Peggy Peoples, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Oren Peoples, Syracuse, has lost a true friend.
Her aging Cocker Spaniel, "Blackie," is dead.
Peggy sent us a picture and note a year or so ago about her little friend. Her parents gave her the black cocker when Peggy was very young.
We know something about Peggy's dog. It was a pup of our Cocker Spaniel. And Peggy, you might be interested in knowing that thanks to Doctor Gigstad, Tootsie is still pretty perky and peppy.
They tell me Tootsie's age, if compared with humans, would be 100 years or better.
Two other pups, owned by Bob Milton and Max Moyer have long since been gone. We've lost track of the only blonde of the litter, but perhaps we will find out about it Sunday when Dr. James Lightbody preaches at the Methodist church.
The blonde dog was a gift to his sister from his parents, Mrs. Edgar Lightbody, and her late husband.
The 1970 Otoe county fair is now history.
There were all kinds of new records, including numbers of livestock and other exhibits and dollars paid for livestock at the sale.
On the dim side, the fairgrounds were pretty bare during the daylight hours. Commercial exhibitors said it was pretty dead during the day, but by nightfall the crowds appeared.
There were many disappointed parade watchers who went to the fair to see 4-H, home extension and civic club float competition. This year those entries dwindled to a few.
The Otoe county Fair board has its work cut out for it next season. For unless it comes up with some program of promoting attendance, the result could be sad.
As one farmer who didn't attend the fair said:
"What we need now instead of a fair is a damned good rain."
There was a clown who made an appearance on the main street in Syracuse. The identity of the clown was sorta hush-hush, but Orville Koch and I know who she is . . . and by jimmy, by george, we've got her picture! It's on this page.
Ron Wagner, the successful Syracuse Rocket coach, is back on the job after an absence from the gridiron. And he's talking to his boys in the Wagner tongue-wagging way. And if you know Ron, you know how he barks at the boys.
But my interest during a brief "hello" at the fair parade, was not on football. Neither was Ron's. It was on the large number of youngsters in the Syracuse Junior High band.
And in the typical Wagner way, he said:
"Hmmmmph! They've got more kids in that band than I've got out for football."
(You can chalk that credit to B.A. Johnson and his peppy organization.)
Legionnaires of Adam Schellinger Post No. 8 will sponsor the annual golf tournament September 20 at Steinhart park. Harold Bliss and Jack Chadwick who are heading up the committee are hopeful of better luck than a year ago when it rained and the tourney was postponed three or four times.
The Legion is selling tickets this year. The big prize is a set of golf clubs — valued at $450. And you don't have to be a golger or Legionnaire to win.
The clubs and bag are on display at the Legion club.