Haxtun Chamber celebrates citizens' efforts

Monday evening, April 17 brought businessmen and women, volunteers, community members, area youth and Haxtun Chamber of Commerce members together for this year's annual banquet, featuring awards night. The event included dinner by Haxtun's new restaurant El Paso at the Haxtun Community Center, a Chamber report from Director Jessica Ayala and the presentation of 2022 community awards.

The evening opened with a welcome and word of prayer from local Pastor Tim Hahn. Nearly 90 community members gathered to celebrate the Haxtun Chamber and community members for their efforts over the past few years. Once dinner was served, Ayala gave a presentation on her efforts since taking the reigns as Director in January. Thus far, the local Chamber has over 47 memberships; that number continues to climb daily.

Ayala gave a preview of the new Haxtun Chamber of Commerce website. A new website comes with the addition of new software purchased with help from funds from the Heginbotham Trust. The software will allow businesses to feature what they wish on the website as well as help Ayala manage daily Chamber operations and memberships. With the new website also come a new logo which will go live along with the website later in May. The new Chamber website is welcometohaxtun.com.

So far this year, Ayala has been a part of several youth engagement endeavors including a Small Business Showcase as a partnership with local FBLA members and she played a role in the 2023 Phillips County Youth E-Fair. New this year, Ayala partnered with Haxtun High School to help the senior class gift appreciation plaques to staff members. Local businesses sponsored plaques, which seniors presented to a Haxtun staff member that's made a difference in their education. Watch future posts on the Haxtun Chamber of Commerce group on Facebook for a video featuring senior appreciations.

The evening concluded with the presentation of awards, highlighting work in the Haxtun Community throughout 2022. Nominations are made by chamber and community members and voted on by Chamber membership. Below is a list of each award winner as well as their nomination.

Employee of the Year - Mark Delaney

Mark goes above and beyond at Dollar General. I've seen him go out of his way to do the majority of the shopping for the elderly, while also helping them to the car. He always greets customers with a smile and a positive attitude. He always asks if they have found everything OK. He is helpful when looking for something. He works long hours and shows up consistently. One evening I was there, recently, I heard him comment that he had been there so long, that he hadn't seen his kids yet that day. For these and many other reasons I nominate Mark Delaney for Employee of the Year.

Volunteer of the Year - Pat Rahe

I would like to nominate Pat Rahe for the Volunteer of the Year award. I have witnessed Mrs. Rahe, on several occasions, go above and beyond to give her time to others. I have seen her offer numerous individuals rides to appointments, to go shopping and wherever else they may need to go. During my time with Retread threads, I have also witnessed Mrs. Rahe come into the store and spend her own money to buy items for others in need. I have an immense amount of respect for Mrs. Rahe for all she does for others and her ongoing selflessness.

Business Person of the Year - Julia Biesemeier

Julia Biesemeier is the Chief Community Relations Officer for Haxtun Health. Julia has made an incredible impact on our community. She helped Haxtun Health secure grant funding that put $4 million in infrastructure improvements to the hospital - this means the hospital now has new air conditioning, heat, lights, electrical and plumbing improvements and is in great physical shape for many years to come. The hospital could never have afforded these improvements and Julia made it happen. She has also helped to secure grant funds for the new Main Street Clinic that should open later this year. Both of these projects provided local jobs and helped the largest employer in our town improve and remain strong. Julia is very involved in the community and gives back by mentoring Ogallala Commons candidates, interns and student shadowing. She also is responsible for the Girls Night Out event each year and helps to plan and coordinate our annual Health Fair. Julia does all of this and so much more and always has a smile on her face and an attitude of joy that spreads to others around here. Julia was also recently recognized by the Centers for Optimizing Rural Health (a national organization that works with hospitals nationwide) for her work and best-practices. They are showcasing her work and using her as an example to teach others. Julia is very humble and always has a great attitude of helpfulness and optimism. We are truly blessed to have Julia in our community.

Volunteer Group of the Year - Chris and Denean Fuesz

About six years ago, our son came to us and said he wanted to show sheep for 4-H. His buddies showed sheep, so of course he wanted to also! We were very hesitant. We knew absolutely nothing about sheep. He said to me "But mom, there is this lady, she will give me a momma sheep and next year she will have babies at their house. I will get to use those babies to show for 4-H." All I could think was "Oh dear, what has this boy gotten us into now?" I don't even know this lady. A few months later I got a phone call from Denean. She told me all about the Bo Peep Program and asked him to join them. He did. It was by far one of the best things we have ever done. The Bo Peep Program is for kids to learn everything sheep from A-Z. Bo Peep has now turned into a second generation of kids, as well as a second generation helping teach the kids. Some of the recent Bo Peepers have parents that were in the Bo Peep Program when they were young. During lambing season, the kids anxiously await the phone call to tell them to head on over to help deliver their lambs. Some have even been known to camp out on their couch waiting on their lambs to arrive. The kids are able to be there and be hands on from the moment their lambs are about to deliver. They have the opportunity to go to work days to sort, shear, vaccinate and band lambs. They learn how to care for their lambs at home; how to halter, feed, wash and keep them healthy. On weaning day, all of the kids come out to pick up their lambs and take them home. At that time the ewes stay on the farm and help is only a phone call away. Chris and Denean care for the sheep all year long. Then when lambing season comes, they spend months walking out to the barn every couple hours, day and night. Many of those nights in the bitter cold, spending hours upon hours taking care of these ewes and lambs for only one reason ... to give these kids the opportunity to see their project from the very beginning to the end. Chris and Denean don't just teach how to care for sheep, they have taught these kids so much about life, about love, about overcoming heartache (because some barn experiences aren't easy), about responsibility, helping your neighbor and good old fashioned hard work. I feel that I can speak for many when I say, we can never thank Denean, Chris and their family enough for all of the love, support, wisdom and work ethic that they have given to our children.

