April 7, 1898 —
Alderman Blackmer writes that he is ready to put down his sidewalk in Thompson [Precinct]. Well, this is nothing to be surprised at, as the Alderman was always ready to do anything for the benefit of the town.
Report of a school taught in District 19, for the month ending March 25. Days taught, 20; enrollment, 14; average attendance, 6; perfect in attendance and punctuality, Rex and Leon Zeurcher, and Erwin Nicholaisen.
100 Years Ago. . .
The village and school election in 1926 polled the biggest vote in the history of the town: 257 school ballots were cast; 245 town ballots were cast.
The school levy carried by a two to one vote. Jess Barnett and Waldo Rodgers were elected as members of the school board for terms of three years each. L. B. Matteson, E. J. Huey and W. F. Broekemeier were elected as members of the town board for terms of two years each.
Mr. and Mrs. Albert Thelander were in town and purchased the moving picture show from Elmer Record, taking possession the same day, and running their first show that night. They came from Walnut, NE, and were going to move to Osmond something that week.
Immanuel Lutheran School had a contest against Plainview in spelling and arithmetic. Spelling was the first subject in the morning. At 12 o’clock they had dinner in the church basement, served by the Plainview Lutheran Ladies’ Aid. In the afternoon they had arithmetic.
Since Osmond didn’t have an eighth grade in 1926, the seventh grade also went against the eighth grade of Plainview. The winners were: First grade, Helen Gutz, first prize in picture study; Helen Gutz, first prize
in word building. Second grade: Alice Kumm, first prize in word building. Third grade: Clara Suhr, first prize in spelling; Albert Ahlers, first prize in arithmetic. Fourth grade: Doris
Rautenberg, first in spelling. Fifth grade: Leona Suhr, first in spelling.
Sixth grade: Fern Bumann, first prize in spelling. Seventh grade: Luella Niermann, first prize in spelling; Herman Schumacher, first in arithmetic. Eighth grade: Herman Schumacher, first prize in arithmetic.
A very pretty surprise was prepared for Mrs. Root and Mrs. Pronneke, the occasion being their 75th birthday.
Each lady was asked to write with the date of the year in which she was born and a short story of some incident of her life, no names signed, then guess who wrote the piece. The guessing was good and “we all seemed to be having the time of our lives. Then we all went out and had our pictures taken, and if the editor wants a big hit, he should try to get that picture in his paper.”
75 Years Ago. . .
The water was low, but still at least 5 or 6 feet deep, in the Osmond Gun Club lagoon a mile southwest of town. The water was pouring through a hole alongside the outlet tube, the hole presumably dug by muskrats or beavers. There apparently was no winter kill of fish in the club lagoon. How many fish, if any, went over the dam or through the unwanted exit during a recent period of high water was not known.
Mr. Henry Kahler suffered for a week with an attack of hiccoughs [hiccups] which nothing would stop.
He was taken to our local hospital and the wonder drugs brought him out. He was at home again seemingly okay.
The auxiliary of the Osmond post of the American Legion met at the Legion hall. The Girls’ State candidate was accepted at headquarters. She was Miss Joan Hoffman. The main feature was the “hard time party” and many of the members came in costume. It was hard to choose who looked most poverty stricken.
One lady was barefoot, another was clothed in gunny sacks. Another was obliged to wear her husband’s castoff shoes. One lady was chilly in a thin summer dress or would have been except for her ankle length underwear. The prizes awarded went to Mrs. Tom Goodman and Mrs. Freel Stamper.
The Osmond Republican was beginning a new cartoon series which it believed would find popular favor. It was “Those Were the Days.”
Briefly it contrasted, usually in a humorous manner, the life and gaiety of yesteryear.
The senior class of Osmond High held their annual sneak day as the class with their sponsor journeyed to Lincoln via bus. The group toured the University of Nebraska, and later went to the state capitol where they inspected various interesting rooms.
The group was disappointed when the bus driver had to stop driving since he could only be allowed so many hours each day. The group then had no method of getting to other points of interest. Each was then given free time until that evening at about 10 when they began the return trip, arriving in Osmond about 2.
