Russell L. Wolf of Eustis passed away Wednesday, December 6, 2023 at Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney at the age of 88. Russell was born December 27, 1934 near Eustis, Nebraska to Gottlieb and Viola (Hueftle) Wolf. He graduated from Eustis High School and worked as a painter in the Eustis area. In 1956, he married Carol Boyer at the Christian Church in Cozad. They were blessed with 2 children, Michael and Shelly. Russell and Carol moved to Colorado where he started his own business painting and remodeling. Russell enjoyed hunting, fishing and spending time in nature. He was a past Exalted Ruler at Arvada Elks Lodge #2278, a CAP member and went on many search and rescue missions. Russell spent 8 weeks in Japan to build a school onto a chapel and spent 3 weeks visiting small villages in Alaska. He was preceded in death by his parents; and brother, Roger.

The Elwood Public Schools Board of Education met on Monday, December 11, 2023. The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. Board member, Nic Niemeier, was absent from the meeting. During public comment, Katie Koopman inquired about the AQUeSTT (Accountability for a Quality Education System, Today and Tomorrow) ratings released in November.

A Joyful Christmas celebration took place in Edison on Saturday, December 9th at the Edison Community Building. There was a free will donation soup supper put on by the Edison Volunteer Fire Department, with Edison Village in charge of Hayrack rides and caroling, hot cocoa and a visit from Santa.

We would like to thank all of the special people in Mom’s life that offered their prayers, kind words, hugs, memorials, food, and time during her illness. Blessings to each and everyone.

Thank you First Central Bank for the money jar I won during the Christmas drawing. Marty Mitchell.

Santa Claus made a visit to the Oxford Public Library on Sunday, December 10. The Fire Department gave Santa a ride to the Library at 2 pm on Sunday. They hosted a packed house during the event. A table with coloring activities was set up.

The Arapahoe K-6 Christmas Concert was held Thursday, December 7th under the direction of Band instructor Mrs. Allison Sharp and Vocal instructor, Valerie Leising. The 5th & 6th grade band performed “Chopsticks for Christmas” and “Jingle Bells” to start off the night and then the elementary vocal performed The Incredible Reindeer, A Super Holiday Fantasy. There was some super hero reindeer and even some hip hop reindeer.

It is so important to expose our children to different places, things, and opportunities. It can seem daunting and challenging even thinking about packing up your family for a vacation in another state or even just a couple of towns over, but the challenges, memories, and exposure you give your children by doing this can help their development.

Five contestants of Waypoint Bank’s 4th annual Baby Crawling contest on December 5th were Top Photo: (left to right) Kolt “The Bolt” Huxoll Ivy “McQueen” Pearson Jovie “The Jet” Witte “Mad Dash” Maddyn Carpenter “Blazin” Byron Calvert (Left) Winner – Jovie “The Jet” Witte (Looks like she had a goal in mind) shows off her trophy.

The Arapahoe City Council was updated on the progress of the downtown revitalization project and approved a payment in the amount of $243,000 for the project. Jess Herlbert of Olsson Associates told the board they had a walk through. There are some clean up spots, signs to put up, and some concrete yet to be done. There was some discussion on an area where some water is pooling when it rains or snows. They also talked about a couple of cracks in the new concrete. Herlbert suggested not to do anything with those yet, but to wait to see if anything else comes up as there is a warranty. There was also discussion on the work that was left undone near Wagner’s. The weather is now a factor, but some council members felt they left with just a few hours worth of work yet to do. It was discussed to hold back the 10% until it was complete. Herlbert said overall they had done a good job and didn’t want to see this as a black eye on the project.