Henry's Bus

(Editor's note:  Many thanks to Chadron native Larry Smith, a 1954 graduate of Chadron High School, for sharing the following story – a fun step back into time!)

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by Larry Smith

I attended Chadron schools K-12 in the 1940s-1954.  One memory of the time involves the long time school superintendent, Henry Schroeder.

H. A. Schroeder, Superintendent
Chadron Public Schools 1947-67

Henry was a huge man, well over six feet tall and tipping the scales well past 250 pounds, but he was also a very jovial and kind man who was generally well liked by students, faculty and the community.

He would come to watch football practice.  No one could kick a football higher and farther than Henry. We used to joke that when he kicked the ball it came down with frost on it.

When I started high school we didn’t have school buses that delivered students to school.  We did have a school bus that was basically an activity bus for transporting teams to out of town games or the band to out of town parades.  That bus was a 1947 Ford bus with a small V-8 engine.

Henry always drove the school bus, wherever it went.  How many school districts could ever claim the superintendent drove the activity bus?  The old bus was painted Cardinal red with black lettering on the sides that read Chadron High School.

It labored to climb any hill.  Driving south with a full bus of football players to a game in Hemingford I remember Henry telling us all to blow towards the windshield to help get the bus up the hill to the table south of the state park.

The old red bus was noisy to ride in and on cold days very underheated.  You could see  your breath on some trips…inside the bus.

In the summer of 1953 the school board purchased a used Greyhound bus to be used as the activity bus. Wow, was that a jump in style and comfort.

It was a thing of pride and joy for Henry.  And, of course, he was the only designated driver.

Henry had a daughter in high school, also in the band.  There is a story, for which I can’t verify since I was not a participant, that his daughter, Susan, talked Henry into taking the new bus and the band to the drive in theater on a dollar a carload night.  The band members all breaking out folding chairs to watch the movie on an August evening.

My most vivid memory of the new, luxury bus was the first trip with the football team to Gering, the first out of town excursion for a team and the bus.  It was a very comfortable ride. We rode to Gering, and, alas, lost the game.  

On the way home, south of Alliance in the sand hills, the bus suddenly lost power.  Henry pulled to the shoulder and got out with the coaches to inspect the engine.  It was burned up. Apparently the oil drain plug had not been tight, and the engine lost all the oil.

It was a rainy night. The whole team got off and pushed the bus up the highway a few  yards to a wider turnoff on the side.  Someone flagged down a passing semi truck with a flat bed trailer loaded with cement blocks.  The whole team climbed on top of the load, in the rain, and rode into Alliance where we were dropped off downtown at a hotel. There, parents were called, and a convoy of parents in cars came to rescue us.

My wife remembers a trip when Henry was driving the band to a parade, as she remembers, in Sidney. The bus began running poorly, so in some town along the way Henry pulled the bus off to get some mechanical help.  Ward Rounds, the beloved long time band director, got the whole band off the bus, and they performed an impromptu parade while the bus was being repaired.

I am sure other ex Cardinal students have memories of Henry and his bus. 

Two views of the used Greyhound "pusher" bus in different years.  Above in about 1953 – below in 1958 – and still functioning!  To see a larger version of this and other photos, along  with more information, go to our:  Dawes County Schools Gallery.

Fur Trade Days – History, Friends, Food & Fun!

by Larry Miller

Fur Trade Days is to Chadron, Nebraska, as Mardi Gras is to New Orleans.  Oh, sure, the Mardi Gras "krewes" throw a lot more stuff from the floats – and they definitely do have a wider variety of music venues across the city – but hey – Fur Trade Days' "Bordeaux Creek Fur Trade and Muzzleloading Association’s Rendezvous" pays homage to the fur trade and its value to this region of North America.  And, of course, the Fur Trade parade "throws" includes the World Championship Buffalo Chip Throw!

Fact is, for the difference in size, the Chadron community hosts more events and activities than you can shake a stick at.  Carnivals, music, historical walks, treasure hunts, story telling.  Our favorite venues this year included the Greenwood Cemetery Tour and the events on the Courthouse grounds.  On parade day, Saturday, there's food, music from bygone eras, including "Songs and Dances of the Lakota."  

Visits to the Dawes County Museum and the world-class Museum of the Fur Trade are "musts" for newcomers.  And they remain high on the list for returnees.  We always see something new.

