July 1, 1897 —
On Tuesday afternoon, we called at the home of Wm. Huwaldt and were shown around the farm by Mr. H. He located on this farm 20 years ago and here he and his wife have spent the best years of their lives. They have a fine home, conveniently arranged water works, etc. The orchard, a fine one, was [illegible] and here it is practically demonstrated that all kinds of fruit will grow and produce in Pierce County. We are shown about 20 trees upon which apples as large as hen eggs were in abundance. This estimable family have indeed earned and are now able to enjoy a good home.
100 Years Ago. . .
A very unusual accident happened at the Robert Kumm home. Glenn, their four months old baby, was being carried by one of the other children, when they fell down, the older child falling on one of the baby’s legs and breaking it. Dr. Rodgers was called and set the broken bone, and the little boy was getting along nicely.
May 30, 1925, was commencement night at St. Mary’s School. The following were the [eighth grade] graduates: Mabel Gunzenhauser, Rose White, Kathleen Kimball, Marcelle Loebe, Rose Scharfen, Francis Korth, Catherine Torrence, Christine Lange, Mary McGlone, Theo. Goeres, Edward Bickelmeier and Palmer Petersen.
The Osmond Lutheran school closed another most successful year. The following were the graduates: Elsie Suhr, Luella Koehler, Edna Haase, Theodore Haase, Frieda Mohr and Oscar Buchholz. The closing day was celebrated by a picnic being held at the Henry Nierman grove, where a short program was given, and sports of various kinds indulged in. The big event of the day was a baseball game between the boys and their fathers, the score being 37 to 11 in favor of the boys.
Bud Pruess was thrown from a horse and rendered unconscious. He and Chas. Rohrberg Jr. had been to one of Mr. Rohrberg’s farms near Creighton, where Paul Schneider lived, to take some cattle to pasture. They were returning when Bud’s horse stepped through a culvert and threw him over its head, rendering him unconscious, and bruising him considerably. He was brought to Osmond and placed under the care of Dr. Rodgers, and would soon be all right.
75 Years Ago. . .
A petition, drawn and presented in legal form, was given the village board of Osmond asking it to call a special election for the purpose of deciding whether the municipality should issue bonds not to exceed $35,000 for the purpose of remodeling the city hall and building a new building to house fire trucks and jail.
An architect’s drawings showed the suggested changes and addition to the city hall, balcony plan and plans for a new building to hold fire trucks and jail. The plan provided for an auditorium in the present city hall, 81x48 ft. with balcony overhead in the forepart of the building. A 16x68 brick addition to the north of the present building would house city council office, kitchen and rest rooms.
An aerial photo of Osmond from 1949 was pictured above an article reporting the census count of Osmond and surrounding towns from the 1950 census. In 1950, there were 731 residents of Osmond, 65 less than the number reported in 1940. Other area towns also recorded a loss: Plainview, 9 less at 1,402; Pierce, 86 less at 1,163; McLean, 15 less at 67; Foster, 14 less at 114; Hadar, 4 less at 129.
65 Years Ago. . .
A new business for Osmond, a laundromat, opened for business. The laundromat, Maytag equipped, was in the Max Bermel building, between Maxey’s Tavern and the Osmond Theatre. Modern, coin operated equipment permitted automatic washing and drying. The business was owned and operated by Leona Nelson of Norfolk.
Auction of certain items of school District 42R property, along with some five frame rural school buildings and some of the parcels of land on which they were located was going to be carried out probably during the month of July. Five of 10 rural building were going to be moved to Osmond to be used for instruction purposes until the completion of the new school at the beginning of the 1961 term.
Francis Liewer, Osmond rural mail carrier, treated two of his sons to a camp-out fishing trip to Lake Traverse during the weekend. The trio slept on the ground in sleeping bags, heads exposed. Francis awoke one morning to find a crow gently pecking away at one ear. The fisherman's movements quickly showed the bird it wasn’t carrion it had discovered, but a real live one getting a night’s good sleep.
Robert Scheel, 28-year-old driver of a milk tank-truck, was injured about the head one evening when his truck left the road and overturned while traveling east going up a hill east of Osmond. He was taken to St. Joseph Hospital here following the accident and a local physician took many stitches to close facial cuts. Some 34,000 pounds of whole milk from stations at Osmond and Ainsworth was being transported at the time. Some 6,000 pounds was salvaged.
50 Years Ago. . .
Bruce Haag was elected to serve as secondary principal in Osmond Community School for the next school year. Haag previously served as guidance counselor in the school system.
Three Osmond girls were going to attend the national FBLA convention in Miami Beech, FL: Sharise von Rentzell, Val Buckendahl and Nadene Wiese.
Player-coach Marty Riessen of the Cleveland Nets tennis team fined himself $100 for hitting a ball towards a heckler in the end zone. The incident occurred during the Nets’ Friday night loss to Pittsburgh in World Team Tennis play. (Marty Riessen, son of Clarence Riessen of Osmond, was ranked as one of the top 10 tennis players in the world in the early 1970s, and is who the Osmond tennis courts, donated by his grandparents, were named after.)
A state target tournament, sponsored by the Nebraska Prairie Bowmen, was held at Hastings. Brian Lorenz, 10-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Dale Lorenz, competed in the outdoor round, shooting 90 arrows. He won the state championship in the cub barebow division. There were six entrants. His mother, Connie, placed first in Class C of the women's bare bow division. She shot 90 arrows, 30 each at 60, 50 and 40 yards. The last 30 were shot in pouring rain.
25 Years Ago. . .
Matt Jochum led the Tiger golf team with a second-place medal at the district meet to qualify for the state golf meet. He had qualified for the state golf tournament all four years of high school. At the state meet, Matt brought home the fourth-place medal for the second year in a row.
10 Years Ago. . .
For only the third time in school history, Osmond had a golf team qualify as a top three team in district play. Senior Zach Kumm became only the second golfer in school history to medal in state play. Zach played well on both days, shooting rounds of 85 and 77 to card a 162 total and win the fifth-place medal. The team produced the best team finish in school history with an eighth-place finish in state play.
