Nebraska Life Magazine July-August 2023 by Flagship Publishing

JULY/AUGUST 2023

TASTY, FR ESH & FUN NEA R NEBRASK A CITY

Savor the farm-fresh produce and baked treats at Union Orchard. Bring the kids for pick-your-own fruit and pumpkins, plus monthly events held in our large pavilion. Sample a wide variety of Nebraska wines, hard ciders, and seasonal cocktails in our tasting room. Open year-roun d

2023 EV EN TS

Music Under The Stars

7pm | June 24 • July 29 • Aug. 12

New Moon Campfire

7pm | June 17 • July 15 • Aug. 19

Applejack Festival

8am-6pm | Sept. 15-17

The Taste of Applejack

8am-6pm | Sept. 23-24

Check the events section of our Facebook page for information on bands and speakers

JULY/AUGUST 2023

FEATURES

24 Woody’s Airboat Tours

Nothing says “Nebraska” quite like spending summer weekends airboating on the Platte River. One Fremont duo has turned their way of life into work, but relishes the river life more than the money. Experience the laidback lifestyle and dive in.

Story by Cheyenne Rowe

Photographs by Amber Kissner and Joshua Hardin

Healing Lavender

A family-run lavender farm in western Nebraska has promoted healing for owner Stephanie Anderson by giving her an outlet to grow a new passion project into a thriving business. Stop in and smell the lavender in this sweet-smelling tale.

Story by Megan Feeney

Photographs by Valerie Mosely

40 O utlaw Trail Scenic Byway

Pack up your road-trip essentials and take this 231mile drive along Nebraska’s Highway 12 from Willis to Valentine. While there might not be any old-time outlaws in these parts, we reckon the history in Ponca, a good burger in Butte, Nebraska’s tallest waterfall at Smith Falls State Park and the scenic Missouri and Niobrara rivers might have stories to tell.

By Cheyenne Rowe

74 Glacier C reek Prairie

Native prairie grasses, wildflowers and the accompanying zen they create are present in this 525-acre space in northwest Omaha. A pair of prairie pros are trying their best to get it back to what it once was, and to let it be a space for people to enjoy.

Story and photographs by Becky McCarville

78 S ummer Sunsets

This time of year is one of the best for staying awake and experiencing the magic of Nebraska sunsets. Sit back, relax and check out this photographic collection of summer sunsets submitted by subscribers all over the state.

By Cheyenne Rowe

Your everyday life deserves high-quality care, and Columbus Psychiatry Clinic is here for you.

At Columbus Psychiatry Clinic, your mental health is adults and seniors and provide medication management, psychotherapeutic services, psychological testing and counseling services.

The clinic’s patients have a wide variety of concerns, including but not limited to the following:

• Depression.

• Anxiety.

• Personality disorders.

• Substance abuse and addiction.

• just the right clinician for them. When you call us, our

Additionally, if you start seeing a clinician and they seeing another clinician, they can connect you with the right person.

Above all, Columbus Psychiatry Clinic uses evidencebased medicine to support our patients. No matter what we do, we make sure there is always science behind any approach we use.

To learn more about our services or to make an appointment, call our

Mitchell, pg. 64

Scottsbluf, pg. 88

Big Springs, pg. 32

Valentine, pg. 40, 78

Norden, pg. 40

Naper, pg. 40

Butte, pg. 40

Gross, pg. 40

Monowi, pg. 40

Lindy, pg. 40

Crofton, pg. 40

Bow Valley, pg. 40

Spencer, pg. 40

Niobrara, pg. 40

Maskell, pg. 40

Custer County, pg. 64

Gothenburg, pg. 14

Chase County, pg. 14

McCook, pg. 14

DEPARTMENTS

North Loup, pg. 64

Lexington, pg. 64

11 Editor’s Letter Observations on the ‘Good Life’ by Assistant Editor Cheyenne Rowe.

12 Mailbox Letters, emails, posts and notes from our readers.

14 Flat Water News & Trivia

Memorial Stadium celebrates 100 years in documentary style, the 6th Floor Gallery in McCook celebrates worldly art, a look at the Pony Express, a pledge to “Drive 25” for the safety of children and a look at the life of writer Wayne C. Lee. Plus: Feel the rumble and see if your Nebraska railroad knowledge is on track. Answers on page 71.

50 Kitchens

Enjoy the taste of summer with this trio of poolside pickins that are easy to make and customize for picky eaters and perfect for your next party.

55 Poetry

Country roads take us home, as well as on adventures. A dirt road brings one poet back to his roots in a farming valley; a paved highway instills a sense of freedom; and cows come out to play.

64 Traveler

The Old West Balloon Fest in western Nebraska fills the sky with color, Nebraska City’s Applejack Festival ushers in the fall season, the Junk Jaunt ushers guests across the state in search of the best deals and Nebraska’s Passport program is back in action.

86 Naturally Nebraska

Alan J. Bartels recasts his love for fishing after years of no bites in his hobby. He’s got the time to enjoy this summer staple, and a new fishing buddy to help keep him encouraged, but do the fish take the bait?

88 Last Look

Photographer Alan Nash used a drone to document the historic Big Boy 4014 locomotive on its journey across Nebraska.

Ponca, pg. 40

Willis, pg. 40

Fremont, pg. 24

Omaha, pg.14, 74

Lincoln, pg.14

Nebraska City, pg. 64

canoe rests along the Niobrara River at Berry Bridge in the Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge.

PHOTOGRAPH BY BARBARA JOHNSTON

Above: Lucas Kotschwar, Danelle McCollum, Hawk Buckman

7: Valerie Mosley, Jorn Olsen

The Best Assets to Leave CHILDREN AND CHARITY

August

This is your opportunity to enrich its

We’re asking you to consider leaving just five percent of your assets to your favorite Nebraska hometown or to Nebraska Community Foundation to benefit all of our communities. When we all leave five, our hometowns thrive!

Scan to learn about the tax implications of some of the most common inherited assets.

PHOTO

OLIVIA KONERT PHOTOGRAPHY

JULY/AUGUST 2023

Volume 27, Number 4

Publisher & Editor

Chris Amundson

Associate Publisher Angela Amundson

Assistant Editor

Cheyenne Rowe

Photo Editor Amber Kissner

Design

Karie Pape, Rebecca Velazquez, Hernán Sosa

Advertising

Marilyn Koponen, Stephanie Kanai Griess

Subscriptions

Lea Kayton, Katie Evans, Janice Sudbeck

Nebraska Life Magazine

c/o Subscriptions Dept. PO Box 270130

Fort Collins, CO 80527

1-800-777-6159

NebraskaLife.com

Subscriptions are 1-yr (6 issues) for $25 or 2-yrs (12 issues) for $44. Please call, visit NebraskaLife.com or return a subscription card from this issue. For fundraising and corporate rates, call or email subscriptions@nebraskalife.com.

ADVERTISE

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CONTRIBUTE

Send us your letters, stories, photos and story tips by writing to us, visiting NebraskaLife.com/contribute or emailing editor@nebraskalife.com.

Awed by the Outlaw Trail

IRECENTLY HAD the pleasure of traveling Nebraska’s Outlaw Trail Scenic Byway (Highway 12) from Willis to Valentine as part of a story for this issue. Despite being over 600 miles round-trip, including my travel to and from home in Central City, it felt like a short jolt of Nebraska’s beauty.

It felt like I only scratched the surface of what lies underneath these towns in northern Nebraska, and the people in them.

Now, I’m familiar with parts of this section of our state, but only really around the Sparks and Valentine area. So, seeing places like Ponca, Crofton, Niobrara and all the towns in between was a special treat. I was greeted by wonderful volunteers, eager to share the best history in Ponca at the Adams House Museum and the Cook Blacksmith Shop. I was also treated like family Butte at the Firehouse Bakery and Cafe. Really, anywhere I went I was welcomed with open arms. But that wasn’t any big surprise.

What did catch me was the scenery. I was awe-struck by just how beautiful that part of the Cornhusker State really is. There were a number of times I pulled over just to take in the view. My heart soared as I crested tall hills and was greeted with the sights in the valleys below. Looping rivers, sun-kissed emerald grasses and a beautiful blue sky was all I needed to keep pushing on.

It also wasn’t difficult to let my imagination wander and daydream (safely) about what the scenes would have been like in the days of Jesse James, authentic Native American settlements and the “western frontier.” I wonder if those eager pioneers would have felt similar to the way I did while traveling through what would someday be the Nebraska I know and love.

In the Sparks and Valentine areas I excitedly explored Smith Falls and the towns themselves. A younger Cheyenne spent one week over the summer, for roughly 12 years consecutively, on an eye-opening mission trip in the northern Nebraska/south-ern South Dakota area. While we helped out on the Pine Ridge Reservation, I found faith in the hills there, and our annual trips tubing the Niobrara and visiting Nebraska’s tallest waterfall was all part of that. I have so many fond memories of this area that it proved hard not to get sentimental while watching a group of teenagers dunk their heads under the ice-cold streams falling from the top of Smith Falls.

They don’t offer that mission trip through my Omaha church anymore, but it sticks around in my brain and surfaces at least once a year to remind me of just how blessed I am to live in such a beautiful state and be surrounded by authentic, faithful and beautiful people.

I firmly believe that the experience of the mission trips in my youth may not have been as reformative for my beliefs had I not enjoyed it so much from beginning to end – all the sunburns and sandy feet included. So I owe northern Nebraska, the towns along the Outlaw Trail and the memories they hold in history (and in my heart) a big, “Thank you!”

Cheyenne Rowe Assistant Editor editor@nebraskalife.com

Emma Bullerman

MAILBOX

Excellent edition

When my May/June 2023 issue of Nebraska Life arrived in my mailbox and I saw that cover picture of the dilapidated house – white paint almost completely peeled off, the sun rays glinting off the back porch roof extending into the overgrown grasses, all against that vast blue sky with clouds – I had to get it in the house as quickly as I could and sit down (“Abandoned But Not Forgotten”).

I was not disappointed. I loved the pictures of the old worn-out buildings in such gorgeous and vast Nebraska settings! The captions for each photo captured the beauty of each picture – the word exquisite comes to mind. Who ever thought abandonment could be so beautiful? Eklund’s and Knoell’s personal stories were equally captivating. These photos and the story reminded me, again, of why I love Nebraska so much.

I enjoyed all the articles in this issue and was especially delighted to see the piece on Laura (and Grant) Wilson (“In the Tractor and Online”). Farm women have many skills, are very knowledgeable, and if they are married, are tremendous assets to their husbands. They may be older, or they may be, as the article demonstrated, younger. They may have inner beauty, outer beauty, or both, but one thing they all possess is the love of the farm.

Judy Lorenzen Central City

Personal history hunt

My husband and I enjoy Nebraska Life. The photography is excellent, and we particularly liked the article entitled “All that Remains” published in your (May/June 2023) issue.

This story of “days gone by” was truly interesting. Many of my relatives and I have spent time cemetery hopping and gaining information on tombstones about our ancestors. Names and dates have helped us fill in the gaps when writing our heritage for generations to come.

Sandie Caldwell Lincoln

Love, past and present

This month’s (May/June 2023) issue juxtaposing the fading history of the homesteaders (“All That Remains”) with the electronics of today’s farms (“In a Tractor and Online”) was just great.

I am a long-time reader of the magazine, and it means a lot to me. I am 91 years old, grew up in Nebraska and married a girl from Nebraska. My family and my wife’s family both homesteaded in Nebraska in the 1860s. I graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1953.

As a chemical engineer my work led me on a path away from Nebraska. When the time comes, I will return, and I will be buried next to my wife, along with four generations of both families, in Nebraska. Until that time comes, I will look forward to the next edition of your magazine.

Reed H. Belden Lexington, Virginia

Grateful greetings

I am writing to say how grateful I am to my brother and sister-in-law (Rod and Colleen Schmidt) who have given me a gift subscription for many years. I read this wonderful magazine from cover to cover.

My favorite parts are the recipes, historical articles, and up-to-date news of the great state of Nebraska, including the highlights of special events. I also find the advertising laid out nicely and appreciate the information.

