Meeting Meriah Barnes

By now most of the residents in Sidney have heard of the newly elected two-year term City Councilman Aaron Barnes.

However; many residents have yet to know his wife, Meriah Barnes.

The Barneses have been married for 10 years in Dec. and have two children.

Meriah said she grew up in northern California, living there for 18 years.

However that is not the only place she has lived, according to Meriah, she also lived in Hawaii for 10 years, then lived in Arizona and was back in California for a few more years then in Illinois, prior to moving to Sidney.

She said she has a BBA in Human ResourceManagement from the University Hawaii.

“I graduated and worked in telemedicine research and project management and retail software for about 10 years after graduation. But I’m staying home with the kids right now,” she smiled. “I sub for the schools now just because I am not ready to work after school and during summers, and it is the perfect job because if I need to I can say no.”

Mariah also has a passion for the arts, her husband said, and enjoyed the Fine Art Center’s open house, an event they both enjoyed.

“I would love to see him (Jesse Nelson) successful, he has a great little place down there and there is so much potential,” Meriah said.

Mrs. Barnes said she has ideas about how to continue art programs within the community for students.

“When we lived in Quincy, schools (districts in general) had quit teaching art, and I know we lost an art teacher here. Parent volunteers were taught art by the art center and then went into the schools and volunteered to teach art to the students,” she said.

When discussind community involvement she said, “We like to be involved and help, doing what we can. I help out on numerous activities for our Booster Club. I volunteer at the schools, in the classrooms as much as I can. I am definitely a volunteer, so I can see if opportunities present themselves I will absolutely participate.

“My interests I feel right now are narrow. I have young kids, so anything involving kids and the schools I would love to be involved in.”

On their visits to California to see her family Mrs. Barnes said they had driven through Sidney but didn’t know at that time they would be moving here.

When it came to moving to Sidney Mrs. Barnes said, “We were moving to Florida from Quincy, Illinois, so we had given away jackets, sleds and snow boots, and we were done with winter.”

According to Mrs. Barnes, after the first few times Cabela’s called she asked if they need to talk about moving out here (Sidney) and at first Aaron said no.

“I guess they (Cabela’s) kept calling. He came up one day from his office and said ‘I really want to do this, we need to talk about moving to Sidney, Nebraska,’” she recalled.

But what cinched the move, according to the couple, was the people.

“We came to town, did the interview and everybody was amazing, from the very first people we met at the hotel, the schools, the grocery stores, the people were just amazing. They were so welcoming and helpful,” she said.

“And this is a small town like we are used to,” Mr. Barnes added.

Mrs. Barnes said due to her husband’s personality she was not surprised he wanted to run for a seat on City Council.

“He had talked to some people about it and so when he said he was going to do it, it fit right in with his personality,” she said. “He’s so enthusiastic and busy and let’s do it, let’s get it done, let’s get involved.”

“And make a difference,” Barnes added.

When the decision was made for Aaron to run, Mrs. Barnes said she didn’t push him in either direction, but supported his endeavor.

She said, “I think in everything we do, in our family, we all kind of rally, as a couple and a family, and find our role in it. I would like to think I helped.”

The couple also said major decisions made for and in the family are discussed before taking the leap, which creates a good balance in their relationship.

According to the Barnes mom wasn’t the only one campaigning for Aaron by talking to friends and putting out signs, the children were just as excited and supported their father by wearing ‘Vote for Barnes’ t-shirts to school.

“When we started out we discussed walking in the (Oktoberfest) parade, the kids were really excited and were going to build a float,” Mr. Barnes said, “and then we were told politicians were not allowed in the parade.”

According to Barnes it was a bit disappointing for the children and across the board for the campaign.

Meriah admitted she was not sure as to how his new position, on City Council, will affect her, “He’s been going to meetings for a couple months, so he’s gone on Tuesday nights once or twice a month. But right now we don’t know. We do a lot with his team at work so I just imagine it will be something else like that. We do a lot of dinners and have people over, but I’m not sure yet.”

As far as what she would like to see her husband accomplish in the next two years as a Councilman,she said, “That would be a better question to ask in a year or six months from now, when I understand the capacity of City Council.”

Nonetheless, Mariah said she is very happy that he was elected to the council.

“We are excited to see what it brings. We get to meet new people and get to see a different side of the town, from a different view,” Mrs. Barnes said.

When asked if Aaron would take Meriah’s input he said, “Absolutely. My success in life comes a lot from her. She is very intelligent, has seen a lot and has very good input.”