Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Athletes, Fans, Families Celebrate Local Sports
Deb and Joe Fennel are surrounded by the five Kimball High students who gave vocal presentations on their feelings of the highly thought pair who mean so much to the Kimball High students for their devotion to Kimball High activities. Deb and Joe were selected as this year's Fame Fans by the Booster Club.
Kate Reader and Brady Kilgore were named the Outstanding female and male senior athletes at the annual Booster Club and Awards Night this past week.
The 2018-19 Kimball High School Sports Banquet and Awards Night was held this past week with a very large turnout of both athletes and adult fans along with entire families. Danielle Reader served as Master of Ceremonies for the evening and did a very good job of keeping things entertaining and moving right along. Dave and Darla Klinkhammer provided the delicious beef for the meal complete with all the other sides.
A trivia game was played with questions pertaining to naming former Kimball High athletes who established records in the various sports and Chauncy Pederson emerged the winner of this contest.
All the coaches of their respective sports then gave short talks and introduced their athletes to the crowd. They also highlighted the special awards won by their athletes including All Conference, All Region, etc. It was announced that Zane Anthony has been selected to play in the West Nebraska All Star Football game this summer and Kate Reader will play in the All Star Basketball game for the West Girl's team.
Since the spring sports of track and boy's golf are still on going and were last year at banquet and awards night, the coaches had to talk about both last season and this season and the parents of those senior athletes were also asked to stand and be recognized. Coach Gene Mohr informed the crowd that due to the unexpected death of Jim Reeves, this year's track season was dedicated in his name.
Appreciation gift cards were given out to Lani Heeg for the banner and pictures she provided for the senior athletes, to Drew Biesecker for all of his photography of the atletes in all sports, to Spud Rowley for the play-by-play video work the Booster Club provides on the City Link, to Dave Klinkhammer for the food he prepared for the banquet, to Clean Harbors for the support with the food and the banquet with Brad Reader accepting, and to myself for my support through stories and pictures in the Western Nebraska Observer.
Students who have participated in three sports of their respective grades were awarded shirts which included all four grade levels. The twelve recipients were seniors Kate Reader, Izaac Reuter, Corey Travis and Madison Wynne.
The Western Trails Scholar Athlete awards went to Madison Wynne, Kate Rader, Carli Wurdeman and Zane Anthony. The WTC $250 scholarships went to Toby McManigal and Maidson Wynne. The Booster Club $500 scholarships went to Izaac Reuter and Kate Reader. The Outstanding Senior Athlete awards were given out to Brady Kilgore and Kate Reader.
Elected into the Booster Club Athlete Hall of fame this year was Mitch Daum who excelled in football, basketball, and track at Kimball High as a junior and senior, then went on to excel in football at the University of Wyoming and also had a brief stint in professional football. Coach Keith Staehr, his football and track coach talked about his former star athlete and handed out the award. He gave a very informative, humorous and emotional talk. Among all the honors he received at Kimball High as an athlete, the 1982 grad still holds the school records in both the shotput at 53'10.75" and discus at 156'3", and was 2nd in both events at the state track meet his senior year.
Deb and Joe Fennel were voted into the Booster Club Hall of Fame as the Fans of this year's Awards Night. The Fennels are at almost every events involving Kimball High, not just the sporting events. A committee of five Kimball students talked and made the presentation, including Christian-Allen Van Pelt, Jaydin Paxton, Corey Travis, Megan Spicer, and Brady Kilgore and the words of appreciation from all five were very emotional and heartfelt with tears shed by both students and the Fennels.
In fact, the entire night was quite emotional as the athletes received their various awards and honors. An excellent film highlight with still shots and video was put together by teacher/coach Wade Brashear to close out the night.
The four Booster Club officers who kept the organization going this year include Andrea Bemis, Danielle Readers, Laura Bateman and Jennifer Greenwood. Reader informed the crowd that they need more people to step up this next year to keep things going. Reader mentioned some of the projects the Club has handled including putting together the annual Longhorn Activity Calendar which included 49 sponsors. Creating the decals for the senior year-line signs, the Booster Buttons, the internet service for games and events carried on the CityLink, providing feeds at some home games and free meals for both away and home teams and staff. Giving out a total of $1800 to coaches to use in their programs. Scholarships to the selected athletes. Readers said that a total of $10,000 went back into Longhorn Athletic Activities.
Anyone who is interested in keeping the Booster Club solid and going is asked to step forward and also, anyone in the community is invited to become a Booster Club member. Give any of this year's officers a call for more information.
My personal salute to the Booster Club for the valuable service you provide in supporting the Kimball High Athletic programs and also a thank you to all the coaches who had kind words in regards to my coverage of their programs. Also, a thank you for the recognition from the booster Club and the gift card to the Wind Break Restaurant.
