Ivan D.E. Beaumont.
The little pat
Dr. Koerber applied his stethoscope to the chest of a small boy explaining he had to listen to his heart.
"That's the wrong place," the little fellow beamed. "It's where I sit."
"Whatever gave you that idea?" the doctor asked.
"Well," the boy replied, "whenever I do something good, grandmother pats me there and says 'Bless your little heart.'"
Your newspaper
In today's paper you will find three additional sections devoted to the histories of Nebraska City and surrounding communities.
This wraps up our Bicentennial program for 1976. It started January 2 when we printed the red, white and blue Bicentennial seal on Page one and listed our Bicentennial towns.
We thank all of you who have contributed pictures and stories and to the businesses, industries and the individuals whose names appear on the pages.
We printed a number of extra copies of the three sections of the Bicentennial edition. They are available at our counter for 50c. If you want to mail one to a relative or friend, send 30 cents for postage for each issue.
The Chamber
Congratulations to Dr. A. O. Gigstad and Mrs. Maxine Fitzekam for receiving the Chamber and Women's Division awards.
We know Mrs. Fitzekam is especially deserving because we have been fortunate enough to sit at the same table when sessions were held on planning retail business. She received the Ethel Gaskill award and is the caliber of person deserving of the Gaskill plaque.
Mrs. Gaskill was city clerk for nearly 40 years and pretty well conducted the business of the city and watched over her three charges, the city commissioners.
There aren't many people who will stick their necks out and keep on coming back but Dr. Gigstad is one of those rare people. He lost a bid for reelection to the school board, but continues a sincere interest in the school programs. He was removed as mayor of the town in a recall election over an airport dispute, but remains actively interested in city government. He is an elected director of the Nemaha Valley Watershed District.
He was pleasantly surprised with the award, but suspicious.
"I saw my family here," he said.
Best wishes and much success during the year to Garry Ailes, the new Chamber president.
Mr Saggau returns
Bernie Saggau who spoke at the Chamber banquet did what he was assigned — pep up the Chamber membership. If you've heard Mr. Saggau before, then you know the enthusiasm he has when he speaks.
He spoke of love for fellow man, competition in business, athletics, 50 years of success for today's mankind, but most important he spoke about the necessity of living a full and active life.
His warm and personal message was felt by all. There were a number in the audience with moistened eves when he told of the death of his 23-year-old son and about his friend who stretched the death hand of cancer until his daughter graduated from high school.
About the only time I've ever made a "visitation" with the Optimist club was when the late Harry Vondrak, Virgil Pitstick and several others attended a luncheon at the Elks in Lincoln.
I've forgotten the name of the speaker, but not the topic. It was- wine — food or drink.
The man told about vineyards, the wine producing business, bottling and selling. He explained different kinds of wine and turned the luncheon into a wine tasting bee.
The next day Virg, who has been a regular office visitor around here for a long time, stopped in to ask what I thought about the program.
"Well, it was different," I explained. "I know a lot more about wine now than I did before. I think of it as a food."
"Yeah, me too," Virg said. "I got so interested that I bought a bottle of wine when we got home."
"I did the same," I said.
"You did?" Virg asked.
"Yeah," I answered, "it's funny though it didn't taste near as good as the stuff we had at that luncheon."
The science fair
The annual Science and Engineering fair is being planned this year under the direction of Mrs. Bob (Jay) Hawkes. The fair will be March 26-27 at Nebraska City Senior High.
The fair was started here a number of years ago and has grown so much that it had to be moved from the armory to the high school for display and auditorium spaces.
This is Mrs. Hawkes' first year as director succeeding Mrs. Bob Melchert, and we wish her much success.
Stolen
I called my plumber and told him the drain was clogged and water was backing up all over the house.
He promised he would be over as soon as possible.
And that's the way it was, 200 years ago today.