Aug. 26, 1897 —
Last night Mrs. Leedom was the victim of a surprise party. A large number of friends came in and all seemed to have an enjoyable time. A handsome rocker was presented her by Prof. Preston on behalf of the friends invited.
Albert Billerbeck, John Nelson, Jim Farrow and Chester Leedom rode their wheels to Bloomfield on Sunday. The boys made the trip up in less than two hours. The two former returned by way of Wausa and the latter pair came home in the evening after attending camp meeting.
100 Years Ago. . .
The National Remedy Company of Norfolk rented the Huey building on the east side of State Street and moved their factory from Norfolk to Osmond. Messrs. Koyen and Burroughs were the proprietors and were going to manufacture their remedies in Osmond in place of Norfolk.
Louis Schultz commenced cribbing corn Oct. 8. His corn was making 42 bushels per acre and was of good quality. “Not bad for this year.”
The seniors of OHS decided to act as the editing committee for a school paper to be published the last week of every month, beginning with October. The first issue would contain September events also, and since it was the first year Osmond public school had undertaken to publish a paper, each pupil was very enthusiastic and eager to make the action successful.
C. F. Boye sold the Osmond Electric Light company to the Tri-State Utilities Company, who would soon take charge and furnish the electrical energy for Osmond consumers. Boye retained his building and battery and radio business, and would also look after the business of the Tri-State Electric company here, having charge of the lines, etc., as formerly.
“ Coated tongue, bad breath, headaches, pimples, bad blood are nature’s danger signals — Hollister’s Rocky Mountain Tea removes the cause by carrying off the poisons from the liver, kidneys and bowels. Strongly endorsed everywhere; positive results guaranteed. Try it. — W. E. Sandifer, The Osmond Pharmacy” 75 Years Ago. . .
The “ Osmond Group” of the McLean on-the-farm training class visited the Philip Schmer farm where three miles of gradient terraces were being built. C. R. Fenster of the Soil Conservation Service took the group over various parts of the rather hilly farm. Class members who were pictured in the paper were Vernon Buol, Melvin Miller, Russel Nissen, Gerald Bichlmeier, Vernon Gansebom, Floyd Frueck, Paul Buol and Everett Lingenfelter.
Emil Wortman, Osmond carpenter, brought uptown a potato with a glass handle on it. The potato, in its natural growth, took up with the handle from a broken cup. The handle grew into the tuber.
Lutheran youth from Osmond enjoyed a skating party at the Plainview rink one evening. About 75 youth were present from the entire zone. Skaters came dressed as hobos and lunch was served by rink owners later in the evening.
One evening, Elaine Kumm, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Kumm, drove the family car into town for play practice. As she was leaving the place, a chicken jumped on the bumper and had a free ride to town. Elaine, upon arriving in town, noticed the chicken and immediately put it in the trunk of the car. It wasn’t until later when she noticed on a piece of tin between the bumper and the car, an egg. The chicken had laid an egg on the way to town. The egg had cracked and the shell had fallen off, however, the rest of the egg was intact in what looked like a fried egg on the car.
“Have you ever seen a large group of children between the ages of three or four and 12 or 13 who can sit quietly for any length of time?” That time had come for Mr. and Mrs. Emil Reikofski of Foster who had installed a television set in their home. Immediately after installation, every Thursday evening, nearly all the children in the town of Foster with a population of about 120 would be in the Reikofski living room watching the television set bring to them the yells of “Hi Ho Silver” by the masked rider — the Lone Ranger! Mr. Reikofski had purchased the television set, a Philco, which at that time was the best available, selling at 4500. It also had radio with FM and AM and phonograph combination. The aerial which was mounted on a post near the house was 60 feet high and cost around $100.