Sandy Rupp Scottsdale, Arizona

Eagerly awaiting

We thoroughly enjoy the many insightful and Nebraska-related history stories that you publish. Most of the photography is also spectacular.

We have traveled to all of the states and many countries but are always proud to read the stories about our home state and what makes it special to us and fellow Nebraskans.

Ed Ramspott Blair

Missions aligned

We of the Madison County Historical Society look forward to each issue of Nebraska Life. We check the featured articles for examples of topics we have in the Madison County Museum.

We treasure the “Madison’s Next-door Heroes” story you included in the September/October 2016 issue. John Orlowski, Jesse Orlowski, Fire Chief Tim Reeves, Connie Herz, Shannon Albracht, etc., are still very active on the Madison Volunteer Fire/Rescue crew today.

The “Firefighters Volunteer at Kearney Museum” article in May/June (2023) issue is an example keeping us up to date. “Abandoned But Not Forgotten,” “All That Remains” and the trivia section fit right into the mission of the Madison County Historical Society.

Marilyn Moyer Madison County Historical Society Madison

Comstock connection

Reading the article on the Comstock Windmill Festival (Traveler, May/June 2023) brought back wonderful memories of attending the year that Brad Paisley was on stage.

As the program was closing out, little by little the windmills began to turn. It was truly an experience that could only happen in the Nebraska Sandhills.

Another side to this article, Henry Nuxoll, the founder of the festival, and his brother Gunter were students when my former husband was principal in Sargent.

Sandi Rost Verona, Wisconsin

Central City memories

In the March/April 2023 issue of Nebraska Life, you wrote an article about The State Theater in Central City (“Small-town Theater, Big Screen Benefit,” Flat Water News).

I very much enjoyed that article. My grandparents, uncle and his family lived in Central City. I grew up in Omaha, but every 4-6 weeks we would spend a weekend in Central City and Clarks where my mom’s parents lived. My grandpa Ray Gibson was the Central City cop for many years, sitting in his car in town to catch the speeders. My dad’s twin brother, Whitie Gibson, was Merrick County sheriff and then mayor for many years there.

My parents are buried in the Central City Cemetery along with many other family members. Mom and Dad often talked about retiring in Central City, but my dad died suddenly at age 47, so that never came to be.

It comes as no surprise to me that the theater remained open and run by volunteers – that’s the kind of people Central City is home to.

Nancy Gibson Heil Sonoma, California

DulyNoted

The letter “Rabbit Tales” in the May/ June 2023 issue was not penned by Kent Schroeder, but was actually authored by subscriber Sharon Woolsey of David City. We regret the error.

Green rock thoughts

You do a fantastic job with your magazines. Though we’re a bit behind in reading them, I was interested in your UFO article (“Is Anyone Out There?”) in your January/February 2023 issue. I remember the other article a few years ago and the curiosity about the “green rock.”

I grew up in the McCook and Stockville area in the 1950s and early ’60s and remember a little stone house in Stockville owned by John Howe, an elderly gentleman who was well known as an adventurer. There was a truck load pile of the green rock in his front yard that he’d hauled home from one of his ventures.

I have a large piece of this green rock as well as a smaller one which were passed down to me by an old family friend who had known Mr. Howe. Both have the white “bubble” inclusions. Aside from knowing they originated from John Howe’s place, no one knew or remembered where he got them.

Mr. Howe called it “agarite,” but I’m unable to find much on that name. If you Google “green volcanic glass with white bubbles” there is a picture of what looks like mine.

Gene Covey Granby, Colorado

SEND YOUR LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Please send us your letters and emails by August 15, 2023, for possible publication. One lucky winner selected at random will receive a free 1-year subscription renewal. This issue’s winner is Reed Belden of Lexington, Virginia. Email editor@ nebraskalife.com or write by mail to the address at the front of this magazine. Thanks for reading and subscribing!

Noteworthy news, entertaining nonsense

Home of the Huskers celebrates 100 years

BY TOM HESS

For its 100th anniversary, Memorial Stadium in Lincoln will be the star of a documentary airing across Nebraska.

The documentary’s title, “In The Deed The Glory: Memorial Stadium,” quotes from one of the most famous phrases in Cornhusker lore. “In the deed the glory” is the last line of an inscription on the southwest corner and west stadium facade of the athletic complex:

“Not the victory but the action; Not the goal but the game; In the deed the glory.”

When celebrated Cornhusker running back Roy Helu Jr. would blaze past the secondary of Mizzou or Kansas State in home games at Memorial, scoring 28 touchdowns in four seasons, Gavin Felix watched from Memorial’s stands.

Now Felix is producing Memorial’s highlight reel. He’s a 12-year employee and director of TV production for Nebraska Public Media. He’s also the son of Carla Prange Felix, a Hastings TV anchorwoman in the 1980s.

In producing the documentary, Felix

and his team found so much fresh material on the stadium that the original film had to be cut down from nearly two hours. The show can’t exceed 57 minutes, 30 seconds.

One story that intrigued the production team most involved Gate 20. From the beginning, the gate was meant to display plaques of Nebraskans who served and died in WWI. The builders commissioned Gutzon Borglum, designer of Mount Rushmore, to create the plaques. The team discovered that Borglum was dismissed from the project because he never completed the

Located in Lincoln, Memorial Stadium is celebrating 100 years of life and love (of football) in 2023. To commemorate the occasion, Nebraska Pubic Media is airing, In The Deed The Glory: Memorial Stadium, a documentary centered on the history of the site, in August.

Prange Aerial Photography

FLAT WATER

job. It wasn’t until 2018 that plaques were installed as intended.

For Gavin, the emotional climax of the film comes at the end when Bob Ripley, retired resident historian for the Nebraska state Capitol, reads a quote from 19th century British writer John Ruskin, describing the enduring power of architecture:

“Let it be such work as our descendants will thank us for; and let us think, as we lay stone on stone, that a time is to come when those stones will be held sacred because our hands have touched them...”

That’s how Gavin feels about Memorial Stadium and the generation that gifted it to the people of Nebraska – thankful.

Nebraska Public Media will premiere the hour-long documentary on Aug. 13, at 7 p.m. (Central).

The home of Husker footall has had a number of major upgrades over its century of life. The documentary offers fans a trip back in time and opportunities to see Memorial Stadium transform and grow.

Gothenburg Pony Express stop rides on

BY JOSHUA HARDIN

“Wanted: young, skinny, wiry fellows not over eighteen. Must be expert riders, willing to risk death daily. Orphans preferred.”

The Pony Express used these words on a poster seeking potential horseback postal carriers. Young men could apply for a job at the company’s home stables in St. Joseph, Missouri, to earn $25 per week delivering mail on a cross-county route to Sacramento, California. The journey was fraught with potential perils including inclement weather and Native American attacks.

At least 38 stations in Nebraska supported the Pony Express, which operated from April 3, 1860, to Oct. 26, 1861. Few remnants remain of the structures used during this time, but Gothenburg is home to two original stations.

The most famous, the Sam Machette Station, is also a museum and gift shop. The original building existing along the route’s

trail was disassembled log-by-log, moved from its original location and reassembled in its current spot at Ehmen City Park in 1931.

The station exterior is always accessible for exploration while the interior is open

from April 3 through Oct. 24. Local residents, including volunteers from the Gothenburg Pony Express Association like Brent Block, have kept the building open to the public since the 1950s. Admission is free.

University of Nebraska Archives

The Sam Machette Station, a stop once located a long the Pony Express, is now located in Ehmen City Park in Gothenburg. The museum is open through October 24.

Joshua Hardin

McCook gallery paints global picture

BY LAURYN HIGGINS

McCook was founded in 1882 to serve as a railroad center halfway between Denver and Omaha, connecting communities near and far. And though time has certainly passed, one local couple is keeping that spirit of connection alive and well through contemporary art.

Nestled inside the top floor of the Key stone Business Center is the 6th Floor Project, a gallery filled with just a fraction of Chad Graff and his wife, Joann Falken

The 6th Floor Project gallery offers global artistic views, like this piece by Ike E. Morgan.

Lucas Kotschwar

photography, hand-woven baskets and art collected throughout the couple’s life. It’s a kaleidoscope of colors, designs and materials. It’s filled with benches pounded out of metal, abstract and realistic paintings of life in Nebraska, felt creations and faces carved into scrap pieces of wood.

“We’ve collected work we love, visually and narratively, and from artists we’ve often had the privilege to meet and to learn and appreciate where their work comes from,” Graff said. “Art moves us; it informs our understanding of people and the world. It sounds like a cliche, but it’s true: We can’t imagine our lives without art.”

Service. The couple later moved to Oakland, California.

Together they renovated their West Coast home and an apartment in Paris, and traveled the world meeting local artisans and collecting along the way. But in 2018, when Graff’s nephew, Jared, showed them the empty sixth floor space, their goal became clear. It was time to bring their collection home to McCook and share it with others.

After a quick hit of some Nebraska elbow grease, the gallery was open. It now serves as a place for locals, students, educators and visitors to explore a small slice of the world of art and what it has to offer. And that’s the way Graff and Falkenburg intended it to be.

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The pair, both natives of Nebraska (he from McCook and she from Harrison), began collecting in the early 1990s, when they lived on the Navajo Nation reservation in Arizona. There Graff worked as a high school teacher and Falkenburg worked for the Indian Health

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BY LOREM IPSUM DOLOR

“The opportunity to bring art from unexpected, under-appreciated creators to a rural space feels like a perfect fit,” Graff said. “We’ve always been humbled by artists we’ve met, and it’s an honor and an amazing experience to share their work with new audiences.”

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New from University of Nebraska Press and

FLYOVER FICTION

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These human-like sculptures by Latefa Noorzai delight guests with whimsy.

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The 6th Floor Project is open by appointment, as well as Thursday evenings and Saturday afternoons this summer. Call or text (308) 340-7854, or e-mail 6thfloormccook@gmail.com.

A sign to tap the brakes

BY TOM HESS

The year was 1998. Omaha’s C Street ran like a rollercoaster through the Westwood Heights neighborhood. The parallel Union Pacific rail line rumbled at all hours, though it was the fast-paced action on the pavement that had one resident worried to the point of action.

In his home at a crest of the street, Tom Everson watched from his front window as vehicle after vehicle flew by. These metal beasts were traveling much faster than the posted speed limit of 25 miles an hour. Everson felt concern for the safety of his own four children, and the lives of others in the community.

Having just left his job as a director at Father Flanagan’s Boys Town, the Omaha

for

Tom Everson was inspired to begin the Keep Kids Alive, Drive 25 campaign thanks to concerns

his daughter, Ern Everson’s, and his other childrens’ safety in their neighborhood.

Wendy Sue Everson

resident was in search of his next calling. Filled with the desire to keep helping youth, lean on his profound faith, and solve this neighborhood traffic issue, a plan quickly came to mind – Keep Kids Alive, Drive 25, a citywide campaign.

As an experiment to get his plan driving in the right direction, Everson posted a “Keep Kids Alive” sign in the grass of his front lawn and watched to see who, if anyone, would pump their brakes in response. It was an informal tally, but he found that the tell-tale brake lights would shine in about 75 percent of passing cars. But was this good enough?

driver behavior. At some point drivers need to be engaged in making roadway and roadside environments safer, rather than relying totally on enforcement, he said. It would be embarrassing to live in a neighborhood that expected or required 24-hour enforcement.

“The signs are a friendly reminder,” Everson said.

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A year later in 1999, the Omaha Police Department conducted a speed study in Everson’s neighborhood. They found that speeds averaged 31 miles per hour, with 17 miles per hour as the lowest speed and 57 miles per hour being the highest.

The Omaha Police Department agreed. This year alone, 25 years after Everson’s campaign began, the department will place 1,500 more “Keep Kids Alive” yard signs across Omaha. These signs will join countless others in 1,700 communities across the United States.

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“We are the solution to the problems we cause,” Everson said. “It’s about who’s coming home to us, and who we’re coming home to.”

Through conversations with neighborhood groups and others, Everson learned important lessons about how to influence

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BY LOREM IPSUM DOLOR

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The Omaha Police Department will place 1,500 more “Keep Kids Alive” signs throughout the city this year.

