Hey everyone, I'm Sheila Jenkinson and you're listening to the Growing Small Town Nebraska podcast where my co host Marcie Sextro and I ask community leaders and business owners about their efforts in revitalizing the Cornhusker State. If you love your small town and you're looking for ways to make it even better, or maybe you're interested in what this revitalization movement may mean for you and your family, join us as we talk with small town Nebraskans making our state the definition of "The Good Life."
Hello everyone, I'm Marcie Sextro. We're coming to you from the Intersect Co-working and Incubator podcast booth in downtown Norfolk. intersect is a co-working community that gives workers the spaces and tools they need to succeed. Join a like minded community of founders, remote workers, startups and freelancers with 24/7 access to a dedicated office or private desk; extremely fast internet as much coffee as your heart desires. Intersect is your place to collaborate with others and get things done. Find out more on their website, intersectcoworking.com or follow them on Facebook or Instagram.
Today we have two special ladies with us. When we began sharing with some people that we know about the podcast, we had two business owners from Creighton who said if you're going to have anyone on the podcast you need to have the two ladies from the economic development and Knox County on. They are fabulous! We are very excited today to have Kelly and Stacy with us. Welcome to the podcast, ladies.
Thank you.
Thank you for having us.
Yeah, welcome.
We even got to see videos...it's just...full disclosure there.
Yes.
Oh yeah. We have a good time.
Yeah.
We love our job. We love Knox County.
There you go. Tell us a little bit about yourselves and how you got started in economic development.
Well, I'm Kelly Hamby and I was born and raised and one of the tiniest little dots on the map in Knox County Center...geographical center of the county and created as a result of conflict in the relocation of the the courthouse and so they relocated it to the geographical center. They called it Center, Nebraska, and here we are. So, I grew up and joined the military, moved away, came back to raise my children in one of the best places in most scenic areas of Nebraska. So I'm very fortunate to be back home. But, I see Knox County with a new set of eyes, and we have so much untapped potential in our area. So economic development...I sort of arrived at this job. It's a very interesting turn of events that brought me here, but I'm so glad that I am... one of the best opportunities I've had.
And tell us a little bit about yourself.
So I am Stacey Miller. I go by Stacey Krajicek Miller sometimes. I am originally from Niobrara...live west of Verdigre now, but I grew up on an elk and buffalo ranch. And so I grew up in tourism. We started doing covered wagon tours in 1995. We quit and in '19 after the flood. I went to school at Wayne, got an ag business degree, married a banker-now-a- farmer. I just was on the farm and was helping the family farm and running the tours until we quit in 2018. Megan Hannafelt was the previous economic development director and she was just needed some more help with she couldn't do economic development in promote the county at the same time. So she was looking for a part time-somebody-tourism to help, so here I am. And now I'm full time with them so it must have been my calling. So, I'm tourism minded. I have contacts; my mother drugged me to all them tourism meetings and I met lots of people along the way and still know 'em and county is our hidden secret. It's a gorgeous, hidden secret. That, you know, when we did the tours, there would be so many people that would come, and from the top of our hill, the ranch overlooks the Niobara River Valley, and people would come and they would photograph and they would paint from the top of that hill next to this most gorgeous area. We know that. We grew up in it. You don't really realize it till you leave. And then people come and they're from the interstate, and they don't realize what we have in northeast Nebraska. They think Nebraska is like it is along the interstate. So, when people would call the tours, we would they would say, "Where are you?" And we would say, "We're along South Dakota border," and so that would open their eyes. "Oh! South Dakota!" they would think...hills and and so they would think, "Oh, it's beautiful there!" So, when they got here they did understand that there's hills...it's not flat.
Speaking about that. So I grew up going to Knox County because I grew up along the Missouri River, going up to lazy river acres and prior to that clear, remote, another location. Lots of times Marcy's like, " Where are you? You're always somewhere." Well, a lot of the times I am right next to the water, enjoying that beautiful view and looking at South Dakota from Nebraska. And I just, it's my happy place. It is where I go to reflect and think and refresh and renew. And I think, if people haven't been able to experience that yet, oh, by all means, do! You know, Niobrara State Park up there, and there's just so many beautiful things and places for people to visit. So I'm very excited to have you guys here! Knox County is a big County.
