Sumer 2025 Village Recap
9/2/2025
Summer 2025 Village Recap
Wowza! What a BUSY SUMMER in the Village of Platte Center! We have been busy and hard at it! Some big changes over the course of the summer have taken place! Lots of decisions have been made by the Board Members! Although we have our monthly board meetings and meeting minutes are posted on the Village Website! It's nice to have a little bit more of a connection within our community! Every season I will recap what the Village has accomplished, we encourage you all to make our Village better in some way shape or form!
Since we didn't get a Spring 2025 Recap, I will throw it in here and we will start every season (quarter) reflecting on what was accomplished. Starting off in April we had a GREAT Village clean up week! We had dumpster after dumpster leave the Village of garbage! It's so great to see the effort of the Village cleaning up to make it an inviting place for new and old comers! The board did decide to have another clean up in the Fall!
May:
Platte Center Activities Committee also hosted their annual glow in the dark Volleyball! What a time was had! 14 teams and it ending at 3:30 am! Thanks to the Volleyball court neighbors for letting the ruckus continue that long!
Perry Post 283, held their Memorial Day celebration in the Auditorium this year due to weather! This group worked swiftly to set up and make the Memorial Day ceremony a GREAT one. A lot of people were in attendance from all ages. Thank you American Legion Post 283 for putting this together and honoring those who are no longer here. The free meal after was great! Thank you again.
Andy and Brook got us into the National Flood Insurance Program to help further the assistance in any case of a natural disaster.
A new Ordinance was adopted for the Lower Platte north NRD Hazard Mitigation Plan.
June:
The Board made choice to have a few of our streets fixed in the Village, as some were going down fast. The choice was to change G, D, B Street! The project was completed around the end of July. The future plans with the streets are to fill in holes as needed, Andy will be doing this as he sees fit. We will save up funds to get another street done in the future We do have a couple streets in mind of which ones to do next but we will be deciding that when the time comes. .
Another thing that happened in June is the board worked to get the funds that were to be for our Splash pad moved over to improve playground equipment. Which was successful and we got to purchase a great playset for the years to come.
Some thrilling times accord and had the whole Village in excitement as a trail derailment occurred on Central Highway blocking the crossing for 24 hours. A total of 5 cars tipped over and the clean up continues as of 8.26.25
Two of our Villagers put on our Platte Center annual Garage sale! Thank you Reghan and Haley! We got 18+ houses to join in and have garage sales that took place Thursday - Sunday! THANK YOU for your efforts of putting this on ladies and all that joined in! The more we have draws the crowd in! One man’s junk is another man’s treasure! Looking forward to next year.
We also wrapped up an AWESOME baseball season. Platte Center Activities Committee made sure the concessions were running smoothly. Andy did a LOT of maintenance on the field to revive it to its Glory Days. It was a well-loved change in our Village to see all the local youth come into the Village under lights (sometimes). Just to hear the cheering and happy screams from all over was SO exciting and really made the community come together. Thank you Andy and Don for keeping the field looking fresh. Thanks to Callum Greisen for also chalking for us! We look forward to next year’s awesome baseball season.
June wasn't over quiet yet as the Platte Center Fire Department hosted a street dance with 3 bands and food trucks! What a great time was had by all!
THE 4TH IN THE VILLAGE:
An absolute hit and for sure a core memory!
We started our festivities off STRONG! We had the Annual St. John's Lutheran School Fun Run! So many look forward to this run every year! Thank you, St. John, for bringing life into our community! Our apologies for road construction during the run but you guys pivoted and made the BEST out of it. After the fun run PCAC took over and had our annual Lawnmower Poker Run! MAN was it so much fun and SO many people came to join! Thanks to all our stops (all the games were fun) and ALL OUR RIDERS! What a fun day that was.
We then had Water fights with PC Fire! Thank you to our Firemen for changing your location due to road construction! The kids most definitely enjoyed the cold water on a HOT day. The fun wasn't over! They also cooked up some great chicken wings and everyone pitched in with sides and desserts to eat in the park for the community meal. Nothing beats time together with the Village kids! Thanks Platte Center Fire Department for putting this day on for the community.
During this time also there was a baseball tournament held at the fields! It was a BUSY day in the Village! Thank you Jaxien crew for grilling burgers and keep concessions running this day.
