Social speaks

It is Husker football day! Are you watching the game on TV, or going to it? Any tailgaters out there? Share some pictures of your Husker game day!

Social Speaks: Labor Day!

What is everyone doing during the last long weekend of the summer?

Finishing the 4-H year

How can it be September already?  My husband bemoaned the loss of July, but August disappeared just as fast!

The county fair and state fairs are all in the rearview mirror. (Although State Fair exhibits still need to be picked up from the Extension Office!)  Looking ahead some of our 4-H families will continue their livestock showing at the Norfolk Beef Expo in Norfolk next Sunday and a few more will be heading to Ak-Sar-Ben later this month to round out their year. Otherwise, 4-H is pretty much in “remission” during the fall season, but it doesn’t have to be that way!

4-H members are encouraged to truly finish out their 4-H year by completing the 4-H Career Portfolio. This is a way to keep track of all your 4-H, community and school activities. It provides an opportunity to apply for special awards ranging from achievement certificates and pins to activity vouchers and possibly trips to National 4-H Congress in Atlanta, GA or even National 4-H Conference in Washington D.C.!  Don’t sell yourself short and bypass this opportunity to really finish the 4-H year by taking credit for all you experienced and learned.

This type of record becomes a diary of sorts…you refer back to it countless times to settle family disputes (“Yes, Brownie had a heifer calf 3 years ago…) to completing (and winning) college and community scholarship applications easily! When all the information is in one place it’s amazing how often you use it! And the 4-H Career Portfolio was never easier than now to complete as you can fill it out on your computer, save it there and add on to it the next year! Of course you need to print it out to submit it for 4-H awards, but it is designed so well, if you forgot to include something last year you can add it at any time to make your record more complete for this year.

To get started on the 4-H Career Portfolio go to http://4h.unl.edu/careerportfolio and download the five different 4-H Career Portfolio sections. The information on how to fill out the Portfolio is also helpful. Then you can take off filling in the information and save it to your computer. If you have never started this process, there’s no better time than the present. Just put the first year you (or your child) was in 4-H listed first and then keep adding on to the record. There is an example page in every section to help you decide where to enter each type of information. The copy and paste feature on the computer works great for a lot of activities that are repeated year after year! With a right click of your mouse you can insert more rows to your form and keep on keeping on!

When my children did record books I sat at the computer and asked them questions to help fill in the blanks. It kept them involved and speeded up the process for me.

If you’d like to have a little help, I will offer workshops to help you get started on Wednesday, September 25 at the UNL Extension Office at 6:30 p.m. If you have a laptop computer bring it along and we’ll get you going. If you’d like some help with this for your 4-H club please give me a call at 402-374-2929 and we’ll make sure you get the help you need to get started.

Also, make sure you fill out the Awards Application Sheet to put in the front of the 4-H Career Portfolio. This lets us know what awards you want to apply for. They will be available in the Extension Office very soon.

Since my world fills up with Medicare Open Enrollment activities October 15-December 7 I am setting the deadline to submit the completed 4-H Career Portfolios for Monday, December 9^th. The 4-H Celebration will be held early next year to present the awards.

Don’t let your 4-H year fade into a distant and fuzzy memory, complete your 4-H Career Portfolio to keep those memories sharp so they can pay off for you now and in the future.

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

Getting to Know You

Kat Country Hub has started a new column called Getting to Know You. Questions are asked to an area individual to help others get to know more about people in the area communities.

If you would like to participate, contact me at katcountryhub@gmail.com

Delbert and Carol Polenske

Below is the first installment.

Carol Polenske

Occupation: Hair stylist at Deb’s Hilltop Hairworks, Pender, NE and helping my husband, Delbert, keep our trucking company, Polenske Trucking, running smoothly.

Family: Husband, Delbert, two children, Justin and Ashley and one step son Alex. Justin recently got married to Shantel. They have three children, Belle Warner age eight and two boys, Carter three and Camden two.

Where do you live: I live in Bancroft, NE. I was born and raised here.

What was your favorite childhood food? Pizza.

What chore do you hate doing? Dusting. Don’t all housewives hate dust bunnies?

What is your favorite time of day? Sunset, evening hours.

What are your hobbies? Walking and crocheting.

What is your favorite song? Blown Away by Carrie Underwood.

What do you miss the most about being a kid? Spending quality time with my grandparents that are now gone.

What is the best part of waking up? Waiting for my morning phone call from my husband to see what part of the states he is in that day.

What would you name an autobiography of your life? The Trials and Tribulations of Multi-tasking, Being a Cosmetologist and a Truck Driver’s wife!

If you had 30 minutes of free time, what would you do? Take a walk with my dog Abby while listening to music on my Ipod. 

