Sally Cunningham, attorney at law (05/05/08)
In 2008 the United States has a black woman as Secretary of State, one of the highest offices in the land. There is a chance that our next president will be a woman. No longer is it unusual to see women business owners, entrepreneurs, and politicians in our country. ...

The changing face of funeral services (04/21/08)
Like almost everything else, funeral/burial customs have changed through the years. For a long time the church had strict rules about what could be done and what could not done at a funeral. Priests and pastors of protestant churches used almost dictatorial powers in deciding every aspect of the funeral service...

Community loses a colorful character (04/14/08)
McCook lost a most colorful character recently, and I lost a good friend. I would like to run the story again, which ran previously in the Gazette, about H.H. (Smokey) Pritchett. In 1957 we came to McCook and bought the Harvest Bakery. In addition to the mixers, oven, showcases, and good will that one gets when he buys a going business we also got a baker, Herman (H. ...

Clinton John left his mark on Cambridge (04/07/08)
Clinton John of Cambridge was a man of tremendous talent and wide and varied interests. He was a long-time business man, operating the family business, The John Drug Co. from 1907 until his retirement in 1970 (a year before his death in 1971). He was an active member of the Congregational Church -- a trustee, deacon, choir member, Sunday School teacher, and leader of the Men's Club. ...

Scrapbooks offer glimpse into the past (03/31/08)
Families have always saved photos and clippings concerning family members. Sometimes this consists of tossing these prized mementoes into a box, to be organized "sometime." Usually someone in the family takes on this collection as a project and organizes the pictures and keepsakes into books and albums. ...

Farewell, McCook Kiwanis Club (03/24/08)
McCook loses an institution this month and I feel regret, as if I'm saying goodbye to yet another old friend. One of the oldest of the service organizations of McCook is the McCook Kiwanis Club. Kiwanis came to McCook in the 1920s, and immediately became a very important organization, known for the civic projects it sponsored, but equally for the fun the members had at their meetings. ...

Our Mr. Brooks (03/17/08)
Ralph G. Brooks started a political trend in Southwest Nebraska, in 1958. He became the first of four men with McCook ties to be elected to the highest office in the state, when he was chosen to be the 32nd governor of the State of Nebraska. Ralph Brooks was born in 1898 near Eustis, where his father had taken out a homestead and a timber claim. The family moved around some, and after attending school at Elm Creek and Kearney, Ralph graduated from high school at Sargent...

Remembering Captain Allen (03/03/08)
McCook lost a friend recently. Wayne Allen was a descendent of early settlers in Southwest Nebraska and was one of McCook's most colorful characters -- a true entrepreneur. Wayne was proud of his ancestors. His paternal grandparents, Joe and Effie Allen, settled on a homestead, north of Red Willow. They were adventurous, making long trips to their ranch in Northern Nebraska, and also to do custom harvest work each summer in Northern South Dakota -- in a covered wagon, pulled by horses...

Mr. YMCA, President for Life, Chas. Heber (02/25/08)
Few men in McCook have been more closely identified with a worthwhile cause than Charlie Heber, with his work for the McCook YMCA. Mr. Heber was a native of Peoria, Ill. He was born there in 1872, but came west, to McCook as a lad of 16, in 1888, where he started to work for the Burlington RR as a messenger boy. 54 years later, in 1942, he retired from the Railroad as Wire Chief of the McCook office...

Melvin Rasmussen -- hero (02/18/08)
Melvin Rasmussen died early this year. There was a man I could look up to. He wasn't a war hero, or a star athlete, but just by living, getting dressed and going to work each morning -- he provided inspiration to me and countless others who knew him...

Buffalo Jones meets Zane Grey (02/12/08)
In 1906 Charlie Jones, aka "Buffalo" Jones was almost broke. He was 63 years old and had become a legend in his own time. Originally, he had become wealthy hunting buffalo for caravans of settlers in the 1870s. He had founded a city, Garden City, Kan., on land he had homesteaded. ...

McCook's early benefactor, John E. Kelley (01/28/08)
One of the ways that a city uses to honor an illustrious citizen is to name a park after him or her. In McCook such parks range from small parks such as at the high school, honoring beloved Principal, LeRoy Hoehner, Bolles Canyon, honoring McCook's tree-planter extraordinaire, Steve Bolles, and McCook's newest park, Russell Park, honoring attorney Carson Russell, to the major parks, honoring Senator Norris, A. Barnett -- and John E. Kelley...