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Wendy Sue Everson

Wayne C. Lee:

Tales of a Western writer

BY JOE ARTERBURN

Wayne Cyril Lee grew up listening to his mother and father’s first-hand accounts of settling in Chase County in southwest Nebraska in 1887. These family stories sparked a passion and later fueled many of Wayne’s Western novels about settlers, gunslingers, lawmen, outlaws, soldiers, Indians and other men and women who lived and died in the American West. His prolific work reflects upon the harsh realities of settler life in Nebraska.

Lee’s dad, David, was a young man when he moved with his family from Iowa to 3 miles south of Lamar. David’s father died on the journey. His losses continued when his first wife died in childbirth and the baby

went soon after. David married again and had four children, including Wayne, who was the youngest – by a margin.

Chores were quickly passed to Wayne, who stayed home from college to farm and care for his parents. But farming was never his first love.

When a high school English teacher assigned Lee’s class to write about an impossible adventure, he wrote a story about a kid who is transported to another planet after pulling an ordinary looking weed. After a positive response, Lee was hooked.

Lee wrote. After stopping his work to chat with a traveling caravan, Taylor found himself in a six-gun attack against his boss, who wasn’t as genuine as he thought him to be. Lee, pointing right to the heart of old-west grit and pride, continued to paint Taylor as a man with “gumption and dogged courage,” who was tasked to set the scene straight.

He published his first book, Prairie Vengeance, in 1954. It follows Jim Taylor, a hardened ranch hand ready to fight for his life in the great, wide open.

“There was a time in Nebraska when the very mention of the word ‘homesteader’ sent ranchers hands to their gun belts,”

Many of Lee’s dozens of fictional Westerns and nonfiction books still grace the shelves of Nebraska libraries, such as: Wild Towns of Nebraska, and Bad Men and Bad Towns. In total, he wrote 54 books, 700 short stories, more than 400 songs, plays and poems.

The true Nebraskan retired from his work delivering on a mail route in the late 1970s and continued to hammer out books. In 2010, he died at age 92.

SEWARD COUNTY

Wayne C. Lee was a prolific Western writer.

Chase County Museum

FLAGS Parade of SEWARD

Welcoming Visitors to the 4th of July City

East of Seward on Hwy 34

• Features as its focal point a large American flag on a fifty-foot pole. This flag is surrounded by six smaller polesthat display the flags from the five military branches and POW flag

• A walkway extends beyond this focal point and features the ﬁfty state ﬂags on either side

• A special pathway, donated by Don and Barb Suhr, connects the display to the nearby walking trail and features ﬁve territory ﬂags

• Display of all 50 states flags and flags from the five military branches and POW

• Flags lit at night for spectacular viewing opportunity

• Entire display is handicap-accessible and open year round

• Additional donations to assist with maintenance would be greatly appreciated

TRAIN TEST

Check both ways before tackling this trivia. Questions by YOGESH

GENERAL

1 Which famous railroad conglomerate, known widely for its “Armour Yellow” and “Harbor Mist Gray” locomotives, has been headquartered in Omaha since its inception in 1867?

Centered mainly around the famous Bailey Yard, the Golden Spike Tower and the history of the railroad in Nebraska, THIS statewide summer celebration brings railfans of all ages together to celebrate.

Sleek, black and white Norfolk Southern locomotives that frequent central Nebraska and beyond feature THIS animal as part of their current logo.

4 Union Pacific’s main dispatch center at 850 Jones St. in Omaha is named for what 19th century railroad magnate?

5 Kathryn Farmer became the first ever woman in charge of a Class I rail carrier when she was named CEO of BNSF Railway, a wholly owned subsidiary of what Omaha-based holding company?

The Durham Museum

RAUT

BNSF Railway

Omaha’s Union Station was purchased by the City of Omaha after its closing, later becoming The Durham Museum.

7 When the Union Pacific completed spanning Nebraska in July 1866, the fare for passengers was 7.5 cents per mile.

8 Nebraska was so lacking in usable lumber that all Union Pacific trestles were made with wood imported from Minnesota and Michigan.

9 Located halfway between Denver and Omaha, Bailey Yard in North Platte is the world’s largest railroad classification yard.

10 The benchmark for progress on the transcontinental railroad was the 95 degrees W meridian, traditionally the dividing line between the eastern and western United States. When the Union Pacific reached this longitude in October 1866, there was a major celebration near what is now Cozad.

Approximately what percentage of Nebraska’s land was given to railroad companies by federal, state, and local governments?

a. 4%

b. 8%

c. 16%

What three-word term, which titled a TV series, was applied to the temporary towns filled with gambling dens, saloons and brothels that followed the construction of the Union Pacific westward? The first such town sprung up near Fort Kearny in 1866.

a. Hell on Wheels

b. Carnival of Sin

c. Traveling Vice City

Approximately 15 miles long and circumventing the city, the Omaha ____ Line was used to carry passengers and cargo. The line has since been discontinued. What word completes the title?

a. Burlington

b. Train

c. Belt

The Nebraska Railroad Museum is in the process of being moved to a historic depot (listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997) in what Otoe County city?

a. Grand Island

b. Nebraska City

c. Hastings

The locomotives of Nebraska Central Railroad, headquartered in Norfolk, are primarily painted what color?

a. Red

b. Blue

c. Pink

Designed by David Rosales

Nick Adams

story by CHEYENNE ROWE

photographs by AMBER KISSNER AND JOSHUA HARDIN

NOT FAR OUTSIDE Fremont, a turn off the highway presents travelers with a necessary slowdown. Speeds reduce from 60 to 35 mph, with the appearance of a chipped, white speed sign on a crooked steel pole. Big Island Road is a dead-end somewhere down the line, but no one around here is in a rush to turn around anytime soon.

While the Platte River serves as a blooming ecosystem for fish, plants, eagles and other living things, it also fosters another way of life that Nebraskans enjoy. Like the slow roll of the river’s current, the smaller close-knit “river communities” like that which JC Norwood and Tony Hussey call home offer a compact slice of paradise and unique freedom.

Together the pair own and operate Woody’s Airboat Tours on an eastern stretch of the Platte River. They’re about as laid-back and easygoing as the river itself. JC and Tony are easily mistaken for brothers. They live just steps from their favorite waterway – and each other. Guests partaking in a tour are welcomed right into the family, parking in small spaces between JC and Tony’s homes, and walking into the backyard to see the waiting fleet.

Remi and River, a pair of good pups, serve as another welcoming committee. Tony grabs the handle of a cooler filled to the brim with ice-cold waters and makes his way out. His Woody’s T-shirt and koozie, alongside the shiny new sign outside the front of JC’s house and the 10-seater tour boat waiting in the water, make the business look official. JC is dressed much the same, as are the duo’s family and friends, along for the afternoon ride.

The lines between new acquaintance and friend blur just about as quickly as the group piles into the waiting boat. Purple and yellow bench seats are warm against the skin; the sun prepares to set in the hours to come. Nebraska summertime weekends end like this for many in the airboating river community, the group agreed. Sunglasses are donned to protect the eyes and earmuffs keep the sound of the massive engine and aircraft propeller roaring to life at bay.

JC steers the flat-bottomed boat off the bank, and the world melts away.

Tony Hussey and JC Norwood, alongside faithful pup Remi, own and operate Woody’s Airboat Tours behind their neighboring homes along the Platte River near Fremont.

What happens next is somewhat magical. The airboat passengers, and their captains, are forced into a welcomed isolation as waterway travel begins. There is little to hear over the rhythmic humming of the propeller at the back, but the low, even drone of it all doesn’t seem to be a bother. The buzz radiates through the body. Bright glances are shared between guests as navigating a shallow spot causes a quick spray of cold river droplets, but no words are exchanged.

Contentment settles as the wind rockets through unrestrained hair. The breeze cools off passengers too, as a cloudless sky on an open river brings warmth to the skin and soul. “I call it wind therapy,” Tony said. Freedom sinks in as the river turns her shoulders and banks, winding her way

from west to east. Her sides are shored up with pieces of broken concrete and the shells of vintage vehicles, providing periodic breaks from the all-natural views she showcases. Out of the 150 tours that Woody’s guided last year, no two were the same, they said. Sandbars, eagle nests and other sights change regularly.

JC navigates the narrower channels with the finesse of a Formula 1 racer, drifting sideways with little to no effort. After 15 minutes of silent navigation, JC steers closer to a bank and cuts the engine to an idle. He stands from his captain’s chair and points a finger toward the trees. It’s a bald eagle’s nest, complete with young occupants. This same scene plays out at least five times on Woody’s daily tours. JC and Tony know the location (and status) of al-

most every nest along the banks of the river stretch they cruise.

PARKING THE BOAT on a shallow spot, the tanned boat captain kills the engine. Nearby is a tall tree, topped with a pair of stoic eagles. JC and Tony let the party view the eagles in silence for a bit, before chatter picks up and the pair spout off fact after fact about the birds. They’re self-taught on the subject, they agreed, but researched it because they loved the topic so much. And of course, true to the spirit of a Nebraskan proud of their state, it’s all about sharing the experience with their guests.

This is just their way of life, but it’s also a point of pride. Sharing the river with people, who’ve either been in its waters or not, is the highlight of the whole business,

Stephanie Kruse, Ella Belak and Nick Belak enjoy the whipping wind of an airboat tour. Even from the second row, the views are golden.

JC agreed. People leave the shore skeptical and return grinning ear-to-ear.

So, what does the Platte River and river life mean, personally, to the pair? Freedom – plain and simple.

“This is the last free place in this world, I believe,” Tony said, glancing backward at the sun setting over the water at his back.

This feeling of freedom and the culture of river communities, such as those along the Platte River, transcend state boundaries, too. “No matter where we go, river people, they’re all the same,” Tony said.

Freedom spreads her feathers in other ways for JC and Tony on the river, the pair agreed. Last year, the group was returning from a trip up-river when it started raining. They stopped, and some of the passengers decided to take shelter where they could, under seats or elsewhere. A lover of storms, Tony decided to call out to Mother Nature. “Is that all you got?” he called. She answered with hail, he said with a laugh.

Then, of course, there are the sandbar grill parties, Josh Strong explained. Airboaters are known to meet up with 1015 other boats, bring out their grills and lose track of time.

JC Norwood, who also goes by “Woody,” is a pro at navigating the waters of the Platte River. He and Tony Hussey know the locations of a number of eagle nests along the banks, too.

EXPLORE & STAYAWHILE

And who could forget the moment the baby bald eagle learned to fly on the Fourth of July? JC told the story from the edge of his seat.

“You wouldn’t think anything is out here based on the history books,” Tony said. “Then you get out here and you see that Nebraska has just as many eagles as Alaska.” While sitting amongst a small group of

friends after returning from their afternoon tour, JC and Tony are interrupted by the roar of an approaching airboat. It parks on a sandbar just across from the pair’s properties, and the occupants wade through the shallow water of the river to join the group. They are friends, new and old, from somewhere nearby on the channel, with cold drinks and laughter in hand.

From Valley to North Bend, Nebraska has the highest number of registered airboats per capita in the United States, so it’s not uncommon for this kind of thing to happen, JC said. It’s almost always a welcome reception, too.

Idle conversation between friends continues, despite the dipping sun. Even being a weeknight, no one was in a hurry

to go anywhere. The usual hour-long tour took closer to an hour and a half, which isn’t uncommon for JC or Tony unless they have a schedule to adhere to. Talks of a bonfire circled the group, but no firm decision was made. Shoes, and plans, have long since been abandoned.

“There’s no rush on the river,” Tony concluded.

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Treasure hunt 25,000 sq-ft-plus of antiques and collectibles. You’ll find something for everyone at the Aardvark Antique Mall. Lincoln’s best kept secret! Located off I-80 and Exit 405.

PATH TO POSSIBLE

93% of 2022 grads found work or continued their education.

89% of 2022 employed grads are working in Nebraska.

82% of 2022 grads continuing their education are doing so in Nebraska.

Big Springs family finds hope in new harvest

story by MEGAN FEENEY

photographs by VALERIE MOSELY

Lavender fields, lush with pastel purple buds and the sweet fragrance of the flower, are a sight to behold at the Our Lavender Co. farm.

