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Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012
My great race (02/07/12)
And the winner is: The Airlines! It wasn't a great race, just a trip from McCook, Nebraska to Greensboro, N.C. to fetch a newly purchased Cessna 182, Skylane, and fly it back to McCook with the new owner. Sleepy-eyed, I departed McCook at 4 a.m., drove to North Platte and boarded Great Lakes to make connections in Denver. ...
Getting the scoop (01/31/12)
There was an interesting letter to the editor this past week from a lady who bravely signed her name Dixie Kofler. She suggested, possibly tongue in cheek, that this newspaper run a "gossip page" for all the different businesses/agencies in the community. ...
Small town, big city (01/24/12)
When I retired we chose to live in small town Nebraska. We could have chosen one of the larger cities, Denver or Oklahoma City where we'd been stationed during my Air Force career. Omaha, Miami, New York City or Los Angeles were possibilities too. No regrets and every once in awhile I'm reminded why we prefer small town America...
Silence is not always golden (01/17/12)
"November five four Tango Tango you are cleared to depart runway one eight. Upon reaching three thousand feet turn right to a heading of two seven zero and climb to one one thousand." Do we were cleared to fly by the simulator instructor. For once, our twin Cessna rapidly accelerated and took off into a clear blue sky. I had just made the turn to the west when the fire light came on for the left engine...
One of the Greatest Generation (01/10/12)
Ninety two years and counting. Today was Grannie Annie's uncle Merle Teel's birthday. Merle is one of the millions of young men and women that fought in World War II and who are rapidly disappearing from the scene. He is one of my heroes of that era, those that dropped everything and joined to serve in a myriad ways...
Our hometown senator (01/03/12)
Contrary to what seems to be popular opinion I feel a little sorry for our own Senator Ben Nelson. Senator Nelson's decision to not run for re-election must have been painful but prudent after testing the water to determine the mood of Nebraska voters. ...
Life in the city (12/27/11)
The year 2011 is about to draw to a close. It has been interesting to watch the pattern of new construction in the local area. A considerable number of new homes have been built, several in progress, in rural areas surrounding McCook. However I can recall only one house constructed within the city limits. Hmm, how can that be?...
Feliz Navidad (12/20/11)
It seems long ago that I spent the summers of 1967, 1968 and 1969 in Southeast Asia supporting the Vietnam War. Winters of those years meant additional time away from the family on SAC alert or off on temporary in exotic places like Alaska. It was the typical life of an aircrew member and our families adjusted...
Pain in the night (12/13/11)
It is two o'clock in the morning and the pain is burning in your gut. You are 800-plus miles from home enjoying all the amenities of deer camp. It is cold outside in a snow-covered country side. What are you going to do? That was the dilemma facing Paul Bond last week while enjoying a successful week long black powder deer hunting trip. ...
Politics as usual (12/06/11)
It has been an interesting experience watching the rise and fall of presidential candidate Herman Cain. Herman the man who talked good sense in promoting business, both large and small, as the economic engine of this country. Herman who encouraged moving away from an ever expanding federal government and back to the successful model envisioned by our founding fathers. ...
A small part of 'it' (11/29/11)
One of my favorite authors is a diminutive lady, Lane Wallace, who writes for aviation-themed publications. Lane has been an aviation columnist, editor, and author for more than 20 years. Assignments for past articles include her actually flying in a U-2 aircraft above 70,000 feet altitude, and in another event, she checked out in a Cessna Caravan and flew missionaries and supplies around southern Africa. ...
Thanksgiving a time to celebrate (11/22/11)
It appears that the weather man is going to smile on us with clear skies and warm temperatures for Thanksgiving this week. I'm a thinkin' that we in Southwestern Nebraska have much to be thankful this season. The fall crops are mostly in the bin and reports are of a good harvest. ...
They yet live among us (11/15/11)
Veteran's Day has come and gone but the memories continue. As a reminder of the annual commemoration of service by American GI's someone went me a YouTube video, produced by the History Channel, of a World War II B-17E mission in the Pacific, circa 1943. ...
