As the cold winter temperatures continue this weekend, many people are probably dreaming of their next lake day. For some brave people at Holmes Lake, that day came early as they went for a dip in the freezing body of water in support of a good cause.

Special Olympics Nebraska host annual Polar Plunge fundraiser

Special Olympics Nebraska Athlete/Polar Plunger shares her story: "Just try it, have fun!"

Although temperatures weren’t freezing Saturday morning, people were ‘Freezin’ for a Reason’ as they took part in the Polar Plunge.

Learn more about Special Olympics Nebraska's annual fundraiser: the Omaha Polar Plunge!

What local nonprofit organization(s) are you passionate about or involved with, and are there any special reasons why? – The Special Olympics is a wonderful cause and a terrific organization. Each year we volunteer as an office, which give us the opportunity to connect with people and participate in the enthusiasm of the athletes. It can be infectious and fun. Connecting with everyone from the athletes to the organizers to the other volunteers makes it all worthwhile. What better way to foster a sense of community and belonging than participation in sports. I look forward to the next event.

The World’s Largest Truck Convoy donated four trees to Prairie Loft to memorialize Special Olympics athletes and family members associated with the convoy. Longtime Prairie Loft volunteer Ken Franzen coordinated the efforts to align with Prairie Loft’s tree plan. The four trees were planted by Earl May on April 24 with a small group of Convoy volunteers present. From left: Megan Arrington-Williams (Prairie Loft), Larry Derr (Convoy), Harrison Wooden (Earl May), Brett Baltazor (Earl May), Roger Duering (Convoy), Angie Duering (Convoy) and Franzen (Prairie Loft).

Blair Special Olympics spent its Saturday at the Papillion Landing Sports Complex. It's where coach Dixie Trevarthen's team competed in a Special Olympics Nebraska bocce ball event during a Fall Games weekend.

YORK — The York Eagles #3990 chair persons, Christi Payne and Celeste Homan, presented a check to the York Special Olympics for $2,000 on uly 17, 2024. York Special Olympics currently has 39 athletes and 12 volunteer coaches. They offer the following sports: basketball, flag football, bowling, bocce ball and softball. These sports allow the athletes to get exercise, have friendly competitions with others, and most of all have fun.
Bowling is one of the popular sports that everyone participates in and this is the only sport they currently have that costs money to practice. Many of the athletes have limited incomes and don’t have the funds to pay the bowling fees for practicing. Some of the funds will be used to pay for the bowling fees for practices. They will also use the funds to purchase sports equipment, like flag football belts, bocce ball sets, softball equipment,
and they will also purchase uniforms for their athletes. Donations are always needed and appreciated. Christi and Celeste raised this money from a fundraiser called “Cashbash” held at the York Eagles Club in April. The motto of the Eagles is “People helping People,” this is the movtivation they had to give back to their community.

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - 1011′s Athlete of the Week is Yve Nelson from Lincoln Southwest High School.

On Sunday, August 5, Nelson volunteered at the Special Olympics golf event and spent her day helping athletes with golfing tips and having fun. She was joined by her teammates Maddi Wilson and Eden Larsen. The Special Olympics Golf Event was held at Mahoney Golf Course in Lincoln.

LINCOLN — Emme Parker of Gering was inducted into Mortar Board at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln during the
annual Ivy Day ceremonies April 13.

Parker is a biological sciences major at the university. Parents are Douglas and Laurie Parker. The Ivy Day event,
co-sponsored by Mortar Board and the Innocents Society, recognized outstanding contributions of students selected to serve in the two senior honorary organizations, as well as the achievements of current members and notable underclassmen and seniors.

Ceremonies took place at the Carolyn Pope Edwards Hall auditorium and concluded with the traditional planting of the ivy on the south side of Love Library by the 2024-25 presidents of the societies — Hayley Moree of Papillion for
Mortar Board and Charlotte Brockman of Gooding, Idaho, for the Innocents Society.

Brian F. Hastings, president and chief executive officer of the University of Nebraska Foundation, delivered the keynote address.

