Stories from Monday, May 21, 2007

The family of Vonda and Bob Hidy is requesting a card shower in honor of the couple's 60th wedding anniversary. They were married May 25, 1947, in Trenton. Cards of congratulations will reach the couple at 10729 W. Amber Trail Sun City, AZ 85351.

Bethyl Lubbers of Ness City, Kan., formerly McCook and Kyle Randa of Arnold, Kan., announce their engagement and upcoming wedding. Parents of the couple are Joseph and Debbra Lubbers of McCook and Kelle Randa of Arnold and the late Elmer "Joey" Randa. Grandparents of the couple are Jean and Willie Heier of Grinnell, Kan., Alma Lubbers of Grinnell and Elmer and Angelita Randa of Ransom, Kan...

The family of Dale and Virginia Fickle is hosting a card shower in honor of the couple's 35th wedding anniversary. They were married May 22, 1972, in Naha, Okinawa, Japan. Cards of congratulations will reach the couple at 511 Railroad Avenue in Culbertson...

Jenny Miller of Culbertson and Jeff Baker of Pender announce their engagement and upcoming wedding. Parents of the couple are Lee and Barb Miller of Culbertson and Denny Baker and Lynn Baker of Pender. The bride-to-be is a 2002, graduate of Culbertson High School. ...

Isabella Patricia was born April 18, 2007 at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Lincoln. Adoptive parents are Benji and Lindsay Bentley of Beatrice. She weighed 4 pounds, 12 ounces and was 17 inches long. Grandparents are Roger and Rita Bentley of McCook, Lorra and Sam Richards of Kearney and Brian and Sherry Turner of Omaha. Great-grandparents are Mr. and Mrs. Bud Turner of Bee, Helen Sell of McCook and Claude Warren, formerly of McCook...

The family of Lula (Adkisson) Stapp is requesting a card shower in honor of her 90th birthday. She was born May 23, 1917, in Farnam. Her children are Deliven and Shirley Stapp of Billings, Mont., Patricia and Carl Johnson of Cambridge, Beverly and Roger Goltl of McCook and Connie and James Horn of Aurora, Colo. She has 10 grandchildren; and 26 great-grandchildren. Cards of congratulation will reach her at PO Box 264, Cambridge, NE 69022...

Elsie Kasten of Central City, formerly of Hayes County celebrated her 99th birthday on May 16, 2007. Her children are Ellis and Dottie Kasten of British Columbia, Canada and Harold and Dorothy Cook of Central City. Cards of congratulations will reach her at 2123 14th Avenue, Central City, NE 68826...

Chelsea Cunning of Sutherland and Joshua Hamilton of Albion announce their engagement. Parents of the couple are Michael and Brenda Cunning of Sutherland, Tim and Janice Hamilton of Albion, formerly of Stratton. The bride-to-be is a 2003 graduate of Sutherland High School. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Dental Hygiene from the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Dentistry in May 2007. She will work in a private practice in Omaha...

Dennis and Patricia McCauley of Trenton will celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. They were married on May 22, 1982 in Omaha. Their children are John Jr. and Jennifer Abramo of Trenton, Denise and Kenneth Averitt of Carmel, Ind., Amanda McCauley, Joseph and Cristine Abramo and DeAnna and Michael Murcek, all of Omaha. They have 12 grandchildren. Cards of congratulations will reach the couple at P. O. Box 184, Trenton, NE 69044...

IMPERIAL -- Carla May Ferguson of Palisade and Joshua Ryan Taylor of Champion were united in marriage Dec. 30, 2006 in Crossroads Wesleyan Church in Imperial with the Rev. Todd Burpo officiating. Parents of the couple are Wayne and Marlyn Ferguson of Parks and Ron and Dena Taylor of Champion...

The family of Joan McDowell Mace is requesting a card shower in honor of her 80th birthday. She was born May 23, 1927, in McCook. Her children are Tom Mace of San Diego, Calif., Jerry Mace of Kansas City, Mo., Henry and wife, Karen Mace of Tecumseh, Kan. and Sandy Lytle and husband, Rod of McCook. She has five grand children and three great- grandchildren. Cards of congratulations can reach her at 1604 W. Fourth, #49, McCook, NE 69001...

Tony and Danielle (Barth) Schermerhorn announce the birth of their daughter, Sonya Isabelle, born April 25, 2007 at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. She weighed 5 pounds, 4.5 ounces and was 18 3/4 inches long. She has a two-year old sister, Kirsten. Grandparents are Gary and Donna Barth of Culbertson and Wayne and Linda Schermerhorn of Natural Bridge, N.Y. Great grandparents are Margie Welsh of McCook, Pat Schermerhorn of Brookville, Fla., and Margaret Pettit of Carthage, N.Y...

Pankonin, Cherry, Soucie, Wills take state titles By JOHN J. MESH Gazette Sports Editor OMAHA -- Chase County-Imperial senior Celeste Pankonin captured the Class B girls and the All-Class Gold Medal in the high jump when she cleared 5 feet, 5 inches Saturday at the Nebraska State Track and Field Championships...

Leland and Gloria Messersmith of Cozad will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary on May 25. They were married in the Congregational Church in Hayes Center in 1957. They have eight children, 26 grandchildren and five great-grandsons. Cards of congratulations will reach the couple at 1921 D Street, Cozad, NE 69130...

TRENTON -- Two McCook men, one who graduated from McCook Senior High just a week ago, died in a one-vehicle rollover accident Sunday morning on Highway 25 three miles south of the Trenton Dam. The Nebraska State Patrol reports that Christopher R. Botsford, 20, and Clayton L. Pierson, 18, died when they were ejected from a northbound Ford Explorer that rolled multiple times after its driver, Jonathan N. Peterson, 19, of Fort Lewis, Washington, lost control and the SUV ran off the highway...

Denver transplant Sonia Caldwell longed for house with personality. She now has 2,765 square feet of it, with the home she's restoring on East First Street. Caldwell had looked at some older homes to renovate in the Denver area but found that the prices were too high and she was competing against developers who also wanted older homes. It's more cost-effective for a developer to tear down an older home and build a duplex rather than to renovate, she said, a process she called "scrape-offs."...

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...

In case parents don't have enough to worry about already, there's a new danger out there, according to the Nebraska State Patrol. Add "Cordicidin HPB Cough and Cold" to the list of legal, over-the-counter drugs that can be abused, according to the patrol's Troop B Headquarters in Norfolk...

Walt Sehnert's story about "Papa" Hemingway brought back close-to-home memories for Virginia (Huff) Schaffert, a former resident of McCook who now lives in Culbertson. During World War II, Virginia's parents, Carl and Clara Huff, rented a basement apartment to a couple originally from Ketchum, Id-aho: Major George Whitlock and his wife, Puck. The young married couple was in McCook while Maj. Whitlock received training at the McCook Army Air Base...

A few days ago, my local newspaper, the San Diego Union-Tribune, carried a story about the demise of yet another small-town paper. There are too many stories like that these days. Another death in a vanishing species. Let me say here that I am 40+ years into a career in the radio business. ...

ARAPAHOE -- Colten James Juhl, infant son of Lee and Leah (Daily) Juhl, was born and died on Saturday (May 19, 2007) at Phelps Memorial Hospital in Holdrege. He was preceded in death by his maternal grandmother, Carole Daily and paternal great-grandmother, Mary Briegel...