100th Annual NeFU State Convention

Nebraska Farmers Union 100th Annual State Convention Agenda
“Proudly Serving Family Farm & Ranch Agriculture Since 1913”
December 6-7, 2013
Midtown Holiday Inn, Grand Island, Nebraska

Friday Morning, December 6, 2013
8:00 Registration begins.

9:00 Welcome, Call To Order, Previous Convention Minutes – John Hansen

9:10 NEFU Education Report –John Hansen

9:20 NEFU Foundation Report & Elections – John Hansen

9:30 Nebraska Rural Radio Association Report- Craig Larsen, General Manager

9:45 Refreshment Break—Sponsored by Nebraska Rural Radio Association

10:15 Farmers Union Insurances Report – Jeff Downing, GM Midwest Agency, LLP

10:30 Farm Programs, Financial Risks, Policy, & Prospects
• Dr. Daryll E. Ray—Blasingame Chair of Excellence in Agricultural Policy, Agricultural Policy Analysis Center, University of Tennessee
• Roger Johnson, President of National Farmers Union

11:30 NEFU Elections
• Introduction of Candidates for NeFU Delegates to
National Farmers Union Convention, March 8-11, 2014, Sante Fe, NM.
• Districts 1, 3, & 7 caucus for additional Nebraska Farmers Union District Director Nominations and report to Elections Chair, Larry Knuth
• NeFU President-additional nominations, if any

12:00 NOON LUNCHEON
• Honorable Governor Dave Heineman
• Tom Giessel, NFU Historian

1:40 USDA Farm Service Administration Programs Report
• Dan Steinkruger, Executive Director, Nebraska Farm Service Administration

2:00 USDA Natural Resources & Conservation Service Report
• Craig Derickson, State Conservationist, Natural
Resources & Conservation Service

2:15 Navigating Our New Health Care System
• Mark Intermill, Associate State Director & Director of Advocacy for AARP of Nebraska
• Scott Jensen, Deputy Director & Human Resource Director
Central Nebraska Community Services
• Stephanie Ridgway, Health Care Navigator
Central Nebraska Community Services

3:15 NFU Fly-In Report
• Ben Gotschall, Raymond
• Lillian Fritch, Beatrice
• Carol Schooley, Grand Island
• Lynda Buoy, Bassett
• Ron Meyer, Superior

3:30 Refreshment Break sponsored by: Farm Credit Services of America

3:30 NeFU Elections
• Elect Top Four NFU Convention Delegates
• Elect NeFU Board of Directors for Districts 1, 3 & 7
• Elect NeFU State President

4:00 A Prosperity Strategy Through Trade Policy
• Michael Stumo, Executive Director, Coalition for a Prosperous America
• Roger Johnson, NFU President

4:50 NEBFARMPAC Report—Gale Lush, President

5:00 Elections – Elect NFU Convention Delegates & Alternates
Top Two Are Delegates — Bottom Two are Alternates
Adjourn, Shop At The Country Store, & Get Gussied Up!

5:30 NEBFARMPAC Wine & Cheese Fundraiser
The Terrace Restaurant & Suite 114 (Wine & Cheese)
Special Guest Hosts: NeFU Candidates

6:30 Convention Banquet & Celebration
Remembering Our Life Members, Friends & Family
• President’s Award—Roy and Mary Stoltenberg
• President’s Award—Gale and Laurie Lush
• President’s Award—Larry and Karen Knuth

Banquet Speakers:
• Roger Johnson, NFU President
• Tom Giessel, NFU Historian
• Alan Guebert, Ag Journalist

Saturday, December 7, 2013 – Convention Reconvenes
8:30 Greetings from Our Neighbors
• Donn Teske, President, Kansas Farmers Union
• Richard Oswald, President, Missouri Farmers Union

