months after the closest full moon. I have some homework for you. Mark on your calendar my prediction. Seven full moons after this week’s full moon, the closest full moon of the cycle will fall on May 6, 2012. On that date, the full moon will be closer than 222,000 miles, thus making it the “biggest” moon. Then seven full moons after, it’ll be the farthest or “smallest” full moon all over again on November 28, 2012.
All full moons have their own special characteristics, based primarily on the whereabouts of the ecliptic in the sky at the time of year that they are visible. The full moons of September, October and November, as seen from the northern hemisphere, correspond to the full moons of March, April and May as seen from the southern hemisphere—are all well known in the folklore of the sky. The Harvest Moon and Hunter's Moon are both special because the time of moonrise between successive evenings is shorter than usual. The moon rises approximately 30 minutes later, from one night to the next for several evenings around the full Hunter's or Harvest Moons. Thus there is no long period of darkness between sunset and moonrise, around the time of these full moons. In times past, this feature of these autumn moons was said to help hunters tracking their prey (or, in the case of the Harvest Moon, farmers working in the fields). They could continue tracking their prey (or bringing in their crops) by moonlight even when the sun had gone down. Hence the name Hunter's (or Harvest) Moon. Some old timers called it the Blood or Sanquine Moon (for obvious reasons).
Now here comes the scientific explanation. The reason for the shorter-than-usual rising time between successive moon rises around the time of the Harvest and Hunter's Moon is that the orbit of the Moon makes a narrow angle with respect to the horizon in the evening in autumn, leading the Moon to higher positions in the sky each successive day. The Hunter's Moon appears in either October or November, but usually in October. Traditionally, it was a feast day in parts of northern and western Europe and among some Native American tribes, called simply the Feast of the Hunter's Moon, though the celebration had largely died out by the 20th century – darn! I think we ought to bring that tradition back!
In myth and folklore, the full moon of each month is given a name. Of course I couldn’t stop with just the Harvest and Hunter’s Moon, I had to see what all the month’s folklore names were. There are many variations but I chose to use the Farmers' Almanac version, and they are as follows: January – Wolf moon; February – Snow moon; March – Worm moon; April – Pink moon; May – Flower moon; June – Strawberry moon; July – Thunder moon (I have heard some people call this Buck moon); August – Sturgeon moon; September – Harvest moon; October – Hunter's moon; November – Beaver moon; and December – Cold moon. You can find more on this at: http://www.farmersalmanac.com/full-moon-names/
I have always heard reference to a Blue moon. In fact I remember my grandparents would say “Once in a Blue Moon” and I really didn’t know what that meant, but figured it must not be very often. When is that? The Blue moon is actually the third full moon in a season with four full moons. Until recently it was commonly misunderstood that the second full moon in a month was the blue moon, but I guess we all now know that was in error. What is interesting is that it was the media’s fault. The interpretation of a blue moon as the second full moon of the month was erroneously reported in a magazine dating back to 1946 and then perpetuated by other media. So I guess I have been wrong all of my life on when the “Blue Moon” existed. OK, I will admit it. I didn’t even know that it was either one. Now that song is in my head!!
The preceding information comes from the research and personal observations of the writer which may or may not reflect the views of UNL or UNL Extension. For more further information on these or other topics contact D. A. Lienemann, UNL Extension Educator for Webster County in Red Cloud, (402) 746-3417 or email to: dlienemann2@unl.edu or go to the website at: http://www.webster.unl.edu/me