In what has become an Antelope County Fair tradition, a flag team can be seen performing before the team penning every year on Wednesday night.

The flag team performs various maneuvers on horseback while carrying flags, all set to music. This year’s musical selections included “Run Wild Horses” by Aaron Watson, “Thunderstruck” by ACDC, “Copperhead Road” by Steve Earle, “County Fair” by Chris LeDoux, and the Star Spangled Banner.

About eight years ago, Fred Anderson had the idea for the flag team.

“When I was on the fair board, it just kind of came to mind that maybe we need to spice some of this up a bit. That’s kind of what popped into my head, and it just went from there,” he said.

“My first thoughts, when this was all just kind of formulating in my mind, was, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice to have a group of girls that did this at our fair and get the word out far enough that, all of the sudden, other rodeos and other places were calling us to come do this.’”

However, Anderson doesn’t think the idea will come to fruition.

“These girls, now a days, when they get to being a little further along in high school, they’ve got other things coming up, and a lot of other responsibilities,” he said. “You have girls that have part-time jobs, you have people thinking about college. They’re being pulled so many different directions, that I think this will probably stay here at the Antelope County Fair.”

Anderson started the group by asking 4-H girls in Antelope County if they would be interested in being on a flag team. “They were just jumping,” he said. “And it wasn’t the idea of making money, it was the idea of fun.”

“The girls’ names on the team will pretty much change year by year. I have some that this is their second year. I have some that have been with it for four years,” Anderson said. “But those girls are getting to be like seniors in high school or just out of high school, and next year they probably won’t be around. The girls I have are anywhere from 8th grade to just out of high school.”

There is no age limit, however.

“It’s pretty much if their parent thinks they’re old enough and good enough on a horse and be able to ride like we do holding a flag,” Anderson said.

This year, the flag team consists of seven girls, six of whom performed at the Antelope County Fair on Wednesday night. The team includes: Emily Ahlers, 13, Clearwater; Taylor Bolling, 16, Clearwater; Bailey Lehr, 17, Columbus; Brooke Lehr, 14, Columbus; Macy Zentner, 18, Cedar Rapids; Morgan Erhardt, 15, Clearwater; and Ashleigh Nelson, 16, Tilden. Bobie Shabram also helps Anderson with the team.

Nelson is considered to be the team captain.

“She’s the one that has been helping a lot with this,” Anderson said.

When she was younger, she watched in awe and wanted to be a part of it someday.

“The rodeo queen was in it, and she was really pretty, so I wanted to be with her. I thought it was super cool,” Nelson said. “And then the next year, I got asked to help with it, and I was like, ‘Yeah.’ And here I am, at least five years later, doing the exact same thing.”

​As team captain, Nelson helps the rest of the team.

“I’m just here to tell people what’s going on, kind of explain how the pattern goes, and then yell at people to make their cones and everything, make their corners, use the arena, and just have a fun time,” she said.

Every year, the Clearwater Rodeo Queen is invited to be a part of the team. Team member Bailey Lehr was one of the Clearwater Rodeo Queens who took advantage of the opportunity, and now has been with the team for at least four years.

“She hasn’t stopped coming. She’s made a lot of friends up here and likes to be around some for the fair, and all of the sudden, her little sister, a couple years ago, we were short, just hopped on a horse and helped us out,” Anderson said about Lehr.

The 2018 Clearwater Rodeo Queen, Macy Zentner, also took advantage of the opportunity to be on the team this year.

“This is my first year on the team. I was invited because I won Miss Clearwater Rodeo 2018. I agreed to the team because when I was little, I had always wanted to be on a drill team. I thought they were pretty cool, so to get invited as a queen, I was like, ‘Oh yeah, I’m totally doing that,’” Zentner said.

This is Morgan Erhardt’s second year with the team. “Fred came to me and asked if I would like to be a part of it last year, and then this year, I’m just a returning member,” she said. “It’s just fun to be here with a group of girls, working with their horses, doing something cool like this, representing the flag.”

Many things go into making the patterns that the girls ride.

“There wasn’t really anything to go by besides me watching some other flag teams around the country and searching online and finding patterns other people have made,” Anderson said. “The first time we had the pattern, besides what we just drew out in the dirt, I put it together from everything else I had seen, and since then, every girl on the team has input, ‘What do we want to change, would it be any better doing this?’ That’s kind of what our practices are,” he explained.

Both Anderson and Nelson’s goal this year was to start practices as early as the weather turned nice enough to ride outdoors.  However, weather prevented that from happening.