It is a big County.
So, we're probably going to be talking to the two of you several times about several different things in the area.
Yeah, exciting things! For people who have not been to Knox County and maybe our looking at wanting to visit there, could you give me a couple things that you would suggest to a family that would want to make a day trip to Knox County.
A day trip would be very ambitious and very busy because it is geographically a lot of miles. But we have the prairie grasses and the scenic views of the neighbor Estate Park on one end, and then we have the lake and all the outdoor recreation at the other end. along the northern half. We have industry. We have right now we have some of the most scenic drives with the changing of the leaves. The colors are so vibrant and so beautiful. There are just so many opportunities, so many things to do. We have new boutiques, we have coffee shops popping up. We're so excited for a motel, a community center and inn that's going to open, and so we're really excited about the new opportunities for a day trip. I just want them to take in all the beauty. We are an agriculture based economy in Knox County. But that's not to say that we can't attract people just on the simple beauty.
Another way you can attract them..I kid you not...so, I'm doing this new thing called geocaching. It's not new. It's new to me. Okay, my family thinks I've lost my mind. Because I'm constantly going, "Wait! There's a geocache over there!" And they're just trying to get to the destination. Niobrara State Park alone...and I'll share this on Sheila's Shout Outs at one point...there are so many geocaches just in Niobrara State Park; and just getting up there, I have stopped and stopped and stopped and stopped and got all these geocaches. So, there are a lot of reasons for people out of state, you know the Geocaching community, kayakers. It's a beautiful place to kayak. No, and it is. And so and those who have the motorcycles, you can't get a more beautiful ride. Really.
One of the things that we did every year for my kids, when they were in school, is field trips to Ashfall and the Grove Trout Center. Absolutely loved both of those experiences, and that is just a great treasure in your county.
Right...that's on the southern end of our county. Another thing I want to add in to there is, we have two tribes. They are welcoming tribes. The Ponca Tribe...their tribal grounds are south of the Niobrara State Park. And they have, to the public, anytime, 24/7, you can walk down there and they have an educational walking trail. And it's so beautiful down there. And it's really cool. You walk around and they have the statues and you can go on the website. And each statue tells a story. If you're lucky and someone's around, they'll come out talk to you. And that's where the powwow is tailored to. And then the Standing Bear statue is up on the hill. It's fairly new. And so a lot of people don't know about it that they can just go and experience that on their own.
So recently, I took my mom around Niobrara. We were up there, and she just loves to find new places. So, we went into all the little shops in NIobrara, and we went into the museum, but one of the shops there that does like refurbished and crafts and also...
Billy Mays?
Yes, Billy Mays, there we go! First of all, just a little hack for you. So I've lost quite a bit of weight. And my pants were actually like, not staying up. And so I'm in there. I'm like, Do you have any belts, and she did, but they were super blingy, and I didn't really want a blingy belt. I just wasn't looking to draw attention there. But I just wanted my parents to stay. And so she's like, "Here, let me give you a rubber band." So she taught me how to loop the rubber band around my button and around the belt loop and back over and I said to her, "I'm gonna be talking about that. I don't know when or how." So there I got it done.
She's a retired teacher.
She was brilliant, saved my day. So she was telling a mom and I about that and about the tribes and about what we could do. And so it's really neat as you go through these communities, everybody is promoting everybody else. And I just ...that's what this is about. And that's what you guys are about in the jobs that you do.
Yeah, sure. I think that's a great experience. Educational experiences with the tribes I think are such a wonderful thing for schools to be able to be part of and even for anyone who comes through, we just don't know enough, and it's a great experience for us people to hear from them, their stories, and the things that they have in their history.
Each time Stacey and I visit with the tribes and at their locations, we walk away just shaking our heads because we're both girls that were educated in Knox County in Knox County Schools. And we didn't realize what a cultural history we had right there in our backyards. It's just it's mind blowing at times. It's so impactful.
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So, we're gonna switch gears a little bit out of tourism into a small town and about some things that they have to deal with. Housing shortages and childcare, especially after COVID, has been a huge issue for our small towns. So, that's something that you help with. Can you tell us a little bit about your initiatives with that?
