Hanging Out the Warsh 5-7-13

Some bits and pieces.

The May—June issue of “Nebraska Life” has an excellent feature story with the headline, “Broadcaster Lance Schwartz Covers Nebraska.” Lance is the son of our Hank and Marcia and films and interviews people on “Lance’s Journal,” which is on Lincoln TV station l0-ll on Sunday and Wednesday evenings’ news. He does an excellent job of it and comes by it naturally—his mother is a super writer and a published storyteller.

Lance has been at l0-ll since 2002 and previously did sports events while attending UNL, was a cameraman for HuskerVison at Cornhusker games and was sportscaster at North Platte and Kearney TV stations.  And I’ sure he wouldn’t mind me relating that he was a good footballer and basketballer at FCHS.

It was interesting to me that of six seniors with brief bios in the May issue of the Humboldt/Table Rock/Steinauer High School newsletter, “The Bolt ,” one was headed for the Marine Corps, one for the Army and one probably for some branch of the military.

Sometime back the Journal received a query about a playground on the northeast corner of 2lst and Chase in the late l930s or early l940s. I kinda remembered a Dutch windmill root beer stand in that location but I wasn’t around much during those years. Lucy Gist filled me in. Her dad, Glenn D. Martin, built and operated the One Stop and owned property in question. She did not recall a playground but sure there was a big Dutch windmill selling Hires root beer.

At that time Highway 73 entered Falls City on West 2lst Street after coming in from Coon’s Corner (just west of the Country Club) and between Towle and Stone there were three gas stations, Uncle Tom’s Cabins (our first motel) and the colorful root beer stand. Nobody asked, but just for local history’s sake, Highway 73 turned south on Stone at 2lst Street, went through the business district to 7th Street, turned and went east to Morton Street, south around the curve and over to Fulton, then south over the railroad tracks, up Breezy Hill and into Kansas just like it does now.

This should be somewhat interesting to farmers and landowners who are paying big property tax bills. With some of the mementoes saved for who knows for what reason in one of my desk drawers was a l896 postcard addressed to Mr. Ed S. Towle, Falls City, Neb.

“Dear Sir:

“The amount of taxes against your four forties in Nemaha Tsp. is $25.38. Amount of the Road Receipt $l.00 can be used. If you wish to pay to the Tsp. remit above amount to above address and oblige.
“Rice Page
“Treas. Of Nemaha Tsp.”

The moving of City Hall to the former Family Medicine Clinic over the weekend stirred a memory of my visit to City Hall when I was about l0 or so.

At that time City Hall was located on the second floor of the Lydia Bruun Woods Memorial Library. It definitely was not handicapped accessible (an unknown two words back then) and for those with some age on them those steps were very, very long and steep. For a kid it was only two steps at a time.

I had a somewhat collie named Spot (as were lots of 57 brand pooches) and it was time to renew her license. My dad gave me the buck or so for the license  and told me to tell the clerk that Spot was a denaturized female, making the cost less.
City Clerk Russell Pollard, later the water and light department superintendent, waited on me and he asked, “Male for female?”

“Female, “ I answered, “and she’s been denaturalized.”

Russ and his assistants, Merle Sutton and Evelyn Eaton, began laughing—at what I had no idea—but so did my mom and dad when I got home and related the miscue. Mr. Pollard never forgot that Spot was denaturalized and in later years occasionally reminded me of it.