Stories from Friday, May 13, 2005

GRANT -- The Southern Valley girls 4x800-meter relay team and triple jumper Alyssa Steele placed first at the Nebraska Class C-10 district track meet Thursday at Grant. The girls team placed third in the team standings and the boys came in sixth. Southern Valley's Andrew Winscott placed second in the boys 800...

HASTINGS -- The McCook Bison 14 and Under girls fastpitch softball team placed third at the Hastings Magic Tourney last weekend, posting a 3-3 record. North Platte 5, McCook 1 The game was scoreless until the third inning when North Platte scored 2 runs and added 3 more for the win...

The dog will learn obedience; the handler will learn responsibility. Those are the goals of a new pilot program started by the McCook Humane Society and the Nebraska Work Ethic Camp in McCook. The program, called WEC CARE -- Canine Awareness Rehabilitation and Education -- will match one WEC offender with a shelter dog for four weeks, in the hope the offender will develop self-esteem and the dog will become more adoptable...

The nation's "number one storyteller" from West Virginia, a fiddler from Lubbock, Texas and a singer and teller of Sandhills ranch stories will highlight this year's Buffalo Commons Storytelling Festival. The event is set for McCook June 10-11. The award winning festival will celebrate its ninth year of stories, poetry, honoring its roots through tales of the Golden Plains in McCook, the Storytelling Capital of Nebraska, as Bil Lepp, Amanda Shires, Andy Wilkinson, and Deb Carpenter, share their stories and wisdom.. ...

Despite believing strongly in our system of government, some of us have our doubts about get-out-the-vote efforts. While some see them as a vital, important effort, others wonder: Do we really want people who have to be persuaded to vote to actually go ahead and vote?...

**Dear Editor, A friend of my from Culbertson called me and told me about the article ["McCook Bison 8th grade boys, girls tracksters shatter school records" (http://www .mccookgazette.com/story/1096385.html)] in your May 10 edition about Dillon Goltl, the Junior High boy who broke a 33-year-old record in the pole vault...

**Dear Editor, An old man died this week. Oh, he wasn't from here as he lived just below the boarder in Kansas. He was 91 years old and had no children so his stories will die as many do. Two weeks ago when he called me, his major worry was how many times he was going to go fishing this year...

With only three weeks remaining in the legislative session, tension continues to grow as the days get longer and the evenings get later. The week began with the passing of four bills on Final Reading followed by a discussion over natural gas issues led by Senator Dave Landis. ...

With food, you eat until you feel full, at least most of the time. With clothes, you shop until you can't stuff any more shirts or skirts into the closet, at least most of the time. With animals? Now that's an entirely different story, at least at my house...

(Jan. 19, 1922 - May 12, 2005) CAMBRIDGE -- Joseph "Bob" Brown, 83, died Thursday (May 12, 2005), at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney. He was born near Cambridge on the family farm in Furnas County. He attended Cambridge Elementary School in Cambridge for a short time. His chores of delivering milk in the mornings made it hard to get to school on time, so his parents conceded and let him attend rural school. He graduated from Cambridge High School in 1940...

(April 15, 1931 - May 11, 2005) CAMBRIDGE -- Phyllis Fichtner, 74, died Wednesday (May 12, 2005), at the Cambridge Memorial Hospital. She was born on the family farm in Red Willow County, north of Bartley on April 15, 1931, to Ralph and Virginia (Estergard) Ohlson. She graduated from Cambridge High School in 1948...

(Dec. 7, 1907 - May 12, 2005) OBERLIN -- Rhomine E. Smith, 97, died Thursday (May 12, 2005), at the Decatur County Hospital in Oberlin. He was born Dec. 7, 1907 to Rolly and Ivy (Smith) Bishop in a sod house in Rawlins County. He was raised on a Decatur county farm and attended school in Dresden...

(Dec. 6, 1924 - May 10, 2005) OBERLIN -- Cloyce D. Harold, 80, died Tuesday (May 10, 2005) at the Decatur County Hospital in Oberlin. He was born Dec. 6, 1924, in Dresden to Albert and Vera (Bates) Harold. He was raised on a farm southeast of Oberlin and was a graduate of Decatur Community High School in 1943, and the University of Wisconsin...

(Sept. 22, 1923 - May 9, 2005) BENKELMAN -- Rachel (Sambor) Merklin, 81, died Monday (May 9, 2005), at Bryan LGH-East Hospital in Lincoln. She was born Sept. 22, 1923, on her grandparents' farm outside of Max, N.D. She was raised in Chicago, Ill. On Jan. ...

(Jan. 22, 1953 - May 11, 2005) CULBERTSON -- Bernard "Bernie" Neal Hock died Wednesday, May 11, 2005, at Denver, Colorado. He was 52 years old. Bernie was born on January 22, 1953, at McCook to Leslie L. and Maxine I. (Campbell) Hock. He graduated from McCook High School in 1971...

(July 22, 1918 - May 12, 2005) HOLDREGE -- Lee A. Gerdes, 86, died Thursday (May 12, 2005), at the Christian Homes in Holdrege. He was born July 22, 1918, to Herman and Pearl (Smith) Gerdes on a family farm south of Max in Dundy County. As a young boy, he attended school in Dundy County and later engaged in farming with his father and uncle...

(June 18, 1983 - May 12, 2005) Jeremy Jerome Horkey died Thursday (May 12, 2005), at the Community Hospital of McCook at the age of 21. He was born June 18, 1983, in McCook, the son of Ben and Doris (Nichols) Horkey. He grew up in McCook and attended McCook High School. ...

Mike Garretson, a student at McCook Community College, plays "Taps" as Nebraska State Patrol Sgt. Joel Smith remembers his fallen comrades during the memorial service for fallen law enforcement officers at Karrer Park in McCook on Friday. Gov. Dave Heineman has ordered flags on government agencies, businesses and private homes to be flown at half staff on Sunday in recognition of Peace Officers Memorial Day...

There will be few dry eyes at Sunday afternoon's McCook High School graduation ceremony, set for 2 p.m. at Weiland Field. There will be tears of joy for attaining an important goal, or tears of sadness knowing that the child who just started kindergarten -- can it really be 13 years ago? -- is ready to move on. Or, there will be tears that things will never really be the same for that group of friends we've faced life's experiences with...

Golf season is here again and the first tournaments have already been played. Two weeks ago Jim Lemon and I partnered up in the two-person Fireman's Scramble, held annually at Cross Creek Golf Links in Cambridge. This tournament is hosted by the Cambridge Fire Department. ...