SPORTS
oice
V
The
Norris
boys
start
season
2-0.
B1
Included in this
week’s edition
Editorial/Community Reports....A2
Society News..................................A4
Obituaries......................................A5
Church............................................A6
Agriculture.................................. A12
Classifieds...............................A13-15
Sports.........................................B1-12
Mature Living.........................B14-16
News of Southeast Nebraska
The hometown, independently-owned newspaper of Adams, Bennet, Cheney, Cortland, Denton, Douglas, Eagle, Emerald, Filley, Firth,
Hallam, Hickman, Holland, Martell, Palmyra, Panama, Pickrell, Princeton, Roca, Rokeby, Sprague, St. Mary, Sterling and Walton
Volume 40, Issue 26
ter n
o
Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016
nt
ssoc t on reco n es
Darren Ivy
s
The Voice News
STERLING – The Sterling Community
Association recognized a couple Sterling natives with its Business of the Year and Honored
Citizen awards on Sunday night at the Sterling
Community Center.
The awards were presented during the
evening that also featured the lighting of the
Christmas tree, arrival of Santa Claus, singing
by a couple of Sterling High School students and
socializing and enjoying goodies.
The Business of the Year award was presented to Everett and Peggy Wusk of Wusk Repair.
“We want to thank you for all you have done
Darren Ivy, The Voice News for the community, said ori aathoff with the
Everett and Peggy Wusk of Wusk Repair were presented with the Business of the Year Sterling Community Association.
Everett has lived in Sterling for 60 years and
award from the Sterling Community Association.
e
r r
$1.00
e
r
rn
ns
doesn’t ever want to leave.
“I think the best thing about Sterling is it
being a close-knit community with friends who
care about one another and are always willing
to give a helping hand,” Everett said.
Prior to opening Wusk Repair, he worked
for Adams Implement, Korver Ag Service and
Baum Hydraulics Corporation in Omaha.
He then purchased Carpenter Oil in July of
1994.
“Driving to Omaha and back every day for
eight years was getting longer all the time and
I was missing out on my children’s activities,”
Everett said. “I also never wanted to move from
Sterling because it is the place we love.”
Everett said one of the things he enjoyed early on in business was the camaraderie he shared
u See STERLING on page B14
ors o ose
en e s ce
Dean Erickson
The Voice News
DENTON – A rural wedding venue is the subject of a lawsuit by several of its neighbors in rural
Lancaster County.
Hillside Events Center, owned and operated by
Tyler and Melissa Smith, is primarily advertised as
a wedding venue according to their website hillsideevents.weebly.com. The site promotes their
center as “the perfect location for your special indoor or outdoor event, wedding reception, or any
special occasion.”
Their neighbors think otherwise.
Sean and Alexis Fintel own property directly
south of Hillside Events. Sean says they never
imagined what they would be in for when they
purchased their country dream home.
“We bought our property to enjoy the peace and
quiet of the country along with our horses and other animals to start a family. However, due to the
reckless and indecent activities, excessive vulgarities and other illegal activities that have been documented at Hillside, we are concerned for what our
children will witness when we do start our family.”
Fintel said.
u See VENUE on page A3
Palermos receive
‘Magic Moment’
Dean Erickson
The Voice News
HICKMAN – For those who know Grace Palermo and her three kids, to say this past year has
been an uphill battle would be an understatement.
One year ago, Grace’s husband Nick unexpectedly passed away in his sleep, leaving
behind Grace and their three children, Samantha,
Grayson and Gemma. He had been in the process
of building the family’s dream home at the time
of his death, which forced Grace to put the home
up for sale “as is.” With nowhere to turn, all their
money wrapped up in the project home and an
uncertain future, things went from bad to worse
for the Palermo household last month, as Grace’s
oldest daughter, 14-year-old Samantha had to be
rushed to Children’s Hospital in Omaha. With
the medical bills mounting and the struggle getting harder every day, the holiday season saw a
“magic moment” for Grace and her kids.