Honorary memberships in the Innocents Society were presented to Rodney D. Bennett, 21st chancellor of the university, and Hernan Garcia-Ruiz, associate professor of virology and associate director of the Nebraska Center for Virology.

Honorary Mortar Board memberships were presented to Dee Dee Anderson, vice chancellor for student affairs, and Haley Waggoner, specialist in the Government Relations Department at Special Olympics International.

The Innocents Society inducts 13 new members each spring, with selection based on leadership, academic achievement and service to the university and greater community.

The Innocents Society was founded in 1903 to promote the spirit of the university and is the chancellor’s senior honorary. It is uniquely Nebraskan.

New members of Mortar Board are tapped into the Black Masque Chapter each spring by Mortar Boarders wearing black masks and robes. The 31 new members were selected based on scholarship, leadership and service.

Unied Union Omaha Owls (UUOO) is a team sponsored by Special OlympicsNebraska and the Union Omaha Owls professional soccer team. This team plays
other Special Olympics unied teams associated with other pro soccer teams. Unied means half of the team participates in Special Olympics the other half
are partners. All of the SSC Unied partners graduated or are attending SSC High School and played varsity soccer. Special Olympians playing with unied partners brings the level of play up for them. This is the third year for the Unied Union Omaha team. Tryouts for the 2024 team were held in the spring.

SSC had 10 athletes secure spots on the team, with the remaining eight athletes are from the Omaha area. Those on the team as athletes are Eryc Bravo, Devon
Conley, Seth Luesebrink, Jazmin Oviedo Laurel and Carlos Magana. They are joined by unied partners Brian Garcia, Edson Irineo, David Montes, Adrian Montes and Anthony Cardona. The team is coached by head coach Marla Grier of South Sioux and Eli Ausenbaugh of Omaha.

UUOO played Unied Colorado Switchbacks at Werner Park in Omaha on June 13. Eryc Bravo scored two goals, Devon Conley scored one goal, Adrian Montes scored one goal and an Omaha athlete, Matt Hoffman, scored the final goal. The Owls dominated the game, controlling the ball most of the game, and won 5-3.

The Owls traveled to Madison Wisconsin on June 20 for their annual matchup. Again, the Owls dominated, winning the game 3-0. Scoring goals were Eric
Bravo, Edson Irineo and Adrian Montes. The defense of Brian Garcia, David Montes, Seth Luesebrink and Jazmin Oviedo held Madison scoreless. The midelders
Adrian Montes and Athony Cardona kept the ball moving through the middle, generally out of the reach of Madison. The Owls travel next to Colorado for another exciting game this Saturday.

On April 27 the West Regional Track and Swim Meets were held in Chadron at the Chadron Aquatic Center and the CSC Pac Center. Athletes from Scottsbluff, Alliance and Chadron competed. There were a total of approximately 20 athletes competing in the swimming meet and approximately 60 athletes competing in the track meet.

The Chadron athletes that competed in the swimming meet were Bastian Barnes and Orlando Camargo-Luz. They competed in the following events and their placing were
as follows:
Bastian Barnes – 25 m freestyle –2nd
50 m freestyle – 3rd
4x25 relay – 1st
Orlando Camargo-Luz — 25
m freestyle – 1st
50 m freestyle – 1st
4x25 relay – 1st

The following Chadron athletes competed in track and
their placing were as follows:
Paul Kruger –1st Softball throw, 1st 100m run, 1st 4x100 relay
Gammy Stumf –2nd Softball throw, 2nd 100m run, 2nd 4x100 relay

On April 27, 2024 the West Regional Track and Swim Meets were held in Chadron at the Chadron Aquatic Center and the CSC Pac Center. Athletes from Scottsbluff, Alliance and Chadron competed. There were a total of approximately 20 athletes competing in the swimming meet and approximately 60 athletes competing in the track meet.

OMAHA, Neb. — The first USL club to start a Special Olympics Unified soccer team, Union Omaha and Special Olympics Nebraska welcomed 18 players to the 2024 Unified Union Omaha Owls team Thursday.