“This year, it kind of seemed like every time we wanted to practice, it rained or the arena was flooded,” Anderson said. “I think so far this year, we met at my house one time and started going over some things.”

The team practiced for only the third time with horses right before their presentation on Wednesday night.

“It’s a really good idea to run through it once or twice before everybody gets there,” Anderson explained. “Every time you have practice, the first time around doesn’t look so good.”

He said that by about the third time around, the horses are warmed up and in the right frame of mind.

“You can’t just write it down and say, ‘OK, do this.’ It’s timing,” Anderson continued.

In order to get the timing down, the team added a whistle this year.

“As we’re changing, going from one pattern to another, you try to make it as seamless as you can. We’ve got horses here waiting, we’ve got this one coming and when this one gets here, the whistle blows and then the rest of them follow,” Anderson explained.

The horses also need time to get used to the flags.

“I actually believe (Tuesday night) was the first time we carried flags this year,” he said. “Most of the horses we have here have done it with flags before, but … they hadn’t seen one for a while, so it took a little coaxing, little rubbing the flag over them until
they finally realized, ‘I know what this is, this is no big deal.’”

Although Anderson doesn’t ride much anymore, his background lends itself well to working with the team.

“I can verify that I’ve been bucked off more horses than most people have ridden,” he said.

His background includes team roping and bareback riding, competing at a few college rodeos, as well as local rodeos. He and his dad were also paid to train horses for people “way back in the day on the farm,” and he showed horses in 4-H when he was a kid.

If anyone were to ask Anderson why he continues to work with the flag team, his reply will be, “It’s just because I love doing it. It might be a little crazy.”​

Saturday at the Antelope County Fair can turn into a long day for some people. With animal shows in the morning, the animal auction in the evening and the demo derby to cap off the night; Saturday can really wear out a person.

That is what makes Sunday morning’s annual pancake feed popular because it is a good meal to start the day, already prepared and costs as much as a person wants to pay.

“The proceeds go to 4-H and the FFA,” Abigail Frank said. “It’s free for all 4-H and FFA members and a free will donation from everyone else. I’m a big supporter of 4-H. I was in 4-H and I work in 4-H as well. I love 4-H and we (Abigail and her husband Cody Frank) are big supporters of it. We believe in what they do, we come out and support it.”

Abigail and Cody took over the pancake feed this year from Tina and Jay Snider, who had been running the annual breakfast.

“We want to thank Jay and Tina Snider,” Abigail said. “They ran it for many years and we appreciate them passing it down to us. We heard Sniders wanted to pass it down to someone and we wanted to do it. It’s a good cause.”

The Franks wanted to give back to the agricultural community besides writing out a check or donating.

“It’s not just donating money, it is nice to come out and physically be out helping,” Abigail continued. “I like for kids to see my face associated with 4-H.”

Along with the Franks, the Neligh-Oakdale FFA and a few volunteers were at Riverside Park bright and early Sunday morning to help prepare the sausage and pancake breakfast.

Countless other sponsors and supporters donated time, money and resources to help make the pancake feed a success.

“We were kind of at the forefront of all it, but got a lot of supporters,” Cody said. “Farmer’s Pride donated, Seagate donated, the fire department was helping out with the pancake griddle and the FFA alumni helped out. It’s a good cause to come together and help the kids. It’s good to see a lot of businesses wanting to help out. A lot of ag businesses helped kick in some donations and different things for the event. It’s a nice group effort.”

Proceeds from the meal go to the Neligh-Oakdale FFA and local 4-H clubs. The Franks are hoping the FFA steps up and takes over the annual breakfast, but will still be there to help out.

“We wanted to help with the transition,” Cody said. “The FFA is going to help sponsor it going forward. It’s a good fundraiser for them, a good way to help out. It helps get them (FFA) involved in the community, meet people and grow support for the chapter.”

​Youth in Antelope County are gaining another gateway into 4-H thanks to the creation of a new club earlier this year.

Sandy Spurs, a 4-H club created by Kara Pelster, officially started as a club in April of 2018.

Since its creation, the club has hosted a bucket calf clinic/show and has been involved in multiple community service projects and showing in the fair.

Pelster said she started the club because she saw the kids working together and knew the benefi ts of them being in a club.

“I decided to form a club because most of the children were already doing projects together and I feel that children that are involved in 4-H can gain so much more by being in a club. Learning from others, doing the community service, being a part of something, gaining self confidence...”

After its creation in April, the club elected it’s executive council.

