Zane Grizzle, a senior at Fairbury Public Schools, received seventh place at the Nebraska Voice of Democracy Contest sponsored by the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). Grizzle received the seventh-place certificate and received a cash award. Nine hundred students across the state entered the Voice of Democracy competition this year, while over 2,000 students entered the Patriot’s Pen competition.
Voice of Democracy is an audio-essay contest for high school students in grades 9-12. The theme for 2020-2021 was “America, where do we go from here?”
Grizzle qualified for the state contest as the winner of the local contest sponsored by the Fairbury VFW and then as the winner of the District 6 contest. District 6 consists of Fairbury, Beatrice, Pawnee City, Auburn, Nebraska City, Syracuse, Tecumseh, Falls City, Crete, Hebron, Geneva and Adams.
The 10 district Voice of Democracy winners and top four Patriot’s Pen winners in the state, along with their families, were invited to Lincoln on Friday, February 4, for a day of activities in their honor.
The day began with a tour of the Capitol, lunch and then a tour of the Nebraska Museum.
A Parade of Winners and awards ceremony was held Friday afternoon, where students learned of their placings.
The day concluded with a banquet.
Left to right, Ne. Dept. VFW State Commander Jerry Chlopek, Zane Grizzle, Sharon Thorne Ne. Dept. VFW AUXILIARY State President, and Donna Fenske Ne. Dept. VFW AUXILIARY past president
