March 4, 1897 —
The editor has been suffering with that “tired feeling” for several days and a million devils have been playing leap-frog in his head, in other words he has the grip, and he don’t know better how to express his disgust with life than to copy the following from an unknown source: “With a terrible cold in his head and his eyes both heavy and sore, the editor sat on a broken chair and earnestly, bitterly swore. A youth had dropped in with a poem, a man was there with a dun, and a chap was there to tell him how his paper ought to be run. An irate subscriber informed him his paper wasn't fit to be read, while another had carefully promised to punch the editor’s head. The devil was calling for copy, and wind whistled in at the door, and this with a few other reasons was why the editor swore. But the angels took it to heaven and recorded the verdict there: "The jury finds in the present case it was a justifiable swear.".
100 Years Ago. . .
One of the surprises in the local elections was the election of Henry Schuettler for road overseer of Plum Grove precinct. His name was not on the ticket, but enough of his friends wrote it in to elect him. In other election news for the county, for president, Calvin Coolidge had 1,562 votes, Robert M. LaFollette 1,337, and John Davis 757; for governor, Adam McMullen had 1,807, J. N. Norton 1,488, and Dan B. Butler 326.
The big new barn of Ferdinand Krinert [sic], located 3 miles south and 1 mile west of town, burned to the ground. Mr. Krinert was away from home at the time and it was not known how the fire started. The barn was also used as a house, and all the household furniture, grain, hay, harness, seven or eight head of hogs and one horse were consumed. Fortunately, the other horses were all turned outside. The loss was between $4,000-5,000 with no insurance.
Starting the week of Nov. 13, 1924, the Standard Oil Company of Nebraska was going to publish a series of ads dealing with early day history of Nebraska. The story that week told about Coronado traveling north from Mexico in 1540 and reaching the “Land of Quivera” — Nebraska — in 1541.
75 Years Ago. . .
A roller skating party was given at Plainview and it was announced that the class with the greatest percentage of students there would be given a free skating party. The seniors of Osmond High School won the party by having 100% of the class present. Schools that were represented were Brunswick, Plainview, Wausa and Osmond.
A group of girls met at the Judy Enevoldsen home and organized a club, the “Just Sew Club.” They had 11 members. Election of officers was held with Lois Ann Hoestje chosen as president, Althea Schuttler as vice president and Joan Brummond as secretary and treasurer. Song leader was Betty Pfanstiel while Ann Marie Moes was news reporter.
A full-length motion picture dealing with the battle between Christianity and Communism — “The Sickle or the Cross” — was shown at the local Lutheran church. The picture was produced in Hollywood by the Lutheran Laymen’s League with some of Hollywood’s leading actors and actresses playing important rolls.
Osmond’s three-year-old creamery began a new service, a farm pickup service in the area served by the local creamery. Manager Meade Larson said the company’s truck would cover a route north of Highway 20 on Tuesdays and south of the east-west road on Fridays.
65 Years Ago. . .
Another miracle came to pass for the farm wife once known as the “diet or die” woman. Mrs. Delbert Krueger, 33, gave birth to twins at Lutheran Hospital. In 1955, specialists at the Mayo Clinic had doubted she would live after she had eaten herself blind and unconscious. Only a flicker of life burned deep within her 5-ft., 2-in. 430-lb. body. She was unconscious for nine days. Specialists took 12 pints of blood from her, and after two weeks of living mostly on green beans, she had lost 30 pounds. Doctors gave her a diet and sent her home, and within a year she lost 270 pounds. Six months later she was the 125-lb. bride of Delbert Krueger. In spring of 1958 she had her first child, followed by the twins in October 1959.
Lynn, son of Mr. and Mrs. Boyd Edwards and the Osmond carrier of the Norfolk Daily News, was one of 10 carriers in the area awarded free trips to the Nebraska-Oklahoma football game at Lincoln. The awards were made for outstanding collection and service records.
Residents of this area dug in for the night and the following day began a “digging out” process which saw snow drifts whipped by north winds largely canceling out their efforts. The storm was the first of the season and quite severe for one so early. An estimated five inches of snow fell at Osmond and points eastward. Highways were hazardous as traffic was slowed to crawling speed because of snow and ice on the pavement. Many country roads became blocked. Some were not passable for several days.
50 Years Ago. . .
The haunted house sponsored by the Music Boosters was well attended and was considered a huge success. Reportedly, about 300 persons went through the house which was set up as a fund-raising event for the OHS band. The entertainment and activity created by the sponsors of the haunted house probably contributed directly to the absence of damage and pranks in the city on Halloween night.
Osmond School District 42R Board President Norman Windeshausen was apparently defeated in his bid for reelection to that group. Among the apparent winners were Dwaine Gansebom, incumbent, and Elmer (Bud) Schuettler and Ronald Koehler, newcomers to the board. The other candidate seeking one of the three available positions was Dr. David Jones.
Marty Kumm and Blake Moritz were chosen to the 1974 Lewis and Clark All-Conference football team. Both were picked for the offensive unit.
Resident were welcomed by the first sure sign of winter as snow fell throughout the morning hours. There was very little accumulation with most of the snow melting upon impact on streets and highways.
There was a good attendance at the Veteran’s Day observance which was held at the Osmond High School gym. Poster awards were presented to: third graders Brenda Johnson, Nancy Geiger and Misty Broekemeier; fourth grade, Lucinda Kahny, SuEllyn Ho- eppner and Joe Thomsen; fifth grade, Mark Moes, Yvonne Edwards and Doug Armstrong; sixth grade, Jackie Johnson, Terri Hoeppner and JoAnn Howard. Winners of the essay contest for high school grades were: ninth grade, Gayla Moritz; 10th, Susan Boyle; 11th, Donna Kudera; 12th, Ellen Haselhorst.
25 Years Ago. . .
The addition to Osmond Community School was dedicated during ceremonies held in the music room, which was part of the new construction. Prior to the dedication, guests had an opportunity to tour the facility. Elementary students Kayla Miller and Brody Friedrich led the Pledge of Allegiance and OHS senior Jade Schmit led the singing of the “National Anthem.”
10 Years Ago. . .
First- through third-place winners in each of the age groups of the Community Club Halloween costume contest were: Ages two and younger — Toby Koehler,Axyl Rice, Kayleigh Bolz; age 3-4 — Avery Brunckhorst, Kolby Maertins, Korrine Moes; kindergarten-first grade — Piper Hoffman, Ava Reikofski, Charley Aschoff; grades 2-3 — Corbin Wales, Carson Bolz, Dominic True; grades 4-6 — Hayley Krienert, Samantha DeLaCruz, Brody True.