Golden Star - Jim Helfer

Jim is an incredible asset to the Haxtun Chamber of Commerce. He has especially given an enormous amount of time over the past year to Haxtun's two biggest events. Jim helped prepare for OFSN, setting up his tent and assisting committee members any way he could in preparation for the event. He and his wife Bobbi worked three consecutive shifts (at the busiest time) in the beer garden that Saturday night. And after all that, he stayed to clean up the entire area; taking down fencing, the big tent, moving tables and the trailers among all the other things it takes to tear down and clean up from such a big event ... efforts that went well into morning hours. He was the first one there to set up the day before and the last one to be there to clean up the night of. Two and a half months later, he did it all over again for Corn Festival. Friday morning he is there bright and early setting up the tent. He ensures his equipment, employees and necessities from the Building Center are available for use. He answers all the calls and makes sure whatever is needed gets done. When the music is over and the beer garden closes, he returns to tear it all down, the same night. Clean-up crews worked until well after mid-night to clean things up and again, Jim was the last to leave, making sure nothing is left behind or undone. And let's be honest, this clean-up work is the hardest to get volunteers to help with at both of these events. Jim stepped up to fill a major need and he did it without hesitation. In 2022, neither of these events would have been possible or would have run as smooth as they did without Jim. For this and many other reasons, I nominate him for the Haxtun Chamber of Commerce Golden Star award.

Also nominated for the Golden Star award was Alicia Schram.

Fix-Up/Paint-Up - SmokeTrails, Dave Ridlen

Dave renovated the old lumber yard office and turned it into a great new space for his gun shop. It is refreshing to walk by the building now and see it remodeled and buzzing with activity!

Haxtun Health was also nominated for the Fix-Up/Paint-Up award.

Youth of the Year - Kelsie Hadeen

Kelsie is always willing to go the extra mile. She has so much drive and never backs down from a challenge. She has amazing faith and a great mindset, even if things are changing and hard. I love her bubbly personality and she is always there if you need someone to check-over your presentation or need help in a class. She has always been such a great leader, friend, and a great example of what today's youth should be. She is very good at managing her schedule with all of the sports and other activities she is in!

Also nominated was Aly Lock.

Employee Group of the Year - Hayden Hixon and Michelle Henry

Let's be honest, these wonderful ladies are the second mothers of our children while they are at school. They take care of our babies when they need an ice pack, a snack, a Band-Aid or Kleenex, when they need to lay down in the sick room or just need to talk to mom or dad. They are the lucky ones that get to make the "We think he might have broken his arm" phone calls. They answer our calls on sick days. They answer our calls when we are running late . They answer our calls for messages that we forgot to tell the kids in the rush to get to school. They call to check on our kiddos when we forget to let them know they won't be at school. Let's be honest again, they get to hear all about our crazy life adventures, trying to get our kids to school. They take our calls for the big kids that need mom to call in and excuse them for random big kid reasons. They miraculously know off the top of their head where each teacher and kid should be located at any given time of the day. It is hard to imagine how chaotic school can get. It is hard to imagine trying to keep it all organized. These two ladies do it all, along with the millions of other things they do, that we don't see. They do it with a smile on their face and are always so welcoming. The school is so fortunate to have these wonderful ladies and let's be honest one more time, we are some pretty lucky parents to have such caring ladies helping us keep our lives organized too! Thank you ladies for all that you do!

The Town of Haxtun was also nominated for the Employee Group of the Year Award.

Special recognition - Town of Haxtun

What a great job they did on the streets of Haxtun in 2022! They started and finished the street project of 42 blocks. They work so hard to maintain our streets. They do such an incredible job keeping Haxtun the beautiful town that it is. Should we mention snow? These guys did an incredible job keeping us all mobile with the crazy snow storms we had through the winter. This seemed to be a never ending job with our weekly snow storms, but they did it! Day in and day out they were out there clearing the streets so we could all get around.

The following local businesses received First Dollar Plaques at the conclusion of the awards presentation: SmokeTrails, Vine Print Studio, Every Bloomin' Thing, Spelts Roofing, Wyatt's Sprinkler Service and Northeast Lawn and Landscape.

The Haxtun Chamber of Commerce is led Ayala and board members Jim Helfer, Kindra Plumb, Kristin Hadeen, Candie Fix, Gay McDaniel and Don Foster. For more information or to join the Haxtun Chamber of Commerce contact Ayala at [email protected] or at (970) 466-5540. Ayala holds office hours at the Haxtun Town Hall two days a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays, and is available by appointment.