65 Years Ago. . .
LaVern Dennis, formerly of Coleridge, took over active management of Walt’s Mobile at Osmond. The new firm name was Dennis Mobile Service.
It was three new bundles of happiness at St. Joseph Hospital here on April Fools Day, April 1, 1951.
The proud parents of new arrivals on that day were Mr. and Mrs. Gene Kruse, Mr. and Mrs. Norbert Gubbels and Mr. and Mrs. Robert Kratochvil, all of Osmond.
Members of the OHS junior class presented the annual class play, “Meet Me in St. Louis,” featuring all 20 members of the junior class. Songs fitting into the setting of the play, “Meet Me In St. Louis” and “I’m Just Wild About Harry,” were presented by the juniors between acts. It was the last junior class play to be presented in the city auditorium. Play practice memories included the old barber chair [Judy Mueller fainted three times twirling in it] and the partition in the upstairs dressing room with all the old signatures [some dated back to 1938].
Communication received at the Republican office: “Is ‘Edw. W.
Kudera etc.’ correct for the brass tags you ordered? You have specified that these are dog license tags, but the copy does not seem to fit for dog license use.” Answer: “No, so far as we know, Edw. W. Kudera is not the name of a dog. Kudera is an Osmond rural carrier who ordered small brass plates with his name engraved to be used for identification of tools, etc.
The tags are known as dog tags but are used for other practical purposes also.”
50 Years Ago. . .
Mike Lorenz narrowly escaped serious injury when the tractor he was driving overturned. Lorenz was driving the tractor north on a county road three miles southwest of Osmond when the incident occurred.
Apparently, a four-row rear-mounted corn planted attached to the back of the tractor caught the north end of the cast railing on the Breslau Creek bridge. The impact spun the front of the tractor to the right and it toppled off the four or five foot cement bridge abutment. The tractor landed on its top in the creek bed with Lorenz pinned beneath it. Fortunately, Virgil Onnen came along shortly after the accident and summoned help. A tow truck and tractor were both utilized to lift the overturned tractor enough to remove Lorenz from under the tractor. He was taken to Osmond General Hospital and treated for bumps and bruises and was released the next day.
The American Legion Auxiliary announced that Becky Bruckner was selected as the girls’ State representative for 1976. The alternate was Wendy Kelley.
The Osmond girls’ track team won in a dual with the Wausa girls on April 5, 1976, by a score of 56 to 46. Rhonda Sazama set a new school record in the mile run with a time of 7:13.9.
The low bid for a new police cruiser for the City of Osmond was submitted by Dick Grace Ford of Plainview. Five bids were received: Dick Grace Ford, Ford Torino, $5,093 less $1,913 tradein; Moody Motor of Niobrara, Ford Torino, $4,221 no trade-in; Bereuter Chevrolet of Bloomfield, Oldsmobile Cutlass, $4,933 no trade-in; Watson Chevrolet of Plainview, Malibu Classic, $5,374 less $1,374 trade-in; Watson Chevrolet, Malibu, $5,105 less $1,328 trade-in.
25 Years Ago. . .
A number of indoor track records fell at the Wayne State indoor meet.
Alexis Rutherford bettered her own triple jump record to 30 ft., 5 in. for sixth place. Exchange student Franziska Theilig set a new mark in the 800 meters with a time of 2:52.0 for a second-place medal. Heather Krienert bettered the mark in the 1,600 meters to 6:24.6 but finished in seventh place.
Students in grades nine through 12 performed their musical for 2001, “Cinderella.” Forty students took part with Sheila Vinson in the title role.
10 Years Ago. . .
Seven athletes earned All-Conference accolades at OHS. Caleb Krohn, Brock Johnson and Cole Moes earned West Division All-Conference. All three earned All-Area and All-State recognition as well. Caitlin Kumm earned All-Conference while Sam Aschoff, Erica Slagle and Andrea Schmit earned honorable mention.
Aleia Kumm, Cierra Pfanstiel and Karli Ferry attended the 30th annual Nebraska Class D All-State Band.