McCook's Conscious vs. Rastus Ramrod, Boy Editor (01/21/08)
When Frank Kimmell came to McCook in 1893, to buy the McCook Tribune, he immediately became an important part of the community. Not only did he take part in the organization of the new town, and hold several municipal offices, but he became McCook's unofficial "Conscious" with almost weekly editorials condemning things that were bad, and offering suggestions about how things could be improved. At one time he served as McCook's Postmaster...

McCook's first crusading editor (01/14/08)
Francis Marion Kimmel was not a native of McCook, but was one of the very early settlers, and for many years, one of McCook's most influential citizens. Frank Kimmel was a native of Pennsylvania, but came to McCook in August of 1883, when he bought the McCook Tribune from Judge J.D. Israel...

Judge(?) Frank Morrison (01/07/08)
Shortly before Frank Morrison passed away in 2004 I wrote a story about Nebraska's Carl Curtis and his part in bringing the concept of the IRA to law. In that story I recalled the Juvenile Diabetes fundraiser that I had attended in Lincoln, at which Carl Curtis and Frank Morrison were seated, side by side, at the speakers' table, and during the meal they had talked and laughed like two old friends -- not at all like politicians who had run against each other for office in campaigns, which at times at been quite heated.. ...

The Grand Duke Alexis (12/31/07)
In November 1871, the Grand Duke Alexis, 4th son of the Czar of Russia came to the United States on a state visit. Ulysses S. Grant was President and he was determined that the Duke, the first of the Czar's family to visit the United States, should have a good experience, so that when he returned to Russia he would carry a good impression of the United States...

The Sisters of St. Catherine's (12/24/07)
For a number of years after McCook's founding in 1882 McCook did not have a hospital. Ordinary procedures and some operations were done in the doctor's office or even in the home (in those days house calls by doctors were the norm), and the old Commercial Hotel on Main Street was the location for many surgeries. ...

It's in the genes -- Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (12/17/07)
Like the looming figure towering at Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills, Theodore Roosevelt Sr. was larger than life -- an educated cowboy on the western frontier in North Dakota, leader of the Rough Riders in the Spanish American War, hero of the Battle of San Juan Hill in Cuba, and finally President of the United States. ...

Luke Cheney: Frontier judge, civic leader (12/10/07)
One of the best-known, and most active citizens of Southwest Nebraska in the first half of the 20th century was Luke Cheney, an energetic lawyer, judge, lodge-man, civic booster, and behind-the-scenes politician, who improved life in both Frontier and Red Willow Counties, Nebraska...

The ice harvest (12/03/07)
One of the things we tend to take for granted these days is ice. Modern refrigerators are all equipped with some sort of ice making attachments -- from simple ice trays to ice making machines and dispensers. (Recently we were in a home that had a special attraction on their refrigerator -- an outside spigot leading to a small beer keg, for instant glasses of draft beer -- the ultimate in instant gratification?)...

The amazing 'Doc' Carver (11/26/07)
1872 was an eventful year in Southwest Nebraska. That was the year that Frontier County was officially organized. It was also the year of the great Grand Duke Alexis buffalo hunt near Hayes Center, and it was the year that W. T. "Doc" Carver took out his claim on land near Wolf's Rest (present day Holbrook)...

The fire bombing of Dresden, Germany (11/19/07)
Recently the forest fires in California have inspired a great deal of talk about the destructiveness forest fires and fires in general. Throughout history there have been many cases of great fires. Some of our largest cities were destroyed, or nearly so. ...

The icy rescue of the P-38 'Glacier Girl' (11/12/07)
McCook's Mike Nothnagle makes his living running trains, but he has a passion for airplanes -- all kinds of planes. For a number of years he has traveled west for the National Air Races at Reno, Nev., and has gotten acquainted with a number of the racing pilots and officials putting on the races. ...

Harry Strunk cast long shadow over Republican River basin (11/05/07)
When Annette Trimble moved to McCook in 1954 she accepted a job at the Bureau of Reclamation. A friend from Lincoln, Paul Evans of the Soil Conservation office, had recommended her for the position, which was a good one. The Director at the Bureau had heard that Harry Strunk, the President of the Republican Valley Conservation Association, had lost his secretary and as a gesture of cooperation between the Bureau and the RVCA had offered to lend her to Mr. ...

