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.

This Is What It Looks Like at the Center of America

Daughter Jill Miller first alerted us last December about a wonderful collection of online photographs of the American heartland.  New York-based photographer Andrew Moore did a splendid job of capturing these images for an exhibit dubbed "Dirt Meridian," which opened last month (January 2014) at the Yancey Richardson Gallery in New York City.  We viewed the photos, appreciated them a bit, then promptly forgot about them -- until friend Mike Smith reminded us again this week, not only of the photos, but about the story that accompanied them online.

The Murray House in Sheridan County, Nebraska (2013) - New York Times Magazine

The collection contains numerous images that were taken in the area along the 100th Meridian in Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming.  Most were captured west of the meridian, and all of them are truly remarkable.  A portion of photographs included in the exhibit can be found at this link to the New York Times Magazine, which begins with a photo of an 1890 Sheridan County homestead.  And there are plenty of Dawes County shots, too.

We've also linked to the story that accompanied the photos.  It was written by Inara Verzemnieks of Iowa City, Iowa, and is entitled "Life Along the 100th Meridian."  

And thanks Jill and Mike for the heads up on the photos!

A few notes about Chadron newspaperman Don Huls

by Larry Miller

Those of us who are a bit more fickle about the weather than most folks sometimes find it desirable to escape southward during winter -- for at least a few weeks.

So when Karen and I packed for Arizona in late December, I grabbed a stack of old Chadron Record newspapers to read the "breaking news" from the 20th century -- some of them from 1959 when our town was battling with Frontier Airlines over their twice daily flights in to DCI (my favorite moniker for Dawes County International just west of Chadron.)

It's likely the November 20th front page story "State Seeks Early Hearing on Airline" was written by Don Huls, Editor and Publisher of the twice-weekly paper, for which subscribers paid 15 cents each.  A yearly subscription would set you back $3.50.  While there were lots of outstanding reporters who worked for the paper during those years -- including folks like Ted Turpin, Bob Bishop, John DeHaes and Con Marshall -- the abiding column that remains indelibly imprinted in my mind was "The Dude," in which Huls would ruminate about everything from the weather and local politics to social affairs and sporting events.  

I chuckled when I read about the November 1960 Chadron High-Crawford High football game at which "The Dude" (always a third-person guy) saw something "...that he hasn't seen in many years. After Crawford scored its touchdown in the second period, a Crawford player by the name of Dick Smith dropped back for the extra point attempt and durned if he didn't drop-kick that ball right between the uprights for the extra point."  Huls reminisced that, as a youngster, he saw the legendary Jim Thorpe drop-kick a football from one end of the field to the other as a half-time demonstration at the old Haskell Indian School in Lawrence, Kansas.

A young Don Huls at KU

Lawrence was Don Huls' hometown.  And it was there that he began his love-affair with journalism, pledging the SDX (Sigma Delta Chi) journalism society while reporting and selling ads for the University of Kansas school paper.  He was a good-looking "Dude," too, as evidenced by this photo. 

I first knew of Don Huls when his family moved from Ottawa, Kansas to Chadron in 1957, when he took over operation of the Chadron Record. His wife, Frances, was co-publisher, and would also teach social studies at Chadron High School.  Their children were F.D., Cyndi, and David.  

Although I don't remember for which class it was, I do recall Don Huls coming to Chadron High School one day in the late 1950's to share his experiences as a Naval Intelligence officer in World War II. He had witnessed the aftermath and the horrific consequences of the atomic bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. 

Huls remained a staunch fan of Kansas University and was known to attempt recruiting a few area football players to try their hands at being Jayhawks.

All of these memories, and a few others that have blurred over time, came rushing back when I saw the online story that the Chadron Record is celebrating 130 years during 2014.  The Record and its predecessors date back to 1884, when Ed Egan settled along Chadron Creek and began his modest newspaper named the Sioux County Journal.  Later known as the Dawes County Journal (our apologies for lifting that old name for this web site) and later the Chadron Journal.

Those were the years when Egan was at odds with the remarkable Fannie O'Linn, who fought hard to maintain the name "O'Linn" as the official name of the town -- even persuading the postal service to adopt the name for the official post office.  Egan, however, "continued to publish his newspaper from 'Chadron,' which met with vigorous opposition from the good Mrs. O'Linn."  And we know who eventually won the fracas.

That's one of the many stories recounted in the Chadron, Nebraska Centennial History (1885-1985), and we suspect that Don Huls -- as one of its authors -- had a hand in that story, too. 

Read Chadron Record celebrating 130 years by  editor Kerri Rempp.

Learning the meaning of friendship…in Chadron

Friendship comes in many forms, and it’s been a topic of philosophers and poets for centuries.

Two rather modern quotes are among our favorites.