And, like every area in the United States, Knox County is impacted directly as well. Each community is slightly different in their population and their needs. We've done a housing study, and we need to do just an update. We'll be doing that here very soon with the state of Nebraska. And we're just going to do a boots on the ground type tour, we're going to take them and show them the assets we have and then the challenges we face. So really looking forward to that because I think once we identify the specific challenges for the specific areas, then we'll know how to move forward. At times, it's almost overwhelming. As far as childcare...that's another very unique situation. There are family care providers, in some communities and there, there are care centers, daycare centers, in others. There are a variance of either of those in all the communities. So, we're going to take a broad overview of Knox County, and then seek out programs to those specific areas to meet those needs...ongoing projects for sure.
Yeah. I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit about your golf resort. I see that it is a top golf resort in Golf Magazine. I'm asking because my granddaughter was just here doing State Golf. And so, I'm so excited to see it on your site! Tell us a little bit about how that got started. And, I know it was designed and everything for the area.
Well, that casino was built first, I believe. And they did have the casino down below. So, at the first location, and then they they built this new fantastic one and then build the golf course and everybody was like, "Wow! This is going to be like so big! Who's going to come? But there are people there. We were just there. The other day I told Kelly I says because we're starting to promote, like I want to do a road like two or three times a week like this road leads you to center this road leads you to kolaches and polka music and you know, all these beautiful roads. So promoting scenic roads, and I said we need to go the golf course because you can go, you can go in walk, if you want. They have a lot of walkers in the morning. Or you can rent a golf cart and go drive around that course. And so the last nice day of this week, we went and I said let's go we're going so we went and he gave us a key and asked us if we knew anything about golfing, and we said yes.
So was that true? Maybe an exaggeration?
We're aware of golf.
Yeah, there we go!
We are aware of the safety measures. That course is so...I don't know if I have words to describe it. It is incredible. And it is beautiful.
Our two daughters are both going to have to golf there (or granddaughter.)
It is huge and and there's a lot of culture intertwined and each hole there's a little sign that has maybe one of their tails or one of their their monuments in a description thereof. It was just a quite an experience.
Okay, well I'm going to have to go golf that course I love to be a shout out situation. Okay, these road trips that you're on, you know, I'll give you my cell phone.
Sheila will go with you. Anytime!
Always looking for a new place, right?
Full disclosure, Stacy is quite an adventure seeker.
And Sheila.
And you will find yourself on bicycles, golf cars...
You're my new best friend. Sorry to my other best friends.
Stacy keeps it lively. Just she has a...she has such a sense of sense of adventure.
i Well, you know, doing tours for 23 years with people from all over the United States and country, we always had somebody from Germany. But you know, people, they want to know the stories. They want to know what the locals do. And they want to know what is out there to do. So it's my job, I gotta find all the fun and exciting things to do. And we might not have a big huge water parks and stuff like that. We have scenery that you can't just find anywhere, so.
Oh, there are things to do. There are random things. That's what part of what this is all about.
Yes, yes. So we have a Chiefs, Czechs, and Cowboys group tour. If you can tell me about that.
We have! Stacy has put together an itinerary, sort of based along that premise. And we entertained the best tour director recently, we actually took him to those places to experience the things that we want to point out to others and, and we sort of just nicknamed and that and it kind of stuck, but we do, we have the outlaw trail. And, we have the potential hideouts of Jesse James and other historic outlaws that passed through our area. We have the Devil's Nest. And so it's it's rightfully named at times. And we and we also have a large Czechoslovakian settlement. And those descendants are still there and honoring that culture. And so sharing that with others I think is very vital because there's food and there's dance and there's their celebration. And what more could you ask for? So we have Czechs and cowboys and then we do, we have Chief Standing Bear, the Santee Sioux Nation has their chiefs that that they honor and so, our area is perfect for that.
I guess I want to know anybody that goes on these tours or road trips, I mean, are there beryy peppers involved?
Can be. That can be arraganged.
Just checking. You know, Creighton as the berry peppers. And anytime the kids and I are visiting my parents, they're like, can we run over to Creighton and get a berry pepper and we don't leave with like one apiece. We walked out with cases of berry peppers and we just put them in grandpa's freezer, and he's like where am I gonna put those? We're gonna eat half of them now.
So the annual celebration of the berry pepper, we got to assist in making the berry pepper. They didn't share the very scientific recipe with us. They kept us you know, tightly controlled and, and our role was very minimal, like maybe placing the lids on the top of the cups, but we did...we were involved and it was it was really, really fun and that's that's the great thing about Knox County as well as that annually, we celebrate our culture. Wausa celebrates their Swedish culture, Verdigr celebrates their Czech culture, Creighton celebrates...and...
They just celebrate.
They just celebrate and they celebrate a concoction that was made in a swimming pool basket room and what fun! We celebrate for a whole weekend! June is just a big party. And we just party all every weekend all weekend long throughout June and it's just a great time for us to just check in and see the families return they come back. And so it's a great homecoming. It's just a great season and this year was no exception. It was it was a good time.
Okay, so for those listeners that don't know what a berry pepper is, can you explain to me what that is?
It is a frozen concoction of a popular soft drink...
Mixed with...
...Mixed with another softdrink. A strawberry flavored soft drink.
I actually know the recipe. So we went...we actually asked, and they were so gracious to give us the recipe, but you know what? There's something that they do different because ours did not turn out. So, I think they I think they fibbed a little so that we still can buy our cups.
Again, we were at the end of the assembly line.
Yeah...you just gotta have one...or two
If you go back on our Facebook page...during, right before Berry Pepper Days, we did a video of how the locals eat their berry pepper
Awesome! We'll have to check that out!
I'm pretty sure my way is the right way. That's the other discussion that goes with berry peppers. So we're all getting...and you sit in a room or outside with people it's "crunch, scrape, crunch" because we're all scraping our berry peppers. Some people like to microwave them so but ya know it's a system.
It is. It's frozen concoction. We did, we encountered some individuals that consider themselves quote old school and they broke out a quarter and they were eating it with a quarter as a spoon...
Okay, that's new.
It was.
Well, that's all they had at the swimming pool.
Well, because they cost 75 cents so yeah, if you had a dollar bill, you had a quarter left.
(laughs) Oh, Awesome. Well, let's talk a little bit about the Star Wars project. It's a big thing going on in the state right now everybody..there's a big buzz about it.
Well, for extra credit points. The Star Wars is an acronym for statewide tourism and recreation water access, resource sustainability.
Whoa.
She always remembers that!
Extra credit point. That's absolutely. What an exciting opportunity Mike Flood embraced Knox County and then along with Tim Gragert, who is our senator for that district. They have these great ideas specific to Knox County. The project itself is a three prong approach. So Knox County is one of them then Lake McConaughy area is another and a potential Lake down in the Lincoln Omaha area is the third. Of course, we're extremely excited about the opportunities this could bring to Knox County along the northern half. The northern half of Knox County has been tremendously impacted first by the the historic flood of 2019. It ravaged our area with two rivers, we lost the Spencer dam it impacted all of us in some way. And so in light of that, building back that infrastructure and attracting tourism, and just revitalizing that area is so important. And then, of course, we all experienced the historic pandemic. And so, people were looking for an opportunity to be outside and enjoy nature and the outdoors and space. And so, our area lends itself to all of those things. It's the perfect opportunity. There are specific projects to each of our...we have a state park and a State Recreation Area. So the state park in Niobrara is looking to build a lodge and event center. The numbers that they've looked at are about a 40, a 40 room, hotel and a 300 person Event Center. So the perfect scale for that size of area that could host more events. The Eagle View lodge that is presently there doesn't have any any rooms. There are cabins to stay in and campsites at the Niobrara State Park. But this 40 room hotel would would lend itself very well to other events, weddings, conferences, conventions
That would make it kind of similar to say Mahoney State Park where they have the cabins but they also have the lodge.
Right. And we've heard comparisons of that as well as the Lied Lodge, lots of comparisons to that. And so that's sort of the concepts being used there. On the other end of the county, along the northern half, is the Lewis and Clark State Recreation Area. That Marina is presently one hundred plus boat slips and the waiting lists we've heard as well over 10 years, and some people have just dropped off because they cannot get access to the waters. And so this...the potential plans that we've heard would expand it by about five (so 500 to 600 slips) would be incredible! When the senators visited our area, we took them across the river. And we did a comparison...a visual comparison..of how South Dakota has been beating us year after year in tourism. And it's our turn it's time for us to attract and retain people and make these amenities possible for us on this side of the river.
