THE NHS CLASS OF ’59 IS HAVING OUR 60TH REUNION!!
WHEN: Friday & Saturday, August 9th & 10th
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Our 60th reunion is fast approaching!! We are trying to keep it simple, casual
and fun. We’re excited that Klas Helmerson & his daughter will be coming!

WHAT’S HAPPENING!!
Friday: ‘Meet and Greet’ cook-out w/cash bar ~ Norfolk Country Club
Come visit on the patio after 4:00 with dinner at approximately 6:30
Saturday: 10:00-12:00 Coffee ~ Downtown Coffee Company…
Everyone on your own for lunch….here or elsewhere.
Saturday Eve: Casual Buffet dining ~ Divot’s new Roof Top Terrace
This awesome room has 2 decks & will be a great place to hang out!
PLUS~ It’s available to us for the entire day! One important item to note…
NO OUTSIDE FOOD/DRINK CAN BE TAKEN INTO THIS ROOM!!
We will have cool drinks available & cash bar later afternoon. Dinner ~6:30

A block of 15 rooms is being held @ Norfolk Lodge & Suites at a reduced
rate of $110 for standard Queen or King room (plus tax). The cut-off date for
these rooms is July 12th, so don’t delay! Visit the site to register and take a
virtual tour: www.divotsconference.com or phone 402-379-3833.
Lodging is also available @ Holiday Express, Hampton, etc. but no blocks.

Our website is still active~ http://nhsclassof59.webstarts.com & so is Dave’s
blog~ http://davettime.blogspot.com. Check them both for updates. Also,
please make sure we have your current contact info - cell #s, emails, etc..

Please return your meal reservations so we are able to plan accordingly. If
you know that you aren’t coming, let us know as it saves us wondering!

Also, get your reservations made early! Questions, give us a call or text!
Sandy Murphy              Pat/Lowell Jenny               Dave Theophilus
1306 Nebraska Ave      1305 No 19th St                507 E 3rd St
Norfolk NE 68701         P-402-750-1374 cell          Fremont NE 68025
402-649-5622 cell        L-402-750-8759 cell          402-720-4676 cell

Please fill out and return to:
Sandy Murphy
1306 Nebraska Ave
Norfolk NE 68701
NAME ______________________________________________________
ADDRESS____________________________________________________
PHONE______________________________________________________
EMAIL______________________________________________________
Number attending Friday evening ____ @ $25.00 Total__________
Number attending Saturday evening ___ @ $30.00 Total_________
Sorry, can’t make it this year. ________
Keep me ‘in the loop’ if we decide to have another?? _______________

JOTA a Big Success Near Fremont, Nebraska

On Saturday, October 20, 2012, the Plattsmouth ARC set up their radios for the Scouts Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) at Camp Eagle southwest of Fremont, NE in northern Saunders County. JOTA is an annual event that enables Scouts around the world to communicate via amateur radio.  See:  http://www.scouting.org/jota.aspx

The AKSARBEN ARC set up their JOTA operation at Camp Cedars just a short distance west of Camp Eagle.

Wes, KD0PGV and Jarad, KD0EFC from the Pioneer Amateur Radio Club made the KD0EFC repeater in Fremont available on Echolink for JOTA.  Echolink combines radio and the Internet and allows amateur radio operators to make long-distance contacts at any time.

On Saturday morning on my way out to visit the operations at both camps, I listened to the Camp Cedars group working 9W6DEN in Malaysia.  Echolink contacts continued to be made all day from both camps through the KD0EFC repeater.

When I arrived at Camp Eagle, I started looking for antennas.  I spotted them leading to one of the cabins with a group of Scouts standing outside.

The pictures below show one of their antennas; John, KC0HYD briefing a group of scouts outside the cabin; Ray, N5SEZ running the 15 meter SSB station while waiting for the next group of Scouts to come into the cabin; and Dudley, KD0NMD at the 20 meter PSK31 station. 

After visiting with them and watching the Scouts on the radios, I headed west for Camp Cedars.

Camp Cedars is the larger of the two camps so the JOTA antennas were not immediately visible.  After receiving directions to head off in a northeast direction, I finally spotted them.  I never did find the road leading to their building, so I reached them by a short hike cross-country on a cool but beautiful October day in Nebraska.

The pictures below show their HF triplexer that allowed them to work several HF bands at the same time on one trap vertical antenna; Pat, K0CTU with one of the HF SSB radios with a Scout and an adult with Bill, WA9ASD off to the left; Bill, WA9ASD setting up a second HF rig; Mary, N0TRK at the briefing table, and their VHF antenna.

After watching their operations and visiting with one of the Scoutmasters about a possible Scout Radio Merit Badge course sometime in the future in Fremont, I headed back home while listening to the Echolink contacts being made on the repeater.

Judging by everything I saw and heard, JOTA was a successful venture.  I am sure that the Scouts all benefited from the combined dedication of the amateur radio operators who made it all possible.

Wes, KD0PGV will have more information when he presents a program on Echolink at the next PARC meeting in Fremont on Friday, October 26 at 730 PM at Hero's/Gambino's.

Nebraska 385 Idaho State 31

That was the rushing yards total for each team in Lincoln on September 22, but it seemed like it could have been the score, considering how easy it was for Nebraska to score.

The actual score was 73-7 in a game, that in my opinion, should have never been played. This game was played purely for money.  Nebraska got a home game with the millions it brings into the Athletic Department and the community.  Idaho State received $600,000 for offering up their football players on a platter.

But, there I go editorializing again.  I made the comment to three people on Saturday evening that I try not to do that.  That remark caused one of them to blow cola out her nose (I bet that stung) and the other two to yell, “What?”  OK, OK, so occasionally I have an opinion. 

This type of blowout isn’t good for anybody. The Idaho State players surely didn’t get anything out of getting beat up that bad.  The Nebraska fans and players get a false sense of accomplishment and athletic ability. Nobody wins in the end except the money counters.

It reminds me of the time many years ago when I rode a crowded Wayne State College bus all day to play football at Northeast Missouri State Teachers College (now Truman State University) in Kirksville, Missouri.  We later found out that NMSTC was some kind of farm team for a Big Ten school.  I have forgotten the exact final score but it wasn’t pretty.

It was also the only time I ever carried the ball in college.  We kicked off and one of their linemen raised himself up to his full height of 7 or 8 feet at least and roared like King-Kong.  While he was roaring, the ball bounced off his chest and came back to me.  I caught it and kept on running forward.  The next thing I remember was laying on my back on our sideline with two man-mountains, nicknamed Earthquake and Landslide sitting on my chest.  At least I held onto the ball.

That was when we decided that the definition of an Athletic Director is a guy who is willing to dedicate your body for the good of the school, or more accurately, his athletic budget.

But, I digress. Ignoring the fact that Idaho State may have been one of the worst teams to ever play in Lincoln, Nebraska did look good.  Rex Burkhead  was wearing a knee brace, but it didn’t appear to me to hamper his running (8 carries for 119 yards and 2 TDs).  Plus, a lot of Nebraska players got to play.

The crowd got bored in the second quarter during a seemly 10 minute Big Ten Network TV timeout, but the students came through to save the day.  They started a Wave, like they usually do.  But, when it came back to them, they changed it to a Super Slow Wave.  They fan next to me said it looked like a Tsunami coming toward us.  When it got back to the students, they  changed it to a Super Fast Wave, which probably set a new speed record for Waves.  But they weren’t done yet.  They started two Waves going in opposite directions, which when they met bounced off each other and started back in the opposite directions.  Great fun!

I rarely leave the game early but this was finally more than I could take.  We left early, along with most of the students and a lot of other fans.

After the Mississippi State game we had tried a shortcut back to our car, only to run up against a closed gate.  I thought I could slither under it.  While I was on the ground working on my slithering, Karol walked over and opened the gate.  It turns out it was closed but not locked,   The Roadrunner always was smarter than me. This game we took the correct route and were out of town while they were still counting the money.

On September 29, Nebraska gets back to playing the game the way it was meant to be played with the opening of the Big Ten schedule.  Wisconsin comes to town for a 7 PM game and a chance for us to have a little payback for the loss in Madison last year.

I’ll end this on a sad note.  Earlier in the day on Saturday we said our final goodbyes to a very good man.  May your Huskers and your Cardinals always make you proud, Ralph.

Go Big Red!

Nebraska 49 Mississippi State 20

Before I start writing on our experiences at the 49-20 Nebraska win over Mississippi State in Lincoln on Saturday, September 1, I need to make a few introductory remarks.

First, I keep forgetting to put a notice on all the pictures in any of my posts that they can be enlarged by clicking on them.  Also, I found out Saturday how hard it is to get really good sports photographs.  I almost had an award winning touchdown photo, but at the last second a guy wearing a cornhead jumped up and blocked the shot.  Now all I have is a great shot of a cornhead if I ever decide to make on post on sports hats.

That experience makes me appreciate even more the work that professional photographers do at the games.  A good example would be the game photos by Omaha World-Herald photographer and amateur radio friend of mine, Jeff Beiermann, in the game coverage in Sunday’s edition.  His photo of Coach John Papuchis was even selected for the two-page photo on page 10CF.  Great job Jeff!  Now, how about some of those sequence photos from the good old days? 

Second, when preparing these posts I try to never read the write-ups by the professional writers until after I have completed mine.  I don’t want to be influenced by what they write.  Although, if you want play-by-play descriptions you are not going to get those from me anyway.  I’ll let them handle the X’s and O’s.  I try to provide, as Paul Harvey used to say, “the rest of the story”.”

I do download the game statistics from http://www.huskers.com/  It is easy to compile a game story just from the statistics.  For my comments on how computer software handles it, see my post in my Archives from January 22, 2012.

With all of that out of the way, I can proceed with my story.  On the drive down to Lincoln, Karol and I couldn’t help but notice the effects of the hot dry summer.  The beans are already starting to turn color, which I think is early.  Actually, I was surprised that more corn had not been cut or combined as most of it is still in the field.  The dry-land corn really looks pathetic.  I’m working on a post about the summer weather statistics for Fremont, which should be ready in a day or two.

We parked in a parking garage on 14th Street northeast of the stadium.  I had forgotten about my amateur radio antenna on the top of the truck, so BAM, BAM, BAM all the way to the top as it hit the roof of the garage every few feet.  And to make matters worse, on the way out I did the very same thing.  BAM, BAM, BAM all the way down.  Too bad our kids or grandkids weren’t with us as it would have embarrassed them to no end.  But, isn’t that an unwritten requirement to be a parent or grandparent?  Embarrass kids and grandkids whenever possible?

Entering the stadium, the massive stadium expansion project is the first thing that is visible.  The next thing I noticed was that the Dorothy Lynch signs were still up.  Over on the sideline, the Fairbury Brand Hot Dog Man was getting Der Wiener Schlinger ready to go.  Actually, he looks a little smaller this year, as if he might have been eating the lo-fat variety.

Did you remember to click on the picture to enlarge it?

The next thing I noticed was the heat.  The kick-off temperature in Lincoln was 92 but I always add 10 degrees for “crowd heat” to come up with a stadium temperature, so that would equate to 102 degrees.  The flag on the top of the construction crane showed a brisk north wind, but the ribbons on the top of the goal posts barely moved during the game.  One good thing about sitting in the west stadium is that eventually we sit in the shade.  Fortunately, for this game that happened at the end of the 1st quarter.

The Lincoln Journal-Star reported that nearly 300 people were treated at the game with heat-related issues, but that only 15 people, including one of our neighbors, required transport to the hospital.   We talked to her after the game though and she is ok.

It wasn’t as bad as a few years ago when the kick-off temperature was around 100 on two consecutive Saturdays.  The only thing that kept me conscious was the belief that Karol would probably sell my season ticket to the highest bidder before the paramedics could revive me!

Nebraska’s team entry into the stadium with the Tunnel Walk Music (Sirius by the Alan Parsons Project) never fails to get me excited.  The other 85,424 people at the game pretty much feel the same way judging by their reaction. See and listen to this clip from 2011:     

Other items of interest included a humorous spot on HuskerVision by new head basketball coach Tim Miles, getting everybody but the team fired up and ready for the upcoming season.

Coach Bo Pelini has always been open about his strong Catholic upbringing.  But he must be pulling out all the stops this year, because I spotted a Priest patrolling the Nebraska sideline.  Hey, if it occasionally works for Notre Dame, why not us?  I suppose now all the ministers from the other faiths will be demanding equal time on the sideline.  Come to think of it, I might try that gig myself.  There are websites on the Internet where a person can become licensed to marry and bury people.  I could be Father Dave from The Church of What’s Happening Now!  Trivia question:  Who founded that church?  No fair using Google.  Answer at the bottom.

I never could tell why Taylor Martinez’s throwing motion didn’t look “natural”.  But the summer coaching and his attendance at two high profile quarterback camps seems to have paid off.  He does seem more “natural” now.  But, when he is 26 of 34 for 354 yards and 5 touchdowns he can throw it anyway he sees fit.

Nebraska looked good, but it will take a stronger opponent to tell how good.  Now to go read what the pros had to say.