Topping our list, though, is crossing paths with folks who return year after year – many of them "youngsters" who attended Chadron Assumption, Chadron High, Chadron Prep, Chadron Prep, and even Chadron State College (perhaps a few attended when it was Chadron Normal.)  We've discovered over the years that the Courthouse grounds is a favorite place to chat with fellow ex-students, their families, and others who visit this event.  Of course, the cake and ice-cream served across the street at the Congregational Church is an added incentive! 

At the American Legion Club in Chadron on Friday evening, July 12th, a few dozen alums from 1957, 1958, and 1959 at Chadron High gathered for a "picnic" buffet and an evening of reminiscing.  They're shown in the photo below – but if you want a closer look, we invite you to take a moment and visit our "Dawes County School Gallery," where you'll also find their names. 

The were among many CHS grads attending "Fur Trade Days" in Chadron this year. 

Of course, there's so much going on during Fur Trade Days, one can't attend everything, even though some of us try.  We know there were a similar "alumni" gathering for Chadron Prep – and likely Chadron Assumption.  Alas, we couldn't make them all, but we're hoping one of our good neighbors will contact us and share any photos that we could post.

One Fur Trade Days event we were delighted to witness this year was the Cemetery Walk at Greenwood Cemetery on Saturday.  Despite being outnumbered by mosquitoes, a few dozen folks partook the event, which featured nine people from the "early days" of the region.  

Rex Cogdill portrayed area pioneer William Martens

Among the characters portrayed were Frank O'Rourke, Harvey Anderson, Faye and Ray Graves, William Martens, Josiah Gillespie, the Waltz family, along with "Rattlesnake Pete" and "Opportunity Hank."  

It was Ray and Faye Graves who operated an early Chadron photo studio that preceded the old "O'Neill Photo Company."  Of course, a few returning to Chadron will remember the Marten's place not far from town.  They grew delicious watermelons. Late-night visits to the Martens watermelon patch was almost a rite of passage for more than just a few area youth – present company excepted, of course!

This was the 43rd year for Fur Trade Days.  We suspect next year's event will be well worth the wait.  You can check out the Fur Trade Days website for the countdown.

Old or new....we love those class photos!

Whether they're old black and white class photos from the Depression years or color images taken last week (like the one above), we love to share old school photos with visitors to this Dawes County Journal website and to our linked School Gallery.  You'll find lots of group photos there, and the gallery allows you to see them in a larger format. 

We know we're flush with Chadron photos, so we hope that if you have some old school photos tucked away in a basement trunk or between the pages of an ancient scrapbook – no matter the year or the school – you'll consider sharing them with us.  Contact us by clicking on the e-mail link in the column to the left.  Thanks!

The Eagles dominated! The Cardinals....not so much.

Eagle Scouts, that is.  In the fall of 1953, the Chadron High Cardinal football squad was not exactly a powerhouse.  At least, not on the gridiron.  The Cardinals won four games, while losing six.  Off the field, however, nearly one-third of team chalked up a hefty achievement:  nine of them were Eagle Scouts!

In the early '50's, there were two scout troops in Chadron:  Troop 201 and its scoutmaster, Clyde Wiley; and Troop 202, whose scoutmaster was Frank Schell.

In both photographs above (left-to-right);  Back row:  Eric Pokorney, Bob Crawford, Rex Jones, Louis Riemenschneider, and Floyd Coleman, who was an All-State guard; 

Front row:  Larry Smith, Dennis Weaver,  Don Jones, and Ron Jones -- or simply "Twin" for either of them, which was a technique many of us used when we simply didn't know which was which. (And we may have it wrong here again!)

Larry Smith was one of these nine youngsters, and he remembers, "The total number of players on the team probably numbered around 30, so nearly a third were Eagle Scouts.  That didn't make the team successful...however, we could claim to be trustworthy, loyal, etc., and help little old ladies cross the street!"

"We also got some new football helmets, made of plastic, to replace the old '40's leather helmets.  Note, however, there were no face guards, so your teeth were still in jeopardy during a game.  During the last game, which was against Crawford, it was below zero.  Some of the new helmets cracked in the cold."

A tip of the hat to Larry Smith for providing this information -- and these great old photos!