Nebraska at her best (11/08/11)
From the south she came, tentative and alert. She a whitetail doe kept looking back telling me that there were more to come. Then her partner, an even larger doe, appeared accompanied by a half grown fawn. Each deer would pause to graze on the manicured blue grass lawn then head held high would look and listen for danger. ...
Trouble ahead (10/25/11)
We were just a couple of pilots flying cross country in a private airplane. The takeoff, approach and landing portions of such flights are busy times. In fact, professional airline crews are enjoined to suppress any extraneous conversation, they call it a "sterile cockpit," and concentrate only on the business at hand during those critical phases of every flight. ...
Teaching, mentoring and twice blessed (10/18/11)
In a recent column, I bemoaned the fact that southern California schools, even in safe neighborhoods, used locked gates to protect their schoolchildren. On return to McCook, Scott (Iraq War hero, former highway patrol, and handyman) called to inform me those fences and locked gates are also currently the practice in our town. ...
Tanker reunion (10/04/11)
We were warriors once and proud. Now we are retired, mostly white-haired and still proud. It has been a gathering of a few of the men that served in the 902nd Air Refueling Squadron during the Vietnam war and our spouses. At that time, we and our young families proudly lived on Clinton Sherman AFB, near Burns Flat in western Oklahoma. ...
Silver wings (09/20/11)
On a sad note, we have all watched in horror as a beautiful old P-51 dove into the ground at the Reno Air Races. The pilot died and unfortunately, all too many spectators with him. So far, the cause has not been determined but I suspect some sort of structural failure. ...
Even bigger government (09/13/11)
Ah the joys of ever bigger government. Several years ago when the Omaha World Herald quit delivering newspapers to outstate Nebraska I subscribed to the North Platte Telegraph in addition to the McCook Daily Gazette. It is my judgment that in contrast to the Gazette, the Telegraph tends to favor a more liberal bent to its stable of writers and choice of national news articles. I tend to argue with some of those opinions...
A summer for family reunions (09/06/11)
This has been a summer of family reunions, large, small and mine. First was a Trail reunion held in Wichita, Kansas. It was a hot dry August day like the whole summer has been in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas this year. Some 60 of us gathered inside in a nice cool church hall and the atmosphere was warm and friendly. A Trail reunion means food aplenty and there was that too...
Do as I say (08/30/11)
Has anyone else noted the incongruity of TV reporters standing out in the wind and rain at the edge of a hurricane telling us lesser individuals to get away from their locale and seek shelter in a safer place? No matter the channel I checked the scene was the same, their reporter in rain gear (notice they all wear the same uniform) being buffeted by wind and rain with crashing ocean waves in the background. ...
Experiencing unintended consequences (08/23/11)
For the past several years I have sat on the board of directors of the Community Action Partnership of Mid-Nebraska, headquartered in Kearney and better known simply as "MID." MID's principle source of funding is an annual federal appropriation through a Community Block Grant, a continuation of President L.B. ...
Happy Granny (08/16/11)
Grannie Annie (she is everybody's Grannie Annie and she is my wife) had an epiphany today. Visiting with T.J. a National Guardsman recently returned from Afghanistan she asked if he had ever seen one of the ribbon crosses that she and her friends craft and send to her adopted Chaplains serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. T.J. told her that yes indeed he had seen them over there and how he had told his compatriots that he actually knew the lady that made them...
Deja vu all over again (08/09/11)
It was a year of drought and depression and the President said "Let us dip into the government till and pay people to make work. Farmers are hurting so let's buy their produce and destroy it and they will be happy." The New Deal worked wonderfully well and the farmers and WPA workers were happy to vote Democrat...
Crisis in Washington (08/02/11)
Talk about a circus! It has been a rope-a-dope bar none. I'm reminded of watching Curly and Moe on black-and-white TV. So far it has been sheer entertainment except for the fact that it is also deadly serious business. I writing of the goings-on of Congress this past week continuing and unresolved as I write this Sunday evening...
A positive impact (07/26/11)
It was a community effort. My wife Ann was the sparkplug and prime mover. Through the past year 130 large flat rate postal boxes containing things GI's like were sent. Destined for the troops she mailed to "her" adopted Chaplain Captain Jared Vineyard and his assistant Sgt. Shane Birdsong in Afghanistan. The Chaplain and his unit are currently in the process of rotating back home. Did Ann and the community's efforts make a difference? Read the following and judge for yourself...
