Also honored will be Fredda Mae Potts Bartenbach of Grand Island, 2008 Merit Mother, and Tonia Mae Nantkes of Utica, Young Mother Representative. The special event in the Warner Chamber will be followed by a luncheon at the Governor's Mansion.

The recognition ceremony will be preceded by a processional honoring past State Mothers, past State Young Mothers, past Merit Mothers and past State and National Presidents.

NMA President Jean Kolterman will preside and members of the Nebraska National Guard will present the colors.

Winners of the annual Nebraska Mothers Association Literature Contest were announced at an awards luncheon at the Community Center in Seward.

First-place awards, $50, were presented to Mary Schlueter of Seward, poetry; Janette Fiala of Bee, short story; and Shelly Nosbisch of Omaha, essay. Receiving second-place awards, $25, were: Elizabeth Ann Bryson of Lincoln, poetry; Sandy Losier of Elkhorn, short story; and Judy Rasmussen of Grand Island, essay. Third-place awards, $10, were presented to Yolanda Bailey of Brainard, poetry; Bobby Jo Lang of Omaha, short story; and Sherry Beth Connot of Chapman, essay.

Manuscripts of first- and second-place winners in each category were sent to the American Mothers Inc. Literature Contest. Winners will be announced at the National AMI Convention in Lincoln.

Winners for the NMA Art Contest have been sent to the AMI Art Contest to be judged on the national level. The photography winner was Ellen Chaffin of Seward; the sculpture winner was Sondra Jonson of Cambridge; and the craft winner was Sandra Smetter of Beaver Crossing.

The winners of the 2008 Essay Contest for fifth-grade students in Nebraska, sponsored by Nebraska Mothers Association, will be honored at the annual Recognition Day Friday at the Capitol.

Students were asked to write an essay of 150 words or less on the topic, "What My Mother Means to Me."

The winners will receive plaques and roses and the essays of the first three place winners were entered in the national competition sponsored by American Mothers Inc.

Vikki Gremel of Seward was coordinator for the contest, which received more than 300 entries from fifth-graders statewide.