Girls basketball prohibited in Nebraska

Shown here are members of the 1927 Chadron High School girls' basketball team as they were featured in the CHS "Milestone" yearbook of 1928.  The caption noted that their final season "…was very successful, inasmuch as this was the last time a girls' basketball team would represent the C.H.S. at any contest…in January 1927 the state board of athletics made the ruling that after the close of the present season, girls' basketball would be prohibited within Nebraska."  These girls, who were not identified, made one long trip into "the wilds of Wyoming and were defeated in three out of four successive games."  Nonetheless, this team was a contender for Western Nebraska Championship, which they lost to Harrison.

Although it took more than half a century, girls basketball came back to the Cornhusker State -- with a vengeance!  And during the 2013-14 season two Dawes County girls' teams made it to Lincoln for the state tournament.  Although the Chadron High Lady Cardinals lost to the Pierce girls, they could take solace in the fact that Pierce went on to win the state championship for the second year in a row.  And the girls from Crawford High School also made the trip to Lincoln, losing to Giltner 58-39.  By all accounts, the Lady Rams may back in contention again next year, since they'll lose only one of their players.

60 years ago at Chadron High School

Remembering Coach "Fuzz" Watts

GORDON “FUZZ” WATTS was one of those rare individuals who seemed endowed with natural talent for just about anything he pursued. 


A group of Watts' students, led by John McDowell, organized a tribute gathering to Coach Watts on Saturday, July 14, 2012, at the American Legion Club in Chadron.  More than 50 people attended the event and shared some moving stories.  We'll have a bit more about that event in the next few days.


Born in Denver in 1928, “Fuzz” Watts grew up in Sheridan, Wyoming, where he graduated from high school. After a tour in the Pacific as an Air Force cryptographer, he went to college at the University of Wyoming, but soon transferred to NSTC at Chadron, where he was a three-year football letterman.

He married Bonnie Haun in 1951; they had four children: #1-Patti; #2-Debbie; #3-Mike; and #4-Bill. After graduating from college in 1952, Watts signed a contract with Chadron schools and would change the fortunes of Cardinal football – leading the 1954 team to the first undefeated season for Chadron High since 1927. During his 11 years at the helm of the football program, his teams racked up a 79-17-4 record. They won conference crowns nine times and were undefeated in 1954, 1956, 1960 and 1962.

As Athletic Director, “Fuzz” Watts was credited with initiating a very successful high school wrestling program and a popular elementary grade school basketball program. Many players on the 1961 Class B Championship team began playing together in the 3rd and 4th Grades.

For the thousands of students whose lives he touched, “Coach Watts” was a master at motivation. He left CHS in 1965 and worked as a construction boss for several projects and was also Superintendent of Buildings & Grounds at CSC.

Watts died of natural causes on June 18, 1984. He was just 55 years old. Shortly after his death, veteran writer Con Marshall penned this poignant piece about Gordon “Fuzz” Watts for the Chadron Record.

These fellows were a few the athletes at Chadron High School who played for Coach Gordon "Fuzz" Watts.  They were among the crowd of men and women who gathered at the American Legion Club last weekend (7/14/12) to pay tribute to the talented coach. For another shot of this group -- and names -- visit our Chadron Schools Gallery.

Remembering teachers past

H. A. SCHROEDER was a long-time Superintendent of Schools in Chadron, well-known and high respected throughout the community. A native of Pierce County and a graduate of Wayne College, he was a standout athlete during his years with the “Wildcats.”

After graduating from Wayne, his career in education took him to Scribner, where he was Superintendent for 11 years. Then it was on to Broken Bow for four years; but then he left education to manage a Broken Bow hotel. In 1946, Schroeder and his wife, Opal, came to Chadron, where he had been hired as manager of the Blaine Hotel; however, he was soon recruited to replace the late James Skinkle as Superintendent of Schools.

Henry “Heinie” Schroeder served as School Superintendent from 1947 until 1967.

While a few students over those years got to see the inside of Heinie’s office and experience “character-building” spankings, most knew him as a gregarious and fairly jovial fellow, who – with little prompting – was happy to demonstrate his football skills by punting a ball to the top of the school building. Opal Schroeder taught Kindergarten at East Ward for some 20 years. Their daughter, Susan (Schroeder) Lundberg, was a 1955 graduate of Chadron High School.

Upon retirement, Heinie worked at the Pine Ridge Job Corps Center for a few years. Chadron historian/writer Con Marshall says Heinie played a key role in getting accreditation for the school at the Job Corps Center, which is nestled atop a hill south of Chadron in the Nebraska National Forest.

