O’Neill Area Chamber of Commerce 125 South 4th Street O’Neill, NE 68763

US STANDARD

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O’NEILL, NE 68763

PERMIT #4

Board of Directors

President—Bob Ogden— Ogden Hardware Vice-President—Dave Laursen—O’Neill Car Wash

DIRECTORS

Carrie Hahlbeck—Fox’s Food Plaza Mark Mahony—Reiser Insurance

Holly Cole—AseraCare Hospice Joel Steinhauser—Tri County Bank

Terry Miles—Holt County Independent Scott Poese—KBRX

Merri Schneider—Northeast Community College Trent Shoemaker—Revelation Wellness

Dan Krugman—Biglin's Mortuary

Lauri Havranek—Executive Director - 125 S. 4th Street—O’Neill, NE 68763

Phone: (402) 336-2355—FAX: (402) 336-4563 Email: oneill@telebeep.com

O’Neill’s favorite month of the year is here! We have so much to celebrate during our annual St. Patrick’s Day

celebration. Check out the line up on the insert inside. We are celebrating 50 Years of the Worlds Largest

Shamrock with the theme of “Cheers to 50 Years”! We are the first official Nebraska 150 Celebration of 2017 so

we want to set the bar high for everyone else following us. We will be welcoming back Omaha Pipes and Drums

with their traditional Irish music. They will perform on the shamrock along with walking in the parade. If you

see these people throughout the community during the day on Saturday, please be sure to tell them thank you

for coming! Thursday night, The Friends of the Library are bringing in “Ellis Island”. They will be serving Ruben

Sandwiches starting at 5:30 at the Community Center. Tom Sadge, a Neil Diamond impersonator is bringing his

show to O’Neill on Friday night, March 17th at the Community Center at 7:30. Tom works with The Outback

Band. Tom will also be singing some Elvis and Johnny Cash for your listening enjoyment. This is a free show!

Tom is coming from Pennsylvania so we want to be sure we extend a big Irish Capital welcome to him. Be sure

to get a good night’s sleep on Friday so you can get an early start on Saturday for “Green Eggs and Ham” and

the Shamrock Fun Run! Husker Hoops is also returning later in the day. There will be so much happening in

O’Neill Wednesday through Sunday morning! I hope you will be able to join in the festivities! See you there!!

NEW CHAMBER MEMBERS

O'Neill Rotary Club

O'Neill Satellite Rotary Club

Doty Plumbing, LLC

Studio 15 Dance Academy

M & M Auctions

O'Neill Lions Club

MWB Broadcasting KING FM

We are very excited to welcome the above

businesses and organizations to the O’Neill

Chamber of Commerce Family! Thank you for your

support of the Chamber. Stay tuned for ribbon

cuttings and welcome coffees coming up in the

future.

MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS Hideaway LLC

Finish Line Chiropractic & Acupuncture

Three River Communications

Farm Credit Services of America

Kracl Irrigation

Building Blocks

Elkhorn Valley Family Medicine

O'Neill Lanes

Edward Jones - Adam Cadwell

Schindler Electric

Grande Prairie Wind, LLC

Office Systems Co.

Thank you for your continued Chamber Support

Congratulations to Elsie Fast on her retirement from Great Western

Bank! Elsie received this beautiful 3 panel painting as a gift from her

co-workers at the bank. The Schroeder Barn was built in 1902 by the

great grandfather of Don Fast, Jacob J. Schroeder as a wedding gift for

one of his sons, Jacob H. Schroeder and his wife. This beautiful

painting will remind Elsie of all the wonderful people she worked with

along with all of her customers over the years. She served the Great

Western Bank community for 27+ years. Enjoy your retirement Elsie!

The Holt County Animal

shelter is selling raffle tickets

for a chance to win 1/4 side

of beef (mixed quarters) until

March 16th,2017. There will

be two winners each receiving 1/4 side of

beef. The winners will be announced

Saturday March 18th at the St Pats

Parade. Tickets are $10 each. The beef

has been donated by Brent, Malerie,

Ryan, & Bri Kelly.

Contact one of the shelter staff for your

tickets or call 402-336-5435.

CANINE OF THE

MONTH

Dozzer Dozzer is a 2 yr old Border Collie mix. He is great on a leash, loves children and his potty training is getting better. He also likes to dance and will say "I Love You". He is hand movement sensitive due to his

past abuse and neglect, and he doesn't like loud noises or fireworks. He is super sweet and loves affection and attention.

North Central District Health Department (NCDHD) and the Area Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition

(ASAP) are announcing that Responsible Beverage Servicer Training (RBST) will be held at six locations

throughout the area served by NCDHD. There is no cost for the training, however pre-registration is required.

