Destroyed Building Once A Blacksmith Shop

Good morning Banner County, friends near and far. Beautiful out there this morning, blue and calm.

No smell of smoke in the air, unlike one day this past week when the fire department was called to douse a fire which totally destroyed a storage building currently owned by the McKown family. The building was used for storage and was originally used as a blacksmith shop by Walter Schuemaker. We are sorry for the loss.

Walter was in Banner County in 1915 in the Flowerfield area and moved to Harrisburg in 1920 after his marriage to local gal Luella Van Pelt.

Walter also helped in the construction of what is referred to as the “old gym” on the school grounds. That building is still being used as a weight room and for wrestling practice.

Speaking of wrestling, the current high school wrestlers will be in competition this Saturday, January 25, in Lingle and the Speech team will be in competition in Gering. Monday the 27th band students will attend MAC Band Clinic in South Platte. Safe travel and good luck to all of you.

Here at home the yearly Spelling Bee will be conducted in the big gym on Tuesday, January 28, beginning at 12:30 p.m.. Good luck spellers!

There will be a school assembly on Wednesday, January 29 titled “I Love Public Schools Day.” It will begin at 8 a.m., and at 1 p.m. the junior high boys basketball team will be playing in Leyton. Good luck and safe travel to you all too!

Congratulations to Barb and Bob Cooper on the arrival of their latest granddaughter. Mom and dad Brittany and Micheal  Macias welcomed Eliyanah on January 5, weighing in at 8 lb. 1 oz. and measuring 21 inches long.

Birthdays here in the county this week include: Lacy Krako, Kole Talkinginton, Reta Pahl, Nathan Rogers, Travis Cochran, Harli Revelle, Larry Malm, Toria McGowan, Camy Anderson, Jaxon loutzenhiser, Rose Marie Parker, Aaron Harper, and Abbie Fulk. Happy Birthday!

Anniversary congratulations to Mr. & Mrs. Royce Ammon.

Do you all know what a “multi-cooker” is? Me neither. Well, it’s one of the many new small appliances that are always popping up on the market.

Evidently many people who either have them or want them aren’t really sure what or how to use them. So, there will be two different days when a class is held for these “Healthy Food Fast” multi-cooker cooks.

The first one will be on Saturday, January 25 from 10:00 a.m. until noon and the second one will be on Thursday, January 30, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Both classes will be held at the Legacy of the Plains Museum in Gering and are being sponsored by the Nebraska Dry Bean Commission – and are Free to the public.

On Monday, January 27, there will be a sign up meeting for CRP at the North Platte NRD building in Scottsbluff. The meeting is free, but pre-registration is required by either calling 308-850-8395 or at http://www.NebraskaPF.com.

I was through downtown Scottsbluff  (several times!) this past weekend and noticed the advertisements for one of the “Star Wars” movies. Brought back memories of going there for the very first “Star Wars” movie. Wow.

What a discussion we had after seeing that. Kind of like the first “Planet of the Apes” movie – that one I watched at the Goodhand. Those movies were moving us away from John Wayne, Elvis Presley and James Bond for sure.

Well have a great week and take care until next time.

Barb Cross is at 436-7152.