Pure pleasure (07/19/11)
It had rained a half inch the night before. The tires glistened wet with dew as we taxied to the end of Lynn's beautifully groomed buffalo grass runway. The engine checked out fine and the capable pilot just ahead of me powered up for takeoff. An increasing rumble until the wheels cleared the grass and we were airborne into clear cool morning air. ...
Starve the beast (07/12/11)
I was reminded this week that my father had an interesting definition of the political term liberal. According to him, "A 'liberal' is one who wants to spend the money that a 'conservative' earns." We have all been following the current machinations in Washington involving the President, the House and the Senate trying to raise the debt ceiling by raising taxes or lowering spending or some combination thereof. ...
My friend the Democrat (07/05/11)
It is a strange world here in California listening to my friend "Jim the Democrat" attribute all the ills of America today to being the fault of the Republicans. I guess turnabout is fair play as pretty much all the people I normally associate with in Nebraska are somewhat conservative in their political leanings and tend to attribute our ills to President Obama. ...
Riots and revolution (06/28/11)
It is evidently the age of electronics and the neat little devices certainly are making an impact on our lives. For father's day, my baby daughter sent me an Amazon Kindle on which one can download and read books. It is small and light, just ideal to carry with me to indulge in a favorite pastime of reading whenever I have a few unstructured moments while waiting for passengers that sort of thing. Handy is the word...
The life of a corporate pilot (06/21/11)
We awakened this morning with a light, cool, crisp, mountain breeze wafting through the open window. Our motel room high above the town of Santa Fe, New Mexico, is away from traffic, hence the only sound of civilization is the echo of an occasional dog barking in the distance...
Cultivating the work ethic (06/14/11)
When I travel I like to pick up a local newspaper and read to find what is happening in that community. Last week I glanced through a copy of the Omaha World Herald. I used to subscribe but that company decided not to distribute to Southwest Nebraska, evidently thinking we no longer were interested it their product. Nevertheless in their June 9th edition I found an opinion article by Dr. Gene A. Budig that stirred a passion in my heart...
Academy redux (06/07/11)
Celebrate with me. Fifty two years ago today I had the good fortune to marry my high school sweetheart, Miss Clara Ann Tondreau. Ann was raised on a farm west of Maywood. She embraced the Air Force life and during our time together we lived on the East Coast, the West Coast, as far south as one can get in the Rio Grand Valley and on the northern border of the U.S. ...
Noted with pride (05/31/11)
It was a week of contrasts. Ann and I were filling our fuel tank in a filling station in Falcon, Colorado late Wednesday evening. Arriving in the next bay was a couple of American youth in a beat up car. Both were mid twenties, one considerably overweight dressed in shorts to show off his tattooed legs. The other, dirty, long unkempt hair, skinny, the belt on his jeans well down on his butt--pretty typical of that generation...
Israel vs. the world (05/24/11)
Well over 4,000 years ago, our Bible tells us that the Jewish people entered the Promised Land, present-day Israel. Chapter 13 of the book of Numbers states that Moses sent 12 spies into the land to check it out; report on the crops grown, the people already living there and what it would take to conquer the land. ...
The graduates (05/17/11)
Ah, the joy of living in Southwest Nebraska! The trees magically turned green this week and High School graduation rites were in full force. It has been life at its best despite a strong winds and cold rain. It's been graduation time and small town USA at its best. ...
Tear down that wall (05/10/11)
Yes Sir! Yes Sir, McCook will build a 12-foot high fence around our airport. Yes Sir, the citizens of McCook will be happy to pay our share of the $1.7 million fence, latest estimate being only $88,475 from local tax revenue. After all tax money is free and everybody knows we can't be too safe!...
Pageantry and war (05/03/11)
Wonderful news! Our guys in blue terminated the life of the most evil man in the world. Have you noticed that vast majority of the people celebrating in the streets were young people? It is great to see them involved and cheering the success of that long sought goal...