65 Years Ago. . .
The Osmond Theatre, under the ownership and operation of Mr. and Mrs. Rudy Dibbert, continued to buck the popular trend and was installing new and better equipment. Much of it came from a Laurel theatre, no longer in operation. A new screen stretched from wall to wall. Projectors were of a late and improved type. A new exit door was made in the south brick wall near the theatre screen. The building front, painted only a year earlier by the American Legion, which got the theatre back into operation after it was closed, was going to be retouched where needed by the new owners.
Family night held at Osmond High School for all home economics girls and their parents was well attended. First on the agenda were musical selections by the OHS mixed octet composed of Judy Waddell and Gloria Liewer, soprano; Nancy Kear and Pat Squire, alto; Dennis Fleming and Bob Wiegert, bass. Other musical numbers were presented by members of the OHS advanced band.
A late model station wagon belonging to and driven by Duane Reed, proprietor of the Reed Accounting Service here, was badly damaged in an intersection crash at Osmond. Mr. Reed was driving to Osmond and proceeding east on Highway 20 when he turned north at the highway-main street intersection near the city water station. A car being driven west by an Alliance man on the highway collided with the Reed car. There were no personal injuries.
The Nimble Thimble 4-H Club of McLean met at the home of Barbara and Patricia Galvin. Plans were discussed for the coming year and election of officers was held. Elected were: President, Connie Prince; vice president, Kathy Wessel; news reporter, Linda Kumm; secretary, Barbara Galvin, and song and game leader, Patricia Galvin.
50 Years Ago. . .
In October of 1975, the school lunch program was going to start offering a chef salad tray, said manager Barbara Kelley. It would include the chef’s salad, fruit, bread and butter and milk so that it met the same requirements as the regular Type A meal.
The Pep Club and “O” Club of Osmond High School selected king and queen candidates for the 1975 Homecoming. They were Karen Armstrong, Brenda Folkers, Barb Gutz, Julene Kumm, Pam Warneke, David Fuelberth, Kevin Koehler, Larry Krohn, Alan Maxey and Craig Padgett. Crown bearers were Kelly Thomsen, Beth Schmit, Eric Johnson and Jay Maxey. Crowned king and queen were Craig Padgett and Karen Armstrong. The homecoming dance was held in the multi-purpose room with “White Eagle” performing from 10:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. The dance had an admission charge of $2.50 per couple and $1.50 per single.
Special ability scholarships in music were awarded five freshman students at Wayne State College. Recipients of the 4100 awards included Keri Schuettler. She was 12th in her 1975 graduating class of 42 at OHS. Her school activities included band, choir, glee, volleyball, pep club, cheer leading, Student Council, instrumental and vocal groups and Walther League. She also was a majorette.
Mrs. Julia Luebbers and Mrs. Irma Squire approached the city council concerning the establishment of a senior citizen center in Osmond for senior citizens of the community.
25 Years Ago. . .
Site preparation for a 550,000-bushel grain bin at Battle Creek Farmers Co-op was in progress. Co-op officials indicated that the goal was to have the bin completed by the first of the following year and corn in the bin by spring. The bin, measuring 105 feet in diameter, was to be constructed by Petersen Ag Systems. Site preparation was completed by J. P. theisen & Sons.
Mike Naprstek of KN Energy, Inc. presented the title to a 1989 Ford pickup to Osmond Mayor Kevan Schuettler. KN — when it removed pickups from fleet service - made them available to municipalities which were their customers.
10 Years Ago. . .
The Osmond High School “O” Club held its annual punt, pass and kick competition on the local varsity field for young Tigers, ages 6 to 13.
The following received trophies for their efforts: Ages 6-7 - first, Tate Wales; second, Dillon Anderson; third, Mason True. Ages 8-9 - first, Baylen Guenther; second, Tessa Gardner; third, Carson Wieneke. Ages 10-11 — Bryan Solorzano; second, Ryan Schmit; third, Kayson Maertins. Ages 12-13 - first, Alexis Solorzano, second, Justus Maertins; third, Grayson Schultze