Brielle Jacoba Salberg is honored and excited to serve as Nebraska Miss Amazing’s 2024 Senior Miss Queen. She was crowned as the Senior Nebraska Miss Amazing Queen in November 2023 during a Miss Amazing pageant in Ralston.

decision-making positions. Contestants in the Miss Amazing pageants compete in interviews, introduce themselves, and have an optional passion presentation to share an interest or talent. During the Miss Amazing pageant, a buddy will walk Brielle and the other queens onto the stage. This buddy may be a volunteer, a Miss Amazing Team Member or a Miss Amazing Director. The buddy usually presents a stuffed animal or
other object to keep the Miss Amazing queens calm and focused. Brielle usually shares her love of dancing for her passion presentation but has also sung a couple of times. For her option passion presentation in 2023, Salberg dressed as Matilda and danced to the song “Revolting Children” from the movie Matilda. She will continue with her dance performance of Matilda at Nationals in July.

Brielle enjoys traveling with family and especially flying in an airplane. As a Nebraska Miss Amazing Queen, Brielle will compete in the 2024 National Miss Amazing Pageant to be held in July 26-28 in Chicago, Illinois. The Salberg family is expecting this to be a great adventure for Brielle and the family. Brielle’s parents, Chris and Michelle Salberg, sister, KT Saathoff and brother Jese Salberg are planning to join Brielle on this trip to her cheer her on! The national pageant will take place in phases throughout the week. One night, a banquet will be held in honor of all the National Miss Amazing Queens. Brielle and her family will be invited to attend a country-western concert one night. Then the option passion presentation will be held followed by the crowning of the 2024 National Miss Amazing Queen.

Since Brielle loves softball and baseball, she plans to create her own trading cards to trade with the other Miss Amazing Queens at Nationals. Reigning for the 2024 year, Brielle will be attending various events to share the Miss Amazing opportunities with other girls who might be interested or inspire them to try other new things. Some of the activities she will participate in include the Nebraska State Fair and Kool-Aid Days in Hastings. In addition to her role in representing Nebraska in the Miss Amazing activities this summer, Brielle will also keep busy being the catcher for the Beatrice Special Olympics Softball Team. She plans to compete in bocce (yard bowling) events this summer as well. During the weekend of May 16-18, Salberg competed in the Nebraska State Special Olympics at Elkhorn and Omaha Northwest. She won first place in the 50 yard dash, second in swimming and third in the mini javelin throw.

Behlmann has been helping with the Special Olympics for 25 years.

Special Olympics Unified Sports combines people with and without intellectual disabilities on sports teams for training and competition. In Hastings, the Tigers hosted a unified bowling tournament, including four teams.

For the first year, Randolph is competing in Unified Bowling, a partnership between the Nebraska State Activities Association and Special Olympics. The sport is designed to create a more inclusive sports experience for students of all ability levels.

LINCOLN — A professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center accepted a prestigious award last week on behalf of Special Olympics International for the organization’s work in mental health.

UNK Student Senate hosted “Play it Forward” last Thursday to raise money for a local non-profit organization. The Cushing Fieldhouse brought students to get together with friends and compete in the annual volleyball tournament.

State Flag Football Results of the Special Olympics State Flag Football tournament and Skills Competition held at Papillion Landing on Saturday October 14.

Fort Calhoun Unified Flag Football team wins its debut

PAPILLION, Neb. (February 21, 2022) - Union Omaha and Forward Madison FC, in conjunction with Special Olympics Nebraska and Special Olympics Wisconsin, announced today the establishment of the Unified Soccer Series. The Unified Soccer Series is the first of its kind within the United Soccer League (USL) and will consist of two matches, one in Omaha, Neb. and one in Madison, Wis. featuring Special Olympics Unified teams from both states. The matches, scheduled for July 26 in Madison and August 31 in Omaha, will be played surrounding 2022 USL League One match-ups between Union Omaha and Forward Madison and will provide an opportunity for the Unified players (with and without intellectual disabilities) to play on the same pitch as their partner teams.

The RMS Unified Soccer team consists of nine athletes and five mentor partners from both the seventh and eighth grades. The athletes and partners train and compete together.

Students at the University of Nebraska Medical Center-Kearney were awarded the Golisano Health Leadership Award on Friday.