Maybe by The 4th of July

This was on the front page of our Lincoln Journal Star in a headlong article by Governor Ricketts. It was one of the most optimist things I've seen as to when we may reach some level of equilibrium in fighting this Coronavirus. We know that April will be tough as will be May and June but if we can just "hang on" until we get to July, we may have reached a point we have been striving for. We still have some adapting to do such as getting checks deposited, supplies delivered, etc. It seems that residents here have been most impressed with ordering from Pac n Sav and having them delivered up here to the front door. We have been spoiled with daughter Carolyn doing all these things for us but feel that we need to find other ways that don't require her to be out in the Public. If she can continue to keep our Pill Boxes filled for us is about as much as we can ask and we certainly appreciate it.

The Pandemic Continues

      We had no idea of how happy we were back in the days before the Pandemic Coronavirus hit the World. Albert and Flora Flowerrday (Elaine's Parents) were so proud of our family, big house and our doing well. This was in the spring of 1956 after Jon had been born the previous November 22. Carolyn had already began the process of adapting to having 3 brothers.

      The Coronavirus continues to expand at an increasing rate. I noted from morning news that the US count of confirmed cases was 153,105 with 2,805 deaths. By 3:50 the number of cases was confirmed at 158,400 with 2,917 deaths. The evening news had numbers of over 160,000 cases and over 2,900 deaths. Globally we have had 775,500 cases with 36,900 deaths. Nebraska's number of 143 cases is the latest I have with 8 deaths. One of those cases was York County's first. None have been reported for Seward County. We are continuing our Quarantine but were able to get our Income Tax information passed on to DeNeise at our front door with a staff person making the exchange.

Bright Sunshine

This was taken out of our Patio doors at 6:30 this evening. It's 7:30 now and the sun is still shining on the houses on 4th Street. The flag is still in the sunshine. We have really enjoyed the sunshine today. It was the first we had seen for several days. Our news papers were late this morning for no obvious reason. I did have the Local section read and breakfast ready when Elaine got up. I brought my coffee over to where I could listen to Rev. Keck with his sermon from First Plymouth in Lincoln. He told of never having had an opportunity to meet his Paternal Great Grandfather but had heard many stories about him in Cedar Rapids, IA. He had an "Ice House" business in that community back at the turn of the 18th Century. He spent time on his front porch with a large Dictionary checking  unfamiliar big words. He came across a word that came close to summarizing what is written in Psalms 23. He painted that word on the side of his ice wagon and delighted in explaining to those who asked, what it meant. He went on to say that his Grandfather and Father were both Ministers and his being the third in a row. He went on to speak on: "The Lord is my Shepard; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still Waters. He restoreth my soul:" etc. It was a most impressive service. We had a quiet day of enjoying the sunshine. We did participate in our resident Rev. Bill Lewis's 2:30 Church service this afternoon here in our Dining Room.

Seward Memorial Library

     This picture of the Seward Memorial Library was taken during it's construction during the fall of 2002. "The Library remains closed to the public through at least Sunday, April 5. You may reserve items online or call ahead to pickup at our drive up window. Office 402 643 3318". This was taken from the City of Seward COVID-19 Updates. We are so fortunate to have the Library built in an ideal downtown location and have it paid for. I was involved on the Seward Library Board during its construction. It goes down as one of the most successful projects I've ever been involved with.

     We continue our quarantine to the Brookdale facility here in Seward. We are pleased that we are able to eat together in Dining Room and visit with each other within the building. I got down to the recreation room this afternoon and rode a NuStep for 15 minutes. Elaine is very conscientcious about using the "wipes" that Carolyn got for us. We worked with Carolyn this morning in exchanging bags of pills, etc. We did it just outside the front door and don't think we exchanged any germs.

Table Topic

We had some discussion at the Dinner table this evening that involved Marv Googling "Tony - the Crow's Nest" on his I-pad and bringing up last nights blog page with the Coors Beer Can.  He had a big time reading it as we were joined with John and Dona. Bill, next to Elaine also got in on the discussion. I told them of the over 3,000 blog pages I have posted since the late 2010 days. They are listed on the home page by year, month, and title. It is not difficult to go back and look at old ones. I like to think of their being things which would be nice to pass on to kids, Grandkids, and others but just never had the opportunity until the Blog page came along.   I have also put them on a flash drive at the end of each year which can be duplicated easily and played on any USB port. This one from last night was viewed by some 75 people according to reports. I have some 20 listed readers which don't necessarily read every day. With my old laptop, I could see where the readers were by the world map being color coded. It was surprising of the number from Central Europe and Russia. 

A Memorial Coors

Would you believe that we still have 5 cans of Coors beer from the case of 24 that we moved up here to Brookdale when we moved in on September 1, 2017. Elaine has been "Pesterning me" about getting it cleaned out so I got out a can last evening and drank it. It seemed to have it's old flavor and it went down well. I did have to go to the bathroom an extra time that I chalked up to the Coors. I'm sure much of the "case" was drank when Brother Don and Gladys were up to visit us. With Don having passed on at the end of last year, I will drink the remaining cans in memory of him. It just never occurred to me that he may get to the promise land ahead of me. It's been right at 3 months since his passing and I still miss him every day. I have a friend here in Brookdale who was with the O'Neil, NE School System for a number of years. I've told him of Sarah being engaged to Mathew and going to be teaching school up there this fall. My friend tells me that the Kelly's are big farmers up there and are good people. I'm sure Don would be proud of her future.

Annual Reports

Elaine and I each have Prudential Variable Life Insurance Policies that we took out as we left Iowa back in 1991. We even paid an annual; premium several years as a way of increasing the policies value. Prudential invest the premiums and all the money the customer pays in various places with much of it effected by the stock market. The Company provides the choice of annual reports from all the companies invested in or just an Email report or letter of the consolidated reports. We have been burdened with the volume of reports received and have been anxious for the simpler letter reports. The policies are included in our Edward Jones account but we were unable to make the change without me personally being involved. Hopefully with Linda from the Edward Jones local office, and me on the phone with a representative from Prudential, we were able to make the desired changes this afternoon. I had difficulty understanding the Prudential lady. My hearing isn't as good as it once was so I take some blame for not understanding but I wish the lady would have talked a bit slower and more distinctly. It was almost easier to recycle all of the reports we had been receiving.

Men's Coffee

Our Men's Coffee group met Again this morning. I didn't feel real well so Marv pretty well conducted the meeting. It worked out real well. John, the fellow in the red jacket always has an interest story to tell about one of sons in an important position on how they are coping with the Coronavirus. John was an Administrator in the O'Neil, NE Public School System before moving here within the past few months. Alan always has some interesting stories to tell about piloting his own plane with wife and 2 girls. It brings up narrow escape stories that each of us have. The continued expansion of the coronavirus is also a concern of all. We now have 417,000 confirmed cases in the World with 64 of them in Nebraska. Marv is optimistic and often reminds us how fortunate we are to be able to meet and all eat gathering in the Dining Room. Our mail is delivered a day late with all of it sprayed with chemicals before we see it. ``

Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts

 I woke up from my afternoon nap to catch Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts and Staff member on the 2:00pm Press Conference. We   have a total of 19 confirmed cases in the State  with 2 in Lincoln and most of the others in the Omaha Metro Area with only a few outstate. He spoke of some of our Ethanol production being donated to a process to convert it to hand sanitizer. And, of all the things that are being carried out reduce the size of gathering to 10 or less. He said that State Agencies are focusing on providing Services with Safety and Security. He is watching the developing Federal Legislation and commented on the Federal Income Tax delay. While 2019 Nebraska State Income tax can be delayed, it is primarily for folks at high risk. He hopes that most Nebraskans will meet the old April 15 deadline to assist state finances,

Rev. Bill Lewis

Rev. Bill Lewis, who along with his wife are residents of Brookdale, provided leadership in presenting the 2:30 Church Service this afternoon. He is a retired pastor and gave the word to the over 25 folks in attendance that God has made it clear to his followers that if they believe in God, they will never die. They may pass away and will spend eternity in heaven with God.  Rev Lewis indicated that the Methodist Minister was originally scheduled for today but with the quarantine in effect, management didn't want to bring someone in from the outside but just utilize "in-house" talent. He indicated that he will probably continue the Sunday afternoon service for the time being. He already leads a weekly Bible Study.

       I got a couple short naps today in addition to dozing off in my big chair.  Most of my "work" today was in listing the number of pictures in 63 folders on the desktop of my old  "MacBook". While I can't do some of the critical functions needed for regular use, There are a limited number of activities,I can still do. The Sadie and Jack folder contains over 600 pictures of the Great Grandchildren during their first years. In Sadie's case, it's up to her first 7 years. I don't know if I can print them off onto a flash drive, but will certainly check it out. The more I work with it, the more nearly I'll be ready to have Computer World do some restoration work on it.

Coach K of Duke

     This picture was taken after Duke won the 2005 NAIA basketball championship. The network channels are showing some of the old sports classics in these days of quartile. I had to leave the Duke-Kentucky final 1992 game to go to supper this evening. It was right at the end of the game with the score tied and time running out. Christian Lattner was on the floor. I don't know if this was the game that he "won" with his game ending shot but it may have been. I'm sure son Tim would know. There was considerable coverage of both Coaches and staff. Coach K looked almost like a teenager.

      Carolyn helped our "stay at home" today by picking up our pills and pillboxes at the from door and bringing them back a few minutes later and Jim delivered them to our door. Hopefully we can keep our need to involve her can be kept at a minimum but her care is certainly appreciated.

Happy Hour

      We had our Friday afternoon Happy Hour at Brookdale this afternoon at 2:30.We were a bit late and sat at a table of Women. After eating a few "goodies" I took this picture of the fellows drinking Red Beer and went down to ride the NuStep bike.  Here is LeRoy, Bill, Marv, Clayton, Alan and Gus.

      More than 18,500 people in the U.S. had tested positive for COVID-19 as of late Friday afternoon, according to data tracked by Johns Hopkins. At least 227 people have died in 28 states and Washington D.C., which announced its first death on Friday. Lincoln, NE announced its first positively tested patient, a 48 year old man who had been to Colorado. 

     I will take the last pills tomorrow morning and will need the pillboxes filled sometime during the day tomorrow. We can set out the Pills and Boxes ahead of the time Carolyn comes by to pick them up and fill them. It should be a bit warmer tomorrow.

The Seward Memorial Library Lot

Few people will recognize where this picture was taken here in Seward back in the late fall of 2000. It was taken from the south-east corner of the block immediately south of the block with the Court House. It is the south half of the block where the Seward Memorable Library now sets. The City Hall Building is shown behind a wall at the top-right portion of the Picture. The City tore down the buildings at the center. The building on the left edge is actually across 6th street which was demolished as part of the Jones National Bank reconstruction.

As we continue our quarantined status here at Brookdale we just continue to "chug along". I usually get a morning as well as afternoon nap. All activities involving outside entertainers have been cancelled. We listen to Press Reports on the status of the Coronavirus and efforts to flatten the curve of its expansion and the death count. It seems that Italy has reached the point of a diminished number of fatalities which is good news, Schools have gone digital with students staying home. Verlon called and is having a good visit with Elaine.

My Mother

Here is Verlon, Kathy and Tim out at the Mak farm with Grandma Vrana. It was in June of '53. We didn't realize how happy the times were back in those days.Both my folks and Elaine's were so happy to see their Grandchildren and to take care of them while we were occasionally involved in other activities. It's difficult to get the current coronaviris situation in our comprehension let along seeing it brought under control. We are basically quarantined here in the Brookdale facility. Carolyn left a couple prescriptions at the front door which were delivered to our apt. door. I was able to add 1 pill to my pillbox for Thursday and Friday evening. We will work out a process of getting 2-weeks of pill boxes to her on Saturday so she can fix us up for some time. I did get our Census form filled out and sent in this evening. We went to a Welcome here in Brookdale this afternoon. Marilyn (Smiley) had fallen and damaged her pelvic bone so has moved into the assisted living area. She is "Pee Wee's" wife. Just seeing a picture of mother helps my optimism that we will get through this world wide threat by the Grace of God and our following all the rules and regulations laid out for us.

Confinement

Five of us met for Coffee this morning at Brookdale. We generally talked bout our situation of being confined to the facility and descriptions of how we are coping with it. Participants this morning were (l-r) Jack, Carl, Tony, Marv and Larry. John is from O'Niell Nebraska which has been known as an Irish settlement. As a School Official there for a number of years, he was involved in the Annual St. Patrick's Day Parade. With the 10  person limit  on crowds we wondered about the traditional green beer and parade this year. Our discussion even drifted into the impact of last springs flooding on the Elkhorn river, and elsewhere as well as the continued impact that it will have on agricultural land

Quarantined in Brookdale

We are basically quarantined in the Brookdale facility. They announced further restrictions as we had supper this evening. They will provide transportation to anyone with medical app's or other needs. There was a lady from Muir's here at the time making a delivery. I wondered about the prescriptions that we have pending there. This morning Carolyn brought up juice, milk and Walmart purchases and we met at the front door to bring them in. There was no personal contact. I really don't know how we will able to get our Pill Boxes filled once a week. We did have a couple ladies come in this afternoon to register newcomers to vote and for some of us to vote by mail ballot in the May 12th, Nebraska Primary. Elaine and I spent a lot of time sorting and labeling old pictures. Along with it is a certain amount of sorting and throwing away a few things

Coping with Change

This has been a very quiet day here at Brookdale with the temperature set on 33 degrees all day. One of the highlights  came late in the afternoon when Elaine went back into the kitchen to work with the staff in finding my Coffee Cup. It has been missing since last Tuesday when Jon took it along into the Coffee room to join our men's group. He went back looking for it and so had Elaine, but today she scored. We did some looking for a 32GB Flash Drive that I haven't been able to locate. I have the tag for it which was one Jon had done of pictures from back in the '50's that he had "coded".  TV watching was very limited with all the restrictions in place. We did however see a good John Denver program on PBS while eating supper. I've been thinking about getting out some of our records and playing them. I'm sure we have some of Denver's. Oh, one other plus today was a staff person bringing in a bunch of empty plastic bags. I talked with her yesterday while carrying in the ones Ben brought down. I did get to hear Rev. Keck present a recorded sermon on "Benedictions" this morning on Channel 09 from Omaha.

Handyman Duties

I don't recall in planning for my retirement to have a scene like this in the picture. With some many things curtailed or "locked down" activities are pretty limited. During the time Jon's we're here, Carolyn had a little relaxation from her care of us but one of our necessities is a "Plastic Bag" everyday for our garbage. It's mostly from breakfast and paper but needs to be emptied every day.  I met Ben out at our Front Entry where he handed me a bunch of empty plastic bags. I'm shown here compressing the air out of them and placing them in a bag where I can pull out one every morning to place  in my waste basket. I have concluded that we have left Brookdale off the hook too easily by eating breakfast in our room.  It has caused Carolyn to bring in Orange and Prune Juice, Milk, Breakfast food, and Coffee in addition to our Pills and personal necessities. I have already received a favorable response to my question about plastic bags and believe we should be able to fill our Milk, Orange and Prune Juice containers in the Kitchen. I realize it is our decision to have breakfast in our room but it is quite a burden for Carolyn. My planning for Retirement Activities was based largely on finances and didn't think about the day-to-day living requirements.

Coronavirus, A National Emergency

This was taken this afternoon during the President's New's Conference where he announced that the Coronavirus is now a "National Emergency." VP Pence and the Lady in the picture played a major role in answering questions from the News Media in the White House Rose Garden. He actually had a staff of some 15 people on hand to respond to questions. I was impressed with what they told us. Isolation and Hand Washing seem to be some of the major things we as individuals can do. The stock marked was favorably impressed and drove the DOW up 1,985 points during it's closing hour. It needed that kind of a gain today to partially offset the DOW's lose of 2,352 points yesterday. Brookdale continues to impose rules to limit access to the Facility. All visitors are required to enter the front door and sign-in. Residents are discouraged from outside activities where large crowds are anticipated. Our Sunday Methodist Church Services will be held with no hand shaking and inter-action with other rituals. 

Now I am Holding

With the DOW down 2352 points today it made me think about other "investments" that I might have gained just by "holding". I bought this 1936 Ford Victoria with low mileage off the Dealer's lot for $35. in 1958. We utilized it as our 2nd car. Elaine took Verlon and Tim to Sunday school one morning and didn't get the back door closed tightly after Tim hopped in the back seat. I watched them leave and when she made a left turn near the front of our house, the door flew open and 6 year old rolled out onto 5th street. Elaine stopped right away and I ran out and picked him up. He wasn't hurt and they went on to Sunday school. That experience gave us a bad impression and we sold it to some boys from Bee for $90.00. I have no idea what it may be worth today had I just put in storage but that amount would certainly offset some of the dollar amount that our stock investment portfolio has lost in the last few days. I trust that this time I will just hold and see what happens.

