The Orchard Public Library has been busy with its Summer Reading Program and is planning to host stories and crafts every Monday in July.
Monday, July 1 will kick off the library’s first summer story/craft time at 10:30 a.m. Movies will continue to be shown every Thursday afternoon at 2 p.m. The library will be closed for the Fourth of July. Coni Meyer makes no qualms about her first experience with BRAN. It was terrible.
“It was a really horrible experience the first year,” Coni said with a laugh, during a stop in Neligh Thursday on her sixth Bike Ride Across Nebraska. “It was 38 degrees when we woke up the first day. It was raining, and there was a thunderstorm with hail. And we rode through it to Cody that first day. By the time we got there, I was bawling.” Coni and her husband, Ritchie, now laugh about their first experience on the seven-day bike ride. It doesn’t hurt that the memory is replaced with BRAN now being one of their favorite summer events. “We gave it another shot, and I’m so glad we did. Now, we won’t miss it,” Coni said. The Orchard High School graduates live at Page, which meant this year’s BRAN event across northern Nebraska was practically in their backyard. Instead of staying overnight in Atkinson on the fourth day, they went home and slept in their own beds and did laundry. By the fifth day, they were back on the trail to Neligh. That means they were also back to sleeping in a tent and showering in a semi. “You would never think, ‘I’m going to get in the back of a semi and take a shower, and it’s going to be great.’ But it is,” Coni said. “They have an awesome shower in the back of a semi truck. You don’t see that every day.” BRAN also offers a couple of charging stations for riders to plug in their devices. But unplugging is actually what Ritchie and Coni enjoy the most about the trip. While Coni still posted photos on Facebook, Ritchie said he doesn’t even take a phone with him. “You leave your cell phone at home,” he said. “You’re out there in the middle of nowhere from Cody to Valentine. You’re all by yourself and can just think. It’s so quiet.” Coni said one of the best parts of the entire BRAN 39 happened during an early morning while they were biking on the trail. The landscape was so perfect that she now regrets not stopping to take a photo. “I was coming down this hill and looked at it, and it just screamed Nebraska. It should have been a postcard,” she said. “Rolling hills, cattle on top, irrigation system, hay bales at the bottom and the sunrise. It was so beautiful, and it screamed Nebraska to me.” Coni admitted they wouldn’t travel as much as they do without BRAN, and other biking events, and they likely wouldn’t have ever spent a day in Cody, Nebraska, without it being a stop on their first BRAN route. Ritchie, who spends nearly every day in Neligh since its on his UPS route, didn’t take in nearly as many local stops as usual on Thursday. Instead, it was a day to relax, shoot pool at Buff’s, have lunch at Sly’s and hang out at the American Legion listening to Dave Merkel. “Ninety-nine percent of people we meet are super cool,” Ritchie said. “They’re very welcoming and lay down the red carpet for us. Neligh and all of the stops have been great.” Residents of Orchard will be without water on Monday afternoon.
Due to a water line repair, the Village of Orchard will be shutting off the water Monday, June 3 at 1 p.m. The water will remain off until the repair is fixed. The village apologizes for the inconvenience. Our fallen heroes were honored Monday during Memorial Day services.
The Orchard American Legion Post provided the color and honor guard were on hand for the ceremony. Pastor A.J. Turner addressed the audience after Kaci Wickersham and Avery Cheatum performed the National Anthem. The Orchard High School band was on hand providing music. Nearly 90 alumni turned out Saturday for the annual Orchard High School Alumni banquet, including 17 from the Class of 1969, who celebrated their 50th reunion. The reunion was hosted by the Class of 2004 at the Orchard gymnasium. Helen Bearinger Watz celebrated her 80th reunion as the Class of 1939. James Meyer represented the Class of 1944 for his 75th reunion. It was decided to continue holding the alumni banquet the Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend. The Class of 2005 will serve as the committee next year with the Class of 1970 as the host. The Orchard Alumni Association also voted to donate $300 to The Rex Theater and gave Holly Schacht a $100 scholarship as a member of the Class of 2019. 1939: Helen Bearinger Watz 1944: James Meyer 1994: Candice Stacken Farewell 1949: Dorothy Howard Johnson, Lyle Schleusener, Doug Barton, Marilyn Schacht Barton, Leland Stelling, Maxine Haswell 1959: Mary Jane Napier Morsett, Jerry Miller, Janet Miller 1954: (back row) Aletha Holiday Eley, LaVon Morsett Baier Dike, Arvid Erb, (front row) Shirley Dempster Erb, Carma LaFrenz Kreitter 2004: (Back row) Brittany Stelling Sudbeck, Ashley Schleusener
(Front row) Jon Allen, Alex Hartigan, Kyle Erb The American flag flapped wildly in the wind over Burke Stadium. Fans and athletes turned to look up into the sunny sky, squinting to see Old Glory as they placed their hands over their hearts. Two nervous girls stepped up to the black microphones waiting on the track. As their sweet voices harmonized and filled the stadium, their anxiety appeared to fade away.