Resident of the Year -- Annette Trimble (10/29/07)
It has been said that "Happiness is a state of mind." Some folks simply adapt better to their situation in life than do other folks in a similar situation. Annette Trimble, formerly of McCook, adapts to her situation very nicely. Now 93 years of age, with aches and pains and some serious health is-sues, which necessitate her living in an assisted living facility in Ord, Annette refuses to let those things take over her life, and spends her days thinking up ways to improve life for herself and her fellow residents.. ...

Fifty years in McCook (10/22/07)
The Sehnerts arrived in McCook on Oct. 31, 1957, with our two little girls, Susan, 4, and Marie, 2. (Our son, Matt was born later in McCook at the old Saint Catherine’s Hospital on West 4th St.) We were scared to death -- out on our own for the first time, the new owners of Ben and Dora Schuering’s Harvest Bakery (the old Slauter Bakery)...

Uncle Edwin's sweet idea (10/15/07)
It is no doubt a well known fact, but one that bears repeating -- one of the most familiar, and beloved food products in the entire world is Kool-Aid, developed right here in Southwest Nebraska, at Hendley, by Edwin Perkins, the uncle of McCook's Frank Shoemaker...

Jake Klein, McCook builder (10/08/07)
In 1889, newlyweds, Jacob and Anna Klein arrived by train in McCook, immigrants from Franks, Russia, in search of a better life in America. That better life came to them, but not immediately. It was a windy, treeless land that greeted them in McCook, so much so that as soon as Anna stepped off the train she sat down on her suitcase and sobbed bitter tears, for the streams and forest land they had left behind...

An adventure in Israel (10/01/07)
In 2002, Susan Crothers, of McCook, and her daughter, Michelle, then 15, set out for Israel, to spend a year of their lives living among and helping the people of that troubled nation. It was to be a life-changing experience for them both. Susan and Michelle were volunteers for the "Visions For Israel" organization, which provides emergency assistance to the entire Israeli community, whether they be Jewish, Arab, or Christian. ...

John Batty and McCook (09/24/07)
John Batty is not a native of McCook, but still ranks as one of McCook's longest residents. John was born in Alma, Neb., in 1914, the son of a dentist. The family moved soon after he was born to York, Neb., where his father took over a dental practice. They were not to be long in York. In 1919 John's mother passed away, and a year later his father died...

The McCook Daily Gazette's 'Newsboy' (09/17/07)
Harry Strunk was impatient, as a boy and as a man. When he was only 14, growing up in Pawnee City, he was forced to quit school and go to work. The work he found was as a "Printer's Devil" for the local newspaper, for the weekly wage of $2. His striving to better himself led him to jobs in print shops in Fairbury, Pohattan Kan., and by the time he was 17, to Norton, where he became shop foreman at the Norton Daily Telegram, in charge of 10 typesetters...

The Travis murder case (09/10/07)
In the last 125 years of McCook's existence there have been a great many crimes in our town -- maybe no more and probably less than in other Midwestern cities of our size. Never-the-less, when these crimes do occur there is considerable disbelief in the community that "such a crime could happen here!"...

Early days of Boy Scouts in McCook (08/27/07)
These days, when the name John A. True is mentioned, most folks think of True Hall, which was one of the first buildings on the McCook College Campus. This memorial to Mr. True is certainly justified. John True was the Superintendent of Schools from 1918 until 1930, when he left McCook to take the position of Superintendent of the Council Bluffs, Iowa School System. During his tenure in McCook there were a great many changes made in the School System...

Mary Brady's lasting legacy (08/20/07)
In 2007, the McCook National Bank is celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the bank's founding. In those 100 years three names, among a host of serious minded and capable personalities, come readily to mind -- Pat Walsh, Mary Brady, and Pete Graff. When our family came to McCook in 1957, Pat Walsh was long gone, having died in 1928, the year I was born, but Mary Brady, his niece, was very much alive. ...

Paper balloon bombers of World War II (08/13/07)
Because of the United State's location, protected as it is on both coasts by wide oceans, it is generally believed that there were no enemy attacks on America's shores by either the Germans or the Japanese during World War II. This is not entirely correct...

Traveling Highway 6 by two-wheeler (08/06/07)
For most of us Highway 6 through McCook is just another way (albeit a more relaxing way) of getting to Lincoln, or Denver -- as compared to the busy Interstate, with its proliferation of 18-wheelers. We usually think of Highway 6 as "our local road", and not as one of the longest continuous highways across the United States...

McCook's fire department has long history (07/30/07)
The McCook Fire Department has come a long way from its origin in the early days of McCook's history. The department was formed in 1883, a year after McCook became a community, but continued much as it had always done, with volunteers manning the bucket brigade for fires...

Famous fires in McCook's history (07/23/07)
No doubt it is true of all communities, but one can not help but be a bit nostalgic for the way that McCook would look now, had it not been for the devastating fires that have rocked our town over the last 125 years. One of the very early fires, in 1884, destroyed La-Tourette's Hardware Store (later Jenning's & Hoyt's Hardware). ...

Man's need for speed takes to the air (07/16/07)
It seems that man has a built in desire to ace with his fellow man. We see it in sports -- who is faster? Men challenge other men to a foot race. And then they raced their horses, or bicycles, then motorized vehicles, cars, boats, and -- airplanes! In 1909, just seven years after the Wright Brothers made their first successful powered flight, the first (official) Air Race (which lasted one whole week) was held in Reims, France...

McCook High's Jerry Carpenter (07/02/07)
Over the years, McCook has had many fine athletes. It is difficult to compare athletes from one era to another, and there really is no need to do so. By any yardstick, Jerry Carpenter needs to be included in a select group of all time greats from McCook...

The face in the mirror in Berlin (06/25/07)
Through a rare set of circumstances I was able to fulfill a lifelong dream of visiting Berlin. It was after World War II had ended, but during the time when there was still a Wall between East Germany and West Germany. This was a time of peace and booming prosperity in West Berlin, and a time of peace, but not prosperity in East Berlin...

The last time the Powderpuff Derby stopped in McCook (06/18/07)
Oklahoma City was chosen as the starting point for the 2007 Powderpuff Derby, the only All Woman Transcontinental air race flying today. From June 19-22 contestants will fly a 2,400- mile route from Wiley Post Field in Oklahoma City to New Brunswick, Canada...

Memories long at the old Stone Church (06/11/07)
Recently we were privileged to attend the annual meeting of the Stone Church, along Highway 17, south of Culbertson. The church, made of native limestone, is a landmark in that part of the country. We were in the company of the descendants of the pioneers who built the church. It was like going back a hundred years or so, to a simpler, quieter time...

McCook's illustrious Sen. George W. Norris (06/04/07)
One cannot be in McCook, Nebraska very long before he comes under the spell of George W. Norris, "The Fighting Liberal from Nebraska." Our main street is Norris Avenue. Our central city park is Norris Park, across the street from The George Norris Home, now a Nebraska State Monument. ...

'Key Weird' -- Hemingway would still feel at home today (05/21/07)
In 1928 Hemingway settled in Key West Florida, with a new wife, Pauline Pfeiffer, and a new career, as a writer of short stories and books. Though he lived in Key West for only 12 years, it was here that fully half of his lifetime literary works were written...

Ernest 'Pappa' Hemingway, larger than life (05/14/07)
Ernest Hemingway is acknowledged to number among the elite of America's great writers. He was also a "larger than life" personality himself, as complex as any of the characters in the books he wrote. Hemmingway was born in Oak Park, a suburb of Chicago in 1899. ...

Cactus Chris, Liar extraordinaire (05/07/07)
People around McCook will remember Cactus Chris, the retired College Professor turned Grizzled Cowboy Poet, from his appearances at the Buffalo Commons Storytelling Festivals. Cactus was on the program, along with Roger Welsch, at the very first Storytelling Festival in 1996 and has appeared at our annual Festival a couple of times since. ...

H.C. Clapp and the H.C. Clapp Store for Women (04/30/07)
Hiram C. Clapp, of Allegan, Mich., needed to get out of town. He suffered from asthma, which threatened to leave him an invalid. On the advice of his physician, he felt that his health might be improved by moving to a higher altitude in the west. In 1902, he and his wife, Cora Belle (Cody) moved to Stewart, Iowa, where Hiram got a job in a general merchandise store...

Mr. Persistence -- Myatt Volentine (04/23/07)
One of the more interesting citizens of our city in the last 125 years, and one who made a profound difference in the area was Myatt Volentine, who arrived in McCook in 1925, aboard a slow moving freight train at age 15, with less than $100 in his pocket...

