Parker Klein of Elkhorn Valley earned two second place medals at the D1-3 District Speech Meet in Hartington on Wednesday to qualify for state in two events.

Klein finished second in entertainment speaking and humorous prose. He will compete in the NSAA Speech Championship on Friday, March 22 at the University of Nebraska at Kearney.

Angel Qualset also earned two district medals, placing fourth in informative speaking and sixth in persuasive. 

An Elkhorn Valley student qualified for Class D All-State Band last week. 

Angel Qualset of Elkhorn Valley qualified for the Symphonic Band on the tenor saxophone. Qualset will perform with the Class D All-State Band in Kearney on March 23. 

The Elkhorn Valley wrestlers wore their “Hart” on their sleeves Friday afternoon and left one of their biggest supporters with tears of gratitude.

Kandi Hart was perched high in the Neligh-Oakdale bleachers when senior Brock Schaecher asked her to step down to the mats for a group photo before the district tournament began.

Because she takes so many photos for the team, the Tilden woman thought nothing of the request until the entire team gathered around her for the photo.

Recently diagnosed with breast cancer, Hart thought the gesture was very kind “of my boys.”

That’s when the entire team took off their jackets in unison to display t-shirts in her honor with the hashtag #HartStrong on the sleeves.

The tears started flowing, but the surprise wasn’t over just yet. Hart, who recently cut off her long, flowing hair in hopes of using it to make a wig to wear at her son’s summer wedding, learned the Elkhorn Valley team raised more than $1,000 in 72 hours selling t-shirts to cover the cost of her wig. They even had enough money left for a recliner, so she could rest after surgery.

“I’m just so overwhelmed. I’m so humbled that they would do such a big thing for me,” said Hart through the tears. “I’ve never felt so special in all of my life. Those boys are my boys, and I care a lot for them, too.”

But it wasn’t just the wrestling team supporting Hart on Friday, the girls basketball team wore the t-shirts as warm-ups that night, too. And dozens in the crowd of both events wore the shirts and stood up proudly for Hart to see their support. All in all, 114 shirts were sold in those three days.

“We hope it helps lift your spirit and shows just how much you are appreciated,” Stephanie Thompson read to the crowd during the presentation.

Little more than a month ago, Hart and her husband, Tim, received the devastating news. A faith-filled person, perhaps the most devastating aspect was that she would need help, something she confessed is hard for her.

“I’m the one who helps others. I’m not the one who asks for help. I don’t know how to do that,” Hart admitted.

With such an aggressive cancer battle, Hart knew she’d lose her long hair quickly. Her family found someone willing to make a wig from her long hair, but it would be costly. Considering the extra expenses of chemo, travel and missing work, a wig wasn’t a necessity.

But the Falcon wrestling team disagreed.

“The boys’ intentions were to raise enough money to be able to pay for the wig you are getting. They nailed it,” Thompson said. “Once what we were doing spread a little, we had people coming to us to donate.”

Hart continued to wipe tears from her face as Thompson read more details about the fundraiser, all of which was kept from Hart. Even her son Tyler drove to Neligh to attend the surprise, despite missing his own district tournament where he is a volunteer coach.

Son Doug and daughter Terryn were unable to attend, but were able to watch the live video feed via the Antelope County News. By Monday, more than 40,000 people had viewed the surprise video.

“That just blows my mind,” Hart said. “Thousands of people were watching something about me. I like to be behind the scenes and don’t like all the attention. I had people come up to me all weekend and say they were praying for me, and I didn’t know who they were.”

Hart credits that to wonderful people and to the sport of wrestling.

“Wrestling is a close-knit sport,” she said. “You see the same families at every wrestling meet. Wrestling is really a big family, whether you know each other or not.”

Despite having her second round of chemo on Thursday, Hart was still at the Neligh-Oakdale gym Friday afternoon to take photos of the Falcons — like she has for the last two decades.

With chemo every other week, Hart chose her off week to be during state wrestling, which is almost a holiday in her family. Ironically, the first day of state is actually Valentine’s Day, which for a woman named Kandi Hart, can be a blessing and a curse. Of course, Hart married into the name when she and Tim tied the knot.

“I married the love of my life. The name was a bonus,” Hart said with a chuckle.

The two will spend the most romantic day of the year at their favorite place — state wrestling.
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“I can’t imagine a better way to spend Valentine’s Day,” Hart said. “I’ll be taking photos and watching my favorite sport with the love of my life. It doesn’t get any better than that.”