Mark Twain once opined that "Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience:  this is the ideal life."

But we particularly like the pronouncement made by that sage of the ring, Muhammed Ali, who said, “Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It's not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything.”

Good buddies Lynn Bilyeu and Bob Zeman

In these modern migratory times, travel has become so much easier, and having life-long friends seems to have become increasingly rare.  But one friendship jumped out and caught our attention recently, when Con Marshall told us a story about two long-time Chadron residents who grew up in the 1930's, became school chums, and enjoyed a friendship that transcended several decades, doggedly surviving the unrelenting passage of time.

This is the rather remarkable story about Bob Zeman and Lynn Bilyeu, who became friends while attending East Ward Elementary School during the Great Depression.

Our first memories of Bob Zeman reach back to the late 1940’s, a few years after the Zeman family moved in to the house at 223 Ann Street.  We neighborhood kids would often see Bob visiting his parents, Joe and Ella.

Lynn Bilyeu first came onto our radar screen a few years later while attending a meeting of the "Pine Ridge Amateur Radio Club" at Lynn's home in the Henkens Heights neighborhood in about 1959 or 1960. A retired telegrapher and dispatcher with the Chicago and Northwestern Railway, Lynn was -- and continues to be -- an avid “ham” operator.  

The life-long friendship between Lynn Bilyeu and Bob Zeman is a fascinating story – and is told no better than in this article crafted by Con Marshall for the Chadron Record on March 28, 2012.  Our thanks to Con for allowing us to reprint it here.  We've also posted some additional photos in our Dawes County Journal Gallery.

Read Con Marshall's story:   An 80-year friendship

Tale of a "Tiger" - CSC honors Jerry Bauman

When Jerry Bauman graduated from Chadron High School in 1964, few could have predicted the enormous accomplishments he would realize in later life -- and the litany of positive contributions that he and his wife, Cheryl (Hamilton) would give back to their communities over the years.

Good friend Con Marshall has shared with us a story he wrote this fall about Jerry and Cheryl Jo, and we're pleased to publish it here.  The story was spurred by the awarding of the Chadron State College Distinguished Alumni Award to Jerry in October.  As you read Con's story, you'll understand why Jerry was selected for this singular recognition.

We best remember "Tiger" Bauman from our high school years, when he served as a student manager for the Chadron High School basketball team.  Small in stature but determined to do a good job, we should've foreseen his commitment to getting good things done!  He grew in many ways.

I recall crossing paths with Jerry only once in adult life, when he and I were passing through the Tulsa airport in the early 1980's.  I must confess that I would never have recognized Jerry, since I'm certain that he was at least a foot taller than I had remembered him from high school!   He spotted me, we had a fun -- if brief -- conversation.  I believe he and Cheryl were living in Tulsa; Karen and I were living in nearby Jenks.  However, it was shortly thereafter that Karen and I departed Oklahoma and lost any prospect of forging a new relationship with an old high school friend.

Read:  Bauman Receives CSC Alumni Honor 

Tea Room brought a bit of class to 1950's Chadron

by Larry Miller

When the November edition of the Golden Age Courier arrived last week, we immediately recognized the subject featured on the front:  Doell Tea Room.

Located at 376 Bordeaux Street (northeast corner of Fourth and Bordeaux), the Doell Tea Room was a large two-story home.  In the 1950's, the Northwestern Bell Telephone Office was situated across the street to the west.  The newer brick telephone office building reflected a revitalized and seemingly modern commercial activity.  The Doell home was more sedate, identified by a simple sign in the front yard announcing the Doell Tea Room.  Without the sign, it was another large and well-groomed house, but there was little else to distinguish it from other old and elegant homes in Chadron.

For those of us who were younger, the "Tea Room" sign was a bit of a puzzlement.  "What exactly is a tea room" I'm sure many of us wondered.  Alas, some of us would have to wait half a century to find out.

And as it happens, the Doell Tea Room was quite special. 

Its story was told by two of the Doell daughters, Carol and Ann.  Although the youngest of the three Doell girls, Ann has been able to provide considerable information about the business, which seems today something of an anachronism.

A 1950 wedding at Doell Tea Room in Chadron 

Carl and Emma Doell came to Chadron from eastern Nebraska.  The name "Doell" had long been associated with a grocery store in Norfolk operated by Doell relatives.  Daughter Ann said the move to Chadron came after Carl and Emma lost their small grocery store in Fremont during the Great Depression.  

Ann told us that her mother was a very outgoing person, and it wasn't long after arriving in Chadron that Emma -- in the 1940's -- opened a cafe on the east side of Second and Main, just a few doors north of the current post office.  Old-timers will remember it as being adjacent to the Newsy Nook on the south and O'Neill Photo on the north.