Sleeping on the flight deck (04/26/11)
The media is having ball writing about air traffic controllers caught sleeping at the switch. Then our politicians got into the mix and proposed solutions as if they and the media pundits had a clue as to the real problem. Sure there have been about six cases recently where some poor tower controller was having a nap, an aircraft arrived to land and nobody was awake to give permission...
The bucket list (04/19/11)
Where have all my old friends and mentors gone? Immortality came home to me recently on hearing the death of Lucille Weber. Lucille has to have been the last survivor of my preceding generation. She was a friend and neighbor in the rural community where I grew up south of McCook. Lucille's youngest daughter Jean was a grade school classmate and we graduated from high school in the Class of 1955 before going our separate ways...
On Libya (04/12/11)
I'm wondering just who are these people in Libya that we are helping by instituting a "humanitarian" No Fly Zone. For years I've been a student of history, especially World War II. It was in northern Africa where one of our first successful battles in World War II took place, mainly in the area we now know as Libya...
A sight to be treasured (04/05/11)
A few years ago (it was 1957) I was flying training missions in the back end of a T-29. We flew out of Denver and my fellow cadets and I were learning to be Air Force navigators. GPS was far in the future so we were learning to find our position by shooting the stars with a sextant much as mariners since before the time of Columbus did. ...
Boots on the ground? (03/29/11)
I've been all eyes and ears this week watching the action in Libya. It is obvious that our airpower coalition is winning the air war. Well the original term for the action was establishing a "No Fly Zone" but I see something more. For sure the Libyan Air Force, whatever that amounted to, has been put out of action. ...
Another take on current events (03/22/11)
During my conversation with the Muslim exchange student a fortnight ago I asked why the Muslim countries in the Mideast seemed to hate Israel. His response was that the Israelis deprived the Palestinians of their land and that they treated the Palestinian people so badly. ...
International students (03/15/11)
Our son Don and his family participate in a Council for International Students attending nearby Cal State Fullerton and several other local colleges in the area. Members of the group, all volunteers, track the college rolls for incoming foreign students. ...
Roughing it in California (03/08/11)
Mea culpa! A reader very correctly pointed out that the dam and reservoir north of McCook is located on the Red Willow Creek, not the Medicine as I had written. It makes me wonder how the mind can twist around well known facts. I know not why but notice that it happens more often as I get older. Yes by all means fix the dam!...
Good intentions gone awry (03/01/11)
Gov. Frank Morrison was a gent that I enjoyed visiting. I greatly respected him. I'd known Frank since high school when his son Biff (actually Frank Jr.) and I played football together. At the time, Frank was a successful attorney in McCook. Even my dad had great respect for Frank having sat on the jury of a local murder trial while Frank was the defense attorney. ...
Gentlemen, let's wrestle! (02/22/11)
Talk about high adventure and wonderful entertainment. Grannie Annie and I attended the Nebraska High School State Wrestling meet last week. It was held at the Qwest Center, Omaha's modern high-class event center. It was also our first State wrestling tournament, a "had to go" attendance to watch our grandson, T. J. Monzon take on his chosen sports ultimate challenge...
Egypt, once again (02/15/11)
Following World War II our U.S. government was concerned with the rise of communism in the world. Europe was in disarray much like Egypt today. Our military took over the role of government to keep order until local democratic governments could develop and take charge. Then our military governments quietly withdrew and each country was on its own...
Egypt a work in progress (02/08/11)
It has been an exciting two weeks sitting in a front row seat watching the revolution in Egypt. Our future is definitely in the game yet the United States is barely a player. Possibly the new government, not yet close to being formed, will hopefully continue to be a friend and ally. The danger is that Egypt may follow in the footsteps of Iran and become an intractable enemy. Change is in the air and we can only wait and watch...
A lesson in faith (02/01/11)
My "friends" told me that I was key to the event for I was the one who dropped the ball! The plan was to fly to Lincoln yesterday pick up Tom Osborne and return to McCook so that he could speak at the banquet for Project 31. The plan also included a return trip to take him back home. ...
A safe community (01/25/11)
Recently I purchased a new cell phone. This one does everything! One can actually dial a phone number to connect to another person. But then it does lots more too! It takes pictures, constantly displays the local weather, keeps track, through GPS, of my location plus provides driving instructions, turn left, turn right, to any other location. ...