Green Honor Roll (3.5-4.0): seated left to right: Christian Yaw, Kimberly Frey, Sierra Rystrom, Hannah Ollendick, Amber Miller, Mitchell Petersen, Prestin Vondra, Parker Klein, Brie Magefrau, Elizabeth Hoffman; kneeling left to right: Jailee Hogancamp, Abby Brown, Merinee Vaughn, Conner Larson, Joslyn Klinetobe, Jace Thompson, Haley Fleetwood, Angel Qualset, Josiah Wriedt, Alyssa Maughan, Brianna Maughan, Erica Brown, Taylor Hasebroock, Sibley Mollhoff; standing left to right: Abe Rautenberg, Drew Hansen, Blane Mollhoff, Dawson Hansen, Tristan Kallhoff, Mavrick Hagemann, Macy Hansen, Emma Qualset, Madison Parker, Joslynn Larson, Alexis Lind, Kennedy Penne, Rylee Herbert, Anneka Furstenau, Walter Furstenau, Brooke Wilcox, Mariah Hansen, Montana Howard, Carleigh Greene, Johannah Tassemeyer, Aneesa Halsey, Carter Rautenberg, Bria Gale, Braedyn Ollendick, Adam Miller, Carney Black, Gavin Clause, Ben Wilcox, Victoria Sierra, Trevin Hanson, Hunter Bennett, Madison Schaffer, Peyton Bromley, Karissa Fernau, Carter Werner, Kristi Nierodzik, Conner Klein, Delilah Harper, Daniel Chvala, Carson Anderson; not pictured: Damien Knight, Araceli Martinez, Brendyn Ollendick, Kody Qualset, Nate Decker, Waylon Warneke.

White Honor Roll (3.0-3.49): kneeling left to right: Ruth Vigil, KayLeigh Fernau, Lacye Brandt, Elissa Wright, Aubrea Howard, Jorge Vigil; standing left to right: Ethan Frey, Kris Fernau, Chase Klinetobe, Jaxson Eischeid, Dylan Wright, Hunter Howard, Aaron Suckstorf, Alisha Larsen, Jacob Cleveland, Damian Smith, Brandon Evans, Erica Bacon, Kolton Krick, Skylar Glynn, Bryson Anderson, Kaylee Bacon, Olivia Nall, Sadie Smutney, Zane Richardson, Brock Schaecher, Reed Bennett; not pictured: James Fulsaas, Tristan Hecht, Felicia Short, Derek Hahne, Alexis Larsen, Maverick Short, Amaya Smith, Matt Wood, Desirae Kilonzo, Malachi Tegeler, Aiden Wurdinger-Meyer, Mason Schaffer, Kech Thompson, Whitney Wilkins.

First graders at Elkhorn Valley are learning what it means to be a philanthropist.

On Sunday, three representatives from Megan Eggers’ first grade class presented the class project called “Happy Birthday Boxes” at the Northeast Nebraska Youth Philanthropy Contest.

Eggers said the idea for the project came from her student Mavrick Afrank and his mom, Emily.

“Emily then brought up the idea to me and Mavrick thought it would be great to do with his class,” Eggers said.

Eggers explained that the birthday boxes are basically storage containers “filled with the supplies necessary to throw a birthday party, (including) cake mix, pans, candles, plates, napkins, party hats, games, etc.”

The idea behind the project is for children to be able to have a birthday party of their own whose parents may not be able to afford to throw one.

“I absolutely loved the idea and knew that it would be something that kids this age could understand the feeling of, as birthdays are such an important event for them,” Eggers said.

The class went through the process of finding out what to include in the boxes, how much each would cost and understanding the importance and purpose behind the project.

“The class hand wrote their supply list, purpose statements, schools selected list, and made the balloons for our poster,” explained Eggers. “We then entered our project in the Northeast Nebraska Youth Philanthropy Contest.”

Eggers selected three representatives, Amelia Wright, Eddan Sauser and Mavrick Afrank, to attend Sunday’s presentation and announcement reception in Norfolk.

“They talked and shared about our project to others at the event and represented our class when they announced that our project would be funded and we will be receiving $1,000 to make 50 more birthday boxes,” Eggers said.

The class will be distributing the “Happy Birthday Boxes” to area schools including Neligh-Oakdale, Battle Creek, Newman Grove and Elkhorn Valley to ask teachers and staff if they have any students that could benefit from receiving a box.
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“So proud of my firsties!” Eggers wrote on her Facebook page.

The Tilden Legion Post 170 will host its 27th annual gun show at the city auditorium on Saturday, Feb. 2, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 3, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Admission is $4 per day, children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult.