Good Old Days 05-08-15

Compiled By Rob Langrell

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

50 YEARS AGO

'Well Known Lodgepole Lady Is County's First Traffic Victim'

Published May 19, 1965

Cheyenne County's first traffic fatality of 1965 was the 56 year old acting postmaster at Lodgepole, Mrs. Genevieve HelFrich, who was instantly killed in a car-truck collision shortly after noon Saturday.

Funeral services will be at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the Sacred Heart Church of Lodgepole with the Rt. Rev. Monsignor Leo Keating officiating. Burial will be in Greenwood Cemetery at Sidney. the Rosary will be recited at 8 p.m. tonight (Monday) in The Gehrig and Son Funeral Home.

Mrs. Helfrich was the only passenger in a car driven by her daughter, Margaret, 17, and they were en route home from Sidney when the collision occurred at a point on Highway 30 four miles east of Sidney.

They evidently came suddenly inot an isolated hail storm which dimmed visibility and made the pavement slick. The Helfrich car started to slide and went directly into the path of an oncoming truck. driven by Richard W. Hernbloom, 55, Lodgepole. The impact of the collision forced the truck into the north ditch and sent the car into the south ditch. Mrs. Helfrich was apparently thrown through the windshield, according to Sheriff W. W. Schulz, one of the investigating officers. Miss Helfrich was thrown into the back seat, suffering a concussion and leg injuries. She was taken to memorial Hospital for treatment and is a patient there. Her condition is reporterd satisfactory.

Mr. Hernbloom suffered bums on the head but considered his injuries minor.

The Helfrich car was demolished and there was heavy damage to the truck.

Mrs. Helfrich, acting postmaster at Lodgepole for four years, was widowed in 1957 when her husband, Gilbert, succumbed to a month-long illness.

She was born, Nov. 20, 1908, at Belleville. Kan. to Mr. and Mrs. George Kavanaugh.

25 YEARS AGO

'Oh, No! That's Snow - On May 9'

Published May 9, 1990

Winter just won't go away.

Sunday and Monday, the area recorded temperature in the 80s. It got up to 88 degrees in Chappell Monday.

This morning, Chappell reported a low of 32 and a mixture of rain and snow.

Snow?

Snow!

The calender says May 9, and the are was blanketed with snow this morning - up to five inches at Dalton. That combined with rain yesterday afternoon and evening and through the night, resulted in .98 of precipitation. In sidney, the Municipal Airport reported .57 in rain and snow, but no official snow measurement was reported. However, there was more than an inch of heavy, wet white stuff on cars, and budding streets lost their green sheen and to turn white.

However, by mid-morning, the skies had cleared and blue skies prevailed, bringing a forecast of frost tonight. the Scottsbluff Weather Service predicted lows into the upper 20s by Thursday morning.

The Airport has recorded .86 of precipitation the past two days, and 1.14 in moisture since the first of May. According to records kept at the High Plains Ag Lab located northwest of Sidney. 1990 is off to the wettest start of any year since 1891.

Sidney also recorded a high of 47 yesterday and a low of 30 this morning.

10 YEARS AGO

''New Look' For Auto Shop'

Published May 10, 2005

Less than a month after a fire blackened the interior of the Sidney High School auto mechanics shop and classrooms, students have returned. The blaze started when sparks from a welding project on April 6 ignited debris that filled a trailer that was parked in the auto lab, causing smoke damage to the interior of the shop area and two classrooms in the school's vocational education building. School officials closed the shop for cleaning.

Students began using the area about two weeks ago, said Superintendent Dr. John Hakonson.

The only visible evidence of the blaze is a fire-scorched steel overhead door that will be replaced this summer.

Insurance claims are still being processed. Hakonson said. He has no dollar figure on what it cost to clean and repaint the rooms. The cleanup involved "soda blasting" the walls, said Jay Portenier, class instructor. He said an industrial grade soda was used to clean the walls. That works by removing the grime caused by the smoke and helps remove the smoke smell.

The walls were then treated with Kilz, a product that cleans into the walls and is intended to kill mildew.

New lights were installed in the shop area, Hakonson said, a project that was scheduled for this summer. The walls and ceiling were painted a shade of off-white. Portenier said the white walls will provide better lighting conditions for student as they work on vehicles.

All tools and equipment and furnishings in the rooms were cleaned, as was a library of instruction and automobile manuals.

5 YEARS AGO

'Sidney Schools Rank 59th in ACT Scores In State'

Published May 11, 2010

SIDNEY - Five years worth of ACT scores and markedly improved standardized test scores seem to conform defensive statements were made late last week by Sidney Public School Officials. The statements were made after school officials were outraged by the school's "persistently low achieving" label from the Nebraska Department of Education. Sidney High School received the label upon its inclusion to a list of 52 schools statewide deemed as such by the state's department of education. Sidney Schools Superintendent John Hakonson said the schools was at first shocked, then later angered at the label because school officials did not know it was coming.

"Our state leaders made sacrificial lambs of some of their own schools to accept federal stimulus money," Hakonson said.

The list was released last week to comply with federal federal requirements as part of the state's effort to receive stimulus funding. A listed school may be eligible to receive a portion of the $17 million in stimulus funding earmarked for the state. However, in order to receive funding, schools must undergo one of four restructuring plans that range from the replacement of staff to the closing of the school. School officials said they did not believe Sidney should be included on the list and said the district is not likely to pursue any of the stimulus funding.

Sidney High School Principal Jay Ehler attributed the school's inclusion on the list to the district's shifting its focus to the ACT and away from other standardized tests at the high school level in recent years.

"Our primary focus has become the ACT," Ehler said. "If you look at all of our other standardized tests, across the board we're above the state average in maybe every single one."