2024: A Look Back At The Year

+3

+3

+3

It seems every year gets shorter and shorter. 2024 is over and a new year is upon us. As we transition into the new year, we would like to share with you some of the highlights of 2024.

At the beginning of the year Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park in Royal, NE was ranked #90 in the top 150 nature walks.

The second week Holt County's first baby of the year, Josslyn Pelster, daughter of Caleb and Tessa Pelster, was shown off.

The following week John Kozyra was announced as the new CEO of Avera St. Anthony's Hospital. 

Ending off January, Neko's Pub, the O'Neill Rotary Club and Signature Salon teamed up to raise money for the lunch programs at O'Neill Public School and St. Mary's School. 

Moving into February, Avera announced the completion of their Emergency and Radiology Department renovation project.

February's second week brought the news that Shamrock Lockers, O'Neill's first locker plant in around 40 years, will open.

It was announced soon after that O'Neill was sending off nine Eagle athletes to Omaha  to compete in State Wrestling.

Next week two wrestlers from O'Neill, Alden and Vergara, brought back Gold from State Wrestling.

Keeping with sports, the final week of February St. Mary's sent both boys and girls basketball teams to State play.

Being the Irish capital of Nebraska, the first week of March already brought some St. Patrick's news. That being Katie Mathews and Arnie Babl were to be inducted into the Irish Hall of Fame.

Continuing the St. Pat's theme, this week Michael Poese was crowned Mr. Irish at the Mr. Irish Pageant.

The week of March 21 Larry Tomlinson, incredible O'Neill athlete, was inducted into the 8-Man Football Hall Of Fame.

Next week highlighted some of the women-owned businesses in Nebraska and the entrepreneurs who  brought them to life.

The first week of April put the spotlight on Dan Nekolite with an article all about his life and the impact he has made on his community.

The following week honored Jackie Collier, CASA volunteer from 1960 to 2023.

The week of April 18 saw The Nebraska DHHS Division of Developmental Disabilities present an Outstanding Provider award to NorthStar.

April closed off with some photos from O'Neill High School and St. Mary's High School's prom photos.

May kicked off with an article about a family in Stuart, Kim and Ken Stenka, who opened their house up to veterans who needed a roof above their head.

Week two of May covered the Girls on the run 5K with a Boston Marathon participant even taking place.

Next week congratulated the OHS and SMH seniors as they walked the school halls as students for the last time.

It was reported that the WJ Biglin built here in O'Neill had recently turned a full century old.

Ending off May the O'Neill American Legion Post 93 had their namesake's burial flag donated back to them.

June 6 was a big news week for O'Neill, as the old time capsule buried 50 years ago was unearthed and reported on.

Next week's big news was the O'Neill Fire Department honoring Ryan Kelly as Fireman of the year, and Brandi Fehringer as EMT of the year. 

Governor Pillen was visiting all around Nebraska and he made a stop at Handlbend the week of June 20.

One week later, Atkinson native Jerry Penry announced a book signing at Stuart's White Horse Museum.

The year was officially now half over and we ran some pictures to celebrate the St. Mary's classes of 1974 and 1999, as well as the OHS class of 1974.

The week of July 11 showed off some of the highlights of this year's 4th of July parade.

Just on time for it start, the July 18th edition gave a rundown of this year's unforgettable Summerfest celebration, including concert headliner Parmalee's appearance.

To nobody's surprise, the following week put a spotlight on the once-in-a-lifetime experience that was the Fly-in and Airshow at Summerfest.

Next week's big news was the completion of the amazing mural painted by Claire Morrow on the side of the Chamber office.

Then there was the report from the O'Neill Police Department of a high speed chase with a vehicle stolen from the area.

Schools were preparing to reopen their doors around this time, and to celebrate, some of the new faculty were introduced.

August was almost over and the spotlight was put on the Atkinson Hay Days parade held the week before.

There was more school news the final week of August with the report that the indoor video board and outdoor scoreboard for sports both received great upgrades.

Moving into September the O'Neill Community Center was looking for entries for their annual Irish 'Toberfest.

Next week highlighted St. Mary's Carole Willis, first grade teacher at SMH for 40 years, as being honored as 2024 Archdiocese of Omaha Rural Elementary Educator of the Year.

It felt like school had only just opened, but SMH and OHS were already honoring their Homecoming candidates for the year.

The first week of October saw early voting ballots go out for the November Election.

The second week of October saw a tragedy with the explosion of the St. Patrick's Parish Center. The details of the incident were released  by the Holt County Attorneys office. Around 5 a.m.  a 58 year old Guatemalan national drove a Toyota 4-runner onto the lawn behind the Parish Center and collided with a gas appliance feeding the Parish Center. The collision caused the line to pump natural gas into the facility until around 6 a.m. when the gas found an ignition source causing the explosion.

At the time of the release and based  upon a review of witnesses, interviews and medical records, there was no evidence that the individual was under the influence of any alcohol or intoxicating substances. The individual appeared back at the scene of the incident suffering from possible injuries from the explosion and was transported to West Holt Memorial before being life flighted to University Medical Center in Omaha.

The Parish Center, which was the Sisters of St. Francis Convent, was built in 1963. The building was constructed as a home for the nuns teaching at the St. Mary's Academy. The building survived the academy fire and served as the sister's residence until 1992 when it became the St. Patrick's Parish Center, which housed the record-keeping and nerve center of St. Patrick's and St. Mary's Schools. The offices were on the first floor of the building.

The second week in Oct. saw the St. Mary's High School students go to the Northeast Community College for classes and remained their until the High School building was ready for the first week in Jan. The grade school moved their classes to the Faith Community Church facilities but over the course of a few weeks moved back to the grade school with a couple of classrooms not being used until they were deemed safe. 

The Avera facilities began using their existing patient rooms for use as a makeshift Emergency Room. The Emergency Room and Dialysis facilities are being made ready to be back to normal after the first of the year.

The election came and went with Donald J. Trump being elected again to the presidency of the United States.  Both O'Neill Public and St. Mary's football teams made it to playoff games. Unfortunately they both did not advance to the next round of playoff games. The Stuart Broncos took the first place trophy in the six man championship game held at Kearny.

The rest of the year saw little news with the country side still being very dry and with little precipitations forecasted the threat of wildfires still loom and citizens are asked to be careful with any possible ignition sources. Burn piles will not be allowed until we see a significant moisture - either rain or snow.

(0) COMMENTS

Welcome to the discussion.

Love ▼ 0 Funny ▼ 0 Wow ▼ 0 Sad ▼ 0 Angry ▼ 0