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About The Plattsmouth journal. (Plattsmouth, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 18, 1961)
7 '.Cj TmiE PiLA"inrMw PUBLISHED SEMI-WEEKLY Monday-Thursday Consolidated With th Nehawka Enterprise and Elm wood Leader-Echo Read Twice Weekly by More Than 3500 Cass County Families VOLUME 81 EICHT PACES PLATTSMOUTH. CASS COUNTY, NEBRASKA MONDAY. DECEMBER 18. 1961 TEN CENTS PER COPY NUMBER 10 m JUNIOR HIGH ROYALTY Dona Steppat and Dick Spangler, Queen and King of the Junior High Christmas party Friday night at the high school auditorium, pose surrounded by admiring class- VFW Toy Shop To Be Open Thursday, Friday Commander Harold Dukes of the Veterans of Foreign Wars today announced the opening of the VFW toy shop for needy chil dren of the community. The toy shop will be open Thursday and Friday, Dec' 21-22, at the Armory Building on Chi cago Avenue. The hours will be from 7 to 9 each evening. Members of the VFW Post and Auxiliary will assist in the se lection of toys and clothing. Chairman of the Christmas toy shop and all activities of the Christmas program is Rudy Stoll, assisted by Herb Muehe Fred Draper and Bob Bickle. Mrs. Wm. Tibbs is the Auxiliary Chairman. Christmas baskets for needy families will be arranged by the Post and Auxiliary and distrib uted by members of the post Christmas Eve. The Christmas program is an annual project for needy families of the community. Mrs. Anna Martis Dies; Rites Thursday Mrs. Anna Martis, 75, died Sunday at the home of her dau ghter, Mrs. Anna Bergman. The deceased was a resident of Man ley. She is survived by the hus band, ' Joseph; daughter, Mrs, Bergman; son, Joe B. Martis of Sacramento, Calif.; sister, Mrs Lewis Kletna of Murdock. Rosary is Wednesday night at 8 at Hobson Funeral Home. Requiem High Mass will be Thursday at 10 a.m. at the St. Patrick's Church in Manley. Fa ther Peter Gaciient will officiate. Burial will be in the Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Platts mouth. City Drops from 'Nebraska League' The City Council Friday night decided to drop the city's mem bership in the League of Ne braska Municipalities for 1962. The city in the past paid $50 a year dues., a lump sum assess ment. In 19(52, the League had informed the city, dues would be on a per capita basis, 5 cents per person for cities of Platts- mouth's size. Dues would have totaled $312. A letter from the League in formed the city its plans are to greatly expand the organiza tion's services next year. One of its chief functions is a Legisla tive lobby. SCHOOL PROGRAM EAGLE (Special) The Eagle Alvo Schools Christmas program will be held Wednesday evening, Dec. 20, at the School Auditor ium. Journal Want Ads Pay - i A. A 1 1 uii-W ' LtL;n jbC.m.V'V-. LLJii.il;riiJ ii Dona Steppat, 'Winter Wonderland1 Royalty Dick Spangler and Dona Step pat were crowned King and Queen of "Winter Wonderland" at the Plattsmouth Junior High Christmas Party. Friday, Dec. 15. Both students are in the 8th Annual Kids Movie Set for Saturday The Plattsmouth Junior Chamber of Commerce and Mrs. Jaycees will stage their annual Christmas movie party for kids Saturday at 9:30 a.m. at the High School Auditorium, JC Presdient Chas. Warga said to day. There'll be two hours of cart oons for youngsters admission free. It's a chance for parents to park their youngsters for a couple hours while they finish Christmas shopping. School's Out Friday For Xmas Holidays School will be dismissed here Friday for the Christmas holi days. Public schools will dismiss at 2:30. St. John's Catholic School will be dismissed at noon after a Christmas party. Both public and parochial schools will resume classes at the regular hours Jan. 2. Journal Want Ads Pay Cass Countyan of the Week Mrs. C. D. Spangler Nostalgically Recalls Town of Eight Mile Grove By Ruth Mil'er Nehawka Special Correspondent With a little flourish of dust the stage rattled into Main Street. On one side stood the church, school and drug store ard on the other the King Post Office and Store and the cem etery. No, this scene isn't taken from the "Wild West". The town is Eight Mile Grove, now a ghost town, then the halfway point be tween Plattsmouth and Weeping Water. The stage came through twice daily, changing horses at the Bob Mateer farm The town