Aug. 5, 1897 —
Marshal Record has purchased an acre lot from Henry Brugeman in South Osmond where he will erect a house 14x28 with an “L.”
Andy Billerbeck absentmindedly left his vest containing a gold watch in the bugger overnight, and now he is out just a vest and watch.
The sneak thief who stole the carpenter’s bit brace from the tool box of my engine had better return it or I will have the individual arrested, as I know the party. — Bert Southwick 100 Years Ago. . .
One morning about 9 o’clock the fire whistle sounded, the blaze being at the Mrs. Kruetzfeldt home, where the hen house was on fire. The fire boys soon had the blaze out. Three hens were burned. The cause of the blaze was not known.
The Burlington laid off one freight crew, and was going to handle the freight with two crews instead of three, as heretofore. The crew laid off were Carver, Shane, Woodford, Sandau and Darr. All these men would receive positions with the Burlington on different runs. All except Darr lived at Osmond and would continue to live here until it was found out whether this order was permanent. If it was permanent, they would probably move to some other place more convenient for their runs. Four section men were also laid off. This cutting down in employees, it was thought, was due to the poor crop prospects all over.
Mrs. Shinkle and daughter Barbara were visiting in Sioux City with the former’s parents. “Diamond Dick” as he was known 30 years before when he broke the world’s record for distance horse-back riding, had accepted the invitation of the American Legion to head the Nebraska historic pageant at the Pioneers’ Celebration in Norfolk Aug. 28, 29 and 30. Diamond Dick was now a professional man and would appear in the pageant as he appeared on the range 30 years earlier. [See Nebraska Timeline column about Diamond Dick on Page 5.]
75 Years Ago. . .
Twenty-three hens was the one night toll taken by badgers at the Lyle Carmichael farm a mile southeast of Osmond. Following the chicken house raid, Mr. Carmichael located the animals and destroyed a mother and two young. Entrance to the chicken house was gained by digging under the foundation. It was about the same time also that a skunk which was making its home under a brooder house on the farm was killed.
Two hundred and sixty- two Osmond voters went to the polls at a special election and turned thumbs down by a decisive majority to defeat the proposed issuance of $35,000 in negotiable bonds for city hall improvement and construction of other buildings. The vote against the proposal was more than two to one. Actual count was 184 votes against, 78 votes for the proposition.
Announcement was made by members of the Osmond District 42 school board that they had engaged Mr. Foy George to have charge of band and instrumental work at the local high and public school. Mr. George, brother of Ira George who formerly was superintendent and band master here, was band instructor at Plainview also, however would come to Osmond on Wednesday and Friday afternoons to instruct local students.
John Maas, retired farmer, entered the high bid on two lots and a partially completed house being erected by Ben Kalvelage at the time of his death. The 16x32 frame structure was located between the home occupied by the Dick Adkins family and that of Leo Goger. Maas entered the only bid. Amount was $800.
65 Years Ago. . .
“Lost: Small black coin purse in the downtown area. Reward.” That was the text of an ad on the want ad page placed in this paper by Mrs. Ed Chindval. There was a sequel. A few minutes after the loss, a group of men sitting on a bench in front of the Osmond Cafe saw a man pick up an object near Reed Lockers just across the street, the place where the Osmond woman thought she lost the purse. A moment later, the men saw the finder peering into a purse and jokingly asked him, “How much is in it,” not knowing that it contained more than $10 and that it had been dropped by an Osmond resident. The man who picked it up, whom none of the group recognized, walked past the city library corner to the east.
Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Graham and their two children, Tom and Maureen, moved to Osmond from Pilger. Mr. Graham was the new Osmond superintendent and had a one-year contract with the board of education. Superintendent Gram said that a definite day for the beginning of the fall school term had not been established. He said it would probably be either Aug. 29 or the following week, Sept. 6, the day after Labor Day. Graham said much of his time until the beginning of the fall term would be occupied in orienting himself here and in supervising laying out of the bus routes that would bring pupils to Osmond.
Mervin Oltjenbruns, 2-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Ervin Oltjenbruns, suffered burns on the scalp and toes in a freak accident. The tot was one of five brothers and sisters riding in the Oltjenbruns car when it left the road and crashed into a power line pole three miles west of Osmond near the Orpheus Erwin farm. Mrs. Erwin was the first to discover the plight of the youths, none of whom except the 2-year old was injured as the car rolled several times. Mrs. Erwin was enroute to Osmond with the injured baby when she was met by the doctor near town. The child presumably was burned when an older brother or sister carried him under a downed power line. Following emergency treatment, he was hospitalized here.
50 Years Ago. . .
At the August meeting of the Osmond Fire Department, the group voted to approve the establishment of an auxiliary to the fire department. An interest had been expressed by several
wives of firemen to create an auxiliary to support the fire department and its members. Del. Gardner, Larry Hummel and P. J. Stanosheck were appointed to a committee to assist in the establishment of the auxiliary.
The second swim show directed by Chris Stratton was presented at Osmond Municipal Pool. This was the third year Miss Stratton had instructed synchronized swimming. The program by the Aquaettes was “Million Dollar Babies,” which featured Lisa Bowling, Beverly Dennis, Yvonne Edwards, Suzy Engler, Ronda Gardner, Lori Petersen, Colette Stanosheck, Dorothy Dennis, Marie Frodyma, Teresa Dennis and Shari Buckendahl.
25 Years Ago. . .
Dedication of the new Osmond Public Library took place as part of Osmond Summerfest ’00. The ceremonies took place in Memorial Park, just across the street east from the library. Guest speaker Carol Speicher, director of Northeast Library System, praised Osmond Library Director Don Weinand for his work with the Osmond library. The program concluded with Osmond Library Foundation President Gary Lemke presenting the deed for the library to Council President Henry Schmit. Members of committees and volunteers who worked toward securing the new library gathered for a picture in front of the new building.
10 Years Ago. . .
The five-school merger study came to an end with the loss of both Plainview and Wausa school districts. Board members said they would like to continue meeting with the other schools to discuss sharing personnel and facilities, however, they expressed concerns about the public asking “why haven’t you given up on this?” Any discussion they had with the other schools Wouldn’t be about a merger, but about “Where do we go from here?”
