Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
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Call-ins for mutton busting for the 58th annual Clearwater Rodeo will be Monday, June 23, from 5 to 6 p.m. To enter, call Elly Herley at 402-640-9738. Text messages will not be accepted. Participants must be 3 to 7 years of age. Each night, 15 spots will be reserved for call-ins. The remaining 10 spots will go to walk-in participants who register the night of the rodeo. Organizers suggest individuals wanting to register the evening of the rodeo should arrive early. Mutton busting will begin at...
A Seattle-based bicycle vacation company, with eight cyclists in tow, stopped in Clearwater recently. On June 12, Bubba's Pampered Pedalers pulled into Clearwater, giving cyclists a chance to rest and have refreshments. The group's journey began June 9 in Valentine, and they were set to reach Norfolk by Friday, June 13. After pedaling the day's route, Bubba's Pampered Pedalers employees shuttle cyclists to a local hotel. Lodging and meals are included in the package. According to one of the...
Young women ages 14 to 24 are invited to apply for the Miss Clearwater Rodeo contest. Applications are due by June 13 and are available by contacting Devon Baum, contest director, at missclearwaterrodeo@gmail.com or texting or calling 402-843-0446. The queen contest will be held Friday, June 27. Candidates will take part in mutton busting' activities as Clearwater's Big rodeo kicks off its 58th annual event. According to Baum, contestants will vie for several awards, including horsemanship,...
The Advocate-Messenger earned 31 awards in the 2025 Better Newspaper Competition and ended in second place for the Allen & Linda Beerman Community Newspaper Sweepstakes Award, which includes weekly newspapers from all classes. The Stanton Register took top honors and the Aurora News-Register ended in third. SAM finished second in Division A, based on circulation and, in the digital sweepstakes division, SAM placed third. The paper picked nine first-place awards in categories, including building...
Whew! I’m still trying to recover from the 2025 Nebraska Press Association Convention, held in Kearney. I enjoy the annual conference for multiple reasons: great educational sessions, networking with fellow newspaper folk, meeting new vendors, great (but too much) food and an overall fantastic time celebrating the written word. It’s not all fun and games ... except for trivia night. That was a blast. I never thought I would hear “God Bless America” sung a beat box rhythm. Sessions begin early a...
Wayne State College's chapter of the Phi Kappa Phi honor society inducted 21 new members during Wayne State's induction ceremony held April 3. Faith King, of Clearwater, was selected for membership. Phi Kappa Phi is the nation's oldest and most selective honor society for all academic disciplines. Membership, by invitation only, is granted to the top 7.5% of college juniors and the top 10% of college seniors. Chartered in 2006 under the leadership of the late Wayne State President Dr. Richard...
The Clearwater Rough Stock Challenge will add a few new features for its fourth-annual event, Saturday, Aug. 17. Competition is slated to begin at 7:30 p.m., in the Gene Snodgrass Arena, located along West Highway 275. A calcutta will be held at 7 p.m., prior to the first event. Elgin Livestock auctioneer, Ted Baum, will handle auction duties. Justin Rumford, 10-time PRCA Pro Rodeo Clown of the Year will entertain the crowd between riders. "He'll be a hit with the crowd," said chamber president...
What a show! Overflow crowds watched nearly 300 cowboys and cowgirls provide thrills and spills over the weekend at Clearwater's Big Rodeo. In the process, competitors took home approximately $34,000 in prize money. "What an amazing three nights of rodeo," said Curt Thiele, Clearwater Chamber of Commerce president. "We were blessed with very good weather and competition was high, with a big number of competitors." Sutton Schrunk, of Valentine, scored 77 in bull riding to take home the top prize...
Growing up in a small town in Georgia, Noah Hicks lives his music life as his most authentic self. From small gigs to working with top artists in the industry, he never forgets the farm he grew up on. Hicks was raised on a small chicken farming operation in Carrollton, Georgia. He was always playing guitar and music became a big influence in his life. In an interview in late May, he told SAM, "The dream really started when I had a friend named Reed Morris who pushed me to start singing. We were...
The American Red Cross reports that blood donors are critically needed following a sharp decrease in donations since late spring. Area residents will have an opportunity to donate in Clearwater, Thursday, July 11, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the American Legion. "All blood types are needed, especially donors giving type O blood and those giving platelets," Red Cross officials said. Individuals who donate are asked to bring a donor card or photo identification. To schedule an appointment, call...
Nebraska native Luke Mills has been involved in the music industry for a quarter of a century. Since 1999, Mills has performed across the United States, with multiple songs becoming hits. He has toured with some of the biggest names in the industry but always stays true to his unique performing style. Mills was born and raised in Holdrege, a city with fewer than 10,000 people. While most artists hail from larger areas, such as Nashville or New York, Mills spent his life in the small Nebraska...