Don’t forget the second Husker Luncheon in Fremont at the Wooden Windmill on Wednesday, September 5.  Sean Callahan will be the speaker.  The doors open at 11 AM with the program starting at Noon.  The next game will be on September 8 at UCLA.

Trivia answer – Comedian Flip Wilson founded The Church of What’s Happening Now.

Go Big Red!!

Review of First Husker Luncheon in Fremont

For what my opinion might be worth, plus the comments I heard from other attendees, I think the first Husker Luncheon today (August 29) at the Wooden Windmill in Fremont was a big success.

Dale, Wayne, and I were among the first ones to arrive shortly after 11 AM, so we had our pick of the seats.  For those of you familiar with the Wooden Windmill, the buffet was set up in the main dining area but the eating and the program were in the large room on the south side.  The food was typical buffet food, but as is also typical of the Wooden Windmill, it was excellent and plentiful.  It consisted of a salad bar plus BBQ sandwiches, two types of chicken, potatoes, beans, rolls, and a beverage.  Cost of the meal and program was $12.

We thought attendance might be low due to some apparent glitches in the advertising.  I couldn’t find anybody who ever saw any mention of the event in the Fremont Tribune.  But people obviously found out about it in other ways as they continued to arrive during the entire eating hour.  I estimated about 45 people attended with about ten of those women.  The Roadrunner didn’t accompany me this time as she had a small conflict, but I don’t think she wanted to be the only woman there.  That will not be a problem the next time.

All attendees received a Husker Sports Network Fall Sports Guide, a card good for one free appetizer with the purchase of two meals at the Wooden Windmill, and a ticket good for any of about ten prizes at the end.

The program started promptly at Noon with Lincoln Journal Star sportswriter Steve Sipple as the speaker.  I have found that the best speakers are people who talk about what they know and just pass that on to the audience by telling stories.  Steve Sipple is very good at that.  He ran through what he thought would be the starting lineups, but mixed in enough humorous stories about players and coaches to keep the audience’s attention, as well as causing outbursts of laughter. He talked for about 45 minutes and then answered a wide range of questions for another 15 minutes.  I would give him a big thumbs up for his performance.

At 1 PM drawings were held for the prizes, which ranged from cups, T-shirts, and hats to a framed photograph of the Huskers emerging from the stadium tunnel.

Next Wednesday (September 5) the speaker will be Sean Callahan.  Sipple will be back on September 12, with the two alternating throughout the season on any Wednesday when there is a Nebraska game, home or away, that week.

Based on what I saw today and when the word gets around about this event, the Husker Luncheons are going to be a must-see for Nebraska fans.

First Husker Luncheon in Fremont

The first Husker Luncheon will be held today (August 29) in Fremont at the Wooden Windmill.  Doors open at 11 AM with the program from Noon to 1 PM with Sean Callahan or Steve Sipple as hosts. The cost is $12 for an all-you-care-to-eat buffet.

I don’t know why this event has not been promoted better.  Last night I finally saw a large ad in the Fremont Area Shopper, but I never have seen anything in the Fremont Tribune.  Perhaps I missed it.  I have had some calls about it since my email and Facebook post on August 24.  I have no affiliation with this event, but I have been promoting it among my friends.  It is open to the public and women are also welcome.  The Roadrunner (see my post on January 22) hasn’t decided if she will accompany me yet.  

This luncheon comes in advance of the Nebraska opener this Saturday afternoon, September 1 against Southern Miss.  We have been assigned new parking this year, in a parking garage northeast of the stadium on 14th Street.  Formerly we parked near the baseball/softball complex.  The walk will be similar in length, but with no streets to cross.  However, I will miss walking through Sodom and Gomorrah, the name I have given to the big-time party that takes place under the I-180 overpass west of the stadium.  The security guards won’t allow people to walk through the area before the game without a pass, but it is possible to get close enough to catch a flavor of the event.  Following the game people, are allowed to walk through the party as it is winding down, or up, as the case may be.  I doubt that you will ever see Tom Osborne in this area, unless he is accompanied by the Temperance Union ladies as bodyguards.

The Roadrunner will be going to the game with me as it is still prior to the Autumn Equinox, after which it is too “cold” for her to sit outside.  If Saturday’s game is a blowout, she will probably walk downtown for a salad.  The Roadrunner is quite the fan!