I have a dream

Today marks 50 years since Martin Luther King’s “I have a Dream” speech. What are your thoughts on his speech. Has the country moved forward in the last 50 years? Please share your thoughts.

I Have a Dream Speech
Martin Luther King’s Address at March on Washington
August 28, 1963. Washington, D.C.

When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

Social Speaks: Striking Syria

What do you think of the United States taking action against Syria?

Kats’ Korner-My escape valve

Do you have an escape valve? I am referring to those moments when life has gotten you down, and your mind goes back to a safe place, a place you love and is full of memories.

My safe place is Tekamah. My family lived there before moving to Oakland in 1978.

I remember the tears I shed driving away, watching our house shrinking in my eyes.

I was devastated.

My life changed drastically that August day. I had to start attending a new school, make new friends and wanted to run away.

I wanted to go home, to Tekamah.

—————————-Kats’ Korner———————

I do believe we all hold a place near and dear to our hearts. Tekamah was that place to me.

In the three-block radius of where I lived, there were at least 30 kids around my age. Oh, some of the games we played.

The blessing is, most of us have remained friends. That is an accomplishment in itself.

————————–Kats’ Korner———————-

Every time I am in Tekamah, I drive by our house. It is still home to me. So many memories flash through my mind, all of them bringing me comfort and happiness. I associate that with being a teenager then in search of life.

I also believe that things happen for a reason. We moved from Tekamah and I am also grateful for that. I met many people, made new friends, and started a new adventure, which led me to where I am today.

But, when I am having one of those days, I go home.

I believe we all do.

Thought for the day: God Bless your family this Sunday morning. Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Blessings until we meet again.

Social Speaks: Morning

Kat Country Hub would like to hear what your favorite part of the morning is. Do you enjoy watching the sunrise, drink coffee, or prefer to skip morning? Answer and be posted in the paper!

My favorite coffee cups.

Social Speaks: Schools and cell phones

I have recently heard many individuals voice concerns on cell phones and the rules that they feel should be enforced in schools. What are your thoughts on students having cell phones in school? Should they be turned on or off? I am curious to hear your thoughts. Please reply your ideas on this issue.

Jeannine Geraets

Jackie Rooney: “I believe my daughter should be allowed to have her cell phone turned on…. Set to vibrate or silent is just fine. The reason behind this…. Because GPS can pick her phone signal up if…. God forbid…. she was taken or the police needed to find her. Also I would like to add the fact that they are issued iPads in her school…. They are being allowed to use social media during classes so why not have access to her phone in case I needed to get ahold of her directly. I could go on and on!!! This is the age of technology.”

Jackie Rooney

 

Kats’ Korner-Going camping

Bald Eagle
Photo Credit/Whitney Storie

This is how we camp.
Photo Credit/Denise Gilliland, Kat Country Hub

Beautiful sunset!
Photo Credit/Denise Gilliland, Kat Country Hub

We had a great time camping this past weekend at Decatur Bend. My daughter, Whitney and her fiancé joined us along with our dogs Sox and Lili. We have to take them with us too!

We camp the old fashioned way, in a tent. I have never understood bringing all of the luxuries of home with you. Why camp? I would rather be outside “roughing it.”

We took our fishing boat, planning on catching supper.

The plan didn’t work out the way we wanted. We caught many fish, gars. I had never seen one up close until then. They look kind of mean!

It is a good thing we brought along hamburgers and hot dogs because gar was all we caught that evening, other than a turtle that Whitney caught.

—————————–Kats’ Korner——————————————-

We got back to the campsite late that evening. All of the other campers were inside, probably sleeping.

We got a fire going, along with the cook stove, and had our supper. We spent a nice evening around the fire, then went to bed.

We also bring an air mattress to sleep on. If I were to sleep on the ground like the kids did, somebody would have to help me up! I am getting to old for that!

————————–Kats’ Korner————————————————-

Very early in the morning, I was awakened by the sound of a crop dusting plane. There are fields right next to where we were camping.

Once, I was sure he was coming in for a landing, in our tent!

I don’t think a plane would fit. All kidding aside, it did alarm me until I was awake enough to realize what was going on.

We got up and ate breakfast and headed out to fish again.

This time, things got a little scary, at least to Whitney and I.

Fish were jumping out of the water. Yes, I have seen that before. But, what I didn’t know is, they land in boats.

We had two unexpected guests in our boat. I can’t tell you all of the things that my daughter and I said, but I can tell you we were terrified.

The guys weren’t. They thought it was great. They took us to the campsite and went back out, but they didn’t have anymore fish land in the boat.

I guess that is one way to catch a fish. We didn’t catch any others to bring home.

We did see a bald eagle. I haven’t seen one in a long time.

The scenery was beautiful. All in all, it was a great weekend!

Thought for the Day: Enjoy the rest of summer!

Until next time, have a great week!