It wasn’t long, however, before the Schroeders decided to head back to their roots in eastern Nebraska, spending their remaining years in Norfolk.

Heinie Schroeder died in 1983; Opal passed away in 1990.

Remembering teachers past

ROBERTA GROVER was Librarian and also taught English at Chadron High School from 1957 to 1961.

Born on November 29, 1911 on her parent’s country farm south of Beloit Kansas, Roberta (Lukens) Grover graduated from high school in 1925 and from Sterling College, a four-year Christian school located in Sterling, Kansas, in 1933. She had a desire to become a school teacher and had taught at some rural schools even before she acquired her college degree. Roberta quit teaching when she married Oscar Grover, a minister.

They raised three sons, and Roberta went back to teaching high school while her sons were in high school. The family arrived in Chadron, Nebraska in the summer of 1957. She was at Chadron High School for four years before moving to Moberly, Missouri. Some years later, Mrs. Grover retired in her home town, Beloit, Kansas.

Her two oldest sons, Delbert (1958), and Ron (1959) graduated from CHS, and her youngest son, Robert, attended Junior High and two years of high school in Chadron. Both Delbert and Ron were able to attend the CHS joint reunion of the classes of 1958 and 1959 last summer in Chadron.

Mrs. Grover lived at Presbyterian Manor in Newton, Kansas until her death in 1987 at the age of 75.

Four score and two years ago...

Browsing through the 1928 Milestone yearbook from Chadron High School has been been a delight!

The hair styles and dapper attire of these pre-Depression-era students at CHS were definitely from another era. But reading the "farewell messages" offered by the graduates of that year seemed remarkably contemporary. We remember similar quotations inscribed in yearbooks from the 1950s and '60s. It seems that some things just don't change.

“Love is too simple a game for brainy men to indulge in,” wrote Harold Thompson.

Ann McDaniels, whose extracurricular activities included a role in the Class Play of 1928, offered “Sometimes I sit and think, and sometimes I just sit.”

But our favorite – and one often likely repeated in yearbooks over the years – was from football player Roscoe Godden. “The reason I don’t study is that my questions baffle the teachers."

Baffled and otherwise, teachers at CHS had to not only ride heard on their students, they also had to toe the line for superintendent James Skinkle, a graduate of the University of Chicago and long-time CHS superintendent. We suspect Mr. Skinkle was long gone from this earth before most of us roamed the streets of Chadron, but many of you may recall his widow, Ethel, a longtime housemother at Crites Hall at Chadron State College.

Mr. Skinkle and all the faculty were beholden to the folks shown here: the elected members of the school board. Click on the image at right from the 1928 Milestone, and you'll get a closer look at them.

Perhaps some of you recall these community leaders. We recognize only attorney F.A. Crites (top left) and businessman F.A. Hood (bottom right). And it's not surprising that David A. Hood – whom we remember as a 1952 grad of Chadron High School – looked exactly like his father, Fred, who ran an insurance company from his home at 3rd and Main Street for many years.

Please e-mail us or leave a Comment below if you can offer additional information about these or other school board members from 1928.

Remembering teachers past

Robert “Bob” Folsom taught music at Chadron High School from 1956 through 1958.

Born in Minnesota, his family moved to Chadron, and he was a 1943 graduate of Chadron High School. During World War II, he served in the Army, but we know nothing about his tour of duty. He returned to Chadron and earned a degree from Chadron State in 1949 – later picking up a Master’s in Music Education from the University of Nebraska.

Besides Chadron, he taught in Ravenna, Nebraska; Trinidad and Brighton, Colorado; and Lewellen, Nebraska. His longest tenure was in Benkelman, Nebraska, where he headed the music program for many years. Folsom married “Modie” (Pack) Wood in 1965 and they happily shared a home until 1999, when health required that he be moved to a nursing home in North Platte.

An avid model railroad enthusiast and amateur radio control pilot, Folsom was also a member of the Benkelman Methodist Church, the Lions Club and American Legion.

According to the Benkelman Post, Bob Folsom died in July of 2000 and was survived by his wife, four daughters and a son, as well as two brothers, a sister, and 15 grandchildren.

Visitor from Pepper Creek Ranch

We’ve been fascinated with family history for a long time.

Thanks largely to a burgeoning sector of gray-haired baby boomers, genealogy remains one of the fastest growing hobbies in the country. Computers have become an invaluable resource, and reams of new data are added every week.

Much to our chagrin, we’ve come to learn that not everyone shares our passionate yearning to know more about our ancestors. Young people, particularly, seem almost immune to contracting this affliction, but many will eventually succumb.

Some time back, we happened across this poem, Visitor, penned by Chadron native Jill (Colwell) Burkey. Jill's piece Pregunta won first place in the 2009 Denver Woman’s Press Club’s Unknown Writer’s Poetry Contest. But it was her honorable mention entry, Visitor, that really caught our attention. We were moved when we heard her read it, and she has graciously allowed us to share her poem here. You need not be a genealogist to appreciate the truism that it conveys.

Visitor

When you are a child, you assume
you will go on never knowing anyone
who rests beneath a sad stone.
Death is before your time –
just a name and date your parents visit.
Then one day in June, you’re thirty-four,
buy a dozen light-pink roses
and deliver the better part of your bouquet
to the cluster of graves that is now your family –
the grandpa who called you "frizzletop,"
the great aunt who always served dilled beans.

So much history in too little ground,
but there they are, mingling
at a permanent cocktail party, sitting
two by two on a long car trip,
a tall dandelion the groundskeepers missed
now an arm waving to you out the window.

The four leftover roses you bring home
wilt by your windowsill, and you begin
to feel the wheel on the watch turn
towards your generation, the engraver’s
chisel itching to scratch your name.
--Jill Burkey

Copyright 2007

Jill grew up on Pepper Creek Ranch, twenty-two miles south and eight miles east of Chadron. Her great-grandparents, Earle and Jeannette Colwell, founded the ranch in 1915.

A 1990 graduate of Chadron High School, Jill went on to earn a BA in English and Business at Nebraska Wesleyan University. She married Todd Burkey, and they moved to Grand Junction, Colorado, where she is now a freelance writer and stay-at-home mother of two elementary-aged children, Parker, 8, and Brooke, 6.

That’s Jill and family in the photograph at right. Just click on the image to see a larger version.

Many old-timers will remember Mr. and Mrs. Bill Colwell, who ran the Pepper Creek Ranch for many years. The Colwells were also involved in a wide range civic affairs in the region. Their son John Colwell – Jill’s father – was a 1961 graduate of Chadron High School, and that class is planning a reunion next summer (July 2010) in Chadron. John and Peggy were quite well known in and around Chadron for many years. They now divide their time between Grand Junction, Colorado and Arizona.

Many thanks to Jill Burkey for sharing this great poem – and photographs – with us.

Dale Butler tapped for Hall of Fame

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Frequently, as I struggle across the golf course and mumble a few curses at my ineptness at the game, I resort to a bit of weak humor.

“They should call this game “If,” I proclaim.

“If only my slice had kicked in, I’d still be in the fairway.”

“If my putt had been just a tad longer, I’d have had a par.”

“If Jim hadn’t interrupted my concentration, that could’ve been a nice drive.”

If, if, if, if.

It’s often a crutch we use to escape the reality of the situation – but it’s not all bad.

Perhaps its real strength is when we use our minds to conjure up possibilities – and then muster the fortitude and commitment to accomplish something. And, doing it without mourning the circumstances of our situation.

I think Dale Butler epitomizes this.

A classmate of mine, Dale was born with just one full arm and a “stub” for the other. I suppose this was a defining fact when I first met Dale as a kid growing up in Chadron, Nebraska. But that limited view didn’t last long.

Kids seem to have a knack of quickly getting beyond the small stuff and focusing on what counts. And for those of us who loved sports, it wasn’t which neighborhood you lived in, or the color of your skin, …or how many arms you had. It was: can you play the game?

Dale was an exceptional athlete. And while I suppose it’s natural to speculate about how great he’d have been with two arms, I’m here to tell you he was great with one arm! And I don’t think any of us who grew up with Dale thought of him as “handicapped” in any way. We thought of him as, well, Dale. In sandlot baseball “workup” games, I remember Dale being among the first choices for a teammate.

Each of us is motivated in different ways. As a kid, I was competitive and worked hard to be as good a basketball player as Larry Matthesen, one of the best ball handlers and shooters ever to come out of Chadron High. I suspect Dale may have been motivated in his own way to achieve excellence.

