Curtis news from the 1998 Hi-Line Enterprise

Twenty tomato plants and four tomatoes this summer does not make for a happy gardener! I canned all of our beets into pickled beets and only ended up with 11 pints. Most of my garlic just gave up the ghost a month ago and my green beans (what is left of them) have hesitantly sent out about six blossoms. The brussel sprout plants are beautiful but have not born stalks of tender buds and forget about peas. I did put up some nice corn and peaches but obviously someone else raised them.

Twenty-four years ago, the Hi Line Enterprise out of Curtis had a notice about eligibility for USDA low interest emergency loans “due to physical losses caused by excessive rain, flash flooding, flooding, hail, high winds, lightning, and tornadoes that occurred from May 14 through June 24, 1998.” Chase, Frontier and Hayes Counties were among the principle locations while Dundy, Furnas and Red Willow were included in the contiguous category of eligibility. I remember that Hugh Butler Lake was fairly full that year and that we had water in the gas bay and the north dock bay. Seems it has been all downhill from then but of course, the draining the lake starting in 2009 for a 15-million-dollar repair hasn’t helped the issue since it has never recovered from that action.

The reason I’m reading a 1998 High Line Enterprise is because Naomi Ruppert called again with newspapers for me. I made the trip out to her home to get them after totally forgetting a planned meeting in McCook. Now I have this paper plus the Hays Center Times Reporter to review. A mostly winter project, no doubt.

The front page of the Hi Line on August 13, 1998, has a picture of Jeannette Wolf and three grand-daughters, Brandi, Shayla and Saunee, presenting a bench to the Frontier County Sheriff’s office in memory of Jeanette’s late husband, Frontier County Deputy Sheriff, Ken Wolf. It was a beautiful creation made of wagon wheels and (it looks like) bridge planks. I wonder if it still graces the office today.

Several reunions were taking place including the Jewell Family reunion which were descendants of Louie and Almira Jewell who were settlers in the Quick and Centerpoint communities of Frontier County.

One hundred and thirty-four relatives and friends attended the fifty-ninth reunion for the Hinton family at the Curtis City Park.

The Wellfleet school reunion was held at a North Platte motel with Wayne Towne of Fresno California having traveled the furthest while the Echo School reunion was held at the Lighthouse in North Platte and had forty attendees.

Wrapping this up, Maywood was scheduled to hold a “Challenge Day” on August 15th. “A 9 a.m. the challenged able-bodied area residents will meet at the city park and beat this challenge. Dead and damaged trees will be removed with the owner’s permission. Bring chain saws, tractors and loaders, trucks, enthusiasm and muscle.”

Seems McCook need to challenge someone to clean up the curbs and gutters of our once beautiful town. It is a flat disgrace to drive down streets like West J Street and see the weeds growing up in the cracks. A disgrace and an invitation for the curbs and gutters to be destroyed by water and ice following the openings the weeds have created.

SWNGS October Expo is going to be great this year and will feature Beth Sparrow, a well-known genealogist. Subjects addressed will be DNA and Church records. Watch for our ads concerning the upcoming event!