Stories from Monday, November 29, 2004

It's time once again for some brief thoughts about things going on around us instead of long thoughts about one particular thing. * Something happened at the Nebraska-OU game last Saturday night that left Adam Merritt, a member of the Oklahoma spirit group called the RufNeks, unconscious and missing two teeth. ...

OMAHA -- Todd and Tracy Anderjaska of Hastings announce the birth of their triplets, Connor James, Shyann Eileen and Caden Thomas, Sept. 26, 2004, at the University Medical Center in Omaha. Connor weighed 2 pounds, 2 ounces and was 15 inches long; Shyann weighed 2 pounds and 1 ounce and was 14 inches long; and Caden weighed 2 pounds and was 12 inches long. ...

ATWOOD -- Heather R. Chance and Jeffrey D. Hawpe, both of Salina, Kan., were united in marriage Sept. 4, 2004, at the Chance family farm near Atwood with the Rev. David Cooper of Wichita officiating. Parents of the couple are Tom and Vicki Chance of Atwood and Francis and Jannice Hawpe of Hays, Kan. Grandparents of the bride are Alberta Chance of St. Francis and Ann Pittsinger of Lakewood, Colo. Grandparents of the bridegroom are Jane McBroom of Scott City, Kan. and Don Lewis of Salina...

CASTLE ROCK, Colo. -- Melissa Ann Kerr and Eli Emil Frick were united in marriage June 26, 2004, at Castle Rock Church of Christ in Castle Rock, Colo., with the Rev. Mike Roth officiating. Parents of the couple are Bob and Tammy Kerr of Indianola and David and Norma Frick of Navarre, Fla. Grandparents of the couple are Maurice and Wava Lee Couse of McCook, the late Odell and Dorothy Hartwell and Alberta Cagle of Michigan...

The family of Lewis and LaVeda McFarland is hosting a card shower in honor of the couple's 50th anniversary, Dec. 4. The couple married in 1954 at the Methodist Church Parsonage in Cambridge. They have one son, Dennis and wife, Linda of McCook. They have two grandchildren. Cards of congratulations will reach the couple at 1106 West L Street, McCook, NE 69001...

Jamie Harris and Landon Lemburg, both of Grand Island, announce their engagement and upcoming wedding. Parents of the couple are Jim Harris of Imperial, Lisa Harris of Wauneta and Warren and Jan Lemburg of Shelton. The bride-to-be is a 2003 graduate of Wauneta Palisade High School and is enrolled at Central Community College in the nursing program. ...

The family of Bob Felker Sr., of McCook is hosting a card shower in honor of his 75th birthday, Dec. 4. His family includes his wife, Kathy; two sons, Scott Felker of McCook and Bob Jr., of Rochester, Minn.; and one grandson. Cards will reach him at Box 414, McCook, NE 69001...

July 15, 1917-Nov. 25, 2004 McDONALD, Kan. -- Elmer Burke Cooper, 87, died Thursday (Nov. 25, 2004) at Cheyenne County Hospital in St. Francis, Kan. He was born July 15, 1917, in rural Rawlins County to Clermon Chester and Gertie (Bentz) Cooper. On June 15, 1947, he married Lova Berdes Fisher...

April 6, 1937-Nov. 27, 2004 HERNDON -- Gary Gene Soderlund, 67, died Saturday (Nov. 27, 2004) at the Decatur County Hospital in Oberlin. He was born April 6, 1937, at Kanona, Kan., to Frank and Doretta (Butler) Soderlund. He was raised in Decatur County, attended Kanona Grade School and Decatur Community High School. He graduated in 1955...

Aug. 1, 1910-Nov. 26, 2004 Velma Evelyn Matz, 94, died Friday (Nov. 26, 2004) at the Good Samaritan Care Center in Syracuse. She was 94 years old. She was born on Aug. 1, 1910, to Allen Henry and Vevia C. (Turner) Poush at Memphis. She grew up in Cambridge and attended Cambridge Public Schools. She came to McCook in 1941 and was employed at Woolworth's and Schuering's Bakery...

