Hypnotist event to raise money for new playground

COLERIDGE - The Coleridge Community Club sponsored a hypnotist show 16 years ago that sent a local woman into labor.

“She had been laughing so hard at her husband who was hypnotized,” said Jacie Burbach.

Another hypnotist is slated to come to town, this time sponsored by the Coleridge Area Foundation (CAF). Births not-withstanding, organizers hope for a good crowd and sidesplitting entertainment set for 6 p.m., Saturday, March 19, at the Coleridge Community Building.

The event features dinner, a cash bar and hypnotist Jeff Quinn of Omaha. Tickets are $35 until March 18 and then $50 at the door and are available at several locations in Coleridge.

Quinn said a hypnosis show is unpredictable even to him because he’s not the entertainer - the volunteers are.

“I’m more of a ringmaster who sets the tone and keeps things rolling,” he said. “It all boils down to how fun the volunteers are.”

Quinn prides himself on a clean and unoffensive show.

The event is for adults only but will be raising money for new playground equipment at the Coleridge park.

“We don’t always have a lot going on in Coleridge,” said Event Chairman Jeff Hansen. “Everything is focused on something the kids can do, it’s time for an event for the adults, too.”

CAF board member Burbach said more than $40,000 has been raised from private donations for the cause with an overall goal of $250,000 to upgrade the old play structures.

“My dad is 72 and he played on it when he was a kid,” Hansen said. “It’s been around awhile.”

Burbach said she played on the playground equipment, her own children did and now her grandchildren enjoy the park, too.

Having an atmosphere where children can play safely outside is the hallmark of smalltown partnere living, Burbach said.

“When my children were young and went outdoors to play, I was never concerned about their safety,” she said. “Where REC RE they go outdoors to play and ride their bikes and come home RE when the 12 noon whistle blows to eat dinner then go out again and come back when the 6:00 whistle blows for supper.”

For the small town known as “the heart of Cedar County,” it feels like a big family with deep roots, she said.

“I want our younger generations . . . to come back home, start a business, build a home and raise their family in the same community and with the same values they were raised with,” Burbach said.

A community survey pinpointed upgrading the playground to be a high priority item, Hansen said.

A newly formed group under the direction of the Nebraska Community Foundation, the Knights of Columbus ranked #6 in the permanent life insurance category on For with CAF Statista completed to independently one survey other more than project 16,000 customers in 2020 who owned - painting the interior of the community building and replacing trim.