Jennifer Durow, who recently took over
ownership of the Tree House day care center in
rural Hickman, employs Grace as the director
of the child care center. eeing first-hand the
struggle Grace was confronted with, not only as
an employer, but a good friend, gave Jennifer the
idea to contact Lincoln’s ABC station to submit
Grace’s family to be a part of the Union Bank
u See MAGIC on page A3
Darren Ivy, The Voice News
ames and ony Messen rink of oca lay in the snow last Saturday evening after the rst signi cant snow fall of the
season in the area. While some enjoyed the snow, others found the roads treacherous and numerous accidents were
reported in the area.
Winter weather arrives
rst s n fic nt w nter we t er r n s s c ro
Dean Erickson
The Voice News
VOICE REGION – Southeast Nebraska
drivers had a treacherous driving environment over the weekend as accumulating
slush and snowfall made travel conditions
on rural ancaster county roads di cult to
say the least.
In one incident early Saturday afternoon,
a 2013 Dodge Durango driven by Melissa
Frederick of Hickman was traveling westbound in the 4500 block of Hickman road
when her vehicle hit slush built up in the
middle of the roadway causing her to leave
the roadway into the north ditch. According
to the ancaster ounty heriff s
ce
investigation, Frederick overcorrected and
lost control, sliding into the eastbound lane
where Hickman resident Richard Fossler
was traveling eastbound. Frederick’s Durango then collided with Fossler’s 1988
Ford F-150 causing her to roll into the south
ditch, coming to rest on her roof about 25
Darren Ivy, The Voice News
This vehicle went off the road on
Saturday afternoon along 68th Street
north of Hickman.
yards from Fossler’s crippled pickup.
Hickman Rescue and Lancaster County
deputies were dispatched to the scene shortly after 12 noon on Saturday to tend to the
scene. According to the accident report, both
drivers were transported via private vehicle
to Lincoln hospitals. Other than the vehicles
which sustained significant damage in the
accident, a Windstream Communications
s s we
s
n
telephone box was also damaged in the
south ditch of Hickman Road in the incident.
Highway 77 also saw dangerous traveling conditions as several incidents were
reported to LCSO deputies on Saturday,
one of which took out a speed limit sign at
the
00 . 1 th address off ighway .
A 2007 Chrysler sedan driven by Joshua
Shepardson of Wymore was traveling northbound in the left lane at approximately 55
miles per hour when he began to speed up
to come up to highway speed. At that point
according to LCSO deputies his vehicle hit
a patch of heavy slush and he lost control,
crossed into the right lane and entered
the east ditch colliding with a speed limit
sign and eventually the private driveway
at 23800 S. 12th. Shepardson’s vehicle
sustained an estimated $3,500 in damage
including $50 in damage to the speed limit
sign. No injuries were reported and no citations were issued.
In a separate incident Saturday shortly
u See WINTER on page A2
Editorial/Community Reports
A2 • Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016
The Voice News • www.voicenewsnebraska.com
The Vine by Cassandra Ivy
“Don’t knock the weather; ninetenths of the people couldn’t start a
conversation if it didn’t change once
in a while.”
– Kin Hubbard,
American cartoonist
and journalist
I’m not too sure how many people
predicted the type of wintry weather
we received on Saturday, but I know
several who were impacted by it. So
many children, young and old, could be
found out playing around in the snow
around the area. Sledding and snowball
fights seemed to be a main treat, while
others were excited to catch snowflakes
on their tongues or make snow angels
or snowmen with the first notable precipitation of the season.
However, another group didn’t get
the chance to enjoy spending a peaceful
day at home or around town that day.
Area departments throughout The Voice
News region were out contending with
accidents throughout the day and night,
helping many of those whose car had
drifted off the road or slammed into
another. Thanks to those who were out
in the weather helping others.
As we were driving to one of the
events we attended Saturday evening,
we heard the sirens and saw the Hickman department head out again north
of town to respond to a call. Of course,
as many vehicles looked to maneuver
to the side of the road to get out of the
ambulance’s way, the slick roads proved
to add an extra challenge due to the lack
of shoulder space. There have been
many times I’ve been concerned about
the small amount of shoulder space on
this stretch of road especially for this
growing area, and it added an extra
challenge for those trying to get over,
but then get back out and onto the road
safely. But that’s another column for
another week.
