By Logan Lawson logan@pitzerdigital.com Less than two weeks after voting to co-op high school sports with Clearwater-Orchard, the Ewing School Board has rescinded that decision. However, the district moved forward with a co-op with some junior high sports. Neither Clearwater nor Orchard boards have voted on any sports co-ops at this time, meaning Ewing’s decision to co-op is just the first step toward a co-op. If both Clearwater and Orchard Advisory Boards approve the decision, then the two districts will be a co-op. In a special meeting of the Ewing Board of Education on Monday night, the board unanimously voted to rescind the motion from the June 16 meeting. The motion, which was met with disapproval among community members, was meant to allow the shrinking school population of the town to field complete teams in sports throughout the year. During Monday’s meeting, which lasted approximately 50 minutes before the board moved to executive session, more than 60 members of the communities of Ewing, Clearwater and Orchard voiced their opinions on the future co-op. A common opinion shared by Ewing citizens was that the decision was made far too quickly. “I thought the decision you guys made was a little hasty,” said one Ewing community member. “I’m not saying that I’m not open to working with Clearwater and Orchard in the future.” Ed Nordby, who identified himself as a parent of three students that attend Ewing Public Schools, echoed that statement. “We need to get a good road map of where we’re going,” Nordby said. “We need to have a lot of discussions and have a lot of input, not from just within our school, but from the survey that you guys are doing.” A feasibility study is currently in process to determine the potential of the two school districts working together in the future. The study is scheduled to be complete sometime in January or February. The results of that study should give residents a more detailed idea of what it would take to co-op sports in the future, a possibility that residents from both communities said they are still open to. “We’d welcome you with open arms,” said one Clearwater-Orchard patron. “It’s a tough decision and we’ve been there as well.” Jason Stamp, a Ewing junior high parent, said he is open to the idea so his kids are able to play for competitive teams. “To go out and play basketball with seven boys on your team, they’re gonna lose a lot of heart and their drive,” he said. While the school board looks in to the possibility of a future partnership with Clearwater-Orchard for high school, the board voted unanimously to co-op junior high sports, with the exception of football, with the Cyclones for the next two school years, pending agreement from the Clearwater-Orchard board. Ewing currently has a commitment with Chambers/Wheeler Central to co-op football that the board will honor. Starting this winter, the Tigers and Cyclones will be all of the same, at least for now.
During Thursday's monthly Ewing Board of Education meeting, a co-op with Clearwater-Orchard Public School for junior high and high school was approved beginning this winter. The football team currently co-ops with Chambers and Wheeler Central and the volleyball team has strong numbers at this time. The board met to discuss the option of co-op and heard opinions of the public. With single-digit numbers that would make up the junior high teams, the board wondered if a co-op could be the best option. Members from the Clearwater-Orchard Advisory Boards were present and said that district is short on high school numbers, and this could be an opportunity to help each other. The motion passed 4-2. The NSAA deadline to co-op for fall sports was June 1, winter is September 1, and spring is November 1. Although the Ewing board is unsure of what the future does hold with this decision, Principal Greg Appleby said he is confident that they can find a way to make it work for the best. "Administration will meet and we will brain storm every possible thing," Appleby said. "Maybe not be able to answer those, but we will be able to decide if we are Tigers, Cyclones, Canaries, how we play the games, what schedule, what visuals are we using, what we will use that has already been contracted, and then we will get a couple other members from here, Orchard, Clearwater and say "Here are the things that need to be resolved.' " The School Board approved the 2016-2017 multi-cultural report, policy #2008 regarding meetings, and new policy #3037 that dealt with petty cash. The next Ewing Board of Education meeting will be on July 14, at 8 p.m. Summerland Golf Course will hold their junior golf program beginning June 6.
