Stories from Monday, May 19, 2008

Melissa Godfrey of North Platte and Cody Monzon of Blair announce their engagement and upcoming wedding. Parents of the couple are Craig and Kathy Godfrey of North Platte and Scott and Terri Monzon of Blair. The prospective bridegroom's grandparents are Bonnie Monzon of McCook and the late Pete Monzon...

Allyx Nichole Shields and Dillon Reid Garretson announce their engagement and upcoming wedding. Parents of the couple are Tom and Cindy Shields of McCook and Janet Garretson of Aurora, Colo. The bride-to-be is majoring in radiology at Southeast Community College in Lincoln. The prospective bridegroom is an active duty U.S. Marine going through recon training in San Diego, Calif...

The family of Bud and Millie Luebbers formerly of McCook, of Castle Rock, Colo., is hosting a card shower in honor of their 60th wedding anniversary. They were married May 22, 1948, in Aurora, Colo. Children of the couple are Kent and Cindy Luebbers of Hastings and Neal and Donna Luebbers and Brian and Cathy Luebbers, all of Castle Rock. They have seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Cards of congratulations will reach the couple at 453 Oakwood Dr. Apt. 4, Castle Rock CO 80104...

The family of Darrel and Eula (Holtze) Brown of Beaver City is hosting a card shower and open house in honor of the couple's 60th wedding anniversary. They were married May 23, 1948, at the Christian Church in Wilsonville. Children of the couple are David and Nancy Brown of Beaver City; Randy and Mary Brown of Beaver City; Larry and Brenda (Brown) Lambert of Albion; Robert and Connie Brown of Omaha; and Rebecca Brown of Omaha. ...

The family of Dorothy Johnson of McCook is hosting a card shower in honor of her 80th birthday. She was born on May 25, 1928. Her children are Dave and Sandy Doss of Johnson Lake, Craig and Ruth Johnson of Lincoln and Dave and Pam Ross of Monroe, Ga. She has nine grandchildren and two great grandchildren. Cards of congratulations will reach her at 505 Park Avenue, McCook...

The family of Seth and Vonna (Hardy) Ragan of Stratton is hosting a card shower in honor of the couple's 60th wedding anniversary. They were married May 23, 1948, in Stratton. Children of the couple are Elizabeth and Terry Burr of Wichita, Kan.; Larry and Gail Ragan of Elizabeth, Colo.; Connie and Dennis Renfro of Stratton; Deborah and Denis League of Stratton; and Linda and Mark Schinnerer of Carlsbad, N.M. ...

The family of Jerry and Cheri (Myers) Beckenhauer of McCook are hosting an open house and card shower in honor of the couple's 40th wedding anniversary. They were married May 25, 1968, in McCook. Children of the couple are Mike and Lynette Holloway of Papillion, Scott and Michalene Beckenhauer of Bellevue and Daniel and Lisa Pomajzl of Seward. ...

The family of Ron and Pat (Knapp) DeWester are requesting a card shower in honor of their 60th wedding anniversary. They were married on May 24, 1948, in Benkelman. Their children are Mary Jo and Dean Howard of Palisade, Barbara Jean Blecha of Omaha, Gay DeWester and John Knape of Omaha and Dick and Julie DeWester of Benkelman. Cards of congratulations will reach them at 702 B Street, Benkelman NE 69021...

Sean and Katrina Baker of McCook announce the birth of their son, Tysen Cade Baker on March 15, 2008, at Community Hospital in McCook. He weighed 8 pounds, 3.2 ounces and was 21 3/4 inches long. His grandparents are Jim Nolan of Saint Joseph, Mo., Chuck and Betty Vette and Randy and Karen Baker, all of Wauneta and Kathleen Baker of Pawhuska, Okla...

The children of Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Foster of Holbrook are hosting an open house to celebrate the couple's 40th wedding anniversary on Saturday, May 24, 2008, from 2 to 5 p.m., at the Holbrook Community Building. Cards of congratulations will reach the couple at 113 Putnam Ave., Holbrook NE 68948...

Marie Colling and Martin Kipper of Lincoln announce their engagement and upcoming wedding. Parents of the couple are David and Emma Jean Colling of McCook, Gary Kipper of Lincoln and Randy and Theresa Polkinghorn of Lincoln. The bride-to-be is a 2006 graduate from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and is employed at Runza. The prospective bridegroom works at Art FX Screenprinting and Embroidery...

