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Loomis News
Phelps County is Fourth Healthiest County in the State
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) _ A report examining how health is influenced by community says Cedar County is the healthiest county in the Nebraska, while ...
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Loomis, Nebraska
Loomis photos courtesy Christensen Photography
Deep Roots in the high plains
Talk about proud of their town, you get a bunch of Loomis boosters together and the enthusiasm goes through the roof.
“I know,” exclaims one, “let's call it the ‘Undiscovered Gem of Phelps County’.”
“We've got a beautiful town here,” puts in another. “It's clean. Residents take pride in their property.”
“It's the people,” says a third. “These people are great. They'd do anything for their town.”
Loomis is deeply rooted to the high plains that surround it. As in all of Phelps County, the Loomis area was founded by hearty settlers - most of them Swedish - in the 1870s. It was not until 1886, however, that the town officially got a name, a post office, a bank, a school and the Loomis Evangelical Free Church.
Today, Loomis is still very much an agricultural town. Agri Co-op plays a big role in the community, and in 2007 built a 28,000-ton dry fertilizer plant fourteen times larger than typical designs and roughly the size of a football field. But there's a lot more to Loomis than agriculture.
For example, Loomis is widely considered the “marriage village” with a highly successful bridal-based business, the 
Bridal Isle. On a weekend, you need only check out the license plates from all over the state and beyond to appreciate their breadth of influence.
One of the country’s top places to raise a child
Another thing that gets Loomis residents going is to ask about their school. A new school addition, completed in the spring of 2009 has a state-of-the-art media library, shop, wrestling room and weight room as well as additional classrooms. The school district grew by 11% through open-option enrollment because of its reputation for providing a quality education. The student-teacher ratio remains low, and virtually all of the town's graduates go on to some form of higher education.
You can also tell a lot about Loomis from the way people turn out to volunteer. When teens wanted a youth center, they came out in force - with some adult supervision - and created their own space, the In-Zone, in a downtown storefront. The community center was built and largely paid for by volunteers. And a silent auction was held to raise money for Toys-for-Tots last year, they raised over $1800 - from a town of fewer than 400.
The volunteer fire and rescue is top-notch and very active with modern equipment and a well-trained crew. Residents are also quick to point out that a spaghetti dinner or other kind of fund-raiser is often going on for families who have medical or other crises in their lives.
Two big events mark the Loomis calendar, Turkey Days in November, and Loomis Community Days in June. Both events have myriad activities and attract hundreds of participants. Suffice it to say there's plenty of opportunity to get involved.
In 2006, BusinessWeek Magazine picked Loomis as one of the top 25 places in the country to raise a child based on a matrix that included quality of education, incidence of crime, access to healthcare and other factors. And the only change since then has been for the better.
If you're looking for a town that you - and your family - can be proud of, Loomis may be just the place for you.