An epiphany (01/18/11)
Today I am writing this column on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It is a day set aside annually to celebrate the end of rampant racial discrimination in our United States of America. Growing up in Southwestern Nebraska I had no experience with black people. ...
Things that I learned from this column (01/04/11)
Occasionally my family (friends too) has to put up with the embarrassment of comments by your columnist. Comments or quotes of which I seldom ask permission; I just put it down in black and white for all the world to see. But then too some of their feedback is uplifting so I'd like to share a couple responses...
New Years resolutions (12/28/10)
Military families, officially due to the "exigencies of the service," sometimes end up living in the darndest places. So it was that we found ourselves abiding in the upper peninsula of Michigan. The base was named K.I. Sawyer AFB located about fifteen miles south of Marquette, a seaport on the shore of Lake Superior...
A Christmas story you never heard (12/21/10)
Dr. Don Blank, fellow Air Force veteran, forwarded this story and it is too good not to share. Incidentally the Air Force Academy football team beat both the Army and the Navy winning the Commander In Chief's Trophy this year and all three will be appearing in Bowl games. This article appeared in the Philadelphia Daily News on Dec. 22, 2005, by Ronnie Polaneczky and edited a bit by me. Now to the story:...
Two different worlds (12/14/10)
The song lyrics say "Two different worlds we live in" and we were reminded of that fact recently. Two different worlds, the one that people live in southwestern Nebraska and the one that people live in southern California. I make no judgment which is better, I just know which I chose and am thankful for that choice...
Tora! Tora! Tora! remembered (12/07/10)
It was early on a beautifully clear Sunday morning. Squadron mate Capt. Ron Cannon and crew had landed their KC-135, jet-powered tanker, at Honolulu International Airport and were taxiing over to Hickam Air Base. They looked west to see a huge fireball and black smoke pall over Pearl Harbor. ...
Extended family (11/30/10)
When I was a young boy my uncle, Willard Hoyt, had a farmhand that went by the appellation "Henry." I presume that he had a last name but we all knew him simply as Henry. Henry dressed in blue overalls and a plaid work shirt and seemed most times to wear a bandana around his neck. His attire would nowadays seem to indicate "cowboy" although my uncle kept few cattle for him to tend to...
A Christmas to remember (11/23/10)
Nationally syndicated columnist Dennis Prager wrote recently, "in a lifetime of teaching and writing on Judaism, I have never encountered a single normative statement in 3,000 years of Jewish writing that asserted that man is basically good." Those writings of course include our Bible's Old Testament, which I love...
A few suggestions (11/16/10)
Recently McCook's favorite son, Ben Nelson, announced that he will again run for the U.S. Senate in the 2012 election cycle. Senator Ben (D-Neb) made his announcement at a meeting of the teacher's union in Grand Island. I personally have known Senator Ben as a boy in my hometown and have cheered his rise as a successful attorney in the insurance industry, his election to the office of Governor and then in 2006 to the U.S. ...
Support for the troops (11/09/10)
His name is John (real name withheld for his and his family's security) and he is assigned to a forward operating base in Afghanistan. To say that just being an American Christian there is living dangerously would be an understatement. You see John is an Army Chaplain and sees his duty as essential to the well being of "his" soldiers, our heroes of today. He is a man of the cloth that speaks their language because he has been there and done that...
We love this place (11/02/10)
Last week I wrote of failed opportunities in this community. I also received a lot of flak from disgusted readers on the online blog version maintained by the Gazette. All of those bloggers of course demonstrated their courage by remaining anonymous. I do like the positive comments however, anonymous or not. Today though I write of things done right!...
Dearth of leadership (10/26/10)
It is interesting to sit back and watch the leaders of McCook wrestle with the people's priorities. The McCook Police Department's intention to move into a new public safety center and leave their jail (yeah I know it's a 48 hour holding facility) comes immediately to mind...
Old buildings tell tales (10/19/10)
It is all gone now, just an empty cellar hole since filled in and smooth. "It" being the old three story brick building on the corner of Norris and B Streets in McCook. Lately referred to as the Romanoff Building, it was abandoned and becoming derelict the last several years. The City used stimulus dollars to do the demolition. Good riddance and all that now remains are the memories. Ah the memories...
