1997 SNC All-Conference Football & Volleyball Selections

The 1997 Southern Nebraska Conference All-Conference selections in football and volleyball were:

1922 Citizenship Applications for 20 County Men

The Clay County Sun newspaper of November 30, 1922 listed these gentlemen as candidates for citizenship in Clay County.

1997 Sandy Creek Volleyball Champs

The Sandy Creek Lady Cougars won the Class C-2 State Volleyball Championship in November 1997.

This article appeared in the Clay County News on November 20, 1997, page B2.

 

1947 Black Face Minstrel Show in Fairfield

Sign of the times, 1947.

The folks of Fairfield performed a black face minstrel show at the Fairfield Auditorium in 1947. Such performances were common and seen as a form of comedy. 

My country school, District #16, did a black face minstrel show as a Christmas program when I was in kindergarten. The youngest of us in the school sang "Mammy's Little Baby Loves Shortin' Bread"

That was 1948. It was a sign of the times, and the place. It is one of my few memories from being five years old. I like to think it was the awkwardness of the situation, at least, that imbedded the memory.

1897 History of Clay County from The Harvard Courier Newspaper

This major history of Harvard and Clay County was published by The Harvard Courier newspaper on November 20, 1897.

Sutton's 1922 Aid Reaches Russia

Germans from Russia in Sutton organized relief efforts for people in Russia who were facing starvation conditions after World War I. Many residents of Northeast Clay County were immigrants from, or one generation removed from the villages of Rohrbach, Worms, and Johannesthal in South Russia.

This area of 1920's South Russia is now in the nation of Ukraine and in the area near Odessa that has been in contention this year from the Russian occupation of Ukrainian territory.

This article appeared on Page 1 of The Sutton News on November 17, 1922.

Sutton Ads in The Advertiser-News

The Advertiser-News was an early Sutton newspaper. This collage of local ads appeared in that paper in November 1897.

The Ong Methodist Church Centennial was in November 1972

The Ong Methodist Church celebrated its centennial 50 years ago. 

The article about the occasion included a brief history of the church.

This article appeared in The Clay County News on November 2, 1972, page 2.

1922 Sutton Golf Club Tournament

100 Years Ago - The Sutton Golf Club held their second golf tournament.

Notice that the winning lady receives a box of bon-bons for a prize while all the other prizes are golf balls. Question: Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

This item appeared in The Sutton News on November 3, 1922.

1947 Fairfield Neighborhood Corn Picking Crew

Neighborhood crews helping in harvest and other farm work for neighbors in some kind of stress was a common story throughout the history of the county.

This item, a reprint from the Hastings Tribune, appeared in The Fairfield Auxiliary newspaper on November 11, 1947.

Clay County Cotton Crop - 1947

The Sutton News of November 6, 1947 spread the word that a farmer south of Sutton had grown a cotton crop that year.

As predicted by the reporter in his last sentence, cotton did not develop into a big money crop.

Though, wait a minute. The average climate conditions have tempered measurably and obviously even just in the last 75 years. Could it be that our local growing season has become more like, say, Oklahoma and Texas or the southeast. Could it be that we may see someone make another attempt to grow cotton in Clay County, and, what if it works?

Just sayin'

Pioneer Story of August Anderson of Saronville

 

The Sutton News carried this pioneer story of August Anderson's family of Saronville.

Sutton''s First Bicycle Party - 1897

The Sutton News reported the first bicycle party in Sutton in their October 15, 1897 issue:

Australian Hiking Family Visited Sutton - 1922

This news item in The Sutton News of 6 October 1922 caught our eye while researching our column this week. Seems to need sharing:

 

 

Ong Methodist Church 75th Anniversary - 1947

The Ong Methodist Church celebrated its 75th anniversary in October 1947. This article appeared in The Edgar Sun newspaper.