Nebraska Life - July/Aug 2014

7/27/2019 Nebraska Life - July/Aug 2014

1/16

CRop DUSTERS oMAHA RIVERFRoNT WISNER SAIL LAKE MAC

JULY /AUGUST 2014

$5.95

pg. 24

CHASE

DANGERSummer Storms

pg. 70WINE6

JULY/AUGUST2014

NEBRASKALIFEMAGAZINE

www.NebraskaLife.com

pg. 46

Delicious

PICNIC RECIPES

Picks

JA14_Cover.indd 1 6/13/2014 1


2/16

From the Publishers DeskIn Madison County

Te magazine that celebrates the good life.

N L M

206 W Norolk AvenuePO Box 819

Norolk, NE 68702800-777-6159

www.NebraskaLife.com

MEMBER OF

International

Regional

Magazine

Association

Christopher AmundsonPublisher & Editor

Chris still flies, now a 2008 Maule

M-7, shown here at Burwell with his

daughter, Liesl. Photo by Alan J. Bartels.

BEFORE MAGAZINES, THERE were airplanes. Always airplanes oralmost as long as I can remember.My first ride at age 12 was with Dale Bittner, a local crop duster at Nor-olk. I hung around with him long enough to turn into one, too.

We preer the term ag pilot, which is truer and more proessional. In my five yearsas an ag pilot, I used water, liquid chemicals, seeds, dry ertilizer and pelletized insec-ticides to protect crops rom bugs, weeds and ungus but never dust.

I flew Cessnas with big engines and 280-gallon hoppers that carried the bug juice.I was impressed the first time Dale let me flyone around the airport so much power andresponsiveness like a fighter plane. How could a19-year-old kid rom rural Norolk get so lucky?

We worked rom sunup to sundown whenthere was work to be done. When the windblew, we washed our airplanes, filled out our jobsheets and went out to check fields with armers.

One o my avorite stints was the corn borerrun. Late summer, the corn was high, and sowas the heat. Te cockpit would be 15 degreeshotter than the 95-degree day, and even warmeryet over the humid corn fields.

We flew corn borer runs or Roy and SkipHoudersheldt, who helped their Shelby neigh-bors by lining up the airplanes and the chemi-cals to kill the yield-robbing insect.

Stay in the plane, Roy would tell me as I tax-ied up to the loading station at their arm. Skip would run up and uel the plane, then

dash away to load the chemicals.I it was noon, theyd bring a Dairy Queen double cheeseburger and two Mountain

Dews, then more Mountain Dew or coffee to get me through the evening until dark.I had un as an ag pilot and knew I was doing an important job to help our armers

eed the world and their amilies.In this issue, we have a eature story about Nebraskas modern-day ag pilots. Teir

planes are bigger, aster and more complex than the planes I flew, but the principleand purpose is the same to help others and come home saely each night to yourloved ones.

Nebraska has many interesting proessions. Were interested in showing how Ne-braska works in other stories. I you have an idea, send it to me. Wed be glad to goalong or the ride.

Reach me at [email protected] or at PO Box 819, Norolk, NE 68702.

Along for the Ride

JULY/AUGUST 2014Volume 18, Number 4

Editor & PublisherChristopher Amundson

Associate Publisher

Angela Amundson

Assistant Editor

Alan J. Bartels

Art and Design

annon AscheJenny Keller

Photo Editor

Joshua Hardin

Staff Writers

Matthew Spencer, Matt Masich

Subscriptions/Operations

Cora Tompson, Lindsey Schaecher, Janice Sudbeck

Advertising SalesAshley Burns

Contributing Writers/PhotographersSteve and Bobbi Olson, Jean A. Lukesh, Mike

Hollingshead, Scott Nicholson, Roger Hill, DeanCosgrove, Rick Boardman, Scott Drickey, JimHeadley, Mike Machian, Molly Garriott, Mike

Nyffeler, Dawn Garcia, Nebraska ourism, WisnerNews-Chronicle, Nebraska State Historical Society,

Library o Congress, Bob McMillian,Kyle Bruggeman, Kathy Haley Buhrman

SUBSCRIPIONSWe welcome subscriptions. $24 per year; $44 or two

years. Subscribe by returning the card in this magazine,

calling 1-800-777-6159 orvisiting www.NebraskaLie.com.

