The North Bend Eagle


 

MB125 celebration evokes memories

by Mary Le Arneal
Published 8/15/12

The Morse Bluff Q125 is now history. But the memories will keep many people smiling for a long time.

“Morse Bluff is always home,” Amy Johnson said. “So many small towns seem to be dying, but Morse Bluff is building. It’s nice to see a small town where people are invested in the community.”

Johnson, the daughter of Galen and Joann Johnson, is a 1992 graduate of North Bend Central presently living in Miami, Fla. She left school after graduation for college in New York City and would occasionally bring friends from college.

“They felt like they had landed in another country,” Johnson said, “but they could understand why I appreciate it so much.”

Johnson tries to make it home for the American Legion barbecue on a yearly basis.

Teri Ott has been in Morse Bluff all week helping her mother, Linda Minarick, get things ready by “pulling weeds and putting up displays.”

She said her favorite part of the weekend was just the excitement and the people who came to enjoy what small towns are all about.

Sara Bunting came from Waverly for the day. She is friends with the Stenger family and her husband and son had run in the Huff n’ Puff.

“(Morse Bluff) is a typical small town,” Bunting said. “Everyone is nice and homey. There’s nothing better than a small town celebration.”

George Robertson, 65, is the son of the late Bernice and Raleigh Robertson. He left Morse Bluff after high school but stayed around working in Nebraska schools.

“The (Q125 celebration) reminds me of when I was a kid,” Robertson said. “The Legion barbecue - buffalo barbecue - would have lots of people, there would be a parade, carnival, 3-4,000 people.”

Robertson was pleased with the amount of activity going on and was meeting a lot of old friends.

“We need to thank all the people who did all the extra work to get all this together,” Robertson said.

Lyndsay Broughton of Lincoln and Heather Sjodin of Papillion are Robertson’s daughters and said that it was expected for them to come to the celebration.

“It‘s kind of been ingrained that we come back to the barbecue, so we’ve been planning on it,” Sjodin said.

They both had been up early Saturday and ran in the Huff n’ Puff run saying it was lots of fun. So far the favorite activity of the family, as they were outnumbered by children at the moment, was the bouncy houses.

Murial Keeler and her husband, Jim, came from Fremont for the activities Saturday. Jim had ridden in the tractor ride Friday and left his tractor on display. He has a family farm in Linwood. They were watching the Bohenmian Boat Races and enjoying the cooler weather from recent times.

“It’s all been really nice,” Keeler said. “My favorite part was the Vyhlidal band, but it’s all been nice.”

Randy Kremlacek was chairman of the weekend celebration and he could be seen at almost every activity.

“Everything’s gone great,” he said Saturday afternoon. “ The weather is just perfect. There are lots of participants in the activities. We’ve had no complaints yet.”

Lynden Rathke has lived in Morse for 10 years and was in the village hall looking at the historical display when asked about his impression of the weekend.

“Good. I didn’t expect it to be this much,” Rathke said. “I like this little town.”

Dee Wesely, who grew up in North Bend and has lived south of Morse Bluff for 32 years, was complimentary of the event.

“It was really nice to see out-of-state people and the families get together,” Wesely said. “The opening ceremony was well planned, there were so many activities for all ages. Seems like everything went off without a hitch.”

In talking to Kremlacek on Sunday, he agreed.

“Things were so simple they took care of themselves,” Kremlacek said. “We used local talent as much as possible.”

The tug-of-war pit, filled with water to dunk the losers, was an example of an activity that was so popular even the winners were jumping in the water/mud pit.

“The tug of war pit was so simple,” Krelacek said. “No one does that anymore. The kids really liked it. Everyone is seeming to enjoy themselves - and the weather held up really well.”

The books are closed on the Morse Bluff Q125 celebration with memories and pictures to keep the celebration vivid.

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