June 3, 1897 —
Chas. Borchert has opened a barber shop in the old Maass building where the old reliable Arthur Brown may be found ready at all times to serve the patrons with clean, easy shaves. [Arthur Brown is featured in the Osmond Centennial Book as Osmond's first barber and its only Black resident (at that time), and a friend to every child in town as he acted as Santa for the town.] Sam Gregory will erect a dwelling on his farm east of town in a few days. The house will be 14 by 22 with an “L” 12 by 14, all to be a story and a half.
100 Years Ago. . .
Father Krings went to Omaha to see Frank Timmerman who was in a hospital there. Frank was in bad shape from his recent operation, and it was understood that it would do no good to amputate the leg as the poison had spread all over the body. A later report said Frank was recovering in fine shape, as the doctors had succeeded in getting all of the poison out of his system.
The local lovers of outdoor life got together and organized a chapter of the Izaac Walton League with 15 signing up. There was great enthusiasm shown in the preliminary meeting at which Geo. Hering was chosen temporary chairman and Dr. Paul Becker temporary secretary. The purpose of this league was for protection and propagation of game and fish, and works in conjunction with the state and national chapters.
The American Legion was planning to put on the “largest and best boxing and wrestling program of all times” on March 27. So far, the line-up would include: Jack Hansen vs. Carl Thomsen. “Jack is one of our big huskies and he expects to challenge Dempsey in the near future.” Geo. Hoyt vs. Otto Barringer. “This should be a thriller as Geo. Hoyt of Verdigre is a former title holder of the U.S. Army and most of us have seen Otto go and know that he is a hard man to stop.” Erwin Weber vs. Claus Hinrichson. “These two midgets will wrestle and this match will be worth your time alone.” Mike Oller vs. John Thomsen. “Flying Mike has a wonderful mat record and he will try to pin his long slippery opponent’s shoulders to the mat.” Also: Pete Salisbury vs. Glaze Reed, Pete Eckholt vs. Henry Schuttler, Clarence Riessen vs. Clifford Biermeier, “two of the best boxers in the Osmond high school,” and Kayo Killum vs. Dynamite Gus.
75 Years Ago. . .
Five top American Legion team bowlers went to Grand Island where they entered the state American Legion bowling tournament with 52 teams competing. Making the trip and representing Legion Post 326 were Ted Tunink, Leonard Mitchell, Marlyn Kruse, Mervin Wilson and Frank Peschel. While the final outcome in standing was not known at press time [and could not be found the following week], the Osmond keglers tallied 2,842 pins for their tournament score.
Gale-like winds at the height of a severe storm, with wind gusts up to 100 mph, blew out two plate glass windows in the “L” shaped Jewell Furniture store. The store was in the Cizek Security State Bank building and occupied two floors. It was not possible to estimate damage done to furniture and fixtures. Helpers recruited with difficulty within a block radius labored in cold and wind to patch the breaks and halt the blowing of snow onto stored merchandise.
Tragedy, directly attributed to the storm, struck this area when the bodies of two men were found in a Booth Fishery truck four and one-half miles west of Osmond on Highway 20. The truck was stalled in a snow drift. The two men were from Iowa, with one reported to be the Booth truck driver. The men died of carbon monoxide poisoning. The tragedy was discovered when snowplows cleared the highway.
65 Years Ago. . .
Six candidates for the twoyear posts of village trustee were nominated at city caucuses at the auditorium. Incumbents Dr. C. E. Rodgers and Elmer Schneckloth, and Gerald Moore were nominated on the Peoples party ticket. Citizens party nominees were incumbent Walter Warneke and Wallace Kahler and Earl Thomsen.
Several ball point pens had been taken from the lobby of the Post Office at Osmond, reported Postmaster Norman Windeshausen. The pens usually were taken on Sunday afternoons. The postal department warned that taking its property was a federal offense and that such offenses, regardless of the intrinsic value of the items taken, were usually not dealt with lightly. In cases of theft, the law prescribed penalties up to $500 fine and imprisonment.
Winter weather continued unabated over the Midwest even though the calendar indicated that spring officially was less than two weeks away. An estimated 7½ inches of light snow was added to that already on the ground. Total snow on the ground then was between 15 and 20 inches. Six foot drifts in and around farm yards were common. Osmond had not experienced melting temperatures since the 16th of February. The highest temperature of the year, 44 degrees, was recorded on Feb. 8. Extreme cold had moved into the area and a record low of 22 degrees below zero was reached on March 4. Daytime highs since the first of March had ranged between 7 and 22 degrees.
50 Years Ago. . .
A sign suspended by a string over the cash register in Thomsen’s Corner which read “Y-C-J-C-Y-A-D-F-T-H- F" was soon joined by several little cards with names of the curious and a dollar bill appended. The sign was placed there by Mrs. Merle Weber, Pierce County Heart Fund chairman, as a fund-raising gimmick, which proved to be a success. The letters, she explained, and which was explained to the inquisitive as they parted with their dollar bill, stand for “Your Curiosity Just Cost You A Dollar For The Heart Fund.” When the sign, with its string of dollars and cards was taken down, there was $67 from the curious in support of the Heart Fund.
Sharon Sue Pelc, “Miss Nebraska,” accompanied by her dummy, “Oliver,” was in Osmond to entertain at the annual meeting of the Osmond Cooperative, Inc., at the city auditorium. She also entertained Osmond students that day. Two performances were held at the public school, one for the public and parochial elementary pupils and a second performance for the junior and senior high school stu dents. A picture of her in the Osmond Republican showed her holding “the coveted Miss Nebraska Crown valued at $7,000.”
Two hundred thirty Nebraska cities and towns realized $1,036,745 as a result of agreements leasing their electrical distribution systems to Nebraska Public Power District. Osmond received $4,105.77 as payment for its distribution system, and McLean received $386.98.
25 Years Ago. . .
After 20 years of service as local manager for Nebraska Public Power District in Osmond, Brad Adamson began duties as local manager at Bloomfield. In February, Brad marked 30 years of service with NPPD. Before his local manager position here, he was apprentice lineman on the Kearney construction crew and lineman at O’Neill.
10 Years Ago. . .
Replacing Osmond General Hospital CEO Celine Mlady, who retired in February 2015 after 18½ years in that position, was interim CEO Gary Bieganski, who had a fine thread of connection to Osmond. Mr. Bieganski’s son, Mark, is married to the former Andrea Steckelberg, daughter of Dallas and Helen Steckelberg of Osmond.