Early days of Rotary in McCook (04/16/07)
Rotary came to McCook in 1921, when Dist. Gov. Luther Brewer came out from Hastings to help the local club get started. A survey of McCook found McCook to be a trading center for 20,000 people, with an active Chamber of Commerce and a suitable place to meet -- The Monte Cristo Hotel, and soon, a fine new hotel, The Keystone)...

When milk was delivered in bottle (04/02/07)
As with so many commodities, the way we purchase our milk has changed over the years. In the very early days of McCook most families had their own cow. During the summer a cow-boy (Ray Search was one during his youth) would gather up milk cows from family barns in the neighborhood (after the morning milking) and drive the cows to a common pasture north of the city, where they would graze all day. ...

The McCook Matinee Music Club (03/26/07)
On Oct. 12, 1917, six McCook women met to form a club, which would 1. Advance the advance the interest and promote the culture of Musical Art in the city of McCook, and 2. Promote the mutual improvement of its members. They would achieve these goals by studying the great composers with vocal and instrumental musical numbers. For the next 60 years, women of McCook carried out that mission...

Remembering the McCook Packing Plant (03/19/07)
In the 21st Century the way America buys its meat has changed dramatically. There was a time when every town had its share of "Butcher Shops" (independent meat stores). These operations had their own small slaughter houses, which supplied the animals for their retail meat business. Federal regulations and intense competition from large packing plants have made these "Mom and Pop" operations increasingly rare...

Alexander Campbell, McCook's founding father (03/12/07)
In recent years it is rare for one man to have the amount of influence on one town as did Alexander Campbell, the Superinten-dent of the Burlington Railroad in 1882, the year of McCook's coming into being. 125 years later, we in McCook, can be grateful to this foreigner who did so much to shape our community's destiny...

Gen. Alexander only one of 'the Fighting McCooks' (03/05/07)
In McCook, Neb., we naturally think of Gen. Alexander McCook, as the man after whom our city is named. But when we consider the family McCook, from Ohio, the "Fighting McCooks" we can be doubly -- no, 16 times as proud. As noted by the 39th Congress of the United States in 1866, "(The McCook family) has achieved a record of which the nation may well feel proud."...

The colorful life of Paul Harris (02/26/07)
He may have done many notable things in his lifetime, in many different areas, but for most of us the name Paul Harris is only associated with Rotary International. Paul was born in Racine, Wis., in 1868. Paul's father had been set up with a drug store in Racine, which should have been profitable, but through mismanagement he saw that business fail. ...

Gen. McCook: What's in a name? (02/19/07)
In this 125th, Quasquicentennial year of the founding of McCook, Nebraska it is interesting to look back at some of the people and events in our past that have served to make McCook the city it is today. Where better to start than with the fellow for whom McCook is named, General Alexander McDowell McCook...

Remembering Bill Corrick of KICX (02/12/07)
In 1962, one of McCook's more colorful characters, Bill Corrick, arrived in town from Wisconsin, where he had been a very good (not great) basketball player. His one distinction to fame was that he had been the tallest player in his conference in high school. Bill was an imposing figure, energetic, imaginative, and confident...

Early radio days in McCook (02/05/07)
Radio came to McCook in the early 1920s. Harold Sutton, a leading political and business figure in McCook at the time, joined George Vaughn and Don Gibson in bringing a radio signal to the people of McCook. The station was on the second floor of the Sutton Jewelry Store, along with the store's display of bicycles. The radio signal was not strong -- just 250 watts, covering a small area outside McCook...

Winning the Big 10 championship, 1960 (01/29/07)
In 1961, the editors of the McCook High School Yearbook dedicated the athletic seasons to the spirit of Discobulus, the Greek discus thrower who they felt symbolized the continuity between the spirit of ancient Greece and MHS. The Greek philosophers advocated that sports had a double purpose in the development of a successful human being -- sports sharpened the mind while they developed the body, developed leadership, loyalty, and good sportsmanship. ...

When Sam and Mary Ellis decided to stay (01/22/07)
Very often, when speaking of the early-day settlers to McCook and Southwest Nebraska, we speak of the man, the soldier or the plainsman as the ones who opened up the frontiers to civilization. This is unfortunate. The white men who came through Nebraska alone in the early days did not stay. They were buffalo hunters or prospectors, or fur traders or soldiers who were just passing through, or here for a limited time. They were not looking for a place to settle down...

