Class of '55 to share memories for Heritage Days

I think your old columnist sometimes wears too many hats. For one, I have long been the class scribe for my McCook High School graduating class of 1955. I keep a master copy of the addresses and phone numbers of the dwindling survivors of our aging graduates. It’s a tough job, but I love keeping in touch. Recently, I received word that a classmate from Arizona will be attending this year’s Heritage Days event. We are out of cycle for our usual five-year reunions but see a need to get together and “catch up.”

Voila! How about meeting at the Senior Center since we are all age-qualified? I floated the idea to a few local grads and received a “thumbs up.” Beth, the manager of our Senior Center, agreed, so on Friday the 19th, you might see some strange but somehow familiar faces at the noon luncheon.

Our local Senior Center is a treasure in this community, as well as in many other communities. It’s actually a federal program, passed down through the state and supplemented by the city. The idea is to provide low-cost, nutritious meals for those aged 60 years and older. Grannie Annie and I find the meals very good, and the best part is visiting with other people at our stage in life. They also prepare and deliver meals to shut-ins or those who prefer not to leave their homes, plus a large number of meals are prepared “to go” for those who stop by in their cars. To ensure the kitchen is adequately prepared, it is strongly urged to call 308-346-1760 before 9 a.m. if you plan to dine in one of the three available ways. Come join us—I promise you’ll enjoy it!

Back in the day, our community decided to celebrate its heritage with a parade and yearly gathering. The original name was German Heritage Days, as a large percentage of the settlers who came to this area were of German descent. They had earlier been induced to settle in Russia by Catherine the Great, the Empress of Russia at the time. Many agriculture-minded folk moved to undeveloped areas of the vast plains from their native Germany. These Germans never really integrated into Russian society but kept their German language, only speaking Russian for business purposes. Then, after the Russian political revolution, Marxism took over the reins. Catherine had promised the German immigrants exemption from military service, but the Marxists rescinded that promise and began drafting young men into the army. That’s when vast numbers of the German immigrants left Russia and came to the United States, settling here. To better understand that change of heart, watch the movie or play The Sound of Music. In my youth, I personally knew many of those original German immigrants and their first-generation American-born descendants as good neighbors.

Around 1985, Grannie Annie chaired the Methodist Church’s German Heritage Dinner and served Runzas made on-site by the ladies. The menu also included chicken noodle soup, beef vegetable soup, or egg salad sandwiches, plus a drink. Dessert was a choice of freshly baked cream pies. The dinner price was $5.00, including a piece of pie, with extra pie for $1.00 per slice. The noodles were all made by Marie Clark (née Fahrenbruch), a first-generation German immigrant. Saint Patrick Catholic Church ladies also served dinner to a large number of visitors.

Over the years, our German Heritage Days morphed into simply Heritage Days. Our demographics have changed, and our favorite foods now tend to be more Mexican, served from food trucks. At Norris Park, there’s a wide range of options, including bison as one of the meat choices.

If memory serves, our local high school used to sponsor a band contest that same weekend, with entrants from all over, so we had a great variety of bands in our parade. That tradition is gone now, so we only get two or three neighboring bands to join our McCook High School marching band. A lot has changed, but it’s still a great community celebration that I look forward to each fall. My 99-year-old Model T Ford will hopefully be spry enough to carry Grannie Annie and me proudly down Norris Avenue once again. See you there!

Today’s mail brought the dreaded pink postcard telling of a “Proposed Tax Increase” here in Red Willow County. The scheduled hearing will be at the McCook Municipal Center, so it appears to be the work of our McCook City Council. Upon closer inspection of my property, there seems to be no change in my assessed value and zero change in my taxes from 2023 to 2024. Maybe I’m just lucky this time.

The pink slip doesn’t mention it, but there’s a good chance we’ll also be paying additional taxes to support a bond issue for remodeling or building a new junior high school here in McCook. That issue should be on the ballot for you to decide on November 5th.

I still like the way our YMCA is financing its building upgrade — through donations rather than forced tax burdens. Our YMCA does great things for the youth in our area, and they’d be happy to accept your check.

That’s how I see it.

Dick Trail