Dick's Place Anniversary and Fun Day a success in spite of weekend storms

To paraphrase an old blurb from the U. S. Postal Service . . .

"Neither rain . . . nor hail . . . nor gloom of night . . . shall keep Nebraskans from enjoying a good reason to celebrate . . ."

"We couldn't have done it with all the help from them," noted Dick Kohmetscher after he had a little time to rest up from the work and activity that the 50th Anniversary of Dick's Place entailed.

When he said "all the help from them" he meant a lot of other people who helped put on the combined event Saturday, Aug. 7. He noted the Community Club and Volunteer Fire Dept. were the two biggest organizations that helped, but then, many individuals, like KD's Salon stepped up to contribute as well.

The day was full of activities for kids of all ages. The Community Club used the occasion for a "Fun Day" and sponsored a plethora of activities mostly for the younger set of the community. Then in the evening, the 50th Anniversary of Dick's Place began as ole Mother Nature did her best to disrupt activities.

The Community Club served a noon meal of hamburgers and hot dogs. The meat was donated by the Brodstone Memorial Hospital in Superior and CEO, Treg Vyzourek, assisted Lisa Peterson in doing the grilling. The parents of the Summer Ball Program players served the meal and proceeds are designated to go to the Summer Ball Program fund. The Farmer's and Merchant's Bank supplies water for the meal.

Kevin Ostdiek provided popcorn for the afternoon courtesy of the seed corn company he works with.

Inflatables . . . as they are called, proved to be a big hit with the youngsters as they were kept busy throughout the afternoon. They were brought in by the Community Club.

The swimming pool was kept busy on its last day of operation for the summer season. Residents were able to split their time taking kids on rides provided by the fire departmenton their trucks.

Bro Sno Snow Cones helped keep the people cool with delicious snow cones.

Seems that turtles have been hard to find this time of the year in southcentral Nebraska. There were only three turtles entered in this exciting feature this year. Regardless, the race was held and each sponsor won a prize. They were: first-Grady Mertens, second-Ree Kucera and third-Landon Mazour.

For about an hour late in the morning folks were able to get an 'up-close' look at a helicopter from the Nebraska State Highway Patrol. Molly Kucera's (Mrs. Trevor) father is a pilot of one of the patrol's helicopters and he was able to bring the craft to Lawrence for folks to see.

The evening and night time hours were pretty well moved to Main Street of Lawrence to where the anniversary events took place. This is when the rain, hail and wind also decided to visit the party.

Dick's Place steak sandwich supper meal, prepared and served by the volunteer fire department depleted their supply of 500 steaks without any trouble but served another 100 hamburgers before the crowd ran out.

Dennis Washburn provided a nice musical background for those eating on Main Street.

The band, "Free Beer and Chicken" provided music for the dance.

Marge Kohmetscher noted she saw people from California to Florida come through the events of the day. The rough weather kind of came on real quick and it didn't take long for other businesses on Main Street to open up and allow the party goers some sort of cover from the elements.

'T-Shirts' . . . Marge noted they had ordered 600 T-Shirts for the occasion and that few are left on the rack. They are in the process of deciding whether or not to order more.

The day's events, planned and unplanned, all go together to make the day a memorable one for all concerned. Dick and Marge were pretty sure the day would not have happened if it wasn't for the community of Lawrence and the cooperation of organizations and individuals. They expressed their thankfulness for all that was done for them in getting the Anniversary Day to a successful conclusion.