Tom Bales, McCook's ditch-digging debater (01/08/07)

When B Street's bricks were forever (12/18/06)
For a number of years the people of McCook have taken great pride in their brick streets. A few years ago, when the sidewalks downtown were redone it was even decided to put decorative brick inserts in the sidewalks at intervals on Norris Avenue in downtown McCook -- to further the idea of "The City on the Bricks."...

Billy Mitchell -- Father of the U.S. Air Force (12/11/06)
William "Billy" Mitchell, 1879-1936, was one of the most famous, and at the same time, one of the most stubborn and controversial figures in American airpower history. Billy Mitchell was born in France, to Mr. and Mrs. John Mitchell of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. ...

A date that still lives in infamy (12/04/06)
To anyone who was around in 1941 the name of Pearl Harbor brings forth indelible images in the mind, the same as does the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1962. People remember just where they were when they first heard the news that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor, to jump start World War II. It's true that at that time most people had never heard of Pearl Harbor and had no idea just where it was, but over the next days, weeks and years of World War II we surely did find out...

A matter of character (11/27/06)
Recently several books have been written which point out the similarities, as well as the stark differences between two men who had roles of vital importance to the American Revolution -- George Washington, the father of our country -- one of the most revered Americans of all time, and Benedict Arnold, one of the most reviled Americans ever...

Proper attire for a night at the opera (11/20/06)
On the trip to Germany with my wife, Jean, son, Matt, and my father, Walter, we were able to make contact with a cousin of Walter's from his mother's side of the family, Horst Grassmann, of Hannover. Horst was about the same age as Walter, but before our trip to Germany the two had never met. Like all of the German relatives we met, Horst, his wife Ingebord, and daughter, Helga, could not have been more gracious...

McCook Air Base commander -- Col. John R. 'Killer' Kane, hero of World War II (11/13/06)
In the Jan. 12, 1945 issue of the McCook Daily Gazette (the same issue that told about a Bob Hope USO show at the Air Base) there was a report on the appointment of Col. John "Killer" Kane, one of the most colorful and distinguished pilot-leaders of World War II, to be the new Commandant at the McCook Air Field...

The power of a mother's love (11/06/06)
In this column we frequently refer to the courage of the early pioneers to this region -- of the sacrifices they endured to carve out a living on the prairie. These were equal opportunity hardships that spared none, but we can imagine that the women went through particularly difficult times in their attempts to keep their families safe and together under those adverse conditions...

The day the students went out on strike (10/30/06)
During World War II, severe shortage of teachers developed across the nation, including Nebraska and McCook. To alleviate that shortage, schools adopted a number of stop-gap measures, some more effective than others. School hours were lengthened, or classes shortened, to add another class period to the day. Teachers were required to teach more classes, and sometimes those classes were outside their fields of expertise...

Alice Wolfe, Ace's partner for life (10/23/06)
Mrs. Asa Wolfe was born Alice Mae Thomas, in a sod house near Indianola in 1890. She was a sickly baby and not expected to live, so her parents (Robert & Kate) sent her to Indianola to be cared for by her Grandmother, Lucy Dunning. What was expected to be a short time turned into a permanent arrangement and Alice grew up in Indianola with her Grandmother. ...

'Ace' Wolf, Mr. Kiwanis (10/16/06)
Asa "Ace" Wolfe was a longtime citizen of Southwest Nebraska. In 1859 he was born in the village of Wellfleet, in a one-room "dugout" -- a residence constructed by digging into the bank of a canyon, sodding up the front and covering the structure with planks, then a layer of tarpaper, covered over with sod to keep the tarpaper in place. ...

McCook's Hollywood connection -- the father of Whispering Smith (10/09/06)
One of the outstanding Western pictures in 1948 was Whispering Smith, starring Alan Ladd. In the picture Alan Ladd played a soft spoken railroad detective who experiences multiple harrowing escapes during his mission to solve a rash of railroad accidents, and apprehend and bring those responsible to trial. ...

MJC Football: The dream season 1965 (10/03/06)
From 1926 to 1970 McCook Junior College fielded football teams, some with outstanding records. How-ever, the finest ever record was compiled by the 1965 team. The 1965 team actually finished the season ranked No. 1 Junior College in the Nation, a distinction which was a bit misleading, since the final poll was made after the regular season, but before the National Junior College (Juco) Bowl game was played...