Drawing arbitrary water boundaries (10/12/10)
For the future good of Southwestern Nebraska you are urged to vote very carefully and wisely. For all candidates, yes, but particularly for those on the ticket for a position on the Middle Republican Natural Resources District Board. Your vote may be critical for Red Willow County and every other portion of our area bordering the Republican River. The reason is valuation of irrigated verses dryland farm ground and that translates to taxes...
The Vietnam Wall (10/05/10)
The notice in the Gazette states that the traveling Vietnam Wall will be staging through McCook tomorrow. It has been doing its patriotic duty in Norton, Kansas, and is moving to Cody Park in North Platte. Last week, Ann and I drove to Norton for a great meal with friends at a new Mexican restaurant. We then went to the site of the traveling memorial to spend a poignant, moving evening...
Don't rain on my parade (09/28/10)
It is a beautiful day, 70 degrees and a just right breeze. The street is lined with spectators. First comes the honor guard proudly carrying Old Glory. Our High School band resplendent in uniform and playing favorite John Phillip Sousa marches. The floats are moving slowly and carefully down the route. ...
My mailbox (09/21/10)
I've received some interesting communications this past week. First was an appeal from Robert F. Dorr, a noted author and columnist, concerning military affairs. Dorr was appealing for statements from Air Force veterans who were willing to be quoted on record concerning recent comments about veteran's affairs by former Sen. Alan K. Simpson(R), Wyoming...
Beautiful Nebraska (09/14/10)
"Look, look at that pivot over there! See the brown spots in the corn and look, there is a small lake of standing water. See how green everything else is too?" Such were the words of my passengers on a recent flight. We started over water in the filled-to-capacity reservoir at Alma and flew the Republican River west into its headwaters in Colorado. ...
Remember (09/07/10)
First a note of thanks for all the flowers, cards, prayers and other good thoughts that have come our way for my convalescing wife. Ann is doing just fine; better every day. She has grown to like being treated as the "Queen" with her every whim being cheerfully met. A friend informed her though that "This too shall pass."...
Modern medicine! (08/31/10)
This week I have been reminded of what a godsend the miracle of modern medicine that we enjoy in this country today truly is. Whether in the larger cities or right here at home in rural Nebraska we have access to health services that even our parents could only dream. We are truly blessed to live in America here and now...
Okay, who's in charge? (08/24/10)
When Benjamin Franklin stepped forth at the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention he is reputed to have been asked "What kind of a government will we have?" His answer: "A Republic, if you can keep it!" A republic where "We the people" elect representatives to do our public business yet "We the people" still retain the final say in how that business is conducted. On the local level "We the people" have in actuality three ways to express our will...
One happy president (08/17/10)
Lately President Jimmy Carter (for whom I voted) has to be the happiest man alive. At the moment President Barack Obama (for whom I did not vote) has surpassed him as the worst American President--ever! President Obama, our far left secular progressive leader just now reaffirmed his support for the proposed mosque at ground zero. ...
Passion meets passion (08/10/10)
I was relaxing over lunch at home with my wife. "Could you fly to Omaha and bring Amy Speace our featured 'Live at the Bieroc' entertainer back to McCook?" asked Matt. "Well the answer was 'no' as I'm not licensed to transport passengers for pay. But wait a second there is a way. It is permissible to use my airplane for flight instruction. Yes I can have her here in time for your performance," was my answer...
Dear Martha (08/03/10)
Martha Lunken is an active member of the Federal Aviation Administration, a part of the United States Department of Transportation. The FAA is charged with regulating and encouraging civil aviation in the United States. Martha gives checkrides in the DC-3. She also writes with dry humor and elan a monthly column in Flying magazine. Her latest "DC-3, A Real Man's Airplane."...
I never want to see that again (07/27/10)
The best description that I can make is to picture a wonderful old friend being run over in the crosswalk by a truck driven by your coworker and good friend. Then imagine that your old friend and the truck exploded into flame as the gas tank ruptured and you helplessly begged your truck driving friend to jump from the burning cab!...