After a statewide audition process, two Orchard sophomores were selected to sing the national anthem at the 2019 Nebraska State Track and Field Championships on Friday. Avery Cheatum and Kaci Wickersham of Orchard submitted their audition last September and were chosen from more than 200 entries. “When you submit it in the fall, you don’t know which state event you’ll be selected for,” Orchard music teacher Emily Heihoff said. “They give us a list of all the state events and they ask which ones you are available for.” Heithoff said she selected all of them. “Yeah, we were amazed that we were picked for state track and not like state diving or something we know nothing about,” Cheatum said with a laugh. Principal Cathy Cooper, who accompanied Heithoff and the singers on Friday, said Orchard athletes usually compete at state track each year, “So that makes it even more exciting.” The NSAA started allowing students to audition to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” for their championship events in 2006. This year, 214 auditions were submitted for 35 performances, according to Dan Masters of the NSAA. When the girls found out they had been selected to sing at state track, they “practiced a lot” in preparation, Wickersham said. “We sang it two or three times every day,” Cheatum said. “We auditioned very early in the fall, so after we found out we made it, we’ve been practicing it for months.” Wickersham said they “were really excited” when they were selected. “Last year, we tried to submit one and we never heard back, and then we found out the audition didn’t go through, so we were really excited when it actually made it in this time,” Cheatum said. Wickersham, 15, and Cheatum, 16, said they are in choir with Mrs. Heithoff. They have sang duets together for the district music contest and often sing the national anthem at home games. The girls are the daughters of Darin and Kerry Wickersham and Dana and Rachael Cheatum. In a heartwarming ceremony Thursday, Orchard graduated nine from preschool, including Makenna Bergman, Zoey Heiss, Scarlett Hoffman, Dylan Melcher, Jeremy Meyer, Peyton Meyer, Tucker Meyer, Elizabeth Schrock and Lydia Twibell.
During the ceremony, the students recited the Pledge of Allegiance and shared what they learned during the year during special performances. Diplomas were presented by teacher Mrs. Marsh. Commencement exercises for Orchard High School were Saturday afternoon.
The 11 members of Orchard's graduating class are Anthony Marino, Blake Hoke, Derek Maxwell, Holly Schacht, Jaccob Bennett, Erin Schwager, JoCee Johnston, Julian Tuttle, Nalleli Zermeno, Ryan Wilhelm and Tommie Peed. Schwager was named the class valedictorian and Johnston was the salutatorian. A football mum has been chosen as their class flower and their class colors are black, white and ming blue. Their class motto is: "Life Will Life." Jana Wilhelm's 6th graders at Orchard won the Nebraska eCYBERMISSION STEM competition. Each student will receive a $1,000 EE Savings Bond.
eCYBERMISSION is a web-based science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) competition for students in grades six through nine that promotes self-discovery and enables all students to recognize the real-life applications of STEM. Teams of three or four students are instructed to ask questions (for science) or define problems (for engineering), and then construct explanations (for science) or design solutions (for engineering) based on identified problems in their community. Commencement exercises for Orchard High School will be held on Saturday, May 11. The graduation ceremony is set to begin at 4 p.m. in the high school gym.
The 11 members of Orchard's graduating class are Anthony Marino, Blake Hoke, Derek Maxwell, Holly Schacht, Jaccob Bennett, Erin Schwager, JoCee Johnston, Julian Tuttle, Nalleli Zermeno, Ryan Wilhelm and Tommie Peed. Schwager has been named the class valedictorian and Johnston is the salutatorian. A football mum has been chosen as their class flower and their class colors are black, white and ming blue. Their class motto is: "Life Will Life." |
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