Stories from Monday, November 11, 2002

Dixie Stock's entry, "See what I found!" (above) took first place in the October "People, Pets & Places" photo contest, netting the Culbertson woman $50. Ervin Bailey's "Painted Prairie," (below, right) took second place and $35. Bailey lives in McCook. Another McCook man, Dale Schrader, took the third-place prize of $15 with "Beautiful Falls."...

LINCOLN -- Jolene Collins and Daniel Troester were united in marriage Oct. 19, 2002, at the First Plymouth Congregational Church in Lincoln with Rev. Matt Geiger officiating. Parents of the couple are Tim and Jackie Collins of Meadowgrove and Bill and Rae Troester of Greeley, Colo...

INDIANOLA -- Brenda Kay Crocker and Robert Jacob McConville were united in marriage Sept. 7, 2002, at St. Catherine's Catholic Church in Indianola with the Rev. Nicholas Baker officiating. Parents of the couple are Bill and Laurie Crocker and Bob and Cindy McConville, all of Indianola...

NORTH PLATTE -- Dusty Dawn Owens and Eric Wayne Coulter, both of North Platte, were united in marriage Aug. 31, 2002, in an outdoor ceremony at the Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park in North Platte with the Rev. Allen Hodges officiating. Parents of the couple are Larry and Marcia Owens of Curtis and Lynn and Teresa Coulter of Ravenna...

CANCUN, Mexico -- Cassandra Green and Mark Harrison were united in marriage Oct. 17, 2002, in Cancun, Mexico. Parents of the couple are Bev and Mike Green of McCook, Gordon and Kathy Hatfield of Cleveland, Ohio, and John and Liz Harrison of Macclesfield, England...

INDIANOLA -- Cindy Marie Crocker and Kurt Louis Van Den Hemel, both of Lincoln, were united in marriage on July 20, 2002, at St. Catherine's Catholic Church in Indianola with the Rev. Nicholas Baker officiating. Parents of the couple are Bill and Lorie Crocker of Indianola and Francis and Barbara Van Den Hemel of Lincoln...

Chad and Amy (Vontz) Kehler of McCook announce the birth of a daughter, Emma Jo, born Wednesday (Nov. 6, 2002). She weighed 5 pounds, 15 ounces. Grandparents are Tom and Mary Vontz, Char Goodwin and the late Michael Kehler all of McCook.

OMAHA -- Chris and Mackenzie (Vontz) Wiemers of Omaha announce the birth of a daughter, Malainey Marie, born Tuesday (Nov. 5, 2002). She weighed 5 pounds, 14 ounces and has a sister Morgan, age 6, and a brother Cameron, age 2. Grandparents are Tom and Mary Vontz of McCook and Gene and Delores Wiemers of Ewing...

Ryan and Trisha Lavery of McCook announce the birth of a daughter, Erica Ruth, born Monday (Oct. 28, 2002). She weighed 6 pounds, 13.4 ounces. Grandparents are Lloyd Lavery, Judy Peterson and Jerry Peterson of McCook. Great-grandparents are Ethel Peterson, Murl and Bethine Lavery and Duane Imel all of McCook...

Never, ever will we be able to adequately honor the veterans of military service. They have given so much ... so very, very much ... to make this land free for you and me and all who follow. We will have ceremonies today throughout America -- including programs in Southwest Nebraska and Northwest Kansas -- but they cannot possibly express the enormity of the veterans' sacrifices; nor the fullness of our gratitude...

Dear Editor: Awesome, stupendous, strong and beautiful! How can one truly describe the performance of the Russian State Chorus? Forty professional vocalists, possibly the best artists in all of Russia, performed in front of a full house at the Fox Theatre in McCook Friday night. Sponsored by the McCook Concert Association and Hershberger Music Company, the performance had to be the very best to come to this area in many years...

To the McCook Concert Association: Thank your for the Russian State Chorus. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Bob Ray McCook

Think of McCook, and as often as not, you'll picture in your mind a building of one type or other. If you have an interest in architecture, you'll think of the home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, well-kept and lovingly restored by owners Van and Janet Korell...

LINCOLN -- Lisa Marie Stelmach and Nicholas Kurt Weber were united in marriage on July 13, 2002, at American Lutheran Church in Lincoln. Parents of the couple are Leonard and Lois Stelmach of Lincoln and Paul and Peg Weber of Firth. The bride is the granddaughter of Ike and Bernadine Malcolm of McCook and the late Leonard Stelmach, Sr...

LEOVILLE, Kan. -- Therese Anne Newman and Jason Thomas Cook were united in marriage on June 22, 2002, at Immaculate Conception Church in Leoville, Kan., with the Rev. Galen Long officiating. Parents of the couple are Gary and Betty Newman of Hoxie and Tom Cook and Laura Cook of Colby...

STRATTON -- The family of Leland Dicke is hosting an open house in honor of his 80th birthday Nov. 16, 2-4 p.m., at the Grandview Senior Center in Stratton. Cards of congratulations will reach him at P.O. Box 133, Stratton, NE 69043.

Three state offices, including one in McCook, will be closed and moved to Omaha by Jan. 30, 2002. Frank Lloyd, state director of the Vocation Rehabilitation Services has announced that satellite offices in McCook, O'Neill and Chadron, are being closed and moved to metropolitan Omaha, where they are most needed...