Dec. 23, 1945-Nov. 26, 2005 Paul Dean Miner, 68, died Friday (Nov. 26, 2004) at Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney. He was born Dec. 23, 1935, to Cecil Thompson and Mary Etta (Stitzel) Miner on the family farm south of Cambridge. He attended school in Wilsonville...

Tad and Stacy (Clapp) Peters of Republic, Mo., announce the birth of a son, Avery Robert Peters. He was born Aug. 24, 2004, and weighed 9 pounds, 2 ounces. He was a Thanksgiving guest of his great-grandmother, Audrey Troester of McCook. He also is the grandson of the late Robert and Donna (Tines) Clapp...

Every month, we come away impressed with the activities which are taking place in the communities of the Golden Plains. Since starting in Cambridge in August, the Gazette has also traveled to Palisade, Maywood and Benkelman in the Community Spotlight series...

Whether you have a few dollars to spend or many thousands, intriguing gift ideas await you in the stores of McCook and the Golden Plains. For proof, check out the Gift Guides which which will be appearing weekly in the Gazette throughout the Christmas shopping season...

On a chilly but bearable night, the McCook Bison had just taken the lead with little time left in the game in pursuit of their unprecedented third state championship in a row at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska. After swapping high fives with my son, Will, who was at the game with me, I pulled out my cell phone and called my other son, Michael, who's attending college in Arkansas. ...

**Dear Editor, I would say it was time you hired mature adults in your school system (""Art exhibit causes controversy"). Anyone who sees anything salacious in this painting is no more grown up than the giggling first graders. **Dr. Geo. Strassler Neligh...

**Dear Editor, Hey Mitch Markussen, we are embarrassed that you call yourself a Nebraskan ("Veil the Venus?"). Please stop doing that. We don't need the knee-jerk reaction to what Kathy Latta did. Big deal, move on. **Jon Stewart, via e-mail

**Dear Editors, For any of those who care to know the whole story, the following is what sparked my charge of censorship concerning the current Sheldon art show: On my own time on a Saturday afternoon, I visited the art exhibit at The High Plains Museum. ...

**Dear Editors, On Saturday, Nov. 20, I sat and watched the Class B football playoffs on PBS and I was never so proud as I was that night to have grown up in McCook. There were no losers that night, for the McCook boys played the finest game of football I have ever watched. I'm not a sports fan, but I have children and grandchildren, so I've watched a lot of football over the years. I honestly have to say, this was the best game ever...

**Dear Editor, National Farm-City Week, the week leading up the Thanksgiving, celebrates the interdependence of farm and city people, and the need we have for each other. Cities benefit from prosperous rural economy, but suffer when crop prices are low in farm country and drought continues year after year...

Two of the world's best inventions were in high demand yesterday: recliners and elastic, as we sat around Thanksgiving evening rubbing our tummies and stretching our pants to the brink of bursting. But the real excitement comes next week, when we step on the scale and it's up a one, two, six pounds...

If fishing is your passion, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission has provided a great opportunity for a little weekend fun. Because of an overstock of trout at the Rock Creek Fish Hatchery, the Game and Parks Commission released 1,200 trout into the north pond at Barnett Park. The pond is open to fisherman of all ages...

Bill Baumbach hangs one of Indianola's new Christmas wreaths from a light pole on Highway 6&34. Helping on the ground is James Blume. The wreaths are new -- replacing the holiday decorations the community's Mrs. XJaycees stored in the city building, which burned to the ground in March. ...

Two of the utilities that most people take for granted are water and sewer service. Looking back at the old records it seems that these two services have kept the city fathers busy for almost the entire 122-year history of McCook. McCook was founded in 1882, at which time the Lincoln Land Co., the real estate arm of the Burlington Missouri Railroad Co., began to sell lots in the new city...