3/15/2021
Graves Library : The LegacyBy Brad Kellogg
A Peruvian fortune in gold, a clandestine ship in the dark of night, a pandemic, and fortunes built and lost. The Graves Library in Wakefield, Nebraska, is a special building, with a story behind it that has all the aspects of a novel. It is one of two libraries in the entire United States named in honor of the benevolence of the Graves family, but in different generations and different states. People who have lived their lives in any small Midwest town tend to overlook the things they see every day. They take for granted the streets they drive on, or barely even glance at the walnut trees in the park that adjoins the swimming pool where their children enjoy a warm summers day. They might drive by the same building regularly and see, well, just a building. In their life experience these things have just always been there, and are taken as a matter of course. The Graves Library is one such place, a brick-and-mortar structure that is reminiscent of the classic style of an Andrew Carnegie design. This building is listed on the Nebraska Historical Society Register and is the legacy and the repository of Wakefield history and of Willard and Philo Graves. The town of Wakefield may never have existed if not for their foresight and planning. Read the entire story in the latest edition of Living Here magazine. Order yours today! Call 888-673-1081
3/15/2021
North America's Oldest POWWOWBy Tim Trudell
The oldest powwow in North America calls the Winnebago reservation home. What started as a homecoming celebration for Chief Little Priest and 75 other tribal members from their duty as scouts with the US military has grown into one of the country’s most-popular powwows, celebrating 155 years in 2021. The Ho Chunk, the traditional name for the Winnebago (a name used by the Potawatomi), was a tribe without a home in the 1860s when General Alfred Sully proposed arranging land for his tribe if Little Priest and some of the tribe’s warriors would serve as scouts in the United States’ war against the Lakota (Sioux). With people starving, Little Priest made a difficult decision. With the promise of a permanent home, he and some of the warriors would join forces with the government that removed the tribe from its homeland in Wisconsin and northeast Iowa and relocated members to different areas in Minnesota and South Dakota. Read the entire story in the latest edition of Living Here magazine. Order yours today! 888-673-1081
3/15/2021
Dana College Lives On, Blair, NEBy Tim Trudell
Servant leadership was a staple of Dana College, and 11 years after the school closed because of financial issues, the campus has found renewed life serving others as home to Transformation Hill, a program to help people who have aged out foster care. The program came about because of an Omaha banker’s dream of helping homeless youth. Before Ed Shada’s vision led to the former liberal arts college’s future as a community for homeless youth, attempts were made to keep the campus as a part of secondary education programs. Midland University in Fremont, about 20 miles west of Blair, immediately welcomed former Dana students after the school’s 2010 closing. Renaming itself as Midland University after 100 years as Midland Lutheran College, leaders changed the school’s athletic teams’ uniform colors to blue and orange, as well as the school’s Warrior mascot to resemble an animated Viking character (Dana’s former nickname), aligning with the schools’ Scandinavian histories. Midland officials also signed a lease for the Blair campus, along with an option to purchase it. However, those plans were dropped in 2016, six years after Dana had closed. Read the entire story in the latest edition of Living Here magazine. Order yours today! 888-673-1081
3/15/2021
Froelich Mansion, O'Neill, NEBy Marita Placek
Drivers rubberneck as they drive down the street in O’Neill and slow for a good look at the large mansion that stands out among the many modest homes. The three story mansion built in 1930 is brick with tall chimneys and several large picture windows. A large ‘W’ is displayed high up on the wide chimney beside the front door. Large block fences block the view of the flower garden from the street. Driving around the block, a flagstone patio, above a green and white pattern and a path leading to the enclosed swimming pool and glass enclosed solarium beckons. Several large old cottonwood trees keep watch over this elegant mansion which retains many of its original historic details and also contains modern conveniences. This house, long known as the Froelich (pronounced Fraylick) Mansion, has always been an important part of O’Neill’s history. Thanks to the young family who moved into the house in June, 2020, the house continues to play an important role in O’Neill’s civic affairs. Read the entire story in the latest edition of Living Here magazine. Order yours today! Call 888-673-1081
3/15/2021
A weed is but an unloved flowerBy Lindsay Hindman with special thanks to Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Sioux City
So quipped 19th century Midwest poet Ella Wheeler Wilcox. While most people can agree that some weeds really ought to be eradicated, and good riddance, it’s also fair to say many wild flowering plants of the prairie are underappreciated. One of the first and loveliest signs of spring in Nebraska and South Dakota is the appearance of wildflowers throughout woods, fields, riverbanks, and grasslands, from the first tiny Pasqueflowers (South Dakota’s state flower) to the late-blooming Goldenrod (Nebraska’s state flower). Read the entire story in the latest edition of Living Here magazine. Order yours today! Call 888-673-1081
3/15/2021
Lone Ranger In YanktonBy Loretta Sorensen
In a round-about way, it was World War II that brought world-renowned actor Brace Beemer, national radio’s Lone Ranger, to Yankton, South Dakota, on September 4, 1944. Beemer was the main attraction that year at the WNAX Radio 570 Midwest Farmer Day. The event was organized in 1942 to recognize farmers in the five-state area for their ““outstanding war production.” The War began in 1939. June 6, 1944 was D-Day, the day Allied forces landed in Normandy, France. Throughout that year, on Europe’s war front, America and her allies were pushing back the advance of the Nazi regime. Back home, in communities like Yankton, businessmen and farmers had been doing their part to help win the War from the start. Read the entire story in the latest edition of Living Here magazine. Order yours today! Call 888-673-1081
3/5/2021
Diamond Dick Tanner, Norfolk, NERichard Tanner was well-respected as a physician in Norfolk, Nebraska from 1910 to around 1930. His flowing locks of silver hair, waxed handlebar mustache and formidable facial features instilled confidence in his patients; although some considered him slightly eccentric. “Handsome and debonair” were often used to describe him. Tanner’s charismatic charm combined with his advertised scientific research, his claim to be an inventor and apparent knowledge of the medical profession made him a favorite of the local clientele, especially his female patients.
Few, if any of his regular patients had any idea of his flamboyant past. Read the entire story in the latest edition of Living Here magazine. Order yours today! Call 888-673-1081 |