Gif subscriptions include ree gif card.

ADVERISINGFor advertising rates, deadlines and special offers, con-tact Ashley Burns at 1-800-777-6159 or advertising@

nebraskalie.com.

COPYRIGHAll contents, photography, artwork and editorial copyare copyrighted 2014 by NEBRASKA LIFE, Norolk,NE. For permission to reprint any o the contents,

contact the publisher. NEBRASKALIFE.COM 11

JA14_ Intro Pages.indd 11 6/13/2014


3/16

NATURE

Mike Hollingshead

when the time comes to respect the powero nature, its a mad dash to the van and aheavy oot on the accelerator to again putus at a sae distance.

In 2004, two days afer a record-setting2.5-mile-wide tornado struck Hallam onMay 22, he tracked 16 twisters south oHastings. Ten in 2009 he came withintwo blocks o a quarter-mile-wide torna-

do near Aurora.I sat on the shoulder o Highway 34less than a mile east o where the unnelmade contact with the ground. I remainedstill as the slow-moving tornado carved apath around my position, munching onopen land, Nicholson said. Te tornadoturned black as night as it ingested thetilled armland, growing with every swal-low. I jumped into my vehicle and slowly

pushed east, sneaking up on the monsterrom behind. As I passed a row o treeslining the highway, the tornado jumpedout rom behind the trees, and I oundmysel within an eighth o a mile romits rotating base. Te tornado had turnedback to the northeast and decided to crossthe highway directly in ront o me.

Yet the most spectacular storm or

Scott and Jennier didnt even orm a un-nel cloud. It came on June 14, 2013, whenthey were filling up with gas west o WestPoint and suddenly thunder clouds beganspinning overhead.

I had the most awe-inspiring momento my chase career observing that super-cell, Nicholson said. It was sitting in onespot and wasnt moving very ast, maybe10 miles per hour. It was the most beauti-

ully structured supercell Ive ever seen inmy lie.

Some o the most memorable trips orthe Nicholsons had nothing to do withthunder and lightning or wind and clouds.Tere was a particular sunset northeast oLincoln, and a road in Kansas where theyfishtailed or 2 miles over a rain-soakeddirt road made as slick as ice.

Storms are where Josh Boustead worksand plays. He leads tours or Nicholson,and his ull-time gig is as a weather ore-caster at the National Weather Service o-fice in Valley. Boustead has been racingafer storms or nearly two decades, butit was another weather service orecaster,Barb Mayes Boustead, who took him onhis most challenging chase. Afer nineyears o chasing her, we finally got mar-

RIDING OUT THE STORM 29

Storm Chasers.indd 29 6/12/2014


4/16

RIDING OUT THE STORM 35

Storm Chasers.indd 35 6/12/2014


5/16

Christopher Amundson

SPRAY SEASON REALLY takes off when July and Augustland. Tis is my 30th year o flying with Boardman Aerial Spray-ing, the company Ive owned or 25 years, which was started by

my dad, Larry, in 1980. I guess or years Ive realized that the morehectic things become, the more relaxed I am.

Amazingly, I eel way better in these super busy summer monthsthan during my supposed winter hibernation. I get headaches allwinter and am a bundle o nerves, but that all goes away in the sum-mer when Im ready to roll. Te only thing that lasts longer thanthese 18-hour days is the smile on my ace.

