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May 1946 marked the end of another school year. On Friday, May 3, Laurel seniors enjoyed the traditional sneak day. A chartered bus hauled the class to Lincoln where they visited the state Capitol, the state penitentiary, Morrill Hall, the University of Nebraska, and other sites. They returned to Laurel late that evening.
The seniors of Dixon and Concord also sneaked to Lincoln. Belden seniors made it a two-day affair by spending the first day and night in Omaha and the second day in Lincoln. I believe this writer’s class (LHS 1963) was the first to break tradition by sneaking to Lake Okoboji, Iowa, instead of Lincoln.
On May 10, the Junior-Senior Banquet was held in the high school auditorium. The room was decorated to look like a show boat. Junior class mothers prepared the meal and the sophomore class boys acted as waiters. Joan Ericson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C.O. Ericson, was mistress of ceremonies.
Baccalaureate services were held on Sunday, May 12. On Thursday, May 16, thirty-seven seniors received their diplomas in the Laurel city auditorium. Members of the Class of ‘46 were: Joan Anderson, Marian Bebee, Lloyd Bohlken, Irene Cramer, Maddy Dalton, Donna Dempster, Teresa Duffy, Vivian French, Leonard Garrison, Olive Guinn, Betty Hansen, Eleanor Herse, Helen Jensen, Wilma Jensen, Joyce Kastrup, Maureen Larson, Arlene Loeb, Eugene Loeb, Shirley Marthwig, Ella Mason, Maxine Mason, Alberta Miller, Milton Most, Arlene Munter, Lorene Nelson, Bill Odman, Elizabeth Paulsen, Duane Purcell, Dorothy Quist, Frances Rath, Phyllis Renter, Shirley Ross, Donovan Schuler, Allan Shively, Harold Sudbeck, James Sullivan, and Elnora Wiemers.
Commencement exercises in Concord were held on May 16. Graduates included Wallace Anderson, Wesley Bloom, Joan Clark, Keith Erickson, Kenneth Erickson, Gene Kraemer, Elaine Kung, Elaine Miller, Frederick Rewinkle, and Bonnie Schroeder.
The names of graduates from Dixon and Belden were not reported.
On May 18, 184 students from 74 rural districts received their 8th grade diplomas in the city auditorium in Hartington.
The end of the school year meant the beginning of baseball season. The Laurel town team lost the first game to Coleridge by the score of 2-0. In the second game, Laurel defeated St. Helena 4-3. Players included Earl Miner, pitcher; Frances Urwiler, catcher; Ding Carmen, first base; Allan Shively, second base; Inge Pedersen, short stop; Ray Bartling, third base; Merle Murray, left field; Dutch Urwiler, center field; Clyde Shively, right field. J.J. Fennell and Max Lamson were managers. The Laurel American Legion post voted to sponsor a junior legion baseball team. Inge Pedersen agreed to manage. The team was open to boys who had not reached their 17th birthday by Jan. 1, 1946.
The Legion also announced plans to sponsor a softball league if enough interest was shown. The teams would be open to “everyone young or old.” It was later noted that “everyone” meant men and boys only.
Members of the Belden Legion and Auxiliary remodeled the former state bank building for a Legion hall. The Laurel Legion would soon begin raising money for a new hall as well.
Another black Ford was also in the news. Not the Black Ford featured in so many of former Editor Allison’s columns. This one was involved in a hit-and-run accident on the highway west of town.
The unidentified driver ran a stop sign and turned into the path of an oncoming truck. The truck left the road to avoid a collision, hit a tree in front of Paul Gade’s house causing it to fall on Gade’s car. It then knocked down two light poles before coming to a stop. The driver of the Ford left the scene and was not apprehended.
On Saturday, May 18, the new Logan Valley Produce opened for business in the north end of the old hotel on the corner of Oak and Main.
The proprietors advertised they would give away one pair of ladies nylon stockings with every 300 pounds of poultry brought in that day. “Here’s a good place to get rid of your roosters.“ Nylons were practically unobtainable during the war so presumably a lot of roosters were sacrificed that day. During the war a few women would have sacrificed their husbands for a pair of nylons.
In his column “Ribs by Rog,“ Editor Hill told of a country newspaper editor who retired at the age of 65 with $100,000 in the bank – a sum equivalent to approximately $1.6 million in today’s depreciated currency.
At a banquet given in his honor, the editor was asked to reveal the secret of his great success. He said: “For 35 years I have worked 10, 12, 14, and sometimes 16 hours a day. I worked six days a week and often a few hours on Sunday. Never in the 35 years have I had a vacation. Last week a rich uncle died and left me $98,000. I managed to save the other $2000.“ In another story, somewhat off topic, Tim Walz, current governor of Minnesota and former nominee for vice president on the 2024 Democratic ticket, has been in the news lately. Readers may not know that Governor Walz also has a Cedar County connection.
Walz’ father, James Frederick Walz, was born in Hartington in 1929. His grandfather, Raymond Anthony Walz, was born in Hartington in 1904. The family lived in Hartington until March 1937 at which time they moved to Ida Grove, Iowa.
Raymond‘s father, John Friederich Walz, came to Hartington in 1892 and operated a meat market for a number of years. He died in 1961 and is buried in Hartington.
Gov. Walz’ great-great grandfather, Sebastian Walz, was born in Germany in 1843 and died in Lawrence, Nebraska in 1915.
