Heritage Days allows residents to live history

Hear the word "heritage" and you think of McCook, Nebraska. It's a trend which started more than 30 years ago with the first German Heritage Days celebration, and has since spread to become the name of the Heritage Hills Golf Course and the Heritage Senior Center.

Now, as then, the festive focus remains the annual celebration whose name, over the years, has been shortened to simply, "Heritage Days."

The 2003 rendition is just around the corner of the calendar. In just 26 days -- on Wednesday, Sept. 24 -- the annual observance will begin with the heralded Honor Night event at the McCook National Bank. During the early evening program, the Heritage Days Grand Marshal, the Heritage Days Parade Marshal and the 2003 Honor Family will be introduced.

Also at that time, the Heritage Days Royalty will be in the spotlight, with the Prince or Princess and his or her court unveiled. Then, to bring the opening evening show to a close, the Tennis Ball Auction will take place, with the winning bidders getting the right to dunk the local celebrities who have "volunteered" to take a dive.

After sponsors and supporters get a day to catch their breath -- and work on floats -- the Heritage event bursts back into action Friday morning, Sept. 26, with the Prayer Breakfast hosted by the George W. Norris Foundation. This year's speaker will be Linda Hein, the site supervisor at the Norris Home in McCook, who will discuss "The Two Heritages of George Norris: Ohio and Nebraska." Hein traveled to Norris' Ohio home near Clyde this summer, and will tell how his growing up years there, from 1861 to 1885, shaped his later life in Nebraska, from his arrival here in the mid-1880s to his death in 1944.

More, much more, lies in store for those attending the 2003 Heritage Days celebration. The bevy of activities will include the Army airbase reunion, the pre-World War II quilt display at the Norris Home and the 5k and one-mile fun run. Also this year, the popular Craft Fair will be back at Norris Park and a Veteran's Memorial Service will be conducted at the Norris Avenue flagpole

Then, of course, there's the biggie, the 2003 Heritage Days parade, which will begin its march down Norris Avenue at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 27. There's still time to enter, so give the Chamber a call at 345-3200 so your entry can be included. Also on the Heritage agenda this year are the Yesterday's Tomorrows' exhibit; Norris bandshell entertainment; free swimming at the McCook YMCA; ice cream socials at Norris Park; and a Sunday morning pancake breakfast and a worship service at the park.

Another real big treat this year will be the "100 Years of Musical History" variety program, which will be staged at the Fox Theater. The night has yet to be set -- it will be either Thursday or Saturday -- but whatever the date, the crowd is in store for quite a show. Walt Sehnert has lined up the Freedom Swings Big Band, the Saggy Bottom Boys and the Music Through the Years Singers as the headliners to present music from pioneer days to the present.

That's heritage ... and that's why McCook's annual celebration is such a hit. It's history, and we have lived it ... together.