Country music artist Tim Zach never imagined he would one day be sharing the stage with the greatest musicians in the industry. A Wisconsin native, Zach went to college to study policing science with the aspiration to become a police officer. However, he soon realized law enforcement was not for him so he made the move to retail sales. He worked in retail for another decade and didn't get his break until he was in his 30s, when he was named the "Best New Country Act in Nebraska." Years later, Za...
The beginning of high school is time for young people to discover who they are and learn how to lead. Having the chance to join clubs, organizations and take part in special programs allows youth to figure out who they are. "Unfortunately, as a 2023 graduate, class members never got to fully experience what high school is really like. For me, the lack of experience meant I was lost amongst the crowd and really didn't feel confident in who I was," said Faith King. In 2020, freshman year was cut...
Faith King and Alex Thiele donate blood, Tuesday, during a blood drive at St. Peter Lutheran Church in Orchard. The drive was held in honor of Thiele's brother, Jesse, who was injured in an accident eight years ago and needed 10 units of blood. This is King's first time to donate....
Summerland High Graduate and Wayne State College student Faith King has received the Tom and Pat Cook Endowed Criminal Justice Scholarship for Wayne State. It recognizes excellence in the criminal justice field and other academic courses. It also considers GPA, ACT, and commitment to the field....
In a tough battle against perennial track and field powerhouses, the Bobcat boys' teamfinished eighth at district competition, held May 9, in Atkinson. After the final starting gun sounded, three Summerland athletes advancde to the 2024 Class C NSAA State Track and Field Championships at Omaha Burke Stadium on May 17 and 18. Two high jumpers will face each other at state. Juniors Ryan Rifer and Ruger Switzer both cleared 6' one inch. Rifer earned a silver medal and Switzer, bronze. Rifer ran...
Summerland Advocate-Messenger personnel brought home 23 awards from the 2023 Better Newspaper Contest for the Nebraska Press Association. Awards were presented Saturday evening, at the awards banquet held at the Cornhusker Marriot Hotel in Lincoln. SAM finished second in Class A, which includes weekly newspapers with a circulation up to 699 subscriptions. The Stanton Register won the division. In advertising categories, publisher LuAnn Schindler won seven awards. An ad featuring financial services at Brunswick State Bank, promoting FFA Week,...
Carlee Livingston will represent the Summerland speech team at the 2024 NSAA Class C2 State Speech Championships, Thursday, March 21, at Kearney High School. Livingston advances after a third-place finish in persuasive speaking at Monday's Class C2-3 district meet in Hartington. Six other speech students qualified for finals. Alanna Doll finished fifth in informative speaking. Brandon Pruden placed fifth in oral interpretation of humorous prose. In oral interpretation of drama, Addisyn...
Wayne State College included 1,312 students on the dean's list for exemplary academic achievement during the fall 2023 semester. Students listed on the dean's list are full-time undergraduate students who have achieved a grade-point average of 3.5 or above on a 4.0 scale for the semester. An asterisk (*) denotes a 4.0 GPA for the term. Area students named to the list include Sharon Bartak, Emma Funk, Elly Herley, Faith King, Summer Schroeder*, Clearwater; Ashley Koenig, Elizabeth Nordby,...
Since we're writers, we, at SAM love lists. Trust us, we keep and use them every single day. But, how does one determine which articles should be at the top of the yearly list? In the past, we've based it by reader count from our website. This year, we're still relying on reader count, featuring the top-read article by month. We wrote nearly 2,000 articles in 2023 and, while some of our favorites don't appear on the list, we're sure these are a newsworthy representation of the Summerland region....
Wayne State freshman and Summerland High School graduate, Faith King, is experiencing many firsts at college. Her most impressive is being the first student to be a criminal justice major while a part of the Career Scholars Cooperative Education Program, Rural Law Opportunities Program and Honors Program. The Career Scholars Cooperative Education Program allows students to have three years of building skills for leadership and the workforce, with a fourth year in the chosen career field. Student...
Next week's edition of the "Advocate-Messenger" will include a special section with results of Summerland-area residents from the Antelope and Holt county fairs, as well as Nebraska State Fair results. Advertising options for the section are still available. To learn more, contact LuAnn Schindler at lschindler@summerlandadvocate.com or call the news office at 402-485-2101....
Not many students can say that their parents are attending college at the same time they are, and even fewer can say all three are attending the same college. My unique journey started when my father, mother, and I all decided to attend Wayne State College this fall. Three Wildcats is much better than only one. Our Wayne State journey started when my father, Brian, decided to go back to college in August 2019 after his company went through a merger. Job insecurity was a risk and he wanted to...
