Fall influx of skunks and students

Skunks were causing nightly problems in McCook in the early fall of 1960. They were downtown, in yards and generally stinking up the city. Policemen were being supplemented by Gazette employee Bus Bahl and a wildlife authority named Jim "Rattlesnake Pete" Holmes.

McCook City Manager George Pyle, who was "directing the plan of attack from City Hall," instructed "Rattlesnake Pete" to locate the skunk dens and report back to him. City patrolmen involved in disposing of the 20 black-and-whites to die in battle so far were Lester Webb, Richard Brunswick, Stan Spahn, Dave Martin and Jerry Bennett.

McCook High School was relatively new and the school board was in charge of selling the land around the school. The McCook school board also had jurisdiction over the McCook College at that time too. The land north of the high school on West 7th was being offered for sale by the McCook board of education. At their Sept. 5, 1960, meeting, the Board approved a bid on 29 lots, opened up an additional 30 lots for sale and accepted a bid on the remaining lot in the First High School Addition.

Contractor Bud Lavoni of Sidney offered the school board $400 per 70-foot lots on both sides of West I from West 7th to West 10th Streets, excluding the last three lots on both sides of I Street because they would need additional dirt work done. He offered $100 each for those.

He would also put in the three block long street. The board agreed to sell to Lavoni but wanted to negotiate on the western lots. They thought the lots should go for $250 each and wanted construction within two years. The board still had for sale 15 lots bordering West J Street, and about 15 bordering Sunset Road, all between West 7th and 10th Streets.

The new dormitory at McCook College was not quite finished when the college students finished registration on Sept. 9, 1960. In answer to a plea for help, McCook homeowners in the college area offered housing to some 60 female students for the short period until it was ready for full occupancy. I knew that the dormitory, Brooks Hall, was named for Gov. Ralph G. Brooks but just assumed it was named in his memory some time after he had died. I hadn't realized the dorm was built when he was still living and was still governor. The Gazette reported Gov. Brooks was still in serious condition as he began his third week in a Lincoln hospital. The State Fair was going on in Lincoln, too, with many McCookites making the trip. A driver was killed in the car races at the fair when his car flipped in a four-car pileup. The three-day Labor Day holiday total for 1960 was 201,000 attendees. Officials were hoping that total attendance would top the 7-day total in 1959 of 325,000 people. Let's see what this year's State Fair totals look like.

If you didn't go to State Fair, television offered some familiar programs. On Tuesday night at 7:30 was "Dobie Gillis"; "Whirlybirds" at 9:00 and at 10:30 every weeknight, the "Jack Parr Show." The only broadcast in color on Tuesday nights was the "Arthur Murray Party."

On Wednesdays "The Price Is Right" (in color too) followed "Wagon Train" which came on at 6:30; "Millionaire" at 8 and "I've Got a Secret" at 9.

The Sept. 6, 1960, Gazette had two separate articles about McCookites being featured on the covers of magazines that month ... certainly nothing to sneeze at. Mrs. Ted Breedlove was featured at her electric kitchen stove on the cover of "Nebraska Electric Farmer."

A story inside the magazine told of the Breedlove's use of electricity in their "show place home" east of McCook. The Gazette had featured a similar story in the paper several months before during REA's silver anniversary.

The second McCookite to be featured was Don Glaze, who was on the cover of the October 1960 issue of "Science and Mechanics" magazine. Young 24-year old Glaze was working at the Lawson YMCA in Chicago while working on an advanced degree at the University of Chicago. Actually, a drawing of Glaze in mid-air above a trampoline was on the cover. Inside was a 7-page article on the trampoline sport and how to make your own featuring a photo of Glaze.

The Army Store on the northeast corner of West 4th and B Streets advertised white gym shorts for $1.25, athletic supporters for 87c and basketball shoes for $3.99 ... everything the high school jock needed for school. Don't we wish that was all that was needed for today's equivalent high school athlete.

For our food nostalgia of the week, I found a Mac's Drive-In ad for their Southern Fried Chicken. A complete chicken dinner meal was either 89 cent or $1.25. A "Bucket-o-chicken" (2 whole chickens) was $3.25 while a "Pail-o-chicken" (1 whole chicken) was $1.79. It's still good chicken!

Speaking of food ... be sure to check out the McCook Main Street Farmer's Market on Saturday mornings in the parking lot behind Peterson Jewelry on West B Street.