Ive been around planes or most o my lie, but I neverdreamed Id be flying or a living. I took lessons when I was 15,but I wasnt real serious about it. I bet I had over 100 hours oflying beore I finally got around to getting my pilots license.Shortly afer I graduated high school in Superior, it suddenlydawned on me that I wasnt getting anywhere working at the gasstation, and I better kick it in gear.

A couple years later I was flying or my dad, and then myyounger brother and I bought the company rom him in 1989.Bob was much happier as a pilot than worrying about the hassleso being a boss, so my brother sold his share to me in early 2007and ocused on the aerial spraying. Ten, just a ew months later,on May 19, Bob was gone. He was helping out a riend, sprayingnorthwest o Yankton, South Dakota, and got caught in a thun-derstorm. He couldnt get out o it.

Its been tough. Bob was just three years younger than me andlived near us in Henderson with his wie, Sarah, and their 11-year-

old twins, Brandon and Megan.Te hardest part or me was calling my parentsin Fullerton that night and telling them he was gone. I think

about my brother all the time, and hes always close to my heart.I guess it was comorting to know that he had brought his amilyup with him or the trip, so Bob did get to enjoy some o his finalhours with Sarah and their children. I do know he died doingwhat he loved.

When Im up in the air, I eel Bob there with me. A ew yearsago, I know he was my guardian angel when I aced a crisis o myown. I was spraying crops in Minnesota or a riend. While 800eet in the air, the connecting rod on the elevator that raises andlowers the tail broke. My control stick wasnt hooked in anymore,so I had no way to go up or down. But then I instantly went totallycalm and I could eel Bobs presence with me. I somehow figuredout how to fly the plane back to the airport by just using thethrottle and trim lever to balance the nose and tail, but I had nocontrol o the airplane when I hit the runway. I ruined a $750,000airplane because o a aulty $50 part, but I came home with just abruise on my leg.

Ive come to the conclusion that our time is already chosen, so Ichoose to fly with the time I have. During the summer, I am up inthe air by 6 in the morning, taking off with my our ag pilots, andwe spray crops until darkness sets in. Although there are rare jobswhen fields are 100 miles away, I usually can make 10 round tripsand cover about 260 acres during one flight.

A spraying session takes my Trush aircraf rom an altitude

Its a team effort at Rick Boardmans Boardman Aerial Spraying near Henderson.

Team Boardman includes, from left: secretary Jenny Goertzen, loader Brent Regier,

pilot Luke Johnson, daughter Andrea, wife Mary, Rick and daughter Samantha.

When spraying begins, in left photo, theres only room for a team of one in the air.

Flying solo 39

Agriculture Pilots.indd 39 6/12/2014


6/16

With more than 8,000 vehicles passing through Wisner each day

on Highway 275, the Cuming County community can claim big city

traffic. The welcoming faces of its 1,200 residents on the sidewalks

and in schools and businesses give Wisner its small-town feel.

TOWN STORY

WISNER 53

Town Story - Wisner.indd 53 6/12/2014


7/16

Wisner

dreamed o all that horsepower boomingyards rom the Elkhorn at the 105-acreWisner River Park.

With all the noise and horsepowerrom all those motors we just said, Tun-

der will fit that, Bossow said about thenames origin.

When $50,000 was needed to get thetwo-day event jump-started, Bossow raisedit rom local donors within days. Tat firstyear 3,500 ans pulled in, and last year,more than 8,000 turned out or the Sat-urday show alone. I real thunder rolls in,Bossow has that covered, too, because Wis-ner has the only track in the nation withan underground drainage system. Tesegrounds are used to getting wet, with leg-endary ice jams on the Elkhorn that haveturned this entire park into a lake on sev-eral occasions. Bossow remembers one inthe 1960s as the most notorious.

Teres a lot trees bent over rom thattime, he said. All those big ice chunks hitthose trees and they just pushed over.

