Little League Baseball

With the Major League Playoffs underway, it seemed appropriate to reminisce about family baseball. Pictured is Tim about to score a run for the "Tops" Little League team back in Virginia in the spring of 1963. Mr. Buchard, the team manager who had played professional baseball is shown coaching 3rd base.  Tim's season was interrupted on May 2nd when he broke a bone in his right foot sliding into 2nd base. He was batting lead-off and had 2 hits in the game. We had him soak his ankle in hot water when we got home and Elaine took him over to Dr. Mitchell's office the next morning and on down to the Anderson Clinic where they put a cast on his foot. He went on to play in a band concert that afternoon. When we took Tim down to see Mr. Buchard, he said: "There goes left field". 

A few days later Mr. Buchard told us that the team would cover the cost of Tim's treatment and that he was keeping him on the roster for next year. Actually he came back sooner than expected and was able to finish out the season after about a month of being on the "disabled list". May was a busy month for us with Merle Thompson spending a weekend, the USDA Honor Awards with LBJ and Secretary Freeman addressing the group, we were looking at houses to buy, SCS picnic at the Log Lodge in the National Arboretum, finished a course at USDA Grad. School, Mother, Kathy & Dorothy Lavicky flew in to Friendship Airport and spent a few days with us. During the time they were there we did a lot of sight seeing. 

Tim, you may need to edit or add to some of this but it was fun to do. Those were very busy but good days. 

Julie's Visit

Julie stopped by this morning on her way to work. Elaine was gone to Bible Study and I was just ready to shave when the door opened. We sat in the living room and visited for nearly half and hour. Now that may not sound like a "big deal" to most people but it was probably the most time that she and I have been alone together since she got married over a year ago. Its not that we haven't had a good relationship during the time but that there were always other people around or that she was just meeting Elaine to go to lunch or some such thing. We covered a wide rage of topics during our visit including her speaking to a group of Extension Club ladies in Omaha yesterday about her Martha Steward experience in NY city.  

I told her of having spoken to a group of people in the same building some years ago about a Natural Resources issue. We had a great visit-the highlight of my day. There is some 20 years of time between these two pictures but the close relationship still exist as shown years ago. We don't have weeds to cut or garden to tend as we did at that time but still need to find more things to do together. I realize she has a #1 man in her life with whom we couldn't be more pleased, and a #2 in Ben who will do anything for her. So if I expect to have more of her time, I may have to take up "Quilting" .

c

Lunch, Golf & Shopping

Elaine and I met brother Don and Gladys at the Mongolian Grill and Chinese Buffet in Lincoln this noon for lunch. If you can call the amount some of us ate, "lunch". They have the most excellent food for the least money of any place around. After topping off our meal with ice cream, the ladies went to the Gateway Shopping Center. Don and I went down 70th Street to the Holmes Golf Course. Don played 36 holes yesterday in Syracuse and usually plays 18. The only way I've played 18 this year is when playing by myself with two balls. So with some concern about the ladies having too much shopping time, we decided on playing just 9. Being seniors and mid-week it cost us just $14.50 with a cart. . There were golfers teeing off on #1 when we were ready to go, so the club pro started us on #10 and we played the back nine. Don did concede to my wishes by playing the middle tees. He has a new set of hybrid clubs which he hits very well.

Don got off a good tee shot on the 378 yard 13th hole, hit his 17degree hybrid on to the green and made a 12' putt for a birdie. Not to be outdone, I put my tee shot on the green at the next hole and made a 35' putt for my birdie. We basically played bogey golf from there on out and each finished with a 42. The course is in beautiful shape with little evidence of the fungus that we've had in Seward. It is a very "open" course with wide fairways and large greens. I did have to use my "foot machie" on one occasion for safety reasons and bumped the ball occasionally, but didn't take any "gimmes" of over 2'This was the first time this season that I've golfed anywhere except here in Seward. I was really apprehensive about even trying it today but enjoyed it to the extent that we are planning on getting together again in Syracuse and here in Seward. Oh yes, we found the ladies when we got back to the Shopping Center. They had a good afternoon shopping and it was an exceptionally good day of golfing

Senior "Golf"

We "Seniors" play "golf" for exercise, fellowship, to enjoy the outdoors and Mother Nature. We don't necessarily follow all the rules as set down by the PGA. Here is one of the fellows that plays with us quite frequently teeing up his second shot on the short grass fairway. He has had some health problems over the past couple years and played very little last year. This year his health is improving but he has difficulty hitting the ball for any distance. In this case he doubted that he could get across the pond with anything other than his driver with the ball teed up. He counts an extra stroke each time for such a shot and no one complains. It is standard practice among all of us seniors to take a mulligan on our initial tee shot if necessary.