9:00 Farm Bill Update and NFU Legislative Report – Roger Johnson, NFU President

9:30 Gubernatorial Candidate’s Perspective
• Chuck Hassebrook

10:00 Refreshment Break sponsored by: Nebraska Orthopaedic Hospital

10:30 Ethanol: The Difference Maker In Rural Communities
• Seth Harder, General Manager, Husker AG, Inc
• Roger Johnson, NFU President

12:00 Noon Luncheon
• Tom Giessel, NFU Historian
• David Domina, Legal Counsel for Nebraska Easement Action Team on “The Ag Economy”

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Christmas Trivia

Christmas Trivia:The questions seem to be very easy or everyone is a Christmas trivia expert. Who will get this question right?
How many gifts would you receive if you received all of the gifts in the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas”?
Post your answers here!

Today’s Read a New Book From Oakland Public Library

Today’s “Read a New Book” pick : “Five Days at Memorial”
Pulitzer Prize winner Sheri Fink’s landmark investigation of patient deaths at a New Orleans hospital ravaged by Hurricane Katrina – and her suspenseful portrayal of the quest for truth and justice.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17704902-five-days-at-memorial

Up on the House Top

Mary Loftis

“Up on the House Top” is a Christmas song written by Benjamin Hanby in 1864, but the Gene Autry version of it is the one I hear in my head when Christmas rolls around. Although it wasn’t the song I was hearing as I was literally up on the house top putting up Christmas lights this weekend…it was “helpful” comments from my earthbound husband.

To put this scene in perspective, I have always been the decorator…not a good one, but the decorator still the same. When your house is a quarter mile from the road you don’t really worry about the little details. In reality we maybe wouldn’t have ANY decorations on the house if a generous neighbor hadn’t moved to Texas and didn’t want to take all their Christmas decorations with them. We inherited a full house of icicle lights, lighted characters and much more.

These are the same lights I’m using now, only I’ve needed to replace a few strings as the years have gone by. This became problematic as well because the new icicle lights don’t match the old lights. It’s like looking at long straight hair versus a fresh permanent look. Being skeptical, I wondered if the designers and retailers have that in mind so you have to buy multiple, multiple strings of lights instead of one or two. No doubt!  Anyway, thanks to Roy and Donna we have had lights on the house for many years.

Back to the “helpful comments” from my husband sitting on the step stool because he has a bad knee. He said he really thought it might be best if he wasn’t in the house watching the Chiefs and the Broncos football game while I was outside falling off the roof. He did ask if I wanted him to catch me on the fly or on the first bounce. He even created a special verse of the song for me:

“Up on the housetop, Mary paused

I just hope she has good claws,

I told her that she shouldn’t go

‘Cause those lights don’t really show!”

Don’t you think this has to put him in the running for “Husband of the Year”?

However, Steve did surprise me one year and welded a 5 foot high Christmas Star for the house out of re-bar. After adding lights to it we hung it on the front porch…where it stayed year round for many years because it was so challenging to get down and move without breaking bulbs. Can you say “Red Neck”? Okay, that was me…only now for the first time the star was taken down last summer by our embarrassed son, only he’s not around to help put it back up!

Now I’m not complaining about Robby, because with his help we had the best house decorations one year.  Being tall, thin and athletic he was easily able to get up on the roof of the second story of the house where he and Katie helped secured two reindeer and a sleigh over the lightning rods making our house Santa’s landing zone. Unfortunately that only happened once, but it really was neat!

Katie has helped with the decorations outside too but lately she has become my Christmas tree and in-house decorator and that is just fine with me!

Obviously you won’t want to put our house on your list to drive by to see the Christmas lights, but I feel we at least made an effort to share the joy of the season as we celebrate the birth of the Light of the World, Jesus.

Besides, the Grandkids think it’s cool too!

Mary Loftis,

Extension Assistant
UNL Extension – Burt County
111 North 13th Street, Suite 6
Tekamah, NE 68061
Phone: (402) 374-2929

Fax: (402) 374-2930

Internet: mloftis2@unl.edu