Stories from Thursday, April 28, 2011

Do you have someone who lives in areas struck by storms Wednesday night? Do you live there yourself? Share your story with here, e-mail editor@mccookgazette.com or call (308) 345-4500.

July 11, 1924-April 24, 2011 ELWOOD, Nebraska -- Evelyn Louise Fox, 86, died Sunday (April 24, 2011) at Tri County Hospital in Lexington, Nebraska. She was born July 11, 1924, near Plato, Iowa to Charles and Minnie (Parsons) Taylor. Her elementary years were spent in country schools. She attended high school in Tipton, Iowa. After graduation she went on to Iowa State College in Ames, Iowa. She graduated from college with a bachelor's degree in home economics education...

NORTHGLENN, Colorado -- Jerald "Jerry" L. Wickard, 53, died April 14, 2011, at his residence. He was born to Ted L. Wickard of McCook, Nebraska and Helen Rose (Neiling) Wickard of Findlay, Ohio. On July 4, 1990, he married Vickie Johnston in Grand Junction, Colorado...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- The smaller communities of Nebraska need to find ways to band together and better support each other in the face of a rapidly changing political and economic landscape, according to State Sen. Mark Christensen. He told members of the McCook Area Chamber of Commerce, during his weekly conference call Thursday morning at the Keystone Business Center, that smaller communities needed to unify on topics and stop fighting only as individual entities with solely their own community in mind.. ...

McCOOK, Nebraska -- The cause of a fire in a McCook, Nebraska, home early Wednesday morning remains undetermined after an investigation by McCook Fire Department personnel and a Nebraska state fire marshal investigator. The home of Douglas Wasia at 909 E. Sixth sustained about $25,000 in structural damages and $10,000 to the contents. One person, unidentified by the McCook Fire Department, was transported to Community Hospital of McCook with non-life-threatening injuries...

More reminders of the power of nature as massive storms roared through the central, south and eastern United States, with the death toll above 200 in six states and climbing as the morning goes along. Thanks to our Web site and Facebook page, the Gazette was already receiving personalized reports from readers with relatives in the affected area, proving once again that it truly is a small world...

Speaking of constellations, have you ever heard of the "dueling" constellations? OK Sherman, set the "Way Back" machine for ancient Greece when all the mythology about constellations was just getting started. Seems there was this great hunter who boasted he was the best hunter in all the world and could kill anything he came across...

Christians in McCook and around the world celebrated Good Friday and Easter last week. Good Friday worship services in my church and, most likely, in other churches in McCook Friday evening have a portion of the service during which there is somber silence as we commemorate the death of Jesus Christ on the cross...

What is your first memory of your mother? I was about three. Ahhh, the warm, safe, secure feeling of being wrapped in a blanket watching Mom make breakfast for Dad in the cold dark mornings of the winter of '58, failing asleep, then miraculously awakening a few hours later in my bed...

One bad inning in each game doomed the McCook Community College baseball team in two straight losses. The Indians dropped a 6-3, nine-inning decision to Northeastern (Colorado) Junior College in a key Empire League contest Wednesday, April 27, at the Jaycees Sports Complex. Northeastern scored four runs in the top of the seventh inning to break a scoreless tie...

Sept. 30, 1913-April 26, 2011 HAYES CENTER, Nebraska -- Always with a ready smile and a positive attitude, Freida passed away peacefully at the Good Samaritan Nursing Home in Superior, Nebraska. She grew up in the Culbertson, Nebraska Community and graduated from Culbertson High School in 1931. ...