This weekend’s weather made for a
good chance to brush up on and prepare
for winter driving, as well as to give
some tips to younger drivers attempting
the conditions for the first time, including these from AAA:
• Never run a vehicle in an enclosed
area, such as a garage.
• Make certain tires are properly
inflated.
• Keep your gas tank at least half full.
• Do not use cruise control when
driving on any slippery surface.
• Always look and steer where you
want to go.
• Use your seat belt every time you
get into your vehicle.
• If you become snow-bound, stay
with your vehicle. It provides temporary
shelter and makes it easier for rescuers
to locate you.
• Accelerate and decelerate slowly.
Applying the gas slowly to accelerate is
the best method for regaining traction
and avoiding skids.
• The normal dry pavement following distance of three to four seconds
should be increased to eight to 10
seconds.
• Pack a cellular telephone with your
local AAA’s telephone number, plus
blankets, gloves, hats, food, water and
any needed medication in your vehicle.
• Tie a brightly colored cloth to the
antenna or place a cloth at the top of a
rolled up window to signal distress. At
night, keep the dome light on if possible.
It only uses a small amount of electricity
and will make it easier for rescuers to
find you.
• Make sure the exhaust pipe isn’t
clogged with snow, ice or mud. A
blocked exhaust could cause deadly
carbon monoxide gas to leak into the
passenger compartment with the engine
running.
• Know your brakes. If you have
anti-lock brakes (ABS) and need to
slow down quickly, press hard on the
pedal-it’s normal for the pedal to vibrate
a bit when the ABS is activated.
• Don’t stop if you can avoid it.
here s a big difference in the amount
of inertia it takes to start moving from
a full stop versus how much it takes to
get moving while still rolling. If you can
slow down enough to keep rolling until
a tra c light changes, do it.
• Don’t power up hills. Applying
extra gas on snow-covered roads just
starts your wheels spinning. Try to get
a little momentum going before you
reach the hill and let that momentum
carry you to the top. As you reach the
crest of the hill, reduce your speed and
proceed down hill as slowly as possible.
• Don’t stop going up a hill. There’s
nothing worse than trying to get moving
up a hill on an icy road. Get some momentum going on a flat roadway before
you take on the hill.
• Stay home. If you really don’t have
to go out, don’t.
This a is a long list of tips, but they
are there for a reason. They are provided to help as much as possible to
keep those driving safe – whether the
driver is new to the road or has years
of experience.
This time of year tends to give us
more to talk about, just as Hubbard
suggested about a hundred years ago.
But we hope that you have a great, fun
story to tell at the end of the winter
season and not one that several digging
out of ditches, and worse, had to tell
after Saturday.
Safe travels throughout the holiday
Gov. Ricketts: $15 million saved with Medicare
LINCOLN – Gov. Ricketts and
Director of Insurance Bruce Ramge
recently announced that Nebraska’s
Senior Health Insurance Information
Program has saved Nebraskans with
Medicare more than $15 million over
the past year.
“Nebraska’s Department of Insurance is helping older and disabled
Nebraskans realize substantial savings
on healthcare insurance and prescription drug costs,” said Ricketts.
Contact Nebraska SHIIP for more
information at 1-800-234-7119.
THIS WEEK’S
STATS
WEATHER FORECAST
Thursday, Dec. 8
High: 22
Low: 8
Friday, Dec. 9
High: 29
Low: 19
Saturday, Dec. 10
High: 40
Low: 24
Sunday, Dec. 11
High: 31
Low: 16
Monday, Dec. 12
High: 29
Low: 21
Tuesday, Dec. 13
High: 28
Low: 11
Dean Erickson, The Voice News
One of several weekend accidents, a 2013 Dodge Durango, driven
by Melissa Frederick of Hickman, came to rest on its top Saturday
afternoon off of ickman oad.
u From WINTER on page A1
before 2 p.m., a 2001 Ford F-150
driven by John Wurtz of Lincoln was
southbound on 68th Street between
Wittstruck and Bennet Roads when
he attempted to pass another southbound vehicle in deteriorating road
conditions, his pickup slid out of
control and went backwards into the
west ditch of 68th striking the ditch
at nearly 45 miles per hour according
to a LCSO accident report. Witnesses
say the maroon F-150 nearly struck
two other vehicles before coming to
rest backwards in the ditch.