Perhaps the most important factor in shaping our character is our parents. Dale was blessed with a nuturing home life. I’m certain that parental vision, strength, and commitment helped Dale Butler and his brothers to succeed – not just in sandlot baseball and neighborhood basketball games – but in life.

And Dale has certainly done that.

While many of us have been sports spectators perched in front of our television sets after work, Dale has been active officiating basketball, football, and baseball games over the past four decades. Good friend Con Marshall has crafted this excellent story about Dale’s recent selection to the Nebraska Athletic Hall of Fame. It’s just one measure of Dale’s success. We’re happy to have been a part of his early years, and we’ve admired his many accomplishments in education, business, and life!

Warm congratulations are due Dale for his accomplishments. Well done, good friend, and best wishes to you, Carol, and your family!

It seems like just yesterday...

She may not have been there in person, but the spirit of Margo Means was palpable last weekend at a school reunion in Chadron. It was a joint gathering of students who graduated from Chadron High School in 1958 and 1959.

We had a chance to sneak in to the informal outdoor “picnic” at the home of Cleo Steele Koerber (’58) on Friday evening, hosted by Cleo and her brother, Ben (’59). Despite a thunderstorm – replete with some marble-sized hail – the event was a real success, with folks ducking onto the patio and into the house and garage. It was a pleasurable gathering for attendees to get reacquainted.

Amidst the hugging, conversations, and laughter, we also saw a few tears of joy. Such is the way of classmates who’ve not seen or talked with one another for years – even decades! We snapped a few photos at the event and posted them in our CHS 58-59 Gallery.

Reunions don't just "happen." Lots of obvious hard work went in to planning and executing this one, and we suspect that hometowners Cleo Steele Koerber and Barb Barnum McDaniel from the Class of 1958 and Judy Dau Blundell and Con Marshall from the Class of 1959 led the way. What helped make this reunion particularly special was a terrific informational booklet compiled, produced and distributed by none other than Con Marshall (’59). We’ve all seen similar publications for family or school gatherings – but none like this. With photographs, contact information, and dozens of great anecdotes from reunion participants, this is a collector’s item for any Chadronite from the 1950s!

Scanning through my booklet, I began to notice a pattern emerging. These people really appreciated Chadron High School and most of their teachers. And one name kept popping up repeatedly – Margo Means. Of course, Con quickly noted this trend and wisely wrote about Margo in the booklet, injecting portions of an article he had written about her nearly 40 years ago.

Teachers do make a difference in the lives of their students. Some teachers make a BIG difference. I was touched by the fact that so many memories of Margo Means emerged independently from so many people. She was no pushover. Words like “tough,” “old school,” and “no nonsense” come to mind. But so do words like “understanding,” “student oriented,” and even “compassionate.” To be sure, we all had our favorite teachers, and it appears Mrs. Means was right at the top of the list for many. After her five-year stint at Chadron High School, she taught for another 11 years at Chadron State College and married CSC Business Manager Paul McCawley in 1964.

Chadron is always a busy place during Fur Trade Days. We suspect there were lots of reunion gatherings of old friends in homes, restaurants, bars and parks around town Friday night. Saturday was the really busy day with lots of things planned around Fur Trade Days. Our CHS alumni folks gathered at 9:30 Friday morning to visit some more before climbing aboard a flatbed truck captained by Orville Dau – husband to Judy Blundell Dau (’59) – as part of the Fur Trade Days parade. As modern day parades in rural America go, it wasn’t bad. But with an apparent shortage of marching bands, crepe paper floats, and teenage ingenuity, it fell far short of parades a half century ago. I mean, how many tractors, riding lawn mowers, and old cars does it take to “make” a parade these days?

After the parade broke up, attendees were left to their own devices, but we saw many wandering around the Fur Trade Days booths on the courthouse grounds. More than a few people sampled the tasty desserts on the lawn just outside the Congregational Church. I believe others explored new exhibits at the impressive Dawes County Museum south of town. And almost everyone “dragged Main Street” to see just how much things had changed. Chadron Prep alums were also in town over the weekend, too, so there was an opportunity to visit with some of the “Junior Eagles.”