Junior golf is a five day program that ends with a junior golf tournament on Friday, June 10. The program is open to all children ages 7-14. Cost for the program is $30 per child. Summerland's head golf pro, Craig Flenniken, will instruct the young golfers in many different aspects of the game. He will have students split in to two groups with the first group beginning at 9 a.m. and the second group beginning at 10:45 a.m. Anyone that has any questions or is interested in participating in junior golf is encouraged to contact Summerland Golf Course at (402) 626-7555. The Holt County Sheriff's Office and the Nebraska State Patrol are still investigating a vehicle/pedestrian incident where two people were taken to the hospital in serious condition and one was later taken Omaha by helicopter on Monday morning.
According to the Holt County Attorney's office, the collision happened early Monday morning around 1:30 am at the intersection of Nebraska Street and Highway 45B when Mervin Mast of Orchard and Brittney Bruha of Burwell crossed the street and were struck by a 2009 Chevrolet pickup driven by Calvin Willats of Orchard. Witnesses say Willats left the scene of the accident but was later stopped by Holt County deputies and arrested for allegedly leaving the scene of a personal Injury accident and allegedly driving under the influence, along with several other suspected violations. Ewing Fire and Rescue transported Mast to Avera St. Anthony's Hospital and transported Bruha to Antelope Memorial Hospital. Bruha suffered injuries to the legs and ankles. Mast suffered severe leg and pelvis injuries and was flown to UNMC in Omaha. Masts' condition is stable at this time. The town of Ewing is set to kick off the area summer festival schedule with Summer Fun Fest Friday through Sunday. The festivities will begin Friday evening with Richard's Amusements carnival from 6:00 until midnight. On Saturday, Richard's Amusements will continue beginning at 2:00 in the afternoon until midnight. Additional qualifying for the Hole In One contest will be held from 1:00 until 9:00 at Summerland Golf Course. The Ewing High School Banquet will be held Saturday as well at 7:00 in the evening. The Fun Fest wraps up with a packed schedule on Sunday. Breakfast will be served at the Ewing Fire Hall, sponsored by the Ewing Fire and Rescue. The 2016 Bubby's Race will be held at 9:00 A.M. at the Ewing Football Field, with registration beginning at 8:30. Cost of the race is $15.00, with all proceeds going to Avera St. Anthony's Hospital in O'Neill and Antelope Memorial Hospital in Neligh. There will be a community church service held by the United Methodist-Presbyterian Church at 10:30. A Ping Ping Ball Drop will be held on the ninth hole fairway at Summerland Golf Course beginning at 2:00 to start the afternoon. The $10,000 Putt for Dough Contest, sponsored by EYMC, begins at 3:30, followed by the $250,000 Hole In One Contest, also sponsored by EYMC as well as KBRX in O'Neill. A dessert social will be sponsored by the United Methodist-Presbyterian Women and held at the United Methodist-Presbyterian Church from 4:00 to 8:00. The Ewing Public School classes of 2019-2020 will sponsor a BBQ at the Ewing Fire Hall from 5:00 until 7:30 Sunday evening. Richard's Amusements will again continue from 6:30 until 8:30. The weekend wraps up with the street dance, featuring Back Forty, starting at 9:00 Sunday Night. Admission is $10.00, with a beer garden set to be on site. Two Ewing juniors took hardware home from the state track meet on Friday and Saturday.
In the Class D shot put, Jodi Fry claimed runner-up honors in Class D with a toss of 39-6. She was second to Addie Shaw of North Central, who won with a throw of 42-7.5. Sprinter Jonas Richter picked up fifth-place medal in the 200 thanks to a 23.12 finish in the finals. In the prelims, he ran a 23.27. Richter also earned a seventh-place medal in the 100. He clocked 11.62 in finals and qualified with a time of 11.49 in the 100. The Ewing Tigers competed at the D-3 district meet at Summerland Golf Course Monday.