Shortly before 5 p.m. Saturday
as well, the age ounty heriff s
ce responded to a one vehicle
rollover accident on Highway 77
and Pickrell Road. A 2001 Buick
Regal driven by Charlene Stanley of
Firth was traveling northbound on
77 when she lost control due to slick
road conditions. The car slid into
the southbound lane and entered the
ditch on the west side of the highway.
The vehicle then slid into a creek bed
and came to rest on its side according to age ounty heriff illard
Gustafson. Stanley was transported
to Beatrice Community Hospital
with what are believed to be non-life
threatening injuries.
In all of the accidents above, and
a majority of the other area-wide
tra c incidents reported aturday,
accumulating snowfall and slick road
conditions were the major contributing factor. According to the National Weather Service, the heaviest
concentration of snowfall occurred
in extreme south central Lancaster
County, north central Gage County
and in northwest Lancaster County
in rural areas just north of Interstate
80. South central Lancaster and north
central age saw five inches of accumulated snowfall while northwest
Lancaster received upwards of sixinches in rural areas over a 24-hour
estimated snowfall map ending at 7
Sunday morning.
The broad swath of The Voice
News region received anywhere from
one to three inches from Saturday
morning to early Sunday.
In total, the Lancaster County
heriff s
ce responded to
accidents from 4:30 Saturday morning
to 10:30 Saturday night county-wide.
Wednesday, Dec. 14
High: 19
Low: 10
RENEWALS
Brian and Collette Little, Sterling
Michelle Denker, Adams
Mary Powers, Palmyra
Gary and Tammy Staiert, Bennet
Michael and Abbe Edgecombe,
Hickman
Alan Baade, Roca
Ervin and Lois Meints, Beatrice
Gage County Attorney, Beatrice
nified ales gency, ickman
Richard and Cherie Walters,
Sterling
Alice Moormeier, Cortland
Stephen and Carolyn May,
Lincoln
Clark Liesveld, Hickman
Thank you for your support!
To subscribe, call our office at
(402) 792-2255 or stop by in downtown
Hickman for more information!
Correction
In last week’s edition, it was
reported that the Hickman
City Council fully approved the
Comprehensive Plan. There was
only a presentation and “public
hearing.” We apologize for any
concerns this may have brought
about.
DHHS Service Waiver renewals approved by CMS
LINCOLN – Nebraska’s Department of Health and Human Services
(DHHS) has received approval for
the renewal of its Home and Community Based Services Waiver for
Aged and Adults and Children with
Disabilities, from the Centers for
Medicare & Medicaid Services.
“This waiver renewal will allow
us to continue providing an array of
home and community-based services
to support people in their homes,”
said Calder Lynch, director of the
division of Medicaid and LongTerm Care. “This waiver matches
resources and needs to provide for
independent living opportunities for
people with disabilities, helping them
live better lives.”
Lynch said the Aged and Disabled
waiver is available to Individuals of
all ages who:
• Are financially eligible for
Medicaid and have needs at nursing facility level of care (i.e., need
assistance with everyday tasks such
as getting dressed, taking a bath or
shower, eating or walking safely),
• Want to live at home rather than
a nursing facility, and
• Can be served safely at home or
an assisted living facility.
Lynch said some of the funded
services include:
• Services coordination (A service
provided by specially trained staff
who help match your needs with
services and providers, based on a
member’s preferences)
• In-home help (Examples include: home-delivered meals, assistance with a bath, cleaning, laundry,
and modifying a home to make it
easier to get around)
• Respite (Relief time for paid and
non-paid caregivers)
• Training to increase independence in activities of daily living
at home
• Childcare for children with
disabilities so the parent/caregiver
can maintain employment or attend
school
• Community supports like adult
day health services and transportation for essential activities such as
grocery shopping
• Assisted living services
For more information on this
and other Medicaid waivers, please
visit http://dhhs.ne.gov/medicaid/
MedicaidWaiverInitiative/Pages/
Home.aspx.
