Day 5 - Friday, July 19, 2013

We started the morning with writing Thank You letters to the Public Power Districts and Electric Cooperatives which sponsored the campers. We wrote a letter to ourselves reminding us of all the fun we had this week. It will be mailed in a year from now.

The 2014 Ambassadors are:
Garrett Clark of Clay Center (South Central PPD)

Nicole Strand of Wauneta (Southwest PPD)

Moriah Heerten of Springview (KBR RPPD)

The 2013 "Good Eggs" are:

Kayla Langer of Spaulding (Cornhusker PPD)

Bradley VanCura of Hay Center (Southwest PPD)

Ambassador Finalists 2013

The Ambassador competition produces Nebraska's three representatives for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association's annual Youth Tour to Washington, D.C. The three Ambassadors receive an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C.

The 10 Finalists were selected from the 21 campers who signed up to give an introduction of themselves. 

They include:
Letishia Lindhorst of Lindsay (Cornhusker PPD)

Emily Franzluebbers of Dodge (Cuming County PPD)

Hayley Stamp of Elgin (Elkhorn RPPD)

Nicole Strand of Wauneta (Southwest PPD)

Anna Wegener of Humphrey (Cornhusker PPD)

Latigo Sherman of Palisade (Southwest PPD)

Cat Weeder of Genoa (Cornhusker PPD)

Moriah Heerten of Springview (KBR RPPD)

Alex Morrell of Lebanon (Twin Valleys PPD)

Garrett Clark of Clay Center (South Central PPD)

All 10 finalists will give a speech on one of three topics at the banquet on Thursday evening. The top male and female vote getters and the next highest vote getter will be the 2013 Ambassadors.

Day 4 - Thursday, July 18, 2013

Chad Johnson, an Energy Education Specialist, led the campers through a "Safe Cracking" session. The campers worked in teams to build a safe to protect an energy pellet that involved an electric circuit and alarms. 

Campers went canoeing or were part of the volleyball tournament in the afternoon. 

In the evening campers attended the banquet and heard speeches from the Ambassador Finalists. The winners will be announced on Friday.

We closed out the night with a dance with Jim Piper Music.

Day 3 - Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Today was our Tour Day. We rode in chartered buses to NPPD's Gerald Gentleman Station at Sutherland, Neb.

Next we traveled to Lake Ogallala for lunch and a group photo. We visited Central Irrigation and Public Power District's hydro plant at Kingsley Dam.

We came back to camp an hour behind schedule for a cookout supper before we held the Talent Show.

Day 2 - Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Tanner Barth of Utica (Seward PPD) was selected as the general manager.

Our second day is winding down and it was filled with a lot of activities. We had field demonstrations in the morning with the help of Custer PPD and Nebraska Public Power District. We climbed power poles and took bucket truck rides. We also had a high voltage safety demonstration and played Energy Audit Bingo.

After lunch we heard "The Story Behind The Switch" by Kim Kranz of Basin Electric G&T. 

Part of the group went on a canoe trip down the Middle Loup River and the rest held a volleyball tournament.

After supper we had our Ambassador competition introductions. There were 21 participants - 11 girls and 10 boys. 

We finished off the evening with a camp fire. 

Day 1 - Monday, July 15, 2013

Day 1 - Monday

The 2013 NREA Youth Energy Camp has begun with 68 campers from all over Nebraska and even a few from Wyoming. 

So far the campers have heard about the various types of careers that are available in the electric industry and what many of the various acronyms stand for. the first night was finished off with the "Get Acquainted Party" with Herb Anderson.

Earlier in the evening each team appointed a member to the Board of Directors. Their first job was to interview applicants for the position of General Manager. The winner will be announced at breakfast tomorrow.