Queen Elizabeth Look Alike

This was Guest Day for the Seward United Methodist Church Women's Club. Their speaker was a lady from the Nebraska Humanities Council who talked about "Hats". The ladies were encouraged to wear hats and to even bring a collection of their own. It turned out that several tables were filled with ladies hats from over the years. Elaine had to dig a bit to find the one she is wearing in the picture and to the event. I vetoed her first choice but preferred this one which gives her the "Queen Mother" look. What doesn't show on the picture are her white gloves and black purse that she carried on her elbow. It sounds like a good time was had by the 50 or so ladies that attended. It didn't take her very long to change clothes and get the hat put away when she got home. Now we are going down to Pac n Sav for their fried chicken special.

Plum Creek Trail

Yesterday evening we drove down to Heritage park on the eastern edge of Seward. It is so named because of a State of Nebraska monument acknowledging the area being part of the farm staked out by the first residents of what was to become the City of Seward. Our city is situated at the confluence of the Big Blue River, Lincoln Creek and Plum Creek. That first farm was divided by Plum Creek and included land that is now  part of Concordia University. The picture shows the Walking-Biker trail that follows the Plum Creek floodplain for a distance of nearly 2-miles along the eastern edge of our city. Verlon is standing on one of the 4 bridges that cross the creek during that distance. Plans are underway to extend the trail to the Seward Swimming Pool on the western edge of the city by crossing under the highway and the Blue river and following the dike for part of the distance. It is anticipated that eventually the trail will completely circle the city. The trail enjoys heavy usage and some people have said it was a factor in their decision to move to Seward. 

A Young Family

The 3 of us shown in the picture have had an enjoyable Labor Day by not doing a whole lot of labor. Though considerable time and space have elapsed since the picture was taken, we are spending the day here at home within about 4 blocks from where the picture was taken. Verlon in here with us now from Richmond, VA for his annal visit and the usual "home maintenance" chores for us. I started a list of "projects" a couple months ago and he is getting them checked off. I played my usual 12 holes of golf this morning before we went down near the Plum Creek walking trail to check on our Black Walnut tree planting. The 24 trees look good now that they have been through 2 growing seasons.   There is need for one replacement which I will do next  spring.  We grilled hamburgers this noon and have watched a lot of baseball and golf this afternoon. We enjoyed seeing Webb Simpson win the Deutche Bank Championship.

Jim Goeke & the Ogallala Aquifer

The High Plains Ogallala Aquifer has been in the national news recently with the proposal by Trans-Canada to build a Keystone XL pipeline through an area in Nebraska overlying the aquifer. The aquifer extends over several states with Nebraska having the greatest depths of saturated thickness. This picture was taken last year at a Groundwater Guardian dinner. It includes: Jim Goeke, Tony, Elaine and Dayle Williamson. Jim retired this past spring from the University of Nebraska where he was a professor in the School of Natural Resources. He came to UNL in 1970 and is known as "Mr. Water".  As a hydrogeologist, Dr. Goeke gathered data for modeling unconfined aquifers in central and western Nebraska. Elaine and I consider him an old friend dating back to the early 1980's when I was working with Dayle Williamson at the Nebraska Natural Resources Commission. On one occasion Jim escorted Elaine, Dayle and I on a tour in the Sandhills where we saw places that few people have the privilege of visiting. Jim has testified at public hearings recommending the rerouting of the XL pipeline away from the Ogallala Aquifer. Those of us who have studied the Sandhills appreciate the fragile nature of the vegetative cover and hope the National Decision Makers will respect Dr. Goeke's excellent knowledge of the Aquifer and accept his recommendations.

Elaine's Birthday

We helped Elaine celebrate her birthday today. I brought up a beautiful card that I bought last year when she had a special birthday. The verse was so appropriate that it was on her place at the breakfast table. Verlon and Ben were able to mark another item off the "projects" list by hauling our brush to the burn pile. Carolyn brought down a nice bouquet of flowers out of their garden as shown in the lower picture. Jon, Mary and Anna sent the beautiful arrangement through the "Flower Mill" here in Seward. They had just been delivered when Jon called and we had a good visit with he and Anna. Tim called about noon and we had a chance to be brought up to date on their family activities. Dale called this evening so Elaine was treated to many birthday greetings. She also received several cards by mail which also included a recipe book that she had ordered some time ago. I brought up the notebook with the chronology of her "birthdays over the years" which goes back to 1948.

This evening we met Carolyn & Ben out at the Country Club right after seeing the Nebraska 40-Chattanooga 7, football game on TV.  Unfortunately, the dining room was closed for a private party so we ate at the "Cafe on the Square". We were all pleased with our meal and came home for that cup of coffee to finish it off. I wouldn't doubt but what we will have a dish of ice cream before bed time. There are very few days when we don't have ice cream and I can't imagine Elaine's birthday being one of them. After all, ice cream played a role in our early romance. Don and I stopped by Elaine's farm on the way home from an extra inning baseball game to say I would be late for our date. They had just made home made ice cream and gave us a big helping in a soup bowl. I took that as an indication that maybe I had a chance.

Fish Dinner in Bee

Verlon flew in to Lincoln from Richmond, VA yesterday afternoon and will be spending a couple weeks with us. I made up a lengthy list of "projects" that hopefully he will be able to finish while he is here. He got 3-4 of them clicked off today and more lined up for tomorrow. It is really helpful to have someone of his ability come once a year to spend some time with us and do many of the "home maintenance" chores that old people tend to let go. We met Terry in Bee and went to the fish dinner there this evening at Lou and Mary Ann's. The dinners are always delicious, we visit with many friends, and Lou is a great host. Their ability and dedication to successfully operate a business in a small Nebraska town would make an interesting "Case Study".

After eating we visited out in the street and watched the storm clouds approach from the western skies. Seward HS had their first home football game scheduled for this evening which I'm sure has been "held up" because of the thunder, lightning and rain that hit about the time the game was to start.  Some of us old timers have to look twice at the Bee water tower. I don't know when the water system was installed but it is a comparatively recent addition. My Vrana Grandparents moved to Bee from the farm north of Garland in the late 1920's. My memories of the town go back to the early 30's after we had moved out to the farm and would take grain to them for their ducks and chickens.

60th Wedding Anniversary

Here is another picture from the CD that Cousin Phil Vrana gave me some time ago. This was taken down at the Seward Park on August 29, 1948 at a Family Reunion in celebration of Grandma and Grandpa's 60th wedding anniversary. I am certain that the fellow to the left of Grandpa is his brother John who was 5 years younger than Grandpa but lost his wife Mary, in 1936. John appears on the Grandparents wedding picture as a young man but Mary didn't come to this country until 1888, married John in 1896 and died in 1936. The other lady may be Anna Houfek Ruzicka, a half sister of Grandma's who is included in the Wedding Picture.

My Diary entry for August 29, 1948 is: "Don and I went to Church. Vrana family  celebrated Grandparents 60th wedding anniversary. Utica beat us 4-1 in 12 innings, I got a double. Took Elaine to the Outdoor Theater".