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.

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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.

A walk in the woods

During a late night Skype conversation with brother John in San Diego this week (5/23/09), he shared the news that a 4.7 earthquake had shaken central California east of Fresno earlier in the day.

This bit of natural disaster news got me to wondering: whatever happened to King’s Chair, the huge boulder that once sat atop one of the pine hills just south of Chadron State College? Did tremors from an earthquake cause it to roll down the hill and crumble into pieces? Was it viewed as a safety hazard and demolished to keep some wanton waif from falling off and cracking his head open? Or, perhaps time simply weathered it down bit-by-bit, and my aging eyes just can’t discern it anymore?!

These are some of the grave questions I occasionally ponder whenever I’m thinking about Chadron or heading back there for a visit. Since I wasn’t able to see the landmark when last I visited Chadron, the above questions started percolating in my mind. I simply refuse to believe that my wits have teamed up with my vision and have taken leave of my body……but that’s probably more plausible than the other possibilities.

Lots of Chadron kids used to trek around in those hills – and perhaps still do, although many homes, including those in “Hidden Valley,” have encroached upon much of the terrain.

John and I enjoyed reminiscing about a few noteworthy places scattered through those hills. There was Koske Dam, Sacrifice Cave, Blue Rock Cave, and another some of us used to call Paradise Valley.

One of my buddies – I don’t know who – snapped this photo more than 50 years ago at the entrance to Blue Rock Cave. Lawrence Denton is atop the cave, and I’m next to the entry. Alas, that might’ve been my final encounter with Blue Rock Cave, since my attempted pilgrimage back to the cave some years later was a real bust. In the late 1970s or early 1980s, I was going to show my son one of “my special places” where I played as a kid. Kind of a “rite of passage” thing. So we put on our hiking shoes and headed for the hills. Two hours later, we had traipsed over C Hill, scaled King’s Chair, hiked to the “new” water tank, and visited what I remembered as Paradise Valley. Sacrifice Cave was beyond my endurance, so we didn’t even try that.

But the centerpiece of the hike was to be Blue Rock Cave. We covered a lot of ground that day, but we (I) never found the cave. I suspect my now 41-year-old son wonders if there really is such a place – or ever was.

Let the above photo serve as evidence that there really was such a place – and I was there! Unfortunately, my stint in the Junior Forest Rangers Club was brief, and my navigational skills slipped away over the years, and Blue Rock Cave was never again found – by me, anyway.

Perhaps I’ll take a GPS unit next time. At least I’ll know where I am when I don’t find the cave.

Andrew Carnegie to the rescue

While rummaging through a box of old photographs and letters belonging to an aunt who lives in Wyoming, I happened across an unused postcard emblazoned with this image of the Chadron Public Library.

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Built in 1912 at 512 Bordeaux in Chadron, its design is comparable to many libraries across the country that were funded in whole or part by Andrew Carnegie. A wealthy industrialist from Scotland, his successful steel business in Pittsburgh eventually evolved into U.S. Steel. He was responsible for more than 3,000 libraries across the United States alone -- others were in Canada, Scotland, Australia, and elsewhere.

Like other recipients of Carnegie's benevolence, Chadron had to provide both a site and ample operating money for the facility, which they've done over the years. The library had a major renovation in 1964. As it approaches a century of service, the Chadron Public Library seems to be a busy place, according to its web site, but I find no reference to the initial cost of the structure.

Alas, I wish I'd spent more time there as a kid. Growing up only about four blocks from the library, it would have been an easy walk. I suspect I spent more time in the Chadron State College library during my freshman year at the college than I collectively spent in in the public library while attending East Ward, Junior High and Chadron High School.

The postcard shown here was created by Bloom Bros., Inc. out of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and when created, it required only one penny to send the card anywhere in the United States. I like the rather "painted" style used in colorizing the image -- a fairly common practice after the turn of the century.

...about Miss Koch

So, who was Ross Armstrong? And Beatrice Koch? And Doris Gates?

