Seven Complete Nemaha County Leadership Class 12 with Giving Day Focus

Thursday night, Aug. 20, seven Nemaha County residents who completed the 12th Nemaha County Leadership Class were presented plaques at the Auburn Country Club.
Steven Blinde of FAST Global Solutions, Jan DeBuhr of APACE, Katie DeBuhr of DeBuhr Auction Service, Jon Firmature of the Peru State College (PSC) Foundation, Lyndsey Maahs of Crunchy Bits and Honeybee Coffee, Amber Meyer of Auburn Public Schools and Eric Wilke of Nebraska Public Power District Cooper Nuclear Station shared thoughts about the past year.
Blinde: Discovering all things in Nemaha County he never knew existed. Called the year a “great educational experience.” Liked the connections, relationships and team building as a group.
Jan DeBuhr: Enjoyed getting to know the class, some she had never spoken with before. Learning new things about the county and community, nonprofits needing help and the need to keep going forward.
Katie DeBuhr: Getting to know a few persons she had not known previously, fun to learn about each other, trying to recruit a lot of persons and learning a lot she had not know previously. “We had a good time each time we met.”
Firmature: Liked history day and thought Brownville was great. “When you get the right people in the right place a lot of good things happen.”
Meyer: Learning about every aspect of the county and the excitement everyone has about the county. She thought everyone got along well. “It was an unbelievable experience.”
Wilke: Enjoyed learning something new every class. Liked visiting businesses and learning about the history of the county. Looking forward to moving the class project forward.
Maahs was unable to attend the program.
Giving Day
The class’ project will be a Nemaha County Giving Day. Firmature noted a lot of locations in Nebraska have a similar event. He continued PSC has a Giving Week and had one of its best Giving Weeks in 2025.
“We want to reconnect with those who haven’t been here. We hope everyone looks forward to give and learn more about the county’s nonprofits, communicate and giving back,” Firmature noted.
The initial Nemaha County Giving Day is scheduled Tuesday, Dec. 1. It will likely move to June in subsequent years as that is a less busy time of the year, he stated.
“We hope other classes will add to our group,” Firmature concluded.
More information is available at: 
www.facebook.com/nemahacountygivingday
Recalling Experiences in Earlier Class
Jennifer Hawley, who was in Nemaha County Leadership Class 2, remembered she was part of a small group involved in all areas of life. She is one of the organization’s advisors.
“I thoroughly enjoyed the class. That led me to become an advisor. You get introduced to all aspects of the county. I thought it was a great resource. It gave me the “extra step” to find out where my place was. You figure out where you belong in the county and find your strength,” Hawley related.
Sand volleyball courts at the Auburn Recreation Complex was the class project.
“It was interesting doing fundraising. You find out who are the leaders and who takes over and gets things done,” she continued.
The class members did some of the work themselves but were helped by City of Auburn staff.
“That worked great. It’s been a great thing for the community,” Hawley said.
Being part of the class has helped her with recruiting at Magnolia Metal Corporation as well as being a leader.
“I met a lot of people. It’s been great for me. I think Nemaha County Leadership is a great program and hope it continues to flourish,” Hawley concluded.