Russ Breitkreutz has spent the entire 78years o his lie in Wisner, most o themworking the land. Te small-time armeris becoming a rarity, but Russ keeps plow-ing ahead, ofen working his 500-acre

arm on his own while his wie, Sharon,works as a substitute teacher. Yet or thepast 15 years, hes been more interestedin growing this town in his role with theWisner Community Development board,including spearheading the Wisner Cat-tlemens Lodge & Suites that opened in2013. Motel guests check in at the neigh-boring Prime Stop convenience store, butwhen there are late-night problems withrooms, sometimes Breitkreutz has to

answer the bell. Tat doesnt bother him.You get to that point in your lie where

you reflect on all the good things that youwere privileged to enjoy during your lie-time, Breitkreutz said. I eel the needto do what I can to try and provide thatopportunity to the current generationand uture generations. Its kind o whatmoves me. I I can do something to helpmake that happen, thats gratiying. Tereward is in the doing.

With all the noise

and horsepowerfrom all those motors

we just said, Thun-

der will fit that, Dan

Bossow said about

the names origin.

The Thunder by the River tractor pull erupts each August at Wisner River Park.

TOWN STORY

Wisner News-Chronicle

56 NEBRASKA LIFE JULY/AUG UST 2014

Town Story - Wisner.indd 56 6/12/2014


8/16

It was Bernice who rode that Wisnermidnight ride, and she was egged onby Lubbers late-night walker, her olderbrother, im, the ather o Mayor Pon-ton. im double-dared her to dey theirathers orders to keep him off the streets,so she climbed up the ladder or the maddash. Barry Pontons ather died soonafer A.E.s passing in 1958, but much othe ascinating story o Lubber was pre-served by Pontons late aunt in a memoir

o the horse, written in 1966 by BerniceM. Ponton omjack and her older sister,Florence.

Lubber was born north o ONeill in1921 at the ormer Red Bird Ranch. Hecame rom Leon Mellors 1,000-poundmare, a percheron/mustang named Queenwho had a royal romance with a medium-sized Belgian/Shire rom the Hutton am-ily o Orchard. Ranch hands called the coltBlubber and then downsized it to Lubber.He outgrew the arm and was sold at age4 to Charlie Mitchell, a government horsebuyer in Spencer.

Lubber was purchased by Ponton and

his Wisner partner, a local veterinariannamed O.O. Person, afer they spottedhim towering above the 6-oot-4 Spencerin a newspaper photo. When he arrived bythe midnight train in Pilger, A.E. walkedhim south in the darkness to their hide-away. A.E.s oldest son, George, helpedkeep the giant under wraps. Soon the

Wisner crowd o more than 4,000 washanding quarters to Bernice outside thecarnival tent or the Fourth o July air.

When they came back out, people justshook their heads in wonder, Barry said.

A.E. soon bought out Doc Person andmoved Lubber to his Battle Creek arm.When they toured, A.E. slept in a tent bythe horse, with Pal chained nearby. Lub-ber would wake Ponton or breakast bypulling off his blankets with his teeth. In

1926, profits grew with tours run by Sav-idge Amusement Co. o Wayne, and thenext year Lubber joined the travelingDodson Worlds Fair. Tere were dreamso Madison Square Garden glory, but it allcame to a nightmarish end.

Te horse got pneumonia and becameviolently ill at a show in Rock Island, Ill.He rammed his head repeatedly againstthe ground in agony until he died on June9, 1927. Ten veterinarians ound mysteryneedle marks.

Te horse had been pulling in $5,000a week and Lubbers insurance policyexpired just days beore his body was sent

to the glue actory. Pal was so enragedwith grie that Ponton could no longerkeep him. A.E. would remain haunted byhis suspicions that the needle had beena sneak attack by a worker rom a rivalhorse act.

But the legend o Wisners huge horselives on.

Bernice had to ride sidesaddle

because his back washumongous. She would evenstand on him and tap dance.