is gone now, all hough at least a part of it stood for 81 years. A census of 1354 records five families in the town: Benjamin Waller, farmer; Martin Keplinger, cooper (barrel -maker); Martin Hayden, shoe maker; John Hidgens, black smith and L. Johnson, farmer. At this time there were only 2 houses in Plattsmou.l In 1877, Peter Perry Mrs. C. C. Spangler's father, came to Nebraska from his home in North Carolina and by 1883 a history of the Grove tells us that it was a "close settlement on the corner of 4 precincts with a pop ulation of 100." mates. The Queen and King were body. Dick Spangler erade. and were chosen by se cret ballot by the student body. Approximately 175 attended the party which Is sponsored an nually by the Junior High Stu dent Council. Indications were that this year's party was not only the best attended, but also the most successful. Dancing and games high lighted the evening. Prizes were awarded to winners in dancing and game contests. The auditorium was decorated with homemade decorations. Refreshments cons isted of punch and cookies, and were served by the students' mothers. A Christmas grab bag conclud ed the evening. Chorus Presents 'Sound of Christmas' Tonite The Plattsmouth High Concert Choir and small groups will pre sent their annual Christmas pro gram tonight at 7:30 in the high school auditorium. The concert, called the "Sound of Christmas", will feature both sacred and secular music. The tickets, which may be pur chased at the door, are 50 cents and 25 cents for adults and chil dren, respectively. In 1881, King so'd his sfore to W. Jenkins who lived a half mile south. Jenkins decided the town wasn't complete without a recre ation center so he tore down the old store and moved the lumber to his home where he put up a new store with a dance hall on the second floor. He put a dam across the creek and put up a mill with an over shot wheel. There wasn't enough water to keep the dam filled so Mr. Jenkins would grind one day then wait 3 for the water to fill in the mill pond. By 1882, we find that Eight Mile Grove had a physician, Dr. Root, who also served as post master. Ross Morrow was Justice of the Peace and led the town's fife and drum corps. By 1881, the town had also acquired a dress maker, Julia Jenkins. Mrs. S p a n g ler remembers hearing about horse thieves at Eight Mile Grove. One time two horses were stolen from Captain Isacc Wiles and one from John Snyder. A posse captured one man who betrayed his two com rades and they were dragged from the attic of a farm house. Posse and prisoners returned to the Eight Mile Grove Church where, after a brief trial, all elected by vote of the student " No Objection To Assessments Special assessments to cover cost of construction of street im provements in Districts 151 and 15212 Street from 4th to Oak mont and paving in Ideal Heights Addition were levied Monday night by the City Council after an adjustment and equalization hearing at which no objection to the proposed assessments was raised. No written objection was 're ceived either. Owners of properties assessed now have 50 days from Dec. 15 in which to pay the total assess ment without interest or to pay the first of 10 annual install ments, also interest-free. After the 50 days, the assess ments will be certified to the County Treasurer and levied to gether with annual taxes. THE WEATHER Dec. 14, 15, 16, 17, 1961 Date High Low Prec. Thursday 14 0 .15 Friday ..' 18 0 .00 Saturday 26 24 .00 Sunday 28 18 tr. Forecast: Cloudy, windy. High in mid-30's. Possible snow to night. Sun sets tonight at 4:56; rises Tuesday at 7:45 a.m. i three were hanged. According to Mrs. Spangler one of their tombstones is still there clearly marked "horse vhief." Mrs. Spangler was the sixth of Peter Perry and Catherine Glenn's 11 children. One sister, Etta, married Steve Barker. Their daughter Mae now lives in Murray. Lee married Will Cook and' moved to Elmwood. Glenn married Addle Pitman. Their daughter-in-law, Alice Po' lock is a well-known Plattsmouth citizen and is influential in the county historical society. Ethel and her husband, Chas. (C. D.) Spangler, have two chil dren Everett and Margaret. The other chi:dren are Walter, John, Charles, Pearl (Mrs. Sam Unland), V e r n e r, Catherine (Mrs. Earl Cole and Manota (Mrs. Albert Lang). Peter Perry