This week's top stories

business
Hope
Childers
retirement
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Aurora Middle School
  • As part of the Aurora Middle School ‘Girl’s Wellness Day’ students were given a glimpse into self-awareness training and defense strategies.
    As part of the Aurora Middle School ‘Girl’s Wellness Day’ students were given a glimpse into self-awareness training and defense strategies.
  • Chris Childers stands in the warehouse at Hope Home Furnishings and Flooring in Aurora, where he worked exclusively the last 22 years as a flooring installer.
    Chris Childers stands in the warehouse at Hope Home Furnishings and Flooring in Aurora, where he worked exclusively the last 22 years as a flooring installer.

    Girl’s wellness day offers self-care advice
    A small group of Aurora Middle School’s female students gathered Dec. 29 at the home of the Huskies to participate in a day tailored to their mental, emotional and physical wellness.
    “The wellness program was developed as an opportunity for girls to come together to see that they are not alone in their feelings and to learn some overall healthy strategies,” said Aurora Middle School guidance counselor Angie Moural. 
    The day featured a keynote address by former counselor and wellness advocate Lindsey Leif of Lincoln, followed by three break-out sessions. 
    “(Lindsey) focused on how we all have similar feelings at this time of life,” Moural said.
    Leif’s presentation to the girls consisted of a number of activities to get them thinking harder about themselves and those around them, as well as tips to help each individual remember healthy practices for mind, body and emotions. 

    Childers wraps up 40-plus year career
    After more than 40 years of working on his hands and knees installing all types of flooring, Chris Childers is calling it a career this week.
    He has enjoyed the process of helping clients improve their living and work spaces, but having turned 70 in November he’s decided the time was right to put down his tools and enjoy a change of pace.
    “It’s gratifying work making improvements in people’s homes,” Childers said. “I’m just getting to the point where things are starting to wear out and I figured I’d like to get out while I could still walk out and not have to be carried out.”
    A native of nearby Utica, Childers ventured into the flooring business at a young age, taking a job with Wanek’s of Crete Furniture in the mid-1970s. He took some classes to learn the tricks of the trade, but said he mostly learned on the job, traveling to clients’ homes and businesses all over southeast Nebraska.
    “They covered a huge area and all I did was carpet,” he recalled. “It was all carpet back in those days.”

     

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