Stories from Monday, December 29, 2008

SCHULTE, Kan. -- Lindsay Champa of Clearwater, Kan., and Ricky Kramer of Atwood were united in marriage Aug. 16, 2008, at the St. Peter Catholic Church in Schulte, Kan. (Wichita) with the Rev. Andy Kuykendall officiating. Parents of the couple are Mike and Lisa Champa of Clearwater and Richard and Kim Kramer of Atwood...

RAVENNA -- Capri Timm of Ravenna and Benjamin Klug of McCook were united in marriage July 26, 2008, in Ravenna with the Revs. Marty Egging and Dr. Jeff Thurman officiating. Parents of the couple are Ann Obermiller of Ravenna and Rick and Pam Klug of McCook. Grandparents of the bride are Slim and Donna Obermiller of Loup City. Grandparents of the bridegroom are Ed and Nilma Ward of Omaha...

Lori Kohlmeier of Trenton and Justin Malleck of McCook announce their engagement and upcoming marriage. Parents of the couple are Robert and Cheryl Hrnchir of Trenton and Scott and Debbie Malleck of McCook. The bride-to-be graduated from Trenton High School and is employed at Michaelis Chiropractic in McCook...

Eric and Katie Sitzman of Lincoln announce the birth of their daughter, Morgan Jane Sitzman on Dec. 9, 2008, at Bryan LGH East. She weighed 7 pounds, 10 ounces and measured 19 3/4 inches long. Her grandparents are Larry and Sally Sitzman of Lincoln, formerly of Culbertson and Tom and Suzi Fischer of Omaha...

The family of Bill Koetter of McCook is hosting an open house in honor of his 80th birthday on Jan. 5, 2009. The open house will be Sunday, Jan. 4, at the Community Building on the Red Willow County fairgrounds in McCook from 12:30-4:30 p.m. Cards will reach him at 403 N. Cherokee, McCook NE 69001...

Jessica McMurtrey and McCallan Chadwick, both of Logan, Utah, announce their engagement and upcoming wedding. Parents of the couple are Brent and Brenda McMurtrey of McCook and Kirk and Leta Chadwick of Ririe, Idaho. The bride-to-be is a 2007 graduate of McCook Senior High School. She is attending Utah State University in Logan, Utah and is working on a Bachelor's degree in family consumer and human development with an emphasis in family finance...

Randy and Leah Atchley of Knoxville, Tenn., announce the adoption of Moses Henry Atchley, 4, on Dec. 9, 2008. He was born Dec. 20, 2004. He has three sisters, Chrissy, 24, Emily, 18, and Miriam, 7. Grandparents are Don and Joan Grafel of Herndon, and Paul and Jean Atchley of Knoxville...

The family of Ruth Ann Fickle is hosting an open house in honor of her 85th birthday. The open house will be Jan. 1, 2009, from 2-4 p.m., at Hillcrest Nursing Home in McCook. Cards will reach her Hillcrest Nursing Home, 309 West 7th, McCook NE 69001...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Nebraska football team again hit the field for a morning practice on Sunday, working for two hours in full pads at the University of North Florida in preparation for the Konica Minolta Gator Bowl. The Gator Bowl is scheduled for noon Thursday (New Year's Day) at Jacksonville, Fla., Municipal Stadium and will be televised by CBS...

LINCOLN -- Yvonne Turner led four Huskers in double figures with 13 points, as the Nebraska women's basketball team battled back from a 16-point first-half deficit to defeat No. 24 Arizona State in front of a season-high crowd of 4,652 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center and an FSN national television audience on Sunday afternoon...

HASTIINGS -- McCook's A and B girls swim team won the Hastings/Fremont/McCook triangular Tuesday in Hastings. Both girls teams scored 48 points. The Bison A and B boys team finished fifth in sixth in the event. Madeline Shaddock and Whitney Korgan were first place medal winners for the Bison girls. Shaddock won the 200 yard IM and 100 yard breast stroke. Shaddock also won the 200 and 400 yard free along with Korgan, Sydnie Stamm and Jayde Aufrecht...