Anyone who’s ever had a relationship with Chadron State College probably knows who Ross Armstrong was. The long-time coach, Athletic Director, Dean, and foundation administrator impacted the lives of thousands of young men and women – some more than others. Today, most students at CSC know of Armstrong only as the man for whom the Armstrong Building is named.

Names like Armstrong, Kline, Koch, Thoendel, Andrews, Gates, and many others, remain vivid for lots of us – whose ties and associations with the college reach back to the 1950s and earlier.

After meetings last weekend on the CSC campus – recalling several Chadron State faculty members who left their marks on students – I decided to share some thoughts about a few of those teachers who touched my life in a special way. In coming days, we’ll reminisce about some of those folks. But this particular posting will focus on a pert professor who had a big impact on many CSC students – including this writer.

I was only three years old when 51-year-old Beatrice Koch came to Nebraska State Teachers College at Chadron as a member of the English Department. A native of Fullerton, Nebraska, she was a graduate of the University of Nebraska. She later earned an M.A. at Columbia University. After a two-year stint teaching at Rising City, she had moved to Norfolk, where she taught high school from 1920 to 1943.

Among her many students at Norfolk: entertainer Johnny Carson and U.S. Senator Gale McGee of Wyoming.

During World War II, Bea Koch volunteered to work in the Fitzsimons Army Hospital (shown at left) near Denver, but in 1945, she returned to the classroom in Plattsmouth, Nebraska. In 1946, she came to Chadron and would teach English at the college until she reached the Nebraska mandatory teacher retirement age of 70 years.

I cannot remember Miss Koch walking anywhere without a sense of purpose. I still can hear the “clickety-click” sound of her high heel shoes moving her down the hall of the Administration Building at warp speed when I took her Freshman Composition and Introduction to Literature classes in 1961-62. By that time, I had been working as an announcer at KCSR Radio for nearly three years, and I remember Miss Koch taking me aside after one class and gently – but pointedly – reminding me that I had a “special responsibility” since my work on the radio would be heard by many people.

“Take care to do the best that you can,” she admonished me. My frequent relapses with the English language over 50 years in broadcasting would often cause me to be haunted – with appreciation – by Miss Koch’s words.

Forced to step down from teaching in Nebraska, she moved to Huron, South Dakota, and taught another eight years before retiring.

Our long-time friend Jim Zeman, a Chadron native who graduated from the college and went on to a prestigious career on the faculty at Northern State in Aberdeen, South Dakota, had at least one class under Koch and remembered her as very much “a traditional English teacher” who was full of energy.

Con Marshall, retired CSC Director of Information, probably knows more about Chadron State College and its graduates than anyone else, told me recently that Miss Koch had a real impact on his career and that "she's a big reason I made it through college."

And Con remembers this anecdote. “She once said that the reason she never married was she’d never met a man she couldn’t live without!” Koch was definitely independent, but not without a sense of purpose – and humor. He also recalls hearing that Miss Koch had a twin sister and that they excelled at tennis as University of Nebraska co-eds. Con concedes that the story may not be verifiable, but I think it's probably true -- or it should be!

Beatrice Koch was active in education for more than half a century, and in 1984 she was awarded the Chadron State College Distinguished Service Award for her significant contribution to the college. She died December 28, 1989.

But I still can hear that clear and forceful admonishment from the diminutive Miss Koch:

“Take care to do the best that you can.”

CHS alumnus drowns in Mississippi

News reports from Meridian, Mississippi, delivered the sad news that Don Mathis, a standout athlete at Chadron High School in the 1950s, drowned Thursday afternoon (4/9/09) in a boating accident.

Don was a 1955 graduate of CHS, where he played football and basketball. He was the fullback and placekicker on the Cardinal's undefeated 1954 team. He went on to play center for the Chadron State Eagles and later earned entry into the CSC Athletic Hall of Fame. Don and his wife, Wyoma (Brown), moved to Mississippi many years ago, where they operated a successful small business just south of Meridian.