STEPHANIE ANDERSON

jiggles her toddler Emmy on her hip as she helps visitors at Our Lavender Co.’s farm store in Big Springs. Little Emmy frowns and whines, so Stephanie’s dad, Steven Palser, scoops up the little girl and takes her outside to play. Relieved, Stephanie attends to the visitors, a pair of recently retired friends on a summer trip.

The two female tourists peruse shelves lined with lavender eye-pillows and sachets; essential oils and bath bombs; lavender hydrosol, made from distilling fresh cuttings in boiling water; lavender balsamic vinegar, jams and dog treats; lavender lemonade and scent rollerballs, among other offerings. Most of the products are made onsite with Our Lavender Co.’s Nebraskagrown lavender.

Meanwhile, Stephanie’s mother, Peggy Palser, is in the fields, giving another visitor a tour of the farm’s 5-acre lavender-growing operation. Some of the sweet-smelling flower had been harvested just that morning by Peggy, Stephanie and Nicole, Stephanie’s older sister visiting from Minneapolis.

Now in the shade of a barn, Steven and Stephanie’s husband, Josh, watch Emmy and the little girl’s two brothers, Lincoln and Bronx. The trio is driving their play Jeep between rows of lavender.

It’s a mid-July day. The bees buzz lazily around fragrant purple blooms, abundant snapdragons and yarrow. A car zooms down Road 4 in front of the property, passing until it suddenly brakes 100 yards past the main drive. The car’s red lights glow through the dust it stirred. Josh and Steven don’t recognize the vehicle, so they know it

must be another visitor. There are only three houses on this dead-end road.

“Oops. I think Google Maps still shows the place a little farther down,” Steven said.

“I fixed it with Google,” Josh said. “They must be using Apple maps.”

The driver finds a place to turn around and soon pulls into the broad driveway and parks next to the farm’s other visitors. The Palser family’s geriatric yellow Labrador Annie groans to stand, her tail wagging, followed by Olive the beagle puppy who materializes from the purple field. The canines are the first to welcome new guests to the farm – and there have been many.

In many ways, it’s a picture-perfect story of a family business success in Western Nebraska. But like lavender, which prefers gravelly soil, the idea for the farm germinated during a rocky period in Stephanie’s life.

Nicole Palser, Peggy Palser and Stephanie Anderson share a close bond, and group healing, thanks in part to their lavender farm.

include anything from oils and

give the flower buds a once-over before the flower is processed.

Ruslana Kulibaba stocks the shelves with handmade products, which

balms, to bath bombs and olive oil. The Big Springs farm also sells lavender fresh. The young are eager to

Co-owner Stephanie Anderson and her son, Bronx, stand outside the camper-turned-greenhouse that started the family adventure into the lavender business. Stephanie and her mother, Peggy, often cook together using ingredients (like lavender olive oil) from the farm.

HAVING A BABY is supposed to be a joyous time full of love and snuggles and wonderment – that’s the societal expectation, anyway. And when Stephanie had her first child, Lincoln, that’s how it went. But after she and her husband moved from Minneapolis back to rural Nebraska to be closer to her family and the couple had their second child, Bronx, Stephanie

experienced what one out of 10 American women suffer from after giving birth.

The symptoms of postpartum depression include feeling down, exhausted and disinterested, with changes in appetite and even thoughts of death. Making it worse, the normally happy-go-lucky Stephanie felt guilty for feeling this way – she had a beautiful new baby boy, a loving partner

and a family who supported her why couldn’t she just snap out of it?

“I was just wasting away, ” Stephanie said Fortunately, her family recognized she needed help. Stephanie had to discover a way back to herself and her joy Peggy and Steven gutted an old 1970s camper and turned it into a greenhouse for their daughter. They insisted that Stephanie

spend time daily in the greenhouse babying seedlings while they watched the newborn Bronx and his big brother Lincoln “And through that process, God brought me back to life, ” Stephanie said “Here I was, this farmer’s daughter who wanted nothing to do with agriculture, but agriculture saved me. ”

When Stephanie recovered from her postpartum depression, the big-thinking, optimistic woman also returned – with gusto. An article her mother-in-law gave her about lavender farming sparked an idea

In 2019, Stephanie, with the help of her mom and dad, planted an acre of lavender. This drew curiousity from passersby as the purple bush-like plants started blossoming. Though a common flower, lavender is a less common crop. The family had reservations of their own with the venture, but that first year, the lavender grew better than any of them had imagined it would. As Steven and Josh continued farming 2,800 acres of corn – which they manage for Steven’s mother, the 93-year-old matriarch Norma Palser – Stephanie and Peggy started making small-batch lavender products. Nicole helped with packaging, design and the website, from afar.

By 2023, Our Lavender Co. had shipped to all 50 states. The family built a farm store onto the old schoolhouse that Grandpa John had once attended

GRAMMY NORMA HAS arrived for lunch, so the entire family convenes at the farmhouse. It’s the house where Norma’s deceased husband, John Palser, was born, and where Steven and Peggy now live.

Stephanie has made meatballs with lavender balsamic vinegar – the vinegar is one of the few products Our Lavender Co. contracts out – and the savory smell fills the house. After a pre-lunch prayer, everyone digs in. Steven looks around the table and smiles

In his youth, Steven spent a few years living on the Oregon coast, where he helped run the family trucking business. The only good thing that came out of the trucking business out West, he said, was meeting Peggy He didn’t originally want to bring his wife back to Big Springs, but the farming operation only had his dad, two uncles

and one hired man to run it. They needed help, so the couple returned

After his daughters graduated high school and moved to Minneapolis, Peggy and Steven never expected they’d return. When Stephanie did consider it, it wasn’t her idea. Her husband, Josh, talked her into it. Josh was working from home for a big corporation managing technology companies and could work from anywhere. Peggy and Steven told Josh they had a house on the farm if his family wanted to live in it. The young couple discussed it and thought it might be nice to try for a while – it would give their son Lincoln a chance to spend more time with his grandparents, with Bronx on the way

Not long after the move to Nebraska, Josh’s company was absorbed by another one and laid off much of its workforce, including him. Steven invited Josh to farm

with him. Like his father, John Palser, Steven thought farmers could be made from many skill sets.

“Grandpa John was a visionary, ” Peggy said. “My father-in-law felt everyone’s talent could be utilized on the farm. And it wasn’t all behind a tractor ”

Even though he died in 2002, the family very much holds Grandpa John in their hearts. John often expressed the idea of turning parts of the farm into a retreat for city folks to commune with nature –maybe something with horses and cows “I feel like the Lord gave him a vision, ” Peggy said “He would have just loved this lavender farm. ”

Stephanie and Peggy often look around the farm and brainstorm ways to build upon their success, like potentially turning an old pig barn on the property into an additional drying shed. There are un-

used grain bins owned by Norma’s sisterin-law that could potentially be converted into tourist guesthouses.

Lunch is over, but the kitchen is soon sparkling again as the family works together to clear the table, load the dishwasher, wash the pans and wipe down the counters. Steven will take his mother home. Josh has something to fix in the barn. Stephanie needs to return to the store before more customers arrive. Peggy might get some weeding done. Nicole will play with her niece and nephews. Olive the beagle is napping on the floor of the lavender drying room. Outside, Annie the Labrador has found a shady spot to do the same.

The heat of the day has warmed the fields, and the sweet, grassy scent of lavender wafts on a gentle summer breeze.

Fresh lavender from Our Lavender Co., comes in many forms, but always smells sweet. Bundles of fresh-cut stems perfume the air easily.

Between Two Rivers: Outlaw Trail Scenic

Byway

History and home flow together for 231 miles

story by CHEYENNE ROWE

Sights like this one, the sun setting over the Niobrara River, are more than common along the winding Outlaw Trail Scenic Byway in Nebraska.

Jim Talbert/Flickr

SURROUNDED BY ENDLESS

expanses of sea-glass green prairie waves and unmarred blue heavens, Nebraska’s Highway 12, also known as the Outlaw Trail Scenic Byway, bridges the gap between Willis and Valentine with a 231mile stretch of road. The winds roam free across the native Nebraska grasses, farmlands and historic old towns.

Despite having an intimidating name, the Wild West lives on in memories around here. A northern Nebraska lifestyle offers the freedom that comes from carving a new path in the wide-open and making a home – between two rivers.

WILLIS TO BOW VALLEY

On the eastern end of the Outlaw Trail live several smaller towns, with Willis being the official start to it all. Perfectly situated on the crossroads of highways 12 and 20 is Granny’s, a simple diner offering all the homecooked fixins and feelings one could want to fuel up.

It should be noted that some also include Sioux City in the list of towns on the trail, though it is not officially on the highway.

On the journey from Willis to Bow Valley the well-worn pavement winds through the historic hotspot of Ponca. Native Americans once roamed this

Outlaw Trail

land as freely as the mighty Missouri River winds through the countryside to north. The roadside is lush and green, thanks to recent rains. Family farms are frequent, and towering trees serve as windbreaks – though they don’t become thick and frequent until the road winds closer to Ponca.

Ponca itself is home to one of three Nebraska state parks along the trail. The thick groves of trees seem mildly out of place, but not unwanted. Campers enjoy the cooler weather, and park guests buzz around trying their best to learn of the exploration of famous explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, who followed the Missouri River through what later became Nebraska.

Within the quaint town of Ponca, known by tourists for its pharmacy with a real phosphate soda fountain, holds other gems of the past. Quiet streets play host to periodic historical homes, towering in Victorian (or other) styles. Two such spots are most frequently open by appointment only – the Adams House Museum and the Cook Blacksmith Shop.

Veteran tour guide Jackie Coughlin starts her rounds at the 1883 home-turnedmuseum. The drawing room was reserved specially for guests, she explained. The

bear skin rug that rests atop the fainting couch was harvested in nearby Maskell back when bears existed in the area.

And of course, for many of the older residents and visitors to the Adams House, other artifacts within its walls hold special memories of their own childhoods. Take the silver butter dish on the table in the dining room.

Scenic Byway

This famous outlaw, the 16-year-old Jesse James, was a rumored traveler of the area.

Sandhills Journey Scenic Byway

Ponca residents and historical volunteers Don and Jane Andersen examine ledgers, still there from the day their owner walked out, inside a desk at the Cook Blacksmith Shop in Ponca. Farmsteads and barns, like this one between Willis and Ponca, are common sights.

Cheyenne Rowe

Brooke Steffen-Kleinschmit

Guest to the tour and Ponca newspaper reporter Jodie Kilton stopped short to remark that she had memories of stories told about one just like it. Her great-grandmother was the one to host Christmas festivities, where she would churn and serve butter for dinner. She would then sculpt a duck and put it in the butter dish.

“My mom said it always made her so mad, because one of her cousins would grab the butter dish and behead the duck right away,” Kilton said.

After the elder Adams died, their son Floyd built a house next door and was at a loss with what to do with all the space of the other home, so he used the dining room in question (minus a wall or two) to store his boat. Evidence of oil drippage is still present on the hardwood floors.

The Cook Blacksmith Shop, also in Ponca, holds 1800s tools of the trade. Cook just walked out of his shop one day and never returned, volunteer Don Andersen said. Old business ledgers, coals in the forge, a ferriers station and more unique history has since been preserved by volunteers and the City of Ponca.

Continuing the drive past Ponca, travelers pass Newcastle, Maskell (complete with the smallest city hall in the U.S.), Obert, Wynot and Bow Valley.

A few miles down the trail near Wynot is Nissen Wine. With a winery and vineyard located right along the Outlaw Trail, it’s

only fitting they would offer an entire series of wines dedicated to the 1880s outlaws who once roamed the area. Gentle Nebraska breezes and a sweeping view of the vines tempt both oenophiles and casual tasters to savor a glass of Jesse James or Doc Middleton on the veranda.

CROFTON TO BRISTOW

This theme of “home” is a thread commonly found in the northern stretches of Nebraska. Residents along the trail readily reflected that despite some of the towns on the central and western parts of the Outlaw Trail being farther apart in distance, they felt more connected to each other (and their roots) than ever.

The farther westward the pavement stretches, the hillier and more winding the road becomes. While the highway drifts farther from the touches of the Missouri River at the north border of the state, the Niobrara River has yet to meet up with the pavement and stays silently to the south.