Officers for the club are president, Lucille Koinzan; vice president, Jacob Henery; treasurer, Isaac Hemenway; secretary, Lynae Koinzan and news reporter, Sam Hemenway.

Besides the election of officers, Pelster said that they have also gotten members involved in numerous activities to help the kids be accustomed to 4-H.

“We have gone through the election of officers, started parliamentary procedure in our meetings,” she said. “We have had the clinic and we have done some community service around the fairgrounds. We were also in the Fourth of July Parade.”

In June, Sandy Spurs hosted a bucket calf clinic/show at the Antelope County Fairgrounds in Neligh.

Participants were instructed on the proper techniques for showing bucket calves and participated in a show to test their learning before competing in the fair.

According to Pelster, many of the kids may have had prior knowledge from their parents showing when they were younger, but needed a refresher before showing in the fair.

“Many of those children, they might have had parents who showed, but it has been a long time,” she said. “I felt that bucket calves are the future of the beef showing industry, and sometimes the children don’t know how to show, don’t know how to show properly or the techniques.”

Pelster said that Antelope County has an impressive amount of bucket calves.

“Antelope County has a tremendous amount of bucket calves. I think last year there were between 50 to 60 (bucket calves), and I would assume the same this year.”

Because of the amount of bucket calves in the county and the lack of knowledge on showing them, Pelster said the club decided to host the clinic.

“As a group, we decided to hold a clinic for the educational component of it and then do a show following the clinic to let the kids practice what they had learned that morning,” she said.

According to Pelster, 25 participants were involved in the clinic/show, and the group used the event as a fundraiser for their club.

She went on to say that the knowledge gained at the clinic and other activities was evident at the fair and that she is in awe of their enthusiasm and pride in the club.

“They did exceptional,” Pelster said. “It’s been amazing to see how they have come together as a group and the pride that they have to be together and hold relationships. Many of the youth, they knew each other, but they have really formed a closeness and a bond within the group. Their enthusiasm and their dedication is outstanding.”

She said that, although the members might not have done as well as they had thought, their excitement did not drop.

“All of them had quite a few projects, quite a few different animals… those animals might not have done as well as they had thought, but they are dedicated and continue to show and work with them. I never saw anyone complaining.”

The club plans to continue working on projects as a group throughout the year and hopes to tour agriculture businesses around Antelope County in the near future. Pelster said that she hopes that club will continue to grow.

​“I hope that we are self sustaining and the we are not just here for a year. I hope we continue to grow and branch out and challenge the youth in things they haven’t been a part of before.”

For the first time in history, the Antelope County Fairgrounds has an official exterior sign.

Construction began this summer and was completed a week before the fair.

The sign was built in loving memory of Dallmont and Bernadine Erickson, who were heavily involved in agriculture and 4-H in Antelope County.  

Korene Erickson Fehringer, Dallmont and Bernadine’s only child, donated the money for the new sign.

“When her father, Dallmont, passed away, they donated $5,000 just for 4-H to use as we wanted,” said treasurer of the 4-H Council, Anne Meis. “And then, when Bernadine passed away a few years later, they gave another $5,000.”

Before her father passed away in 2013 and her mother passed away 10 months later, Erickson Fehringer said her parents gave her an idea of what they were comfortable supporting, which included the 4-H Council.  

“When I talked with Anne Meis and gave her money for the 4-H Council, I told her that I would like for it to go for scholarships for youth that would want to be going to 4-H camps and also for general improvements for the 4-H grounds,” she said.

For the second donation, Meis said they wanted to put it toward a lasting structure that would recognize their family and get good use.

“We didn’t want this to go into operating expenses,” Meis said. “We wanted something that would honor the family and have some permanence with the fair and 4-H.”

Erickson Fehringer said she had no clue the structure was being built, but she was extremely happy with the results.

“When someone sent me a picture of it, I was very, very pleased with what the council had done, and I feel that it’s a great memorial to my parents,” she said.

Meis said the new sign was inspired by a similar display in Dodge County that they liked.

Its display is made out of brick, and the sign was designed by a company that 4-H youth development coordinator, Tessa Hain, found.

“Roger Legate does masonry work, and so he laid the brick,” Meis said. “And then, Tessa found a company to design and print the sign. So, those two took it from there.”
​
Hain had the company, Love Signs of Norfolk, design and print the sign.

“For the design, we just wanted something simple, but yet that would represent agriculture and the life of the 4-Her,” Hain said.

The wooden sign that was hung in the show ring had been used for about 35-40 years for pictures of livestock winners, so it was time for an improvement, she said.