MJC gets help from the Land of Goshen (09/25/06)
For many years McCook Junior College fielded football teams made up of young men from Southwest Nebraska, Northwest Kansas and an occasional player from Colorado. McCook Junior College was the perennial "Big Dog" of the Nebraska Junior College League when all the Junior Colleges were pretty much on the same footing...

McCook's USO-type shows, in 1942 and 2006 (09/18/06)
In 1940, a year before the outbreak of war on Dec. 7, 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt began to think about the on-leave needs of members of our Armed Forces, whose numbers were growing quickly because of the peacetime draft. He brought representatives of several service organizations together, the YMCA, the YWCA, The National Catholic Com-munity Service, The National Jewish Welfare Board, The Travelers Aid Assoc-iation, and the Salvation Army. ...

California Zephyr -- Dawn to Dusk record run (09/11/06)
Early in the 1800s, steam engines, based on English-man James Watt's invention, began to appear in the United States. Peter Cooper, with his Tom Thumb locomotive, is generally considered the father of the steam locomotive in America. That locomotive, though small, was the first of its type to be operated on a common carrier railroad. ...

Becoming a citizen through the back door (08/21/06)
Today the newspapers are full of accounts of illegal immigrants entering the United States, usually by crossing over the US-Mexican border. This is not a new phenomenon. It seems that almost from our beginning people have attempted to improve their lives by coming to the United States, "The Land of Opportunity," legally or otherwise. ...

Missed the boat -- and glad of it (08/14/06)
Every family has a story about the time one of its members who had a close call of some kind, when but for a fortunate set of circumstances that person very likely would have been killed in some sort of accident. In our family that person is our daughter, Susan, during the time she was a member of the Young Americans singing group...

Football at McCook Junior College -- the Merle Confer era (08/07/06)
McCook Junior College was able to field a football team the very first year (1926) that the College was in existence. They finished with a 2 win, 1 defeat season. However that was the last winning season until 1934---they did not field a team in 1933 for lack of numbers. Things picked up a bit in the late '30s and by World War II McCook teams were consistently respectable -- only to be stopped once more by the war. The 1944 and 1945 seasons were canceled altogether...

Left for dead: A first hand account of World War I (07/31/06)
For years a neighbor, Swantie Swanson walked past our place on his way to the Post Office. He was a tall, distinguished fellow. He was invariably friendly and passed the time of day if we happened to meet, but he was quiet, never instigated a conversation...

McCook's version of Florence Nightingale (07/24/06)
One of McCook's most beloved citizens in the 1930s, '40s, and '50s was Miss Sallie Hawkins, who served as the school nurse for all of the ward schools, as well as the McCook Junior High and High schools. She was was variously referred to as "McCook's Florence Nightingale, and as a "selfless humanitarian, one of those rare individuals who never consider self when there is anyone in need of help"...

McCook: Early medical center on the Plains (07/17/06)
Doctors and pharmacists were among the first settlers in McCook. Most of these men were reputable and well intentioned, if not particularly well trained. Regardless of their degree of training these early day healers had to perform their craft without the tools of modern medicine -- no X-ray, no penicillin, etc...

A. Traber Gatewood, pioneer McCook dentist, keeper of the secret (07/10/06)
Alexander Traber Gatewood was probably the first dentist in McCook; indeed, he was probably the only dentist west of Hastings for many years. But his career was long and varied, and encompassed so much more than just "frontier dentistry." Dr. Gatewood was born in Malden, West Virginia, in 1852. His father was restless, and an opportunist...

McCook's Mackay Trophy winner (06/26/06)
Each year the National Aeronautic Association aw-ards a trophy to officers of the U.S. Air Force for the "most meritorious flight of the year," one of the Air Force's most prestigious honors. This award was established in 1912 by Clarence Mackay, a prominent American industrialist, a philanthropist, and an avid aviation enthusiast...

Life's Lessons, Part 2 -- Learning from World War II (06/19/06)
After the Depression, America was beginning to come back to normal times by 1941. But on December 7th the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and our world changed again. For the next 3 _ years, my high school years, everything in Plainview, revolved about "The War."...