Crofton may very well be the starting point of most of the outlawish folklore that gave Highway 12 its infamous name. According to compiled oral stories passed down through generations of residents, the area between Bow Valley and Crofton had seen the likes of Jesse James, Kid Wade and Doc Middleton more than once. Stories of these men, stealing horses and burying their loot while waiting out the law, live in the hearts of several locals.

“We know where he stayed, according to our story,” said Martin Kleinschmit, coowner of the Farmhouse Inn, just steps off Highway 12 outside Bow Valley. His uncle owned the farmland James supposedly stayed on. Of course, there are versions of the same story way to the south, too. But that’s half the fun, Martin agreed.

“(My uncle) said, ‘You can have all the gold that’s there,’ ” he recounted. “I don’t want the gold. I want the hole.’ ”

His uncle had figured he’d probably make more offering the hole the gold was buried in as a tourist attraction than he would from the gold itself. But, of course, no gold was ever found. Instead, Martin lived a simple life on the farm ground under his feet. His parents built the house, now the inn, in 1945, and raised five children there. They worked from an early age, collecting eggs shortly after they could walk, and then eventually milking cows.

Sometime after Martin married Linda, the pair bought the house from his parents and raised their own set of children on the farm, in the same house still. They all ran around barefoot and free, Linda agreed. The farm itself raised organic crops long before there was really a large market for it. When Martin and Linda’s children didn’t share the desire to come back and farm, the parents kept the house and ushered in guests as an Airbnb. It looks just about the same as it did on the inside. The ground is now rented by a family farming business,

The outskirts of Crofton feature pasturelands, complete with cattle brimmed in butter-yellow wildflowers. In Crofton, historic locations like the Argo Hotel, owned by Megan and Frank Marsh. The hotel is rumored to be haunted. Past Crofton, between Verdel and Lynch, is the famous town of Monowi. Monowi has a single occupant, Elsie Eiler.

Beginning Organic Farmers.

Also a place to hang a hat in is the historic Argo Hotel in Crofton. This lovingly refurbished bed and breakfast, run by Frank and Megan Marsh, offers nine themed suites decorated in carefully chosen furnishings appropriate to its 1911 construction. The large porch invites an evening chat with friends, and an outstanding breakfast helps guests greet the day.

The building also has a mysterious feather in its cap: it’s widely rumored to be one of the most haunted buildings in Nebraska.

The roads wind even more as Crofton becomes Lindy, a small town with a population of approximately 20. Spaces between towns are mostly farm ground, showcasing Nebraska’s star commodity. Somewhere between Lindy and Niobrara the ground pitches up in spots, hills becoming more prominent and trees more frequent again. This means that another solid source of water is nearby –the Niobrara River. This gentle snake of a river meets the mighty Missouri near this town. It’s also a popular place for hunting,

Brooke Steffen-Kleinscmit (all)

fishing and outdoor activities. Lindy is also home to a campsite from the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Niobrara State Park is open to wideopen horizons and a considerable amount of rolling prairie land. Wildflowers dot the hillsides, and the valleys stretch on for miles. Fresh air, panoramic views and an

all-encompassing sense of freedom come with the $6 park admission fee. It is easy to stop and imagine days gone by, filled with strong-willed outlaws on horseback and pioneers ready to start their own stories.

In the town of Niobrara are a smattering of places to eat, filled with locals at all times of the day. Life runs at a leisurely

pace, but the food always comes out warm. Jimmy Dean’s Bar and Grill serves a mean cheeseburger and is only minutes from the gas station and the Whitetail River Lodge – a good place to take off your boots and catch some shut-eye.

Horse thief Kid Wade was rumored to have passed through this town once upon a time, as his sister worked in a store there and the family lived in the town for a time after they came to the area from Iowa. He joined up with Doc Middleton at some point in this life, yet he was little concern to his neighbors in Niobrara, according to a written account by Lona Schreier of Verdigre.

Farther still there is Verdel, and Monowi – the famous town of one. Monowi’s sole resident, Elsie Eiler, owns and operates the town’s tavern. This popular spot for lunch features the standard bar vibe and food selection. No complaints are dare given, however. Elsie rules as the town’s mayor, too, with an iron fist.

After Monowi are the towns of Lynch and Bristow. Both are separated by the same expansive and emerald-green hills that populate this area of the Outlaw Trail. Lynch’s claim’s to fame include the Lynn Theater – showcasing the latest movies at a fraction of the cost – and another historical Lewis and Clark campsite.

SPENCER TO BURTON

As the towns along the Outlaw Trail Scenic Byway get farther apart in physical distance, the wide berths of where northern Nebraska residents call “home” easily bridges these gaps. One may call Spencer home, but they have childhood memories stretching north and south to accommodate.

This distance between point A and point B makes residents more appreciative, said 63 County Store owner Stephanie Boettcher of Spencer. “We appreciate things – family and connectivity – more that way,” she said.

The outlaws themselves were present here, too, according to some of the stories told to Boettcher as a child. She has fond memories of tales her great-grandmother, who grew up on the plains near Gross, and told of the rough band of cowboys who rode up to her door one day. She fed them and didn’t ask any questions.

Stephanie Boettcher, owner of the 63 County Store in Spencer, has fond memories of growing up in northern Nebraska along the Outlaw Trail. She has her own outlaw stories.

Stephanie Boettcher

Brooke Steffen-Kleinschmit

“Later on, she found out that it was Jesse James and his gang that she had fed breakfast,” Stephanie said.

Otherwise, the Spencer native said she spent her early years riding her horse through the creek and to town, or helping local cattlemen drive their stock through town. All things she holds near and dear to her heart. “Your history is important, where we came from and what we’ve become.”

Not too far down the highway is Butte, which was setting up for its 75th annual “Pancake Days” celebration in late June. Town members came together to set up booths along main street in preparation for the onslaught of guests. The Firehouse Bakery and Cafe was quiet, however, just before lunch. The location is owned and operated by a few of the volunteer firefighters in town, and the food is quick to douse any hunger.

Picking back up on the Outlaw Trail’s paved highway, those passing through Naper, Mills and Burton will find more cafes, historical markers, twisted creeks and open prairie. The farm ground starts to quickly become sparser, as the pastureland takes over in never-ending waves. Quick stops to any historical location in the area will likely point to an early German settlement that slowly melted into the general population of the town over time.

SPRINGVIEW TO VALENTINE

The final stretch of Nebraska’s Outlaw Trail Scenic Byway, when traveling east to west, is Springview to Valentine. At this point on the journey, the Niobrara River becomes the focus of the surrounding ecosystem, and it is increasingly easy to get lost in one’s imagination while observing the landscape outside the car windows.

Some stretches of the landscape bring views to a stunning high, from atop a hill, where long segments on the nearby river become visible. Despite not being overly deep in most places, the rush of the river’s current has carved out miniature cliffs along its banks. There are larger ones, too, the farther west the road goes, where thousands of years of an unforgiving waterway’s flow has made itself known.

Still, the roots of native trees cling to the sides of these outcroppings with wide and wild roots.

NEBRASKA

Springview is home to the Keya Paha County Historical Society, which posts regular tidbits of history on its Facebook page for the world to see. A recent post depicts the story of the Bruce Mill near Sparks and later Naper.

Pushing on through even farther hills, Highway 12 makes its way through uninterrupted Nebraska countryside. Simple signposts announce passing towns, and minimum maintenance roads dot intersections between mile markers. One such country road, if turned down, will lead travelers to the Norden Bridge.

Bridges like this one are common in the area, as residents, past and present, needed a way to cross the Niobrara River with greater ease than on horseback. After a harrowing few miles south of Norden (using Norden

Avenue) the structure shows its face. Tall and worn canyon-like walls jut skyward from the rushing Niobrara River. A small path leads down to a better viewpoint of the bridge and water. The hum of pollinators and movement of water is all that can be heard.

This new bridge was built in 2016, replacing the original span that was built in 1964, which replaced an even earlier span that was washed away in a spring flood of that year.

From Sparks to Valentine, the Niobrara River shows her face in many ways. She greets travelers with surprise pop ups between hills along the highway, and even along the flat expanses as the terrain mellows out toward the Sandhills.

“I love the transition of terrain,” said

Rhonda Kneifl, a member of the Outlaw Trail Scenic Byway board. “You can just imagine all of the hideouts that the wranglers in the old days would have had.”

This area of Nebraska is home to more than a handful of river outfitters, ready and willing to put a tube with a person and send them floating down the less turbulent stretches of the Niobrara. Tubing and kayaking this stretch of the waterway is a bit of a tradition for a lot of area families, as well as a popular tourist attraction for those from farther away.

Kneifl grew up on the river in the Sparks area, and her parents started their family›s camp and canoe business, Sunny Brook Camp, in 1974. The pair fought to save the Niobrara from being dammed, bringing attention to its scenic valley. Kneifl has been involved in promoting the business, along with being a member of the Outlaw Trail board, from its beginning.

“We have a gentleman who comes to float with us who has brought all of his children and grandchildren to float too,” Kneifl said. “Just to experience it and the river.”

Being set afloat, without any professional help to get unstuck is just another way for visitors to garner a bit of river freedom.

Smith Falls State Park is the final of the trio of state parks along historic Highway 12. It proudly lays claim to Nebraska’s tallest waterfall – Smith Falls – and ushers in groups of eager tourists throughout many of Nebraska’s seasons. Park Superintendent Amy Kucera explained it’s even a sight to behold in the winter. A new walkway and paved sidewalk have improved the experience for those who stop by.

And then there’s Valentine, an official end point to the Outlaw Trail in Cherry County. Aside from being famously known as the “Heart City” and pushing custom Valentine’s Day cards through their postal service, the town also serves as a pit stop to fuel up before camping in the area. The Plains Trading Company, a quaint but well-equipped bookstore, offers a wealth of written Nebraska and native histories. The neighboring ice cream shop isn’t too bad, either.

“To me, it’s almost a step back in time,” Marci Broyhil, area prairie poet said. “Sometimes you come over the top of a hill and feel on top of the world.”

One of the most popular stops along the Outlaw Trail is Smith Falls State Park outside Valentine. This park is home to the tallest waterfall in Nebraska and is a summertime staple.

AJ Dahm

HEADCOPY

POOLSIDE Pickins

Easy go-to favorites for a day in the sun

recipes and photographs by LOREM IPSUM

recipes and photographs by DANELLE McCOLLUM

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SPENDING A DAY poolside is a favorite pastime during a hot, Nebraska summer. What better way to decorate the day than with a fresh, fruity and sparkling lemonade and a pair of easy-breezy treats? This trio of colorful culinary picks is sure to keep you fueled up for the fun and coming back for more. Don’t forget sunscreen.

Lorem Ipsum

Pineapple Coleslaw

This sweet and tangy coleslaw serves as a great side dish, or unique addition, to a number of family barbecue staples. The dish’s dressing is composed using ready-found ingredients and gives the whole bowl a fresh feel. Add a jalapeno pepper, or two, to kick it up a notch.

1/4 cup plain yogurt

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1 ½ lorem ipsum

1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

0 lorem ipsum

3 Tbsp pineapple juice (reser ve from canned pineapple)

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In a medium bowl, whisk together yogurt, vinegar, pineapple juice, brown sugar, salt and pepper. Add the cabbage, carrots, red bell pepper, green onions, cilantro, pineapple and jalapeno. Toss to coat well and serve immediately.

1-2 Tbsp brown sugar

ser ves 0

3 cups shredded cabbage

1 cup shredded carrots

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped (optional)

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1/2 cup chopped green onions

2-3 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

11/2 cups canned pineapple tidbits (reserve juice for dressing)

Salt and pepper, to taste

Ser ves 8

Italian Sub Pinwheels

This grab-and-go pinwheel is the perfect finger food for little hands taking a break from the doggy paddle. Different ingredients can be subtracted to accommodate picky eaters, but no matter which way it’s sliced, this culinary creation is tasty!

In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, salad dressing mix, banana pepper, red onion, green onion, red pepper, olives and shredded cheese. Mix well.