PUBLICATION INFORMATION
CONTACT US
Address: P.O. Box 148, Hickman, NE 68372
Phone: (402) 792-2255
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.voicenewsnebraska.com
Business hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Monday through Friday
SUBSCRIPTIONS
In state - Print or E-sub - $30 per year
Out of state - Print - $38
Out of state - Print/E-sub combo $55 per year
Voice
The
News of Southeast Nebraska
PERIODICAL INFORMATION
Periodical postage paid at Hickman, Neb.
Post Office and at additional mailing offices
USPS #442690
(ISSN 10978518)
POSTMASTER
STAFF MEMBERS
Darren Ivy, Co-publisher - [email protected]
Cassandra Ivy, Co-publisher - [email protected]
Mindy DeBuhr, Office Manager - [email protected]
Austin Roper, Marketing Director - [email protected]
Dean Erickson, Journalist - [email protected]
Brittany Wolken - [email protected]
Sharon Gray, Director of Public Notices - [email protected]
Doreen Droge, Proofreader
Tyler Rice, Student Photographer
Shelby Knott, Weekly Columnist
Send address changes to:
Voice News, P.O. Box 148, 114B Locust St.,
Hickman, NE 68372-0148
Phone: (402) 792-2255
NEWS SUBMISSIONS
Obituaries and birth announcements are printed free of charge once following the newspaper’s format. Photographs are $10.
If you have these items to submit, or other story ideas, please contact us at the information printed above as we welcome submissions.
We ask that Letters to the Editor be kept at a maximum of 200 words, and we need a signed version of the letter with the town you reside in before it prints. We will publish as deadlines allow, but will try
to include in the following week’s edition if received by Friday at 5 p.m. Letters to the Editor are the writer’s opinion, not the newspaper’s. We ask writers to be respectful when writing their letters.
Also, accuracy is very important to us, and while mistakes happen, we would like to promptly acknowledge and correct them. To report an error, call the phone number listed above.
© 2016 The Voice News
The Voice News • www.voicenewsnebraska.com
Community News
Childcare center changes hands
HICKMAN – When Natalie Howard, former owner of The Treehouse
Childcare Center, announced plans to
sell the facility and move to Montana,
an unsuspecting buyer stepped up to
the plate.
Jennifer Durow, a Firth resident and
Lincoln accountant, never previously
considered the idea of owning a day
care facility until the need arose for a
changing of the guard at her daughter’s
facility. She said she has a few connections to the facility which played a
large part in her decision to purchase it.
“Our daughter, Emmalee, has gone
to The Treehouse for two years,”
Durow said. “She is currently in the
Pre-K class, so I was very familiar with
the business and knew the great ladies
that were running the day-to-day part
of the business.”
Durow said that other than being a
mom herself, she doesn’t have much experience in childcare, which is why she
plans on keeping all the existing staff.
“I don’t plan on quitting my job. I
am going to handle all of the behind
the scenes tasks like accounting and
the administrative part of the business
and leave the operation to the center in
the hands of the current director and assistant director,” Durow said.
cially, ownership changed
hands on Oct. 17. As far as any changes being made in general to the operation of the daycare, Durow said those
will be far and few between.
“The ladies in charge do a great job
at what they do,” Durow said. “The
only significant change we ve made is
the lunches. They used to have lunches
brought in from Omaha, but I got together with some family friends at Papa
D’s in Firth and now they are catering
in our lunches and snack. It’s a lot closer to the daycare and the quality and
freshness is much better for the kids.”
u From VENUE on page A1
Court documents indicate that the
Smith’s purchased the 22 acres of land
and buildings that make up Hillside
Event Center in November of 2015,
over a year after the Fintel’s bought
their ground and home. According
the HEC website, there was a barn
on site put up by the property’s previous owners intended to be used as
a horse enclosure. The site states that
the barn was never used to house any
kind of livestock, as the original owners took a job out of state and moved.