We also "bump" the ball in the fairway as well as the rough. Mulligans are taken occasionally but often recorded as an "m" to ease our conscience. "Gimme putts" are of course standard. The only question is the distance to qualify. It has been acceptable in charitable events to give putts the length of the putter head to the grip, or about 2', but that interpretation is not always respected.  "Foot mashies" are utilized occasionally when a person could be injured by trying to hit the ball near a tree or with the hazard of overhead  low hanging branches. Some of us have even been known to skip around and play the holes that are open if the course is crowded in certain spots. One rule that seems to be highly respected is the matter of "not grounding the club" in a sand trap. Yes, we do keep score because we play by the same "rules" every day and everything is done out in the open. We are competitive among ourselves as we enjoy the fresh air, exercise, and fellowship. Maybe we should call it "Flog" though instead of golf.

Kiwanis Installation

The Kiwanis Club of Seward held its annual Officer Installation at the Seward Country Club this evening. Sandy Scheinost, Lt. Governor from the Capitol City Club in Lincoln was out to perform the ceremony. Shown here is Sandy handing "a piece of the puzzle" to outgoing President, Cheryl Ingerslew while incoming President, Julie Klimn stands by. Jack Swanson, also shown, is a member of the Kitones, who sang earlier and were recognized for having completed 40 years of service to the community. Maury Zwick of the Kitones was chosen by President Cheryl as her "Kiwanian of the Year" for his dedicated work in preparing and putting away the material utilized at each weekly meeting. Bud and Betty Hasenbrock were also out from the Capitol City Club for the event along with Sandy's husband, Steve. Steve has retired from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) as a Soil Scientist. Bud is a former Lt. Governor of Division 22 and longtime arborist and landscape manager for the UN-L east campus. He and Betty are long time family friends. We had a great time and enjoyed visiting. It's going to be a great year with President Julie's leadership.

Robotics

I had an interesting conversation this morning with a fellow who had recently visited a large manufacturing plant of farm machinery and other commercial equipment in Illinois. He told of the number of employees in the plant some years ago compared to today's workforce that continues to increase output of finished products. It is accomplished by replacing human labor with robots. The Internet has a wealth of information on the history and use of robotics. Among the interesting things that I learned is that the term, "robot" comes from the Czech word, "robota" which translates to "drudgery". Hence, robots have come into use during the past 50 years to replace the repetitive work that was associated with manufacturing. However, they have gone far beyond performing simple tasks as they advanced in ability and are utilized in every fields from health care to warfare. I saw my first robot in a center pivot irrigation plant in Nebraska some 25 years ago. It performed a simple spot-welding task with perfection and replaced 2 or 3 skilled workers. Robots do wonderful things these days but it seems we have devoted more energy in their development and use that we have in providing employment opportunities for those being replaced. Then I remind myself that the Vogel Brothers Blacksmith shop that employed several men here is Seward 50 years ago, isn't here anymore either. It has been said that, "Life is a race between retirement and obsolescence", but what do I know.

The Bobcat Company

Perry is a Regional salesman for the Bobcat Company and often plays golf with us on weekends when he is in town. He loaned me a book that the company published to commemorate their 50 years of progress. The company has an interesting history with some similarities to Hughes Bros. Co. here in Seward in that four Melroe brothers were instrumental in the growth of the company. The Bobcat company has its roots in the Melroe Manufacturing Company in Gwinner, ND that was set up back in the late '40's to build windrow pickup attachments for combines. We had such an attachment for our combine which we used in harvesting sweet clover seed when I was growing up. In the '50's, Eddy Velo, a turkey farmer in MN inspired the Keller brothers who were local blacksmiths, to build a small three-wheel loader for cleaning manure from his pole barn. The Melroe brothers purchased the manufacturing rights and the Keller brothers went to work for the Melroes. This was the humble beginning of a business that was later purchased by the Clark Equipment Company in 1969, by Ingersoll-Rand in 1995 and the Doosan Group of South Korea in 2007 for 4.9 billion dollars.The Bobcat Skid-Loader is sold worldwide and has the popularity that other competing products are often called “Bobcats”. The Bobcat company produces over 70 attachments for the skid-loader along with other laborsaving machines. They make a Utility Vehicle which has competition from several other companies. Utility vehicles are getting popular even here in Seward. Perry has been with the Company for a number of years and tells me that he knew the Melroe brothers. As a banker in one of the neighboring small towns, his Dad did the payroll for the Bobcat Co. in the early days. We may not be able to duplicate success stories of this nature today but certainly need to promote innovative small business opportunities.