Battle Creek Mayor Barry Ponton,

grandson o Lubbers owner

THE LEG END OF LUB BER 61

The Legend of Lubber.indd 61 6/12/2014


9/16

Try them at the tasting rooms

Christopher Amundson

LIFESTYLE

better than anything else. It has an excel-lent flavor profile, and for now Im keep-ing it for myself. Te grape, that is.

emparia is sold under the Swansons Pri-mordium label and is available at CuthillsVineyards and at Nebraska wine retailers.

Swanson closely studies the numerousgrape varieties that grow on his acreage,noting desirable traits that he can breedinto other varieties. Te process of devel-oping a successful wine grape takes years.

One of the most notable Swanson helpeddevelop is the now popular Petite Amiegrape, which he named in 2004.

Weve found that this wine is a goodcompanion to a nice -bone steak grilledmedium rare with a side of asparagus.

Wine lovers everywhere will enjoythis toast to Cuthills Vineyards success-ful journey into its 20th year, just oneof many wine journeys to be discoveredacross Nebraska.

Sandhills Ros wine from 17 Ranch Winery has been compared to fine champagne.

Rockin Rooster Winery,Scotia

(308) 245-3222

www.rockin-rooster.com

Makovicka Winery,Brainard

(402) 545-2173

www.makovickawinery.com

Glacial Till Vineyard,Ashland

(402) 944-2546

www.glacialtillvineyard.com

Prairie Creek Vineyards,Central City

(308) 940-1370

www.prairiecreekwine.com

17 Ranch Winery,Lewellen

(308) 778-5542

www.17ranchwinery.com

Cuthills Vineyards,Pierce

(402) 329-6174

www.cuthills.com

Nebraska Adventure Wines.indd 74 6/12/2014


10/16

METRO

ITS THE HEART OF SUMMER, but there are only coolplaces wherever you turn. For this is Omaha, a city thats alsostormy and husky and sizzling with new energy. Follow along onthis uplifing river walk o restaurants, upscale condos, magnifi-cent modern art sculptures, jazzy joints and a paradise o recre-ational trails.

Tis was also a cool hangout more than 210 years ago, whenLewis and Clark discovered this land while paddling about theMissouri River on the Corps o Discovery voyage to the PacificOcean. Tese busy explorers didnt have time to stop and smellthe wild roses, even i some were growing there, but they didinhale the wonders o goldenrods sunny hues that dotted the riv-erbanks, swaying in unison with lanky prairie grasses. Tey alsogazed at clusters o sumac, beaver dams along the rivers edge andflocks o waterowl back rom winter reuge.

ake that great leap orward into the 21st century. Native veg-

etation still seeds and reseeds along the Missouri Rivers banks inOmaha, while the beaver architects continue drafing their blue-prints. Yet even Mother Nature would curtsy in approval at theman-made marvels now flowing down by the riverside.

urn west and youll see a reinvented downtown that or thepast three decades has been jump-started with one o the biggest

battery charges in the Midwest. Tis journey seemed impossiblyar, but the completion o the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge in2008 and its landmark twin towers was a symbolic exclamationpoint o this quest.

Te 3,000-oot-long, cable-stayed bridge spans the MissouriRiver and is the longest pedestrian bridge to link two states. AskJennier Morrell what she likes most about the bridge and hereyes light with gentle excitement as a smile gradually builds. Shesimply and succinctly notes its shape.

Its like a snake, said the park ranger at the national headquar-

More than 210 years ago Captain Meriwether Lewis and Lieutenant

William Clark wrote that their expedition pro-ceeded on under a jentle

brease up the Missourie. Tese guys dont know what theyre missing.

Omaha Riverfront Tour.indd 78 6/12/2014


11/16

Omahas downtown revitalization since

the late 1980s has included a massive

surge in hotel growth from mega-million-

dollar projects like the 24,500-seat TD

Ameritrade Park, which threw out its first

pitch in 2011 and hosts the citys tourism

home run, the College World Series.