A burr under the saddle (07/20/10)
Sometimes a person gets a burr under his saddle and just has to vent. A couple of recent events have caused an itch that needs scratched so you might bear with me as I unburden. Agreement not necessary. First off one has to be proud of the citizens of Southwestern Nebraska. ...
Obama missed the big celebration (07/13/10)
I'm sorry but President Obama really missed it! I'm talking about the patriotic Independence Day celebration held in Norris Park on the 4th of July. Ann, I, and several hundred other country-lovin' citizens attended the tribute in McCook. Knowing the area though I'm sure every other small town and village in Southwestern Nebraska also held similar ceremonies to celebrate. Usually we make the parade and 4th of July bash at Culbertson but this year McCook's "All School Reunion" beckoned instead...
A wonderful teacher remembered (07/06/10)
"Don your seat in this class is right here on the front row. I've noticed that your grades don't reflect your potential and I believe that you can do much better." So started the year for my classmate Don as he took his seat in a Senior High Algebra class. The wise teacher that uttered those words was Mrs. Gwendolyn McKenzie. She was a large boned strong woman and none of us, her advanced math, students had any doubt that she demanded anything but our best efforts...
Bloom where you are planted (06/29/10)
For some reason it has fallen to me to be the focal point of communication with my high school graduating class. Obviously that duty also includes planning for reunions on an occasional basis. I suspect that the yoke falling on my shoulders is my classmate's getting even for electing me class president long ago. ...
'Good enough' (06/22/10)
"Good enough." Those were the words spoken by the 2nd Lieutenant as I congratulated him on being assigned to fly C-17 cargo aircraft. "Good enough‚" but I could see the disappointment on his face betraying his inward disappointment at not getting an A-10 or reconnaissance C-12 or about anything more exciting than flying a big ole cargo hauler. He may have been disappointed but I was overjoyed as I know in my heart that he will grow to love the assignment...
Volunteers (06/15/10)
Ann and I were privileged to spend this weekend in the presence of patriots. We attended the annual training for a program known as ESGR for which I volunteer. ESGR! Obviously it is military connected for whom other than the American Military could more love acronyms -- this one standing for Employer Support for the Guard and Reserves. Unpronounceable we simply call it by the four letters E S G R...
Consequences of rural zoning (06/08/10)
Several years ago, when I was running for a third term as Red Willow County Commissioner, a movement was afoot to adopt county wide zoning. "Horrors of all horrors Red Willow was one of only a few in the whole state that did not have a codified zoning ordinance" so spoke the advocates. The unstated, but whispered, goal at the moment was to prevent any confinement hog operation from locating in the county...
Strong opinions (06/01/10)
It was an interesting weekend just past. Ann and I met with our Oklahoma relatives and their relation. Being from Oklahoma means an interest in the oil patch and boy do they have opinions! Yes our Okie Oilies are firmly convinced that BP messed up big time to allow their leased drilling rig Deep Water Horizon to explode and cause the ongoing mess. ...
Rex's dream (05/25/10)
Sometimes I get a chance to eat my words, especially when I have been skeptical about spending taxpayer's money. Case in point: I squawked about putting the taxpayer on the hook for renovating the Keystone Hotel in McCook. On a blustery day last week Matt Stebbins gave me a tour of the reconstruction in progress. I'd like to now share my optimism for the project as I think it will become a shining jewel downtown "on the bricks." From what I saw it, I think it will work!...
Beauty and the Beast (05/18/10)
I don't know if you have noticed, but Southwestern Nebraska is simply beautiful at the moment. The wheat is knee high and dark green, the native grasses are a lighter green, and corn is emerging with its typically yellow straight rows. Look sharp and you might see a mama coyote hunting in the daytime, a sure sign of coyote pups hidden close by. Rooster pheasants are preening for hens alongside the road and in the canyons, tom turkeys are displaying their wares to admiring hens...
Strong arms (05/11/10)
When I was a kid living on the farm south of McCook my dad hired an interesting array of farm workers. First that I remember were the German prisoners of war. Those young men, mostly captured in North Africa, showed up in large groups, maybe 40 to 70 at a time, to hoe sugar beets and pick up potatoes. ...