was a respected Grove citizen, being a real work er in that church, but he was best known for his good humor and his love of a joke. His oldest son, Walter attended Peru State Normal School alone with a friend, John Ruby. Occa-j PARCELS APLENTY Postmaster Vern Hen sionally Mr. Perry would drive j dricks of Plattsmouth stacks up another Christ down and bring them home. One! mas package just one of many and many such (Continued onPaee i) I stacks the Post Office has handled this t'hrist- Courthouse To Close at 4 p.m. Friday, Dec. 22 The Cass County Courthouse wi'l close at 4 p.m. Friday, Dec. 22, instead of the usual 5 p.m., so that the County Officials, their Deputies ar.d Clerks can have the!r annual Christmas party. The Courthouse, ex-ept fori County Court, will be closed frcm Friday at 4 p m. until the regular opening hour - Tuesday. County Court is open Saturday mornings. Cforistsraas Mas! Rush its Peak Have you noticed the Christ mas rush of ma 1 at your house or p'ace of business? Terrific, isn't it.' Now, multiply it by several thousand and pic ture a handful of men buried in the result. . That's the picture at the Plattsmouth Post Cffice and at most Post Offices thesa days. The past weekend, Christmas mail volume h.'t a peak hare and was expected fo hold at about that level for several hectic days. Postmaster Vern Hendricks listed thesa statistical notes in a moment's lull (before the day's work began): "The dollar value of stamp sales Dec. 16 was the largest one day sales recorded in the .history of the Post Office here. "The volume of incoming letter-sized mail the first 16 days of . December increased 9.2 per cent over the same period last year. (No record was kept of the volume of local drops this year or last.) "Cancellations for the first 16 days this month increased 11.2 per cent over the same period last year. "The volume of incoming par--el post packages increased from Dec. 1 to 16, 34.8 per cent over the same period last year." Despite the increased volume, the local PO force and special rush-time employes are keeping abreast of the job, Hendricks said. Deliveries on routes are being fitted to suit the occasion. Gen erally, once-a-day delivery has handled it, sometimes delayed a bit to get the entire day's volume in one delivery. A man is on full-time duty delivering parcel nost, beginning before 8 a.m. daily. What's the future hold this hectic week? The instruction for Post Offices is "to get every piece of mail delivered before quitting Saturday." There will be no delivery or window service Sunday or Mon day but special delivery, gift packages and perishables will be delivered, Hendricks said. . ' ,' ' ' j I . . , ; - . , , vt - - ' I fCS I iJf" KSLf.:-- '. .. . i " I , 't '.'J if ,"r""-TV' . I 3 I'- ' ' pjl.;. fJ- " ' ' ' ' 1 ' " I ""- It ' , . Vi ' I , I"- --' V""'" . ' . ' "... , , . . s . v,-iXmr. . ; . F . i.. . :t V , ' V .... - ' V v.. x- . ' -Vij f- . ;; : ' 'i v ..- ;. 'i 1 ' ' . v. i. K - - ' ?t " m - . ! THE $64 DOLLAR QUESTION This young lad ponders the Yuletide question deluxe, "And what do you want Santa to bring you this Christmas?" Santa holds personal audiences with young admirers at Santa Land, sponsored by Plattsmouth's Chamber of Commerce. To see Santa, come to downtown Plattsmouth. Improvement of Road Proposed Possibility of surfacing the Cedar Creek (Cemetery) Road was discussed Friday night by the City Council.. The Council then passed a mo tion a u t horizing Henningsen, Durham and Richardson to make a preliminary estimate of con struction cost, providing the County Board of Commissioners will declare the road extending west from the Highway 73-75 by pass a part of the county's sec ondary road system. The latter move is necessary to make the portion of the road inside the city eligible for fed eral matching urban road funds. A representative of the Omaha engineering firm said the preli minary estimate would be made for the city without cost while the project is in the proposal stage. Ray Story and Francis Casey brought the matter of improve ment of the Cedar Creek Road before the Council. They showed a proposed route and discussed with the Council possibilities for acquiring right-of-way. mas season. Hondiicks reports parcel post coming volume year's Dec. 1-16 Cedar Creek to Council They said the State Dept. of