Spread about 1/4 cup of the cream cheese mixture over a tortilla. Place 3-4 slices each of pepperoni and salami over the cream cheese mixture, leaving about 1/2 inch around the edge. Don’t add too much meat or the tortilla will be hard to roll.

Place a leaf of Romain lettuce in the center of the tortilla. Roll up tightly. Place wooden picks about 1 inch apart down the center of the rolled tortilla. Cut in between the picks to form pinwheels. Repeat with remaining tortillas and fillings. Refrigerate until serving.

4-6 large flour tortillas or wraps

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1 Tbsp Italian dressing mix

2-3 Tbsp finely chopped banana peppers

1/4 cup diced red onion

2-3 green onions, thinly sliced

1/3 cup diced red pepper

1 4-oz can chopped black olives, drained

1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese

6 oz sliced pepperoni

6 oz sliced salami

8-10 Romain lettuce leaves, washed, dried and core removed

Serves 12

Won’t you dish with us?

We’re ravenous to taste your favorite family recipes. Nebraska-sourced ingredients and stories that accompany beloved dishes feed our stomachs and our souls. Please submit by emailing kitchens@nebraskalife.com, and thanks!

Sparkling Blueberry Lemonade

Complete with fresh, beautiful blueberries and a kick of sparkling water (or ginger ale), this flavor-packed lemonade is sure to delight even the pickiest of poolside guests. This recipe could be swapped out with other fruits and served to adults with an extra “kick” – time to sweeten up summer.

Add lemon juice and sugar to a 12 oz glass. Fill about a third full with blueberry juice. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Add ice, if desired, then top of glass with sparkling water or ginger ale. Garnish with fresh blueberries and enjoy.

2 Tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice

1-2 Tbsp sugar

Blueberr y juice

Sparkling water or ginger ale

Fresh blueberries, for garnish

Ser ves 2

Country roads take us home, send us on adventures and often contain some of the most beautiful scenery... especially in Nebraska. In these poems, our Nebraska poets share memories of roads, ruts, cows and the winding roads throughout our state that have always been around to tell our stories.

Roads and Ruts

Joel Rick, Scottsbluff

After a while you don’t even feel the ruts anymore

They become a part of you, a part of the scenery

Just as much Nebraska as fields of corn and wheat

Sunlight playing in the stalks, sort of like hide-and-seek

Paved roads are fine and good for getting where you need to go

But easy and fast is not always best, and rarely teaches you much

The thing about a country road, besides those worn-down ruts

Is how the curves and flats, the rises and dips, all seem to tell a story

A story of farmers, and settlers, and pioneers

A story of town builders, soldiers, preachers, and teachers

Of cracker-barrel politicians and church ladies on a Sunday

All these and more have traveled the road

And have called Nebraska their lifelong home

That rutted, rising, rolling road going ever to the horizon

Carries their stories, along with you

And always leads you home

Rural Road Freedom

George Haecker, Omaha

The rural road flowed as roads should do winding and free then came the painted line down the middle exerting officialdom

from far away constricting an unfettered way by a line on the road freedom wiped out by a single stroke.

Cows and Country Roads

Mary

L. Zachmeyer, Mt. Pleasant, Iowa

The day sleeps heavy with heat and clouds, humidity blinding this edge of earth.

As I drive east in the country close to the Missouri River, I see something new: Cows, brown as chocolate wade tail-deep, in green and sky-colored pond water.

I see no Nebraska farmer along this road to save the day? But then, what do I know? Cows in a pond up to their tails may be normal. Maybe they’re smarter than we are on this hot summer morning traveling along a country road.

Alamy

Off I-80

Carol Lukas Franssen, Steelville, Missouri

Heading home four kids pile into the bed of an old pick-up truck eight naked and dusty feet up on the tailgate all eyes on the starts, and with consternation they try to name the constellations then laugh because nobody knows.

On the farm it’s hot so they sleep out on the porch, their speculation of tomorrow keeps them awake.

District 32 opens the one door for all eight grades. The gravel road to it, whether walked or biked or driven, is their straight shot to the future and in innocence they go … and the years get lived.

With time there are many changes, Same sun same moon, but different lives somehow. The farm got sold, they got old and the red truck rusts in the weeds.

Still, the stars show up nightly, and those who left know that reflections of dusty Nebraska roads will always bring them home.

Down Country Roads

Mary Jane Rerucha, Schuyler

Down country roads I find Along endless ways they wind, Quiet seclusion of their own, Private, their secrets unknown.

Towering trees guard below, Shadowing roads, where I go, Rippling creeks follow near, Country roads, once frontier.

To tops of wooden fence lines Spiral green climbing vines, Over steep hills, down valleys, Distant fields as far as one sees.

I want to stop and pause, Of these ways, I’m fond because, Country roads I travel still, Lead to homes of country people.

Time Travel Roads

Cliff Reisig, Tularosa, New Mexico

You don’t live there anymore, but the roads will take you back to a place you grew up in long ago when you thought nothing would ever change and now your brother takes you riding in his good old car down rural roads in your home county.

We returned to a pretty farming valley hard up against the Wyoming line and irrigated by the canals dug with horse and mule over a century ago to create what was then the world’s largest irrigation district, turning dusty Panhandle land into a fertile landscape of green fields.

There by the road was where Uncle Pete and Aunt Kathryn lived with our three cousins; the house and barn were pulled down, leaving only the old cottonwoods to show where a family had been and time has taken away their lives as well, taking them as surely as if it were written on stone.

The old familiar roads took us to places long remembered, the pretty lakes sparkling in the spring sunlight and lined now with new homes and people enjoying their lives, content in their faith that nothing will ever change and that we can always go back to that special place the old roads took us into the golden light of an endless spring.

NEBRASKA LIFE IS seeking Nebraska-inspired poems on the theme “Pioneers and Ancestry” for the November/December 2023 issue, deadline Aug. 15, and “Love Me Tender” for the January/ February 2024 issue, deadline Oct. 15. Send to poetry@nebraskalife. com or to the mailing address at the front of this magazine.

Alamy

A wet gravel road within Crescent Lake National Wildlife Refuge shines in the afternoon sun after a rainshower.

NEBRASKA MUSEUMS

Nebraskans owe the preservation of their past to museums around the state. Big or small, these locations offer the chance to go back in time for all those who pass through their doors. An adventure awaits!

BANCROFT

John G. Neihardt State Historic Site p 62

BAYARD History Nebraska/ Chimney Rock Visitor Center p 59

CHADRON Museum of the Fur Trade p 62

COZAD 100th Meridian Museum p 60

Robert Henri Museum p 60

DAVID CITY

Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art p 60

FALLS CITY

John Philip Falter Museum p 61

FREMONT

Dodge County Historical Society Museum/ Louis E. May Museum p 63

GRAND ISLAND

Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer p 62

HENDERSON

Henderson Mennonite Heritage Park p 61

KEARNEY Museum of Nebraska Art p 59

LA VISTA

Czech and Slovak Educational Center and Cultural Museum p 63

LINCOLN History Nebraska p 59

International Quilt Museum p 59

MADISON

Madison County Historical Society Museum p 63

NEBRASKA CITY Wildwood Historic Center & Period House p 62

NELIGH Pierson Wildlife Museum Learning Center p 63

OMAHA Durham Museum p 58

Omaha Children’s Museum p 60

SEWARD

Nebraska National Guard Museum p 20

TEKAMAH Burt County Museum p 63

WEEPING WATER

Weeping Water Valley Historical Society/ Heritage House Museum Complex p 62

WINNEBAGO Winnebago Tribal Office p 63

YORK

Clayton Museum of Ancient History at York College p 61

Wessels Living History Farm p 61

Delight in small town s ho pping , savor th e ﬂavor s o f dining, hunt fo r barn quilts, an d tou r our museums an d outdoo r art. Cozad’s outdoo r ar t projects celebrate ou r ar t heritage while m ak ing art accessible at all times o f the day. Bar n Quilt s o f Dawso n County Trail 50 States Barn Quilt Display Wilso n Publi c Library sculpture garden Rhakenna’s Wi ng s • “Cozad Creates ” paint palette icons • Fo r mor e informatio n a n d maps, visit barnquilts dc.com Also visit roberthenrimuseum.org and coza dh istory.org

Explore ancient Rome, the Near East and much more. Special Bible exhibit shares the story of scripture from scroll to modern translations. Children’s interactive Little Kingdom now opened!

View rare artifacts from the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia and Roman Empire! Young and old can experience the museum’s Little Kingdom interactive area. Uncover objects in an archaeological dig, “live” in an ancient house and “shop” a Roman market. Admission is FREE with donations always accepted.

ADMISSION IS FREE Check Facebook page for hours

Open Tues-Fri, 10 am-5 pm • Sat 1-4 pm claytonmuseumofancienthistory.org

ClaytonMuseumOfAncientHistory.org

402-363-5748 • 1125 E 8th St • York

Paid for in part by a grant from the York County Visitors Bureau

402-363-5748 1125 E 8th St • York, NE

Paid for in part by a grant from the York County Visitors Bureau

Lower level of the Mackey Center on the York University campus

Located in the lower level of the Mackey Center on the York College campus

FRIENDLY & CHARMING FALLS CITY

John Philip Falter Museum

1622 Stone St call/text: 402-450-3724 johnphilipfaltermuseum.com

Richardson County Historical Society Museum 1400 Chase St, 402-245-4407

Heartland Fine Arts 1620 Stone St, 402-245-2800

Collections Museum/Underground Railroad Site 1601 Stone St, @CollectionMuseumOfFallsCity

Gatherings Market 1524 Stone St, 402-297-0695 gatheringsmarket.com

Stalder Gallery

1400 Stone St (inside Falls City Library and Arts Center) 402-245-2913 www.fallscitylibrary.org

MUSEUM OF THE FUR TRADE

See the history of the ﬁrst

10 Unique items to view!

John Kinzie’s gun

HBC Ofﬁcer’s sword

Brass Handle Cartouche knife

William Clark Fabric Samples Chief’s Coat

Kit Fox Society lance

Russian American Co. note

Oldest dated trap 1755

Parchment HBC Ofﬁcers Certiﬁcate

Andrew Henry’s leggings

Open 8-5, May 1 to October 31

3 miles east of Chadron, Nebraska on US Highway 20. www.furtrade.org

308-432-3843 • museum@furtrade.org

3133 W. US Hwy 34 • Grand Island, NE (308) 385-5316 • stuhrmuseum.org

SUMMER EXHIBIT 2023

May 27 - Aug 20

Mar 1 - Sept 30

Mon-Sat: 9 am - 5 pm Sunday: 10 am - 5 pm

Oct 1 - Feb 28

Tues-Sun: 10 am - 4pm Closed Mondays

Railroad Town open May 1 - Sept 17!

Nebraska’s Poet Laureate in Perpetuity

• Museum • Bookstore

• 1890s Historic Study • Sacred Hoop Garden

Special Exhibit:

Dr. Susan LaFlesche Picotte, the nation’s first Native American doctor, featuring her professional artifacts

Free and open to the public. Tues-Sat 10 am-4 pm

402-648-3388 • neihardtcenter.org

CITY

306 W Elm St • Bancroft Visit the

TOUR THIS 10 historic home built in 1869 for the Ware family. Guided by docents in period dress, learn about the family and the era Stroll through the Victorian Garden anytime, the perfect place for weddings or special events accommodating up to 100.

Open Daily: April 29-Oct. 31 Mon-Sat, 10-5 Sun, 1-5

View exhibits from around the world at Pierson Wildlife Museum Learning Center in Neligh, NE. Observe animals and learn about their habitats From African elephant to woodland caribou, students and adults enjoy this one-of-a-kind display of animals.

To schedule a visit call & leave a voicemail at 402-929-0330 Cash or check payment only

Part of the 150th Anniversary of the Madison County Fair!

Begininng in 1873 with pony racing in the streets. Learn more at our museum.

& Learning Center

PiersonWildlifeMuseumNeligh.com 205 E 5th St • Neligh

this unique cultural experience in LaVista! Explore our exhibits featuring the Immigration Room, Music Room, Sokol Room and Josef Lada calendars from the 1940s. Our gift store offers many beautiful Bohemian items from the Czech land.

