story by Ruth Nicolaus
Emmett Sortum is a man of many talents.
The Nebraska Junior High School Rodeo Association member can rope, he loves woodworking, cooking and baking, and is capable of ranch work, too.
In rodeo, he competes in the goat tying, breakaway roping and team roping, heeling for his younger brother, Henry.
His mount is a fifteen-year-old roan named Sister, who is small, “really quick and agile,” he said. She’s also funny and curious about things.
He is an eighth grade student at Loup County Public School, where the best part of the day is the after-school sports. Emmett plays football and basketball, wrestles, and runs track. He is a member of the FBLA, FFA, and 4-H.
In 4-H, he’s done some woodworking, making a gun rack he uses for his rifle and shotguns, and a bench, which sits outside the family’s front door. He’s baked 4-H projects, with his specialties as cherry crumb dessert and his grandma’s banana bread. Emmett loves to cook as well. Breakfast burritos and pancakes and waffles, sometimes made from scratch, are things he likes to make.
In school, Emmett loves math class but does not like studying grammar. His favorite teacher is Mr. Watts, his math teacher, because “he really knows what he’s teaching, and he’s really fun.” He had Mr. Watts for seventh grade and has him this year, too.
The best food Emmett’s mom makes is chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and gravy. He loves cherry crumb dessert (that recipe came from Grandma Sue Ann Switzer), and he likes to snack on classic potato chips. He loves apples and cucumbers, and washes it all down with a Mountain Dew.
One of his favorite activities is being with his grandpa Bruce Switzer as they go from pasture to pasture, putting out salt and mineral, checking water and moving cows.
The most fun he’s had on a trip was when the family went to the Bahamas last winter for a cruise. Emmett loved swimming with the dolphins and petting them.
Another thing he enjoys doing is identifying grasses in the Sandhills, where he lives. His mom has helped him learn the characteristics and names of little bluestem, big bluestem, switch grass, wild rye, sideoats grama, and more.
In seventh grade rodeo, he did goats only. This year, he’s added the roping events, and he and his brother have worked hard at it. “We’ve been practicing about every day,” he said.
His parents are Mark and Sarah Sortum.