Emma Doell ran the Doell Tea Room

"Mom's sister and husband, Ann and Mark Patterson, were already living in Chadron with their son, Merrill," wrote Ann.  "I believe it was like a working man's cafe with a long counter only and daily specials.  Not sure how long she was at this location."

Some will remember the "Sandwich Shop" in this vicinity during the 1950s, and that may very well have been the same business once operated by Emma Doell.

"They were renting a small house from Ann and Mark on Maple St., and then they bought the big house on Bordeaux."

That larger house at 4th and Bordeaux was known as the "Richert" house, and Doells bought it from Mr. and Mrs. Harry Jolly in 1946. "Doell Tea Room" would host wedding receptions, sorority and fraternity dinners, bridge parties, monthly gatherings of the Business and Professional Women, and once in a while even poker parties!  Ann noted that "people would call and set a date with information on the number of people and then pick a menu."  She and her younger brother, Bob, were too young to remember a lot about the Tea Room, "but I do remember they had us out of the way in the kitchen with coloring books and story time on the radio," she said, recounting programs like Amos and Andy, Jack Benny, Gene Autry, the Lone Ranger, and others.

"Mom worked hard making all the dinners from scratch, and it was always good.  The kitchen always smelled good!  Her clover leaf rolls and pies were the best!  The steaks were grilled on the big wood stove in the kitchen.  The iron top would get sooooo hot!  We would all get to seating and would open doors and windows, no matter the weather."

"The hard times for her were when more people came than expected and she was expected to make things 'stretch.'  Not like now days with freezers and extra to pull things together."

"I asked mom once 'why the name Tea Room?'   She just say 'Why not?'   I guess then it was a common name, while now it would conjure up a women's club, cucumber sandwiches and such."

Installation of officers for the Chadron Business
and Professional Women (BPW)  -  April 1954

Ann's older sister, Carol Doell Brookins recalls that they had a big mangle machine in the kitchen, used for pressing the table cloths and napkins.  "Mom didn't let me do the table cloths, but I did get to do the napkins while I was studying school books."

She remembered, too, that the kitchen and dining room were connected with a swinging door.  The living room was also large and had a piano, which came in handy for the various programs.  The front hal, she said, had all the extra folding chairs, tables and coat racks.

"Back then," Carol recalled, "the house had only one bathroom.  Unfortunately for many, it was upstairs, which made it a real trek for bad knees."  

She noted that most of the gatherings were of women who played bridge and usually ate a salad and desert, or warm creamed chicken over home-made biscuits with fruit and a cookie.

"The wedding receptions were great!  Emma always made the mints in their colors, with mixed nuts, coffee and tea or punch.  They sometimes had champagne," said Carol.

Gov. Val Peterson (1947-53)

"One of the parties was for then Nebraska Governor Val Peterson.  A bunch of business and professional men met for a meeting.  I just heard a lot of talking and laughing.  When my sister Margery and I would enter the room, it would get quiet, and when we left they would maybe finish a joke.  They smoked big fat cigars and told jokes -- no liquor!  They had big thick steaks, baked potatoes, home-made pie and ice cream.  They were on happy bunch of men!"

"A couple of weeks later, my sister and I received a very nice letter from the Governor thanking us for everything.  I saw him a few years later and asked him about the dinner.  He said he remembered the steaks and the young girls who served the dinner."

The older Doell sisters, Carol and Margery, graduated from Chadron Prep in the 1950s.  Ann graduated from Chadron High School in 1962, and Bob graduated from CHS in 1963.  Emma Doell died in 1998.   The children are scattered across the country; Carol lives in Iowa, Margery in Virginia, Ann is in New Mexico, and Bob lives in Oregon. 

During the 1950's, the Doell Tea Room was an special meeting place for numerous organizations.  Daughter Carol says she doesn't remember exactly when or why the Tea Room closed its doors, but people continued to make requests for dinner tools, pies, and mints. 

"People really were wanting her to stay open."

Finishing First: memories of Joe American Horse

Many visitors to this website will likely remember Joe American Horse, the outstanding track star who ran for Gordon High School back in the 1950's. He was often seen leading the pack in distance races at Chadron State College and other track venues around northwest Nebraska.  

This photograph shows Joe winning the Mile Run in the Nebraska High School State Track Meet in Lincoln in 1956 -- his third straight year of winning the event.  His winning time was 4:28.1, fast enough to leave his nearest rival nearly 50 yards behind, setting a Nebraska Class "B" record.  Joe was inducted into the Nebraska High School Hall of Fame in 1990, the only Native American so honored thus far.  

Thanks to Joe American Horse, Con Marshall, and the good folks at Chadron State College for sharing this photograph from a Gordon High School yearbook.