100 Years Ago. . .
Alfred Lundstrom ran a rusty nail into one foot while at work in the lumber yard. Pus began to form in the wound a short time after the accident, but prompt medical attention prevented blood poisoning.
“E. J. Huey left Osmond last Friday morning at 4 a.m. for Omaha and got back to Norfolk at 11 p.m. the same day. Pretty good time for a Ford, isn’t it?”
Rev. Father Krings returned from Sioux City where he had been to see H. J. Purdie, who was in the hospital there. Mr. Purdie was getting along all right, Father Krings said, although he was a mighty sick man. He was on the table for three hours, and as the freezing would not take effect and his heart was too weak for ether, he had to stand the operation without anything to kill the pain. An ulcer was removed as well as a portion of the stomach, and it was thought that he would be able to be home again in about a month.
At their January meeting, the firemen elected the following officers: Geo. Hering, president; Chas. Rosberg, secretary; C. F. Boye, treasurer; A. W. Marek, chief; E. G. Schauppner, assistant chief; A. Lundstrom, manager of the city hall; fire police - Henry Kahler, Frank Nelson; trustees — Herman Huwaldt, Henry Cordt.
Saturday night was Paramount nite at the Osmond auditorium with seven reels of Rudolph Valentine and Dorothy Dalton in Moran, or The Lady Letty, two reels of comedy and 1 news reel.
75 Years Ago. . .
An estimated $1,300 was the damage to a new White truck and the empty tank-trailer being pulled by it to a transport loading station in Council Bluffs. The new outfit, on its maiden trip, was that of Dawson Oil & Transport Co. of Osmond and was driven by Vernon Castor, one of the firm's transport drivers. The accident happened on the four-lane Dodge Street about 15 miles west of Omaha. According to Dawson, the driver approached the crest of a hill going east at about 40 miles per hour. He touched the brake pedal lightly to decrease speed down the incline ahead. The truck jack-knifed badly, crushing the cab which was torn off the chassis and damaging the trailer. The truck was covered by insurance and was being repaired.
Joe Theisen brought a lynx home from his Long Pine ranch, caught in a trap there by an employee, Orin Smith. The lynx was one of the scarcer predatory animals in this section of the state. This particular animal’s skin was to be made into a rug for the Theisen home. (Does anyone know the whereabouts of that lynx skin?)
With the Nov. 18, 1948, snowstorm, one of the heaviest early season snowstorms in history, still fresh in their minds and innumerable scoop shovel backs hardly again at normal, farmers again at the end of December looked out on almost an exact duplicate of the November storm. Some six inches of new snow was added on Dec. 24 to that already covering the ground. Dreams of a white Christmas were no longer dreams. Added to that were an estimated 6 to 10 inches of snow on Dec. 28. A week later, a fresh coat of some 2 to 4 inches of ice covered everything exposed, and a light snow was falling.
65 Years Ago. . .
Pictured on the front page of the Jan. 7, 1959, Osmond Republican were the “Last of the Old. . . and First of the New” Year’s babies born at St. Joseph Hospital. The last for 1958 was Douglas James Stratton, Born at 7 p.m. Dec. 31, to James and Betty Stratton. The first baby of the new year was a son, Donald, born to Arlene (Luebbers) Otte of Carroll, formerly of Osmond. He was born at 3:40 a.m. Jan. 5, and as the first baby born at Osmond, he received a $25 Savings Bond by the Osmond Community Club.
In a report from Vern Scofield, manager at the Nebraska Press Association, there were 725 newspapers in Nebraska in 1913, but only 260 at the end of 1958. In the Osmond Republican’s Editor’s Note, he said there was no immediate threat that towns the size of Osmond would lose their newspapers. The trend, however, was significant, he said, and the tremendous increase in production costs had created a serious problem. “Once newspapers are forced to suspend publication, they are usually gone forever,” [In a search for information on newspaper numbers today, I found that there are about 200 newspapers covering Nebraska news today.] The warmest temperature in more than a month was officially recorded here as a warm air mass hovered over the Midwest. The top afternoon reading was 52 degrees, reported Phil Beckwith, in charge of the local Weather Bureau branch.
Elmer Schneckloth, Osmond carpenter, reported that sometime during the night, vandals broke into a frame tool shed and workshop near his home in northwest Osmond, but apparently took nothing. A padlock was broken to gain entrance. Carpenter tools were stored in the frame building, the former Osmond Gun Club house that had recently been moved to town.
50 Years Ago. . .
With the advent of the new year, a joint announcement was made of a change in ownership of the Osmond Republican, an Osmond institution since 1890. Duane Weber, until a few months before a resident of Woodbridge, VA, acquired ownership of the paper. Mr. Weber, his wife, the former Mary Jane Liewer, and their two children, Tanya and Tim, lived in the apartment on the second floor of the newspaper building. He purchased the newspaper from Eugene M. Liewer, who had been connected with the paper since 1929.
Nicaragua, which juts out into the Gulf of Mexico north of the Panama Canal, is one of the poorest countries in the world. It is so poor, said Father James Bartek of St. Mary’s Church, “that even the Russians won’t take a second look at it.” And so it was that Osmond’s three churches, along with churches of all denominations in other northeast Nebraska towns had filled steel barrels with clothing, including shoes, and tools, and a few specialized food items, starting on the land and sea journey to make the lives of the poor a little more livable. Traveling with the 75 barrels of goods were Osmond farm operator Norbert Gubbels, who had been active in the aid program, as well as his brother Richard, Edwin Stech and John Borgmann Sr.
Robbie Beacom was the winner of a 6-foot stocking filled with toys given in a Christmas drawing by Chick’s Grocery.
25 Years Ago. . .
Moisture during December of 1998 was nearly nonexistent — until the final two days of the month. Two inches of snow fell on Dec. 30 and 31. The new year brought with it a snowstorm which affected a large area of the Midwest. Locally, an estimated five inches of snow fell between Jan. 1 and 3. Strong winds swept the powdery snow into drifts. Numbing temperatures accompanied the storm. The daytime high dropped dramatically, going from 44 degrees on Dec. 29 to 17 degrees a day later.
The Osmond girls’ basketball team dominated the competition at the Wausa post-holiday tournament, defeating Niobrara 51-29 and Orchard 55-29 to claim the tournament title.
For the second year in a row, Osmond won top honors at the Wausa post-holliday tournament. Osmond raced past Niobrara in the opening round game, 92-36, then held off a tough Wausa team, 61-53 to take the championship.
10 Years Ago. . .
On Jan. 1, 2014, Security Bank announced that Aaron Gutz became the Osmond branch manager. Aaron succeeded Doug Ketelsen, who was retiring after almost 30 years with the bank with at that time was called Osmond State Bank.
Jan. 5, 2014, dawned with temperatures in the low 20s, but it was all downhill from there. By noon, strong northwest winds buffeted the area and wind chills plummeted. By Monday morning, temperatures were at about -16, with wind chills at that time ranging from -25 to -30.
