On February 24th, the St. Paul FFA Chapter traveled to Central Community College in Grand Island to compete in the District Career Development Event (CDE) competition. Fourteen teams from St. Paul participated in different events.

Dannebrog recently hosted a live fire training in the second of three downtown structures devastated by the 2019 flood. Participants were trained on pump operations, rural water tactics, fire behavior, and interior fire attack. Live fire trainings allow firefighters to experience the heat, navigate the blinding smoke, and feel the true weight of their gear. They utilized a combination of many skills needed to save lives and protect property; including, but not limited to, ventilation, fire suppression, and overhaul. A real structure fire is not the first time firefighters want to see fire up close, use an air pack, or experience being disoriented from smoke. This important training was made possible with support from the Dannebrog/Boelus Fire & EMTs, as well as firefighters and EMTs from Cairo, Ashton, Farwell, St. Paul, and St. Libory for a total of thirty-two firefighters/ EMTs. A special thanks to Dawn Webb, Ann Kroeger, and Denny and Nancy Stutzman for preparing and serving lunch, and to Coryn Nelsen for the cookies. The live burn for the third structure in Dannebrog is scheduled for April 2nd.

Nebraska Extension and Nebraska Beef Quality Assurance will offer Beef Quality Assurance and Beef Quality Assurance Transportation Certification on Tuesday, March 28, 2023 from 3:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. at the St. Paul Civic Center (423 Howard Ave.) in St. Paul.

Ben and Jamie Keep and boys of Scotia were Sunday afternoon visitors of Greg and Vicki Keep. Dave and Barbara Tuma enjoyed a Wednesday afternoon visit in Grand Island with Rob and Sandy Rucilez of Kearney.

Joyce Kusek of rural Rockville was a Wednesday afternoon visitor of her sister and brother-in-law, Edna and Allen Ingerle. Julie Spilinek accompanied Matt and Amelia Retzlaff to Grand Island on Tuesday morning to attend the funeral service for Angela Adams at an area funeral home.

We have river flows this week! The South Loup River has a flow of 395 cubic feet per second, down a little from last week, and the flow at St. Paul is 1,090 cubic feet per second, which has also been dropping. The geese are still here, although I think they might be confused on which way they should fly, as the weather keeps changing every couple of days.

Ten Years Ago, 2013 Seventeen students participated in the Howard County Spelling Bee hosted by the St. Libory School PTO on February 15th at the St. Libory Catholic Church Hall. Winning first place was Nicholas Kozisek, who represented the St. Libory school. He is an eighth grader and the son of Ken and Beth Kozisek of St. Libory. Jacob Frerichs of St. Paul Public School was second and Amber Baldwin of Centura was third. The winning word was “optometry.” Kozisek will represent Howard County in the Midwest Spelling Bee at Omaha in March.