Bank of the Valley had a hot dog cook out on the 3rd of July and that was a HIT! So many people came out and sat and chatted to each other! Thanks Bank of the Valley for the hot dog and brats! They were DELISH! Later on that day we had the Frog and Turtle Races! THANK YOU SO MUCH JoAnn and Holly for putting this on. The amount of kids this brings to our Village is so AWESOME! Again, thank you for pivoting your plans and changing locations due to road construction! This event is looked forward to EVERY year!
Of course, our July 4th is BUSY per usual! We had 54 preregistered floats but over 70+ floats show up! This parade lasted 45 mins from start to finish! We had a theme this year and 2 Judges that showed up! Thank you Chris Greisen and Mari Melcher! Our theme this year was ERAs and we will plan to have a theme next year! It will be announced early on so everyone can find awesome decorations! Our Grand Marshall for this year was John Wemhoff as he has been a part of this Village for his whole life! He was the Mayor the day after the 1990's flood! There couldn't be more perfect person to honor who has given so much love and time to their community.
The winners from the parade 1st place was Honeycomb Salon in their 80's Era, 2nd Place was Hotdog Era- The Neighbors and 3rd was Bank of the Valley in their "GOAT Era". Honorable mentions were the Hoadley's in their "Hoadley Era" and Shell Valley Insurance with the 60's Era.
We then moved on to lunch in the Auditorium with the PC Rescue! Delish and PACKED house. Kiddie tractor Pull took place outside the auditorium and the kids ALWAYS have fun with that. Thank you PCAC for Sponsoring the Kiddie Tractor Pull this year and to our extra hands in volunteering, Kim Hoadley!
A hop skip and jump to the demo track for our 50th Anniversary of the Demolition Derby! Thank you Platte Center Fire for always hosting this great staple in our Community.
Mud Volleyball was not forgotten this year! The date was moved to after the 4th! Thank you Platte Center Mud volleyball (Kelly Arndt) and Jesse, Chris & Jamie Barber for hosting this! They brought in a food truck! It was great weather to play in the mud!
While all the fun was happening in the Village streets. The leg work behind the scene never stops to keep the Village running! We have had some success in the board meeting room!
Andy Greisen has traveled to many places to keep his knowledge of water, sewer lines and everything in between! We have had some water lines burst and Andy has taken those calls at ALL hours of the day/night! Thank you, Andy, for all you do for the Village to keep our pipes running smoothly. Don Soulliere this year has been a huge help as a second hand to Andy! Assisting in all the things from mowing to getting our fixed Platte Center Blue flags on main street hung to pouring new concrete! We thank you for all you have done for the Village this summer.
Andy had Team Lab come in and Sonar the Lagoons. We are now on a bug program to make sure that our sludge stays at a minimum. Thanks to Andy for being proactive in this area so we do not have a NASTY problem if this were to be over looked.
If you have noticed some spots in the sidewalks and streets are patched. They also accomplished pouring a new walk way all the way to the restrooms in the park making it absolutely zero entry with no ledge to get into the bathrooms.
The water tower repairs are all complete, now we are on the road to routine maintenance to keep our water tower in tip top shape for years to come.
Brooke Schmidt was recognized by the State as the official Clerk for the Village of Platte Center.
August:
The Community Share Table was placed in front of the auditorium. There have been a variety of shared produce and even canned good this year! This tradition will continue.
We had the opportunity to buy the land located under the Post Office from the Ruth Beiermann Estates. We are grateful for Jim Beiermann to carry on the request of his parents from moving the Post office on their piece of land after the flood so the Village had a post office in town. Now to the current day to saving the post office so we don't lose this service for the Villagers. The Village successfully purchased the land where the post office is located and the south lot directly next to it!
We also have closed the alley way located between 1st and 2nd Street on Block 3 in Roberts Addition. This was brought to the boards attention by Amber and Eli Pilakowski and PC Rural Fire Board represented by Trevor Jarosz back in May. The board agreed to close this alley with easements. The reasoning was to have Virg's garage move their propane tank. Also allowing both lots to use for additional parking. There is an easement on this to allow Andy access to watermains. It was a pleasure to work with both parties to accomplish this closure. Job well done.
