Good Old Days 06-05-15

50 YEARS AGO

June 7, 1965

'Northeast Area Scene Of Ambitious Venture Seeking New Reserves'

Five wildcat oil drilling locations in northeastern Cheyenne County were approved Monday by the Nebraska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, and the first of the five tests is getting underway immediately.

Operators in this ambitious exploratory program are Toltek Drilling Co., and O'Donnell and Uwing, Inc. Toltek has been active in western Nebraska exploring for several years. O'Donnell and Uwing, Inc. are understood to represent Nevada interests.

All of the wells are scheduled for drilling within the next few weeks. The firs under way is the No. 1 Balley (SW NW Sec. 12-16-48) in an unorthodox location which has been approved by the commission. Toltek will drill all five wells.

The other four:

No 1. Bruns (NE NE Sec. 14-16-48); The No. 1 Micek (SE NE Sec. 17-15-48); The No 1. Wandruska (NE NE Sec. 22-16-48); and the No. 1 Jurgens (SE SE Sec. 9-15-48)

The exploration opens action in a new area fairly distant from existing production and considered to be wildcat territory. Considerable drilling was done in the general area during the early days of exploring in Cheyenne Country, but no ambitious attempt to find oil in that locality has been tried for some time.

In other Cheyenne County Oil News, Don Rounds Drilling Co. and Harry L. Franklin are starting a well in the southwest corner, the No. 1 Lucas (SW NE Sec. 33-13-51), a location approved by the commissions a couple of weeks ago.

Action also was evident Monday at a well site southeast of Gurley, the No. 2 Sell in the Sell Field, where Petroleum Inc. hopes to follow up on a drilling success score recently by Tom Vessels, the Denver Independent. The No. 2 Sell location is SW NW Sec. 18-15-48. The field had one producing well several years ago but it was abandoned. A few weeks ago, Mr. Vessels reentered the field and has an apparent producer at his No. 1 Sell. More drilling is anticipated, particularly if the Vessels well lives up to its promise.

25 YEARS AGO

June 6, 1990

'County Republicans Name Goodwin Leader'

Cheyenne Country Republicans named Diana Goodwin their new chairman Tuesday night at the party's biennial convention.

The 20 party members attending also elected Ron Horn vice chairman of the Cheyenne County Reman of the Cheyenne County Republican Party, Debbie James as secretary, and Sally Lambrecht as treasurer.

Two-term chairman of the county party Jeff Bush, who conducted the convention, declined nomination for re-election, saying he would like to see a different person in that post this term but that "I will stay active in one way or another."

Attendees voted to open the convention to all registered Republicans who are residents of Cheyenne County because Pat Dowart was the only delegate who was present. Dick and Mary Cabela were not able to attend.

Elected delegates to the Nebraska state GOP convention in Kearney, July 20 and 21, were Pat Dorwart, Dick Cabella and Diana Goodwin. Alternates will be Jeff Bush, Mary Cabella and Bob Goodwin.

Attendees briefly discussed LB 1059, the school finance law, but chose not to take a stand on the controversial law which Gov. Kay Orr vetoed, but which the Legislature overrode.

Keynote speaker was Jack Maddux, the Republican nominee for Lt. Governor.

10 YEARS AGO

June 7, 2005

'New DeMolay Chapter Honors Lostroh'

For the first time in more than a decade, Sidney has a DeMolay Chapter.

Seventeen young men received the Initiatory Degree from officers of the Alliance Chapter of DeMolay in a recent ceremony.

DeMolay is an organization for young men ages 12-19 that stresses respect for parents, reverence, fidelity, courtesy, comradeship and patriotism.

The Initiation Class of the Fort Sidney Chapter Order of DeMolay was named in honor of Elwood L. Lostroh. He was the Master Counciler of the former Sidney Chapter of Demolay in 1939 and in 1941 received the Chevalier Degree, the highest honor a chapter member can attain.

5 YEARS AGO

June 8, 2010

'TierOne Now Great Western Bank'

The TierOne Bank branch in Sidney was one of 69 across the states of Nebraska and Iowa that were closed by the federal Office of Thrift Supervision on Friday evening and reopened as Great Western Bank branches on Saturday.

Bank customers' deposits were protected through the closure by the Federal Deposit Insurance Cooperation (FDIC). TierOne customers automatically became Great Western depositors with the close of the transaction. Checks and ATM cards should still work and loan holders are expected to continue making payments as scheduled, according to a release from the FDIC.

The FDIC was appointed receiver of the bank when it was closed Friday night and entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Great Western Bank of Sioux Falls, S.D., to assume all the deposits of TierOne Bank. Under the agreement, Great Western paid a premium of 1.5 percent to acquire all of TierOne's deposits, which as of March 31, 2010, were approximately $2.2 billion, according to the FDIC.

Great Western also entered into a loss share agreement with the FDIC to purchase essentially all of the failed bank's assets as well, totaling $1.9 billion. In the agreement, the FDIC will guarantee up to 80 percent of loan loses. The loss-share agreement is believed to be the least costly option, according to the FDIC, and is projected to maximize returns on the assets covered by keeping them in the private sector and minimizing disruptions for loan customers.

Locally, city and county officials said the bank's failure did not affect any public funds.

"We had no money in TierOne so we were not affected," Diane Scott, Cheyenne Country Treasurer said.