Stories from Monday, September 30, 2002

The Saggy Bottom Boys (top), Indiana Mike Adams (middle) and Cactus Chris Buethe were among the entertainment at the first Cowboy Poets Jamboree, on the opening night of the annual Heritage Days celebration. Other highlights of the event include Saturday's parade at 9:30 a.m., banshell entertainment all afternoon, and the continued visit of the Commemorative Air Force's B-29 and B-24 at the McCook Municipal Airport through Sunday, in connection with the McCook Army Air Base reunion...

What a great day it's going to be for celebrating in the Golden Plains! With mostly sunny skies forecast and temperatures expected to climb into the 70s, it will be a marvelous day to join communities across the area in observing their special days...

Celebration-wise, it was the kind of weekend that had newspaper people and radio personalities stretching their minds in search of appropriate adjectives. We're talking, of course, about the final weekend of September in 2002 when temperatures ranging from the 60s to the 80s provided an awesome background for celebrations in McCook, Hayes Center, Stratton and Atwood...

LINCOLN -- Seri Sandman and Jesse Neal, both of Lincoln, were united in marriage July 27, 2002, at Lincoln Berean Church in Lincoln with Pastor Stan Parker officiating. Parents of the couple are Kirk and Cindy Sandman of Wauneta and Steve and Sharon Neal of North Platte...

Peggy Dinnel of Yuma, Colo., Duane Dinnel of Wauneta, Linda Chadwick of Roanoke and Virginia and Mike Chadwick of Hampton, N.H., announce the engagement and upcoming wedding of their children, Gail and Dirk. The bride-to-be is a 1995 graduate of Winnacunnet High School in Hampton, N.H. ...

Crystal Marie Banzhaf and Terrence Michael Scott, both of Cozad, announce their engagement and upcoming wedding. Parents of the couple are Gaylord and Kathy Smallfoot, Kaye Banzhaf, all of Eustis,the late Randy Banzhaf and Tony and Jeannie Scott of Greeley. ...

Krystal Kay Baney and Shostal Dylan Rogers were united in marriage July 6, 2002, at the Seventh Day Adventist Church in McCook with the Pastor Mike Roth officiating. Parents of the couple are Mary Proctor of Chelsie, Okla., Mike and Tish Campbell of Roseland and Dick and Peggy Rogers of McCook...

The McCook Public Schools board of education will conduct a public hearing and consider setting a tax request of $4.8 million for the 2002-03 budget. The action is part of a special meeting Monday at 5:30 p.m. in the Junior High Conference Room. Also on the agenda will be possible authorization of a trip by the local FFA chapter to travel to the national convention in Louisville, Ky...

U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson began a 40-minute teleconference call he made Thursday by expressing his sympathies to the city of Norfolk. Nelson said he received the news of the five deaths at U.S. Bank in Norfolk shortly after it had happened and had been monitoring the situation throughout the day...

Seventy-seven runners took part in the 2002 United Way Fun Run and 5K Race on Saturday morning. Jeff Thurman won the men's division in the 5K with a time of 19:05, Julie Gillespie won the women's division with 23.47, Scott Pueppka won the fun run with 5:58 and Kayla Newcomb won the women's division with 6:47...

Buffalo Bill Cody (above), the Grand Duke Alexis of Russia, Gen. George Armstrong Custer, Sioux Chief Spotted Tail and Indian scout California Joe remember their adventures hunting buffalo on the great American plains in 1872, during a reenactment Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Camp Hayes northeast of Hayes Center. ...

Beautiful fall weather, great attractions and loyal participation combined to make Heritage Day 2002 a successful event all around. Marie Owen, executive director of the McCook Area Chamber of Commerce expressed gratitude to her staff and the hundreds of other volunteers who helped make the parade, Norris Park activities and the visit of the antique B-24 and B-29 bombers a rousing success...

CULBERTSON -- Florence M. Barth, 80, died Saturday (Sept. 28, 2002) at Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney. She was born Sept. 3, 1922, to Herman Otto and Rosa Henrietta Augusta (Steinke) Redmer at Trenton. She graduated from Trenton High School. On June 22, 1946, she married Willis W. Barth at Garden City, Kan. They farmed north of Culbertson and moved to Culbertson in 1952. They spent their married lives in the Culbertson community...

ATWOOD -- Alice (Collier) Samson, 98, died Saturday (Sept. 28, 2002) at the Lantern Park Manor in Colby, Kan. She was a longtime resident of Rawlins County. Funeral services will be Wednesday, 10 a.m., at the Williams Funeral Home chapel with the Rev. Kent Morgan officiating. Interment will be in the Atwood Fairview Cemetery...

I got hooked on reality television lately; specifically, Big Brother 3. Twelve total strangers were placed in a house together with no televisions, radios, or telephones and each week, one person was voted out of the house. This was done until only two remained, then all of the evictees were invited back to cast the final vote. The winner received $500,000 dollars, the second place finisher $50,000. The other ten got nothing...

If you remember, Buffalo Jones of McCook sold ten head of buffalo to a Mr. Leland in Liverpool, England for a very high price and prepared to deliver them to England himself. Buffalo Jones and his chief hired man, Wayne Boor loaded five pair of full grown buffalo into a stock car at McCook, Nebraska on October 19, 1891. That seemed to be the easy part!...

In 1957 we came to McCook and bought the Harvest Bakery. In addition to the mixers, oven, showcases, and good will that one gets when he buys a going business we also got a baker, Herman (H. H.) Pritchett. He had come to McCook as an airman at the McCook Army Air Base in the '40s. He married a local girl and after the war stayed on in McCook. Herman turned out to be the most valuable asset we acquired...

ARAPAHOE -- Lester John Haussler, 82, died Sunday (Sept. 29, 2002) at the C.A. Mues Good Samaritan Nursing Home in Arapahoe. He was born May 28, 1920, at Fremont and was adopted by Herman C.W. and Marie Sophie E. (Luhman) Haussler. He attended country school near Holbrook...