RBST is a training to help alcohol servers create an environment that promotes safety and responsibility where

alcohol is sold, served or consumed. The training enhances the skills that service people need to avoid difficult

situations and gives them the tools to avoid over-serving the intoxicated, serving to the underage person or selling to

someone that is buying for the underage. The training stresses the importance of checking the age ID of anyone that

appears to be under the age of 30 years and how to detect fake IDs. Program participants are trained by certified

instructors to detect the signs of intoxication and gain the confidence needed to intervene effectively to prevent alco-

hol-related problems.

TIPS (Training for Prevention Procedures Program) is a curriculum for Responsible Beverage Server Training. Plan

to attend if you own or work at an establishment that sells alcoholic beverages. The training for “On premise sales’

is scheduled from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., with the “Off premise sales” training scheduled from 1:30 p.m. to 4:00

p.m. Retailers may register for one or both of the trainings.

Atkinson Public Library- Atkinson, NE April 4, 2017

Ainsworth Public Library - Ainsworth, NE April 6, 2017

Argo Hotel - Crofton, NE April 17, 2017

Elgin Public Library - Elgin, NE April 20, 2017

Valentine Public Library - Valentine, NE April 25, 2017

Verdigre Public Library - Verdigre, NE April 27, 2017

You may attend a training at any location.

By providing TIPS training to owner/managers of alcohol retail businesses and their staff, the ASAP Coalition and

NCDHD are addressing the issues of underage drinking and drinking and driving across the lifespan. Funding from

Region 4 Behavioral Health and the Drug-Free Communities grant 1H79SP020880-01have made these trainings

possible. For more information about an upcoming training in your area, call North Central District Health

Department at 402-336-2406 or toll-free 1-877-336-2406.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!!!

CHAMBER COFFEE ON FRIDAY, MARCH 3RD We will be going to Elkhorn River Farms, the potato

plant north of Inman, for our chamber coffee and tours of

the plant! They will serve from 10:00am-10:30am, and have

a 30 minute tour for those wishing to attend from 10:30am

to 11am.

Elkhorn River Farms is owned by the R.D. Offutt Company, the largest

privately owned potato grower in the nation. Growing great potatoes didn’t happen

overnight. We have been stewards of the land in O’Neill, Nebraska since 1997.

Elkhorn River Farms owns over 4,500 acres in the O’Neill and surrounding area.

They typically grow between 2,000-2,500 acres of potatoes annually. This

equates to approximately 125,000,000 lbs. of potatoes washed and shipped across

the United States each year.

A great way to kick off our Friday coffees in the month of our Irish heritage

celebration! We will learn about the potatoes grown and processed right here in

Holt County!

MARCH

3RD

Have you got your St. Patrick’s Day t-shirt or mug yet?

They are on sale at the Chamber office right now!

The short sleeve t-shirts are available in youth small

(6/8) through adult 5XL. The prices are youth

through adult XL—$15, adult 2Xl through 5XL—$20.

I have a limited supply of long sleeve t-shirts on hand

right now in adult sizes medium through 2XL. The

prices on the long sleeve t-shirts are $20 for the adult

medium through XL. The 2XL are $25.

The stainless steel mugs are $30.

Nationally known Tom Sadge, Neil

Diamond Tribute Artist from

Pennsylvania, will be performing at

the O’Neill

Community

Center, Friday,

March 17th at

7:30pm. This is

a free show

sponsored by the O’Neill St. Pat’s 50th Anniversary Com-

mittee. Come help celebrate 50 years of Irish charm.

Wear some green and have some fun! There may even be

a few Johnny Cash and Elvis songs thrown in the mix.

There will be a cash bar provided by the KC’s. Tom will

be working with The Outback Variety Band. This will be

a great way to celebrate on the 17th. If you are a Neil

Diamond fan at all, don’t miss this. This guy is GOOD!!!!

Ready to do a little duck hunting? There will

be a flock of St. Pat’s ducks landing in O’Neill

on Thursday, March 16th. At least 30 of them

will be hiding in downtown O’Neill early in

the morning and the other 20 will land in

Ford Park about midafternoon for the kids to hunt after school. There will be one Lucky

Duck worth $50 in Shamrock Bucks in the flock. If you haven’t already gotten hold of

Lauri to sponsor one or a flock of ducks, give her a call at 402-336-2355, for more

information. The cost per duck is $10 for the morning hunt and a 12 pack of pop for the

afternoon hunt. We want to have at least 50 ducks sponsored this year since it’s our 50th

anniversary! LIMIT OF ONE DUCK PER HOUSEHOLD!!!