Alas, we did not attend the CHS evening banquet at the old Legion Club, but we understand that good friends and former teachers Ron and Jane Becker drove in from Sioux Falls for the event. LaVona Smith Lemmons and her husband, Larry, came from North Platte to join the festivities, too. Another former teacher and coach, Verne Lewellen, had hoped to attend, but was undergoing rabies treatment as a result of an altercation with a cat some time back. He and Erma live in Mitchell, Nebraska.

We’re told the Legion Club gathering went off without a hitch – lots of good food and some great story telling. All in all, it was an excellent ending for a wonderful reunion weekend.

It’s worth mentioning that a dozen or so CHS alums toured the old school Saturday afternoon. Many commented on just how good the three-story structure looks after all these years. Of course, there’ve been some major renovations – but enough remains of the old building to evoke lots of memories. There’s no auditorium in the building – now used as the Middle School – but as you walk the halls, you can almost hear the class bells ringing and leather slapping the floor as late-comers race to class.

And perhaps even the ominous echo of Principal Jim Myers – after squinting his eyes while gazing upon some tomfoolery in a classroom – admonishing us with:

“Nothing to do?..........Don’t do it here!”

Wayne Jones (1944-2009)

Life-long Chadron resident and good friend Wayne Jones has died (7/4/09) at age 65. He passed away at the Chadron Community Hospital following a four-year battle with respiratory problems.

Wayne graduated from Chadron High School in 1962 and Chadron State College in 1966. He chose to stay in the community and raise his children there. Recognized as a successful teacher and administrator, he worked in the Chadron Public Schools for some 33 years – 21 of them as principal at Chadron High School.

Wayne grew up on a ranch about 13 miles northeast of Chadron along White River. I always had an interest in his home place, since it was there that my mother – Lettie (Maiden) Miller – was born and raised a generation earlier. Several times, Wayne graciously offered to give me a tour of the ranch when I was back in Chadron; alas, that tour would never take place.

Details about Wayne’s passing were included in this news story written by Con Marshall for the Chadron Record. Wayne's obituary appears in the Record as well.

Con’s story recounts how Wayne never abandoned his farm background. He was apparently the last CHS graduate to earn the State Farmer degree awarded by the Future Farmers of America. He routinely returned to the family ranch to help with calving and other chores.

We had last visited with Wayne and his wife, Suze, two years ago when the CHS Class of 1962 had its reunion. We posted several pictures from that gathering, including some of Wayne, in a reunion photo gallery.

~

Wayne’s leadership transcended education. He was active in the community and served as a member of the Chadron Community Hospital Board of Directors for more than two decades. While we knew of these and many other endeavors by Wayne over the years, we didn’t know about his organizing the Christmas lighting project at Finnegan Park.

Wayne and Suze lived near the park, and he apparently played a key role in helping turn the park into a “holiday showplace,” as Con described it. Having spent much time playing in that park as a youngster, I have a special fondness for it. While it’s too late to express my appreciation to Wayne for this deed, I’m making it a point to join others in visiting Finnegan Park next Christmas. And then I’ll remember – and thank -- our good friend Wayne Jones for his many contributions to the kids of Chadron and the entire community.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Suze Jones, daughters Heidi and Heather, and the entire Jones family. Wayne was a class act and will be missed sorely by the Chadron community and all who knew him.

This was a real nice clambake

There are too few opportunities to see old friends from school. So it was a special treat to visit for a few hours recently with Ron and Jane Becker – teachers at Chadron High School in the late 1950s. They were spending a week at a resort in the northern Black Hills and invited Karen and me to join them one afternoon. We did so with great delight.

Students from that era will remember Ron Becker as the band and choir director. Jane Becker taught English and speech at CHS.

I have vivid memories of two performances produced by the Beckers. First was James Weldon Johnson’s God’s Trombones. The second was particularly memorable, because it involved so many students – Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel! Like so many things in life, the enormous effort put into these projects paid off with some real fun and great pride in being a part of such challenging productions.

Both Ron and Jane grew up in Lincoln and met at the university. As teachers, they were popular with the students – but they were no pushovers. They expected students to apply themselves, which didn’t mean we couldn’t and didn’t have fun along the way! 1960 at Chadron was Jane's last teaching job, since the Beckers adopted a little boy, Randy, and they moved to Scottsluff.

