Looking Back

These stories from the past first appeared in The Sidney Telegraph. Original writing is preserved, though some stories were shortened for space reasons.

100 YEARS AGO

December 21, 1912

‘Dalton Boy Hurt Jumping Freight’

On last Tuesday several boys were pressed into service to drive teams on grains wagons to the Dalton market. While in town they proceeded to find entertainment, winding upon a freight car sluggishly moving out of the yards.

When but a short distance out the boys thought the speed picking up and each lad made a jump. All landed like cats, on their feet, except young Harry Clark who fractured a shoulder blade. The doctor was out of town and the boy suffered some hours before a train went either way, the first going to Bridgeport where the boy was taken.

May a promising boy is going through life with an empty sleeve or a cork leg or a pair of crutches just from a stunt like this, yet parents might as well save their breath to cry with and not waste any giving unheeded advice.

75 YEARS AGO

December 21, 1937

‘Dr. Anderson Files Answer To Taylor;

Says Contract Void’

Answering an injunction suit filed against him last week, Dr. Martin F. Anderson charges that the contract he reportedly signed with Dr. J. R. Taylor last July is unfair and void and he asks that the temporary injunction granted against him, which prohibits him from practicing medicine within 50 miles of Sidney be set aside.

Anderson was enjoined from medicine or surgical practice in a temporary injunction signed by District Judge J. L. Tewell last week. Dr. Taylor, plaintiff in the action, was required to post a thousand dollar bond.

In his answer, Anderson admits all details of his employment with Taylor, as set out in the injunction petition. He charges, however, that the terms of a contract he is reported to have signed with Taylor are so unfair as to make the agreement invalid.

According to Taylor’s suit, Anderson agreed not to practice medicine within 50 miles of Sidney if his employment with Taylor were terminated. However, Anderson declares that he already had a verbal agreement with Taylor, setting out terms of his employment and providing for details of a possible termination, and he claims this previous agreement voids the written contract which Taylor says he signed on or about July 26 of this year.

Dr. Anderson is now employed by Dr. Dee L. Abbott to handle Abbott’s practice. Dr. Abbott is away because of ill health, it was reported.

Anderson reportedly terminated his employment with Dr. Taylor last October. Under the original agreement he was to get $200 per month and traveling expenses.

50 YEARS AGO

November 21, 1962

‘Plans OK’D For Addition At Rest Home’

Preliminary drawings for the addition to Memorial Hospital were given official approval by the board of directors this week.

Howard Duncan, Scottsbluff architect, appeared at the board meeting Tuesday night to outline details of the eight room addition, which is scheduled to cost around $71,600, plus architect and furnishings.

Mr. Duncan told the board he probably will have the plans ready for submitting to contractors by February or March. The plans also must be approved by state and federal agencies because Hill-Burton funds will be used for part of the cost.

It has been estimated that the total cost, including furnishings, will run between $90,000 and $100,000.

The eight rooms will add sixteen more beds to the rest home. A large ‘day room’ will also be constructed, and this will be converted into another lobby and nurses’ station if and when more rooms are added along the south edge of the rest home structure. There would be room for another addition of eight rooms when the need arises.

Mr. Duncan said he felt a bid call in the early spring would be the most satisfactory, with work getting under way as soon after the contract letting as possible.

Board members indicated they would prefer letting the entire job to one general contractor instead of accepting bids from four or five different crafts.

25 YEARS AGO

December 21, 1987

‘It Came 45 Years Late, But Mashek

Gets His Bronze Star’

Clarence Mashek of Sunol, a veteran of three and a half years service with the Army Paratroopers in World War II, had read of veterans receiving service awards years later-- but he didn’t dream he would be one of them.

Several months ago he found a package in his mail box with a U. S. Army return address. It contained a bronze star, with little explanation of why it was presented and why it took 45 years to arrive.

“It’s no big deal, says Mashek, who kept it quiet for a long time and simply put it on a framed board holding his two Purple Hearts, the insignia of his outfit – the 82nd Airborne Division – and other mementos of the Big One, as Archie Bunker dubbed it.

Mashek is very positive about the reasons he earned two Purple Hearts. He was struck by shrapnel while jumping over Holland and he was shot when jumping into France on D-Day. He received facial injuries and carries scars to this day.

Each time he was wounded he managed to get back to an aid station and then to a hospital.

He takes pride in his World War II service, although he admits there are many things about it he would like to forget.

One of the most cherished awards he has received is a pin given him by the Sunol Girl Scouts. The lettering points out he is a U. S. Veteran and says “We appreciate you.”

He served in the Army from February, 1942 until October, 1945. During his last few months of service he was chosen for guard duty for General Eisenhower at Frankfurt, Germany. He was dressed to the teeth for the honor guard, complete with white gloves.

Following his discharge he returned to this area and worked for the Union Pacific Railroad for nine years and seven months. He began working for the State Highway Department and retired Dec. 31, 1981, after 20 years of service.

In spite of his protests that “it was nothing,” Mashek admits he keeps his awards from not the Army, but also the railroad and the State Highway Department framed or in a big scrapbook. His official papers are carefully contained in the book as well.

“Whenever I need some information, I know where to look,” he explains.

It’s also good reading during his leisure hours.

10 YEARS AGO

December 21, 2002

‘Lodgepole Gets

New Library’

The Lodgepole Elementary School held a ribbon cutting for a new library room Friday. Teachers, school board members and ambassadors for the Cheyenne County Chamber of Commerce attended to view the new facility.

The school’s young students were very excited about the new learning center, commenting on how big and nice it was as the perused the large selection of new books. Before the remodeling project, the room housed an elementary class and the library was located on the ground floor of the school.

The school saw a need to construct the new facility to accommodate larger classes. The average elementary class size has risen to 17, up from previous averages of 10 to 12 students.

Upon their return from Christmas break, Lodgepole students will begin the new semester using the Reading Counts program. With this program, students take a computerized test to determine their reading level.

The Reading Counts software then gives them a list of books that are at the appropriate reading level. After students read a book, they then take a short computerized test to evaluate their reading comprehension.

The Reading Counts software keeps track of the books each student reads and awards points for each book. Students will earn rewards for the points they accumulate.

The new library features 250 new books and four computer stations to complement the Reading Counts program. Funding for the new library and the Reading Counts program was supplied through federal grants.