One last item.  What is the structure being build on the east side of Highway 275 just north of the Breaking Ground Nursery near Valley?  Is it a Shrine, Church, Barn, Store, or what?  If you know, please let me know. 

Golf Balls too Old to Use

On August 7th the First United Methodist Church held a Best Ball Outing at Whitetail Run near Fremont.  For the history leading up to this event see my post on August 2nd.

Picking up from there, as Karol and I were leaving the practice range my 50 year old golf bag finally gave its last gasp and the handle fell off.  The bottom had previously fallen off and was being held on by two bungee cords.  So, not wanting to take my clubs to the big event in a plastic garbage bag, I picked up a new bag at a local sporting goods store.  While transferring all the contents of the old bag to the new bag, I found a now expired credit card I had been looking for during the last 12 years.  The contents also included a nice collection of nice, but old, balls, pencils, gloves, tees, and just about anything I would ever need to tear up the course.

I was telling this part of the story to Glenn and Dave on Tuesday night and Dave said, “I hope you didn’t use those old balls”.  I said, “I did but why?”.  He went on to tell me that golf balls have a shelf life and they were probably “dead”.  DEAD BALLS!  Where did that come from?  In the 50 years I have been stomping around golf courses I have never heard anything about DEAD BALLS. I told Pastor Greg about this and he told me he had just bought 150 balls for 13 cents a piece.  I asked him what he thought the chances were that they might all be “dead”.  He said it didn’t matter as he had already lost half of them and besides that the price was right. As I thought about this “dead ball” idea some more, maybe that could explain a lot about my golf game for the last 50 years, or why I never could beat Leo, Karol’s father. More on balls later.

On the day of the big event, Karol and I eagerly arrived but with some apprehension.  After all it had been years since we last played.  Karol got paired up with the other women and I went with Gail and Wayne, with Roy as a driver and official scorekeeper.  As we headed for the first tee I was informed that I was to tee-off in a special place.  You might remember that at the end of the August 2nd post I made a tongue-in-cheek remark about the Methodists needing to loosen up.  They must have taken offense at that because here is where they sent me to tee-off.

                   

How nice of them to provide ramps for me to get up there.  There was a side benefit.  Most of my tee-shots have gophers and ground squirrels diving into their holes.  At least from up there I had a built-in loft that gave me a chance of hitting a bird.  But, I learned a valuable lesson.  DON’T MESS WITH THE METHODISTS!

Whitetail Run is a beautiful course, which I assume gets its name from deer.  We didn’t see any deer but we did see seven turkeys strolling across the fairway.  It is an unforgiving course in that if the ball goes anywhere but straight, it is gone for good into the Enchanted Forest.  If we were playing our own shots, I would still be out there, but I least I would have satisfied all the field requirements for a forestry degree.

But, we all had some good and bad shots.  The important thing was that we all had fun.  As we headed back to the clubhouse we spotted smoke, which we thought might be a grass fire due to the drought.  But, it was only Claude cooking up some of those world-class hamburgers he is famous for.  Here are some more selected pictures from the outing.

Now, what about dead balls?  For that answer I turned to my golf expert, nephew Brandon, who is CEO of Dancin’ Dogg Golf (www.dancindogg.com/), which makes OptiShot, a well-respected golf simulator.  He wanted to know what brand of golf ball I was using and what temperature extremes they had been subjected to.  I said I wasn’t sure about the brands since most of them had XXXXXX’s over them.  Combining the time the balls had spent in our garages in Sioux Falls and Fremont, they had seen temperatures ranging from 110 to –30.  When Brandon heard that he pronounced them “not fit for use”.  He suggested I put them all in a box for Matt, Niki, and Suzy, and, like my grandmother, mark it “Golf Balls too Old to Use”.  He also added that OptiShot will not be able to differentiate between a bad golf ball vs. a good one.  OptiShot measures the clubface through the impact zone - so the condition of the ball is not relevant to the simulator's performance.  OptiShot would probably analyze my swing as some kind of weird karate attack.

So, it appears that the best solution is to use old balls on an OptiShot to perfect one’s swing and then use new balls on the course. In fact, I heard that the Hooper Elevator is selling a new kind of golf ball that has the core made out of super-compressed soybeans.  Not only would that be a “green” ball, but buying it would help out the farmers in this drought.

But, next time I tee-off with that soybean ball, if it comes down short of Cherry County, I am giving up golf and switching to croquet.  Now, I suppose somebody will tell me wooden croquet balls have a shelf life.  What’s next?  Tiddly-Winks!