This picture was taken during the summer of 1953 of the SCS staff in Seward, NE. The City was celebrating an “Old Settlers” event and men were asked to grow beards. Our office was in the NE corner on the lower floor of the Courthouse. Shown standing (l-r) are: James Struve, Arnold Davis and Tony Vrana; Kneeling are Norm Neujahr and Clarence Schmidt. Mr. Struve was the head of the Office staff and had been with the Soil Conservation Service since its formation in the ’30’s. Our job involved working with farmers throughout the County by laying out terraces, waterways, dams, etc. and helping them to plan and apply appropriate conservation practices on the land. Today I received a comment on a recent blog, from the son of the pictured Jim Struve, who is interested in learning more about his father’s career. I was thrilled to hear from him and have responded. Jim had a profound effect on my career that led me in advancing to our Washington Office. I am most pleased to provide him any information available. We moved on after a few years and never kept up with the family but its most interesting to hear from people that we only knew as youngsters. “Old people” get a lot of satisfaction in passing on memories, even if the dates may be off a year or two.
Thanks Tony. I do remember that whole nutty beard growing thing -- I was too young to participate!
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It makes me so proud of my dad and his illustrious career with the USDA Soil Conservation Service (SCS). I am particularly touched by this picture - the local field office staff, ready to help you "get conservation on the ground." There are conservation practices still in place that this group designed and installed that are still protecting the land. Thank you, Dad, for being an outstanding Conservationist.
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