Omaha Riverfront Tour.indd 82 6/12/2014


12/16

Sailing awayfrom it all on

LakeMAC MATTHEW SPENCER

STEVE & BOBBI OLSON

CHRISTOPHER AMUNDSON

Regatta.indd 86 6/13/2014


13/16

Steve and Bobbi Olson (all)

Its the dogdays of summer at Lake Mac, but with 105 miles of shoreline theres always a place toplayfully roam free as both two- and four-legged creatures can romp about the Caribbeanlike sand.

90 NEBRASKA LIFE JULY/AUG UST 2014

Regatta.indd 90 6/12/2014


14/16

Prague

Tannon Asche

Pragues mudslideof good will

PRAGUE IS USUALLY a quiet towno about 300 residents. When mud vol-leyball comes each July, the populationspikes tenold.

Spikes, bumps and sets will outnumberall o the people here, including the morethan 1,200 players on 256 co-ed teamscompeting during this annual tournament

o un and goodwill. Players willingly diveinto knee-deep pits o water on Praguesold ootball field, which is like a swampaccording to Jeremy Stanislav, a Praguenative who started the Beat Breast CancerMud Volleyball ournament in 2008. Itsmuch more than a undraiser; the tourna-ment is a gathering o good will.

Being involved with such a neededcause while getting wet and muddy isuniquely Nebraskan, said Corrie Johnsono Seward, a member o the Viva la Cureteam. We live in the good lie and want tohelp fight or others.

Te tournament is on Saturday, July 12,

this year, but the un begins on Tursdayas hundreds o campers set up their tentsin Prague. Cactus Hill, the popular coun-

try band rom Lincoln, plays a concerton Friday.

Saturday unleashes with king-sizedaction like an 8-oot-high ladder ballgame and human oosball where playerskick at soccer balls while hanging on to25-oot-long poles.

Te big draw is mud volleyball. While

shorts, -shirts and bikinis are the mostcommon uniorms, a team rom a Mexican-American organization in Omaha onceplayed while playully wearing legend-ary pro-wresting Lucha Libre masks. Eventhough their skills didnt match their outfits,the members o another team all dressed assuperheroes. Mud was their Kryptonite, andthey all lef wearing it.

Afer handing over a $4,000 scholar-ship to a college-bound student and apair o $10,000 donations to two Nebras-kan women to aid in their breast cancerfights, its the proud community o Praguethat will make it

through the mud-slide wearing thewidest grins o all.

Fun soars for hundreds diving into the charity mud volleyball splashdown in Prague.

TRAV ELE R 101

JA14_Traveler.indd 101 6/13/2014


15/16

75 6

8 TRAV ELE R 105

JA14_Traveler.indd 105 6/12/2014


16/16

ROADSIDE CURIOSITIES

LAST LOOK

ROADSIDE

Hay there, MinionWE CUTTINGEDGE NEBRASKANS are neverminions when it comes to yard art, especially when Minionsare the creations, like the 10-foot-tall tribute to the Despicable Memovie series by fans of the films in Gage County that was photo-graphed by Sandy Ockinga of Ayr. Te terrible trio rise up nearthe intersection of U.S. Highway 77 and Nebraska Highway 41,between Lincoln and Beatrice. Tese delightful hay sculptures arethe charmingly wicked little henchmen of the criminal mastermindGru and were stacked together and painted by movie fan EmilyHaxby. She doubled up six of her farms round hay bales with thehelp of a Bobcat skid-steer loader and fellow minions of the Min-ions. Perhaps these mischievous guys are plotting to spread hayfever to curious commuters?

photograph by Sandy Ockinga

Do you have photos of curiousNebraska roadside attractions?

Send them to us at

[email protected]

Curiosities

110 NEBRASKA LIFE JULY/AUG USt 2014

Nebraska Life - July/Aug 2014

Documents

Transcript of Nebraska Life - July/Aug 2014