Cruising Main. That's how we spent our free time in high school in Kimball. Driving up and down Highway 30, affectionately called Main, music blaring and friends honking horns as they passed with each sweep of the drag.
Kickin' off the Fourth of July weekend with Cruise Night seems so fitting this year. With hundreds of past graduates from Kimball High School invited to the Big Red Rally – Kimball's All-Class Reunion.
Cruising main is just the logical way to get things started, and when we weren't cruisin', we were hanging at the local hangout.
Just as the music has changed over the years, so has the name of that local hangout. Once it was Ken's, then Al's and now Vince's – they are all the same place, just named for each new owner.
For those who have not been back in quite some time, the new name of the local hangout may come as a surprise, as will the addition of a Dollar General and a Kwik Stop.
Just as curious, and ultimately sad, are the businesses that are no longer here and are missed like the drive-in and the movie theater. As a 1993 Kimball graduate, I know that my class was one of the last to see Marty's Drive-In, once a popular place to get a burger and shake.
More than businesses have changed, as some past graduates will remember attending high school in the large brick school on Highway 30, next to Gotte Park.
At that time Bushnell had its own school, basketball team and track team, and so did Dix (before the merger into Potter-Dix). At that time there was no grocery store across the street, but you could find the Elm Court Cafe nearby.
When the “new” high school was built in May of 1965, the beautiful brick three-story building became the junior high school, which I attended.
The new stadium was added, as well as the automotive and agriculture building in 1969, during the height of the oil boom in Kimball.
Then, the oil boom was over, Bushnell students came to Kimball, Dix kids went to Potter, and eventually both the original high school and West Elementary were sold by the school district.
Yet, Kimball remains, and while many things have changed, other things have stubbornly stayed the same.
Larsen's Jewelry Store, LorRons Department Store and The Flower Haven, along with many others, still serve the residents of Kimball and her neighbors.
The Fourth of July still brings a town-wide firework show and games at the park and the pool.
Kids still cruise the main street, playing music, honking horns, and offering a friendly wave to friends as they pass.
The plains, Oliver Reservoir and Panorama Point still offer the most breathtaking views of the sunset.
Perhaps most importantly though, Kimball's residents still share a smile and a wave with one another; we look forward to welcoming friends, old and new, with the best we can offer.
So, friends, welcome home. We are glad you are back. Come and enjoy our bounty.
Tonia Copeland is a 1993 Kimball High School graduate and a reporter at The Western Nebraska Observer. Contact her at 308-235-3631 or [email protected].