Mrs. Leonard (Jeanette) Hoskins discussed a "block mothers" program at the Northside PTA meeting the other night.
It was our last PTA meeting. Jeannea, the youngest, will enter Junior High in the fall.
Mrs. Hoskins said the block mothers program would provide children with a safety or shelter area in case of emergency. She said designated homes would be marked so that a child could "run to one of the homes" for help.
It's a good idea.
Sixth Street school has had a block mothers program for some time and it has been very successful.
Other schools have been encouraged to have such a program to give children protection and other emergency attention.
Things like this come about generally after a child molestation incident. A Nebraska City youngster was picked up several weeks ago, but got away from the driver of a car before anything happened.
The athletic banquet.
The annual Optimist Pioneer Booster club athletic banquet was the best we've attended. It was as brief as could be done and the speaker was outstanding.
Congratulations to the committees for a successful salute to the young and for their choice of speaker, Gene Harmon, a Creighton University basketball star. He's the best speaker since the long winded awards program of some time ago when Cletus Fischer gave a brief but power packed talk.
Congratulations to all the trophy winners, the young athletes who are No. 1 in their own right.
The names of the recipients of the large trophies was the worst kept secret in town except for the wrestler award. We were sitting across from Gary Connell's folks, Mr. and Mrs. Don Hoberg, when Gary was named winner of the wrestling award and saw much happiness in the family.
We thumbed through a copy of Good Housekeeping Mrs. F. L. Duffey loaned us some time ago and came upon an article written about the mother of quintuplets.
The story is the Kienast quintuplets at three years of age.
And although the article goes into great detail about the five, plus two other children in the family, the real story is the ratty rat race Mom has in the New Jersey home.
It sounded like our living room and possibly like many family homes in Nebraska City.
The point I liked best about the story was not about raising seven children or punishments for misbehavior; it was the part about good ole Mom keeping up with the pack.
She not only swished and swirled around the living room, kitchen and scrubbed the bathroom umpteen times a day, but she maintained a cool head and steady balance of what a family really is.
Mr. and Mrs. Kienast get away from it all occasionally while the grandparents and other friends look after the family.
At the outset the Kienast family has a bright outlook. Next year it'll be something different with the children. You can't stop em from getting older.
Give it the ole rah-rah rah.
I'm an expert in most things but I particularly excel in cheerleading.
For all you parents who get up tight when your daughter has cheerleader tryouts, just pick up the phone and call me, The Leaping Linguist, and I'll soothe your worries and personally conduct classes in cheerleading.
The oldest daughter did her thing in cheerleading and seemingly the practice area was in the dining room. No. 2 daughter followed in the same area for demonstrations. We, in fact, had the only dining room light fixture in Nebraska City that had the jagged effects of having been soundly beaten by pompons and swinging arms.
I'm not exaggerating, either. That light fixture had been struck and had swayed with the jolts so many times, that we thought the cord would twist and break and the whole thing would land on someone's head.
Ivan the queen bee said, "I've ordered a new light fixture for the dining room."
"Oh no you don't," the master of the house saith. "We're not getting new living room furniture until we have a little more maturity among the young and that dining room fixture falls in the same bracket. It's a memorial to a time in our lives."
"What in the world are you talking about?" queenie asked.
"I mean when there are no more girls in high school in this house we will get a new light fixture."
"Do you want dinner tonight?" the domestic engineer asked.
"Aw right," I yielded. "But remember, I told you so."
I suggested special instruction to No. 2 daughter, Clarissa, the other day. Among the hints of the offerings were the 15 rah rah rahs of the Washington, Kans., Tiger team, "we've got a coach, boom boom, we've got a team, boom boom."
Somehow I didn't get the message across. She turned up the volume on her boom boom radio.
That never discouraged me so I went into my routine and did everything but a flip and a half and the splits. Still no attention from the purple and gold Pioneer fan.
"Just remember this, Sassy," the master said. "If there is another case of the Missing Purple Girdle, it will remain missing."
That drew a smile. She remembered her older sister and the incident and search that would have puzzled Perry Mason.
"Daddy," she called.
"Huh?"
"What time is it?" she asked.
"Ten after seven. Ohhh, I've got to leave now, honey. Gotta get to work. See you tonight."
(Somehow I think she outsmarted The Fox.)