Carl and Renee Amick of Doniphan, Neb. have donated two quarter horses
for the auction at the third annual Cattlemen=s Ball of Nebraska to be
held Saturday, June 3 at the Haythorn Ranch near Arthur, Neb.
The six-year-old dun horse and the 11-year-old chestnut horse belonged
to the couple’s daughter, Sonja Amick, who lost her
battle with melanoma in January. The horses will bring in a minimum
of $4,000 combined.
“We think this is what Sonja would have wanted for her horses,” said
Carl Amick. “We are donating them so that they can help someone else down
the road.”
In addition to the live auction, country music artist Ricky Van Shelton
will be featured at the ball. Along with five platinum and three
gold albums, he has had 12 hit singles including “I am a Simple Man,” “Between
the Lines” and “Just as I Am.”
Event activities will also include an art show, a general store, cowboy
poetry, music by the Messengers 4, and a dance featuring the music of Blackwater.
Jerry Dias, a one-armed cowboy who was judged Entertainer of the Year by
the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association also will perform, as well as
the Front Street Crystal Palace Review, an entertainment troupe whose performance
is highlighted by reenactments of scenes from the Old West.
The 2000 Cattlemen’s Ball will be hosted by Craig and Jody Haythorn,
Waldo and Belldora Haythorn, and Bob and Sally Haythorn-Mayden of the Haythorn
Ranch, world-renowned as the single largest producer of American Quarter
Horses in the United States and the third largest in the world.
The ball is held to promote beef in a healthy diet and to showcase rural
Nebraska. All of the money raised will stay in Nebraska with 10 percent
directed to health care in the Ogallala area. The remainder of the proceeds
will go toward research projects at the University of Nebraska Medical
Center Eppley Cancer Center.
The UNMC Eppley Cancer Center received $140,000 for cancer research
from the 1999 Cattlemen’s Ball held at the Robb Ranch near Lexington, Neb.
Specifically, the funding went for the development of new anti-cancer drugs,
the use of new technologies to screen for differences in cancer cells,
and to study the immune system response to cancer cells.
At the 2000 Cattlemen’s Ball, Top Hand ticket holders ($60) may attend
Saturday afternoon and evening activities beginning at 1 p.m. Trailboss
ticket holders ($500) receive a champagne reception, commemorative gift,
Trailboss brunch and preferred seating for the evening dinner and concert.
Tickets are limited. For more information and to purchase tickets, contact
the Ogallala/Keith County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Bureau at (800)
658-4390.