Construction on the renovation of the
barn began almost immediately after the Smith’s purchased the ground,
when they removed the horse stalls, expanded the barn by enclosing the front
lean-to and doing an addition to the
rear of the barn. The Smith’s poured a
concrete floor and patio in the rear and
added plumbing and electricity.
The complaints the Fintel’s raise
are also echoed by their neighbors as
well. Valerie Anderson owns the property at 12600 W Denton Road, a close
neighbor to the HEC. Anderson said in
a written statement submitted to Lancaster County Commissioners, HEC is
jeopardizing their peaceful way of life.
“This is about Hillside Events ruining our peace and quiet, destroying our
serenity, scaring our animals and bringing large amounts of tra c and noise
to our peaceful countryside for their
monetary gain.” Anderson said.
Not only do neighbors complain
of noise and rude behavior by HEC’s
patrons, there is also concern for those
very patrons based around the safety of
the facility.
In documents submitted to The Voice
News by Sean Fintel, it was noted that
the Smith’s had several issues bringing
their building up to code with the State
Fire Marshall. Documents submitted
by Fintel show the Smiths were notified on pril 1 of this year that their
facility was not up to code and therefore would not be approved for human
occupancy by the Nebraska State Fire
Marshall. Just four days later on April
, the mith s hosted their first event
on the property. On May 18, Chief Deputy of the state fire marshal s o ce ob
Sleight sent a letter to the Smith’s informing them of the receipt and approval of a plan to correct the issues stated
by the inspecting marshal. It should be
noted, in the communication received
by the Smith’s as of May 20, 2016,
Deputy Sleight advised the couple they
could “operate your business until you
are approved for occupancy or the final
date listed on your plan of correction.”
n between the first event held on
April 23 and the approval of the Smith’s
corrective action plan by the fire marshal, Hillside Events hosted three additional events that allegedly took place
on April 30, May 7 and May 14.
On June 28 at the meeting of the
Lancaster County Board of Commissioners, the board heard arguments for
and against County Special Permit No.
16021 for Hillside Events which would
grant them ability to operate the busi-
ness on their home property.
Appearing on behalf of Hillside
Events Center, Mark Hunzeker of
Baylor Evnen Law Firm stated to the
council there are several similar properties to the HEC, and that the Smiths
have made every effort to bring the
facility into compliance. It should be
noted, Hunzeker informed the board
of the fire marshal letter approving the
Smith’s plan of correction, and that the
letter did state they had the legal ability
to continue operation of their business
as they work to bring the building into
compliance, which Hunzeker noted
was common practice.
Meeting minutes from the June 28
meeting provide insight from several
neighbors that appeared in opposition
to the permit, including Chet Bennetts
of 12121 West Denton Road. Bennetts
told the board that not all of HEC’s
events are held indoors, and that noise
was an issue. Bennetts said he and
several other neighbors could provide
video and audio evidence to the board
documenting excessive noise levels
from gatherings held at Hillside.
Other neighbors appearing in opponets at the June 28 meeting included
Jody Rapp, Jack Wolfe, Fintel, Marijane Hancock and Renee Wulf.
The day following the meeting the
Lancaster County Planning Department drafted a memo to the county
board outlining issues regarding HEC.
It was said that “To be clear, the use
of this property is not in compliance
with either oning or building fire code
regulations. The Building and Safety
Department, Planning Department and
ounty ttorney s
ce have told the
owners that they should not operate on
the site until they are in full compliance with all zoning regulations and all
building and fire codes. he letter also
suggested that the Smith’s cease all operations, regardless if a special use permit were to be granted until regulations
are met by the property.