According to WTOK-TV in Meridian, rescue officials believed Don may have been trying to get his boat onto a trailer and that perhaps the boat started to drift. The accident occurred at Okatibbee Lake northwest of Meridian. The Lauderdale County coroner said Don Mathis was pulled from the lake late Thursday afternoon after a search of the area by divers. His boat had been seen floating empty in the lake.

Only last month, we had told the story about Don and some of his buddies making a trek to Yellowstone Park in 1955 -- Youthful adventures of the 1950s. Their trek took place shortly after Don had graduated from high school, and they took some pictures along the way. After graduating at Chadron State College in 1959, Don taught school in Taylor, Nebraska; Hot Springs, South Dakota, and Fort Dodge, Iowa, before moving to Mississippi.

A teammate on the 1952-53 basketball team at Chadron High, Mike Smith, has noted in an e-mail that Don is the latest of several CHS athletes from the early 1950s who've passed away. Others were John Christopher, Tom Blundell, Lou Riemenschneider, and Bill McCarter.

We have fond memories of visiting with Don and Wyoma Mathis in Chadron during an all-school reunion some years back. It was a bit of serendipity that, like Don and Wyoma, we also lived in Mississippi -- but we all had to return to Chadron to share memories! Until checking upon Don's graduation from CSC in the Alumni Directory this week, I didn't know that he and I shared another common experience -- we both went to graduate school at Iowa State University in Ames.

Don Mathis was 72 years old when he died. An on-line obituary can be found at this link to the Meridian Star. Addional information about Don's career can be found in a story published on-line by the Chadron Record on April 14, 2009. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Wyoma and the entire Mathis family over their loss.

Curly's Corral

Trips to Colorado to visit our son in Wheat Ridge often conjure up memories of Colorado broadcasters who helped lay the groundwork for KCSR in Chadron.

The other day we wrote about a recent visit with ex-KCSR managers Jack Miller and Don Grant, who both live in Fort Collins. That delightful interlude caused me to remember Bill "Curly" Finch, a co-owner of KCSR when it went on the air in 1954. Among other places, I'm sure, Finch was once at KRAI in Craig, Colorado, before teaming up with Bob Fouse to establish the new radio station in Chadron.

While Finch was later known worldwide for playing big band music as host of Finch's Bandwagon on the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service, he also had a bit of country in him. Well, I'm not absolutely sure about that, but I do believe he understood the importance of country music to folks in western Nebraska, so he launched Curly's Corral on KCSR. It was a showcase for local talent, including long-time radio host Ellis "Peabody" Hale and another well-known musician, Russ Garner. They're among the musicians in the photo below.

Included in this scene are (L-R): Bob Rinker, Ellis "Peabody" Hale, Russ Garner, Unknown, Neville Sits Poor, Bill "Curly" Finch, Joe Crossdog, Harry Hanson, Howard Parker, Dave Parker, and Gordon Benson.

Live broadcasts of Curly's Corral were staged on Saturday afternoons in the small KCSR studio at 212 Bordeaux in Chadron; I don't recall other venues, but I'm sure their were remote broadcasts from other locations; I was a teenager and more inclined at that time toward Pat Boone and Elvis Presley.

Finch would often engage in some spontaneous tomfoolery. Big band music really was his "schtick," and I recall one weekday afternoon when he played "One O'clock Jump" by Count Basie, then proceeded to play every other version of the tune that we had in the library. I was amazed at how long it took to accomplish the task -- and wonder how many listeners actually stayed with it!

While Finch was a shameless promoter, he had a real knack for understanding what an audience wanted. He remained in the wings while a creative Bob Fouse and witty Cliff Pike took the limelight with their popular morning show Breakfast with the Boys. I don't know whether Curly's Corral was his brainchild -- or Ellis Hale's -- but it certainly couldn't have succeeded without Finch's support and involvement. I don't recall Finch ever playing an instrument or singing, but he certainly was the perfect host for the program that carried his moniker.