The death of the Municipal Band?
The Nebraska City Municipal Band has not organized and it may be too late to get started now. Don Cushing, president of the band, said it's a matter of interest, director and music and in that order.
About 50 people make up the band and they get paid for practices and concerts. Bill Jenkins, director since the death of Arthur Lindahl, said the high school band is preparing for South Dakota performances and by the time the bandsmen return and practice gets under way, it may be too late to start the season.
"I'll do it again," he said, "but not without some good practices first."
Mr. Cushing said the band has been using the school facilities for practices and school music.
As far as money, the band is in good shape. The park board asked and got $2,500 for this year and plans to ask for $2,500 for next year.
Meanwhile, there will be a concert in Wyuka cemetery on Memorial Day. Nebraska City Lourdes bandsmen will fill that duty . . . many of the Lourdes bandsmen are regulars in the Municipal band.
A total of 213 children up to the age of 14 were accidental victims last year of petroleum product ingestions, according to Children's Memorial Hospital Poison Information Center.
The Poison Center suggests parents take extra caution before and after lighting grills with lighter fluid, kerosene or gasoline. "Small children seem to find their way to harmful substances when your backs are turned. These products become easily accessible to a child's reach when left on the ground."
If a child has ingested one of these oily substances a recognizable odor will be on his breath or clothing. Nausea, central nervous depression, chemical pneumonia and burning and irritation of the mouth may result.
For free poison information write Children's Memorial Hospital Poison Information Center, 502 South 44th Street, Omaha, 68105.
When that sign "For Sale" went up on Jerry Jacobson's lawn we knew that our friend, neighbor and co-plantation worker was moving to greener pastures.
Jerry and his wife, Ruth, and their daughters, will move to Hutchinson, Kans., where he will be assistant superintendent of a unified school district with a lot of kids, moms, dads and problems.
We'll miss Jerry in our neighborhood (particularly on New Year's morning) and we'll miss the friendship we've had in our Victory gardens over the years. There's nothing more enjoyable than hoeing in the potatoes and having two little tow-headed girls ask questions like "What's that?" "What's it for?" "See my dolly?" "I can swing by myself. Can you?" "How old are you?"
The greener pastures for Jerry? Well, the former Otoe Kid can't get the farmer out of his blood and hopes to locate on a nearby farm. They tell me things are tough down there . . . oil wells, oil wells and oil wells.
We read the other day that the traffic count south of the Union corner was down 10 per cent compared with a year ago.
That's a bit staggering, what with the interstate supposedly taking the brunt. Anyhow, the state highway department reported there were 2,517 vehicles in an average daily count during April, compared with 2,746 for the same period a year ago. The state pointed out that the figure this year was an estimate and not a count.
Highway counts are interesting. We're always crabbing because there's a slow moving truck going up a hill or someone out for a "Sunday drive" causing a line of traffic. We're all interested in roads and traffic and we're interested in getting that last 30 mile stretch of I-29 opened south of Rock Port.
Speaking of traffic counts, do you know the busiest street in Nebraska City, excluding Central Avenue?
Sixth Street, from Central Avenue to Fourth Corso.
The Class of 1975.
Congratulations are in order for the class of 1975 at Nebraska City Senior High. Mebbe the congratulations should go to the moms and dads. I dunno. Either way, the kids made it as we knew they would and now they and thousands like them will flood the labor market and schools making their own marks in life. It's a bright and wonderful step. They can't go wrong, they're young.
We liked it when "Big John" Mann walked to the front to accept his diploma. Principal Carl Fielder stepped back and John's mother, Mrs. G. E. Mann, a member of the school board, made the presentation and gave her son a big kiss.
We snapped pictures on one of our news cameras and when it came our graduate's turn to step up, I attempted to get a flash using her new Instamatic purchased from Jessup's and accompanied with detailed instruction from Ivan Boerner. You guessed it. I blew it. Oh, well, we don't have it in a nice color print, but the N-P camera provided us with a black and white.
Don Chapin never gave much thought to commencement when his oldest son, Don, Jr. graduated, but later he began to think about next year . . . when daughter, Brenda and son, "Champy" will walk the aisle for the last time at NCHS.
"Kinda makes you think about the empty house," Don said later.
I don't know the feeling, ole' hoss. We've passed the halfway mark, and still have a lot of Junior and Senior High band concerts to attend.
Little Bucks
A Colonel Sanders fried chicken restaurant may be located on South Eleventh Street . . . An announcement is expected soon on a change in an auto dealership in town and there's talk of relocating it at the other end of U.S. 75. Work is under way on the new pizza and steak house on Central Avenue, on the site of the former Beauty Spa that was burned out . . . The most popular person we saw the other night at the Job's Daughters meeting was the young Miss who had the supply of Kleenex to mop up the tears of the girls when Queen Susie Sharp stepped down after a term as the leader . . . The Western Auto Store has been sold by Dave Macrander and the new owner will be announced soon.
The last word.
A woman, shaking hands with the Rev. Sam Hofer, pastor of First Presbyterian church, after the service:
"Wonderful sermon! Everything you said applies to somebody or other I know."
This week's famous quote.
President Ford, after U.S. troops freed captured seamen: "They're all safe. We got them out, thank God. It went perfectly. It went just great."