In a letter written to The Voice News
by Sean Fintel, of the eight events held
at
, five times ancaster ounty heriff eputies were called to the
premises regarding loud music, public
urination, trespassing and disturbing
the peace. Fintel and his fellow opposition created a Facebook page detailing
several of the neighbor concerns about
Hillside events. In statements submitted
to The Voice News, notes of concern
include the response time for fire and
EMS personnel, evacuation times with
hundreds of vehicles on site as well as
the possibility of grass fires due to improperly discarded cigarettes. As well as
the social media page, opponents to the
Hillside Events Center have a website,
concerned-citizens-hillside-events-denton-nebraska.com that details their concerns as well as provides documentation
of the communications between fire
marshal representatives, law makers
and other information.
At the time of this article, Tyler
and Melissa Smith have not returned
attempted communication from The
Voice News.
Dean Erickson
The Voice News
u From MAGIC on page A1
and Channel 8 Magic Moments series,
where the bank and television station
team up to bring presents and a helping
hand to residents who have faced uphill battles of their own in the past year.
“Even before I owned the day
care, my daughter was in Grace’s
pre-school, so I witnessed the hard
time she endured when her husband
passed.” Durow said. “She was so
resilient, I think she was back to work
the next week.”
Noticing the resiliency of Palermo
and her kids through the struggle,
Union Bank and Channel 8 contacted
Durow to tell her they have selected
Grace for the Magic Moments program.
Once Palermo was informed and
had the chance to ask her kids if they
would be willing to participate, the
date was set for hursday the first
of December at the Shepherd of the
Hills church.
In the common area of the church,
on a small riser at the front of the room,
Grace and her family took their seats.
As the cameras rolled, the children in
the pre-school and day care made their
way to the room to witness the act of
kindness and visit with Santa Claus,
who made an appearance as well.
As Grace, Samantha, Grayson and
Gemma sat center stage and began
going through the presents, the reality
of the situation set in. Finally, after all
the trials of the last year, something
good for the Palermo family.
For just a few moments, the mounting medical bills, the paycheck to
paycheck living, the heart wrenching
pain of losing a husband and father,
all faded to the back of their minds.
As 11-year-old Grayson tore loose
the wrapping paper from a soccer ball,
his face lit up like any kids does on
Christmas morning.
“I love it!” he exclaimed as he shed
away wrapping paper to find new shin
Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016 • A3
Photos by Dean Erickson, The Voice News
Grace Palemero, left, with daughter Gemma, son Grayson and older
daughter Samantha.
guards as well for his soccer playing.
As a mother, seeing the joy on
her kids’ faces was indescribable
to Grace.
“It feels wonderful and it keeps
us going on the bad days honestly,”
Grace said, “There’s still a lot of
bad days, but having all the love
and care from everyone makes all
the difference.
Support in this nature is something rural USA prides itself on in
many ways. The inclusion of all our
neighbors as not just the folks next
door, but as a family.
A culture described by Santa
Claus himself at Shepard of the
Hills last Thursday as something
you can’t beat.
“It’s a warm and fuzzy feeling
getting to go out and do this.” Frank
Ehman, who played the part of Santa
said. “Just the support shown to the
families like this in need, makes you
awful proud to be a part of it to bring
joy to these folks.”
Joy indeed. Especially for young
Grayson Palermo, son of Grace
Palermo, talks to a Channel 8
news reporter about a soccer
ball he received as a gift.
8-year-old Gemma who said her favorite gift was all the hand sanitizer
she received.
The Magic Moments segment
featuring the Palermo family aired
area-wide on Channel 8 last week
and is available to view online as
well. The Voice News has photos
and a video of the special available
on our Facebook page.
A Big Loan
For Big Doers.
Here’s a smart move for your Ag operation:
Lock in the low 3.95% fixed interest rate for ten years
on a large Ag loan to increase your operation’s yield.
From growing your land to buying new machinery, to building
up the family business, our real estate-secured loan is here
to help you do bigger things.
Speak with one of our loan officers today.
Smart Bank. Smart You.
Beaver Crossing Firth Jansen
•
•
Kearney Lawrence Milford
•
•
Palmyra Panama Superior
•
MEMBER FDIC
•
Weeping Water Wilber bankfmb.com
•
•