While the weather was less than ideal, raining all morning and well into the afternoon, the Tigers still enjoyed a good day of golf near home. While no Tiger golfer was able to qualify for state, they were led by Trevor Brummels's round of 113 for the day. The Tigers ended the day 11th in the team standings. Chambers/Wheeler Central also competed at the meet but did not have enough golfers to qualify for a team score. The top golfer for the Renegades was Jacob Green, who shot a 118 for the day. Final Team Scores: 1. Randolph, 332 2. Creighton, 335 3. Osmond, 351 4. Humphrey St. Francis, 355 5. Boyd County, 383 6. Riverside, 434 7. Spalding Academy, 440 8. Central Valley, 446 9. Clearwater-Orchard, 470 10. Niobrara/Verdigre, 480 11. Ewing, 493 12. North Central, 502 13. CWC, NTS 14. Elkhorn Valley, NTS 15. Santee, NTS Individual Results Trevor Brummels, Ewing, 113 Matt Kurpgeweit, Ewing, 116 Jacob Green, Chambers/Wheeler Central, 118 Ross Gribble, Chambers/Wheeler Central, 123 Justin Napier, Ewing, 124 Ryan Brummels, Ewing, 140 Tate Gartner, Chambers/Wheeler Central, 158 The Ewing and Chambers/Wheeler Central golf teams competed against seven other teams at the Niobrara Valley Golf Course on Wednesday.
Ewing, who placed seventh, did not have an individual medalist for the day. Trevor Brummels shot a 95 on the day to lead the Tigers. Matthew Kurpgeweit came in with a 102, while Justin Napier had a round of 112 for the invite. Ryan Brummels would complete the day with a 127 for the Tigers. Chambers/Wheeler Central also did not have an individual medalist for the day, with Jacob Green leading the way with a 102. Ross Gribble shot a 108 for CWC and Tate Gartner finished at 139. Team Results 1. Neligh-Oakdale 340 2. Osmond 354 3. Boyd County 357 4. Bloomfield/Wausa 362 5. Niobrara-Verdigre 409 6. Clearwater/Orchard 411 7. Ewing 436 8. Chambers/Wheeler Central NTS 9. Santee NTS Individual Results Trevor Brummels, Ewing, 95 Jacob Green, Chambers/Wheeler Central, 102 Matthew Kurpgeweit, Ewing, 102 Ross Gribble, Chambers/Wheeler Central, 108 Justin Napier, Ewing, 112 Ryan Brummels, Ewing, 127 Tate Gartner, Chambers/Wheeler Central, 139 Mason Hale and Bryce Kerkman went 1-2 at the Ewing Invite on Tuesday to lead the Huskies to a six-stroke win over Osmond.
1. West Holt 335, 2. Osmond 359, 3. EPPJ 361, 4. Boyd County 376, 5. Norfolk Catholic 378, 6. Clearwater-Orchard 422, 7. Ainsworth 423, 8. O’Neill 439, 9. Ewing 439, 10. Niobrara/Verdigre 489, 11. Chambers/Wheeler Central NTS, Elkhorn Valley NTS, North Central NTS, Santee NTS. Top Individuals 1. Mason Hale, 78, West Holt; 2. Bryce Kerkman, 80, West Holt; 3. Clay Hansen, 80, Boyd County; 4. Sam Wilkins, 84, Ainsworth; 5. Chad Bode, 84, EPPJ; 6. Aric Krienert, 84, Osmond; 7. Alex Kumm, 86, Osmond; 8. Seth Hytrek, 86, West Holt; 9. Mitchell Atkinson, 88, Boyd County; 10. Hunter Reestman, 88, EPPJ; 11. Dante Schmit, 90, Osmond; 12. Jarret Cerney, 90, Norfolk Catholic; 13. Austin Remm-Lech, 91, West Holt; 14. Miles Schrage, 92, EPPJ; 15. Jared Hammerlun, 92, O’Neill. Samantha Funk won a state championship at the state speech meet and helped lead Ewing to a runner-up finish in Class D2.
Funk won a gold medal in Humorous Prose and teamed with Linzie Van Horn for a third-place finish in Duets. Van Horn also finished third in Entertainment. Dani Anderson placed third in Informative to round out medalists. Emily Eacker was ninth in Serious Interpretation and Doris Herrera was ninth in Poetry. Ewing finished just two points behind state champion Potter-Dix and 14 points ahead of third-place Bruning-Davenport. |