NORFOLK -- The McCook High School girls basketball team will play Kearney at 2 p.m. today in the first round of the Greater Nebraska Athletic Conference Tournament. The game will be play in the main gymnasium. Other first round girls matchups are North Platte against Hastings, Norfolk against Columbus and Scottsbluff against Lexington...

Oct. 30, 1913 - Dec. 27, 2008 ARAPAHOE -- Hulda Erma Einspahr, 95, died Saturday (Dec. 27. 2008) at the C.A. Mues Good Samaritan Center in Arapahoe. She was born Oct. 30, 1913, at Cadams in Nuckolls County to Julius and Anna (Kottmeyer) Radtke. She grew up and attended school at Flagler, Colo...

April 3, 1915 - Dec. 27, 2008 HAMLET -- Hugo Gus "Hoot" Mohr, 93, died Saturday (Dec. 27, 2008) at Chase County Community Hospital in Imperial. He was born April 3, 1915, at Avoca, to Gus F. and Olga (Witzke) Mohr. He moved with his parents from Eastern Nebraska to the Hamlet area, where he grew up and attended school. He graduated from Hamlet High School in 1933. He served in the U.S. Coast Guard, on the USS Eridanus during World War II, returning in 1946...

Aug. 22, 1916 - Dec. 25, 2008 MCDONALD, Kan. -- Lova Burdese (Fisher) Cooper, 92, died Thursday (Dec. 25, 2008). She was born Aug. 22, 1916, in Ludell, Kan., to Frank and Lillie (Smith) Fisher. She attended Ludell Public School and graduated from Atwood Community High School in 1934. After graduation she began teaching small rural schools. In the summer she attended Fort Hays Kansas State College to get her certificate...

Nov. 9, 1944 - Dec. 27, 2008 CULBERTSON -- Harry "David" Fahrenbruch, age 64, died Saturday, Dec. 27, 2008, at Bryan LGH East in Lincoln, Neb. He was born Nov. 9, 1944, in McCook to Harry P. and Doris M. (Covert) Fahrenbruch. David graduated from Culbertson High School in 1963 and Parks Business College in Denver, Colo. He lived in this area all his life...

Dec. 11, 1943 - Dec. 26, 2008 LINCOLN -- Jack Vincent Xavier Daily, 65, died Friday (Dec. 26, 2008) in Lincoln. He was born Dec. 11, 1943, in North Platte. He was raised by his grandparents, Edger and Alice (Vansickle) Daily and his uncle, Bill Rogers. He served in the U.S. Navy...

Aug. 28, 1924 - Dec. 26, 2008 INDIANOLA -- Clarence R. Madden, 84, of Indianola, died Dec. 26, 2008, at St. John's Care Center in Kearney. Mass of Christian Burial will be 10 a.m., Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2008, at St. Catherine's Church in Indianola. The Rev. Thomas McGuire will officiate. Interment will be in the Indianola Catholic Cemetery...

The search is on -- the search for the first baby born in the new year in Southwest Nebraska and Northwest Kansas. The McCook Daily Gazette has sponsored the "New Year's Baby Derby" since 1927. Charlene Betty Kenyon was declared the winner of that first baby race, being born at 11:25 p.m., Jan. ...

For those of us who were not around to see the winter of 1888, the winter of 1948-49 was close enough. Plainview, and Northeast Nebraska began to receive snow around the first of November. That first snow was still around until the beginning of March, when a few days of melting temperatures held promise of the end of winter. ...

Our waits at the windows to renew our license plates are nothing like they are in bigger cities, at least judging by comedians' jokes about a visit to the DMV in places like Los Angeles or New York. They're not even as long as they used to be in Nebraska when all of us had to renew our license plates at one time at the beginning of the year...

EDITOR'S NOTE -- This is the second in a series of stories about Cedar Bluffs-Oberlin pilot Steve Tuttle, who flew the ground-breaking "Newsboy" airplane for the McCook Daily Gazette in 1929 and 1930. Tuttle couldn't be grounded even after the Newsboy was....