Stories from Monday, April 12, 2004

June 1, 1936-April 10, 2004 KEARNEY -- Rochella M. Roberts, 67, died Saturday (April 10, 2004) at Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney. She was born June 1, 1936, to Clifford and Lena V. (Sayer) Fichtner in Cambridge. She graduated from Cambridge High School in 1955. She attended McCook Community College, Mary Lanning School of Nursing and she later graduated from Kearney State Teachers College in 1962 with a degree in education. She taught in Eustis, Kimball and Grant...

Aug. 20, 1919-April 7, 2004 CLAYTON, Kan.  -- Evelyn E. Shaw, 84, died Wednesday (April 7, 2004) at her daughter's home in Clayton, Kan. She was born Aug. 20, 1919, to John Paul and Agnes Mary (Heagney) Slaven in Selden. She was raised in Prairie Dog Township in rural Selden and graduated from Selden High School...

The family of Fran Broz is hosting an open house in honor of his 80th birthday April 17, at the Knights of Columbus Hall in McCook. A polka Mass is at 6 p.m., followed by a reception and dance. Cards of congratulations will reach him at 305 East I Street, McCook, NE 69001...

The family of Sam Walkington is hosting a card shower in honor of his 85th birthday, April 16. Cards of congratulations will reach him at Willow Ridge, Apt. 32, 1500 East 11th Street, McCook, NE 69001.

The family of Audrey Troester is hosting a card shower in honor of her 90th birthday, April 18. She was born in 1914 in Bartley. Her children are Joe Tines of Fremont and the late Donna Clapp. She has eight grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild. Cards of congratulations will reach her at 503 North Cherokee in McCook...

Lena Kolbet and Albert Perez, both of Lincoln, announce their engagement and upcoming wedding. Parents of the couple are Kenneth and Elaine Kolbet of Culbertson and Alberto and Flora Perez of West Harrison, N.Y. The bride-to-be is employed with Von Maur in Lincoln and the prospective bridegroom is employed with Lincoln Benefit Life in Lincoln. The couple is planning a May 21, 2004, ceremony in St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Lincoln...

Renelle Dawn Moore and Bradlee Conrad Hartzog, both of Holdrege, announce their engagement and upcoming wedding. Parents of the couple are David and Marilyn Moore of Oxford and Michael and Barbara Hartzog of Orleans. Harold and Marian Moore of Bartley are grandparents of the bride-to-be. ...

Sarah Harrison and Josh Krueger, both of Seward, announce their engagement and upcoming wedding. Parents of the couple are Don and Carey Harrison of Stratton and Gerry and Sherri Krueger of Pierce. Grandparents of the bride-to-be are Erwin and Joyce Cushing of Stratton and Donald and Fredora Harrison of Clinton, Oklahoma. ...

Gina Huffaker and Eric Lanik of Ceresco announce their engagement and upcoming wedding. Parents of the couple are Jody and Galen Curtis of Omaha, Chuck Huffaker of Gilbert, Ariz., Beckie Lanik of Lincoln and Frank Lanik of Ceresco. The bride-to-be is a graduate of McCook High School. ...

Anglers can still take full advantage of the fishing opportunities at area reservoirs, despite the receding shorelines. However, unless the drought ends this years it appears that area irrigators won't be as lucky. According to reports from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, three of the four area reservoirs have seen a slight increase in acre feet since the same time last year, but they still fall well below the historical average (see chart)...

The family of LaVern and Velma Schneider of McCook is hosting a card shower in honor of the couple's 60th anniversary, April 20. They were married in 1944 at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in McCook. Their children are Dennis and wife, Barbara Schneider of Lincoln, Jim and wife, Nancy Schneider of North Platte and Donna and husband, Jeff Monroe of Littleton, Colo. ...

Bob Chalupa pushes snow off a parking lot in McCook this morning. The very moist snow was a welcome sight, although landscapers and gardeners are wondering about the fate of trees, bushes and flowers that already leafed and blossomed in unseasonably warm weather. (Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Daily Gazette)...

While still mightily engaged in conducting Northern affairs during the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln turned his attention to the part of our country that was then referred to as "The Great American Desert." Lincoln proposed, to encourage settlement of the Great Plains, that citizens could receive 160 acres of land from the government by paying a $10 filing fee. ...

ATWOOD -- The legacy of Barbara Creighton may well be children who love to read as much as she did. Barbara Creighton's family has created "The Barbara Creighton Reading Fund," to encourage parents to read to their young children and to instill a love of reading in those same children...

Think about the word "hometown." It's a special word ... one which inspires feelings of peace and comfort. And no wonder. Two of the most important basics in community living -- home and town -- are combined in the heartwarming term we use to tell where our home is...

**Dear Editor, Encloses is a copy of a letter I received on Good Friday. In a letter to the editor of the Gazette on Dec. 3, 2003, Tim Butz, the executive director of the ACLU Nebraska, stated "... the ACLU represented him (Col. North) in overturning his conviction in the Iran Contra affair."...