Tuesday, October 20, 2009
 
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Personality of the Week

Dedicated to bringing to life Lincoln/Logan County's heritage with Abraham Lincoln:
Darlene Begolka

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[October 20, 2009]  It was an emotional moment for Darlene Begolka last night. At the Oct. 19 meeting of the Logan Railsplitting Association, Darlene was presented with a plaque on behalf of the association and Logan County tourism.

HardwareThe plaque was a special award presented to thank Darlene for all her hard work and efforts on behalf of the Railsplitting Festival.

On the plaque was a picture of her late mother, Evelyn, who was an active member with the festival until her passing in June.

The plaque, which read "Dedicated to the memory of Evelyn Begolka," was a complete surprise to Darlene. It took her a moment to gain her composure as association members applauded. When she did, the meeting came to order. After all, the 40th annual National Railsplitting Festival is only 11 months away and there is plenty of work to do to make it the best ever.

By accounts of several board members, Begolka is not only a hard worker, but she is a friend. Railsplitter is a big weekend when our heritage with Abe Lincoln becomes a celebration for the community to enjoy. Darlene is a friend they rely on to make sure all the little things that make up the major festival get handled and readied.

Planning meetings are in the lounge at St. John United Church of Christ, and on Monday evening the chairs around the table, as well as couches, found members ready to begin another year's preparations. The meetings are always relaxed -- comfortable, one might say -- but that doesn't mean the business at hand doesn't get attended to. It just means Begolka's relaxed manner carries over to the board.

Darlene isn't one to have a gavel in her hand or tell people what is going to happen. Rather she elicits and solicits opinions and ideas from every association member and enjoys the group discussion of the ideas.

As president of the Railsplitter Association, Darlene Begolka is always willing to listen to everyone's ideas, even when one is put out as a joke.

Tourism director Geoff Ladd, who is a liaison of the association, tells how he tried to make a joke, and Begolka and the committee ran with the idea. "Mount Pulaski had a motto, ‘Together we can,' so my being a poor punster, I joked: How about we have a canning float in their fall festival?"

Begolka and others liked the idea, and that year a float showing some of the board members doing canning in the parade was a hit.

"I'm not sure if anyone got the pun," Ladd laughed, "But it was a very popular float and brought a lot of attention to the Railsplitting Festival."

Begolka's style of leadership offers everyone a voice. "We have a very good group," she said. "And I need to give credit where credit is due. You can always count on the members. Whenever any of them have something to do, they get it done."

Association members echoed that they too can depend on Darlene to handle what needs to be done.

From time to time Begolka has had to make what she calls executive decisions, but she tries to always have everyone involved with the festival's programs. "I have called special meetings," she said. "I want everyone to know what's going on. I could have made a decision, but I prefer to keep the board involved in decisions."

Begolka comes by her love for the Railsplitting Festival both genetically as well as from early experience.

Her father, Ray, was very involved in the festival for 25 to 30 years. Her mother, Evelyn, also became involved, and the festival became a family affair that includes Darlene's brother Don.

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As a member of Beta Sigma Phi, Darlene sold lemonade shake-ups at the festival. After those years were over, she stayed active in the festival in several capacities and has been the president of the Logan Railsplitting Association for the past five years.

When asked if she ever pondered saying she has been involved long enough, she said sometimes things can become frustrating, as with anything as large as the National Railsplitting Festival. But then she recalled a story where she saw a family at a local eatery and asked them if they went to the festival. The parents said yes and that they couldn't get their children to leave because they were having so much fun.

"That's what it is all about. Even at 90 (years old) Dad would haul bales of hay around at the fairgrounds," Darlene said. "I saw how we as a family could all do as much as we could to promote our heritage with Abe Lincoln. It's important that kids realize there is more to history out there, more to life than just cell phones and computers. The festival can show them what it was like in the time of Abe Lincoln."

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Begolka has been in the office at St. John's for 25 years, and that means she is involved to some degree with everything that goes on at the busy church.

Germanfest is a community favorite, and although Begolka isn't on the committee, she says she is happy to help out with whatever they need help with. To be sure she has no free time of her own, she is the director of the church's adult and children chime choir too.

St. John Pastor Rich Reinwald didn't know where to begin with his praise for Darlene. "She is such a wonderful secretary," he said. "Darlene is almost like an orchestra conductor -- no, better yet, like an accomplished juggler. She can handle so many things at once and do them all well. She is always willing to help, she has a wonderful phone presence, and she is actively involved in so many things at our church."

The next festival will be the 40th anniversary, and Darlene and the board have some big ideas on how to make it an extra-special year. It is too early to state what the new plans are, but it is certain that they will be ready when the September 2010 weekend festival rolls around again.

That's what Darlene Begolka and the Logan Railsplitting Association members do. They work all year to make sure everything is just right for another National Railsplitting Festival. It is this dedication to one of our community's signature events that causes us to personally salute Darlene Begolka as the Personality of the Week.

[By MIKE FAK]

(Logan Railsplitting Association)

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