All politics are local (05/04/10)
Three entities are competing for your property tax money. Now one wants to raise the ante. There is no overall comprehensive plan to set priorities. The Schools already dipped their hand into the pie and built a large and expensive consolidated elementary building that we will be a long time paying. ...
What are they thinkin'? (04/27/10)
Great timing! I received my income tax refund this week. The largess arrived just in time to trundle down to the court house and pay a large chunk of it into the county real-estate tax fund. Poor planning on my part I know. I should have arranged things to make withholding and income tax come out even. ...
I love the smell of jet fuel in the morning (04/20/10)
It was the smell of jet fuel (actually exhaust) that triggered a hundred memories last Wednesday. I was standing on the ramp with brilliant sunshine and a stiff Oklahoma breeze at Vance AFB. A cacophony of sound from T-1s, T-6s and T-38s all noisily coming and going added to the moment. Like Yogi said, "It was déjà vu all over again!" because exactly fifty years ago I was in the same place learning to fly the T-33 on my way to earning silver Air Force Pilot's Wings...
Compassion or just higher taxes? (04/13/10)
This week the Nebraska Legislature saw fit to accept federal money to pay unemployment benefits. It seems like a "no brainer" to accept the largess but I wonder if accepting the "free" money is prudent. In the first place unemployment insurance (?) has traditionally been a state managed program and secondly when Congress voted to extend unemployment benefits, providing the money along with the requirement to pay it out, should have been part of the deal. ...
A busman's holiday (04/06/10)
Hooray for spring, sunshine and warmer weather. I made my first flight in "my" corporate twin engine Cessna sans clouds a couple of weeks ago. It was pure pleasure. We went south around 12,500 feet high and returned home later in the day at 8,500, the lowest altitude where I could find smooth air, but, then, it is spring in the mid-northern latitudes. ...
Growing up at the Keystone Hotel (03/30/10)
EDITOR'S NOTE -- Today, Dick Trail is turning his column over to one of his McCook High School Class of 1955 classmates, Don Glaze, who lives near Chicago. Glaze says he may have learned more working at the Keystone Hotel than at MHS. He has also worked in economic development, and sees projects like that under way at the Keystone as a way "to get jobs going again":...
An Easter reminder (03/23/10)
Sitting in church Sunday, the day that our Democrat Congress voted in Obamacare, my mind wandered a bit. It was the week before Palm Sunday and our preacher illustrated the fact that Jesus knew what fate was awaiting him in Jerusalem the next few days. Yes the leaders of the Jewish "church" of the time managed to have this upstart murdered...
Relief flight 'trip of a lifetime' (03/16/10)
With more than 4,000 miles flown in six days, the Good Samaritan has returned. Local businessman Richard Stull stated that it was a trip of a lifetime and he is ready to go again. The mission, flown on his dime in his personal six-passenger Piper Cherokee Six, was to deliver badly needed medical supplies to Haiti...
Honored to know such a man (03/09/10)
He is probably the best friend that I've ever had. Liberal to the core, well maybe as liberal as my outlook in life is conservative, we still get along. He hates George W. Bush but surely can't be too proud of Bill Clinton's morals or the latest antics of our present esteemed president but, oh well, these are subjects from which we steer clear...
Almost flying (03/02/10)
It was that old familiar terrible sinking feeling! Just after takeoff from a wet runway, we had already climbed into the thick clouds. The nose yawed sideways. The alternator and hydraulic failure lights illuminated but I was too busy trying to keep the airplane going straight ahead to notice. ...
Guardsmen (02/23/10)
The ceremony was simple, solemn and respectful! The purpose was to honor all MIA/POW and to instill a sense of sacrifice into the assembled officer candidates. Remembering those who have given their all is a part of the heritage of all the military services. ...
An unconventional life well-lived (02/16/10)
Debt has value! Yes, large corporations buy and sell debt -- so this lawyer friend was trying to convince me. He further explained that when companies are bought and sold, sometimes divisions that are failing financially are siphoned off and set up as new companies. Someone is assigned to manage that failing portion and that was his job, CEO of a group of "failing" companies...
Dick Trail
The Way I Saw It