Charles Tucker, Bartlesville, Okla., cast a broad smile the other day at the Optimist meeting when the men talked about the trouncing the Sooners gave the Huskers.
Later, Mr. Tucker revealed that his smile was not particularly for the Oklahoma University victory, but for the near victory his alma mater, Oklahoma State, almost had on Nebraska.
Mr. Tucker spoke very highly of his college's team, but said when the two Oklahoma schools play, the No. 1 ranked Sooners will come out on top. Nebraskans agreed with that.
The Oklahoma man (actually, he was born in Texas) spoke to the men on supply and demand and the success of the free enterprise system. He pointed out what many of us take for granted – the consumer is the boss, or he is supposed to be.
Mr. Tucker's point was that free enterprise can get along nicely without federal intervention such as cattle price freezes (but no freeze on cattle feeds) and delays that are slowly being eliminated to pipe oil from the Alaskan slope. Mr. Tucker is with the Phillips Petroleum company.
The speaker was accompanied to the meeting by his brother, Roy, also a graduate of Oklahoma State. Roy owns City Garbage Service.
I found a friend.
Dear Ivan.
On Friday, November 22, I had grapefruit, sour cream chocolate cake (two extra large pieces) and a glass of milk for BREAKFAST. Seriously, I did!
MRS. RICHARD O. COLE, Plattsmouth.
The American Legion has adopted a national paid-up-for life membership plan to be offered to Legion departments in time for the 1976 membership campaign, according to The American Legion magazine. Annual dues at a post can be converted into a life membership for $235 a year for a veteran 45 years old or $186 for a veteran 56 years old.
The plan is part of a national membership campaign being instituted by the Legion. New eligibility dates extended WWII eligibility to December 31, 1946, the Korean war to January 31, 1955, and Vietnam veterans to August 15, 1973.
Thanks to Mrs. Harold Bliss at the Morton-James Library, we were able to come up with some background on the crew of the Pueblo.
We thought the picture and story of the crew held captive by North Korea was five or six years ago in a national news magazine. Mrs. Bliss called back after a short time to report that the item we were interested in appeared in Newsweek in 1969. She even provided us with the page number of that particular issue.
We have quite a stack of Newsweek magazines along the "junk" wall in our basement. The copies were saved for particular interest, the first astronauts, first moon landing, etc., just in case one of the kids needs some help with school work.
I pulled a boo-boo in my saving system. I forgot to mark on the covers or somewhere the particular article for which the magazine was saved. Bingo! We have the copy. Thanks, Mrs. Bliss.
The VFW magazine has an interesting article on Winston Churchill. This caught our attention:
"Once a smart alec young diplomat noted that Sir Winston had ended a sentence with a preposition. He corrected it and got back this from Churchill: 'This is something I will not up with put'."
It was comforting to read the other day that snow removal crews have been equipped and are ready for a wintry blast. We just hope they don't have to use that equipment for a long time.
City Street Commissioner Bud Wright said he has everything ready to go in his department. Commissioner Wright is in his first year as a city official in snow removal, but he has many years of experience. He worked for the county for 20 years.
We are printing a series of stories in the News-Press about the signers of the Declaration of Independence. The series is provided by the American Bicentennial Commission and the Nebraska Press Association.
Everett Reimers, co-chairman of the Otoe County Bicentennial Commission, brought the series to our attention.
Mr. Reimers and his co-chairman, Mrs. Allan Dose, are meeting with groups throughout the county stirring up interest in the 200th birthday of the country. By the time 1976 rolls around, they hope to have the county hopping with activities. And judging by the interest in Nebraska City — we already have been designated a Bicentennial Community — there will be a lot of meetings and a lot of planning in the coming months.
Congratulations to George H. Stanley on his county court bench appointment. Judge Stanley served as Otoe county judge for 16 years before the change in the judge system. Since then he's been in private practice.
We're glad he's been appointed to the bench. It's been awfully hard addressing him without saying "judge."
I had to take my driver's license exam in November. Yes, I passed the test, but I read that blamed blue book from cover to cover fretting that I'd pull a boo-boo.
The examiners were very helpful and I got along fine. The elderly woman behind me was worried and kept up a stream of nervous chatter.
"Did you read and study the book?" I asked her.
"Yes," she said, "I've read it through so many times that I'm afraid I'll put down the wrong answers."
I tried to reassure her that if kids can pass the test, she and I ought to get through it.
The examiner gave me the eye check with the cards and little dots, then handed me the test paper and directed me to a seat.
The woman came into the room next and she was having a hard time trying to remain calm as she went through the eye exam.
I read the questions carefully, then marked the appropriate box.
The woman sat next to me and with the determination that only a woman can have, she picked up the pencil and tore into the test paper.
A few moments later as I was studying over the next question on my test, I looked up and she was talking to the examiner.
"Now take this to the county treasurer's office and she will issue you a permit," he said.
I turned back to my test paper. Only five more questions to answer . . .
Stolen
Bill Brown was applying for a driver's license. "Write your last name first and your first name last," the examiner said.
"How's that again, sir?" asked Brown.
"Backwards, I said," the examiner replied. "Put your name down backwards."
Brown proceeded to write, "lliB nworB."