SATURDAY JUNE 6TH   Plymouth; Gage County Historical Society

Saturday, June 6th started at 8:00 am with a Driver’s Meeting at the Gage County Fairgrounds in Beatrice, Nebraska. Before we left, we said the Pledge of Allegiance and had a prayer for a safe drive.

We left for Plymouth (14 miles) with 30 tractors for Lonnie Wiechel’s Model T and tractor Collection. We arrived at 9:30 and spent the next hour viewing Lonnie’s collection.  At 10:30 we left for The Rail at 212 Court Street in Beatrice arriving at 11:45 for lunch.  Forty-five people enjoyed cheeseburgers, chips, and a drink at The Rail.  After lunch we walked across the street to the Gage County Historical Society Museum to view the many items on display.

At 1:45 pm we left the Museum and traveled to the Veterans Memorial Park stopping to view the Memorial and have a group picture taken by Mike Holland and Allison (?) from Steiner Tractor Parts who were traveling with us taking pictures and videos for their website. 

We then traveled to Chautauqua Park around 2:30 pm viewing the Tabernacle and the water fall as we drove.

From Chautauqua Park we traveled to Mosaic, Good Sames and through Flowing Springs Retirement homes for residents to see the tractors.  From there we traveled to the Northeast part of Beatrice and arrived at the American Legion at approximately 4:30 p.m. for supper.  We had a supper of roast beef, cheesy potatoes, green beans, tea and water.

After supper we returned to the Gage County Fairgrounds arriving around 7:00 p.m. to call it an evening.

The day was beautiful and we drove approximately 40 miles.

 

SUNDAY  JUNE 7TH     BEATRICE TO ROCKFORD LAKE TO FILLEY STONE BARN

We started the day with $1983.00 for our American Legion Causes!

Sunday morning started out with Church Services at the Nebraskaland Trailer at 8:30 am with Steven Fisher and Scotty Andreasen leading the service.  We started with the gathering Hymn of Holy, Holy, Holy, scripture Exodus 20:2-17 and 1st Peter 1: 17-25.  Steven delivered an uplifting message: Rural Route rules!  The service ended in hymn “How Great Thour Art”, a prayer and final hymn “Amazing Grace”.

At 9:30 a.m. after church service we had 36 tractors leave for Rockford Lake (14 miles) where we took a break.  We took time to take some pictures while we were there.  We left for the Filley Stone Barn where we had boxed sub sandwich lunches from the Jet Stop on Hwy 136 near Filley and heard about the history for the barn from volunteers of the Gage County Historical Society Museum. 

We left the Filley Stone Barn around 1:00 p.m. to travel to the Pawnee County Line.  This is the 91st Nebraska County that we have been in.  We have only two more counties to have been in all 93 Nebraska Counties during our TRAN drives.

We headed back to Beatrice Gage County Fairgrounds and arrived approximately 4:00 p.m. We got busy preparing the brats and hot dogs for supper, along with salads, chips, ice cream and cookies.  Steiner Tractor Parts donated $350 towards the meal.  Prior to the meal starting we had Shane Parde who entertained us with his guitar, banjo, and vocals.  Shane lives at Adams, Nebraska and is 8 years old.  He also signed his guitar pick and a hat for the auction. 
After supper the auction was held with all proceeds going towards Operation Comfort Warriers and Gifts for Yanks equally.  Everyone had a great time!!

We drove approximately 42 miles on Sunday.

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MONDAY JUNE 8TH  Fairgrounds to Beatrice Power Station, Kujath toy collection, Pickrell Ne., Bear Creek, Nebraska Baseball Hall of Fame.

We began the day with $4390.00 for OCW/Gifts for Yanks

We started the day at 7:45 with a driver’s meeting and 32 tractors leaving Beatrice for the NPPD Beatrice Power Plant.  We arrived at the Power Plant at 8:45, checked in and one half of the group took the walking tour and the other half watched the video.  Because of a time crunch we did not switch and left for Kujath Toy Collection around 10:30.

We toured Kujath Toy Collection and unfortunately Alan Docter took a spill and the Ambulance from Beatrice was called. He hit his head on the pathway and ended up with many staples but was okay otherwise.  He did join us again on Wednesday at lunchtime!

After we were sure Alan was safe on his way to the hospital, we headed to Pickrell for lunch.  We had sloppy joes, chips, potato salad, cookies and water or iced tea served by the Community ladies.  Some made their way the Pickrell Locker for a quick tour and then we viewed the beautiful Veterans Memorial and had a picture taken of the group.

By 2:15 p.m. we headed to Bear Creek Reservoir for a break and to take some pictures.  We left the Reservoir at 3:15 and arrived at the Nebraska Baseball Hall of Fame Museum around 5:00 p.m. We had supper of pan-fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, dessert, water, tea, or coffee at Country Cooking which was in the same building as the Museum.

By 6:30 we headed back to the Fairgrounds for the end of the third day!

 

TUESDAY  June 9th Fairgrounds to Wymore Cemetery,  Roger Theye tool collection in Liberty, lunch at the Legion Post 345, return to Wymore toured Great Plains Welsh Heritage Center and the Burlington Train Museum

We began the day at 8:00 with a driver’s meeting, pledge of allegiance and prayer.  We left for Liberty with 32 tractors and stopped at the Wymore Cemetery to view Gordan Michaelis resting spot and take a break.  We continued onto Roger Theye tool collection in Liberty.  After touring his collection we walked up the hill to American Legion Post 346 for a lunch of hot beef sandwiches/chips/salads and drinks.  We also enjoyed pie and ice cream that was provided by Gordan Michaelis’ memorial monies.  Jon Vanderford from Pure Nebraska caught up with us there and did some interviews and pictures/video.  We left Liberty around 1:30 pm headed towards Wymore.  At Wymore we toured the Great Plains Welsh Heritage Center and the Burlington Park Railroad Museum.  Around 4:00 pm we headed back to Beatrice, via Iron Mountain Scenic view!  We arrived back at the Fairgrounds around 5:30 and enjoyed a supper of sloppy joe, beans, chips, macaroni or potato salad, dessert, and drinks provided by a local 4-H club.  We drove approximately 57 miles.

 

Wednesday June 10th   Odell tour Old West Trail Center, St. John’s Church for lunch, Landmark Snacks tour

Our day began at 8:00 am as usual with drivers meeting, pledge, and prayer.  We had 25 tractors today and it was a hot one!  We left for Odell at 8:15 and toured the Old West Trail Center.  It was a tiny limestone Building but held lots of interesting pictures and information.  At 10:30 we headed back to Beatrice and had lunch of spaghetti, toasted garlic bread, and dessert served by the ladies of the St. John’s Lutheran Church.  After a great meal we headed to Landmark Snacks at 1:00 for a tour of their facilities.  We all got geared up in foot coverings, head coverings, and coats to see how their snacks were processed.  We returned to the fairgrounds around 2:30 and everyone said goodbyes for another great year of TRAN!