Reminder, school merging meeting Tuesday at 7:00 p.m., LDNE gym

BURT COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT CONSOLIDATION – POSSIBLE PROCESS

By Fred Hansen, Superintendent LDNE

Discussion continues on the possibility of a consolidation of three school districts in Burt County.  The Lyons-Decatur Northeast School Board would like to hear from the patrons and parents of the district and will hold a special meeting on Tuesday, November 5, 2013 at 7:00 P.M. in the school gym, set for the purpose of providing information to the public regarding a possible merger with Tekamah-Herman and Oakland-Craig, and allow for questions/answers and opinions to be heard on this idea.  NOTE the change in the date.  It was moved off of Monday due to a volleyball sub-district game conflict.

At some point, the School Board will hold a vote to decide if they intend to continue to discuss this idea with Oakland-Craig and Tekamah-Herman.  If the board votes to continue talks the next step in the process would be for the three school board committees to develop a merger petition.  The petition would then be voted upon by each school board and if approved by all three boards it would be sent on to the State Committee for the Reorganization of School Districts in care of the Commissioner of Education, Nebraska Department of Education, Nebraska State office Building, 6^th Floor, 301 Centennial Mall South, Lincoln, NE 68509-4987.  Prior to the vote by each board to approve the petition any school board could vote to remove their school from the process.

The merge petition process is described in the Nebraska Department of Education Rule 83.  This Rule can be found on the NDE website at http://www.education.ne.gov/.  When you find this website click on the letter “R” on the top and scroll down to Rule 83.  Russ Inbody, NDE Administrator of Finance and Organizational Services, leads this division of the Department.

Nebraska school districts have several options from which to choose when considering a merger.  The most common option that the Burt County Schools are considering is for school boards to vote on reorganizing their districts.  Steve Williams, school district lawyer from Harding & Shultz in Lincoln, recommends the “board to board to board” petition method (79-413 through 79-431).  This calls for a 60% affirmative vote of each school board to approve the petition.  Then the boards submit the approved merger petition to the State Committee for the Reorganization of School Districts for their approval.

The Burt County school committees discussed tying the merger petition to a successful bond issue to build a 7-12 grade secondary school.  The school lawyer recommends we hold 3 separate bond elections so that EACH school district votes to approve the bond issue.  The State Committee will not approve the merger petition unless all three school districts approve the bond issue (79-413).

The consolidation idea currently includes building a new 7-12 grade facility somewhere close to Hwy 32 between Oakland and Tekamah.  The idea also includes keeping an elementary facility in Lyons, Oakland, Tekamah, and closing the elementary at Herman.  The new district would be one of the largest Class C1 or smallest Class B schools in Nebraska with our 2013-14 combined enrollments.

Word/AaSupt13-14/Board 2013/Consolidation/LMS article #2 10.28.13

An adventure turned into Masters Hand Candles

Masters Hand Candles, the many items on display along with Susie and the chocolates and employees. Photos courtesy of Masters Hand Candles.

“It has been a fun adventure,” stated Susie Robison, owner of Masters Hand Candles.

Susie and her children, Nicole and Caleb, started the business five years ago, selling candles.

The journey began quite sometime before that, however, when they were living in Falls City, NE. “It all happened by accident. My ex-husband left 13 years ago. I didn’t want to leave my kids to get a job,” Susie said. “We started making candles. It was for fun. People started liking them.” They started with a case of wax and 44 jars. “Every time we sold a candle, we put the money back into the business. It grew slowly over time,” Susie stated. They began doing fundraisers. “We didn’t know how, but we learned. They were for churches and organizations,” Susie said. There are currently 60 different scented candles.

The family saw that the old Nordstrom building south of Tekamah was for sale and decided to take a chance. “We didn’t think we would fill the entire building up, but we have,” Susie stated.

There is now jewelry, purses and home décor for sale along with a flower shop that also handles funerals and weddings and a chocolate factory. “We make our own candy. We have about 50 different kinds. They aren’t all for sale at one time,” Susie said.

There is also a tearoom that is open by appointment only. “We have bookings almost every day. A three-course meal is served, which includes two choices of soup, the main entrée and dessert. A drink is also included,” Susie stated.

The business is definitely a family affair. Susie is remarried to Scott Robison. “He handles the candle fundraisers,” Susie said. Her kids also help out, although Nicole is married and lives in Lincoln. There are also several other employees that contribute to the success of the business.

“Karen Jackson sets up the front room. She went to college for design and does a great job,” Susie stated.

Kathy Mussack handles the cooking. “She is amazing,” Susie said.

The florist is Di Ruwe. “She is very good with people,” Susie stated.

There are also a group of girls that come from school to help out wherever they are needed. “They trade off days. They make the chocolate, price items, etc.,” Susie said.

Susie and her children made all the structures in the building. “We stay as debt free as we can,” Susie said.

Susie has goals for the future of the family business. “We want to have the biggest Easter Egg Hunt in Nebraska,” Susie stated. How many Easter Eggs would this entail? “10,000 is my goal. That should make us the largest,” Susie stated. “This would be self-proclaimed, but I don’t know of anyone else doing such a large one.”

They have much more than an Easter Egg Hunt. “We have pony rides, a castle, train rides, face painting and concession stands,” Susie said.

The family has a house in Decatur. “There is also a house here, so we are here more,” Susie stated.

Masters Hand Candles is having a Christmas Open House from today, Nov. 1^st-Sun., Nov. 3^rd. from 9:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

They are located just south of Tekamah on highway 75 in Tekamah. Call 402-374-2003 for further information.