Welcome to O’Neill Mike and Natalie Disney and Girls!!! Disney Professional

Cleaning Services offers more than just professional office and home

cleaning services. They also offer anti-microbial treatments and no-slip floor

treatments. Michael and Natalie Disney take special pride in going the extra

mile when it comes to office and residential cleaning. What most people

consider clean, they are not satisfied with and always accomplish a

consistent, in-depth, professional cleaning that is second to none.

What are anti-microbial treatments? It is a sterilization process that is harmless to humans and pets

that can last up to ninety (90) days per treatment. Many people think that simply spraying with any

other disinfectant (Lysol, bleach, etc.) will keep surfaces clean, virus or disease free; however, they do

not fully decontaminate a surface and are only good as long as that surface is wet with their

decontaminate. However, as soon as that surface is dry again and it comes into contact with a germ,

virus, or disease, that surface is then contagious again. Incredibly, with our anti-microbial treatments

no germ, virus, disease, molds, etc., can grow on that surface for up to ninety (90) days.

Disney Professional Cleaning Services also offers no-slip floor surfaces, that when applied to any hard

floor surface will make it slip resistant and safe when wet. Some of our treatments have a permanent

shine that gives the appearance of a clean, freshly waxed floor that never again needs to be

maintained for on average twenty-five (25) years. So imagine the money that you can save in your

business and homes by making your floors, bathtubs, decks, and more, safe when wet. Also, imagine

the amount of money you would save if you never need to strip, wax, buff and maintain your floors

ever again.

Michael and Natalie Disney have two young daughters, Lily and Aiyana. They moved to O’Neill from

Northwest Arkansas. They said that they have absolutely fallen in love with our town and its people.

They said it reminds them of their small towns that they grew up in. You can reach Mike at (308) 750-

5032 disneycleaning@outlook.com or Tysen Hansen at (402) 340-5080 .

We are excited to welcome Disney Professional Cleaning Services to our Chamber Family!

Have you seen the new banner on the side of O’Neill Car

Wash? Ambassadors and Chamber Board members were

joined by some of the original St. Patrick’s Day organizers

and members of the Irish Band to show off the banner

welcoming people to Nebraska’s Irish Capital for our 50th

Anniversary Celebration.

Nothing stirs the emotions like the sound of Bagpipes! Omaha Pipes and

Drums will be joining us again this year for our St. Patrick’s Day celebration.

Let’s hope Mother Nature is much nicer to them than she was last year.

FUN FACTS ABOUT ST. PATRICK’S DAY 1. WE SHOULD REALLY WEAR BLUE Saint Patrick himself would have to deal with pinching on his feast day. His color was “Saint Patrick’s blue,” a light

shade. The color green only became associated with the big day after it was linked to the Irish independence

movement in the late 18th century.

9. COLD WEATHER HELPED SAINT PATRICK’S LEGEND

In Irish lore, Saint Patrick gets credit for driving all the snakes out of Ireland. Modern scientists suggest that the job

might not have been too hard – according to the fossil record, Ireland has never been home to any snakes. Through

the Ice Age, Ireland was too cold to host any reptiles, and the surrounding seas have staved off serpentine invaders

ever since. Modern scholars think the “snakes” Saint Patrick drove away were likely metaphorical.

11. THE WORLD RUNS UP QUITE A BAR TAB All of the Saint Patrick’s Day revelry around the globe is great news for brewers. A 2012 estimate pegged the total

amount spent on beer for Saint Patrick’s Day celebrations at $245 million. And that’s before tips to pubs’ bartenders.

14. THE LEPRECHAUN ECONOMY IS THRIVING Another little-known fact from Irish lore: Leprechauns earned that gold they’re guarding. According to legend,

leprechauns spend their days making and mending shoes. It’s hard work, so you can’t blame them for being territorial

about their pots of gold. This year the Irish Walk of Fame will be honoring Matt Beha

and Emil (Junior) Adamson. The induction ceremony and reveal

of their squares in the sidewalk will take place on Wednesday,

March 15th, at 5:30 to kick off our 50th Anniversary St. Patrick’s

Day Celebration. The ceremony will take place at the

corner of 4th and Douglas.

MEMBERSHIP SPECIAL—Would you like to be more involved in the community? Would you like to be more aware of

what is happening around town? Now you can be!! During the month of March, individual memberships are

discounted to $75 for the first year. You will receive the monthly newsletter, be on the email list of events happening

around town, and be listed in our membership guide. Do you know someone that may want in on the fun? Do you

have a friend or neighbor that is always wanting to know how you are so informed? Please pass along this

information to them. To join, all you have to do is contact the Chamber of Commerce Office at 402-336-2355 or stop

by 125 South 4th Street. This special is only the month of March so don’t wait!