Roads which administers the fed eral matching program ls'hohi ing accumulated $24,600 in urban matching funds allocated to Plattsmouth. They also said there is a chance other funds, unused by other urban commun ities and to be realocated,' could be had. Matching Is on a 50-50 basis. It is thought a 24- or 26-foot paving with side ditches might be acceptable by federal stand ards if the project can be ob tained, although the Federal Bu reau of Roads sometimes insists on 45-foot curb-and-gutter con struction for in-city projects. Casey said he and Story would approach the County Board about having the road added to the secondary system and would also ask whether the County would be interested in improving the road west to the Cemetery. COMMISSION MEETING The Cass County Board of Commissioners is meeting at the Courthouse here today and Tuesday. It's the regular second meeting of December. nearly 35 per cent above last volume. Roeber Heads 4-H Council The Cass County 4-11 Council has chosen a new 4-H chalrmun. Leonard Kocber of Ashland, was elected to this office at the un nual meeting of the Council. Mr. Roeber is well qualified for this position, having served as a precinct council member several years from South Bend precinct. He also has been a 4-11 leader and equally important the Roeber family have been an ac tive 4-il fami:y lor several years. Mrs. Forrest Engelkerneler of Louisville was elected io a two year term as vice chairman of the Council. The other members of the 4-H Executive Committee of the Council are John Knabe, . Ne hawka, Mrs. Clarence Stohl mann, Louisville, and Mrs. Har o.d Meislnger, Weeping Water, Mrs. Emil Koukal Dies at 63; Funeral Tuesday Mrs. Emil Koukal, 63, a life lor.g resident of the Plattsmouth commun'ty, died Friday at St. Catherine Hospital in Omaha after an illness ot four years. Funeral services will be Tues day at 10 a.m. at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church with the Rt. Rev. Msgr. Joseph Przu dzlk officiating. Rosary will be tonight at 8 p.m. at Sattler Funeral Home. Burial will be in Holy Sepul chre Cemetery. Mrs. Koukal (Edythe Genev lve) was born here Sept, 8. 1898, daughter of Joseph and Eliza beth Mockenhaupt Kelly. She was married Jan. 29, 1925, at Council Bluffs to Mr. Koukal. He survives along with daug hters Mrs. Harold Peterson Jr. and Mrs. Donald March, both of Plattsmouth; nine grand children; sister Mrs. Charles Ault, Plattsmouth; and brother Ed Kelly, South Bend. She was preceded in death by her parents and a sister, Anna. Mrs. Koukal was a member of St. John's Church and the Altar Society. Fire Fund $1,404 Now The current and continuing voluntary drive for funds to purchase more lifesaving and firefiehtine eauinment. for tho Plattsmouth Volunteer Fire De partments use in this area to day reached $1,404.50. New contributions totalling $205 include: $25 Riverview Nursing Home. $10 Mrs. Frank Schuldice. Dr W V. Ryan, Mom's Cafe. Robert Mann. Geo. Smith Clothing Store. $7 John F. Wehrbein. $5 Mrs. Harvey Gamer. Mr. and Mrs. John Altsehaffl. Mr and Mrs. Glen McClure, Lloyd Burd c (Omaha), Mr. and Mrs. Herb S. Brown, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Herb- ster, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Kreici, Fern McMaken, Louis Naeve, Mr and Mrs. Melvin Mor'tz, Mr. and Mv. Pqlnh H. Kliinpsin Mr. and Mrs. Glenn Bethel, B. B. Shan hoitz, Mr. and Mrs. Art We:en kr.mp. Verna and Harriett Goos, Josephine Warga and Antonia Vanek. $3 Mrs. E. J. Lutz, Mr. and Mrs. Del Hcedum, Mrs. J. A. Cupwvll, Mr. ard Mrs. Faye Spidell. Fred and Marilyn Tesch $1 Mr. and Mrs. Ellsworth E. Tay lor, Jennie Gray, Mrs. Ed. Tsch irrrn. Ralph M. Wiles, Art OU Miss Thyra Baumpart, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Vindm'k'i, Mr. and Mrs. C. A. J:mn.son Mr. tmd M-". Joe Lochman, Mr. and Mrs. Leonard John, Mr. and Mrs. Rox W. Coen, Mr. and Mrs. Howard Reckard, Mr. and Mr.s. Ralph Gan.srmer. $1 Mabel Cummins Elizabeth Hirz, Mr. and Mr.s. J.e Winkler. TRI CK HITS THITK A 1955 Ford truck driven bv Ocortrr B. Rixter of Omaha for Cont;nertal Bikiiv Co.. of Om aha, hit a parkd 11 Chevrolet truck owned by Tiekotter Con struction Co. of Piatt siumM1' Saturday about 9:15 a.m. on 4'h Street near 1st Avenue. Damage was about $75 to the Ford, about $235 to the parked truck.