. This is Elaine and her brother Dale at their farm home north of Seward in what we believe to be the summer of 1938. Dale would have had his 11th birthday in June and Elaine about to have her 8th in September. Dale would have been going into the 7th grade of District 28 and Elaine into the 4th. Both were exceptionally good students. Students in Rural Schools were required to take 7th and 8th grade, county-wide examinations covering 6-8 subject matter areas. A county-wide promotion event was held in Seward at the Band Shell (Rose Bowl in those days), where students received their certificate of completion. State law provided that students complete the 8th grade or attain the age of 16, high school was optional. Dale was recognized for having attained the highest grades in the county on his examinations at his promotion exercises in the spring of 1940. He went on to be valedictorian of his Seward HS graduating class, received a 4-year Regents Scholarship to UN-L, and the SHS Belfour Key. He receive his PhD in Agronomy after service in the Korean war and had an outstanding teaching career at UN-L where he was advisor to many Doctoral candidates. He spent some time with UN-L Extension, the Pioneer Hybred Seed Company, and continues to work as a private Consultant.
Elaine was 3rd in her SHS graduating class of 1947 and was offered a Scholarship to Doane College in Crete, NE but never accepted. It seems that Dale had introduced a farm kid from Garland to her in he fall of her senior year of HS which may have had some impact on her decision. In fact, it wasn't until years later, I learned that she never told her folks about the scholarship offer for fear of their insisting that she accept. She was happy with her job as the County Extension Agent's Secretary and had been discouraged in HS for even thinking about a career in accounting since "those jobs were not for girls". Though we lived within about 7 miles of each other as youngsters, we went to different churches, our folks traveled in different circles and never crossed paths until Dale's introduction. Had I known her earlier, I would have thought of her as that little Flowerday girl but by the time we met, she had matured into the attractive young lady in the lower picture and the years of difference in our ages seemed to melt away.
. This is Elaine and her brother Dale at their farm home north of Seward in what we believe to be the summer of 1938. Dale would have had his 11th birthday in June and Elaine about to have her 8th in September. Dale would have been going into the 7th grade of District 28 and Elaine into the 4th. Both were exceptionally good students. Students in Rural Schools were required to take 7th and 8th grade, county-wide examinations covering 6-8 subject matter areas. A county-wide promotion event was held in Seward at the Band Shell (Rose Bowl in those days), where students received their certificate of completion. State law provided that students complete the 8th grade or attain the age of 16, high school was optional. Dale was recognized for having attained the highest grades in the county on his examinations at his promotion exercises in the spring of 1940. He went on to be valedictorian of his Seward HS graduating class, received a 4-year Regents Scholarship to UN-L, and the SHS Belfour Key. He receive his PhD in Agronomy after service in the Korean war and had an outstanding teaching career at UN-L where he was advisor to many Doctoral candidates. He spent some time with UN-L Extension, the Pioneer Hybred Seed Company, and continues to work as a private Consultant. 
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