Steve Smith, Lawrence, stands behind a table top which is about a foot thick and a yard wide. He makes furniture in his spare time. His shop is located in Lawrence. The expertise in the above piece, is jaw dropping. "It's very heavy, and it's gonna take a lot of guys to move it."
Steve Smith, Lawrence councilman, is a successful long-time hunter. Visiting his house is a hunter's dream, for it's filled with mounted animals - deer, raccoons, turkey, pheasants and others. Various hunting trips always include family and friends. He acquired the turkey above on a hunting trip in Texas with his family and friends some years ago - a fun filled trip. Steve has been on the city councilman in Lawrence for more than year. He reports plans for the new Lawrence Community Building are coming along nicely, "The plans have to be totally finished before the grants can happen."
Steve Smith stands in front of a piece of furniture that he just completed. An antique sewing machine base, with a wood top has made a perfect piece for a hallway, or any special place in the home. Steve makes furniture in his spare time, and sells them on Facebook Marketplace.
Steve Smith has been a councilman in Lawrence for little over a year. He has many interests such as carpentry, hunting and body building.
Smith was born in Hastings and graduated from Hastings High. He fell in love with a high school classmate and dated throughout high school. However, since Smith is both Indian and African-American, her family was not pleased. So they parted company and she went to college in Lincoln and he moved to Dallas, Texas.
As a boy in Hastings, his grandparents lived next door. His grandfather was a master builder and built a house on 18 acres where they farmed. His father was a truck driver.
Smith considered himself an apprentice carpenter, a skill he learned from his family.
In Texas, he worked for Metro Framing where he got to build houses for several of the Dallas Cowboys players including Deon Sanders, Barry Switzer - coach, Billy Bates and Randy White.
Meanwhile his girlfriend, Kathy, married, and had two daughters. The marriage collapsed and she moved back to Hastings with her children.
They reconnected when he returned for a holiday. She came to a family dinner, they started dating and later married. The family moved to Texas where they lived until she died two years ago.
He decided to move to Nebraska and his friends helped him find a house in Lawrence.
His Hastings friends traveled to Texas and helped him move.
Lawrence was looking for a councilman and he was appointed to fill a vacant position. Later, he was elected to the same position.
Two things he really enjoys are family and friends. He likes it when people stop by, and his house is always open for the gathering of friends.
His house is full of mounted animals: deer, raccoons, pheasants and turkeys. Deer hides grace his living room. Kathy's special items are also on display throughout the house: Coca Cola memorabilia and vinyl records were two of her favorites. In addition, pictures of family and friends fill the walls. Steve competed in body building competitions. Several of those pictures grace the walls also. Smith has a body building trophy on display in his dining room that almost touches the ceiling. While living in Texas, he worked out with many well known body builders, such as Ronnie Coleman.
Now, he builds furniture. He is restoring an older white Ford pickup. He continues hunting trips and of course serving on the Lawrence City Council.
Serving as a city council also seems to run in the Smith family. Smith's grandfather served on the Hastings City Council when Smith was a boy. He is pictured in the second floor mural of the Adams Courthouse in Hastings. His cousin, Michael Anderson, currently serves on the Hastings City Council.
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