Ivan D.E. Beaumont.
The storm that was
Bill Brand, a native of Scottsbluff and a former News-Press reporter, warned about crossing western Nebraska during the wintry weather. We had no reason to challenge him.
F.L. Duffey, dust kicker from Colby, Kans., issued a similar warning about western Kansas. We challenged that. He was right. We were wrong and lucky.
We had planned a trip to Denver and Boulder for some time. The youngest of the Jim Roberts family of Boulder (longtime friends of the Roll Bros.) was getting married and our friendship over the years made us plan the trip. Besides, we planned to make a double whammy out of it and visit the Bob Tolers, former residents.
The weather report was not good and as we drove west. The reports said the weather was worsening in western Nebraska. I remembered Bill Brand . . . and turned south into Kansas.
"What are you doing?" queenie asked. "You're going the wrong way."
"Oh no, mother . . . I'm going to out-fox the weatherman and head for Kansas."
It was a delightful drive.
"What's that?" she exclaimed.
"Calm down mother," I assured. "It's called rain."
We stopped to see the great-grandmother in Wilber for a brief visit and continued our southwesterly drive. The radio weatherman said driving in western Nebraska in the Scottsbluff area was a no-no.
Who cares? We were heading into Kansas.
We stopped in Smith Center, Kan., for a break and visited with an off-duty policeman at a service station. It was so warm we had rolled down the windows.
"I don't think you folks ought to go on any further," he advised. "The highways are closed in western Kansas."
We thought of cutting south to I-70 and then west, but the man on the radio said the south path was shut off with 80 m.p.h. winds and a dust storm at Colby. To the north, the radio man said there were blizzard conditions in Nebraska.
"Can't be," I said. "How'n blazes can there be a blizzard in the north, a dust storm in the south and we're sitting in a sunshine paradise in Smith Center?"
She didn't answer, but gave me that ole' look that said "don't say I didn't tell you."
The intermittent rain started again, then occasional snowflakes. We were 11 miles from Oberlin, Kans., when the storm worsened and we saw what appeared to be a heavy fog across the highway. It was blowing snow.
The slush on the highway suddenly became several inches of heavy, wet and blinding snow. I couldn't believe it. (Mr. Duffey was well aware of it).
"What are you doing now?" she asked.
"Turning around."
"Why?" she asked. "You've only gone . . . let's see . . . 288 miles and have turned back every police and radio warning for the past several hours."
The car behind us skidded and went into a ditch. The driver wanted help to get the car back on the road, but we explained we didn't have a chain and suggested the driver get out of there pronto and come with us.
The driver reluctantly agreed. The snow was blowing so hard from the north that each time we rolled down the window we were caked with snow and ice.
The driver turned out to be a young woman who is a junior at Hays State College in Hays, Kansas. We took her east to Norton, Kans., where she checked into a motel and assured us she would call home so her parents wouldn't worry.
We did pretty much the same thing. We spent the night at the farm home of relatives, then returned to Nebraska City Saturday.
"Wow! This is great," I said as we approached Nebraska City.
"Now what?" queenie asked.
"Didn't you hear the radio man? He said we got over an inch of rain."
She agreed and added: "And I suppose next you'll tell me that everything looks green today."
"Yeah . . . ain't it purty?"
The record plug.
If you haven't heard it, you will soon. "CB Beaver Fever" is moving on the song stilts. Larry Hart, Nashville, Tenn., a former Nebraska City resident, telephoned the other day to tell us that 22,000 records have been ordered. Bunky Christiansen of Nebraska City is president of Cornhusker Publishing Company. Larry is part owner of the company.
Larry's excited about another new song he's publishing on the Ovation label. It's "Making Believe" by Royce and Jeannie Kendall, the folks who hit it big with "Leaving On A Jet Plane" and "Two Divided By Love."
The fight.
We don't care what Howard Cosell said, the fight between George Foreman and Jimmy Young was a good old knock down slugfest.
We don't like Young's defensive fighting style, but we've gotta give him credit, he really laid it in there with powerful accuracy.
It was disappointing to see Foreman falter. He had Young for good in the seventh, but couldn't muster enough punch from his hulking frame to put him away.
In the same light, that round proved the better man. Young was wobbly-legged with 1:58 still to go and he rode her out, then came back to punch out a win.
(Sorry I couldn't come to the phone, Gene. I'm one of those armchair experts when it comes to fights.)