'People of Holt County' project spotlights locals who love the 'good life'

Ask Ally Sedlacek what is Holt County's biggest asset and she'll quickly share her point of view.

"It's the people," she said. "Without the people, this wouldn't be such a great place to live."

An O'Neill native, Sedlacek has first-hand experience with the supportive and welcoming nature of area residents. This summer, she is highlighting locals who "have made a positive impact" and sharing why they love life in rural Nebraska.

The end product: The People of Holt County, a compilation of video storytelling, featuring "generous and hardworking people" from the region.

Sedlacek works directly with Holt County Economic Development as a summer intern. She is also part of the Nebraska Community Foundation's Hometown Intern cohort, which gives college students an opportunity to "unleash the assets in their community."

Currently, Sedlacek is a junior political science and journalism major at the University of Nebraska-Kearney.

"I wanted to do something with the journalism field and the (HCED) advertisement checked some of those boxes," she said. "I thought this would be putting my foot in the door and see what it's like."

She admits she wasn't sure what type of project she would develop. Initially, she worked with Mike Peterson on HCED's "Monday Minute" segments and liked how business owners shared their "whys."

Sedlacek's mom, Nicole, economic development manager for Nebraska Public Power District, advised Ally to take a look at the Humans of New York project, where individuals are stopped on the street and asked a series of questions.

"I thought that was really cool. I knew I wanted to combine the two ideas," Sedlacek said.

Peterson said Sedlacke's project expands on the Monday Minute weekly video series spotlighting Holt County businesses by diving into "why it's the people" that make Holt County special.

"She discovered that at the end of all of the videos we do when asked, 'What do you love about Holt County?' It was inevitably "'the people,'" Peterson said.

By filming segments, she is able to further develop video editing skills, which relates to her journalism major.

"I thought it would be the perfect project and show how the people are an asset to Holt County."

She hopes to interview at least one person from each Holt County community.

Her first interview featured Scott Poese of KBRX radio fame. Her second interview tells the story of Sophie Kopecky, who moved to rural Nebraska from Rwanda, Africa, and worked an exchange internship in horticulture at O'Neill's Shamrock Nursery.

Sedlacek has a prepared list of five or six questions she asks. From there, "it depends where the story goes," she said.

She may spend up to two days editing video on iMovie for the final product. Each segment is then shared via social media and a dedicated website.

Sedlacek has relied on expertise from HCED director Shelby Regan and Peterson, who serves as HCED project director.

"They've helped me get connections and share ideas. Mike does a lot with website, social media, photography and videograhy. He's been helpful showing me ways to edit my videos," she said.

According to Peterson, the project "will do a deeper drive into why the people are special which, in turn, will make our county that much more attractive."

"We are seeing many younger people moving back to Holt County just because of the people and we want to spotlight that," Peterson said.

When Sedlacek returns to school this fall, she would like to continue work on the project on her own time or see it incorporated into HCED's portfolio.

"It shows why people love to live here, why they wanted to move back and all the awesome things people are doing, big or small, in the community."

Sedlacek believes people and activities are traits individuals seek out when they consider where to plant roots.

"I think if I can show other people that this is a great community to come back to and live in, we'll get more people to move here," she said.

Visit The People of Holt County at thepeopleofholtcounty.godaddysites.com or check out the videos on Facebook at The People of Holt County.