When she was younger, Erickson Fehringer was a 4-H member and showed cattle at the Antelope County Fair.

Her parents farmed and raised and fed registered angus cattle on their farm located west of Elgin. They were also 4-H leaders and great promoters and sponsors for youth in the community at the fair.

“They felt that 4-H taught you responsibility, leadership, accountability and gave you good work ethics, too,” she said.  

In about 1963, her father, Dallmont, was instrumental in starting a new class in the beef show.

“My father promoted there being a class of what they called at that time stocker feeders, which I think now they call it bucket calves, so that youth could have a smaller calf to start with in showing,” Erickson Fehringer said.

She and her husband, Jim, have continued the tradition of continuing to attend the Antelope County Fair, where they attend the beef show, see other exhibits and renew old friendships.

Jim and Korene Erickson Fehringer live in Columbus, but still spend a lot of time in Antelope County because Korene, who is a fourth-generation owner of her parents’ land, still manages the farm west of Elgin and another one south of Clearwater.

She has passed on some of the same ideals her parents taught her to her husband’s five children.

“We have shared with them how important it is to me to carry on the traditions of supporting the small communities in Antelope County,” she said.

For Erickson Fehringer, it’s a privilege to be able to honor her parents’ wishes and support organizations that were near and dear to their hearts with the new fair sign.

“My parents were very kind of behind the scenes,” she said. “They were ambassadors for the small communities, but they were promoters and supporters of the youth in the community, so I think they would be very humbled to see this.”


Meis said she’s thrilled with the new sign and looks forward to seeing pictures taken this year of livestock winners in front of it.

“I’m excited for nice, bright pictures that can be taken next to that steer that they have worked all summer with and they’re so proud of,” Meis said.

Erickson Fehringer also hopes the new sign will continue to honor her parents’ legacy.  

“It’s just my hope that the structure will serve as a backdrop for pictures of exhibitors and their livestock, and just to kind of serve as a memory for someone who had a great interest in the fair, in youth in the community and for promoting agriculture,” she said. “Because, really when it comes down to it, that’s what the fair is all about.”

This new fair sign will continue to preserve the memory of Dallmont and Bernadine Erickson for years to come.

“We’re not planning on replacing it at all because we had some really good donations that came in through the Erickson family,” Hain said. “So, we want to honor them and to keep their memory alive here at the Antelope County Fairgrounds.”

​

In the final event of the Antelope County Fair – Round Robin Roping – on Sunday at 5 p.m., Paul Rudloff fastened a first-place finish in the number 6 headers and Trey Baum earned first place in the heelers.  

​Second place in the headers went to ​Darin Wickersham and Dave Mast won second in the heelers.

Ryan Ahlers in headers and Lynn Rader in heelers were awarded third place.

First-place winners earned $750 and a saddle, second-place winners earned $450 and a belt buckle and those in third place won $300 and a breast collar.

In the number 3 headers, Mike Odell roped in a first-place finish, Lacey Anson earned herself second place and Shawn Coleman followed in third.

For number 3 heelers, first went to Heath Groghan, second was awarded to Trevor Schumacher and third went to Brayton Croghan. 

In the number 3 group, first-place finishers earned $675 and a saddle, second-place winners received $405 and a belt buckle and those in third were given $270 and a breast collar. 

​The saddle sponsors were Lazy T, Nielsen Insurance Co., Helena Chemical Co. and Rader Feed & Supply. Belt buckle sponsors were Randy Kaczor Cattle Buying ~ JBS Swift, Neligh News and Leader and Hilltop Auto Sales. Nebraska Vet Service and Distillers Grain Service were the breast collar sponsors.  

The Antelope County Fair drew to a close Sunday evening with its annual Truck and Tractor Pull in front of the grandstand.

The show was in doubt just hours before the first pull after heavy rain hit Neligh earlier in the day. However, the Antelope County Fair Board members did an excellent job of getting the track ready and drivable for the pullers.

Duane Pfister opened the event by winning the Econo Mod class with a pull of 295.8 feet.

Randy Slifer had the top pull in the Pro-Stock 4x4 Light division with a pull of 310.75 feet.

TW Vasa bested John Kasper by two feet in the 3.0 Diesel Light class.

Shawn Frerichs won the Two-Wheel Drive Mod with a pull of 339.46 feet.

In the 466 Tractors Light class, Keith Keaschall was the top puller at 342.64 feet.

Melvin Nelson won the Light Super Stock class with a pull of 302.76 feet.