Nebraska Traveler

TAKING TO THE ROAD FOR FOOD, FUN AND FESTIVITIES

by CHEYENNE ROWE

ADVENTURE

OLD WEST BALOON FEST

AUG. 9-12 •

MITCHELL

Western Nebraska’s famous Old West Balloon Fest is ready to take flight again in 2023, bringing larger-than-life hot air balloons skyward in a four-day festival of fun. Lighting up the night sky, public action for the fest begins Aug. 9 with the “opening night glow.” This experience, kicking off at 6 p.m. at the Western Nebraska Community College campus in Scottsbluff, is the first look at the balloons, glowing from inside thanks to the flames that power them. There will also be various food trucks and other craft and shopping vendors.

Friday and Saturday will bring even more excitement to the air with the mass ascension (or mass launching) of participating balloons. The skies will quickly be dotted

with the colors of the rainbow. Gates for this gathering open at 5:30 a.m. at Mitchell Airfield. Launch is slotted for 6:15 a.m. Food trucks and other vendors will be on site.

Other events Saturday include a craft fair, cornhole tournament and wiener dog races, before crowds will gather in the grasslands to the south of the Five Rocks Amphitheater for the closing night glow. Gates open at 5 p.m. for this festivity, but the “glow” itself happens around sunset. Food trucks and other vendors will be back again to treat the masses.

For more information on the festival, a full schedule, the most up-to-date winds forecast and to purchase tickets, visit theoldwestballoonfest.com.

Spectators float in from far and wide to see giant hot air balloons take flight and light the sky.

WHERE TO GO

SCOTTS BLUFF NATIONAL MONUMENT

Visitors to the area can check seeing the famous Scotts Bluff National Monument off their Nebraska bucket list in between watching balloons coast the horizon. This stop is filled with geological wonders, history and natural scenic views. 190276 Old Oregon Trail, Gering

WHERE TO EAT REDZ BAR & GRILL

Those with a hankering for a tasty burger will find just that at Redz. Though it opens for the day at 11 a.m., there is a full menu of starters, sandwiches, salads, burgers and beer. 1333 Center Ave., Mitchell

Hawk Buckman

FALL CELEBRATION

APPLEJACK FESTIVAL

SEPT. 15-24 • NEBRASKA CITY

What started as a simple apple harvest festival has blossomed into a statewide stop for fall fun. Nebraska City has long been home to the AppleJack Festival and, as the home of Arbor Day, it’s no surprise that event is as popular as ever for locals and visitors alike.

This year’s festival will be ripe for the pickin’ come Sept. 15-24. The first weekend of the festival serves as the “traditional weekend” and hosts family fun for all ages. Events for this three-day celebration include the AppleJack Fun Run, an appearance by an extreme bull riding tour, the grande parade (Saturday, 1 p.m.), water barrel fights, a flea market, classic car show and a healthy variety of food and merchandise vendors.

To top it all off, local orchards like the Union Orchard, Kimmel Orchard and Arbor Day Farm, will be open and celebrating the season with u-pick deals, other sweet treats and a variety of events.

The second weekend, no less sweet than the first, is planned with the theme, “All About Apples.” More low-key, events such as a “Progressive Dinner,” a vendor fair and makers market, alongside more apple picking opportunities will greet guests.

Apples aren’t keeping anyone away here! Some of the many selections available to taste (and purchase) include apple pie, apple cider, donuts, candy apples, caramel apples, fritters, apple salad and more. Don’t forget to visit the orchards to see how it’s all made, too.

Also highly anticipated, Sunday, Sept. 24 will host the “Taste of AppleJack ‘All Things Apple’ Recipe Contest.” The contest has a run time of 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., with an open invitation for guests to come and taste a number of dishes featuring the sweet star ingredient. Visit nebraskacity.com/festivals for more detailed event information.

WHERE TO GO

MISSOURI RIVER BASIN

LEWIS AND CLARK VISITOR CENTER

Put on your adventuring boots and follow the footsteps of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The center also hosts a replica 55-foot Keelboat, just like the one the explorers used. 100 Valmont Dr, Nebraska City

WHERE TO EAT EL PORTAL

MEXICAN RESTURANT

All things apple not calling to your tastebuds? Those in the area can satisfy their hunger pains with a quick trip to El Portal. The authentic south of the border cuisine and upbeat atmosphere make this a favorite for locals and visitors alike. 1640 S. 11th St., Nebraska City (402) 873-3134

Arbor Day Farm

THRIFTING JUNK JAUNT

SEPT. 22-24 • CENTRAL NEBRASKA

Nebraska’s annual Junk Jaunt is a marathon of sales – some of the garage, collectible, antique, vintage and food variety – that attracts approximately 20,000 people from across the United States to towns and villages across the Cornhusker State.

Beginning in 2004, Nebraska’s Junk Jaunt has grown from somewhere near 75 vendors to more than 500 in 2022. Those familiar with the event use the weekend to gather with friends, family or others to search for

Scenic Byway and the Loup Rivers Scenic Byway make up the famous “looping route” of the Nebraska Junk Jaunt. Other participating locations are found in towns to the east and west of this route.

A preplanned route is recommended, as guests are cautioned that making it to all of the vendors in a three-day period is likely not possible – some towns have more than 100 vendor locations! Cash is also recommended, as is a sun hat, jacket (Nebraska

NEBRASKA PASSPORT PROGRAM INSPIRES AGAIN

Traveling to and fro across Nebraska is an adventure by itself, but tourists (both native and new) have a new roadmap to follow to find some of the best hidden gems in many of the state’s 93 counties. The 2023 Nebraska Passport is filled with a wide variety of different stop recommendations, including adventures, museums, parks, places to eat and drink, shopping spots and more.

This year’s passport is already live and will remain active through Sept. 30, 2023. Guests who get stamps along the way can turn in their map at the end of the program for several Nebraska prizes. To date, more

than 47,000 booklets have been requested, with more than 50 participants having already visited each of the 70 stops.

Nebraska has 56 communities represented in this year’s program. The 70 stops represent the following 10 categories: Antique Chic, Creature Comforters, Hand-Made Happiness, “Hey, Sugar!,” Local Diner-ing, Recycled Architecture, Refreshments Ahead, The Self-Expressway, Welcoming to Charmingsville and Ye Olde Stuff.

One of many map destinations includes Mac’s Creek Winery and Brewery in Lexington. Nestled sweetly in the heart of

Photo: Arturo Banderas

Nebraska wine country, this location, named for the McFarland family and the winding Spring Creek, has been producing quality wines for more than 20 years. Mac’s Creek also has a point of interest for the historically driven – it’s a joining point of the Oregon and Mormon trails along the old Lincoln Highway.

Handcrafted wines and brews include “Buzzards Roost Blush,” a semi-sweet blush wine with hints of kiwi and citrus, alongside lemonade and cherry. There is also the popular “Flatwater White,” which is a combination of other blends that makes a beautiful summer sipping wine. macscreek.com.

Further west, the Main Street Gallery in North Loup presents visitors with treats of a different kind. Housed in a historic Main Street building, artwork, collectibles and a range of gifts made by regional artists call out to visitors. Mediums and expressions in oil paints, charcoal, watercolor, clay, glass, cloth and even metal stand alongside award-winning photography. mainstreetgallerynorthloup.com.

The Custer County Museum, and local

Neibel for Nebraska Tourism

historical society, is yet another stop in another category for visitors to the central part of the state. Within the walls of this Broken Bow establishment, guests take their part in a walk through 19th century life and culture. Visitors may be lucky enough to find a frequently appearing Smithsonian traveling exhibit, but are sure to be delighted by an extensive gallery of work by local famous photographer Dr. Solomon D. Butcher. custercountymuseum.org

Those looking for more details on the Nebraska Passport program and all its stops can find information at nebraskapassport. com. Passport booklets are available at each passport stop location, as well as digitally on the 2023 Nebraska Passport app.

AJ Dahm

OTHER EVENTS YOU MAY ENJOY

AUGUST

Dolls, Dolls, Dolls at Arbor Lodge Aug. 1-27 • Nebraska City

Making history personal and bringing guests back to childhoods, Arbor Lodge is hosting an event centered around doll collections and the history behind them. These displays are located throughout the home and are sure to delight young and old alike. For hours and rates, visit arbordayfarm.org.

Honoring 75 Years

Aug. 3-Sept. 3 • Omaha Omaha’s history in 1943 was no stranger to the turbulence of World War II and

all the things that came with it. Before the outcome of the war had even been assured, Omaha business owners (like Henry Doorly) voiced their appreciation for those who served. Omaha’s Durham Museum, alongside the Omaha Parks Foundation, is celebrating the 75th anniversary of the construction of the local WWII Memorial Park with a museum display. durhammuseum.org.

Battle Creek Celebrates 150 Aug. 3-6 • Battle Creek

Historic Battle Creek, Nebraska, is celebrating its 150th birthday with a four-day extravaganza of community pride and family fun. The party begins Thursday

with a kickoff celebration and continues throughout the weekend with fun such as Junior Farmer Olympics, old-time family photos, live polka bands, various contests, food vendors, historical tours, cardboard boat races and, of course, a grand parade. For a full schedule of events and more details, please see the celebration’s Facebook page, “Battle Creek 150th Celebration.”

Discover the Buzz

Fridays, Aug. 4-Sept. 29 • Emerson

Something is buzzing in Emerson, and it just so happens to be the bees! The Buzz, hosted by Graf Bees, is setting up on Fridays throughout the summer to give curious guests a chance to tour an active honeybee hive and apiary with beekeeper Mark Graf. All kinds of sweet treats and buzz-worthy merchandise are also available to browse. Those wanting a tour must call ahead to schedule. (308) 962-4376. grafbees.com.

Holy County Visitors Committee 125 S 4th St • O’Niell, NE 402-336-2355 • lauri@oneillchamber.com holtcountynebraska.com/thing-to-do

GOTHENBURG

Brewfest at Liederkranz

Aug. 19 • Grand Island

Back for another year of festive fun, the Grand Island Liederkranz Craft Brew and Sausage Fest is taking center stage Aug. 19, starting at 2 p.m. Proceeds from the festival go toward preserving and restoring the historic Liederkranz building. On the tasting menu for the event are regional craft brews and meats, honoring Grand Island’s German heritage, culture and community. gibrewfest.com.

SEPTEMBER

Avocado Launching Championship

Sept. 8-9 • North Platte

Yes, that’s right – avocado launching. There is a serious set of rules and a sizeable prize money pot for the top four teams. Teams aim to score the most points possible by launching avocados at targets using pretty much any means necessary – as long as it’s human-powered and not thrown by hand. avocadolaunching.com.

Hand Cornhusking Contest

Sept. 16 • Grand Island

The Stuhr Museum is hosting the 2023 event, starting at 9 a.m. with old-fashioned fun. stuhrmuseum.org/visit/cornhusking.

Tractors and Treasures

Sept. 16-17 • Steele City

Steele City is another community celebrating 150 years in 2023. The third weekend in September marks the community’s 53rd annual “Tractors & Treasures” show. Hosted by the Jefferson County Historical Society, this event features an antique tractor pull, a flea market, an old farm machinery show, historical tours and living history demonstrations. dkcows.com.

Oktoberfest

Sept. 22-23 • Norfolk

German food, a beer garden and entertainment. Happening at the same time and adding to the fun, the Lion’s Club is hosting a parade and the River Point Arts Festival gives guests more to see. Norfolkareachamber.com/oktoberfest.

TRIVIA ANSWERS

Though the tradition of Oktoberfest started in 1810s Bavaria, the German celebration is also a hit in Nebraska. This two-day festival dazzles with live music, Questions on

Trivia Photographs

Page 22 Young rail fans visits trains on display at The Durham Museum. Kathryn Farmer as CEO.

Page 23 A view of Bailey Yard from the Golden Spike Tower in North Platte.

Photo by The Atkinson Graphic

Prairie Meditation at Glacier Creek Preserve

Glacier Creek Preserve is a sanctuary amongst the hustle and bustle of northwest Omaha. Nature takes over the senses and the soul as tall grasses are tall and tickle fingertips.