Receiving the Distinguished Service Cross -- 34 years late (06/05/06)
In a recent story in this column we reported on an amazing brush with death during the Vietnam War by a local man, Dr. Warren Jones (A Close Encounter of the Helicopter Kind). Jones was reluctant to discuss that incident, but thanks to the efforts of his crew chief, we were able to learn "the rest of the story."...

Visions of early leaders established Hillcrest Nursing Home (05/22/06)
Through the first half of the 20th century, Nursing Homes, as we know them now were a rare commodity in this country. By and large, most folks in need of extra care were housed in the homes of relatives. Large old homes, with lots of rooms were converted to facilities for the elderly, who could no longer live alone, or were too much for the family's care...

The 1955 MJC basketball team (05/15/06)
McCook Junior College opened its doors in 1926. The 1926/27 school year was also the year of the first men's basketball team at the college. The classes of MJC were initially held on the third floor of the original YMCA, at the corner of Norris and D Street. With a basketball court on the second floor of the building, it seemed a natural for the school to field a basketball team at the first opportunity...

Andrew Carnegie, Patron Saint of Libraries (05/08/06)
Andrew Carnegie, whose name has become almost synonymous with philanthropy, especially in the building of public libraries, was at one time known as one of the most ruthless examples of the Gilded Age "Robber Baron Class" of the late 1800s. Carnegie was born in 1835 to a very poor weaver in Scotland. ...

Nebraska's Fred Astaire (05/01/06)
Fred Astaire, that symbol of elegance and grace, with his top hat, white tie and tails, can often be seen dancing with his favorite dancing partner, Ginger Rogers on the Old Movie Channels yet today. Occasionally something is said of his roots in Nebraska (Omaha), but I like to remember a dear lady in Plainview, Nebraska who remembered Fred and his older sister, Adele, before they were either sophisticated or famous...

The 1965 McCook Basketball team (04/24/06)
McCook High has had basketball teams since at least 1902. Through the years there have been some great individual players, but only occasionally have the great players been able to play on outstanding teams. McCook teams have almost always been competitive. When the team chemistry has been right the teams have been outstanding...

Ray McCarl, watchdog of the treasury (04/17/06)
For 15 years, during the 1920s and '30s, one of McCook's own, J. Raymond McCarl, held the position of Comptroller of the United States. This position at once made McCarl one of the most powerful figures in Washington, The Watchdog of the Treasury (a title which he relished), and at the same time made him probably the most hated figure in Washington (by the bureaucrats)...

Hall of Famers battle in McCook (04/10/06)
Once upon a time, before the days of TV, when professional ball players' salaries had not yet reached the stratospheric levels of today, players used to spend the off-season playing pickup games -- "Barnstorming," going from town to town, receiving as salary whatever the local teams could pay...

McCook's first state champion (04/03/06)
For many years Don Thompson was looked upon as one of the most prominent and respected citizens in McCook, and in Nebraska. He represented the McCook district in the Neb-raska Unicameral, as did his father before him. Don served for five consecutive terms, from 1955 through 1965, serving as the Speaker of the Nebraska Legislature in 1961. ...

A close encounter of the helicopter kind (03/27/06)
Dr. Warren Jones is known in McCook as a mild mannered dentist -- freely giving of his time and talents to the community and as a fellow who extends his philanthropic works to the poor in third world countries. But in another lifetime, more than 30 years ago, during the Vietnam war, he was known as Mr. Jones, Warrant Officer, pilot of helicopters. (According to Mike Guard, Jones' Crew Chief in Vietnam, Jones was "The World's Best Gunship Pilot!")...

A rescue on the high seas (03/20/06)
Recently, on a cruise out of San Diego, we got to witness a rare occurrence. One morning we were off the coast of Mexico, but well out of sight of land, and the sea was quite choppy. About 8 a.m. the ship's loudspeaker came to life, with the message, "This is your Captain speaking...

Six-on-six basketball (03/13/06)
During the first week in March, Nebraska sports fans were treated to one of the highlights of the sports year when the girls' high school basketball tournament took place in Lincoln. The games were well attended and on Saturday, when the finals games were telecast, there was a large audience statewide -- with good reason...

Remembering an earlier cruise (03/06/06)
We recently took part in a cruise out of San Diego, down the West Coast of Mexico, aboard the Holland American Ship, Oosterdam. Cruises are an increasingly popular way of vacationing, and for good reasons. Costs are fixed (no big city surprises). One can relax on the high seas, and visit a number of interesting foreign ports. ...