We did renew our League Association of Risk Management contract for an additional 3 years. They have been very helpful for the Village to grow and are there to answer any and all questions. We look forward to working with them currently and in the future.
In the current line of to do’s we are working on our Sewer line grant that Jessica Hake (Board member) applied for on behalf of the Village. We are now in the process of all the requirements to award an engineer, pick our contractor for the job and submit paperwork to the EPA. We are working closely with Sentor Fischer’s office, EPA and Nebraska Rural Water Association in assistance for these requirements. The goal with this grant is to fix our sewer lines through out the whole Village. This will get us to a base line with all sewer lines. After this project is complete the goal is to maintain every year the lines. Andy has play a key role in his useful knowledge on the pipes and the needs for the Village.
We do plan on upgrading/ fixing the shelter in the park.
A HUGE THANKS TO Evelyn Wolff for painting the picnic tables in the park. It is such joy to sit at the tables and look at the artwork every time. SO many complements on these tables. THANK YOU FOR YOUR DONATED TIME AND SUPPLIES!
More things on the docket that we would like to bring to people’s thoughts. JoAnn Brandt and Holly Sprunk approached the board and would like to talk about a possible pickleball court. The plan is to raise money for these upgrade to our Village. More to come on this.
Jessica Hake applied to Cornhusker Goodwill fund and we were granted $200.00 on 8/21/2025 to go towards our park upgrades. Thank you Jessica Hake on behalf of the Village for sending in our application. Be on the lookout for a picture I the park with Brooke and Cornhusker Employee Cody. Thank you Cornhusker Public Power for giving back to the communities you serve.
Lakeview Volleyball enjoyed playing on the sand courts in August for a little fun get together! Thanks for playing in the Village girls!
School has started here in the Village and the Platte Center PTO puts on a lot of fundraising for the school. Be on the lookout on Platte Center Facebook page for all the happenings! Last school year, the kids of Platte Center Elementary planted all of our flowerpots. The school also did trash pickup and our Village never looked better. THANK YOU, KIDS! We had two donations from Leroy’s Shop and Platte Center Development to go towards flowers. With these efforts the Village Board came up with the idea of treating our kids to a TREAT. We had Macey’s Snow cones come to the school and treat EACH kid with a snow cone. Thanks to the donations from the community, we were able to pay for the treats for the kiddos. What a heartwarming moment to know our kids care for their community and their community repays for their kindness. THIS IS WHAT PC VILLAGE IS ALL ABOUT! THIS IS HOME!
Things to look forward to in September! We are finally able to Adopt our new Wellhead Protection Plan that Andy has worked hard to make sure all unused/ abandoned wells were closed. As none were found we will still move on with our Plan. We adopt this plan at our next board meeting on September 15th at 7 pm.
We will get a community connection box that has been in the works. This will allow residents to grab a card out of the box fill one out and place I the drop box. For those who don’t email or want to call but have an idea and suggestion for the Village. This is one more way for us to connect as a community, to make changes or bring attention to things that have fallen wayside.
We do have our last Village clean up days for the year. Weekend of September 26, 27 and 28th. The Huskers have a bye week, so we thought no better way to spend a fall weekend then to clean up this Village. We still have our Village Clean Up plan in progress. There are so many GREAT reasons to clean up your property. We take PRIDE in the curb appeal of our community. We want to have a THRIVING and FULL OF LIFE VILLAGE.
It takes a Village and I’m glad to be a part of it! Thank you all that have welcomed me as the new Village Clerk for Platte Center. It is an honor to the past and privilege for the future to make this Village thrive.
Thanks to our Maintenance man Andy for being around for every phone call a Villager makes for a problem to get fixed. Don for helping this summer to keep our Village looking SHARP!
Thank you to the Board Members for putting in leg work to get things done around the Village.
To our Mayor Deven Pillen for being involved in his community. You might see his face at MANY events around the Village and any that have sand and a volleyball at, he is sure to win.
Thanks to Andy Greisen for always being a phone call away for all the Villagers!
Thanks to all the individuals and business’ that have given back to their community. With out you the Village wouldn’t be the same. KEEP DOING THE GOOD WORK!
God Bless and we will…… SEE YOU IN THE VILLAGE!
-Brooke Schmidt
Village Clerk/ Treasurer