Essay and photographs by BECKY McCARVILLE

STROLLING ALONG THE mown path that cuts through 525 acres of restored native grasses and wildflowers at Glacier Creek Preserve in northwest Omaha near 144th and State streets, I hear bees buzzing the asters, or is that a motorcycle engine revving on the nearby highway? I hear cows lowing in a pasture, or is that a plane taking off at the small nearby airport?

Like the paths crisscrossing the prairie hills, scientific research, education and art converge at Glacier Creek Preserve, led by Barbi Hayes, biologist, environmental scientist and benefactor, and Dr. Tom Bragg, preserve director and pyro-ecologist professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Surrounded by cornfields, roads and subdivision at the northwestern edge of Omaha, Hayes, Bragg and partners have been painstakingly restoring Nebraska’s prairie heritage on this land that includes 140 acres of the Allwine Prairie Tract, a restored tallgrass prairie established in 1970, the Papio Tract, the Barbi Hayes Overlook, and the Bouteloua Tract. Open to the public, visitors can learn about prairie restoration and ecosystems, conduct scientific research, make art, or simply bathe in nature.

As I walk, I imagine the diversity of the pre-settled, pre-cultivated prairie: head high big blue stem that you push aside or walk under, thickets of milkweed, greyheaded coneflowers (they’re yellow), lead plant with its reaching taproot, bouteloua (the best name that rolls off the tongue), a rattlesnake master and more.

Even though Nebraska is a mostly agricultural state and considering that I grew up in small towns in Kansas and northeast Nebraska, it’s dawning on me that I appreciate nature, but in an abstract sort of way. I know nothing of native plant species. This visit to Glacier Creek Preserve deeply underscores that point.

My careful steps reflect the “leave no trace” principles that I read about and that have gained momentum among serious trekkers. But here, at Glacier Creek, walking off the path is allowed, but with the likelihood that ticks will latch on for a ride. Just don’t trample the diminutive, elusive Prairie Orchid.

I timidly step off the path and into the prairie itself, crunch through roots and vegetation, and make my way down to the muddy stream undulating through the preserve. Parting the tall grasses and milkweed, I plod over paths worn by snakes, small animals, and scientists. I turn my face to the setting sun, close my eyes, and feel the enormity of the prairie – a rich canvas painting of dusky greens and orangey-purplish pinks meeting at the horizon.

I don’t lie down in the grass, as Louise Erdrich urges in Big Grass, but even to walk through it, arms outstretched and fingers touching the reedy stems, allows appreciation and reverence.

Back on the path, I resume sauntering. The prairie pulls emotion from me, but why? Why do I tear up in sadness, in relief, in amazement at nature and its qualities of renewal and restoration?

Is it that walking in nature frees my mind from the worries and weight at home? Or that I’m allowing myself to experience a pure, enjoyable moment? Or is it a sense of infinite loss of myself, of the prairie, of our home, this planet?

It’s as if this prairie, the wild nature on this patch of land, has cracked me open like a seed preparing to take root.

Dr. Tom Bragg has been a key advocate for bringing back Nebraska’s prairie heritage. This Omaha preserve and its walking path is filled with pollinators, animals and wildflowers of all colors and sizes.

story by CHEYENNE ROWE

SCIENCE WOULD CALL a Nebraska sunset what it is – the earth rotating on its axis, moving the northern hemisphere’s source of light deep below the horizon for another day. One more trip around the sun. The brilliant colors that blanket the sky at this time of the evening are simply molecules in the atmosphere, changing the direction of light rays.

This phenomenon is called “scattering.” Nebraskans also call it magic.

No matter the set up for sundown, be it the rolling Sandhills, the winding Niobrara River, field corn flats that power one of the state’s biggest industries, or a Nebraska backyard, there is little other explanation needed. The feeling that begins to overtake the soul as the first few rays slip out of sight is as warm as the orange hue that takes over the hazy sky.

A deep, orange and purple blaze prepares to sink below the horizon at the Agate Fossil Beds near Harrison. The open skyline is perfect for clear viewing.

Derrald Farnsworth-Livingston

This Broken Bow cattle drive won’t wrap up early just because the sunset is blanketing the sky in dusty golden hues. Rural Nebraskans don’t stop with the setting sun.

Katy Bodenhamer

The first signs of a summer sunset transform a previously blue atmosphere to that of a peachy dream.

Cedar Trees over Lewis and Clark Lake take on a new look.

Sam Stukel

Hours stretch longer in the summer, where young and old enjoy outdoor activities, like fishing, amidst the warm glow of the low sun. A river bridge outside Ceresco transforms, too, under an evening sky.

Niobrara National Scenic River Superintendent Susan Cook noted that her favorite place to watch the sunset is anywhere in the Niobrara River valley.

“Everything takes on different looks as the sun sets,” Cook said. “It is an amazing feeling to just sit with your mind focused on using your senses to feel like you are a part of this masterpiece nature created.”

As the giant life-giving orb drops farther below any line of sight, additional feelings take hold. The sky, now showing the

start of an indescribable gradient of color, brings more peace. Activities haven’t slowed down for much of the state’s population, however. Summer sunsets come later than any throughout the rest of the year and it would be a mistake to waste a few more precious hours of light.

Farmers progress through their fields. Planting is already done, but there might still be field work to do. Fertilizer and pivot checks occupy additional hours. The fence probably needs fixed, too. Somewhere else, near one of Nebraska’s many bodies of wa-

Dillon Hardinger

Stesha Burri

ter, a pair of anglers cast their lines while chatting to each other, eager to make one more catch before the end of the day. The fish bite better in the hours before dusk.

In the suburbs of the metro area families might be gathering for a neighborhood bonfire. The kids are still awake, ready and willing to roast marshmallows over an open flame. The sweet smell of melting chocolate – sure to later be covering little faces – will soon be on the breeze. Smiles are easy to come by and a cold drink or two is just as close at hand.

Two more hours click by and life begins to quiet down along the prairies and highways of the Cornhusker state. The wind whispering through windmills and a symphony of crickets might be some of the only sounds for miles. It is easy to become pensive observing the firelit skies of summer dusk hours. Some days are graced with smears of pastel across clear skies, while others combust in rich reds, and pinks, highlighting voluminous clouds and all contrasting against a dark denim stratosphere.

The ground becomes shrouded in gold. Sometimes a tickle of pride creeps in as Nebraskans observe this place, they lovingly call home. It can feel all too big, or like a personal painting, commissioned for select eyes only.

“You feel as if this was an artist creating something just for you,” Cook said. “I feel at peace with the world when I sit and watch sunsets.”

There is no one best place to view a Nebraska summer sunset. Answers vary across the terrain, such as waiting out the colorful display at the Bob Kerry Pedestrian Bride in Omaha, Toadstool Geologic Park in Sioux County, the Niobrara River Valley, or a neighborhood cornfield at the local American Legion baseball diamond.

It takes no special skill or equipment to appreciate the sight, either, aside for a quick spritz of bug spray. Some photo-friendly minds stop to capture the skies on camera, others just sit and soak it up as the peace sets in.

This picturesque prairie in Otoe County lights up with firey orange clouds during an evening walk.

Ashlee Richardson

from

A dreamy gradient

colors,

cool blue to butter yellow, paints the heavens in Thomas County during the annual Paxton Ranch cattle drive.

Jorn Olsen

ATURALLY EBRASKA

Simple Fun

Pals’ catfishing adventure during the dog days of summer

by ALAN J. BARTELS

SIMPLE EXPERIENCES

form the foundation of a lifetime spent outdoors. Perhaps no outdoor experience is simpler than threading a worm onto a hook and optimistically casting into a muddy Nebraska creek or river. I wish every youngster could experience the outdoors without any pressure of catching the largest fish, having to take home a legal limit, or even catching anything at all.

Early in adulthood I was a very serious angler spring, summer, and fall. Several days each week after work, and most weekends, I was out fishing for whatever was biting. One giant tackle box had a little bit of everything in it. And there was one stocked for catching crappie, one for bass and pike, and one for catfishing. We ate a lot of fish back then – the freezer was often brimming with a plentiful supply that would make the Gorton’s Fisherman jealous.

My fishing trips became almost like a competition between me and the fish. If I didn’t catch a lot, I’d consider the trip a waste of time, a failure. On top of that, I was spending precious time and money keeping up with the latest and greatest gear. Shiny new crankbaits swam in my dreams. I missed the simplicity of fishing that originally hooked me while catching bullheads, turtles, and crawdads with friends on the banks of Buffalo Creek and the Elkhorn River near Meadow Grove as a child. We didn’t care too much about catching much, but always had fun. Looking back on those good old days decades later, I realized that I’d let the fun

slip away from my fishing hobby. This might sound like a fish story – but I put my fishing gear away. What did I do with all my newly-discovered free time? I took up writing and photography.

My fishing gear was gathering dust when some new neighbors moved in across the street. I still fished from time to time, but never with the voracity that I used to. Instead of targeting one species or another, I’d dangle a nightcrawler under a bobber or toss it to the bottom and wait. And I stopped keeping fish, it was just easier to throw them back.

I’m not sure what got into me, but one morning after a rain, I picked several dozen nightcrawlers up out of the wet street and stashed them in a coffee can in the refrigerator in my garage. Weeks later, while loading a couple fishing poles into my truck, the neighbor kid – Aidan Maddux– mentioned that he had a new fishing pole. I didn’t take him with me that day. But two weeks later Aidan and I, and his fishing pole and youthful enthusiasm, headed to a muddy little spot I like on the North Loup River in Howard County.

This wasn’t our first fishing trip. I’d already taught Aidan how to fool bass with a Beetle Spin (he got good in a hurry). But we’d never sat on the bank of a lazy stream together on a hot summer day waiting for something to take the bait.

Aidan didn’t notice the line tighten on my Zebco 33/Ugly Stik combo, but I did. Seconds later the rod tip started dancing vigorously. Aidan about spit out his Dr. Pepper when I shouted as the fish – or whatever it was on the other end – nearly yanked the rod and reel into the murky depths. He grabbed the fishing rod and the fight was on.

“I think it’s a turtle,” Aidan yelled. “Or a bass, yeah, a big bass.”

The epic battle, all 30 seconds of it, ended with a channel catfish thrashing on the bank. That fish probably weighed two or three pounds. Aidan’s joy was immeasurable, the smile on his face ear-to-ear. I suppose mine was, too.

Now that’s how I measure a successful fishing trip. Every child should be so lucky.

Neighbor kid Aidan Maddux displays his catch with an ear-to-ear grin. Aidan helped Alan rediscover the joys of fishing.

Alan J. Bartels

LAST LOOK EDITORS’ CHOICE

photograph by ALAN NASH

SEEING THE GIANT metal beasts that are train locomotives isn’t exactly out of the ordinary for photographer – and locomotive engineer – Alan Nash. When Nash isn’t riding the rails for the Union Pacific Railroad, he can usually be found close by with lens in hand.

Nash knew that the famous Big Boy 4014 steam locomotive was going to pass through his subdivision on its way to Omaha throughout middle June and he took advantage of that knowledge to sneak in a few picturesque snapshots. Being his first experience in photographing the historical set up, Nash’s goal was to capture the giant and a “time gone by.”

The 4014 made it to Morrill and was set to start the leg of its journey toward Gering that same afternoon. Nash packed into his truck and headed toward the zoo in Scottsbluff in hopes of capturing it with the monument in the background. After sitting through the longest 30 minutes of his life, magic happened. The thundering steam locomotive sounded its whistle as it approached.

Nash sent his drone skyward and brought the midnight black 4014 to life, captured among the scenic western Nebraska landscape known far and wide. A unique birds-eye-view angle was just what the doctor ordered.

“It’s all about timing with a drone like mine,” Nash said. “I had to anticipate the shot and I took it... it couldn’t have been any better.”

He noted that he’s also proud of the photo and what it represents – Nebraska.

IN EACH ISSUE, Last Look features a reader’s photograph of Nebraska – landscapes, architecture, attractions, events, people or wildlife. Submit your best photographs for the chance to be published in Nebraska Life. Send digital images with detailed photo descriptions and your contact information to photos@nebraskalife.com or visit nebraskalife.com/contribute.

This photo was shot with a DJI Mini 2 drone, equipped with a 4K (12megapixel) camera at f/2.8 for 1/60 of a second.