Melody and Jeremy Heskett of Upland announce the birth of their son, Caleb Martin Heskett on April 28, 2008, at Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney. He weighed 8 pounds, 14 ounces and was 21 inches long. His grandparents are Merrit and Susan Nelms of Indianola and David and Judy Heskett of Culbertson. Great-grandparents are Max and Dona Nelms of Bartley and the late Lonnie and Lorraine Morosic...

The friends of Ruth Leopold are hosting a card shower in honor of her 88th birthday on May 26, 2008. Cards of congratulations will reach her at Cedar Living Center, 810 West Columbia, Room 501A, Oberlin KS 67749.

Horses ran in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs this earlier this month, on the first Saturday in May, as it has for the last 133 years. But this year, for the first time in many years, the Derby was run without one of its biggest fans -- McCook's Flora Dutcher, age 100, passed away just days before the occurrence of one of her favorite events...

If you're not already worried enough about the retirement of the Baby Boom generation, there's a new issue of concern. Just as many of us may require more medical care, Nebraska is facing a shortage of health care workers. You see, many of them are Baby Boomers themselves...

BRASELTON, Ga. --The Nebraska Wesleyan men's golf team saved their best round for the final day as the Prairie Wolves shot a team score of 301 to finish in 20th place at the 2008 NCAA Division III Championships at Chateau Elan Resort in Braselton, Ga...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Ben Kline had a pair of hits and drove in two runs, but No. 5 Nebraska was unable to salvage the series finale, falling at No. 12 Missouri 7-3 Sunday afternoon. Kline led the Huskers (39-12-1, 17-9-1 Big 12) by going 2-for-4 and driving in a pair of runs for his seventh multi-RBI performance of the year, while Jake Opitz had three of the Huskers' six hits on the afternoon...

OMAHA -- The McCook High School boys track team, led by senior Sam Frazier's first-place performance in the discus, tied for 22nd place in Nebraska Class B at the state meet with 12 points. Frazier's first-place toss was 154 feet. "We didn't do as well as we had hoped at the state track meet," said McCook boys co-coach Tom Sughroue...

Sept. 26, 1956 - May 16, 2008 OBERLIN -- LaRetta G. Brewer, 51, died Friday (May 16, 2008) at her home in Oberlin. She was born Sept. 26, 1956, in Grant to Milo and Margie (Clark) Rowley. She grew up in Grant and attended Grant Elementary School. She graduated from Perkins County High School...

Jan. 9, 1952 - May 16, 2008 Jennifer Lynn Boyd died Friday, May 16, 2008, at Hillcrest Nursing Home in McCook. She was 56 years old. Jennifer was born Jan. 9, 1952, in Nelson, Neb., to Wilford and Marrianne (Sole) Stineman. She graduated from Nelson High School in 1970. She continued her education at the Denver School of Business. In May of 2002, she graduated from McCook Community College with an Associates Degree...

June 13, 1984 - May 16, 2008 TRENTON -- Dustin Earl Wertz, died Friday, May 16, 2008, at Ellis, Kan., at the age of 23 years, due to an automobile accident. He was born June 13, 1984, at Waco, Texas, the son of Ronald and Gail (Scott) Wertz. Dustin grew up on the family farm east of Trenton, Neb., and graduated from Lakeside Central High School in 2003...

Movie Review - Prince Caspian Starring Ben Barnes, William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Georgie Henley, and Peter Dinklage Rated PG for epic battle action and violence. As I said in the pre-review, this particular movie is a sequel to the previous flick in the Narnia series, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. Both movies are based on books in the Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis. The main four children actors/actresses are back in there main roles and thus the movie begins...

Richard and Delores Stahly are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary with an open house. The open house will be May 25, 2008, from 2 - 4 p.m., at the Grandview Retirement Center at 903 Bailey St. in Stratton. Cards of congratulations will reach the couple at 35512 Rd 704, Stratton NE 69043...

Many times, when a driver takes an A Feature victory, people usually ask if that driver can back it up with another win. At McCook Speedway Friday night, four drivers were able to do just that, back up their feature wins from April. Nick Tubbs of Colby, Mikey Dancer of North Platte, Max Pollmann of Trenton and Dalton Dolan of Oberlin were able to perform the feat...

The family of Freda Olson requests a card shower in honor of her 97th birthday on May 24. Freda was a county clerk in Red Willow County for many years. Cards of congratulations will reach her at Lakeview 1405 West Highway 34, Grand Island NE 68801...

Firefighters spray water on a fire at 1507 E. Fairacres this morning while preparing for their next move.Three of the four apartments in the structure were occupied, but everyone apparently got out safely. Two state fire marshals were on their way to investigate the blaze, and the American Red Cross was expected to provide shelter to the renters. The same complex was seriously damaged by a small tornado about 11 years ago...