How exciting! Well, we'll be looking forward to more information on that as it progresses.
Definitely.
We will too.
So, I was telling you about Stacey's sense of adventure. So, there we were one day, and she said, "Come on Kelly! We're gonna take bikes and we're gonna do a video to promote gravel grinding in Knox County," and I said, "What?!" She said, "It'll be fine. Come on." So there we were, on a gravel road, with two bicycles. Gravel grinding is a new sport she found out about at a tourism conference; and there we were, she is quite the adventure. We also got the nicknames "Stargazer" and "Gravel Grinder" and I'm not sure which is which. I we've had a good time but she was really involved in stargazing.
Okay. You're gonna have to say me gravel grinding, apparently.
Yes, we have a map so if you go on our website there's a link find by trails and then there's a map we had made. Now, it's not a digital map, yet, but I got to work on that. But it's a map that you can start where you want, you can stop where you want; it goes all through the county. And so then you can stay and play and eat and whatever and continue on your merry way it's on a scenic road. So, these gravel grinders, they look for scenic challenging gravel roads to ride on.
Oh, I'm out. (All laughing) I mean...I'm adventurous, but I'm not that adventurous.
Beautiful scenery we have, and we have gravel roads. So, we are a perfect location for gravel grinding so So yeah, that is one of my There we go.....stargazing
So we have...at Merritt reservoir, they were just certified dark sky certified. And so I said we at the Niobrara State Park, we have to be, you know, dark sky, low light pollution it has to be and so they had...
...the stars are brighter there. I am telling you, yes, you can Yes. See them better.
We had the...oh, the park ranger, the National Missouri River recreation park rangers, they came and did a stargazing event at at the Eagle View Lodge. And so just the, like the highest point overlooking the river, it's beautiful there. So they brought their telescope and their pointer. And they showed us all the constellations they showed us, you know, like the told us the stories like the the tribes have of the different constellations and so and then he had a reader. And I don't remember what it read, but it read that we are...that the light pollution is low enough to be dark sky certified. So, Thompson, the park superintendent, he is all about it. So that is next on his list of things to do at the park to be certified.
That is part of what we do when we go the river. It is incredible. Yes. It's amazing.
That is one component of our Chiefs, Czechs, and Cowboys tour. We have stars and s'mores and maybe we have wine and view stars up at the park. And so that would be an evening....
All good. All good.
You'll see Sheila there.
My poor husband. He's always like, "Where are you?" "I'll tell you when I get home."
Kind of like mine.
Well, we really appreciate everything talked about and we can't wait to hear more. Keep us updated on events. We'll keep everybody else updated on events as well on our website, but we do have a final question for you. Kelly, I'm gonna start with you. Why do you love living in a small town?
I love living in a small town. I when I moved back here, I was raising three small children. And it was it was like a warm embrace, to move back to people I knew. And they were vital in assisting me in raising these children. It's safe. It's quiet, it's peaceful. We have great schools, we do have amenities available to us. And it just was a sense of home. It's where I want to be.
Yes. So I go along same. Love small town. You know everybody. We had the four, the 4H, the Naitona 4H Council. Isn't that who was that came from? They came and they recognize that Knox County, Cedar County was one of...the states and counties...now I'm going to have Kelly help me phrase this, but recognize that our kids are they're doing better or making more money then then the parents and like the work ethic. And you know when you go and you leave and then you come back, they recognize that and how they are...kids in like Norfolk or Omaha they're not recognized in local newspaper for the great things that they do...
We have well-rounded kids.
Yes, they do.
In the words of Mike Flood, "Were raising the gold."
Yes, I think that shapes them, that forms them, and it helps them be strong individuals.
What a great asset for our state. I mean, that's what we're looking for is to be able to continue to grow a very strong state. And it takes our young people being able to have every opportunity that they need to grow, develop, and become the people that they are meant to be. And then that makes a huge difference for the state overall.
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