FAIRBURY - Inspired by auctions executed by FFA chapters in the past, the Fairbury chapter of Future Business Leaders of America held a hired hand auction to raise money to send their 11 qualifiers to compete at the FBLA national conference in California this summer.

A crowd of a couple dozen, mostly Fairbury families or local business owners, showed up at the Fairbury Elks Lodge for an unusual event where all the students advertised their best attributes and, with an assist from an an actual auctioneer, were sold to the highest bidder. 

"When I first heard the idea I was like, ‘What is this?’ I was very uncertain of it," said rising senior Molly Hansmire. "FFA has previously done this, way back – my dad has talked to me about it. Mrs. [Tammi] Mans, our advisor, told us, ‘You just have to sell yourself,’ you have to give a strong opening piece about you, and I was like alright, I got this, that’s kind of my type of thing."

"This is very unusual. We’ve had the most people qualify this year than in any other year by a country mile, so we’re excited but it’s also kind of unchartered waters – we don’t really know how to make money, so we’re throwing stuff out to see if it works," rising senior CJ Goeking said. "Trial and error, learn by fire, and we’re doing great I think."

Every student raised more than $200, and some surpassed $300, by selling their services to family farms, libraries and other businesses in the area, with the auction’s winners acquiring a new temporary worker for a period of a few hours this summer. 

"I think a lot of people are really happy with who they got put with, because they’ll get to try new experiences, learn other things – it's just going to overall be a good experience, give us more knowledge in other areas we might not typically get, and I think it overall went really good," said rising junior Iaunna Lucking, who was auctioned to work at the Beatrice Library. 

Goeking will be competing in the data analysis field this summer and advertised his top qualities as manual labor, organization and hard work - fittingly, he was drafted to work on a farm owned by Bill Runge, father of Goeking's friend and frequent Fairbury teammate Jamison Runge. 

"He told me right away that I was going to need more than just boots – not sure what that means, but I’m sure I’ll gain some character from this.," Goeking chuckled.

While this type of event was a new experience for all the students involved, it was inspired by similar successful events executed by FFA chapters at Fairbury and other schools like Thayer Central, past and present.

And with a record number of qualifiers all needing to raise over $2,000 to help fund their trip to this summer’s FBLA national conference, this was just one way for these successful students to add to their skillsets – and their bank accounts – as they prepare to compete in California at the end of June.  

"We have great kids that have opened up doors to others that haven’t really known about FBLA, and I think us all going to Anaheim, California this year will be a awesome time for all us to learn more about FBLA than we all have before," said Hansmire, who is the club's vice president this year and will be the leadership chair next year. "I’ve heard a lot of compliments about our FBLA chapter out in the community, that we’ve been impacting others, and I think that we truly have an impact on this community and I hope to continue that this coming year."

Lucking was selected to be the FBLA president for this upcoming school year, and brings a trailblazing history to her new position: she was one of eight national qualifiers the first year that Fairbury's middle school fielded an FBLA chapter and helped her team place at the national competition in Atlanta in their first year of existence. She was the president of the 8th grade team then, and now a few years later, she - along with fellow former middle school qualifier Jerik Mans - has doubled up as a national qualifier at the high school level as she prepares to serve as president again in 11th grade.

"It’s not something that every student gets to experience, and it’s just a really good opportunity that FBLA gives us. You learn so many new things, you can make so many new friends," she said. "I think FBLA has grown me into the person I am right now. I don’t think I ever would have been as hard of a worker, or made some of my best friends. I think it really just bonds us all, and it really gives you skills you can carry with you for your entire lifetime."

The 2025 FBLA national conference begins June 29 in Anaheim, a rare opportunity to travel across the country for a crew of kids from a small town in Southeast Nebraska.