E4
WOMEN OF ACHIEVEMENT
THE NORTH PLATTE TELEGRAPH
SUNDAY, APRIL 24, 2022
2022 Women of Achievement nominees in Cultural Arts
PeggyFox
Valerie Hiser
ter from preschool through her junior year in high school, said her husband, Dean. Her grand- daughter graduated in her senior year from North Platte High School with honors; won a softball scholarship to Dodge City, Kansas, where she gradu- ated with honors; then went to John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan, New York, and left in the honors class for the year. She then graduated with honors from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 2022. Valerie has worked for Hampton Inn as a breakfast host for 21 years, where she volun- teers to substitute for anyone who needs to be out for sickness or personal difficulties. “I am her husband and very proud of it but even more, I am proud of Valerie on how she has had a beautiful positive touch on so many people’s lives,” Dean said. “It so humbles me to say, yes, I am her husband, but yet what an honor.”
She travels the entire state at- tending preliminaries, talking to local program directors and en- couraging young women to seek the dollars offered to them by this scholarship program. A second passion of Peggy’s is the North Platte Community Playhouse, which has benefited greatly through her involvement. She has served in many capaci- ties, from actress, to stagehand, to director, to board member. In many productions, she is the unseen person moving the props for the next scene. “This is Peggy in a microcosm, never needing to be seen or thanked for her hard work but necessary for the cause,” Stefka said. “The jobs she has vol- unteered to take on for the benefit of the Community Playhouse are hour- and labor-intensive.” Her resume includes many other volunteer and cultural or- ganizations. “Our community, schools, churches and the entire state have benefited from having Peggy involved,” Stefka wrote.
Nominator: DeanHiser
Nominator: Paulette Stefka
Valerie has volunteered for many things in the communi- ty, state and surrounding states, and many of her activities have included some form of art. She started Operation Christmas Child in North Platte. The Samaritan’s Purse project delivers shoeboxes filled with toys, hygiene items and school supplies to children around the world. Some things that she has volunteered for include speak- ing for Christian Women’s Club meetings in six states; Operation Christmas Child; painting murals for various organizations like the North Platte Public Library, Bridge of Hope, Shepherd’s Staff in Rexford, Kansas, and Operation Christmas Child; and teach- ing art in the local home school group. She reluctantly volunteered to home-school a granddaugh-
Peggy Fox has dedicated thousands of hours to the Miss Nebraska Scholarship Program, “and through it serves as an am- bassador for North Platte and an exceptional example of work ethic to young women from across the state of Nebraska,” said nomina- tor Paulette Stefka. Stefka and Fox became ac- quainted in the 1980s on the Miss Nebraska Board of Directors. “She never stepped back from any task given to her and often took on the jobs that were the most difficult and time consum- ing,” Stefka said. In 2020, the program was not able to go forward due to COVID-19. A reboot was to take place in 2021, but one month be- fore the program was scheduled, the director resigned. Peggy stepped forward and took on the responsibilities of putting together the weeklong event “and did it seamlessly.”
SueMcKain She is the first person on the board to step up and join another committee or to vol- unteer to be on duty for many of the events at the Fox Theatre, Nelson and Rajean Shepherd said in their nomination letter. These jobs include selling tickets and con- cessions, renting out props and costumes to community groups and schools, sweep- ing the floor and cleaning up after events, and often being the last person to leave the building while making sure all of the lights are off and the many doors are locked. As a member of the Play Reading Committee, Sue is responsible for selecting the dates for the Playhouse’s four produc- tions each season based on availability of the theater, selecting the productions based on a variety of genres to offer the
public, as well as finding directors in the community. Also, in serving on the Building Committee, Sue is responsible for the con- stant renovations and repairs needed in a historic theater built in 1929. “We are so grateful for the many grants we have received, especially during this time of COVID,” the nominators wrote. “Without Sue’s excellent skills in writ- ing very detailed, time-consuming grants, with their countless rules and formalities, the North Platte Community Playhouse could not have survived these past two years due to the COVID crisis. During this past year alone, Sue has tirelessly given of her time and talents to submit over 20 grants, raising well over $250,000.”
Nominators: Marta Holscher Nelson and Rajean Shepherd
“I have not had the pleasure of working with a more devoted, committed, giving, caring leader and volunteer in our commu- nity,” Marta Holscher Nelson said of Sue McKain For the North Platte Community Playhouse, Sue has served as a board mem- ber and the board secretary for over five years. In addition, she has taken on the roles of “grant writer extraordinaire,” costume/prop shop manager, building committee member, play reading com- mittee member, and served as a music director for many musical productions, just to name a few.
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker