Seward Kiwanis Newsletter

This is the front page of our quarterly Kiwanis Newsletter that was out at our meeting this noon. We have nearly 100 members with some unable to attend so the Newsletter becomes even more important. During my 25 years in the Club we have had much variation of Newsletters including none at all. Jerry Meyer, our current Club President, has largely been responsible for this excellent one. He began the quarterly letter as President elect, and I understand he will continue to be "Editor" as Past President. As President he has set "the bar so high that it will be difficult for anyone to follow him". Here is the 16 page issue with only the front, back, and committees shown. Jerry is a retired Colonel in the Nebraska National Guard and serves as Historian at the ,Guard Museum in Seward. Jerry provided

leadership for the Andrew Jackson Higgins National Memorial in Columbus, NE while he taught school there. He also served for 3 years with the military in Afghanistan.  Our Club has been recognized by the Kiwanis Nebraska-Iowa District for the quality of our Newsletter in the past and it didn't hold a candle to these. "Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to improving the world one child and one community at a time." Our Kiwanis Mission is "Serving the Children of the World". 

A Good Day

The 75 degree sunshine brought Elaine and I out on the Patio this afternoon for a Panasonic selfie. We had a good day with having watched Rev. Jim Keck from 1st Plymouth in Lincoln, give his sermon based on the 23 Psalm. I had never memorized that Psalm until this winter when I also began using the Bi-Pad for sleeping. To get my mind off the machine's breathing assistance when I first go to bed, I have learned if I recite memorized Poems, Prayers, Creeds, Rituals, etc., I can go right to sleep. It was that incentive that led me to commit the 23 Psalm to memory. My confirmation as a youngster in the Congregational Church at Garland didn't include the memorization of anything other than the Books of the New Testament. I couldn't even recite the Apostle's Creed until the Sunday our oldest Son was baptized. Elaine encouraged it since we would be reciting it while standing in front of Rev. Seybold. I do find it much more difficult to memorize or even remember anything, than it was a few years ago. 

The wind blew very strong from the south-east which may bring us some rain during the next few days. Our table friend Marvin, keeps us up-to-date on the "boys" planting corn with two 16 row planters. They own a considerable amount of land and rent much more so it's a major operation. While much of it is irrigated, they still watch the weather  and appreciate the rain. Carolyn came up this afternoon, and we always enjoy her visit to keep us "tuned in".

Chance Meeting

I spent some time in the Library this morning while Elaine was at the Beauty Parlor. While looking at the table of "surplus" books, a lady said she heard me mention the name of "Ted Kooser". She had been the Garland, NE Postmistress for over 30 years and and said she knew Ted very well. When she learned that I had grown up in the Garland area and graduated from GHS, we got into some family history. As we walked out of the building talking about her Dad, Fred Kettenburg, she spotted her older sister that had just pulled up. According to Ann, Fred immigrated from Germany in 1924 when he was 20 years old. He was "sponsored" by a Garland resident who had relatives in the same area of Germany. Fred first worked for John Meyer on the farm that we once owned and married a local Warnsholz girl. She was the oldest girl in that family and the 94 year old fellow we eat with here at Brookdale, married the youngest.. The family connections in this area are most interesting where many of us "old timers" are 2nd or 3rd generation.

Accordion Jamboree at Brookdale

This group entertained us here at Brookdale this afternoon with their Accordions, Drums and Tuba. Frank leads the group and lives here is Seward but the others come from Polk, Wilber, Clarkson, Wahoo.  They played a great collection of Polkas and Waltzes. One of my favorites was when Elmer and Jean harmonized along with their playing. I also enjoy the "Saddle Horse Polka" and Frank always plays the "3 Crows" (Vrana) polka for us. Elmer, the Tuba player, always sings it, first in Czech and then in English. He really seems to enjoy playing the Tuba and singing.

In visiting with some of the group afterwards, they have a schedule of playing 2-3 times per week during the next Month. They played "When We Parted" as their last number which I remember my Dad playing on his accordion. And, I wondered why Dad never sang it and taught me to play and sing it. I would so enjoy doing that from my chair in the audience if only I could.  As Mothers and Dads, how many things did and do we miss teaching our children. 

"Kindest Regards" by Ted Kooser

Former United States Poet Laureate Ted Kooser was at the Seward Memorial Library this evening celebrating the release of his newest collection of poems in a book called "Kindest Regards".  Ted went through the book reading selected poems and told us the "story" involved with each of them. Robert Frost has been one of his favorite writers since his early school days when  he always liked to read and write poetry. He had a career in the Insurance Industry since he questioned being able to "make a living" as a poet. He told of asking college students in his classes to write at least 10 poems every day, and commented they should really write 100. His typical pattern was to get up at 4:00am and write until time to go to work.  This schedule has enabled him to write "thousands of poems" over the years.  Several of his books have been best sellers. "Delights and Shadows" in 2004 won him a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. His birthday was yesterday so this was his first day in a "new decade". We all sang Happy Birthday to him.

Good Food at Brookdale.

This was our dessert this noon after a Chicken Dinner with slivered Almonds in green beans, potatoes, and cottage cheese. This ice cream was served in a bowl that reminded me of a Flowerday serving. Shortly after meeting Elaine, brother Don and I stopped by their place on the way home from a baseball game in Staplehurst. We had a date for that evening and I needed to tell her that I would be late. Elaine's family had made home made ice cream and she served Don and I the largest helping ever seen, in a soup bowl. It is one of her many Flowerday traits she retains, for which I am greatful. Then for supper some of us had an excellent Chief's Salad. Elaine took the Tomato slices off mine and gave be Boiled Egg quarters in return. It was exactly what we needed after the large lunch.

Visitors and Conservation

We had Sadie and Jack at our house for a while this afternoon and it didn't take long for Jack to lead Elaine into the Kitchen and the cookies. Sadie joined in the "party" as well. She asked me which button on the remote turned the TV on and then she found her favorite channels. I even got interested in one of them that showed the only range in the world that supports wild horses. It is in Africa though I always thought there were some areas in Wyoming. Jack likes wearing his overalls and is pretty agile in dropping them down by slipping both straps off his shoulders without unfastening them. Sadie does a lot of tutoring with Jack. He has many of the same advantages I had growing up by having a sister a couple years older. Jack wasn't the only one to wear overalls here at Brookdale today. We had a "Hoe Down" dinner this noon with many dressed in their "farmer clothes" and straw hats. I put on my Denim jeans and a western, flannel shirt with the shirt tail out. Some of the "costums" were pretty clever. They played Country Western music during the meal of a big Bratwurst sandwich.

We also enjoyed our brief visit with Julie as she brought and picked up the kids. We are so fortunate to have them here in Seward as well as Carolyn and Ben. I did have a good telephone conversation and email with Jon this evening. I continue to seek guidance on Windows 10 from him and always enjoy hearing about what he is doing in USDA.  The importance of utilizing our natural resources on a sustainable basis is probably more widely recognized today than it was back in my "working days", but the procedures for striving to achieve that goal continues to be a challenge. Like many difficult goals, success can be counted by progress toward the goal, and I believe we are making progress in our Soil and Water Conservation.

Flowers

Aaron presented the program at Kiwanis today with flowers. She has recently taken on a Florest business which she operates out of her home here in Seward. She brought along several examples of the flowers that she uses in arrangements for Weddings, Funerals, etc. While some of the flowers she uses are grown in the tropical regions of the US, a high percentage is imported and flown in. I'm sure we will be hearing more about her business in the future and probably will utilize it. Elaine has often received bouquets of cut flowers for her birthday which we all enjoy. Carolyn brought up a hanging basket of Pansy's yesterday for us to have out on our Patio since the weather has warmed up. We brought them back inside though and I enjoy their inspiration as I watch the Yankees lead the Minnesota Twins.

Jo Ellen at Brookdale

Jo Ellen Axthelm, Ministry Assistant/BBCDC Curriculum Director from the Seward United Methodist Church led the Church Service here at Brookdale this afternoon. Ellie played the Piano and we sang several Hymns. Jo Allen used Psalms 23 for the scripture reading and talked about the importance of Water in our lives. She spoke of a body of water at Ulysses where she gains inspiration and her son fishes. She brought along a book with full page Water pictures and read their descriptive captions. While David  expresses his confidence in the grace of God in the 23rd Psalm where it is written "He leadeth me beside the still waters", it is the 24 Psalm that has been used in Soil and Water Stewardship services. It states; "The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein." This passage has been used for many years to make the point that our soil and water resources must be used on a sustainable basis and that they are not man's to destroy. Her subject was a very appropriate topic for Earth Day.

Schweitzer Auction Today

I went down to Harvest Hall at the Seward Fair Grounds this morning for a Schweitzer Auction while Elaine was at the beauty parlor. We have had fewer Auctions this past spring than normal so it drew a good crowd. Since our mid-December Auction I haven't even picked up a "bid number" at the couple I've been to. There were many interesting things which appeared to be selling very well. The "merchandise" seemed to have come from several parties because there wasn't an "'Owner" listed. 

This replica of an old "Roll top Desk" caught my eye but didn't get to see it sell. I miss all the small little drawers that I had at the house and this on had, but didn't consider it seriously.  Elaine was pleased that Grand Daughter Julie took her old manual Royal typewriter. It was the first thing Elaine bought after going to work following HS. There was a "Portable" on this auction that looked just like her old one only smaller. We still miss some of the things that we sold on our Auction 4 months ago but can get a certain amount of pleasure by looking at pictures of them to trigger memories.

Windows 10

This is the HP Windows 10 Fax and Scan page that is opened by clicking on the "printer" icon on the bottom of the page. One of my objectives in getting the new HP was to be able to scan pictures and store them on DVDs. While I've worked out ways to do it and made some notes, today I wrote out this detailed guide. I can foresee the day when after being away from it for awhile, I will need some help. What I wrote today is just the "Scanning" and "Saving" portion with the "Burning to DVD" still to be done. If anyone sees this has a better way of doing it, please let me know with your comments.

Scanning, Processing, Storing, Burning
Scanning:
            Double click on Printer icon at the base of the desktop. It will open Windows fax and scan. >Click on “ New Scan” at the top, left of the screen, It will bring up a new page with the opportunity to set dpi, preview, scan, etc.>Click on Scan which will take about 20 seconds. A listing of scanned pictures will appear with the current date and picture listed as “New Image”. > Right click on the highlighted New image line, it will bring up options. > Click of “Rename”, it will bring up an opportunity to “Rename” the scanned image. > Click “OK” after entering the “Name, date, etc. That brings up the image with an opportunity to “Edit & Correct”, “Share” etc. > Choose “Edit & Correct. > Choose “Edit”, proceed to “Crop” > Click on “Done” which will bring up an opportunity to “Enhance” just by clicking in the enhance block, Click “save”, It will bring back the image. > Right click on it to bring up options, choose “save as” and the name listed earlier will appear in a box which you “Save”. The image will be saved in ”File Explorer”  which can be accessed by going to File Explorer> This PC > Pictures > Saved Pictures > Image.

           This is written for those of us that have problems with the "Window 10 for dummies" Book.

 

Flags to Fun

My long-time friend and fellow Brookdale resident, picked me up this morning to take a replacement  US flag out to Ray Bieber. Ray has a nice home in a beautiful setting on an 80 acre farm SE of Garland. I have written blog pages before involving Ray which can be viewed by listing his name in the search box on The Crow's Nest, home page. He too is an old friend that goes back to Chemistry 101 at UN-L in the late 50's. While we have appreciated not having to leave our building during the cold, winter days, it was great to drive out into the hills. At the time I worked for USDA Soil Conservation Service here in Seward County, I had worked on many of the farms we drove by but times change and now I was unable to recognize the names of people listed on our map as living  in the area.

This afternoon we were entertained  here at the "April Birthday Party" by these three musicians that are called, "Just Us".  We had enjoyed them here before and some years ago down at the Seward Senior Center. They play and sing a wide variety of Country Western, Bluegrass, Religious and old popular songs. Their leader has an excellent voice and did most of the singing. My favorite was, "The Wabash Cannon Ball" which son Jon and I used to sing. We might have to see if we can find one of the old songbooks and try to do some singing when he gets back next time.

The 18th of April``

One of my Dad's sisters was sitting around the supper table with us out at the farm when I was about 10 years old. My homework included Longfellow's "Paul Revere's Ride". As I read the line, "the 18th of April in '75, hardly a man is now alive", My Mother interrupted me by saying, Grandpa Vrana would have been alive at that time. After some jousting around, it was recognized that there was a mix-up in centuries. Grandpa was born in 1863, Paul Revere rode in 1775. It is a childhood memory of my Mother making a mistake and turning it into a joke. The memory is so vivid that I made a effort to get a picture of the Old North Church while in Boston 45 years later.

  (There are additional verses to the poem which I didn't copy)

Flower Basket Quilt

I have asked Elaine to write about this book which she has reread during the past week. Grace Snyder, the matriarch of a pioneer Nebraska family wrote her reminiscences in her 80th year and were put into "book form" by her daughter Nellie Snyder Yost. 

Grace's story began on the high plains of Nebraska, where her parents homesteaded in 1885. She recalls her childhood in a sod house on a frontier that required everyone to pull together in the face of hostile weather, serious illness, and economic depression but that also held its share of good times. She wrote that as a child of age 7, she wished that she might grow up to make the most beautiful quilts in the world, to marry a cowboy, and to look down on the top of a cloud. While her dreams and wishes seemed impossible at the time, she eventually saw them in reality. Her quilts contributed to a worldwide revival of quiltmaking. Grace lived 20 years after the publication of these memoirs in 1963, to the age of 100. Elaine bought the book some years ago when the "Flower Basket" quilt shown in the picture, was on display at Quilt Museum on the Campus of the University of Nebraska.

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Spring is Coming

Elaine and I got down to Ken Morgan's office this afternoon to work with Denise is getting our 2017 Income tax filed and 1st quarter 2018 paid. I sold a good portion of our Ameritrade Portfolio in December with Capitol gains which boosted the amount of payment. We really appreciate what Ken and Denise do in completing all the forms and even taking care of sending everything in. All we had to do was sign our names. As I reviewed all the forms and figures, I wondered how anyone is able to file their taxes without professional help. I can't imagine what the returns look like for some folks. However, it's always a relief to get that taken care of even if is a bit painful. With it done we just took the afternoon off and enjoyed the first 50 degree day we have had for some time. It was 27 this morning.

As I look out our glass patio doors this evening, there is a bit of green showing up in the grass and the flag is waving peacefully.  When I checked my camera while setting at the supper table, everything was upside down and photo was still open. I took this picture of my coffee and that corrected it. I was interrupted after taking the above picture and didn't finish it at the time.

 

Cold Outside but Warm Inside

Elaine indicated the other day that she wished she had her old "word processor" back but guessed she would have to learn to write and print messages on our new HP. I wrote out detailed instruction on doing those things with the "Word" program. In the process of her writing her first message, something happened and it separated the individual letters so that they w     e     r     e        s   p    r     e     a    d   o   u    t.

I had never seen the problem before and finally sought out son Jon's help in solving it. He said to "highlight the spread letters and click the "left justification" button. I had earlier done everything but the highlighting and should have known better. But it will be a good start for her.

Elaine was more comfortable in giving Sadie and Jack suckers and reading them stories. After the suckers were finished, Sadie played with a colorful bunch of little plastic "vacuum sticker" in making an outline of a Turtle on our Patio glass door. Jack got out all of his trucks and put them in a blanket he called a "car wash". We always enjoy their visit and usually have need for some help from John or Julie on something.

Winter Storm

We didn't get very much snow but had 26 degrees with 35mph winds to go with what we did receive. Our electricity was off for about a half hour around 7:00pm. We didn't get out of the building today but spent a lot of time on the computer. We did watch a bit of the Angels 5-3 victory over the Royals in a snow shower in Kansas City. This was the Angels 7 consecutive win and gives them a season record of 13-3. The Royals have only won 3 games. The number of fans still in the stands at the end of the game was amazing to me. Incidentally, the long, dark hose in the picture is an extension from the down spout which drains the roof in this portion of the building. We appreciate it getting the rain water as far from our patio and sliding glass door as possible. There is no step up into our living room.

Winter Weather Warning

Seward County was at the edge of storm warnings until mid-afternoon when it was included. We moved up our typical Saturday schedule to be prepared to stay in over the weekend. We saw the temperature at 77 on the Cattle Bank and heard of it hitting 82 in Lincoln and 87 in Nebraska City. We watched our Brookdale Flag indicate that we had wind from the SE for only a few hours in late afternoon before it went back from the NW with renewed vigor. We are expecting rain over night and snow tomorrow. It's 43 now at 9:30 and expected to drop to 29 with the snow tomorrow mid-morning. High winds are expected to continue on through Sunday with a high of 32 and 16 for a low. There are stretches of I-80 in western Nebraska that have been closed for much of the day. While we can use the moisture, we certainly don't need the storms. This has been a very cool spring.

Fast Mart Construction

Work continues on the expansion of the Seward Fast Mart Station with the burial of the fuel tanks today. As we came by later this afternoon, I think they got them all buried and covered. I assume the whole area will be paved over and several islands of pumps installed right over the tanks. I wonder if an island with pumps will be on top of the tanks since compaction to support heavy trucks would be difficult to keep the pavement from cracking. I'm sure the Architects and engineers involved have it figured out but us "sidewalk observers" can't help but wonder.

Lunch with Don and Gladys

We had lunch with Brother Don and Gladys at the Villager in Lincoln this noon, and they brought along this family picture that had been taken fairly recently. It is a great picture of a fantastic family. Their family continues to grow with Marriages and Great-Grandchildren, etc. It is envious that a high percentage of the family are reasonably close bye to Syracuse, NE where Dons have lived for over 50 years. Don is four and a half years younger than me and playing golf regularly. He and I played a round of golf here in Seward in October of 2016. Carolyn was having lunch in the Club House and got a neat picture of Don and I walking off the last green. It is the last round of golf that I have played.

Droughts and Grasshoppers

The supper discussion at our table this evening between Marvin, Gene, Elaine and I, touched on the Drought and Depression years of the 1930's. While we have had dry years in the mid '50's, and others, they didn't compare with the extended drought of the '30's. Marvin is a couple years older than me and told of his Dad cutting dried up corn with a grain binder and then shocking it like wheat. They later ground it and fed it to cattle. We talked about seeing the flocks of grasshoppers flying over and darkening the suns rays. I remember of a sieve over the grain bin of a combine to catch the remains of grasshoppers to keep them out of the wheat grain. It was my job to keep the sieve clean by pushing them off the edge when I was about 10 years old. We have come a long way with our Soil and Water Conservation programs' and I hope that we never see the return of such dust storms and droughts.

From Problems to Solutions

I got back down to Kiwanis this noon where Seward County Sheriff Joe Yocum presented the program on school safety. It began with a brief film showing a very realistic school shooting. He then went on to talk about what is being done here locally to alleviate such tragedies. It involves law enforcement personnel at all levels working with school staff and others in concerted efforts. While technology will play a role in the efforts, some things are quite simple but important. Getting Police Officers familiar with school layout and personnel is an example. The length of time for getting armed Officers in direct contact with the shooter is a key factor. In some of the past tragedies, that length of time has been much longer than what can be achieved with known techniques. I felt good about what is underway in our Law Enforcement Agencies and  County School systems to avert tragedies. Much can be done without ever bringing up the subject of "Gun Restrictions" which seems to put people on definite sides of the question. . It was good to get back down to the Kiwanis meeting to hear about all the good things Kiwanis is doing locally and around the world. What's done locally is almost unbelievable.

We were pleasantly entertained this evening after supper by this group of ladies called, "The Ukuladies". They all played Ukuleles, sang familiar songs, and just seemed to all have a great time doing it. One of the ladies is the Daughter-in-Law of one of the residents here at Brookdale. There was a great crowd and every one enjoyed it. Elaine found a seat next to Betty and her daughter. My sister Janice in California and Betty continue to be good friends going back to their childhoods.

A Good Day

We enjoyed John, Julie and the kids coming up to visit this afternoon. Sadie and Jack always find things to play with when they are here including "us" at times. Jack even sat on my lap for a while and I could hardly believe how heavy he has become. They said Sadie weighs 45 pounds. Jack has this thing about getting all the toy vehicles lined up like a train. I heard hm imitate the sound of a truck while pushing one around. He also did some singing. We left the picture of the Masters Golf Tournament on muted while they were here. Supper interrupted the Masters but saw Reed get the Green Jacket.

We are watching the Mets and Washingto play to a 5-5 tie going into the 9th inning. This is the first National League game that we have seen this year. The Kansas City Royals are the team we see most often but are not pleased with the changes they made from last years team. We also continue to be concerned with Alex Gordon's hitting. The temperature was 32 degrees when the Royals-Indians game in Cleveland began this noon. People are bundled up pretty good in D.C. and even some of the players have their faces partially covered. Bruce Harper hit a HR early in the game and will lead off the bottom of the 9th. Washington didn't score so they are going into extra innings and I'm going to bed.