Chall nominates her neighbors for awards for their kindness

Building good, neighborly relations is a two-way street.

Or three.

Barbara Chall of Colon lives on an acreage. Her neighbors, Henry and Sue Fuller and Dale and Suzanne Shanahan, came to her and her horse’s aid several times during the snowy winter of 2008.

So, in addition to her gifts of banana bread and an occasional pie, she nominated her two neighbors for the Ak-Sar-Ben Good Neighbor award.

“We didn’t know what to think when we got the letter,” laughed Henry.

“We were completely surprised,” Dale said. “But we knew right away who sent our name in.”

The award honors those people in Nebraska who frequently walk the “good neighbor” road, going above and beyond by helping another who needs it.

“Barb has really fine horses, paint horses. She and her daughter train them and really, they are very skilled at it,” Henry said, speaking with the respect that comes from seeing hard work. “Her daughter usually wins or places very high in all of her horse competitions. That’s a result of the time they put into it.”

Dale spoke of watching Chall’s daughter, who just turned 17, work with four younger 4-H girls and their horse projects for three hours recently.

“She’s already giving back. Just like her Mom does,” he says.

Henry saw that the Challs were snowed in, as many in the area were last winter. He brought his “bobcat-type” loader to move snow on several occasions. When the gravel truck dumped too much in one spot, he spread it out for her also. When Barbara couldn’t get to her hay bales as they were stacked too close to one another, he moved every other one, to create room.

Dale received a call during a blizzard from Barbara saying one of her horses needed to be in a dry stall.

“She knew we had a heated stall as they cared for our horses while we were gone on several occasions. They know our place very well,” he said.

It took two hours for Dale to clean and prepare the barn. As neither could get their trailers out, Barb walked the horse through a blizzard to the dry stall. About a mile.

“Barb’s from Minnesota,” Dale said.

Dale cared for the horse for two months.

“I don’t care for paints,” Dale laughed. “But I grew to like this horse. His name is ‘Howie.’ But he is so big. I called him ‘Howie Huge.’ Took some time, but we warmed up to each other.”

As with all good neighbors, the feelings of care and acceptance extend along both lanes.

“Barb deserves a good neighbor award, too,” Sue Fuller said. “She is so dedicated to her daughter. They are so friendly. And they are the best neighbors anyone could ask for. Everyone would want them as neighbors.”