Leo
When Leo O'Flaherty died, he took with him the admiration of many.
Leo was a janitor and all-around fix-it man at the Nebraska City schools for a number of years. He was one of those rare individuals who could do just about anything and he attacked each job with a determination to not just do the job but do it right.
His gift of supervising crews and as a general handyman earned for [illegible] him the respect of his fellow workers and his other friends.
When he retired, he hooked his camper trailer to his car and took his wife on long trips, including a drive to Alaska.
Glen Lechner, a school janitor and co-worker, said it best the other day in his Safety Valve: "I hope God has room to pitch a tent in Heaven because Leo O'Flaherty sure liked to travel."
Platt Grocery
Best wishes for a successful venture to Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Platt, new owners of the Collins Grocery in Murray. Jerry is a former Hinky Dinky manager at Nebraska City and purchased the Murray store from Mr. and Mrs. John Collins.
Mr. and Mrs. Collins will put their extra time into The Shed, a popular restaurant in Murray. New name of the store is Platt Grocery.
New job
Frank Bataillon, the Union postmaster, has been promoted to safety manager for the Lincoln sectional center post office.
The Bataillons will be moving to Lincoln at the end of the school term.
Frank will also resign his job as secretary - treasurer of the Nebraska City Rescue Squad when the family moves.
The survey
NU Regent Robert Prokop opposes the Orange Bowl contract which locks the Big 8 champion in the bowl game. He is particularly displeased this year with the match-up of NU and Oklahoma.
Technically, the Huskers can't play in the bowl until the regents approve the contract. In previous years, the approval has been 'automatic.' Not this time. Prokop is balking, but he admits there is little chance of anything being done.
Meanwhile, Mr. Prokop spoke to Optimists the other day and the club conducted a survey on his bowl issue. The results — the Optimist club favors Nebraska playing in a bowl game over the objections of Mr. Prokop, and the Optimist club favors the opponent to be Penn-State.
Mr. Prokop explained his position on the Orange Bowl contract last week in the News-Press. We contacted Associated Press and suggested the story might have broader interest. It was put on the AP wire.
Mr. Prokop received calls from Los Angeles, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and Washington, D. C.
The Peru message
Four state senators put themselves on the chopping block the other night at Peru State in a Meet the Press format.
They all fared pretty well.
There were a number of interesting comments. Although they generally agreed on raising the age to buy alcohol from 19 to 21, they said a bill would not be approved.
Sen. Nelson Merz of Falls City waited all evening to flash his bumper sticker – Gasohol. He's an outspoken salesman on the subject.
We liked the session. It was long-winded, but seemingly successful in that most of the 50 people stayed until it had ended.
Special thanks goes to Peru State President Larry Tangeman and his staff for hosting the event.
Roger Flanders of the special services department, did the organizing for the session. He had a good night and was pleased he even brought along his 19-day-old son and introduced him to the visitors.
Notice to grocers
We're going to reprint the cherry mash candy recipe on the front page of the Food Section in the Tuesday News-Press.
So order cherry chips so you don't run out.
The Dunbar Review
The newspaper editor had just a small space left in his paper so he inserted a reproduction of the Ten Commandments.
The next day after the issue was published, five men and three women quickly left town and an irate subscriber called to tell the editor.
'Take me off your mailing list. You're getting too personal.'