Enjoyable Visit``

This is our last evening to visit with Jon's before they head out. I have certainly taken advantage of their being here to visit about the coronavirus outbreak as well as many other things. Jon's computer help is most valuable. But I shudder to think of the response tomorrow  when I call for help. We are watching the Nebraska Basketball team compete in the Big 10 Tournament. They lost a couple more starting players recently and have gone to the football team to help fill the void. The stands look full in Indiana where they are playing with Nebraska down 34 to 43 at the half. The Nebraska Boys HS State basketball tournament will start in Lincoln with the audience limited to family.

A Little Humor Helps

Though pictures like this one were taken less than 5 years ago, it's comforting to look at them today and realize how peaceful things were so recently. The move from our house to the Brookdale facility 2 1/2 years ago was one of the most difficult transition we ever made. Now we are faced with the coronavirus and all the impact that it already has had. We were given a list of 12 activities that have been cancelled here for the rest of this month and April. Brookdale is a National Chain and a certain amount of guidance is coming from the Home office in Nashville, TN. The Stock Market has been very erratic lately with the DOW down 2,013 points yesterday and up 1,167 today. The Presidential contest has taken a bit of a back-seat to everything else but is still a major concern for many of use. Jon, Mary and Anna will be with us for another day before heading out. We have certainly enjoyed their visit and Jon's help on the computer. I have enjoyed doing these blog pages primarily for family and friends since late 2010 but can forseee the day when I may have to limit that. Meanwhile our family is still #1 and we will help each other through these difficult times whichever turn they take.

Jon's family visit

We got the 2019 Highlights done this morning and then went to work on the #1 Collage for last year. Jon has me working in Power Point this year which I don't recall using before. Needless to say, I had to get his help numerous times to end up with this product. It will probably take 2 more pages to cover the 2019 year. I really appreciate Jon's being here to help guide me through the computer work on the HP. Carolyn is my first contact for help on my Laptop. Though we have had an account with Edward Jones for a number of years, I have always  thought of it as a way of building an estate and have worked with John Owens in keeping our investments fairly conservative. For the past several years this has worked out very well. While I have never been a fan of President Trump, it was good to see our account increase during his tenure. That is up until late January of this year. I don't remember a time when the future was as much in question as it is tonight. It's easy to say that this is a buying opportunity with the DOW down 2013 points today but for a 94 year old, it's precious little consolation. 

Family Visit

Carolyn was down to fill our pillboxes today and was able to visit with Jon, Mary and Anna. It was an ideal time to get this picture. Jon and I did some more work on the computer this morning.  I have prided myself in having published Blog pages since 2010, but when working with Jon on it, I realize how little I know about the whole machine. Jon has been retired since late November, 2019 and I've asked him to write a bit about how he has adjusted.

"After contributing to the conservation movement for nearly a half century, it's a nice "break" to retire and focus in another direction - 19th century American and Irish history. The best benefit in retirement is "opportunity cost." When working, everything had to be a measure of opportunity cost - do one thing or the other, not both. Now, if I do one thing, I can do the other thing, the next morning!"

Special Guests

Carl and Helen's daughter and her husband were up from Kansas to help Helen celebrate a birthday. They favored us as we finished supper with a few songs after Happy Birthday which everyone enjoyed.  We were blessed today with Jon and Anna being here this morning. Jon was able to resolve a couple of computer problems for me.  Mary was required to be in the Office yesterday when Jon's came out. They went back down to Omaha this afternoon to pick her up. They have all spent the evening with us. We got in some visiting and also watched Duke beat North Carolina. It is good to have all of them out together. Jon seems to be handling retirement very well and Mary is looking forward to the day when she can join him.

Hosting Bill Richards, SCS Chief

Here I am as Executive VP of the International Soil and Water Conservation Society in Ankeny, IA welcoming Bill Richards, Chief of the Soil Conservation Service in early1991.  We posed this picture under the portrait of Hugh Hammand Bennett, the first head of the SCS in USDA. We invited Jeff Vonk, Iowa State Conservationist to join us and top staff members for a lunch served by Elaine. Staff members included Larry Davis, Max Schoepf, Tim Katisa, (unknown). Our son Jon who retired from the NRCS and had worked for some 43 years with the Agency is scheduled along with their Anna to be here for a short visit tomorrow. Mary, Jon's wife works in the Health Department is also scheduled to join them a bit later. While we spent less than 3 years in the job, it provided a fitting climax to my 33 years with the SCS and 9 years with the Nebraska Natural Resources Commission in Lincoln, NE. We just got a phone call from Jon. He and Anna were having supper in Lincoln and then to the Seward, Motel and up here tomorrow morning