It was nearly three decades later that I had the good fortune to cross paths again with the Beckers. It was the late 1980s in Sioux Falls, when Ron and I conspired to have members of the Sioux Empire Arts Council, which he headed, man the telephones during an on-air pledge drive for South Dakota Public Broadcasting. I was Deputy Director of the South Dakota Network in those days. With only a little coaxing on my part, Ron also agreed to serve on the Friends of South Dakota Public Broadcasting Board of Directors.

His association with SDPB transcended my eight years with the network. In addition to his many years of service in support of SDPB, Ron also served on the Board of Directors for America’s Public Television Stations (APTS), where he gained the admiration and respect of lay and professional public broadcasting people all across the country. He and I crossed paths at many public television meetings, as shown in the photo below, taken at a Capitol Hill Day in Washington, D.C., probably in about 1999. That's Ron on the right.

Ron was as a senior administrator for the Sioux Falls Independent School District until he retired in 1994, although he agreed to return for a couple of administrative assignments. He finally hung it up in 1999. Ron also traveled extensively overseas evaluating the educational programs in schools operated by the Department of Defense for military dependents.

Now both retired, the Beckers live in Sioux Falls and continue to be active in the community, and they're able to spend considerable visiting their daughter Brenda and family in Sioux Falls and son Randy and family in Lincoln. The Beckers have four grandchildren.

Leonard's dream: Lakota Circle Village

A friend from high school – Leonard Little Finger – is about to retire for a second time. But you wouldn’t know it by the ambitious project he’s pursuing near his Oglala, South Dakota home.

First, he retired as CEO of the Indian Health Service hospital at Pine Ridge, but that was some 18 years ago. Then he went back to school to get a teaching certificate and has taught school ever since, but he’ll retire this spring – from teaching, that is.

Leonard will likely be devoting his full effort toward fruition of a dream: Lakota Circle Village. At the core of the village will be a language school that will use immersion techniques to teach the Lakota language to children who are losing touch with their culture, largely due to the loss of their ancestral language.

I first knew Leonard as a high school student some 42 years ago in Chadron, Nebraska, where he graduated in 1958. Leonard and I played on the Cardinal football team, and I still remember my amazement at how such a quiet and soft-spoken student could be such an energetic football player. In retrospect, his pervasive high-energy, low-profile demeanor may be key to his success. Leonard and I shared a common gridiron fate: we both lost some permanent teeth in pursuit of the pigskin.

But that was likely one of the few things we had in common. Leonard was Lakota Sioux and came from South Dakota to attend high school in Chadron. Unlike the few other American Indian students I knew in our school – kids who seemed isolated and perhaps intimidated by their surroundings – Leonard Finger, as we knew him – participated in a full range of school activities and excelled academically. After he graduated and headed for college, it would be nearly three decades before out paths would cross again.

By the late 1980s, I was Deputy Director of South Dakota Public Broadcasting, and Leonard was Administrator of the Indian Health Service at Pine Ridge. He had agreed to serve on our Friends of Public Broadcasting Board of Directors. Within just a few years, I left South Dakota and Leonard finished his term on the Friends Board.

Then recently, on Good Friday, I had a good experience. I was shopping at Sam’s in Rapid City – as was Leonard – and we saw each other in the aisle. Despite the years that had gone by, we immediately recognized one another and had a short but delightful conversation. I was able to meet Leonard’s wife and one of his sons. Even during that short visit, Leonard’s vision for the Lakota Circle Village was readily apparent. Read more about it on the Lakota Village Circle web site.

Actually, that vision is becoming reality. One of the benefactors to the project is German rock superstar Peter Maffay, who has earmarked earnings from one of his music CD releases to help build the school, which is now complete. I admire Maffay for recognizing the importance of language in retaining cultural traditions. Ironically, I’ve tried to learn German as a way of connecting with my German-Russian heritage. Alas, despite earning a minor in German at college, I never had the benefit of language immersion. I have little doubt that a better knowledge of my ancestral language would help me better understand and appreciate my heritage.

Of course, the issue is more critical for the Lakota children, whose ancestors have inhabited this region of South Dakota for centuries, and the obstacles in the way of their pursuit of happiness are many.

Leonard Little Finger knows his way around the Rez…..and around the world. He has been a presenter to the United Nations Draft Declaration for the Rights of Indigenous People in Geneva, Switzerland. He has also spoken at the Bundestag (German parliament) in Bonn, Germany. Thankfully, he cherishes his roots and is committed to helping future generations know theirs. I am proud to call him a friend.