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but at times, that same picture can evoke just as many memories. Such was the case for George Dragan of Aurora, Colo. Dragan was in town with Lila Brasher, mother of Terri Krier of McCook, during the annual McCook Heritage Days Celebration and McCook Army Airbase Reunion...

McCook Junior High students remembered and honored American veterans -- living and dead, those who served in times of war and times of peace -- during a Veterans' Day program today at the junior high. President George Bush, in a message shared with students across the nation, encouraged them to "look to our veterans for their example of courage and sacrifice."...

On Friday evening, some 550 members of the McCook Concert Association filled the main floor and part of the balcony of the Fox Theater to hear a concert by the 45-voice Russian State Chorus, which was equally divided between men and women. This was a concert which those people will never forget! I know, because some 60 years ago, I heard the "Don Cossacks," an all-male choir from Russia. ...

LINCOLN -- Eustis and Maywood won awards for "Best Overall Community Development," Population 640 and less, in the 2002 Nebraska Community Improvement Program. The two communities, along with Frontier and Hayes counties, were winners in others categories as well...

DANBURY -- The Danbury Presbyterian Church is having a pancake supper Sunday, 5-7 p.m. A free-will donation will be taken.

If all goes as planned, the name issue which has plagued Nebraska's oldest junior college will be solved at the regular meeting of the Mid-Plains Board of Governors, Wednesday, 6:30 p.m. at True Hall Gymnasium at McCook College. In additon to the name change issue, the board will be asked to approve the search for a McCook business, computer and economics instuctor and the hire of a Dean of Community Services to replace Judy Haney who retired earlier this year...

ATWOOD -- The sons and their families of Ernest and Betty Jean Wicke are hosting a potluck supper and barbecue and western dance in honor of the couple's 50th wedding anniversary Nov. 16, beginning at 4 p.m., at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Atwood. The couple were married Nov. 16, 1952, at the Trinity Lutheran Church in Ludell. Cards of congratulations will reach them at RR 1 Box 25, Ludell, KS 67744...

Mary Wilkinson and Jake Brunick announce their engagement and upcoming wedding. Parents of the couple are Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Wilkinson of Atwood and the late Dale and Mae Brunick of South Dakota. The bride-to-be earned her doctorate degree from Cleveland Chiropractic College in Kansas City, Mo. ...

The Community Hospital Association elected three directors to its board and passed a resolution to ratify the USDA Rural Development financing for the Medical Office Building now under construction, at its annual meeting on Tuesday. Elected to three-year terms as Community Hospital board of directors were Peg Brooks, a consulting registered dietitian, Jeff Shaddock, investment adviser with McCook National Bank, and Barb Wiemers, who, with her husband, Gary, owns and operates Garrison's for Men, Gary's Country Peddler and McCook Lettering.. ...

McCook Public Schools' board of education members and the public are invited to tour the new modular classrooms at North Ward before the monthly board meeting Tuesday. The tours are scheduled from 4:30 p.m. until 5:20 p.m., followed by a presentation by the Centralaires Singing Group at 5:30 p.m. in the high school band room...

Forty years ago, Frank Morrison was running for Nebraska governor, Don Thompson for state Legislature and Asa Wolf for county school superintendent. And Joan Sides of Indianola started what would be a 40-year stint on a Red Willow County election board...

John Cordeal was a very active citizen in McCook and in the state of Nebraska in the first third of the last century, yet it is what he wrote about the early history of McCook and Red Willow County for which he is best remembered. John Cordeal was an important figure in McCook's early history. He was born in Illinois to Sylvester and Martha Cordeal, in 1873...

Capt. W.E. Grubb, the man in charge of construction at the McCook Air Base project conferred with McCook Junior College officials to see if they could find ways that the college students could work on the project before cold weather set in. The college actually closed for two weeks to permit most of the 55 men students to accept temporary jobs on the McCook Air Base. ...

Every election cycle the same outrage is heard from the public. "There's too much negative campaigning, too many negative ads, too many attack ads. Why don't people run on their own merits rather than attacking and trying to assassinate the character of their opponents?"...

HASTINGS -- Dora V. Gundlach, 80, died Thursday (Nov. 7, 2002) at her home. She was born Feb. 14, 1922, to Willard and Maude (Cunningham) Nicholson in Lamar. She graduated from Palisade High School. On Oct. 6, 1944, she married Walter J. Gundlach. She worked for the Palisade Times as a linotypist. During World War II, she worked on the ships in Tacoma, Wash. In 1952, she moved from Chicago, Ill., to Hastings. She was a homemaker...

Raymond Warren Drain was born in McCook, Red Willow County, Nebraska, on his father's birthday, July 13, 1920. He was the son of Joseph Samuel and Sylvia Jane (Heskett) Drain and he had one sister, Ruth Klocke and two brothers, Elmer (Buster) and Merwin. Raymond had been suffering with the affects of several strokes and pancreatic cancer in the past year and he passed away Friday at 2 a.m., at the age of 82 years, 3 months, and 26 days of age at Hillcrest Nursing Home in McCook...