Cloy Stutzman and Wife

We walked down to the TV room after supper to listen to Cloy Stutzman and his wife play guitars and sing country songs. One of his favorites is "I've Been Everywhere" which he did a good job on.  He also talked a lot between songs and told of his wife being his 3rd cousin which they weren't aware of until long after they were married. It seems that one of his Dad's siblings had lost a mate and moved to Canada. After some years part of the family came back with a little girl with an unfamiliar last name that he ended up marrying. She contributed quite a bit to the program. We didn't stay very long but got home to see the Nebraska men's basketball team trail Michigan 68-50 with 6.00 minutes to go in the game. Nebraska continues it's losing streak.

Seward County Supplement

Here is a copy of the 240 page "Seward County Nebraska Supplement" that was published by the Seward County Genealogical Society in 1983. Jane Graff was the principal author of this supplement as well as the original 535 page document. This supplement focuses on the Towns, Churches, Church schools, Public School Districts, Homes and Organizations within the County.This supplement was published in the year following the larger document and seems to cover the 99 rural public school districts particularly well. My old Distict 13 covers nearly a full page with  pictures of the buildings and the students.They also list the teachers. I saw my sister Vivian's name in a couple schools. My Dad went to District 13 as well and I could identify his teachers. I even sat in his desk-chair one year. I knew it was his because of the initials carved into the desktop. There is a nice picture of Elaine's Dad. Albert Flowerday being interviewed by Bill MacDonald on KFAB at one of the Seward Grange Conservation Field Days. There is also a nice story on the Seward Kiwanis Club that was organized in 1965 as an "organization of business and professional men to serve others and enjoy fellowship". How things have changed with the current leadership of the Seward Kiwanis Club all women.

Our 2002 Buick

Here is Elaine and I with our new 2002 Buick LaSabre in late April having just returned from a 3,500 mile southern trip.We were able to see many points of interest from Nashville to Miami and points along the way. We saw major league baseball games, National Parks, Caves, etc. It was the first major outing with our '02 that we bought from Rolfsmeiers in late 2001.We had been very pleased with our 1992 Buick LaSabre which we kept for a 2nd car. We didn't sell it until our Auction after having moved into the Brookdale facility. We rented a garage up here in which we stored a considerable amount of stuff in addition to keeping the '02 sheded. We did get it out of the garage on February 29th and drove around town a bit. It was the first time it had been driven since October 25, 1919. We have paid the insurance on the car till September of 2020 which amounts to $37./mo and the garage rental is $40. /mo. We are anticipating the boys being here this summer and hopefully can make some decisions during these next few months.

Progress in several areas

This was a good day for several reasons. The
 weather outlooks for our area looks good for the coming week.  It was in the 50's today. I was able to get assurance from the Ameritus Office in Lincoln that our address is being corrected and we should be receiving a 1099 for my State Annuity shortly.  There was confusion on this last year and after many phone calls, finally got the 1099 just days before the Income Tax payment date. I was in touch with the ACS Office in Lincoln this afternoon and scheduled a visit from a staff person on my "Oxygen supplemental" machine that I use in my nose overnight. I understand they normally plan for an "annual visit" but I was getting concerned after more than 6 months. And at the end of the Stock Market day, the DOW had gained a record 1293 points or a gain of 5.0%. Elaine and I went through many of our Blue Cross & Blue Shield and Medicare files today  and reduced them in volume. Elaine did a washing tonight while I worked on this blog page. 

Helzer Prairie

This picture is from a Chris Helzer "Our Family Prairie" article in the March issue of the Nebraskaland Magazine. It is most interesting since he tells of his Grandfather having bought an eroded quarter section of land back in the early 1960's. He put it into a program of the USDA  that enabled the newly seeded mixture of warm season grasses to be established and cost-share benefits were provided. The land was passed on to Chris's Dad and 2 sisters who have since arranged for Chris to own it. Chris works for the Natural Conservancy in the Aurora area and writes a frequent internet article with pictures. He also has pictures and articles in the Nebraska Game and Parks publications. I have been close friends with Norm, Chris' Dad for a number of years. Their family experience closely parallels our experience of buying a 160 acre farm, seeding it to warm season grasses and seeing it returned to a very productive grassland. We ended up selling ours to help get our kids through college but still drive past it at least once a year to enjoy our contribution.