Whatever happened to The Cotton Pickers?
Ten years ago a group of youngsters at the School for the Visually Handicapped were playing instruments, singing and winning the admiration of everyone who saw and heard them.
They called themselves The Cotton Pickers.
And they were good.
Well, thanks to Supt. Jerry Regler, we can bring you an update today on The Cotton Pickers:
— Jerry Eckery, Lincoln, a junior at the University.
— Marlyn Howk, Red Cloud.
— Sally Rose, Ayr, a missionary to Africa for the Berean church.
— Rosemary Binder, Omaha, free lance typist and teaches typing to a child with cerebral palsy at North Platte.
— Barbara Beach, Lincoln, junior at the University.
— Laurie Beach, Lincoln, senior at the University.
— Janice Kunasek, Staplehurst, senior at the University.
— Donna Jensen, Gothenburg, at home with her parents.
— Jolene Boshart, Wood River, freshman at the University.
Dr. M. B. De Jarnette whose many travels involve much of the North American Continent, always keeps a quick wit about him for happenings.
He tipped us that something is about to happen in Seattle that could affect the No. 1 football team in the nation and Mr. Devaney.
John Owen, sports editor for the Post-Intelligencer at Seattle, has unveiled a plan of a group of businessmen who want to BUY the University of Nebraska football team and convert the Huskers to professional.
"Specifically, they plan to buy the 1971 Husker football team, ship it to Seattle from Lincoln in three freight cars and enter it next fall in the Western Division of the National Football Conference, Pete Rozelle permitting.
"Their goal is lofty, but their logic is irrefutable. Why draft 20 or 30 college seniors when Bob Devaney has already assembled an adequate cast on one practice field?
"Why attempt to lure an established team like the Buffalo Bills to Seattle when the Huskers could spot them 11 points and give O. J. Simpson a five-yard running start?"
This bit of palaver from Owen has a return that he calls a fair swap for Nebraskans.
It includes salmon for every "man, woman and child" in the state, 203 days of ram, 463 glass Japanese fishing boats, fishing rights on the Puyallup river, hydroplanes and Washington State University, not just the football team, but the WHOLE University.
Today's "Born Loser" award goes to the man who protested to IRS Agent Earl Braye, Jr., a tax department ruling that his new baby, born on January 1, was not deductible on last year's income.
"After all," the man reasoned, "it was last year's business."
American Meter company lost a couple of dedicated people recently with the retirements of Mrs. Arnold (June) Liesemeyer and Ray Bossung.
Mrs. Liesemeyer, according to Plant Manager Gary Blakeman, has been employed by Singer-American Meter since January 1957. She has worked in several departments, the most recent of which was m the diaphragm assembly department.
The Liesemeyers live at 1131 Thirteenth Corso. They have been active in the community, and particularly in the volunteer work for the mentally retarded.
It has been through the work of people like the Liesemeyers that there is now a ESU4 school for the children, a training and work center and now a day care center materializing.
Perhaps Mrs. Liesemeyer won't retire, she may just be getting "time off" to spend more volunteer hours with children.
I know what Ray Bossung is going to do: hunt and fish.
If you are a hunter you know the excitement of a good bird dog when you approach his pen early in the morning with a shotgun across your arm.
Well that's the same excitement Ray feels when pheasant season opens or when the catfish are biting.
Ray retired after working with the company since January 1955. He has worked as a die cast operator in the machining department. He and Helen live at 1304 South Thirteenth Street.
Ray is the guy who always seemingly gets his limit of pheasant and quail. Of course, I've always contended that he "fudges" because his bird dog does everything but pull the trigger.
As a matter of fact, Ray got me so wound up in bird dogs that he gave me the choice of a litter of Weimeraners. Doc Kotab can tell you about those fine gray animals.
Fishing?
Well, I went with Ray one summer morning to a little rinky-dinky pond and he pulled out more fish in a hour than I've ever caught in a day.
Fish story? You bet. But check his deep freeze when he starts wetting hooks this spring and you're jaw will drop.