Clockwise from top, Ryker Broughton, Max Christensen and Cían Baldwin play on the helicopter jungle gym at the Morse Bluff park. The playground piece is a memorial to Bud Musiel, who loved to fly.
Musiel memorial lands in Morse Bluff park
by Nathan Arneal
Published 8/13/25
The Morse Bluff community was important to Edward “Bud” Musiel, and so was its park. Now a monument to his memory will entertain children at that park for years to come.
When he was alive he donated the basketball court to the Morse Bluff park. After his passing in 2020 his family thought it would be appropriate to place a memorial to Bud in the park.
Bud’s wife Carole approached Danny Minarick of Steel Creation, whose metal fabrication shop is across the street from the park. Knowing the park already had multiple memorial benches and tables, they went for something different.
“We wanted to steer it to something a little more unique,” Minarick said, “something the kids could play on, something that would be interesting.”
They came up with an idea that was very customized to Bud’s interests: something like a jungle gym in a shape of a helicopter.
“Dad flew a lot,” Bud’s son Matt Musiel said. “That was his deal. That kind of symbolizes him and what he loved to do.”
Bud earned his pilot’s license at the age of 16. After college he joined the Nebraska Army National Guard where he was a helicopter aviator. He also flew privately in his own helicopter and plane from his private airstrip, eventually earning the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award from the FAA for 58 years of safe flying without accidents or violations.
Minarick modeled the playground helicopter after the Hughes 269A that Bud owned and flew.
Minarick said he usually doesn’t do memorial work unless it was someone he had a personal connection with, and Musiel definitely fit that category. Minarick was a kid when he got to know Musiel. When Minarick opened Steel Creation in Morse Bluff in 2010, he became a customer of Musiel Propane.
“I’d see him fairly regularly,” Minarick said, “because I didn’t have enough money to fill the whole tank.”
From their regular visits Musiel became something of a mentor for Minarick.
“Going through those different stages of life, his advice was very valuable,” Minarick said. “When I was trying to start a business, he kept me from quitting sometimes, and also kept me from making bad decisions that could’ve hurt me later in life.”
The playground helicopter ended up being about a four-year project as Minarick fit it in between other projects. It was first installed in the park a year ago, August 10, 2024. A few more pieces were added during the year, and Minarick hopes to complete it this week as he adds a control panel to the dash of the helicopter.
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